Mom is best

Could my mom be any cuter?  Look at her smile.  She brightens up any place she goes, and that's just what she did the week she was at our home in Detroit.  She came with that smile and spent a whole week making us happy as clams.  The only thing that is great about living far away is that when we do get to see each other, we get to really spend quality time together.  At home, my mom is one busy woman and everyone wants her attention, but at my house, we get her all to ourselves.  We felt really spoiled.  She brought one of our first warm days with her and we spent it outside raking, riding bikes and playing tennis in the front yard.  By the late afternoon, some of us even took our coats off for a while.  The next day was snowing again, but we made the most of the sunshine!

 

  

 Joren and Eirik picked up bike riding right where we left off in the fall and they rode like champs. 

 Paul suggested that we go back to Belle Isle. It's been about 4 years since we first explored there and we thought my mom might like it.  The aquarium was open this time.  The ceiling made of green glass tile was gorgeous.  There were some really awesome animals there, and lots of tanks filled with artistic displays made my local artists.  

 The conservatory opened in 1904.  It has hundreds of orchids and amazing tropicals.  It was fun to see my mom get excited about the cacti and succulents, which I really love too.  Paul and I love the century plants.  Joren got a little wild and Paul took him to the corner to do push ups.  Teig thought there were real tigers in the roped off area of the tropical room.  We all growled and played along and Teig talked about the tigers for the rest of the day.  Eirik liked getting the brochures and then complained that we never get to do what he wants to do.

  

 For lunch Paul took us to a small Coney Island where we all got Greek food and Coney Island hot dogs.  Is this the greatest group of people ever?  I am such a lucky girl.  Juni is up there in the car seat.  On the way back to the car we stopped at a cute little bakery and all got St. Patrick's day cookies.  Paul gets the award for the best Sat. event planner.  It was such a fun day.

 Besides a few small errands and trips to the grocery store, the rest of the week, we spent out of the snow, in the warm house playing with boys and snuggling little Juni.  I commandeered my moms help on a bunch of projects like tying one of Juni's quilts.  We did little starburst patterns every 5" in different colored floss.  It turned out looking pretty vintage.  I will have to photograph the front which has a gorgeous flower pattern I have been drooling over for years. 

 For St. Patricks day my mom bought corned beef which we made with cabbage and potatoes.  Paul made us all crack up with his Irish accent and Eirik taught us all about Ireland which he's been studying about at school.  Then we watched some step dancing on Paul's phone and we all tried it out, which quickly transformed into a full out Aanderud dance party.
The next day we made rainbow fruit skewers and rainbow pancakes.  Surprisingly, my kids devour fruit when it is served like this.  Otherwise.. not so much.  Skewers also make great battle weapons.  Ah, the unexpected outcome of simple fruit kabobs.

 My mom said that it is tradition for grandmas to make sugar cookies with their grandkids, so she carried it on.  She let the kids cut out the shapes and then we all had fun decorating them.  There was a day when I used to spend hours decorating sugar cookies.  I have had a big enough dose of reality that this time I limited my boys to two colors and sprinkles. 

They were just fine with that.

My mom also brought egg dye and helped the boys dye eggs.  Yay!  I did not have to do it this year.  Not that i don't love it, I just get way too carried away and loose my focus on the essential simplicity of dying eggs with little ones.  My mom is awesome.
When we took her to the airport I could not help but feel like I was getting an arm cut off.  I miss her and can't wait to see her again.

Adjustment Period

People keep asking me how the boys are adjusting to having a new little sister.  They all love her and act adoring to her.  They all say how cute she is and pray for her and give her kisses and want to hold her.  Teig holds her for about 4 seconds and then says, "i'm all done" and pushes her off his lap.  Joren says, "if we did not have baby Juni, I would go to the doctor's office and just bring her home as fast as I could!"  On the surface they all love having a sister.  But as I thought about it a little more I realized a few things. 
Since Juni came home, Eirik has started saying even more often how everyone in the world hates him, how no one is nice to him, how when he gets older he wants to throw throwing knives at his face... Dramatic things like that to get attention.  He also said, "I don't want Juni around because that just means  that there is one more person I have to help.

