Aunt Ash Comes To Town

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with my sister. She is one of the greatest people I know and I love her with every single teeny tiny part of my heart. When she found out I was pregnant, she immediately volunteered to come help take care of me and my kids after the baby came. Obviously I jumped at the opportunity to get some time with her and have her love on my new dumpling (who I already knew would be named after her, but she didn't yet!) Since we've always had babies consecutively we've never been able to be there after each other's birth, but this time she went to great efforts and sacrifices to make it happen (including taking time off of work, finding child care for her kids for the whole time she was away, paying for travel, spoiling my kids silly, etc. etc. etc. for days!) We loved having her with us and I started feeling nervous as the days wore on and I knew she'd have to leave. I'd get teary-eyed and say, "OK, so...when are we going to see you again?" and I'd start planning like my life depended on it because the real answer of I don't know just made/makes my heart sink. Of all the injustices in the world, Ash and I not being neighbors has to rank pretty dang high! Thank you Ashleigh for coming to Los Angeles and bringing so much love, fun and comfort. I love you!  

Ash was squished between my two girls in the middle row for her whole visit. She was equal parts make Quinn laugh, try to not get hit by the crazy boys and re-binky Coco. Bless her.

Gorgeous Ash and handsome Ever Knight on his birthday.

Thanks to Aunt Ash, Quinny now begs for "doggy" on my phone. I finally downloaded darn snapchat in an effort to entertain her (and stop hearing her complaining) but I'm old and can't figure out how to use it. Come back Ash, please?

Randy's Donuts was a win and I can't wait to go back. Just IMO, go for the glazed round. Also, watch Justin Timberlake's newest music video!

If you could only hear Ever bossing Ash around right here. "Stop talking Aunt Ash. Build. Dig faster! Come on Aunt Ash, don't use your hands USE THE SHOVEL!" That kid. 

#funaunt

We didn't think we'd go in the water but when we got to the beach it was calling Ash's name and she went boogy boarding fully clothed. Watching her laugh and crash through the waves was one of the highlights of my week. Thanks again Ash for coming, and bringing so many smiles.

My Ever is FIVE!!!

I remember like it was yesterday holding my newborn Ever Knight and thinking that there had never been a more beautiful baby in existence. Ever! He cuddled right into me, destined to be a Mama's boy, and I wanted time to stand still so I could love on my newest lovey for longer. He proved to be the most angelic baby with the sweetest, calming, most charming demeanor. I remember staring at him for hours on end thinking, "This kid will never get in trouble because I can't even imagine him doing anything wrong!" And he didn't. Until he turned two!

Five years after I first laid eyes on this boy and so much has changed and so many things are the same. Birth order aside, Evie will always be my snuggle bug, my Mama-hog and my baby. He loves my attention, my praise and my lap and would do nearly anything to get all three (for better or worse!) He's still sweet and charming but with a BIG side of sass and spice...let's just say I no longer look at him and can't imagine him getting in trouble! He loves playing dress up or with action figures, loves to stay home and watch movies with his dd (blankie) and his thumb, and loves planning his birthday months, sometimes years, in advance.

This year I knew we needed to do something special for Ev since Coco was born a few weeks before and things were a little crazy around here and I think it ended up being a pretty great birthday for him. We had Dad's famous waffles and bacon for breakfast, Happy Meals for lunch, a trip to the Lego store at Downtown Disney, and then for the main event dinner and a jousting show at Medieval Times. Aunt Ash was here for his big day, and we celebrated with cousins and other family a few days later in Sacramento so he felt super loved and celebrated. We love our five-year-old Ever Knight and I'm so excited to see what this next year brings. 

***Birthday interview below***

Please look at the fun balloons. Please do not look at the Christmas decorations still hanging in our house. This is a night time picture so it's dark but this looked so bright and fun!

Dad's famous waffles really are the best. Yum!

This is the face of a boy who got his dream nerf gum from his super nice Aunt Ash!

Downtown Disney with the parrot outside of the Rainforest Cafe. Note Ever's birthday outfit--his new Luke Skywalker costume from Grandma Winnie.

Our red and yellow knight was a little disappointing, but the show was awesome and Ever loved hearing his birthday message over the loud speaker midway through the show.

My FIVE YEAR OLD Ever Knight!!!

Quinny and her brothers-birthday shiner.

