The Christmas Post

A quick review, we had my families party on the 23rd at my parents house. It was a nice surprise to have my brother Drew, his wife Alecia and kids come all the way from Oklahoma for x-mas. We kept the secret from my parents. And boy were they surprised to see them walk in the door. And we got to meet their cute little baby Laney. I wish I had pictures to share of that day, but it was fun and enjoyable. We took a quick updated family picture, ate, played games, acted out the nativity, we had a nice long day. Then x-mas Eve we were at Greg's parents and ate, visited, opened some gifts and cleaned up and went home and put our boys to bed while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads. What are sugar plumbs? Anyways, at 7am all the boys woke at the same time. We made them wait until I fed Rafe and changed diapers then we headed to the family room after I had the lights and music on and camera's ready to go. :)

A before and after presents picture!

Bodie, Creed, and Jax all happy and excited with some favorite gifts this year.
Rafe was very entertained all morning with wrapping paper and all the activities going on.

He spent much time rolling around with this big piece of wrap. He loved the shiny bows too.
Cheesy Santa hats for everyone!
Finally the day after x-mas Jaxon was able to play with his most asked for gift the Tether Ball. He is one happy boy. Poor Greg got a nasty cold on x-mas Eve. So on Christmas he was sick. But it didn't last too long, now just a lingering cough.

Another great Christmas. A wonderful season. I love the ages of my boys and the exciting spirit they have about Christmas. Greg and I are enjoying these fun years. Jaxon even heard Santa's sleigh bells while going to bed x-mas Eve, Creed was kinda excited but kinda scared at the same time. Makes me smile. I love this time of year. A time for giving and believing.

Hung with Care

How do we already have 6 stockings? Count them, six! There are so many we couldn't really fit them on our fireplace this year. So we are using the stair railing. It's so crazy when I think about it sometimes. But at the same time, how neat is that, to see so many hanging? I especially like how Rafe's (the new one of course) is the only flat stocking and straight name tag. The rest have been hung and used with a little care. It will be a fun Christmas morning.

We've been enjoying the season so far. Drinking Eggnog, listening to the music, saw Temple Sq. lights, and this weekend some family Christmas parties. The Lorenzon grand kids sang Rudolph. We practiced with our boys the day before. And Jax was pretty good and remembered most all of it. He was the loudest one so I heard him the best. Bodie decided he didn't like being up there and slowly made his way off the stage. Passing by Jax, Creed, cousin Ryan, Lucy, and Will.

4 peas in a pod

My pod of boys. Boy are they boys. It gets crazy at our house. First thing in the morning till after bedtime in the evenings. My day is like... always driving to and from schools, feeding everyone, cleaning, running errands, fixing dinner, doing homework, changing diapers, yelling to stop the fighting, trying to keep the house straight, stopping more fighting, the battle that is bedtime. Not being able to talk to my husband until after bedtime. My list could go on.

I asked them what they think of their days. And they say, eat breakfast (magically appears) get dressed (clothes clean and ready), go to school (they don't walk) Jax threw in how LONG his day is and he misses me because he's gone so long :) then we get to watch TV, play, wrestle, fight, eat snacks, have dinner, dessert, do goals, mom nags to get those done and homework, then off to bed, and they get to play and laugh in bed until mom or dad says to stop a few times (too many times). Or Bodie who says goodbye and waves when he goes to bed. And his ritual is to ask for more water in his sippy cup every single night. Just because. And Rafe of course is fussy until his bottle then he's happy and gets excited when he sees his blanket to go to bed.

But what would I do without with all the crazy boys and busy loud activity in my home? With all my heart I am grateful for my home and my family and all the load that comes with it. I need to be more patient with my parenting, not yell as much, and enjoy all my time with them while I can. I can see that they grow up way too fast.

Just us

Look at the camera. Hands out of your pockets, smile, open your eyes, look at the camera, get closer, I said hands out of your pockets, and LOOK AT THE CAMERA, put your hand down, put your hand down!, smile normal, open your eyes, look at the camera. Oh well, it'll have to do.

We'll always keep trying.

Jax's 7th Time

Jax loves having birthdays! Little baby Jax is all grown up. He is a full on kid now. I'm always taken aback when I think how fast time is going by. Shocked at how old Rafe is getting, let alone the older boys, especially Jax.