Joren has started a new stage of liking all things fairy and tinker bell.  It started with a drawing from school and since then he has made a fairy book every day, little wooden fairies, and he has commandeered Juni's new pink and purple blanket for his bed.  He claims that girls get more attention and that he wants to be a girl. 

 

Teig had to give up his crib for Juni and we moved him into a big boy bed.  He has been really excited about being a big boy and he has pretty much mastered potty training.  He has started to refuse to wear diapers to bed even though there are still sometimes nighttime accidents, but he is intent of being a big boy.  Every time he eats anything he says he has gotten taller like Eirik.  And with his newly discovered big boy age has come a new big boy attitude.  His tantrums and insistence on independence have become truly impressive.  He has also suddenly decided that he is too big for naps and refuses to take them.  Then he is outrageously tired by 7:00.  Getting Paul to give up an hour of Teig time at night has, so far, been impossible, so we have had some pretty out of control bedtimes with an overtired 2 going on 5 year old.  When he is rested he is still that super delightful, kind and easy to be entreated boy, but if he is tired, look out, Hyde is out!

Not quite sure what to think..

For the first 10 days home from the hospital we had at least one extra kid besides Juni in our bed with us.  They have all needed lots of reassurance that they are still loved and not being displaced.  We have sure tried to ease this transition, but we are sure not through it yet. 

Juni's room

 

  

 

Welcome Juinper Gayle!!

 

One of the great things about being induced is that you can look rested and ready when you arrive at the hospital, even if you are not.  I spent a lot of time pleading with my Heavenly Father that I would go into labor on my own the night before, and I hardly slept at all.  I don't know why I was so anxious about it, but I just wanted her to come when she was ready and to not be forced here early.  I was relieved when we got to the hospital to learn that I was dilated to a 4, I was having contractions, and she was fully engaged, so it was safe to break my water before pitocin and see if labor would start.  Start it did.  Hard contractions started within an hour and then I went from a 4 to a 10 in 45 minutes. By the time I was crying out for pain killer, the anesthesiologist had time to administer 1/2 a bolus of an intrathecal shot which worked a little too well for my taste and we waited another 45 minutes for the pain killer to wear off enough for me to push her out.  I just could not push properly without feeling the contractions, so I waited.  Waiting was a little awkward.  I was so glad when it was finally time to get her out into the world.  What an exciting, overwhelming moment that is!  I had a great nurse who put Juni right on my chest, skin to skin right after she came out.  She was perfect.  Tiny, and graceful, delicate and feminine, beautiful and ...wait, what?  Dark hair!  What a surprise, beautiful dark hair at the nape of her neck!  Blue, very dark blue eyes, long fingers, 6 lbs 12 oz. and 20" long.  She was gorgeous and the minute I saw her I never wanted to let her out of my gaze or arms ever again.  Oh what a wonderful thing it is to be a mother!  Labor is amazing.  I was glad when they told me they call my experience an augmentation instead of an induction.  I don't know why that makes a difference to me.  It feels more like it's supposed to.  I put in some big thank you's to my Father above for that.  The whole process of growing a human inside me still just blows my mind.  To think that this perfect, gorgeous baby that will grow into a woman that could live 100 years, started inside me; well, it's just astounding.  Now, and forever we will have a daughter and three wonderful sons in our posterity, and all I had to do was make it through 9 months of discomfort.  It's a small price, really.  I did not like it.  Did not like it at all, but looking at this incredible daughter, it is all worth it.  What a miracle.

 

  

 

We were excited to get our boys and have our whole family together at home.  We picked them up at the park where our friend Liz took them to play.  We brought Juni home on a beautiful spring day and we all enjoyed the sunshine for a few minutes before heading home.  Kasey will die when she sees that Paul brought her gorgeous quilt outside, but she should know that Paul wanted to bring Juni home in one of her very best blankets.  You can't see it very well, but this quilt Kasey made is amazing!

