N8 The Soccor Child

Nathan is in the top left corner not the coaches helper he is the smiley kid that looks like hes got something on you, with blond Harry Potter hair and skinny legs. I thought you would want to see what he looked like as a child.

The Cherry Picker Baby Update-It's Yoga!

In basketball, there is term I am reassigning to our babies. I often call one or more of them cherry pickers. A cherry picker camps out by the basket waiting for a long pass, so they can score before the other team sets up.Usually Wilson is a cherry picker, and the other cherry picker switches between James and Quinny. One of the babies will cry for all of the babies. It is as if they say to themselves, it is your turn this morning Quinn, you have to call the food in here. Once in a while I will walk in and feed only the baby that is crying and the other two set up a raucous. It is an interesting social experiment. But we shouldn't always experiment on our children or they will turn out like me and my siblings, thanks dad. Here are babies photos and a progress report: Quinn, growing lovely and vocal. She has 5 teeth coming in, army crawls, gets up to crawl position, sits on her own, plays with toys, eats finger foods, loves games and playing, is starting to be afraid of strangers- super pleasant The smartest lil' cherry picker I know. Wilson is rolling over and has no desire to crawl. Is so curious about what everyone is doing, he likes to look at his hands and play with toys. He loves being held and sitting on the floor and I suspect he is going to be another scooter like CC was, so I don't sit him up very often, he is mellow and smiles even when it is his turn to yell for a bottle It is time you learn Jamies passion in life. Sky diving and push-ups. Oh I should tell you he likes looking at books too but when he is on his own, all he does is sky dive and do push ups. He is also crazy about yoga He will lay for long periods of time in the zone, he freefalls with his arms out, then rests for a while on his hands, and freefalls again, he has another trick too -see next pic Babies are milling about, watch James in the background He is so close to doing a somersault. Shouldn't you learn to crawl first? His yoga pose is downward facing dog and he does this all the time. Such a strange passion for one so young. It used to look like he was pile driving the ground but his form is really coming along nicely

Eye of the Storm

My sister Leah has a great big wonderful Mormon family with 7 children. She lives in Idaho. She has a mantra she shares with me and I use it. "I am the calm in the eye of the storm."

I can imagine 2 boys wrestling on the floor, someone practicing the piano, someone looking for a buddy to play catch with, one is sick on the couch, one is playing dolls, everyone is hungry, dinner needs to be made, laundry is piling up, dog needs to be feed. There she is sitting on her bed nursing the baby reciting, I am the calm in the eye of the storm. She is a wonderful mother and she has everything under control in amazing ways, but somehow I can't help thinking she is getting just what she deserves. She probably thinks the same thing about me.
I love her and we are close, our whole family is, oh and we are adding one more, Mikell on March 16th, she is brave enough to marry my little brother, that completes the in -laws and I couldn't be happier. Geez, who knows what we all could have married? Hazel and CC took to calling her Miss. Mikell while they were dating, maybe we they will call her Mrs. Mikell when she marries Spence. Now I just have to hold my breath to see who Jennifer, Johnathan and Rob bring home onN8s side. Oh well, may we all get along and love each other.

Oh back to Leahs mantra. I have one too. Even though this is a challenge, I will continue. Sometimes I change it to say, Even though I am tired, I will continue. Or sometime I make a joke of it, Even though I feel like a clumsy ox, I will continue. It sort of resets my focus and helps me keep going til N8 gets home. Ahhhh, that glorious time when I hear the front door open.

Cinderella for 27 cents

CC found some change on my dresser and asked if she could have it. CC never brags but she is always so satisfied, satisfied as a cat with whatever she is given, it makes Hazel crazy. Perhaps Hazel is looking for that type of satisfaction and she thinks it will come in whatever CC likes. Hazel must learn she won't get it in things, her sense of joy, as far as I can tell comes in thrills (scary for a mom), activity and accomplishment, she needs to learn she won't get it in accumulating stuff. That's just my girls and they are different.

So CC is walking around pleased as punch with her moneys and Hazel decides she wants them. She calculates her stratagem,  "Mom, you didn't give me any money. You are not being fair. You should give me some money." I don't cave to that kind of pressure. "Hazel, sometimes I give you things I don't give CC, so right now it is her turn to have something nice from me. Remember, I gave you binoculars and CC didn't get anything." Moms don't need to be even but they should be fair.

This is how it ended up. Last year, I bought Hazel a Cinderella figurine for Christmas. She doesn't play with it much but CC loves it. CC bought that doll from Hazel with her 27 cents and both of them were happy as could be. I didn't figure it out for them, they did. Holy cow, I was so pleased at how they resolved this conflict. Wow, wow, wow. Good job girls!

The Cinderella doll, Quinn likes it too, she must taste good, maybe CC can sell it to Quinn next.