Girl Names

Naming a baby is kind of a big deal, ya know? Every couple has their "requirements" as to what goes into a baby name..........one of mine is that at LEAST one of the names has to mean something or after someone or have a story. I loved that both my names (Melissa Lowrie) had cool history behind them. Understandably, you can see how hard this might be to pick a name w/ someone who's only requirements are 

1) has to be not-so-common (seriously people, I agree with this one!!! On the day I gave birth to Bronson there were 3 other "Melissa Smiths" giving birth that day and they got all our bills mixed up!!!)

2) we call him by the first name. Brooks is actually his middle name and we ALWAYS come into problems w/ legal/documents/schooling, etc. because of it.

okay, okay, those are his only requirements, but I have to put rules on it w/ in "taming" that first rule a little......as in, you have to be able to look at the name and pronounce it. And you have to think of the teasing-factor in school or maybe what their names rhyme with or if the name can be cute/cool on a 3 yr. old AND a 40 yr old.  

Brooks usually names the kids after I tame it and then I pick the name that "means" something. The only child I just told him what the name was going to be was Iris.....after my Grandma. And since it WAS unusual and we were calling her by her first name (and he truly didn't think she'd come out being a girl anyway since we didn't find out her gender) I just told him how it is.

Our other kids names have a little bit of both of our requirements:

Bronson Ronnie-  Brooks' brother's name is Bronson and said growing up he always wished his name was               Bronson instead of Brooks and his first born was going to named that. :) (this is AFTER he tried to convince me to name him "Illini" after a college team's mascot....SERIOUSLY?!?!?) And Ronnie after Brooks' dad.....the man that helped raise the perfect husband for me.

Camden Niels-  We saw "Camden" on a road sign in Tennessee (REAL noteworthy, I know), and Niels after an ancestor in my family that gave everything he had for what he believed in. Truly a neat story.

Emerson Woodruff- Brooks was reading in the Book of Mormon about a man mentioned briefly named "Emer" and how he saw the Son of God. Then it got him thinking and he changed it to "Emerson" When he presented that name to me I said, "As in Ralph Waldo?" and he looked at me and said, "Who?" Sheesh. Really?!!?? But I liked it and since I've always wanted to name a child after my dad, Ralph, I thought this was my way (THROUGH Ralph Waldo) of naming a kid after my dad.......and Brooks from what he had read. Make sense? Woodruff after my great-great grandfather Wilford Woodruff who's courage, leadership and ability to serve the Lord unceasingly is a trait I want and want all my kids to have.

Aleeya Lowrie- I liked the name "Leah", Brooks wanted a twist on it. Surprised? And "Aleah" was too normal, so we spelled it phonetically. Lowrie after my middle name and great grandma.

Iris Ann- Iris from my Grandma who endured so much in her life, but all I remember her as was the happiest,  infamous cook and best hugger in the world who always carried gum in her purse for me. Plus, she raised my dad by herself and helped shape who he became. I can't thank her enough for that. Ann is my Mom's middle name who shaped who I've become. I love how she has lived her life and I wouldn't mind following exactly in her path........maybe Iris will too one day (if she could JUST keep her paws off the nail polish she just might survive past 4 yrs. old)

Royce Hyrum- Brooks presented the name "Royster" to me early on my pregnancy with him. I looked at him (like I usually do when he gives me a weird name......and it happens a lot, mind you) and said, "as in something that rhymes with OYSTER?!?!?!" So I threw it out. Then the week he was born Brooks said, "How about Royce?". I loved it. Strong (assuming he could pronounce his "r"s.....unlike all his siblings before him), concise and no question on how you pronounce it. Hyrum after the prophet Joseph Smith's (we are not related to them, btw) brother who's loyalty knew no bounds. Truly a real hero and one to aspire to become like.

And if you're STILL reading (this post will actually be a fun one to have in my blog book w/ all the explanations, so sorry if it's wordy) and care, WE DO NOT HAVE A DEFINITE NAME FOR THIS LITTLE GIRL!!!!!

When I think of things/events/people that mean something to me during this pregnancy are these:

-Ondansestron......which isn't a decent name, but considering this generic form of Zofran practically SAVED MY LIFE during my first trimester/2nd from nausea, you just can't rule it out!!!!

- Pacaembu......which is the name Brooks promised the guard at the soccer field in Brazil that we would name our child if he let us in. Thankfully, for this child's sake, he didn't let us in.

-Rocket......not very feminine, I know but Bronson thinks my belly doesn't look round like a ball shape, that's it's more pointy like a rocket, and THAT would remind me of this pregnancy, right?

