Bad Blogger Catch-up

I have been a bad blogger. I can probably just blame it on being busy with 5 little kids. Mostly, I am so tired at the end of the day that all I want to do it watch TV, or I fall asleep in front of the TV. Things have been happening around here and I'm going to try to recap some of them.

Teeth:  
-Hallie broke her two bottom teeth at 7 months and has been leaving teeth marks on various items since, including making the first marks on Jared's new shoes (you read that right, Jared bought new shoes without me being there, which is a big event in itself).

-Marissa's fake tooth started getting loose about a month ago and she has had fun slipping it below her other teeth and freaking people out on the bench behind us in church. The dentist cemented it back in place this week and should be in for another year.

-We found out yesterday that Alex has an ectopic molar which means one of his molars is growing into another one and destroying its root. That will either resolve on its own or have to be pulled eventually. He also has two bottom permanent teeth in the space of three baby teeth that he's lost so he'll need to see an orthodontist pretty soon. There's always something new with Alex at the dentist. Also, he was playing a punching game with his friends (for some reason??) and one of his friends punched his front tooth out. It was loose so it wasn't a big deal, but it was kind of a funny way to lose it. He just lost his second top tooth on Saturday when he was slurping spaghetti.

-Erin has had a new adventure with her orthodontia. It seems like she's had an issue every appointment. First, one of her spacers fell out. Then when she got her expander in, one of the back bands broke. Because of this, they took out the expander completely (which they told us had to stay in for 9-12 months). Then when they put her top 4 braces on, one of them came off. And at her last appointment, her wire came out of the back bracket the day after. I've been slightly annoyed by the whole thing, but I'm going to trust that it'll work out fine in the end (besides, I've already paid for the whole first phase).

-Even though Connor doesn't have any issues with his teeth except a little tarter, he is included in this section because he screamed and screamed at the dentist this week. I was a little surprised because he'd had two appointments before where he never cried. He now joins the rest of 'em for having traumatic experiences at the dentist.

New Skills: 
-Hallie started crawling! She was 7 months and 1 week when she really started getting the hang of it. Now she is all over the place. She can crawl, but she never really got the hang of rolling over. Once she falls on her back, she is stuck (like a turtle on its shell). Funny how they are all so different. Just this week she started pulling herself up on things, but I don't think she can get down without falling on her head. I keep finding her standing up by the shelf, on the stairs, by the couch, etc.

-Connor is potty trained! I didn't think it would happen for a long time because he has been so stubborn about not sitting on the toilet (he saw a picture of Alex in the toilet as a baby and has been terrified of it ever since). I finally bought him his own little potty at Ikea hoping to get him excited. The first day he sat and sat but nothing happened. He said, "It's not working. It needs batteries." He finally got the hang of the little potty and, as disgusting as it is, has been using it for over a month now and dumping as much of the contents as he can into the big potty on his own. He pooped in the big potty for the first time yesterday. Exciting. Now we are trying to convince him he still needs a diaper at night, but for him it is all or nothing. It's a process, that's for sure. On a related topic, when I asked him if he needed to go potty, he told me to stop saying potty words--you know, like "potty".

-Erin must have learned some new skills at gymnastics because they are moving her up a level, although I am not entirely sure what they are. She has gotten a lot more flexible and loves it, so we'll keep doing it for the time being.

-At some point between I'd say November and February-ish, Alex learned how to says his "r's". I have no idea when he finally got it or how, but one day I noticed that he was saying them right. One less thing for me to worry about.

-Almost forgot. Hallie learned how to clap, surely a necessary life skill. She makes a great audience for the kids when they do hand stands and she claps for them.

Outdoor Projects:
-We planted a garden this year. We built three 4'x4' raised cedar boxes, planted some random stuff and hoped for the best. Amazingly, everything I planted has sprouted! I have no idea what I am doing, whether I planted the right things in the right place in the right quantity giving it the right amount of water. No idea. But I'm glad we got it going anyway.

