The Absence of Solitude

Wordless Wednesday

Five on Friday

1. A hint of a smile.

2. A self potrait of Simon.

 

3. Nana playing peek-a-boo with a picture taking Lauren. 

 

4. Sibling adoration.

 

5. Aaron only two days old and leaving the hospital with Mom.

On my own

Allen went out of town for work on Sunday evening. Mom left on Tuesday. And the older two kids are on Spring Break this week. The last two days have been, you could say, a bit of baptism by fire as a mother of five children. Thankfully my brother, Matt, gave me a brief reprieve last night when he came to take the oldest four out to dinner. Whew! It's been a little crazy. I keep singing the "Crazy Train" song in my head. It's a good crazy though, honestly. Aaron is such a good baby; it's really been about keeping Simon and Lauren from biting each others heads off. They are a pair, I tell ya! 

Aaron loves to sleep on his belly. He loved when Nana held him like this and he would quickly fall asleep. 

Nana with FIVE (of her 11) grandchildren!

 

Mom was here for two weeks and it was so wonderful. She helped out tremendously! I am so glad and grateful she was able to come for such an extended stay. It was heart-breaking to watch her walk into the airport. We are counting down the weeks until we get to go to Texas to see everyone. 

Thanks for everything, Mom!

Aaron meeting the family

Wow. That's a big family! The bottom right two pictures were just after he was born on Saturday night and the rest are from when my brother, Matt, brought the kids up to meet Aaron on Sunday morning. My favorite picture, albeit blurry, is the one of all the kids next to the bed as they get their first glimpse of Aaron. One of my friends did a similar picture with her last baby and I loved the idea. So I had him snuggled up close to me and then laid him down on my lap so they could all see him for the first time at once. It was just precious!

So far, they all want to hold him often and love on him. Jillian scares me a little because she thinks she should be able to walk around with him like she does with her baby dolls. The first night he was home and started crying, she said, "I don't think I like him."  And Simon will want to hold him but then after about two seconds says, "Ok. I'm done." The transition to five children is going pretty well, but we will see how things go when my mom leaves and I don't have an extra set of hands everyday. Aaron is such a sweet little baby and we already can't imagine our family without him!

The North Bridge

We just got back from a trip to Boston and I will be posting about our adventure just as soon as I get through the mountain of laundry that followed me home and the many, many pictures I took over the last few days. But there is one thing that I thought I would post about today. 

On the last couple of trips we have taken (Philadelphia and D.C.) there seems to be one moment or place that stands out and makes me overcome with emotion. For Boston, it was the North Bridge in Concord, MA. 

Obviously, it is a reproduction of the original bridge over the Concord River and is nothing spectacular. However, this was the site where the first official battle of the Revolutionary War took place. This was where Paul Revere was sent to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming. There is a monument to the Minute Men at one end of the bridge with Ralph Waldo Emerson's first stanza of the poem, "Concord Hymn" and after reading that is when I got a little lump in my throat. I am sure many of you know the last line:

"...And fired the shot heard round the world." It was surreal that right on these very grounds where I stood was the start of freedom for generations to come. And for that I am so very grateful to live where I live. 

two things today

Just to keep blogging, I have two things to share today:

1. Simon LOVES to get things out of the recycling boxes and create new things. Yesterday he decided to make a robot costume.

2. I have wanted to learn how to French braid for a very long time. I knew the basics of how to do it since my mother used to braid my hair for me all the time, but I could never make it look just right or get it tight enough to stay in longer than a few hours. Yesterday, while browsing Pinterest I came a across a how-to video. I was able to braid Lauren's hair for the first time this morning and for the most part it was actually still in when she got home this afternoon. A little more practice and I think I will finally get it tight enough to last the whole day.

 

There are a few different braid tutorials I want to try after I master the French braid. 

 

And how was that for an exciting post!?!

The Mom Gifts

This year I went with a really relaxed "homemade" gift from Mom. I was just not feeling up to spending hours and hours on the projects. I think the children loved them despite the little amount of time I spent on them. 

For Ethan, I finally had a drawing he did back in first grade for the rodeo art contest framed. It has been placed either behind his dresser or tucked away in his closet for the last few years. He was excited that he can now hang it in his own room. 

