Skinny Minnies

So, we're raising a bunch of beanpole boys over here. Roland's four month well visit was great - he was even cute with the doctor and smiled and laughed. Not so much for the two nurses giving him bunches of shots. They have the worst job! Our little Ro Ro is 13 lbs and 6 oz, which only puts him in the 25th%. Which is okay, but two months ago he was in the 50th%. Our pediatrician said not to worry though, he seems to be growing just fine. He has gained about two pounds in the last two months. He is 26 inches tall, which is like 80-85%. I'm always a little bit skeptical about height measurements with babies. One of the boys shrunk once, which seems a little fishy to me. Babies are just too wiggly. So, for a little comparison:

I can see that Roley is falling a little bit behind - I'll have to be less resentful about feeding him three times a night.

Family Home Evening

I had a goal to start holding weekly Family Home Evenings in 2008. It has not gone well, but a few times are better than nothing. We usually do it just with Alden after Emmett goes to bed, but last week we had our first FHE with four of us. It went quite well I thought. Emmett is starting to want a turn praying, even if sometimes he won't repeat anything. And he participates in singing a little. Aaron and I are in nursery and I am amazed at how much Emmett is learning in there. The other day I was trying to put him down for a nap and he was singing, "A sunbeam, a sunbeam" over and over. It was actually when I realized how much Alden was learning in nursery last year that I knew we needed to start FHE. I always assumed he was too young, but he wasn't and was feeling the serious need to start teaching my children myself, rather than just leaving it up to their church teachers. This picture is of the boys eating their fancy ice cream sundaes after FHE. Mini vanilla scoops, with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles.

A Little Catch Up

Daily my boys grow and change, and I just try to keep up with the beautiful chaos. I find less and less time for my own interests, including blogging, but don't want to let our family blog slide too much.

Alden Bear
Alden is anxious to be four and start preschool in the fall. He loves playing on the computer and watching shows on TiVo, both of which he can run completely on his own. He always shows our babysitters how to work the tv. We're trying to establish some better routines with him, including some chores. He wipes the table for me and helps unload the dishwasher. He's getting into a pretty independent phase though, and we have problems with disobedience, talking back, and some dishonesty. Just normal three year old stuff though. When he gets angry and frustrated he hits the couch, table, or wall and says, "I'm just gonna break our house!" I try not to laugh and only discipline him when he says he's going to break me or Emmett. Alden doesn't pay a lot of attention to Roland, but enough to show his brotherly love. Most people think Roley looks like Alden - we'll see as the baby grows up. Alden loves to take pictures with my "real camera" and I sometimes find some suprise shots when I go through them. The other day he was left alone while I took a shower and when I came back he told me he took some pictures of Calliou. When I checked the camera, there were about 30 shots of our tv, progressing from far away, showing the entertainment center, to closer up of just the tv, to bunches of screen shots of one of our favorite shows. They turned out suprisingly well, good to know for the future.

Change of Room Situations
As I've listed before, Emmett is our wild child. He can tear a room apart faster than a tornado. After months of anticipating moving Roley into the boys' room, we realized that we can't trust Emmett and finally moved the crib into our office, along with a spare dresser. Which means that Emmett sleeps in a big boy bed now - he started right at his birthday, motivated by the new sports ball sheets that Ma'am (my mom) got him. He didn't really have any transition issues, but he does sleep all over the place and has fallen out once. It's low though. We also took the bunkbeds apart, after the boys fell off a couple times during their jumping and wrestling sessions up there. Then, last Saturday I pulled the closet doors down from the attic. We had taken them off as soon as we moved back from Florida, to avoid pinched fingers. But Emmett's favorite thing to do is pull ALL the clothes from the hangers and scatter them, along with all the dirty clothes, hangers, shoes, toys, and anything else he could reach. So, tired of picking up everything three times a day, we put the closet doors back up and found a lock for them. Very inconvenient for us, but worth it for now. We also bought two big MDF boards and covered the windows in the boys' room. Aaron was tired of getting up at 5am with them because the sun shines in (he is so sweet and let's me sleep in the majority of the time). All sunblocking items we have installed, drapes, blinds, and shades, have been destroyed by the boys in record time. So it pretty much looks like a prison in there, and it echoes a lot. We have plans to disguise and decorate the boards, but I'm sure it will take some time. First we have to find some kind of moveable brackets that would let an adult move the boards fairly quickly in case of a fire or something. I know the boys couldn't do it, but not like they can get out the windows on their own anyway.

