Is nothing sacred?!?!

Derek and I are parents who perpetuate the lie of Santa.  We tell our children there's a fat bearded man in a red suit at the North Pole watching their every move to determine if 365 days of choices determine if they receive a present on December 25. 

This isn't about whether it's right or wrong to lie to your children about fictional personages.

Alayna turned 8 in November.  She's known about the Tooth Fairy being Mom and Dad since kindergarten due to Derek having difficulty locating teeth under her pillow when she was sleeping on the top bunk and woke her.

I've just been waiting for her to connect the dots between the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.

Some parents go through great lengths to convince their kids Santa is a genuine person when the subject is broached.  But if the kid wants to come clean, then come clean.

So when Alayna sat down on the couch and said, "Mom, I think you and Dad are Santa," I said, "Why do you think that?"  Then she expounded on the Tooth Fairy story.

"Well, if Dad and I are Santa, what do you think of that?"  No shattered dreams, no tears.  She was very blasé about it.

"So, are you?"

"Yes, we are.  But you are not allowed to tell Isaac and Maren or your friends about this secret."

"Okay, Mom."

...a few days later...

Isaac is jumping up and down in the back of the van as we're ready to head out to run errands.  All four kids and I are in the van waiting for Derek to come.

"Mom and Dad are Santa!  Mom and Dad are Santa!"  He was jumping and chanting in unison, excited about the secret his sister just shared with him.  His sister got the death glare.  I told him to be utterly silent and to not mention another word about Santa Claus until I had a chance to sit and talk with him.

...this afternoon....

I watch my niece on Thursdays when her mom's in class in Boise.  I had my three at home plus my niece in the car on the way home from another friend's house.  I hear a whisper in the back seat...

"Beiley, did you know Santa's not real?"

"ISAAC DEREK BECK!  You SHUT your mouth and you are going to your room when we get home!!!"

After 15 minutes of his internment, I went to my son's room and he got a talkin'-to.  You can imagine the type of discussion we had.

But seriously, Alayna figured out the great myster of St. Nick, that's fine.  She told her brother and paid her dues.  And Isaac telling his cousin...seriously?!?  Can't you kids just respect the secret?  Ugh!  I don't know if he ruined Santa for her or not, but regardless.

Kids these days.

Alayna is Eight, part 2

Whenever there's a family event, I fantasize all the wonderful memories I'll capture on my camera.  Down the golden paths of time, I will look back and say, "Oh yes, I'd forgotten that.  Look at the good times we had."

Yeah, right!

I forget when these family events happening, I have several other duties straining at my time and attention that keep my hands and mind far away from taking pictures.

So, as my kids say, "You get and you get and you don't throw a fit."

Here are pictures of Alayna's friend party at Jumpin' Jungle in Nampa.  Half of our guests got lost trying to find it, but once everyone arrived, they had a good time!  After 80 minutes of playing in the different jump-houses, we had the 'Giraffe' party room reserved for pizza, cake, and gifts.  Alayna had a great time and I was really happy for her.

Kristen loved being pushed around in these little cars.  Or if you left her to her own devices, she would scoot herself backwards until she hit an obstacle.  I tried getting her into the littlest bouncey-house but she was not interested in the slightest.

Immediately after the Jumpin' Jungle party we had to high-tail it home and then to the school for a dance performance Alayna had been rehearsing weeks for.  But that's for another post.

That evening we had a Beck family dinner (sloppy joe sliders, anyone?) and birthday party (complete with BSU/TCU viewing via DVR, such a sad game).  Poor girl, having a birthday in November means her parties will always revolve around football somehow, especially in such a football family like ours.

Happy birthday, baby girl!

Alayna is Eight, part 1

Dear Blogger world, my baby is eight years old today!!!  I can't believe it.  And she starts Activity Days next week and she'll be baptized December 3.  She's not supposed to be so grown-up, is she?  Sigh, I know she is.  And I know she'll just keep growing up on me.  I love that little woman to pieces.