Why make crazy hard cakes and decorate them when Ev was thrilled with this little Star Wars number?!

I love these people!

How fun is this cake? And it actually tasted so good!

What is your favorite...

Color: Well, now, still it's owange 
Food: Um, waffles. No actuawy, my favowite dessert is dat. My favowite bweakfast dessert. But my favowite food is bacon. Bacon and waffles. Bofe actuawy!
Game: Uh, it's pwaying Headbands.
Book: Um, my favowite book...It's that, that, fly one. Thelonius Monster's Sky High Fly Pie.
Toy: Oh, it's my costume! Dis one. Luke.
Treat: Oh it's...um...it's caramel apples. It's really good. Caramel on the outside, apple on the inside. And it could be apple slices with caramel on it. Yum. Yep, dat's all. 
Song: It's rock! Yah! Duh-nuh-n-nuh, duh-nuh-nuh! Like Brandon Flowers. And Imagine Dragons.
Thing to learn about: Uh, space!
Animal: Um, my favowite animal is a tiger.  Yeah, tiger, Quinn!
TV show: Uh, it is...transformers. It's from the computer but, we can put it on the TV.
Thing to wear: Uh, costumes! Like this one, this is my favorite one. It's my LuKe costume. You can just say, "Luke!"
Holiday: Uh, Christmas. No, actually birthday. 

What do you want to be when you grow up? Uh, I want to be a candy shop worker that tastes the candy.  

If someone was being mean to your brother or sister, what would you do? Say, "Can you please stop it!" 

Who is your best friend? Chase.

What is something you want to learn to do this year? Uhhh, do flips in mid air on trampolines.

What is something that you are really good at? Making forts, because one night I made a fort and it was all covered except for one crack in a little area. Yeah, it was weally good.

If you were an animal, what would you be? I would be a cheetah because that I can run fast.

What do you want someone to invent? Uh, a pizza maker. It makes pizzas for you and you just have to put in the ingredients and poof! It shoots out a pizza. It makes them so fast, basically one second.

If you could have a magic power, what would it be? It would be animal power, a deadly animal power. So you could shoot out deadly animals like grizzly bears. But they wouldn't get me, just other persons.

How many kids do you want to have when you grow up and get married? I'm not actually marrying, but I'll still say it. Ten. But I actually am not going to grow up and I don't want to get married. But I'll still do your birthday interview. I just don't want to. If I'm just one person, I can be FREEEEE!

What kind of house would you like to live in: an igloo, a tree house, a castle, a cave, or our house? Our house, oh and a tree house.

Who is the prettiest girl in the whole world? Uh, Coco. Cause she's cute.

Where do you want to go on your mission? Mmmm, Uh, Ukraine.

What's your favorite scripture story? Uh, I don't like any of them. (No tell me your favorite story) It's Jesus feeding the five thousand people. 

Today

Today is Wednesday. Which means that two days ago was Monday. Today marks six weeks since Cora was born but Monday marks the start of my new life having four kids, no extra hands and still living a life. Monday we had dentist appointments, today a slew of doctors visits and all week long we have swim lessons (next week too). I've gotten dressed and left the house every day this week. Riighhhttt? Getting out with my circus looks just as silly as you can imagine and is probably louder than you can imagine--especially when swim lessons just happen to coincide with nap time so that crazy one-year-old comes home screaming like she is being tortured (sleep deprivation is ugly, and indeed torture for us all). The kids and I also went to the ward BBQ tonight and plan to try the beach on Friday so I'd say we're winning right now. Leaving the house with the kids is scary and I get a little anxious (because, Quinn!) but it's not been as bad as I thought it would be and I'm so darn proud of myself at the end of every day. I'm rocking this, guys. I've got four kids, and I'm {mostly} rocking it!

One things for sure though, I'm ridiculously exhausted at the end of the day. I can hardly keep my eyes open right now if I'm telling you the truth. But today I read a scripture story about Jesus rebuking his disciples for not recording miracles (3 Nephi 23:11) and I wrote next to it, "remember to write down your miracles, Heath!" and then tonight I experienced a little miracle of my own so I feel like Heavenly Father is testing me to see if I was really listening. I heard you, God! So here we go. I went to the ward BBQ tonight and left with four crying, dirty, grumpy children and a woman I offered to drop off at home. I was a little frazzled and trying to hurry and I put my phone on the roof of my car while I packed things up. And you know what? It wasn't until I took the lady all the way home, made a few hard stops and a lot of swerves and was in my parking garage that I realized my phone was missing. And you know where I found it? Exactly where I had placed it--on the roof of my car! It might not seem like that big of a deal, but boy is that a miracle to me. I immediately thanked Heavenly Father for this and am publicly proclaiming the miracle now. Amen!

