Baby Cakes and Blankets

There have been quite a few babies born in my circle of family and friends lately. It's hard to keep up with giving gifts to all of them, but I try. I just wanted to share a few of the gifts I've made recently that I'm particularly pleased with.

So, my brother, Mike, and his wife, Chelsie, were blessed with twin boys right before the new year. I was really busy in December with trying to get Primary ready for the new year, so I was unable to get them their Christmas present on time. Once I had a chance to catch my breath, I dove right into making gifts for my nephews in Oregon. Mike already has one two year-old boy, so now he's got his hands full with three.

I made the babies coordinating knitted striped hats (with their initials, so you can tell who is who when they're out and about) and crocheted blankets. I had a ton of yarn leftover, so I made Liam, the big brother, an awesome striped scarf that coordinates with the twins hats. The following pictures were taken by Chelsie's phone and texted to us and posted on Facebook. I have texted consent from her to publish them here on my blog.

I also sent them diapers, which I'm sure lasted them about a day or two, but it's the thought that counts, right? I would have sent them a Costco box, but they don't sell NB size and I bet the postage would have been astronomical.

Liam, sporting his new scarf.

I know this one is Lucas, because of the "L." Oh, so snuggly!

Jude wants to take me to "eat food." You know. The code.

So, I'm totally excited for Mike and Chelsie and I can't wait to meet the twins someday. They're already a month old and they've both gained almost 3 lbs. each! Ahhh! They're growing too fast!

The next gift I made for our Primary president, who just had her fourth baby boy. Her due date and Chelsie's were actually about three days from each other, but Chelsie had to schedule her birth early and then my friend went over on her due date by a few days.

I didn't have much time to crochet her boy an entire blanket, but I was able to knit a hat in a few hours. Then, the other counselor and I got together and we made her a diaper cake.

I am really pleased with how this cake turned out, mostly because I decided to use the hat as the topper. We stuffed this one with lots of pacifiers (because they always magically disappear), butt cream, pain reliever and Orajel, you know, stuff she will need, since, after three boys, our friend already has baby boy clothing and toys galore. For an extra special treat, though, we also ringed the hat with Lindt truffles, just for her, because every mom needs a chocolate break.

Here in Weckerland we're gearing up for our arrival. Another friend of mine just gave us her crib for free! I was having no luck perusing craigslist in my quest to find one. 

We haven't had a crib since Akiko. Our crib went into storage when we moved to Maui. Then Joseph's brother used it for his little guy and we just let them keep it when their twins were born (yep, we now have twins on both sides of the family). They so needed it more than we did.

Moses and Asher both slept (NOT!) in our playpen. They hated it. I can't blame them. It doesn't seem terribly comfortable. We moved Moses out of it, and onto the bottom bunk when he was about 13 or 14 months old and he suddenly stopped crying himself to sleep and started sleeping through the night. Asher got into a toddler bed [another free score from yet another friend (I have awesome friends)] a couple months ago and is sleeping much better. He still ends up in bed with us every once in a while, but it's becoming less frequent and Joseph and I have gotten a few all nighters of blissful sleep.

So, there are about three months left. I kind of want to get things ready a little earlier for this little man. I feel like I just barely put all the tiny newborn clothes, the infant car seat, the swing, and the baby tub away. Now I have to dig them all out of the garage again. 

And with this being our third boy, in a row, I have a feeling I'm going to get really confused when laundry rolls around. I'm already having trouble just sorting Asher's vs. Moses' clothes because of the hand-me-downs. With Asher and the baby being a lot closer in age, I'm probably going to have to check tags to make sure each boy is getting the correct size. Not looking forward to their teenage years. I'll have no idea what belongs to whom then. Thank heavens Akiko's clothes look so different. 

I just got a splendid idea! I'll just teach them to do their own laundry when they're older! I'm so brilliant!!

Funny Kids

The following are just some of the funny things that the kids have said or done in the past week or so. They're kind of for my own record keeping, but they're also too cute not to share.

First, Akiko was working on her math homework the other day and she came across a question that she needed help with. It read something like: You have 5 buttons. What is the greatest amount of buttons you can give away? Then it gave a choice of answers: 1, 3, 5, or 6.

