Tess has been pretty good about taking baths lately, but for the last few she's been quite a grouch. This morning I knew she really needed a bath, but I also needed one and I didn't have time to do each separately. So into the shower Tess came - and she loved it. I've never seen her so happy in water. I thought she might not like getting water in her face and such, but it didn't even phase her.
There are few things in life so pleasant as taking a bath with a baby. They're so warm and squishy and their skin is so soft and chubby. And they're always so enamored with water; it's fun to see how they try to figure it out.
We splashed and cuddled and washed up and I realized how much I just adore this baby girl. I love her so much! And then it hit me that this would be my last baby to take baths with. Once she's old enough, it's over. It's almost enough to make a momma make some crazy decisions. (Almost, but not quite.)
So for now I'll just enjoy the baths I have left with her, in all their chubby baby glory.
Dad and Susie (a.k.a. Grandpa and Grandma) were able to come out for a quick visit this weekend. (My Dad is attending Bed Bug University in Chicago this week. You know you're jealous.)
Of course one of our first activities was the old Mentos in the Diet Coke trick. The boys love it. So does Grandpa. (Santa put a kit in Grandpa's stocking one year - good job, Santa!)
We have the perfect spot for an activity like this - on the big metal drain at the top of our back lawn.
Daddy and Cole had to come and check out the action as well. Boy, looking at the back of my house makes me realize how boring it is. We really need to work on some landscaping back there!
Here's our neighbor's weather vane/windmill that's on top of the dirt hill that was created when they put in a pond this summer. Why would they need a weather vane? Or a pond? These are questions to be pondered.
Grandma Susie and Tess. Poor Grandma spent most of the weekend trying to get Tess to smile for her. There's a reason we call her "Tess the Serious".
Spencer needed to get in on that action.
Almost ready for the excitement! (Actually, I think the boys just want to eat the leftover Mentos.)
And finally, video proof of the event. Exciting, no?
On Saturday we all trekked out the Spencer and Josh's soccer games. Oh yeah - they're playing soccer. Guess I should blog about that some time. Well, anyway, we were super lucky and the boys were playing of fields right next to each other, so we just sat in the middle and watched both teams. We weren't lucky with the weather, though, as it rained quite a bit. We had umbrellas, but it's still no fun to sit in a cold rain for any length of time.
We were going to go to the Feast of the Hunter's Moon that afternoon, but given the weather and the fact that the kids were all exhausted, we wisely decided to stay home. We were also wise in feeding the kids mac and cheese for dinner, putting them to bed early, and then getting Korean and Japanese food for our dinner. Yum.
On Sunday morning Grandpa helped me get those miraculous pictures of Tess smiling. Of course, smiling for a picture with Grandpa was completely out of the question.
Then I decided that we needed to have a family picture. Josh decided to act up, as per usual. But we finally got a decent shot. (I had to crop it a bit because my legs looked funny because of the way I was holding on to Josh and Trying to get him to behave. Punk kid.)
And here's our obligatory funny face shot to make the kiddos happy. If I remember correctly, Spencer was saying something along the lines of "I want to eat your braaaaaiiiiinnnnsss" at the time. Ah, family memories.
Josh was a punk for pictures with the grandparents as well. He's an equal opportunity picture punk. I still like this picture - everyone (except Josh) looks pretty good!
Josh finally decided to cooperate. But dang it, my lense didn't. Time to clean it, I guess.
Big brother Spencer just had to hold Tess. A moment after this Tess let us know that this was not to her liking.
It was a really quick trip, but we were sure glad to see you - thanks for visiting, Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie! We'll see you in a month!
I am in the rather unfortunate position of having two children in diapers right now. Even more unfortunate is the fact that both children are in sizes that are NOT carried in the Sam's Club generic brand. (Curse you, Sam's Club diaper sizes!!) So for now my kids get fancy Huggies.
The other day I opened a new box for Tess and discovered that the diapers now have a yellow stripe down the middle that turns blue when the diaper is wet.
I've been musing over this for a few days.
See, I figure that even the greenest mom can probably figure out whether or not a diaper is wet, even without a diaper meter. What these diapers really need is a meter that tells you just how full the diaper is. The levels could be something along the lines of:
Level 1: Dry for now but not for long!
