He is really cute. See?
I finally had a successful home birth. He was born about 35 minutes before the midwife got here. Peter caught the baby.
We're all doing awesome.
Monday, November 3, 2014
It's a baby!
Elias Lee McNabb was born at 12:15 this morning. He weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces (of course that was after pooping three times) and was 21 3/4 inches long.
He is really cute. See?
I finally had a successful home birth. He was born about 35 minutes before the midwife got here. Peter caught the baby.
We're all doing awesome.
He is really cute. See?
I finally had a successful home birth. He was born about 35 minutes before the midwife got here. Peter caught the baby.
We're all doing awesome.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Benton's birthday
Yesterday was Benton's birthday. He's been pretty excited about it coming for about a year now. He wanted a big party with some of his friends coming over and presents and he made a list of about 12 activities he wanted to do, complete with illustrations.
I'm pretty opposed to parties for my kids. Mostly the presents part of them. If there could be a party where you just got together with your friends and played and celebrated being born and didn't have to have people give you things to make you feel special, that'd be perfectly fine. I feel the same way about baby showers. Whatever. Yes, I know I'm weird, but still.
Anyways, Benton asked and asked enough that I finally gave in and said we could have some people come over for dinner and to eat cake and ice cream with us. In the words of Peter, "It sure looked like a party to me." I told people not to bring anything, but I guess I should have been a little more explicit about presents. We had dinner and the kids played and then we had cake and ice cream and the kids played and then Benton opened presents and the kids played. I think people had fun. We had four families, so I think there were 14 kids and 9 adults total. We had Hawaiian haystacks, which I thought were really, really good. Monica came over earlier and helped the kids decorate the house. She brought all sorts of fun things.
We made the cake the night before. I had a the brilliant idea to make an angry birds/minion/minecraft cake. We ended up not adding the diamond pick, though, so it turned out to be just an angry minion. I thought it was pretty amazing. And even more amazing is that we couldn't find many pictures of an angry bird minion on the internet. I mostly mixed colors for the cake and Monica and Peter did most of the actual frosting. My favorite part of birthdays is still coming up with a cake to make and making it.
Here's Benton opening his presents. (Just kidding, it's him after he blew out the candles on his cake.) I tried to take him aside before he opened them to make sure he was grateful and said thank you to the people who gave him the presents. Peter stopped me and told me he had already talked to him about it. The result was Benton grabbing a gift, thanking the nearest person profusely and then grabbing the next one and opening it. He kind of forgot about looking and seeing what he got. It was pretty funny. People helped him get everything out of the packaging afterward and he did like and appreciate everything he got, but the opening was a little funny.
After everyone left we played glow-in-the-dark ring toss and blew up the glow-in-the-dark balloons. the kids were crazy tired, but they had fun. All in all I think it was a good birthday.
And can I just say that I'm so glad Benton's part of our family. He pushes lots of buttons, but he's so kind-hearted, generous and helpful and forgiving. The other day a guy from our ward came over for something. I asked how his wife was doing and we talked about her for a little bit. After he left Benton went out to the garden and picked a bunch of flowers, put them in a glass with some water and said that he wanted to take them to Sister Call (the lady we'd been talking about). I asked if he even knew who that was and he (very indignantly) said yes, she was the music lady. So we went and gave her the flowers. He's always thinking of nice things to do for people. It's pretty cool.
I'm pretty opposed to parties for my kids. Mostly the presents part of them. If there could be a party where you just got together with your friends and played and celebrated being born and didn't have to have people give you things to make you feel special, that'd be perfectly fine. I feel the same way about baby showers. Whatever. Yes, I know I'm weird, but still.
Anyways, Benton asked and asked enough that I finally gave in and said we could have some people come over for dinner and to eat cake and ice cream with us. In the words of Peter, "It sure looked like a party to me." I told people not to bring anything, but I guess I should have been a little more explicit about presents. We had dinner and the kids played and then we had cake and ice cream and the kids played and then Benton opened presents and the kids played. I think people had fun. We had four families, so I think there were 14 kids and 9 adults total. We had Hawaiian haystacks, which I thought were really, really good. Monica came over earlier and helped the kids decorate the house. She brought all sorts of fun things.
