Still Alive

Yes, we are still alive.

.

We've been busy. You know, doin' stuff.

.

Important stuff.

.

Like building really tall, photo-worthy towers of blocks. All 3 of them. Without fighting.

And going camping. For less than 24 hours in Cloudcroft, NM. And playing on the zipline before breakfast.

And spending some quality "man time" with the Wii.

Making a trip to Houston - for Peanut to go to the temple - and to get in some good family fishing on Pawpaw's boat.

And picking out the perfect pumpkin on a field trip with our preschool friends.

We stay busy.

That's just how we roll.

Breastfeeding

I just wanted to take a moment before I am completely and totally done with this phase in my life to document it.
I have breastfed all of my kids - Ben was the shortest amount of time -about 7 months. Alex lasted 9 months, and was much less grouchy when she switched to formula. Audrey went about 10 months, and Sammy's getting close to the end now.
I did not enjoy breastfeeding.
*gasp*
.
Yep, I said it. I didn't like it. Now, I didn't hate it. I did love that I didn't have to pay for an entire year of formula - that stuff's SO EXPENSIVE! And I did love that I didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night and fumble through making a bottle. And I did love that I didn't really have to think about everywhere we were going and how long we were going to be gone and did I need to have a bottle? And I did love that I didn't have to wash bottles and all their parts all the time.
.
I know there are breastfeeding advocates out there who fight for a woman's right to feed her child anywhere she wants to. I guess I have a heightened sense of modesty, because there is no way that I would EVER just pull out my boob and feed my kid in front of any group of people!
I have no desire, and am personally kinda creeped out when someone is breastfeeding in a public place. Sooooo not my bag, baby.
And because of this, I have left restaurants and hidden in the car. I couldn't find a corner at an amusement park, so I went in the handicapped stall in the bathroom with the stroller. I sat on the stroller, rather precariously, and fed Sam. I have hid in the mother's room at church, just to have people open the door and me jump. I'm not a prude, but I don't need everyone to see my vast white skin. Ew.
It makes me crazy sleepy every time. With the girls, I got desperately thirsty as soon as they'd latch on. I've been bitten, had cracked nipples that bled, run a fever with mastitis, had to change clothes because I was drenched in milk unexpectedly.
I will be glad when this phase in my life is over. I don't like having to stop everything to sit down quietly and feed him, while he tries to wiggle off my lap, hit me, bite me. But I am glad that I was able to give my children the best thing for them for a while.
And that's my story.

I wish I could blog from my phone...

Silly Me

On Wednesday, I went to the bathroom. Everybody does it. Because I don't want my older children to "accidentally" hurt Sammy in some way, I took Sam up to my room and laid him on the floor - just outside the bathroom. He could still see me, but I felt like he was far enough away from anything gross.

Sam didn't like being put down. He cried, which was effective in hurrying my bathroom-going. The toilet paper holder in our bathroom has always been somewhat precariously attached to the wall. In my haste, I hit the roll with my elbow and the arm of the toilet paper holder fell off, sending the roll of paper behind the toilet. Luckily, I was done and grabbed it up quickly, putting it on the back of the toilet. Then, I rushed to wash my hands so I could pick up my crying boy.

I did a moment's look at the arm of the toilet paper holder in the trash can, and then - well, was distracted from retrieving it.

Thursday is trash day. Ben takes care of it on Wednesday evening. It's his job to collect all the trash around the house and take it to the big cans. Then, he puts the cans on the street. He is very proficient at his job.

Around 11:30 Wednesday night, I finally walked into my bathroom again.

The arm of the toilet paper holder was still missing. There was an empty bag in the trash can.

Oops.

And it's nobody's fault but my own.

:)

Silly me.

Overwhelmed

Right now, I am not feeling just "whelmed", as usual. I am definitely feeling overwhelmed. Allow me to explain.

Reason #1: We are home now. Shriner's hospital was wonderful to our family in that Aaron got to be home most nights for dinner. The army doesn't allow us the same luxury. It's an adjustment - to say the least.

Reason #2: I have spent the better part of the past week trying to unpack. Also, we had to move everything out of our bedroom and it's in tubs and boxes in the loft. I am sick of unpacking. I am debating whether or not to just pitch all of it. After all, I haven't needed all that stuff for the past four months... And my stuff is the last stuff that still needs to be unpacked.

