Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always a time of reflection for me. Of course, like always, it makes me think of my own mother and what an amazing person she was (and still is, on the other side!) Why is it though that a day meant to celebrate Mother's makes me feel inadequate? As I sat with my family in Sacrament, listening to grown men talk about how fantastic their childhoods were, it made me wonder, What will my kids have to say about me 20 years from now? So I suppose, Mother's Day for me this year was a wake up call to focus more on enjoying the journey.

2005-This was my first Mother's Day as a mother of two! I remember this being right after my girlfriend Heather got married, so we all wore our matching wedding outfits to church. (You can't tell from the pic, but I am wearing one of the 10 hot pink skirts made for the wedding...love you Heather, but why did you have to have so many friends??) And, not wanting scrap fabric to go to waste, I whipped up matching dresses for the girls.

2003-My first Mother's Day ever!! It came as no surprise that Steve was traveling that day, so Paige and I went to church with my mom. I remember it being such a great day!! She and I sat and giggled and played with Paige all through Sacrament. Instead of a gift, her ward cancelled Relief Society and served all the ladies Marie Callendar's pies and let us sit and visit. Mom was so proud to show off her new grand-daughter and it was so fun to reminisce with old friends. Who would have known this would be my last one with her?

Guess Who...is eating solids??

Little Bode has finally decided that he likes food. I tried rice cereal several times, but he was not interested. Finally, in desperation to get the girls to each eat ONE green bean, I pulled out the baby food jar to show them that even their baby brother could do it. And he CHOWED!! It seemed a little thick still, so I mixed it with some rice cereal and water, and he loves it! Another strange thing happened that night...he slept! I went to work and Steve didn't get up with him once in the night. I guess the poor kid was starving.

The girls have really had a blast putting two types of food on his tray and letting Bode "pick" his dinner. Of course they are both dying to feed him too, but it is such a slow and messy process to let them help, I just don't have the patience. So far, he has eaten: green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes and squash. At my dad's last Sunday, we tried to give him pears. It was hilarious...he would make sour faces, gag and dry heave, which would make his entire audience laugh...so he would smile.

Seeing Bode in the all familiar highchair brings back 6 years of baby feeding memories for me. We are getting very differing opinions of who Bode looks like, so I have put together this comparison. The big picture on the right is of course, the man in question. To the left are the big sisters...around the same age, about the same goo being fed to them, and of course, the same high chair. (What's funny is that they are all in different houses!) Paige is the top baby and Claire is the bottom. I just don't know, I kind of see both the girls in him!

Poor Guy!

My poor little monkey has had one heck of a month! It all started while my dad was in the hospital, I made the mistake of taking Bode with me into the ICU, where viruses germinate like rabbits! So, copay #1 to find out his nasty cough was CROUP. A week later, I found him clawing at his ears, so another $25 to find 2 nasty ear infections. Then of course came his six month check-up. All was well with him...15 lbs. 5 oz. and 27"...but I took Claire along since the night before she had asked in tears to leave Grandma and Grandpa's Easter party early because her ear hurt. Another ear infection. And then last week, I took the kids to Target for Easter pictures. I thought Bo seemed a little warm, but chalked it up to teething. But when he refused to smile and did nothing but cry, I knew that was not my little guy. Another 25 bones to reveal...none else but another ear infection!! This time he was terribly wheezy, so they gave him a breathing treatment to help. I love our doctor, but am not loving our visits this frequently. In one of our visits he commented on my wild hot-pink cow purse and told me how much his wife loved designer bags like Louis Vittan and Dooney & Bourke. It's a good thing, because I just singlehandedly BOUGHT HER ONE!! But he's worth it...Love you Bode! So glad you are feeling better. We have missed your sweet giggles and smiles!

Project: Organization!

