Aprilness in May

Dearest Blog,

So sorry that I didn't keep up with you in April... It seems that I've been kinda busy. So in case you were wondering what we've been up to.

Kelly: Still being the best big sister around. Although she does this whiney thing in a high pitched voice that seems very unnatural. It is followed with her waving her arms above her head and saying something like "Why Me!"... then she normally storms off to her room (where I have sent her). I will try to videotape it someday. I'm sure I could use it for blackmail at a later point in her life.

On the upside, even when she is in the middle of a tantrum if she sees her 2 year old brother she stops and takes care of him. Hey at least she's got her priorities.

Paige: Paige recently recieved a hand-me-down red polo. When she saw it she was overjoyed! She said "Wow mom! You got me a SPY SHIRT!!" Huh? What is this girl talking about. Anywho. She changes into it often after school and then goes on spy missions around the house. I really hope she doesn't scare off potential friends.

She has also lost half-a-dozen teeth , and the toothfairy and her are BFF. She is still chasing butterflies and her idea of "moving fast" involves dancing and skipping and wondering across a room. She's quite a character.

Tommy: Tommy adores his newborn sister. I see brother and sisterly love on a daily basis, but NOTHING like this. He sits and stares at her, talks and goos at her. He has this obsession with holding her hand whenever he is near. He glows when she is in the room.

Preston: We are just counting down the days till he is no longer 2.

So Delaney.

So Delaney... We've decided to take away all of your hair bows.

APRIL FOOLS!!

Why not?

So while we were in fabulous Kansas City, we did alot of playing with friends! On Friday we met the Burnesons for lunch outside the crown center, by the fountains. Paige couldn't keep her eyes off of the fountains, she was dying to run through them.

Emily and I finally decided, hey why not?

Here is Ms Emily explaining to Paige, that they have to wait for the water to go down to run across the fountain area.

Here is Paigemonster doing it her way!... as usual

I think I have my hand up trying to tell the water to stay down. You know, one of those "talk to the hand" moments

The boys were so good about following directions they ran in a nice single file line.

Okay, is Kelly not beautiful even running through water? Look at these nice patient children waiting for the water to go down.

SUPER FAST Daniel!

Love these monsters

So tiptoeing through the fountains went well. I did not fall and break my leg again. The only fall was Dallin and it just left him a little wet.

So then we sloshed our wet feet and bodies back to our hotel room where Emily used a hairdryer to dry all the monsters off.

Note to Parents out there: Let your children run through the fountain. Water Dries... it really does.

Room Service?

When I first told the monsters that we were going to be staying in a hotel, Paigemonster got really excited and said "DO WE GET ROOM SERVICE?!?!" (Apparently she has watched the movie Eloise too many times)

I told her no way jose!

But she won. yep she sure did. We found that the hyatt had a kids menu, so one morning we decided to get that girl some room service!

They loved the little table and immediatley put on their napkins. Kelly hates jelly, but as soon as she saw the mini containers she made herself a strawberry toast sandwich.

Room service was a success. I loved watching the kids get a kick out of these little things. (But NO they can't have it again)

I was really tempted to put Laney on the table as the meal, but decided that my mother might hurt me.

She Can Be Taught!

So I've been MIA since this baby monster came, and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

You see my lovely little munchkin is many things

• She Has a great temperament
• She sleeps ALL the time
• Is absolutely beautiful
• Has great fashion sense
• Loves to be cuddled

But the one problem she had was that she didn't know how to breastfeed. Yeah, I'm sure some of you are skeptical or rolling your eyes saying "Jen probably hasn't tried..." But I can safely say that we have tried EVERYTHING, I mean everything. There has been many many tears shed, but I can now say that after 7 weeks, my beautiful baby girl has finally caught on. She can be taught!

After she was born, she wouldn't latch. I mean as in no suction no attaching nadda. She started out at 8lbs 6 Oz's, and by day 10 she was down to 7 pounds even. I only know her weight because we ended up back in the hospital while they ran some tests on the little Jaundice monster. While she was admitted I had a lactation specialist come and meet with us.

This sweet lady had no help to offer us, just support. She said don't give up. Well, because she wouldn't attach and try, my milk supply was about gone. I was barely pumping an ounce total and I didn't want to supplement, so I cried. Crying helps everyone.

So to make a 7 week long story shorter here is what we did:

- We met with 3 lactation consultants

-Pumped every 2 hours throughout the night (even though my sweet baby slept like a rock)

-Started taking herbal supplements to help with the milk supply issue.

-Syringe fed the monster, First with my finger to help her with tongue placement

-tried nipple shield to help with the latch (Which was a joke for us. this girl didn't get the latch idea)

-We were told that she had a weak suck and swallow, so we took her to an Occupational Therapist (AND NO I'm not Joking!)

- They started me on a prescription of Reglan to help my milk supply.

-I have had countless friends come and try to help, you name it, I've tried it.

But today I don't care anymore. That's in the past. She finally got it. She really did. She still struggles in the morning when she's tired, but I haven't had to pump in 3 days and I feel like a free women. It still takes her FOREVER to eat, but I'm not in a hurry, I'm just happy she's breastfeeding.