I have to do it...it's my right as a mom.  I'm going to share her birth story and the prelude to it, because I haven't blogged it yet (I don't know why I feel the need to blog it, yet I must.  So, stop reading now if you're not interested).

Her whole pregnancy was wonderful.  I graduated from BYU at 13 weeks gestation (shaking hands with then-Elder Eyring with Cheezit residue on my fingers from snacking during the ceremonies to curb nausea).  I was able to work off-and-on throughout the summer of 2003 helping out at the Cougareat.  My due date was November 4 (Election Day). 

One day in late September I over-did it a little at work.  We went to Derek's cousin's volleyball game that Friday evening and I was having regular contractions.  They weren't hurting, but my tummy was Braxton-Hicks-ing like mad.  We had a delivery class at the hospital the next morning, so I decided to sleep on it and go to the hospital early before the class and be monitored, be told everything was okay, then go to the class.

When I woke up the next morning I decided to take a bath and I was so woozy and light-headed.  Derek took me to Timpanogos Regional with wet hair and I told them my complaints.  I was 34 weeks.  The machines registered regular yet faint contractions and tests were done to determine if I was in labor or if my body was just practicing.  It was just practicing, so after 8 hours of monitoring and dosages of labor-retarding medications and they sent me home on bed-rest.  Derek and I went to my parents' house in Alpine to watch a certain football game on their big screen, and I was religious in drinking and peeing regularly and staying off my feet.

I woke up at 5 the next morning, Sunday, with 5 minute contractions again.  I woke Derek, we went back to the hospital.  More tests, more labor-retarding medications.  I was released Monday morning with more medications and more strict bed rest.

They let me off bed rest at 37 weeks.  I remember my sister, Cathy, driving me to my weekly ultrasounds to determine the condition of the baby.  But other than that, nothing eventful happened until week 41. 

I was overdue, which I was told was common with first babies (and she's not my only one to do that, either).  Here's where the 'woefully uneducated' part comes in.  The events of this delivery dramatically changed my point-of-view on all things relating to pregnancy, labor, and delivery.  But I won't hash into that right now.  My doctor wanted to induce me, so on November 11 I went to the hospital at 5 p.m. for a treatment of Prostin gel, which is applied to the cervix to encourage it to open.  Typically, Prostin is applied, the mother is monitored for a while, then sent home with orders to return the next morning for another application, which usually sets things in motion.

I had received my Prostin and was watching something like Entertainment Tonight or some other celebrity news show on the TV when everything turned upside down.  Suddenly a flock of nurses rushed the room.  My bed was reclined so it was flat, an oxygen mask was gripped to my face, and I was experiencing tremendous internal pains as one nurse hastily rinsed the Prostin from my body.  Thoughts raced through my brain, that while I didn't expect my delivery to be a nice little episode of A Baby Story, I don't remember the part of any show or other mom's experiences where a half-dozen nurses storm the room and things are in chaos.  Finally, things settled down and I realizing I was squeezing a hand.  I didn't know whose hand it was, and I relaxed my grip and followed the arm up to my husband's concerned face.  I felt weak and defeated.  Here's what happened:

The doctor and staff said they'd never seen this happen to another expectant mother before (however, I learned afterward that this is indeed a documented side-effect of Prostin).  My body reacted quite quickly to the gel and it resulted in a solid 4-minute contraction.  I didn't feel any pain--I was accustomed to Braxton-Hicks and I was distracted by my TV show.  I wasn't aware anything was amiss.  As a result of this 4-minute squeeze my baby was under stress and her heart-rate plummeted.  They rushed my room, rinsed out the Prostin, shifted the baby around inside me to get a normal HR reading, and they inserted a tiny internal-HR monitor in her scalp.  This of course had broken my water and I was stuck in the hospital for the long-haul.

I requested my epidural and that was a Godsend...I felt a warm numbness spread across my body.  After the shocking experience of before, it was a welcome relief.

