Quotable Kids

Q: Aaahhh! Eee-oooo! (OK, So she really doesn't say much yet, but she loves to try to grab the water in the bathtub. That, and I needed to find an excuse to post our latest blackmail pic.)

E: Mommy, how many grandmas do I have?

Me: Well, you have Nana and Grandma, Great-Grandma, and Grams. Your great grandmas from my side have passed away already, so you never met them.

E: Did they die because the didn't eat enough vegetables?

Me: So, why do we celebrate Christmas again?

L: Because it's when Jesus was born.

Me: And why is Jesus important?

L: Because when Jesus was baptized, the Holy Ghost was born. (We set him straight.)

E, whispering: Mommy, you have to be quiet in my room when you're feeding Q at night, because my ears don't ever go to sleep like the rest of me does.

Cory and the Girls

I think he likes having daughters, although he says he's not looking forward to paying for two weddings. How can anyone resist these two sweet faces?

I've been trying to take pictures of all the cute outfits - here's a pretty one.

And I love this smile!

I'm blanking out on kid quotes. I'll be better next time.

What we've been doing

There was a blizzard here in SLC, supposedly. Most businesses closed down early and sent people home, schools got cancelled, and events too. We haven't had a blizzard warning from the National Weather Service in a very long time, so everyone took it very seriously. Then, just about nothing happened. I went and bought firewood, just in case, and we ended up celebrating an evening at home with a disappointing blizzard outside by having a fire and hot cocoa. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Q is just about six months old! Her birthday is in a couple days, but I decided we'd have her first meal on Thanksgiving. I made more than I thought she would eat, and she at the whole thing. She must have been really ready for it, because she was opening her mouth for the spoon and swallowing like she's been doing this all her life. I'm glad it went so well - but I am sad she's growing up so fast.

Q with Nana, Thanksgiving day, at Aunt Karen's house. It was a fun day!

Aunt Karen made dress-up skirts for her nieces, and here is E modeling them. She was in princess heaven.

And finally, here is my big boy, and his latest missing tooth on the bottom. He is currently without four teeth, and has lost six total so far - with one more on the way. Any more and I'm going to have to feed him the same mush Q gets.

I drive 32 miles a day taking L to school and back, and the kids and I have a lot of deep conversations while we're driving. Here's an example:

L: I found a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth on the playground today!

Me: are you sure it's not just a rock?

L: Yes, because that's what fossils are: bones that have turned into rocks over millions of years.

Me: Umm, ok.

E: I think it's a plain rock, L.

L: No, it's not!

Me (Trying to head off an argument): Well, save it, and if you meet a paleontologist someday, you can show him and ask him about it.

L: Or, I can save it for when I'm a paleontologist.

Me: I thought you wanted to be a kid doctor. Did you change your mind?

L: Yes, because I can't do both in college, right?

Me: Probably not. Both take at least six years of college, maybe ten.

E: So, L will be gone for a long time?

Me: I'm sure he'll come home to visit.

E: Well, I want to be a paleontologist, too, then.

Me: You don't want to be a ballet teaching mail carrier anymore?

E: No, because I want to be with L. I'd miss him if he were gone that long.

And one more E quote: "You can only miss school if you're sick, or if you're in Disneyland."

Flashdance!

Ella quote: "You mean we had a a-cess-er who lived in a whale?" (We were telling the kids where their names came from, and that Lear's name came from an ancestor in Wales.)

Lear quote: Mom: "So Lear, how does it feel to be seven?"

Lear: "Good! Although, I feel taller for some reason."

The Yoga "Sleeping Monkey" Pose

This is how I found Q asleep yesterday. She is so freakin' cute!

L & E combined quote:

E: I can't get this thing right! **high volume shrieking and much gnashing of teeth**

L: Let me help.

E: Wow! You made it all better! Thank you!

L: What? That's what big brothers do: make things better.

And we keep pluggin' along.

We've officially put our house on the market. We'd like to build about half a mile away from here - it's going to be the house we live in forever, I hope. We want to pay it off ASAP, and then we'll have money to play. In the mean time, it's been crazy cleaning, de-cluttering, painting, fixing little things, and putting a new roof on the house. AND keeping the house clean for buyers with three kids in the house is nearly impossible - although no one's come to see our place yet, so it's really a moot point. For everyone who doesn't want us to move, this is good news. We still manage to have a little fun, though. Here's the proof:

I love this picture! Every once in a while I get lucky, even though I'm pretty incompetent with a camera

We went to a corn maze and out to dinner last weekend. E was very tired by the end... this is how she fell asleep. After an hour or so I had pity on her, changed her clothes and laid her down in a more comfortable position.

