Tribute to the ga-ga begone experts... Mary & Patty!

Danny, Kierstin and I got to participate in a pioneer trek 2 weeks ago during the end of spring break (post to come). While we were gone, we entrusted the care of our precious boys to Aunt Mary & Aunt Patty. I think we were more worried about the toll it would take on them rather than how the boys would do. The boys adore them in every sense of the word. I always tell them they have their own fan club.

Of course we came home and everybody was healthy and happy and sad to see Mary and Patty leave.

Little did Mary know that when she left she took something with her she didn't know was along for the ride.

Mary had told me that Tyson had only had 1 ga-ga (bottle) during the whole time we were gone and that was because he caught her with it. That was for 2 days! Not only that but the little stinker didn't pitch a fit in the middle of the night like he has been 3 times a night for the last year of his life. Danny just looked at me and said "I told you it wasn't his reflux!"

In any case, I'm a seasoned 5 kid mom; I know the golden opportunity when I see it. No need for ga-ga when mom is gone, don't need it when she's here. Ga-ga begone!!

So when Tyson asked for it after Mary left that night, I patiently explained to him that Aunt Mary took his ga-gas to the babies because he is a big boy now! He looked at me with this look:

on his face and said "oh" as I handed him his "fun froggy" cup. So every time he has asked for it, I explain to him that Mary took them.

He still asks for it once a day, even today. But he doesn't get upset or pitch a fit. He just says "oh" and accepts his froggy or airplane cup cuz "he's a big boy, not a baby!"

Brian asked me today if Mary really had taken the "ga-gas."....

Confession; no, Mary did not take his ga-gas to the babies she works with because I didn't think of it in time.

Rationalization: But, Mary did tell him he is a big boy and she has ga-gas she gives to babies at her work.

In any event, he is ga-ga free!! Not a tear shed. I think he really understands the baby thing cuz he has had a chance to be around Matthew Campbell and seen him drinking a ga-ga. We had talked about how babies need ga-gas but he was a big boy! I'm glad we had done that prelude.

Sleeping through the night, well, I can always dream about it. But we are on a good track. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel!

Mary & Patty, YOU ROCK!!

Love,

Your Fan club!

"As for me... I'll follow the Prophet."

Conversation with Brian on the way home from gymnastics.

Brian: "The other guy in my class is an only child. He says his mom and dad let him do
whatever he wants."

mom: "Really? That sounds fun, huh?"

Brian: "(sighs) Yeah, it sounds fun but I know it's not really. If that were to happen to me,
and you let me do whatever I wanted, I know I'd just have to listen to the
prophet, Thomas Monson, very carefully!"

Yeah Brian!!

New Menu item at Casa de la Baak!

I'm sure I have expressed the bane of my job... cooking.

However, I do try my very best to make sure that I make a nice, nutritious, homemade meal and even make breakfasts in the mornings. (we have cereal once a week).

However, I do feel like I get stuck in a rut. I hear a lot of "this, again." With a family of 7, it's hard to please everyone. There's nothing more irksome to me than to hear someone complain after I've spent a lot of time and energy doing something I do not really enjoy. So I tend to stick to the tried and true menus that get the least amount of groans.

I really would like to branch out and try something else, honestly. However, it has to be worth the grunts and groans and has to be something that I feel will live past the 'after it's been placed in front of them 10 times, they'll eventually eat it' (which I have found to be true.)

So, Sunday night, I tried something new....

and yes, I got the "what's that!" "What exactly is in this? Or my favorites, "YUCK!" & "I hate this." (even though I've never made it before.

So we suffered through the 1st time dinner jitters and no one died, vomited or even gagged. It all made it down. Although there was alotta the 1st time comments floating around the table.

Finally, Danny looks at me and says "I see why you rarely make something new!"

Understanding at last!!

Our new dinner:

Chicken foil dinners

On a square of aluminum foil:

(make 1 per person)

Spread a spoonful of your fav. bbq sauce

2-3 small red potatoes, thinly sliced

a few green/red peppers

a few slices of onion

a 1/2 a chicken breast

salt and pepper

another spoonful of BBQ sauce

fold in the aluminum foil. Bake at 375 for 35. Open foil and add a sprinkling of cheddar (or your fav.) cheese. Bake additional 5 minutes. Probably would make a good camping foil dinner.

Easter 2009

Although I am tardy in my Easter post AND I regret to say I did not document it with hardly any pics, we did have a lovely 1st Easter out here in Murrieta.

We colored eggs, although in shifts. Bryce, Brian & Kierstin did theirs first (I did not get a pic of Kierst & Bryce, sorry guys). But she did do 1 token egg so as not to break with tradition; THANKS KIERST!!

