"J" Bird- 4 month update

Joran is now 4 months old! Wow. It's gone by so fast. This baby is an absolute delight. He is rarely fussy. He sleeps a ton. He is steady as a rock. He loves to stand up for long lengths of time. It's almost like you can see himself concentrating really hard to push himself to the limit. He loves to be in his jumper for short bursts. He is soo patient with Eirik while he is malled and pestered and presented with one horse after another. Eirik likes to help change Joren's diaper and unzip his clothes and give him his binky. Joren smiles all the time and is working on learning to roll over and creep. He loves his binky. He has super rolly polly legs which work well to keep him very steady. The best of all is that Joren is a WATER BABY. I have never seen a kid take to water like this little fish has. I'm thinking about sewing him a speedo so I can video his super excited face as he lays in the tub, just his little face sticking out, legs kicking, arms splashing and body totally floating. He loves it. He cries when I take him out even if he's been in there for 1/2 hour. I have started letting him lay there without holding his head because he's so confident.
Another funny thing is that he has incredibly loud burps. Man size burps. It's amazing. He's had a pretty consistent schedule for about a month now and is starting to go to sleep in the same room as his brother now. He still wakes up at 12 and 5 to eat, but we're in a good groove. He's so chill. If I had had him first I would have been totally freaked out having a kid like Eirik second. What a difference. I just wrap Joren up, give him his binky and leave the room and he goes right to sleep. There is no fretting, crying to sleep, incessant rocking and singing and all the other mumbo jumbo we went through with Eirik.....yet. I hope that didn't just jinx us. Eirik keeps saying, "baby brother Joren, hurry grow up so we can play." He's growing fast, and they are going to be best buds. Yeah!

Finger Puppets

I finally thought of a good excuse to made these little finger puppets I've been planning to make for ages. Our primary lesson is on animals and I'm going to put the bunnies in the easter baskets. Those are good enough excuses to have some fun huh?? I love the owl best. I want to make more.

Merry Greenbeans: Eirik at 2 years old- monthly update

This is a long long monthly post about the oldest tadpole.

Yesterday Paul and I took the boys out to dinner. On the way there we heard this little voice from the back saying, "We go Mall??" in his adorable high pitched, sweetest voice he could muster. We told him we were going to dinner, then he said, "Have any gum for me??" in the same sugar sweet pleading voice.
First of all, how does he know what the mall is, and second, he has never chewed gum, how does he know what gum is? He's 2!!!!! And he's already asking to go to the mall and have gum.
He has reached a new level of abilities that is turning our house upside down. Yesterday he discovered how to get into the kitchen drawers with his little stool and he pulled everything out, dumped the matches, the candles and got out the sharp shishkabob skewers. As I was cleaning up one thing and moving it to a higher place, he was thrilled to find the next dangerous thing. Oh how he loves sharp things. We finally had to take away his play swords because everything was about fighting something and there was just way too much hitting going on.
The dragon thing was getting very OLD for the parents, so we've been working through the tantrums for the swords and trying to push hitting balloons with plastic baseball bats. (actually pretty fun and good practice for the kid). He also can't get enough of screwdrivers. He thinks he can fix anything with a screwdriver. He actually said to me, "I need screwdriver, fix space rocket, go neverland." (Neverland happens to be the space between the plastic he has torn off the window, and the window in the front entry. Don't ask me why.) His imagination is really fun. Yesterday he pulled his ear over on itself and told me it was his sandwich and wouldn't' stop saying "eat my sandwich" until I pretended to take a bite.
(Eirik with his cousin Kaitlin)
He had a GREAT time in Utah getting all the attention he has ever wanted. On the way to Utah we had an unexpected delay in Chicago for 3 1/2 hours with both boys. It was definitely a challenge. While we were passing the time, Eirik said, "mommy turn circles." When I had, he said, "there, now you beautiful princess." In Utah he introduced himself as John, Captain Hook the whole week and I was always, TigerLily Wendy. Paul is Peter Pan. Don't ask me why. He loves to stop people in stores and introduce all of us including Baby Brother Joren which he has now shortened to Babe In since saying the whole thing just took too long.

