A Day In Our Life...

I wish there were more opportunities to get ALL of us in pictures, but there's always one or two of us missing lately. Regardless, these are a few shots from the park a few weeks ago. Just thought the images would cheer family far away....I'll get images of everyone soon!

Today was an interesting day...much like one I am certain many mother's across the nation experienced.

Woke early to my boy kissing me goodbye...that was a nice way to wake! :)

Quickly showered before the kids woke--never fails, they woke while I was showering.

Started some chores, made breakfast for the kids, ate, dressed the kids, and thought of everyhting that needed to be accomplished; the list was long.

Balanced the checkbook, budgeted, attempted to pay the bills...internet down--AGAIN!

Tried troubleshooting, simply got frustrated and decided to haul the kids to the hospital to meet Daddy for lunch.

Stoped at the park--the water toys were blasting water--offered the kids an opportunity to run in the water with their clothes on (didn't bring swimsuits!).

Amidst screams and cries from Aiden that he didn't want to get wet, told the kids we would not go to the park today.

Ate lunch with Daddy...what a treat!

Grocery shopping with the kids and a baby in womb smashing my tiny bladder--talk about endurance!

Home with the kids--Lydia in the bath.

Aiden sits on the side of the bathtub and falls in...with his clothes on...laughing hysterically.

I chuckle and wonder why he would not play at the water park with his clothes on, look at the WET floor and decide the bathroom needs to be cleaned anyhow.

Kids bathed and happy.

Back to the chores...and dinner.

More laundry in...groceries unloaded...kitchen organized, and unorganized by Miss Lydia who is only trying to help.

Lydia in bed after many breakdowns. Either she is becoming a Daddy's girl (highly likely) or she is feeling miserable (highly likely as well).

Boys playing the Wii.

Floors cleaned.

Boys spill popcorn all over the living room floor.

Mommy talks about how hard it is to clean up all of the messes in the middle of even more messes being made.

Mommy cleans the mess.

Mommy gives the boys dinner while they play the Wii.

Folding laundry...dusting...opening carmel syrup for Connor who is more than capable of making milk for him and Aiden while Mommy folds even more laundry.

Connor, in shock, states, "Mom there's carmel all over the floor!" while holding the bottle of carmel syrup upside down.... "and it's on me too!"

Aiden states, "Hey it's on me too!"

Mommy starts laughing hysterically...just for a moment...then demands that it gets cleaned off the floors and the kids get changed.

Floors are sticky...washed again.

Fold MORE laundry and walk through the kitchen to put it away.

Floors STILL sticky....washed again.

More dusting.

Bathroom will have to wait for another day.

Put kids to bed.

Husband walks in the door....walks on the kitchen floor, and states, "My feet are sticky!"

I give up!

I should have gone to the park!

In Reverse Order....Easter

I know we are a little late for Easter and I am doing this post in reverse order of the previous one, but I just wanted to quickly leave you all with my testimony and express my gratitude for this sacred occasion we celebrate. The first and last pictures are of paintings done by Liz Lemon Swindle. I love her artwork! She truly has a gift. As I look upon these pictures, I feel like I am there. What it must have been like to witness these events. I'm sure we saw from Heaven and wept along with those on Earth. At the same time our hearts likely lifted with joy, for we knew that our Savior had fulfilled His mission in paying for our sins. The first part of this great gift was complete as our Lord, and Savior was left hanging on the cross. Then, having been buried in a tomb, he rose again on the third day. Our Savior had overcome the chains of death. The second part of the Atonement was now finished as well. Not only can we repent of our sins, but we will all be resurrected and have the gift of these bodies throughout eternity. When Mary came looking for Him, the angels asked, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen!" Those words speak so much peace to my soul! I am so grateful for my Savior and His infinite Atonement! It is all about love!
These wonderful children that God has blessed us with to care for, demonstrate an amazing ability to love. They help us to learn the kind of love that our God offers us. I could have posted a lot more Easter pictures, but I felt that this one and the two paintings summed it all up. I am so grateful for my family. Having one in Heaven, has helped us to better understand the great gifts that have been given us. We can all be forgiven and live together with our family and our God throughout time and all eternity. It takes a lot of faith, but I am confident it will all be worth it.
All that is asked of us is that we REMEMBER Him and keep His commandments! I hope you all had a peaceful and uplifting Easter, and that we can all go forward filled with faith, hope, and love!

