John Wayne Jr and Our New Chatterbox

Jack picked out his own outfit to sleep in the other night. We taught him how to touch the brim of his hat, nod, and say "Howdy Ma'am" with a drawl. He graciously posed for a picture. Just call him John Wayne Jr!

I can't believe we've lived here for over six years! That's longer than we've lived anywhere else as a couple. I have to admit that Texas is growing on us. All of us now use "y'all" on a fairly regular basis. We don't have accents though. We're not really in an area with accents, so I don't see us developing them any time soon. I felt very Texan the other day though - we had BBQ for dinner, the whole family went to Kylie's soccer practice, joining hundreds of other families whose kids were playing on the playground while the adults strolled around the fields, then I finished up the day singing along to country songs while cleaning the kitchen. My newest favorite song is "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum.

On a completely different topic, Eva has added two new words in the last two days to her vocabulary (which now totals three words)! Last night Rob and the three older girls headed off after dinner to clean the church. Rob stopped by Eva's high chair to kiss her on the top of the head, which was the only place not covered in tomato sauce and frosting. Eva grinned up at him and crowed "Dada!" This morning I was talking to Rob on the phone and Eva made it clear that she wanted to talk on the phone as well. When she heard Rob's voice, she exclaimed "DA!", then clearly said "HI!" :)

Tidbits

It became obvious this week that Eva now knows what she's saying when she says "Mama", so that is officially her first word! All four of my girls said Mama first; Jack's first word was Dada :)

I got the grade back on my final paper and got a 100! I got an A in the class and still have a 4.0 GPA :)

My cultures came back today and they were negative for infection, which is good! We are just dealing with kidney stones, which is better than infected kidney stones.

Eva figured out how to climb up the big slide in our playroom this week. Coincidentally, she also figured out how to fall off it.

Eva had her 9/10 month check up today. She is now 21 lbs 14 oz. Another two pounds and she will be quadruple her birth weight! She is standing on her own now and loves climbing on things. In fact, if she is given the choice of a clear way around something or the possibility of climbing over something, she always chooses the climb. She is very smart and can open pretty much any container. She has also figured out how to push things over so she can stand on them and reach higher. She is also very strong and has what Rob calls a "ninja death pinch". Even the pediatrician was surprised at how strong she was when she tried pulling his stethoscope away.

On our way to Eva's dr appt today, Jack announced that we were in Jacky Land. Jacky Land is apparently filled with cars, water towers, roads, windows, and trucks. Lots of beetle bugs too. He was thrilled when we came home and found a tiny beetle crawling across the floor. He decided it was a "kid beetle", just like him.

For those interested, goat does in fact taste like venison. Our farm started selling ground goat. They were temporarily out of ground beef, so Rob got goat. It's a bit too gamey for me, but he and the kids love it.

Megan came home from school crying the other day. She brought her dead cicada to school for some reason and mistakenly left it in a desk. When they switched classes, the girl who sat at her desk reached in to put something in it and found the bug. She screamed, threw the bug on the ground and stomped on it. Megan was quite upset. We had to explain to her that for some reason, there are girls who are afraid of large insects.

Pictures of Our Fairy Princess

We didn't get a whole lot of photos as Megan was in charge of taking them and she switched the camera into video mode by mistake. We have quite a few one second long video clips though!





Update on me - CT scan verified that there is a 3mm kidney stone partially blocking up my left kidney. The antibiotic shot seemed to help, so although we haven't gotten the results of the cultures back yet, the dr put me on antibiotics. I went to see a urologist yesterday (which made me feel very old as everyone else in the waiting room was at least 40 years older than me). He added another medication to my list (which now totals four) that will hopefully help me pass the kidney stone on my own. He says that since it's smaller than 5mm, I have about a 90% chance that I will not need surgery. He's giving me 2-3 weeks. If the stone doesn't come out on it's own by then, he'll surgically remove it. He was very surprised that I wasn't given a CT scan after Jack's birth to verify that the kidney stone I had while pregnant with him (which they checked using ultrasound as pregnant women aren't supposed to get CT scans) was taken care of. He also let me know that once you've had one kidney stone, your chance of having another goes up by about 10% each year, so this will likely be an issue we deal with again.

Fairy Princess Beth

Beth had her first ballet performance today! It was princess day in her ballet class. Beth decided to dress as a fairy princess, complete with shimmery pink wings and jewels in her hair. We used our awesome little flip video camera that Nona and Papa gave us a couple years ago and recorded it so everyone could watch :) I cannot for the life of me figure out how to share videos through the flipshare site, but we managed to download them onto youtube (they're private though, so you need the link to see them). The video is a bit shaky at times as Rob was watching the other four kids, videotaping the performance, and trying to take pictures of it as well. He did a great job though and Beth, of course, was wonderful!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Koe9oahOw3U

I wasn't there as I was having a CT scan done. Complete story to follow when we know all the details, but the short version is that I have a kidney stone that is not moving. They're testing for a kidney infection as well. Fun stuff!