I had grand plans to make a quilt for Lauren out of her baby clothes but I just couldn't get it finished and I really didn't want to rush it and then it not be as nice as it could have been. So I am taking my time with it and I hope to give it to her for her 8th birthday later this year. Lauren did complain a couple of weeks before Christmas about not having any "girl" blankets to snuggle up with on the couch so I just made her a new fleece blanket. She loved it and surprisingly it lays on her bed and she doesn't use it when on sitting on the couch. 

Simon's gift was actually the most time intensive and it really wasn't that bad because most of it was done at a craft night. It is 16 square blocks with a photo cut to fit the blocks and make a puzzle. So there are six different puzzles and they are all members of the family. He opened it and moved right to the next gift and then later told me he didn't want it. However, he has played with it since and likes to put the one of him together the most. 

And Jillian loves to look at pictures of herself and sadly was always taking a little photo book of Lauren's because she did not have any pictures of herself to look through except on the computer. So I went through 2 years of pictures and had over a hundred pictures printed and then put them in a photo album for her. I think she has loved her gift the most; she looks through it every night before bed.

 They were simple gifts but perfect for what I could reasonably accomplish this year and perfect for each of the children. 

34

Thanks for all the birthday wishes that have been sent, emailed, texted, heytelled, and phoned. It's made my day!!

Here is my annual birthday list of 34 things about me:

1. While trying to come with this list, I realized this year's list was a lot harder than past years. 
2. I can't believe I am half-way through with my last pregnancy!
3. I found out recently that I am slightly anemic. 
4. We are planning lots of fun activities for the holidays including:
5. The Nutcracker
6. The Messiah concert
7. A Dickens Christmas Festival
8. And sleigh rides
9. I didn't have to rake any leaves this fall because of all the trees we cut down a few months ago. 
10. Goodreads for 2011-- Jane Eyre, Unbroken, and Okay for Now
11. My next project is to refinish a buffet/sideboard that I found at the thrift store for $20.
12. I am really looking forward to getting back to running after the baby is born.
13. I am having a hard time parting with all the cute baby girl clothes I have acquired over the years. 
14. Today has been and will be busy with things like:
15. Teaching the pre-school co-op this morning
16. Lunch with Allen
17. Making a backdrop for Lauren's Wizard of Oz play
18. And attending the Relief Society meeting tonight to give a book review.
19. Did you know my favorite color is green?
20. I canned/bottled over 225 jars of food this year. 
21. After using a friend's steam juicer to do grape juice, I think I found what I want for Christmas.
22. I have decided what I am making each of the children for Christmas and if you can believe it, I have already started on a couple of them. 
23. I am trying to decide what kind of picture I want to get to put above the piano. Any suggestions?
24. I, sadly, am going to miss the annual Baking Weekend this year. 
25. Matt, Mandy, Ethan and I are going to do the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. 
26. Can I just tell you how happy I am to have family close by to celebrate holidays with this year.
27. Jillian always gives me a hug with a few pats on the back when I get her out of bed in the morning. It's probably the sweetest thing ever!
28. I really wish there was a good Mexican restaurant here that I could go to tonight. 
29. I have been having a hard time lately and I have missed family and friends a ton
30. Are you on pinterest.com? I resisted as long as possible, but it's amazing and I love it. 
31. Jillian has come up to me several times today to say, "Happy to You!" and then gives me high-fives.
32. I will be on the lookout for any Black Friday deals on DSLR cameras. My camera is on its last leg. 
33. I am still serving in the YW program on our ward. It's a tough crowd!
34. Can you tell by this list that I might be a little on the boring side?

Happy Birthday to me!! See you back here next year where I will be that much closer to 40! Say what!?!

The News

We went to our ultrasound this morning and received the much anticipated news:

 

 

The BOYS will be taking control of the house!!

 

Forget Me Not

On Saturday evening, I watched the General Relief Society broadcast. Did you? If not go here to watch, listen or read it. I enjoyed all the speakers but I loved President Dieter Uchtdorf's talk the most. Every talk he has given at the RS meetings has been wonderful and I feel like it is always meant just for me. I think he has a special gift in speaking to the women of the Church. I left feeling so encouraged!

Here is a short clip:

   

 

And another favorite from him was something along these lines:

Heavenly Father knows you are not perfect and it's okay. And all the people you think are perfect? Well, Heavenly Father knows they are not either.

Then this quote:

“Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.”

Something I think every one of us needed to hear. What did you think of the meeting?