Our Ro-Ro
Roland is getting big - he will be four months this Friday and seems to be progressing well. He has a well visit on Friday and I will list his stats. He still eats several times in the night, but is only up for about 15 minutes at a time and goes to bed around 5:30 or 6. Naps are getting longer and more consistent. He smiles and laughs a lot and seems happy to be around his family. Roley loves to be held though and doesn't last very long on his own. He still spends some time in his bouncer, and does lots of short stints in the red chair we got from Candice, and now his walker. Turns out his feet actually touch the ground and he is able to move himself around a bit in it. I have to keep a close watch because Emmett loves to climb in the walker on top of him, but Ro Ro is sure cute in there. He usually lasts about 5 minutes. But it gives me a little break. I still have to carry him in the Baby Bjorn while we are out at the store or zoo, and occasionally at home. He breaks my back but stays quiet and his soft little head is right at kissing level.

Monkey Boy Turns 2!

Emmett James Carpenter had his 2nd birthday on Saturday, May 10th. We had a little party at Candlelight Park, the scene of many of my birthday parties growing up. Not everyone could make it so we were a little short on kids, but the boys enjoyed playing with Gabriel, Corinne, and Jaycee, as well as Dillon & Mary Joe Spencer. Thanks to all Emmy's grandparents and many aunts and uncles for showing up to celebrate! With Alden's help, Emmett opened lots of thoughtful presents - thanks everyone! His favorite is his Spiderman scooter from Mom & Dad. He calls it Mya Man. I tried to stick with a sports/ball theme since the birthday boy loves that. We had cupcakes and made it home before lunchtime. I love Emmett's birthday shirt - he picked out this Mickey Mouse shirt himself at Walmart.

It's amazing how Emmett's body has changed just in the last month or so. He's no longer a baby, but suddenly a boy. His fat little legs have leaned out, and his face shape seems to be changing too. We're very proud of him - his vocabulary grows daily and he is the most polite kid I've ever seen. He always says please and thank you. And sorry - which is good, because he needs to say sorry a lot. Emmy is still our most active kid, proving he can climb to the top of anything in our house, including the top shelves in his closet. He finally will watch 5 or 10 minutes of tv and likes The Wiggles, Thomas the Train, or Elmo. He drinks more water than anyone I know, bringing a corresponding number of wet diapers. He loves to play catch and ride scooters. He has a cute little gallop when he runs. Emmett is still very attached to his blanket, running to Blanket for comfort whenever he gets hurt, rather than Mom or Dad. He sucks his thumb when he's tired or inexplicably, whenever he holds a baby. Emmett loves his brothers, following Alden around all day and trying to smother Roland with love whenever Mom isn't watching. He thinks he can pick the baby up by himself and we're just lucky nothing serious has happened yet. I have to keep a very watchful eye. You've probably never met a kid who can get into trouble faster than Emmett, but I just adore that cute face - from his gap-toothed smile to his squinty eyes when he smiles. We love Emmett!

Lovin' Our Zoo Pass, Our Neighbors, & Our Cousins

We were so happy when the Spencers moved in next door last fall, especially when we found out they had little kids. Alden loves to yell over the fence and say, "Hi, my neighbors!" Alden worships 5 year old Dillon, and tolerates Mary Joe, who is only a few weeks older than him. And Mary Joe dotes on Emmett, so it all works out. And they have a new baby boy just 2 weeks younger than Roland. He's Riley, and we have Roley. See, we're all matching. Lacey is wonderful and has provided lots of great company for me in the last 5 or 6 months, not to mention the great babysitting. Last Thursday we took the Spencers to the zoo with us. The kids all had fun and we saw lots of cool animals. The baby orangutang was putting on a show for us and everyone loved the new baby prairie dogs. The kids took a lot of pictures of the babies. Dillon wanted to see the snakes so we went all through the reptile habitat. Lacey even managed to capture a decent photo of all three boys and me. Thanks! Before we left the kids cooled off at the splash park, except Emmett wouldn't go in. He said it was too cold and just watched and played in the sand instead.

