The Rest of May and End of School Events

Adam is a really good oldest brother

Luke is a very happy baby. I have been blessed with happy babies.

The biggest boys acting goofy with Luke

I don't remember what is going on here but they are so happy here.

Isaac getting his eyes checked at his 4yo check-up

Before one of our walks

Luke with his dark hair

Isaac on our friend's tractor...he really wants one of his own

Luke at the 2nd Grade Awards Ceremony

Isaac took this himself at the 2nd Grade Awards Ceremony

Adam, on the far right, getting an award

Benjamin being a turd at the 2nd Grade Awards Ceremony

Austin's class at the Kindergarten Beach Day

Luke was so happy even though he stayed in the car seat during the Kinder Beach Day

Isaac LOVED the Kinder Beach Day. I hardly saw him.

Benjamin post Popsicle

Bouncy water slide and Austin just after going down the slide, goggles and all

Austin was glad he had his goggles for the water balloon toss.

Happy BIrthday Benjamin

Happy Mother's Day to Me

I have the best sister. She not only watched 4 of my 5 boys for the weekend but she also had *them* make me these wonderful gifts. A poster that has things like "you're the best mom in the whole world" and "I love you" and drawings of me and a flower pot with all of their hand prints on it. And the house was clean and the boys were in bed when we got home.

Bryan, Luke and I went to Arizona for the weekend for Jacob's mission farewell.

Isaac turned 4

Turning 4 is so great. I love that Isaac was so excited about his birthday and everything is wonderful and "because it's my birthday."

Isaac with the balloon my VT brought over for him. He loved it until it disappeared 2 weeks later.

Birthday dinner at Babe's

Isaac with the leftover Babe's chicken

Opening presents

4 boys sitting on his bike

Holding up birthday money

Riding the new bike on our walk. He kept telling everyone we saw "This is my new bike. I got it for my birthday. I am 4." Everyone. we. saw.

Happy 8th Birthday and Baptism Adam

I am catching up a little on here. I am not going to do a really good catch up but I think the birth of a child and a baptism are pretty big things that should be documented. That being said, my memory is not so good and these happened months ago.

Adam turning 8yo was a really big deal to me. Maybe I was a little hormonal after having a baby but I really don't feel like I have been a mom long enough to have an 8yo. And he got to have a friend birthday party. Usually we just celebrate for a week or 2 and have family birthday parties.We went bowling with some friends. I think I will encourage all my 8yo to have parties like that, a definite end time and no clean-up or entertaining on my part :)

Bryan trying on Adam's birthday present from my parents.

I can't believe he is 8! I should say, I can't believe I am old enough to have an 8yo.

Wearing his new suit. And his new bow tie from my parents, he picked out the tie himself and wears it for "special occasions"

Adam and the other boys that got baptized.

Adam with his baptism presents

Matt and Adam matchy-matchy

They look so happy and business-like in this photo

Luke Walter Brown

**I realize my baby is close to 7mo but I needed to document this before I really did forget everything. And have photos with it.

At my appointment on Monday March 12, Bryan came with me. Mostly because I was late and he was curious to hear what the doctor had to say. They decided I should be induced the next day and the schedulers would call to tell me what time to be there. We went to Sam's Club or CostCo on our way home. The scheduler called and informed me that I needed to be there before 5AM! Needless to say, I did not sleep very much that night.

I got an IV,  got settled in  with some pit and after we had been there for a little while my doctor showed up to break my water. Not a pleasant experience but not as bad as I had expected. The contractions were quite unpleasant. And, again, the monitors were not picking up how strong the contractions were. But since I know how things go for me, I kept saying "once I hit a 4, I will be ready." I don't think they believed me since they thought they were going to be able to go to lunch before he was born (I think they even said that after checking me at about 9am). 

There was a little rushing around after the nurse checked me at about 10am but just waiting until my contraction was over before leaving to go call my doctor, who thankfully was in the hallway. 

It is a toss up between Austin and Luke on who was the easiest delivery. Bryan thinks it is Luke and I lean more to Austin probably because my labor was practically nothing with Austin and he was my fastest labor to delivery.

