Down on the Farm

We have been to this farm twice before and have loved it every time.  So when Groupon had a deal on admission, I snapped them up and we made yet another trip to Green Meadows petting farm.  In the past, we have gone with Carter and Sammy’s classes for field trips.  It was definitely better on our own where we got to take our time and do even more. 

They rode ponies:

 

This is Ben explaining to the nice lady that Spiderman gets aaall the bad guys.  He has Spiderman sunglasses.  This is her laughing at his story.  Ben has this effect on most people.  Catching chickens – Carter would catch them for Sammy and she would hold them for a second before letting them go. Ben wanted absolutely nothing to do with them and would scream anytime Carter got close with one. But he was ok with goats. And bunnies.  He really liked the bunnies.  This is him telling Sarah to put the bunny riiiiiiight here.  Looks like Carter is an animal lover through and through.  I had to tell him a few times to stop rubbing his face all over the bunny.  He fell in love with this kitty, who apparently really liked him also.  There were tears when the adoption idea was nixed.  Feeding goats is always a favorite for everyone except for Sammy.  But after some coaching from Aunt Amber, she got the hang of it.  I love the way Ben and Samantha would walk around like this.  It’s what Ben would do when he got scared.  He would go over to Sammy and ask to be saved.  Which basically meant being held.  And as a side note, baby turkeys are so ugly they are almost cute.  But not quite.  We all had a blast with Aunt Amber and Sarah!  And I think we wore them out.  They are both sleeping on the couch now.  And just for old times sake, here’s today: And the first time we went back in 2010.  It was lots greener then.  Where does the time go? 

One Month!

Sadly, I didn’t realize that Adam was one month old until the 10th (he was born on the 9th).  He’s a fourth child, I guess it’s to be expected.  But it has been a month, and a crazy one at that.  Adam is not the easy going, mellow baby that I had hoped for.  He’s not horrible, and really I can’t complain.  He just likes to be held.  A lot.  I just realized today that it’s not the car seat that he hates, it’s the fact that he’s not being held.  He freaks out in the bouncy seat too.  He’s just a little snuggle bug.  I have been sooooo lucky to have my sister Sarah out here to help out.  Otherwise we would not be able to indulge in his snuggly nature nearly as much as he would like. 

Other than his refusal to be set down, he’s a good baby.  He’s eating like a champ and growing like a weed.  He’s already starting to grow out of some of his 0-3 month clothes.  Not surprising, considering he started out so big. 

The rest of us are surviving.  Ben is a much sweeter, gentler big brother than I expected him to be.  I know it’s helped having Sarah here, but he has adjusted really well so far.   Carter and Sammy hardly missed a beat.  They are loving the extra screen time they get while we aren’t going a lot of places and are still doing their best to drive me insane.

I think I have had the hardest time adjusting to everything.  Before Adam came, me and Ben had our little routine down.  The house was relatively clean, we both took naps almost every day, and things were good.  Then the kids got out of school for the summer, my house is a disaster, the only routine we have is the lack of one, and no one is napping anymore except Adam.  I feel like my life is completely out of control.  I keep telling myself that in a few months the kids will be back in school and Adam will be on a better schedule, but I’m pretty sure my house will never be clean again and it will be a long, long time (if ever) before I get any naps.  But I will survive.  And he is most definitely worth it.  So sweet. 

No more training wheels!

I have been trying to get Carter to take off his training wheels for a couple of years now. His first real attempt was back in Yellowstone where he nearly crashed into a tree. 

Ok, he crashed into the tree. But he was ok. Ok, but scarred. I have tried taking off his training wheels in an attempt to force him to learn to ride without training wheels. He just stopped riding his bike and started riding Samantha’s until I put them back on. Have I ever mentioned that he is super stubborn? Well, after the neighbor boy, who is a year younger than Carter, rode with his dad in a 5 mile ride for the arts last month, I decided that this was the summer he would learn.  I pulled out the old potty training trick, which works most of the time, and that is to get Samantha to do it first.  So I got Sammy all pumped up about riding with no training wheels.  We even got her a new bike (she had grown out of the little 12” batman bike a while ago).  Then I set a date and we went to a park where there is a great trail for learning.  And guess who picked it up in no time at all?  That’s right, it looks like it was time after all.  He later told me that he had no intention of learning how to ride his bike at all.  He was just coming along to play on the playground.  Stinker.  Ben got more comfortable with the batman bike, which is now his.  Although he was not happy with me taking pictures of him.  Here he was telling me “Don’t take pictures!”I didn’t listen.  And Sammy made some great progress too.  She’s not quite there, but I’m pretty sure she’ll have it by the end of the summer. 

School’s out for Summer!

The kids had their last day of school 2 days after we brought Adam home. Great timing on my part…  I can’t believe how much they grew up this past year! 

Last day of school.  Carter insists on wearing the hoods on anything that has them.  Apparently he looks to the Unabomber for fashion tips. 

