Happy 37th Alex

Friday Alex turned 37. I can't believe how time flies. It really seems like it wasn't too long ago we were in our 20's, now here Alex is inching his way towards 40. Wow! Its all how you feel though.....right? ;)
So of course as usual, Alex insisted on NO GIFTS. So I planned a "surprise". My wonderful parents sacrificed a night of sleep on Friday night so we could have a night away. I had a "Free Hotel Stay" at the Comfort Inn for a Jacuzzi Sweet. (Thanks to Sister Heather who won it at a Hockey Game and gave it to me). We also had a free meal to Tucanos. So on Friday I packed up the kids and shot this little video for Alex.....

I dropped the kids off at my parent's house and went to the hotel to unload our stuff and check in. After that I drove to Alex's work to pick him up. He didn't know I was coming, and when I got there he was GONE. You see, I tried to prod him the night before on what time he would be out of there. He insisted he would not be earlier than 4:30. Well, he left at 4:20, so I just missed him. I called him and told him to turn around and come back. He was surprised, and so excited for our night getaway. We went to dinner and a movie, then we went and bought some junk food to pig out on while we stayed up late. The jacuzzi had no instructions and came with a leak. It was really fun figuring it out. We stopped the leak with a bunch of towels. Anyway, the next morning Alex really wanted to take me to breakfast at this hole in the wall called the Chef's Hut. First off, you wouldn't even know it exists unless someone told you about it. It has a sign on the building that says Cafe. Huh. Of course Alex had to remind me not to judge by appearances on the outside....or...the inside. Well it was definitely a "hole in the wall". I felt like I was in the back woods somewhere and had to laugh at the decor. The best was the "beach ball" hanging from the middle of the ceiling that said SPAM. Oh dear. All in all, breakfast was good. We had a great time. Happy Birthday to my Husband! You are the Best!

Everyday......

.....is BATH Day.

Well, at least for Logan it is.

Every morning the girls want their chocolate milk and morning cartoons. Logan....he wants breakfast. So they all sit at the table, cartoons going, and eat their toast, banana, and chocolate milk. The girls make their way to the couch. If Dejah has school, Alex takes her.
Logan needs a bath....he is a boy...he is "messy" in more ways than one. Of course Mycah thinks she needs the fun too.


Everyday....is Dress Up day.
At least for Dejah it is.

I think its so funny (and then again not so much) that Dejah gets into my clothes, puts them on, and says "look Mom, I'm you!", and starts giggling. Then she says "Mom. When I'm seven, can I have your boots??"
(Mycah usually joins in this fun too)



Everyday....I look like this.

First off its comfortable.

Secondly, what do you expect when I'm always doing this.....

or this???....

Everyday I am THE luckiest woman alive,
because I got THIS......

Everyday he does More than his fair share of household duties and caring for our rug-rats.

Because of him....

One night a week I get to do this......

(no, not take a lame pose picture of myself)...

The goal was to look somewhat like this......

.....only.....

WITH a smile on my face,
because i get to go out with some of these.....

....all while Alex stays home with these...
Every Day....

We go about our daily tasks.
Mostly they are the same.
But with all those tantrums there are giggles.
In all those messes there are opportunities to teach our kids the value of work.
The house is small, but it takes less time to clean.
I know I complain, but I also know how blessed I am.

Everyday I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the greatest family I could ever ask for.

Goals? What are those?

Ok so I haven't posted any goals yet. I haven't really made any. So here are some I'm going to attempt to THINK about more often. (ps. they are the same every year and thinking about them happens about once a month)

Family Home Evening!: It seems so simple right? Not for me. I am fully aware that it only has to be a quick 10 to 15 min. thought with the little ones, but it is just another thing I haven't succeeded at.

Personal Prayers and Scriptures: I have really dropped this off the side of the boat since I got married. So my new effort will be in the form of listening to the scriptures on my ipod while I lay in bed struggling to sleep.

Exercise: Oh my, did I really just write that? You're probably thinking..."Oh Anna, you look fine". Right? All I have to say, lets be grateful it is winter and I can limit my wardrobe to sweats, or a big fluffy coat. :) If you think its hard losing baby fat after two??.....just wait there is more (waaaaayyyyy more) to come after four. I want to look good this summer, so I guess I'd better start putting that treadmill to good use. (of course this is all contingent on the sleep issue and won't be aided by diet because I'm completely addicted to unhealthy foods. I would need some serious therapy to change that.)

A NEW ONE! LESS TIME SPENT ON ELECTRONICS. Maybe my house won't get away from me as much?

Be a Better Friend: I have such good friends. They have all been there for me when I need a little help. I have gotten meals when we are sick. Clothing for my kids. The list goes on. I want to pay back the service I've received. I think service makes us happier people. And it feels good.