The Following Morning Follow Up!

Miss Lydia cuddling with mama after her morning nap!

Adrenaline Junkies?

So, this picture above shows how the day started out for our little Miss Lydia. She was so excited to be walking around in Connor's car's crocs while he was away at school! She went down peacefully for her morning nap a couple hours later. The day went seemingly without a hitch until I went to the store with Aiden. You see, a couple of days ago Crystal asked me about a little red dot (hemangioma) that had appeared next to Lydia's nose. I quickly blurted out, "just pop it". Well, she didn't take me up on that advice, so I thought. But now I am at the store with Aiden, and she decided to do just that while I was gone; pop it! I came home, arms full of grocery bags, to a little girl who looked like this picture below.
Her mouth is dirty from all of the blood and the chocolate we let her have to keep her happy while I was pressing on her face to try and get the bleeding to stop. Forty-five minutes had passed and still no luck. I had tried everything. I even tried making a "tamale" (like one used for pool plastering to stop water leaks) out of a sock and some flour, and held that on her face. Nothing worked. We started to wonder if our little angel had a bleeding disorder or a deficiency of some kind. With no success at home, I ripped open a diaper, tore out a piece of filler, and taped it too her face. Can you just imagine this scene? Anyway, by the time I got to the ER, which took me just 20 minutes, she had bled enough to saturate the diaper material and ooze down her face more. They got me back right away (working there has its privileges) and after 3 rounds of Epinephrine and Lidocaine soaked gauze and pressure, the bleeding had slowed. Still, it had not stopped. The nurse attempted to Derma Bond it with no success. The doctor came back in and decided to have the nurse fetch some old school bonding agent from the OR that is like ether and plastic. The fumes were horrible. I'm pretty sure that's what they used to put people out with (an ether soaked mask held over your face). Again, no luck! So I held pressure with dry gauze this time while they had the pharmacy send up some Afrin nose spray. You learn something new every day. Apparently that is a good vasoconstrictor for situations like this or nose bleeds. By the time that got there, the bleeding had finally stopped. This was 3.5 hours into the initial incident. The doctor came back in and with a few more dabs of "plastic", while everyone took some huffs of ether, we were in business and more than ready to go home. Lydia was spent, and thanks to the Epi, she head butted me and squirmed like crazy towards the end (she has never acted so hyper and never head butted me before). I drove home faster than I left it. Crystal was late for her shift tonight, and again our lives were filled with excitement! So are we adrenaline junkies, you may ask. We both work in departments that can insane at times. But, the first step to get better is acknowledging you have a problem. God, can you hear me? We have an adrenaline problem, and we are ready to quit! Please facilitate any lack of excitement possible. Perhaps, we could even have this next baby in the hospital for starters. No, seriously! So I guess this is all my fault. "Just pop it." Never, ever, ever pop anything on your or your child's face again, especially if it's red! Lesson learned!!!

A Name Can Say So Much!

So I found this silly picture because it's the best I can do at this point. Crystal is almost 28 weeks so this should be about the size of our next little girl. Anyway, baby number five has been a tough one for choosing a name. Perhaps the whole catching us off guard thing is the reason for that. At any rate, Crystal and I were talking yesterday again about this baby's name. We had been talking about names like Ava, Kayla, Evangeline, Ella, and Maya for several weeks. We both feel that a name says so much, and in spiritual terms, a name has so much significance. Some of our children have had significant middle names or first names. This little one, we decided will be named Maya Ruth. Maya is significant in its meaning of being a "mother", and "God's creative power". All daughters of God have this gift to be a mother, whether in this life or in the next. It is their greatest power and all daughters of God have the power to be an influence as a mother to someone, even if it is not their own child. Ruth is a name that I have always associated with my beautiful wife. I know that she will go wherever I go, even to the lowest lows if she would have to, to save me. She is a true friend and the love of my life. My God will always be her God. This is why we have felt inspired to choose this name as a middle name for Maya. It is our hope that she will be reminded of her heritage and that our God will be her God, and that someday she will be true and faithful to her eternal companion. Just thought I would share a quick update on the baby thing.