 We love you Juniper Gayle!

No more waiting!

It is here. After so much waiting... so much anticipation.. so much preparation; the day has finally arrived. It's weird how you know something is coming and every thing about it is perfectly real as the days roll on, but when the moment finally arrives it all seams completely surreal. Can it be true that in the morning we are going to drive casually to the hospital and within a few hours we will hold a baby girl that will be a part of our lives for the rest of eternity? Yes, we decided to schedule an induction. It's not my first choice but my doctor will be out of town next week and I have a comfort level with him that is valuable to me. Having a doctor deliver Juni that we have not met makes me nervous an waiting makes me crazy. Yes I'll admit , I'm impatient. I'm so excited, and now that the day is here I'm nervous too. I want labor to start naturally right now so bad. We have been trying all the tricks; working out, running, spicy Thai food, pressure points.. just not caster oil, yuck.  Well good night and wish us luck!

Belly shot- Juni- Come out!!

This photo is from Feb 2nd- over a month old.  Paul said he is sad that this is the last time I am going to be pregnant.  Well, he is not the one pregnant and I am so excited that my due date is at the end of this week.  I feel like every minute is an attempted distraction to keep me from going crazy with waiting.  I just want to hold this little girl in my arms so bad.  I want her out of my body and in my sight so I can kiss her and welcome her (and walk normal again).  I am trying to remember that 9 months is a short time when compared with how long we will get to have a daughter.  It is a small time to wait to get to always be a mother to a daughter.  What will it be like?  Will she be like me?  Will she like me?  Will she add that sweet missing something to our little family that I hope she will.  Will she grow up to love me and be the friend I imagine?  I am crazy about her and obsessed with preparing for her arrival.  I think Paul has suffered from my distraction.  All I can think about is that it could be any moment that she arrives.  I thought for sure it would be last night, but I woke up still in my bed and no contractions.  I have been going on little runs and working out.  The bags are all packed, the crib is made.  Her blanket is finished.  Her clothes are all prepared.  I have diapers and vitamins and the car seat is in the car.  I have nothing on the schedule for this week.  It's going to be a long week if she does not arrive soon.
And, I learned last Monday that my doctor is going out of town for a week starting the day I am due.  He wants me to schedule an induction.  I don't want to.  Paul had a nightmare last night about having another doctor there for the delivery and nothing went like we hoped and the doctor was not nice.  Paul said he does not want any other doctor to deliver Juni than Dr. Butto.  I agree, but I'm not interested in being induced.  Still, I want her here so bad!  I might be persuaded again, even though it's not my first choice.  Really, all I care about is her getting here safely.  The method of delivery is important, but not that important.  I've had a natural birth, one with an epidural a week late and one induction and all were amazing.  There is just no pitocin without an epidural in my mind though, and my first choice is to labor quickly and get there late enough that it is too late to get the epidural and just push her out, and it should happen tonight.  :)  That's not too much to ask right?  Well, I think I might schedule an induction for Thursday if I don't go into labor before then.  What am I saying?!  I guess the rush to the hospital is part of the excitement and I don't like the idea of it being scheduled.  I love that moment when you realize, "it's now.. I'm in labor. Let's go!!"  With an induction you go sit in a hospital bed for hours and hours while hooked up to needles and you wait and wait.  I really don't enjoy that at all.  I want to be in and out of the hospital just as fast as possible and crawling into the delivery room is part of the rush.  I know, I'm a bit crazy I guess.
All I know is she's squirming and kicking around and I'm so full of excitement and anticipation that I can hardly sleep or think about anything else and I feel like I've got a lid on, but if I have to wait much longer, well.. I just can't!  Let's have a baby!! 

Juni's Baby Shower!!

My friends threw me the most wonderful baby shower!  I can't believe I did not take photos of the cute decorations that my friend Jena made for it!  The food was delicious.  The gifts were generous and thoughtful and amazing and the company can not be beat.  I am so blessed to have these amazing women in my life!

