Easter 2011

-The Cubscouts hosted an Easter egg hunt and some games for the kids in the ward. Since Justin's the Cubscout Master we thought we better go in support of him. Actually, I didn't dare miss it-they had been announcing it in Primary and Molly was super excited. I'm not sure what her favorite part was-the actual hunt for eggs, all the kids she could play with, or the gunny-sack races.Stockton stuck close to my side and didn't really want to play any of the games. He was a little uncertain of the hunt as well. When I put an egg in his basket (because he didn't know what he was supposed to do) he got mad and dumped it out. Then he figured out it had candy in it...he grinned and then went hunting for more, walking around saying "eggs?" over and over.-The Easter party at my mom's never disappoints. Justin was stuck at work so the kids and I went down a day early to spend some extra time with my family. Grandpa took Molly to Plain City's big hunt. When she got home she got to decorate eggs.Then they got to hunt for eggs. Stockton knew exactly what to do this time.Then they got presents.-Molly knew all about the Easter Bunny this year so that was the first thing she asked about when she woke up on Easter morning. The kids had to find their baskets first. Stockton got a football pillow.Molly got an umbrella and rubber boots.The Easter Bunny also hid chocolate eggs all over the house. Molly had to find all of them with no hints or help from mom and dad. She was a really horrible hunter. She finally found the last one today (one week later).

-We had a nice meal at the Goodrich's after church. Brynn and the rest of us finally got to meet little Riley.The pinwheels were by far the hit of the night.Now bring on the sunshine!! We are so ready!

Our Kids, April 2011

Before Brynn was born, I was really nervous about taking care of three kids. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to give each of them enough attention and worried that my house would be in a constant state of chaos...and worried that I would be too tired to do anything about either!! Well, I shouldn't have been worried because it has been awesome! I am loving my days at home now with three kiddos. There are usually dishes waiting to be done, laundry waiting to be folded, floors waiting to be mopped, toys waiting to be cleaned up, dusting and vacuuming needing to be done...but those aren't really as important as we all think they are, right? We each have our moments and my kids aren't always angels but they are pretty great, I think! They sure are cute anyway. See:Brynn...ahh we sure love her. I have been blessed to have really mellow, easy-going babies, and Brynn is no exception. She really has been great! She is almost 8 weeks now...still small for her age but she is filling out! Her newborn clothes fit perfect now and most 0-3 clothes are still a bit big. I would guess she's somewhere around 8 - 8.5 lbs now. She loves to lay under her little gym and watch the toys that hang above her head. She won't take a binky but has done okay without one. She likes to be walked to sleep and hasn't figured out how to put herself to sleep. She takes short naps in the day but has been sleeping 6, 7, or 8 (8.5 last night!) hours at night. She sleeps best in her swing. For the first month she would nurse every two hours but now she does every 3 hours or so. She also started smiling a couple of weeks ago which is so fun to see!Stockton...22 months old now! He seems so much more grown up since we brought Brynn home-not to mention HUGE! I can barely carry him around nowadays (seriously, after carrying Brynn all day, it is hard to carry him for longer than just a few minutes). Stockton was the one I was worried most about with the new babe. I thought he would be jealous and I thought that he would be rough with the baby. But I needn't have worried-he has become a sweet boy in the last couple of months. He usually doesn't pay any attention to Brynn and when he does it's to rub or kiss her head. He calls her "babiesh." Stockton is into balls and cars right now. He is especially partial to basketball-he likes to watch it on TV, see it in books, and play it with anyone who will play with him. He's been nervous of anything that's out of his comfort zone-people he doesn't know, loud noises (like big trucks or motorcycles driving by), and things like slides. He sticks close to Mom or Dad whenever we are around other people. Stockton never lets us forget a prayer-every time we sit down at the table he immediately folds his arms. He loves applesauce and rice. He is starting to say a lot of words and even learning some letters (thanks to Molly who is teaching him his letters and numbers). He knows A, B, C, H, O, S, T, and X. We will be making the transition from crib to bed this week so we'll see how that goes!Molly...4 1/2 years old! Wow! Each day is filled with a little bit of drama (like when she spills applesauce on accident and her reaction is this: "Now I can never have applesauce again!") but she really is a good girl. She has an amazing memory and can remember stories told to her months ago or songs after hearing them only once or twice. She has been an awesome big sister to Brynn, but I knew she would because she is so great with Stockton. She never runs out of hugs or kisses! Having Molly around has made having Brynn easier. She is a huge help with Stockton...she will read him books, sing songs with him, or just play with him whenever he is being a little more needy and I can't get to him. Molly is always drawing or coloring a picture for someone. She is looking forward to some fun summer activities (Disneyland, swimming, and hiking to name a few).A friend of mine took these pictures. I think she did a great job. Molly and Brynn were great, that's why there were more of them. Stockton, on the other hand, was not okay with getting his picture taken. He cried whenever we tried. She did manage to get a couple good ones of him but notice that he's holding a ball in those pictures.