However, monitoring showed the baby's HR still dropped from time-to-time.  The doctor said just one more time and I would be taken to the OR, the baby couldn't handle any more stress.  A c-section was something I greatly feared.  I didn't want anything to do with it.  They propped half of me up to increase my own circulation to help the baby, and I listened zealously to the 'beep-beep-beep' pattern on the machines.  I shifted myself if I thought I heard it slack in the slightest.  Even though I had all the OR consent forms signed, there ended up being no need to take me away from my room that night.

When we learned I wouldn't be leaving the hospital, we called my parents and they came to visit.  They ended up staying for the duration of the delivery.  Mom had a nice chat with the doctor, who had also delivered a few of her other grandchildren, and whose father had delivered my oldest sister.  Dad stayed in a corner at a table where he was as far away from the action as possible. 

A little before midnight I started to feel the need to push.  I was glad for that, that the epidural hadn't obliterated all my sensation.  I could feel the surges before they picked up on the monitor.  Derek was holding one leg and a nurse was holding the other--except each time the contractions and pushing stopped she'd annoyingly retreat to another corner of the room and make notes on her clipboard.  Then another contraction would start and I wanted to push and she was over in la-la land taking notes.  Come lift my leg, woman!!!

I threw up and had severe chills.  I pushed and pushed, for just over an hour. Alayna came on 11/12/03 at 12:42 in the morning.  7 lb 2 oz.  I didn't tear or anything.  A lot of details are lost to memory and that's probably a good thing.

Okay, there you go.  It's Saturday morning and we have a lot going on today, so I need to get my mommy-groove on.  We'll post pictures of her parties later.  Gosh, I'm starting to tear up again...darn it!!!  Hasta la vista, readers.  Thanks for sharing this day with me.

Beck-o-ween

I know you've been dying to read how the Becks fared this Halloween season.  Here's the update to fill you in on the juicy news. 

We have some amazing friends (thanks, Paul and Jolene!) who let us have our pick from their pumpkin patch.  Here we are carving our pumpkin creations.  You can see where Derek's attention is really focused, though (Go Cards!!).

Finished products:  Maren wanted a kitty cat, I carved a face from a template, Alayna's has hearts and "LOVE" on it (Derek believes it's the most un-Halloween jack-o-lantern ever), and Isaac's is a green scary-faced pumpkin.  And there are lots of baby pumpkins, completing the happy family.

Here they are Halloween night.  We went to a church trunk-or-treat, then went to Grandma's house for treats and so she could see them in their costumes.  Alayna's a 'princess witch', Isaac is a dragon (a purple one this year for a change), Maren is Cinderella (although she also contemplated being Rainbow Brite again or a green dragon), and Kristen is donning the Carebear suit, which has been often-used and well-loved among my family.   Sorry it's too bright.

It was really hard getting a shot of just Kristen.  You can see in the picture above, Alayna had to restrain her to get Kristen to stay in the shot.  Most of the pictures I took are her running away from me. This was the best one I got, and she was so happy and sweet I had to share it.



I cannot believe it's November 2 already (and Kristen is 16 months today!!!).  October flew by, what with conference and the Primary program going on.  My Alayna will be 8 in ten days, then the holidays and her baptism...life is just slipping by and before I know it it'll be summer again.

Another give away post

Don't get excited, I'm not giving anything away, I'm just blogging about another Meanest Mom give away so I get more entries.

Picturesque

Not the most flattering picture of me, but I like the effect of the light coming throughthe blinds behind me.  Maren took this when she was playing with the camera (likely without permission) and I'm pretty sure she played with the settings.  Anyway, I think it's kinda neat. 

Plus, I'm playing with the scheduling features on the new blogger so I can teach myself how to use it.  And this random picture seemed like a good excuse to give it another go.

People who need people are the luckiest people in the world

A day last week when we were just goofing off and documenting it to show posterity. 

I'm sure someday my kids will grow up and have kids and ask me if they were as rambunctious/obnoxious/rowdy/bizarre as the wee ones they're raising.  And I'll show them this antique system of recording information called 'blogging' (I'm sure in 20 years it'll be obsolete, right?) and show them, yes, yes my children, you were children once, too.

