The Circle K

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K..."
(name that movie)
Or should I say, strange things are afoot the the Weavers!
Let me give you a little background.
Baby Cakes (whose not a baby anymore) is always telling Mr Bird and I (and anyone who will sit still and listen) all about his "friends".
I assumed they are imaginary since he has yet to have a play day at a friends house without mom.
He's always saying things like, "I do math at my friend's house." or "My friend let me play with his motorcycle when I was at their house."
When we ask him about said friends he tell us they live in his secret lab, and apparently there are millions of them and they come in all kinds of colors.
It's a well known fact that his "secret lab" is a space under the bushes in the side of our yard that the kids hide out in during the nicer days when the sun is shining.
A while ago he started saying things like, "One of my friends died tomorrow."
(tomorrow is the word he uses for any reference to time, weather it be yesterday or next week or last year.)
Then he started telling me that the ghosties let him play with them and that the ghosties were his friends.
I know, weird right?
So what do you think, little kid with a great imagination or do I need to be worried?
Well, I have not been too worried, until this morning.
We were starting our morning devotional to get our school day going when all of a sudden there was a noise upstairs in the bathroom that's getting a face lift.
I looked around the room to see who had snuck out and was upstairs.
All of my children were looking at me with wide eyes.
I listened more closely.
It was music.
Mr Bird and I had done some work on the bathroom last night and had left a radio plugged in.
Spontaneously, it turned on and was playing Cold Play for our listening pleasure.
I sat there in stunned silence for a few moment, trying to rationalize what had just happened.
No logical explanation came to mind.
Then I thought of Baby's ghosties.
Could it be?
Then get this!
Just as I started typing this very post my Internet browser turned off.
No warning, nothing, just poof!
All that was in front of my face was my cow screen saver.
Luckily, Blogger had saved my draft (most of it) and I was able to click on Firefox again and continue my post.
If the radio were not enough, the Internet has me really freaked out.
So help a girl out, what explanations could there be for these erratic occurrences?
My imagination?
Baby's ghostie friends?
Want to know something else weird?
I just noticed this week that the convenience store near our home is a Circle K.
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do!
(Twilight Zone theme music playing in my head)

Speechless

Baby and Dubs were playing with this toy and this is what I saw when I came in the room after they had abandoned their game.
Hmmmmm
How did that happen?
I don't even know what to say about that...

Where, Oh Where Has My Baby Gone?

Where, oh where could he be?
It seems he has gone the way of all the earth and magically, seemingly overnight, turned into a little man.

My Dear Precious Baby,

You are in a funny place in this family. You are still the littlest person and always will be. Everyone feels the need to dote on you and snuggle you and take care of you. Even when you're 40 and have kids of your own you will still be my baby. Forever and ever my baby you'll be. I apologize ahead of time if I embarrass you when you're a teenager for the silly things this lovey mom is sure to do, even when girls are in the room.

I just can't seem to get enough of you. I have to go into your room every night just before I go to bed to get one last peek and steal one last kiss. You're going to hate that when you're sixteen, sorry about that. For now, though, you seem to eat it up. You will snuggle anyone who gets close enough. Your sweet baby kisses are intoxicating. My knees buckle every time you wrap your little arm and hand around my neck and pull my face close to yours for "tisses". My heart swells with love as I watch you snuggle your siblings, then stand up and plow into them, starting a wrestling match full of giggles and shrieks. In just 2 short years you have worked your way into the fabric of our home and hearts and family. We love you little one. Happy Birthday!

P.S. Notice the Little People's Nativity Baby Cakes got for his birthday. Did you notice the sheep on top of the stable? It's funny to me that he pulled everything out and the sheep went straight on top. It's funny because when Mr Bird was a kid he would drive his mom absolutely batty by putting the sheep from her nativity on top of the stable every time he passed it. She would come by and fix it. This would happen multiple times everyday until Christmas. His mom would be ready to strangle him by Christmas. Funny how somethings transcend time and generations, like the impulse to put the sheep on top of the stable in the Nativity. Like father, like son!

Just Horsin Around

We keep having these nice sunny October days.
We keep thinking everyday might be our last good horse riding day of the season, so we keep going on awesomely gorgeous rides.
This week we went out to Antelope Island.

