Silly Girl

Hey Lib, your face is a mess please go wash it.

No it's not.

Yes, it is, go wash it.

I already did!

Later she and Mr. got in a huge fight over the last piece of celery.  Seriously?  It's celery.  I finally got the sitation calmed down by giving Miss L a piece of red pepper.

Today Mr. M told me, "Mom, some people call me Mr. M."  He has no idea that comes from blog world but at least he answers to it.

Random Day in the Life of Us

Once upon a time I wrote a blog about the typical day in the life of us.  It has been one of my favorite blogs to go back and read and look at and marvel in the differences in our lives now. 

Wake around 7am.
Morning Chart - things like get dressed, brush teeth, etc.
Homeschool Pre-school or playtime depending on how long Damon's nap is.
Swimming Lessons.
Quiet time and nap time for Damon (for the record he takes short naps at 9,1, and 3:30).  Quiet time is actually not very quiet.  I don't like for Libby to nap anymore so now I let them have quiet time together but they aren't allowed to pester me for at least one hour. However, Damon usually only naps for twenty minutes of this so I am not completely child-free.
One this particular day we went for a walk to pick up trash in the neighborhood and caught a pic of the "Dopey" face:

 Left door open for a few minutes and then found this lovely friend in our laundry room:

 I thought the kids were kidding, but they weren't.  I used a trick I learned in my primary manual to get it out.  I shut out off all the lights and then left the outside door open with the light to lead the way. 

Damon eats solids three times a day and it is extremely difficult most of the time.  He bounces up and down the whole time (it's crazy, I have to hold his shoulders down to get the food in), grabs every spoon he can, and wipes food on every surface.  This was actually a pretty clean day:

 The kids usually fight to take a turn feeding him:

 Then they begged to have pics taken.

 Then they had to show their muscles:

At 3:30 they have to clean up.  After that is done I sometimes let them watch a short show.  Then they have to do their chores.  When they finish their chores they can watch one more show.

Damon goes to bed around 6 - 6:30.

Then it's dinner, bath, and bed by 7:30 for the older ones.

Since Damon doesn't nap well I get little done around the house during the day.  After 7:30  it's my time to exercise, clean, read, rest, blog, index, do family history work, and play on Facebook.  There are just not enough hour in the evening and nighttime!

My Great Dad

Mr. M made this at preschool.

My daddy is 16 years old.
He weighs 5 lbs and is 10 ft tall.
His hair and eyes are black and blue.
My dad loves to relax by resting his eyes and he likes to wear his work shirt. (Caleb is always saying he's just resting his eyes!)
He loves to cook sandwiches. (Yes, that's pretty much all he knows how to make.  Well, that and the world's best breakfast burritos.)
His favorite household chore is mow the grass. (True!)
His favorite TV show it Robot Rampage and his favorite song is from Robot Rampage. (Favorite kids show anyway.)
Daddy always tells me he likes to tickle me.
It makes me happy when he plays with me.
When my dad shops, he likes to buy bread.
If he could go on a trip, he would go to Geocache and he would take me. (So true!)
I really love it when my dad tickles me.
He's the best! I love you, Dad!

Clarification

I always feel like I need to clarify things after I read others' comments.  I guess it's part of the whole what you see is what you get thing.  I'm not even sure one hundred percent what my point with the post was either but I need to clarify what it was not about.

In no way was I upset when I wrote my last post. I don't feel guilty for having this personality trait.  Nor am I really worried about it.  I guess my point was that I am finally figuring out what people have been talking about all these years.  I finally understand that I share more than many others do, I have no idea what some social norms are, and that I do say what is on my mind most of the time (this is not a conscious thing, it's just what I do). 

And I'm extremely glad most of you appreciate it because I can't change who I am.  In growing up, I am learning some things and changing a few little things here and there, but I will always be ME.

I'll Never Know

Many times in my life I have been told that when people think of me they think, "What you see is what you get."  I've never had a firm grasp on what they meant.  I assumed most people meant it as a compliment and I just smiled and moved on. But I think I'm starting to get it.  And I think it's changing me and I'm not quite sure if that is good or bad.

A lot of things bother a lot of people.  I just had no idea.  Probably weekly someone will tell me a story about someone's odd behavior in in my mind I'm thinking, "I've done that!" or "I would totally do that!" and previous to that conversation I had no idea anyone would think it was weird or maybe even rude.

I've always been a fairly open person. I've always talked about whatever I wanted to.  Rarely realizing I've made others' uncomfortable. I really am comfortable to talk about almost anything. As I meet more people and gain more experience I'm learning there are certain topics that are to be avoided around certain people.  The problem is, I have no idea what those are until that person puts me in my place.  I never mean offense to anyone, I am just learning that because I'm comfortable with it, doesn't mean everyone is. 

