Musical Beds!

 Although we moved Lia into her big girl bed when she was 3 years and 3 months old, we did not do the same with our "middles."  Since Logan absolutely HATES all kinds of change, we didn't move him out of his crib and into his big boy bed until he was ready at 4.5 years old.  Since Ella was perfectly happy sleeping in her crib, we made the change around the same time, too.  I just didn't see the point in pushing them out of their current sleeping situation, especially since I felt like it kept them napping longer.  However, I have learned that my little Emmett is a bit different than his older siblings as he has definitely established a pattern of forcing me into making changes.  He forced me into potty training him in September, he forced himself out of his high chair and large car seat in January, and he has been begging me for a good month or two to move him into his big boy bed.  Since taking Emmett out of his crib involved a major event of "musical beds" (instead of musical chairs), we had to find the time on a free Saturday to take on this project.  In addition, since Emmett was getting Ella's bed and Ella was getting Lia's bed, I needed to find the time to look for a used, white, full size bed to replace Lia's old one.  Luckily, I found a beautiful sleigh bed that was never used for a steal of a deal in the neighboring town of Orting after searching on OfferUp for only a few minutes.  After messaging the owner back and forth two weeks ago, Ron drove to Orting to pick it up after Ella's baptism last weekend. Since Lia's oral surgery was scheduled for the day before our Memorial Day Weekend started, I never made any major plans since I didn't know how slowly she would recover.  As a result, we had a free Saturday on the calendar today which allowed us to spend about four hours switching all of these beds around upstairs.

As you can imagine, Emmett was so excited about the entire process!  He ran around upstairs all morning long squealing with excitement as Ron dismantled beds and put them back together in other rooms while I vacuumed bedrooms and washed everyone's bedding.  By the time we finished in the afternoon, all of the beds looked so great set up in their new rooms and Emmett was so excited to take his nap on his new big boy bed.  I couldn't get over how cute and little he looked in his bed in comparison to how gigantic he looked in his crib.  Since Emmett is my last, I was totally fine with Ron dismantling our crib for the last time and lugging it down to the garage to take it to the dump on Monday (since it is a drop down crib and no one would buy it).  I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to have one more baby in my early forties, but I am totally ready to get rid of all things baby as I near my fifties.  All I can say is that it is about time to be done with this chapter of my life!

After taking a successful, first nap in his bed today, Emmett wandered upstairs tonight during our family movie night and announced that he was going to put himself to bed which is something that he has never done before.  Although I still ended up reading to him, saying a bedtime prayer, and tucking him into his bed, this just goes to show how excited he was to sleep in his bed overnight for the first time.

A close-up of my sweet, little boy all cuddled up in his pirate-themed bedding that matches his big brother's bed.

Lia's Oral Surgery

Well, the day finally arrived.  Lia had her oral surgery yesterday to extract her two baby, canine teeth and to anchor tiny chains onto her adult canine teeth that are her still inside her gums.  Although she was very nervous, she acted as cool as a cucumber on the drive up to Federal Way after school and while waiting in the consultation room.  After talking with the nurse and then meeting the oral surgeon, she was whisked away to the operating room while I sat in the waiting room.  The entire procedure took about 1.5 hours from beginning to end.  After everything was over, the nurse pushed her out to our car in a wheelchair in the pouring rain with me at their side.  Lia was pretty entertaining on the drive home as she was coming off of the anesthesia.  She was super talkative and giddy (which is no longer the case with my teenage daughter) and kept on repeating how hungry she was, how fat her lips and nose felt, and how she really wanted to find the holes in her mouth where her teeth used to be, but couldn't.  It was humorous to say the least.  By the time we got home, it was past 7 p.m. and so she ate a late dinner after not eating anything since 10 o'clock that morning.  At 8 p.m., she went into the bathroom to rinse out her mouth and that's when the trouble started.

