It seems my life is an endless cycle of sleep, no sleep. Of course, the no sleep cycles always seem to be at the forefront. We are currently going through one of those. I don't know why I even bother going to bed at night sometimes, I get up so many times for different things with different children. Caleb is my night owl, always up about 4 times before he finally settles down for the night. Travis has been waking up screaming in various parts of our end of the house at various times of night. I think he might sleepwalk. One night, I found him curled up in the middle of the hallway! Then there's Eliza. She is almost 9 months old and still getting up at least once every night. She did actually sleep through until 5 am over the weekend (Friday, Saturday AND Sunday nights), but the last two nights has reverted back to her old wake-up time of 3:00 am. I really am at a loss. She's eating plenty during the day, but at 3 am, she always sucks down 7-8 ounces of formula before going back to sleep. Last night, I didn't feed her, I just moved her to her port-a-crib, which is still set up in our closet from John and Allison's stay here on Friday night. I think she went back to sleep. I don't really know. I shut the closet door and the bathroom door and then put my earplugs in.
So that's how it goes here. Aside from the kids always waking up (Westley has had a few bad dream nights, but otherwise, he sleeps all night, though he still keeps really early hours in the morning--5:30 am is the norm), Corey has been working tons of night shifts and getting into bed at about 2:30 am, which is when my day really starts. Being that as it is, I think I'm going to cut this vent short and head off to bed. Last night was one of the harder nights, and I'm plum tuckered out!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Church with Four Kids 5 and under
On Sunday, August 31st, I had to deal with the usual wrestling match during Sacrament meeting. I wish that we could sit on a back row that isn't in the cultural hall, with the hardwood floors and hard chairs, because our pew is like a mini-playground. I'm sure it's very amusing for people sitting behind us, albeit embarrassing for me. I don't even want to know what the people think when they sit behind us. I'm sure we're a huge distraction from the service--with Travis escaping under the bench every five minutes, Eliza now escaping as well, Westley acting like limp spaghetti because he doesn't want to sit up, and Caleb (the klutziest 3-year-old ever) bonking his head every time he moves and screaming. I feel like my hair is standing on end and that I've revealed myself every possible way with kids climbing over my clothes and pulling them up and out and everywhere by the end of the meeting.
Well, this past Sunday, after chasing down Travis and getting him back to the pew, I sat him on my lap, with him facing front when suddenly...SMACK!!! He reared back, throwing his hard little noggin right into my lip. It was excruciatingly painful--and then I started bleeding. I handed Travis over to Corey, trying to stop the tears that naturally start flowing after being struck in such a fashion, and went to the ladies' room to find that he had given me a fat lip, which was actually a split lip on the inside, now a cankersore.
I have never wanted to leave church so badly in my life. I would have too, but Corey had to leave early himself to go to work, and I didn't want to have to drag all four kids away from church, especially when they were enjoying their classes so much. So I stayed. Next time, I'll remember to sit Travis facing me. Or maybe just have Corey deal with him. Now that I think about it, Travis also enjoys head butting...
Well, this past Sunday, after chasing down Travis and getting him back to the pew, I sat him on my lap, with him facing front when suddenly...SMACK!!! He reared back, throwing his hard little noggin right into my lip. It was excruciatingly painful--and then I started bleeding. I handed Travis over to Corey, trying to stop the tears that naturally start flowing after being struck in such a fashion, and went to the ladies' room to find that he had given me a fat lip, which was actually a split lip on the inside, now a cankersore.
I have never wanted to leave church so badly in my life. I would have too, but Corey had to leave early himself to go to work, and I didn't want to have to drag all four kids away from church, especially when they were enjoying their classes so much. So I stayed. Next time, I'll remember to sit Travis facing me. Or maybe just have Corey deal with him. Now that I think about it, Travis also enjoys head butting...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
A Baseball Game and the First Lost Tooth
We had a good weekend, for the most part (other than me getting super sick with a really bad cold). On Saturday, Corey took Westley to a Diamondbacks baseball game with Toby and Toby (seen behind Westley--Toby is Corey's brother, Toby is Toby's son) and Corey's cousin David, his new wife Natalie, and David's two kids Braeden and Brooke (spelling may be wrong--I apologize). They had a lot of fun at that.
