June 27

Seth got his first tooth this week. I hadn't even noticed it was coming in. That is about a month earlier than the other kids got theirs. But now his other tooth has bee trying to come in since then and that one has made not sleep so well. He's also sitting up pretty well. That is going to be nice to be able to set him up with toys and let the kids play around him.

I finished a redesign of the pools website I did a couple of years ago. The owners of the company are in our ward. I also am supposed to start soon on two other websites one for a phone installation company in Utah and one for a nonprofit in GA. Both of them heard about me from other people I did sites for. The design part of websites is fun, it just takes a little more time. But I should make some good money.

I signed Aaron up for preschool in the fall. So he'll go to 2 years of preschool; the other kids only did one. I'm hoping it'll help him with the tantrums and keep him more occupied. And I realized he's only 2 months younger than Rachel was when she started preschool, his birthday is just after the cutoff. So it'll also be nice to have 2 mornings a week when it's just me and Seth. That'll be nice for grocery shopping and errands.

The kids have been playing with the Dean kids a lot this summer. Their oldest, CJ, has been in Danny's playgroup all year, but we just realized that their girl, Savannah, who is six months younger than Rachel and will go into kindergarten in the fall, plays great with Rachel. And they have a boy who is one year younger than Aaron, so they don't play together much, but enough. And then we both have babies a month apart, so it's been great to trade the three oldest kids back and forth. And I really like Kata, their mom. She reminds me of Amanda.

My back has been feeling great! And I love going to the new gym I just signed up at. They built a Gold's gym about 5 minutes away. I've been doing yoga and swimming laps so far. Then I'm still walking and doing physical therapy exercises. I've just been in heaven getting to do so much. I feel really blessed. Amanda and her husband just did a triathlon, and now I want to do one too. There's a triathlon sprint in Las vegas in October. I think I might be able to do it. And if I have to walk instead of run or just go slow, that's fine with me, I just think it would be lots of fun. I never was interested in triathlons before, mostly because I don't like swimming. But I don't love biking either. But now I realize I can't just do one thing, I need to get everything strong and not overuse anything. I'm going to see how my exercising goes over the next month and pray about it some more. But it's at least fun to think about.

We leave this thursday for our vacation in Midway. We'll have a great time. I just need to get all the packing and laundry and house cleaning done before we go. My mom will come back and stay with us for a few days after, so I don't want to come home to a messy house.

June 21

We have totally failed at the thumbsucking. He says he doesn't want to suck his thumb, but he makes no effort. He sucks as much as he ever did before. Bummer. And his tantrums are still going strong. Some days are better than others, but it's still really hard.

Last weekend Seth and I went to Houston to go to Casey's wedding. We had a great time. Seth was a dream. He was so adaptable and happy. He slept and ate when he needed to and was easy to entertain. Casey's wedding was wonderful. He and Kami looked so happy. We went to Galvaston on Sunday before we left. The water was warm there, but so gross looking. It was so brown and the beaches weren't beautiful gulf beaches. And there was still lots of evidence of Hurricane Ike that came through a year ago. Bob did great with the kids while I was gone.

Thursday this week we went to the Excalibur for the night. They have good rates right now because of the economy so we went for one night. And Bob just came over after work and left in the morning. We played in the hotel and pool and watched High School Musical 3 because Danny wanted it. The pool had a waterslide and Danny loved it. He's getting so big he'd get in line and go down it all by himself and he and Rachel are getting to be pretty good swimmers so I didn't need to worry about them. And Aaron had a floaty that he was happy with. The kids and I went to the pool Friday morning also without Bob because he'd gone back to work. I was a little worried going by myself, but I really felt like the Spirit was with me as I was in the pool with them. I was calm and was able to keep my eye on all four kids who were all doing their own things in different directions. We had a great time and everyone was safe.

Rachel came home from church today and said, "Trevor said he's going to marry me in front of the whole class". I could tell she was flattered. She talks about marrying boys and boyfriends quite a bit. I hope she doesn't just get more boy crazy as she gets older. She's already got some skills with the boys. One day I walked the kids to school and she was a little upset with me when we got there because I wouldn't let her bring a rolly polly bug to school. So we got there and she went to sit by herself on the playground. Within a couple of minutes she had four boys all around her talking to her.

Today was Father's day. We got Bob a new shaver and a gym bag. And he needed new sandals, but I didn't want to pick them out without him, so the kids drew pictures of sandals on their cards they made and we'll go shopping for sandals soon. Bob was fasting because he had to go to a disciplinary council, so we didn't make him breakfast. But we made him peanut butter cookies yesterday.