We made the cake the night before. I had a the brilliant idea to make an angry birds/minion/minecraft cake. We ended up not adding the diamond pick, though, so it turned out to be just an angry minion. I thought it was pretty amazing. And even more amazing is that we couldn't find many pictures of an angry bird minion on the internet. I mostly mixed colors for the cake and Monica and Peter did most of the actual frosting. My favorite part of birthdays is still coming up with a cake to make and making it.
Monday, September 22, 2014
An update on the kids
**Long and boring and mostly school related. Read at your own risk. I'd put on some pictures, but as usual I've lost the charger for the camera.**
The kids are really fun. I probably think that because they've only gotten into about three fights so far this morning.
Irene is talking up a storm these days. Is it normal for a 20-month old to know the word flashcards? She can say pretty much anything she wants to and about 95% of the time we can understand her. Her vocabulary really is amazing. She and Brita definitely started talking earlier than Benton and Mima. She has pretty good grammar as well. She also counts, or at least says numbers up to the teens somewhere. She says pretty funny things sometimes and has a very strong opinion on many subjects that it's better just to let go than try to argue with her about. She is obsessed with water and likes to tear books.
Mima has amazing fine motor skills. She loves to draw and write letters. Her handwriting sheets look as good (or better because she actually cares) than the other kids'. She spends most of her free time drawing and coloring and cutting things--usually paper. She likes to do math when the other kids do school, so she's making her way through a kindergarten workbook. She's even done a few pages by herself; I was impressed she figured out the instructions. She also started doing reading games after Benton does them, although she doesn't know her sounds as well as the other kids did when they started--probably because there are more movie choices now than just The Letter Factory.
Benton is getting much better at reading--he can sound out most words that have the basic sounds in them regardless of length. He's also picking up other words and sound patterns. He still has wild guesses that don't seem to be related to the sounds on the page, but he's getting better, especially when he actually looks at the page. He's doing a first grade math book and seems to like it. He's learning to pay attention to plus and minus signs. He does learning games and reading games, too. The learning games he has pretty much mastered, but it's still fun for him to do them and when he does them the little girls end up doing them, too. He has a lot of patience for helping Irene work her way through the games most days. He loves playing regular games. He played an easy version of Monopoly at a friend's house one day and has loved playing it since. He plays Quirkle and Carcassone using all the right rules. Peter has gotten a lot of card games that the kids like to play as well. Benton is definitely the most interested and best sport when it comes to playing games. He is also learning piano. So far he knows middle C, the red chord, and how to find Cs and Fs. He's liking it, although he doesn't seem to like practicing quite as much.
Brita is working her way through a second grade math book. She works hard at figuring out new things. She's recently been introduced to basic geometry and is coming up on fractions. She figured out a lot of multiplication by herself. She does a language book, a science book, her math book, reads The Princess Academy, does spelling, and practices piano everyday. She's really good about just starting and getting everything done most days. It's fun to work with her. She's getting to where she can play the piano better than me. She likes to read and is really good at it. She's started reading the Oz books lately. She's pretty good at keeping her lamp, so she gets to read quite a bit at night as well as during the day.
We do hexagon time sometimes, too, where we sing songs, read books, learn scripture stories, and do activities together. It's pretty fun. I'm not as good about doing it everyday as my kids would like, but I'm getting better. I recently got the books of scripture up on the wall so now we put the picture of the story that we talk about up on the book where it goes to hopefully give them some context on what the different books of scriptures are about.
I'm proud of my kids. They work hard and they play really well together most of the time. Benton will help with pretty much whatever I ask him and Brita has been cleaning their room without being asked every morning and night. Better than I do, that's for sure.
The kids are really fun. I probably think that because they've only gotten into about three fights so far this morning.
Irene is talking up a storm these days. Is it normal for a 20-month old to know the word flashcards? She can say pretty much anything she wants to and about 95% of the time we can understand her. Her vocabulary really is amazing. She and Brita definitely started talking earlier than Benton and Mima. She has pretty good grammar as well. She also counts, or at least says numbers up to the teens somewhere. She says pretty funny things sometimes and has a very strong opinion on many subjects that it's better just to let go than try to argue with her about. She is obsessed with water and likes to tear books.
