Too Many Kids?

It was our family Christmas Eve (Dec 23) and Adam and I had split up to wrap up some last minute shopping.  As Holt and I are trekking our way into old Bartlett, I hop on the phone to schedule his 2 month check-up.  Peds East looks up children starting with their birthdate and then their name.

Operator:  What's the child's date of birth?
Me:  11/5/10
Operator:  Last name?
Me:  Schwartz, Holt
Operator:  (After an unusually long pause)  Hmmm.  I don't see him in here.  Has he been seen here yet?
Me:  Yeah, for his one week check up.  I filled out the paperwork and everything.  All his brothers go here too.

(The operator decides to look him up by his last name.)
Operator:  Oh here he is!  They have his birthday entered as the 4th!  (She says this kinda exasperated like she can't believe some incompetent office personnel couldn't enter the simplest, yet highly important bit of information)
Me:  (if only you could have seen the lightbulb go off in my head)  You know....his birthday is the 4th!  Oh my goodness!  I can't believe I did that.

We both had a good laugh and I'm sure her confidence was restored in the poor office worker who was bound to get a stern talking-to.  But I now presume her suspicion has been shifted to me.  Perhaps you have too many kids when you can't remember all their birthdays correctly.

But you see, his due date was 11/12/10 and I always have a scheduled c-section exactly one week prior.  So for some 30 weeks or more, I knew his birthday was going to be 11/5/10.  But for some reason, his delivery was scheduled a day earlier than I had anticipated.  I guess I'll just have to re-program my brain that my fourth was born on the fourth -- sooner than later.

Christmas Break

So it's been a while since I have posted, not for lack of material, mind you.  It has been a busy/lazy week with Christmas and everything.  I guess busy/lazy week sounds like an oxymoron but that really is how it went down at the Schwartz's this week.  I would recommend scrolling down to the last post you read and reading from the bottom up so as to read them in chronological order.  Otherwise, there are so many, you will be reading them in backwards order (is there a term for that?) and not getting the full effect.  Just to let you know, I posted 13 today.

Tito - the Gift From a Horror Film

Santa brought the kids an inflatable 5.5' punching dummy that Adam named Tito.  Today we aired him up.  Because he is life-like size, he required a lot of air which required a lot of water in the base to keep him standing upright.  Therefore he is very heavy.  The kids have a blast punching him to death.

We're even considering using Tito for punishment when they are violent with each other.  You hit your brother, you hit Tito until Mom or Dad says stop.  This has so many positive effects.  They get a workout while working out anger.

However, I just can not get used to Tito "standing" in my office, menacingly glaring at me as I pass by.  Consciously, I know exactly where he is.  But everytime I enter the room and see him staring at me, I can't help but be startled.  I glance at him on my way to the kitchen and 15 seconds later I catch him out of the corner of my eye and gasp again.  It doesn't matter the time of day.  My heart has probably missed an upwards of 100 beats since yesterday due to our newest inhabitant.  He's like the creepy clown from all the horror films.

It doesn't help that Adam finds this humorous and has found ways to exploit my fear.  Last night around 11:00 pm, I was turning off all the lights and getting a drink from the kitchen.  Everyone was in bed.  As I was pouring my glass, I could hear Tito shifting.  I called out to Adam, exposing his practical joke, while attempting to convince myself that Tito is incapable of making any noise on his own.  I was anticipating Adam to be hiding behind the inflated fighter, poised to jump out at me.  I cautiously rounded the corner as I called out in my most brave voice, "I know you're there!"  But I wasn't expecting Tito to have been moved to stand right where I rounded the corner.  I turned to meet him eye to eye and gasped!  Adam was snuggled up in the bed as if he was completely innocent.

Christmas Clean Up

As I had mentioned before, we celebrate our Christmas Day on December 24th.  Generally, I have the tree down by December 25th.  We still have not had the Schwartz Family Christmas at my in-laws, so technically it is still Christmas.  But it might be time to take the tree down when:

It seems like there are more needles on the floor than on your tree.  Trust me, this picture does no justice to the amount of needles sprinkled amongst my carpet.

A spider has set up residence on the tree topper.

All the ornaments that had been re-located off the poor bottom branches have mysteriously found their way to once again dangle inches from the carpet.

Half the tree you painstakingly lit, after multiple trips to Walgreens for more lights, has burnt out.

The only thing holding me back from just pitching the whole thing on the street after yanking my mom's red wooden beads off and the star, would be the 15 strands of lights I purchased this year.  Since I will be forced to remove everything from the tree in order to get the lights off, I wonder if there will be a single needle left on the tree when I am finished.



