FINALLY....a PARTY!!!

Poor Aleeya turned 5 on October 17th...........and she JUST had her party today.

But in her MOTHER'S defense, she had pink eye for 2 weeks!!!!! And then it was Halloween, Daddy's work schedule was crazy, etc. 

(Truth be told, I have never been more grateful for pink eye before! I don't know if I had it in me to make a pinata and throw a party before!!!! Also, having a birthday party w/ a pinata AFTER Halloween w/ all the 50% off candy IS THE WAY TO GO!!!)

Speaking of pinata............here are a few in-the-process-of-making pictures of her mermaid pinata.

Aleeya helped paint her pinata.

 She asked me, "Why are her arms like this?" (and then she would make the pose w/ arms on hips). I told her mermaids LIKE to stand like that, because telling her that toilet paper rolls for arms are a LOT easier then making arms and 5 fingers at the end!

Granted, the mermaid is QUITE immodest, but aren't they all?!?! She absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED the pinata. More then I even expected. 

 (Brooks suggested throwing a wig on the pinata for hair...hahaha) Her face has MUCH to be desired in my opinion, but I really can't draw/paint. I just had to keep reminding myself how excited Aleeya was and how much she liked it. You can tell by the picture though!

The mermaid was about the same size as Royce and he kept kissing her on the lips.

 I really need to teach him to go for the more modest and less balding type, don't I? Then again, he DOES have a few webbed toes, so he likes that type I guess. :)

The girls and Royce (.......seriously, the STORY OF HIS LIFE) getting ready for cake.

 It took her 14 blows to get 2 candles blown out (these are NOT trick candles)!!! She just couldn't stop smiling enough to blow them out. Finally one of her friends just blew out the last 3 out of pure frustration, I'm sure. Aleeya was just too happy w/ her whole party.

By-the-way, "Nerds" from kids' Halloween bags make REALLY good white topping sprinkles for cakes. Also, if you have to make pink frosting and you do not have red coloring (yikes!!), the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries works really well.

I love my little 5 year old. Can't believe she's so big, but then again, I feel like she's always been a part of our family. 

I'm a superhero

Halloween is over and many put away their costumes of superheroes, etc. 

Let me just say............I still get to keep mine on.

Perspective

Preparation is important to me.

This was my 7th child and postpartum experience so I knew EXACTLY what to prepare for before.

I had the right supplies. Knew what timetable to expect my body to find it's energy and feel "normal" again. I knew at 2 weeks the baby would get thrush like my previous 6 (which I avoided this time thanks to a miracle cream I had called in before.........see? Preparation.) I knew that when Brooks was home the first week it would CRUCIAL that I rest up mucho so I would feel normal by the time he went back to work the next week. I kept telling myself DO NOT overdo it, or I would be in trouble (like I was after I had Bronson trying to do too much then laid out for longer) because Brooks told me he was starting a "doozy" of a rotation so I needed my A-game on. My body healed nicely. I felt my energy back. Kellyn was only waking up once at night So we were on track to normal w/ all the things I was used to........except............

I had these horrible headaches.

I had NEVER EVER had headaches before in my life. Not really even one. I now feel REALLY sorry for those who get them. They just kept coming on. Even when my body felt fine and normal my head/neck area was going crazy. I realized instead of an A-game coming on, I was more closer to a F-game. 

They wore and wore on me, until finally I called my doctor's office to be seen. (which the LAST time I went in the doctor's voluntarily for anything other then a check-up it was 11 years ago when I was balding.....yea, I know, serious huh.) The nurse kind of treated it lightly so I scheduled an appt and hung up feeling rather discouraged. Yes, headaches aren't a big deal, I realize, but I KNEW my body and I KNEW what was normal in postpartum for ME and frankly my expectations weren't being met.

So you can understand why I broke down in tears that very day when I opened up the mailbox and found the most THOUGHTFUL gift from my sis, Nikki.

The necklace had all of my kids' names on it. I'm actually tearing up now as I type this thinking on how much that meant to me at the time. I realized I would go through ANY kink in my plans/preparations for these 7 sweet names. I would do it again even, just to have my sweet Kellyn join our family.

If I had to deal w/ headaches for the rest of my life, it would be a sacrifice worth making for my favorite people here on my necklace. 