-Sciatic (Sciatica?)........which is what nerve she likes to hang out on. Too mermaid-ish.....

-Twizzlers, Nips, Bubbly, Twix and Clementine aren't really names are they? (maybe Clementine?.....I can just hear the song being sung to her her whole life now) But they would all remind me of this time period and my cravings.

-Salem....from our old town? Not girly enough.....and associated with witches.

Well, good thing I still have 5+ weeks left to figure this out.......and many awakenings during the night to think about this. Which reminds me how about "Lu"??!? As in, I spend a LOT of trips running to it. Hmmmmmm,

maybe we should just keep thinking.

School Update

Here are some of the reactions I got from the boys today after school...........

Bronson- Likes his teachers and has 4 friends that play basketball. I packed a good lunch and he thinks it's going to be a good year.

Camden- "This is going to be the BEST year ever! and I even have a friend!" I asked him who his friend was and he said, "Cameron Smith". (his poor teacher keeping those 2 names straight). I asked how he became friends with him and he said, "Our desks were facing each other and we both can do the armpit-tooting noise, so he's my friend now." Wow, kids crack me up.

Emerson- "Worst day ever!" (he really is so dramatic, it's funny) Why? Well instead of him being spoiled at the old school and having lunch at 10:45 he had to wait until 12:15 and was "starving". But his teacher is "sorta nice" and the Spanish teacher isn't because none of the other kids were listening to her but Emerson ASSURES me he was sitting quiet and still the whole time. (why does that sound a little fishy to me?.....) But he has 2 buddies and he likes recess and apparently I packed "TOO much" in his lunch. Wow, I've never been accused of THAT before!

So all in all, it was a success.
I called Brooks today and asked how breakfast was w/ the boys and he said before he got to IHOP Camden was saying his belly started hurting him (his belly starts feeling nervous on days like today)........however the smiley face pancake seemed to cure the belly ache.
It's so fun having them walk IN the door so I can sit down and visit with them (since they walk home from school now). I hated driving down and picking them up and trying to hear about their day in the noisy Yeti w/ all the kids in there.
I'm thinkin' I'm going to like this school year too. YAY for new beginnings...........and talented armpit friends.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

 The 4th grader. 

I'm VERY excited about his cute morning teacher from Puerto Rico and his energetic teacher in the afternoon (who happens to be VERY pretty, so it will help w/ attention I'm sure........or maybe not so much?). No worries about this kid. He's got his "yes m'am"s down and loves to learn.

CHECK OUT MY 2nd GRADER!!!!!!!!

He actually has a SMILE on his face and was so excited to get to school. He kept saying he needed to go because he didn't want to be late.

This is actually a huge SHOCK because the past 2 years he has NOT been happy for school ......and actually cried the morning of on both years.

(see? from last year......)

 I thought this year would be worse because they're going to a new school, new kids, etc. Large groups of people don't make him very comfortable either and makes his stomach feel anxious.

So what's the difference this year?

HIS TEACHER!!!!!!!!! She's this super energetic lady from Puerto Rico that gave him a HUGE hug on Back to School night and showed him her 2 hamsters in class. That's all he's been talking about since is that his teacher is so nice and has hamsters. :) She sure knew how to win his heart over w/ her animals!!!! I'm so excited to hear about his day.

And this 1st grader is ALWAYS excited to go meet new buddies.......my little social butterfly.

I gave them all haircuts last weekend and after I finished Emerson grabbed a set up scissors and decided to "trim" the front. There are about 5 "divots" in his hair now that are RIGHT stinkin' next to his skull (I would have to shave his head to make it even). Brooks TRIED to discourage him from doing that again by telling him he'll look silly at school, etc. (aren't we great parents?) but Emerson stands by the fact that he thinks it looks cool. However, I WILL get my way and cut it soon......I just need to let it grow a tad more. This picture doesn't show the other 4 marks on the top of his head, but trust me, anyone would notice them.

Emerson's Spanish/afternoon teacher is a quiet spoken lady from Spain. I smiled thinking of my loudest speaking child in her class. BUENA SUERTE to her!

The handsome boys getting ready to head out the door to the traditional breakfast w/ Dad @ IHOP on the first day of school.

 (we are STILL shocked Brooks was able to get off. He's always there at 4 or at the latest 4:45 to do rounds on his patients, but his attending said yesterday out of the blue that he doesn't want to check everything off until 9. Thank you Heavenly Father for making that one happen for these excited boys!) 

Baptized!

Just as our Savior Jesus Christ was once baptized, so shall we follow His example.

