My dreams have come true!

It occurred to me, this morning as I was luxuriating in my Saturday sleeping-in-ness, that my childhood dreams have literally come true. You know how some little girls dream of being a ballerina and boys dream of being a fireman? Well, my biggest dream was of having a real live baby doll. I know I've had four previous babies - technically all real live baby dolls, but Jovi is different. My family will remember my favorite doll, Cindy, who was about as big as Jovi is now. She had a baldy plastic head and a soft body and eyes that would open and close. I slept with her for the majority of my childhood years. And now I have a real live baby, roughly the same size, with a baldy head, who's soft and squishy and loves to sleep with me. She even snuggles in to me exactly like I used to hold Cindy.

It was one of those moments that I just want to freeze and keep forever. Too fleeting. But I can now say my childhood dream is fullfilled.

Cuties

Jovianne

Jovianne is now almost six weeks old, but I couldn't bring myself to blog about her until now. It's weird, but you know how newborns are just so sweet and precious and pure? I think I felt the need to protect her fragile little self for awhile. If I'm not going to allow her out of the house, why should I allow her on the web? Okay. I know you readers are just my family and friends; I guess I'm just a little illogically protective when it comes to new babies. So. Here she is!

She is definitely a good mix of our kids. 7 pounds, 5 ounces, 20 inches - perfect baby. She has been extremely well-behaved. These pix were taken when she was two weeks old by my amazing photographer friend Haylie Bowler. All-natural light . . . ahhh. They are really amazing photos.

My recovery has been easy; the pregnancy was so hard that from the day I got home from the hospital, I've felt better than I have for nine months. I really do feel excellent. And especially in love with this little gal. She's been a smiley baby from the start (good dreams and good milk, I guess), but just in the past couple days has really begun to smile in response to me. So cute it makes me weak.

Her daddy adores her, of course. I'll catch them just sitting there, staring at each other. She turns her head when she hears his voice.

Irelynd is enamoured as well. She actually attended the birth, which was a cool experience, so she's been lovin' her from the start. If Irelynd had her way, we would sit and play with Jovianne all day long.

Drake also digs Jovi. He tells me that her skin is softer than homemade ice cream. (And we all know how soft that is!) He is especially good at watching her for me if I have to run upstairs for something. I'll come back down to find him singing to her and bouncing her like a pro.

Zander says that Jovi is "a freakin' cool baby," and is constantly reminding me that he loves the baby more than he loves me. "But just a little more." He loves to hold her, too. Whenever I sit down with Jovi, he runs up and settles next to us, and asks if we can "spend some time together - just you and me and the baby."

Amari doesn't so much like Jovi. She is more of an inconvenience than anything. It's constantly, "Give it to Dad," or "Put it down." My Aunt Janet and Uncle Rick came to visit shortly after she was born, and as they were leaving, their daughter Ericka asked if she could hold Jovianne one more time. Amari took one look at Ericka, holding Jovi by the door, and asked, brightly, "You gonna take it with you?" (No, Amari. We're keeping her.) If I ask Amari about her little sister or try to talk to her about it, she completely ignores me, usually just changing the subject and overall, refusing to acknowledge the baby's existence. And I understand that Jovi has thrown off her groove of being the babiest baby ever, so I am trying to give Amari lots of extra attention. I'm sure things will turn out fine, and they will become good buddies. It just hasn't happened yet.

So I'm lovin' being the mom of a newborn again. There is just nothing else in life that compares, in my opinion. I'm just soaking in every moment with her. Babies are bliss, I tell you.

Fun with Ramen noodles

I walked in the kitchen today to see Amari making a big mess of her lunch, as usual. But today, she was patiently holding a noodle over the serving bowl. Jason asked her, "What are you doing?" To which she replied, "Fishing." Funny girl.

Pennsylvania and my sister, Valerie

Irelynd, Amari, and I recently had an awesome vacation visiting my big sis in Pennsylvania, which is gorgeous, by the way. Here we stopped for a picnic lunch at a cool fruit stand: peaches were in season. I think that covers it right there.

They had this cool sandbox that contained not sand, but feed corn. Ingeniuous. I don't know which Amari enjoyed the best - the box or the peaches.



