Crawling to walking

Thayne was pretty persistent in making Indi try and walk these last couple of days and it has paid off. She is wobbling around everywhere. She pretty much has to walk on her tippy toes (on the broken leg) but doesn't complain at all. She is actually pretty excited that she can walk and get around. She can even get to the bathroom and up on the toilet all by herself! YIPPPEEEE!!!! This morning she even dressed herself without whining for help. Her true independence is starting to come out.

When I grow up...

I went to pick up Thayne from school today and as we were waiting in the car for him Indi said, "Do you know what I want to be when I get big, Mommy?", and after she told me the other two piped up to say what they wanted to be. I hurry and wrote the things down so I could share them with you.

When Indi grows up she wants to be:

• A Princess
• A girl officer
• A baby
• A Mommy

When Josie grows up she wants to be:

• A Princess
• A Doctor
• A truck drive
• A Mommy

When Jaed grows up she wants to be:

• A chopping machine
• A spy
• A knight that shoots arrows at people
• A Dad

Hmm....quite a list of things they all want to be. I'm having a hard time picturing Josie as a Truck Driver so I think I'll make other suggestions if that one is repeated again. I think she said it because a big truck passed our car when Indi was telling me what she wanted to be. Funny that my girls are settling for a Princess instead of the QUEEN. I'll have to teach them that the woman is the Queen of her house, not a princess :). And....well....I'm a bit confused about how Jaed thinks he might be a chopping machine. I totally wanted to laugh when he said that so I wasn't able to ask him questions and stifle a laugh at the same time.

Crawling

Indi has been in her cast for exactly a week and is getting around quite well. She still isn't walking on it but she crawls and rolls everywhere. She can crawl up and down the stairs, which is huge relief and she crawls around to play with Jaed and Josie. Her knees will probably get rough by the end of the three weeks but it's worth it as long as I don't have to haul her around. I still have to take her to the bathroom and set her on the toilet, though. That might not seem like a big deal to some of you but she has to go to the bathroom at least 10 times a day. Sometimes I wonder if she just pees enough to take the pressure off her bladder and that's it because a very short time after that she has to go again. It's insane!

We went to our playgroup on Monday and the kids were running around and Indi called me over and said, "I want to go where the other kids are going!". She was almost in tears. I felt so bad for her. That is about the only time I have seen her sad about having the cast. Normally she lifts her leg and shows everyone her cast and delights in the attention she is getting!

I think every single one of us has been hurt by her cast now. Somehow she swung her leg around and hit Josie in the nose. It left a rug burn like mark for a while. I have scrapes on my hands from pulling on and off her panties thanks to her excessive need to pee! Jaed has been hit a couple of times but I don't think those were accidents :). When we're snuggling in our bed, no one wants to lay next to Indi because her cast "hurts" as Josie puts it, so Thayne and I are stuck getting rubbed by her cast. Why can't they make those with velvet on the outside?

Dreaming

Today was one of those days that I did absolutely nothing. It was great.....but I'll regret it tomorrow when I have to tackle the dirty kitchen, laundry, etc. that will be two days old. I was day dreaming today and thinking that if I had three wishes from a genie what would they be:

1- Have a maid (for the rest of my life!)
2- Go back to my pre-child weight/size
3- For our student loans to disappear and not haunt us!

Ok, so my wishes a pretty selfish.....If I had time to think about them and really wanted to be a great person I probably would say:

1- No more war (everyone would get along)
2- Everyone would believe in Christ and follow him
3- Every child would feel loved and be taken care of

What would you wish for?

Job

Thayne got a job offer....but it's only for the summer. It's a really good job, though. He'll be working on the east coast with a Labor Union law firm which will give him TONS of experience with employment law. He has taken several labor law classes and really has enjoyed them so this might be the field he will end up in. Because he will be working 40 hours a week AND studying for the bar, Thayne will be going to the east coast by himself while me and the kids live with my mom for the summer. This was a very hard decision because we are not fond of being apart at all but we both think it is necessary for him to be able to use all of his free time on studying for the bar. The job search still continues for something more permanent but at least this takes care of our worries of not having any money for the summer.

Nightgown

This post is for my mom. She loves her granddaughters in nightgowns and she bought this nightgown for Josie about 3 1/2 years ago. When I first put it on Kai she just kept grabbing it and pointing to all the stuff on it. She entertained herself with the nightgown for at least 5-10 minutes. She is so dang cute!!!

Easter Party

Our church had an Easter Egg Party tonight which the kids talked about all day. Everyone brought a dozen cupcakes to share and I think our kids ate at least that many together. I thought that Indi would feel bad that she couldn't run around looking for eggs but it all worked out and she had a great time!