Mima has amazing fine motor skills. She loves to draw and write letters. Her handwriting sheets look as good (or better because she actually cares) than the other kids'. She spends most of her free time drawing and coloring and cutting things--usually paper. She likes to do math when the other kids do school, so she's making her way through a kindergarten workbook. She's even done a few pages by herself; I was impressed she figured out the instructions. She also started doing reading games after Benton does them, although she doesn't know her sounds as well as the other kids did when they started--probably because there are more movie choices now than just The Letter Factory.
Benton is getting much better at reading--he can sound out most words that have the basic sounds in them regardless of length. He's also picking up other words and sound patterns. He still has wild guesses that don't seem to be related to the sounds on the page, but he's getting better, especially when he actually looks at the page. He's doing a first grade math book and seems to like it. He's learning to pay attention to plus and minus signs. He does learning games and reading games, too. The learning games he has pretty much mastered, but it's still fun for him to do them and when he does them the little girls end up doing them, too. He has a lot of patience for helping Irene work her way through the games most days. He loves playing regular games. He played an easy version of Monopoly at a friend's house one day and has loved playing it since. He plays Quirkle and Carcassone using all the right rules. Peter has gotten a lot of card games that the kids like to play as well. Benton is definitely the most interested and best sport when it comes to playing games. He is also learning piano. So far he knows middle C, the red chord, and how to find Cs and Fs. He's liking it, although he doesn't seem to like practicing quite as much.
Brita is working her way through a second grade math book. She works hard at figuring out new things. She's recently been introduced to basic geometry and is coming up on fractions. She figured out a lot of multiplication by herself. She does a language book, a science book, her math book, reads The Princess Academy, does spelling, and practices piano everyday. She's really good about just starting and getting everything done most days. It's fun to work with her. She's getting to where she can play the piano better than me. She likes to read and is really good at it. She's started reading the Oz books lately. She's pretty good at keeping her lamp, so she gets to read quite a bit at night as well as during the day.
We do hexagon time sometimes, too, where we sing songs, read books, learn scripture stories, and do activities together. It's pretty fun. I'm not as good about doing it everyday as my kids would like, but I'm getting better. I recently got the books of scripture up on the wall so now we put the picture of the story that we talk about up on the book where it goes to hopefully give them some context on what the different books of scriptures are about.
I'm proud of my kids. They work hard and they play really well together most of the time. Benton will help with pretty much whatever I ask him and Brita has been cleaning their room without being asked every morning and night. Better than I do, that's for sure.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Better late than never
Here is Brita's Father's Day card for Peter. She made it all by herself. It made me laugh a lot.
Oh, and in case you can't read it, it says:
This is K7BTR calling K7PTR. Happy Father's Day! From: Brita
This is K7BTR calling K7PTR. Happy Father's Day! From: Brita
101 Things I've done in my life
I was bored the other day and didn't want to do anything that I was supposed to so I wrote a list of things I've done in my life. The list is not in a logical order--just how I wrote them down on the piece of paper.