He loved his uncles and aunts. He loved watching his uncle Davy skateboard and he "skateboards" on everything now.
In Utah he found an old cordless curling iron that he decided was a space rocket. He carried it everywhere. He said kids were inside and every so often he would open it up to ask how they were doing. He said they were going to neverland.

*He loves to sing Book of Mormon stories with the actions. He gets really intent. I should video this.

*A while ago he started saying, "I love you too Mommy and Daddy". So cute
*Everytime Paul and I go somewhere new in Detroit there always seems to be some street closed or some crazy thing that wasn't on the map and we get off track. This happened a while ago and Paul was getting frustrated. From the back seat we heard this big voice say, "RELAX Daddy!" What!! How does he even know what that means!!

*He loves to play "Duck and goose". He learned it at nursery (Thanks Gage and Christina) and made us play when he came home. I was very impressed that he could teach us the game. "now, you sit here, you sit here...etc."
*One day before we went to Utah I told Eirik that we were going to Utah on an airplane. He said, "mommy miss Utah." I couldn't believe it. I have never told him that I miss Utah. How did he know that!
*Eirik still refers to himself in the 3rd person sometimes. One day he said. "Owe, Eirik said Owe!"
*After Paul bore his testimony in church a while back Eirik said really loud as Paul sat down, "Good Job Daddy!" The ladies in the ward are still talking about it.
*We saw our neighbors outside the other day and Eirik said, "HI, I Eirik, this beautiful Mermaid." It's flattering to be his mother. :)
If he puts something on his head he is a prince though. "I not Eirik, I prince!"
I forgot to write at Christmas that he could never really say the word Christmas, so he called it "Merry Greenbeans" all season.
He finally learned to jump. He's asking me for reading words and flashcards now so we have fun with that sometimes. The schedule that I made for him made an enormous difference and the quiee time was unbelievable! We only did it every day for a week, but by the 5th day he stayed in his room for 4 minutes without crying. He learned that he can be alone and since then we haven't done quiet time because he has suddenly been so independent that he will play by himself for a pretty long time. He has stopped the incessant tugging and whining. Yeah! I'm so proud of him! He's finally eating better too. He's very inconsistent. Hungry one day, won't eat a bite the next, but he's eating and not just drinking milk. Makes me happy. He's also learning about saying no and throwing tantrums. The other day he couldn't find his new favorite black stallion. I told him that we would look for it and that I didn't know where it was either. He started into the biggest tantrum I have seen yet. I took him to his room and told him to cool off for a minute and I went to look for the stallion. I found it and came back. I explained how he was playing with it at the library, then we came home and he went upstairs with it into the bathroom, and that's the last place he had it because that's where I found it. I told him that sometimes crying doesn't help and you just have to think about where you had it last until you find it. He stopped crying and later came up to me and said. "mommy, I no more tantrums, I think." What a sweetheart!! If only the no more tantrums thing were really true. : )

Ben Hur

At the Academy Awards this year Paul and I really liked the tribute to the winners of the Best Picture throughout the past decades. I realized that I have seen only a handful of these many winners. So we decided to watch these instead of the overdramatic, soulless, moralless movies that are so rampant now. We started with "Ben Hur".
It's hands down one of the best movies I have ever seen. I loved the character or Esther. I've written before that my favorite movies are those where there is a hero that you can really get behind. She is incredible. Her character traits are so rare these days. I'm not even near her in strength and integrity, and I thought I wasn't too bad. She is a new tangible model for me to judge against, and strive to be like. Such faith and courage!

Iron Jawed Angels

This movie "Iron Jawed Angels" looks like a great show and will remind us all us women how important it is for us to vote. I interested to see more of it.

