Breathing in Spring Air (plus other random updates)

I hate being cold, I hate snow, I hate shoveling the sidewalk, I hate driving on slippery roads.......I hate WINTER!! Goodbye winter.........Hello Spring!! I am so happy for winter to be over and it can't go fast enough. It's still a little chilly out, but its getting warmer. We have to wear our coats to the park, but at least we can go to the park!! I am so freakin' excited for warmth, sunshine, playing outside, going for walks, and all that good stuff that warm weather brings.
We're cashing in on spring a little early around here. Fun days at the park are upon us. Even little Ivy-girl is getting in on the action.





Lately we have discovered this little kitty out our back door. We have never fed this kitty, never pet it, never offered any love or affection of any kind. We've never even opened the back door, and yet, this kitty keeps coming back (usually around dinner, but often several times a day). I don't know if she (I say "she" because kitties seem feminine, but I don't really know) is just confused about where she lives or what, but we aren't really "kitty people", so outside she remains, meowing and staring as if we are supposed to love her. Sorry kitty, we don't.(ps. I apologize to all of you who love cats and think we are mean, but Corbin is a little allergic, and we just don't like them much.)


On a more positive note, Ivy is getting aquainted with her hands. She can grab hold of things now, and when she gets them, she holds on as if her life depends on it. Here are a couple pics of her developing her newest talent.


Here are a few of the boys building and playing in couch cushion forts, they love it. It's so annoying to have to re-put the cushions on the couch five hundred times a day, but I guess it's worth it for the fun they have. Cute kiddos!


And finally, we have the boys' newest haircuts. ALL the boys in our family have like super hair or something cause it grows SO FAST. I finally decided to use the clippers instead of scissors on Dexy's hair, cause I am just sick of cutting it. He still has his crazy rooster hawk goin' on in the back, but it looks a lot better now.

4 Month Checkup

Today was Miss Ivy's 4 month checkup. It's hard for me to believe that it's already been 4 months, she still feels like a newborn to me. The doctor thinks that she is doing very well developmentally, but he is a little concerned about her weight, surprise, surprise. Here are her stats:

Weight: 10 lbs (3rd percentile)

Height: 23 inches(10th percentile)

So yeah, she's small, still very close to newborn size, which probably explains my feeling like she's still a newborn. Anyway, to get her weight up the doc recommended we start giving her rice cereal once a day. I really hope that works, cause I'm getting sick of this weight issue!! Other than that all is well.

So since Ivy is now 4 months, I just thought I'd give an update on other stuff, besides stupid weight.

Ivy is very happy, she is always smiling and silly, and is hardly ever in a bad mood. She is holding her head up like a champ, and is working on getting used to laying on her side rather than her back. She hates tummy time, it makes her cry until she turns blue. Her favorite toy is her little monkey mat with its dangling monkey, zebra, and mirror. She likes to grab hold of the zebra, and gets frustrated when she can't get him. She still enjoys spending time with her pacifier, only now she gets mad because she can pull it out of her mouth, but can't put it back in. Her favorite person in the house is, of course, her mommy. She actually cries when I leave the room sometimes. She is fascinated by her crazy, out of control brothers. She could stare at them for hours while they play, fight and cry with one another. She is always happy to see daddy when he gets home from work, and loves for him to hold her for hours on end.

She is one sweet girl and we are happy to have her in our family!!

Some favorites

Today while I was taking the sheets off of my bed to put in the laundry, I thought, "I can't wait til I get to put these sheets back on my bed all crisp, clean, and fresh, and then climb in and sleep in their fragrant goodness." Because clean sheets are something I really love, they're one of my favorite things. It got me thinking of some other things that I appreciate, or that make my life easier or better in some way. So I decided to do a small list of some of these things (other than the sheets, since I already mentioned those).

• The double sliding doors on my minivan.
  
  I had a so called "minivan" before, but there was nothing mini about it, and it only had one sliding door (which didn't even open from the outside). It was old and used (1995 Ford Aerostar), but in relatively good condition when we bought it. But the fact that it was so old meant that it didn't have the double sliding doors. I don't know who invented minivans or why they decided they only needed a door on one side for the backseat passengers, but they were crazy! I am glad they finally wised up and added that second door. I know they also have vans with doors that open themselves with just a push of a button, but I am not that fancy, so I just appreciate my minivan with its manual, double sliding doors.
  


