Anyone know a better way to draw a pipe with frosting?

Me: Like my cake?
Friend: Yes. What is it supposed to be?... a vasectomy?
Me: No.... why? (laughing my head off)
Friend: It looks like a congrats on the vasectomy cake.
Me: Oh... really? (still laughing)
Friend: What is that supposed to be?
Me: He got a new job selling pipe. PIPE!

This is when a congratulatory cake for your husband getting a new job goes terribly wrong. I guess cake decorating isn't my forte.

I can't decide which brings more joy to my heart...

This one:

or THIS one:

It's a toss up!

Mommy Match Up

The other day I was thinking about how I don't know anyone with the same aged/gendered kids as I have. I know of other families with kids that match up. For example, I can think of about five families that have three girls roughly the same ages. I am curious to know if you,... the readers of my blog, know my mommy match up.

What is my match up? A mommy with a 5 year old boy, 4 year old girl, and 9-12 month old baby girl. I realize that the 5 yr/4 yr combo might be difficult to come by, but there has to be someone... right?

I just want to know if there is someone out there that is "same same"!

I may just have to extend my search criteria to 6 & 4. Let me know if you know any one... even if they are not bloggers. I know I'm weird!

Merci beaucoup!!

Special Chair

When we added our little Mia to the family I realized we were going to need a fifth chair at our dinning table. I figured it would be impossible to match our existing chairs since they are "custom painted." Mimi found one at the DI and when I went to pick it up I was astonished to find that it was an insanely close match. Before I had arrived to get the chair I had been thinking about how the kids might fight over a chair that was different than the rest, but I knew it would work out just fine once I saw the close match. I arrived back at our place and slid the chair in with the others so no kiddies would ever know the difference...WRONG. The next day the kids were negotiating chair privileges. Ellie gets Lunch and Jensen gets Dinner. They even named it. "Special Chair." No, not "The Special chair" or any other variation, it's SPECIAL CHAIR. Today I noticed that when they can't wait for their Special Chair turn, they actually share it and have a meal side by side. These two crack me up.

Flower picking frenzy

Ellie has grown to love picking flowers. Love might not do this thing justice. Lets just say that all flower plants or shrubs in my yard are void of any actual flowers. This is cute, so we don't get mad. I did tell her that I like the dandelion flowers best (weed eradication - this is my first step in harnessing her energy). I see her combing the yard for dandelions. Notice the pile next to her plate. Awesome. So, yesterday I found a couple tulips that hadn't bloomed yet. I brought Ellie over and asked if she would please let this at least bloom, and to pretty please just not pick it. The very next time I was in the kitchen, there it was...on display on the counter in a nice vase with water. Gotta love her passion.

Funny stuff the kids say:

It is funny to hear the kids regurgitate things that they hear us say to them. Ellie was giving me compliments left and right today. After, "I love you so much," she added "you're growing up so fast daddy!"

The other day a neighborhood boy was calling his sister a "pain in the butt." Apparently, Ellie thought he was talking to her. Now every time we see that kid she announces, "Dad, that's the mean boy that called me a paint in the butt."

Today as we were driving around she said to me, "Lets practice dunking." huh? Then she said, "Tell me when you see a policeman so I can dunk." Oh, got it. (You can tell that I have tried to motivate them at times to get their seat belts on or there will be jail time.)

When I hurt Ellie's feelings she says, "But I really love you daddy!" Followed by, "You're breaking my bones." I don't know what that means exactly, but it is so cute.

I was angry a few days back and mumbled, "It's over between us." In a really sad voice I hear from Ellie, "But I don't want it to be over, I really like you guys."

Rollin Rollin Rollin

Maybe it was the slight incline of our front yard, or maybe NOT! Mia rolled over, unassisted three times. It just so happens that she did it when we were having a little photo shoot. I yelled for daddy to come out and Mia performed for him too. I thought it would be awhile still because she never gets put on the floor. It seems like she is doing something fun and new every day.

A few weeks ago she learned her first word- "Mom." Now she is a little broken record. At least she can mix it up with a few variations. My favorite is the "Mum Mum Mum" sequence. Ellie's favorite is when she says, "momma." Daddy enjoys her speaking as well. Mia usually cries for "mom, mom, mom" when she is in distress- meaning Ellie is smothering her. However, when she is all the way upstairs in her crib and it's daddy's turn to give her the binki he likes to pull the, "but she's asking for you" garbage. He likes to ask Mia questions knowing the answer will be "moma", and a little to entertain the other kids too. "Who do you want to change your diaper?" "Who's gonna give daddy a back rub?" "Who loves daddy the most?" I of course don't let him get away with not changing her, but I get a good laugh with some of the stuff he comes up with.

She has been eating like a champ... well not throwing anything up as I increase her rate and volume. I have a suspicion that she may, just may make the growth chart this week. I could be wrong, but she is feeling quite a bit heavier than her last 14lb weigh in. I am still shooting for her to be tubeless by her 1st b-day.


post roll shot. TA - DA!!