Thankfully Jill took care of the boys (the 2 big boys were on Spring Break...I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not) and I didn't worry at all about them. I knew they were having way more fun than I was.And she even cleaned for the house guests (Kim & Jon & kids) that got there before we did. It was nice that we had Jon & Kim and Jarrod & Susannah and their families visiting, especially since they did the meals AND clean-up while they were here. And entertaining my husband and kids was nice too. Why don't they live next door?

Little Update

-I am busy.

This week

We have had 4 nights with friends over for dinner.

Three of those 4 nights included swimming, the fourth was Sunday.

Thursday, my car grumbled at me, so we took it to the shop. It didn't grumble for them.

Friday, I picked up my car.

Saturday, we ran errands in my car. It grumbled a little in the beginning but was fine the rest of the day.

Sunday, as we are trying to leave for church, it grumbled and smoked. The four older boys and I switched over to Bryan's car and left Bryan and Luke to figure out my car.

Bryan and I got part of the front weeded and covered with weed cloth and rubber bark. What we got done looks so good. I'm excited for the rest to be done but not excited to be doing it in the heat.

I actually went swimming. After doing a few hours of yard work. I got Benjamin ready to swim and we went without the other boys for a good 5 minutes. It was 9:30PM.

The other boys hurried out as soon as they realized we were out there. Well, Adam stayed in for a few minutes feeding Luke a bottle and getting him to sleep and watching Scooby Doo.

I really like the Olympics. I don't like how unproductive they make us.

I like having people over.

I just wish the cleaning fairy didn't take so long to get here. I can't handle the mess for that long and end up cleaning before she shows up.

Right Now

I am...

- waiting for dinner to be ready. Bryan is cooking a roast, I guess I should be working on the things to eat with it.

- slowly waking up from my nap that I quickly got out of bed but wasn't quite awake.

- enjoying having a sleeping baby next to me. He is the reason I physically was up quickly but mentally I was still asleep.

- trying to figure out life...too much time to think while boys play nicely (or not) while I'm feeding a baby or lifeguarding.

-thinking I still need to get on Wheel of Fortune. Preferably with Bryan, he is better than me at the toss ups and bonus rounds.

- wishing Adam could already be on his 8-year-old trip. I think it would be so fun for him to be there with his cousin.

- wishing west Texas wasn't there. It would make the drive SO much better. (I'm really just wanting the drive to be half of what it is now...that isn't too much to ask, is it?)

- thinking I should blog from a desktop so there are photos. finally.

- thinking I should make a meal plan this week. It would be something I haven't done in a while but I should do it.

- trying to think about the logistics of the 4th of July.

- working on setting up my VT already. I hate waiting until the end of the month. I don't like people to think I'm doing to it for the "numbers." If it was about the numbers, I wouldn't do it. I do it because I think there are reasons why we are suppose to meet with each other each month. And sometimes it is just because some of us (mostly me) would be okay being at home with the "occasional" trip to Sonic or McDs. But my kids need friends. And I should make friends. And this is an "easy" way to do that.

- trying to get the boys excited about soccer. It is going to be hot when soccer starts up again.

- needing to remember about swimming lessons.

- wishing I played the lotto, so I could win the lotto...sports x3 and they want more than one sport so it should be x6. Or x10!

- now I'm thinking how I can earn some extra cash to pay for sports.

- now rambling.

To Do

Things I Need To Do:

- laundry

- pack for 7 people!

- make cookies for teachers

- get a container to put cookies in (eek! Should have done that earlier today)

- make 4 hoodie towels

- shower (debating on washing my hair tonight or tomorrow)

- dishes (yep, it's been one of those nights)

- make sandwiches for the boys' lunches

- get music from Jill's laptop for our very long road trip

- go to Kindergarten Beach Day (tomorrow afternoon)

- take teacher gifts to school (I'm thinking of killing two birds with one stone tomorrow)

- SLEEP! (hopefully Luke can get back on the schedule we had and not this up 3 times in the night business)

Jill can clean before the party :)
(it's mostly clean, Benjamin just keeps dumping out the same basket of toys and then a big boy picks them up and he dumps it again)

And here I am blogging, while waiting for Isaac to fall asleep.

Today I went to the 2nd Grade Award Ceremony. The kids vote who gets what award. Adam got a reading one and "Hardest Worker."