My baby was just too precious on that mare so I just could not stop taking pictures of him.
I took pictures of the rest of us, too, but let's face it, we're just not as cute as the littlest Weaver.

I hope there are many, many more days like this before the snow comes.
Oh, my heart just can't take all this cuteness!

From Baby to Boy

These two photographs were taken exactly one year part, to the day.

Look what happened?

What have I been telling you all this time?!?
I keep saying my baby is growing up too fast.

But you didn't believe me, did you?
Look, he's not even a baby anymore.
In the first photo he had no teeth, zero, nada, none!
Now he has 16!! He has all of them until his 2 year old molars come in. That's more than a tooth a month.
And look at his hair.
He went from baldy to lots of curly shaggy locks in no time.
In fact I just cut all of those honey colored locks off a few days ago. I can't talk about it, I'm still in mourning.
He went from fat and pudgy to tall and skinny.
He went form belly crawling to running at top speed.
He went from nursing to solids.
He went from cooing and drooling to talking.
He went form rattles to jets and hot wheels.
He went from baby to little boy.
And you know what else?
He went even deeper into my heart.
Oh how this mommy loves that little, little boy. It feels as though my heart just might burst!

Take Cover!

Just look at this cute, cute baby!

He sure dose love the tubby. He knows just how to make mom give him a bath, too.

As I was busy getting dinner ready and the kids fed before Doodle's dance class this evening Doodle screamed from the top of the stairs,

"The baby exploded!"
I waited a second expecting her to finish her sentence.
The baby exploded a tube of toothpaste.
The baby exploded a roll of toilet paper in the toilet.
The baby exploded a tube of makeup all over the bathroom.
You see, I knew the problem was bathroom oriented because that is where he always is when he does his damage.
I was half right, he was in the bathroom.
Doodle went on, "Well, at least he was near the toilet when he exploded."
You guessed it, he had a massive poo explosion, the likes of which we have not seen since he was a newborn.
It was all the way up to his neck and down his legs.
It even dripped a big steamy blob on the floor.
*gasp*
Thank heavens for linoleum.
I know, I know you did not need to know this.
I posted this experience for one person only.
OK, two people.
Josh and Tiffany, congratulations on your pregnancy!
We hope you enjoy every minute of parenthood!
We sure do love you guys.

Toilet Talk

Hello toilet!

How are you toady?

Can you come and play with me?

I swear these are the first thoughts my baby has every morning.

He gets out of bed and makes a bee line for the pot.

Disgusting, hug?

Anytime anyone leaves the bathroom door open and the lid up there is a baby in the pot.

He loves nothing more than to dip his ever so small fingers in the refreshingly cold water and to slurp the excess drippy water in a noisy slobbery gulp.

I guess he's thirsty.

*nauseous*

It's a miracle he has not died from some sort of nasty bacterial infection.

See the toys in there?

Actually one is a sock (not poop, thank goodness) and the other is a toy.

He has also dunked books, Lego's, hot wheels, a Barbie, cups, the list goes on and on.

If he has it in his hand when he finds the throne, in it goes.

I think he's doing a life long experiment on things that float and things that sink and things that make mommy's head explode.

It's his second favorite thing, to throw strange things in there and watch mommy come running freaking out.

He looks at me like it's the best show he's had in a long time.

Lucky for me I have a knight in shining armour.

Beano will usually fish out whatever is in and dump it directly in the garbage for me.

Isn't he the best?

I have not even gotten to worst part yet.

He has been corrupting other innocent children. We were at my sister's house the other day and he showed her 2 year old how much fun it is to play in the toilet water.

She had never done such a thing in her life, up that point.

Leave it to my baby to corrupt the sweet mind of his little blond delicate cousin.

There is nothing worse than finding your baby teaching another kid naughty things, and then having to clean up nasty toilet water and two toilet water babies.

*GAG*

I know the best answer would be to just keep the bathroom door shut.

Done, problem solved.

But what about the other heathens that go potty and can hardly remember to wash their hands and flush the pot, let alone shut the door on their way out.

I could stand guard on the potty all day long to make sure it gets shut, but alas, we have 3 bathrooms. I really wish I could be 3 places at once but I have not figured that one out yet.

So if any of you have any advise on how to end the madness I'd be forever grateful.