Stockton, 21 months

Stockton is shy around pretty much anyone. But here at home, he is such a goof. I found these pictures when I was emptying the memory card last week and they just made me smile...

FHE, April 11th

Molly was in charge of the lesson last night for FHE. Usually when it's her turn I give her a book or a magazine and she chooses a picture she likes and we build a lesson around it. Last night, however, she said she had a lesson all ready and needed no help.

(See Matthew 5:15)

2 weeks

Brynn's stats at 2 weeks old:

6.0 lbs: 2%
18.25 in: 0.6%

She is doing great! We sure love this baby...Other good new to report: I survived my first week!

worth mentioning...

-Our newest nephew, Riley Edward Tanner, arrived just 2 days after Brynn. He was 7 weeks early so is spending some time in the NICU. We haven't had a chance to go visit him (been a bit occupied) but you can see some of his cuteness here.

-Molly and Stockton finally came home 4 days after Brynn came home. I was glad to see them! But I will admit, the 4 days of peace and quiet were really quite great. And I have to thank my mom and dad who gave up the rest of their week to take care of 2 sick kids (they even took Stocky to the instacare-turns out he had a sinus infection, poor kid).-We took Brynn to the doctor two days after she came home. The doc wanted a weight test and her bilirubin needed a double check. She was great for the bilirubin poke on her heel. She had been poked in her heels so many times in the hospital (blood sugar tests) that her heels were bruised purple, but they didn't seem to bother her. Her bilirubin levels were excellent, so no lights or going back to the hospital for additional tests. Her weight was up to an even 5 pounds-4 ounces in two days. They would like her to be back to her birth weight by 2 weeks so this was also excellent. I'm sure by now she is bigger than her 5 lbs 2 oz at birth. So, she is doing well-thriving actually!

-Brynn has a bit of hair-more than Molly had but less than Stockton (although hers is the longest of the three). One thing I always love is the way their hair goes crazy after a bath. It's so fuzzy and soft.-We had a party to celebrate Brynn's one-week birthday. Okay, so it also happened to be Justin's 29th birthday. The kids were home by then and Justin's parents came down for cake and ice cream. Brynn got dressed for the occasion (she usually just hangs out in jammies).It doesn't look like much but I made homemade Twinkies for Justin. They are good-better than the real things. At least I think they are.-At less than two weeks old, Brynn still sleeps most of the day away. Who can resist a sleeping baby?Her nights have been okay. For the first week, she had a period of wakefulness from 10 until about 2 and then would do pretty good the rest of the night. She also wouldn't stay asleep in the bassinet-she wanted to sleep right next to me in my bed or be held. The last few days have seen improvement. She goes to sleep after she eats (or while she's eating, rather) and she's been a bit better at sleeping in the bassinet. She is a noisy sleeper, however, grunting and squealing for quite a while before she's all the way awake and ready to eat. Justin sleeps through it, I don't. But we'll move her to Molly's room in the next two or three weeks, once we get Molly and Stockton moved to the same room.

-Justin had two weeks off of work. He is going back today. I wish he could stay home longer but glad he had this much time. A few things he did while he was home: took Molly out to dinner, slept in a hut with Molly, and made cars and robots out of cardboard boxes. Oh and in the last few days, watched lots of basketball games (March Madness, you know).

-So far our life with 3 kids has been mostly full of ups. Molly has been great-she loves her sister and makes sure she tells her many times a day. Molly is full of kisses and hugs for Brynn. Brynn seems to like her sister as well. She falls asleep when Molly lays next to her and likes to listen to Molly sing to her. Stockton had a difficult few days but I don't think he was feeling well. He has been better the last couple of days. He likes to point to Brynn's eyes, ears, and toes and rub her head. He's good at giving her hugs and kisses on the head. The only mishap we had was when my back was turned for a couple of seconds and Stockton knocked the bouncer over...the bouncer that Brynn happened to be sitting in. She was fine. Stockton just laughed when we tried to discipline him. I don't put her in the bouncer anymore if her brother is awake. Too dangerous. (Justin saw it happening and was able to catch Brynn so she really was okay.)