I don't know why Maren isn't in any of these shots.  Poor middle child.

Primary Program

Videos of the kids saying their parts at home.  Just because.

I should add that the Primary kids all wrote their parts themselves.  Their teachers asked them questions about the class's theme and their answers became the part they said.

Isaac... (the kids in his class all say ways we can follow the prophet)

Alayna...(her class's theme was My Body is a Temple)

It speaks for itself

This, along with similar images, has been circulating rapidly on Facebook.  I put it on here so I can remember it get closer to my goal of printing it and putting a copy in each of my children's bedrooms.

Cheesy!

Kristen got into my Primary stuff that I left out after my meeting Wednesday morning.  She put these on all by herself and walked around with them proudly, babbling contendedly. 

Yes, I recognize the strangulation hazard; the strings didn't remain on her neck long after I took the picture.

But isn't she such a ham???

Reverse Psychology

I think Maren has lovely hair. 

I had it trimmed a little last January but otherwise I've left it alone.

I think Maren has lovely hair,

but Maren doesn't often cooperate when I want to take care of it.  I'm not a super hair-stylin' mama; I just want to brush it, maybe do a braid or a ponytail.  Nothing complicated.  It's still a battle 90% of the time I want to transform her hair from a rat's nest to a pleasant-looking 'do.

I have said in the past if she doesn't let me comb it, I'll have to cut it short like her cousin's hair.  (Her cousin has a nice bob, but Maren always protests at the thought of cutting it.)

The other night I was fed up with her not letting me comb her hair after her bath so I told her to bring me the scissors so I could cut it off because she wouldn't let me turn her 'scary hair' into 'princess hair'.  About 5 minutes later she walks in with the orange-handled Fiskars in one hand and these remnants in the other:

Instead of bringing me the scissors she took it up on herself to experiment with a short style.  Thank heavens she only trimmed a small chunk of hair near her ear instead of cutting it close to the scalp on the top of her head.  I couldn't get mad at her because she didn't know I wasn't serious about cutting it.  In her mind, what's the difference between Mom cutting it and trying to trim it herself?  For all I know she may have heard me tell her to cut her own hair; but knowing Maren that's a generous statement. 

Once when I was little I wouldn't brush my teeth when Dad asked me to.  He said, "Okay, I'll just go get the drill from the garage so I can drill your teeth and I won't have to pay the dentist to do it later." 

That reverse psychology worked.

Mine did not.

Down on the Farm

A few weeks ago I took Maren and Alayna to The Farmstead. 

We had a pretty good time, just us girls!

Maren catchin' some air!

Alayna's face-painting.  (It's kind of silly, isn't it, Mom?)

In the famous big rocker!



We also took a hayride in the dark, shot a pumpkin launcher, watched some school staff kiss a pig, rode on the barrel-train, and lots more.  It was a really enjoyable night with my girls.

Look Who's Walking Now ~and~ The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall

Part 1.

Guess who learned a new trick last week!

Part 2.

Guess who took a small spill last night and hit her head on the only hard part on our couch!

It's a trick to let a baby put ice on her forehead.  In fact, she simply won't let you do it.  It looks much better this morning.  But still!  She also didn't appreciate the close-up shots with lights flashing in her eyes.  I took about umpteen pictures trying to get it right!

Shattered

The culprit...

The weapon...

The crime...

Our violin virtuoso

Okay, 'virtuoso' is a stretch!  But last month Isaac had his first violin recital, after taking lessons for about 4 months.  He played a little warm-up piece called "Little Bunny Hop Hop" that I think the teacher may have made up for her students, but that doesn't matter.  But he played his piece and he was the very first one and he did great! 

I didn't record him playing in the chapel--didn't feel right to take pictures in the chapel--so I took pictures and a video in the hall as he warmed up. 

Untitled from Amy Beck on Vimeo.