(Thayne was a great with Indi. She would point to where she wanted to go to look for eggs and he got her there as fast as possible.)


(Doesn't she have the cutest smile. I just want to kiss that face of hers!! She was so happy with her bag of eggs that Thayne helped her get!)



(Kaia tried really hard to push Indi but the stroller didn't budge. The stuff oozing out of Kaia's mouth going down her chin is chocolate. She got a hold of a piece of chocolate and drooled the whole time she was eating it! Thayne said she looks like a vampire who just sucked someone's blood.)


(Here's Kai enjoying her eggs in the middle of the floor.)





(I'm pretty sure that Jaed had the most eggs than any other kid at the party. I was running so fast from one egg to the other that I saw him fall about three times!)


(And our Josie was so excited to find several eggs but then she started helping the little kids find eggs and putting eggs she found in their basket.)



(The kids left the party with huge smiles on their faces and a bag full of plastic eggs and candy!)

Help!!!

Thayne and I are about out of our minds with our HIGH maintenance cast Queen (Indi). Wow, she is ordering everyone around and it's only been about 48 hours since she got her cast and we're all pretty tired of it ;). She doesn't want anyone to touch her cast unless she says it's okay but Josie thinks it's a game to touch it and run. Indi will start squealing that Josie touched it and Josie hides until she's done complaining about it and then Josie goes in for another touch. AHHHHH! Even Jaed commented today that Indi is always saying that she gets stuff because she has a broken leg.

We indulged her for the first day and a half but we're going to have to put the foot down. At dinner tonight she told us she needs her food first because she broke her foot. We informed her that getting her dinner has nothing to do with broken foot, hence she was not served first. There was no fit throwing but a very HUGE frowny face. Hopefully, tomorrow is better!

Swinging no more

In my last post I told about our great trip out in the backyard and how Indi would not get off the swing. Well, her siblings were tired of pushing her so I decided it was my turn. She kept saying, "Higher Mommy, higher!" so I began to push her higher. Well I obviously pushed her too high because on the swing back she fell off and landed on her shins. She started crying and screaming so I ran over to where she was and looked everywhere on her leg but there was no mark of any kind. I held her for about 5 minutes, during which she whimpered and cried, and then tried to get her to walk. She was a trooper because she would try and take a couple of steps and then collapse in pain. Indi is a very tough girl so I knew that something must be the matter with her leg, so we went and got Thayne at school and he dropped Indi and I at the ER. After several x-rays (and a LOT of time) the doctor came in and told us the Indi broker her leg! I can't tell you how horrible I felt. When the doctor left the room I hugged Indi and told her how sorry I was for pushing her high on the swing. She got a smile on her face and said, "It's okay Mommy, I will be okay!". What a sweetheart!! They wanted to make sure that the leg wasn't going to swell so they sent her home in a splint and we had to go back this morning to get a real cast on. She was actually very excited about this and giggled several times while they were putting the cast on.

Since we've been home with her she has not let us forget that she has a broken leg. Almost every sentence ends with "Cuz I have a broken leg!". She even told her siblings to stop talking to her because she has a broken leg. I was going to lay beside her when she said, "Mommy don't lay to close to me because my leg is broke!".Thayne and I just roll our eyes at each other and keep our mouths shut for now, hoping that it will die down in a couple of days. The doctor said she can walk but it still hurts her to put pressure on it so we'll see how things work out in the next day or two. Her basketball career is over for now and she doesn't seem sad about that but I think it will be a different story when we take Josie to the next game.

So let me tell you about the hospital visit. The nurses that treated Indi happened to be the same nurses that treated Josie two weeks ago (when she got staples in her head). I didn't say anything, hoping that they would not remember me but my luck stinks! One of them said, "You look familiar, have I helped you before?". Of course I couldn't lie, although it did cross my mind, so I explained that I was in here two weeks ago with a different child and he said he remembered. Well, that wasn't the most embarrassing thing that happened at the hospital....... Every time someone asked Indi what happened all she would say was "My mommy pushed me and I fell!". Do you know how many dirty looks I got? A LOT!! I had to keep saying, "Indi tell them what you were sitting on" or sometimes I would just say, "She was swinging and I was pushing her on the swing when she fell.". I probably have a special note in my file now for frequent trips to the ER.

(Relaxing and watching her favorite show in her chair.)


(Another view of her relaxing!)


