More Crazy Things They Say

I offered to do something for Russell, and he said "ok."  Then he changed his mind and ran away from me saying "NO-K!"

We were about to go in a store and I nicely told the boys, "My patience is running out, so please, behave yourselves."  Caleb said, "I'll try to get your patience back for you."  It made me laugh, and then he said with a big smile, "See, did that give you a little patience back?"  It sure did!

Russell:  Mom, I think a red wall in the basement would look good.  (We were watching Fixer Upper.)

Russell:  Mom, I wish I didn't have a nose so I couldn't smell stinky stuff.

Caleb, holding a half-grown little chicken:  It's ok, it's ok, Papa has you, Papa has you.

Russell, snuggling a dog that we were dog-sitting for the morning:  It's ok, Mommy's here.  [Referring to himself as Mommy, of course.]

I was telling Russell how lucky he is, because Caleb is only a big brother, and Zach is only  a little brother, but Russell is a big brother AND a little brother.  He said, "No, I'm a medium brother!"

Russell:  Mom, if the world were upside down, we'd be walking on the ceiling.

Russell, crawling on the floor following me:  Mom, I'm going to be like Dolly, because Dolly follows you.  [It's true.  Dolly can always be found at my feet.]

Caleb asked if plants go to the bathroom.  I taught him about photosynthesis.

We were talking about what it would be like to live in Narnia, where animals can talk, and I told Caleb that I always wondered what Hank would have to say.  Caleb said, "Dolly might have a very beautiful voice."

Caleb:  Mom, blink your eyes.  [I blink and he runs around the corner.]  I'm gone!  So fast you couldn't even see!

Caleb:  Mom, if there ever were a WWIII, I would definitely fight in it.

Caleb:  Mom, there's this store called Ross and if you go there you can buy shoes that make you run REALLY fast.  That's what Blake told me.  It's a secret.

Neighbor boy:  Yeah, my dad is really smart.  Caleb:  Smarter than my dad!

Caleb:  Mom, can we make a robot for Granddad that will do everything for him?  Like clean, and make dinner?

Russell, talking about Spot It, a game where you try to collect cards:  One time I played by myself and got TWENTY CARDS!

Caleb:  Mom, it's just a miracle that life is real!

Caleb, upon finding a penny on the parking lot ground:  I guess it's my lucky day!

Caleb:  If Auntie Jenna never has kids, we should give her someone.
Me:  Who would we give her?
Caleb, thinking:...Maybe I'll give her me!!

Russell:  What if this was a rule, if everyone found a bug, they would be their pets!  What do you think about that?

Russell:  You know what happened?  I found so many bugs today!  I think today is Bug Day.

Caleb:  Mom, we're lucky that we don't have to be eaten, because lots of other animals have to.

Russell:  Mom, I just feel like I need to draw beautiful things.  [Then he drew a necklace.]

Caleb was telling me that our neighbors feed their chickens watermelons, and I said our new ducks might like watermelon, too.  Caleb said:  Oh!  We should trial foods with them!

Russell:  Mom, if you lick your elbow, it tastes like chocolate!  That's what Joey says.  [Joey is a preschool friend.]

Russell:  My pocket smells like centipedes!  [Guess why....]

Say WHAT?

We've got another baby on the way!!

The newest Purser is due June 8th!

And now, since I'm sure you're all dying to know but don't want to ask, let me give you details:

How did this come about?  Getting pregnant is a very medical process for me.  This time it took a total of 12 months.  That's a whole year of people awkwardly looking at my belly as if waiting for a pregnancy announcement, since, of course, Russell is nearing his third birthday and by the time Caleb was that age we had a 9-month-old.  Sorry, but my little belly was just leftovers after the number Russ did on my abs.  (BTW, my doctor said I'll need surgery to fix my torn abs, so I'm going to look 3 months pregnant until that happens, so it's ok to stop staring.)