Thankfully, I won't have to though. After seeing the doctor I was sent over to the hospital for high blood pressure issues (which I've NEVER EVER had) and thankfully sent home later that day. Brooks took my bp all week and realized it wasn't getting better, nor my headaches. I saw the doctor again and I'm on some bp lowering medicine + diuretic (who seriously GAINS weight after coming home from having a baby?!?!?) and my headaches have disappeared and blood pressure down to 115.  I feel back to normal and I'm loving it, I really have taken my good health for granted. I'm so grateful. I'm also hopeful that in a few weeks we can start lowering the dosage so I can wean myself off the meds. Fingers crossed. But either way, there is medicine that can help me and I'm grateful. I'm also grateful because I know postpartums that are 10 gazillion times worse for other people, yes, I realize that. It was just frustrating to go through something 6 times and have a curve ball thrown at me out of the blue. Seriously, things could've been worse, I know...but to be honest, it was perfect timing as well. Looking back I see Heavenly Father's hand in everything and helping me in such an obvious way.

It was a good reminder though that there ARE sacrifices that are worth making.

and I have seven little names on a necklace to prove it!

‎"Five good children (in my case, 7) are an immense luxury, and to deny one's self other luxuries in order to raise them is not self-denial at all, but merely an intelligent choice of investment."

--Edward Sandford Martin, The Luxury of Children (1904)

"Haloween"

Oh yes, I know how to spell Halloween, but apparently Brooks doesn't because he was SHOCKED when I corrected him after he told Emerson to spell it

H-A-L-O-W-E-E-N. 

(So now he can take back the teasings when I thought 'hello' in Spanish was "Ola")

We went over to our close friends the Cannadays for Halloween

They are same family that watched the kids while I was in the hospital, made dinner twice afterward and just babysat while Brooks and I went on a lunch date this week and they secretly cleaned my house........yep, I love them.

My boys are: the Zombie in the middle, White-masked-Grim-reaper-Darth-Vader guy (?), and who KNOWS what Emerson is in front (it's some skeleton/pirate guy I think under his sweatshirt ) but he does NOT have a bloody nose. He wanted me to put on blood to cover his blue Koolaid moustache,,,,,however I think it looks like a beard and I love it.

Since you can't see the Zombie costume (he designed and marked himself) in the above picture, here Bronson is at the church Trunk or Treat. 

They had a guess-how-many jar of candy at one car and GUESS WHO WON IT?!?!?

ALL 1270 PIECES OF CANDY!!! He was pretty happy. 

Brooks ended up working that night, so we all ate dinner together w/ the Cannadays, Brooks left and "Mr. Troy" took this bunch out Trick or Treating all by himself. The girls' mermaids costumes were dirty from....well....wearing them for 5 days straight, so they wore whichever dress-ups they wanted.

 Their daughter (the bee)  helped out too, but Mr. Troy was the man walking at Royce's pace and dealing w/ all of Iris' chattering.

I love LOVE this picture of Royce w/ his Trick-or-Treating companion. Royce's smile melts my heart.........

 it ALMOST makes me forget moments like these when there are 700 q-tips involved.

Anyway, back to Halloween.....By the end Troy was holding these two AND wearing Royce's costume.

I was at their house w/ Kellyn visiting w/ my friend Jamie. Seriously, do I have the best friends or what?!?!

"You're not my real Mommy."

Last month (pre-baby) I must've been having a meaner-mommy moment with Aleeya with something like making her clean her room or clean up her plate or something else torturous like that. Because she calmly walked up to me and stated,

"You're not my real Mommy."

then she continued

"You're really Ursula dressed UP like my Mommy. Because my mom is really nice."

She got me thinking............with her and Iris wanting to be mermaids for Halloween since....well.....oh.....NOVEMBER 1ST OF LAST YEAR, I figured I mind as well just

GO AS "MYSELF" this year then, right?

I love dressing up, but I won't spend money on a costume for me. So it had to be something I had around. 

I had a black dress (used for costume things anyway), so I spray painted her gray skin part (because we all know I couldn't REALLY go in the dress she wears in the movie to a CHURCH THING!), threw on a "George Washington" wig that we had and bobby-pinned it so it didn't have the mullet-ponytail, and cut the bottom into 8 legs. (I sewed wire hangers in them). Super (NOT) crafty or skilled, but it definitely did the job. My girls favorite part was me going around singing "Poor Unfortunate Soul" with all the actions.

But my FAVORITE part? my little mermaids.......however, Kellyn wasn't too thrilled delaying her nap to be dressed up. 

 Our neighbor gave us a bunch of all costumes and some had sparkly dresses, so I cut them up and made a tube skirt and sewed on sparkley triangles for fins. Seriously, a NO BRAINER. But the girls were THRILLED!!!!! And I'm thrilled because I bought some gymnastics leotards for the white top and sewed on the seashells ever so lightly so I can rip them off after Halloween and we have new leotards! YAY.