I found out that voting was at their school and since we were already unloading for the awards, I went early to the ceremony and voted, with 3 kids in tow. Voting went great. But the last 5 minutes or so of the award ceremony, Benjamin decided he was done. Thankfully, Isaac found a little snack sized bag of Lorna Doone cookies in my bag. Benjamin rejected the Smarties because I wouldn't let him have the whole thing to dump out- that is what he does at home and screeches really loud when anyone walks in his general direction.

Oh, the joys of being out in public with a 2yo. And since having more than 2 kids is weird, me with my 3 not-school-aged children at a school thing (meaning I have more than the 3), I get looks and comments. Usually the comments aren't mean but comments mean I'm not blending in with the crowd. People notice me and my entourage.

Isaac hasn't talked to me for a few minutes, I think I can go cross at least one thing off my list.

Randomness ***WARNING: I am tired and I rambled

I had every intention of posting about Luke. with photos. And then Isaac got sick. I thought he had a fever because he got a few vaccines yesterday. And it still might be the vaccines. But he napped. He never naps. And then Benjamin fell asleep on the stairs (twice) and then on the couch. I kept waking him up. But he wanted to sleep.

Also, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was on the ball with dinner. Today, not so much. Bryan. Made dinner and we (the 2 of us) ate it. The boys had turkey sandwiches about a half an hour before we even started making dinner, compliments of Austin. That boy likes to make sandwiches. And toast. And toast bagels. I love his elaborate snacks: sandwich, grapes (if we have them), cheez-its or goldfish (or some other cracker) and fruit snacks.

Tuesday and Wednesday we tried new recipes. We will be adding them into the rotation of meals, easy and good. I need to look up more recipes to try. I think I'm in a rut with dinner and I'm not so motivated to make it. But those new recipes, I had dinner planned and was somewhat excited to make it.

Hopefully Isaac will be feeling better tomorrow. It's Field Day at school and we can go! But we won't be going if anyone is sick. And I'd like to get some sewing done.

Time is going so fast but so slow. I keep thinking "we are leaving for Ca in a week :(" and then immediately after that I think "WE ARE LEAVING FOR CA IN A WEEK!!!" and then the mental list begins about all the things that need to get done. But usually after thinking "laundry" someone or something distracts me. I think I need to write everything out or type it out so I have it somewhere besides my head.

I should sleep since I probably will end up with Isaac in my bed or Benjamin (he got in our bed before 7am today). Last night everyone but Austin came into our room.

Right Now

Right now I am:

- fighting an almost 2yo back into bed. Over and over. And over. Seriously, I have lost count on how many times I have put him in bed. IT'S ALMOST 11PM!!!

- I'm exhausted

- in need of a shower.

- grateful for soccer tonight so the 3 big boys went to sleep nicely (well, when Isaac is too tired he fights it but Benjamin has given Isaac a run for his money in a lot of things and fighting bed is one of them).

- grateful for friends

- grateful for friends that are like family

- grateful for family

- grateful for Jill (I know she is family). She read books to the boys today. And put Benjamin down for a nap. Before i had to go get boys from school. And kept Luke when I went to get the big boys from school.

- missing Katie. 7:30 is so early for Ben to wake up, especially if I was up since 6:20 with the baby and then checked on the big boys to make sure they were up and going for school. And I have to load up the boys to go get a DC. And I'm making dinner. And we haven't played Pinochle since we beat Matt and Bryan.

- missing my mom. Sometimes you just need your mom. And I like having my mom around. Especially when I have a baby.

- missing my dad. Because I think my dad is great. And Bryan needs a buddy to go to home improvement stores with. We are a sight with our 5 boys and I am not a lot of help. And then to have help with the home improvements. And to watch sports with. I watch but it just isn't the same. And Bryan cooks when people come to watch sports with him.

- missing Matt. My boys want to swim tomorrow. That means I get to sit out there and watch them.

- okay. I'm missing family.

- apparently, I'm emotional. Must be needing sleep and having a toddler refuse it is frustrating and confusing.

- wishing I was eating ice cream. Butter crunch to be exact.

Busy but not really

I have been wanting to post about the new addition to our family for a month but I wanted to include photos.