Reason #3: This darling creature who recently celebrated her 6th birthday.

She and I are playing an elaborate game of "Push the boundary."

For example: In church on Sunday, it was testimony meeting. As soon as Alex realized this, she asked to bear her testimony. I said no, and explained that in the prior Sunday's 5th Sunday lesson by the Bishop, he had asked for our testimony meeting to be more lead by adults. (I guess the last couple of testimony meetings have been so over-run by children wanting to bear their testimonies that adults didn't even get the opportunity. He recommended the usual of children bearing their testimonies in FHE and not being allowed to go to the stand until they can say it by themselves. I digress.) I also told Al that it had been a long time since she had practiced in FHE and that perhaps next month would be better. And ten minutes later, Sam got loud. So I took him into the hall, leaving Aaron with the children, and unaware of my conversation with our daughter.

And before I could get to the other foyer, I heard Alex's voice in the microphone. And while her testimony was acceptable and darling, she crossed a boundary. Grr.

Yesterday, I served ice cream for dessert. I gave her a spoon. She decided she wanted a different spoon. I said, "Al, I already used this one to help get the ice cream off of the scoop. Just use it." And while I was scooping Ben's, she tossed that spoon in the sink and got a different spoon. Grrr.

I can't promise that she will survive this summer.

She reminds me of a dear friend's little girl who is not so little anymore... :)

How we began our summer or Home in El Paso, where it's HOT

After dinner last night, we went outside to play. Aaron was trying to figure out the sprinklers - we think the freeze here in EP in February might have fried the system. The sprinklers were on and the kids were hot. This was the result.

That is Audrey's cute streaking booty. :)

Red Butte Garden

Last Saturday was our last Saturday in Salt Lake City. Although Aaron was on call, he had a break and got to play with us! We spent the beautiful afternoon at Red Butte Garden.

Grass!

The Moose Family

Love those smiles!

The pleasures of being a boy... silly.

The koi pond

Lazy lizards.

Sam loves being outside!

It may not be an apricot tree - but it does look like popcorn popping!

Cooling off in the fountain - even though the high temp that day was barely 80 degrees.

We has a wonderful time!

Little Things I Won't Miss About Being in a Tiny Apartment with my 4 Kids

We are LOVING being in Salt Lake City.
We have 5 weeks to go, and are already a little sad. There is just so much to do and see - and we've barely scratched the surface.
But it will be nice to head home. I'm excited to get back to my house, my big ward, my friends, and my dog! (Weird, huh?)

So here is a short list about what I will NOT miss about being in an apartment with the whole family.
1. I will not miss having to tell the kids to have quiet feet. The people below us are wonderful, sweet members of our ward, and I will not miss apologizing to them on a regular basis for all of our noise.
2. I will not miss having all the kids' clothes in plastic totes. They are jumbled up and wrinkly and they can never find their socks. I am grateful for dressers.
3. I will not miss 19 degree mornings for taking the kids to school. Never ever.
4. I will not miss the louder-than-jet-engine bathroom fans that come on EVERY time the light is on.
5. I will not miss the ever-changing water temperatures of the shower. Thank goodness for cat-like reflexes.
6. I will not miss the rhinos who live upstairs.
7. I will not miss apartment plumbing. 'Nuff said.
8. I will not miss the electric stove. I have happily been converted to gas, and adapting back has been difficult.
9. I will not miss the glass dining room table. Not only do you have to clean the table, but you have to clean under the table too!!!
10. I will not miss yelling at the kids to stop talking after bedtime.

The list of what I WILL miss is long.
I will miss daffodils,
the temple being 5 minutes away,
the awesome city libraries,
walking to get places,
close neighbors,
bagels after church,
historical buildings,
museums,
art galleries,
the children's museum,
events like concerts and plays,
fantastic restaurants,
snow on the mountains,
tulips,
green grass,
historical monuments,
kind people who live below us,
my husband coming home at a decent hour almost every day,
the great ward who loves my kids,
cleaning the whole house in like an hour,
carrying the laundry a total of 20 steps to the washer,
my husband coming home happy because he really enjoys what he is doing and the people he works with,
my kids talking and giggling after bedtime,
fewer clothes to wash,
pretty houses,
having someone to fix all the little problems with my home at no cost to me,
parks and recreation,
Heidi and her family,
exposing my kids to church history and the resulting discussions,
and the whole feel of a big city. It's nice.