With Caleb it took 15 months and with Russ it took 2 months, both requiring 200 mg of clomid to get me to ovulate.  This time I went on clomid for three months, ovulating each time and still not getting pregnant.  That's the maximum that my doctor felt comfortable keeping me on that level of hormones, so he referred me to a reproductive endocrinologist (RE).  They ran some tests and found that I have a blocked fallopian tube.  My "good" tube initially appeared to be blocked as well, but after putting some pressure on it the radiologist was able to get it to clear out.  The RE prescribed a different fertility med and after getting my fallopian tube cleared out, I got pregnant right away!  Which is a very good thing, because the next step would have been hormone injections, which greatly increases your chance of multiples.  I'm scared to death of having multiples, with my high-risk status and with the high likelihood of my kids having growth and feeding problems.

Wait...how many are there?  Just one.  :)  We've already had two ultrasounds at the RE to confirm that it's not ectopic, to see how many babies are there, and to detect a heartbeat.  Just one little baby in there, measuring right on track, with a good, strong heartbeat.

How have you been feeling?  Sick.  I spent the first few weeks feeling awesome, and then right at 6 weeks I got super sick and have been sick ever since.  So far I've broken all my previous records for how many times in a pregnancy I've thrown up--4 times so far.  And I'm sure it's not over.  I have a few good hours here and there, but I've pretty much just held down the couch for the last two weeks.  Thankfully, my boys have been awesome.  Caleb and Russ play together nicely all day, and Nate makes dinner, does the shopping (I tried to go to the store yesterday and had to keep my eyes on the floor...just looking at all of that food made me sick), and cleans the house.  They're all awesome and deserve gold stars.

I'm also exhausted and need at LEAST one nap a day.

That's about it for pregnancy symptoms...just nausea, vomiting, and tiredness.  Oh, and I've lost weight since the nausea is keeping me from being able to eat much, but you'd never know since my belly is popping out already.  But it's not the cute, hard, round belly, uh-uh, it's the flabby chubby belly.  Not my favorite part of pregnancy.  I'm excited to actually start showing.

How did the big brothers take the news?  They literally started jumping up and down, shouting, "YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!"  Caleb tells me every day how he really wants it to be a girl, because we already have three boys and only one girl in our family.  Russell asks every day if it has teeth yet (tooth buds will be forming this month!).  They absolutely love telling people--they say "Mommy has a baby!"  I suggested that maybe the boys can share a room and the baby can have the other room, and Russell said he wanted to share a room with the baby.  They talk about the baby all of the time!  I can confidently say that they are going to be amazing big brothers.

So, a June birthday, eh?  How do you feel about that? Well, thanks for asking!  ;)  I always wanted to avoid summer birthdays, because I don't want my kids to be the youngest in their class.  But when it takes you 12 months to get pregnant, you take whatever you can get!  And there are some really nice things about having a baby in June, too.  It's not the middle of flu and sick season, which will be awesome after having two babies in the dead of winter and having to quarantine ourselves.  And perhaps the one I'm most excited about: the sun.  Ever since having Russ in December, I've had Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) every winter.  It's awful.  And combine that with the baby blues?  It seriously took me over 4 months to bond with Russell.  I'm looking forward to having lots of sun and nice, long days to keep my mood in a good place.  And as far as being pregnant for a whole winter...I'm going to have to get a UV lamp to try to combat the SAD.  Seriously, pregnancy hormones (and post-pregnancy hormones) aren't good to my mood.

Any goals for this pregnancy? Well, now that I know I can go to full-term, my goal is to have a 9-pounder.  ;)  I've come to accept that my children will always have a hard time growing and are likely to have problems with food allergies/intolerances/reactions, so I want to give this baby the best chance possible at being big!  Russ was 8lbs 5oz at birth, was Failure to Thrive by 4 days old, and was completely below the charts by 6 months.  So I want to give this baby the best chance possible by starting out bigger than ever!  9 pounds sounds good to me.

I also want to deliver without more than three pushes.  ;)  After a difficult delivery with short, fat, posterior Russell, my doctor guaranteed me that my next baby's delivery would be a breeze.  I'm holding him to it (even though I switched doctors).  I can have a 9-pounder with three pushes or less, right?  It may be wishful thinking, but it's on my "wants" list.


