Breakdowns

Every single one of my kids had an official breakdown today.

They all had their stellar moments too.

Hyrum leading the FHE song and jumping onto the couch for opening prayer.

Sariah not shedding a tear during her school shots.

Bryant actually folding his clothes before bed.

Talmage going gung-ho on the dinner dishes.

Who needs a sister...

...with a brother like this?

I guess we all know that dress up and dolls won't last forever with Hyrum, but for right now he's an amazingly good sport. Hyrum is looking remarkably well after he looked like he'd been in the boxing ring yesterday. He took a nose dive off the bar stool and ended up with a bruised eye and nose, double barrel bloody nose, and a fat lip.

It's also pinewood derby time. James and the boys (Bryant insisted on a car this year even though he's not a scout yet) spent Saturday afternoon working on their cars. Because of James's schedule they work together for a few minutes between the time he gets home from work and rushes off to his evening class. (James just throws the coveralls on over his suit and changes his shoes.) Then James stays up until almost midnight after he gets home from his class to melt down lead and such and wakes up at 5 o'clock in the morning for things like a second coat. Thursday is the big race.

Still Dreaming of a Sister

Last night as I was tucking Sariah into bed she said, "Mom, I was listening to the boys talking to each other in their bunkbeds and I was thinking I would really like to do that with a sister. But we're having two boys and now we're back to where we started." I didn't know how to comfort that sad little heart, (especially since I have such fond memories of pillow talk with my sisters on our triple bunkbed,) but I told her that we don't always understand Heavenly Father's plan and whether or not we have any sisters, we're going to have a great time together. I'm not sure that is what she had in mind.

Today, Bryant read the only book of the A-Z Mysteries that he hadn't been able to get his hands on. I think the school librarian the last few weeks has been ordering books to fill in the blanks because he's been the first to have these last few brand new. He was so excited, and I was excited for him to be so excited. Perhaps more impressive, he told me the titles of all 26 books in the series.

I got my continuing education course in the mail today (finally). I have 7 days to complete it and renew my license. Never had to cram quite like this.

The best news of the day. I just got a phone call from a great friend who is celebrating her second anniversary today and received in the mail permission for her and her husband to be sealed in the temple. Funny thing. When I went to their wedding two years ago I was pregnant. If I make it to her sealing, her husband will have never seen me not pregnant.

Patches

Spent yesterday morning putting patches in the knees of my kids' pants. I wonder how many patches I've done in the last 9 years? I wonder how many I'll be doing in the next 9?!

Dreaming?

After his bath tonight, Hyrum said, "pee, pee" and was obviously wanting to try the big boy stuff. (He's attempted unsuccessfully twice before but if he's interested, so am I.) So, I stood him up to the toilet and without even a hesitation he did his stuff! Is there a chance I won't have three in diapers?

It's a Boy! and... It's a Boy!

We debated and debated, and went back and forth as to whether or not we would find out the gender of our twins, having waited for the surprise with all of our other children.

One thing different about the prenatal care with twins is that they do an ultrasound every time because just the doppler isn't enough to distinguish between heartbeats. With so many ultrasounds it would be nearly impossible not to know the genders before birth unless we simply didn't watch them and the technician didn't slip. With such a unique experience I didn't want to turn away at every ultrasound so we just decided to find out from the get go.

We took Sariah with us thinking that with double the chance of a girl, this could be one of the best days of her life. It didn't quite turn out that way.

The technician didn't want to be the one to break the news so even though Sariah watched the ultrasound, she didn't know the results.

At family night, James talked to the kids about Heavenly Father's wisdom and the blessing it is to have a healthy baby. He told them what Elder Holland recently said about those who are faithful having their prayers answered even though it may not be in this life. Then he told them the news. Bryant and Hyrum were the only ones not in tears. Talmage was hoping for girls to bring balance and symmetry to the family (there's a type A personality for you). Sariah just wanted sisters, at least one sister. I have to admit my heart hurt for her little pained heart. It was so sad. She said, "I've been praying and praying (which is true) , what happened?"

At this point I'm grateful we found out. Such sadness wouldn't have been quite right on the day these little guys enter the world.

James has promised Sariah a bunk bed anyway.

Who told you?

This evening one of the most classic lines came back to mind.

On Christmas Eve when the kids opened their pajamas each of them found a pacifier folded up inside. This was our way of telling them the big news. Actually, none of them caught on, but all of them were puzzled as to why they needed a binky. When the news that we were going to have a baby was finally disclosed point blank, Talmage looked right at me and exclaimed, "Mom, who told you?!"

Amongst other quotable quotes, Bryant came home from school on Thursday and asked me, "Mom what does "sexy" and "foxy" mean?" I'm just glad he's asking me.

Emerging from the Fog

I feel like I'm regaining some zest for life finally.

I've been working on Talmage's costume for his wax museum---William Bradford---and I've really been enjoying it.

I enjoyed the company of Hyrum and Sariah at the grocery store on Monday. When we were bagging the groceries we were across from a slightly elderly man. Hyrum looked right at him and said, "Bompa" (Grandpa). The man lit up and replied, "you know a grandpa when you see one." It was fun to see my baby make someone's day.

He woke up from his nap prematurely that day so when I held him in my arms he fell back to sleep. I studied the chubby curves of his profile, his button nose, and the downy baby hair on his cheeks that still make them irresistible. I watch him bounce and skip around the house with glee. I hear him learning to talk (even scolding occasionally) and I just wish that somehow I could record all the sights and sounds for days not too far away I'm afraid when such precious moments will no longer be had. I know Talmage, Bryant, and Sariah must have been just the same, but time has erased the details. It pains.

Names

Hearing Hyrum address of the members of our family just makes me happy. "Tamaj" and "Biant" are pretty discernible. I have to keep drawing Sariah's attention to the fact that "Saw" is her name. And boy does he ever have "MOM!" down. Most the time to James he just says, "Om 'er" (Come here).

Classic

Artist: Sariah

James and I were sitting in FHE last night watching our cute kids (especially Hyrum) and he told me I have to get blogging again to record all these cute things they do.

It was not so cute when Hyrum blew out his first "sick" diaper while we were waiting in the chiropractor's office this morning. I had no plastic bag and no spare change of clothes. You'd think by #4 I'd be a little more prepared. We had to get creative. He's had a bit of a fever and not been himself today. I just got a phone call from one of the mother's of his nursery friends. Her kids have chickenpox. He's had one vaccination. We'll see.

With Hyrum subdued on my lap, Sariah and I put puzzles together and played UNO. It could have been a whole lot worse.