The delightful Goates family consists of: Audrey, the beautiful, fair-haired, brilliant best buddy of Irelynd. They are only six weeks apart in age and have always loved to play. Imagination comes easily with these two, as for a majority of the stay, they were either spies, or creating star buddies.

Next comes Marian, the spunky, funny, best-hugs-in-the-world, bone marrow transplant survivor and thriver. She cracks me up and makes my heart happy. She can hang out with anyone, any age, and have fun.

And youngest, but not least, precious Reuben, smiley boy, cancer-fighter, bouncer. After four rounds of chemo, he is going in for surgery today to remove a tumor in his shoulder. We are praying. He is a little guy with his own rhythm in life. He is always either bouncing, dancing, or slapping his leg all the time.

Valerie's hubby, Nathan, is my personal hero of the trip, as he spent four hours with me at the airport as I arrived, waiting in lines, entertaining the kids, and patiently not complaining as we tried to locate my luggage. He is also a good daddy and he likes to ride bikes.
And lastly, the coolest is Valerie. She is this amazing mom with boundless patience (though she would never admit it). She is a craftasaurus and can do anything. But not like dumb, tacky crafts - the coolest crafts you can imagine. Like incredible pottery creations, dying her own material, and stamping it with natural dyes, needle-felting adorable creatures like root babies, sewing and embroidering tiny animals, monsters, and fairies . . . and the list continues. You should check out her blog and her shop on etsy. All this, and she still has time to drive hours picking and dropping off at airports, not to mention endless hours driving to and from hospitals . . . I can't imagine doing the things she has to do, accomplishing the things that she accomplishes that are extra, being the mom and wife she is, and still remaining sane - well, relatively sane. ;) Wow, I say.

Well, I spent more time telling about the family than the actual trip. But really, those details are what made the trip great. It was so good to see them. I'm still hoping for a Christmas visit from them!!!

The trip was great. I can say that now, after a few weeks to forget the horrors of the airline company, and to remember the great time with my sis. I wish she lived nearer.

How would you like it if someone crushed your house and killed all your babies??!?!

No kidding. These were Drake's exact words when I told him we'd have Dad get that wasp nest taken care of. It's huge. And nasty, crawling with wasps. And right by the stairs going down to the lower patio. And we've dealt with wasp stings several times before - none of them a happy memory. But now I have a naturalist son who disapproves of harming anything in nature. We discussed it and argued until tears came to Drake's eyes - so I backed off and thought about his point of view a little. This whole standoff took place Sunday morning, a couple weeks ago, and here's the latest: The wasp nest is still there.

Drake has taken an interest lately in insects, especially, and his Uncle Paul has only fueled his love. Paul's last weekend before he went to Mongolia was spent with Drake visiting Paul's lab at BYU and creating the beginnings of Drake's own insect collection. Paul gave Drake all of the necessary tools and supplies to keep it up, and Drake has added a couple, but he mostly likes to catch the little creepy crawlies and then let them go within a few minutes because he doesn't want them to die. . . . This all brings up memories of a story I heard about Drake's daddy when he was Drake's age: seeing his brother shooting birds with a BB gun, running inside to find his own BB gun, and shooting his brother for hurting the little birds.

In fact, lately we have been having trouble with birds flying into our big windows on the west side of our house. Some of them get up and fly away . . . some of them don't. But recently we had a little baby robin smash into the window, and it was still fluttering a little, so Jason went and picked up the bird and put it somewhere safe where it could hopefully recover. He was a little sad about it, and went to check on it a couple of times before he happily announced that it flew away! I have softies for boys in my family - that's all I can say. Of course I love it.

Oh, Honey!

I swear I don't remember leaving Amari at the counter alone.

Since she's a "big girl" now, we've tried to let her sit on big girl chairs, which means she can climb onto the counter at will. So, after running to my room to put something away, I came back to this. I'm not sure if she was really in any danger of falling, because her little bum was stuck quite forcefully to the counter when I tried to pick her up. A little sticky to carry her to the bathtub, but after a good warm wash, no harm done! (Actually, I have to correct myself. She was easy to clean; but I have mopped my floor three times now and still can't seem to get all those sticky spots!)