And there you have it.  Our third baby is on the way and we couldn't be more excited!

So Long, Dear Friend

It's amazing what the human heart is capable of.  We invite into our homes a member of another species.  We don't speak their language, and they don't speak ours.  Yet they enrich our daily lives, and when they're gone (and they always go too soon), we realize just how much love we hold for them.

I think love comes through service and sacrifice.  Jesus Christ loves us more than anyone, and he sacrificed all he had for us.  Parents love their children beyond words, because we give up everything for them.  When we sacrifice our time and means to care for pets, we grow to love them.  And together we learn a shared language of love.

And when they die, our hearts are ripped in two.  I've done a lot of hard things in my life, but I think making the choice to end my dear friend's life was the hardest one yet.

I got Meggie for my 14th birthday.  The previous week, my dog (although she was never really my dog, as she bonded closely with my dad) died unexpectedly at a young age.  I was so lonely, so my mom brought me to the shelter to see if there were any dogs there to adopt.  We tried one out, but she wasn't a good fit for our family, so the next day we brought her back to the shelter.  On the way home, I asked my mom if we could stop and see what the pet store had for dogs.  They had just gotten two new litters of puppies in: Meggie, her brother, and three little black puppies (pomeranians crossed with toy poodles).  I immediately fell for Meggie, so I decided that we'd go home and sleep on it and come back the next day to get her.  On the drive home, I thought of a name for her.  I knew she was meant to be my dog.

The next day, we went to see if she was still there.  Of all of the five dogs that were there the day before, only Meggie and one of the black puppies were left.  Someone was holding Meggie, and the moment they set her down, I snatched her up and brought her to the register.  I said, word for word, "This is my dog.  I mean, she's going to be my dog.  We're going to buy her."  So my mom bought her and gave her to me for my 14th birthday.

Meggie was the ugliest puppy you've ever seen.  Everyone said so.  But I just didn't see it.  I thought she was the cutest 4-legged creature to ever walk this earth, and everyone thought I was delusional.  Looking back, I can see she really had the looks that only a mother could love.  My love was so unconditional that I couldn't see it until many years later.

I spent 14 years and 7 months with Meggie.  That's over half of my life!  And the best, most memorable part of my life, too!  I started training her in 4-H when she was 4 months old.  She hated it.  I was a good dog trainer (my previous dog and I were winning awards), but Meggie refused to do what I asked.  She would protest a simple "sit" command.  She wouldn't come.  Sometimes she wouldn't even walk on the leash!  She started avoiding me on Thursday evenings when I would try to put her in the car to go to training practice.  Then I started bringing her to Therapy Dog instead.  She loved going to nursing homes to be pet by the residents.  It brought out her best qualities.  She started enthusiastically jumping in the car when she knew we were going to Therapy Dog.

I gave up on obedience training with her (she was a good house dog, but not a good competitive obedience dog), but I still did 4-H showmanship with her.  That's what I loved, and all she had to do was prance around and look pretty, which she was very good at once she outgrew her awkward stage.  We qualified for the state 4-H dog show many times, but I remember one time in particular.  It was just moments before entering the show ring, and I was full of nerves.  But I must have pulled it together really well, because we ended up winning Grand Champion!  We were the best in our age-group for the entire state!  It was incredible!

She stayed behind with my dad when I went off to college.  Once Nate and I graduated and bought a house of our own, my mom flew out here with Meggie.  Caleb was 4 months old, and had just been home from the NICU for one month.  She was a great kids' dog in her younger years.  She never jumped on people, never licked, never barked, and loved to follow kids around, waiting for them to drop their snacks on the floor so she could clean up after them.  She was the best for taking on walks.  We went for a long walk every morning during Caleb's first two years.