We will definitely need to quickly establish some sort of routine for both kids...get some normalcy back into their lives (and mine!). As mature as Molly has become, she is also feeling the change around here. The last few days have been long and hard on her. But she will adjust just like the rest of us and three kids will soon feel like the norm around here!

Brynn

After a pretty quick, uneventful, easy labor, Brynn April Goodrich made her arrival. She was born March 7 at 4:22 p.m.She weighed 5 lbs, 2 oz. and was 17.5 inches long. We were surprised at how small she was...our babies seem to be getting smaller. Despite her size, she was pronounced healthy by the doctors and nurses.She is absolutely beautiful!She got to spend some time with Justin and I before being whisked to the nursery, where she was bathed and got her hair combed.She was having a little bit of trouble keeping herself warm, nothing big, but had to stay under the warmers for a little bit. Just enough time for Mom to eat some dinner (I was starving!) and for the visitors to start arriving. Grandma and Grandpa Moyes with Erin, Chloe, and Tessa. Then Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich and Brett brought Molly and Stockton to visit their new baby sister. They all drove down in a pretty big snowstorm.Molly has been excited for months for the baby to come. She keeps saying she is a double big sister. She says it with pride. She is so sweet with Stocky, I just know she is going to be a big help. She's acts so mature lately.Stockton didn't really have a clue what was going on. He was kind of indifferent about the whole thing. He kept pointing to the TV and saying "basketball" (he likes to watch basketball). He did like to watch Brynn from a distance however. He was fascinated with watching Justin change her diaper.Three kids seems like a big step! But we are ready and excited for the adventure!Because Brynn was so small, they had to test her blood sugars regularly. She was low a couple of times but the numbers kept getting better and better during our stay at the hospital. She's eating great, which is important for keeping those numbers up!A stay at the hospital with a third child is much different than a stay with a first. Justin had the kids all day the second day so Brynn and I just hung out and spent some quality time. Justin brought the kids after Stockton's nap. Molly is smitten with her sister.The kids are battling colds (go figure) so we didn't want them around Brynn too much. My wonderful mom drove down again and took them to her house until they get better. I don't like it much but am thankful to have family close to help out in a bind. I am looking forward to having our family all together, as crazy as it may get.

Molly painted a rock for her little sister.

We got to bring Brynn home this morning. We found the smallest pair of pajamas that we could (they were some of Molly's). She was 4 lbs 12 oz this morning.Last night she had to have a test run in her carseat. She had to sit in it for 90 minutes while her oxygen was monitored. Just another precaution because she was so small. She passed. She looks pretty tiny in the car seat.Now we are home. I think all the pokes and tests at the hospital wore Brynn out. She has slept the whole afternoon. And I have held her the whole afternoon. I love, love this stage...I am going to take every chance to hold and snuggle her because before I know it she won't let me!

Well, welcome to the family sweet, sweet Brynn! We love you!!

All before 9:30

Stockton must have decided when he woke up this morning that he was going to be especially destructive. Maybe my patience is just thin today. This morning he:

-threw a bowl of Cheerios on the floor
-threw Molly's bowl of pears on the floor
-ripped a pop-up book into at least 15 different pieces (which Molly insisted I tape back together)
-tore a polka-dot off of Molly's scrapbook (I think he would have taken all of them off if I wouldn't have stopped him)
-took off the little door to where you shut off the water
-emptied the utensil drawer into the same little door
-dumped a box of crackers on the floor

All of this was accomplished before 9:30. And I'm having a baby in 3 days. What I am going to do with him each day?

It's now 10:15. The two hours before naptime seem to loom ahead of me...I think I'll take a nap today too.

Does anyone else have days like this?

Grandpa Goodrich

Justin's grandpa passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was a great man and left a legacy of faith, service, and hard work. I found his testimony in an old history of the Uintah Basin and copied it down...

"We want to bear testimony to the truthfulness of the Gospel that makes eternal progress possible. We have found in life that it is important to pay attention to seemingly small things. Everything regardless of its size has its place in our Father's eternal scheme. Greatness can be measured by how much attention we pay to small details. We cannot afford to ignore little things, good or evil. Often the little sins of omission are as bad as sins committed. If we fail to reach eternal happiness, it will not be because of the big things entirely but rather the little details that caused us to miss our goal. Joseph Smith's greatness hinged on paying attention to the small details; thus, our happiness will be in the observance of these same principles."