Akiko marked her answer as 3, but then started second guessing herself and the following conversation took place:

Akiko: Mommy, I don't get this question.
Me: Well, what is the most buttons you can give to someone else? How many buttons do you have?
A: 5.
M: Okay, let's look at the answers again. Can you give away six?
A: No.
M: So of the three choices left, what's the most buttons you have to give away?
A: Well, I would give away three, so that I have two left over for myself.
M: But that's not what the question is asking. It's asking you to give all your buttons to someone else.

Akiko felt that question was so unfair. Why should she have to give away all her imaginary buttons? Can't she just share them?

This is not the first time Akiko has tried to change the rules of her homework, but it is the funniest one in recent memory.

Second and third, Moses gets two stories.

Four year old Moses was playing with a three year old, who is actually just a couple months younger, and the other boy asked him why Moses was shorter than him if Moses was older. The other mom and I simply explained that everyone is different shapes and sizes and that it was normal. However, Moses has been mulling over the fact that he's shorter than some other kids who are younger. The other day, while we were out driving, The following dialogue took place:

Moses: Don't you think it's funny that I'm actually four years old, but I still look like I'm three?
Me: Yeah, I guess that is kind of funny.
Mo: Well, Mom, how old are you?
Me: I'm 30.
Mo: Well, guess what? You only look 29!
Me (chuckling with flattery): Well, thank you, Moses! That makes me feel so young!

The next story happened the other day while I was cooking dinner. Moses came into the kitchen and asked me for a snack. I told him that he couldn't have one because I was just about done cooking dinner, which was literally (and I mean literally, not figuratively) five minutes from being done. Moses didn't like my answer and went into the living room to throw a fit.

Five minutes later, dinner was ready and the table set, so I called the kids into the dining room to eat. Only Akiko showed up. Asher had gone down for a late nap and was still asleep, so I called for Moses again, but he still wouldn't come. I went into the living room and found he had fallen asleep on the floor, which is unusual since he doesn't nap anymore.

Oh well! I shrugged and Akiko and I blessed and ate dinner together, just the two of us.

About half an hour later, Moses woke up crying. I figured he was still in the throws of his tantrum and went to calm him down. He wouldn't calm down and tell me why he was upset or what he wanted. After about five minutes (I'm not really sure, but it seemed like an eternity) and offering him food, water, more rest, candy... anything to calm him down... he told me, through tears, that he'd like me to warm him up some dinner.

I made him a plate and carried him to the table where he started bawling again. At my wits end, but still trying really hard to stay calm, I asked him again what was wrong.

Moses: I can't eat!!!
Me: Of course you can. You just sit here, pick up your food and eat it.
Mo: But, I need two hands!!! (We were having chicken burritos that night.)
Me: You have two hands.
Mo: But, I only have one!!!
Me: Why do you only have one?
Mo: Because the other one needs to hold in my pee-pee!!!
Me (chuckling, with a hand to my forehead, because I didn't notice): Well, then hurry and go potty!!

He soon returned to his normal sweet self. Oh, the joys of deciphering tantrums!!

Last, I just have a quick quip about Asher. No dialogue, since he doesn't converse with us much yet.

Asher had a snack in a bowl before bed the other day and he refused to let go of the bowl, even after he'd fallen asleep. We had to wait until he was deep in his sleep before we could even attempt to pry it from his hands. Previous attempts would wake him up. This is how he fell asleep and he refused to budge from this position.

Asher also thinks it's really funny to play on my bed while I'm trying to make it. He especially likes to be made into it. He's pretty much claimed our bed as his own.

This last picture makes it look like he saying, "Ha ha! In your face! It's all mine now!"

Kid Update

A lot of my blog posts are geared towards adventures that we have. But we don't have an adventure every week. Most days around here are pretty mundane. So when I sat down to do a post, I thought, Maybe this would be a good opportunity to do a quick update on the kids. Obviously, this is more for the sake of grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins, but since this blog is public, anyone is more than welcome to read on.

Akiko

Akiko continues to be wonderful. She is extremely helpful with Asher, who loves her to pieces. She loves helping me around the house, but especially in the kitchen. If she realizes I'm in there cooking, she will drop whatever she's doing, grab her apron, wash her hands and run in to ask if I need help. Sometimes she's a little too late and/or there's nothing for her to do, but I'm so grateful for her offer to help anyway. 

