I'm a lucky woman.

“What do ships, railways, mines, cars, and government exist for except that people may be fed, warmed, and safe in their own homes?...[the Homemaker's] job is one for which all others exist." -C.S. Lewis

My first few months of motherhood were rough. I refused to let my baby cry, which led to lots of frustration and sleep deprivation. Looking back, I really had no idea what I was doing. I felt extremely bored just taking care of one baby who doesn't do much, but at the same time I felt overwhelmed with my new responsibilities.

It is so satisfying to look back and see that I really am improving in my ability to do this! There are still those frustrating days when I can't keep up. But overall I am getting better, more patient, more creative in how I deal with these toddlers, more compassionate when they get frustrated and angry, more able to keep things tidy and clean. When I mess up and the days are long, with everyone crying at once, I try to step back and remember that not only is this job the most important one in the world, but that I really am getting better at doing this.

I feel so grateful to have these four. Yes they cry and hit each other and make messes ALL over the house. But at the same time, they are so good! And just like I am getting better, they too are improving and growing and learning from their mistakes.

I had a few requests for Mother's Day, and they were (almost) all met. We went on a walk and enjoyed the lovely weather. The kids were good at church. I didn't cook dinner. (ok, so I sort of did, but it was an easy one.) I am enjoying a lovely back scratch right now. And I ignored everyone for a couple of hours while I figured out how to make picture collages and make a new blog header. (Silly, I know, but that's one of those little things I would never take the time to do, so I decided that on Mother's Day I would not feel guilty for wasting time on the computer!) I really love when Rick puts together a video of the kids for me for Mother's Day, and he did record a bunch of footage, but his eyes are not good enough to look at the screen to make it, darn it! (Rick had eye surgery last week, and the recovery is brutal!) So hopefully I will get my movie sometime soon.

Aaand here is an example of NOT-so-great mothering. I must have dropped a sewing needle on the ground somewhere. Isla must have crawled right into it. In the picture, my finger is touching the sharp end of the needle through the skin. Weird, right!! When I put her down for her nap that day, I felt something poke me but thought it was the snaps on her outfit. When she woke up three hours later and I picked her up, I looked down and saw this needle sticking out of her knee! She was acting totally normal, but I freaked out a little. I waited for Dr. Rick to come home, and he really had to yank that thing out. Poor girl!

And here is my little momma, Faye girl, trying to give a bottle to a little girl we babysit sometimes. Ha! Faye really does think she's a mom sometimes, I think. You should hear her yell out the back door for the boys to come inside, and when she tries to discipline them!

I took the boys to the library for craft time yesterday. So proud of Everett for sounding out words so well!

Funny that they both addressed their Mother's Day cards to "Page" instead of mom.

I am so grateful to have this job of a homemaker! And especially for those four funny little people sleeping upstairs. I sure am lucky to have them.

She's off.

This mobility phase is so bittersweet. It's so cute to see this little thing crawling around, getting stuck under tables, so determined to get to wherever she's headed, to hear those hands slap on the tile floor, to see her delight in climbing over her brothers or onto a stack of pillows. But it's so sad that already I'm having to say "no no, don't go there, don't touch that," etc. I wish I could mother without having to discipline all the time!!

The pulling to a stand has also begun. 

Brother thinks it's pretty funny that she's trying to get in the bin of toys.

There she goes.

I can't just sit her outside anymore; now she heads straight for the rocks to eat them up.

Digging in my purse already.

Tonight's bath.

There goes Isla, about to try to stand up in the tub. So sad.

Occasionally I've heard someone comment in a store or something when I walk by, "oh, twins!" I never know who they're talking about, but now I'm guessing it's Everett and Faye?

And just for anyone who reads blogs and is envious of everyone else's seemingly perfect kids/life (I know I have those feelings all the time), let it be known that this happy bath time lasted all of five minutes. Bath time at our house usually ends with two to three kids crying, one is usually injured, and one to two others get pulled out for some offense. And then I mop up the wet floor. So, I guess Isla's mobility means she's getting thrown into the mix now as well. Go Isla!

Four.

Who knew this little Brett Favre jersey would see so much action in 2013. Everett's almost daily uniform is the Packer's jersey, "sport's shorts," Halloween socks, and his Elmo tennis shoes. He believes this combo helps him run the fastest, and he wants to always be ready for "the big game" in case dad comes home in time.

At his four-year-old check up. This is the appointment where they get the mother load of shots to be ready for school. Everett was actually looking forward to the shots, band aids, and stickers. He really was SO tough and watched the needles go into his legs without making a peep. All until the very last poke that must have really burned because he finally burst into tears. But he recovered quickly, of course. (We did Faye's two-year-old check up that same week, and she was totally ticked that she didn't get shots too. She yelled and screamed about it a bit until the nurse gave her a band aid.)

