Chaos and Cupcakes

I love when I get some one-on-one time with the kids. When there aren’t other kids around vying for attention, I get a chance to hear and see things I might otherwise miss when 6 kids are talking/crying/needing me at once.

On the way to school today Cameron said to me, “President Hinckley will come back alive again someday. I just know it! He is my favorite president. But President Monson is still nice. He is going to get a new apostle next church day.”

Olivia and I went shopping together Saturday night. It was fun to spend some girly time together. She coerced me into buying her nail polish and lip gloss. We also bought her leotard, tights, and ballet shoes for her ballet class that starts in 2 weeks. Now we just need to go buy tap shoes for her tap class. She is so excited.

I remember when I was younger, my parents would have PPI’s with each of us kids as a way to have a chance to talk with us one-on-one about what was going on in our lives. I’m sure those were beneficial to my parents as a way to stay in touch with what was going on in our lives, but I know they were also beneficial to us kids as a chance to discuss concerns or grievances or problems we had that might otherwise have gotten lost in the melee of a large family.

I often try to grab one or two kids to go with me to the store so that I get that time with them, but I think I am going to try to institute a more formal system for “dates” in our family. I think what I will do is if it is their birthday month they can choose an activity to go do with either me or Jared or maybe both of us and we will get a sitter for the other kids. I just want all of them to grow up knowing that they are special and that we love them all for who they are as individuals.

I now know why granola is so fattening. While Jared likes a nice, hot bowl of oatmeal, I do not and so it is not a regular part of my diet. I like granola and I enjoy oatmeal in my cookies. However, I have never looked at the fat content of oatmeal when making cookies. I mean, seriously, what’s the point when there are far more serious ingredients to worry about? Besides, my primary consumer of the cookies are my kids. And let’s face it, those toothpicks could stand to gain a few pounds. Any one of them would make a perfect Ichabod Crane for Halloween. So it was with a considerable amount of surprise when I read on the good ole Quaker Oats tub that 1/2 cup of oats contains 3 grams of fat! (Side note: I cannot look at the Quaker Oats man without seeing in him my Grandpa Young, thus making my mom think I am crazy.) Now it doesn’t have any sugar and it has a good 4 grams of fiber in it, which combined with it’s cholesterol-lowering properties still makes it a decent breakfast choice. So there you have it… granola is fattening because it is made of oats. And oats are deceitful little creatures.

I made the granola anyway. Want to know why? Well, besides for the obvious fact that my kids love granola and they need to eat much more than they currently do so they don’t get picked on for having knobby knees. At the doctor’s yesterday, our awesome pediatrician (whom Jared called my boyfriend after he and I spent an hour and a half talking about everything under the sun related to the medical world), told me that I am not allowed to restrict any fat or calories and that I actually need to be sure that I am getting an extra 500 calories since I am breastfeeding. While in theory I already knew this, in my head I thought, “Hello? Can’t these big blobs of fat be used to make milk?” But I do want to continue nursing this last sweet baby of mine and I do want my baby’s diagnosis of “failure to thrive” to be a thing of the past. So no dieting for me. Blech. I never had a problem at all losing baby weight before I had Sawyer. And I know that when Sawyer finally started to gain some weight, my baby weight came off. I just wish Parker would hurry up and start sucking some calories off me for the sake of both our bodies! Oh, well. I’m so thankful for my kids and if I had to weigh 350 pounds for them, I’d do it. Jared, you would still love me wouldn’t you?

Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for:

It’s delicious. Only two things could make it better. Add some cinnamon to it. Yum. Also use regular apricot jam instead of sugar-free. We have been curbing our morning sugar intake as too much sugar at the start of the day can make Andrew a bit, shall we say, intense. So I used sugar-free jam. Do me a favor- use the regular. Your taste buds will thank you.

2 days before Parker was born, Andrew was diagnosed with Asperger’s, otherwise known as high-functioning autism. This came as no surprise to us; in fact, Jared has been saying for 2 or 3 years that he felt Andrew has Asperger’s. However, Asperger’s is a condition that is typically not diagnosed until 6-8 years of age. So in an effort to provide some insight into Asperger’s and into Andrew’s life, I will list some of the characteristics of Asperger’s. If you know Andrew at all, you will immediately recognize these in him as he is a “textbook Aspie.”

Signs and symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome include:

Engaging in one-sided, long-winded conversations, without noticing if the listener is listening or trying to change the subject (definitely Andrew).

Displaying unusual nonverbal communication, such as lack of eye contact, few facial expressions, or awkward body postures and gestures (definitely Andrew).

Showing an intense obsession with one or two specific, narrow subjects, such as baseball statistics, train schedules, weather or snakes (again, Andrew).

Appearing not to understand, empathize with, or be sensitive to others’ feelings (Andrew).

Having a hard time “reading” other people or understanding humor (yep).

Speaking in a voice that is monotonous, rigid or unusually fast (yep).

Moving clumsily, with poor coordination (Andrew is getting better in this area. For example, he is an excellent swimmer).

