On Reading, Not Writing

Obviously I've been waaayyy more into reading blogs these days than writing--I've been taking the term "blog stalker" to a whole new level! I don't know what's gotten into me but I've had absolutely no interest in writing anything but a literal obsession with reading everyone else's blog.

It starts harmlessly with keeping up with friends and family blogs (see list to the right), then moves to Other Blogs I like (see here and here). Then the new obsession is the hilariously funny, spoof blog of Seriously So Blessed (not for the thin-skinned, mormon mommy blogger but it's way funny) and then I move on to someone else's blog I don't even know. And then, if I still haven't had enough reading/stalking I start clicking on that little link at the top of blogs, the one that says Next Blog so I can read blogs of total strangers who are sometimes wierdos and sometimes write in different languages. (Give it a try, it's kind of fun!)

So, if anyone is actually still reading this blog but me anymore...

smile, wink, sniff, cry...

...what other blogs do you like to visit? (So I can add them to my list myself and continue to waste even more time, lol!)

On the Move

The past few weeks have been a blur, but it's official--we're all moved and finally in our new house. All I can say is that I hope this home will work for our family for a long time to come becuase moving is miserable business. We are so grateful to Josh and Jana Arnold for letting us rent their basement apartment these past few months--they were life savers. After we sold our house it looked to be impossible to find somewhere that would do a short-term lease and accept a 60-lb. golden retreiver. But the Arnold's did both, and we're so grateful to them for putting up with us for a few months.

We love our new house, and it's so nice to finally be close to Ethan and Noah's schools. We'd love to have visitors too, so give us a call or email andrea_barker31athotmaildotcom and we'll give you our new address.

And, our household items aren't the only thing on the move lately. After months and months of waiting, our little Aaron has finally decided to walk. (Yes, he's 16 months old!) We've been kind of concerned about him lately, but they finally determined he needed ear tubes (he had constant ear infections and fluid buildup in his ears.) After his surgery, he just up and started walking. I'm convinced the fluid in his ears was affecting his equilibrium and made him feel dizzy when he tried to walk. I'll post pictures or a video in the next few days (maybe weeks?) once we get our computer and camera port set up. But we were so glad and relieved to see him finally reach this milestone.

The United States of Mind

What seems like EONS ago, I majored in Psychology so I've always been such a junkie for personality tests and psychological studies. Which is why a new study caught my "ear" the other day on a radio station when they talked about a study recently published in the Wall Street Journal and how it showed distinict personality characteristics for each state in our nation. I know I'm a dork, but I loved it!

Here's the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122211987961064719.html

The short version: how cool is it that the study showed Utah to be high in Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and low in Neuroticism (whew, that's a good thing!). We also ranked relatively high in Openess.

So, there you go. Because I'm sure you've always wondered . . . :)

A Month of Firsts

Our life lately seems to feel like the first steep hill of a great big roller-coaster. It just seems to keep going up and up, always changing, always busy and there never seems to be any much-needed down time! We had hoped things to calm down a little bit after we moved in August, but they never have. And it's definitely been a time of many "firsts..." for our family. Over the past few weeks we've had our:

First day of Kindergarten for Ethan. Ethan is in the AM class and is loving school--he is so smart and continues to amaze everyone with his reading ability. He makes us laugh with stories he comes home with. My favorite was about a friend in his class that came to school with dental floss in his pocket. The boy pulled out the floss, showed it to Ethan, and then proceeded to put it in his mouth to eat it. Ethan said "I told him not to eat it, and that it would make him sick, but he ate it anyway!" which made Ethan laugh hilariously! Makes me wonder what the stories other kids are telling their parents about my children!

First day of preschool for Noah. Noah started at a new preschool this year out by our new house and he's doing great. He's a kid who loves structure (and obviously we don't have much of that around here lately!) and I'm so grateful we finally found him a preschool for this year. He's having a blast, and came out the other day wearing a cute astronaut helmet (they were learning the letter A) that he had painted himself.

First time Noah was admitted to the hospital--this year. Yes, unfortunately our poor Noah had a bad asthma attack again and since they couldn't get his oxygen level up high enough they had to keep an eye on him at the hospital. Poor kid, but he's doing better now.

First time painting an entire, brand-new house (and probably the last!) I have to give huge kudos to Chad for all of the time and effort he spent on this one. He's such a good sport (picky me requested 3-tone paint) and took an entire week off of work (plus a holiday and a few Saturdays) and worked out at the house from sun-up to almost sun-up somedays just to get it done. It looks beautiful though, thanks babe!