Cause honestly, I'm at my whits end.

What to Feed Baby Cakes

With this whole new diet I've bee experimenting with I think I forgot to mention that we found out that Baby Cakes is allergic to dairy and wheat.

Ya, that makes it even more complicated around here.

At least we may have finally found the reason he has gained less than a pound in the last 7 months.

So what do you feed a baby that is dairy and wheat free with no artificial color or preservatives?

I have the answer and it is so much easier than I ever imagined.

I could go out and buy rice milk, but what is the fun in that?

Actually, Doodle is also allergic to dairy and we do have a case of rice milk we use.

But a few days ago we found something super yummy to use as a dairy replacement.

It is creamier and has more fat and protein, which are huge pluses for a skinny baby.

What is this wonder drink, you ask.

Almond Milk, of course.

And the best part is you can make your own and it's super easy. Here's how.

Almond Milk

INGREDIENTS

1 cup raw almonds

3 cups water

1 small handful chopped dates (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Soak almonds in a shallow dish overnight.

2. Pour off excess water and put in the blender with 3 cups fresh water and the dates.

3. Blend on high about 2 minutes.

4. Strain liquid from almond pulp by pouring through a cheese cloth. Be sure to hold cheese cloth over a large bowl to catch the almond milk. Squeeze cloth to get all the liquid. The pulp will remain in the cheese cloth.

5. Enjoy! Refrigerate leftovers. Use with in a week.

Now, what to do with the left over almond pulp? What ever you do, don't throw it away!

Here is a tasty recipe for Baby's favorite bread as of late.

Almond Rice Bread with Poppy Seeds

INGREDIENTS
1½ cup Brown rice flour
4 teaspoons Baking powder
¼ teaspoon Salt

3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons Poppy seeds
½ cup Water
2 eggs
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil

Left over almond pulp from almond milk or 1/2 cup whole raw almonds.

DIRECTIONS

1. If you are using whole raw almonds, place almonds and 1/2 cup of the flour in bowl of a food processor and grind until a fine meal is formed, the flour will prevent the nuts from turning oily.

2. Add remaining rice flour, the baking powder, salt, sugar and 2 teaspoons of the poppy seeds; process briefly. Combine water, eggs and oil in a 2-cup measuring cup. Whisk to combine. With processor motor running, pour liquid ingredients through feed tube over flour mixture, processing just long enough to mix.

3. Transfer batter to lightly greased bread pan. Sprinkle with remaining poppy seeds, and bake for at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

1. If using almond pulp combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

2. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the water, eggs, vegetable oil and almond pulp. Whisk all ingredients to combine.

3.Transfer batter to lightly greased bread pan. Sprinkle with remaining poppy seeds, and bake for at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

This rice bread is so yummy we can hardly keep our hand off of it. We try really hard to save it for baby so he can eat it for lunch.

More great recipes coming soon. This is so much fun!

My So Called Life

Boy, we had a crazy day. Yes, it involved one of these,

seven of these,

Two of these

One of these,

And one employee from here.

Let me start at the beginning. I knew from the moment my alarm sounded at 6:45 that it would be a busy day. We had a lot to do and no time to waste.

I got up, exercised, got breakfast ready, showered, dressed, cleaned up dishes, got the kids dressed, put dinner in the crock pot, made some sandwiches and snacks to bring with us as I knew we would not make it home for a noon time meal and left the house at 10am.

We had a fun morning at the library where we read stories, sang songs, played with bubbles and glued tiny bits of tissue paper onto ourselves.

After the library we headed over to Baby Cake's 15 month check up. It turns out he is still really little. He weighs 18 pounds and 12 ounces, that means he gained 2 ounces in the last three months. That makes his growth line flat, and puts him in the less than 5% of all babies his age. The pediatrician ordered some routine blood tests to see if there is really something wrong, like thyroid, or if he's just a small boy. We'll get those results some time next week.

After the doctors appointment the kids had a primary activity at church. I pulled up to the chapel and and sent the kids in. I had a small thought that maybe I should stay and be an extra set of hands in case they needed back up.

Then all the kazillion things I could get done with just one kid instead of 4 came to my mind and I made a bee line for the nearest farm supply store, where I bought 7 of the cutest, fluffiest baby chicks I have ever seen. I only went to get feed for our existing 13 hens, but as soon as I opened the door I heard them. I heard the cutest little chirps coming from the cages in the middle of the store and I knew they had gotten the first batch of spring chickens.