Sleepy Days!

That half grin and half frown is my little Miss Lydia enjoying her thin mints girl scout cookies, compliments of Grandma Fultz, and wanting to cuddle for a picture but fighting it all at once. Oh, how I adore this little princess! Little does she realize...but in 3 short months here she will have a little sister joining her! The belly is round, leg cramps are abundant, and baby #5 still does not have a name. This is very unusual for Steve and I...but so is our life right now!

Mr. Aiden is preparing for kindergarten next year. He amazes me with how fast he picks up some basic letter and number skills. Just a few months ago he started rhyming--everything he said was a rhyme--he claims, "My brain told me that it rhymed!" He even felt the need to tell me, after we moved our big family into a small 1000 square foot rental home, that "A small house does not rhyme with a lot of stuff, huh Mommy!" It still doesn't rhyme...I'm afraid! But, he is a ninja at heart! He will flip and kick, roll and jump all over the place. When I tell him that he is a brave boy, he says, "My brain told me how to do that!"

Connor thoroughly enjoyed bringing all these Mardi Gras beads home from school the day before their Mardi Gras holiday! That's right peeps--Mardi Gras holiday!!! Lydia has claimed most of the already!

Connor still watches out for Mommy, as he always has. I was driving the kids to church last Sunday. Steve and I had both worked a 12 hour night shift. He was 3pm-3am and I was 7pm-7am. He got home at 4am, and the kids were up and ready for a Daddy to take care of them just a short while later. I commanded him to go to bed, since he had to work again that night at 3pm, and I got me and the kids ready for church. The drive to church is 30 LONG minutes. Half way there, I pulled over and fell asleep with instant dreams. After 10 minutes I told the boys that it was necessary to go back home--we tried! Connor told me that when we get home, he wanted me to put Lydia down for a nap, he and Aiden would play in their room with the door closed, and he would let me take a nap on the couch. He has told me often that I don't sleep enough, and I need to take care of my body if I want to be healthy. He then began to plan out how we would make Sundays work from here on out--I have to sleep A LOT on Saturday, work Saturday night, and then go to church! What a good 6 year old boy! Tonight, he thanked Heavenly Father that we were able to go to church!

And the best always comes last! Steve is seen falling asleep all the time now. This is actually kinda how he looked at church today! Can't resist posting pictures of Daddy and his girl!

They Look Sweet and Innocent...

These pictures are from the happy days of take home pizza, all you can eat buffets that had steak, and lots of MacDonald's...or Burger King! Times are changing in this house!

Well, for the most part, I can say that my children are all sweet and innocent. Today, however, they took me by surprise! All, but Aiden, which is a shock in and of itself. Note, these pictures are from an earlier day in January--NOT TODAY! Do not be deceived!

I have been working a lot lately--Steve too! We love hot pockets, frozen burritos, cereal, chips, etc. Nursing school taught us survival, and now our nursing jobs are simply applying all the wonderful skills we established as typical tired nursing students. These skills are not limited to the IV's, injections, assessments, careplans, and critical thinking, but also the pizzas, burritos, hot pockets, chips, and M&M's!

So, in attempt to be a little more motherly, and wifey, I decided to make dinner for Steve and the kids tonight. We both worked 12 hour shifts last night, met each other in the cafeteria at midnight (snuck away from our units just to see each other...cute huh?!), and got home this morning. He was home 3 hours prior to me, but stayed up to tend to the kids until I got home. He was working again tonight, so he was sound asleep all day while I attempted to hold down the fort! Back to dinner...

As I was making dinner, I held Lydia and said, "Mommy's making dinner tonight, that's kinda weird huh?!" She looked at the dish, and without hesitation said, "Uh-oh." Hmmm....clue #1 was in place, this wasn't gonna be good! Connor saw the final masterpiece and told his Dad, "I knew I shouldn't have woke up this morning so I wouldn't have to eat dinner. It's like a nightmare!" Lydia tried it and cried, Daddy ate in delight, Connor and Aiden were astounded when they found out they were going to bed with nothing (then I broke and told them to stuff a gogurt in their mouths quickly before bed--bad parenting skills!), and I ate proudly! I like cereal and frozen foods....they don't like me though, sadly!