Well I'd better get busy cleaning house. I have more ideas of things I want to accomplish this year, but I'm way to lazy to keep track. So this will have to do for now.

Not Myself Lately

I have so much to do today, but I really need to blog. So I'm going to do this first. I have posted some things but I still have a lot on my mind.

First thing, I am not feeling quite myself lately. I'm kind of thinking it has to do with.....well... maybe because I had another baby five months ago. I know our bodies go through so many hormonal changes in the year or two following birth. I guess you could say I've probably been one big hormonal mess since I started having babies right? :) Anyway, to prevent "further" babies, I had to decide what form of birth control to choose. After discussing it with my Dr., I decided on taking the mini-pill. It basically gives you a smaller dose of hormones. Which I REALLY need. I refuse to go on the regular pill because it makes me psycho! I've already gone into detail about this. Now to my point. The first couple months on this pill, I had NO period! Hallelujah! I was all about that! Then reality hit and I had a period. Then another one. Then another one. Basically, I had the first one for two weeks straight, then every other week they are back. The cramps, the flow, all of it. Do you think maybe this might be contributing to the fatigue? In addition to this I am breaking out! I haven't had zits like this since I went on accutaine for the second time back in 2001! Also for the past week I am getting night sweats again. Ugh! I am going to finish out my next two packs and I am DONE! Lets hope the next two months is a little better. At that time, I will hopefully get an I.U.D. We'll see.

Lexi. My little Angel. She came before I was ready for her, but I'm glad she's here. My nights have been quite off. Typically she'll wake me up a couple times a night, one of those for a bottle. She has been sick, so I've just decided she is old enough to hold out for eight hours, she'll just have to cry. I feed her around 9:30 or 10. If she wakes up before 5, she gets to cry. And she does. I'm hoping she'll just catch on and learn how to go back to sleep. This whole sleeping thing is probably another reason why I'm not feeling quite like myself.

Sleep Problems. I have had spurts of insomnia since I served my mission in 2000-2001. I'm have problems again. I get the kids to bed around 7:30. Lexi eats and goes down around 10. That is probably the point where I need to go to sleep. But! I can't! I get a booste of energy. Why? Not sure, because I'm pretty tired up to that point.

Are you sick of hearing about my issues yet??? :) I promise someday I'll stop posting them ;)

What...IS...That?

We have had quite the week around here! Christmas break is over and Alex is back to work. To top it off, the little ones have gotten some dumb sickness again. Fevers, head congestion, runny noses, stuffy noses, no appetite, lots of sleeping (except at night) and LOTS of fussing. Alex and I both have been feeling a little under the weather too. So anyway, Thursday night I got to get out for a couple hours with my friend Tiffany. That SAVED me from a couple hours of insanity. Poor Alex got stuck with the kids though. He ended up cleaning puke, spit up, a wet bed, laundry, and kitchen. He bathed the kids and while he was at it he noticed THIS on Mycah.

Do you see it????

Here it is again. Its almost like a cyst. But I'm no Dr. so I don't even know. It is hard like a bone, but moves around when you push on it. Would something like that happen from getting hit in that spot? I mean she is a bit accident prone. Anyway, I thought I'd give it a week to see if there is any change. If not I'll take her in. She has complained about it a little, but I think that's because we've pointed it out.

Anyway. I have had cysts removed on me, but how would a small child get one?

Insomnia

Insomnia! That's my diagnosis. I haven't seen a Dr., but the "awake train" is running FULL STEAM ahead. So here is what I'm dealing with.
Before I got pregnant with Logan I think I was back on a somewhat normal sleep schedule. Mycah and Dejah were both in their own rooms and sleeping through the night beautifully. I got pregnant with Logan and got pretty sick. I started taking Unisom and vitamin B12 to combat the morning sickness. That pill KNOCKED ME OUT! So I switched to 1/2 and it was perfect. I think I took it for the rest of my pregnancy because it was really hard to sleep. I continued to take it for a couple months after he was born because I would wake up to feed him then be WIRED! So that tiny dose of "sleepiness" helped me go back to Slumberland.
I stopped taking it. Things were fine. I put the girls in a room together. When Logan was 5 months old I made him cry his nights out. No more help from me. At least he had his own room and I could shut everyone's door. To this day he still wakes up at least once a night fussing. Sometimes, depending on how hard he's crying, I'll go lay him back on his pillow and cover him up.
Lexi is now five months old. Usually she wakes up around 2 0r 3 for her binki and again around 4 or 5 for a bottle. I would probably make her cry it out except her current bedroom is my living room. I refuse to put the babies together...they will just wake each other up....