A bit of Easter

4 Generations

Mia went in to public... GASP! I was a nervous wreck! The germs... oh the germs ;-) I tried not to think about it as we made the long drive to meet my grandma great and aunt for lunch. My mom was in town and we wanted to get together before she went back home. I was not too keen on eating hospital food so we met at a restaurant in Seattle. When we got there, most of the tables were empty.. PHEW!...and we sat by the door. I think the new environment was a shock to her system. She just looked around at everything, and we couldn't keep her attention. I washed everything down in sanitizer- cause I've developed a strong case of OCD. I've actually relaxed a little... I used to walk around with my sanitizer in a holster!

Being in public (not hospital public) for the first time was enjoyable. It's funny how I get a lot of smiles when people see Mia. I saw quite a few people look at her and then look up at me with a sweet smile. The smiles are different, not "hey, cute baby" smiles. They see her feeding tube and smile as if to say, "I'm sorry she has that tube." It's sweet and encouraging. I have only had one little girl stare us down. She was a cutie.

I remember when I first walked down the long hall at Seattle Children's. The hall I've walked down 3,956 times- SHE COUNTED? your asking yourselves in disbelief. No, I didn't count.. don't be silly..psssh... or did I? ;-) Anyway, There is a picture of a young girl with a feeding tube. I remember thinking, I'm sure Mia will never need one of those. I actually gagged a little myself seeing the picture. Boy have I come a long way. I didn't even know what it was... now we eat, drink and sleep that feeding tube.

Although I love the sympathetic smiles- someday soon she will only be getting the "hey, cute baby" smiles- which will be a welcomed guest. She is loving on the bottle, but doesn't necessarily suck hard enough to nourish herself. At least she's not feeling like I'm poisoning her.

Oh- this post was supposed to be about 4 generations. It's funny I often have to change the title of my blogs because they never end up being about "the title."

This is me, my moma, grandma great... and you should know the wee babe by now :-) Not much to say except hopefully I look as young as they do at their ages ( no worries mom- I'm not disclosing your age.)

Something interesting about us- (the four of us) is that none of us have ever had our ears pierced- crazy huh? Maybe that is not that cool, but four generations of non ear piercers? Ya gotta admit- it's pretty unique! I always wanted my ears pierced and I absolutely LOVE earrings! Dangly ones! They just have to be clip on :-)

Mia will have to sport the shiny stick-on ones. Then, when she is is ready I will buy her some clips. She will stay without holes...due to infection, NOT cause I'm crazy! Ellie on the other hand is chomping at the bit to get "ear pretties." The other day she asked me, "mom, when can I get holes in my ears?" ummm.. "EIGHT, when you're EIGHT." I'm not firm on this choice, but she is not ready. She would lose her first pair in five minutes.

Well Mia just woke up so my rants for the day must end.

Easter Sunday

What a glorious day...the day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Happy Easter!

Found the Link

UPDATE:

To watch the video click HERE.

Donate Life Continued

Mia is officially the poster child for organ donation :-) Northwest Cable News is featuring a story on Mia beginning at 10AM today and will run all throughout the day and evening.

We have our TV on and it already showed the story three times. I don't see a link, but if you live in the Northwest you can probably catch the story.

NWCN is channel 2 at our house :-)

O Mr Sun... won't you stay?

Yesterday was perfect. Really, Really perfect. The kids spent the majority of the day outside. I had been looking forward to a day like this for a LONG TIME!

In the morning Jensen asked me if we could do the slip 'n slide. Me, with my "not in this state" attitude told him that it was probably going to be too chilly to bring out the slip n' slide. He went about his merry way digging a hole in our grass. This doesn't bother us because our grass is littered with holes. We have a new member of our family... his name is Pesk E. Mole. As noon rolled around I decided to re-think my decision about the slip n' slide. After a brief search, and no slide to speak of, the kids settled for a sprinkler. They were of course ecstatic to be running through the sprinklers.

I was craving this day... drooling over it even. I spent the majority of the summer indoors last year, and feel like It has been raining/snowing ever since I came home. It is not summer yet, but it sure felt like it. It was HOT outside!

I also got a call that little Mees' white count bounced back up...Phew.

We enjoyed a long walk, with the kids peddling their bikes like they have never been on a bike before.

Ellie played with some lady bugs, while Jense manned the hose. Mia lounged in her swing with a sunhat, and I picked up pine cones and weeded with my mom.
*By no means do I equate perfection with picking up pine cones. I do have a weeding tool that transforms me into a weed-a-holic. I could weed for hours!

Yep... perfect day!

April is here!

To kick off DONATE LIFE awareness month here is a little video put together by some wonderful students at BYU. True Blue is a part of BYU broadcasting that covers athletics. A big thanks to all you cougars who participated and put on the bike-a-thon.

Click HERE to watch the clip. You may have to download the player (click on the blue box). THEN... click on episode 32 and then click on Baby Mia. Keep in mind that it was a phone interview and my voice well... you'll see.

Also, as long as I'm throwing out disclaimers. I tried repeatedly to email a video file for the segment. I finally gave up on the one I wanted and went with the last one I recorded, which was easier than opening and closing a ton of files. I was hoping that they would edit out my crazy noises and just get the giggly baby. Well... you get BOTH.

Mia was one of the lucky ones to receive such a precious gift! Please visit Donate Life.net to learn more about organ donation.