First family trip to Disneyland! We had so much fun and the boys just had a blast. Even little Aaron got to go on most of the rides (I was so shocked and pleasantly surprised!) and he loved every minute. Ethan's favorite ride was the new Finding Nemo Submarine Adventure and Noah's favorite was Splash Mountain. Funny enough these guys loved the roller-coaster type rides! Our favorite ride was Tower of Terror at California Adventure. We also visited SeaWorld and the beach--it was hard to come home to the chaos our life has become.

and finally...

First time a new house has ever been built this fast. Okay, so I might technically be wrong on that one but it still seems that way! We started building our house in the middle of July and it's almost done already. All that's left is painting the garage, a few light fixtures and countertops and sinks. It looks like we'll have our final walk-through on October 3. (I hope they move the porta-potty before we move in!)

So, it feels like we'll be moving out of the frying pan and into the fire (or using my roller-coaster analogy: moving up another big hill before going back down) since it looks like we'll be moving in a few weeks. But we have so much to be thankful for and so many good things to be involved in. And, it was nice to take a quick breath and dabble around in the blogging world for a few hours!

The New Woman (Ethan's, that is)

So, I have to apologize to any of you who are not hip on the whole "tween" scene and whose nerves were grated by the sound of Hannah Montana's latest song streaming from our blog. You see, there's a new woman in our house, and her name is Miley Cyrus (a.k.a. Hannah Montana.)

It seems now that Ethan's turned six he's decided that he needs to grow up a little more that he should, and (although he won't admit it) I'm afraid he has his first "crush" on none other than Hannah Montana. He talks about her all the time, sings her songs constantly, and is always saying things like, "Hannah Montana says this..." and giggles. If you ask him about it he'll blush and run from the room, although he did admit to me the other day that he likes her better with blonde hair (Hannah) than brown hair (Miley).

So when you hear the Hannah Montana song playing, and it kind of hurts your ears a bit, just think of Ethan and his first crush and his cute little request of me to add her song to our family blog. (Just don't ask him about it or he'll get too embarassed!)

New Projects

So, I finally updated my blog including a new format (brown for my "boys" and pink for me!) and I'm actually writing a new post for the first time in months! It's crazy how quickly time flies by.

Life has been going well lately here and we celebrated Aaron's first birthday in June and Ethan's 6th birthday in July. My little men are growing up so fast. Then Chad and I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary on July 31! Summer has been really fun so far, and we've had lots of trips to the Dinosaur Park, scenic picnics, and even an adventurous camp-out in our backyard (we didn't dare venture any further for a first time camp-out with a one year old!)

Our biggest adventure this summer that's taken up most of our time is selling our house and building a new one out in West Haven! We've sold our house to Joe and Jennifer Salmond, a very cute couple that used to live in our ward, and (hopefully) we plan to close on August 11. Unfortunately our new house won't be finished until October so the Arnold's have been kind enough to let us rent their basement apartment until our new house is built! We're so happy to stay in the ward for a few more months!

Building a house has been so much fun! I've always heard people say that building a house is the most stressful thing on a marriage, but once we finally decided to do it (okay, that part was really stressful) the process has been a really great experience. It's been fun to pick out everything for our house, all the way from the house design to the color of the carpet, and it was exciting to see them start building a couple of weeks ago. I go out to check on the progress once a week, and last Wednesday they had the foundation completely finished. I'm hoping to see some framing going on when I go out for my visit this week!



So, all in all, life is really good and we're staying busy and, of course, having fun! It makes me want to cry when I think that summer is half over all ready! But I'll try to be a "glass half full" kind of girl and smile about the other half of summer that's still left. I love it!

P.S. I created a slideshow of my pictures on Photobucket.com but I couldn't get it to post. I got an error message about not having an ending tag. Anyone have any advice on posting slideshows and/or know what the html code should be? :) Thanks, in advance, you're the greatest!!

Surviving on the Mercies of Motherhood

I just read a really good article on LDSLiving.com, and just like all really good articles, it made me laugh and cry! In honor of Mother's Day (or rather the day after) I'm posting it here on my blog. Enjoy!

Surviving on the Mercies of Motherhood
by Whitney Permann

People think I’m crazy when I tell them I love childbirth. It’s not that I like pain—I don’t. But there is just something about working really hard to get something really good. My husband and I have the routine down: we do whatever it takes to get through a contraction, then I slump back on the bed, as limp and peaceful as a noodle (as peaceful as a noodle can be) and rest before the next one hits. It’s hard work, but when the baby is finally born, the pain doesn’t matter anymore—and I experience joy beyond description. (Then I swear I’ll never do it again.)