Since Lia was not having adult teeth extracted, the nurse assured us that this surgery was not as big of a deal since the sockets were not going to be that deep.  As a result, she basically told us that Lia could do everything like normal from the very beginning--she could brush her teeth, eat normal foods, etc.  Apparently this was not good advice as the spitting that Lia did right after dinner broke loose the clotting that had already happened after her surgery.  As a result, she started bleeding  right away and it did not stop for 4.5 hours!  It was pretty stressful and quite scary.  While Lia was spitting (and right before the bleeding started), I began reading the paperwork that came home in the little "goodie bag" that the nurse gave us.  All of the directions were for extractions (that the nurse told us we could basically ignore) and one of the first ones stated NOT to spit for the next several days as this can break blood clots.  This was very frustrating to read as it was too late!  The goodie bag only came with a tiny pack of two strips of gauze which is ridiculous since Lia burned through many pieces of gauze over the next few hours as each one would get completely saturated with blood within 20 to 30 minutes.  Luckily, we had two large packs of gauze in our first aide kit that we were able to use.  Ron helped Lia with all of this until about 10 p.m. while I was still cleaning up the kitchen, putting the other children to bed, and getting ready for bed myself.  After that, I joined in and eventually took over.  When the bleeding hadn't stopped by 10:30, I phoned the on call doctor's number that the nurse told me to call in case of an emergency.  When there was no option to talk to anyone live, I got pretty scared and decided to follow the final suggestion in the paperwork that said to try using wet, black tea bags as a last resort since the tannic acid in the tea can act like a clotting agent for the blood.  So, at 10:40, I left our house in my pajamas to drive to Walmart to buy this kind of tea.  Luckily, I got there 15 minutes before closing and was able to find what I needed.  After coming back home, we started Lia on three, 30-minute rounds of tea bags from 11 to 12:30.  Ron was asleep at this point and so I had to help and supervise Lia from this time on.  Lia was so brave and barely cried through most of this, but was so tired.  She just kept on saying how badly she wanted to go to sleep, but couldn't since her mouth was still bleeding.  At 11:30, we started to see a little progress and, by midnight, one of her two teeth had stopped bleeding.  At this point, we were hopeful enough that Lia said that I could go to bed while she did one more round of tea bags.  

When I checked on her the next morning, she looked a little like Dracula as she had dried blood that had spilled out of one side of her mouth while sleeping.  The poor thing.  She said that she was able to go to sleep by 12:30 and slept until 8 this morning.  I was so relieved and so proud of her for being so brave during this entire process and also so annoyed at this nurse who had prepared us so poorly with the post-op instructions.  Lia has spent the entire day in bed today only eating soft foods although the nurse told us that this wasn't necessary.  She has watched four episodes of Stranger Things 4 that was released at midnight (perfect timing!) and even took a really, long afternoon nap which is unheard of for her.  In addition, she has been in very little pain and has only required over-the-counter Tylenol and Motrin to ease the pain instead of the prescription pain medicine that the doctor prescribed for her.  She still has three days off from school due to the 4-day, Memorial Weekend our school district gave us which is a good thing as I hope that she can be rested and healed enough to report back to school and track practice on Tuesday.

The "before" selfie Lia took of herself while waiting to meet the surgeon in the consultation room.

The "after" selfie Lia took of herself coming off of the anesthesia on our ride home from the doctor's office.

Ella's Baptism Day

After months of waiting, Ella finally was baptized yesterday and officially became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Needless to say, she was so excited for this big day and would squeak with excitement every time she or I would bring it up this past week.  We had been working on a daily baptism preparation program every day for the past three weeks.  The two of us would sit down and read and discuss one aspect of baptism or another every morning.  I think this really helped her to understand the commitment that she was making.  In addition, since our stake primary presidency has not resumed hosting monthly baptisms for 8-year old children in the stake since everything was shut down over two years ago due to the pandemic, I was in charge of every aspect of her baptism.  Although this was a little overwhelming and exhausting on the heels of the busiest birthday season of my mothering career, I summoned up enough energy to plan this baptism up to my standards and I loved how it all turned out.  Although it is a lot more work, I now see the benefit of having a personal and private baptism that is completely centered around the child being baptized.  My family helped out with various parts of the baptism (prayers, talks, musical number, etc) and it really turned out to be a special day.  After the baptism, we hosted my family for a luncheon and the cousins and uncles all enjoyed playing in the backyard on the beautiful sunny day that we woke up to yesterday after a very rainy and wet week.  Overall, the entire affair went really smoothly and Ella really felt special, loved, and happy.  I am so proud of her for making this big step in her life and can't wait to see what important choices she continues to make in the years to come!

Ella loved wearing the beautiful, white dress I bought for her years ago before she was even born!  She also wore the same hair clip, baptism bracelet, and white shoes that Lia did when she was baptized six years ago.

Although Ella was able to open up one of her gifts (a white towel with the letters CTR embroidered on it) before her baptism Saturday morning, she had to wait until her party to open up the rest.  Here she is standing in front of her presents holding the darling, "stuffed bear" that her friend, Amelia, gave her for her birthday.  Amelia's mom folded, rolled ,and tied this towel in such a way that it looked like a little teddy bear.  As a result, Ella ended up having two white towels for her baptism.

Ella posing in the fancy chair in our living room.  I have an identical picture of Lia posed like this on her baptism day.

Since I was in charge of Ella's entire baptism day, I decided to add a few extra touches that the stake primary presidency never would do.  In addition, I decided to decorate the tables in the kitchen and dining room with white and silver stars to represent the heavenly aspect of Ella's baptism.  After one of my brother's rolled his eyes at me, I frankly told him that if I am ever in charge of an event, flowers and balloons are always going to be involved!