I asked all of my friends to sign a matt that I will put a photo of baby Juni in so that I could have the names of all the women who are around supporting us right now.  What great women!  I am so lucky.

I

 Jill Traylor, Aimee Smith, Me, Liz Bud, Jena Flannigan

 Kim Losee, me Bonnie Lepage

 Britni Hamblin, Carlotta Stephens, me

 Sarah Romer, Erin Walker, me, Annie Christensen, Anona Davis, Jenny Balmforth, Jena Flannigan

Two of the best women I know.

I didn't get good photos of all the presents, but there are a few that I had to show.  Jena made me this bear and my mom gave us this wonderful fur throw.

My bestie Kit made this amazing quilt from vintage hankies she has been collecting.  Could this be more gorgeous?! It has Juni's initials embroidered next to a beautiful Juniper branch.  Seriously, I can't believe how wonderful this is!

 Kit picked up this awesome tunic for Juni.  I have no idea where she found this, but I adore it.

 

Cari Guernsey made this adorable little owl. 

Cousin Dave sent these darling Nike's!  Really, baby Nike's!  So cute!

 

We have a senior missionary couple, the Belnaps, that have been serving in our ward for 2 years.  They have worked so hard and brought a lot of people to the gospel.  I love these guys. They are real amazing examples.  They are done with their two years this month.  Today sister Belnap gave me a quilt that she had made. She said it was her first quilt and she had her friend come teach her to make it. She did not bring her sewing machine from Idaho so she learned to use her friends. It is beautiful and I just can't believe that I would be the one to get her first quilt. I am speachless.  I have been so spoiled by everyone I know.  It has been overwhelming to receive so much attention and gifts and love.

Jorens young 5s musical concert

We had the pleasure of attending Jorens musical concert this week. All 100 cute kids filed out on the bleachers responsibly holding their bells up to their shoulders.  Joren walked like a serious little soldier to his place in the middle front row in his white shirt and black jeans.  For the whole first song Joren was dutifully chimed his bell just as he should at all the right times.  Starting at the second song, Joren added a little spice to his bell chiming.  He shook the bell back and forth rather than in and out, then he shook it slowly from left to right like he was doing the sprinkler, then he did a little Elvis move with his bell, each time making Paul and I crack up more and more.  For the next few chimes he picked his nose and ate it and forgot to sing.  Then he was back to business... the business of rocking out to the bells.  At the end of the song, our little ham took a deep bow.  The only kid on stage bowing, slowly bowed low and came slowly back up.  The next few songs were singing and Joren's dance moves and excitement were contageous.  He has Paul and I busting up.  I don't think he was trying to be silly or get laughs, he was just... Joren.  He held the 'B' for the Bingo song and did his part just right.  (luckily no nose picking for that part).  And by the end he was losing his focus.  He bowed at the end of every song and happily hammed it up till the end.  What a cutie.   I wish I had it all on video.

Winter activities:

 We get a lot of deer.  Paul taught the boys how to set a snare and the other day the boys realized that in their long forgotten snare, there was a frozen stiff, dead bunny rabbit.  Paul was a real hero that day and there has been some intense excitement about hunting and snaring since then. 

 Eirik and Joren love science experiments.  Here are just a few of the recent adventures.  Did you know that when you soak an egg in vinegar, the shell dissolves and leaves a non hard boiled, solid egg that will break very easily?  It also absorbs food coloring through osmosis and changes sizes based on the amount of water it has.  We made stalagmites and stalagtites and an orange clock and endless beakers and test tubes filled with food coloring and other kitchen essentials.  I am a terribly mean mom because I won't let them keep their potions in their rooms (hello food coloring).  They are very upset about it, but what is a mom to do, really?

Here is what I have been making for Juni's room.  I got this far and decided that I do not like it nearly as much as I thought and well... I completely changed directions and added a bunch of color.  I know, crazy.  Anyway.. I hope I'll have the reveal for you soon.