When Westley and Corey got home, Westley's tooth was finally about to come out. He didn't want to wait anymore, so Corey got the pliers and pulled it right out. It was so ready to come out, all he did really was nudge it a little forward and it popped right out. Westley was so excited. He put it under his pillow. It took both me and Corey like 10 minutes of carefully trying to find it before we finally found it under his pillow. We left him a dollar, and in the morning, Westley came in the room and said, "The tooth fairy left me a dollar, now I can buy a new tooth!"
When Westley and Corey got home, Westley's tooth was finally about to come out. He didn't want to wait anymore, so Corey got the pliers and pulled it right out. It was so ready to come out, all he did really was nudge it a little forward and it popped right out. Westley was so excited. He put it under his pillow. It took both me and Corey like 10 minutes of carefully trying to find it before we finally found it under his pillow. We left him a dollar, and in the morning, Westley came in the room and said, "The tooth fairy left me a dollar, now I can buy a new tooth!"
Saturday, August 23, 2008
What the Rest of Us Do All Day
Since Westley started school, we've had to adjust our routine a little bit. We all ( me & the kids) walk Westley to the bus stop (except when Dad is still home--then just one of us goes), which is down the street. I push Travis and Eliza in the double stroller and Caleb walks with Westley up ahead. After we come home from the bus stop, Eliza goes down for her morning nap (about 8:15). Then Travis and Caleb will play outside or just watch Sesame Street. When Corey was home the first week, we went swimming, just Corey, me, Travis and Caleb.
They always watch Curious George at 9, because it's snack time and they usually eat while they watch. Starting this week, though, I'm going to move snack time to 9:30 and let them watch Curious George first and then eat snack at the table because we are going to start having healthier snacks--fruit snacks might as well be gummy candy for all the nutritional value they have!
At that point, we turn off the T.V. and have playtime. Eliza is often awake by then. I've been so tired that I usually lay on the couch and doze while they play in the living room. Sometimes I read, though. If I'm feeling up to it (which I hopefully will more in the future--Eliza and I have both been sick the last couple weeks with a bad cough), we go to the store for errands or to the mall play area or do something fun, like on Friday we baked cookies. We have lunch at 11. We watch Word World at 11:30. Word World is a must. For some reason, if we watch it, Caleb will go down for a nap; sometimes he'll even put himself down, but if we don't, it's a huge battle at naptime.
Naps are at noon for all the kids. After getting them all to sleep, I usually lie down. After I snooze, usually only for about 30 minutes, I'll get online or I'll read. If I'm motivated, I'll work on some of my writing. Often, though, I'm just too tired still and just watch some T.V. The kids start waking up between 1:30 and 3:00. If they aren't all awake by 3:00, I wake them up so they have time to wake up and put their shoes on because we have to walk to the bus stop to get Westley at 3:15.
After Westley comes home, we have an afternoon snack and then they all play. Twice we've gone swimming at that point. Dinner is still at about 5:30 and then bedtime by 7:00 pm!
Here are some pictures of the kids while Westley is at school:
Playing together in the boys' room, Eliza included!
More playing together.
Caleb stepped in to help feed Eliza while I got something out of the pantry for Travis.
He really looks angelic while asleep, doesn't he?
Caleb sucking on his finger, as always.
What a sweet baby!
Eliza trying to get in the kitchen while I'm making lunch.
"Westley is at school! I can try on the coveted Spider-man costume!" Travis says (even though it is sized to fit a 4-5-year-old and Travis is only 22 months!).
They always watch Curious George at 9, because it's snack time and they usually eat while they watch. Starting this week, though, I'm going to move snack time to 9:30 and let them watch Curious George first and then eat snack at the table because we are going to start having healthier snacks--fruit snacks might as well be gummy candy for all the nutritional value they have!