(Her siblings decided to join her and watch the show with her. I think they were sorry they join her because I heard her order them around a lot. "Josie, get my that toy!", "Jaed, I need a drink!", "Josie, I want the toy you have cuz my leg is broke!", "Jaed, I need a snack!".....and it went on and on. They never said "no" but I did see some shoulders drop when she said their name. I'm not sure how long we can all put up with the cast Queen that has now invaded our house!)

Sunny out

It was a BEAUTIFUL day yesterday so I decided to take the kids out in the backyard and play. Here's some photos of all the fun they had...

(The first thing they all wanted to do was swing! I don't think Indi ever got off the swing...)


(Josie had so much fun pushing Kaia in the swing. She loved the way the Kai laughed out loud when she would push her high.)


(Josie and Jaed decided to rake the leaves in a pile so they could jump in them.)


(Jaed was the first one to run and jump in the leaves. I don't think it was as soft as he thought it would be because he didn't jump again but certainly encouraged his sisters to run and jump.)

Children Museum

We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, yesterday, with some friends and had a great time. We were there for four hours and the kids didn't want to leave. Here's several pictures from our day:

(They had a robot exhibit that was Indi's favorite place. She loved playing with this pink, girl, robot!)

(The kids rode on the carousel with all their other friends that we went with. Indi waved or did a "thumps up" every time she past me.)


(Even our little Kaia loved the carousel!)


(Kaia hasn't gone down a slide since the summer and she didn't know what to think. The first time she seemed scared and even yelp a little but the second time she laughed hard when she got the bottom. I know, most moms would have stopped after the first reaction the slide but I didn't!)


(We visited the Dinosaur Exhibit and the kids were taught how to dig for dino bones. They had to wear goggles and use brushes to brush away the rocks and dirt from the bones. They all found a bone and were thrilled with themselves.)


(At another part of the Dino Exhibit the kids were encouraged to be artists. Here is Jaed and Thayne making a dinosaur out of clay.)



(Here is Josie sitting down to draw the dinosaur skeleton head in front of her. Unfortunately, she didn't even look up once to study the head and when she handed me the picture she said, "Here momma, this is you!". )


(When Jaed was behind these bars I said to Thayne, "Is this the way were going to see him in 15 years?" and then I laughed. Sometimes I wonder because he can be quite a stinker! But other times I think he'll be a very successful man with the way he interacts with others and with how smart he is! Time will only tell.)


(The museum had these little houses made for kids and we found Kai in one of them sitting in this cute little chair just her size!)


(Here's Kai trying to poop in the middle of play area. There were quite a few snickers when she stopped playing, bent over a bit, grunted and her face turned red!)


(We had a great time as a family! I love it when we do things like this together.)

Our Car

I am starting to worry that our car is not going to make it until Thayne gets a job. Here's a list of things wrong:

• The automatic unlock/lock door button only works for two doors
• The back windows won't open
• The air conditioner doesn't work
• The transmission gets stuck in second gear so we have to put the car in neutral, turn the car off, turn the car back on, and put it back in drive.
• The automatic window button didn't work on the driver's side. It worked to get the window down but it wouldn't roll it back up and we were having a winter storm. (We did get this fixed.....it cost a lot!).
• Oil leak

I think that's it but it seems everyday a new thing comes up. I know that Thayne and I say silent prayers every time we get in to drive. The worst part about it is that we're suppose to drive it to Utah after graduation....hmm......it's a good thing we have a cell phone cuz we might be calling one of you to come and rescue us :).

Funny Josie

We were talking about Jesus today and all of the things he did/does for us and Josie spoke right up and said, "When I grow up I want to be a girl Jesus!".

Boys!!

Jaed did something to his sisters that brought back memories of when I was a child. My brothers teased me all the time (they're denying it while they read this but they did!). I think the worst thing that they ever did was hold me down and *toot* (my mom doesn't like the word 'fart' so I'm not going to use it!) on my head. Can you believe that? It wasn't just a one time thing. It happened a LOT! It scarred me for life :). Well Jaed hasn't been that bad but I'm sure he's going to get there. The other morning the girls were playing with their doll strollers and Jaed grabbed the stroller and said, "Look at this, girls!" and shoved the stroller down the stairs. The doll went flying out as the stroller tumbled down the stairs. Josie was devastated. She was yelling, "My baby, my baby!", and Jaed was laughing. I looked over and Thayne and he was trying to control himself from laughing. I tried to explain to Thayne that Josie really was hurt that Jaed did that but he just laughed and said, "Jaed's just being a boy!".
Well, it didn't stop there. They kids were playing in the living room and Jaed was trying to get the girls to play like he wanted but they weren't cooperating so he grabbed their doll, put it under his foot while his foot was in the air and said, "You better do what I say or your doll gets it!". Josie started screaming and Indi was trying to get the doll away from Jaed while yelling, "Don't hurt our baby!". What was Thayne doing? LAUGHING! The whole scene took me back to my childhood when my brothers would grab my dolls and start punching their faces. I remember being traumatized and really feeling like they were hurting 'my baby'. Ok....I'm chuckling while I write this post but it wasn't funny at the moment and I'm sure Josie and Indi won't be laughing about it until they are much older!

