For The Kids...Music

Okay, I am one of those who does not enjoy much kids music, in general it is annoying and not entertaining.  However, while checking many CD's out from the Library(a place we LOVE)  I came across these CD's of kids music and they are fabulous!  they are entertaining to kids and adults.  They are all songs by major artists so they are familiar voices singing cute songs appropriate for children.  We had tried the kids bop music but I was appalled, seriously appalled by the lyrics these young kids were singing, I think we made it through half of a song before I shut it off.

So here is a taste of our favorite songs.  Check your local library or download them, you won't be sorry.
For the Kids three, track 4: "My Little Bird" by Rogue Wave  this one is especially wonderful for me today, everyday it's different.  Track 3 is pretty hilarious "The Poopsmith Song"


This is the third of a series of CD's.  I am only aware of 3. but there may be another...I hope.   For the Kids, For the Kids Too and For the Kids three.

Enjoy!

~Keara

Sweet Birthday Text From My Daddy

Monday, August 20, 2012

Daddy:  Just had a reminder from Mom that it's your Birthday.  As I was driving home I thought of this day how long ago it seems to look back now.  How time gets away, we get so caught up with everyday stuff.  But I remember what a sweet cute face little darling girl you were.  It was a moment unlike any other, it was sweet and pure, a beautiful gift from God.  Your Mom and I gave you a name so befitting, it seems magical how it came about.  Well now your where we were and you have your own cute little ones.  It's funny how you can love so many in a special kind of way.  Well happy Birthday my little Crystal.

I love you and you make me happy.
 
Love Dad

No pics....I'm sorry!

So here I am sitting on the couch blogging.  I decided that I need to get this thing going again, seeing as how I will not be home any time soon and I think my family enjoys is...and I don't mind the comments I get from friends and family about our totally awesome life.

My midwife, came today for our monthly appointment and we listened to the heart and measured and all that fun stuff.  I told her about my strange cravings for such weird smell and how I dowsed myself in  rubbing alcohol because I could drink it and I wanted to do more than smell it(maybe I didn't tell you about), anyway, she said I must have a deficiency, which is what I had assumed, but what am I deficient in that would make me want to smell, drink or bathe in rubbing alcohol, uric acid/ammonia, and dishwasher detergent?  Acid maybe?  Oh I also love the smell of Lavender essential oil, from DoTerra.  Oh goodness, Alan coughs every time I come to bed because I rub it all over my face, in my nose and body.  Seriously, I am dying, "How do I get that goodness in me?!"
BTW, You're awesome if you know that quote.

Days seem shorter and longer at the same time.  I feel like I will never have this baby and then I feel like it has gone by so fast.  Oh, yah, my midwife appointment.  So my wonderful mother who apparently does not like surprises has repeatedly expressed her disappointment in not knowing the sex of this baby and when it will be coming.  I think it drives he crazy actually.  ;0)  Love you Mom!  So I had my midwife listen to the heart and tell me what she thinks it may be......dun duh duh dun!  She thinks it may be a girl!  Which does't really surprise me, for the past few weeks I have changed my vote from definitely boy to possibly girl.  Which I am totally ecstatic about.  I would love to have another daughter and dress her up in all sorts of ridiculous get up, like bows and flowers that are bigger than her actual head, and dresses that are so fluffy you notice it before you notice the baby inside.  I would also like to have a sweet little baby boy, who will love me always and enjoy breastfeeding, because you know all boys love boobies.  I am most looking forward to adding another sweet little life to our family, another warm body at our dinner table.  I long to see our sweet baby sitting contentedly in the swing while I am busy making dinner for my sweet family.  To have Alan walk through the door and walk over a scoop the sweet thing up and cover it in kisses.  It's so exciting.

Alan says we will have to seriously consider not having any more children if I get sick again like I did with Caleb, but I am choosing to be very positive, I will not get sick like I did.

I am 36 weeks and one day today and I am measuring 34, which is very different from my other pregnancies.  It was usually the other way around, 34 weeks measuring 36 or 38.  I feel different with this pregnancy too, I feel better, healthier.  I think I had a much better start with this one, I weighed less and had mush better eating habits.  They didn't last through the pregnancy, but I guess having a good start counts.  We do not know my exact due date, so se will be coming every week from here on out.  Which this baby does have to come out, but I am choosing not to really think about that....ah!  It is crazy to think that I may only have 4 Tuesdays left until this baby comes.  In the words of my Biff, Cray cray!