 

 

 

Everett weighed 33 pounds, so in the 25th percentile like he usually is. The doctor referred him to a dermatologist to check out his cute birthmark on his leg; I'm hoping they can leave it alone.

The morning of his birthday, he came downstairs and announced that he had woken up, stood up in his bed, and felt like he was four. Everett says such cute things like that all the time, with these big, sincere eyes, and it is just so cute.

Our church held a talent show for all the kids a couple of weeks ago. Carson played the piano, Faye cried when she got home and realized she hadn't done a talent, and Everett was, I think, the star of the show. He had listed three things on the sign-up sheet. "Running super fast, riding my bike super fast, ear trick." At the last minute he decided to add showing his muscles. (Everett regularly flexes his muscles to people or things he might be scared of and is convinced that this wards them away. Like he'll run in from playing outside and announce that he just saw a bee, but not to worry, he showed his muscles and the bee flew right away.) So, when it was his turn to perform his talent, he got up on stage and darted across as fast as he could, then hopped on his bike and rode back across, then calmly walked out to the middle of the stage and turned his ears inside out. After putting his ears back, he paused for a while, then suddenly flexed those biceps, really showing the strain in his face. The crowd went wild. Man, he is proud of those muscles.

Everett was lucky to have the Greer cousins in town for his birthday. My parents sent him a kit to hang a tire swing, and Uncle Greg and Sam assembled it for him. Everett has always been a play-outside kind of kid, so the swing is just perfect for him.

In other news, I can't even believe this girl today. This morning I would have told you she can scoot around and crawl a little bit, but by the time she went to bed she was full on speed crawling all over the house. I need to buy a baby gate for the stairs.

Oh, and on his actual birthday he couldn't decide between the Packer jersey and the Curious George shirt, so he did the obvious and wore both. Here we are doing our weekly "Family Fun night," where everyone's name goes in a bowl; when your name is picked you choose a game that everyone plays.

Family Fun was cut short, because when Everett's name was picked he yelled, "For my game I choose THE DESSERT," and since it was his birthday we went with it.

So glad he went with strawberry pie instead of a cake, and he insisted we do root beer floats, too. (He calls it root beard.)

More fun with the tire swing...

The Greers gave Everett a fun kit to help catch and keep bugs. Although my boys are definitely NOT brave about touching moving creatures, this cage has seen caterpillars, lizards, a couple of tiny snakes, and plenty of roly-poly bugs.

I have no idea how Carson got the guts to hold this lizard. He had just seen his friend Kennan catch one, and really really wanted to get one to put in the cage. After lots of encouraging, he finally grabbed its tail. He hasn't been brave enough to do it again since!

Everett had a wonderful fourth birthday. He is such a sweet boy, definitely a little stinker sometimes, but at the end of the day he's the one I am most likely to crawl into bed with and snuggle. We sure love that kid.

Visitors from the West.

I used to sort of lament the fact that my kids only have one cousin close to their age on Rick's side. (His siblings had actually all finished having kids before we even started.) But, after a wonderful visit from these Utah cousins, I've realized that the age gap doesn't really matter: cousins are just fun! And it was really nice to have all these good, older-cousin examples around, whom my kids just adored. We are so glad the Greer family came to visit!!

The boys' dream would be for cousin Wilson to move in with us! (NO we did not get a TV. We just moved our computer monitor into the family room to watch LDS General Conference. :)

We used our second annual free trip to Sea World (for being active duty military) to go with the cousins.

Tough guys on the top row for the Shamu show.

That is definitely Sadie's arm, not Carson's! They were braver than last time, but not brave enough to actually touch.

 

Everett feeding the dolphin a fish!

This Sea World trip fulfilled a birthday wish for Everett.

Carson remembered from last time that he did NOT want to ride this roller coaster, but Everett did it and was so proud!

The brave four-year-old!

You know Sam loved the carousel.

Banana snack.

(Part of) The gang ready for another show.

I just loved watching the faces of these two during the shows. So focused on everything going on!

Girlfriends.

My favorite times spent with the Greers were just hanging out at the house, eating good food, playing with the kids. Rick loved playing tennis with them in the evenings.

Bedtime is much more fun when it's not just your cranky mom trying to get everyone to sleep!

The Greers were here during some of General Conference weekend. Saturday, it was just me and the kids, and I tried to have it be a nice quiet day listening to the talks. This picture lasted about 30 seconds, and the rest of the day was a joke.

Things went much better on Sunday! It was us over here relaxing and listening to some wonderful talks...

...and then these two were over here manning their very own concession stand! (The nice sample lady at HEB gave me those little bowls for the nachos.) Ali helped them get everything set up and make little tickets for everyone. Then the magical part was that they sat quietly during the talks waiting for the songs when they would take town their "clowsed" sign and receive their customers. It was very cute.

Here come the customers.

Baby girl enjoyed attention from all the visitors, of course.

Faye and Wilson kept up a nose-stealing game.

Cousin bonding is so fun; I just wish we could do it a little more often!