June 7

We had a hard week this week. Aaron's tantrums were constant. He was sick so that added to it. Also, he's been doing really well with keeping his thumb out, which is great, but when he's been sick and tired, he hasn't had his thumb to comfort him, so I think that added to the tantrums. And now he's started sneaking to suck his thumb. He still says he wants to quit, so I'm glad about that. Maybe after his sickness is gone, he'll be able to finish off the thumbsucking.

I really hope next week is better than last week for Aaron. I felt like such a failure with him. There was nothing I could think of that would help him. He was constantly upset about something and having a tantrum or hurting Danny or Rachel.

On Thursday I noticed Aaron had one swollen lymph node in his neck. It was literally golf ball sized. So I took him in to the doctor to check it out. Last November both of them swelled up really big so they did x-rays and blood tests, but didn't find anything wrong. So this time, since it was just one lymph node, the doctor thought it was an infection in it. So he gave us amoxacillin. The only thing Aaron ever said was bothering him was that he had a scratchy throat, but he said it wasn't that bad. So we started the medicine on Thursday and then on Saturday he had a huge allergic reaction. He has red splotches all over his body and last night his lips and face were swollen. Bob took him to urgent care in the middle of the night because we were worried his tongue would swell too. They said it was probably a reaction to the Amoxacillin. We'll go see his regular doctor tomorrow and see what they want us to do now.

The kids finished school this week. On the last day of school Danny had an award ceremony. He got lots of awards, including one for having the most AR points in the whole first grade. AR stands for Accellerated Reader and it's where they read books and then take tests on the computer about the book. Danny's so competitive and driven. If there's some goal and someone to beat, he'll really work hard. We're really proud of him.

My hip is doing pretty well this week. I'm walking in the morning now. I really like it. I'm not actually getting to run, but everything else I love about running is there--getting out early when it's cool and quiet, being by myself, time to think about anything. I'm hopeful that someday I'll run, but I'm really making progress I guess. I can exercise regularly and I don't have much pain in the day. It's been a long time since that was the case.

May 31

Last weekend we went to San Diego for Memorial Day. We stayed at Kristal's and my mom and Dustin came and met us there. We had a great time! We went to the beach on Saturday and Monday, which the kids all just loved! Then Kristal had plenty of plans for us to go do when we weren't at the beach. They had the Cow Parade in La Jolla right now. They decorated 40 life-sized fiberglass cows and put them all around the downtown area. We had a great time walking around finding the cows. I think we found 23 of them. We had a picnic at the park and saw the seals and went in a cave. And we rode the ferry to Coronado Island to get ice cream. It was a great little vacation.

Things with Aaron have been going really well! Last week, before San Diego, was a really hard week. Aaron was constantly tantruming and it was wearing me out. So on Wednesday Bob gave me a blessing and I know that really helped. Also that book I got from the library had a lot of good ideas. He did so well in San Diego, even my mom noticed the difference. He still has tantrums, but not nearly as bad as it was. I think we're making a lot of progress.

This is what the blessing said:

• I'll be blessed with patience and strength in working with Aaron
• I should make the home comforting and conducive to opportunities to teach
• I should listen to the Spirit to teach Aaron spiritual and temporal things
• Find time to be with Aaron
• He will learn the importance of love and the gospel
• Progress will be made
• We have four wonderful children with different strengths and personalities. We should celebrate this.
• My health will continue to improve

This is the last week of school. We are all excited for the break. I've been working on making plans to entertain the kids over the summer so they don't get bored and fight or watch tv too much. Some of the ideas I have so far are a movie night once a week, a cooking day where the kids pick something to make and we make it together, a craft day, a pool day where we visit friends with pools. And I'm getting them signed up in a couple of summer reading programs and they'll have three weeks of swimming lessons.

May 17

This week was a sick week. It started last Saturday when Danny threw up and was sick all day. Then Aaron got it Monday and Rachel got it Tuesday. Then I got it Thursday and Bob got it Friday. It was a stomach thing that lasted about a day and a half and it was miserable. Rachel also had a cold with a sore throat on top of hers and now Danny is starting in with the sore throat. I hope we don't start into another week like last week. I realized that we have been very blessed to not be sick since before Seth was born. It always makes me so nervous when we have germs going around with a brand new baby. And usually the spring is a bad time of year for sickness at our house, but we haven't had anything big for months. I'm thankful that at least Seth is a little older while we're dealing with this sickness.

Seth is awesome. He's such a happy easy baby. Last night he went to bed at 8:30. He got up and ate at 5 am and then slept until 8:30. And he naps so easily and he's happy and content when he's awake. He just started rolling over this weekend.