Right now he is learning different varations of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," which means he learns the song but plays it in different rhythm patterns.  His teacher uses the Suzuki method, which is fun because I am not familiar with it, so it's like I get to go to violin lessons, too!  (Except I'm usually spending most of my time tempering Maren and getting Kristen out of trouble.)

Charity

We probably all agree that this world can be a messed-up place. A really messed-up messy place. Sometimes I think we all need to just take a step back and realize what little consequence other people's actions have on our happiness. Try not to get so hot and bothered about what other people are doing. A friend shared a personal experience with me that I'd like to share with you. I'll title it, The Parable of the Pies.


The Parable of the Pies

A woman was asked to help with refreshments for a Relief Society activity and she lovingly spent painstaking hours preparing several pies for the event. She cleaned out the trunk of her car and carefully arranged the pies to minimize the risk of jostling and spillage during their transport to the church. She got in her vehicle and travelled at a snail's pace for the few miles that covered the distance between her home and her destination.

Doesn't this woman sound like a nice lady? The kind of person you'd like for a neighbor, right?

Sometime after leaving her home, the woman's vehicle was being followed by another car. The other driver was livid with the tortoise-like speed she was maintaining. With much honking and gesturing, he took the soonest opportunity to pass her and shouted some choice words out the window as he did.

Do you think the guy would've displayed such behavior if he knew the lady was carrying a precious delivery of pies in her trunk?

For me, 'pies in the trunk' has become a way of thinking from an other's perspective, to walk a mile in his moccasins. Sometimes people have a good reason for doing what they're doing, and just because you don't understand it doesn't mean you should get bent out of shape over it. That doesn't mean you have to like what everyone around you is doing, but perhaps just grin, bear it, and let go. Does it really hurt you? Does this person have any intentions of hurting you, or did you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and it just really irritated you? Think twice about things, give people the benefit of the doubt. A little charity goes a long way.

(Come to think of it, someone might read this and think I'm in way over my head in saying some of these things. But, there you have it. I just might have a few pies in my trunk.)

The Meanest Mom Giveaway!

The Meanest Mom is my most favorite blog to follow.  If you notice, on the right side of your screen I have a button to her site, because I think everyone would love her as much as I do.  She's doing a giveaway of a $100 giftcard (sponsored by BlogHer and OnStar), and part of my entry is blogging about her blog.  If you want to read more about the new featured OnStar rearview mirror and the gift card, just go here! 

Go Wildcats!

There they are, my two little scholars.

Alayna's first day was yesterday.  Isaac's kindergarten is on a block schedule and he's on the B days, so he goes every other day, all day.  Here the kids are stylin' in their cool Crimson Point spirit-wear shirts.  I decided to be not-cheap and get them this year, shocker. 

Alayna's very comfortable in her routine.  By 2nd grade, it's pretty familiar, I guess.  She left the playground this morning without saying goodbye to me.  I looked for her to give her a hug, but she vanished.  On one hand, I'm glad she's happy and eager to go off and do her own thing, but on the otherhand, I'm a bit sad that she didn't need reassurance from me before venturing off.  What's a mom to do?!

Isaac is very happy to start school!  He's not as nervous as Alayna was her first days.  Probably because he has an ol' pro like Alayna to help him out.  They were very sweet, walking to the school together holding hands.  Darn it, where was my camera then?!  The kindergarteners lined up outside their door facing the playground and the teacher collected lunches and slipped paperwork into their bags.  When they all filed through the door to find their cubbies, he smiled at me and waved, "Bye, Mom!  Bye!" and trooped in after the rest of them.  There are several children in his class from church and the neighborhood, so I don't have any fears for him today.

I relish in the quiet--I've been looking forward to this day for weeks.  I'm happy to have time to give more attention to Kristen and Maren (especially Maren, whose exploits, I've concluded, are symptoms of middle-child syndrome).  But darn it, I miss my kids! 

Most heart-jerking first-day yet, hands down. 

Does it get worse with every kid??

My Love Letter

I Love you, mom.  your Secret imiyr.  Love ___________________ ?

