FIVE YEARS...WOW!

Five years down...an eternity to go. Has it been easy? Are you kidding me!!! Do I look like an easy person to live with? Did I come from a healthy family that taught conflict resolution and manners? Did I have parents with a healthy relationship? Do I come from a long line of stable emotions? Nope!!! I am a woman and he is a man. But...it is GREAT!!! Why? Because he is GREAT!!!

Gentle
FORGIVING
Kind
Even tempered (thank goodness, because I can ask for it)
Fun
FUNNY
Genuine
Can take out in public
PURE, but pretends to be rebellious
Works hard (if he NEEDS to)
Plays hard
Handyman
Teachable
Smart (innately knows what is right)
Friendly (everyone adores him instantly)
Trainable (most important ;))

He is wonderful. I LOVE HIM!!!

DECODING BABY TALK

Number One:

I am trying to teach Brenna to have conversations. I usually ask her how her day is, or why she loves her brothers...but today I asked a different one.

Me: "Brenna, what is the name of your doll?"
Brenna: "Book of Mormon."
Me: ???
Me: "You named your doll 'Book of Mormon'?"
Brenna: "Yes, Book of Mormon."
Me: "Why did you name her that?"
Brenna: "Cause." (the way she answers most questions)
Me: "What is your name?"
Brenna: "Book of Mormon."
Me: "Oh Book of Mormon means Brenna Morgan".

***I was not completely misunderstanding her. I asked Brenna a few weeks later what the name of her doll was and she said, "Jesus Christ, Amen"***

GUN ADDICTION

If I would have know...I may have rethought the words before they came out of my mouth..."Shane, I have been working on getting the food storage part of survival, but I really feel we need a gun."

In the space of a few months we are now the proud owners of a Springfield Armory XD handgun and an AR15 (for the extra LITTLE umph of protection)

Any woman would think that this would satisfy the household need. Nope not my man. He has turned into a MONSTER!!! Now he is convinced (and may be right), that I need a gun, and need to take shooting lessons. Which I am not opposed to but...who is going to pay for ALL this. That is one bonus of not getting EDOs.

***EDOs is a list that I put myself on at work. If the hospital is overstaffed, they begin at the top of the list (which is where my name is always found) and begin calling them off. I am known at work as the "EDO Queen"...and secretly hated" ;)

UPDATE: DATE/TEMPLE NIGHTS

It is WONDERFUL. Shane and I have gone to the temple one night and out the eat the next. We got to go to a Moroccan restaurant in Portland where we would never be able to take the kids. We sat on the floor and ate with our hands. Best of all...we were on a date. I really was brought back to how it felt to not have kids and be engulfed in the other persons attention.

The babysitting gig is not so bad either. Yes, my house is a disaster afterward. Yes, there is a lot of screaming, running around, and intermittent crying. Yes, it was A LOT to watch 6 kids at once that are under 6 years old. But it was SO worth it knowing that next week it was my turn for the BLISS of a break from the kids accompanied by my LOVER.

THINGS I LOVE/HATE ABOUT OREGON

Number One: Not-So-Sunny Days

Oregon seems to always be rainy...which I have learned to live with. I have learned to love the Pros over the cons. Pros:It is GREEN and gorgeous wherever you look. The Cons: a morning of beautifully manipulating my hair goes down the drain as soon as the mist gets me when I walk out the door.

But worse of all are the Not-So-Sunny Days. It is the transition from spring to summer. Like this morning for example. The babies played in the "rock" box for awhile in the sunshine. I got brave enough to attempt the park. We have two parks close to our house. One is an easy walk and the other a hike up hill both ways ;). I decided to attempt the hike, because I needed to burn the extra calories. Once I was almost there, without warning, it began to sprinkle and then rain. We were wet by the time we got home.

NON-MOVIE WATCHER

Shane and I love movies...No I did not give them up. When the babies go to sleep at night it is OUR time to catch up on Hulu or watch a Netflix movie. The "non-movie watcher" is me.

Shane says that I NEVER finish the movie we start. I ALWAYS fall asleep. I fought it for awhile in denial but...it is true. I have the desire, but my eyes will not stay open until the end.

Who can blame me?

"LOVES DAY"

If we had a hard beginning of the day then we turn the day into a "Loves Day". We give lots of special hugs and kisses, small caresses and nice words. There is no wrestling or tickling, because it is a "Loves Day". It sounds like a punishment but it is really a game that we enjoy. If someone starts to wrestle, we give them a hug and say, "Hey, its not a "wrestling day" it is a "loves day"."