My windows are open and a nice cool breeze is blowing through them.  I love to here the June bugs in the trees and the baby birds chirp for more food.  I love the sound of the wind in the trees and to look out and see them sway.  I feel Fall coming and it makes me so excited for the fun times to come.  Around this time of year I am usually living in JoAnn Fabrics and driving around Davenport.  I would often stop by Papa Murphey's Pizza for dinner and stop by the red box for a movie.  I'd be at the grocery store buying pumpkins and planning my next amazing party with all it's amazing food and decorations.  But I'm in a new place with new surroundings.  New stores and friends, people I don't know places that aren't familiar and no Brittany or Becky to spend my days with.   I miss JoAnn Fabrics on Kimberly Road, I miss driving to Papa Murphey's to get a pizza and then a red box on the way home.  I miss driving down Jersey Ridge and seeing all the big houses that I always thought about living in myself.  I miss Trick-or-treating at the school, and driving under the skywalk and seeing Alan up there studying.  I miss the student life of Palmer in Davenport.  I never thought I would, but I do.  It's the familiarity of it all.  Knowing what tomorrow would bring, knowing you have at least 20 girls in your same shoes.  I know it's impossible to enjoy while you are it in because you just can't wait for life beyond school, no more late night study sessions, no more annoying exams that ware your poor husband out, and in turn you.  But you also don't have summer break or winter break.  You don't have a crowd of families in your same shoes with the same schedule.  You don't have magic money that appears in the mail every 3 months.  :0)

Life is different and I am adjusting to finances and this new life we have here, and I am happy, just nostalgic for those times.  Those times that have come and gone, in a flash it seems, times that we will never have back.  I heard from a million people, a million wives, that we should enjoy these times, in school and with young children because they will be gone and we will always look back on them as the best times in our lives.  At first I resented it, I did not agree, but now that school is behind us I see what they were saying.  Those were hard times, but the best of times as well.  So my new task is to cherish these days with my children being young.    With my sweet children and there messes, and Caleb walking up to me covered in blue saying "I don't eat marters."  Ellie telling me that she is prettier when she shows her shoulders.  Calvy being so eager to learn that I think he may die if I don;t teach him something, and fast.  Times when I get to sit on the couch and look out the window to the swaying trees with children's laughter in the background and feeling my baby move inside of me.  These times that will one day be gone.  I am grateful for this life and it's challenges and blessings.  I am grateful for family and friends and those who uplift us and make our lives better and easier.  I am grateful for a job, and a good job at that.  I love my family and I SO look forward to writing the post titled  "It's a _____".


I know my thoughts are kind of all over the place, but thanks for reading and letting me get them all out there.

Here's to Fall coming sooner than later.  ;0)

~Keara

Picture Post

My last post was much too long to add any more pictures, so here is a special post of just pics.  Enjoy.


p.s. I did not edit any of these, sorry they are dark...I didn't feel like it.  ;0)

Halloween decor.

This children all had a blast putting up spiders and rats and these wonderful bats.

These are from my baby shower.  Wonderful women in our ward!  It was a lot of fun, and yummy food!   Look at my beautiful diaper cake, I got 2 BTW.  Very very fun, and sweet!

Oh goodness, maybe I should have insisted on standing.  ;0)

Trying to catch a butterfly that ended up going over the fence.

Ellie;s fake sadness for not catching it.  She tries SO hard.  ;0)

Doesn't his face look funny!  He was jumping up and down saying "take my picture!"

Playing with the hose, our summer past time.

It is not always fun to be sprayed, the water here is ALWAYS cold.

Me.

After water, play.  Ironically he never got back in the water after he put his suit on.

SYLYBYE!

~Fall is on it's way~

Today has been a wonderful day.  I woke up to Alan getting out of the shower and into his work clothes(a wonderful way to wake up), then I woke up again to him saying "shoot...I'm late!  Ready for prayer?"  I lay in bed will he knelt beside the bed and prayed for us to have a good day, for us both to have the stamina we need to get throughout the day.  He preyed for me and the baby and for our health.   He expressed gratitude for our situation, our very blessed situation and the blessings that seem to flow in over and over.
I kissed him and told him I loved him and he left.  As I heard his truck start and the garage door open I jumped out of bed(well as best I can) and ran to the garage so that I could shut the door for him(it is broken and he can't close it from his car)  once I got to the garage and almost opened the door I heard his engine roar as he drove away, that's weird I thought he wouldn't have just left without closing it.  Then I opened the door to see the door closing and Calvy standing on his tip toes holding the button down so the door would close.  "Hey bud"  I said in surprise "I didn't know you were awake".
"I heard Daddy walking down the hall and woke up."

Calvy watched a show on Netflix while I read scriptures in bed, and then turned to my new best friend, this, I have carried this with me since Monday morning and have read it at any chance I had.  I am almost done, so I have had chances, but not many....and I am a ssslooooooow reader.  It is a great book though.  It has inspired me to blog again and get my memories down so that we have something to remember and cherish.  It has also helped me to relish the little things, the things that I take for granted.  I have tried harder to be with my children and play with them, to be their friend and imagine together.