1. Graduated from college
2. Moved sprinkler pipe
3. Gave birth
4. Went on a mission
5. Eaten chocolate
6. Sobbed for no apparent reason
7. Planted a garden
8. Married Peter
9. Mowed the lawn
10. Taken flowers to people
11. Talked to Olga in the nursing home
12. Been in the temple with Olya
13. Taught Relief Society
14. Been the Relief Society secretary.
15. Been so angry I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and down
16. Left where I was living in the middle of the night with nowhere to go and no plan on coming back
17. Been so excited I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and down
18. Hugged my babies and never wanted to let go
19. Made myself sick eating too much
20. Lived off of corn on the cob from the Ricks College farm
21. Lived off of rice and carrots
22. Had bread and water for lunch at work
23. Eaten just vegetables straight from the can for lunch
24. Been so incredibly blessed by the patience of Peter
25. Been second hand shopping in Ukraine
26. Read a book in a tree
27. Been to the top of the Washington Monument
28. Cut my own hair
29. Sang hymns in Russian
30. Walked on the knuckles of my toes
31. Watched a sheep give birth
32. Fed my babies
33. Used cloth diapers
34. Taught someone to read
35. Played Nertz
36. Knocked out walls
37. Taken out lath and plaster
38. Gone swimming in the rain
39. Been a good visiting teacher
40. Cried to my visiting teachers
41. Taught primary
42. Worked in nursery
43. Cross-bred tomatoes
44. Mapped sugar beet populations
45. Designed experiments
46. Changed a presentation to be incorrect
47. Tromped through snow to measure trees
48. Made pajamas for my kids
49. Made stuffed animals for my kids
50. Fixed torn up books
51. Cracked a bullwhip
52. Bought shoes I really liked
53. Laughed so hard I cried
54. Done dishes by hand
55. Made scones for breakfast
56. Made bread in tin cans
57. Ran a mile
58. Saved money
59. Packaged flies
60. Been to a funeral
61. Learned to count by threes really well
62. Burnt out an engine
63. Drawn pictures in church
64. Changed a lot of diapers
65. Wasted time on computer games
66. Found things no one else could see (usually shoes)
67. Read a book
68. Stayed up too late reading
69. Been too anxious to sleep
70. Played Sporcle
71. Done laundry
72. Attempted to de-stink the towels
73. Learned to drive
74. Done sealings with lots of people at the alter
75. Done up someone else's shoes
76. Bought my own sheets
77. Enjoyed myself at a dance
78. Responded to someone when I had no idea what they had just said
79. Avoided people I didn't know what to say to
80. Killed a fly
81. Painted my face
82. Made dinner before Peter got home
83. Finished a coloring book
84. Made grape juice
85. Read a book before it was released
86. Figured out how to fit a piano in an apartment using a nursery planning program
87. Saved a baby from choking
88. Argued with a professor
89. Argued with a music leader
90. Bought a huge roll of fake fur
91. Completely changed my personality
92. Collected Russian M&M wrapper jokes
93. Watched my uncle build a Kelvin water-drop generator
94. Watched my kids become incredibly smart
95. Taken someone to the ER
96. Taken the moose to a movie theater
97. Puked at the smell of Borstch
98. Was paid a dollar for reading Jubal Sackett
99. Driven from Ricks to Springfield, Oregon with the windows open
100. Worked in a greenhouse
101. Decorated my sister's bedroom with grocery bags
1. Graduated from college
2. Moved sprinkler pipe
3. Gave birth
4. Went on a mission
5. Eaten chocolate
6. Sobbed for no apparent reason
7. Planted a garden
8. Married Peter
9. Mowed the lawn
10. Taken flowers to people
11. Talked to Olga in the nursing home
12. Been in the temple with Olya
13. Taught Relief Society
14. Been the Relief Society secretary.
15. Been so angry I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and down
16. Left where I was living in the middle of the night with nowhere to go and no plan on coming back
17. Been so excited I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and down
18. Hugged my babies and never wanted to let go
19. Made myself sick eating too much
20. Lived off of corn on the cob from the Ricks College farm
21. Lived off of rice and carrots
22. Had bread and water for lunch at work
23. Eaten just vegetables straight from the can for lunch
24. Been so incredibly blessed by the patience of Peter
25. Been second hand shopping in Ukraine
26. Read a book in a tree
27. Been to the top of the Washington Monument
28. Cut my own hair
29. Sang hymns in Russian
30. Walked on the knuckles of my toes
31. Watched a sheep give birth
32. Fed my babies
33. Used cloth diapers
34. Taught someone to read
35. Played Nertz
36. Knocked out walls
37. Taken out lath and plaster
38. Gone swimming in the rain
39. Been a good visiting teacher
40. Cried to my visiting teachers
41. Taught primary
42. Worked in nursery
43. Cross-bred tomatoes
