Grooming a Perfect Husband

Last night as I turned out lights before bed I found a mermaid Barbie lying across the top of a lamp. Thank goodness her hair didn't catch on fire. I think Evelyn did it. Olivia did something to her brother that he didn't appreciate. I caught her climbing on a box fan to reach his mini-DVD player that I let him use when I shower after workouts. I stick him in his crib with Barney ABCs or Mommy and Me, and he's happy for 15 minutes while I get clean. Today we were in a major rush to get to swimming lessons. My workout was tough, and I needed my shower. When his show started I heard, "Welcome to the world of butterfly fairies." That was not what either of us expected, and his little face was irritated. "I don't like THAT. I want Mommy and Me!" I had no time to start a new show, so I told him he'd have to watch the fairies and blame his sister for it.

At his swim lesson he actually sat in the water on the pool steps with the other kids without issue! Yay! I got some video of his swims, which I'll post soon. He kept calling out to me, "I all done?" I'd tell him no, and he'd say, "O-tay, Mommy!" very loudly.

Once home I made lunch, and he got a brilliant idea. He found a stool, put it in front of the kitchen sink, and then said, "Help me wash dishes." Am I grooming a wonderful husband or what? He swirled water in the bowls and got himself all wet. It was cute.

My happy news for the day is that I bought a milk frother last night. My friend Lauren served me a delicious coffee recently, and she used a battery powered mini whisk to froth the warm milk in the coffee. I LOVED it!! I had to have one, and Williams-Sonoma had them on sale yesterday. I showed the kids how the new kitchen gadget worked as I whisked milk in a measuring cup. Evelyn said, "Is that booby milk? I don't want any."

Well, household jobs await me, and I think I hear Vivian crying. Olivia said she'd play with her on the bed. Hmmmm.

"I Don't Like Swimming Lessons"

Some friends from school told us about two school teaching sisters who offer swimming lessons each summer. They rent somebody's pool and teach, teach, teach. They have been doing this for many years, like 25 or 30, and they know what they are doing. I'm very impressed. The thing that I like the most is the way they handle the criers. They are calm, use gentle touches, move slowly in the water, but they make those kids swim. Swimming involves going under water and getting wet, and they carefully watch them for signs that indicate they'll hold their little breaths at the right time, then under they go. I love it!!

We've gone for three days straight. Henry screamed and cried, "I want Mommy," the entire first lesson. However, he held his breath and was held while swimming under water to me on his last turn. It was awesome. Evelyn cried when she heard about the lessons, but she was a very big girl during them. She too went under and kicked and moved her arms with help from the teachers. Olivia can swim, so she is working on strokes and form. She is working hard, and I'm very proud of her.

These swimming lessons have sparked some remarkable language expression for Henry. When I asked him about his swimming experience once we were home he said, "My face get ALL WET." Olivia spoke to him about how he'd go again on Tuesday, and he amazed me Tuesday morning. I started talking to him about his lesson, and he said, "Brave. I be brave." I was shocked. I wondered where he learned the word "brave". He then said, "safe." I guess Olivia told him that he shouldn't be afraid, because his teachers will always keep him safe. Isn't that the sweetest? However, once we parked our van at the swimming lesson house, little guy said, "I don't like swimming lessons. I want to go home." He was so upset that I had to sit (in my clothes) right by the pool steps with him to keep him in the water. However, he did really well. He want under with each turn on day 2.

Today was so funny. Sort of. Not really. Evelyn started crying. Henry started crying. Vivian started crying. I had to put Vivian in the sling and sit near the steps again. This time I wore a dress with swimsuit bottoms underneath. "Live and learn" is my motto. Nobody likes water soaked panties. I had to make Evelyn and Henry stay in the water while trying to keep the baby shaded and quiet. Henry said with a sad face and alligator tears, "I want to take nap." Ha!! That's how bad it was. That's after yesterday he told me, "Henry not like naps. I not like naptime." However, Evelyn ended up kicking so well that she splashed Vivian, and she started crying again. Henry started reaching for his teachers when it was his turn, rather than being peeled from my legs. This was the most amazing part, and I hope my memory can keep the mental video for the rest of my life. The teacher held Henry by the waist facing away from her, but toward me. My little guy smiled so happily while she counted, then he'd take a breath, go under in a swim movement toward me, and come up happy. It was beautiful. The one lady called Henry, "her little boyfriend." He's pretty cute. He even kicked his legs all by himself when she pulled him through the water. They told me he's really doing well, and I'm happy as can be.