Having an odd posture or a rigid gait (I haven’t noticed this in Andrew).

Andrew, true to Aspie form, takes everything so literally. For example, Jared used to say to him, “I’ve got your nose (or ear)!” Andrew would freak out, thinking that Jared really had his nose/ear. We have been talking about humor with him and got a book of jokes to read with him. Now he makes up his own jokes and then asks us, “Was that so funny?!” He’s getting there.

Aspies are EXTREMELY sensitive to noise, smells, textures, crowds, etc. We have put Andrew on a medication that helps him deal with this sensory overload. So far, it is working really well.

Andrew is an intelligent, loving, happy boy. He has such a bright future ahead of him. Who knows, maybe he will be the next Bill Gates (who is rumored to be an Aspie)! What I do know is that I love him with all my heart and wouldn’t change a thing about him. I love him with all his quirks; they are what make him who he is.

(**I had this much longer, more detailed post about Asperger’s.  However, WordPress decided to eat it and I don’t have the time or energy to try to remember what all I wrote.   I hate it when that happens!**)

My mom has been so worried about Parker the Peanut (not to be confused with our son Rotten Peanut). I haven’t been worried because he is exactly the way Sawyer was when he was a baby and eventually Sawyer caught up and finally got on the charts. But my mom doesn’t remember Sawyer as being as tiny as Parker is, even though I assured her that he was. Yesterday Parker and Sawyer had doctor’s appointments. When the doctor printed out both boys’ growth charts we put Parker’s over Sawyer’s and you know what? They were EXACTLY the same. At the bottom of the chart, it lists the age and weight of the baby at each visit and they are eerily identical to just a few ounces of each other at each of their weekly visits from birth through 4 months (they both had to go weekly as infants because of their weight and prematurity). Parker is 7 lb. 14 oz. at a few days shy of 4 months and Sawyer was 8 lb. at 4 months.

The odd thing is, though, that they are gaining weight much slower than Andrew did and he was the smallest and sickest of our preemies and in the hospital for so long. But after he came home he did a good job of gaining weight and by 4 months I think he was around 10 pounds. We have never had to worry about him gaining weight, although now he does have to go for monthly weight checks due to his new medication which can cause appetite suppression.

Sawyer is doing awesome now in his growth. He is 27 lbs. (35th percentile) and is 35.5 inches (75th percentile) and his head is at the 30th percentile. Jared is very happy about the height as Sawyer has always either been below the chart or at the bottom of the chart for height and the older boys are all so tall. But now Sawyer is a tall boy, too! So there is hope yet for Parker. He isn’t anywhere near the charts for anything yet, but 2 years from now I know he will be a big boy, too! And now, thinking about the fact that 2 years from now I won’t have any little babies, I need to go fling myself across my bed and have a good cry!

The scale.  I hate it.  I don’t know why I don’t just throw it out the bathroom window.  It is so unmotivating to start an exercise regime and then step on the scale and see that you have actually gained a pound.  I know, I know.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  And when you start toning up, you gain muscle and therefore, weight.  And that muscle then burns calories more efficiently than fat so then you will start to lose weight.  But I am an impatient person.  I want the scale to show me pleasing numbers now.  Blech.  I think what I will do is hide the scale for a few weeks so that I don’t become disappointed and stop working out.

One another gripe today.  Why is it that granola is so seemingly healthy but is actually fattening?  Anyone have a good recipe for homemade granola that isn’t loaded with fat?

Jared pointed out to me the other day that I never write about something that has become a hobby of mine: decorating my home. After the kids go to bed or while kids are at school and the rest are napping, I love to read my decorating magazines, read decorating blogs, and do some projects of my own around the house. Today I was reading Domino and one interior designer, Katie Stassi, described her style as “livable minimalism, which is invigorated by pops of gutsy color.” Another decorator, Daniel Pafford, starts with pale walls and introduces color with accessories and plants. I would say that both of these decorators (and the myriad others with the same design principles) espouse both mine and Jared’s style perfectly. Someone asked us when we moved into our new home why we didn’t paint our walls (our walls are all a cream color). I explained that painted walls just aren’t our style and that actually, they aren’t the style of a lot of designers either. Many famous designers prefer neutral walls and furnishings and then add bursts of color with accents and a few well-chosen accessories. This is what we have done in our home. We have neutral walls and furniture and then we have added red accents throughout most rooms of the home (the kids’ rooms are another story- we let them choose how they wanted them decorated). Now that I have enough red accents to give those bursts of color (red drapes, vases, baker’s rack, rugs, etc.), I have added in a few secondary colors to give the rooms more interest (a hint of Delft blue in some planters, a sage green milk stool, some camel-colored silk window treatments, etc.). Another thing that I have done to add some interest is to not keep my woods too matchy-match. For example, I have a maple cabinets and flooring in the kitchen to create a flowing feeling from floor up. But then for interest, I just refinished a farmhouse table in black and added black chairs so that the kitchen isn’t too monochromatic. A black milk stool and a black beaded-board mudroom bench tie in with that. But then the dining room has darker walnut (leaning toward cherry) furniture and the living room has cherry furniture. This keeps things interesting and again, not too matchy-match. Something else integral to my design aesthetic are plants. Not only does greenery add color and texture, but it is so beneficial for the air quality in a home. It helps purify the air and adds humidity (important in a dry climate like Utah). The last element to the way we have decorated our home is minimalism. Now, our home is not spartan. We have cushy, comfy furniture, books on our shelves, and pictures of our kids abound. But we don’t feel that every wall needs something on it, and we do feel that lots of little “tchotckies” on every surface just create a feeling of clutter. Clutter is an enemy to me and my love of cleanliness.