If I'm busy or unable to get the kids a snack, she will jump in and get them something to eat. She recently made up her own recipe. She calls it "Sweet Bread" and yes we've told her what sweet bread actually is, but she doesn't quite get it. (Sweet breads are kidneys, if you didn't know.) Her recipe calls for one piece of toast, sprinkled with sugar, topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and chocolate chips. And yes, it's very sweet.

At school, Akiko continues to do extremely well. She's being challenged more in first grade than she was in kindergarten, so she's not complaining about boredom. She's an amazing reader and her favorite subject is math. She has lots of friends and seems to really enjoy herself. She's getting a lot more independent about getting ready in the morning, so we've all been feeling less rushed to get out the door. 

Akiko is a very good example to her friends and her brothers. Her testimony is growing and she's extremely excited to get baptized next year. I often catch her reading her scriptures or her Friend. Her prayers are getting more sophisticated and sincere. When I'm having a crazy bad pregnancy hormone related day, she will go out of her way to keep the boys happy and occupied and bring me snacks or draw me pictures to cheer me up. She's been a great example of Christ-like service in our house.

She may have been a difficult toddler and, at times, can still be stubborn and hard-headed, but Akiko is turning into an amazing young lady. I'm so grateful for her love and all the help she gives me. 

Moses

Moses is one of the sweetest boys you'll ever meet. He's also extremely intelligent and catches on to concepts really quickly. He has a knack for puzzles and math problems. I've never met a kid his age who could do double digit addition and subtraction with positive and negative numbers (though I know those kids exist). He's also starting to read simple words and spells phonetically. He also really loves music and catches onto melodies and lyrics really quickly. 

He absolutely loves video games and spends a bit too much time with them. We're working on less screen time and rewarding him with it for positive behavior rather than taking it away for negative behavior. When he's not in front of the screen, however, he still turns everything into a game. I believe I talked about that in another post a few months back.

Moses adores Akiko and they get along famously. They do have sibling spats, as Moses has gotten older and wants to do things his way, like things that are less girly than Akiko would prefer, but otherwise they play really well together most of the time and they have a lot of inside jokes already.

Moses also really loves Asher. A little too much sometimes. I have to keep reminding him to give Asher space. As Asher gets older, though, he's getting more tolerant of the constant hugs and kisses bestowed upon him by his brother.

Moses is very loving and is always telling me, "Mommy, I love you to the end of the universe and back plus a thousand sixty-five gazillion four hundred and twenty three (or some other similar giant number)," and "Mommy, I love you more than you love me." He still climbs into bed with me first thing in the morning for a quick snuggle before he so sweetly asks me if he can play Angry Birds on my phone. He has unlocked almost all the levels on that game, whereas I couldn't get past level 1-7.

Anyone who gets to interact with Moses always tells me what a great kid he is. I couldn't agree more. He is an amazing little man.

Asher 

I can't get a posed still shot of Asher because this kid is always on the move. Whereas Moses was quiet, docile, and totally chill at 18 months old, Asher is loud, rambunctious and full of spunk. We had a feeling Asher was going to be like this when I first felt him move when I was 14 weeks pregnant with him. He never stopped moving for the next seven months in utero and never stopped moving for the last eighteen months since he was born. 

Asher is just bursting with energy, love, joy and volume. He gets into cabinets and drawers a lot more than the other kids did, but he's starting to get over that phase.

Asher is starting to understand and obey commands like "Put your shoes in the closet", "Throw your diaper in the garbage can", and "Give (insert name here) kisses!"

His communication is starting to take off and he knows a few words. "Mom", "Bop (stop)", "Ew!", and "No" are the most used, but we've been hearing "Whassisat (what is that)?" and "Didit (I did it)!" a lot lately, too. Asher has a lot of words that he has made up and we've had to decipher them like "Wizzo ahh-poh" means that he wants a drink. We have dubbed it "Asher speak." If he's not actually trying to communicate, he has a near constant stream of babble or song coming out of his mouth.

Asher, like any other kid, hates it when things get taken away from him, but is really good about giving you the object in his hands if you ask nicely. We're still working with Moses on this concept. 