It was a really hard choice for me to have her put down.  I feel like that should be up to God and Meggie, but I just have to hope that she did choose this, and she just needed my help.  I got to hold her in my arms and comfort her while it happened.  It was perfect, yet so horrible.  I just wanted her to feel how much I loved her.  We grew up together.  Really, she was the first dog that I could claim as my own.  She was the first dog that my children ever knew, and I hope they can keep some fond memories of her.

I was once told by someone with great authority regarding strengths that my strength is my ability to love deeply.  I must say, it has been feeling like a weakness lately.  The pain I feel at Meggie's passing is so strong because my love for her was so strong.  This kind of love is what we live each day for, even though it has the potential to cause so much pain.  It was a glorious childhood that we had together, and I look forward to the day when my Meg greets me in Heaven in her wonderful way--running at top speed in giant circles while crying a happy little howl.  It will be a wonderful reunion.

No heaven will heaven be

if my dog's not there

to greet me.

Minnesota Vacation!!

I had already been to Minnesota four times since March.  What's one more trip?!

We decided to drive this time, since four plane tickets can get spendy.  And since we had expected to live there by this time, we weren't able to buy plane tickets in advance, which makes them even more expensive.

So we drove.

Through Yellowstone.

 The boys watched DVDs (this was only our third time using the DVD player since buying our van a year ago).  This was how they looked through the snow monster scene in Frozen.

 Once we got to my hometown, we took pictures with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.  Classic.

Russell picked Babe's nose while simultaneously picking his own nose.  Also classic.

 My little lumberjack and my little ox.

 Nana's farm is the best.  

Granddad's farm is also the best.  This is my favorite view!

We did some exploring.

Some tree climbing.

And some feet-kicking in the lake.

 We went to the county fair, which was the reason for our visit (all of my siblings came home for the fair this year, so we certainly couldn't miss it!).

 I even brought a jar of homemade apple butter that I canned last fall from the apples on our Utah trees.  I entered it in the fair, and I got second place!  I expect my $2 prize check to arrive any day.  ;)

 Russ was sick the whole time with a fever up to 103 and a horrible cough.  He didn't eat or drink well and lost over a pound.  Other than lamenting "I don't like to be sick" when he would have a coughing fit, and needing lots of snuggles from Mommy, he was still a happy boy and a great sport.

 The highlight of the trip for me was when Caleb rode my horse Hank in the Judy Pittman Memorial Tiny Tots Show.  Judy was a great mentor to me in my 4-H days and I miss her dearly.  It was so special to me to see my son riding the horse that I showed so competitively in my youth at a show devoted to her memory at our old stomping grounds.  Once upon a time, Hank and I owned this place.  I miss those days!

 And Caleb and Hank did so well!  They got 1st place in horsemanship and key race, 2nd place in trail, 3rd in pole weaving, and 6th in barrels.  They were just one or two points away from winning a giant trophy!

 We took family pictures.  These are all of the cousins!  

This was them the last time they were all together!!

 And we took pictures of all of my siblings, their spouses, their children, and my parents.  (This picture has my dad missing, but believe me, we got some with him, too!)  The only one missing is my Grandma, and she lives in Missouri.  Seriously, can you believe we got a shot like this with everyone looking?  It was a miracle.

And in Minnesota, you drive tractors.

 See?

I can honestly say that every minute of this trip was enjoyable.  You wouldn't think that a 20-hour car ride with a 2- and 4-year-old could go smoothly, but it truly did!  The whole trip was blissful.  We made so many great memories.  I love my family!

Circus!

We scored a couple of tickets for free kids' admission to the circus, so we decided to go!  I've never been (neither have our kids), so we were so excited!  I had NO idea that they had elephant and camel rides beforehand!  :o  Riding an elephant was on my bucket list!  Whoa!  Check that one off!!!!!!

It was amazing!  I was surprised how hard the elephant's back was (not a lot of padding to sit on).  I'm very into horseback riding, which requires you to move your hips with each step the horse takes.  It was interesting to try to adjust to the huge stride of the elephant.  Her name was Ellie, and she was beautiful!