My kids enjoying a Sunday morning together. I sometimes think it will be a miracle if the baby survives her siblings.

E quote: "Why is there a picture of a mouse on the wall?" (We were sitting at an off ramp on the freeway, and she saw a reward sign for a lost chihuahua.)

L quote: "What do you get when you cross an octopus with a mail truck? Octo-mail! Haha! Get it? Octo-mail!" (I don't get it either, but he thought it was hilarious.)

Lear's "I Love My Family" song

This boy is such a sweetheart.

Four Months

My little Quinner is four months old! She is in the 95% for height and 57% for weight - considering her gestational age is only three months, she is gigantic!

This is how I find Quinn sleeping nearly all of the time. Cracks me up!

She's learning how to sit up, and is getting good at giggling.

And smiling all the time! I love this little outfit.

Ella quote: "Mom, you look FANCY!" I was wearing jewelry, for once.

Quote #2: "So cows have babies in their tummies, and chickens poop out their babies in eggs?"

Lear quote: Me: "What's four plus one?"

Lear: "Cinque!"

Me: "What's five minus two?"

Lear "Trois!"

I'd say his math and French skills are just fine. One in the eye of everyone who predicted he'd have problems!

BTW

I like comments. Comments are good. They make my feel like my mother isn't the only person who visits here.

Poubelles

Quinn is about 3 1/2 months old now - and time sure does fly. I haven't been too creative with my posts lately, they've mostly been here so I can share photos with my momma, and everyone else, of course. Maybe someday I'll be feeling creative again, but in the meantime, here's some pics of our lives lately.

I've had this little outfit since Ella was a baby - I was glad to have another girl, so I could re-use all the cute dresses I have. Of course, the cute baby in the dresses makes everything even better.

Ella had her first day of preschool! I can't believe she's that big already. I love this little lady so much, even though her screeching can fray my nerves sometimes. I'm telling ya, if I can ever teach her how to carry a tune, she's got the lungs to be an opera star someday.

Everyone's been saying how much Quinn looks like my sister, Gia, so I had to get a pic of them together.
Finally, I've been getting lots of these smiles lately, and I love them. Sometimes, if you look right in her eyes and smile and talk to her, she'll hold conversations with you. It is so cute!

Ella quote: "I don't want to eat the macaroni (Ella speak for pepperoni) because it has lettuce sauce all over it." She means salad dressing - I was laughing so hard!

Lear quote: Me: "So Lear, what did you learn at school today?"

Lear: "Ummm, well, mmmm, uh - I don't remember." Awesome! Although in his defense, half of his classes are in French. He's learning, though - he knows some colors, a few useful words, and most importantly, the word for garbage can. How can he possibly function without knowing the word for garbage cans?

Ella Dancing

We're doing lots of girl stuff while Lear's at school.

Just hanging out

Quinn always looks so excited. I need to get some pictures of her smiling - she's been smiling a lot. I can't wait to hear her laugh! The last picture is what I found my kids doing after school one day. I'm very grateful that Lear and Ella are best friends. I hope it lasts for the rest of their lives.

Lear quote: "Remember we saw sea lions at the Sea Lion Caves? I even saw a mommy sea lion guarding her eggs." (Don't worry, I made sure he knows that they're mammals, and have live young.)

Ella quote: "I need to make sure my imaginary friend's pet turtle's babies haven't gotten lost."

Just the girls

Ella decided to put on her leotard and dance shoes - and she's never even been in a dance class. I guess I need to get her in one. She keeps asking me to teach her ballet, because she knows I've taken a couple years of ballet classes. I showed her a few simple things, like Grand Jetes and the five arm and foot positions. Click on the picture to enlarge it - Ella's sticking her tongue out in concentration, which I think is hilarious.

And here are all us girls. I feel blessed to have such beautiful children. I try to remind myself of that every time I feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Which can be relatively often.

Ella quote: "No, Mommy, it's a ballet dress, not a leotard."

Lear quote: (This is a song that he's composed recently.) "Mars, Mars, what is Mars? Stick in some bubblegum, and you got Mars!"

National Lampoon's Jaynes Vacation

Ever had one of those trips when nothing seemed to go right? Well, this was ours. We got stuck in Boise while out Yukon got it's transfer case replaced (Gary's Automotive in Boise rocks!) which cost us about $2200. We left Cory's phone charger in Boise. The kids got sick. We almost hit a deer on the way home. It was fun. We did, however, get a lot of swimming in at the hotel in Boise. Here's Quinn's first swimsuit.