But here are Brian's creations:

And I have a confession to make... Bradley and Tyson actually colored their eggs the day after Easter. Bradley wasn't in the mood when everyone else did theirs and Tyson was asleep. I saved everything though since it was Tyson's 1st real egg decorating and he would never know (except for someday when he grows up and reads this post of course)

I'm glad Bradley decided to participate since it is a tradition and that's hard for moms to let go of.

Tyson really got into it:

Although I have no idea how it ended up on his toes.......

I didn't see any toe prints on his eggs..

They all made for a pretty table centerpiece for the rest of the week with these lovely tulips my sister Mary gave me:

Tyson was the first one to wake up and find easter eggs filled with "treasure" hidden around the house. He had so much fun discovering where they were and what was inside them:

The Easter bunny was generous to all:

We had a lovely dinner with Danny's brother Daren and his wife Nikole and kids. My grandma Mary Kay and Aunt Jayna and her son Brian came along with Mary, Patty & Ann.

Since it was Daren's birthday later that week we sang happy birthday to him.

(We won't mention his over 4 decades of life!)

We were blessed to be surrounded by people we love on one of the most sacred holidays. We were able to sit around that night and discuss the true meaning of Easter to end on a spiritual note. It was a nice day.

Tyson's haircut!

There is nothing "little" about the attitude of our littlest child!! He has a HUGE opinion about everything. Heavenly Father decided Danny and I need to be kept very active in our old age. I have to pick and choose my battles very carefully with this one or we will be battling constantly!! (Fortunately I started out this way so I have become very adept at this.) So, admitedly, that is why you will often see our little Tyson running around in only a diaper and maybe a shirt on a good day. Pants and especially shoes are for special occassions like church and the park.

That being said, can you tell how he feels about haircuts? Yes, pretty shaggy.

The best hairstylist for 1st haircuts and those who hate haircuts is Karen at Rainbow kids on Hamilton/Magnolia in Huntington Beach! I have tried on 2 seperate occasions to get his haircut out here in Murrieta, no good.

She has done all of the 1st haircuts on my boys and into their 2nd years. She's fast and good. So, when I had to pick up Kierstin in H.B., I scheduled an apt. and ....

voila!!

I thought he might be better this time, WRONG! We got about 5 minutes, me holding him squirming all the while. If you'd had seen him, you'd really be impressed. I wish I'd have got her picture!!

Thank you Karen, at least I can see his eyes now!

Dan the Handy Man provides a peace of mind!

I mentioned before that the reason we purchased this specific home was because we loved the yard. You know we like to be outside when you consider that the big reason we purchased our H.B. house was because of the yard.

This house, like the last, is a work in progress. Not as much so as the first, but we are still living with our stuff in disaray (no floors in the upstairs bedrooms, hence we are on matresses in the living room, bonus room, etc.

Danny is busy putting this house together for us. The list of projects is still long and we have to really pick and prioritize what's at the top.

If you look in the positng if our jacuzzi initiation you will see something missing. Yes, we had been living with no fence around the pool the first 2 weeks of our life here. Needless to say, I have been somewhat frazzled always wondering where Tyson is at.

This weekend, Danny installed a beautiful wrought iron gate around the pool while I was in H.B. picking Kierstin up from spending time with friends. Danny had never installed fencing like this before. But he studied it, decided he could do it and when I got home this is what I found...


















It is absolutely beautiful and such a relief! Danny really is amazing at what he can do! He never ceases to amaze me. He saved us at least $700 doing this himself and it looks professionally done!

Cost to install wrought iron gate: $600 in materials. Peace of mind it brings.... PRICELESS!!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! From me and Tyson!!

Health Report

The real purpose of this blog is to keep a journal of our family happenings. This one is probably just going to be interesting to the kids later on. I know my family sits around pulling out the biggest boo-boo awards so I thought I would document what's been going on around here, since it's been the biggest boo-boo year thus far (and hopefully for the future).

We have always been really fortunate to enjoy good health in our family. Kierstin was the only one to have had an x- ray, when she was 3 to see if her wrist was dislocated, and 3 stitches when she dropped a bowl on her foot leaving a small cut. I can count on one hand how many times we have the stomach flu.

I try my best to never take health for granted. I understand how many people out there suffer from all types of ailments all the time.

Since we have moved to Murrieta, I have been made sure to really understand the great blessing of health and strength as we have been to the doctor more than I can ever remember! And now, Bradley, Bryce and Brian have all had their own sets of x-rays!

