Saturday, January 28, 2012

9 years ago today. . .

. . . this sweet baby made me a mom.  I love you so much, Aiden Elizabeth! Thank you for being you and being proud to be you.  You are amazing.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

What we're up to (long, not for the faint of heart)

I know I post a lot about sweet baby Abs but thought the world might like to know a little about what the rest of us are up to lately.

Lewis is halfway ( a little more than halfway to be exact) through his 5th year of residency.  His residency is 6 years long so we are having to decide what to do next.  Lewis has always wanted to get involved with cleft lip and palate repair so he is looking into a fellowship for that which would be one year long after residency.  "Another year?!?!?" you might say, or "are you crazy!??!", but how can I tell him no when he only wants to be able to help people and do good in the world.  That is his goal and I'm so proud of him for keeping after it even after all of these hard, long years.  We'll see how it works  out , we'll keep the world wide web posted on the progress.  Other than that he is still working really hard.  Lewis is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery resident.  This doesn't mean that he is a dentist.  Well, he is a dentist because he went to dental school, but he does not work exclusively in the mouth.  He does facial trauma (from the neck up), surgery to fix people's jaws and facial bones, some facial plastic surgery, etc. as well as pulling wisdom teeth and other rotten teeth that can't be restored.  His residency has consisted of:
Year 1: Intern year.  Taking in house call every 3rd night (at least), not sleeping very much, working between 80 and 120 hours a week, being a slave to everyone above him which was everyone on service, not a fun year for any of us.

Year 2 and 3: Medical School.  Rotating on various services, some busy and some very laid back.  Overall good for more medical training and more time for family.

Year 4: General Surgery Intern.  See year 1 except worse some months and better others.  One month Lewis was the doctor on call overnight for the oncology (cancer) and transplant floors.  He said his pager went off almost constantly that month.  He learned a lot and slept not a lot that year.  It was a tough year for us all but he gained so much knowledge and got better at patient management.

Year 5:OMFS. His program decided to take only 2 interns this year (AWESOME DUDE!!) so Lewis gets to take call even though typically 5th years don't have to.  I have complained to everyone about this and I know you probably don't want to hear it but too bad it's my blog, I can do what I want.  And it sucks to think you are done with that and then have your husband still on call still missing school things and games and having to drag your kids to mutual every week (except lately my awesome friend has been keeping them for me). He goes to work before 6 every day and gets home between 6 (on a really good day) and 9 at night.

Year 6: OMFS should be awesome, but we'll see........

Does that make things clearer? TMI?  More questions I can answer about it?

Lewis is busy but he loves the work so it will all be worth it in the end. At least that's what we keep telling ourselves so don't burst my bubble!

 
Me! I am busy with running my kids around, keeping up with Cate (cleaning up after her all day long) and Abs, and trying to stay sane.  After my mom passed away I felt so bad that none of my friends here really ever got to meet her.  When we were in Charleston, WV I took my kids to see the Lion King in the theater and there is that part where Rafiki tells Simba that he KNOWS his father and then it is his own reflection.  He says something like "He lives in you" and it got me thinking about my own mom.  I decided that even though some of my friends never got to meet my mom they could get to know her through me and the way I act.  For a goal this year, I chose one thing about my mom that I love which is her complete devotion to service. I have been praying for opportunities to serve.  I am working on having a better attitude, and I am trying to honor my mom and her memory on this earth by finding opportunities to lose myself in service.  Young Women's also keeps me busy, there are just so many "things" to be at, weekly activities, temple trips, firesides, BYC meetings, ward council meetings, training meetings, youth conference, girls camp, etc. but it has only blessed my life and stretched me in good ways. Also, last week both my 2nd counselor and secretary had babies on the same day! I have realized that somewhere along the way (in the last couple of years) I have changed my attitude about being a mom.  I used to resent being only a "stay at home mom" and had to have a job to stay sane.  Since moving here and having more kids I have allowed myself to be totally consumed with being a mom and I have so much more peace and love in my heart because of it.  This is getting wayyyyy too cheesey but I've had to force myself to embrace my life as it is now and love being a mom slash taxi driver slash nurse slash therapist slash accountant slash gardener slash cook slash teacher slash maintenance worker(what am I forgetting?!?!).  My friend Jen posted a link to this article on facebook and I wanted to share it here because it says this all better than I can.  I hope you'll read it. Mostly I am just trying to keep it all together, I feel like if I make a wrong step the whole thing will fall apart.  Do you read me on that one? Can I get a what what?


