Jophes Smith

Rachel made two loud announcements to us during sacrament meeting on Sunday. The first was that she found cereal on the floor and ate it. The second was that she knows who Jophes is, "it's Jophes, it's Jophes, it's Jophes Smith!" Both of these announcements were made loud enough for at least our half of the chapel to hear. A few days ago, Rachel asked me if it would be OK for her to choose a husband when she is 10. I told her I thought that was pretty early, but she assures me she won't marry him at 10, just pick him out. "somebody I haven't met yet."

The kids have all been very into my growing abdomen. They know there is a baby in there and are constantly asking me questions about it. This morning I was cuddling with Lilly and she kissed my arm and said "mom, your arm looks like there is a baby in it!" I have chosen to take this as a compliment about my well developed guns.

Carson is still not talking a ton, but he has added a couple of words. He finally says "bye" and sometimes "stinky". My favorite new thing he says is "yay!" He says it all the time, anytime he gets to do anything remotely fun. And he says it with such enthusiasm. I asked him if he wanted to go outside with his dad and he started jumping up and down and said "yah! Yay! Yay! Yay!"

We have been spending most of our time at home over the past few weeks. We leave the house for karate twice a week and that is about it. Mostly we have all been enjoying this, and my house has never been cleaner. Really it has been nice to spend so much time with my kids without the stresses of life. They are fun little people.

Lilly's Weak Tummy

It all started a couple of weeks ago, when Lilly cut her finger with Shelby's razor. We all know a razor cut does not really hurt, but it does bleed like crazy. Lilly was beside herself, and knowing it did not really hurt, I just shrugged my shoulders and said "you shouldn't have played with Daddy's razor." Shelby took to the task of bandaging her finger up. After a couple of minutes of trying to get her to calm down by offering her sips of water, she suddenly said "I don't feel good, I have to sit down." Shelby's response was "you're fine, just hold still." Then it happened. She threw up everywhere. What we learned from this is Lilly does not do well with blood. What she learned is, if she cries hysterically and does not immediately get a glass of water, she will throw up. And she does. This has happened on several occasions since. If Rachel pushes her down, if I get after her for something, if she gets her feelings hurt, chances are about 1 in 5 that she will toss her little cookies. It starts with the crying, which escalates pretty quickly followed by a request for some water, which if she does not get, she pukes. It is all in her head, but how do you explain that to a three-year-old?

I hate to make today's entry all about Lilly, but I have other news. She is really into negotiating lately when it comes to time. And usually she negotiates in my favor. A perfect example would be "How long do I have to sit in time-out?" My response: "about 5 minutes." Then her insistence "no, 30 minutes!" I don't think she quite gets the concept of time yet.

Rachel is a phenomenally good big sister. She is concerned about the welfare of her siblings almost to a fault. Especially when we are somewhere other than home. At home she vacillates between great big sister and great big tease. Yesterday she was giving Carson piggy back rides around the living room. It was so delightful to listen to him laugh so hard, and to see Rachel be so pleased with herself. When her and Lilly watch movies together, Lilly is very easily frightened. She always buries her head in Rachel's shoulder and Rachel puts her arm around her and says "it's OK, Lilly." This all pleases me to no end.

So I played tag with Rachel for the first time ever I am sure. It is the first time I have played tag period in about 10 years. I could not stop laughing. We had so much fun. Lilly joined us as well. I will tell you this, I tuckered out pretty quick. No wonder little kids burn up so much energy.

I Like Bad Stuff!

Rachel keeps asking me to tell her stories about when I was a kid. I do my best to find the most entertaining stories, and to tell them with as much enthusiasm as possible. The last couple of days she has had a specific request. She wants me to tell her all the stories about bad things I did as a kid. There are plenty of stories to tell, but I am worried about giving her any ideas. I asked her yesterday why she wants to hear about all the bad things I did as a child and she said "I like bad stuff." I have a feeling we are going to have to watch that girl.

Poor Lilly is such a middle child. Sometimes it seems like her identity gets lost in the crowd of three children. Carson is a little kid, Rachel is a big kid, but what is Lilly? When Rachel is allowed to do something Lilly isn't, or if Rachel is better than her at something, she tells me "I don't want to be a little kid anymore!" Later in the day, when something is required of her, such as to clean up a mess or take her thumb out of her mouth, she declares "I don't want to be a big kid anymore!" another middle child trait, she absolutely does not want to make anyone feel bad. Yesterday we asked her who her best friend in her primary class is and she proceeded to list every kid in the class. We get the same response if we ask "who do you like better, mom or dad?" Rachel would not hesitate to choose one, depending on who had recently been the nicest to her. Lilly cannot bring herself to choose, and always says "I like mom and dad!"

