A Mid-September Update

Elijah sitting on the sidelines with 2 other kids on his soccer team. No, I don't have pictures of Miciah playing, cause I assistant coach her team, so I can't be taking pictures cause I'm too busy yelling at the refs! (Just kidding, I very rarely yell at the refs. In fact, this last game was my first Yell at the Refs moment (perhaps the first one OF MY LIFE--I leave the refs alone), cause the other team scored, and then the refs let the other team kick off! What?! That's INSULTING! At least if we're losing by 4, let us kick off when we're supposed to! That's not a judgment call, that's neglect! Anyways. Moving on.)

Life has been busy, though happy. I find that I get a ton done, but a lot more of my time has to be spent off the computer actually GETTING those things done. This has cut back my blog posting and chat times. A tragedy, for sure. But, for all my mourning, I've been able to do more work and this has allowed Rob to focus primarily on the fact that he's stressed out of his mind. And that's a blessing for him.

Rob

Teaching the Biology 120 class is the highlight of Rob's week. He loves what he's doing, and he says it's well worth the time sacrifices we're making. (I agree with that, by the way.) Last week he gave his first exam and most of the class got a D on it. Maybe they'll figure out that they need to STUDY for tests. ... I took the exam, too. Without studying. I got a 65%. What?! That's the worst grade I've ever received on a college exam! Actually, that's probably not true... Never mind.

A few places that he's applied to have now closed. The one in Cincinnati that he's most excited about (Xavier) closed on Friday. And he's not just the most excited about it because it's in Cincinnati. Of all the places he's applying, it's the place, more than any other, that he could see himself teaching for the rest of his life. It's also the place he's most familiar with, but still. I don't know how long we should expect it to take until we know if he's past the first round or not, but we're hoping it won't take TOO long. We're sort of holding our breath for it.

There are more jobs posted every week, which makes us hopeful that someone will hire him. There are places in New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Tennessee, all over the place (though not many out West, for some reason). So when Rob's not prepping for his lectures he's usually working on getting stuff ready for his applications. It's a crazy, busy time.

Tamra

Usually I'm happy enough in my new role as Super Woman. But sometimes I feel like Mr. Incredible in that movie: "I just cleaned up this mess. Can't it just STAY SAVED? For 5 minutes!" On Tuesdays Rob isn't home until after the kids are in bed, and on Thursdays the kids see him for a few minutes before bed. And even when Rob is home he's usually stressed and unable to see straight. This makes me smile because I see myself from 5 years ago up until a year ago: yelling at the kids for no apparent reason, not capable of being sane at bed time, looking like you're going to fall over at any moment. It's a comforting thing to realize that we can take turns being the "strong" one.

Miciah in school

Miciah is doing great in school, loving every minute. Her teacher says she's very helpful and friendly with the other kids, and we're glad she's keeping those traits. Miciah loves to keep her mind engaged, and when her homework isn't "hard enough", she'll turn it over and ask me to give her harder questions. What a nut! We have fun with it, though. I teach her some basic logic puzzles (in which I have declared that Scooby-Doo is smarter than Edison), and some more advanced math concepts. I'm not sure if her teacher approves, but I'm not sure I care, either.

My favorite two things about Miciah in 2nd grade:
1 - She brings home a daily planner that I have to sign every night. With a kid like Miciah, who begs to do harder math problems, is there any need to sign this planner? No. So I take advantage of the "parent comments" section and say things like, "Miciah is a stinky cheese." When I wrote that Miciah said, "No, Mom. That section is for things that are very important." So above the original message I wrote in caps: "VERY IMPORTANT:" And we've just progressed from there.

2 - She is going to be able to access all the books in the school library. Miciah is one of the top readers in her grade, and in previous years it has frustrated me that she wasn't able to pick out harder books. The librarian and the teacher apparently give different grades different access to books. Makes sense, but when Miciah is reading the Magic Treehouse books in under an hour and says she needs "more books", maybe she should just pick out harder books (not to mention books of higher quality. Magic Treehouse books are AWFUL!). I'm volunteering at the library this year and knowing how the system works made me bold enough to ask her teacher to allow her access to all the books. I don't know if Miciah will WANT to read the harder books, but I'd like MICIAH to decide that, not a teacher or librarian. I was happy that her teacher agreed with me.

Miciah playing soccer

Miciah is also playing soccer. I'm not sure if she's loving it or not, but she is steadily improving. At the last game she was much braver on the field and when I told her that she said, "I know." Of course she knew. Her team hasn't won any games, but "it's fun to play whether you win or not" (that's the loser's motto, and I love it!).

One of the really cool things about her playing soccer this year is that she's practicing twice a week. This is worth noting because the 2nd practice is with another team. It's just a rec league, and there are 2 girls in her 2nd grade class that are on another team. One of those girls, Cierra, is a super star, but that's neither here nor there. While at a classroom night, Cierra's dad, who is also the coach of her team, asked what nights we practiced. I told him only Wed. nights because neither the head coach nor I had any other nights available. Then, an hour later, when I went to the practice fields for Elijah's Thursday night practice, there they were, practicing at the SAME TIME.

So I was brave and I called him and asked if Miciah could practice with them. It just seemed silly to me to have Miciah sitting at Elijah's practice, or "practicing" with me during his practice, when another team her age, with some of her friends on it, was practice a few fields away! He said she was welcome to practice with them every Thursday, and even said that if any parents on the team had problems with it, he'd tell them to get over it! :) I think a lot of Miciah's improvement has come from practicing with this other team and watching these better girls do their thing. Before the last game Miciah said, "Mom, I learned some new tricks from Cierra's team." I asked her what they were and she said, "You'll see them at the game." Go, Miciah!

Elijah playing soccer
Elijah loves soccer, and he's not half-bad at it. He's not a super star, but he looks like one compared to the 3-year-olds that are on the team! This is lollipop soccer, so most of the kids spend their time picking flowers instead of playing. At his last 2 games there has been a super star on the opposing team. The game I went to, this last Saturday, there was this girl named Rebecca who scored at will. I was impressed, and I also felt sorry for her and her parents. Because the parents on our team were pretty ticked off. Oh, to be hated for being talented.

Elijah has a great time out there, though, and it's fun to watch him play.

Elijah in school

Elijah is LOVING school, which is fantastic. I thought that perhaps he'd be bothered with all the work he has to do there, but he comes home every day and talks about how much fun he's having! He also is greatly upset when other kids get their card flipped, which is the school's system of punishments. They get their cards flipped and then after a certain number of flips this happens and then that happens. Much like writing your name on the board. He has told us that he will NEVER get his card flipped. He seems very determined to be good, and that's adorable.

He is not digging homework, though. Some of it he's pretty good at, like letter identification and sorting. But the first week was writing his name the right way and he was NOT happy about it. He doesn't like being told how he HAS to do something, and I don't think he understands why his way isn't just as good. Sometimes I want to go on about how right he is (don't conform! You can write your name however you want to!), but the other more responsible side of me wins out and I tell him that "that's the way it's supposed to be done."