This morning Henry told me, "You so pretty, Mommy." I must have been still flushed from my difficult workout and too quick hot shower. If you are in the market for a HARD workout, then check out the DVD Jillian Michaels - Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism workout. Oh, Olivia said something hilarious about my new DVD. You see, I first did the routine on our Exercise TV cable for free when I was early in my pregnancy with Vivian. It was too strenuous and involves too much jumping to do in that condition. I've wanted it ever since. Anything that tough has to yield results. Today Olivia said, "Mommy, that girl is on the show where she helps really, really weighted people get to a normal size." She's talking about The Biggest Loser television program. How well said.

Finally, the other day Evelyn was in a really generous mood, and she paid me what may be the best and longest compliment I have ever received. It went something like, "Mommy, you are beautiful like a princess, and your heart is loving. You have beautiful eyes. You are the prettiest mommy in the whole world. You are kind. You have a healthy body. You are lovely, and I love you." You can't buy words like that. Plus, I think some of what I tell my girls about themselves must stick.

Miss Vivian is still the easiest. She woke up twice last night and the night before, but she goes right back to sleep once I nurse her. She's an angel all day. She gets taken along for rides to the pool and store and playdates without a fuss. She misses naps and remains a quiet trooper. Thank you God for a good fourth baby. God is good.

Cupcake Explosion

Our house is old, and the floors make a lot of noise when we walk on certain parts of them. This is especially true in the nursery of all places. Each night after I nurse sleepy Vivian I strive to keep from waking Master Henry. I swear that every single night when I place the baby in her bed and exit the room I imagine one of those high-tech bank or art museum robberies with laser light motion detectors and alarms. You've seen those movies. The characters crawl, bend, flip and hang from ropes to get in and out of the room as they avoid the light beams. I have a specific path I follow to leave Henry and Vivian's room in the quietest manner possible. It involves stretching my legs to step over the ottoman. At least I get to amuse myself by imagining I'm in a movie in the wee hours of the night.

Vivian is getting so beautifully plump. She fits into my lap while she nurses in the coziest way, and I can barely stand how fast she's growing. She looks into my eyes so adoringly, and she's just a fabulous baby girl. Two nights ago Robbie and I went out for a date night to a rooftop party at the Royal's game. As I entered the living room Henry looked up and said, "Oh, Mommy so cute!!" That little boy made my day. The baby wouldn't take her bottle for Lauren and Mrs. Scarboro that evening, and she was still awake when we got home at almost 11 pm. They said she was happy enough, just awake. Well, she was fed and put to sleep, and she didn't wake up until 7:16 am! She hasn't slept through the night since she was 6 weeks old. She's nearly 4 1/2 months, so I've had little sleep for a good many weeks. However, our toilet was running, and the sound woke me up during the one night when Vivian did not wake up. Rats!

Henry has been his usual busy self. I am convinced that if the house falls silent while Henry is home and awake, then he has succeeded in his plot to obtain a toothpaste tube to suck. I found him in our bathroom with a stool from his sisters' bathroom reaching for our tube the other morning. He got a Sam's size jar of cayenne pepper that we purchased for the garden to ward off squirrels, and he was trying to open the giant thing. Can you imagine how that blog entry would have gone? Henry has really entertained me lately with some of his quips. He saw me double pumping breastmilk yesterday for the first time. He walked into the bedroom. He leaned toward the cone shaped piece that fit against my body. He then said, "Oh, Mommy. That so funny." He's right. It is very funny. My friend told me that her oldest was convinced that one side yielded white milk and other other chocolate. She went with it.

I'm still on the pursuit of my pre-Vivian physique. To change up my workout I used one of Robbie's P90X DVDs called Plyometrics. It is very hard. The leader is a man, and Henry is used to seeing women on my workout videos. He knows my routine, and when he sees me put on my exercise clothes he says, "Mommy do workout." He stood in the living room with a totally perplexed look on his face as he listened to the instructor guide me through the moves. This dude has a lot of personality...much more over the top that I like, and Henry had a furrowed brow and odd expression on his face for many minutes. It was hilarious. My legs are still in pain, so if you need a tough workout, then check out P90X.

Yesterday Robbie and I went to the final day performance of VBC. I managed to arrive early enough, by some miracle, to sit in the front row. Robbie arrived, and we were directly in front of Evelyn during her songs. She was so shy and cute with her sign language to the songs. It was fun. Afterwards snacks were provided. This was a joke. They served cupcakes that although gorgeous, were piled with 2 1/2 inches of swirled white icing. I had no camera. I always have a camera at those things, and I end up in the back with pictures of some grandpa's bald head, instead of a close-up of my child. I needed a camera for cute Ev and messy Henry. He pretty much covered the lower portion of his face with white icing. As he tried to eat the white cupcake it disintegrated all over the 2 foot radius surrounding him. Imagine a cupcake bomb exploding and you'll envision the right picture. You should have seen the looks on the faces of people watching Henry eat. He had crumbs ground into his shirt, pants, the rug below, and his arms were smeared with stickiness. I think Robbie was furious with me for giving Henry such a messy treat, but he just left the building with the screaming baby and an irritated look. One friend burst out laughing it was so bad, but then she said, "I'm so sorry. Rather than laugh at you, how may I help you?" She brought napkins, and I went to work with all of the baby wipes that were in my possession. The hunk keeps life interesting. Sometimes he gets to dirty that he actually asks for a bath.