I can't get over the cute little seashells though. My girls were sooooooo thrilled to be mermaids.

 Here's a better shot of them while I'm making them sit and wait for me to feed Kellyn in the church parking lot.

 Obviously I couldn't get more of the family "on board" with a Mermaid thing (nor did I try) because they already knew what they wanted to be. But as I sat there and watched this cute Lightning McQueen dance around in the church, it dawned on me..........

I TOTALLY could've made him be King Tritan!!! He's too young to care and it was just one more mermaid tail to sew. He could've gone topless (he would've LOVED that), had his glow-in-the-dark pitchfork thing, and thrown on a Santa beard. Drat, I totally missed that one.

But really, how many people actually get to go as their alter-ego to any public event?!?!?

Just me, I suppose............Mommy Ursula.

35

OH MY WORD!!!!! I'm married to a 35 year old!!!!!!!!!

But MAN, does 35 look good on him!!!!

Brooks' b-day was the week after Kellyn was born and the last day he was home w/ his "Paternity leave" from work. Let's just say I didn't plan very well ahead and had NOTHING to give him. I couldn't even leave the house to get him something. Birthdays are NOT (I can't emphasize that enough) a big deal to him, but I still felt bad. I couldn't even find a bow to tie around Kellyn w/ a note saying, 

"For your BIRTH-day I BIRTHED you another human. Hope it's awesome"

So I was really excited when he said he wanted to take the boys to Carowinds (a big "Lagoon" if you're not familiar w/ the place) for his b-day. The boys haven't been to an amusement park since Disneyworld 2+ years ago, so they were pretty excited.

 And once again, Brooks came through w/ taking pictures to document the fun.

 I love Camden's face in this one.

 this picture is just the epitome of roller-coaster fun! (apparently Emerson didn't keep his arms up the whole time)

 Wow, doesn't Emerson look all snug in that seatbelt? Yep, he's not going to wiggle around or go anywhere in THAT! (not). Clearly, he wasn't so sure about it, but after the ride he loved it.

Camden did from the beginning.......obviously

 Bronson actually WON that basketball!!!! Who seriously wins at those games?!?!?

Then Brooks went out and bought a leather couch for his b-day too (off Craigslist).

ANYONE who knows my husband would know this money-spending thing is NOT LIKE HIM!

But if you've ever sat on our couches in the living room, you would know that you mind as well be sitting on the cement sidewalk. Brooks was SERIOUSLY fed up w/ not having a couch to nap on, sit on w/o your backside falling asleep, and one to collapse in and read a book. Plus, me fresh from giving birth, it was nice for me to think I might have something soft to sit on.........if ya know what I mean.

Oh, and I HAVE to post this picture........we got the plate in the mail.

It just makes me so happy.

What's in a Name?

KELLYN PAT

How ironic that one of my criteria for a baby name was easily read and pronounced, and I have TWO people this last week ask me how to pronounce it. :) My sweet princess' name is KELL-en....... it rhymes with "Helen" and "Ellen". Where did we get the name? Well, Brooks came up with it.........surprise, surprise. I think he was reading something that said Helen Keller or some road sign and it got him to "develop" Kellyn. However, come to find out, it was ALREADY a name before Brooks "thought" of it. :) I kept saying it in my mind over and over to see if I liked it, and by the end of the pregnancy, I LOVED it. It sounded so pretty saying it....so feminine and sweet.  Then in the hospital Brooks said, he was still thinking of other names because he was growing less fond of "Kellyn". I told him NO WAY JOSE!!!! I was too attached to it by that point (plus he didn't have anything else to suggest...........but you can BET he checked out every nurse's name tag that was in the hospital JUST IN CASE!)

I researched "Kellyn" and I found 2 meanings.........Gaelic- "fair and slender".....not to shabby of a meaning if you ask me, but I liked the other Germanic one better, "foreigner". That's exactly what she is. Fresh from my Heavenly Father's presence and sent here to earth as a foreigner. Her first home was with a Heavenly Father who loved her, taught her and prepared her little spirit to come to my family. I feel so grateful to be entrusted with yet another one of Heavenly Father's children.

"Pat" is after my sweet and absolutely fabulous Mother-in-law. My kids adore her, her sons all worship her and I really need to become more like her. She's one of my favorite people to be around and always gives Brooks and me advice that gives perspective in whatever we're going through.

And PLUS, it makes it easier for me to teach the kids how to burp Kellyn. We always rub the hand slowly up the spine and say, "Keeeeellyyyyyyn" and then really fast (as we burp her) say, "Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat Pat." Her name works PERFECTLY for that.