Moment to moment

I almost decided not to post the former post called Seasons, but I decided to anyway. It’s pretty raw, but it’s a moment of truth. For me, life is very moment to moment and today I don’t feel at all the same as I did yesterday when I wrote it, but it exists to document that there are those kinds of moments in motherhood and now in this moment I am on top, happy, and I have plenty to give again. I discovered the blog of one of my long time favorite artists. I dream to be as cool as her when I grow up to be 40 like she is. One of her posts talks about what it feels like to NEED to paint or create, like it's burning her up inside. It almost feels wrong to feel that way, but yesterday, when I wrote what I did, I had two paintings inside that were burning me up and after I finished one last night, I was refueled and ready to give to my children again today.

Strange how it works like that for me.

PS. I only put them in their room for 5 minutes, no longer.. and they were just fine. :)

Seasons

Sometimes I feel like I am dying a long slow drawn out death. When both children are crying , demanding, whining and I am longing to paint or create, I sometimes think I can't do one more day. I've always seem myself with lots of children, but daily I consider whether I am up for even one more. I find myself doing a lot of reflecting lately. I look at pictures or relive memories and moments all throughout the day. If I am not somehow reliving the joyous wondrous exciting spring of my life, I seem to be dreaming in earnest about the autumn, the empty nest stage where I have done my best with my children , we have enough money and I am more free to create as I wish. These thoughts of course cause me considerable concern. Everyone says the days of motherhood are long but the years are short. They say to savor them because before you blink they are gone. As I hold my babies in those precious moments when they look up at me and my heart is still and we are one, I feel the greatest joy I have ever known and I know when I don't have a baby to snuggle I will long for it, miss it, say to others"enjoy every moment for it passes so quickly." Every time I feel shackled down I think of my ancestors who crossed the plains, who had so very little, who fought pests and Indians and scarcity and heat and drought and died in the cold and I feel weary knowing that my pot of frequently counted blessings is overflowing, and I feel ashamed for even thinking of complaining. I often think of the pioneer woman I heard about who longed so desperately for a bit of grass that her husband surprised her wiht a 12" x 12" square which she treasured and cared for lovingly. My husband brought me home 4 dozen flowers yesterday for no apparent reason, maybe to lift my spirits, to show his love, to brighten our home, to be a gentlemen, and maybe because he senses that these days I feel I am constantly running forward to avoid the storm cloud brewing above me threatening to open if I look up or stop moving. Projects and planning and events keep me going. Holidays which usually don't mean anything (st. patricks day) are now milestones and events, important because they mark the crossing off of a day in this stretch which is supposed to be the summer of life where all is in blossom and full of joy and sunshine, but seems to feel like the never ending winter. If this feels like winter, then I look forward with dread to what is the winter, or winding down of life. Will it be bright and joyous as I always imagined it?
My mom sent Eirik a book for his birthday. ("A Tale of Two Brothers" by Eveline Hasler, Ill Kathi Bhend) It is a story of two brothers who both have hunchbacks. One goes on a trip through the woods where he joyously loved all around him and shared his happiness with the world. In the night as he slept, the woods removed his hunchback. When he came home his brother decided to try the same journey, but since he was a bitter, crusty old man, his anger and malice wore off on the world which then cursed him with a greater hunchback. In the end it was all about how they saw the journey, not where they went. Pretty profound. Last night I read the scripture in 3rd Nephi that says:
22 The ^alight of the body is the ^beye; if, therefore, thine eye be ^csingle, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
It's all about how we see our surroundings and if we treat all as we would be treated.
Oh the concept is marvelous isn't it?
Still, I want to lock my children in their rooms, and I love them fiercely, but even more when they sleep. Can I somehow skip the summer and go straight to the autumn and not miss the flowers?

Creative update.. what's been stewing?

I can tell I haven't posted anything crafty or artsy for a while since my readership is way down. :)
Soooo... for all you interested readers (all 2 of you)... here are some of my lastest and greatestsss.

1. A birthday fondant cake for my DARLING niece Kaitlyn: (and some very badly done cupcakes that were an afterthoght, but the grass and the tray were pretty cute if I do say so myself.


