I Love Being a Mom...

...except when stomach flu is involved. Then I pretty much hate being a mom. Okay, I really hate being a mom. Yes, the stomach flu hit our house hard last week. Aiden started throwing up Wednesday morning. We kept him home from school & tried to isolate him from the other kids as much as possible. He threw up about 15 times in a 6-hour period, but then he was done. He was feeling much better by that evening. He was feeling great by the next morning, so I figured it was a 24 hour bug & sent him off to school, hoping that was the last of it.

Well, that night at about 10:00, Connor threw up...and boy did he ever throw up. He was only half-awake when it started, so it was everywhere! Mike & I cleaned it up and put him back to bed. Just as we were finishing up, Cohen walked out into the hallway & threw up. Back to square one on the clean up process, but we got it done & put him to bed. Then, about 30 minutes later, Aiden started throwing up AGAIN! Sigh...

At that point, we knew it was going to be a very looooooooooooong night. I was supposed to work the morning show the next morning, but Mike didn't have to work because he has Fridays off, so he told me to go get some sleep & that he would just sleep in the hallway between the boys bedrooms so that he could help them when they threw up. So, I went to bed. But, I couldn't sleep much because I kept hearing people throw up every 15-20 minutes. I'm not even kidding. Connor would throw up, then Cohen would throw up & then Aiden would throw up. Over, and over, and over again. This continued pretty much all night long. I don't think Mike slept at all. I left for work at 3:00 am, as he was still cleaning up vomit & doing continuous loads of laundry.

At this point, I was just hopeful that Vivvie wouldn't get it. When I was a baby, I got the stomach flu. It made me so badly dehydrated that I had to be hospitalized for my first birthday, so I've always had a fear of one of my babies getting stomach flu. So far, I had been lucky with the boys. None of them ever had the stomach flu during their first year. Well, that wouldn't be the case for Viv. I got home at about 9:30 am to see Mike feeding her in her highchair. She was being kind of whiny & Mike said she just didn't want to eat. That's when she started throwing up. It was so sad because you could tell that she didn't understand what was going on & she was scared to death. It made me want to cry to watch her go through it & not be able to help her in anyway.

So, at one point, we had all FOUR kids throwing up at the same time. Not fun...not fun at all.

By that afternoon, everyone had stopped throwing up. We were hopeful that we were done & that Mike & I wouldn't catch it. By the evening hours, everyone was acting like themselves again. They were running around, jumping off of things, & wrestling with each other. Yep, we were done. I went to see "Breaking Dawn" with my sister, Kristin, & some of my girlfriends that evening. But, when I got home that night, Mike told me that Connor & Cohen were both throwing up again. Sigh...

He told me that he was sick of washing sheets & sleeping on the floor, so he had decided to make a bed of blankets on the Family Room floor for the boys to sleep on. That way, if someone threw up, he could just gather up those blankets & throw them in the laundry room to do the next morning. Plus, with them in the Family Room, he could sleep on the couch instead of the floor. I told him that I would be happy to sleep down there with them since he had done it the night before, but he insisted that I try to get a good night sleep since I had to work again the next day. What a sweetie! I don't know many men that would do throw up duty for one night, let alone TWO nights! Love him. As I was going to bed, I decided to take a picture of the "throw up sleeping party..."

By the next morning, everyone was feeling good again. We were expecting Vivvie to have a second round of vomiting like everyone else, but she never got it. And, Mike & I were still feeling good. We knew FOR SURE that we were done with it now.

Uh, think again. About 9:30 that evening, I got a call at work from Mike. He was starting to feel sick. Great...just great. Then, as I was wrapping up my 10:00 show, I started to feel it too. I felt horrible the entire drive home. As I got into the house, I ran to the bathroom...only to find that Mike was already "occupying" it. So, I had to run to another. The two of us were pretty miserable all night long.

But, by the next morning, we were feeling like ourselves again. We were cautious about our optimism this time around though. We kept waiting for the bug to rear it's ugly head again, but it never did. We were finally done!

As we looked back on the experience, we decided that we were really lucky it worked out the way it did. For example, we were lucky that it struck last week instead of this week. Wouldn't that be horrible to have stomach flu for Thanksgiving? And, we felt lucky that Mike & I had been sick during the overnight hours when all our kids were asleep. It would have been much harder to deal with if it had happened during the day when kids needed to be taken care of & fed. I can not even imagine trying to make food when I felt as miserable as I did.