We had breakfast together and spent the rest of the morning cleaning.  Calvinor(I told alan how Nie calls her 2 oldest Claine and how cute I thought it was, and he came up with Calvinor) cleaned their room as KK(also a nickname from Alan) took a morning nap.  I cleaned like a mad woman, laundry scrubbing showers and bathtubs, floors and dishes.  It felt really good, getting around these days is getting tougher, but I was grateful to have the energy to do this.  We did Face Time with my Momma and big sister, but my sound stopped working so we did sign language.  It was good to see family.  I miss Arizona these days and can;t wait to be by family...BUT will really miss the snow and seasons.

At snack time I was scrubbing the shower trying not do puke from the smell of vinegar(yuck!)

C: Can I have cheese?!
M:  Yes!
C:  Can I have pudding?!
M: Yes!
C:  Can I have mumble mumble?
M:  Yes!  Calvin!  You can have whatever you want!

I walked into the dining room a few minutes later and saw calvin eating a huge piece of chocolate  cake, leftover from a Birthday party we went to the night before.  I said "Calvin?  Cake?"  "You said I could have whatever I wanted." he said.  He was right, I did.  I was impressed though, he had taken the piece out of the tupperware it was in and got a plate and fork.  He was very grown-up and tidy about the whole thing, I would have imagined him just eating it straight from the tupperware with his fingers. another reminder that he is REALLY growing up.

Anyway, at about 1pm, I got a call from Alan informing me that we were invited to lunch with Dr. M and his wife, I was in my jammies, sweaty, and tired.  My chores were not quite done and I thought it was still morning...not 1pm.  I told him to come home and help me get the kids out the door, because I  had spent the whole morning getting after them to clean their rooms and playroom, and I was done, plus I needed a shower.
"Are you sure you have time for a shower?"
"Yes. good-bye."
We made it to lunch and had a good time out, much needed and very much within our budget.  :0)

We have had a very fortunate experience happen to us this week.  Alan went from 0 to 60 in his associateship.  Our friend and Alan's boss was in an accident and broke his leg and got pretty darn banged up.  We got the news Saturday and quickly realized that Alan would be the sole provider for care at the practice.  His first day he saw 60 patients, his second 74.  He has been running full speed and doing amazingly, I am so proud of him.  I suddenly feel like a grown-up, like we are now able to walk over that threshold into adulthood.  He comes home late feeling exhausted and ready for a break, and by the time he comes home I am exhausted and SO ready for a break, so it is tiring, but fulfilling.  Dr. M is recovering VERY well and quickly too.  They are a great family and we have been praying for them daily.

I have learned this past week that motherhood is extremely challenging in ways I never thought, one of them being that I don't know what to do.  I often find myself on the couch wondering what I  should be doing, should I play with the children, should I clean, should we go somewhere, should I....?

It's difficult for me to just sit and play with the children.  I feel I have so many other things I need to do.  Today, though, I realized that it does not need to be an all day thing, playing or chores, that there can be a balance, and needs to be.  So I played with, or watched the children play outside with the hose today.  They were being so cute.  Caleb was holding the hose and Calvinor were at the other end of the hose trying to fill up plastic bags leftover from their snacks.  They were laughing and screaming and having fun.  I could feel them making memories that they would love to look back on.  I took pictures and they poured water on my feet.  It was a nice moment to be out there and enjoy time together.  It never lasts long, everyone gets cold and ends up crying and heads inside.  Currently I am holding Caleb who fell and started to cry and as I picked him up, nuzzled his wet little head into my neck.  Calvin is crying because he was reprimanded for bullying, and Ellie is outside playing in the hose in her 3rd outfit.  Nixon is trying to annoy me by taking a mouthful of food out of his bowl and dropping it on the just to lick it up and make all kinds of disgusting marks on my nice clean floor.  Ugh.

I am very annoyed by my dog, every moment of every day, I crave the smell of my dishwasher detergent, rubbing alcohol, bleach and really any other chemical.  I confided in Alan the other day, that I am craving these weird things and confessed to sniffing alcohol several times a day.   I also told him my most embarrassing smell that I enjoy, ammonia.  I like the smell of our dirty cloth diaper bucket when I open it, not the poo smell but the ammonia, the stretch that singes my nose hairs.  I like it.......  I eat several Twizzlers a day and love to watch "Murder, She Wrote"  I am so looking forward to Fall that I have already decorated our home in Halloween attire.  We have webs and bones and bats and rats and spiders, jack-o-lanterns, you name it.  I realized today though that I now have to deal with decorations all over the house while trying to prepare for this birth.  Oh boy, I should have thought this through.  It is one of those things that if I don't end up doing it at the time that I feel, it will never happen...even if it is 2 months early.

Well, my kids are OUT OF CONTROL!  I need to go find something for them to do before someone is seriously injured or I lose my mind.  Alan is off finding new patients.  Pray for us!

So this is the end of my very all-over-the-place post.


Love to all!

This is a huge series of pictures.  These are the last moments we had with our very best friends(cousins by adoption) before they left for Davenport.   I want you to keep an eye on Calvy.  My sweet little boy.

He's trying to be so brave and not cry.  

Oh my sweet tender little boy.  I love you so much.  

~Keara