Ok so my point to all this? When I am awakened by ANY of my kids between the hours of 10pm and 7am, I get this little shot of that lovely chemical called adrenaline. Guess what? I wake up with at least 2 of them a night on an average of 2 to 3 TIMES a night. I toss and turn for about an hour JUST to fall back asleep. My nights are AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL!! I wake up in the morning pretty grumpy. I use all the control I have in me not to take it out on my kids. I think I do pretty good smothering them with hugs and kisses. I feel pretty tired until about nap time. IF I take a nap....my evening is officially ruined! I cannot fall asleep until midnight! IF I take a sleeping pill (even a 1/2), I get better sleep, but my next day is ruined. I become too groggy to function. So that has been me lately. I feed Lexi at 10pm then toss and turn until midnight and that "awful awake train" steams ahead and repeats its route. I'm tired.

Logan At Meal Time

Here is my fun, energetic, very chunky, 20 month old boy Logan! He is all boy. He is not my hardest child, but definitely keeps me the busiest. He almost always wants to be entertained. He LOVES going on drives with Alex! Especially if its in the truck. He loves his Grandpa! He loves his toys! Balls and Cars! He loves scooting around on his scooter. He loves swimming and refuses to let anyone touch him...kind of a pain since he can't swim. (thank you kiddie pool) He insists on a bath almost every morning (probably because he is the poopiest kid I know!!!). He is full of energy and makes a mess wherever he goes. Well, his newest and latest?......he thinks he needs to feed himself. I used to think I wouldn't mind so much but its almost more work to let him. I mean holy cow the mess he makes!!! My sister Melissa has carpet under her kitchen table and has three kids and can you believe she hasn't had a problem yet! Seriously EVERY meal leaves me with some serious clean up. Fun Times!

Girls Just Want To Have Fun!

Isn't it true!?

My girls got dressed up as little ballerinas.......of course, they couldn't leave little Lexi out. They dressed her up and came out dancing and showing off to Alex. He took this wonderful snapshot for me! :)

I think that we never outgrow this. There is something inside every woman that needs "girl time". We need our girlfriends! Weather it be our Moms, Grandmas, Sisters, Daughters or Friends, its always nice to have someone else that completely understands the challenge of being a Mother and Wife. Shortly after Lexi was born I decided that I needed at least one night a week away from my kids. So every week, I find someone or someone-S who want to do something. It really doesn't take much because the funnest part is visiting and laughing! We can get dressed up or come wearing PJ's. We can stay in or go out. The other day, some girlfriends and I went Lingerie shopping to surprise our husbands! Not something I've EVER done, but hey....they are the ones that make those outings possible :) Either way, I'm just a girl who wants to have fun.

Preoccupied

So I've been a little Preoccupied! Thank you......toy of the year!

I think of this as my reward for growing, carrying, and pushing out 4 babies :) When I say "preoccupied" I really mean "away from my PC". It does just about everything my computer does, except its in my hand! Its a snap shot camera. Its a video camera. You can listen to your music with or without headphones. You can listen to books, read books, watch movies and netflix, play games, facebook, read blogs, google anything you want. You can text or even skype. The list goes on. You could probably find an app to warm your coffee (or hot chocolate, whichever you prefer). Seriously is there any wonder why I might be "plugged in"? I thought it might motivate me to get on the treadmill...not working so far, but maybe when I start getting some sleep? My kids have played games on it and like to watch cartoons from Youtube.
What a fun toy!

Cheeks

Well, there she is...my little "Cheeks McGavin". Don't know where I came up with that one, but that's the name I think of when I see those round luscious things. Lexi is my Angel! She was truly sent to me from above. I have FEW complaints when it comes to her. So heres the MAIN ONE:

Nights! I mean the girl still insists on taking a bottle every three hours! So you would think that she would give me a 10 to 12 hour night right? If you want to bore yourself here are the details:

(She'll take her last bottle around 9:30 or 10. She always wakes up around 2 or 3, I give her the binkie. Then around 4 or 5 she insists on a bottle. Somewhere between 7 and 8 in the morning she is up and ready for more.)

She is getting PLENTY of sleep! ME however?? Every time she wakes up I get a quick shot of adrenalin..just enough to keep me awake for at least an hour! Not so good around 4 or 5 in the morning because all the other kids are up around 7!

She is almost 5 months old. She is starting to "talk", smile, and giggle. She DOES NOT like rice cereal. Not even with applesauce in it. She still LOVES sleeping! She wants to be swaddled up with something soft on her face. She also Loves her binki when she sleeps. She also doesn't like to be on her tummy, but she loves sitting in the bumbo while I'm doing stuff in the kitchen. She is finding her hand, so when it makes its way to her mouth she manages to stuff her whole fist right in!