So there you go...........all those who have asked why the name and how to pronounce it

First Sunday

Here she is ready to go to church for her FIRST Sunday (9 days old)

 Here she is AFTER I told her Daddy would NOT be going because he was staying home w/ 3 sick kids.

What can I say? She loves her Dad.

I TRY

And I TRY to capture little Kellyn's yumminess. Her kissable cheeks, her soft kissable neck and beautifully furrowed eyebrow muscles (because she's like Aleeya.....and her Grampy.....with very little eyebrows) and the ONLY thing I can w/o fail usually capture are her furrowed eyebrows. Seriously though, her face is beyond cute.

 It's been a while and I'm sure you've all missed animal postings, so here's the latest catch from Camden's baseball game (and NO it wasn't a ball)...........it was a CRAWDAD! Oh the joys of when Dad takes them to the baseball game.

 My mom asked if my other kids are helpful...........let's just say, YES YES YES!!!!

 They do a great job of "keeping her awake" and playing with her to get her on a consistent schedule. She gets tons of kisses and they help with the burping and some feedings (when I plan ahead and pump)

Kellyn is SO loved.

 And WHILE Kellyn is so loved and I try to capture pictures of her, Royce must've sensed the moment of Mommy weakness and slid the chair over to the sink and sat in it. Not sure why or what it accomplished, but he did it nonetheless.

 My FAVORITE moment from feedings............when the baby gives the 

"I GIVE IN!" look of the post-Thanksgiving-feeling after a good meal. :)

Kellyn- 0, Mommy- 1.

Ready for this?

Here are a TON of pictures from the hospital......but seriously, I DO have 6 kids that want to pose w/ our sweet angel.

When they moved me over to "Family Beginnings" section, I was in a TEENY room like everyone else. ONCE again the "resident" card was played and apparently some of Brooks' co-workers came over and requested my name be put on the top of the list to get the suite. It was filled, so the first day I was in this room, but the 2nd day I was moved into the 2 bedroom suite. 

Anyway, here is their FIRST time meeting Kellyn. I love love LOVE their faces. 

If you'll notice, Royce is NOT pictured..........Brooks let him spend the night at our friends' house. I guess it WAS a lot easier at Bronson's swim meet w/o Royce trying to dive in though. :)

Emerson made himself RIGHT at home.

Here are all the kids (minus Royce) with their presents that Kellyn "brought" them. It's their "FAVORITE" part of having a new baby, I'm sure.

LITTLE MONKEY

Besides wearing the cute monkey onesie, I couldn't STOP staring at what the nurses called her "finger toes".....but I call them her monkey feet. 

LOOK how long her toes are!!!!!! (she ALWAYS scowls when she sleeps!)

And the long LONG fingers of a monkey. They are so so beautiful and dainty.

I'm surprised Daddy even got some time w/ Kellyn w/ all of her admirers!!!

That night I was moved to the "suite". So I called Brooks and told him to bring everyone back later that night. He brought 3 pizzas and pop. The kids were in HEAVEN in this room watching cartoons.

The best part? Those couches were "wipe-able" w/ all the spills!! :)

Notice Aleeya is NOT in the upper picture. She would NOT leave Kellyn.....so she stayed in the other room of the suite w/ Kellyn.

Oh yea, here's Royce meeting his little sister for the first time. My baby girl and my baby boy!!!

Aleeya came equipped w/ a WHOLE purse full of things for Kellyn. Here she is brushing her "hair"....

Then with the bigger brush. She brought about 8 things......you can thank me for not taking pictures of each thing.

Here is Iris "patting" Kellyn. 

And during all this Royce was sitting there w/ Dad watching a good ol' football game. Since we don't have cable at home, it was kind of a treat for everyone. (I love my thumb-sucking-corner-of-his-yellow-blankie obsessed baby boy!)

The flowers my parents sent. All of those lilies are opened now (a week and a half later) and it is STILL so beautiful!!!! Thanks mom and dad.

The last part of my stay my nurse just said I was healed fine, the baby's good, so get some rest while I could.  It HAPPENED to be during my church's General Conference (where the prophet and apostles speak to us. It happens twice a year). I always listen to every session (8 hours worth total), but w/ the kids its usually not w/o interruptions. 

THIS time, I watched the last day (4 hours) just snuggling my newborn. It was amazing, tender, spiritual and touching. I loved every minute.

That night (Sunday) Daddy came to pick us up and here we are READY TO GO HOME!!!!!!