Talking Drew

I absolutely love the stage when a toddler’s vocabulary suddenly expands and they really start communicating. Drew is in that stage now and it’s just so cute and fun!

He has so many words now that I’ve stopped trying to write all of them down. He picks up new words nearly every day as well.

Drew says no constantly, even when he means yes. We’ve been working on having him say “yes please” and hes starting to get the hang of it.

Drew has started stringing cute little sentences together. He says things like, “popcorn eat,” and “drink milk,” and “Allie crying,” and “me ball.” In between real words he also baby babbles like crazy and with enough feeling that it’s obvious he knows what he’s saying.

I love my cute, talking toddler!!

Asher and the Outlet

Oh, Asher. He’s such an active, daring, impulsive boy that I do sometimes worry about keeping him alive until adulthood.

Today I was nursing Allie and working on Maddie’s birthday post. The kids were all playing with various siblings. Then I heard the boys scream. Asher started sobbing and Braden was crying out, “Oh, Asher! Oh no, Asher! Are you okay? Oh no!”

I ran to see what was going on and found two hysterical boys and a smoldering outlet. Asher was holding his hand and screaming in pain. It was obvious that he’d been shocked and burned. He was all wrapped up in a computer cable with it laced through his belt loops (I assumed this is what he put in the outlet) and he was soaking wet from playing in the water, two things that worried me given the electricity involved.

I checked out his hand and was even more nervous when I saw that his thumb was black and charred. I scooped Asher up and ran his thumb under cold water until he settled down. The water washed most of the blackness away. It was just black from the smoking cable, not burned flesh like I’d thought at first.

It took a minute to piece all the details together, but I eventually figured out the sequence of events. Asher took the cover off the outlet and then shoved both ends of an HDMI cable (the one that was wrapped around him) into the side of the socket. The boys said it was sparking and smoking.

I wasn’t sure how serious this was so I called Uncle Tracy, an experienced ER nurse. He told me what to watch for, things like an elevated heart rate or problems with the burn itself. He said that Asher had probably just gotten a minor shock and a small burn and would be okay.

Braden was very upset by all this. He kept saying that Asher could have died and that the shock could have gotten to his heart. He brought Asher some toys to help him feel better. This made Jake very jealous and he insisted, “I almost died too!”

Once the initial pain had subsided, Asher wasn’t nearly as upset as Braden. Hoping to drive home a point about outlet safety, I asked Asher what he’d learned.

He responded, “Some things you can put in there (and he pointed at the outlet) and it does nothing and some things you put in there and it does do something, like make fire.”

Asher seems fine now. His thumb is red with a large white burned area, but he says it doesn’t hurt. Everything about him seems normal, including his heart rate… Though I don’t know if I can say the same for my own panicked heart!

Life with lots of little boys is certainly never dull. Within an hour of this incident, I caught the boys cutting up a milk carton with a steak knife…

Rick and I joke that our boys (Asher and Jacob especially) must have an entire SWAT team of guardian angels protecting them!

I do believe in miracles and divine protection from Heavenly Father. I’m very thankful for those things, especially as I raise my children.

Tonight I slipped into Asher’s room after he was asleep. He was stretched out on the bed on his tummy, relaxed and peaceful. I rubbed his bare back and said a silent prayer. I thanked Heavenly Father for this precious boy and for protecting him today and always. I asked for continued protection for Asher and for help and guidance as I raise him.

I adore this boy! I’m so glad he only has a burnt thumb tonight.

Humble

Jacob was watching the Olympics with me when men’s gymnastics came on. Jake loves to jump, roll, and flip himself around so I thought he’d be impressed with the men’s floor exercise.

“Look, Jakers,” I said, pointing to the TV. “Those guys are jumping high.”

Jake looked, watched intently for a moment, and then scoffed, “I can jump higher.”

Happy 8th Birthday, Maddie!

I’ll never forget the summer morning that Maddie was born. I actually helped deliver her; I pulled her up onto my chest. She smelled incredibly sweet. There was true beauty in the room that morning, like heaven opened up. I cried because I felt the spirit so strongly and because Madalyn Elaine immediately filled up parts of me that I didnt even know were empty before.

Maddie was such a peaceful baby and she maintained the same sweetness that she was born with. As a toddler, she had the biggest, most expressive brown eyes and a radiant smile that lit up her entire face. As a preschooler, she was incredibly imaginative, very obedient, and she talked and sang constantly.

Now she’s eight. I still see so much of the little girl she used to be, but she’s also really grown and matured, especially in the last six months. On top of that, her face looks older and her legs look longer.

Maddie is friendly, compassionate, and empathetic. She loves to help and she’s incredibly generous and selfless. She is still a very sweet, gentle little soul. Maddie is also free-spirited, fanciful, energetic, and playful. I think she’ll always be young at heart. She loves babies and she can’t wait to be a mommy. Maddie is truly an incredible little individual. I love her so very much and I’m so thankful she’s mine!!