Here is Jax as a baby at 3 weeks old, about 2 months and about 6 months old. He was a great baby. Such a happy, good natured little dude. He still is.All about Jax: Jax's favorite thing to do is anything art. Drawing, coloring, cutting, taping, you name it. He always has to hurry and make something. He enjoys a few TV shows, like Sponge Bob, ICarly, Wild Krats, he'd kill me for saying this but we record My Little Ponies and he wants to be in a band one day like on the show Big Time Rush. He is always making up songs. He claims to be one of the best Tether ball players in the first grade, he refuses to wear a coat or jacket, it's a battle every day. He is so good at getting ready in the mornings and brushing his teeth. We are always after his brother Creed to hurry and get ready. He loves going to McDonald's, his favorite food is pizza and chocolate cake. He usually has toast every morning. I beg him often to please try eating cold cereal but he won't. For church he always wants to wear a tie to be like his dad. He wanted me to say that he can count to 10 in Spanish and 29 in french. He enjoys the french portion of the school day better than the English, even though he can't speak it. He blows me a kiss when he walks away from the car every morning. He is a good helper with his younger brothers. He has a very curious mind. Always questions. My list could go on, but I'll stop.

Jax has been so excited for his birthday. Counting down everyday. Finally it came. He always wants to be older. One day our only child, cute baby and then bamb! 4 kids and baby Jax is now a 7 year old! I'm sure every year I'll freak out about how old he's getting.

Well he wanted a ninja cake. So I figured I'd just make one and stick a little ninja figure guy on it. Well, you can't find ninja anything anywhere. So I made some Chinese ninja throwing stars and got some miniature cake ninja's and tall candles to help make it look a little "cooler". He thought it was great. Bodie blew out his first candle and Jax did the rest. His main present this year was a bigger bike. He loves it! In fact right after school he was out riding it. He was still getting used to it and was all over the place. He tried bringing it into the garage to park and get off and slammed the handle bar into the back light of our car. Thus busting the light. Jax was so upset and crying over what an awful birthday it was and how he didn't have $100 to fix it and never wants to ride his bike again! Goodness, after I calmed him down and let him know accidents happen, he was ok and ready to celebrate the rest of his day.

In the picture, he's on his bike first thing in the morning, showing me a ninja move, and I love his facial expressions while opening presents. We had his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents over for cake and ice cream. He didn't even eat any until the next day.

I hope his 7th year goes by a little slower.

Tis' Greg's Season

We've had our Christmas stuff up since the Friday before Thanksgiving, yes I said before. Greg loves everything Christmas and wants to enjoy it as long as possible. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving too. We were up at my parents and had the usual delish food. We all made enough for everyone to take leftovers. I made 2 cream pies, jello salad and Greg did the sweet potatoes/yams. The kids were entertained by Aunt Amy's activities she had planned. It was a very nice holiday. We missed Drew & Alecia though.

In the picture we have both ends of the table, Creed trying so hard to cut his turkey with just a knife with Greg and Jax, and then lone Bodie one of the last at the table. Although he proclaimed many times that he was done so he could go play.

I hung some snow flakes from the ceiling to dangle around our Christmas tree this year. I was on the floor and took some pics. Look hard and you can see them.

My mom gave us some old lights and things to use. So Greg added to ours 1 or 2, or 7 or 8 items to our home. I edited the picture to look like a poster, I don't know how well it worked?

We're getting ready. Let the games (December) begin!

Another 5th

We had another 5th birthday party. It was Creed's turn to have a friends party. He was asking for weeks and days till his birthday. It finally came. In the morning we opened presents. He was so happy and excited to get a big monster size remote control car. The boys all went outside in their pajama's before school to play. The party began and Greg was held up at work. Thank goodness I had asked my sister to come watch Rafe for me and my dad to come keep Bodie occupied, that meant my mom was coming too. Phew! They were all LIFE SAVERS! Truly, I don't know how it would have worked without all their help. Not just with the 2 little ones, but with helping me run the party and keep the kids in small control? I really needed Greg there to help, but he's off my party helping list, he's fired from ever trying. (ha ha) But he came just in time to bring the pizza to eat and finish up.

We started out the flying airplane theme party by playing the fish game for prizes, then we did presents while I got some other games ready. Then we played pin the window's on the plane and then we had a glider plane flying contest. I tried having them throw closest to a target and win prizes. And I was surprised that all 3 of the girls at the party just couldn't throw. I figured everyone can handle paper airplanes, these were no different. But I guess they are. Kinda funny. And the plane flying was the entertainment the rest of the party.

Creed is funny, he's currently not into pizza right now, so he chose to have cold cereal while the party all ate pizza. We moved our kitchen table out of the way to make a bigger open area to do games and eat and do some crazy plane flying. After the friend party we had family over for another party with cake and ice cream to celebrate. His cake was twice the size of what I ordered so we had plenty to eat all week. Creed had a grand time, loved his presents, and is so happy to be 5 years old now!