On August 11th, my sweet second born, Camden, did just that.

His baptism wasn't until 6pm, so the day started w/ Camden and the "men" golfing and coming back for Camden's requested "dinner"......cereal, cinnamon rolls and fruit. :)

We got everyone ready and loaded up to get there about 5 minutes early. (check out my handsome baby boy, Royce)

Shortly after this picture was taken did Grandma remember that she had actually FORGOTTEN her whole talk/visuals at home. So we turned around and ran home to get them. :) 

Here we are right after we got to the church.......the whole clan of us. And yes, you should pity Emerson being smashed between my arm and belly.

Here they are after they dressed in white. It's so neat to see them dressed in white and a wonderful reminder of the purity and holiness of the baptism.

We're so glad we got Grandma's things back at home because she sure gave a great talk on Baptism. Aleeya (and I...sort of) sang a song and RA was asked to give the talk on the Holy Ghost after the baptism and before Camden received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I couldn't help but take this picture because I think it's sweet that RA always cries through things like this.

And since this needs to be documented, I should probably mention something RA said in his talk. Well, at least Brooks thinks it's document-worthy because we have been laughing ever since about it.

RA (through tears) was trying to tell Camden what the Holy Ghost feels like to him so Camden could recognize the feeling in his own life. RA said that when he prays sometimes he'll feel "the hair on my arms stand up. Then the hair on my neck and my chest and my back will stand up too." and then he continued on with his talk.

Thank GOODNESS none of us were sitting together when he said that because we probably would've lost it. I wonder if Camden even tried to compute any of that or wondered how he would feel the Spirit if he does not have a hairy back or if he didn't even notice.

Either way, Bronson ("Tio Bug"), Brooks, Pat and I sure did and couldn't stop laughing the whole way home. Infact, it looks like this picture after the baptism that they STILL couldn't hold back their smiles.....

 ("Tio Bug, Camden, Brooks and RA)........the "men".

My sweet Camden with me and Brooks........and baby girl who just doesn't let me get as close to Camden as I would have liked.

 We're so thankful RA, Grandma and Tio Bug came out for Camden's big day. We felt some major love from my parents as well in Brazil and know they would've liked to have been here.

But if there is ANY moment that I want captured forever in my heart and mind forever, it would be this image I happened to sneak in while sitting behind them before the meeting started. It's one of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen.......it still brings tears to my eyes.

Silly Me

Oh yea, HOW COULD I FORGET??!? Last Friday my sister got married too.

Seriously, a good day all around.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY JIM, to say "We're so glad Sarah has you" would be a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT!!!

Wish I could've been there!

FANTASTIC FRIDAY

Last Friday Grandma and RA flew in for a few days. The kids were sooooooo excited.

They got here early in the morning and said that they would be ready to go and play. So what do I do? I send them alone to the waterpark w/ Bronson, Camden, Emerson and Aleeya. They asked for it, right?

 R.A. said the water was too cold, but sucked it up for 4 times to go down the slide w/ the younger two.

 Grandma did such a good job "obeying orders" in taking pictures for me to see. I love their faces in these.

Friday was ALSO a big day because Brooks got the happy/shocking/relieving news that he passed his Pathology Boards (the test he took in Florida back in May)!!!!! I'm pretty sure he remained shocked the rest of the day because he would look at me and mouth, "I'm a BOARD CERTIFIED PATHOLOGIST!!!!" :) When I read the email w/ the news I immediately started crying. 

And if it couldn't get better, RA and Grandma stayed home w/ the kiddos while Brooks and I made the long-ish drive to Columbia to go to the temple together......you know, like an actual DATE.......together.......alone to the temple. That doesn't happen people!!!! We usually take turns. (And yes, I kept looking over at him during the night so I could grasp that we were actually there together)

Most of my friends know that I HAVE to go to the temple w/ mints. Not just any mints, but these:

I call them my "temple mints". I unwrap a ton and just keep them in my pocket. You could blame it on pregnancy and going 2 hours w/o any food but honestly, I have them whether I'm pregnant or not. Anyway, I didn't have time to pick some of these up. Brooks picked up some other mints (really, I don't do other mints on temple trips) so I had them in my pocket. 

For those who don't know, everyone dresses in complete white in the temple. It is the House of God and it represents the sacredness and purity of the place we are in. When I changed into my white dress my pocket felt a little heavier then usual. I reached down and in my pocket I FOUND SOME UNWRAPPED TEMPLE MINTS!!!! (the right ones!) I got so excited! It's actually pretty lame how excited I got.