A-- Doing great in school, 3rd grade is the first year of enrichment which is our school's gifted and talented program.  She is being challenged for the first time academically and has had lots of fun in there.  She won the Patriot Award for her class the first quarter and also got to be in the spelling bee.  She is taking piano lessons and I think she is already better than me (after 4 months and I took for years). She still loves soccer and decided to give up ballet this year because soccer is 3 days a week now and doing both was just too much.  She is loving being able to go to activity days at church twice a month and has made a few really good new friends at school this year as well as at church. There are lots of times she helps me with the baby at the crazy time in the evening when everyone needs me, the baby is cranky and I am trying to get dinner made.  Lewis has been reading Harry Potter books to the kids and she is loving them.  She reads so much, I love that she loves books. I am so thankful for her willingness to help out.  If she is tired she gets super emotional which I hope doesn't mean life will be full of drama for us in a few years. Fingers crossed!

B-- Still a lover but so physical. The other day in the car he asked his friend "what is it like to have a brother?" and it just about ripped my heart out.  He's such a sweet, cuddly little guy. He is the youngest and the smallest in his grade, but attracts friends because of his personality. He laughs at everyone's jokes and most always has a smile on his face.  If plans change or if he feels rushed he just breaks down and sometimes cries, but it's easy to get him back on track. B is doing great in school, reading is coming along great. We have noticed at night when we read scriptures he is really getting it down and not struggling as much even though the words are different.  He is a math wiz and just "gets" numbers.  He is somewhat of a perfectionist and will erase a letter 10 times until the paper is ripping just to get it right.  When he was working recently on a coloring packet of the human body he kept having to call Lewis to make sure he was coloring every organ the right color. It was so cute.  He loves Lewis' anatomy books and bloody head pictures that he brings home from work on his camera.  He is also loving Harry Potter and is getting into comic books and graphic novels too. He also won the Patriot Award for his class, but for the second quarter.  Everyone loves him and I always hear stories about what a sweet guy he is.

C--This kid is giving me a run for my money!  She has Lewis wrapped around her little finger and she knows it.  Anything she wants, he does.  He can't say no to her.  I hope he will learn how!  She is a feisty little thing always telling me "no no no never ever" but it's more like "neva eva" and it's so cute I mostly laugh when she says it.  Except for when I yell.  Or tell her to say "yes ma'am".  She is doing preschool with a few of our little friends, just one morning a week.  She doesn't care about drawing or writing her name and I don't want to push it and make her hate it.  She loves to read books and we usually go to at least one story time a week.  She is taking ballet and I hope she will actually do the performance at the end of the year.  Whenever they invite us in to watch she mostly just stands there staring at the teacher.  This would have bugged me with A but I have mellowed significantly and come to realize that kids just do things when they are ready.  Some need a gentle nudge but forcing C only makes her push back more.  She makes more messes than the rest of us combined and if we don't stay right on her about it the whole place can be a wreck in no time flat.  I have to add something nice since she really is a great kid.  C is a snuggler too and loves to be climbing on or cuddling with someone all the time.  She also will spontaneously tell you that she loves you which is so sweet and makes me forget the messes.  She got into the preschool at the kids' school so she will be going there next year 5 days a week (even though she tells me no no neva eva). She WILL be going! 

D-- I think you mostly know about the baby because she seems to be my main blogging subject, but she has been crawling like crazy and pulling up on everything and even starting to cruise! Where did my baby go?  I haven't ever had a baby moving this early.  It's breaking my little heart.  But I will take courage and go on, don't worry.

That's our little update.  Thanks for reading!
And if you have a couple more minutes can I convince to you read this little article?  A great reminder that I needed and wanted to share.


Reading Rainbow Pizza Dough

What is this? No love for my sweet baby?  Not a single comment?  I know you are out there reading because I figured out how to see how many people are reading the blog.  But I am a bad commenter when I read my friends' blogs, so I guess that is just KARMA or something.  Well, whatever, I'm not one to hold a grudge so I will go ahead and share this awesome pizza dough recipe with you anyway.