And I want to blog about everything that has happened for the past month. But with photos.

So I will just blog about random things and hopefully I can will blog about Luke soon- he deserves his own blog post.

Soccer:
I enjoy it. I like the boys being a part of a team and learning to work together. I love cheering from the sidelines. I especially love how tired the boys are from running for an hour that they go right to sleep without a fight. I don't love the rush of eating dinner, getting to soccer practice, and then rushing through the bedtime routine. But one negative in all the positive, I'm sure I will be a soccer mom for a while.

Schedule or lack of:
I have forgotten how having a new baby messes up your schedule/routine. I mean, I remembered how you adjust but I forgot how hard it is for me. I feel like I'm a pretty easy-going person and I have recently learned that I like need a schedule. I forgot how I don't really go anywhere with a baby that takes me us away from the house for more than about an hour or 2. My sleep is even more ridiculous than usual. I forgot how much I like sleep. I am a little scared for summer and the lack of schedule that comes with it.

Grateful:
I am so grateful for family.
The family I was born into, so many came (and all my siblings wanted to come) to celebrate Adam's baptism and Luke's baby blessing.
And the not-so little family of boys I share with Bryan, those boys are pretty darn cute.
And my ward family. I don't like being the center of attention. I prefer to hide in the background, hide in Nursery. But us having a baby has brought some attention. In our ward the last baby born before Luke was 17mo. And no one is pregnant. And we had our 5th boy. And so many people have offered to help. Watch boys. Meals. Clean (!!!- I know crazy that I didn't take them up on it right?!). And just asking how things are going. And to look at him. It has been nice to have so many concerned about us, especially with our parents not an hour away anymore.


I don't really have anything that we have been "doing" or anywhere we have gone to report on. We are learning how to be a family of seven(!) and enjoying all the company we have had/have.

Waiting

I haven't been able to make plans because I'm waiting. Not that I have plans that need to be made. Except dinner. And that had been a HUGE challenge lately, sorry to the people who eat dinner with me.

I'm waiting and waiting and waiting.

I pick the boys up from school. And we do homework. I try to scrap dinner together. Some nights (i.e., 3 night last week) we have soccer practice. Not a lot of planning and nothing that can't be missed.

Saturday, we had soccer games. I signed us up to provide snacks for all 3 games. Jill worked 4 nights in a row, so it was a good thing I was able to be to those soccer games.

But now, I'm waiting.

I hate waiting.

So today I started doing things that I was putting off. Unpacking. I have had the necessities unpacked for a while. But now I am not waiting, I'm unpacking. But I don't like unpacking.

Bryan wants things up on the walls. I can't think about stuff like that while I'm waiting. And I don't really feel like I am good at it. And we have a lot of windows. Windows make hanging things up hard.

Adam stayed home from school today. Sick. Tomorrow he gets to stay home too. Hopefully, he will be back to school on Thursday.

They have a Jog-a-thon on Friday. And Adam maybe has a birthday party to go to and maybe soccer practice.

But how can I plan anything while I am waiting.

Today was good

Today.

Ben woke up about 6am.
And did NOT go back to sleep.

I looked for, and found, my passport and social security card.

I did laundry.

I went and got a Texas Driver's License!!! I've been living here for over a year, it's about time.

Jill is fabulous. She watched, and picked up, boys while I was gone for hours getting my DL.

And on the way home, I picked her up some Del Taco (thank you Chicken Soft Taco Thursday Night). Then I didn't feel bad about the dinner not being ready before she left for work.

Took Adam to soccer practice.

Now I'm blogging/playing on my phone while the 3 big boys fall asleep. And Bryan has Ben.

Tomorrow is the Kindergarten Stick Horse Rodeo!

I need to empty the photos and videos off my phone for the KSHR.

Journal

I have decided I need to journal more. The older I get (or maybe the more kids I have), the worse my memory gets. So I decided I am going to do that here. I have tried a hand-written journal, I have a few entries spread out over years. And I don't love my handwriting.