***The picture is my favorite distraction while doing laundry. The small button that turns the light on and off.***

CANT HIDE YOUR SINS

Everyday before Shane gets home from work the house is picked up and dishes done. I do it mainly so he can relax and not have to watch the kids while I am running around cleaning up. I also do it hoping he will catch on and have the house clean for me after a night shift and not like a hurricane had hit. Still working on him ;).

I also have this fear of a messy home, or people thinking I am messy. Silly but I think it stems from my surroundings growing up. Unlivable to say the least. It is so silly that one day a fedex man dropped off a few packages. I was horrified that he could see that my entryway was a mess. In an hour my house was spotless. I also went to visit a friend in AZ recently that made sure her house was clean and mopped before I came because she knew mine was ALWAYS clean.

I can trick them but I cannot hide my sins. My carpet is a DISASTER. I blame it on 3 babies, but really it is their mom that lets them walk around with crackers and sippy cups. Brenna also does most of her eating at the kitchen counter over the living room carpet, and the brothers have learned how to pull down her food when I am not looking.

I have begun to be extremely embarrassed. The rugs that we bought just do not hide all spills. So I took drastic measures. It was my turn to host the FHE group. That meant 7 ladies would spend the evening in my home. YIKES!! I got my carpets cleaned 2 days prior. I would have pulled it off too, but my sister-in-law knows me and pointed out in front of everyone that my carpets MUST have just been cleaned. Haha.

PREGNANT?

Haha...made you look. Heres the story. Directly after I had the twins I restarted taking birth control, eventhough I knew I probably wouldnt get my period for awhile breastfeeding twins. I did not want to take ANY chances. The birth control that I took was a pill that you take daily continuously, no breakes. You dont get a period. For 15 months I took it faithfully assuming that it was doing its job.

Month 15 I quit breastfeeding and month 16, even with taking the pill, I had my first period. Which leads me to believe that the pill was not working. I stopped taking it, and relied on other efforts. Well I am 2 weeks late and no period. I read online that it can take up to 4 months before the cycle gets regular again. I am in denial and will not take a pregnancy test- plus I am too cheap to buy one. I will hope for a period daily (that is the first and last time you will ever hear those words come out of my mouth).

I also learned that pregnancy is not an option at this time. Shane freaked out when I told him the possibility. Rubbing his head and repeating over and over, "What are we going to do?" I would quit work, potientially lose my license, live on a STRICT budget after taking a hit on the house and have to pay off the amount that we owe about current marker value. Have to save for a new bigger place, because 4 will not fit in that little room.

***Went to work on Friday, Charge RN asked if anyone is pregnant because some pts pregnant RNs cant have. I voiced that it may be possible. A coworker said she was going to buy me a pregnancy test and bring it Saturday night. Saturday afternoon...I got my period. Now my lesbian coworker (remember I live in Portland) has a pregnancy test she will never use.***

ADDICTED

How did I become an Dr. Pepper addict? I have never been a soda drinker. I enjoyed it every once and a while, but never bought it just to have in my house and use daily. It all got worse once I had the twins. I started drinking one can of soda a day. It has now almost been 18 months and the habit continues. I have a husband that shares my belief that it is poison. Every time I open a can I cannot help but think that I am going to lose my kidneys or get cancer. But I cannot help it. I have tried to quit several times and find that rationalization wins over logic and self control.

My rationalizations are...

I have three babies and run on no sleep.

I am nicer mom once I get an energy boost.

4 hours of sleep after up for 24 hours of work (mommy and nurse) is not enough to run on without help.

But I have also realized that I cannot reach my weight loss goals on it. It makes me hungry, munchy, drink less water and generally feel lousy and unhealthy. I am in the process of quiting, but my only hang up is night shift and post shift.

HEAVENLY MUSIC

I do not own a large amount of music. I think that most of my music is still on tapes ;). I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get church music into my home daily. I considered combing facebook for people willing to let me borrow their CDs. If I was more hip, and kept up with the trends I would have learned this much faster, but I just barely discovered all that Pandora Radio online has to offer. They have a Mormon Tabernacle channel that plays Mo Tab plus all kinds of other church music. I just turn it on when we wake in the morning and we all enjoy. It sets off our day to a good start. I LOVE it.

SPARROW AGAIN

I really need to repost this at least once a month.

LANDONS QUIRKES

Since he was barely able to move his hands he has been pulling hair. I am not sure if he just loves the feel of it or what. He does not do it meanly, or when he is mad. He does it when they are in the cart together at the store, in their car seats...

He also LOVES to hit people with objects. Sometimes I will have Brenna run to me for comfort and then Jackson immediately after. His favorites are spatulas and attachments to the vacuum. I was giving his a flick whenever he did it. Then he would just stare at their heads and point, or motion the object in that direction with a smile; as if he could not resist, he just wanted to do it so bad.