Sailor Cursing Toddler

Houston gave Hawkins a pepperoni stick for a snack.  If you haven't seen them before, they resemble a cheese stick, though it is instead pepperoni.  Hawkins came running in the room announcing his treasure to Adam and I.  It was just too funny that we had him repeat it for the camera.  He is attempting to say "stick".  Go figure--the kid can say pepperoni but a simple word like stick trips him up.

Disclaimer:  Neither Adam or I use these words at home.  So this is not him repeating something he has heard, it is merely a mistake in pronunciation that just so happens to be a curse word.  And if you are somewhere or with someone that you do not want to broadcast a cursing toddler, I advise against playing the following videos.

This post reminded me of a similar occasion this year where Hawkins was trying to say "rocket ship".  Since this was before the blog was created, I thought it would fit in here.

"Santa Milk Jello"

Our children absolutely love boiled custard.  Since it is only available from Thanksgiving to Christmas, my kids consider it a real treat to enjoy.  Boiled custard is the beverage of choice for Santa at our house.  That is how it coined the term "Santa milk".

I poured the kids each a glass of Santa milk with their breakfast.  We later ran some errands and returned home early afternoon.  I could hear Hayes and Hawkins talking excitedly and giggling about "Santa milk jello" from the kitchen.  Detained at the moment by an infant with a bottle, I could not get up to inquire.  However, once the opportunity arose where I could investigate, I marched into the kitchen.  The only evidence left behind of the Santa milk jello was

 a ring of curdled custard in the bottom of a Christmas cup from this morning's breakfast

and a moustache on a quite content toddler.  Yum!  Yum!  The five year old had already fled the scene.



My Awesome Christmas Present #3

Generally this video would need no explanation.  However, there is a story to go along with this precious video.  I had witnessed Holt smile at me once before Christmas.  Like a true, bonafide smile.  Not one of the gas smiles that newborns are known for.  This was a serious grin.  Since I was alone when he did it, and had no witnesses, I felt as though the validity of it might be in question.  Days passed and I could not get him to replicate it.  Until Christmas morning, that is.  After nearly choking half to death on his bottle, and throwing up the contents of his stomach, I laid him down to change his clothes.  While he was still undressed, he began smiling up a storm!  Adam was nearby with the camera and I hollered at him to come get this.  I kept telling Holt, "Good morning, Merry Christmas!"  To which he would give me an ear to ear smile.  I was even more delighted that it was all being captured on video.  That is, until Holt was done smiling, Adam went to stop the recording and as he pressed the button, the red light came on.  Ah yes, my darling husband had never pushed the record button to begin with.  So this video was captured a few days later.

My Awesome Christmas Present #2

If you've been following the blog, you know it has been a struggle to get my near three year old excited about giving up his diapers.  Everytime we would ask him when he was gonna be a big boy and start using the potty, he would definitively say, "Tomorrow!"  I even joked with him about him using the potty as my only Christmas wish.

In all fairness and honesty, I blame myself for him still in diapers.  It takes a lot of time and attention, both of which all mine has been focused on Holt for the last 6 weeks.  I was becoming increasingly resentful with each time I changed Hawk's diaper and the Tuesday before Christmas, I was on a mission to rid the diapers before the new year.

The way we have potty trained our other two boys was to stay home and they stayed naked from the waist down.  Then every 30-60 minutes, we would prompt them to sit on the toilet.  At first, Hawkins shot me a lot of these looks everytime I told him it was time to go "sit potty" again.  And the look was almost always followed by an exasperated "awww!" or "not yet" or "I already did."  We had only one accident that first day of potty training and it was within the first hour of being a total free bird.  The next day he and the other boys spent all day at Grammy's house.  Unfortunately, he was in a diaper the whole time at her house.  Once he returned home Thursday, the first thing we did was yank that diaper off again.  Still lots of glares and excuses but no accidents the entire day.  We've had a few accidents here and there since but he is doing an amazing job!

Therefore, I am officially calling Hawkins toilet trained and he was such a pro that it was actually in time to be my awesome Christmas present #2!

 He even wrapped himself up in some adorable "ho ho ho" Christmas underwear, donned an elf hat, and laid underneath the tree.

My Awesome Christmas Present #1

I had the best Christmas ever!  My awesome hubby got me a super sweet camera lens so I can take really cool pictures like these:

(This is not a super cool picture but just a picture of the awesome lens.)