Don't you hate it when you find a tutorial online and it is overly detailed. Pictures of every single step (even turning the oven to the right temperature :) ) It drives me nuts but I guess it's good so you don't get confused.  With that lovely intro, I just wanted to share the recipe for pizza dough that I use.  We use it for pizza (it even works well for grilled pizza), calzones, and breadsticks.  I heard about it while listening to NPR one afternoon.  They were interviewing LeVar Burton because PBS had just announced that they wouldn't keep making Reading Rainbow and someone called in saying that they had seen an episode where they went to a pizza place and gave the dough recipe but he couldn't find it anywhere online.  The NPR people found it and read it over the air and that's how I got it.  If you find the original transcript from the show they mistakenly said two thirds cup flour when it should be 2 to 3 cups flour but otherwise it is right. I just love getting recipes that are easy with easy ingredients and hope you will enjoy this one!

Without further ado---


Reading Rainbow Pizza Dough


Combine

1 cup warm water
1 T. yeast
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt

Let sit for a few minutes then add
2 to 3 cups flour depending on humidity

I usually add 3 whole cups but it's really humid here.
This dough is not super sticky, and I usually let my mixer mix it for a good few minutes to make the dough a nice ball.  It should be nice and tight, but bounce back when you press slightly on it.  If you make bread a lot it is less sticky and more of a ball than most other bread doughs I have made. 

Let it sit until it rises to about double.  In a warm humid kitchen like mine this takes about 30 to 45 minutes. 

I usually divide it in half and roll it out or take one half and divide it into smaller pieces so each kid can make their own pizza.  Usually they will eat it if they make it!

Roll it out into the best circle you can.  This is nearly impossible for me but it still tastes yummy!  We like to drizzle a little bit of olive oil on it, some minced garlic, and then add toppings. (I tend to roll it out pretty thin.) 

Cook at 450 degrees for about 8 to 10 minutes but keep and eye on it because sometimes it goes really fast. 

Enjoy! Try it! Then let me know what you think.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

8 months


I thought I'd share a few pictures of Abigail in her crib today.


 Some of her tricks at 8 months are:

army crawling

rolling around
going from laying down to sitting up and back again
clapping

ba ba baing
mmmmmmming

loving her blankets and pacifiers
playing peekaboo with her blanket
moving constantly
squealing with delight when she sees one of her siblings or a parent
eating mum mums, puffs, cheerios, and applesauce


"Who me?"
 pulling off her own socks

 screaming like she is in severe pain when she is tired or hungry or, gasp, both


 Most of the time she is the content and busy.  Mostly she smells so good (especially the back of her neck--why is that?) and we love her to pieces.

Also, when I was uploading these pictures I realized that I had never uploaded or blogged pictures from Christmas so I'll get right on that.


Saturday, January 14, 2012

12 YEARS!

This is my 600th post and it's our 12th anniversary! I'd say that calls for something special, like this slideshow I made for our 10th anniversary 2 years ago.  Funny, but better late than never I guess.  Happy anniversary, Lewis.  You are pretty terrific.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

New Year's trip to Utah with lots of blurry ipod pictures



 We had a really fun trip to Utah for New Year's.
Unfortunately I forgot my camera so we'll have to just live with the blurry ipod photos.  If they bug you, just turn the page!
 Lewis was even able to join us for a few days which is always nice.  He was ever so helpful on the flight.  He took Cate and I had A, B and D with me.  Sooooo helpful.  Thanks, Lew! (smack)
 The weather was so nice for us, no snow was a bummer, but we got to play outside a lot.  Jordan and I even pumped up the ball thing once.  Only once because the air came out of it in two minutes after a half an hour of inflating.