Today, Friday, February 24, 2012:
• I am trying not to have a baby. But I want things done before I have a baby. So I did laundry, the never-ending laundry.
• Jill took the 2 littles to run errands. Which was perfect because then I could return some stuff to Target and get a couple things there. And if I had them, I doubt I would have done it. And I wanted to return the stuff before baby because I know how much Bryan hates returning things.
• I washed and remade the boys' beds before going to Target too.
• I had the big boys clean out and vacuum my car. I hope it looks good :)
• I vacuumed the downstairs. I also swept before I went to Target but Ben ate again so I decided all the floors needed to be done.
• Ben missed refused his nap today. And I decided it wasn't worth the battle today. He is now drawing on a magna doodle while watching The Fresh Beat Band. Before I gave up, he got out of his bed and went straight to Jill's room and got on her iPad. I guess I should be happy that he has napped for as long as he has since Isaac was done a lot younger.

• Tomorrow we have 3 soccer games one at 10am and the other 2 at 10:15am, good thing Jill is going :)

• Sunday we are having Jill's birthday dinner. I still need to figure out what she wants with Pulled Pork. And what cake/dessert she wants.

• After Sunday dinner, I can have a baby. My doctor thinks that is a good goal.

• I don't want to miss the Kindergarten Horse Stick Rodeo on March 2nd.

I don't know how often I will be doing this but hopefully frequently.

For Me to Remember and WARNING: LONG POST WITH NO PHOTOS!!!

I haven't gotten on the desktop since Bryan has set it up, so still no photos since I don't like what the blogging app did to all my photos from previous posts.

Anyway, I don't want to forget some things.

Ben climbs.
Ben climbs out of bed. A big crib. And Bryan's comment to it "3 points of contact" He has been teaching the other boys how to climb down the ladder from attic space in the garage- yes, the others seem to take after me and my dislike for ladders but it is so cool up there (so I'm told), they are willing to go up.
Ben climbs on furniture. The couch. My bed. The boys bed, though I am grateful he hasn't figured out how to get to the top bunk. Yet, anyway. The dining chairs and to the table. Step stools in the bathroom to play in the water. Park equipment.

It's tiring.

Isaac is independent. When he wants to be.
Isaac is a great helper. When he wants to be.
Isaac is also having bites of food he doesn't like. This is a big deal. And there are a lot of things he doesn't like. Potatoes. Noodles. Beans. Most vegetables. Rice. "I like meat. And bread. And cheese."
Isaac can spell his name (he has been able to do this for a while) and is practicing writing it. He also likes to practice writing everyone else's name. Mostly during Sacrament Meeting but he's quiet.
Isaac is worried about the baby in my tummy. Asks on a regular basis if the baby is still there. Does my tummy hurt. Mostly because I can't do as much and I'm not suppose to be doing anything right now. One more week and I think I will feel more comfortable (and more importantly, my doctor will feel more comfortable) doing stuff because they won't stop me from having a baby now.

Austin is reading so well. He asks what things mean. Even though he can read words, he wants to know what it means. For example, tonight while he was reading "'Josh,' laughed Dad" He said "that doesn't make sense" so we talked about what that meant.
Austin loves to help. He likes to be the only one to help. Like he will clear the table all by himself or he will "watch" Ben for me. And he does a good job.
Austin has a great imagination. I only enjoy being on the couch when I can nonchalantly listen in on the playing.
Austin says he doesn't like playing soccer. But he does.
Austin likes being a big brother. He can make Ben laugh all the time and is really good about playing with Isaac.

Adam. Adam is my first born. And he acts like it. We remind him all the time, he is not the parent. But he is very responsible. I have had him "babysit" while Jill is getting ready for work upstairs.
Adam likes chores. He says he doesn't but he does. He vacuums. Austin and he clean bathrooms. Today, we had an issue with clothes and some whining. So Adam folded 2 laundry baskets of clothes. He did a great job and wasn't whining (like he was when he got started). And then when Bryan took Austin to soccer practice with Isaac and Ben was napping, he switched laundry, carried laundry up to my room, showered, got clothes ready for school tomorrow and helped clean up dinner.
Adam likes playing soccer.
Adam likes being outside.
Adam learned how to ride a 2-wheeler. And wishes we had more concrete. Like at the old house.
Adam likes being the oldest brother. And he is good at it.