Christmas 2010

Santa visited the Schwartz residence and outdid himself once again.  At 6:30, we went to wake up Hawkins.  Adam carried him into the boys' room as he continually announced to them, "Santa came!  Santa came!"  Groggily but with more zeal than a school morning, the kids rolled out of bed and with anticipation and excitement, made their way into the living room.  Their eyes were as big as golf balls (Hawk's the size of tennis balls) and their mouths dropped in amazement as they took it all in.  After locating his stash of presents, Houston confessed, "Shoo, I thought I was gonna get coal."  A great time was had by all!

Houston got his Pokemon cards.

Hayes got his camo bear.

The best expression by far all day, Hawkins got dinosaurs.  It took the poor guy most of the morning to open his gifts because he was very OCD about the wrapping paper.  He would not even acknowledge the present until every last piece of gift wrap had been removed.

Houston had wrapped Dad a present and set it under the tree.  Turned out to be a silly band.

And Holt was just along for the ride.

The Christmas Chaos.  We spent the rest of the day in our pajamas enjoying our new toys.  Adam spent most of the day assembling.

Christmas from the Kids

Christmas Eve (Dec. 23rd) Adam decided that he would like the kids to get us each something for Christmas.  He felt this would begin to teach them that Christmas is about giving.  We headed to Walgreens in seperate cars.  Our plan was that the kids would pick out something for me, Adam would check out and then hand the kids off to me to repeat the process for his gift.  While in the car on the way there, he asked the kids what they should get me for Christmas.  Hayes immediately shouted out "A Snuggie!"  Adam had them continue listing things to already have some ideas and speed up the shopping process.  Other items they came up with included a new car, a new house, and new make-up.  They settled on a Snuggie.  However grateful I am that I look like a package of cotton candy when persuing warmth, perhaps next time they could get the new car or the new house.  Both of which I would also be grateful for.

It was my turn to take the boys shopping for Adam.  We headed for the only aisle in Walgreens capable of producing a gift that would please Adam and at the same time complete distract the boys from the task at hand - the toy aisle.  On our way there, Houston announced that we should get Dad a fart machine.  However, as soon as we turned onto the toy aisle, all focus for Dad was lost.  They began picking out things to add to their last minute Christmas list.  Adam ended up with a Chia pet.

Christmas Eve 2010

Adam read the Christmas Story from the Bible.

Houston wrote a note to Santa to leave out with the Santa milk and the Oreos.

We fed the reindeer.

Hawkins and Hayes opted to dump their reindeer food in a pile on the driveway while Houston went around methodically sprinkling his amongst the yard.  And with that, the Schwartz boys went to bed.

Santa vs Santa

Shopping for Santa presents for four children can get expensive.  Adam and I begin early in the year shopping deals for Christmas presents.  I hunt all the clearance toys at stores and even check out garage sales and consignment sales for great steals.  We tuck everything into black garbage bags in the garage.  The gifts begin to pile up and nothing is pulled out until we're ready to wrap.  When there are two Santas both working towards a common goal without proper communication, there are bound to be mistakes.  Since Santa waits until the last minute to wrap, these errors are not discovered until the last minute.

All Wrapped Up

The kids slept over at Grammy's and Santa took advantage of the opportunity to wrap gifts.  Instead of waiting until the usual Christmas Eve night, we tackled the daunting mountain of presents.

Each child has their own paper, that way there is no reading of tags.  Now we didn't document the next two hours we spent cleaning up and putting together toys that I purchased from garage sales and consignment sales that we decided to leave unwrapped.

Holt, sensing the seriousness of the task set before us, cooperated nicely.  Thanks big guy.  You're such a super baby.

Rudolph -- Hawk Style

Muffin Man

This morning Houston made us muffins for breakfast - from start to finish with only minimal help from me.  He gathered all the ingredients and the muffin pan while I set the oven.  He measured and poured the oil and milk all by himself.  I did do a quick quality check before they were dumped in the bowl.  He cracked the eggs.  One of the eggs he used force to open and resulted in "egg goo" as he called it all over the counter, the cabinets, the floor, and himself.  After cleaning that up together, he finished mixing the muffins.  He even cleaned up all the mess!  Made me realize that I should start teaching them all to be little chefs.  Perhaps one day they will be trained enough that I get breakfast in bed!  Thanks Huey for the delicious muffins!  And if you're wondering, no, he did not remove them from the hot oven.