We've created special Homework time with Daddy on Monday nights, and that's helping some. I got a flunking grade on Elijah's first homework assignment. Yes, I wrote that on purpose. I, Tamra, got a flunking grade. I got so frustrated with him not doing it right that I huffily sent him away saying, "If you're just going to be stupid, then go away." He walked away slowly, head bowed. After he walked away I realized what I'd said. I didn't MEAN to call him stupid, I just meant that his BEHAVIOR was stupid, but suddenly that didn't matter: I had just called my 5-year-old son stupid. This is the kind of stuff that scars kids!! I took him aside and apologized. He forgave me, cause he's like that, and we created the special Homework time with Daddy. ... Learn some patience, Tamra!!

Teancom

Teancom is still lovely Teancom. He takes naps nearly every day now, and I'm not sure why that is. I was thinking it was because I was "boring" to him, but he's fallen asleep after the kids got back from school, while driving to the store, before Elijah even left for school, ... Whatever the reason, I am NOT complaining. It makes for a happier Teancom, and that makes for a happier everyone.

He seems to have moved past his Wiggles and Baby Einstein obsession, which means that a curtain is closing on a stage in my life. No tears will be shed. He has moved on to Dora and Diego and Scooby-Doo and Thomas. Hurray!

He is still a pro at going potty, though we've had some amusing incidents. The best two:
1 - I had been finding some pieces of wet toilet paper on the floor and assumed they were from something Teancom was doing, but I wasn't sure what. Then I came in while he was going potty and he was dunking toilet paper in the potty WHICH HE'D ALREADY USED, and was bring the paper back up and wiping himself, the toilet seat, etc. I almost gagged right there, the thought was so revolting to me. He got his bum smacked for that one, and I don't think he's done it since.

2 - We have a hand mirror that is exclusively used by Miciah. She likes to look at her hair after she puts it up by herself (why by herself? That's right, I'm too lazy to put it up for her). Anyways, one day last week I was walking by the bathroom and glanced in. I saw Teancom, just finished with the potty, naked from the waist down. He was holding the mirror behind him, glancing backwards into it, and turning his body just slightly so he could look at his bum. I forced myself to keep walking and then mentally willed myself to not break into hysterical laughter. I said, "Teancom, what are you doing?" He said, of course, "I'm trying to see my bum." ... I wiped the mirror down after that. And vowed never to touch it again.

Other Things

Kirtland

All of us in a horrible picture taken in front of the Newel K. Whitney store:

We went to Kirtland, OH with our friends, the Turleys, over Labor Day weekend. It was fun, though later my friend told me that she passed up an opportunity to camp at a Nude Campground. What?! To think we could have gone camping nude! (Seriously, do you even want to THINK about camping nude? Are you KIDDING ME? On the beach nude, okay. Sounds uncomfortable with the sand thing, but whatever. Camping?!)

Our family in front of the Kirtland temple:
The kids really enjoyed it and I will post lots of pictures in a separate post cause I took LOTS of pictures of my favorite Kirtland-area site: The John Johnson Farm.

Colerain Cardinals

On Friday night we took our kids to their first ever high school football game. Every year the local high school has "Elementary School Night" where all the elementary school kids and their families get free hotdogs and chips before the game, the kids get to form a human "tunnel" for the players to run through, and then the kids get into the game for free. We have passed up this "opportunity" in previous years, but when Elijah came home from school SO EXCITED to see the game ("Mom, there will be hotdogs and chips and cheerleaders and football players!"), we knew we were going.

What did Miciah like best? Probably the cheerleaders.
What did Elijah like best? The Army guys parachuting onto the field.
What did Teancom like best? The big red bird: the Cardinal mascot. He liked it only from a distance, though, and when he got up close he ran away.
What did Tamra like best? Listening to a conversation between two old friends, meeting for the first time in 10 years or more. It included this: "My daughter aspires to be a cheerleader. I mean, oh gosh, aspire to something better than that! And she'll say, 'But Mom, YOU were a cheerleader!' I know!"
What did Rob like best? All of it. Especially wondering why the center held the ball that way. WHO, I ask you, notices the way the center holds the ball before a snap? That's right, my husband does. It was cute.

Fun tidbit about the game. Miciah was telling someone at church about the Cardinals game. Went like this:
Miciah: "We went to a Cardinals game."
Woman: "You did? Did they play the Reds?"
Miciah: "No, the Nighthawks."
Woman: "Oh."
Teancom: "They had a big red bird there!"
Woman: "Really?"
Miciah: "Yeah. We left before the game was over, and it was like 50 to 10 when we left."
Woman, in complete disbelief: "Really? Are you sure?"

I chuckled about that and then kindly interjected that it was a FOOTBALL game, not a baseball game. And the score really was that lopsided. When we left, 10 minutes to go, it was 48 - 17.

And Teancom's been talking about the big red bird ever since. We'll walk out the door and he'll say, "Are we going to see the big red bird now?" It makes me laugh every time.

Kid Sayings

In true Tamra fashion, this post is getting way too long. I haven't updated in a while. But I have to mention the 2 best kid sayings as of late. Both come from Elijah:

"Mom, some people have a Nintendo 65. We don't have a Nintendo 65. We have a Nintendo Zero."
That's right! We have the original Nintendo!! I like "Nintendo Zero."

Out of the blue Elijah said this to me:
"Mom, it would be sad if you died. Cause I'd miss you."
I told him it would be sad, and that I'd miss him, too.
"Yeah. Mom? If you died, I want you to die at home. Know why? Cause then I could say "I love you" and "good bye.""
Elijah just smiled sweetly at me, so happy with the idea of being able to say that he loved me and wishing me well as I parted this life. And I tried really really hard not to cry.
I wasn't sure how to respond. I think I said, "Umm, thank you, Elijah." ... You'll be proud: I didn't cry.

I'll also make another post about our garden. Cause I'm obsessed with it.

And that's life here. Keeping it together somehow.

Home and everything that means

So the Great Trip of 2009 ended on August 8th. I'll be doing a few more sum-up posts on it (like you care at this point. I know. I write this stuff for me, though). More stories and some numbers. The numbers should be a fun post. I'm excited about that one.

Home

Anyways. Surprising Rob was really fun. He was happy to see us, of course, and I was happy to hand him the kids and walk away.

My mom and dad and Dea stayed with us for another week and a half (my Dad didn't stay as long, actually, but you don't really care that much about the details anyway). It was great to have an excuse to see all our Cincinnati relatives, and there are quite a few. It was also nice to have my mom around to help unpack and make meals and do all the mountainous loads of laundry. My mother is very helpful. She is also nice to talk to.

I'll miss Dea. She is delightful and mellow, and she plays so well with Miciah. By the end, though, they were both ready to be apart again. It took them more than a month to want to spend time apart from each other.The Kitchen
The kitchen is done!!! It was nice to walk in my door and see our kitchen done, just like we wanted it. I think it's awesome, and Rob did a great job. Thank you to Dustin and Mom and Dad Thacker who helped Rob get it all done during the time I was gone.Teancom's Haircut

Everyone got a haircut when we got home (during which no one noticed lice. Go figure), but no one's cut was as dramatic as Teancom's. He doesn't like to get his hair washed, which isn't such a big deal until his hair is long and sweaty. Rob had to wash Teancom's hair in the sink on Sunday morning, and that's really when you know it's time to cut his hair.Soccer

Soccer practices have started, and Miciah played in a pre-season tournament last weekend. They didn't win any games, but we didn't have any subs and it was HOT (oh, soccer in August). It was fun to watch the girls play and see how much they improved just from one day to the next. They're really obedient at this age, even if they can't always remember which direction we're going.