It has recently occurred to me that childbirth can be one huge metaphor for motherhood. We “labor” day in and day out, moment by moment—scrubbing, brushing, wiping, flushing, buckling, holding, washing, folding—it’s a wonder more mothers don’t drop dead from pure exhaustion!

So here’s my theory: Heavenly Father knew how challenging motherhood would be for each of us—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. So He sends us “mother mercies.” You know the moments—the ones that sneak up on you and make you smile or laugh—or teary-eyed. It’s like the time I caught a whiff of my five-year-old and realized he’d put on his daddy’s deodorant that morning. Or when he used to pray nightly, “Please bless that morning will come in five minutes.” It’s the time I found a bar of soap in my bathroom with one (and only one) set of teeth marks in it. Or when my preschooler asked me, “Why did Jesus cover our bones with skin?”

Perhaps these little mercies are like the pauses between our contractions of motherhood—the moments that make us say, "Oh yeah. I really love this mothering stuff."

Contraction: Baby spits up.
Mother Mercy: Three-year-old cries in alarm, “Mom! She’s spilling!”

Contraction: Five-year-old climbs on counter to find sweets.
Mother Mercy: He explains he was simply finding desert for “Family Home Ming-Ming.”

Contraction: Patting your squishy tummy left over from pregnancy.
Mother Mercy: Patting your baby’s squishy tummy that you got in return.

Contraction: Feeling overwhelmed and grumpy.
Mother Mercy: Oldest child says sweetly, “Mommy, if you say a prayer, Heavenly Father will help you feel better.”

Think about it—what an interesting phenomenon—in our very hardest moments of mothering, Heavenly Father sends us these little flashes of reprieve to help us keep going with a smile. True, we have diapers and back-talking and tantrums and spills, but we also get kisses and first steps and stick-figure drawings and hand-pulled bouquets.

Look for the Mother Mercies in your own life. I promise they will pop up everywhere—when your toddler trips the alarm at the library (like mine did) or when he pours pop down the bowling alley lane (yes, mine) or when you find your envious child stripped down to his nothings at the park, staring longingly through the fence into the city pool (Whose kid is that? Oh, it’s mine). The Mother Mercies are always there. Don’t miss them!

One Sunday while I was juggling my three little ones, an older sister in my ward leaned over and said, “This will all end someday, believe me.” To which I replied, “Oh don’t tell me that! I’m having so much fun.” Who knew that doing something so hard could bring me so much happiness? And just like the finale of childbirth, I’m hopeful that this mothering thing—this exhausting labor of love—will someday bring us joy we could never comprehend was possible.

http://www.ldslivingmagazine.com/articles/show/1518

"Professional" Mom?

Those of you who work from home must know, as I know, how difficult it is to make a "work" phone call at home. It seems like you have to get all the stars and the moon aligned to create a quiet moment that you dare to make the call. Even then, more often than not, it's still interrupted. One time I tried hiding myself in the bedroom while the boys were downstairs playing, closed the door and made the call. Right in the middle of making a job offer I was interrupted by little pounding fists (okay, mistake to close the door) yelling "Mommy, where are you?!" I probably didn't sound very professional then, did I?

Anyway, over the past few weeks I've been recruiting for seven internships at our corporate office--SEVEN. Keep in mind I only work 12 hours a week! So I saw this little cartoon and it made me laugh. It's me! (Minus the slinky shirt, of course.)

It's Been a Long, Long Time

So, I know I've been AWOL from by blog lately! And no, Aaron is not signed up for AP English, Ethan hasn't left on his mission, and Noah isn't starting his first year of college...yet! It just seems like it's been that long since I've posted.

Have you ever noticed that after you have kids time just seems to fly by (and flies by even faster with each additional one you add)? Life has been just that lately, busy. And it's one of those times in life where there's so much on your list (is anyone else as obsessed with lists as I am?!) that you just take one thing at a time, exert all your effort just to get from one thing to the next, and finally after two weeks of craziness when it all just settles down then...you get a miserable, stuffy-head, runny-nose cold.

But, the past few weeks have been filled with a lot of good things too (eustress, as they call it) as you'll see in a few posts I have in queue. And although I can't promise there won't be another long-length hiatus (and not that it really matters to anyone else but myself!), it's good to be back in the bloggin' world again!