The game is on with stubborn Carson. I know he can talk, he just won't! On Saturday he wanted me to pick him up and I wouldn't until he said "up". I figure this is a nice easy word to start with. The little stinker would not say it! So I didn't pick him up. Instead of fighting with me about it, he shrugged his shoulders and ran off to find some other form of entertainment. He wanted to get up on the counter today so I tried again. "say up." Carson nods his head as if to say "yes up is what I want," I shake my head and repeat myself "say up!" He signs the word "please." I shake my head and repeat myself again. This time he shakes his head no as if to say "I'm not doing that." After about 10 minutes of trying to get me to pick him up, he finally said it! I made a big deal out of it and he seemed pretty pleased.  I won the battle. I will let you know how the war turns out.

Rachel asked me to tell her a story about when I was a kid. I told her that when I was her age my favorite dinner that my mom would make was pizza with pineapple and sausage. This is a meal she made frequently, but has not made in years. Rachel said she wanted to call her and ask her to make it for her. My mom was a great sport about it and invited us over last night for pizza. Rachel liked it fine, Lilly was too preoccupied with her cousins to bother with eating, and Carson ate a whole bag of Captain Crunch during church, so he was not interested. The rest of us however scarfed it down. I enjoyed it just as much last night as I did when I was 6.

January 11th, 2011

Yesterday Rachel told me what "heal" means. "Heal is when you put mud on your eyes and then you go in the water and you wash then you can see really good." At first I was a little confused at what she was getting at but by the end I understood. In primary she learned about Jesus healing the blind man.

Lilly has gotten into the habit of telling me no when I ask her to do something. She must not really think through it before she says it. I always say "excuse me?" She gets a panicked look in her eyes and quickly says "no, no, no, I said 'yes sir!'" I don't know which is worse, her telling me "no" or thinking I am a "sir". Sometimes she makes some other excuse up, like "No, I was saying no to the table!"

Carson keeps bringing me things. Usually it is something I not only do not need, but really do not want. For example, garbage, or items of clothing he has pulled out of my dresser. Sometimes he will bring me some trivial thing such as a color crayon while he is holding in his other hand something I need (or need him not to have) like my cell phone or a bottle of Tylenol he has found in my purse. He is insistent that I take what he offers, and only what he offers. If I say "no thank you" or "I don't want it, put it away" he becomes extremely persistent and agitated. If I try and take the thing he does not offer, he usually tries to run away. The easiest thing is to take what he offers and enthusiastically say "Thank you Carson! This is just what I needed!" The problem with this is that it is encouraging and he usually scampers off to find some other meaningless gift to give me. 

I watched the girls do karate for a little while yesterday, and I noticed something for the first time. The two of them stick together like glue. They were playing tag at the end, and anytime they would get separated, Rachel would yell across the room "Lilly, over here!" and Lilly would come running to her. This seems to be mostly Rachel's initiative. I think she is trying to look out for her little sister. Even though the two of them can really get into it at home, it is nice to see that they are so concerned for one another when they are out in the world.

January 3rd, 2010

Carson had croup last week. He was absolutely painful to listen to with his horrible cough. I have no idea how he got enough oxygen for a couple of days, he was so congested. He seems almost over it now, but both Rachel and Lilly came down with it almost simultaneously Friday night. Lilly woke up early Saturday morning sounding like death. I gave her some children's Tylenol and rubbed her down with Vic's and put her back to bed. Miraculously later that morning she seemed almost back to normal. Saturday night she came down with stomach flu and by Sunday morning the croup was back in full force. After one bout of throw up she asked me in a concerned voice "is it I have a baby in my tomach?" Both Lilly and Rachel almost completely lost their voices, which made communicating with them very amusing. Rachel sounded like a little mouse. This morning both of them are still a little croupy, but better. Rachel has now come down with the stomach flu as well. Lilly still isn't keeping any food or water down either. At least Rachel is old enough to make it to the toilet. Lilly is still at that age where she doesn't want to admit she is going to throw up so she just stays put and pukes wherever she is at the time. My kids have been blessed with amazing immune systems, so they are rarely sick. That is why all of this simultaneous coughing and throwing up is a little shocking to us. Like me, they are so rarely sick that when they are, they think they are going to die.

Since Lilly has not been able to make it to the bathroom, I gave her a bowl and told her it was her new best friend, and to carry it with her everywhere. A few minutes later she started crying because Carson was "trying to take my best friend away!" In my optimistic nature, I am planning on the three of them being completely better by morning.