Midnight Movie Fest

After the youth Christmas party, all the boys returned home and started the originial Karate Kid.  Adam had been anxiously waiting to watch it.  Thank goodness for online Netflix!  All the boys (including Adam) were completely enthralled with the movie.  I'm pretty sure a freight train could have run right through our living room and only I would have moved out of the way.  Meanwhile, I kept myself busy doing anything but watching Karate Kid.  I guess I need to learn to play along since it doesn't look as if there will be any chick flick fests at my house in the near future.

By the time I emerged from the bedroom at midnight, H1 & H2 had already retired to bed.  (Wish I had the forethought to snap a picture of them since it looked like they crawled in their bed and died).  However, I was able to catch a picture of the other three.

Hawk looks so big in this picture!  *sniff sniff* This morning Adam informed me that Hawkins was wide-eyed as could be last night, well after the older boys.  Adam kept glancing down at him to see if he had dozed off yet, only to find him still watching the movie.  It wasn't until Adam gave him a BB (his blanket) that he immediately dozed off to sleepy town.

Go Get Dressed

After their shower tonight, Adam instructed the kids to go get dressed.  He really was just talking to the older two, who are capable of picking out their pajamas and dressing themselves.  Hawkins decided to dress himself as well.

Blog Monster

Apparently, I've created a monster.  Everytime the kids do the slightest little thing, they ask me, "Are you gonna put that on the blog?!"

What's For Dinner

When the Christmas budget has been completely blown and your refrigerator looks like:

And a dinner of pickles, eggs, cool-whip, A1, and lemon juice is not appealing, and the mystery painted bowl full of leftovers is too much of a gamble,

Although perhaps not your first choice, you decide to play it a little safer and go with the pantry.
And Stephen, you should be proud of me, neither gallon of milk is expired.



Hawki-isms

Generally I do a generic "Kid-ism" title when I have something funny that one of the kids has said.  However, this post is completely dedicated to Hawkins and all the funny things he is doing/saying right now.  He is quite the little comedian.  He is all the time saying and doing things that, even when they are terrible, you still laugh out loud.  And believe me, he has learned to use this to his full advantage.

*Sometimes he will answer your question emphatically with "N-O."  (like his brothers do, he spells it.)
*Every time you address him, he immediately responds, "Huh?" even though he really did hear you.
*If he really likes what you are asking him to do, he says "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" while hopping up and down and flailing his arms.
*When he is trying to convince you of his opinion, he widens his eyes and raises his eyebrows up and down while nodding his head.
*Grandma taught him to sternly reply "No, you listen me!" with pointed finger and scrunched nose.
*The other day when Papaw was trying to get him to eat more dinner, Hawk tells him, "I said no!"
*Whenever he is stalling on doing something you asked him to, he will say, "Not yet." with stress and emphasis on the T sound of both words.

Today we were eating at a Mexican restaurant.  There was a fake parrot hanging from the ceiling directly opposite Hawkins.  The entire meal he was "talking" to the parrot.  "Cackaw, cackaw, roar."  Over and over between his bites of chips and dip.  We're still not sure where the roar came from.

Picture This

Tonight I was trying to collaborate a bunch of pictures of the kids throughout 2010 for a Christmas gift.  Back in the summer, our laptop crashed.  The pictures from that laptop are not organized and stuck on a storage device.  Pulling together all the pictures I needed was frustrating to say the least.  As I scrolled through the pics, I started to freak out a little.  There just were not a whole lot of pictures to choose from (meaning there were only about 1500 images).  I started to think we must have lost some when the laptop crashed.  But my sweet husband attempted to calm my greatest fear (losing snapshots) by explaining, "Honey, this was a rough year."
Concerned and confused I asked for an explanation.
"Well, most of the year you weren't in a very good mood because of the pregnancy.  You know when you're not happy, you don't take pictures because the camera frustrates you.  That's why there are much fewer pictures."

Huh.  News to me.  However, I couldn't have been that grumpy, considering Holt is six weeks old and Adam is already planning for #5.

Houston's Victory

(Blog title by Houston himself)

The kids and Dad have been taking jiu-jitsu for nearly a year.  We have been expecting a yellow belt for Houston for quite some time now.  Towards the end of the summer, the coaches let on that it would be really soon.  Each time they went to class, Adam and I would wait with anticipation, hoping that day would be the day.  Well, here it is the middle of December and both of us had given up "waiting" on it.  Just figured it would come when it comes.