I could not help myself.

Since Mr Bird won't let me have another baby, I took out my mothering instinct on a box full of baby birds. And they are the cutest things you've ever seen. Don't worry, we will not have 20 birds for long, we have several hens that are no longer laying and so they will make their way into the crock pot soon enough!

So back to the church I drove with my SUV all a chirp with baby birds. As I enter the cultural hall to gather my own flock I was greeted by the primary president. She very gracefully came over to me and says, "I need to tell you what happened during the activity."

That is never a good thing to hear.

My first thought was who did Dubs hit?

She goes on to tell me that during the course of the activity Dubs came up missing. After a quick and thorough search of the church it was discovered that he was not there.

Panic bells were going off in my head as she is telling me this.

The search grew to out doors, where my nearly 4 year old son was found wondering toward our home, which by the way is not on the safest of roads.

Luckily some people in the neighborhood saw him and somehow a police officer was there with the crowd of strangers who had gathered to watch after my small lost boy.

When the primary presidency counselor tried to take Dubs back to the church he said,

"But how will I get home?"

She replied, "Your mom will come back and get you."

"Oh, OK!" was his reply.

I should have listened to that voice that told me to stay and be an extra set of hands.

We finally made it home around 3:45pm with a car loaded with 200 pounds of animal feed, some groceries, 4 tired kids, and 7 new baby chicks. I was ready to go into the nice warm house filled with the aroma of slow cooked soup just waiting to be tasted and salted and stirred.

Guess what I found instead?

I found 2 carbon monoxide alarms blaring, one upstairs and one down stairs.

It's funny how when things like this happen I panic and can't for the life of me think like a sane human being. I could not figure out what to do. I knew I should keep everyone out of the house. Good thing it was in the 40's today, or we could have frozen to death. It did not occur to me to go straight to the source and call the gas company. Instead I freaked out and called 911. They sent yet another police officer, who assured me he was not the officer that had found my lost child less than an hour before. Along with him came a real live fire truck. The fire men made sure none of us were sick and took some gadget into the house to test the air. They came back and assured us they did find gas and to stay out of the house until the gas company could come and find the source of the gas.

Long story short, nothing is wrong with our house, there is no leak. The gas company thinks it was from me running the car in the garage before we left and the fumes got stuck in the garage when I shut the garage door and leached into the house during the course of the day.

By the time it was all sorted out it was nearly 5:30 and I have never been so glad to have dinner in the crock pot. I threw some frozen rolls in the oven and we sat down to a very nice, warm dinner.

So while it was a crazy day like no other, I am more than thankful to be safe in a nice warm home with my kids.

The only thing that would make it better was if Mr Bird were not hundreds of miles away in southern California walking on the beach all in the name of 'work' without me.

*sigh*

Why do these things always happen when he's away?

I miss my lover.

*sad, cry*

The Perfect Mess

In this corner we have

The Three Year Old

eating and spilling chocolate milk mix.

(Look at that face? How can anyone get mad at that face?)

In this corner we have

The One Year Old

playing in a sipie cup full of spilt milk.

I don't know how he figured out how to get the lid off, but he did.

What can I say, he's a genius.

That little heathen was having way more fun sitting and splashing in the milk than we was drinking it.

Now for the ironic part. These two incidents happened within 2 minutes of each other.

Chocolate milk anyone?

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Mr Bird was only about 6 feet away from them.

I will not tell you where I was...
To see what everyone else is chatting about this ice blue Tuesday

Visit The Lazy Organizer

Cutest Baby

I need your help. I am thinking of entering Baby Cakes in a beautiful baby contest and I need a photo.

Which one should I submit?

I know, I know, baby contests are so degrading, all they will be judging them on is their good looks.

It's really more of a scholarship program. You see the winner gets a college scholarship of $125,000. Now who could pass that up.

And besides, he just might be the cutest baby on the planet, except maybe Lara's baby, but she would not think of putting her baby through all that non sense, no, not Lara!

So since Sweetness is out of the running Baby Cakes might have a shot.

So what do you think?

Come on ladies, which is it, cuz I really can't decide!

