Baby Bite

A few days ago Sariah came up to me with her doll (yes, despite her girl dollies this is her doll, so much for my girlie-girl dreams). She then proceeded to say "baby bite" and hand me her doll. I was trying to play along with her and tell her that I was sorry her baby had bitten her, that wasn't nice, etc. and she got frustrated with me and said "no, baby bite mommy". Again, I try to enter her imaginary world and commiserate with the idea that the baby has bitten me. At this point she gives me a frustrated "huff", pulls up my shirt, down my bra and attaches her GI Joe to my breast. I spent the next ten minutes breast feeding her doll or as she will tell you, letting her "baby bite mommy".

Our weekend

I am so dang proud of myself! My mother is an accomplished seamstress but has never actually taught me (longer story). A few months ago a friend gave me her old sewing machine when she got an upgrade and it has been sitting in our den ever since.
On a recent trip to Walmart I notice that they have this material that is gathered at the top and then straight. Perfect for a dress! And since I have always wanted to make my girls matching dresses I siezed the chance.
Not sure what Sariah's look is about but she sure is a cutey! For hers we just had to sew the fabric together and add sleeves. That was an interesting experience but mom saved the day. Then I thought a little handkerchief for her hair would be cute so mom whipped one of those up too. Serenitie's was more of an issue. Luckily, I am in the process of making her another dress that had this bodice so I copied that pattern and added it to the top of the pre-made fabric. It was a tad short so we added a ruffle of the bodice fabric onto the bottom and wala!!! My new mantra after this experience is "I love doing sleeves, I love doing sleeves". Mom says that if that is true then I will really enjoy putting in the zipper on this other dress.
After church we were invited to a friend's house to celebrate her birthday. Strangest of all coincidences happened there. Another family we did not know called "Serenitie, come here." Since this is not a name that is heard often I asked who they were referring to and they said their daughter's name was Serenitie. We chuckled and exclaimed over how odd that was and then a little while later she came over to ask how old the baby was. Turns out her baby was five days younger and, get this, named Tristan!!!!! How wierd is that? So, of course we had to get a picture. I then asked if she had other kids and when she replied no, I told her there might be an Isaac, Michael, and Sariah on the way :)
A shot of the kiddies playing in an empty pool.

Day at the lake

First of all, yes that is the hubby with a ponytail. His boss at work used to have one but cut it off so now Matt has to represent. Actually, it is part of my strike on the hair cutting industry. I have three boys that grow hair like crazy and don't believe that I should have to pay to have it cut every two weeks!! So, yes I need to learn how to cut hair. While I am getting around to learning their hair has the nerve to continue to grow! Now Michael's actually looks really good, Matt is enjoying his and Isaac could care less. Guess I will post pics of the boys hair later on.

Baby Shower

The age old question comes again, after your first baby, do you have a shower for the other ones? Fortunately for me, the friends around me have all decided that, Yes, you do. (Hint, all of them but one have four or more) My friend Sherry hosted a celebration of motherhood luncheon for me and Tristan. I have to say that it was the best shower I have ever been given, and I have had a lot of them!
She started by saying that this day was all about me and celebrating my entry into motherhood once again. We then opened gifts and he was given so many cute things. From there we moved into the dinning room for a great lunch. The table was set so beautifully!!! It was hard to believe that this much work was put into something for me.
While we were eating I was told to tell the whole story from conception to birth. Never in all my time have I had such a rapt audience while I got to talk about my birth experience, without anyone interupting or inserting their own into the conversation.
After this we went onto the patio for conversation and Key Lime cheescake. Each woman was asked to share three things of wisdom with me.
First, an idea to help cope with my large family (Stay in close communication with my husband, stay in close communication with my Heavenly Father, use my talents to bring order and peace into the home, make time for each child).
secondly, a wish for the baby (that he would have a love of learning, know who he is and love himself, be a joy and help to his parents and siblings).
Lastly, a bit of advice on taking care of myself ( go to the "naked spa", spend quality time with hubby, and that "sometimes IT is all about me" :) Guesse it stands to reason that we each have more than four children.
Thank you guys so much!!!!! I love my friends!!! Almost makes me want to have another one so we can do it again.......yeah right.

Weyerhaueser

From day one Weyerhaeuser has been an awesome company for Matt to work for and I am completely impressed and continue to be.
They have great benfit packages (I did not pay anything for my pregnancy and Tristan's birth, not even a co-pay).
Matt really enjoys the people he works with and his boss and him are so alike it is really scary, luckily this means they get along great also.
We live close enought to his office that he walks and we walk to pick him up from work and walk him home most days. We actually live off Weyerhaeuser way and they have so many trails in and through the area that we can make the whole trip with only having to see the road once.
So far he has recieved a raise each year and he tends to net a hefty bonus about once every six months (He didn't even have to sign up for two or more years to get it :).
They let him work remotely for two to three weeks each time I have had a child and that time has not come out of his vacation leave.
He pretty much gets to set his own hours. On a normal day he leaves for work at about 9:00, if he drives he is home about 12:00 and then leaves about 1:00 and is home again about 5:00. If I need him for any reason he can be there and then work from home during the evening after we put the children to bed. (One day he called while Sariah was throwing an impressive tantrum and he showed up five minutes later to comfort her and put her down for a nap and then went back to work). He was able to make all of my Pre-natal appts. (although there were a few conference calls in the van).
He eats really well!! There always seems to be a vendor or a co-worker who is taking him out to lunch, usually at least once a week. Because it is usually on their companies dime they eat out in really nice places, places where one person's meal can come to $70.00!! Never mind that I can practically feed my family on that for four days. One day he was asked to lunch and then later to dinner by a different vendor. Tristan was about five weeks old and Matt had not seen us all day and so he declined saying he wanted to get home to see the baby and wife, the vendor then told him to bring us along. They took us to out back and told os to order whatever we wanted, then they ordered dessert as if it was expected, it was the first time I have had dessert in addition to a meal at a pricier restaurant!
The company is pretty big on creating a positive work environment. The office is amazingly beautiful, they sponsor Volley ball teams in the middle of the work day complete with a referee and everything. (I can't believe he gets paid that much to play volleyball!). The walking trails I have already mentioned are beautifull and well-maintained and at any time during the day you will see employees utilizing them. they go walking for meetings, to de-stress, or just because they are feeling a little cooped up.
I know his job is stressful mentally but I enjoy teasing him about having the plushest job ever!