Ella posing with some white balloons on our front porch next to the welcome sign she wrote that said, "Welcome to my Baptism After Party!"

Since this baptism was just for Ella, I set up a little table outside the doors to the gym where here program was held.  I bought a beautiful bouquet of white flowers and white balloons and brought our framed pictures from her 8-year old photo shoot wearing her baptism dress.  In addition, I printed out copies of her program that I ordered through etsy.  The entire thing turned out quite cute!

A close-up of Ella's table.

Ella and our family posing outside the church before her baptism.

Daddy and daughter together.

In addition to my parents, Chris' family, and Eric's family attending the baptism, we invited a few of Ella's friends from church to come.  Both Amelia and Madelyn came to support her which was so nice. of them.

The group photo we managed to get before heading home.  Besides grandma and grandpa, Uncle Chris and Aunt Nat came with Riley and Trenton, and Uncle Eric and Aunt Rebecca came with Vivi.  Ella was so happy to have so many family members come to support her.

Mother and daughter.

Ella with her grandparents with whom she loves so much!

While the kids and uncles played in the backyard after we got home, my mom and sister-in-laws helped me put together the final touches on Ella's baptism luncheon.  I served pulled pork sandwiches with deviled eggs, a toss salad, a layered pea salad, chips, watermelon and grapes, and a charcuterie platter of meats, cheeses, crackers, and dip.  We had brownies with vanilla ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce on top for dessert.  Everything turned out delicious and I am so grateful to my mom, Natalee, and Rebecca for all bringing a food item to contribute!

Eric, Chris, Lia, Ella, and Vivi playing on the sports court.

Emmett playing soccer with Riley, Trenton, and Logan (who had just walked out of the picture).

Logan, Riley, Lia, and Trenton enjoying lunch at their table.

Ella smiling at me while eating lunch next to Vivi at her table.

After Chris' and Eric's families left, we all gathered in the living room for Ella to open up her gifts.  Ella's big gift was receiving a beautiful set of scriptures with her name engraved on them.  In addition, we gave her a baptism journal and a baptism pillow case to color.  My parents gave her a darling scripture case that actually looks like a purse!  Here is Ella showing off her new scriptures and case.

Ella opening up another gift with her stuffy in her arms.

Ella posing with her grandma and the scripture case she had just opened up from her.

A Happy Birthday/Mother's Day!

Like in previous years, Mother's Day landed yet again on my birthday.  I must admit, I am not the biggest fan of this as mothers of children still living at home usually spend every day of the year taking care of other people except for two days that they get "off--their birthday and Mother's Day.  So when these two days fall on the same day, it's a bit of a bummer.  However, Ron managed to find the time and summon the energy to really try to make this weekend feel like we were celebrating two different events which I really appreciated.  On Friday night, May 6th, we left Lia in charge of the kids and actually went out on a date (gasp!) to the Brazilian steakhouse in Tacoma since I had given him a gift card to this restaurant for Christmas that we had never used.  After coming back home fully stuffed that evening, he pulled out cupcakes from my favorite bakery in town and the kids (except for Logan who was at soccer practice) and Ron sang "Happy Birthday" to me before eating most of them all up.  On Saturday, May 7th, Ron took all four kids shopping with him for flowers for the outside pots and other birthday gifts.  As a result, I had about four hours to myself on Saturday morning which is absolutely unheard of.  After they returned home from shopping, I enjoyed a nap while Ron got the kids to help him plant all of the flowers.  On Sunday, May 8th, Ron and the kids made me a delicious breakfast before church and watched me open up my Mother's Day gifts.  After church and another afternoon nap, the kids and Ron made a fabulous steak dinner with several sides and spoiled me again with a red velvet cake from a bundt cake bakery in town.  Ron then had me finish off the evening by opening my birthday gifts and reading several cards.  It really was a wonderful weekend and I am so grateful for the love that my family showed me!

The kids getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to me on Friday night after Ron and I returned home from our dinner out.

Blowing out the candles with Ella and Emmy at my side.

The kids and me enjoying Sunday morning breakfast.

The kids watching me open my Mother's Day gifts after breakfast.

Reading one of my cards.

The children and I all dolled up and ready to head to church on Mother's Day morning.

In keeping with tradition, my mom and I chose a sunny day close to my birthday for her to come down and take the kids and me out to a picnic lunch at a park.  Since we have been having an almost nonstop string of raining days, we were lucky to be blessed with beautiful weather on May 11th.  Sadly, this was Lia's first year that we didn't pull her out of school since she was taking the SBA test today and it really is just getting too difficult for her to miss school.  So, after checking Logan and Ella out of school, we drove up to Edgewood to spend almost two hours as the incredible, new park that Ron discovered last month.  We had such a fun time enjoying lunch and dessert and playing at this new park. 