The Spice of Life

Wouldn't life be boring without kids?

I often wonder what life would be like if, for some strange reason, we did not have our heathens.

I won't lie, there are moments I would trade them all in for a cruise of the Caribbean and the shot at being a normal person with a full time career.

But those moments are few and fleeting.

Those moments are usually right after the kids go tearing through the house like little Tasmanian devils and wake up Baby Cakes from his nap after only 20 minutes of precious sleep. Or when 2 or more of them come to me at one time crying and screaming to me, "So and so hit me!!!"

Or when the 3 year old puts yet another whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet, rendering it totally useless.

Usually once I get my cool back I can look at them and see the cuteness again.

At least 5 time a day I look at Baby Cakes and just laugh at his cuteness. His cute teeth, his cute "da,da,da,da,pthth.", his cute pitter patter steps, the back of his cute little smart head and ears and neck (I love, love, love that part of babies), his cute little pointy finger that's not quite straight, the cute way he laughs whenever he hears anyone flatulate.

Then there are the cute things that the heathens come up with.

Last night we went to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The waitress came over to take our order and Beano states at the top of his voice, "I want a burrito!"

Whoops, wrong venue for that, try again.

At the beginning of January Dubs graduated from Nursery into Sunbeams.

Let's just say he is not pleased with this adjustment.

Let's face it, I would not be happy either. In Nursery you get goldfish and colored marshmallows. Plus you get to play with toys and friends for over an hour. In Sunbeams they make you sit it a chair, by girls no less. And they make you sing songs, how torturous can they get?

So the first week in Primary he figured out he could get out of sitting by going potty.

He had to go 5 times that day.

The Primary President talked to me so I talked to Dubs. We made sure he went potty before church and we told him he would be allowed to go only once during Primary, after that his teachers would tell him no. So this morning we talked about Primary again and reinforced the potty rule. He told me he wanted to go to Nursery and I told him he was too big for Nursery, that place is for babies and that he gets to go to Primary with his friend Cameron. He seemed Ok but I guess he was not. Within the first 5 minutes of church the Primary president brought him to Mr Bird. I was teaching in Relief Society and Mr Bird had to conduct in Elders Quorum because his counselor showed up late. So poor Mr Bird had Baby Cakes and Dubs while trying to conduct the meeting. After he got the meeting off and going he took Dubs in the hall for a talk. Dubs decided to go back to Primary and was fine the rest of the time. When we got home I asked Dubs what happened and he said,

"I got took by the CTR patrol."

Where do they come up with this stuff?

Oh, the cuteness is hurting my heart, I just can't take any more!

Right Before My Very Eyes

P.S. Please ignore my filthy child, I try to be perfect, but it does not always happen, sorry.

My baby is growing and changing right before my very eyes.

Somehow he looks the same every morning as he did when I put him to bed the night before.

So when has he done all this growing and changing?

Right before my very eyes.

I'm here all the time yet somehow I feel like I'm missing it.

I need to be able to do nothing but sit and play with him all day long, Like I did when Doodle was little. Now there are other silly distractions like 3 other kids, schooling that needs done, laundry and dishes for 6 people, 3 meals a day, you get the idea.

I just wish it could all slow down so I could sit and just stare at my baby. I want to memorize how he is right now, so even when he's grown I can still remember his cute grins and wavy hair and funny teeth.

Speaking of teeth he has molars.

Bring on the steak, baby!

His top 2 molars are half way through.

And guess what else? He is walking.

My baby walks.

Sort of.

He more lumbers around in the zombie stance than walks.

And so far his record is 13 steps without falling. He took his first official step on his Birthday.

It was the typical reach and step for the wanted item, then fall to the ground in a dazed and confused state, totally unaware of what he was doing. Once he stepped he tried to figure out what had just happened, what all the clapping and kissing and celebrating was for. He knew he had done it, but had no clue what it was or how to do it again.

A few days later he tried again.

Crash and burn.

Then Mr Bird and I stood him between us and sent him back and forth between the two of us. He thought that was the best game ever. He could still only eek out two steps though.

The next few days were filled with sheer determination. He knew he could do it and he was not afraid to try. We were playing in the basement and I saw him standing next to the couch and then purposely let go, turn and walk 3 steps all on his own. He did that twice that day. Now he does it all the time and can walk from one side of the basement room to the other all on his own. He loves it.