I'm often thinking back to situations where I realize that what I said or did was probably taboo and now there is nothing I can do about it. I wonder how many people I offended in the past or made uncomforable.  If you are one of them, I'm sorry!  I'm fairly certain I can honestly say I had no idea at the time. 

It's a strange realization to me.  And eye opening in other ways as well.  I'm sure the same can be said for me.  That things other people say or do that bother me, they probably have no idea!  They are just going about their business without a smidgen of realization that they are bothering me.  Growing up is a strange, strange thing I've decided.

Ducky Ducky

 Duck Pond with the Bauer girls.

Abby:

 Look at Lil' D and Molly holding hands:

 That's a lotta kids!  I love the look of all the best buddies all lined up.

Cowkids

Preschool Circus

When I walked into the Hall for M's preschool presentation I was pleasantly surprised.  M was in good spirits and looked like he actually might participate in this presentation.

See him pestering his classmate?

 (Sorry the pics are a little blurry I was far away and it was dark.)
He even had on his signature smirk.

 When it came time for him to take center stage he took of with the rest of the cowboys swinging his lasso and riding his horse.  He got to the top step of the stage and stopped dead in his tracks. The lil' pink cowgirl behind him had to fight her way around him to get up there.
At the end they all went back up to bow and smile and wave.  But not my little guy.....

 He was just chillin' by himself.

How in the world did I, of all  people, end up with such shy children? 

Tangled

Very aptly named.

Six Months

The lil' guy is six months.
He's soooooooooo darn cute.  He has three different faces he makes and I am bound and determined to get a pic of all three just for you.  One is his incredible smile, OH THAT SMILE (it's super easy to get him to smile too). The second is what I call is Dopey face, he often gets fascinated by something and just stares at it with his mouth open, tongue out.  His third is his determined face.
I hate to jinx it but I have to be grateful - my little buddy here goes to bed around 6pm, wakes around 11pm, quickly eats and back to bed, then wakes around 7am.  It's pretty awesome. 

Stats:
Wt - 16lbs 8oz
Ht - 26.5 in.
HC - 16.5 in.
The nurse said he is just below the fiftieth in everything.
Damon,
I love you! I'm so lucky to get to be your mommy.  I love seeing more and more of your personality come out.  I'm excited to see if you'll be easy-going or hyper or silly or more serious (I think not).  My heart beats quicker just thinking of how much fun it will be to see you grow up. 

You have a deep voice.  The doc asked if you ever make a high pitched squeal.  No sir, you don't, every sound that comes out of you is very deep.  We like to tease and say you sound like an old constipated man when you yell, I have to get it on video.

You just started sitting up this week and sometimes you still tip but it's been fun to watch you discover things from your new vantage point.

Instead of yanking my hair out all the time, sometimes you gently pull on it and play with it, I love it. You also cup my face sometimes, which is adorable.  I'm still your favorite person but you are starting to like others more, especially Daddy. Mr. M can get a laugh out of you very easily but sometimes tickles you a little too rough and gets a cry.  You really love Miss L's bear and try to steal it anytime you can...this is not going over well but M usually saves the day and brings you his bear (you have your own but I won't let it leave your crib). Miss L wants to hold constantly and loves to feed you.

I knew Daddy and I would love you when you got here, but I had no idea how much your siblings would.  You are a lucky boy!

Love,
Mommy

Love Notes

One day I found these taped all over our house:

In fact, I kept finding them all over the place for days.

Now if that doesn't make you smile, what would?

Sea World Again. What Can I say? It's a Fun Place.

Miss looked so little and sweet.  We were all a bit shocked she went by herself.

 The Dolphin Show:

 This pic Caleb took looks like an ad for the show:

We also went to Corpus Christi but my dad has those pics.  My Dad and I swam in the waves together like we always do and Mr. M ran up and down the beach splashing.  Mom watched Little D.  It was a little cold, but really fun.  Hopefully I'll have those pics soon also. (Hint, hint.)

My Mommy and Baby D

At Sea World Grandma watched Lil' D for us while we played.  Thanks Mom!

I snapped these pics from waaaay across the park.  I love them.

Sea World - Part One

Sea World was awesome.

Grandpa tried hard to get Miss L to smile.  It didn't work. But he tried.

 The one on the right in these is the new baby.  It was trying to hard to keep up with mama.  Adorable!

 We were at the back of the splash zone and somehow got out of there dry.  I couldn't believe people sat in the splash zone and then got ticked when they were drenched.  Hello!  There were signs everwhere!

 If you ever go to Sea World with a baby just know that they don't have baby strollers for rent - you have to buy one for forty bucks.  But you can fit a carseat on the double-wide stroller.

Hey look it's all five of us together!

 Caleb got his awesome pic!