Maddie’s big birthday party will be at the waterpark in two weeks. She requested her cake and presents that day as well and she is very excited about it. It should be a great birthday bash!

Today’s festivities will be very simple. Following tradition, Maddie picked her meals today. She asked for donuts and strawberry milk for breakfast and pizza for dinner. She also requested a trip to the park and a movie night. I think we’ll also take her out for ice cream after dinner.

Most of all, Maddie is looking forward to being baptized on Saturday. She picked out a beautiful white dress and she will get her own full set of scriptures. She is very, very excited!

We’re planning on taking a few birthday pictures sometime today, but I snapped this picture with my phone this morning. This is how I want to remember my girl the summer that she turned eight. She has spent every single day riding her bike and playing with friends.

Happy birthday, sweet Maddie!!

Evening: I took Maddie (and Allie) out for a brownie fudge sundae and she bought a doll with her birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa. We had such a fun evening together. I love my girl!

Ninjas

The boys have a bunch of tiny plastic ninjas. Lately, we’ve been finding those sneaky little ninjas all over and in some of the strangest places- down the sink drain, inside diapers, and even inside the door of the gas tank on the van… Sneaky, sneaky.

Catching a Little Smile

Tetanus Shot (and other stuff)

Joshua likes to go barefoot and I generally allow it because I prefer being barefoot too. Last night Rick and barefoot Josh were playing football together when Josh stepped on something in the grass and cut his foot. It didn’t need stitches, but his doctor said it did require a “better safe than sorry” tetanus shot.

So this afternoon we loaded up and went to the pediatrician’s office. On the way there I suddenly realized that I’d forgotten to put a bow on Allie. As a totally sane mother of a cute newborn baby girl, I did the only logical thing I could do- I turned around and went back for the bow. We couldn’t go out bow-less, after all.

Ah, that’s better.
(And look at her cute “old man” hair with the tuft of blond in back)

As soon as we were in the exam room, Drew was very, very nervous. He just went for his 18-month visit and shots a few weeks ago and he quite obviously remembered the experience. His concerned face was so comical that it had all of us giggling. Poor Drew! … And poor Josh too, but he wasn’t nearly as scared as Drew.

We went to Smith’s next, to play the Listening Game. I like looking through the clothes and the kids love browsing the toy aisle and it’s a good opportunity to practice listening and obeying even with distractions. The older kids don’t need practice listening and obeying, but Asher and Jacob do! Make a game of it, and everyone has fun! And I do think it helps little ones learn to listen and obey on outings.

At home we made another batch of cinnamon popcorn and put some grape slushies in the freezer. The kids were impressed when I told them I canned the grape juice myself and we all fondly recalled Nammy and Papa’s old grape vines.

After Rick got home we ate dinner, ran a few errands and then spent a cool (compared to how hot the rest of the day was) evening at the park.

Safe

Sleepless nights and lazy summer days continue… I find myself content with life, content with tired eyes and messy hair and clothes that don’t fit right, content with holding my newborn girl all day and getting very little done, content with little boys snuggled in around me (and sometimes off making messes instead) and big kids who love playing their afternoons away outside.

I cherish this newborn phase so much. It’s beautiful, sweet, spiritual, fleeting, almost even surreal at times. What a tiny, perfectly-made, miraculous creature a newborn is. I’ve been in awe of every newborn we’ve had, Allie is no different. She’s warm, she smells sweet, she already knows that my arms are the safest place in her world…

Asher wants to be big lately. I remind him that being big means obeying mom, not making messes, and being a good brother. He is striving to listen and obey and not to do naughty things anymore, and I praise him as much as I can.

He made juice by himself today. He was so eager to share it with all the kids at lunch. When the time came, I asked Joshua to carry to pitcher full of red fruit punch to the table. Asher was eager though; he jumped up and grabbed the pitcher and spilled a bunch onto the ground.

Asher was so crushed. His little face crumpled and he put his hands to his mouth and tried to hold back the tears. He got a rag to clean up the red mess. I went to that precious boy and hugged him so tight. I told him that it was okay and thanked him for cleaning up.

I want my four-year-old to know that I’m his safe place, just like his newborn sister does. I try to be safe for all my kids, gentle, loving, reassuring, constant… no matter what.

My baby is getting so big, my little kids are on their way to being big kids, my big kids are almost teenagers. Time is passing too fast. I know I can’t slow it down, instead I just want to cherish this time I have with my kids when they are small, be patient and gentle and present. I want to pour all my love into them while they are still mine to hold.

I love these children so much!

Little Buddies

5 weeks, 2 days

Allie turned 5 weeks old on Tuesday. It’s hard to believe she’s that old already!

Allie still loves to be held, she eats every three hours, and she has officially hit seven pounds!

We are all head over heels in love with our precious Allie!!