A Trip to the Dentist...

...with all 4 kids...and no cavities = one happy Mom!!!

Not to mention that we have never, ever had a cavity with any of our kids (knock on wood)!

Don't ask why, because I really don't know how to explain Hillary being so upset!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Dustino!

Six years ago, at 11:00 pm, my little man came into this world. I was so sick because of an extremely bad kidney infection that had gone undetected my whole pregnancy so I was being admitted into the hospital for treatment when Dustin decided to do us (and our pocketbook) a favor by coming 2 weeks early. He reminded me a lot of Rachael but also his Grandpa B. because he had so little hair on top but plenty on the sides and back of his head. He was a long skinny boy who didn't like to sit still (and still doesn't) and only his Dad had the knack to calm him down and get him to sleep.

What do I love most about Dustin? That's such a tough question but I'll stick to his new age and list six things that make him memorable to me.

1. Of all my kids, I think he looks the most like me, including his brown eyes which only he got from his Mom.

2. In a house full of girls he manages to be all boy as you can see from the cut on his head in his school picture.

3. He has a great talent for music and is quite the little showman. He can't wait to start piano lessons in the summer.

4. Although he has a tough exterior (I swear there's not one ounce of chub on his body, only muscle) he has a very tender heart and is such a good brother, most of the time.

5. Dustin has such a strong testimony of the Gospel and I admire his great, childlike faith.

6. Out of one of the toughest times in my life I received a great blessing in my only son and I know he came to our family for a reason. I'm glad he chose me to be his mother.

Happy 6th Birthday to my Dustino-Bambino!!! I love you more than you'll ever know!

And Just Like That...

...we have no more binkies in our house! I can't believe how easy it was to get Claire to give up her binkie. In fact, I didn't do anything at all except for misplace all the spare ones we had floating around the house. Friday night it got to be bedtime and the only binkie we could locate was an old one that was nearly hard. She immediately spit it out saying "YUCKY" so we had to lay her down with only her blanket. Claire did not make a peep, no crying, yelling, anything. I was convinced she was just really tired because we had gone to Chuck E Cheese earlier where she ran around constantly with her cousins. But we tried it the next night with the same results and since then the only change in our night time routine has been her needing a drink. Believe me, I'll take a small drink before bed in exchange for being binkie free anyday. Not only that, but Claire has, of her own choice, used the potty twice this past week. Could it be that I'm actually approaching the finish line for all things baby? I can't decide if I should be sad or jump for joy and do a little dance!!!

My Latest Obsession

I know I am terribly behind the times and most of you have probably heard of it, had your fill and moved on. Not me. I only recently heard the music and became interested in knowing exactly what this musical is all about. It's a little difficult to guess what the plot line really is by listening to the soundtrack. So I took a visit the library to check out the book off of which it is based. There was a 2 month waiting list which luckily only lasted 3 weeks. I read the book, liked it but still was wanting to discover the changes that were made from the book to the stage. I was able to find a pretty detailed description of the plot online (including all the spoilers) and then last week I was goofing around on YouTube and found that someone had put the entire musical on there!! I don't know whether it's legal or not but I'm halfway through watching it and can't wait to finish. I know it's not a high quality video but since the chances of me actually paying $300 dollars to see the play while it's in SLC are slim to none (mostly none) I'll take what I can get!

Someone Was Listening

This past Sunday I was in charge of Sharing Time. I was not very excited about it because I had done it in December and now that I teach the CTR 8 class instead of the Sunbeams, it was my turn again. I did my best but did not think that it went very well. My topic was "My Body is a Temple" and so I started off by turning off the lights (which I've learned is quite an attention getter) and having the children close their eyes. I preceded to ask them to picture a temple in their minds and describe it to me to which I received the obvious answers. Next I asked them if they had ever seen a temple with ears, eyes, mouth, nose, etc. and they answered "uh-uh!" Then I had them open their eyes and look at the 'temple' next to them. I also tried hard to keep the conversation light discussing things we should do with our bodies instead of the things we shouldn't and was shocked when kids came up with answers like "We shouldn't kill ourselves" and "We're not supposed to cut ourselves!" I felt like a huge failure having been unable to keep the Sharing Time positive and fun. Not to mention the volume in the room could have been heard back in my old ward.

Then, that night as we were having family scripture study I was cuddled up with Hillary and her purple blanket listening to Daddy read about the Sons of Mosiah. She reached up, tugged on my hair and whispered in my ear "Mommy, my temple has arms."

Happy Birthday, Claire-Bear!!!

At 10:00am, 2 years ago my little Claire-Bear-Roo-Ski came into this world. My baby is 2 (I can't believe it)!!! She had the roundest face any of my kids have had and to make it worse, she looked like a little plum. During the pushing phase of my labor, Claire got stuck for about 10 seconds after her head and one shoulder came out, thus causing the purple look she sported. Not only that but she also had jaundice like her big sister and had to be put under the "bili lights". In one of the pictures you can see the yellow-purplish face. The nurses affectionately called her "Cheeks", I can't imagine why!

Here are some of my favorite things about my favorite two year old:

~I love watching Claire run anywhere, she has the cutest little jaunt and her hair bounces up and down as if she were riding a horse.

~Within the last week or so, Claire has started to use the word "thingy" to describe nearly everything around her. If she wants something, she always asks for "that thingy" or "thingies".

~I love watching her play with her babies, she takes such good care of them and loves to play with her cousins Maddie and Kennadee.

~Claire has the cutest little singing voice, and she uses such expression when she sings.

~Her puzzled look always causes me to smile with her crumpled up brow line and her scrunched up little nose and the chubby cheeks.

~She still takes naps, can't get enough of that.

~I like to tell the story of how Dustin came up with her name.

~Most of all, I love that she chose to come to our family. I don't know what I would do without her darling disposition and her little smile that can light up an entire room. I love you little Claire, have a very Happy Birthday!!!

One Word

Okay, we'll see how this goes, I may even regret it. I got this idea from a random blog.

Think of one word, just one single word to best describe me and post it in my comments. You can leave a brief explanation of why you picked that word if you want.

Then feel free to post this on your blog if you want me to try to describe you in one word. It's also fun to see how many strange and interesting things people say about you.