I then remembered that I put some in there the last time I went for the just-in-case I didn't have any mints. I completely forgot that I had done that! But even KNOWING that I put them in there myself, I still got this warm feeling and a perma-grin on my face.....you know that feeling when someone does something REALLY nice for you and thought of you and it means the world? Yep, I got THAT feeling, for something I did for myself. 

So weird, but it gave Brooks and I a good laugh about it anyway.....I'm clearly easy to please.

Then on the long drive home we had fun playing w/ Brooks iphone (that the hospital gave him for free).....it has this Siri thing that you talk to and ask her questions and she helps you out/searches the web, etc. We giggled and giggled asking questions like, "Siri, do you think I'm fat?" "Siri, do you have a boyfriend?"......hahaha, we're so funny.

Oh, and Siri said that I'm not fat, so I believe her. ;) I like her already.

HE (we) DID IT!!!

Last Tuesday Camden finished the WHOLE Book of Mormon!!!!! (531 pages)

I don't know how HE felt, but I sure felt like a million bucks. His grandpa challenged him (like he did Bronson) to finish the Book of Mormon before we got baptized and Camden took the challenge........w/ the cash incentives and all from RA. :)

Now this isn't just a "go in the other room and read" type of a thing, we sat down w/ him, read it outloud, discussed it and made sure he understood what was going on and took time to teach a few lessons. 

I'm not here to paint a rosey picture of it all, because not everyday he wanted to read.....

We even started later then w/ Bronson because Camden is the VERY oldest in his school class which means he was behind a whole year in school/reading then Bronson was. And considering they start learning to read in Spanish first, the English reading was slow and coming. With Brooks' schedule I pretty much read Mosiah-to the end w/ Camden and on some days pulling 10 pages per day in the summer.

Bronson even helped out some when I had to make dinner but he still needed to read more.

We had a few read-a-thons late at night w/ a ton of treats and pop that later Emerson and Bronson joined in on.

After he finished reading the last verse you should've seen the look on his face. Priceless. There's no way to describe his smile.  It was a hard thing he did. Setting a SUPER high goal and making it through feels really good (even if Mom had to put most of her life on hold for a while everyday) :)

I was shocked the whole time of his memory. He could remember every little fact and who said what and when. It was really cool to see. His favorite parts? "Helaman and the 2,000 warriors, when Coriantumr cut off Shiz's head and when Moroni defeated Zerahemnah". He clearly got into the war stories and loved them.

My favorite part? Talking to him at the end about the promise in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon. We read and talked about how since he read the book he should "ask God...if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:4-5)

It was such a good reminder to me that we can take spiritual knowledge and questions into our own hands and have it personal between our Father and us. Then, armed with the knowledge that no one can take away from you, MUCH can be accomplished and you're willing to make more sacrifices and steps to live a better life.

Well, hopefully he got all that.............if he didn't, he can read this all later when the blog book gets printed out. Way to go Camden.............we did it.

Withdrawls

We're having DEFINITE Olympics withdrawls!!!! 

Especially since we really got into the whole swimming thing this year. 

 (here's Aleeya getting ready to watch the men's and women's swimming events)

Oh, and here's a picture I took back on July 31st to document baby girl's growth. She moves around a ton and it's pretty obvious she's growing. I haven't been to the doctor since May 18th but now that our insurance cards finally arrived I'll go August 28th to an OB here. (ya think they won't make me do the glucose test since I'm so past the time I should take it?!?!? I sure hope so.)

Baby girl's FAVORITE position seems to be on my sciatic nerve and most recently on my right side.....well, I'm assuming that because my right hip feels like it's Atlas trying to hold up the world sometimes. Oh, and she likes to tease her brothers already when they poke her arm/leg/foot, she'll move it fast and push it out fast somewhere else. The game goes on and on for free entertainment around here.

I have a feeling she'll be spoiled more then anyone w/ so much attention.

Husbandless Sundays

I will have to say, I LOVE hearing how kids word things that they don't understand what's going on......like when they're diagnosing themselves. Sunday I had two funny little "phrase-ologies" that cracked me up.

Brooks was working all last weekend so I was all geered up for pulling a solo-Sunday and since I was teaching the lesson 3rd hour I had to have everything in order. I KNEW it wouldn't be a normal day when Aleeya woke me up telling me that "I feel a spikey thing in my bum when I go pee". :)

With that explanation I knew the poor girl was probably experiencing her first UTI. I had some pills on hand and gave them to her HOPING that they would do the job considering we were running out of time to make it to church. 