Today was the day!  A little birdie told us to be looking for it.  Adam had kindly asked the kids' coach to text him the day he would get it so that I could attend and we could be ready with the camera.  We received the text around 11am.  Adam was like a giddy little child on Christmas Eve all day long.  As we sat through class, Alex again texted us that he might not make it in time to give it to Houston during the first class.  Time passed and still no Alex.  Adam, like a human countdown clock, continued to apprise me every few minutes of the remaining time in class.  "Five more minutes."  Class ended.  No Alex.  Sigh.  Now we had to wait for the next class.

Hawkins was getting restless (even though he ran laps with both classes, stopping to wave at us after each lap -- super cute btw) and I was getting increasingly more hungry.  As soon as Alex arrived, he came over to inform us that he would give Houston the belt right now instead of waiting until the end when they usually do.  They called the kids to line up facing the parents.  They had seen this before.  Houston knew someone was getting a belt.  As Alex said, "Today is a special day...."  Houston was looking down the line at all the kids trying to figure out who was getting a belt.

"Houston, come up here." Alex continued.  Houston could not believe it!  He was completely shocked.

The cutest thing about the above picture is the elation on Hayes' face.

The entire time Hayes was just so happy for his big brother.  It took about an hour for it to really set in before the emotion I knew was imminent to rear its head.  Hayes asked me sadly, "When do I get my belt?"

Pajama Day

The school sends home a calendar at the beginning of each month with all the important dates.  As I glanced over it a few weeks ago, I noticed "Polar Express Day - Wear Your Pajamas".  I made a mental note of the date and discarded the paper.

Ms. Wayland, Hayes' kindergarten teacher, does a great job of hand-holding the parents, perhaps too much for my own good.  She constantly sends home reminders on the agenda book as well as emails to make sure all parents are in the know.  Monday, Hayes' agenda book had a reminder for Pajama Day on Thursday.  I remembered that last year, I had to conceal Houston's pajamas under a layer of removable clothing as well as promise to wear my pajamas to work, for him to agree to stepping foot on the bus.  I was bracing myself for another hard sell, so I started right then on getting the kids excited about wearing their pj's.


I guess I did an excellent job because Houston and Hayes went to bed last night thrilled that they were already dressed for school.  They came to wake me up this morning, still in their jammies but also with coats and shoes on.  They were only an hour and a half ahead of schedule!

As the bus time neared, I hugged them at the base of the driveway and sent them down to the stop.  I returned inside and began picking up breakfast when I heard the front door open.  Houston was short of breath and hysterical.  The kids at the bus stop told him that pajama day was yesterday.  "No, it's not.  It's today.  I got an email yesterday from Ms. Wayland about it."  I pleaded with him to go back to the bus stop before he missed the bus.  Reluctantly and only after much convincing, he complied and I once again sent him off.

At 8:10 my cell phone rings.  It's Mrs. Birdsong, Houston's teacher.  She explained to me that Houston was rather upset.
"Well pajama day is today, right?"
"For kindergarten.  The rest of the school had pajama day yesterday."

Great!  I've scarred my kid for life.  At least this morning I talked him out of wearing the footed pajamas that he wanted to wear.

Christmas Wish, Revisited

So yesterday I blogged about Hawkins asking me what I wanted for Christmas.  Again today, he asked me the same question with the same care and concern.  Again, I gave him the same reply -- for him to potty on the toilet.  He again gave me that exasperated "no."  Catching on to my less than subtle hints, this time he followed it up with, "How 'bout firetruck and fireman girl?!"

Magical Fruit

Adam's parents had us over for chili this past weekend.  I've never served chili to the kids before.  They love sloppy joes and figured chili is not too far off.  As expected, the kids were suspicious of the bowl of food placed in front of them.  Hayes ate it like a champ, and enjoyed it.  Houston could not get past the beans.  Grandma ended up picking out all the beans in his bowl and then he gobbled it up.  Grandpa and Dad convinced him to try a bean by bribing him with a bean song.  "You have to join the bean club first."  He ate the bean and they sang the song and that's all I heard the rest of the day.  I decided to share it with you.

Kid-isms

Hawkins (completely out of the blue while driving home from the grocery):  "Mom, what you want for Kiss-mas?"
My heart totally melted that my two year old was genuinely concerned with my Christmas wish.
Me:  (seizing the opportunity)  "Hmmm.  What do I want for Christmas?  I want Hawkins to potty in the toilet for Christmas."
Hawkins:  (while chuckling as if I was being silly)  No, Mommy.

Well, perhaps he wasn't that concerned with my Christmas wish.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

While sitting at the dinner table:
Houston:  Mom, you're kinda the size of Santa.
Me:  Thanks.  I'm not really sure how to take that.