Settling In

We are now almost three weeks into the school year. The transition seemed easier this year than it has in years past. Beth loves being in school and Jack loves spending time with just Eva and me every day. He especially loves shopping at Kroger as they have carts with cars on the front and tvs in the little cars sponsored by Disney, so the parent can choose from a selection of Disney kid shows for the kids to watch. Jack and I have been working each day on preschool material. We bought a preschool workbook and he and I do two pages a day out of that. We are currently focusing on colors and shapes. Following that, we get on the computer and using starfall.com learn about two letters. We spend a week learning those two letters, then switch to the next two. I plan to up his worksheets to 3-5 a day at some point, but we're working up to that :)

This is the first time I have had to actually teach one of our children. When I worked with the girls, it seemed like all I had to do was point them in the right direction and they took off running. I don't know if it's due to differences between boys and girls or differences in the kids' personalities - I suppose it's probably a combination of the two. On top of that, Jack will be starting kindergarten younger than any of the girls did as his birthday is in August (granted Megan's birthday is only 2 weeks before Jack's, but she taught herself to read at age 3, so I never had to do any preschool prep with her - she was doing 2nd grade work in kindergarten). We've talked about possibly holding him back, especially as he's so small (at his last check up he was in the 5th percentile for weight and height). We'll have to see when we get closer to the end of the year. I'm very glad that he is our fourth and that there are so many years between him and Eva. It gives me the opportunity to give him so much personal attention. What kid doesn't learn faster sitting on someone's lap?

I love watching the interactions between Jack and Eva. They really are best friends :) When we drive somewhere Jack sits in Beth's booster next to Eva's carseat and the two of them laugh and laugh together. The girls are playing better together now and better with Jack. Since they are in school for half the day, they miss each other and fight a lot less when they're home :) Jack has loved having the freedom to sleep where he wants on school nights. The past few nights he's slept downstairs next to Simon's crate on the orange mat Rob used to sleep on when he was a child.

Rob and I have worked out a system that works perfectly for us. I stay up late doing homework and get up with Eva and the other kids if they need it. Rob gets up early in the morning and gets the older girls off to school. I pack their lunches the night before if they're not buying them - they get to pick. They've all actually told me that they like bringing lunch better than buying it because of the surprises I put in their lunch boxes. I try to always put a small note or a Hershey's kiss or some other small treat :) The girls lay out their shoes and have their backpacks and water bottles ready the night before. They pick out their clothes for the next day too (I double check and make sure they're ok before I go to bed). I put out a bowl of dry cereal for Jack with a spoon and put a cup of apple juice in the fridge. Rob pours out a small cup of milk that Jack pours into his cereal when he's ready to eat. This allows Eva and I to sleep in for an extra hour or two if we need it :)

Our schedules are super busy, but we seem to be finding a good balance and combining things as much as possible. Kylie has soccer practice twice a week, so we load the whole family up on those nights and all go. The other kids get to play on the playgrounds (we stay for a bit after Kylie's practices are over so she gets to play too) and Rob, Eva and I exercise by walking around the playgrounds, allowing us to spend time together, work out, and get the kids out of the house :)

Beth is loving ballet! We get to watch a short performance next week as they are having "princess day", so I should have a chance to take some photos then. She is doing really well in school as well. For some reason she has decided she needs to wear dresses to school each day. I told her she could wear shorts or pants if she preferred, but she told me if she did that then her friends wouldn't recognize her. I didn't know we had so many dresses in her size! She has become BFFs (best friends forever) with a little girl named Maia who she met at church. Maia is not in her kindergarten class, but is at the same school, so they get to play together at recess. Maia had Beth over to play last week and is coming over to our house tomorrow after school.

Kylie is doing super well at soccer. She's on the same team as last year, the Pink Panthers, and they let her stay goalie. She is awesome at it! They won their last game 4-2 against a team that beat them every time they played them last spring. Kylie is doing well in school and is improving her reading skills. Her favorite classes this year are math, recess, and PE. She, Megan, and Beth also love music class and sing the songs they learn every time we're in the car. "Down by the Bay" is a favorite and the girls love coming up with silly rhymes for it.