So, all in all, I'd say that--although it was a miserable experience--we were blessed in many ways. And, now we're immune from this for at least another year, right? RIGHT?!? I'm scared that if I get too optimistic about our immunity that we'll end up with another round right at Christmas time. I guess one can always hope though...because I never want to relive those 5 days ever again! --Lindsay

Our Wrestling Champs!

Connor & Aiden started wrestling at the beginning of the month. Connor did wrestling last year & loved it! He wasn't very good when he started last year, but he loved it & he wanted to get better. He was constantly asking Mike to practice various moves with him. This practicing continued after the season ended as well. He just fell in love with the sport! So, he was excited when wrestling season began again this year. Aiden decided that he wanted to wrestle this year as well. They have both been having a great time with it & have been practicing with each other a lot too.

Well, their first tournament was about a week & a half ago, and guess what? They both WON their tournaments in their weight divisions! Won the entire thing! Holy guacamole!!! We were shocked! Connor didn't lose a single match! He seriously dominated every single kid he wrestled. Aiden lost one match (it's a double elimination tournament) but never lost another one & went on to win as well! It was pretty incredible to watch!

I think this wrestling experience has been so good for them. I think it has taught them that, if they make a goal & they are willing to work their tails off for it, they can accomplish anything! Mike, who was a wrestler himself in High School, is a proud papa. And, I am now a HUGE wrestling fan! Who would have thought That I would ever be a wrestling fan? I always telling my children to stop fighting, but now I am on the sidelines screaming & yelling phrases such as "Half Nelson," "Bulldog," "Take him down" and "Pin Him" to my child on the mat. I don't think I even knew what most of those phrases meant a few years ago, but now they are just part of my everyday vocabulary. Haha!

Way to go boys! I am so proud of you & how hard you have worked for this! --Mom

All I Want For Christmas...

Well, Aiden lost his first tooth last week! And, then the very next day, he lost his second tooth! They have both been loose for awhile, but he hasn't really been one to make a big deal out of it (as compared to Connor who reminded us on a daily basis when his first tooth was loose), so I kind of forgot they were lose to tell you truth.

Well, last week, as Aiden & I were watching out the window for his carpool, he said, "Mom! This tooth is so loose! I think it's going to fall out any day now!" So, I asked him if I could wiggle it. It was super loose! In fact, it was only hanging on by a thread. I'm really surprised it hadn't fallen out at breakfast that morning, or when he brushed his teeth. So, I just grabbed onto it, and without telling him I was going to do so, yanked. Out popped the tooth! This was a big deal for me because I have never pulled out any of Connor's teeth. There's something about those slimy wiggly teeth that seriously grosses me out, so I have always made Mike do it. I was shocked that I had actually pulled out a tooth & Aiden was shocked that he had just lost his first tooth. We laughed in amazement as we looked at the tiny baby tooth in my hand. That night, the Tooth Fairy came. Aiden was delighted to finally get in on the Tooth Fairy action!

Then, the next day, Aiden came to me again. He said, "Mom, I think my other tooth is about to fall out too!" Sure enough...it was just hanging on by a thread as well. This thread was slightly tougher than the thread that was holding onto the tooth from the day before. It took a tad more more, but after a few minutes tooth #2 came out.

Yep, two teeth in two days...and both of them were pulled out by yours truly! Am I Wonderwoman or what? Haha! Now it's my goal to get Aiden to sing "My Two Front Teeth" this Christmas season.

As fun as it was to see Aiden so excited to lose his first teeth, it made me a little sad. I love baby teeth smiles. Kids' smiles always get kind of funky for several years when their permanent teeth are coming in. It's like their teeth are too big for their tiny little faces & it just looks weird. So, I was kind of sad to see them go. Hopefully, Aiden's tooth-losing business slows down a tad. Otherwise, he'll be toothless by the end of the month & the Tooth Fairy will be broke! --Lindsay

Dear Vivvie #8

Dear Vivvie,

Yes, I realize that I am just writing your 8-month letter even though you are almost 9-months-old! Sorry. Life just seems to get so crazy all the time! I debated whether I should just skip over your 8-month letter at this point & do a long letter for your 9-month, but I decided that I couldn't skip over your 8-month letter because it was such an exciting month! You have started doing so many wonderful things! For example, you started talking this month! Your first word was Mama, which I'm pretty excited about! We'll just forget the fact that you said it to your Tata (Kristin) and not to me for the first time. Oh well. After Mama, you started saying Dada just a few days later & then went on to Yaya a few days after that. You jabber to yourself all the time. I'll hear you in your crib saying, "Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya..." over and over again as you're trying to fall asleep. It is so cute!