In about 5 weeks, this will all seem like a dream...

Playing Sports

Salt Lake City has a great parks and rec department! The kids enjoyed filling up their March with classes. Audrey took dance - she's in all pink on the left.
Alex did some amazing soccer kicks! She has some mad skills!
Ben took a basketball class and improved his dribbling, passing, and shooting. Lots of fun, and good exercise!

Thursday afternoon

Auntie Rissa and her family are visiting Salt Lake this week - and that means extra adventures!!! Today we dashed over to Temple Square after school. We took a quick picture in front of the temple. Although it rained with a little snow this morning, this afternoon was lovely!

Then, we took a shortened version of the tour of the conference center. The pictures of Christ in there are inspiring. It is an amazing building.

Audrey's comment was: "That picture is in my scriptures!" I didn't realize how large this painting was. Really cool afternoon. :)

Sam

This darling, adorable little boy is the love of my life.

And while he is so sweet and loveable, he has his bad side.

He stinks.

And not just a little. This boy smells BAD.

I have heard that breastfed babies can go for days without pooping. The max we've let Sam go is 7 days. The doctor says it's fine as long as the consistancy is still soft. (I know, TMI.)

For the several days before he FINALLY goes, this kid has the WORST gas I have ever smelled. (And seriously - I've smelled some BAD gas!) It's embarrassing. It makes our eyes water. There is gagging and evacuating.

I know that everyone reading this is saying, "He's just a little baby - how bad can it really be?" But even Audrey, who is typically oblivious to everything Sam, will pipe up with, "Oooo, Sammy stinks, mom!"

So that's the honest truth. My practically perfect baby's flaw.

Bragging

My husband says, "It ain't bragging if you can really do it."

Sam is an angel. I adore him to pieces, and he is MINE. He loves me, better than dad, or sisters, or brother. Me, Me, Me.

He sleeps through the night. *miraculous* AND he's slept in his own bed for the last two nights!

I got to meet up with a dear college roommate today for lunch. We arrived at the restaurant, and he was awake. He sat, quite contentedly, for an hour, in his carseat. Two tiny fusses led me to put his seat on the floor, instead at eye level. I rocked the carseat for all of a minute and he was asleep.

He cries when he is hungry. Or if someone other than me is trying to entertain him.

I know his cries - he is very specific about what he wants.

I adore my sweet doll baby. He is a joy - and I am SO grateful that I was blessed with a peaceful child!

Salt Lake City!

As a third year medical resident, Aaron has to travel to study pediatric orthopedics. There just aren't enough peds cases in the El Paso area. So we chose to go to Salt Lake for 4 months - primarily because it fit our schedule with having Sam and the kids' school, and to have some adventure! We've never lived in Utah before - and isn't it a Mormon right-of-passage? :)

At the end of January, we packed up both vehicles with as much stuff as we could carry, and drove to Salt Lake. It was a great adventure! Thank goodness for portable DVD players!

We had some goals while we are here - 1) to see as many temples as possible and take a family picture in front, 2) have fun!, 3) save some money, and 4) enjoy the different climate.

We've been to a few temples.

We've had some fun.

We've been enjoying the climate.

I don't know about the saving money yet... Aaron does get paid extra for being here, but we haven't seen that yet.

We've gotten to visit with my super-amazing friend, Heidi, who had Mr. Tyson only 13 days after we got here. Sam's first small buddy.

What do you like to do when you visit Salt Lake City?

Christmas 2010

Christmas was celebrated.

Meet Sam

This is my sweet boy.

Samuel Aaron See was born on December 6th, 2010, at 39 weeks and 1 day. At William Beaumont Army Medical Center - my first (and last) Army baby. He was a glorious 9 lbs. 2 oz., and 21 inches long - the biggest of my babies.

Fortunately, he is a FANTASTIC baby. With all the hoopla in the past 10 weeks, I am grateful for his even temperment.
I've been updating Facebook regularly with the changes in his physical appearance - He's growing so fast.


Here it is. Our whole little family. 2 parents, 4 cute kids. It's pretty fantastic.