It's Official!

Happy 2nd day of spring everyone! Isn't it so awesome to think that winter is finally over and spring is officially here (even if it doesn't really feel like it yet?)! In honor of the new season, here are a few quotes that made me smile.

• Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil. - Reginald Heber
  


• Spring is when life's alive in everything. - Christina Rossetti



• Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, a box where sweets compacted lie. - Herbert



• Your time has come, now hasten little snowflakes, To vanish quite away; The spring-tide hours are sounding gentle warnings forbidding you to stay. - M.E. Hathaway



• If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. - Anne Bradstreet



• Now Nature hangs her matle green On every blooming tree, And spreads her sheets o' daisies white Out o'er the grassy lea. - Robert Burns



• Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. - Robert Frost

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

So I haven't posted in awhile because we really haven't had anything big or exciting or amazingly fun going on in our lives. I've been at quite a loss trying to find something to post about. Have you ever noticed that for the most part, that's how life goes? It's like when someone asks "So, what have you been up to?" and you're not really sure how to answer. I'm sure they aren't really asking "So, how many diapers did you change today?" or "How long did it take to make dinner last night?" or even "How many trips=miles=gas=money did the kids make to preschool this week?" No doubt about it, life is great but sometimes there's not much noteworthy to tell about from day to day.

Well this post is about some of our day to day stuff, because that's all that's been going on around here for the most part. And true to the title, most of it has been good, some bad, and a even a little bit of ugly.

The Good
Dinner as a family was a blast last night! As I'm sure many of you can understand, dinner as a family is not always a lot of fun. It usually includes a lot of nagging like "sit down," "eat your food" and a lot of questions from the kids like "how many more bites?" and "can I get down now?" To be honest Chad and I usually end up frazzled by the end of dinner. BUT, last night was so much fun. Ethan and Noah were being so cute and we all sat around the table telling jokes and laughing till our sides hurt. Ethan and Noah would tell jokes that (honestly) didn't make much sense but were hilarious anyway, and Chad and I only knew old boring jokes like "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and "Knock knock, who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" but the boys laughed anyway. It was a really, really GOOD time.

...And All the Other Stuff
I won't focus on too much of the bad/ugly other that to say that my step-dad had surgery yesterday (but it's good now because he's on his way to recovery!) and that Ethan had some kind of stomach illness or bug and was throwing up all last night--I'm convinced it was the raw cookie dough he ate last night (sneaking it after he'd already been told not to eat it!)

But all in all, even though life at times really is not very exciting, it is still great and we have so much to be thankful for. I have a sweet and wonderful husband, and three adorable and fun little boys. They are my everything.

In conclusion, I'll end this post with my favorite quote of all time from President Hinckley:

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey...delays, side tracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

So true.

I've Been Twosies Tagged

Two names you go by: Andrea and Mom.
Two things you're wearing right now: blue shirt, comfy pants, and NO socks or shoes (don't like to wear those things anyway!)
Two things you'd want to have in a relationship: a best friend and true love.
Two of your favorite things to do: reading and going out on dates with my sweet hubby.
Two things you want very badly right now: warm summer days and a vacation with my family.
Two things you did last night: made brownies and watched "No Reservations" with Chad.
Two things you ate yesterday: Chicken pasta and Lion House Rolls (that was dinner.)
Two things you did today: took Ethan to the ENT for his follow-up visit and sang silly songs to make Aaron laugh.
Two longest car rides: Ogden to Massachusetts (Cape Cod is one of my favorite places in the world!); Ogden to California
Two favorite holidays: Christmas and all four of my boys' (including Chad's) birthdays. I don't know if those count as holidays and I know that's five but they're all my favorite.
Two favorite beverages: Diet Coke and . . . do any other beverages exist? lol!
Two things about me: I'm a computer/techie nerd (although I have to admit I haven't kept up with the times as much since I've become a mom!) and I haven't had my own real hair color since 7th grade. :)
Two jobs I've had in my life: Franchise Licensing and Sales Secretary (anyone want to open a Taco Maker?) and Human Resources Specialist at Deseret Book (my current job).
Two places I've lived: Well, I've really only lived in Ogden. How boring is that?!? I suppose I could say I've lived on the North side of Ogden and the South side of Ogden.
Two of my favorite foods: Chocolate and Chicken Parmigiana
Two places I'd rather be right now: Hawaii sounds nice, but I'd also take a fun date to the movies with my husband (without an 8-month old in tow!)

Okay Charlotte and Brenda--you guys have been twosie tagged!