And Cory doing cannonballs.

We went to the Oregon coast where we visited the sea lion caves.

And where Lear did a face plant at the beach.

We were going to go to OMSI in Portland, too, but we decided to stay home to give Lear and Ella a chance to recover from their colds. On the trip home, which took 15 1/2 hours, we stopped at a pizza joint in Boise (where I left our baby wipes).

It was still worth it to visit the family in Oregon, in spite of everything.

Ella quote #1: "I think my eye spit something out." (She had eye slime.)

Ella quote #2: "I can't eat that because a bug peed on it." (She comes up with a lot of creative reasons not to finish her food lately.)

Lear quote: "Mommy, you're my scubapicklegum collection." (It's apparently a term of endearment. He likes to say random things that make no sense. He thinks it's fun.)

Ella Quote of the Year

We are going to Oregon to visit my parents for a week. I went out to get some last minute things, and when I came back, Ella was in bed, but still awake. Here was our conversation:

Ella: Mommy, will you stay home with me tomorrow?

Me: Why? Don't you want to go to Oregon?

E: No. Not anymore.

Me: Why not?

E: Because Bigfoot lives there.

Me: (Trying not to laugh) You don't have to worry about Bigfoot. He's not real.

E: Are you sure?

Me: Yes, I'm positive.

E: Because Grandma Janes told you so?

Me: Uh, sure. Besides, you have a strong, tall, handsome Daddy who can beat up Bigfoot any time. You'll be safe. Where did you hear about Bigfoot, anyway?

E: It was on iCarly.

(For the record, Lear has also watched a show called Monster Quest on the History Channel about Bigfoot. iCarly is not solely to blame.)

What's with my kids falling on their faces?

Recently, mother left a message requesting that I make another post, because she didn't like looking at Ella's beat-up face every day. Sooooo, I've decided I'd see if she liked seeing Lear's beat-up face any better. He got the scrape from falling off his bike, and I think the scratch under his eye came from Ella, whose fingernails are her favorite weapon.

Quinn is now two months old. I'm not a photographer, so I can't post really cool pictures of her like some great people do, but here's a pic of her in her blessing outfit, anyway. She has grown four inches, and gained almost five pounds in the last two months. She is in the 88th percentile for her height, and 60th for her weight! Not bad, for a preemie that the doctors wouldn't let me take home because she wasn't gaining enough weight (among other things, of course.)

And finally, my three terrorists (I mean beautiful, wonderful children) all enjoying each other's company.

Lear quote: "Ella thinks she can tell me what to do! She CAN'T! Only Mommy and Daddy can!"

Ella quote: "Quinn is learning how to use her hands. She says, 'Wow, that's mine! What can I do with it now?' and stuff."

It's a Shiner!

Ella was playing at her cousin's house, and forgot that they had a front porch. She fell forward and slammed her face into the sidewalk. According to reports, however, she didn't cry - she's a tough one, and so is her noggin, apparently. She's bruised and scraped up, but she didn't suffer a concussion. (Don't feel guilty, Carolee - we know accidents happen, and Ella can be pretty klutzy. It's all good!)

Ella quote: "Mommy, why do we have two heads?"

Mommy: "I don't understand."

Ella: "You know, the head, and the forehead. Why are there two?"

Lear quote: "Quinn's the cutest baby I've ever seen since Ella."

1 Month Old

Quinn is wearing a skirt that Ella got for her birthday, but I thought she'd make a great Flamenco dancer in it as a dress.

My parents and the kids.

Quinn's first day at church.

Lear and Ella love to play with Quinn on her little play mat.

So far, so good. This baby has been a new experience for me, since she has hair and likes to sleep. Neither of my other kids had these qualities, so it's quite refreshing. Lear and Ella love to play with her, but their idea of playing is getting five millimeters away from her face and talking to her. I have to chase them away every so often to let her breathe. We love her a lot, and we're really enjoying her presence here in our home.

More Quinn pics

Quinn's here!

Here are some pics of our last week. Quinn was born last Thursday via emergency c-section, because my water had broken, I was in labor, and she was breach. I was terrified, but we made it through. Quinn was five weeks early (just like Lear) and has spent the last week in the NICU. We hope that she can come home tomorrow. I won't bore you all with all our griping about having a baby in the NICU - if you want details, you can call me. Let's just say that we are exhausted, frustrated, and ready to be a family again.

Cory and I cannot express our gratitude to all those who have been so generous to us with their time and cooking. We are so blessed by all the support we have received. To all our neighbors, family members, and especially the NICU nurses, THANK YOU. We love you guys.