At that point, we turn off the T.V. and have playtime. Eliza is often awake by then. I've been so tired that I usually lay on the couch and doze while they play in the living room. Sometimes I read, though. If I'm feeling up to it (which I hopefully will more in the future--Eliza and I have both been sick the last couple weeks with a bad cough), we go to the store for errands or to the mall play area or do something fun, like on Friday we baked cookies. We have lunch at 11. We watch Word World at 11:30. Word World is a must. For some reason, if we watch it, Caleb will go down for a nap; sometimes he'll even put himself down, but if we don't, it's a huge battle at naptime.
Naps are at noon for all the kids. After getting them all to sleep, I usually lie down. After I snooze, usually only for about 30 minutes, I'll get online or I'll read. If I'm motivated, I'll work on some of my writing. Often, though, I'm just too tired still and just watch some T.V. The kids start waking up between 1:30 and 3:00. If they aren't all awake by 3:00, I wake them up so they have time to wake up and put their shoes on because we have to walk to the bus stop to get Westley at 3:15.
After Westley comes home, we have an afternoon snack and then they all play. Twice we've gone swimming at that point. Dinner is still at about 5:30 and then bedtime by 7:00 pm!
Here are some pictures of the kids while Westley is at school:
Playing together in the boys' room, Eliza included!
More playing together.
Caleb stepped in to help feed Eliza while I got something out of the pantry for Travis.
He really looks angelic while asleep, doesn't he?
Caleb sucking on his finger, as always.
What a sweet baby!
Eliza trying to get in the kitchen while I'm making lunch.
"Westley is at school! I can try on the coveted Spider-man costume!" Travis says (even though it is sized to fit a 4-5-year-old and Travis is only 22 months!).Major Milestone--Westley Starts School!
Westley has been in school for two weeks! He started on the 11th of August in full-day kindergarten. He gets to ride the bus to and from school, which is really fun for him. He seems to be adjusting well to school and enjoying it. His behavior at home, however, is another story...
Here are some pictures from his first day and week of school:
Here are some pictures from his first day and week of school:
Friday, August 15, 2008
Pictures from the Family Visit
These pictures are in totally random order, and I couldn't get some of the pictures from my camera to load onto Blogger, so there are no pictures from John's birthday and very few from Makutu's Island. But we sure had a fun week!
Hanging upside-down during our home Olympics:
Westley, Christine, Hannah, Leah, and Marianne
High-flying with Uncle Corey:
Hannah (flying), Leah and Marianne waiting their turns
Swimming lessons with Courtney:
Marianne, Christine, and Westley
Discovering their treasure from the FHE treasure hunt:
Travis and Matthew
Makutu's Island:
Caleb
Olympic flags
Matthew, the gymnast
Our Olympic competitors:
(on back of couch--Marianne and Leah)
Matthew, Christine, Katie, Westley, Travis, Hannah, Caleb, and Peter
Cousins eating lunch
Family Home Evening Begins
Treasure Hunters
Pool Fun:
Eliza, Travis, and Hannah
Leah
Hannah
Matthew
Westley
Marianne
Hanging upside-down during our home Olympics:Westley, Christine, Hannah, Leah, and Marianne
High-flying with Uncle Corey:Hannah (flying), Leah and Marianne waiting their turns
Swimming lessons with Courtney:Marianne, Christine, and Westley
Discovering their treasure from the FHE treasure hunt:Travis and Matthew
Makutu's Island:Caleb
Olympic flags
Matthew, the gymnast
Our Olympic competitors:(on back of couch--Marianne and Leah)
Matthew, Christine, Katie, Westley, Travis, Hannah, Caleb, and Peter
Cousins eating lunch
Family Home Evening Begins
Treasure Hunters
Pool Fun:Eliza, Travis, and Hannah
Leah
Hannah
Matthew
Westley
MarianneThursday, August 14, 2008
A Family Visit
We had a big family visit, starting on August 2nd and lasting all week through the 9th. We were lucky to be able to enjoy the whole visit because of living with my parents. Last summer, we had to leave every evening and drive back to Queen Creek, but this year, we didn't have to do that.
