Parx's First Haircut

(May 2012)

My baby is growing up!!  I held off as long as I could, but even I had to admit it was finally time to let the long tail in back go.  He was a champ.  He was completely fascinated by what was going on and did not move an inch or even whimper once.  Oh, I love this kid.   

Kids Being Kids

Oh the joy of being a kid.  And mine just happen to be the cutest!

Easter 2012

Due to extreme circumstances this year, we spent the Easter holiday separated.  Mekinley and Sierra went to St. George with my parents and the boys stayed home with us.  More eggs for them!!  We went to Ted and Ciara's and had a great day with them.  Parx was all about the Easter egg hunt.  I think Myles was more into the mini BMX track Ted has in his backyard.  Oh, I love my boys!  (And my girls!)

Annual Ladies St. George Weekend

(I stole this from my friend, Bri's blog, so it's her voice, not mine. But one of Bri's many talents (we call her our conversationalist :-) is always saying the right thing in exactly the right way, and I couldn't say it better if I tried. All I can say is ditto and then some.)

The last weekend in February me, and some of my best ladies ran away to St. George. Since this was our fourth year going, and the first year all six of us were there at once (the most we've had at one time before is four), I think I can officially call the trip "annual".

People often ask what we do when we go down to St. George, and I usually answer "what ever we want." What I mean by that is, we do the things that as a mom you never have time to do, or if you do have the time you usually have little hands grabbing at you every second of it so you don't really enjoy it. We eat out, go to movies our husbands don't want to see, shop and actually try things on, and just enjoy each others company and the conversation that comes with it.

This year the weather was SO nice, and the scenery around the house is gorgeous so we added walking/running to our agenda. We also did a makeover on our sweet Jeannie, because she is ready to re-enter the world since her fourth baby just turned one. Jeannie has so much natural beauty that she has never had to bother much with all the girly stuff we all (for me it takes a village ;) have been doing since puberty. So giving her a new hair color, and a fresh coat of paint makes her look like a new woman, and she gets as excited as a tween with her first training bra! We love you Jeannie!

It really is as fun as it sounds, and I value you these friendships more than words can describe. These ladies are my home away from home.

Parx Is 1!!!

Well....my baby turned 1. And I am heartbroken! He is growing up too fast! Everything is so bitter sweet. When I was permanently getting rid of all the baby stuff (swing, bouncer, bumbo, etc., etc., etc.--babies have so much stuff!!!) I was thrilled. It's an entire closet empty! Not to mention having all of that stuff strewn all over my house. But then as I pack up his cute, little clothes, I am so sad! When I get to go away with my friends for a whole weekend without my kids, I am completely exhilarated by the freedom. But then the thought of not getting up in the middle of the night to snuggle and feed my baby ever again makes me want to cry. (Yes, I am crazy.) Poor Parx. At least with all of my other babies I had a new baby to replace them with, but Parx I'm afraid is going to have to stay a baby forever. I'm sorry to say that I now completely understand the "Youngest Child Syndrome," and it terrifies me. And I can guarantee it terrifies Rob.

Now it's time to show off Parx. He has been walking for a few months, and he is a maniac! He is into EVERYTHING. His favorite thing is to empty drawers and cupboards, and he is not completely satisfied until the entire thing is empty and the contents are all over the floor. And the garbage. It's another thing to empty to him. If it's where he can reach it for a second I'm in trouble.

Parx is also the biggest tease. He LOVES to take things he knows we need (phones, remotes, socks, books) and run off with them. He'll hold them out as if he's going to give them back and then hurry and snatch them away just as you're going to take it from him. Then he laughs and laughs. He does the same thing in the bathtub. He'll reach his arms out coaxing you to get him out, but as soon as you reach down and just about have him he jumps back down so you can't get him. He also loves to play peek-a-boo.

Parx is also a big talker. He jabbers and jabbers and there's always someone to jabber back at him in conversation. He copies our tone and voice inflections so well! He also LOVES music. When he hears any kind of beat he starts dancing away. It really is the cutest thing I've ever seen. If anything makes a special noise, like the goldfish rattling in the zippie, he goes to town shaking away and dancing. He even tries to sing along. Parx also has two bottom teeth. His big toothy smile is adorable!