• Disposable diapers. I know we live in a time where being "green" is the way to be. Recycling, conserving, and re-using is on everyones minds, and I try to do my part to help our environment, but using cloth diapers...........I don't think so!! I don't know how anyone can live happy lives when they have to clean up the same poop twice! Once when you clean it off the baby, and then again when you clean the diaper. Kudos to those of you that can, but I can't. I don't have the time or patience to do that, plus Dexter is disgusting. He has the nastiest diapers ever and I am happy to take them out to the trash and never have to think about them, see them, or smell them again!

• The baby swing.That swing made it possible for me to post this very blog.
  Ivy loves to sleep in it for like an hour or two at a time, in turn allowing me to do other things, such as eat, shower, clean, eat, play with the kids, check blogs, did I mention eat? I love that swing.
  
  
• PBS Kids. I know it's terrible to put your kids in front of the tv too often, but sometimes, I just need a few minutes of peace! That's where PBS Kids comes in. They play cartoons, but not just your average mind-numbing super hero type cartoons, educational ones. I swear Corbin learned to count by watching sesame street! If I have to let them watch tv, at least they can watch something that will not only entertain them, but teach them something too!
  
• And finally, Walmart. Now I know there are people out there (Van) that think Walmart is the devil, but in our situation, it really is a life-saver. With all our medical bills since Ivy was born, and just the fact that we now have 5 mouths to feed instead of four, and Ivy has to get a special formula that is 30 bucks a can, we appreciate the money we can save by shopping at walmart. Money is TIGHT around here! They only sell Ivy's special formula at albertsons, not walmart, but at least we can save money on everything else that we need on a regular basis, which makes it possible for us to be able to buy her that expensive formula.

All right, that's all I have for now. All part of my new years resolution to be more positive and look for the good things in life (which I haven't been doing so well lately). I hope you enjoyed my list and maybe it will make you think of a few things that you couldn't live without.

Who's In Charge Here?

You may think that in our household daddy is in charge. He makes the money, pays for a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, shoes on our feet, and food in our bellies. But Daddy isn't in charge.
If not daddy, then mommy, of course. She makes sure everyone is clean, clothed, fed, happy and healthy, surely she must be the one who makes the decisions around here. Nope, wrong again.
"Well, then who?" you might ask. If Daddy isn't in charge, and mommy isn't in charge, who could possibly be in charge? Well I'll tell you, Corbin. That's right, Corbin. You don't believe me? I'll Prove it.
Corbin decides what we watch on tv, what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and just this afternoon he put Dexter down for his nap. I had tried to put Dex down myself, and within a matter of two minutes he was back downstairs with a defiant look on his face. Corbin took one look at him and said, "Dexter, go to bed!" and wouldn't you know it, Dex turned around and walked right back upstairs, climbed in his bed and went to sleep. Obviously, Corbin is a professional, and the mere fact that I gave birth to both him and Dexter is inconsequential.
Lately I have found myself saying very cliche, parent-y things such as: You are not the only person in the house! Go to your room! and Quit picking on your brother! But apparently I have been going about it all wrong, since Corbin is the boss I guess I should just throw in the towel and let him do whatever he wants.

Bye Bye Bummer Blog

Ok, so my blog has been quite a bummer lately. I am done feeling grumpy and sorry for myself, so I thought I'd post some cute pics that tell what we've been up to lately.

I hope this picture doesn't get me in trouble, but their little naked butts are so dang cute! This is Corbin and Dex taking a bath together and playing with the boats they got for christmas. The water is a weird color because they have little Elmo colored tabs they put in it.
Here is sweet Ivy playing peek-a-boo. Okay, not really, she happened to have the towel there to protect her from her own spit-up and as she was falling asleep she held it like that. But it looks like she's playing peek-a-boo, right!

On Saturday Scott and I watched Russell and Collette's kids so they could go out for Russell's birthday. Happy Birthday Russell! Anyway, all the kids had so much fun together. They have two boys and a girl, just like us, and all the kids are really close in age, so they really get along well. They played outside, destroyed the couches, ate mac n' cheese, and built a fun little fort. Good times.

Starting at the left (with the pink plate) going clockwise. Ellie (20 months), Bowen (3), Corbin (4), Dexter (23 months), and Dallin (3). That's a lot of Brunsons' at that table!