I am impressed with how much Bryan gets done in a day. It is obvious to me since I haven't been able to do very much lately and with moving. I keep thinking things will slow down a little and he can relax a little. But then I remember that he is doing so much, partly because I'm so pregnant. So life isn't going to slow down. If anything, he is going to be even busier with the other kids and soccer just started up again...with 3 of them playing. Life will slow down just as football games start happening, which is what he would prefer anyway :)

Jill is so good. She helps even though she doesn't have to. She watches the boys. She takes them on errands, and sometimes it is one at a time so it's like a special date. She watches stupid shows with me and doesn't make fun of me for watching them. She sometimes takes ALL FOUR BOYS! like the other day, Bryan and I went out and she watched the boys, picked up pizza, had them showered and in bed asleep before we got back.

Me. I get to watch. I get climbed on (I forgot to list that on Ben's stuff). I get heartburn. I limp around. I try to have dinner most days, especially on Jill's work days but sometimes that is a huge challenge. I go to doctor's appts. all. the. time. (it feels like it anyway) Austin reads to me while I'm lying down. Okay, that sounds pathetic. I do more than that. It just feels like not so much since I like doing things for myself and I did vacuum the dining area today after taking the boys to the park and having dinner mostly done (yes, that is me tooting my own horn).

Thankful

I have decided (more than once) that things happen when and how for a reason. Even if it is difficult, there is a reason. I'm not sure of the reason this time but there must be one.

We are moving. I am 8 months pregnant. And I have 4 boys. That need attention and love and food and supervision.

I knew I would be slow moving and not tons of help with the actual moving of boxes. But I thought I would be able to pack everything myself. Turns out, not so much. I thought I would be able to clean (both the house we are moving out of and moving into). Again, not so much. I thought I would be able to help with getting things organized. I must toot my own horn here because I have done more than I had expected with all the previous failures.

Celeste came by on her way home from the temple last week. So she could feel better about leaving her kids with her husband for the morning. And packed a good portion of my kitchen. I really appreciated it but didn't realize at the time how great that was.

I went to a regular doctor appointment the day after we signed papers for the house. I wasn't put on bed rest but pretty close. And instead of going every other week, I'm going every week to make sure I'm not dilated too much.

Bryan and Jill have done SO much this week. Meeting with painters and carpet guys. Loading and moving bins. And loading and moving bins. And moving furniture. And taking boys with them on trips to various places (including the new house and the old house, Lowe's, to get lunch and dinner, the list goes on). And cleaning.

Oh the cleaning. Jill vacuumed and vacuumed and vacuumed after the new carpet was put in. She wiped down baseboards. Cleaned the entire kitchen (even using a Shop Vac). After the painters and carpet guys were done. She cleaned all the bathrooms. She wiped out closets. The list, again, goes on and on.

And Bryan. My dear, sweet, hard-working husband. Actually accepted help. Has worked (the job he gets paid to do) and moved and packed and cleaned and still been a "dad."

And they both have encouraged me to "take it easy" and "are you sure you should be doing that?" and taking over with the boys when I couldn't.

So many people have offered to help. And me, being stubborn and thinking "I can do this," have taken some. But again with encouragement.

On Friday, the "big moving day" of furniture and such, a couple men from the ward came over for a couple hours with their trucks and moved and moved and moved (I never realize how much stuff we have until it is being moved). And my 2 boys that are home with me, we're not. Thanks to Isaac's friend having a "birthday party at Legoland" (he was the only friend invited) and Ben invited over to "play" at my SIL's parents' house. Ben was going to go to Celeste's house and then shortly after I called to tell her "thanks but no thanks" her wonderfully helpful husband showed up. Jill was beyond excited (or maybe that was just me glad that Jill wasn't the one helping Bryan move stuff).

A couple car loads this morning and a few hours of Jill and Bryan cleaning the old house. And me with the boys and the pool fence people. I think we are set. Jill went to her Stake Meetings tonight and we are headed to Sam's Club, since I have been saying "I'll buy that after we move" to almost everything.

Now we just have to "finish" unpacking. And try not to have a baby for a few more weeks, well at least 2 weeks.

And once a desktop computer is set up, I will try to post photos. Until then, Instagram is my photo place right now :)