 The first day we were there the manly men went fishing and we took a walk to see the neighbor's zebra and emu.  I didn't get any pictures of those animals, just these ones: (clever, I know)


 We also celebrated Kip's 23rd birthday at Cafe Trang and had this awesome dinosaur cake
 New Year's eve we had our traditional family talent show.  I did my one talent (besides bossing people around and folding scrubs) of touching my nose with my tongue.  Brooks did a Justin Beiber lip synch, Aid did a Taylor Swift lip synch and piano piece and Cate did a princess dance with Sophie.  We also had a cola taste test.  I got zero correct.
 I did identify the 3 Dr. Peppers I just didn't know which was the dp 10, diet, or regular
 Lewis had an awesome evolution of facial hair.  These pictures are all messed up out of order, this is the final stage of awesomeness, the mustache.
 We went and saw the move Tin Tin and A loved it so she dove right in to John's collection
 We banged pots and pans at midnight! (eastern)
 We made sure John got a kiss from his date at midnight (Juneau). 
 What? You want more facial hair shots?  You got it!
 Lew and Matt (ok mostly Matt) made some amazing wings
 I love the mantle with all the stockings
 Biggest tree yet I think
 More cola testing.  Man, I hate how these are out of order.  But not enough to put them in the right order! Matt and Lewis did really well on the test.
 The kids roasted weenies or mallows not sure:
 My extended family came up for Sunday dinner and all played on their phones the entire time.  I am so serious.  Every stinkin one of them has an iphone and they stared at them the whole night (except while they were actively eating). At one point my aunt sent them all a text and they all checked it at the same time.  Not a joke.  I almost thought we were on an SNL skit, but they were serious.  Love their phones!  My cousin's kids stayed the night and the kids all had a great time running around like wild animals together.
 Jackie got in town just a few hours before Lewis left.  She wasn't sad to see him go, only because she HATED the mustache. I have no  idea why. I think it's SUPER HOT.
 Blurry picture of my and my siblings
 We went to see Nana one day for lunch and this is a picture of her with all 10 of our kids.  Aiden and Brooks are the oldest.  10 kids 8 and under was always busy!
 We also took the kids to this fun place called Airborne that has trampolines and foam pits on all the floors and walls.  The kids had such a great time. Right after that we went to IKEA and snuck Cate into the kids play area. She was thrilled, they probably thought "she doesn't get out much" but she does, I promise.
 We hit H&M, Naartjie, and Hot Dog on a Stick in one mall visit.  It was a dream come true and all 10 kids were so good.
 UUUHH I hate out of orderness, but her is a nice one of Nana with her girls
 BFFs
 After visiting Nana we went over to my mom's grave and painted all of the kids hands on the outside cement.  It went surprisingly smoothly and only a few flowers and one teddy bear got swiped off another random grave.  Sorry person who had a teddy bear on their grave!
 Tillie told her mom " I don't like CORNDOGS on a stick, just HOT DOGS on a stick" so Jackie had to take the bread off.  It was funny so I took a picture.
 Kids running around the cemetery like crazy
 We solved the mystery at last! KIP IS MR BUBURGEN!!!  Sophie is so creative.  She makes up words and uses them all the time in the same context.  One word she uses is "mulcher".  If something is mulcher it is good.  Mr. Buburgen is another one of her imaginary people and I think the kids believe he is actually Kip.  At least that is what they were chanting for 10 minutes in the food court.  But now Kip is in Peru and then off to Kazakhstan so we all miss Mr. Buburgen.
 I had never been to Wheeler Farm but it was lots of fun.  Lots of kids.


 WHeeler farm:
 Grandfather with his 10 well behaved and extremely intelligent grandchildren:
 Of course we had In N Out.  Which was really brave of me because last time (2 years ago) I ate there I got terribly sick.
 At Planet Play the "big" kids played laser tag and we did lots of games
 Oh, and bowled
 One night we had spa day.  Aiden insists every time. I don't know where she came up with the idea because I've never been to a spa or talked about one.
 Handcuffs are so fun!
 So are 64 ounce drink things! With tires on the bottom!
 But smog is not.  :(
 On the way home we got to fly with our friend Sophie, her sister Grace and her mom. It made the trip lots less scary for me
 Before we left it finally snowed! Even though they only got to play in it for a minute, in the dark, as we were loading up the car to leave for the airport, the kids were still excited about the snow.


Whew! That was a lot of pictures.  And I don't even have any from the kids and Lew's ski day.  I will have to post those later.  The thing about my terrible ipod pictures is that they load really fast so I can do lots in a quick post and bore you all to tears.  But come back because I am hoping my sisters will send me some less blurry ones and you won't want to miss those! Pinky!