Winter Zoo trip

We prepared for it to be frigid, but it was perfect.  The zoo in Feb is so empty that the guy at the gate let me in free when I told him that my pass had just barely expired!  We went with Erin and Jenny B and had a great time.  In the afternoon the sun came out and for the first time in months the kids took off their coats and ran like crazy at the big outdoor play structure.  I think Joren scaled the rock wall about 50 times.  Teig has been asking to go to the zoo for months, so I was so glad we got to go and he loves to tell everyone about all the animals he saw at the zoo.  Eirik was thrilled to hang out with Ben and the three moms had lots of fun spending the day together.  Man I am going to miss them!

Long Weekend

It's the end of the weekend and I am so out of patience.  I am so glad my kids are going to school tomorrow.  I love their teachers.  I want to give them big hugs for taking care of my kids all day every weekday because I don't think I could do it tomorrow.  I'm dreading the summer.  I want to tear my hair out right now.  On Saturday I kept telling my kids, "I love Saturdays because I get to spend so much time with you, and all day I tried to help us all enjoy each other's company so much.  I tried.  We worked hard.  We had fun. I stayed cool all weekend, until now, and I am done and exhausted. They wear me out. They are finally in their beds and oh what sweet relief.
Joren has the gimme's and asks for things he wants non stop.  In fact, there isn't much out of his mouth that does not start with "I want."  He wants unreasonable things like a working jet pack or a a safe or a hammock or a squid launcher.  He gets an idea and won't give it up for weeks.  When I try to make what he wants, it's never good enough and he says he hates it and throws it away so  I have stopped helping him with his never ending project ideas because he won't listen to any of my suggestions and whatever I do is never good enough.  He also won't stop hanging on, jumping on, running into and badgering people.  There aren't any words or punishments to make him stop being so physical.  He doesn't necessarily hurt anyone, he just has to be on us all the time.  He is worse with everyone else besides me because with my big belly, I just won't tolerate it and I get mean if he gets near my belly with his unpredictability.
Teig won't take naps on the weekends when his brothers are home so by Sunday night he is a crying banshee.  He has to do everything by himself and if you try to do it for him or help him he freaks out and won't be consoled. 
They are all three good, wonderful nice boys.  They don't try to be bad.  They are obedient most of the time.  They are reasonable.  Eirik is so sensitive and kind (when he's not being a maniacal tease), and so incredibly smart. He was memorizing morse code on his own today. I had planned to make a nice dinner today and the day just went weird and I knew that no one was going to enjoy the food I had planned (except me), so I served yogurt, granola and fruit.  After our meal, Eirik said, "that was dinner?  Usually we have some big boquet to eat."  I thought that was funny.  I missed having grilled tilapia with black bean and corn salsa, but I was the only one.  They all like granola.  Teig is so articulate.  When he is upset, at only two years old, he can verbalize what he is upset about.  I think its remarkable. If his brothers say he is doing something they don't like, he immediately explains what he is doing, "I only looking!" or "I not break it!" or "I only try a yittle."  He's a great little brother and super fun. We did dance break today and they were all really cute doing all their awesome moves. Joren gave a talk in primary about all of Gods creations.  He told his primary how he loves to collect nature things like bones and sticks and rocks and geodes.  He loves to build things and cut trees and collect insects. He loves to explore and study prehistoric and living animals and he listed his favorites. (all predators).  Then he said he was thankful for all God's creations.  By the end of the talk he was doing silly moves and barely paying attention and saying his words in silly voices, but he did fine.
 Paul was great today.  He kept his patience more than me.  Sundays are hard because there is so much you "can't" do that it is hard to find things that we "can" do.  I have read some great articles with great ideas, but I have yet to establish some traditions that really work well for us.  We try games, we try letters, crafts, delivering goodies, a nice meal, skyping, phone calls, naps, and nature shows, but I think that about exhausts our creativity and it's never enough for long Sunday afternoons. Luckily legos seem to be picking up speed around here and hopefully they will stay around as time killers.  We ended up taking a 2 hour drive to a ladies house who used to be in the ward this evening just to have something to do.  She gave us lots of big boxes for our move.  It was really nice of her.  We feel like we are always the recipients of very generous people.
My irritability is probably not from my great family, but just my own problem. The kids were especially annoying today, but only because I am 9 months pregnant, uncomfortable, sick of winter and trying to feel present instead of playing the waiting game.
It will come soon enough.  I need more patience!