Robbie worked a half day, and I asked him to take the two little ones home for naptime to allow me to take the big girls to a learning toy store. They deposited the vast majority of their spring birthday money in their bank accounts, and I left them with a sum for shopping fun. You should have seen them in that store. They looked at every single item and boy did they deliberate. Evelyn's final decision was for an awesome real metal mini shopping cart. I wanted one for Olivia when she was just one, but we never got one. I added some money to Ev's allowance to enable her to make the purchase. I figured it would be money well spent with Henry and Vivian following her in the family line. I was right. Henry thinks this cart is the coolest thing he has ever seen. However, I keep hearing at near scream level, "MY TURN!!!" Evelyn said, "Mommy, you are going to have to go back to Learning Tree and buy another cart for Henry." No, they have to share. They are going to have to work on their sharing, because the process isn't going very well.

I took the girls out for lunch after we shopped. Olivia said, "Mommy, is it appropriate to talk about private things in restaurants?" Loaded question. "Do you mean private parts, or private things, Honey?" She told me she meant private things. "That's fine. Just speak quietly." She went on to ask if it is embarrassing to get married in front of a lot of people and kiss your new husband. Then she blushed. I told her it is wonderful since a wedding is much like a birthday party in that you may invite the people in your life who are most special to you. She liked that answer.

I'm pleased to say that I was able to write this entry while my darling husband prepared a wonderful egg breakfast. I think we'll head to the pool soon and enjoy some summertime family fun.

Challenges Abound, But I Love These Kids

The big girls are in Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) this week from 9 am until noon. They meet in a room that does not have stroller access, so I'm forced to lug Vivian in her infant carrier while holding Henry's hand through a parking lot. The in and out of it is pretty exhausting. Today Olivia let go of Henry's hand once inside the drop-off room, and she went to her group. I looked down to see that he could not see me, and big tears had welled up in his scared eyes. He then said, "I hold you." That meant he wanted on my hip. The baby was carried with the other arm, and I was tired before we even met our friend for our morning walk.

Henry has a trick that he thinks is a whole lotta fun. When I put him in the van he crawls everywhere except into his carseat in the middle of the back row. He puts my Chapstick on his nose. He swipes coins. He gets into the floorboard of the front seat. You name it. He also has a fun (for him) time removing his shoes and tossing them backwards over his head into the trunk portion of our vehicle. All of this kind of slows my progress getting him into and out of our van, and in the heat it makes me go crazy.

After VBC we decided to mail a package. I thought we could do this at the grocery store, where we needed to buy some items for the food drive conducted by VBC this week. I was wrong. They only sold stamps. Ev has had it with school all morning, and this is only day 3. She was tired. She told me her thumb was getting tired from holding a prayer card, and she wanted me to take it. This was said while I carried the infant carrier and Henry. Ha!! She was crying about the sun shining too brightly when I picked her up at noon, and she proceeded to sit on the floor and cry in the supermarket. She asked me to carry her. I did it. I had my 4-year-old in my arms and Henry in the cart's front. The baby was in her carrier in the big area of the cart. One old woman saw me and said, "Oh, lady. You need help." I honestly got a lot of pitying eyes. I suppose I must have looked as tired as I felt, and I even took the time to rush home for a shower and clean clothes after my walk and before pick-up time from VBC. After the store purchases were made we went to the post office. Luckily, there was a front row spot. However, Henry had no shoes when I got everyone out of the van. Come on, Henry. Give mom a break. Wear your shoes, man. We were all even hotter by the time our package was mailed, and we still had to eat lunch.

Henry is down for his nap now. The three girls are awake. Henry said, "God bless you, too," when I tucked him in and covered him with his airplane quilt at 1:30 pm. He's very sweet. Robbie said that when he entered his room first thing this morning Henry backed away in his bed and said, "No, Daddy. I want MOMMY." He feels the love. He made me smile by requesting his baseball mama shirt yesterday (which I made for him) and Dad Rules shirt today. He has his own likes and dislikes, and they amuse. He told his friend Ezra yesterday at a playdate, "Stop it. I don't like that," when his friend tried to take a Buzz Lightyear cell phone he was holding.