44. Mapped sugar beet populations
45. Designed experiments
46. Changed a presentation to be incorrect
47. Tromped through snow to measure trees
48. Made pajamas for my kids
49. Made stuffed animals for my kids
50. Fixed torn up books
51. Cracked a bullwhip
52. Bought shoes I really liked
53. Laughed so hard I cried
54. Done dishes by hand
55. Made scones for breakfast
56. Made bread in tin cans
57. Ran a mile
58. Saved money
59. Packaged flies
60. Been to a funeral
61. Learned to count by threes really well
62. Burnt out an engine
63. Drawn pictures in church
64. Changed a lot of diapers
65. Wasted time on computer games
66. Found things no one else could see (usually shoes)
67. Read a book
68. Stayed up too late reading
69. Been too anxious to sleep
70. Played Sporcle
71. Done laundry
72. Attempted to de-stink the towels
73. Learned to drive
74. Done sealings with lots of people at the alter
75. Done up someone else's shoes
76. Bought my own sheets
77. Enjoyed myself at a dance
78. Responded to someone when I had no idea what they had just said
79. Avoided people I didn't know what to say to
80. Killed a fly
81. Painted my face
82. Made dinner before Peter got home
83. Finished a coloring book
84. Made grape juice
85. Read a book before it was released
86. Figured out how to fit a piano in an apartment using a nursery planning program
87. Saved a baby from choking
88. Argued with a professor
89. Argued with a music leader
90. Bought a huge roll of fake fur
91. Completely changed my personality
92. Collected Russian M&M wrapper jokes
93. Watched my uncle build a Kelvin water-drop generator
94. Watched my kids become incredibly smart
95. Taken someone to the ER
96. Taken the moose to a movie theater
97. Puked at the smell of Borstch
98. Was paid a dollar for reading Jubal Sackett
99. Driven from Ricks to Springfield, Oregon with the windows open
100. Worked in a greenhouse
101. Decorated my sister's bedroom with grocery bags
Friday, July 11, 2014
All before 11:00 in the morning...
Bedrooms cleaned
Book room cleaned
Living room cleaned
Halls cleaned
Basement cleaned
Everything vacuumed
Bathrooms mopped
Tile mopped
Mirrors cleaned
Doors (somewhat) cleaned
Trash emptied
Ice cream eaten
We'll call this day productive
Book room cleaned
Living room cleaned
Halls cleaned
Basement cleaned
Everything vacuumed
Bathrooms mopped
Tile mopped
Mirrors cleaned
Doors (somewhat) cleaned
Trash emptied
Ice cream eaten
We'll call this day productive
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Holy cow it's been a long time since I posted
Not that it means that I'll post again any time soon.
So, what have we been up to for the last four months? I have no idea.
Irene started saying "yes" a long time ago. It started out as a very annoyed sounding "okay," then morphed into an "uh huh" and yesterday it changed into a very distinctive "yes." It's pretty cute.
We went to Idaho once? a couple of times? I don't remember. It's always nice to go up there. Brita and Benton both went on the zip line. That thing is a little bit scary. I went once. I think that's good enough. It was a couple of times we visited because the first time we went up this year the lambs were being born. The kids got to see the third of a set of triplets being born. It was pretty exciting. They were happy when it needed to come into the house that night because it was stronger than my dad thought it was so it was standing up in its box and trying to get out. They thought it was funny. We had a get together with all my family in the area, too, when Melissa came to town. It's always nice be with family.
We went to North Carolina to hang out with all the McNabbs. It's always nice to be with family.. Peter's parents rented a beach house for a week and it was so nice to be there. I think the last night was my favorite because all the kids were having so much fun and the weather was perfect at the beach and no one was puking and then we came back and all got in the hot tub. I think we had 14 people in the hot tub that night. The 80 hours of driving got a little old, though. We had to stop in Illinois for a couple days because we just couldn't make ourselves drive straight back.
I'm pregnant. btw
The oldest kids got their hair cut tonight. Brita's was long enough to donate, so we need to get that sent off. They look mighty cute now (kind of like they looked mighty cute before, but with shorter hair.) Brita always looks so different when she gets a hair cut. Mima said she wanted to get her hair cut, too, but then changed her mind at the last minute.
We finally got around to planting the garden. We tilled it a while ago, but didn't get it planted until last weekend. Hopefully our tomatoes grow. Things aren't off to a great start this year. Brita picked out some flowers and we planted them last weekend and now the entire plants are purple--I don't know if it's nutrient deficiency or water troubles or what.