He later explained that by size he meant height.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hark! The Herald

It's the last week of school before the kids are out for Christmas break.  They're bringing home all kinds of Christmas themed crafts that they have been making.  Most of them are for the tree.  They proudly dangle their handpainted construction paper ornaments in my face as they declare, "I'm gonna put it on the tree!"  I smile as I cringe inside.  Don't they know it's throwing off my themed tree?!

Today Hayes brought home a "present" for Adam and I that he had made at school.  It was wrapped in a white paper sack and decorated with a doily angel on the front.

I snickered as he handed it to me with an ear to ear grin on his face.  Surely he had accidentally brought home one of the other children's present.  "Did you color this?" I inquired.  "Yeah!" he emphatically responded.  I had to check the name on the back just to make sure.  Perhaps this is for all the times Adam bought his mother "Mahogany" Hallmark cards.

After snapping a quick picture of the package, he quickly opened the present for us.  Lo and behold three handpainted ornaments!  None of which are red, brown, or gold (my theme this year).  Go figure!  I suppose next year I will kindly email the teachers the theme of my tree so they can coordinate appropriately.

Santa Knows Everything

Christmas lists have been submitted by all the Schwartz boys.  In fact, Santa has informed me that he has already delegated the items to the elves and the lists have been filled.  Wish someone would inform the media as they continue to blast my home with commercials and catalogs.  The boys keep adding things to their lists.  Today, Hayes saw a commercial for pillow pets.  These commercials have been playing annoyingly for months.  Now he decides that's what he wants for Christmas.  Houston explained to him that we already gave Santa their lists.  Usually, Hayes' response would be to just leave it at that.  But not today.  "Houston, Santa knows everything."    Houston then says, "But Hayes, they are $24!"  Hayes' answer was, "Well, Santa's elves will just make it."  Great!  Good thing I already have a plan in action for this one.

But this series of events reminded me of last season when Houston wanted a $99 Transformer.  But in his defense, it was the only thing he wanted!  He originally had it on his birthday list.  I kept telling him, "Buddy, that is an expensive toy to put on your list.  I'm not sure that you're going to get it."  After a few days of this banter back and forth, he had a brilliant idea.

In a very grown-up like manner, "Mom, I've decided you're right.  You don't have to worry about getting me Devestator (the Transformer's name).  I'm gonna put it on my Christmas list.  That way, Santa will make it and you can save your money."  "Thanks, Bud."

Potty Training is Long Overdue!

So I will take all the blame for Hawkins not yet being potty trained.  I had potty trained the other two by this age.  Between Holt and pumping, I just do not have the time and attention to dedicate to such a task.  Although I am totally ready to be changing only one bottom a day.  In fact, I am almost resentful to myself everytime I need to change Hawkins.  I know he is ready too, even though when you ask him, "When are you going to start using the toilet?"  His response is always, "Tomorrow."  Of all the lovely traits I have to offer in my genes, he has to pick my procrastination!

Today he proudly tells me, "I just peed my diaper."  And shoots me a look as if to say, "Ha!  Mom, it's your own fault!"  Then he follows it up with, "Because I just can" as he shrugs his shoulders and smirks.

Makes It All Worthwhile

Oh the joys of newborn-dom!  I couldn't have asked for a better baby the fourth time around.  That doesn't mean that life isn't hectic and crazy.  Since I am unable to nurse and am currently pumping bottles for him instead, there is not much time left in the day to do all the other Mommy tasks.

Each day I just pick a few chores as time and or Holt allows based on importance or necessity.  Lots of the time I get overwhelmed and discouraged with how increasingly far behind I fall each day.  I often contemplate the notion of formula.  All my other kids were raised on Similac--what would it hurt?  It sure would free up a lot of my schedule - to the tune of 5 hours or so.  But I got to tell you, I feel a sense of pride and joy as I feed him a bottle that I manufactured.

Then tonight, he does this:

He had just finished a bottle and was completely knocked out.  I laid him in his swing and he shot me an "I love you" in sign language.  He's so advanced.

Alpine Village

Each year Trinity Baptist puts on really cute festival for children at Christmastime.  They decorate the gym like an Alpine Village from the olden days.  The kids get to visit each shop and make candles, ornaments, crafts, reindeer food, gingerbread cookies, etc.  It is a really cool deal and it is free!  Best of all, the kids can visit Santa.

When it was all said and done, I even got a great group picture of the boys which did not involve any threats or bribes!