Things that Motherhood makes me do!

I've been thinking about things I do that I normally wouldn't do but because of Motherhood I am doing them. Does that make sense? Here are a few things that I can think of:

• I'm dying of thirst and the only thing available is a sippy cup. Yes, I grab it, drink it and don't even care of other people see me. Or, if it's one of my older kids it's a water bottle that has several floaties but I'm desperate so I close my eyes and drink and say a little prayer that I won't throw up!
  

• My kids are arguing, crying or just being loud in the car and I can't handle it so I put my country music CD on and sing at the top of my lungs. After about 2 or 3 songs I turn the music off, look in the rear view mirror and see Josie covering her ears, Jaed with a disgusted look on his face, Indi smiling and Kaia looking at me like I am crazy but it's quiet and peaceful (for about 2 or 3 minutes and then I turn the music back on).

• I call Thayne's friends "naughty" or "potty mouths" with out even thinking and get very strange looks in return. Especially when I say "naughty" because most of them are trying to decide if I meant it in a sexual way. Yeah, it's happened! EMBARRASSING!
  

• I have been known to schedule my errands around when I think Indi is going to poop. Thank goodness she is pretty predictable! She is the worst to take to public bathrooms. We always have to have a discussion about poop, butts, girl parts, etc.. These conversations are not quiet and the more I tell her to stop talking about it the more she does and I can't ignore her because she just repeats the question (and it gets louder and louder) until I answer it.
  

• I answer the phone in the middle of yelling at one of my kids and finish yelling at them before I say hello. Isn't that great? Thank goodness, this has only happened a couple of times (I know, once to many).
  

• I give my kids more baths/showers a week than myself. How embarrassing is that? VERY!

Ok, so my list could go on but I think I've embarrassed myself enough for now. I think the word "embarrassing" goes hand in hand with "Motherhood"......at least for me it does.

Crazy Hair Day

Jaed's school has been having a theme day everyday this week and today was 'Crazy Hair Day'. He was feelin' cool when he got out of the car to run to school! When he got home, he said that as soon as he got into class all the kids were playing with it.

What to write about?

This afternoon and early evening I'd been thinking about what to post about because today has been a bit dull. Well, after dinner Josie and Indi decided to jump on the bed and Josie fell off and hit her head on the dresser. I picked her up and held her but scolded her at the same time for jumping on the bed. She just kept crying and crying. She has a very high tolerance of pain so I knew she must be pretty hurt if she was still crying. I asked her what her and she pointed to the back of her head. I lifted her up and my arm and her head was covered in blood. I didn't even look to see how bad it was because the amount of blood was enough for me to throw her in the car and take her to the emergency room. She was treated like a queen at the hospital. She was given a stuffed bear, coloring crayons and coloring book, the remote to the t.v. and basically anything else she asked for. She was smiling and giggling before the Dr. even got in to see her.

After they cleaned the back of her head off you could see a huge gash about an inch long. They had to give her a shot in the back of the head and then they stapled the cut three times. I had to hold her down while she screamed in my ear. I felt so bad for her. But, once it was over she was smiling and giggling again. She's such a trooper!


(You're probably thinking, "This picture wasn't necessary!", but I wanted to get a shot of it for her to see in the future! If this was Indi I'd say no to staples because she would do whatever she could to pick them out. Josie is only a nose picker!)


(She has to have her head wrapped for 24 hours so that the wound stays clean. We'll see how long it actually stays on!)

Turning 5

My beautiful Josie turned 5 years old today. It was a very emotional day for me, and I'm not exactly sure why. I think it's because I feel a little bit guilty for not taking advantage of the time I had with her as a baby. When I got pregnant with Indi all I wanted was for her to grow up so that she could do things for herself so I could lay down to avoid throwing up. I told her, today, that when she was born I prayed to God and thanked him for sending me such a beautiful girl. She got a huge grin on her face and hugged me. I was so excited when I found I was going to have a girl and even more excited when she was born healthy without complications! She has always been a mommies girl and I hope it stays like that forever. Thayne and I talked about how protective we are of her. I don't know exactly why that is but we want to protect her from everything!

Here are some pictures of her special day!