Peter's a one man show at church lately when it comes to the music. Last week he played the organ for sacrament meeting, accompanied both musical numbers and then played piano for primary. Tomorrow he's accompanying the choir as well as playing the organ and playing for primary. Good times.
I'm just plugging along being tired all the time. We did get all but two rooms of our house cleaned today so that's a vast improvement. Monica came over last Saturday and we spent four hours cleaning the book room. We've faithfully kept it clean since then so she doesn't cry when she comes back from her vacation. Yep, cleaning, that's pretty much my life. And being indebted to Monica.
Irene went into nursery last Sunday. Not the biggest fan. Mima really liked having her in there, though. She's a really great big sister and was showing Irene all the ropes of surviving in nursery. It was fun to watch.
And now for some pictures.
Before and after the haircut.
The hot tub.
Mima's birthday at the beach.
Balanced rock. Brita and my dad climbed up to the base of it. Brita was pretty scared, but she did really good and was proud of herself when she got down.
I totally forgot my sister and her family came to visit. This last picture was one of the funniest games of Red Rover I've ever watched. And yes, I watched and didn't participate. I'm lame like that.
So, what have we been up to for the last four months? I have no idea.
Irene started saying "yes" a long time ago. It started out as a very annoyed sounding "okay," then morphed into an "uh huh" and yesterday it changed into a very distinctive "yes." It's pretty cute.
We went to Idaho once? a couple of times? I don't remember. It's always nice to go up there. Brita and Benton both went on the zip line. That thing is a little bit scary. I went once. I think that's good enough. It was a couple of times we visited because the first time we went up this year the lambs were being born. The kids got to see the third of a set of triplets being born. It was pretty exciting. They were happy when it needed to come into the house that night because it was stronger than my dad thought it was so it was standing up in its box and trying to get out. They thought it was funny. We had a get together with all my family in the area, too, when Melissa came to town. It's always nice be with family.
We went to North Carolina to hang out with all the McNabbs. It's always nice to be with family.. Peter's parents rented a beach house for a week and it was so nice to be there. I think the last night was my favorite because all the kids were having so much fun and the weather was perfect at the beach and no one was puking and then we came back and all got in the hot tub. I think we had 14 people in the hot tub that night. The 80 hours of driving got a little old, though. We had to stop in Illinois for a couple days because we just couldn't make ourselves drive straight back.
I'm pregnant. btw
The oldest kids got their hair cut tonight. Brita's was long enough to donate, so we need to get that sent off. They look mighty cute now (kind of like they looked mighty cute before, but with shorter hair.) Brita always looks so different when she gets a hair cut. Mima said she wanted to get her hair cut, too, but then changed her mind at the last minute.
We finally got around to planting the garden. We tilled it a while ago, but didn't get it planted until last weekend. Hopefully our tomatoes grow. Things aren't off to a great start this year. Brita picked out some flowers and we planted them last weekend and now the entire plants are purple--I don't know if it's nutrient deficiency or water troubles or what.
Peter's a one man show at church lately when it comes to the music. Last week he played the organ for sacrament meeting, accompanied both musical numbers and then played piano for primary. Tomorrow he's accompanying the choir as well as playing the organ and playing for primary. Good times.
I'm just plugging along being tired all the time. We did get all but two rooms of our house cleaned today so that's a vast improvement. Monica came over last Saturday and we spent four hours cleaning the book room. We've faithfully kept it clean since then so she doesn't cry when she comes back from her vacation. Yep, cleaning, that's pretty much my life. And being indebted to Monica.
Irene went into nursery last Sunday. Not the biggest fan. Mima really liked having her in there, though. She's a really great big sister and was showing Irene all the ropes of surviving in nursery. It was fun to watch.
And now for some pictures.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Sleeping Queens
We got the game Sleeping Queens for Christmas. The kids love it. They've probably played it more than 100 times. And it's not actually that painful to play it with them. Good game.
Anyways, tonight Mima was carrying it around and said, "Mom, I don't want to keep this anymore." I said, "Um, why not?" Mima (defiantly, always defiantly): "I don't want to keep it. I want to give it to Sister DeYoung." Her nursery leader had just stopped by and picked up a couple sewing machines and evidently Mima thought we should give her something better, too.
She's such a funny kid.
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