A few soccer comments:
1- Miciah played excellently at keeper. She isn't afraid of the ball and her positioning is great (though the coach kept getting annoyed that she wouldn't stay on the line. I'll have to tell her that I've taught Miciah to not stay on the line. Strategically, it's usually a bad move). She's actually braver in goal than at defense. I asked her why that is and she said, "It's easier when you're goalie." ... She is improving quickly and she's excited to play.

2- Elijah got on the field for his first practice and who knew that the kid can dribble (while running, no less) and shield the ball excellently. I don't think he learned that from anywhere, and I was impressed.

3- I want to kill a kid on Elijah's team who has figured out that if he falls on the ball and pushes the person trying to get the ball, the other person can't get the ball. If he was my kid, or if I was the coach, I would NOT be kind about his behavior.

I am assisting for Miciah's team, and loosely assisting for Eljiah's team. I think Miciah really appreciates me being more involved. I don't know why that's important to her, but I can oblige.

I'll make sure to get some soccer pictures this year.

More Teancom News

Look at this picture and tell me what's different about it:That's UNDERWEAR!! We kept telling Teancom that as soon as we got home from the trip he was going to get potty trained. So Monday morning we put him in underwear. I kept saying, "You want to go potty on the potty, Teancom?" and he'd respond, "No. On the Potty Train."

Anyways, it's been entirely successful. He hasn't had an accident since, umm, Monday I think. And he hasn't had a peeing accident since last Thursday or so. I knew Teancom was ready, and I thought it would go smoothly and quickly, and that has proven to be the case. Most of the time Teancom is going potty all by himself, too. It's fanTAStic.

We haven't really done nighttime stuff, just cause I don't really care, but he's dry in the mornings about half the time. This has inspired Elijah to want to be dry during the night, too. So we bought plastic sheets (not a bad idea for Cincinnati anyways) and put them on both boys' beds. So far it's gone decently.

Firefox

I took a few more programs off our C drive, and that helped our dying computer a little. But most importantly I installed and am using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. And my computer hasn't frozen since. Hurray! ... I am still thinking about re-formating. And a new computer is still on the horizon, so thank you for everyone who gave their input. But hopefully we can stall a little while longer.

This Fall

Rob is teaching another class at NKU this fall. It's the same class he taught over the summer, but now he's teaching the lecture as well as the lab (he only did the lab before). He's really excited about it, even though it means that he's pretty stressed about everyone that's on his plate. He's preparing two lectures a week. He still has to get stuff done at work and publish a paper by November (that's his shoot-for date). He's applying for jobs all across the country. He's in the bishopric and because of the class he will be missing Tuesday night meetings. He's a father and husband, and he has to find a way to show us that we're still his priority, even though he'll be gone more. It'll make weekends more crucial. And more precious.

I'm already used to the idea of not seeing Rob as much. Not saying I LIKE the idea, but I like that he's getting to do something he loves. That it'll help his career. And the idea of a little more money in our pockets is a plus, too (paying down that debt Dave Ramsey style). All-in-all, it'll be worth it in the long run.

Back to School

School starts on August 31st for Miciah and Sept. 3rd for Elijah. ... Buying school supplies for 2 kids makes me feel very very very sorry for my parents, who had to do it for 8 kids. I spent around $100 on new supplies and hated every minute (and penny) of it! Ugh.

Anyways, Elijah has the same Kindergarten teacher as Miciah did. She was wonderful for Miciah and I think she'll be great for Elijah, too. I already warned her that Elijah and Miciah are VERY different children, so hopefully she remembers that.

Elijah is ready for school. He has just started counting almost as high as he wants. I've heard him count to 70. He also knows all his letters and their sounds, though he's not that great at putting their sounds together to make a word. I have full confidence that he'll learn how to read, and I imagine that one day it'll just CLICK, but I don't think it'll come as effortlessly as it did for Miciah. Which means that he'll actually have something to do in Kindergarten.

Not My Favorite

I have been chastised by more than one person about my obsession with Teancom, and specifically my use of the word "favorite." I will not seek to justify my actions, as much as I'd like to. All I can say is that after a few days I realized that they were right, and I should probably cut it out. Fortunately, Teancom is acquiring attributes that help out my new cause. Namely, he's getting an attitude, he's demanding to do things all by himself (and hence isn't always merely an extra appendage), he's throwing fits, and he can be clingy and grumpy and demanding.

With my mom around, I have also realized that Teancom is often only delightful FOR ME. He refused to let my mother be a part of his life, even after 6 weeks of being together. During the last few days he was beginning to warm up to her. ... Let me say that again:
During THE LAST FEW DAYS he was BEGINNING to warm up to her. ... That's simply ridiculous that it took so long. My mother is adorable and wonderful, and Teancom was nasty to her. What's up with that?

Anyways. The comments have helped me not just change my words but change my attitude. I still cuddle with Teancom the most (because he's the most cuddly), but after 3 weeks of being a single mom I was just as ready to sell him to the gypsies as I was my other children. And that's True (equal) Mother Love.

And there you go. Life is back to normal and posts should be back to the same old boring stuff. Miciah said, "Mom, next summer I don't want to go on a vacation." I told her that would be just fine. Then she added, "But the year after that, we have to go back to Yellowstone."

Short Update with Pictures

I love fuzzy photos!

Teancom

Teancom has had some monumental events in his life. He turned 1 on Saturday, and we had cake with R & C to celebrate on Friday night. We swam in the pool for a little while, ate cake, and watched a movie. It was great and Teancom loved the cake part as well as the swimming. He seems to love the water and is very comfortable in it. We have a little baby floaty thing that he lounges in. Really, lounges. It's awesome. ... The best part of the night was when we were watching the movie. It was nearing the end and Teancom was up past bedtime a little. R was playing with Elijah (who can get hyper at bedtime, especially with R's help) who was standing just past Teancom. Teancom was standing leaning on my chair. R roared at Elijah to do a cute little scare. Elijah wasn't fazed, but Teancom jumped so much that he fell over! Then he screamed for a few minutes while we all laughed at one of the funniest things we'd ever seen. :)

Teancom is turning out to be a pretty sensitive kid when it comes to noises. Male voices especially. Rob can speak a little louder to Elijah and Teancom will cry. And we found out last night that Teancom has an abject fear of dogs. We went to dinner at someone's house and they had a dog. Teancom was interested in the dog until the dog barked. Then he screamed and climbed up me and clung to my neck for dear life. Poor guy. However, he had the same kind of reaction to the 8-week-old cat we're cat-sitting. Fascinated with it, even wanting to touch it, until the cat walked by and brushed his hand. Then Teancom screamed. Nice.

The second monumental event is he got his first black eye! He crawled over to a chair, stood up using the back of it, and promptly pulled it over on top of himself. I thought he had just scared himself, but no, a nice little black eye. I waited until the next day to take pictures thinking the bruise would be better the next day, but it never really did get black black like it would have had it been me or Elijah with our white skin. Oh well. Took a picture anyway.