When he gets upset. he messes up everything around him and then pants until I get him to smile. He is my sweetest but I can tell he is going to be a handful.

VACUUMING

Strangely my children have never been afraid of the vacuum. They do not bolt for the couch and cry until it is over, like I have seen other kids do. They LOVE it. They stand in my way so that I cannot uniformly vacuum the floor. Whenever I stop they are all three around it, touching it, or stealing the attachments. The newest thing that tops it all...they pull out the plug at LEAST 10 times per room. The game is to vacuum as much as possible before the vacuum turns off.

FIRST HAIRCUTS

Long overdue. The mullets had become scruffy and unruly. A movie + candy + patience= success. The only problem was trying to get Brenna to understand that she STILL does not have enough hair for a haircut.

PRIVATE BLOG

This makes me sad. Reality hit and I realized that I had a "stalker", or someone viewing my blog at least 500 times in 6 months, leaving strange comments in Japanese characters. I am not THAT entertaining or interesting.

I have received a lot of comments lately about my blog. I am proud of it. It helps me to laugh about my life and press on. I am also very quiet in real life. Only a choice few people really know everything about me. People say that they learn a lot about me from my blog.

I loved living in denial, thinking that tons of people read my blog. I know that I have a few regulars...thank you.

DECORATING AROUND

Decorating around...food storage that is. Our tiny little two bedroom condo has barely enough room for us. Yes of course we have a garage but...the HOA has their hands on that area...therefore we are forced to decorate our food storage. Good-bye box springs and bed frame. Good-bye coffee and end table. Hello bulky mammoth of an "end table", and bumpy "bed frame".

Now where to put 8 barrels of water...

FOOD STORAGE GONE WILD

What I will do to save a few dollars. About $200 to be "semi" exact. Yes of course I could have canned our three year supply in 10# cans at the LDS cannery, but that would have been the easy way. Instead...

We bought the food in bulk from the cannery.
Bought 4 gallon buckets off craiglist for 85 cents, that were filled with pumpkin pie filling.
Pressure washed all 50 buckets and their lids.
Bought mylar bags.
Put them in the buckets.
Filled with food and 02 absorber.
Sealed them.
And...an exhausted husband later...we have nicely organized >25 year food storage.

BOYS... ARE BOYS

All of the sudden...they became boys. They go from room to room...WRESTLING. It is so cute because they are both the about the same size. Turns out that my little runt, Landon, is the instigator. Brenna cannot stand being on the sidelines but she is used to wrestling with her cousins Jett and Tucker, and she is not very soft with the brothers.

DAILY DANCE PARTY

The babies long outgrew my last "secret weapon" ...the bowl of lemons. I have been searching for a new one, and finally found it. If they are all extra cranky...or if I am cranky;)...I turn on the music and we boogy.



The battery on my camera died right when Jackson started to dance. BUMMER!!

DATE/TEMPLE NIGHTS

From General Conference I realized that I NEED to go to the temple more. I have plans to go to the 4:45am session on Tuesdays but I have been saying that for 3 months now. I also want more dates with my LOVE. So...I convinced my sister-in-law to switch me off Wednesdays. Every Wednesday it will be our turn to either watch all 6 kids under 6 years old, or go out on a date. I am a GENIUS!!!

SQUEALS, SCREAMS

In order to SURVIVE, my babies have learned how to use their lungs as their defense. It has gotten bad. Most days I feel like it is constant screaming at my house.

They scream...

When the other one gets close.

If a toy is taken from them.

For mama to pick them up.

If they are frustrated because they cant do something they want- because they are too small and not capable.

And just for fun, smiling as they do it.

Brenna has learned that this works well also. They all create reason to scream. For example...Landon has begun stealing Jacksons blankie. They play tug of war and squeal loudly. If I give them another of the SAME blankie, they toss it to the side and continue tug of war with the original one.

I am training them. They get a flick on the hand if they scream. I do not see any progression yet. Hopefully they learn soon or else my finger will get sore.

SURPRISE BOX

About a year ago Grandma Karen was over stealing on of my many baby shower bags. She wrapped up her presents very nicely but as she went to leave...Brenna threw a FIT. She thought that those presents were for her. I used my fast motherly thinking and grabbed a shoe box, threw a candy in it, and put a ribbon around the outside. I had no idea the monster that I was creating.

Brenna LOVED it. Everyday she would bring me the shoebox and ask for a birthday. It took awhile to teach her that everyday was not her birthday, but that it was a "surprise box". The box was cute pink and white. It was a fun little thing between her and mama.

The box has seen its days and has recently been recycled. But...today she got new shoes and the box is pink and cute again. So it continues.