2. A birthday travel satchel (man purse if you must) for Eirik to carry all of his special toys on our many plane rides. This bag contains Horse stickers, plastic horses of all sizes, a Horse coloring book, and some snacks and crayons. He looked SO cute carrying this around the airport and even got lots of oohs and aahs. (This could be because the bag was almost as big as him and he looked pretty impressive with it slung over his head and tucked under his arm. Cute.
PS. It's made from an old wool jacket I picked up at a thrift store that I was originally going to make a pillow out of. (Thanks Kristen for the great idea! Pillow still to come....)


3. A birthday fondant cake for Eirik who insisted on a dinosaur cake. I'm so glad he didn't ask for a horse cake!!!! (Why he didn't, I'll never know!) This was a test on the 2 year olds. They had to really dig to see if there was any cake under all of that fondant. It was pretty funny to watch them all try to figure out what to do with that sticky mess of frosting. (sorry moms! :)
(PS. Don't I have some Mad photoshop skills? I'm embarassed. Someday I will figure out masks and it will be a great event. till then, here's what you get. )

4. Sometimes I think I'm very clever and I like people to tell me I am, but two year olds don't really understand how creative you have to be to turn a little table thingy, a pillow, a belt and a hobbie horse into a real live riding horse that even has a tail and reigns. Yes people, I am pretty freaking awesome. Even if Eirik doesn't get it yet.

5. And with a matching smile (where did he get that cheeeeeezy grin??) I discovered that you can make just about any shape of pancake, even intercepting swirls, with a turkey baster and pancake batter. Cool trick huh? Obviously, we were not after perfection.. Can you tell that's an octopus?
If I don't get at least 2 comments for this.. I'm giving up blogging. :) Just kidding. I love you.. all my readers. ..
hey, where are you going?? don't leave me hanging.. at least tell me how silly looking my son is. You can give me that. right?

Worms in the conservative core...

Being a true conservative at heart, I am stymied as to how our country could have let our economic situation get so out of hand. Read this article about the cost of the Iraq war from the Washington Post.
Since Paul and I got married I have tried and tried to convert to his more liberal view of money. He gets aggravated by my constant budget consciousness and money concerns. Yes, I'm slow, but it took me a long time to finally realize that my concern about money made him feel like I felt he wouldn't be a good provider. Well, that's just not true. I'm sure he'll be an exceptional doctor and he's incredibly skilled and capable. I'm just a conservative and he's just not as much, or maybe I'm just still super corset tied, right wing, conservative and he's more normal. Well, despite my efforts to relax, chill, live more, not worry and trust and be optimistic, it doesn't change the fact that deep down I am who I am, and I think I will worry about med school debt until we are paying it back, and I will worry about our country's immense debt until we are on our way up instead of down.
I'd love it if anyone out there could talk some liberal sense into my thick head. It sure would make things easier if I could just stop worrying about it all.

(Picture by: Susie Ghahremani)

Family

In no particular order:

Katie: The ultimate idealist, ever inquisitive, wise, teachable, adventurous, a mammoth sized heart, merciful, peacemaker, original, uncompromising, gorgeous, always thoughtful and deliberate, healthy and healthful, ubber clean, a bit shy but silly and strong, an example to all of us, a great role model... my sister.

Davy: The ultimate chill, calm, cool, collected, capable, on his own time table, an anomaly, witty, strong, the glue in a crowd, independent from birth, modest, fierce but you would never know it, running, and finding, graceful in action, poetry on a skateboard.. my brother.
Daniel: True blue, heart of gold, passionate, filled with light, problem solver, determined, emotional, a TRUE friend, strong, a lover, a bit vain, rugged, romantic, hard worker, humble, blessed, selfless, capable, willing, a gift to our family right now, a hero



Michael: brazen, humble, quiet, sure, angst and love filled/passionate, cleared of charges, free and ready, hurt but healing, brave, curious, questioning, silly, ubber clean and conscientious, original, determined, and good.
Amy: Uncompromising, exact, faithful, meticulous, reliable, ambitious, assertive, bold, loving, blessed, ubber talented, resourceful, sometimes fretful and tense, super productive, clean, capable, calm, self assured... my sister.
It makes me a bit sad to think that I may not have it in me to have a family this big... 6 kids! I don't think so! I'm sad because I think it is so remarkable to be a part of a set of siblings like this who are all so different, but so fundamentally the same. Roots are so important, so deep. Tradition is so strong. I feel so blessed and even though we are a strange people, we are strong together in our strangeness. Thanks mom and dad.