In addition to talking, we finally heard a good ol' belly laugh out of you! I have waited & waited for this day! We've gotten small laughs out of you from time to time, but never a big belly laugh...until the other day. Aiden had taken your headband off your head & he was throwing it in the air & then letting it hit him on the head. You thought this was the funniest thing ever & couldn't stop laughing. I think it startled all of us a little because we had never heard you laugh so hard before! We all loved it!


Another big development this month is that you started getting your two bottom teeth! You have handled teething so well! You have been your same happy self through the process. The only thing I've noticed is that you haven't been sleeping as good...probably because you have two pointy things ripping through your gums. But, we just give you some Tylenol & that seems to help you a little bit.

You are also starting to pull yourself up on things, mainly your crib. If you wake up from a nap & I leave you in there for a few extra minutes, I usually come in to find you kneeling up & holding onto the rails. We still haven't seen you pull yourself up to stand yet, but you can easily make it to your knees.

You give the best baby kisses in the whole world! If any of us say, "Vivvie, give kisses!" you'll usually open your mouth & plant a big juicy kiss on the lips of the person closest to you! We all love it, even your brothers.

You love to play with toys! Most of the time, you end up playing with boy toys just because they are highly accessible in this house. So, I've started giving you your baby doll to play with instead & you love it. Let me rephrase that, you love to stick your finger in her mouth & in her eyeballs, and you like to lick her face. But, hey, that's better than playing with Transformers, right?

You are the army crawling/scooting champ of the world! It amazes me how quickly you can get from place to place. Recently, you have started getting up off your tummy and onto your hands & knees and then you rock back & forth. Sometimes, you will start to crawl a step or two too, but then you always fall back to your tummy & scoot away. I know you could crawl if you wanted to, but something tells me that you prefer scooting because you can do it so fast, and you don't seem to be the most patient individual in the world. If you want something, you want it NOW! Many times, the thing that you want is the same thing that your brothers are playing with...a toy, an iPad, etc...it doesn't matter. If your brothers are playing with it, you want it!

It has been such an eventful month! I love watching you learn, grow & do new things! We all love you & think you are the greatest thing in the world! I know I've said it before, but it's amazing how you have completed our family! When we found out you were a girl, your brothers weren't too happy about the thought of having a little sister. Now, they love you more than life itself & woudn't trade you for 10 boys! You definitely are the princess of our family! We love you so much!

Love, Mom.

Halloween...Finally

Yes, I'm finally getting around to blogging about Halloween...a week and a half late. Oh well, better late than never, I guess.

Halloween was so much fun this year! The boys are all at great ages to enjoy Trick Or Treating & it was a blast to have a little girl to dress up too, even if she did sleep through most the excitement. More on that in a second.

The day started out with the annual Halloween Parade at the school. Each year, the parents are invited to the school to see all the kids in their costumes. They set up isles of chairs in the gym & then the kiddos parade through.

Aiden dressed up as Anakin Skywalker this year. Are you surprised? Didn't think so. I was happy about it because Connor's old Anakin costume fit him perfectly. Aiden was a happy camper & I didn't have to spend money on a costume. Win-win...

What money I didn't spend on Aiden's costume, I spent on Connor's. He really, really, REALLY wanted to be General Grievous. Yes, another Star Wars character. SHOCKER!!! The costume was extremely pricey, but Connor begged & begged for it. I figured that, given our recent record of wanting to dress up as Star Wars guys, we would probably use this costume another time or two, so I finally gave in and bought it. The kids aren't allowed to wear masks at school, so people had a hard time figuring out what he was...

Even the teachers dressed up! Here's Aiden's teacher, Mrs. Parsons, as Pippy Longstocking...

And Connor's teacher, Miss Funk, as the cutest Mountain Man (oh sorry, WOMAN) I've ever seen...

That night, before the kids went Trick Or Treating, I made "handwiches" for dinner. I saw this idea on "Good Things Utah" & thought it was a cute & easy idea for a Halloween dinner, so I did it. They are just made out of roll dough that you cut & shape to look like a hand. Then fill it with ham, cheese & other fillings of your choice...

Mine didn't turn out as cute as theirs, but my kids thought they were great & ate dinner without complaint...which never happens on Halloween. They always want to skip dinner & go straight to Trick Or Treating, so it was a nice change.

Here's my two Star Wars guys & my little Buzz Lightyear (also a repeat costume from a previous year...score!) before they left to go get their candy. Yes, this is the best picture I could get. They were in too big of a hurry to leave...

As I mentioned, Vivvie slept through a good chunk of the evening. She didn't take a good afternoon nap that day, so I guess she made up for it that evening. I thought for sure the constant ringing of the doorbell would wake her up, but nope. I was happy that my sister had taken some pictures of her in her costume the night before...