Example: The other day, I was at the store with the boys. I only had to get one or two things, so I didn't get a cart and just let Asher run around following me, which he's getting good at. If he took an item off the shelf, I'd tell him to put it back, which he usually did. If he didn't, I'd ask him to give it to me, which he would, and I would put it back. Well, as we were walking to the checkout, Asher ran down one aisle and Moses ran after him to retrieve him. Asher found a big display of chip dip envelopes and grabbed a couple of dips. Moses, knowing I just wanted to leave at that point, grabbed at the envelopes in Asher's hand, rather than simply asking for them, there was a struggle between the boys and, next thing you know, they knocked down the entire cardboard display and ranch and onion dip envelopes went sliding clear down half the aisle. I had to laugh that one off, rather than get mad at them, because it really was more funny. They both helped me clean up as best as we could and made sure to let someone know what happened as we left the store. At least it wasn't a shelf of pickles or wine or something glass and breakable, right?

Asher is very affectionate towards his family and loves to spontaneously give us hugs, snuggles and kisses. He's shy-friendly around people outside of the house. 

Asher went into nursery for the first time on his own today and we were told that he did as well as could be expected. That means he cried for a bit until he got distracted and did well the rest of the time. Joseph, for the first time since we moved here, was able to go to Sunday school and Priesthood today without distractions (we taught a Primary class together until I got called to the presidency and he has wandered the halls with Asher for about a year since then). He was so excited. He is looking forward to the next four months. 

All in all, Asher is a silly, goofy, smiley, funny little sweetheart of a boy. He is really good at getting us to smile, even when he's doing something he's not supposed to be. It's hard to get mad at him. 

Baby #4 

Well, we have ultrasound pictures of the baby, but we can't access them because the cd the clinic gave us will only allow you to open the files with Windows. Seriously. It actually says on the instructions that it will not work with Macs. Lame, right? I mean, who uses Windows around here? Apple is just down the street. 

Anyway, I think I'm around 22 or 23 weeks now and the baby is doing great so far. He really likes it when I eat chocolate. That's when he gets most active.

As far as the pregnancy is concerned I'm just getting to the point where things are getting uncomfortable or in the way as the second trimester draws to a close. I can't bend down to tie my shoes anymore and it's really awkward to get on my hands and knees to locate a shoe under the couch. Making the top bunk bed has become a chore.

I haven't had too much discomfort. The sciatica is threatening to make a comeback. If I feel it act up, I try to take it easy the rest of the day. Restless legs are also threatening, but haven't become too troublesome so far. 

As long as the sciatica doesn't get bad and if I don't get insomnia, I think this pregnancy will be bearable. I've only got four short but busy months left. People are finally starting to ask, if I hadn't told them already. I guess I'm finally past the stage where people don't want to ask in case it was just me getting fat. 

I'm out of things to say now and this post has gone on long enough. Thanks for taking your time to read.

She Can Fly, She Can Fly, She Can Fly!

Last Saturday, Akiko got invited to her friend's birthday party. It was at an indoor skydiving facility, so all the kids and a few of the parents got to fly. There was no disclaimer saying that pregnant women are advised not to fly, but the common sense in me told me I shouldn't.

So, I watched from the wings and was a little jealous that Akiko got to fly and I didn't. If I had, though, I wouldn't have been able to take pictures of her, so I guess it's better this way.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Flyers got their hands stamped... with my initials. How cool is that? I told Akiko that all it meant was that she belonged to me in case she got lost.

Instructors got to show off for a bit after they were through with their group. I love the look on Akiko's face. She had no idea what to expect until she saw the guy performing stunts. It got her excited and nervous for her turn to fly.

After about an hour of waiting, it was finally time to get ready. Can you see the nervous anticipation on her face?

Suiting up. She was originally given a lime green suit, which she received with a wrinkled nose, but graciously accepted anyway. Then her instructor found her a pink one instead, which made her super happy.

I was able to talk her out of wearing a dress to the party. It was at this point she realized what a wise decision that was.

Suited up and ready to fly!

This was the look on her face right before her turn.

Once she was in, she was a natural.

Look at how much fun she's having! Only a couple of the other kids looked like they were having this much fun, too. Did I mention, she was the only girl in the party (not counting the adult women)?

The giant fan blows at 92-93 mph. Strong enough to blow her hair out through her helmet.

I think this is the best picture of the event. Hilarious!

Then we got to eat pizza and cake! Yum!