Teancom is still crawling, and I don't expect him to walk for another few months. He still has no balance, though he's starting to do a little better. He will walk if we hold his hands (something he wouldn't do a month ago) and he thinks that's funny, and now he'll do it pretty fast. So I'm not worried about it. He'll get there. This picture is of Teancom crawling off the picture. Love it!

Elijah

Elijah is Elijah. He's a good kid. He is pretty much fully potty-trained and I don't even have to worry about accidents any more (except when it's my fault, like we go do errands for a few hours and he has an accident when we get back cause we haven't had access to the bathroom for a long time). Though, there was one time that cracked me up though it made me really mad, too, and he got in trouble for it. He had his best friend over, A. They were playing really nicely and then Elijah comes out of his bedroom, walks up to A and says, "A, I pee in my 'jamas. Ha ha!" and does this victory-dance-type-thing. Oh, that's not cool. To have an accident is one thing. To glory in it, that's quite another. He'd just taken his pants off and peed. A huge puddle on his bedroom floor. ... He got a long timeout for that one.

Miciah

Miciah is awesome. I think adjusting back to just being with Mom all day hasn't been too easy for her, either. But we're getting back into the swing of things and we're all enjoying it. Miciah has been doing art classes with C, and both her and C have been loving that. They've made lots of lovely things and C has introduced her to lots of art concepts that I wouldn't have even thought of. That's why I asked C and didn't try to do it myself (among other reasons like it would stress me out and C thinks it's a treat).

Miciah is also mellowing out in her older years. :) She is reliable and fun and has very few tantrums and fits any more. That's awesome. Rob and I were just talking the other day about the differences between Elijah and Miciah. Miciah doesn't have a temper, she just is high-strung. Elijah has a temper! He's very mellow, but then he'll get mad and he's MAD. We'll have to see how Teancom is when he gets a little older. Though by this time in Elijah's life, we already knew he had a temper. I haven't seen any temper from Teancom, but he's also not high-strung, so we'll have to see what he's like. I'm interested to find out. It's fun to meet your kids in stages.

Rob is still doing school stuff and trying not to be stressed about it. He's working hard and loving it.

I'm me. I've just about got my house put back together and am comfortable with how things are. Though I have yet to adore doing laundry. That might be a life-long quest.

Here are some pictures, again, with more pictures to follow. One is of Teancom in the floaty. One is Miciah being extremely goofy. I've got 7 pictures in a row of her being goofy and they're all lovely. The one of Rob screaming is funny. The misquitos were out that night and so Rob had been swatting them off the kids. This picture was taken just after Miciah slapped him to get a misquito off him. :)

Tamra

An Update on Elijah's Birthday

Today is Elijah's 3rd Birthday! I keep asking him if he knows what today is, just to hear him say it's his birthday, cause I'm not sure he knows what that means. But at least he'll tell me that it is his birthday. He got a card from Grandma, and that made him happy. He didn't care about the money (he doesn't know what it is), but he loved the note she wrote and has been carrying it around with him. Cute. He's also been singing happy birthday to himself, but also to me and to Rob, so again, not sure he gets it. :)

Elijah's Injury and Other Elijah Things

Update on Elijah's head. It's fine. Stitches are gone.

He pulled the bottom one out himself on Saturday, and we took the other two out on Monday. They say stitches on the face are supposed to only stay in 3 - 5 days to minimize scarring. Now he just has a nice scab there. The scab is starting to come off and soon we'll be putting sunscreen and bandaids on it so that it won't scar too horribly in the summer sun. They gave him antibiotics to take as a precautionary measure so that he wouldn't get an infection. And he's now done with those, too. So the only thing still lingering from this experience is the fact that I almost fell apart when I saw his wound, and that's still bugging me. I'll have to work on being calm under pressure in the future.

Sticking with Elijah, since it's his birthday. Elijah is doing pretty good potty training. We still have to stay on top of him going every 2 hours, but he's not fighting us on it, and that's nice. He still thinks it's more fun to hide and have accidents every now and then, which we don't think is fun at all. But we're realizing it's at the same time most days, so we'll have to preempt them in the future.

And Elijah is still the sweetest kid ever. We adore him. ... Some stories. He listens when I tell him no (something Miciah never really did), and when he doesn't like that I told him no, he'll do one of a couple things. He might just walk away upset and forget about it a second later (which is what he usually does). Or he'll Care Bear stare me or cast a spell on me or something like that. Or, my new personal favorite: he'll say, "Sorry, Mom" as he's doing it anyway. He'll say it in that tone of voice that says, "Sorry, Mom, but you lost. I'm doing it anyway and you'll just have to be okay with that." I think it's pretty funny, but I keep a straight face and get "upset" with him.

D at Our House

Having D here has been a pleasure. She's a doll and she keeps Miciah entertained and out of trouble. Miciah goes to preschool in the morning 4 days a week, so D's bored in the mornings, but once Miciah comes home they don't stop. D has started talking to me when Miciah's not around, which has only taken a week to come about.

D and Miciah are hams together, and it's fun to watch. I brought out the camera the other day and took pictures of the two of them doing their "cute" faces. I told them to look cute, and they both did these posing faces, D with her hands on her chin, Miciah with her head cocked to the side. Funny. They also spent about half an hour yesterday "introducing" themselves to the backyard. Miciah would shout out something like, "And now here comes the swimsuit rockstar girls!" and they'd walk down the deck stairs, and then dance and strutt and "spose" as D said (translate to pose). Then they'd walk back and do it all over again. It was funny, and man, D has some poses!

D fell yesterday and skinned her knees. One of them she skinned pretty bad, but she was pretty brave as I cleaned it out (I only used water cause it wasn't too dirty). It reminded me of old times when I would skin my own knees.

The differences between Miciah and D are pretty huge. D is gentle and sweet and Miciah is independent and in-your-face. Not that Miciah is mean or that D is a ball of mush. Anyways, it's just funny. If Miciah wants something, like she's hungry, she'll come up and ask for something, more demand something and then stick around for the next 10 minutes bugging me until it's ready. D will come up and say very quietly, "Um, Tamra? Could I have something to eat?" I'll say sure and so she'll walk away. If I don't have it ready in like 20 minutes she'll come back and say just as sweetly, "Tamra? Did you get me something to eat?" or "Did you forget to get me something to eat?" It makes me want to be extra speedy cause she's so nice.

Today, actually, D decided she wanted chocolate milk. She started talking to Miciah about what they wanted to drink. Miciah decided she wanted water and then promptly decided she wanted to play downstairs. D followed Miciah saying, "Shouldn't we ask for something to drink?" They never did ask me, and I have a rule that I don't get something unless specifically asked for it. So D came to me about an hour later and said, "Tamra, did you forget to get me chocolate milk and Miciah water?" I told her I didn't forget, but that they didn't ask. She said, "Oh." and started walking away. I followed it with, "D, you can ask me and I'll get it for you." She responded with, "I'm going to go tell Miciah that we forgot to ask." 30 seconds later Miciah was forcefully requesting chocolate milk and water. It was interesting.