Aaron has been getting better with his tantrums. I've been really trying to be more positive with him while he's happy and patient in the tantrums and I've been talking to him about how he can control the tantrums. And it seems to be helping. I've been reading a book from the Library called How to raise your Spirited Child. It has some good ideas. I wasn't even looking for the book. I was searching for books about bugs and gardens because that's what we were going to do for his school and for some reason that book popped up in the search so I requested it too. I think it must have been divine intervention. Aaron is such a great kid. He's just a little more persistent and intense. I'm trying to learn to work with that.

The boys all were recovered barely enough to go on the Father's and Son's campout this weekend. They had a pretty good time for just coming off being sick. Rachel and I had a girls night. We went to KFC to get drumsticks--Rachel's favorite. Then we played go fish and watched Sleeping Beauty. Then she slept with me and we watched a little AFV in bed before going to sleep. She's such a fun, sweet girl.

And Danny is so driven when he is interested in something. He's the smartest in his class and has become a great reader. He loves catch-it at recess and he asks someone at home to play with him every night. He loves soccer and pretty much any sport. And he's building quite a testimony. He suprises me with how much he knows when we talk about the gospel. I am so blessed with such wonderful kids.

And Bob is my best friend. I love him so much. He totally gets me. He knows when to help me and when to let me do things myself. He's so supportive of me and my needs. And he works so hard for our family. Plus he's fun to hang out with when the kids go to bed or we get to go on a date. And he's so hot!

May 10 - Mother's day

I've had such a great mothers day. It started yesterday when Bob watched the kids while I went and got a pedicure and a new shirt for church. It was especially nice of him since Danny was sick and throwing up yesterday. Then today I got up and Bob had made breakfast and he and all the kids had made cards for me. And I'd asked for a 5 gallon bucket and a plunger for Mother's day (I read they make a really good clothes washer if there's no power) and he'd filled the bucket with several of my favorite candies. I taught Relief Society and it went really well. And Aaron had no tantrums yesterday. It was so wonderful. And he's had a few today, but he was great at church. He didn't complain once and he did the scripture in primary. Then Bob made lunch and after that I took a nap. It's been a pretty perfect day.

Friday night we had a graduation party for Bob. We got some decorations at the party store. Rachel made many additional ones too. We had cake and ice cream. And Rachel made a diploma. We're very proud of Bob.

My hip is doing much better. The doctor said I was just rotated a little this time and I was 50% better than the last time I went in. He said he thinks I should be able to run a mile in 4 weeks. I don't think I'll try that soon. I need to get much stronger first. But it was such a hopeful doctor appointment. I haven't had one of those in such a long time. I'm excited for the possibility of getting all better.

May 3

I think my hip rotated again and that's why I've been having different aches. I spent last week doing pretty much nothing for exercise so I didn't hurt it. I have an appointment with my physical therapist on tuesday. Hopefully that will help. I have been walking the kids to school though.

Also this week I got dry socket in the tooth they pulled. It's amazingly painful. And there's not too much they can do except prescribe pain medicine, which isn't really safe for Seth, so I've just been using tylenol and advil. The pain now comes and goes. But they say it takes a few weeks for it to go away all the way.

Also this week I've spent a lot of time at the store stocking up on emergency and food supplies. There is a new kind of flu called the swine flu and they say it will turn into a pandemic. Even if it doesn't, it's a good reminder to keep my shelves stocked. It is true that if you are prepared ye shall not fear. I feel a lot of comfort in the fact that Bob and I would be able to take care of our family and neighbors in a lot of different situations. I still hope nothing ever happens to us, but if it does, it won't be as bad as it could be.

Last night we took our whole family to an Area 51s baseball game. We had a great time! Sandy and May from next door gave us the tickets because they didn't want them. The weather was perfect and there is a great grassy area inside the stadium. We brought blankets and the kids ran and played while we watched the game. And Seth was great. He loved looking at the trees and the kids running around. And then he fell asleep and slept for half the time.

Seth is getting so big. He put on three pounds last month. He's turning out to be more Danny-sized than I thought he'd be. He's getting pretty regular in his daytime naps and he goes to be easily at night, but he still gets up twice at night. Hopefully he'll just grow out of that soon.

Rachel and I went on a date yesterday. She's been really into dressing up lately. And I had to go to DI anyway, so for our date we got her a couple of dress-up dresses. She's so cute with them. She's changes from one to the other several times a day. It's nice that she's so easy to entertain and such a happy, sweet girl.