The minimum age to fly is 3 years old, so Akiko really wants to go again and take Moses with us. Maybe we'll try to go after the baby is born. Good thing my kids have had a lot of practice with Joseph already.

Akiko (9 mos.), January 2006, Kula, HI

Oh, and before I forget, perhaps you'd like to see the videos of her flights.

Christmas Post in the New Year

Happy New Year to you all! 2011 was pretty awesome. It ended with the birth of my twin nephews on Friday. I hope to meet them sometime this year, but we'll see. They live in Oregon.

Anyway, I've been meaning to get around to this post for about a week, but I had a Christmas hangover and tons of stuff to help get things ready for Primary. Now that we have 9am church, I've got all afternoon to relax with my family and write in my blog.

So, last Sunday was Christmas. I knew it was going to happen someday, but it was the year Christmas morning changed for us. Probably forever.

When I was little, I remember waking up way early on Christmas morning, even earlier than I'd wake up for school, to see what Santa had brought us during the night. I'd always find my two older brothers already enjoying the spoils from their stockings. Then we'd all have to wait forever for our parents to get out of bed. Then we'd all have to eat breakfast. Sometimes, we'd have to wait till our grandparents showed up. Then we could finally open our presents, one at a time.

It was agony. Pure. Agony.

For the last six years since we've had kids, Joseph and I were the ones who woke up early, too excited to see the looks on our kids' faces as they entered the living room to see what they'd received. We have also always filmed it (even though film is now obsolete, as the videos are digital nowadays).

This year, we were so exhausted that all we wanted to do was sleep while our kids woke up way too early and pestered us to open presents. It was one of those things that, until you're a parent, you don't get why your parents did what they did. Sorry Mama and Papa.

Well, Joseph and I were finally able to wake up a bit to get the morning started. Before I could get out of bed, though, Joseph had the kids bring me my present and open it first, so I could do this:

I got a new camera!!

I was super stoked and started taking pictures before I was out of bed.

Warning: Picture overload in this post.

Moses didn't want to feel left out, so I had to take a picture of him right away, too.

Joseph's big present to the kids was a roller coaster. A real roller coaster. Hopefully, you all saw it in the last post. Turns out they're pretty inexpensive to make and there are several websites of people building them, and one with instructions, but Joseph mostly had to design it all himself. It's not nearly finished, but he had enough done that he put together a short track going down the hall. We moved it outside later, but let the kids push each other up and down the hall. Here's Akiko on its maiden voyage:

Ready. Set...

... Go!

The "Santa pile." It was much bigger, but Akiko started dismantling it so she could get to...

... the big one.

Just what she asked for!

This is the present that all the kids fight over, though.

Asher: Not interested in opening presents at all. Most interested in playing with the curtain rod that hung our stockings over the fireplace.

"Bop!" --> "Stop!"

Oh, right! We have stockings, too!

Moses carefully arranges his candy.

I could not believe how difficult it is to find candy that doesn't have nuts. This and some candy canes were all I could find. Can you believe it?

We had the kids put all their presents on the car base, so it would be easy to haul it all to their bedroom at the end of the hall.

Akiko and Moses opened all Asher's presents for him. He was so happy to be surrounded by them and not be bothered at all by anyone else.

Someone finally told him it was easier to play with it once you take off the plastic wrapping.

But, then Asher found something to climb.This, by the way, is the beginning base for the coaster.

When Moses wrote out his list to Santa, the first thing he wrote on it, all by himself, by the way, was "fon." Being a practical mom and not one that's willing to buy a four year old their own phone, I got, instead, the essence of what it really was that he wanted:

Angry Birds!!!

It didn't take long, however, for Akiko and Moses to take things up a notch with the scrap 2x4s from the roller coaster project:

Yep. My kids freakin' rock!

The aftermath.

"This is the best day ever!!"

"Moses, look at the camera."

"Now smile!"

This is where he came to give me a kiss. Love those Asher kisses!!

Best quotes of the day:

"This is the best day ever!" But sometimes it was, "This is the best day of my entire life!"

"This is the best Christmas ever!"

I'd say, all in all, the kids had a pretty great day. And thank you, everyone, for your gifts. The kids really loved everything they received.

To my family, I hope to get your presents done soon. Sometime before next Christmas, I hope.