Now, here are a couple pictures from today that are actually getting posted today (maybe the real miracle?!) and then I am off to bed! 

 6 weeks, 11 lbs, 23 inches and the saddest ever boo-boo lip when those shots were administered. Her siblings couldn't handle the nurses hurting their baby and had to sit in the hallway. That Coco is beyond loved. 

That whole hold-onto-my-shirt situation? Gosh, all the heart eyes for this baby girl.

She walked into her room to play with her brothers, and came out looking like a little Diva. To know Quinn is to love her. She is the funnest.

Matching strawberry outfits but Cora wasn't feeling the photo op and at some point during the morning Quinny lost her matching bow. It was returned tonight, however, by our neighbor's dog who found it in the lobby of our building. I have a feeling that matchy-matchy outfits are only going to get more fun with these two cute girls. I have two girls. Life is SOOO good!

Summer, amiright? Quinny after tonight's BBQ. Showers required tonight, that's for sure!

Babies Don't Keep

This is the poem that dances in my head on repeat these days. I love baby Cora, being a Mom, and this special moment in my life. And these pictures? Sara Williford strikes again. They have me smiling mega-big because how cute are newborns? Especially our Cora!  

Babies Don’t Keep, Author: Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

A quiet moment

The house is quiet, well mostly quiet.

The sound of the dryer roars from the hallway, the sound of Santa Monica traffic and horns blare through the windows, and the creaks of Cora's swing remind me that the silence is short-lived (Coco and the swing have a definite she loves me/she loves me not relationship). But the only voices heard in my home right now are the ones dancing in my head. The house is quiet from little feet, little requests, little questions and little fights. The house is quiet of little people, and that is rare and rather spooky.

It's nap time for the girls and wowzers did they both need it. If you'd have been a fly on the wall just 30 minutes ago quiet is not a word you would have used to describe our abode. Quinn is missing her Daddy something fierce since he made his way back to work (cry, scream, tantrum, repeat) and poor Coco, her patience is running thin over her gassy tummy. To give up dairy or not to give up dairy? That is my dreadful question. Those girls keep my days so busy and yet keep my days so grounded. In the last week I can count on one hand the number of times I left the house, shoot I can count on one hand the number of times I left my pajamas. Having two babies so close in age but with such different needs is new for me, and rather exhausting. The pace around here is different this July and my to-do list infinitely shorter. Someday I know we'll get back on the real-life saddle. At least I think we will. Gulp, I hope?

My little boys have spent the last week in Sacramento at Me-Pa Camp (I just came up with that--good, no?!) and have had the time of their lives. Seriously, my parents are giving them the summer that I can't this year and no amount of words can possibly portray my gratitude. They've seen movies, gone to water parks, visited the State Fair, had lake days and park days and army-men days and geez, I think I must have gotten my adventurous genes from those parents of mine because they sure know how to plan a ridiculously awesome vacation. I fear that those little boy voices that I've missed so much may never want to come home with all the fun they're having, but like it or not they'll be back here tomorrow filling my walls with noise and craziness. I can't wait. (And I have a freezer full of ice cream, I'm not below bribing them to love me!!!)

But for now, this very moment, I'm soaking up the silence that just like my littles' childhood will be gone all to soon. The swing has lost it's magic and with a snap of a finger Cora is up and ready to nurse. But my minds eye can see that it'll be just another snap of a finger before she's off to college, a mission, a marriage, a life. And oh the silence that will be in my walls then. I'll enjoy the quiet for a minute longer, but I'll make sure to soak up all these crazy moments too.

 Tummy time is terribly tiring.

You think you know what boredom is? Try having a mom that nurses every two hours on the dot for like, 30 minutes each time. Box on head is a fun game, right? 

When you're burping a baby on the other side of the house and you know that your 1 year old is breaking crayons into tiny little pieces just for fun you let her do it anyway because she's smiling, quiet, and not throwing a fit! #momfail or #momwin