I can't believe he is already so old. I was reminiscing about the day he was born. It seems like I was just in labor with him pushing his feet into my lungs so I couldn't breath to push. The Dr. had to use the vacuum to turn him around so he could come on out. He was my worst pregnancy and recovery.

And Creed is a big big boy, really, he's taller than anyone his age. He does love his cold cereal, eating Oreo's, doing tasks all by himself, loves preschool, playing video games, playing with Jaxon, wrestling with daddy, and is no longer in speech class. He is doing so well. He has a silly personality. He can always make us laugh. But he also has a temper that we try and help him control. He absolutely loves baby Rafe and always wants to be near him.

little loves

I love....

how Bodie gets so excited everyday when he sees the school buses. He calls them "beese".

that Bodie is the most polite person in our home. Always says "tank oo mommy" or "peeze" (please), or "morn" (good morning).

how I can have Bodie go down and wake up his brothers for school for me.

how Rafe has a massive cheesy smile.

how Rafe screams when happy or wants attention, Jax laughs and says "He screams like a girl".

that Creed will be growling and mad one minute then the next telling me how I'm the most beautiful girl in the world. Or when he blows kisses he tells me he loves me more than... the universe, the whole house, or anything big he can think of.

that Creed answered Greg the other night when talking about Christmas and the most important person in the world is... "um, Michael Jackson?"

also that Creed knows Michael Jackson has Jax's name, and often wants to listen to Michael Creed. (he also knows there's a band named Creed, and gets a little confused.)

that every morning when Creed wakes up he sees Rafe and drops everything, gets down and talks to him and loves him.

that Jax knows exactly how many days until his birthday.

how happy and proud Jax is of himself from making his own toast, or showering and getting ready all on his own. He is so big now he doesn't need mom's help for much anymore, as he says.

I love that I can rely on Jax and Creed to help me with Bodie and Rafe. When we are home, they help give Rafe toys, his binky, or even hold his bottle while I hurry to do something. I love when we're out I can have them hold Bodie's hand or "go get Bodie" or help get his coat on. All these little things that are SO NICE to have help from the older boys. Makes me smile.

I am so grateful for my 4 little rascals. Wait... Greg, make that 5!

This Little Piggy

Rafe was about 5-6 hours old and Greg's sisters came to visit at the hospital and see the new baby. His sister Laura says "He has webbed toes." Huh, I hadn't noticed. Some mother I am. But sure enough one set on both feet. I guess it's not the most uncommon. It says maybe 1 out of every 2000-2,500 babies are born with webbed toes. And many don't do a thing about it and leave them, and many do have them separated. Truthfully, my first thought was to definitely have them separated by surgery. Then as we started looking into it and realized what it would entail, I started second guessing it.

It was no easy decision we took lightly. In the end it could have been a risk if we left them because his right foot is attached clear up to the start of the toe nail. The left one was below the top joint even. But it could certainly cause problems as he grows. If one toe grows longer or faster than the others it could be painful and require surgery when he is a boy, teenager, or older. But one other downer was that they would have to take a skin graft from his groin or hip area to fill in the gaps from the zigzag incision on the toes. So he would have a little straight scar there too.

And the other factor was appearance. As parents we don't want our children to be teased or feel self conscious about themselves. I can imagine him not ever wanting to wear sandals, hang out in bare feet, or who knows what else? Maybe it wouldn't ever bother him, maybe it would? I did my research, read about all kinds of people, I talked with people. It seems it's like 50/50. More people are doing surgery now then before. Some hated it and had it fixed when they turned 18. Others always wished they'd fixed them, others kept their webbed toes and thought it was a unique feature and cute. So what do we do?

If we were to do it, the best time would be before he crawls or starts walking of course. And we met our insurance deductible and it would cost us nothing this year. I prayed about it as well. In the end I decided to go ahead and do it. If it were me I know I would want it.

Jax came with me last summer to a consult appointment and noticed Rafe's toes for the first time and immediately said "He has turtle toes!" And now Jax won't touch his feet. That was one small example of how his toes were not normal. I hope I don't offend anyone. But our decision was hopefully to help our son with his abnormality to be made normal. His endearing little webbed toes are now not webbed. And I will forever think his little feet are always endearing.