Eirik's primary talk- Jan 2013

Being honest is telling the truth.

One day in school I was jealous because in the boxtops prizes there were cool looking bradcelets.  You could pull them apart and they would have a a pen inside.  The pen looked like a  really cool pick-lock.  I didn't have any boxtops, but I sure wanted one of those pens/ picklocks.  That day, in the art room, we used wooden sticks that looked like pick-locks on our project. Our teacher asked us if we found any extras. If we did, we should give them back to her.  Instead of giving the pick-locks back to the teacher, I kept them.  This was stealing and dishonest. When I got home, I felt sorry. I did the wrong thing. I told my mom I had the pick-locks in my pocket. We talked about it and the next day, I broth them back before music. The teacher was really glad. I felt so much better. I learned to be honest and not to steal.  I am glad I brought them back. I will never steal again.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Valentines day

This year Paul and I went out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Paul was prepared to drive me up to this fancy Thai food place because I have been talking about Thai soup for months, but it was an hour away and there was a fresh coat of snow on the road and Paul had missed a 20 car pile up on the freeway on his way home from work by one exit so neither of us felt much like driving far. Paul has been sick and Friday he was feeling terrible but, of course, he did not let on through all of dinner just how miserable he felt. He told me that having my trust was one of his most prized possessions. He said he wished he could somehow get inside my head and show me how much he loves me. He told me that he feels joy in helping me be the best I can be and helping me achieve my dreams. He said cultivating our relationship and growing together is one of his favorite things. And to top it off, he said that he wants to die before me so he can go ahead and make sure everything is beautiful and prepared for me. So, did I have a food Valentines day? Well I think I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world. He always thinks he needs to buy me gifts so he bought me a gardenia plant a 3 Skor bars, which I love, but just having his devotion is the greatest gift I could ever want in this life. He is constantly teaching me how to be a better person and how to love more fully. He has such a huge loving heart and I only strive every day to try to be worthy of him. Sometimes the only way I don't get intimidated about being his wife is that the Lord told me I could have him. I am so blessed. I love you Paul!

Moms with daughters club

This week I got a package in the mail that blew my mind. One of my longtime besties made Juniper a dress out of this sensational fabric that I adore AND a matching doll. When I opened it I had to cry through laughter/ laugh through tears for the first few minutes. I was first so touched by the selflessness of the gift from my friend who I have not even seen in over 5 years, and second by the absolute awesomeness of the gift. She made it exactly to my taste. And third, it made the arrival of a little girl in my life more real than ever. I felt like I am suddenly in the mom's with daughters club. I get to now have dolls in my house and take my daughter shopping and make girly crafts and have someone who might like being in the kitchen with me. I love my boys and they are my heart, but man, I tell ya, I'm glad they have a great dad because I don't roughhouse well with them, I don't understand the constant need to have a weapon in my hand or be ready for hunting or war at a moments notice. I do my best to be outdoorsy and all about sports, but like I said, they are lucky to have a dad because this girly girl does not get it and I hope this daughter of mine will be a little more on my page so I don't always feel like the strange one in my home. today before we all settled down in our tent for reading and bedtime my sweet boys all joined me around the rabble and they each made Jumiper a felt doll to give her when she is born.
Our dear Juniper, your arrival could not be more fondly anticipated! We love you already so much!
And Emily, I can't thank you enough for your wonderful gift. You are a true friend.

Upon my heart...

Teig is at the cutest age. He's so cute sometimes you just can't hug and squeeze him enough. He is obsessed with candy and asks for what he wants in the cutest way that it makes it hard to always be the responsible parent. Today Paul made Teig sign this contract with him that sort of sums it up.