John and Allison and their three girls--Marianne, Christine, and Katie--flew in from London on the evening of August 2nd. They were pretty beat, having been traveling for like 12 hours! Adam and Eve arrived right around the same time that my parents were gone to pick up John and Allison's clan. Jordan and Andrea and their four kids--Peter, Leah, Hannah, and Matthew--arrived around 10 pm on Sunday night (August 3rd). They drove in from Texas that day! Long day for them as well!
We really had fun all week. Here I will summarize what we did each day. I will post pictures in another post. On Sunday, John and Allison family and Adam and Eve came to church with us. We actually had another family visiting from London, so the primary was full of little American girls with British accents. We also celebrated John's birthday on Sunday evening.
Monday
On Monday, Marianne, Christine, and Westley started swimming lessons together here at the house. My mom had hired someone to come every day and teach lessons. After the lesson, we were all in the pool swimming and then Corey came home from work early to join us for the day. We really didn't do anything but hang out at the house all day, swimming and letting the kids play together. That evening, we had a great FHE that Mom and Dad had planned for the grandkids. It was a treasure hunt and the kids loved it. Lots of fun!
Tuesday
Corey had to work, so after swimming in the morning, we drove over to In-N-Out and had lunch. After lunch, people ran errands and napped and the kids played. That evening, the girls had a fabulous evening out without the kids. Andrea, Allison, Eve, and I went for pedicures before meeting Mom at Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Yummy! We had the appetizer platter, which was big enough to count for a meal without ruining our appetite for dessert. Then we each ordered a different kind of cheesecake and tasted each other's! It was a lot of fun to chat and get to know each other better. We sure missed Kaori and hopefully we can make this sort of a tradition--I even think a little overnight get-away would be even more fun! The dads and Adam stayed with all the kids, went swimming and ordered pizza and they had a blast. Little Matthew was shouting as we were leaving, "Let's get this party started!" It was too cute!
Wednesday
Adam and Eve had to return to Utah this day. Eliza came down with pinkeye, so Corey took her to the doctor and ran some errands. While he was gone doing that, everyone else hit Makutu's Island, this place that we all like to go when everyone is here, a great indoor playland. I don't really remember the evenings very well, we either sat around talking, or playing games, or people went off and visited other friends and family members in the area.
Thursday
On Thursday, we just swam some more and people went shopping and visited friends and family. Corey and I went to Westley's Welcome party for kindergarten and then I went to Meet the Teacher night that night.
Friday
Friday was a lot of fun. In honor of the opening of the Olympics, we had our own Olympics at the house. First, we had the kids make their own flags to represent their "countries", including the country of Spider-man (Westley). Then we had a parade to carry the torch (a beautiful paper cup with construction paper flames coming out of it). After the torch, we had a bean bag/webkins toss (tossing bean bags or webkins into different shaped containers). Then we had a book walk (walking while balancing a book on your head). After that, each child got to perform a "gymnastics/dance" routine to music ("The Man From Snowy River"). That was a lot of fun, Matthew was especially funny because he was so serious. After that, they went outside and did some relays. Because everyone was so hot from the relays, we made snow cones and then had the swimming events, which not everyone participated in. But it was a lot of fun.
That evening, we hired some baby-sitters for all 11 kids and went out as couples to dinner/dessert, Cheesecake Factory once again. It was fun. We even got to see some of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics from our table. After that, we came home too tired to play a game and mostly just went to bed.
Saturday
Everyone left on Saturday. John and Allison had to be to the airport around 11:30 and Jordan and Andrea left not too long after that to start their long drive back to Texas. We were thrilled to see everyone that we saw, we missed Aaron and Kaori. Hopefully next summer everyone will be able to come, even Austin! A real family reunion for the Carl Fowles family is in order (complete with a girl's getaway!). Until next year...