P.S. For those of you who have read "The Secret Life of Bees," doesn't this remind you? hee hee

Consequences

Drake is turning out to be a pretty great little guy. One of his duties, in his mind, is to make sure everyone else in the family is behaving. He frequently tells us what we should be doing. He's getting good practice for when he's a daddy. But along with being in charge of the world, he also knows everything. Whenever Zander asks a question, or a topic comes up for which he has special knowledge (which happens frequently), he adopts his patient teacher voice and explains all to us - especially to Zander. Zander maintains that Drake is the only one in the world that is smarter than him, so I guess it must be working. The other day, Zander was receiving a consequence, and he asked what that word meant. I tried to explain it to him, then Drake piped in with, "It's like if you try to shoot someone with a laser gun, and they're holding a mirror, so when the laser gets to them, it bounces off them and comes back and blows you up. It's your fault that you shot that laser." Profound. Drake has lately been making a huge effort to be a good big brother to Amari. It's so cute because of how hard he tries. But it has paid off. Amari thinks Drake is pretty cool. They had some great quality and quantity time together while Drake was off track, so when he went back on track, Amari kept asking me where he was, and saying sadly, "I miss Dake." I love it.

SEUSSICAL!

I haven't blogged for a bit, so I have to back up in time and talk about Seussical. Irelynd and Drake had the time of their lives. They tried out back in October (I think) and practiced and practiced their hearts out until they opened at the beginning of March. For those of you who haven't ever seen Seussical, it is a really wonderful musical from Broadway that is a combination of like 16 different Dr. Seuss books. We are a big Dr. Seuss family, so this was especially enjoyable. Irelynd was a fish (from McGilligot's pool) and a circus performer (in the circus that Horton and the egg were sold to). Drake was a cadet in the army commanded by General Von Schmitz, fighting for BUTTER SIDE UP! As you may expect, with my volunteering and actual attending (they performed six times), I saw this show lots and lots, but honestly was sad on closing night - not sick of it at all. I think that has something to so with the fact that I adore my kids and love to watch them. But it was really a well-produced/directed show. It was put on by Riverton City, who has a great theater program, and directed be the drama teacher at Bingham High School. The main parts were performed by really amazing vocalists, too. I was impressed.

I think it was also good for the kids to be in - they both enjoyed it, and it broadened their (especially Drake's) horizons. With the time it takes to be in one of those plays, you're happy you did it, but are willing to wait at least a year before taking on something of that magnitude again . . . Fun, though.

Jeffrey the Conquerer

This is my brother Jeff preaching the gospel from the top of Romania.

Triangle X Ranch

How would you like to wake up every morning, step out of your cabin, and see this? That was our amazing weekend in Jackson. I honestly can't imagine a preferable sight for me. Maybe I'm partial from growing up in Idaho, and being able to barely glimpse them on a clear day . . . nope. They really are that beautiful. We drove up with our friends, Brek and Lisa, and spent the weekend with really cool people who were mostly snowboarding freaks - yes - even the girls. And I say that with all the love in my heart. They are out of control good riders. And then there's me. I drove into a ditch, mangled my knee, and got whiplash. Hmmm. Well, we all know I'm not the most graceful being in the world already. (Cross-reference my fall from the top of the ladder last month . . . and my bruises were just beginning to go away! . . .) Oh well. A report on that awesome ranch wouldn't be complete without mentioning the really amazing food served every meal. All of it comfort food prepared expertly. I was impressed. Good weekend.

Amari has a kiss for you!

SMACK!

Drake the bruiser

Drake had his last game of the Jr. Jazz season two Saturdays ago. And I am so proud of him! If you could have seen him the first and last game, you'd think he was a totally different kid. He went from jumping around, aloof on the court, to stealing balls, making shots, and, yes, making fouls! I was delighted to overhear the parents of the other team (who they pulverized) complaining that our team was way too aggressive, shouldn't steal the ball away so much, and "that number 24 is a bruiser. They should take him out of the game!" Honestly, he's not that bad. . . maybe I'm desensitized from watching Jason for so many years . . . but I was so proud of him.

Drake is the tallest on his team (weird for our family), so they always put him on the biggest opposing guy. After a half of playing against Drake, their big guy (considerably bigger than Drake) had had enough. Before each quarter, they line up opposite of who they're guarding, and that poor guy kept moving down the line to get away from Drake, and Drake kept following him. It was pretty funny. P.S. This shot totally went in!