Kristen's new...room!

To make a long boring story a short boring story, after exhausting all other bedroom-sharing combinations amongst the girls (Isaac is excluded due to his singular boy-ness), Kristen now co-habitates with the washer and dryer.

We're blessed with a large laundry room.  Prior to it becoming a cribroom, it was a laundry/sewing room.  I put away the sewing machine (which has been more a dust-collector in recent months) and card table and added the crib and a few homey touches (the blanket on the wall was made by my niece, Emily, and I just brought in an area rug from our bedroom, which was just the right size).

So, there you go.  Everyone gets his/her own space and when Kristen is old enough to sleep in the toddler bed she'll move out of the laundry room and share with one of her sisters.  Ce la vie.

Independence Day!

I probably should've posted this before Pioneer Day, but chronology is so overrated.

We went to Ann Morrison park for the fireworks, since it had been a few years since we'd seen the Boise show for the 4th.  We met up with all of Derek's family (minus the Jeremy Becks, since Beiley had broken her elbow that afternoon--ouch!).  We had a nice evening!  And we got home way too late.  Oh well, that's what summer's for, right?

Pioneer Day!!!

Sunday was July 24, Pioneer Day!  On Saturday we had a busy morning split between Derek's parents' stake activity and our own stake activity.  When Kristen was born, my friend Summer sent her a cute 12-month pioneer dress, and I asked my mom to make a bonnet to match.  Here are the results of the ensemble...she did NOT like wearing that bonnet.  I included the cutest just-so-mad picture and the least-angry picture.

My mom made bonnets for the other girls and me last summer, which we also donned for the pioneer festivities.  And Isaac...just got to be his cute self.

In the morning we headed to Nampa for a stake breakfast with Bonnie and Tyson.

After breakfast we came back to Kuna for our stake's Day of Service.  Each ward/branch had about 3 or 4 service projects planned for that morning.  There was also a clothing and food drive.  Some of the projects had been started a week or more earlier so everything would wrap up that morning, then there was a celebration luncheon at the stake center where everyone convened after all the hard work.

For people like me with small children (and a husband who works Saturday mornings) there were activities at the stake center to complete in the meantime.  One service project the kids could participate in were quilt blocks that were sewn together and will be sent to orphanages where there are no decorations for the walls.  Here are some iron-on quilt blocks the kids and I made.

Another activity was making shaving-cream art on cards to send to missionaries and soldiers.  This activity was a lot of fun--it'll probably get a repeat at my house some winter day.



They also had barrel rides for the kids.  We barely squeezed a ride in before they shut it down for the lunch.  I'll openly admit my annoyance with the teenagers who kept getting on for multiple rides.  Really, guys, this was for the KIDS!  You teens should've been doing manual labor at someone's house, doing some good.  There, I've said my peace.  :D

It was a busy and tiring but FUN morning with the kids!

I'll also express my gratitude for our pioneer ancestors who settled the west so the church could endure strong and make a beautiful future for their posterity.

We're half-way there, o-oh! Livin' on a prayer...

Thank you, Bon Jovi.

Half-way there?  What on earth can Amy be talking about?  Hmmm....

Half-way through the Obama administration? 

Half-way to Christmas? 

Half-way to breakfast???

This morning I stepped on the scale and discovered I'm half-way to my weight-loss goal!!!

I wish I had also been measuring inches during my experiment, because I'm sure those numbers would also put a smile on my face.

Ten down, ten to go!!!

My Baby is Cute

A picture is worth a thousand words:

At the Park

Friday the kids and I had lunch and a play date at one of the parks here in Kuna.

I always have to take lots of pictures of Kristen, as I realized she's one now and pretty soon we'll be leaving the baby-stage of parenthood.  Sigh.  Ain't she cute?

Untitled from Amy Beck on Vimeo.



Maren's cute, too, I guess.

Here are the rest of the kidlets enjoying a good ol' fashioned merry-go-round:

Untitled from Amy Beck on Vimeo.