Destroying the couches as I mentioned

Getting into their super cool fort

Inside view, sorry about cutting off your heads there, Ellie and Dallin!

What are the odds........

Scott and I were up watching some t.v. the other night after all the kids had gone to bed and we couldn't find anything good. After a while we finally decided on TLC and watched 18 kids and counting. Just a little background on the show in case you haven't heard of it, it's about the Duggar family who have just had their 18th child, the kids range from age 22 or so to newborn.
Ok, so we're watching the show and start discussing the odds of this family having so darn many children, and ALL of them are normal (keep in mind when I say normal, I mean health-wise, I am ignoring the fact that they wear "church" clothes everyday, don't watch tv or listen to non-religious music, and in general are very odd).
Scott and I have 3 kids and 1 of them has significant health problems, how is that fair? Don't get me wrong, I love Ivy and cherish every moment I spend with her, but it is extremely stressful to be in our situation. I don't want to lie and say that it's easy, or that I am happy about it. It's hard, and everyone wants to have a healthy child. Everyone says Heavenly Father wouldn't give us something that we can't handle, and I agree with that, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
I guess I am just a little jealous of the Duggars, not the fact that they are crazy and have WAY too many children, but the fact that they are all healthy and haven't had any significant struggles. If they had a child with significant medical problems, maybe they wouldn't have had so many just because of the medical bills. Now don't go and think that I am wishing for them to have a baby with problems, I am not, I don't wish this on anybody, I am just venting frustrations.
I really am honored to have such a special being in my family, she is so strong and amazing, and I can't even express how much I love her. But she has gone through more in her short life than I have in my 27 years, and I just don't feel like its fair. I wish she didn't have to go through everything that she has and will continue to go through her entire life. Life would be easier if her heart had developed normally. We could get out of the house, go to church as a family, be semi-social, but all of those things had to be put on hold to ensure Ivy is in the best health for her upcoming surgery. My heart aches to think she has to do it all over again, and as her mother I just want to make it all better, but there's nothing I can do.
okay, now that I am sobbing and feeling sorry for myself and her, I am going to be done. I just hope those Duggars know how lucky they are that all their children are healthy.

College Angst

Last Saturday while Scott and I were de-junking our extra bedroom that has been overcome by storage, I found my folder of poetry from high school and college. I read through a bunch of poems, most of which are depressing or insignificant (and quite frankly, terrible), but I found these two that I wrote in college that are kind of interesting.......... Please keep in mind that these poems are almost 8 years old, and I was in a very different place in my life when I wrote them. Also I don't know what they mean (Or I just don't want to tell you!!), but I don't share my poetry very often, so consider yourself lucky.

Poem 1- originally written October 2001~

It sneaks up so smoothly one day at a time,
Emotions so small you don't give second mind,
Suddenly comes as an urge of complaint,
With unshackled hands I feel the restraint,
Try to move on as I know that I must,
My soul's overcome with temptation and lust,
My hands and my thoughts I try to hold back,
But in the end, everytime, is a stab in the back,
And things cross my mind ever day that I breathe,
That a God-given remedy won't seem to relieve,
In frustration and anger I run from regret,
But a constant reminder won't let me forget,
Confidence pulls at my already worn mind,
I seem to let go of the thing that I find,
Seeping in feelings of guilt and offense,
Will rule my faint world and appear to make sense,
I swat at the battles that never decrease,
To open old wounds that give no release,
My mind clutters with all the moons of the past,
While words of deceit are uneasily cast,
So my teary-eyed thoughts, exhausted with shame,
Will remain in the walls of my head, unnamed.

Poem 2 originally written September 2001~

The door is closed
people talking without
making sense
nameless faces in the window
with twinkle in their eyes.

The old couple sits on a bench
nearby
feeding imaginary pigeons
they remind me of
scary movies
They speak only amongst themselves
to ignore
the anxious crowd.

There is a stairway leading
to a damp basement
it feels like I have been here before
with conversations
like magazines.

I hear the sound of water
dripping, distantly
on imperfect cement
falling
falling
and my line never
moves.

So please don't hold back and tell me what you think. Even though these poems are super old they bring back strong memories for me, especially the second one. I would love to hear your thoughts on them.