Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas

I have not done a good job of keeping this blog current.  The last few months of 2011 flew by and I didn't share what happened.  I won't be able to do them all justice, but here is a little re-cap of our holiday season.

1-Thankful turkey

2-Christmases--we celebrated Christmas twice.  On December 16-17th we had Christmas with all the Erickson clan that lived in Virginia.  Nina was only home for a short time and we wanted to be able to celebrate with her, so we hung stockings, had a sleepover, woke up early and all opened presents!  Then the next week--the real Christmas we celebrated Christmas eve with just the seven of us.  Christmas morning we opened presents and ate breakfast and went to church to sing in the choir.  We were still busy with family after church with a visit to the Ehlers and the Ericksons.

3-rounds of stomach flu--Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  don't ask.

4-elves help set up the tree

5 pills taken every 8 hours to calm the pain in my mouth. (3 Advil, 2 acetaminophen)

6 months old when Erica learns to crawl, climb, and gets her first 2 teeth7 days off school (not including weekends). that's not a very big Christmas vacation. 

11 Grandchildren together on the Ehlers' side for Thanksgiving

12 years old is how old you had to be to go the John Schmidt fireside the same night as the ward trunk-or-treat.  So Elizabeth went to the fireside and sacrificed getting lots of candy, but she got a photo, an autograph and  LOVED it.

Halloween 2012: golden princess, Daisy from Mario, Athena, and Hippie

17 piece dollhouse furniture set that Maire got for Christmas.  the girls painted it different pretty colors.

37 people gathered together for Thanksgiving and to visit with Great-Grandma Alley

20 of us got the stomach flu

a visit from the Tooth Fairy

Well, we are having a lot of happenings revolving around teeth these days!

Erica now has 6 teeth, two on bottom, four on top!  It looks like there are more ready to burst and she is gnawing on everything, but especially loves metal.  Her diet is varied, which is normal for her age I understand, but somedays she doesn't eat much more than Cheerios and formula, while other days she feasts on pears, corn, vegetable soup, chicken, mac and cheese, and banana bread.  




Maire lost her first tooth on Tuesday!  Boy that was a long run.  It has been loose for at least a month, along with the one next to it.  They have both been bothering her.  They were loose enough to give her discomfort and stop her from eating even the foods she likes (which are not many) but not loose enough to get out of her mouth.  We tried and tried.  Then yesterday before school she accidentally twisted her tooth! It caught her off guard and Rachael yells, "Pull it out Maire!"  And she did.  So glad the trauma of that tooth is over.  Because it came out with very little pain and no blood, I hope all her nervousness of loosing a tooth is gone and the other loose teeth won't be as dramatic.  Having a tooth bother you is really a pain in and of itself.  It affects how you eat and talk.  You can feel the abnormality of it all the time.  It has happened with all our girls that with certain loose teeth, they become distracted and drawn into themselves while either wiggling it with their tongue or testing how far it can go.  In those moments they aren't very attentive in school or to friends or to their mother.

And on the other end of the spectrum, I have been experiencing severe mouth pain centered around a specific tooth for over 3 months.  I had been to the doctor four of five times since October and told him a specific tooth that was bothering me but x-rays and visual exams showed nothing, just some recession that floride and a special toothpaste for sensitive teeth should fix.  But it didn't.
--I started going into a very long story.  But the short version is that finally, last week an x-ray showed a 'dark area' that could be a root canal.  HURRAY!!  if it is a root canal then it is fixable.  I got the root canal today.  I will still be sore for at least 3 days, maybe as many at 7 because it was so inflamed, but hopefully, by next week the sensitivity to hot, cold, and air will be gone.  By next week perhaps i will stop clentching my teeth so much because the pain is gone. I hope that all will be well.  I am so DONE with the dentist!

Lovely

Savings

Daylight Savings.  It ended today.  Again.
Every year when we get one extra hour.
If feels pretty good until April comes around again and we start 'saving daylight' again.
And every year I try to be conscience of how I use that extra hour.  But that gets tricky.  When is that extra hour?  Is it before I go to sleep?  Is it when I try to sleep in in the morning?  I hope the extra hour isn't really at 2am because then it is wasted when I am not around to enjoy it.
But this year, I knew exactly when my extra hour came.  At 9:30am I was up and showered.  The kids were also cleaned and dressed and mostly fed (it is fast Sunday so they weren't all fed), and ready for church.  We usually aren't this ready until after 10 for sure.  So there I was...staring at my extra hour.
I played with my baby.
Part of me thought, there must be something better I should be doing with this hour.  I still had one more chapter to read for Sunday School, I still hadn't called either of my Grandmas to see how their new houses are.  I didn't change the batteries in the fire alarms (i still need to do that).  Nor did I review the contents of our 72 hour kits.  I laughed and cuddled and sang and smiled with my baby.
OK, maybe I only actually played with her for 30 minutes, the other half of the hour I was getting her dressed, changing a diaper, trying to see if she wanted to eat.  But all the while I was with my baby.

Then it hit me.  This may be the last time I get to spend daylight saving extra hour with one of my babies.  :(
I don't know if I will have another baby.  I think right now the chances are 50/50.  Life is crazy.  Life is expensive.  We still live in a townhouse.  And, I am getting older.  This last pregnancy took quite a toll on me and in turn the whole family.  It may be that another baby just isn't going to happen.  And...6... ... ...that is a lot of kids to take care of.  With all of these thoughts in my head, it makes each moment with Erica more precious to me.  I want to savor it, to NEVER forget it.  She is still so little. So demanding. So constant.  But I can't imagine my life without one of these little souls clinging to me and I clinging to them.
I know I am blessed.  And I have 5 wonderful daughters to care for, to teach and to raise.  There will be tough roads ahead and they will need me, just like I needed my mother.  Being there for them as they grow up is just as important as being there for them when they were babies.  But, I will miss being the mother of a baby.