I only have a handful of pictures of him...Grandma and Grandpa with Tiana and Molly-June 2007
Justin, Stockton, Gene, and Grandpa-Thanksgiving 2009Grandpa and Molly-May 2010Stockton, Justin, Grandpa, Grandma and Molly-May 2010Camille, Justin, Eric, April, Brett, Grandpa, Grandma, Gene-January 2011

January 2011

It seems like each year I post about how we keep busy in the winter. Lately we have started to feel the drudgery of staying inside every day, all day. Molly asks when it's going to be summer almost every day and I'm kind of wondering the same thing. Life has definitely slowed down for a little bit and since I'm not trying to play catch up on my blog I'm able to share little day-to-day happenings...

Molly and I still do our daily activities. We rarely miss (probably because I almost always make sure I'm home for Stockton's nap) and they still continue to excite her. She can choose an activity out of our jar or she can make one up on her own. We do lots of different things, but here are the activities that I remembered to take a picture of:

-building a hut out of blankets and playing games-playing with blocks and Mr. Potato HeadThis particular game is silly, but a favorite of hers. There are 3 houses (one straw, one stick, and one brick), we make 3 potato heads (for the three pigs), and the giant potato head is always the wolf. And then we act out The Three Little Pigs.

-make/play with PlaydoughShe said that Grandpa Gene taught her to hang the playdough like this.

-have a tea party-paint our fingernails and toenailsIf you look closely you'll notice that every toenail and fingernail is painted a different color.

-and lots of crafts like this Valentine picture frame that we covered in conversation heartsI love looking at these pictures and seeing the various outfits she has chosen! These short activities have been awesome and allow me to have a little free time in the day as well. If I invest a little time playing with her then she'll quietly head to her room after and play for a while. Much better than the constant "Mom, will you do this with me" all day and me always being too busy and then feeling guilty for not playing.

I've also been trying to spend more one-on-one time playing with Stockton before his nap. This is harder for a second child...when Molly's not at school she plays with us which is great but I do enjoy having some time with him all to myself.

We had fun one night after FHE making these snowmen out of doughnuts...fun to make and even more fun to eat!Of course a trip to the cabin always alleviates some wintertime boredom.We're lucky if we are able to make it once a season but we went twice this winter...once with my family and this past weekend we took Justin's family.

We had a bought of sickness, although pretty mild. I won't complain-last year Stockton had three or four ear infections. The tubes cleared that problem up quite well. Stockton's eyes keep running (instead of his nose) but I'm sure that will clear up. I took him to the doctor after a few days of a cough. As a precaution the doc wanted an X-ray of his lungs. They were clear and the cough cleared up after a few more days.Molly also had a trip to the doctor, only not for any sort of sickness, just a nasty bonk on her head. It was at the chaotic time of evening...I was trying to get dinner ready, the kids were hungry but I didn't want to feed them snacks, and they were both starting to get tired...you know how it is. I was changing Stockton's diaper when I heard a crash, a bang, followed by crying. My first thought was that it was just dramatics but she instantly got really sleepy (like falling asleep into her dinner) and about 30 minutes later started throwing up. I called the on-call pediatrician who told me to take her straight to the emergency room. Poor girl was miserable...lethargic, sleepy, and couldn't stop throwing up. Thankfully, Justin was able to meet me there. Since she's had a concussion before they were concerned about potential damage-we didn't have to wait too long for her to get checked out and have a CatScan. All was clear there too although we were told she had suffered a severe concussion. We were able to bring her home with strict instructions not let her do pretty much anything for two weeks. I was so scared to take my eyes off her I made Justin sleep on the couch that night and Molly slept with me!

Okay, moving on. Stockton is still just as crazy as ever. Boys sure are made different than girls! He is exhausting and hilarious all at the same time. We sure love him though. Sometimes in an effort to keep him from tearing apart the whole house (which I swear he can do in less than 10 minutes) I let him wash the dishes. Sure he gets soaked and the floor always needs mopped up after but this will entertain him for a long, long time. And instead of a mess all over the house, I only have one small mess to clean up.And when all else fails and you're just as bored as ever, you can always pretend to be goats and eat paper...

(Sometimes Molly will get Stockton dressed as well as herself...like take off his pajamas and everything. Tonight she tried changing his diaper and did pretty good.)