He's 9!

Michael had his ninth birthday on June 19! We celebrated with a small party at home (with this many children we only do large parties on Bday's 1,4,8,12,and 16). The night before was Cub camp and he was devastated about getting another year older. It means he has to change Den's and he is not one for change of any kind. I told him he would get to make new friends and in his "military brat" mind he equated that with not being able to keep his old friends. Once this notion was put aside he was much happier. He got to do his own cake this year.
The morning of his Birthday he came in my room and asked if he looked any older. I told him "so much so, that I think I am going to have to cry", and I was telling the truth. With Seri being the oldest I guess we tend to focus on how much she is growing up. I feel like Michael snuck his in, like he grew more mature while I wasn't looking and then one day I am astonished that he is my little boy. I almost feel like putting a missing person notice out on my little boy, not sure where this mature and older one came from.
Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!!

Recent Happenings

Here is an update on all the activity going on in our part of the world this past month.
Sariah loves to watch for Daddy to come home. She has also started to dress herself, we have an un-buttoned onsie, and her brothers shorts, classy....... One of our best investments was the whole set of Baby Einstien DVD's. They have proven their worth once again as both Sariah and Tristan are enthralled.
One day I caught Ser running around with one of Tristan's paci's attached to her wrist. When I asked what she was doing she responded "I am not looking for another paci for him again"!
Seri had her Rainbow Installation. The Grand Deputy agreed to be made into a Sundae, here is Ser pouring on a whole bottle of carmel syrup.

The girls

Of course they all had to spend some time with Tristan, such a lucky guy!
And here is my baby, growing up way too quickly.
Our Ward activity was this past weekend and once again matt did a great job planning it in his own style. Everyone had a great time!!

Of course all the ladies were chatting when we noticed that the babies had all wandered off. Here is where we found them, it was just too cute.

The best entertainment is to make her dizzy and then watch her walk. Never fails!

This is one of my favorite pics. The rope was originally intended for Tug-of-war, but then the jump ropping began and there were people jumping throughout the whole day. Young and Old alike. Even the Bishop joined in, too bad I didn't get a pic of that one. Anyhow, here are the guys jumping with their baby girls.

Isacc and his friend doing the water balloon toss and catch, as you can see, they didn't catch too many.

Oh, and Sariah got her first kiss from a boy not related. This was the second attempt which she was not to excited about.
But all is forgiven when his Pappy takes them both for rides on the table cart.


Bed time at out house.

The boys are still sharing a large bed and as you can see more talking goes on than sleeping most nights.

Seri is showing her multi-tasking skills by reading and crocheting at the same time.
And Sariah always enjoys a good book, she enjoys coloring on them too.
And we can't forget the snuggle time!

Our little guy is getting bigger, although not really. He was born at 9.12 but had a problem holding weight and was losing between a quarter to half an ounce a day most days. At his one month birthday he was at his lowest of 8.6. Now at two months he is finally past his birthweight, horray!!!

He is holding himself up pretty well now and recognizing people. He laughs and smile a ton and is still pretty much a content baby, let's hope that trait sticks around a little while longer!
Michael had his cub scout day camp for three days. Daddy went as one of his scoutmasters and Isaac went as a Tag-Along. They all had a great time. Once again his birthday fell during cub camp and he got to have the whole pack wish him a Happy Birthday. (Notice all the layers of clothing he has on. No, it was not cold, he just has an obsession with hoodies).

Crawfish Boil

We have discovered another perk to having a corporate job. You have co-workers who are able to afford to fly in 200 lbs of Crawfish and 80 lbs of Alligator meat from Louisianna!!! Saturday we all went out to their property (about 200 people) and just hung out all day. It was so perfect!!! Of course, the children spent a great deal of time near the pool. A few, including Seri actually spent time in it. It was filled with well water and in Seattle, pool water never actually gets warm. Ser stayed in until evening and her lips were turning blue, I threatened her to get her out because I was worried about hypothermia!
Sariah spent a great deal of time on the swing set.
Yes, it is pretty redneck, but redneck can also be fun!! They cooked potatoes that you ate literally like an apple, gumbo in one pot, the crawfish in the other.
Michael wasn't interested in eating the fish. He did however collect as many of the claws as he could.

The little ones were also very fascinated by watering the crawfish.
Everyone brought their trailers, tents, campers, etc.. and stayed the night with a bonfire going all night and breakfast in the morning.

Matt fulfilled his dream of "Playing with the band". They were actually quite good, although some of the Karaoke was scary!