And, my favorite D story so far. D and Miciah decided they wanted hot chocolate. I got it for them and they were drinking it at the table as asked when D accidentally spilled her drink on her clothes, the table, and the floor. I reacted in a way I typically react to Miciah. I gave the "I am annoyed that I have to clean that up" look and said, "If we can't be careful, we can't have hot chocolate any more." And sweet D started crying! I was appaled. I felt like the lowest, crappiest person ever to walk the earth. I then reacted to her how she needed in the first place. I hugged her, told her it was okay, that I knew she didn't mean to do it. ... What a scum I am. It's just that Miciah would have looked at me and said, disgustedly, "I didn't MEAN to do it, Mom. Gosh!" ... D is a lamb.

Teancom

Teancom is doing great. I still haven't called about the test results, but I have to call and make his 9-month appointment anyway. Teancom has his first tooth. And he's rolling a ton and eating anything in his reach, including paper, the vaccuum cord, Cheerios, and pickles. He's still happy, happy. And apparently he looks like a girl. When I take him out in public to places where people don't know him, everyone calls him a girl. Which is interesting to me because they don't even ask if he is a girl, they just assume he is one. So he must look like a girl to them, and they must be pretty certain. If I take him out in white, yellow, or green, he's a girl. Yesterday it was the cashier and he was wearing a dinosaur green shirt and STILL got called a "pretty girl." :) I keep looking for it, but he still looks like a boy to me. Maybe it's the cute eyelashes and pretty eyes. ... Though I have decided it's better for a boy to look like a girl than the other way around. We'll take a "pretty" boy.

And that's life here. Tonight we're having R & C over for cake and ice cream, as well as Elijah's buddy A. It'll be fun to celebrate Elijah.

Take care everyone!

Tamra and family

News Here

Spring Weather!

It's finally warming up! Yea! We had a great warm week, then it froze again for a week, and now it's back up to like 65. ... I've played in my garden, weeding it out and stuff (which has been MUCH easier than last year, the first spring in this house. It was a weed patch then and took me HOURS and HOURS to weed out). Anything to get outside. The kids have enjoyed playing outside, too. Miciah asked to play outside with her friend who was over. I said sure. She came inside and said, "We need to wash our hands." I said okay and glanced over and their hands weren't dirty, they were COVERED AND DRIPPING WITH MUD. Oh well. They must have had fun.

Rob

Rob is still Rob. He's been doing a lot more lately as Young Men's president in our ward, which is fun. He went last Friday to do a "Shredding Party" with the Priests (16-18 year olds). He took our paper shredder and they shredded stuff, just cause the YM thought it was cool. ... I don't get it. Probably because I'm female. But they had a good time. Rob got home past midnight and had nothing but good to say about the activity. Rob seems to be really jelling in his calling, and that's fantastic. It's running smoothly and isn't stressing him out like it used to. It's all going well.

Next week Rob starts some other classes at school. One is every Monday night for 10 weeks. He won't be home until like 9 those nights. It'll be an adjustment for me. But, it's on Mondays, and those are my best days, so I'm not too worried about it.

Miciah

Miciah is doing soccer this spring. That'll be fun. Her first practice is this Saturday, so it'll be fun. I hope she enjoys it. Miciah and I just went to pick up D, my neice, who will be staying with us for a little bit. Miciah and D hugged each other for about a minute with huge grins on their faces when they first saw each other. It was cute. I haven't seen them at all since D's been here cause they've been having so much fun playing together. It's been great. They play really well together.

Elijah

Elijah is still cute as can be and happy. We're mid-potty training with him. It's going alright. Not great, but not horrible, either. He's getting it and we're excited to only have one kid in diapers!

Some cute Elijah stories. Elijah was being crazy the other day. He loves to be pushed and tickled and manhandled. So he was running around in circles and asking me to push him down and stuff like that. He then starts telling me things that I smell like. He says, "You smell like poop." I said, "I smell like poop?" He answered, "You smell like poop and cheese." It made us laugh so hard that we didn't even tell him it's not nice to tell someone they smell like poop.

Elijah is addicted to pancakes. I don't know why, he just is. He was begging me for them the other morning. So back and forth it went: "Mommy, you make pancakes a-me." "You make pancakes for me!" "No, YOU make pancakes a-ME." I then told him I'd make pancakes for him if he made pancakes for me. Just to see what he'd do. He's looking a little frustrated and he runs over to my bed. I'm thinking he's going to hit the bed, since he hits objects when he's frustrated. But instead he fiddles with his hands, reaches out towards me, hands palm-up, and says, "Here. Pancakes!" It was so cute that he "made" pancakes for me. Of course I went and made some pancakes for him.

And the last story, courtesy A who was watching Elijah and Teancom so I could go pick up D. I was dropping him off in the morning. He was acting a little sad and mopey, like he didn't want me to leave. He didn't want to give me his binky. He didn't want to go play downstairs with K or watch Finding Nemo, even though he loves K and Finding Nemo. I gave him a hug and was being really soft with him. Elijah's a really sensitive kid and I just thought he needed some extra time to be comfortable. Anyways, I walked out the door, and A says that as soon as I shut the door, Elijah said, "Ha, ha," threw his binky on the floor and ran downstairs to play. ... What a little jerk! I was floored. My sweet little Elijah. Well, then. :)

Teancom

That only leaves Teancom. Teancom is the world's best baby, which I might have mentioned before. I feel very lucky to be his mother. I don't know what kind of deal I made with God, but I would recommend making the same sorts of deals. He's amazing. ... In terms of his health. We got him in to the doctor to get a referral to Children's Hospital so they could do some blood work. It was a long 2 hours at the doctor for a referral. But we got it and went in last Monday for the bloodwork. They said it would take a week, so I guess I could call my doctor's office and get the results from it. The office said if the results were abnormal, they'd call me, but I don't know how on top of things they are. So maybe I should call them.

Anyways, when I went in he was happy and active. His activity level has skyrocketed in the last 2 weeks. He's rolling across the floor, grabbing toys, he doesn't sit still very much. So when I took him in, I told them he wasn't really rolling still. But instead of saying that he wasn't very strong and to keep an eye on that, the doctor just said, "Some babies just aren't interested. He's obviously active." So that was nice. I told the office that I was told Teancom was anemic. The two nurses and two doctors that saw him were almost shocked. It was interesting to see their reaction. One of them said, "Who? HIM?" They said his coloring is great, he doesn't look pale or anything (he's so dark, it'd be hard for him to look pale), plus he's active and happy. All good things to hear.

Teancom has been sick for the last little bit. Starting Friday he started throwing up and diarrea-ing. He didn't keep much down all weekend, and he didn't want any solids. Tuesday night he finally acted hungry for something other than formula, which I thought was great! He was fine yesterday, and that's good, too. He's back to being happy and smiley and so I think the sickness is mostly past us. ...

And I'm doing okay. Life is good and I can't complain.

Hope all is well for everyone!