Doodle loves it.

She gets so excited to see her baby growing up.

Me? I just want to keep him a baby forever.

Ringing in the New Year!

What did you do for New Year's Eve?

Did you kiss your lover at midnight?

I did!

We had big plans for New Year's Eve.

We planned on painting our vacant rental house to get it ready for new tenants.

Yipee, Happy New Year's to me!

Mr Bird has been painting and fixing and tinkering for a week straight, he took the week between Christmas and New Year's off.

He spent more time working on that silly rental than he would have logged hours at work.

We knew he had to get it done before he had to work again on Friday so we got a sitter for the day time so we could get massive amounts of painting done. Then we planned to go home around 6 pm, spend the evening vegging in front of the T.V. and hoped to be in bed before 10pm.

Sounds exciting right?

Well, that's not how it turned out after all. As we were leaving to go to the rental our good friend Matt called and asked if we needed help painting.
Um, YES!
He was so great to come and help paint our silly walls. We got so much more done than we could have on our own. Thanks Matt!!!
As we painted we started talking about our New Year's plans and he said we should come over to play games. He said we'd ring in the New Year at 10pm (Midnight Eastern time) and we could still get home at a semi decent hour.


We played Cranium, boys against girls.
Who won you ask?
The girls of course! Was there really any question.
Actually, we creamed them.
It felt good, it felt really, really good!

Here is Matt's cute wife Kerilyn and her ever growing baby belly.

This is their 4th.

All of our children were being totally ignored while they played upstairs during our game.

They made quite the mess of the bedroom.

Sorry guys.

Kerilyn's parentals joined us for the evening as well, they are so fun and they love their cute grand kids so much.

As it turns out 10 pm came and went while we finished our game. We decided to wait until 11 to celebrate. Dubs stayed awake the whole time!

Doesn't he look chipper?

Like a deer caught in the headlights!

Baby Cakes was not quite so alert. He knocked out around 10:30. That's pretty good for him, he's used to being in bed by 8 pm, every night, without fail.

We all drank our cider and said what we were going to resolve to do, I will write another post about that later. I will say that one of my resolutions had to do with more patience.

That resolution was tested almost immediately. We left for home around 11:20 and got home right around midnight. We rushed the kids off to bed and crashed in our own.

A few short hours later I could hear Dubs trying to unzip his footy jammies and crying in frustration. I got up to help him unzip and get on the potty.

As soon as I got his jammies off and his unders down it was too late, he could not hold it any longer. His poor little bladder just could not wait the 2 more seconds it would have taken to get on the potty and he proceeded to pee all over ME! Not on the floor or the bath mat.

He peed on me.

At 2 am.

Why do these things always happen at 2 am?

If being peed on within the first few hours of a New Year is considered good luck, I have a feeling it's going to be a very, very good year.

Let Them Eat Cake!

I know we already planted donut seeds for Baby's First Birthday, but I just could not let it pass without a face full of cake!

It's tradition!

We opted for homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

My favorite!

He thought it was a cute cake! I had to show him what to do, he did not want to touch it at first.

What a well behaved child!
After he touched it he did not quite know what to do with it. He was a little annoyed by his sticky fingers.



Ok, I'll take just one little taste.

Oh, ya, that's good stuff!

It wasn't long before all the kids got a fork and they just all went at it.
Hey, less dishes for me to wash, right!

Over at the Lazy Organizer she is talking about stuff today.

About how much of it we have and how it wastes our time and money and space.

She'll love what we did for gifts for Baby Cakes. A few weeks before his big day I got to thinking about what to get him for his birthday. The thought of buying more "stuff" just did not sound appealing to me. We have storage FULL of toys that the kids rotate through. We usually only have 1 or 2 bins out at a time so it all stays organized and easy to find all the parts and pieces to certain sets. When they are done with a bin and want to trade it for a new one they have to get all the pieces and clean up the bin they have. Then I put it away and get out a new one. It seems I waste far too much time putting "stuff" away in this house and I could not stand the thought of more of it!

I have heard of people wrapping up toys they already had for their tiny kids.

After all, they'll never know the difference, right?

But then I thought, Doodle and Beano will know. They will rat me out to the Baby.