Little Chef (and it's not Remy from Ratatouille!)

Aaron was sitting in his high-chair tonight as I did the dinner dishes and after a little while I think he got bored (dishes are so exciting you know!) so he started his little whine, whine, whine song. Anyone who knows Aaron knows his love for Oreos (and yes, what kind of horrible mom feeds her 8-month old Oreos but he loves them so much I can't resist!) So to keep him content until I could finish I gave him two TINY pieces of an Oreo to munch on.

A few minutes later I turned around to find my own Little Chef working up a messy, gooey concoction of Oreo cookies and water from his sippy cup into one big mess of Oreo mud pies. I took the picture from my cell phone (the only camera within reach!) and it really doesn't do it justice. Aaron had smeared his mixture EVERYWHERE--the black Oreo slime was all over his tray, sippy cup, and his own face, hands and clothes. But it was so adorable to see him so engaged in his project and he was so proud of his sweet little mess. I just love this little man (including all his gooey creations!)

Big Difference

It's been over two weeks now since Ethan's latest surgery for ear tubes, and even though it's a bit late I still wanted to do a post about it and put up a few pictures. As you can see from the pictures, what a big difference a few years makes!

Our little "scooter-bug" had his first surgery when he was 2 1/2 years old--he had the works: tonsils and adenoids out and ear tubes put in both ears. They don't let the parents come with when they take them into the back for anesthesia and surgery, so they had to literally pull him out of my arms as he screamed and cried all the way back (see picture). By then of course I was crying too, worried about him and feeling bad because he was so upset! The surgery went well, and although the tubes were easy the recovery from his tonsils and adenoids was a very tough process. But what a difference it made! At the time of his surgery he was barely talking (at 2 1/2!) and we were expecting several years of speech therapy. But that surgery helped our little man feel, hear, and sleep so much better that he almost became a different boy--the happy, talkative, healthy boy he is today (without any speech therapy!)

But gradually over the past year we've noticed his hearing decrease again and a lot of "What, I can't hear you" statements. So we took him into the ENT Dr. Barlow (who is awesome!) and he found that there was a lot of fluid built up again in Ethan's ears and recommended we have new tubes put in. Ethan was so excited--the staff at the surgical center made it such a good experience for him. He got to wear his pajamas and bring his favorite blankie, pick out a new stuffed animal (he chose a donkey!), ride to the back in a little red wagon, and breath banana-flavored air (the anesthesia.) He did awesome during surgery, and they were able to get all the fluid out (sticky glue-like stuff they said). He's doing great, and had a blast. Who knew surgery could be so much fun! I just couldn't help contrasting the difference from last time--what an amazing little boy!

Wouldn't It Be Nice?

Today I was looking through some of our pictures from this summer, blissfully reminiscing about those warm, beautiful and sunny days. With all of the snow outside, and more falling every day, I thought I'd post a few pictures to help remind me that those wonderful summer days are not so far away. The best news: only 1 month, 13 days until Spring!

Noah's First Diaper

So it was Ethan and Noah's bedtime the other night, and true to form, they weren't excited about it. As I walked them into their room a foul smell came from Aaron's diaper, and as a joke I offered the boys the exchange of 30 sleep-free minutes if they wanted to change Aaron's diaper. I certainly did not expect them to take me up on it!

As expected, Ethan climbed into bed (probably thinking "no way!") but Noah surprised us all with an exuberant "okay!" Laughing the whole time, and totally expecting him to bow-out at the moment of truth, we assisted Noah as he proceeded to change his very first diaper. At first he laughed, "nasty!" he said, and then became very serious as he progressed into the dirty work of wiping. After he finished helping us put the new diaper on he went off to play with his Leapster for his well-earned 30 minutes of sleep free time.

I still can't believe he did it, and I just thought it was too funny not to share. Now, I just have to figure out how I can talk him into changing diapers every day!

A New Start

So, I've finally decided to jump into this whole blogging thing myself! Seems like everywhere I look there are new blogs popping up: friends, family, neighbors, and even my favorite websites. I guess finally it's my turn. It started out as "Five Boys and a Girl", referring to Chad, the three little ones, and of course our dog (another male!), but I was afraid some might misconstrue it as a message that another boy is on the way, and we just couldn't have that! :)

I can't guarantee anything fancy, but I do promise you'll hear a lot about three sweet little boys, one handsome husband, and a relatively average girl. (Oh and of course on occasion the other male, our beautiful golden retriever Sunny NOT included in the title!)