For his birthday we did our traditional chocolate cake. Parx was hilarious. He went for it! He also had quite the cheering section encouraging him on. He thought he was pretty cool.

Well Parx, you truly are my sunshine, and I love you soooooooo much!

Christmas 2011

Christmas time is always a super crazy time of year. This year was no exception. Here are some highlights.

Myles' Christmas Program: Myles has gone to SOOOO many of the girls' programs that it was finally his turn. He loved being in the spotlight. In fact I think he loved it a little too much because he had some fun with the microphone. But check out

how cute he was...

The girls LOVE singing in their singing group. Every year I tell myself that it's the last year, but they love it so much I can't say no. Mekinley's solos were Carol of the Bells and O Holy Night in which Rob accompanied her on the guitar. It was so cute! Sierra even had a solo in Deck the Halls. She was beaming. Okay...who am I kidding? I love it too. I tell you, the proud parent gene sure kicks in when I'm watching them.

Myles said, "Mom, we've got to find Santa's house. He can't just live at Kinster's performance!"

This year the Bell Family's Christmas celebration took place a few days before Christmas at Wolf Mountain. It was loads of fun. We were even able to find a great sledding hill even though there was hardly any snow. It turns out ice is more fun anyway because you can go faster. Of course the festivities included a talent show and, my favorite, the Nativity play. Parx was Baby Jesus. It was so cute! I think the kids' favorite part is just being with their cousins. There are 16 grandkids all 10 years old and younger. Oh, trust me. It gets crazy. I think my parents thrive on crazy.

This Christmas Eve we had a special treat. Parx took his first unassisted steps! He was sooooo cute!

Finally....Christmas Day. We opened presents and then drove to Panguitch to spend Christmas night with Rob's family in Panguitch. Trust me--by the time Christmas was over I was so worn out I could barely see straight! But it's always so much fun and full of so many (hopefully) good memories.

Leave it to Sierra to put something like this together.

A Day In the Life....

So I'm often asked, "How is it with 4 kids?" or even better, "What do you do all day?" I thought I would tell you. I wanted to do this for a few reasons. First, in years from now when hopefully things have slowed down and my kids are in this stage, I will be able to remind myself how hard it is and will want to help out much as possible. Second, when the day comes that I start feeling sorry for myself that I can't have any more babies, I can read this to talk myself out of the madness.

Yesterday, Dec. 8, 2011, a typical day...I'm sure all you moms out there can relate.

12:30 am: Parx wakes up. I'm trying to sleep train him, and since he's only been asleep for three hours, I do not go get him. However, I do lay in bed awake listening to him scream for forty minutes.

3:30 am: Parx wakes up. Since it now has been six hours since I have fed him and snuggled him, I consent to go him. I feed him for about thirty minutes and then go back to bed. Now I'm awake so it takes me a good thirty minutes to get back to sleep.

6:00 am: Parx wakes up. He's decided that he really wants to be a stinker today. Since I'm desperate for a last few minutes of sleep before my day really begins, I drag him into bed with me so he can lay next to me and eat and I can try to squeeze out a few more minutes of drowsy half-sleep myself.

7:15 am: Myles wakes up. He opens our door and asks for his show to be put on. Now I'm fully awake.

7:30 am: Sierra and Mekinley wake up. I'm made fully aware of this fact by the two of them yelling at each other over something insanely stupid. This is when I'm supposed to get out of bed, but I'm so tired I lay there for 15 more minutes.

7:45 am: I finally use every ounce of will power to pull myself out of bed--now starting an already crazy morning fifteen minutes behind schedule.

7:47 am: Put in a load of laundry. Get the older three breakfast, dressed, and hair done. All the while getting yelled at by Sierra whose pants are too tight or are they too lose, her shirt is itchy, no the neck is too low, her socks feel weird, her shoes are too small or are they too big......you get the idea. Every morning I try to talk her into doing her hair in something other than a little half pony on the side, but three minutes into the argument decide it's a battle not worth fighting. Every day. Get the girls out the door for school.