Tamra, Rob, Miciah, Elijah and Teancom (with assorted fish (though they're slowly dying off) including our baby, Lucky who is still alive, and our two cats, Cleo and Ceasar)

Who Needs Long Hair? (an update)

I was growing my hair out, honest. I went in to get it trimmed cause it was scraggly. I told them I was growing it out and to not take off much length. Well, 2 inches or more later, ... I like the haircut, it's almost the same one I normally get, but it wasn't what I was going for. So we'll have to see if I want to go through all the growing-out stuff still. ...

Not a whole lot going on here still. The weather is trying to warm up one day, then the next it's under 20 degrees again. I don't mind one way or the other, I just wish it wouldn't do it on back-to-back days.

Miciah

I went on a field trip with Miciah today, which is a story by itself. But we went to the Post Office. It's amazing how excited the kids get to do simple things like buy a stamp by themselves. It's wonderful to see Miciah growing up and becoming so capable. She loved me being there with her. I haven't been able to get in to the pre-school this year because of Teancom being so little. So this was the first time. Last year I made sure I went in every other week. ... Miciah has finally been interested in reading and is making some progress there. She can read simple words and sentences. The other day I wrote her a letter that she read all by herself. It said "Dear Miciah, I love you so much. I am so proud of you. You are such a big girl. Love, Mommy" I was impressed that she read it all. I guess it's not much, but she wouldn't even try before, so we're excited about that.

Kindergarten Registration

I also just went in to do all her paperwork for Kindergarten registration. It's so WEIRD to be registering my child for kindergarten. It makes me feel like I should be slightly more mature to have a child in kindergarten. ... Oh well. ... I filled out the paperwork just how they said and brought all the right documents, only for them to tell me I brought in too much of this and too little of that. I showed them in the paperwork how I had brought exactly the right things, but to no avail. I suppose this is where the red tape and stupidity starts. I should get used to it. However, they DID let me leave off her social security number, which I thought was nice of them to not fight me on that one.

They gave me more paperwork for her. To make sure she's ready for her screening she should be able to recognize basic shapes like a circle. I think she's got that one covered. :) I don't regret not putting her in Kindergarten last year, though. She's grown a LOT since then and I know that she's ready for kindergarten this year in all the ways we weren't totally sure about last year. She's a stronger person this year. She's ready to tackle the world. Or disarm it with her smile.

Field Trip to the Post Office, The Story

The story about me getting to go on Miciah's field trip today starts last night. I was on the phone and Elijah walks up to me, stands 2 feet from me and proceeds to throw up everywhere! Yuck! I promptly got off the phone and Rob and I both stayed up late helping tired/throwing up Elijah. He was up every 2 hours or so through the night, throwing up almost every time (or dry heaving, poor kid). So my plan for having people watch Elijah so I could go wasn't going to work. But it wasn't just that I was having someone watch Elijah, I was picking up 2 kids from 2 different houses so I could drop off my 2 kids and go on the fieldtrip. Then I was going to drop off 1 kid, get my own 2 kids, and take the last kid home with me for the afternoon. During which time I was going to watch another 2 kids. ... Yikes. ... Rob offered to work from home today so I could still do all I was going to do. Except I didn't bring any kids home with me to watch here, cause I didn't want to get them sick. So a stressful day turned into a stress-free day cause my husband is awesome. He got to take a nap, too, which he needed cause he was up with Elijah most of the times. Rob is amazing.

Elijah

Elijah's cognitive development has skyrocketed in the last few weeks! He's talking up a storm, and in sentences. "eat" for "let's eat dinner now" has turned into "Mommy, I want eat dinner." Or, "trains" for "let's play trains" has become "Mommy, you play trains a me" as he points to himself. ... He also has picked up considerably on following directions and can and wants to do lots more things by himself. Wonderful. We're also trying over on potty-training. He laid down the other day to change his own diaper and we knew it was time. :) The first day was awful, but for the most part it's going pretty well (except for today which doesn't count cause he's sick). He's obviously ready to make the change, so we're trying to help that along.

He's still the sweetest little boy and very considerate. He says sorry the second he thinks he's done something wrong or that he's hurt you. He always wants to know what happened when it seems like something's wrong or someone's upset. His latest "rebellion", though, is sticking his tongue out. We're trying to curb that, but it's still funny that that's how he's so mean. It's almost comical. I was at my friend's house the other day and her son, A, pulled out his "lazer" (think Buzz Lightyear lazer) when he was upset. It made me smile that other kids do funny little things that are funny but that you still have to discipline.

... I wrote the above portion on March 6th and it is now March 7th. Elijah is doing much better today, so it looks like the sickness passed quickly.

Teancom

We found out last Friday that Teancom is anemic. So we are taking him to the doctor in 2 days to have them re-test and then give him an iron pill to take. Or whatever it is they give babies. We aren't sure why he's low on iron, cause he's eating solids and is drinking iron-fortified formula, but whatever. He still is not real active. He still doesn't move much. I've been keeping track. In the last month he has not rolled over once, even though I know he can. He is getting much better at grabbing things and he seems to be figuring out that those are his hands that he can move how he wants to. :) And he sucks on/chews on everything, including my face/shoulder/hands. ... He's such a well-behaved baby that I have a hard time seeing that there's anything "wrong" with him. He sleeps 12 hours through the night and coos and is happy and smiley and content and eats like a pig.

He did get an ear infection a little over a week ago. He's almost done with the antibiotics. It was funny. It was a Friday and Teancom cried/screamed all day. I called Rob at like 10 in the morning and asked if he thought we should take him in. He said to give it some time. Teancom is NEVER fussy. And even if he is "fussy," he doesn't cry. It's actually pretty hard to make him cry. Even if you startle him he has to think about it, and usually you can talk him out of it. Anyways, he cried and cried and cried. It unnerved me a little, cause I didn't know what to do with a fussy baby! You mean, I can't put him on the floor and he'll be happy? What do I do, then? Hold him? How do I get anything done? Kind of like that. ... Anyways, after a full day of crying, we took him in to an urgent care place. He got the drugs and was almost instantly feeling better. Yea for drugs!

And that's our update. A lot of nothings strung together to be our life. :) We love it!

Tamra and family

Indeed, it is time for an update. It's been a month.

Well, life is life here. It's busy and unrelenting, and that's how it should be. I had a realization a few days ago. After weeks of being unable to keep the house clean, the dishes done, dinner made, or the laundry done, it dawned on me that this was not a deficiency in me. I have 3 kids and one of them is 3-months-old. I have had this verified by several other mothers of 3 + kids and this makes me feel better. I still would like to be more on top of things, and this is a noble goal. But I have stopped apologizing to Rob when he comes home and the house is dirty. This is a nice freedom I have given myself (and that Rob has allowed me to have without complaining).

I have mastered the store with 2 kids (Elijah and Teancom), but have yet again to brave the store with 3 kids. Still going to the store for longer than 5 minutes is a gamble and I'm learning to have a good sense of humor about it, even when it's happening. And that's been a nice thing. Most of my days are chaos until noon and then it's better after that. I don't know why noon is the breaking point, but it is. I still take naps most days for a good part of the afternoon. This offsets at least a little bit the fact that Teancom still doesn't go to bed before midnight most nights and isn't consistent about his 5 - 6 hours of sleep. Some nights it's 5 and some it's 2 or 3. Naps are good. :)

Rob is still enjoying his research. I still understand very little about what he does.