Oh, and speaking of church, this is how I noticed my skirt after church...........and it is ALSO the reason why it's easier to go to church w/ a husband, because he WOULD HAVE TOLD ME I HAD TWO BIG RIPS IN MY SKIRT. Lovely.

DURING church however, Camden complained of his belly hurting him (common thing since larger crowds usually make his stomach feel uneasy). I told him to rest his head on the bench. Then later he told me he was going to puke, so I let him out to run to the bathroom.......really and truly not thinking he had to. Well, turns out he DID have to puke and he DID NOT make it to the bathroom in time. Infact there are two marks on the ground in the hallway to prove it. A nice lady came in and got me while I left the others (I took Iris w/ me, because.....well.......she's Iris) with a sweet 11 year old that Royce loves. In the meantime a man had started putting on gloves and getting cleaning stuff out for me and actually cleaned up the whole mess for me (thank GOODNESS, because I'm not sure I could've stomached it w/ my little breakfast that I managed to squeeze in). I found Camden in the bathroom a little embarrassed to come out because his pants/outfit was a little dirty, so I cleaned him up and quarantined him to a room to lay down while I went in and relieved that sweet 11 year old.

Had I not been teaching later during the meetings I would've packed the kids up then and gone home, so Camden hung out with me for the next two hours. Poor kid said he felt better, but I wasn't going to send him to class w/ other kids (OF COURSE HE FELT BETTER, WHO DOESN'T AFTER THEY PUKE!!!!???)

We got home and hung out w/ some friends driving through from Winston Salem, the Waltons. It was fun to chat and visit. (while Camden just stayed upstairs in his bed the whole time) Then at dinner I noticed the kids not eating much. Royce felt a little warm and extra snuggly. Emerson started complaining about his back, his legs, etc. (body aches) and then when he grabbed his head and exclaimed out of frustration "SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY BRAIN!!!!". His cute comment made me feel his head and my mom-meter was telling me it was a pretty high temp and later the thermometer confirmed it.........although I was never doubting the mom-meter to begin with......it's pretty reliable. ;)

Poor guy just kept crashing and felt awful.

 Most of the kids (except Bronson) were just in a daze the rest of the day. Not eating, laying around, snuggling and feeling rather awful.

Brooks got home about 9:30 that night and asked how the day went.

For some reason his question didn't seem so funny to me at the time but somehow a laugh came out. 

By the next afternoon everyone was back to normal. So crazy how fast some of those bugs can run through everyone's systems. I'm just grateful they all got it at the same time to get it over with!

 Oh, and here's a picture from yesterday w/ Camden doing "the best job yet" that I've assigned. The top of my roof is basically flat and gets a ton of leaves up there stuck and I hate that look, so I hoisted him up there (seriously, I'm sure that sight was entertaining alone to my neighbors) to blow off all the leaves.

EIGHT!!!

I would LIKE to say "it seems like yesterday that we were getting ready for medical school orientation"...

 or that "time has just flown by so fast since Camden was born the first day of medical school"

 buuuuuuut, well, it seems like 8 years ago (possibly longer) because it was!!!! 

CAMDEN IS FINALLY 8!!!!

He only wanted 2 friends to his party, so that's what he got. I left the younger 3 home w/ a babysitter and took these rascals to go go-karting.

 (this picture was taken BEFORE the go-karts, because if it was taken AFTER Bronson wouldn't have been smiling so big, considering he came in dead last......and the only girl there came in first!) ;)

There's the birthday boy!!!!

I mentioned before my boys' obsession w/ Beyblades, right? Well, it's still going strong and Camden was pretty excited to get 6 new ones. (he looks so handsome here)

He wanted hot dogs cooked on the "cool hot dogger" and a specialized cake that goes like this: "cake, then a layer of peaches, cake, then pears, cake and then blueberries on top". Since that's what he wanted, that's what he got (and to be honest, don't try it, it wasn't that good).

AND WHAT KIND OF MOM DOESN'T HAVE BIRTHDAY CANDLES ON HAND?!?!? Ugh. 

Well, the Glade peach candle worked nicely in w/ the cake, don't you think? 

Now for the Beyblade pinata........thanks to a recent microwave purchase we had some funky materials to work with.......oh and some Little Cesar's cheese sticks boxes. :)  Here's the work in process, which was REALLY tricky trying to fit into our Olympics-addiction schedule.

Camden wanted to do all the painting because he knew EXACTLY which beyblade he wanted it to look like.....a specific "L Drago". I just did the dragon symbol thing for him. He was so pleased w/ it and super excited.

and even MORE pleased w/ all the treats inside (which is why he invited only two so "there would be more treats").

Smart kid. Love him.