Unless...

Unless I get them in on it with me.

So that's just what I did. I pulled them aside and asked them what they were going to get Baby Cakes for his Birthday. They came up with things like my stuffed frog, or a paper airplane

(Beano loves making paper airplanes, that's another post for another day).

Then I piped up.

"I know! What about all those baby toys under the stairs that you never play with anymore. We could go through them while he's napping and find some to give to him. He would LOVE that!"

I was met with a chorus of "Oh, YA!", "Great idea", "Can we do it RIGHT NOW?"

Needless to say they loved the idea.

Now we are all happy. I got a chance to go through and get rid of some baby toys, the kids felt the joy of giving to their baby, Baby Cakes got cool and exciting toys to slobber on and the kids were thrilled to see some of their old things again.

And best of all, it did not cost me a dime!

To see what others are talking about visit The Lazy Organizer!

Baby's First...

Can you guess what 'first' I am referring to?

First step?

Nope.

First words.

Not yet.

First Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich perhaps?

Wrong again.

Baby Cakes got his very first stomach virus last night. Since he is technically one year old I could feed him our family lunchtime favorite, but alas, he is sick-o.

Dubs started off the puke fest around 11 pm and Baby Cakes joined in the party around midnight.

Poor baby, he puked every 10-15 minutes until almost 2am. Here is something how our night went. Puke sounds, mom and dad come running, one cleans kid, the other cleans bed. Put baby back to bed, Lysol everything we touched, wash hands, go back to bed, repeat, again and again and again.

The washer was running non stop all night, and I still have a load waiting for me to rinse so I can start it.

Do I have to? Why me?

Oh ya, I almost forgot, cuz I'm the mom.

* yipee for me*

Why does it seem we end up with the stomach virus every December? I am always hoping it will leave as soon as possible so none of us have to be sick on Christmas. Now that we have so many people living here one of these years I know it will last the whole month and Christmas will be ruined.

I don't want to clean up puke on Christmas!!!

I want to be busy opening presents and eating fresh baked cinnamon rolls and taking a nice peaceful nap and visiting family and singing Christmas songs and eating fudge, without having to scrub it out of the carpet at 2 am!

Is that too much to ask for? I almost want to let the other kids drink from their cups so they'll hurry up and get it before Christmas comes. Is that mean? Or just plain disgusting?

Hey, I never said I was going to, it was just a temptation.

Temptations are only sins if you act on them.

I won't, I won't that is just gross and wrong.

...Maybe

When Your Birthday is in December

When your birthday is in December people say it kind of gets skipped over.
We would not know, it's the first Birthday we've ever celebrated in December and as far as I can tell it was a blast. Whenever baby cakes entered a room he was greeted by spontaneous renditions of Happy Birthday.
The kids were so excited about his Birthday. Dubs could not understand why he is one now, but he still can't speak. I guess he figured something magical happens when babies turn one and suddenly they wake up with the ability to speak. But alas, he was disappointed, no speaking, yet.

We were not sure our donut seeds would grow. We went out early in the morning to plant them and the ground was frozen solid. We finally settled on sprinkling the cold hard dirt with donut seeds and magic sprinkles. We added extra magic since the ground was so cold.

We were hopeful they would grow, but we just could not be sure.

Low and behold when daddy came home from work he found full grown donuts all ready to be harvested!

*yipee*

Apparently, when you plant donut seeds in December, on the cold hard dirt, that makes them grow red and white, just the colors of candy canes. He's so lucky!

(that was Doodle's observation, by the way!)

Even after a big dinner that cutie patootie finished off a whole donut. If that will not make him gain weight I don't know what will. Some how this baby ended up way smaller than all the others. At his one year check up he is still in the -5% (he's classified as failure to thrive, whatever that means) for weight and went from 20% to 10% in height. He just does not want to grow. He is about the size of most 7 month olds. He weighs in at a whopping 17 pounds and 10 ounces. All of my other babies were over 20 pounds by the time they turned one.

When your birthday is in December you are pretty much doomed to

Christmas wrapping paper

for the rest of your life. And when your the 4th child you have lots of help unwrapping gifts. Not to mention lots of help playing with your toys!

Happy Birthday, baby.

We sure do love having you and your dirty clothes around!