Elizabeth 

Rachael

Maire

Sarah

So for now I am making memories,
and saving them.

Reading Snapshot-October

One blog I saw had a list of the books the kids were currently reading.  It sounded like a fun idea so I thought I would do it too.  

Elizabeth is reading: Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson.  Where one sister is cursed to have jewels and diamonds fall out of her mouth and one sister is cursed to have toads and serpents fall out of her mouth.  Follow that with tough choices, possible 'prince charmings' and life lessons.  She read it in a day (typical).  I picked it up and started reading it in between lunch and dishes but there were a lot of Indian names that tied my tongue so I got frustrated.  I find that if I can't pronounce a name in my head, I can't keep the characters straight.  But I am going to try again because it sounds really good.

Sarah brought home Rapunzel's Revenge!!  I was very excited for this one.  It is one of Shannon Hale's stories (she did it with her husband and brother).  I read about it on the cover jacket of one of her other books but couldn't find it at the public library.  Sarah found it at the school library this year!  It has a long list of 'holds', but one of Sarah's friends checked it out and after she read it, she let Sarah bring it home (what a nice girl).  Loved it!  It is a graphic novel/comic book, but other than that it is done in true Shannon Hale style.  Rapunzel grows up in a 'wild west' like setting.  She escapes from her tower without a prince and her quest is to free her mother who she found out was being held captive by Mother Gothel.  Along the way she--and her new friend Jack--help many people who have also been affected because of Mother Gothel's selfishness.  The pictures are fun and I love how Rapunzel uses her hair against the 'gun slingers.' 

Rachael is reading all of the above as well, but she also read "Tumtum and Nutmeg" stories about a nice mouse couple who live in Rose Cottage with a family who have two children.  It is a compilation of three sweet stories.  I love how Tumtum and Nutmeg love each other and care about the family of humans they live with and the other mice they meet.  Rachael loves these feel good animal stories.  In fact when I was pregnant last year at this time, and feeling so sick, she would read to me from the books that she checked out of the library while I lay down in my bed.  She is as sweet as these mice.

Maire has library day once a week now!  I love kindergarten :) 

She came home this week with Princess Penelope Takes Charge.  When Penelope gets a baby brother, she is very disappointed because boys can't be princesses, and she wanted the baby to be a princess with her.  But as the baby gets older Penelope realizes that he can be just as fun to do things with and finally realizes he is a prince.

Maire has adjusted well to Erica being around.  I don't think she wishes Erica was a boy, but perhaps that Erica was more fun to play with at this point.  But for now, Maire sings her songs, makes her laugh, picks up the toys that are dropped, and reads books.  And, she likes to check out new books every week.

Six Months

Curiosity

I have discovered something about Erica over the last few weeks.
Curiosity > Hunger
I have never had a baby so curious!  She wants to know what is going on all the time.  And actually, she never knows what is going on, but she wants to be a part of what is going on.  If she hears a noise, she snaps out of sleep or away from food.  Anything that has to do with her sisters being home, she does NOT want to miss.  Columbus Day weekend was horrible because everyone was home all day for three days. She didn't sleep or eat very well. She was so tired (and so was I) by Monday afternoon.
I finally realized that I can't fight this curiosity.  If she doesn't eat for four hours, she doesn't eat for four hours. And hopefully when she does eat, she will pay attention and eat a full meal.  It seems to be working.  I was even in the habit of offering to nurse her before we went someplace because I knew we would be gone when she needed to eat, but she didn't know I was offering a meal.  To her everything was just snacktime. Now I wait at least three hours, sometimes four.  And she EATS!
Better eating also brings about better sleeping.  And that makes everyone happier.
Whose idea was it for mothers to be woken up continually through the night?  We all know that a tired Mom is a grumpy Mom and that does not bode well for anyone in the entire family.  When Mom is tired- not taking out the garbage can somehow prevent her from being able to make dinner?  When Mom is tired, she starts making absurd threats, "If you don't clean your room you won't be able to read a book for a month." (there is no way of enforcing that punishment).  When Mom is tired all her energy is spent changing diapers (again), feeding the baby (again), and trying to get the baby to sleep (again).  Chocolate Chip cookies just don't get made.  And if they do, most of the dough is eaten before the kids come home anyway.  Then I just feel guilty, and tired, and fat.
But I'm feeling better now and I am going to bed as soon as I'm done typing this. :)

Just a few other things about the rest of life:
Elizabeth is going to try out for the fall musical at middle school and is writing a TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) fan fiction story.
Sarah is trying to put together a bake sale to donate money to the red cross.
Maire is learning to read.  There is nothing more fun than watching a child have the world open up to them with words.
Rachael CRACKS ME UP!!  she is the cutest 8-year-old blonde you'll ever see with a grin full of mischief every second.  I hear her tell Maire, "Maire, did you know you are in mid-air?"
"You are. You are in mid-air right now.  Do you see this?  It is air.  It is everywhere, all the time.  So, we are mid-air."  
One night we were playing Apples to Apples and everyone was counting their cards to make sure they had enough.  Rachael starts counting her cards which are in one stack in her hand.  As she starts to count, she puts the card she just counted back in her hand on the bottom of her stack.  She just kept counting and counting, all the while putting her cards back in the stack.  I lost it!
Shoot, I can't remember the other funny things I was going to share about Rachael.  I'll have to remember later.