John and Allison and their three girls--Marianne, Christine, and Katie--flew in from London on the evening of August 2nd. They were pretty beat, having been traveling for like 12 hours! Adam and Eve arrived right around the same time that my parents were gone to pick up John and Allison's clan. Jordan and Andrea and their four kids--Peter, Leah, Hannah, and Matthew--arrived around 10 pm on Sunday night (August 3rd). They drove in from Texas that day! Long day for them as well!
We really had fun all week. Here I will summarize what we did each day. I will post pictures in another post. On Sunday, John and Allison family and Adam and Eve came to church with us. We actually had another family visiting from London, so the primary was full of little American girls with British accents. We also celebrated John's birthday on Sunday evening.
Monday
On Monday, Marianne, Christine, and Westley started swimming lessons together here at the house. My mom had hired someone to come every day and teach lessons. After the lesson, we were all in the pool swimming and then Corey came home from work early to join us for the day. We really didn't do anything but hang out at the house all day, swimming and letting the kids play together. That evening, we had a great FHE that Mom and Dad had planned for the grandkids. It was a treasure hunt and the kids loved it. Lots of fun!
Tuesday
Corey had to work, so after swimming in the morning, we drove over to In-N-Out and had lunch. After lunch, people ran errands and napped and the kids played. That evening, the girls had a fabulous evening out without the kids. Andrea, Allison, Eve, and I went for pedicures before meeting Mom at Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Yummy! We had the appetizer platter, which was big enough to count for a meal without ruining our appetite for dessert. Then we each ordered a different kind of cheesecake and tasted each other's! It was a lot of fun to chat and get to know each other better. We sure missed Kaori and hopefully we can make this sort of a tradition--I even think a little overnight get-away would be even more fun! The dads and Adam stayed with all the kids, went swimming and ordered pizza and they had a blast. Little Matthew was shouting as we were leaving, "Let's get this party started!" It was too cute!
Wednesday
Adam and Eve had to return to Utah this day. Eliza came down with pinkeye, so Corey took her to the doctor and ran some errands. While he was gone doing that, everyone else hit Makutu's Island, this place that we all like to go when everyone is here, a great indoor playland. I don't really remember the evenings very well, we either sat around talking, or playing games, or people went off and visited other friends and family members in the area.
Thursday
On Thursday, we just swam some more and people went shopping and visited friends and family. Corey and I went to Westley's Welcome party for kindergarten and then I went to Meet the Teacher night that night.
Friday
Friday was a lot of fun. In honor of the opening of the Olympics, we had our own Olympics at the house. First, we had the kids make their own flags to represent their "countries", including the country of Spider-man (Westley). Then we had a parade to carry the torch (a beautiful paper cup with construction paper flames coming out of it). After the torch, we had a bean bag/webkins toss (tossing bean bags or webkins into different shaped containers). Then we had a book walk (walking while balancing a book on your head). After that, each child got to perform a "gymnastics/dance" routine to music ("The Man From Snowy River"). That was a lot of fun, Matthew was especially funny because he was so serious. After that, they went outside and did some relays. Because everyone was so hot from the relays, we made snow cones and then had the swimming events, which not everyone participated in. But it was a lot of fun.
That evening, we hired some baby-sitters for all 11 kids and went out as couples to dinner/dessert, Cheesecake Factory once again. It was fun. We even got to see some of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics from our table. After that, we came home too tired to play a game and mostly just went to bed.
Saturday
Everyone left on Saturday. John and Allison had to be to the airport around 11:30 and Jordan and Andrea left not too long after that to start their long drive back to Texas. We were thrilled to see everyone that we saw, we missed Aaron and Kaori. Hopefully next summer everyone will be able to come, even Austin! A real family reunion for the Carl Fowles family is in order (complete with a girl's getaway!). Until next year...
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