For months ahead, the only day we could schedule surgery was on Halloween day. Really?! Here is Rafe with Greg just before they came to take him back for surgery. For not eating for 13 hours Rafe was surprisingly calm and mellow before. I thought all morning we'd be dealing with a fussy baby. Boy was I wrong. I took his binky so they wouldn't lose it and we walked part way to the O.R. area and passed him off to the Dr. Then Greg I and went and waited, had lunch, and waited some more. It was scheduled for an hour and a half. So after 2 hours we checked to see how things were going. The Dr. said it just took longer and he had to be very meticulous with everything and the dressings/bandages.

Above is little Rafe in the Recovery. He was all drugged up and out of it. No smiles. But he chugged some apple juice. He'd never had it before. So after an hour to make sure he could keep the meds down we were able to go home. My parents watched the other 3 boys at home and took them to and from school and spent the day at our house. Thank you so much to them!

Halloween night, we had dinner and quickly got the boys in costumes and went trick-or-treating. I came back and below is little Rafe rolling around playing on the floor, you'd never know he had surgery that day. Oh except the big 'ol bandages on his legs. And the next morning wearing mommy's socks and Bodie's shorts he is still eager to play. We were good and keeping up on his pain meds, Tylenol with Codeine and alternation with Motrin. He had his fussy moments but I think he was doing quite well considering. Probably too well, by Wednesday morning I noticed his right bandage was lower and his foot wasn't really in the bottom anymore. Ah! I quickly called the surgeon. In the hospital the plastic surgeon said it's best to NOT touch the foot and keep it dry and wrapped for 2 full weeks. And by day 2 it was coming off?! He was in surgery but said to go ahead and "re-wrap" the outer 2 layers of the dressing. But to leave the yellow layer alone! Ok, I called for some help to come over in the middle of the day to "assist me". Thanks to Trisha, but as I was unwrapping I noticed nothing on his foot and the yellow dressing had come off as well. I panicked. I cried, freaked out. Greg was out of town all week (nice timing), I was alone dealing with life and a recovering baby.

I really wanted the plastic surgeon to see the toes and make sure it was still ok. Who knows, maybe some stitches came out? Or the skin graft got messed up? Something could have stuck to the dressing? And finally by 8pm that night, (thanks again to my mom& dad watching the other boys) I was able to meet up with one of the surgeons and he checked it out and completely re-wrapped both feet. The left foot wrapping was starting to come off too. So not ideal that the precious yellow bandage came off, but he said it should all be fine.

And the second wraps we made sure he did the bandage up over the knees. And then we taped it. It's not the cute little green dinosaurs this time. I make sure to keep socks on. (Greg's ankle socks) And he is wearing Bodie's pants. As you see in the pictures below. So as he kicks and plays, he can rub those big pants and the socks will help keep the bandages dry and clean. It will be a long 2 weeks.

The hardest part is keeping Rafe happy and entertained. We can't really use some of his little toys because of his dangling feet, or his legs won't fit because of the bandages, etc. And I'm sure he hates all the bandages and healing. I keep thinking he must itch. Ugh.

I will take pictures of the "after surgery" and compare I'm sure.

one,one,one,one,one

What a cool date, 11-1-11, almost as cool as it will be in 10 days. Anyways, this year we had 2 skeletons, Superman, and a ghost. Here they were getting ready to go trick-or-treating with friends and neighbors. It was so warm this year. I had a jacket, and I put a blanket over Rafe, but the others had nothing and needed nothing. Especially since they ran from house to house, the whole time. Bodie, Rafe, and I came home after one street and handed out candy the rest of the evening.Creed kept changing what he wanted his costume to be this year. But in the end we told him he had to be a skeleton since I purchased a shirt to fit him. He was mad I forgot his mask/hat for this picture. Oops. Creed was able to wear his costume to preschool. Bodie loved being superman. He and Creed would periodically put their costumes on during the month. Bodie was so dang cute while trick-or-treating. He loved it. He would say thank you every time and would try walking into people's homes. He was figuring it out. When people would tell him he's Superman, he'd say he flies. Luckily so far he hasn't even asked to eat any candy.

Jax wanted to be a ghost. I didn't want him using his mask, but he insisted. It was on for basically pictures. I tried getting him to paint his face instead, but he refused. He did have it painted for school, I wish I had a picture of that. I didn't get to see it, my mom did it since I was gone. And he washed it off at school after his parade and class party.

They were almost costumed out, we had our ward Halloween party on Friday night, a birthday/Halloween party on Saturday, then costumes again for Monday. Busy.

Greg and I spent the day on the 31st up at Primary Children's Hospital with little Rafe. (That's a whole other story for a different post) I had to take him in his costume. Below he is happy and waiting before getting started. Happy Halloween for skeleton Rafe, he had surgery. Ha! He is recovering well and we were even able to take him out for a short while for trick-or-treating last night.