PS. Why oh why won't my fonts match up? Is this blog possessed??

Ron Paul Rocks!

I don't know why I have been so shy to post my political opinions. I am a bit ashamed of my lack of courage. Especially now that I completely converted to Ron Paul's opinions and his call for a freedom revolution. I agree wholeheartedly in what he says. I love his humility and the way he says that this is not a one person job but a job for the people of America to unite and pick up the pieces of our broken government and work together to fix it.

View Ron Paul's most recent address here!

I liked what my friend Charla said here about our election process. Let's get this fixed!

LIVE a little...

I just got home from a fabulous trip to Utah to spend a week with my family. When we moved away from Utah I had no idea that I loved it as much as I do. Now I get so homesick for those mountains and my people.. my family.. my own. There's something about being with people who really get you and really understand why you are the way you are. It's also so special to be away from someone for a year and then see them again and pick up in exactly the same place because they are your family and you love them NO MATTER WHAT.
This picture is from one of the highlights of my trip. My bros and sisters all hiked up to the Y in Provo. Davy (on the left) who I've been told looks like a shaggy version of me brought his girlfriend (in plum) and my bro Daniel is on a mission so is missing from our picture. At the top of the mountain we played truth where we aired our secrets and shared a perfect bonding time which I will always always treasure. I love these guys.

My new years resolution has to do with optimism. This has really spread out to include my motivations. I've realized that if I am motivated by guilt instead of true love for people and for Christ, then I am doing things out of fear and this causes (or is caused by) so much anxiety. For me to really realize that the gospel of Christ is a gospel of peace, I have learned that I have to listen to my heart more, open up to the love of Christ and stop doing things just because I should, but because I love to. If I am not motivated by love instead of guilt I begin to resent everything and get angry and then pessimistic. It all seems so obvious doesn't it? Well, we each get closer one step at a time. I just got so sick of anxiety. I want to be done with it. With this new perspective I am working on I find that I can love people a lot easier because I am not so worried about if what they are doing is right or not because I truly let Christ's mercy be real. It doesn't matter if my siblings are making all the "right" choices. Good for them for being true to themselves and finding out for themselves what they believe and what is true to them. Good for them for being brave enough to address their questions. I am so happy that I can love them and not worry so much about them because I've finally realized that it is not my job to help them make their decisions. I trust that Christ will take care of them. I may at the current moment be putting a bit too much stock in Christ's mercy since I know that there also has to be justice, but coming from a place where I didn't trust His mercy much at all, I have to start somewhere. Paul told me one day that if Christ can open his arms and accept even the worst sinners back, then would it be so hard for him to do that for me with all my little sins? I've been so fixated on perfection and removing even the least degree of sin from my life that I forgot to leave room for imperfection and forgiveness as well. After all, isn't our agency one of the greatest gifts we have been given. It's our opportunity to sin if we want to and be able to come back unto Christ. Thanks to him we can be imperfect and still be loved. Thanks to him we can live a little, love a lot, and try our best to be at peace. It's my ongoing quest.

Great stuff to do with kids!

My good friend Tiffany just posted this list of fun activities to do with kids on our My Family website. I love this list and wanted it in close personal access and I thought some of my readers might like it too. I posted some of my own ideas at the end in blue.
Thanks Tiffany!