When I took her to the school earlier that day, people kept asking me what she was. I had no idea, so I just started saying that she was a Halloween Diva...

My sister, Kristin, made the Tutu. She also made one for my niece, Ella. Here are the two divas together...

Halloween was pretty darn perfect this year! The weather was warm for once & the kids had a great time! We all loved it! --Lindsay

Connor's 9th Birthday

Connor turned nine this past Friday. How is it possible that I have a nine-year-old?!? Next year, he'll be in the double digits! Then, a few years after that, he'll be a moody teenager. And then, before I know it, he'll be moving out. Life is flying by waaaaaaaaaaaay too fast! Where's the pause button when you need it?

Anyway, to celebrate his final year in the single digits, we threw a Pokemon party with all his friends. Connor is slightly obsessed with Pokemon & has quite the collection of Pokemon cards...as in thousands of Pokemon cards. I don't even want to think of the money that's been spent on this addiction. Sigh... But, apparently he's not alone in his love of this game. All the boys who came to the party talked and talked and talked about how great Pokemon is. Okay, whatever you say.

So, for invitations, we created our own Pokemon card...


We used this website to make the basic template and then we pulled it into photoshop so we could use the fonts we wanted & place things where we wanted them to go. The invitations were a big hit! I had lots of moms ask me how we did it & even Connor's school teacher (who saw them when he was passing some out to classmates) wrote me an email to tell me how cute she thought they were. The funny part was, it was probably the easiest invitation I've ever made! Score!

As the boys arrived at the party, we took their picture & then used the same website to make each of the boys their own Pokemon cards. The boys loved it...


They were able to pick their own abilities. That part got a little interesting, considering they are nine-year-old boys. We had lots of "awesome" abilities, such as "Super Farting Strength." Got to love boys...

While the boys were taking turns making their Pokemon cards, we played Pokeo (Bingo with Pokemon references). I found this website that automatically made random Pokemon-themed bingo cards for you. I love the internet! How did people parent before the internet? There are so many good ideas out there that people are willing to give you for free! I couldn't do it without it!

When all the boys had made their cards & each had a chance to win Pokeo, we moved on to Pin the Tail on Pikachu...

Luckily, my husband is a super great artist & was able to freehand a large Pikachu. And luckily, we have a large "ballroom" (a.k.a. undecorated & empty dining room) with a totally open wall where we were able to play this game. I didn't know if nine-year-olds would still be into playing games like this, but they all really liked it...

After that, the kids went on a treasure hunt. Mike made up a bunch of Pokemon-related clues that took the kids all over the house & outside...

At the end was a pack of Pokemon cards. One at a time, the kids were able to come up & draw three cards from the deck. These three cards were then used for our next game which was a Pokemon battle. We split the kids up into two teams & then one person from each team would come up to battle at a time. They each picked the card they wanted to use, then we counted to three and then they both revealed their cards...

The person with the highest point value on their card won the round for their team. If it was a tie, both teams got a point. Then, the card that was played that round could no longer be played for the remainder of the game. All the boys agreed that this was their favorite part of the party.

Once that was done, we went outside to do the Pinata. I couldn't find a Pokemon pinata, so I just got one that was the number 9. It was either the cheapest pinata ever, or these kids are the strongest kids ever, because it broke open on the first hit & the pinata fell off the pole. Not joking. Despite this, each of the boys still wanted a chance to hit it, so we rigged it up & proceeded to beat the thing to death. Ahhh, boys...

Next it was on to cake & ice cream...

And then presents...

Then, parents started picking kids up. Connor & all the boys had a great time, so I'll consider the party a huge success!

Later that night, Connor opened his presents from Mike & I, and his brothers & sister. Guess what he got? Yep, more Pokemon stuff...

Oh, and a few Star Wars things as well. That obsession hasn't worn off yet either.

But, that wasn't all. Oh no. We continued the birthday celebration on Sunday. We had our extended family over for a big dinner & birthday party where Connor was spoiled even more...

But, Sunday's party wasn't just for Connor. It was for all of us that had October & early-November birthdays. And, even Aiden got a birthday present since Tata & Dan were on their Alaskan Cruise (poor dears) over his birthday...

Mike's birthday is today (November 1st), so he also got showered in gifts...

And so did Poppy, who's birthday was just a few days after mine...

Then, we of course had to have more cake & ice cream...

It was a great weekend, full of birthday fun. But, if I don't see another birthday cake for awhile, it will be just fine with me! --Lindsay