Mykita Belle

A very beautiful baby has come to earth. My little sis is a Mommy! And I don't mean to brag, but I helped her into this world with my professional leg-holding and counting to ten. Yes, Camie let me be there - how cool is that?! Mykita is just a little doll. I went over for a photo shoot when she was two weeks old. Today she is four weeks, and she's not even due yet! Wow. Weird. And lucky Camie. Who is 25 years old! Today! Woo hoo.

SUPAH CAT

Those of you who know our family know that we are big fans of superheroes/the justice league. Amari included. The other day, we found the superman costumes that my mom made Drake and Irelynd years ago. And Zander and especially Amari love them. Amari wants to wear "Supahman" every day. EVERY DAY. I will get her dressed is whatever really adorable outfit I choose for the day, and invariably, she runs to her superman costume, and says, "Suapahman!" and we put it on over her cute outfit. When it's on to her satisfaction, she says "Da da DAAAA!" I was asking her if she was supergirl, and she thought for a minute then said, "No. Supah Cat!" Those of you who know Amari also know that she pretends she is a cat about 80% of the time. Meow! She'll wake up in the morning meowing, and go to bed at night meowing. She yells at me "MOW!" when she's mad, she licks me and nuzzles me when she's lovey, and crawls around on all fours quite a lot. So the super cat thing is very fitting.

Amari can walk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just have to gush a little . . . My baby Mari, (who is now two and almost a half!) is my favorite thing ever. She is such a sweet and tough little girl. Her sensory weakness made it terrifying for her to learn to walk, but she stuck it out like a little trooper and last month, she tested out of her physical therapy program! I am so proud of her. That was a lot of work. Much credit I give to her amazing and patient and fun and loving PT, Julie, who stuck with us and loved Amari and figured out how to get that little girl walking! She really got going in November and it's just been incredible improvement since then. Yay yay yay yay! She is a very funny girl.

Sometimes I wonder why I am even posting this entry

Do you ever stay up way too late trying to finish something, but then you're really tired, so your state of mind is a little altered, so it makes you think of strange things, and then that makes you stay up longer because you feel you need to do those weird things? I've had a few of those throughout this busy busy season.
One night, recently, I think it was 3-ish am, and I was searching through my basement, trying to find something I can't even remember, and I looked out the basement window and saw a long object sticking up from the window well. I stared at it and imagined that someone could fall into the window well, impaling themselves on this stick. So, I ran outside in the cold and snow, jumped down into the window well in my slippers, and proceeded to take care of this incredible hazard. Don't get me wrong; my waking mind still recognizes this as a danger, but it also realizes that it could have been taken care of in the morning with a coat and boots on. At any rate. . . I'm only telling that was my story as a prelude to illustrate just the type of night this was.
So on another night, like unto the one aforementioned, I was driving home on icy roads at 2-ish am (on my way home from a very fun girls' night out, I might add), when I saw a horse in the middle of the road. It was a good-looking paint, and it was wandering around and bucking like it was lost. I passed it and turned around three times before I decided I needed to help it. If I were the owner of this beautiful horse, I would want to know that it was out, so that I could save it and any damage that it was bound to cause. So. I, scared of horses, and unable to even get my own horse to do what I want it to do, sat and watched it to see if I could figure out where it lived. It was near a field that was near a house, and so I decided to go to that house and ask. As I pulled into the driveway, I realized that it was still 2-ish in the morning, but I reflected on my earlier reasoning that if it were me, I'd want to know. As it turned out, it wasn't me - well - it wasn't her - I mean, when I went and knocked on the door and told the lady the situation, she told me that it wasn't her horse. However, she was incredibly nice to me, even though she was undoubtedly tired, and listened as I told her that I thought it was her horse because it looked like it was talking to her animals in her field. I think she might have looked at me a little funny at this point, but then we noticed that the animal unit from the police were arriving on the scene. Hmmmm. Wish I had thought of that.
So then I went home, my good-intentioned deed done, to find my whole house asleep. I walked inside, still holding my camera from girl's night out, and it occured to me that it would be a funny idea to take everyone's pictures while they were asleep. So I did. And here they are.


The one that might have really been a little funny, Jason, I didn't even think of doing. A little anticlimactic, if I do say so, but there you have it. A behind-the-scenes look at my Christmas season. No cheery pix of Christmas trees and presents for me - just a really weird story about me in the middle of the night. I'm now wondering how much sleep I actually got last night . . .