Megan is reading as much as Rob and I do, which we love :) She finished "The Lightning Thief" (which I think is about 350 pgs) in just a few hours. All of her friends from previous years of school are in different classes, so she's struggling a bit socially, but she spend a lot of time on the phone with her best friend Paula after school. We've started paying her 10 cents for every 100 that she brings home in her weekly assignment folder and that seems to be helping motivate her to work harder at school. She and I will be starting our sewing classes next week. She is a wonderful little mini-babysitter and loves giving Eva baths and changing her diaper.

Rob and I are doing well. He has started playing basketball with some guys from church and is really enjoying it. Both of us (and Eva) have been fighting a cold for the past week or two. It kind of knocked both of us off our feet, but we're starting to feel better. My summer quarter ends tomorrow, although I turned in my last assignment yesterday, so I'm done! I haven't gotten my grade on my final paper yet, but as long as I get at least a 70 on it, I should have an A in the class :) This paper is based on three others I did and the grades I got on those include 94, 95 and 100, and I tried to fix the things I lost points on, so I'm pretty sure I have an A! At church Rob is now working with the missionaries again and I am one of two leaders over the 8-9 year old girls activity group. We have activities twice a month. Megan is in that group, so I get to spend some extra time with her!

Eva is now 10 months old! I can't believe it's already been 10 months since her birth, but on the other hand it feels like she's been with us forever :) She's been having some trouble sleeping due to the cold and teething (I think). Sometimes when I'm super tired and she's still fussing I start getting frustrated. All I have to do is think about how hard it was to get her here and how blessed we are that she's healthy and my frustration disappears.

Facebook has a feature that shows you your status updates from that day a year ago. Seeing them has brought back a lot of memories from that time. I remember waking up in the middle of the night shaking from the medicine they had me on. Rob would wake up and hold me to stop the shaking. I remember all the times I started going into labor and we would somehow be able to stop the contractions. I look at Eva though and every second was worth it! We were so blessed to have the support we had though! Beca was there a million times, Allison was there every time I needed to talk, Meredith and Crysta walked the girls home from school for almost three months, Brittney watched the kids and cleaned the house all summer, we had so many friends bring over dinner or come over and clean or help somehow. I don't know how we would have done it without each of you!

Anyway, a few photos from this week ~

Kylie dressed as "people from before" - I'm guessing Romans? Maybe combined with Egyptians?

It's been so hot here that I haven't let the kids play outside much. Jack really wanted to color with chalk the other day, so I let him and Eva decorate the floor of our garage. Jack decided my tires needed decorating as well ~

Eva ate the chalk rather than coloring with it ~

Jack and Eva swinging together at the playground last night during Kylie's soccer practice ~

Family Band and Goodbye Elder Randle

The drum set has been a big hit. Jack and Eva routinely put on performances for me while the girls are at school ~




One of our former elders, Elder McRae, is home from his mission and has moved back here. He and his finacee' came over the other night for dinner, so we made them a cake to celebrate their engagement. The girls wanted to make a double layer cake. We put chocolate pudding in the middle. Beth helped me by cleaning out the bowl when I was done. She even shared with Eva :)



The drum set morphed into a family band the other night. Beth played the drums, Jack played electric guitar and sang, and Kylie joined in on the apple juice bottle.



We have met a lot of elders over the years. We definitely have our favorites; Elders Jensen and Ogden, Elders Larsen and Hales, Elders Ingalls and Chesik, Elders McRae and Harper, Elder Beal, and Elders Randle and Robinson. Elder Randle just got transferred out of our ward (congregation) last week. He and Elder Robinson came over for Family Home Evening, and for Elder Randle to say goodbye, last Monday night, so we took some pictures.



The elders are big on shaking hands as they meet a lot of people, plus they can't give hugs to females while on their mission. Rob doesn't like shaking hands; he bumps fists with the elders instead. Very occasionally elders will "earn" a handshake. Rob decided Elder Randle deserved one. I snapped a photo to record the momentous event.


Elder Robinson, Rob and Elder Randle ~ this photo cracks me up as Elder Randle is usually the least serious of this bunch :)

Things are going well here. We seemed to have settled into the school schedule again. Eva has a cold, which she generously shared with me. It doesn't surprise me though as new school years always seems to bring illness to someone. At least it's just Eva and I now. We're pumping the kids full of Vitamin C, echinacea, Vitamin E, and zinc. Hopefully it doesn't spread :)

I have two weeks left of my current class, then get three weeks off. I will not be taking any time off for at least the next year. The schedule for 2012 residencies is out and I'd like to make it to the one in Dallas in June. I have three classes left to take before I can go to that residency though and only three quarters, so I either have to double up on classes or refrain from taking a quarter off. I am totally taking next fall off though! By then I'll have been in grad school for 3.5 years with no break.