The three "littles" and me enjoying our strawberry shortcake dessert that mom prepared for us.

Ella on top of the massive climbing structure that also spins around.

Logan coming down one of the slides.

Emmy looking so stylish in his shades while carefully climbing across the wires.

The boys enjoying the awesome, double swing together.

Ella cruising down the zip line.

The boys playing on the tractor.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

All of my children have absolutely loved their ya ya (a.k.a. pacifier) since they were newborns.  As a result, it has been a pretty traumatic event in each of their lives when we take the pacifier away from them for good to give their teeth a fighting chance of being somewhat straight.  Since they have been required to only have their pacifiers for nap and bed time after their first birthday, I have loved how much my kids have loved napping thanks to the daily reward of getting their ya ya.  So, it has always been equally hard for me to take away their pacifiers knowing how much it breaks their hearts to say goodbye to them AND knowing how much it effects their willingness and enthusiasm to take their daily nap.  So, this entire process has always been really hard on both my children and me.

With that said, we noticed that Emmett's top, front teeth were really starting to get crooked this fall.  So, after talking about this with Emmett many times, we finally pulled the plug during Christmas break 2021.  After a rough start at bedtime (where Ron agreed to rock him in the recliner chair in Emmett's bedroom since he didn't have to work the next day), Emmett was finally able to fall asleep.  But when I put him down for his nap time without a pacifier the next day, Emmett would not cooperate.  He simply could not relax enough without his ya ya to fall asleep.  After he banged around in his bed and kept on trying to climb out multiple times, I panicked about 30 minutes later and gave him back his pacifier.  Although I have never done this before, I announced right then and there that he could have his ya ya for nap time, but not for bed time.  I simply just did not have it in me to lose this precious nap time every day when I get a break from all of my children and when I can get a project done without any interruptions.  As poor of a decision as this was to only remove Emmett's pacifier from his life 50% of the time, I just didn't have it in me to to fight a daily battle at nap time to get him to fall asleep.

After I made this decision the end of December, I decided that we would really need the pacifier's help in getting Emmett to fall asleep in the car and in the hotel room during our trip to California.  So, I quickly announced to Ron that I would take it away at the beginning of March after we returned home.  However, after we got back from CA, I was so exhausted from this marathon trip that I decided that I needed a week or two to recover before taking it away.  After two weeks, I decided that I really needed the same help from the pacifier to get Emmett to fall asleep in the car and at Sarah's house during our trip to Utah.  As a result, I pushed back the date to remove the ya ya from Emmett's nap time until after we got him from this second trip.  When he caught Ella's horrible cold two days before we left Utah, I decided that he needed it for comfort once we got home until he was totally healthy again.  And so the day finally came yesterday when I ran out of any more excuses to push off taking the pacifier away from Emmett for good.  I have never waited this long to do this as Ella was a little over three years old when I took her pacifier away (as I needed the same help on our big trip to Mexico the week after she turned three years old) and Logan was 2.5 years old and Lia was almost 3 years old when we cut them off.  Since Emmett is almost 3 years and 4 months old and his top, middle teeth are the most crooked of any of our children's teeth, I knew that the time was definitely past due for me to pull the plug on this beloved possession of Emmett's.  

So on Sunday night, I called Emmett over and had him watch me cut all of the tips off of his pacifiers before asking him to try sucking on them to see that they no longer "worked."  When it was time for his nap yesterday, we pulled out the pacifiers to look at them and I had Emmett try again to put one in his mouth to see that it was broken and no longer felt the same.  We then read several stories as Emmett kept on telling me that he didn't want to go to sleep since he didn't have his pacifier any more.  After reading the last story, I just cuddled him in my arms and Emmett said that sweetest thing in his little, sad baby voice.  He said, "Poor Emmy.  I just miss my ya ya."  It nearly broke my heart.  I then reminded him that he now knows that he can fall asleep without his ya ya since he has been doing it every night at bed time for a long time.  I promised him that if he would just lay down and close his eyes and relax that he would fall asleep.  I also told him that I would get him a treat if he could show me that he could take a nap without his pacifier.  This little advice amazingly seemed to make sense to him and he agreed to lay down and give it a try and I am so happy to report that I never heard a peep out of him.  When I went to check on him several minutes later, I was so relieved to find him asleep in his bed with his blankets in the exact same spot where I had placed them when he first laid down.  Although I know that this was just the first day of many to come without his beloved pacifier, I hope that this transition will go as smoothly as possible and that Emmett will continue to nap for months to come without his beloved ya ya!  Only time will tell...