Now that the inside of our home is just the way I want it, we have turned our focus to the exterior of our home. Now that spring is almost upon us, we are getting our garden beds ready. I can’t wait for my roses to bloom and to plant my beloved annuals. We’ve got all our seeds for the vegetable garden ready to go as soon as the temperature stops dipping too low at night. Next week, 150 rose bushes will be arriving so we can plant our “living fence.” I’m very excited about that as I love rose bushes.

And now for your reading pleasure, one of my favorite little facts: Do you know what simple task can keep 90% of pollutants out of your home? Removing your shoes at the door each and every time you enter your home.

I realized today that Parker will be 1/3 of a year old next week. Then I flung myself across my bed and sobbed for a good 20 minutes (a tad longer than I sobbed after watching August Rush the other night). Then I looked up failure rates for cauterized tubal ligations. 1 in 1000. I would say that knowing how my body likes to “beat” the odds (the rate for uterine rupture with a previous c-section is 0.16%), I shouldn’t give away all the baby clothes yet.

Although we haven’t quite seen the end of winter (it still gets below freezing some nights and Thursday’s high is in the low 40’s with mountain/bench snow), we have had some gorgeous spring days lately. Yesterday we hit 70! Some of us, though, have apparently forgotten what life was like before winter came and multiple layers of clothing became a necessity. I got a pair of shorts out of Cameron’s summer clothes’ dresser for him to wear. He put them on, gave them a funny look, and asked me, “Are these Olivia’s pants?” “No, Cam, they are yours.” “Then why are they so short?” “Because they are shorts, silly!” “Oh, yeah! Hehehe!” (You have to know Cameron to hear his cute giggle in your head properly.)

Olivia has become quite adept at blaming things on the plethora of boys we have running around here. Yesterday, she made an unladylike noise on accident in front of my mom and me and promptly placed ownership of it with Sawyer, who happened to be nowhere in the vicinity at the time.

On a grocery shopping expedition last week, one of the kids put a box of Go-gurt in our cart without me noticing until it was too late. I am not a fan of Go-gurt. One little squeeze of it and out comes a big, globby, sticky squirt that is way too big for a little mouth to handle, resulting in a bright pink mess all over. This morning, Olivia asked for a Go-gurt. I said, “Not today. I can’t handle Go-gurt messes on a Monday morning.” She responded, “But girls never make messes! Only boys make messes!”

Jared and I taught our new Primary class yesterday. It was very interesting to sit a couple of rows behind Olivia. She apparently has a boyfriend. This cute little boy sat next to her and proceeded to tickle her, give her his mom’s bracelet to wear, hug her, and blatantly flirt with her the whole time. But Olivia is not innocent in this as her extremely coquetteish laughter and behavior only encouraged the boy. Oh boy. If this is what it is like at 3, her dad is going to have to lock her up in her room through her teenage years.

I was just reading back through my “Happy Birthday, Sawyer!” post. At the part where I was talking about what each of the kids got in the gift shop at the zoo I wrote something like, “Sawyer got a huge stuffed snake and Parker got a koala since they are both adorable (although Parker is more adorable, of course.)” When I read that just now I thought, “Oh, no! It sounds like I am saying that Parker is more adorable than Sawyer!” Well, that is not so. They are both equally absolutely adorable! What I meant is that both the koala and Parker are adorable, but Parker is more adorable than the koala!

Ok, now I feel better!

I have been working on a post about Andrew and Asperger’s Syndrome for a while now but for some reason it is taking me a long time to finish it. My goal is to get it done sometime this weekend.

Parker had a weight check on Tuesday. He is 7 lb. 12 oz. right now. In 40 days he only gained 8 oz. So we have to mix his preemie formula to an even higher concentration so he gets more calories and give him 3-4 bottles a day instead of 1-2. I’m getting worried that the pediatrician is going to make me stop nursing completely. This is my last baby! But I feel like I am failing him and I am so sad. I eat plenty of calories every day (way too many calories) so I don’t know why this is happening. For some reason my body isn’t converting my calories and fat into calories for breastmilk. Like Jared tells me all the time, “Your body is so messed up- nothing functions right!” He reminded me of how funky my body is last night when we were talking about my backwards uterus.

Well, enough procrastinating… the endless mounds of laundry await.