Miciah's 5th Birthday

Miciah had her birthday parties. That was fun and chaos! We had 20 kids over, with their parents, so our house was overflowing with people. Feeding all the kids cake and icecream was overwhelming, but only lasted like 20 minutes, and the rest of the party was a break from kids. They were all downstairs and the adults were all upstairs. It was great. Miciah got lots of great toys and was spoiled rotten, of course. Elijah was also in heaven because all Miciah's friends brought their little sisters or brothers, most of whom are Elijah's age. He thought it was his birthday party, too. We let him open one gift during a small party with R & C and he was happy. Still, if you say, "Elijah, was it Miciah's birthday party?" he will reply, "MY birthday party!" It's cute. We got it on video.




Elijah

Elijah is talking up a storm and showing off his 2-year-old attitude. It's incredible. He's cute and lovable and a little sassy. I'll say something like, "Elijah, eat that." He'll reply with, "YOU eat it." Very nice. He is back to spitting and hitting and scowling. Well, he's always scowled. But he's delightful, even when he's talking back. Potty training is still potty training, and I wish I could say it's going so smoothly it's the easiest thing I've ever done. Yeah, right. Miciah was much easier. But it's going well enough, I suppose. We don't worry too much about when it doesn't, and Elijah gets M&M's when he does it right, and that's really good motivation for him.

Teancom

Teancom is growing like a weed and it's great. He's starting to get pretty smiley and happy when he's awake and is going to sleep better, fighting it less. He's sleeping longer (sometimes) and getting bigger and what else could we ask for? He's also making eye contact better. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have great eye sight. He has just now started to make eye contact and still doesn't like people to be too close to him, or else he avoids their face. He will turn away from them. Someone today suggested that maybe he's near-sighted or whatever. I guess we'll have to see as he gets older. Certainly he's not developmentally behind, but it's something we're keeping an eye on.

Almost Halloween

And that's life here. Next order of business is making Miciah's costume for this Friday's celebration at the church building. They want the kids to dress as scripture characters, and Miciah said she wanted to be the Nile River. What kind of kid WANTS to be the NILE? Whatever. So she's going as the Nile. I bet she'll be the only one there who is a body of water. :) It'll be cute.

Take care everyone. Have a great Halloween! We'll send pictures when we get them.

Tamra and family

Family Update

Not much going on here. Miciah has started back at pre-school, and this makes us all happy. We have lots of friends there to carpool with this year and this makes all the parents happy, cause it's about a 20 minute drive to her pre-school.

Elijah

Elijah is still doing pretty good with potty training. He's hit the terrible twos full throttle now, so that's a little frustrating. Mostly he's just sweet Elijah, but he'll ask Why incessantly (which is actually pretty cute, I think), and insists on throwing full out tantrums whenever we go out in public. Let me tell you, it is hard to pick up a 30 lb. 2-year-old with one arm. I have decided when I go to pick up Ciah from pre-school I will take the stroller and strap Elijah down so he can't get out. Then at least he can't get down on the floor and refuse to move. Sheesh. And every time I am brave enough to go to the store, I remind myself to not be brave again any time soon. But I'm still laughing on the inside, so that's the important thing. And if I wasn't exhausted by noon everyday, would life be worth it? :)

Rob's project is still back and forth. He'll be able to tell in the next month or so if he'll need to switch projects. It's so day-to-day what the prognosis is. So I don't worry about it too much. If it does get switched, I'll make him get on here and tell you all what the new project is.

Home Projects

We have been doing a lot of projects since I now have energy to handle it. We tore up the carpet in the dining room to get the hardwood underneath. It won't ever look nice, cause there's lots of nails and screws they put in it probably to stop creaks. And there's a big spot that used to be a part of the heating stuff that isn't even stained, but it is hardwood. We'll be staining it soon so we can live with it. Long-term, we'll be putting down that laminate floor that looks like hardwood but isn't. But that won't be for a while.

We also stained the deck a see-through red color to protect the wood and weather-proof it. It's a nice deck and I think it'll be even nicer now. Even though Miciah helped so it's not very even in its color. But it's cute that she loved helping so much. She felt really special to be able to help and that's worth the imperfections. And it's not like Rob and I didn't add any imperfections anyway.

Because of projects our house is trashed. We're working today to get it all put back together.

Zelda

And the major accomplishment of my life is beating Zelda for the first time. I am now getting my butt kicked on Quest 2. But it's fun to play with Rob. And now you can go on-line and get any kind of cheat sheet and help that you want. And that's fun, too.

I am going up to M's this weekend with Teancom for an all-girls (and infants) weekend with C, C, M, and A. I'm looking forward to a little bit of a break, if not more sleep. Teancom is doing better about sleeping, but not much. He's getting a consistent 4 hour stretch instead of 3 hours. It's amazing how long 4 hours seems. :) From J's last e-mail, it looks like J and Tank are about the same size. Tank weighed in at 12 something just days before J was weighed at the same. Getting older is good for all of us. Teancom is getting a little of a pattern with his day, which is nice. I'm starting to catch on to the patterns, and that's also helpful. Teancom is still delightful and I can't imagine life without him now. He has this raspy little cry but he's not sick. It's just how he cries. So I'm wondering if he's not going to have a hoarse sounding little voice when he's older. Like Macy Grey or something. I guess we'll see.

That's all for updates around here. Everyone's relatively healthy with a little cough and congestion going around. It's starting to get colder and that's lovely. It's nice to not need any AC or heater. Good for our worn out energy bill. :) Take care all!

Tamra and family

Family Update

We are all healthy now, which is a wonderful thing to report! Teancom seems like he might have gotten a little bit of the cold that kicked our butts, but he's doing pretty good, if that's the case. Elijah and Miciah were untouched by the cold and Rob and I are over it now. So life is good again!

The infection I had went away, which is another great thing to report. I didn't realize that I was so swollen until it all went away. So I am feeling much better in that regard.

Potty Training Adventures

Elijah is doing pretty good for potty training. He has had few accidents. We're averaging about one a day. He tells us when he needs to go pee and does a good job at that. We haven't got the pooping in the potty thing down yet, but I think it won't be too far in coming. Elijah messed in his undies last night and he sat there going, "Yucky, Mommy. Yucky car" (there are cars on his undies). Yes, yucky. And the first day we were potty training, I put him down for a nap in his underwear. That was a bad idea. About 10 minutes later I hear a very insistent Elijah yelling at me: "Mommy! Mom-me! Come HERE! Come HERE!" I open the door and he's wet his pants and is standing there shouting, "Mom-me! Yuck-ee! Yuck-ee!" It made me laugh. ... So obviously we haven't got it all down yet, but if this is how it's going to be for a while, it's great. This is better than diapers, even with the occasional accident. And I think Elijah is loving the increased independence.

Adventures with 3 Kids

Miciah is having a lot of play dates lately, which is fun for her and nice for me. I think my friends with 2 kids (which is most of my friends) feel sorry for me with the new baby. I'm not really stressed out about the 3 kids thing yet (I'm waiting for it to kick in any time), but it's nice to have friends that are easing things for me anyway. I did go to the store with all three kids last week. What was I thinking? There were only like 5 things on my list so I figured it wouldn't be a problem. Well, 2 hours, 2 spills, 1 long fit, scrubbing carpets on hands and knees, 3 screaming kids and a tired mom LATER, ... Come to find out that almost every mom has a story like that, so I feel a little better about that.