(Josie and her yummy ice cream cake! )


(Josie asked for the new Barbie movie. The movie came with nylon wings that she could wear. About ten minutes after she put them on she said, "Momma, I can't get my wings to fly!". She was very serious about this. I told her that she needed to flap her arms like a bird, so she started flapping them really fast. Then I said, "Josie, I think it's working....you're starting to fly!". She looked down at her feet and saw that she was still on the ground. She was mad and responded, "NO I'M NOT!".)


(Josie also asked for a talking doll and we found a talking Dora which she loved! Indi got her another Dora doll that sings a song. She was in heaven!)


(Thayne's parent's neighbor, whom we have never met, wanted to get Josie something so she sent this really soft and squishy pillow. Josie carried it everywhere that night and didn't want anyone to touch it. She also got a mermaid Barbie that she's been asking for since Christmas!)


(Indi and Jaed gave Josie a birthday kiss!)



(Indi couldn't resist giving Josie a birthday body slam! Can you see Josie's face? She was not happy about this body slam.)


(Here's Dad, Mom and the Birthday girl getting ready for bed.)


I think Indi was just as excited about Josie's new toys as Josie was. Anytime Josie put her Dora dolls down, Indi would grab them, hug them, and go into another room to play with them!)



(Kaia stayed for the party as long as she could. She finally got so cranky that we had to put her to bed!)

Plans in the making

Thayne and I thought a lot, over the weekend, about what we will do after graduation. We have decided that if he doesn't have any job offers by the time graduation comes we will pack our things the week following graduation and head back to Utah. We'll stay with my mom while Thayne studies for the Bar and then start applying for jobs again. We thought Thayne would take the Utah Bar but now we don't feel like that's the right thing to do. We're still pondering and praying (of course) about where we should be taking the Bar and looking for a job. Thayne's parents will be putting the house on the market by the middle of May so we have to be out by then. Sometimes I wish we could just fast forward our lives and be out of the decision ditch that we're in. Sometimes I'd like to get on the floor and throw a tantrum in front of God and see if it gets me anywhere. Hehehe, wouldn't that be a funny site. Next time one of my kids do that I think I'll join them and see what happens. Hahaha!! Being an adult is hard stuff!

So the other day, Josie got upset that about not being able to do something that Jaed got to do. I told her that she could do it next time and her response was, "I'm so sad I won't be able to sleep tonight!". I think she's a little young for that kind of manipulation.

Yesterday when we got home from church, Josie started to cry because Indi hit her with a toy, then Indi started to cry because I sent her to her room, and then Kai started to cry because Thayne moved her out of the way of getting into stuff. I looked at Thayne and smiled. He didn't smile back. I think his next sentence was, "No more girls, please!". I wanted to yell, "GIRL POWER!!!" but I kept myself under control. I don't think he would have thought that was funny. One thing about girls is that they don't stop crying without some kind of attention (usually). So Thayne picked up Kai and hugged her until her face was dry, I snuggled with Josie and kissed her boo-boo, and then Indi came searching for her attention (still crying, of course). It wouldn't shock me if Thayne went and got the "no more kids" surgery without telling me :).

All gone

Thayne's parents left today. It's nice to have them come visit and the kids love the attention they get. Grandpa and Grandma are big board/card game players so my kids are in heaven! Thayne's parents never seem to tire of playing games with the kids, even when Grandpa catches Jaed cheating all the time. They certainly have more patience than I do. It's torture for me to have to play games with them. I don't know why, because I love to play games but it's more work than pleasure to play them with little kids, I think. Even though I feel this way, Thayne and I are going to start a new tradition and have a game night once a week. This will give us some nice family time (and a chance for me to practice patience :> ).
We have a Dora Memory Matching game and it has two matches that are pictures of Dora as a princess. Well, when Indi plays she tells you right from the beginning that she will be the one that gets the princess matches (or else). One time Grandma got the princess match (she picked two cards up at the same time) and Indi started to cry and put her head down on the table. It was the funniest thing ever! It seriously hurt her feelings. Grandma had to put the match back down on the table so that Indi could pick the match on her turn.
Josie couldn't finish one game at a time. She would start out playing a game with Grandpa but then she saw how much fun Indi was having playing the game with Grandma so she would come over and want to play. I had to help her understand that she has to finish one game before she plays the next but she did this little "game hopping" frequently.
And then there's Jaed......man he's a big cheater. Thayne swears that the cheater gene comes from me only because my brothers have told Thayne that I cheated all the time as a child, but I don't believe it. Well, I believe that I cheated all the time because I remember doing it but I don't believe Jaed got it from me!