After naps we headed over to Missy's (my SIL) for some slip-n-slide fun. Alden & Emmett love playing with their cousins, Gabe and Corinne. Missy & I tried to stay inside with our babies to visit and keep cool. Their new baby, Amelia Jane is a cutie!

Roland is Growing!

A little catch-up here. Roley started being a roley-poley (rolling over) on Saturday, May 4th. We find him on his stomach after a nap about every 3rd or 4th time. Now he immediately curls up into a little ball on his side when you put him down to sleep. Very cute. He loves his thumb and can pretty much get it in his mouth whenever he wants now. He's very drooley, but we love him despite the wet shirts and dripping hands. His and ours. His naps are getting a bit longer and he usually goes down for the night around 7, although sometimes it's 5:30. He still wakes up a lot at night to eat, but is quick and goes right back down. At 3 months, he is happy - smiling, laughing and cooing all the time. He still doesn't enjoy tummy time, but loves to sit up and watch the world around him. He has started noticing toys, like on the tray of his little red chair (thanks Candice!) and uses his hands to play with it.

Ah, Good Times

When I sit and think back over my life, I'm very happy. I've had a lot of good times. I often reminisce about high school days, which I loved. And I feel almost the same way about my college life at BYU. I mean, okay, there are things I would do differently. Like actually attend my classes. But I made a lot of good memories too. I majored in Chemistry Education. I knew I wanted to be a chemistry teacher ever since I took Chemistry my sophmore year of high school and realized I was a much better teacher than "the fat man," Chance Dunn. God rest his soul. Yes, he's passed on. And yes, he called himself "the fat man." Oh, I could go on and on about that class, but suffice to say my love of chemistry was born and I realized I have a wee talent for teaching. I never wavered, I never changed my major, I never realized that teaching high school is way too hard (until student teaching). I took all my chemistry classes, and my education classes, and not a lot of others. I had enough AP credits to take care of a lot of electives and I had a pretty focused education at BYU. And now I want to start over.

I think I short-changed myself while at BYU. Yes, I took some fun classes here and there, but I don't think I took a lot of practical classes. Classes I wish I could take now: cooking, sewing, child-rearing, financial managment, etc. Things that would make me better at my job, which is staying home and raising my children and managing our household. For that matter, why didn't I just take Home Ec in high school? I was way too snooty for something like Home Ec, I wanted to be an academic. But now, I would take these classes not just because they are practical, but because I would really enjoy them. I've been angling to take a class at my local community college for a couple years now - Sewing for the Home. My friend, Jody, took it and had a great time and learned a lot of new skills.

I think it's ironic that I spent so much time and effort on curriculum I might not use much. I hate to set back women's rights here, but I firmly believe a women's place is in the home and that she should prepare herself for that as much as possible. Not necessarily to the exclusion of other things, since I also believe women should get the education they need to support or help support their family, if needed. And I really am hoping to get a Masters Degree in Chemistry someday and teach at a community college.

So, even though I have very fond memories of my time in Provo, all seven years of it - here is a list of classes I would have found interesting and helpful.

SFL 100 : Strengthening Marriage and Family: Proclamation Principles and Scholarship
SFL 110 : Food Preparation in the Home
SFL 180 : Clothing the Family
SFL 260 : Family Finance
ECE 320 : Teaching the Creative Arts: Birth Through Kindergarten
EL ED 340 : Children's Literature
MUSIC 221 : Functional Piano Skills 1
TMA 150 : Public Speaking
VA 134 : Introduction to Photography
HEPE 129 : Fitness and Lifestyle Management
EXSC 101R : Activities for Fitness and Weight Control
RMYL 301 : Family Recreation
ACC 200 : Principles of Accounting
BUS M 205R : Planning for Financial Security at Retirement
BUS M 372 : Basic Entrepreneurship Skills
I SYS 105 : Creating Personal Web Pages