Bryce had chronic stomach pain all during the first part of the year. He has been absent from school about 12 times! Before this, the last time he had been to the doctor was in November of '06 for an ear infection! (He had chronic ones when he was an infant). After stomach x-rays, blood tests and stool & urine samples (yuck!) the doctor ruled out everything and chocked it up to anxiety, which a lot of kids have manifested as stomach problems at this age (Kierstin did). It's understandable but I don't regret running all the tests. It's very disconerting to have to push your kid out the door to school crying his stomach hurts when you believe it's anxiety but aren't sure. Now I can push him out the door with confidence.

In November, Bradley was running the track at school and twisted his foot; the first week of basketball of course. He stayed off it on crutches for 2 weeks. When I noticed him still limping at practice a month later I figured I'd better take him in. An x-ray and a trip to the specialist revealed that he has an xtra bone in the arch of his foot. I guess this is not uncommon. The doc. said that an injury can set off the fact it's there and cause noticeable discomfort. We could do an elective surgery to file down the bone. It's all a matter of how much he can tolerate it. I think we're going to hold off on that.

Kierstin and Bradley have both had a really hard time with their allergies out here, especially Bradley. I have had them on every over the counter type allergy medicine with minimal success. Bradley had a sinus infection a few months ago. The doctor had put him on what I thought, was a rather strong medine regime; nasal spray, antibiotic and a prescription strength allergy tablet. It seemed to clear it up for a while.

However, the day before Danny and I were supposed to leave on the trek, he really got congested. The morning of, I could tell he was miserable but what was I to do? I filled him full of allergy medicine and told him to rest. My friend, Cynthia Campbell, who was watching Bryce and Brian that day, said she would call to check in on him. Danny and I were supposed to bring our phones so I was able to periodically call him during the day. He sounded and felt awful! I was so upset to be so far away. Fortunately, my saintly friend Cynthia, took him to the doctor for me (MANY THANKS CYNTHIA!!!) Yes, he had a sinus infection. Antibiotic and Afrin nasal spray. When Danny and I got home Sunday, he still was not feeling great. So I took him to the doc on Monday. She couldn't believe he wasn't better. She sent him for a sinus xray and told him he'd have to do another course of antibiotics, Zyrtec-D in the morning, a spray of Nasonex, a Singular in the afternoon and a Zyrtec -D in the evening!! I am not big on medicine so this makes me nervous. But the doctor was firm so we're trying it out. He's back to school today. We'll see how it goes.

I feel so bad since he gets it from my side of the family; we all have allergies of some sort. It is miserable!! In fact, Kierstin had a severe allergy attack on the Trek! I wish they would have got Danny's ironclad sinuses. Seriously, since we've been married he's had 1 minor headcold. He dosn't know what congestion means, lucky him. Unfortuantely, I think most all the kids have my inferior sinuses (so sorry guys!) Hopefully it will clear up and we won't have to take a trip to the allergist~ stay tuned.

Brian - I took him and some friends to the park for a playdate. There are some sloping hills up behind the park with lots of bushes. The sign says "Stay off the slopes" but of course it is too tempting for curious young boy minds. A young head can often be seen bobbing up and down behind the bushes. It's so hard to be the tough law abiding mom all the time. Yes, I paid for it. I did allow Brian and his friend back there. Brian comes crying down the slope with a bloody leg. He had scratched it against some bush or something. One part looked like he had a tiny bit of twig impaled in it.

Playdate over of course. I admit it I was relieved that it didn't happen to his friend but it was also one of those knock you head against the wall, "why didn't I listen to that little voice in my head; I'm a bad mom," moments.

I had just talked to a couple of friends within the last month who had talked about these nasty staph infections a family member had received recently. One from scraping a hand on a nail (he almost lost his whole arm!) and the other a scratch from a rose bush!! So with visions of my poor son's leg all swollen and infected I vigilently poured hydrogen porixide all over it and smothered it in neosporin for 10 days. 2 weeks later, it had all cleared up except that one spot. It was swollen and bulging and it looked like something had festered to the top. I carefully dug off the top layer which oozed pus and hoped I got it all. A week later it still looked red and swollen. Trying not to panic I made a doc. apt. She prescribed a topical and oral antibiotic and a referall to a surgeon (she thought it looked like something was stuck in there). He sent us for xrays. Another office visit yesterday revealed it would probably be o.k. but to keep an eye on it the next month.

These are all fairly minor things but they do make me so very grateful first and foremost for health and strength. What a MAJOR blessing. Secondly, I am so grateful that after a year with no health insurance, we finally found some just before all this happened. Blessings, upon blessings. MUCH gratitude to my father in Heaven!!