We all took a ride (except Nate...he wasn't keen on being that high up, and besides, someone needed to take pictures!).

Then Caleb got a chance to ride a camel.  Their camel was pretty small, so they wouldn't allow adults on.  Darn.  And Russell wouldn't go unless I was holding him, so Caleb rode alone:

He later said, "It was pretty boring riding the camel."

And in case that wasn't enough of a splurge, we let the boys get their faces painted!  After all, we were using the money Nana sent for Christmas presents.  Caleb chose spiderman:

And Russ chose a very fierce tiger:

While we were waiting in line, someone behind us looked at Russ and said, "Oh my!  A very scary tiger!"  So Russ said, "Rawr!" in a quiet yet fierce voice.  It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.  He also pointed at the tigers' cages and said, "Tigers get out, uh-uh!"  (As in, 'those tigers had better not get out!')  Then, about a week later, Russell woke up screaming hysterically in the middle of his nap saying, "Scared.  Spiderman.  In my bed."  He had had a nightmare that Spiderman was in his bed, and it scared him.  Aww!  Sweet little boy was having nightmares of his brother's face.  ;)

As for the actual show, Caleb was slightly obsessed with the ladies doing tricks on the silks hanging from the rafters.  He had a major meltdown when we wouldn't let him climb up them, too.  He was in awe.  I think Russell's favorite part was the motorcycle going off of the ramp.

We went with our BFFs, too, which made it all the more fun.  I think it'll rank up there as one of the best days of my boys' lives (for now).  It was pretty magical.  They're still talking about it two weeks later.

Minnesota: Mall of America

Our last day in Minnesota we devoted to the Mall of America.  That place is crazy.  We bought some souvenirs and debated going to the aquarium.  It's pretty expensive, but we knew that Russ would absolutely love it (he looooves fish), but was it worth it just for an 18-month-old's simple enjoyment?  Absolutely.  Most of the trip was catered to Caleb, because 3-year-olds just get so excited over things.  So it was nice to do something just because Russell would love it.  And we all ended up loving it anyway, so it was a great choice!

 We got to pet starfishes:

And they had like a billion jelly fish:

Jelly fish are fun to photograph:

Oooo...an octopus:

Star fish on the glass:

Sea horses!  I think the was my first time seeing sea horses:

They were cool.  Did you know that they hold themselves still by grabbing things with their tails?  I didn't know that.  For some reason I just thought they floated in place:

After the aquarium, we debated if it was worth it to go on rides in Nicelodeon Universe (formerly Camp Snoopy, which was a much better name).  After all, we weren't sure how many rides our little guys would be able to go on.  We decided to buy a few tickets anyway, and we're so glad we did!  There were tons of fun things for toddlers.  We didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few....

Let's start off with Blue.  We're big Blue's Clues fans in our house:

Last year when we went to Sea World, Caleb went on a ride like this and absolutely loved it.  It goes up high and then drops down, fast, a little bit at a time.  The entire time he was on it, Caleb said, "wee!" and held his hands up in the air:

Driving the big truck:

And again, the big dropping thingy.  They aren't even ready to go yet and Caleb already has his hands in the air!:

What else did we do in Minnesota that didn't get documented with pictures and blog posts of their own?  We had lunch with a family that Nate taught on his mission.  It was a blast.  If it wasn't for a long overdue nap time for our boys, we could have spent all day with them!  We're going to be great friends when we move back there some day, I just know it.  We also got a deal on tickets for a big bouncy house center and went with our friends and their three boys, ages three and under.  Let me just say, the kids had tons of fun, but it's possible that the parents had even more fun!  I think I know what Caleb will do for his fourth birthday party....

It was all together a glorious trip.  We saw so many wonderful friends, Caleb slept in a big boy bed in the hotel all by himself...and only fell out two of three nights.  We figured out how to feed Caleb on trips--almost no eating out, and a lot of hot dogs, fruit snacks, spinach, and poppy seed dressing.  And we enjoyed Minnesota so much that not a day goes by that I don't think about moving back.  Some day.  Some day....