Oh, Olivia informed me that I misquoted her. She said about Henry, "It's like he never runs out of gas." Evelyn the other day amused me by asking if beavers need to get their teeth fixed. She asked this after I explained to her that she MUST stop sucking her thumb, because it is pushing her teeth forward. I said, "The longer you suck your thumb, the harder it will be to fix your teeth later." She really likes sucking her thumb, and she doesn't want to quit. She's a thinker, that Evelyn. I guess she realizes that beavers have teeth that stick forward too. God love her.

The girls are all excited about learning their bible songs and sign language. Olivia is reading like a maniac. I love it. She's going through numerous chapter books a day. Thank goodness we live so near a great library system. The girl in my book, The Book Thief, has two books to her name. Olivia is lucky.

I'm lucky too. I'm enjoying our summer routine with my kids. I'm exercising daily and feeling more like my pre-Vivian self. All is good.

A True Comment About Henry

Today I told my children about a study I heard about where children jumped up and down for a minute every hour on the hour at school. Their bone density increased in a dramatic way. Something appeared on the t.v. that sparked this discussion, so I encouraged the kids to jump. Henry jumped. Then he jumped and jumped and jumped some more. He then tried to jump on the couch, on the ottoman, on my bed, and in his crib for the rest of the day. At one point Olivia said, "Mom, it's like he never runs out of batteries." What a smart little girl. What an energetic boy. God bless him. I wish I could tap his energy supply. I'm tired.

Henry Keeps Us Hopping

This morning Robbie took the big girls to a field for some running fun. They did monkey bars and played with their daddy in the 7 o'clock hour. Henry woke me up with a loud, "Mommmmy!!!!" I opened his bedroom door with warm milk in hand and was greeted by my handsome son's warm smile. He was in a good mood. He told me he'd been singing Wheels on the Bus. After I gave him a dry diaper he asked for some reading time with me. He selected "all boy" book titles...Casey at the Bat, How Does a Dinosaur Say I Love You?, and Hot Rod Hampster. Hilarious! He says, "Hot Rod Hampster. Ready, set, GO!!" like a speed talker. He even let me hold him in the glider as we read. Usually, he asks to sit beside us. I enjoyed our quiet house and one on one time together. Granted, as soon as the girls charged into the living room from outside he was gone in a flash. He loves those sisters. During breakfast Henry kept giving the baby gentle kisses and patted her fluffy mohawk with his meaty paws that were sticky with jelly and toast.

Now we're in the basement. I just finished sewing a little lovey blanket for Vivian. (It is in the photos above, taken today.) Henry and Evelyn have ones that I made for them as babies, and they are very special to each of them. Unfortunately, we noticed a little mouse in our basement recently. Robbie set the trap in a very hidden area behind the treadmill and between the couch and wall. As I sewed I looked up and noticed Henry was missing. "Where's Henry?!" Olivia pointed to the exact place where the mouse trap was hidden. I rushed to my young son and found him holding the darn trap. I freaked out, grabbed his wrist, and started shaking his entire arm. The trap snapped as it flew against the wall. The girls started screaming for Robbie. I was scolding Henry. Henry was crying. His fingers are all still there. Seriously? He has never been back there in his entire life. Did he smell the peanut butter? What inspired him to crawl exactly where he didn't belong to get himself in harm's way?

Well, I think on this rainy day we are going to go have a family match of the Wii game Just Dance. I challenged all three kids the other morning for exercise, and we had a blast. Whenever I won I yelled, "Mommy's in the house!!!!" They laughed and I hugged them, and it was simply wonderful. They like when Robbie and I play each other. Our competition excites the kids.

Okay, I just took two pencils and a bottle of glue from Henry. Will we survive age two? He's so busy.

Vivian turned four months on the 8th. She's now 13 pounds 3 ounces, and has a gorgeous double chin. I'm gaga over her smile and giggles, and she's still wonderful, wonderful. My favorite lullaby to enjoy with her is Sweet and Lovely on the Plumb cd. It fits her well.

One final story, and I hope this one doesn't get me in trouble with Robbie...

The other morning when I got Henry out of his crib he kept saying, "Daddy happiness." I thought this was heart warming, and I encouraged him. "Yes. Daddy brings us happiness." "Daddy is happy. We love Daddy." He kept telling me, "No. Daddy HAPPINESS!"

(Note: I just had to restart my computer because Henry turned it off as I was typing this. That was after I got him off of the boy box where he was standing and reaching for crayons. Oh, my goodness.)

Finally, little Henry said, "Daddy ha(ve) penis." I laughed out loud and got such a kick out of how much that sentence sounded like Daddy Happiness. He then said, "Yaya (Olivia) happiness?" "No, Henry. Olivia does not have a penis." With that I'll say farewell for now.

----We had a ball playing Wii...Look at Henry dance. He makes me laugh so hard I can't compete.