Our lives are getting pretty much back to what normal is going to be for a while. We've been up to having people over again, and that's been great. I love having people over. And I even mowed the back yard yesterday! That was fun! It was hard and I could tell I haven't done much for a long time, so it was good to get a workout.

A New Cat. Again?

I'm sure you guys are getting tired of new cat announcements, but we have a new cat. The cat we used to have, Peek-a-Boo, was sick. He had diarreah for the full 2 weeks we had him. We gave him back and at last word, about a week ago, he still had diarreah and none of the medications were working. That's like 7 weeks of being sick. Yikes! Now they're thinking he has a disorder. Anyways, we don't regret giving him back.

So now we have Cleopatra. She is black and grey striped on top with white on her neck, belly, and paws. She is very pretty. She is very playful and she's an amazing climber. Rob says she climbs like a squirrel. :) She's fun to have around. She's not too loving, and in some ways, that's nice, too. She has scratched Miciah a few times, mainly because Miciah was holding her how she shouldn't have and tried to put her down and Cleo tried to hold on. Miciah was pretty upset about it until I explained that Cleo wasn't trying to be mean. I later heard Miciah tell her, "It's okay, Cleo. I understand you didn't mean to." Cute.

Baby Lucky, the Fish

And our best news of all!!: We have a baby fish. He's a molly. We have 2 different kinds of mollies and we're not sure which kind it is because the 2 we have are 1-black with a little yellow and 2-yellow with a little black and the baby fish is yellow and black. So who knows. But he's been around for like 2 weeks now and we're having a blast finding him. I half expect him to be eaten every time I look for him, but he's managed to stay alive and he's even grown to twice the size he was when we first saw him. So we call him Lucky, becuase I think he's lucky to be alive. If he gets eaten, I will change his name posthumously to Unlucky. :) He's getting braver and I like to hope that he will get to be a big fish. Having a baby fish is a lot less stressful than having a baby human. So this makes 3 fish in our tank with names: Paul (the scum sucker), Spot (our neon with a black spot on his tail), and Lucky. Fun!

That's all from here, sorry it was all pretty pointless.

Tamra and family

Update

It's been a little while, but not a lot has been going on.

Rob is still is school. He has no classes to take for the moment and so he's still just in the lab taking care of things there. I don't ask much about what he's doing because I don't understand much, and it also changes from day to day how he's feeling about how the test results are going. One day the sky is falling and the next Rob is on top of the world. So it's just easier to tell people that I don't know what's going on, cause if I miss the timing, I can be telling someone what Rob told me last week and he'll jump in what a, "Well, actually, ..."

I got a calling change. It's been in the works for a while, but it just happened 2 weeks ago. I am now the Young Womens Secretary. This mostly just releives me of going to every Tuesday night activity. I am grateful to still be with the Young Women. They're a bunch of fun and they're my girls.

Miciah starts pre-school soon-ish. Her fist day of full classes is the 20th, but they start transition days which are shorter on the 13th. Most of her friends have been gone for the summer, but have returned in the last 2 weeks, so we've had quite a few play dates, which makes everyone happy. Miciah is writing up a storm and spelling things all by herself. So we get lots of letters to "DADE" (Daddy). And she insists on spelling her middle name, Lynn, "LLINN", even when I correct her. Spelled like C, she says.

Elijah is doing great. You can't tell now that he even had surgery, except for the two little scars. He has dropped 2 pounds in the last few weeks, and so he's thinned out in his torso a lot. Still his limbs are as chunky as ever. :) It's cute. I don't know if the weight-loss is related to the surgery or not, but he seems healthy and happy, so whatever the weight-loss is from, it seems not to be a problem. Oh, and we're trying to potty train Elijah. We started today and it went pretty well. Only 2 accidents. He has yet to poop in the potty (he went in his diaper when we put him down for a nap), so that will be a big deal when that happens. But he is awesome at going pee in the toilet and needs little to no reinforcements, negative or positive. What a kid! Hopefully we'll be successful and I think we will. I anticipate being mostly all done with potty training by the end of the 3-day weekend. But now that I just said that out loud, God is probably thinking, "I'll show her!" :) So we'll see.

Teancom is doing good. He's a good baby. As he's growing he's getting better at being out of our arms for longer and sleeping longer and stuff like that. So that's nice. He smiled for the first time a week ago, so it's been fun to try to get him to smile for those fleeting moments. And he had his first huge blow-out yesterday. I found out by walking to the kitchen while holding him. Not a good plan. I ended up with poop all down my shirt and pants and on the kitchen floor. At least it wasn't on the carpet. I suppose I should count my blessings. :)

Walk in a Straight Line, Please

This week has been an interesting one. Rob started getting a cold on Saturday night and is just now starting to feel quite a bit better. He felt pretty crummy for 2 days. When he was starting to come out of it, on Wednesday, I woke up really late--like at 11. That surprised me in and of itself for 2 reasons: 1- I never sleep in that late and 2- Miciah and Elijah had let me sleep in that long! But then I got up out of bed, walked to the couch and the world was not a stable place. I could not see straight and I could not walk in a straight line. It took me being awake for 15 minutes before I called C and asked her to come take Miciah and Elijah. I thought of taking them to someone else's, but I couldn't drive feeling like that! So she came to get the 2 older kids and then, after seeing me and how I was, took Teancom, too. :) I've never been drunk, but if I imagine that's a little bit of what it must be like to be tipsy. If I drove around, I would be arrested for a DUI cause I wouldn't be able to walk that white line. Or I'd crash well before the cop pulled me over. She took the kids and I slept for almost 3 more hours. After that I was better, but still not great. I was moving slow for the rest of the day.

It was a weird day. Compounding the problem of the cold from Rob, I believe I have an infection. Tuesday night I started noticing redness and swelling above my scar. The scar itself looked fine, but above it was really swollen and a little tender. This worried me, of course. So I called my doctor and he said it was unusual to see an infection almost 6 weeks after a C-section, but it could be one. He said if it got worse or didn't get better to go in. So I had Rob drive me Wednesday afternoon (cause I really wouldn't have been able to drive myself. I was SO out of it). He put me on antibiotics and I feel much better in that regard. The tenderness was getting pretty bad by the time I went in. It's almost all gone now and most of the redness is gone, too, with the swelling decreasing rapidly. So I'm pleased about that. The cold is still hanging on and kicking my trash, but oh well.

Nintendo Fun!

Rob and I have started playing our original Nintendo games that Collin gave us. We hadn't for a while cause of the new baby. We have been enjoying playing Zelda and Dr. Mario and all those cool games. Rob beat Zelda like 5 times when he was a kid, he said, but I never have. However, I spent a lot of time watching my brothers play, so I know quite a bit. It's nice to be able to hold my own even if I'm not very good. :) I'm getting better.

Okay, that's my lame update. Sorry nothing more exciting is going on. We love you guys.

Tamra, Rob, Miciah, Elijah, and Teancom