The girls' closet is a DISASTER!! When we moved in, all rooms were painted, one girly bedroom and one masculine bedroom. Being largely pregnant and not wanting to take on another task, I moved the girls into the purple girly bedroom. Sadly, it was the one with the smallest closet. Despite my great plans of having a playroom downstairs, all toys seem to migrate to this spot. Notice the large chunk of empty, wasted space between the "pile" and the clothing rod. So, I devised a plan to install shelves in half of the closet. My plans, of course, involved my dad's help, but his pancreas disagreed and left me to wait it out or do it myself. Those who know me know I went with the obvious choice.

I carefully measured, drew out plans and had all my supplies cut and prepared. However, with my schedule, the project had to go in phases. All supplies were moved into the girls' bedroom before I left for work one night. I got a sad phone call shortly after arriving that "someone" had written me a message of "I love you" on one of the shelving boards. I was so touched by it, that I told Paige it was ok and she could leave her message. Apparently she took that as, write all over it because this is what I came home to the next day. Eh...kind of cute, and although you can't see it, they signed their names and somewhere on there they wrote that they have the best mom ever. Who could be mad at that? And so started the bottom shelf...

TA-DA!!! How much better is that?? I found these awesome rolling bins at Target and measured my shelves to fit them exactly. The girls went through and divided toys into a "hard-toy bin", "a soft-toy bin", and a "snuggling-toy/Webkins bin". There is extra room on the side for bigger things like Polly Pocket cruise ships and giant My Little Pony birthday cakes, and still room for hanging shorter things on the rod like skirts and sweaters. I just could not be more pleased!! But don't tell Steve, it kind of puts me in the mood for an entire girls' bedroom remodel! :)

I {heart} cousins!

I know I have posted before about the McHy triplets, but as they get bigger, they also get cuter and cuter! Easter was another fun time for the boys to get together and pretty much grunt at each other and drool!

Look how big everyone is getting!

Bode (6 months) Henry (8 months) Van (6 months)

And...how great is this??? The triplets are expanding into QUADS!!! This is my cute step-sister Katy, ready to pop out yet another McHy boy! Actually, since this pic, Greysen Burke Frandsen has joined our crazy fam. They got home from the hospital yesterday and are doing awesome!! I'm sure this "big" boys can't wait to get their slobbery little hands on baby Grey to welcome him!

Thanks Easter Bunny!

This year the Easter Bunny brought Bode an Exersaucer. I never had one with the girls because I thought it was such an unnecessary "frill". But little Bo has never been a fan of the swing and I think he is getting too big for the bouncer...he keeps leaning forward trying to launch himself off of it. Besides, I am hoping this will help even out the bald spot on the back of his head!
As you can see, it was a huge hit...with EVERYONE!! The girls can't leave it alone either. They get so excited when he spins himself around to find a new toy, and best of all...they got a huge box to play in! (or nap in, if you ask Claire)

Easter

Easter Sunday...a few days late due to severe SUGAR RUSH!! Notice Bode even got a basket, filled with things he can't have, which really means...treats for mom! His cute little basket turns into a camouflage hat...which turned out to be about 4 sizes too big!!

Paige was very concerned that the Easter Bunny came to our house in the middle of the night to leave baskets, but not hide eggs. She informed us that it just wasn't right...he was supposed to come while we were at church!

The biggest hit this year was the Webkinz! We saw these double packs at Costco for a great price, but of course couldn't get the girls to agree on one pack with a Webkinz for each in it. I had planned to get them each one anyway, so for a couple bucks more, they each got 2! SPOILED!

Poor little Bo...doesn't even care about the treats inside...he was too enthralled by the colorful packaging and the noises they made!

FINALLY...all cleaned up, ready for church! I had seen these dresses at Costco months ago and wanted them, but didn't snatch them up fast enough before they were gone! So I settled for different ones, buying Bode a matching outfit for those. Then, the day before Easter, Costco did something they have never done before...they got in another shipment!! What can I say...I'm a sucker for dresses, so each kid got two Easter outfits.