Flashback to the first day of school.  So young.  Sniff, sniff. 

Introducing…

Our latest addition, our not-so-little Adam Richard!  He was born on June 9.  He was due on the 4th, but I guess he was pretty comfortable in his Olympic sized swimming pool.  He probably would have stayed in there forever if we would have let him.  Unfortunately, my poor belly was stretched to the max and the rest of me was tired of carrying him too.  My doctor sympathized with me and agreed to induce me.  Seriously, how did I not pop?  That belly is huge!  I went in on Friday night to be induced.  Can I tell you how slowly the day goes by when you know you having a baby that night?  Anyways, after a couple of relatively easy hours I was at a 4 and started thinking that I had made it this far, maybe I could do it without an epidural.  That decision lasted through about an hour of hard contractions.  When I heard I was just a 5, I gave in and got the blessed epidural.  Then they got the Pitocin going (does anybody actually have babies without it these days?) and things started moving along.  I started pushing right around  midnight and he was born at 12:28 am.  We are lucky that he came out so quickly, he had his cord around his neck at least twice.  Even with the epidural, pushing him out was by far the hardest most painful thing I have ever done.  And I delivered Ben with an epidural that didn’t work.  When they put him on the scale I saw why.  He was almost 10 pounds!  I almost died when I heard.  My biggest before this was Carter at 8 lb 8 oz.  Dr. Hasenyager guessed that he was about 9 lb 2 oz, so even she was surprised.  So to all of the well-wishers who asked if I was carrying twins – no, just one really big boy and a boatload of amniotic fluid.  Seriously, this kid had it good in there.  He was so mellow, just checking things out.  He didn’t cry for a while, which kind of scared me, but they assured me that he was fine, just taking it all in.  He met his daddy first.  Then I got my turn.  I let them clean him up a little first.  That little hat kept popping off his huge head.  I love that they waited a little while to put the drops in his eyes so he could check things out first.  Saturday afternoon, he got to meet the rest of the family.  Samantha was super excited.  Sarah was happy to meet her newest nephew.  Sammy was supervising. Ben wasn't sure what to think.  He has gotten used to the idea though and is very helpful with getting Adam his pacifier when he needs it.  He does occasionally get tired of his crying and tells him to “just stop crying!”.  For the most part he is taking it lots better than I thought he would.  Mostly because Sarah is here to keep him entertained, but I am glad there has been no physical violence like I had expected.  Me and Ben have been buddies while the older kids were in school and I didn’t expect him to take Adam’s intrusion very well.  Carter is a proud big brother and keeps saying that Adam is so cute he could eat him for breakfast.  He’s very helpful too.  Honestly, he’s just enjoying all the extra screen time he’s been getting since we aren’t going anywhere these days.  And Mike still isn’t sure what he got himself into, but he knows that there’s no turning back now!  Sucker. 

Adam was super mellow in the hospital.  He slept like a champ, was a great eater and when he was awake, he just liked to look around.  That changed after the first few days, he likes to be held a lot more now, but he definitely got things off to a good start.  Much better than any of the other kids, who wanted to eat non-stop.  He must have been living off the fat stored in those chubby little cheeks.  And here we are headed back to real life.  Life where you can’t have the nurses take him for a few hours of sleep.  Where I can’t just sit and nurse and watch TV without other kids climbing all over us.  Where I can’t just call downstairs for a meal whenever I want one…  Maybe Mike isn’t the sucker after all…

Welcome to our family little man, we are so happy you chose us!

Happy Mother’s Day!

(I found this post that I wrote and never posted back in May – oops!)

I am one lucky mama!  I woke up to breakfast in bed, followed by  gifts of some of my favorite treats and a new flash that I have been eying for a while.  As I write this, Mike is in the kitchen making dinner and the kids are playing quietly downstairs.  Pretty close to a perfect day if you ask me. 

Growing up, motherhood was never in my plans.  I was going to be a doctor.  A pediatrician in fact.  I had no plans of marriage and was fine with that.  I had never been baby hungry.  I never looked longingly at bridal magazines.  I wasn’t jealous when my friends got married; it just wasn’t for me.  Then along came Mike.  And I decided maybe marriage wouldn’t be so bad after all.  And if we are getting married, I may as well go all out and try out motherhood too. I blame Mike and organic chemistry for changing my life plans (O-chem was a killer!) and I am so grateful that they did.  I could have never imagined then the joy and fulfillment I would find in this life.  Yes, we have our fights and sometimes the bad days outnumber the good.  But I wouldn’t trade this job for any other in the world.  I am so grateful for the responsibility and privilege it is to be these kids’ mom. I’m grateful for a husband who works so hard providing for us that I am able to stay home with them.  They may get sick of me at times, but I absolutely love the fact that I get to be there for all the little moments.  As I look forward to adding one more, I am a little bit overwhelmed with the trust that Heavenly Father has in me to send these sweet spirits to me.   I can’t wait to see what is in store for them as they grow up. 

 

Love these guys!