I thought I would quit after week one, I was tempted to quit after week 3. But we made it. I really don't know how we made it.

Actually I do know how I made it. Persistence and love.

I was persistent and my mother loves me so much she came over daily to help me handle it all.

I had to attempt to feed Laney, then pump, then feed Laney... Every 2 hours. I don't know how I would have remained sane if it weren't for my mother. She helped with Preston chasing, diaper changing, Laney feeding, Tommy taxi driving, and constant Cheerleader. She understood how important this was to me and because of that she dropped her whole life to support me in mine.

A mother's love is amazing. And the funny part is, the whole time that she was dedicating her life to me, she would tell ME how proud she was of my determination. Crazy I know. My mother drops the world for me, then says that she's proud of me?? They don't make many women like her.

So at 2 in the morning when I would get up just to pump, the only thing that kept me going was Galaxy Quest.

NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER!!

(yeah I know you were probably thinking it was some uplifting scripture)

Where have I been??

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and BLOGGING can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

No Words

Last Saturday on March 6th, my family was lucky enough to get to be at the blessing of a beautiful baby girl. Hailey Hunter.

This sweet baby girl went to be with our Father in Heaven and join her Grandmother on Saturday March 13th .

Crystal and Billy have been amazing examples of strength. I've always known Crystal was strong, even when we were younger she was the strong one and I was the weepy emotional one. But I can say that watching her is a personal testimony builder. My heart is full.

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help fom both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike-- and they will-- you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed."-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

At Hailey's Blessing

Dear Baby Girl Monster

Dear Baby Girl Monster,

Please stop growing. 1.5 ounces a day is just too much... We love you little. (Don't worry we will love you big too) It's so fun to watch all of your monster siblings squeeze you. Our new house rule is:

DON'T SQUEEZE TOO HARD

You are soft and squishy and cuddly, just the way we like little ones like you.

So stop getting bigger.

I love that you sleep all the time... sooo not like Preston.

I love that your fingers are almost as long as mine (not really, but kinda)

I love that you sound like your purring when you sleep, and I love watching you sleep.

I love watching you be loved by everyone. If we had a popularity contest in our house right now, you would win by a landslide.

Sometimes I think that they love you more. But then I remember that no one can ever love you as much as me.

DadMonster and I really made a masterpiece. You are quite splendid and we adore you.

Laney last night. She's the perfect little Wehrmeister.

Look at this face. And she is already getting cheeks.

Jeannette Mahaffey took this picture for Kelly's baptism. It's already a favorite. It will be shown at their weddings and their graduations and to all of their boyfriends. It will be hung on my wall, in my scrapbook and made into flyers that I can post in the neighborhood.

Well I'm glad that you 2 are getting some sleep.

Does she even stand a chance?

Laney is loved... very loved. Probably more loved than any other monster that has ever existed. I just think she would be happy if some of this "love" didn't come from her adoring brothers.

The girls love her, but in a very normal "oh she's our cute little sister" way. The boys on the other hand... are boys. Tommy thinks she's "soft", so he insists on pushing on her nose every time he walks past her. If it isn't her nose, than it is her toe, or he just likes to rub his head against hers. (Yeah, I know he's strange. But he loves her)

Adam: Why do you always touch her?

Tommy: Because I love her and she's beautiful? (Then he grabs and shakes her foot)

Preston on the other hand either wants to be her best friend or doesn't remember that she exists. When he holds her, he just smiles and stares and hugs. He really adores her, but luckily he doesn't try to touch her all the time like Tommy.

Can I just say that I love this craziness. I love the way the kids step up to the plate in helping, and the way they look at their baby sister. I love that they want to help and that they think she is about the most precious thing ever. They look at her, like I look at her.

Trust me, I know this phase won't last long for them, but I'm going TO EMBRACE IT WHILE I CAN.

I like the delusional world I live in.

Not Every Day

It's not everyday that you get to watch your oldest daughter get baptized and your youngest daughter get blessed.

I know that post pregnant Jen should have been over emotional and weepy during this afternoon of beautifulness, but I wasn't. I was just Happy. Not a weepy mess, not a blubbering disaster, I just sat there and soaked up the happiness of my eternal family.

It was one of those moments where you look all around at what's going on, and think "I must have done something right". I have 5 beautiful children who I think are amazing and I am married to a great piece of eye candy (and he's kind too, but you all know I married him for his eternal hotness).

We were visited by some of our favorite people in the world, and for those who didn't make the drive from Iowa, Kansas City, South County, Ballwin or from West Virginia (no one drove from WV, I did ask one friend too, but she said no)

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday, Kelly spent the rest of the day saying " I haven't made any bad choices yet, so I'm still doing good"

And Delaney spent the whole day and night sleeping, cause that's all she does. And we do love her for it.

Before my beauty was baptized, although I just realized I didn't take an after picture with her in her other dress. I totally stuffed myself into clothes for the baptism. You probably weren't expecting that to be the caption on this picture, but it's the truth.

Here is our first family picture, now this picture does make me a little emotional and weepy.