1. Shopping Bag Game: put objects in a bag and have your child take one out. Have them explain it (color, shape, texture, etc.) or tell a story about it. Great for learning to take turns as well!
2. Shopping List: This is one that I'm in the middle of working on for Cooper since he won't be riding in the cart on grocery trips soon! Make a picture grocery list of things you need to buy and have your child be in charge of those products (milk, cheese, special snacks, bread, etc.).
3. Opposites: Say a word or find pictures of opposites and have your child find the opposite. Examples include up/down, hot/cold, short/tall, etc. Go Dog Go by Dr. Suess would also accompany this really well!!
4. Cutting: For the older kids! Have them practice their cutting skills with age appropriate scissors. Can be a part of another activity (i.e., sun catchers) or by itself.
5. Textured Collages: Find different objects, such as wallpaper, fabrics, pictures from magazines, photos, etc. and glue them onto a piece of cardboard or heavy paper. You can then frame it and hang it in his/her bedroom!
6. Sewing Cards: You can use old greeting cards or cut a picture from a magazine and glue it to a piece of cardboard. Punch holes around the picture, put tape around the ends of yarn, and "sew".
7. Finger Painting
8. Watercolors
9. Marble Painting: Line a small tray (needs edges) with paper. Dip a marble in fingerpaint and put it in the tray. Have your child move the tray around causing the marble to move and create a masterpiece. Jodie also showed me one with bubbles, but you are going to have to ask her for details on this one!!
10. Red Light, Green Light
11. Food Coloring: Mix basic colors with water and give your child paper towels or paper to drop the colors on. Have them try to mix the colors and see what happens.
12. Follow the Leader: use motions and sounds, pretend to be different animals, shapes, etc.
13. Hide and Seek
14. Make Playdough (Ruth posted some great recipes that are non-toxic at one point in time) -- also use spoons, forks, plastic knives, rolling pins, etc. to create different shapes and textures within it.
15. Obstacle Course: make sure it includes around, under, over, and through!
16. Have a Dance Party!!!!!!
17. Put on a concert and make some music . . . you can make microphones out of tissue paper and toilet paper rolls, drums out of pots and pans or old coffee cans, you can buy recorders for less than a $1, etc.
18. Make Placemats: create art and laminate (you can even use contact paper for laminating).
19. Simon Says
20. Make Suncatchers using tissue paper and contact paper. Cut or tear different pieces of tissue paper and place on a piece of contact paper. Seal with a second piece and cut to your desired shape. String up with yarn.
21. Alphabet Search: use old magazines, photos, pictures, etc. to find different objects that start with the different letters of the alphabet (or you can even do different colors, objects, animals, etc.). You can create a book out of these that your child will love to return to over and over and over again!
22. Create personalized books: I have a ton more information on this on my book blog. If you are interested, I will find the direct link to the posts!

Those are just a few things that I have written down to do (or have done) with Cooper! When it gets warm outside, we also go on weekly adventures (though not all of our adventures have to be in good weather). We've done scavenger hunts (nothing too difficult . . . we looked for things that were tall, green, silly, etc.) and these can be done just by walking around the Truman campus or on the trails behind the TCC or at the lake. We also make a book of our adventures and Cooper is still going back and looking at it over and over again! I even wrote little stories to go along with each adventure -- kind of like a mini memory book, but I just used a cheap black and white memo book!

1. Stickers
2. Marker board
3. finger paint
4. play with a big pile of dried beans- lots of bowls spoons etc.
5. I often put Eirik in the sink while I cook. He loves to turn on and off the water, play with the turkey baster and other kitchen utinsels etc.
6. cook together- let them pour the stuff in.
7. peanut butter play dough-fun and yummy (google the recipe)
8. make a picture or banner or something for Daddy and put it under his pillow
9. make homemade thank you notes. Let the kids put on the stamps and take them to the mailbox.
10. glue cotton balls on things
11. make paper bag people/ puppets
12. make a moon buggy or space ship out of paper towel tubes and other trash
13. make a snake you can play with- anything will work
14. play with noodles- glue them on to something
15. make a rattle or noisemaker - nooodles, beans, paper towel tubes
16. research something on the internet- we love google video. Eirik learned about fencing yesterday. We looked up musical instruments once and listened to what they sound like. We like to look up animals to.
17. Google earth is a great way to teach kids about our planet.
18. Make felt animals and put them on tongue depressors to play with