8:35 am: Feed Parx his breakfast.

8:45 am: Jump in the shower for five minutes. Even though I haven't washed my hair in days, it doesn't get washed...again. Parx is standing up against the shower door banging on it. I'm not even allowed five minutes for a shower. Throw on whatever clothes are still on the floor from last night.

8:55 am: Take Myles to school.

9:00 am: Get Parx ready for the day. Get myself ready. Yes...15 minutes for both. That's why I look so great.

9:15 am: Make beds. Somehow I feel if beds are made my house isn't as messy as it is. Switch laundry.

9:20 am: Start working. For about twenty minutes Parx is happy to play at my feet. For about another twenty minutes, he is only happy sitting in my lap pounding the keyboard and pulling my hair.

10:00 am: Nurse Parx and put him down for a nap.

10:30 am: Go back to work.

10:50 am: Parx wakes up. Pick Myles up from school.

11:00 am: Go back to work. Same scenario as before except this time I also have Myles asking me every five minutes when it will be lunch time. To which I reply, "Not now, bud. I'm working." This statement comes out of me at least ten times a day. It makes me feel really bad.

12:00 pm: Lunch time. While lunch is cooking or Myles is eating, finally clear away the breakfast mess. I also have dishes still leftover from dinner last night since we were gone and didn't get back until late. While I'm feeding Parx his lunch, I try to eat something too. Leftovers come in handy. Then clean up lunch mess. Start dishwasher.

12:45 pm: Get Myles settled for quiet time. I'm really lucky Myles is such a good kid.

1:00 pm: Nurse Parx and put him down for nap.

1:30 pm: Go back to work. Work for two more hours.

3:00 pm: Parx wakes up. Change diaper. I was lucky today--got an hour and a half out of him.

3:25 pm: Pick girls up from school. After school routine. Make after school snack. Empty backpacks. Fold laundry. Put laundry away. Clean up front room. By this time it's a mess. I feel really bad when Rob has to come home to a disaster, which definitely happens some days. Let's not even mention the state of my basement. It will have to wait for another day. All the while have a baby on my hip or at my feet.

4:45 pm: Nurse Parx.

5:00 pm: This is when the perfect storm hits. All children want my attention. And I am watching the door like a hawk for Rob to come home. Start making dinner. Empty dishwasher.

5:30 pm: Eat dinner. Feed Parx. Clean up dinner. By this time Rob is home so at least I have another set of hands, and he helps a TON.

6:30 pm: Night time routine. Rob and I divide and conquer. Read with Sierra, check Sierra's homework, help Mekinley with her homework, practice piano with Mekinley, make sure Mekinley does her reading. Load up backpacks for tomorrow. All four kids need baths. At least Mekinley now showers by herself. Tonight I actually squeeze in two books for Myles. This doesn't always happen and I feel bad when he gets the shaft.

7:30-8:00 pm: Bed time. Brush teeth. Pick out clothes (This takes FOREVER and yet we still have issues in the morning!!)

8:15 pm: Parx's turn. Nurse Parx and put him to bed. See each other child at least once for something--can't sleep, need a drink, have to go to the bathroom, need another hug...

9:15-9:30 pm: Parx went down easy so I give myself 15 minutes to relax and unwind.

9:30 pm: My bedtime. I know....it's early. But can you blame me? I know it will all start over again at 12:30 am.

And that's my day. It was actually a pretty mellow day considering we didn't have anything extra like a field trip, doctors appointment, Young Women's, visiting teaching, grocery shopping, heaven for bid early out day, etc. which usually happens at least twice a week. I only have time to write this blog right now because I'm waiting on an efax that I'm assured will be here any minute.

I hope you don't get the wrong idea. I'm really not complaining, well maybe a little. I like being busy and I love my children...and most days my life. And I'm told when this all goes away I will miss it. I actually believe that. As for now...I need a vacation.