-It was my dream to build the kids a play structure (no surprise there). I had been designing and redesigning it for over a year. But one day, in the spur of a moment, I decided I would buy a play set for them instead (okay, maybe not instead because I still want to build something in addition to this). We got a Lifetime swing set with 3 swings, a trapeze bar, monkey bars, a slide and a fire pole. All the kids, including the neighbor kids love it. There will often be 8-11 kids on it at one time and it gets used every day. It still puzzles me as to why kids love to swing so much, but they love it. I'm so glad I decided to buy it because we have it now as opposed to 4 months from now, even though my design was cooler. Our next door neighbors just got a trampoline (which is essentially part of our yard) so the kids have plenty to do out there.

-After we filled the garden boxes with dirt, all the kids wanted to do was play in the dirt (another thing that puzzles me. I mean, I don't like to play in the dirt). After a certain percentage of good soil got flipped out of the boxes, I made the declaration that I would build them a sandbox, for crying out loud. So we did. It's another one of Ana White's designs with a cover that folds up into seats. It's a pretty slick design, and will be that much better once we finally get some actual sand in it. Yes, even more to do in the back yard.

-We had some curbing added to all the beds around the house and it makes things look a lot better. We still have more landscaping and mulching to do, as well as pavers under our BBQ grill and a travertine path along the side of the house and rocks in the front, but it will come in due time (it just seems like everything we do takes forever.)

-Even though it isn't necessarily a project, it's outside and I love it. I've been wanting some hanging baskets for a long time but could never justify the price. I finally used a coupon and spent the big bucks on two baskets full of pink geraniums. I thought they would last a little while, but they have been blooming and re-blooming since I got them two months ago and I love them! Now if I could ever justify paying for some sort of seating on the porch I could enjoy them that much more. All in due time.

Other Happenings That I Have Not Been Able to Blog About:
-Erin finished 3rd grade

-Alex finished 1st grade

-Marissa finished preschool

-We spent Memorial Day weekend up at Jared's parents' house

-My parents got their mission call to Los Angeles, Family History Center

-My oldest nephew got his mission call to North Carolina

-My dad turned 70 and finally retired from his job (wohoo!)

-Marissa had a dance recital (this was around the time that I really started to lose it)

-We spend Mother's Day at my parents' house

-Jared's Aunt Christy got married (yay!)

-Hallie went to the doctor and was barely on the chart for weight (but for some reason they weighed her with her diaper and clothes on). No matter, I'll take it.

-I won a major award in the form of a bowling trophy (courtesy of DI, thanks to one of the pin-up girls, Jen)

-We went to the Tulip Festival (pretty!)

-I started going to a neighborhood Bunco group (fun times)

-We had spring break at some point in there, though I would be hard pressed to tell you a single thing we did, even looking at my calendar

-I started going to some Turbo Kick/Insanity classes at a local gym a few times a week at the crack of dawn (so not what I like to do--wake up early--but I can't think of any other way to fit in exercise)

-We listened to General Conference and bribed the kids with gum if they took notes (which they actually did--never underestimate the power of gum)

-I got some 6 month pictures of a very tired Hallie. She wasn't crying but she was a tough crowd, I tell you. There was only one smile, one.

-We celebrated Easter, and somewhere on this computer is a whole Easter post that I never finished. Somewhere on my camera is a whole lot of pictures that have not been uploaded since Easter. I cannot keep up, obviously!

-I have been helping a few people with some of their home designs and love it! I only wish I had the right programs to design with. It makes me excited to go to work some day... but that day is not right now. Will I ever get ahead of the game?

-Hallie stopped sucking her thumb somewhere along the line and ever since has been waking up about 3-5 times a night for about three months, and this was after sleeping through the night for a good four months. This may have something to do with my tiredness, impatience, being overwhelmed, etc. (yeah, yeah, yeah... I know what your thinking, but I am not pregnant). I still feel like I can function, but I'd probably be functioning better if I ever got a full, uninterrupted night's sleep.

And since it's past midnight and since I haven't uploaded my photos anyway, this is all there is.