Level 2: Meh, you've got a good 30-45 minutes left in this diaper.
Level 3: Yeah, I'd probably change this baby soon. Especially if you're headed out.
Level 4: Change the diaper. Now.
Level 5: Don't. Make. Any. Sudden. Moves.
Once again, no smiles from Tess. (The girl is fascinated with the camera and will only stare and stare.) Fortunately, I got lots of smiles from our own little used car salesman. Is that jacket not the most awesome thing? My dad bought it for Spencer, who wore it with style; then it was Josh's turn, and I think he wore it once or twice - he's not a fan of jackets; and now it's Cole's turn, and I think he makes it look good.
Tess agrees. Can't you tell by her expression? She's totally wishing she had that jacket.
I thought maybe I could sneak up on her from above and get a smile while she cooed at Cole... no dice.
Cole made up for the lack of smiles. That boy LOVES attention. I can't give him enough. Too bad he wasn't this good-natured at church today. Cole is a two-year-old who HATES Sacrament meeting. I mean, seriously, he loathes it. I had to take him out during the Sacrament hymn. And I hate taking him out because that's exactly what he wants, but when he's yelling and screaming and picking fights with his brothers, what else can you do? So I took him out and made him sit on my lap instead of run around and have fun. (Some other parents let their kids run around and I just wonder at their thinking. Isn't the idea to make it more fun for the child in the chapel rather than out? Just sayin'...) I usually take him into an empty classroom and sit in a corner, but I wanted the Sacrament. Anywho, long story short, I took him out, then Lance took him out, then Lance took him out again, and we both just wondered why we even went when neither of us got anything out of it because we were wrestling kids the whole time.
I guess you know you have a testimony of the church when you still go in spite of your children.
Cole has recently started petting Tess when he has the chance. She doesn't seem to mind.
Maybe she'll smile with me? Nope.
Okay, next week Grandpa and Grandma will be here. Maybe we'll get a smile then? (Maybe. If I hide the camera and distract Tess away from it and somehow get her to smile long enough to get the camera out and quickly get a shot. So yes. Maybe.)
(No, Tess. Your chinS do.) (I lurve your chins. All of them!!)
"In keeping with Madsen Baby Tradition, I absolutely refuse to roll over. Oh, I could do it... if I stopped freaking out long enough to actually try. I'm in no hurry to move - if I want to get anywhere, someone will move me. However, despite my lack of mobility, I am bound and determined to get out of this chair. Starting... now."
"Almmmooosssttt therrrrree..."
"Sweet freedom! I'm almost out, I'm...."
"...I'm... not getting... anywhere..."
"Phew! That was exhausting."
"I've had enough! Get me outta here. NOW."
"I look like mommy when I give this look."
"And I look like Daddy when I look like this."
"At last! My favorite place to be - in Mommy's arms. Now move it, Momma. I wanna go watch Josh and Cole fight. Josh has the size, but Cole is pretty scrappy."
This is turning out to be our most expensive summer ever - and that's even counting the move last year. So far we have had:
Rather large and very unexpected medical bills for Tess
To replace our washing machine
To replace the sewer pump in our basement
To buy Josh glasses (without vision insurance, of course)
And as of today we get to add one more to the list:
To buy a new water softener
You might think a water softener is not a real necessity, but it is. Our water is AWFUL. And without the softener the dishwasher does a terrible job, the laundry gets dingy, I get all itchy after a shower, and my kids' sensitive skin flares up. (I'm just glad it's not winter - their skin would probably start falling off.)
If we had decided to save our money and not buy a softener, we would have eaten the costs in cleaning supplies and lotions.
Anywho. That's a lot of money to spend in one summer. You could go on a cruise with that money. Heck, you could go on several cruises with that money.
I would rather have gone on a cruise.
Instead, I will spend the next several hours editing papers so we can have a savings account again. Because no matter how much you save, it's hard to feel financially secure after a summer like this.
Will this summer ever end? And can we have a relatively cheap (and possibly lottery-winning) winter?!
I mentioned last week that Tess had decided to wean herself. I had this whole big post written in my head about it. But now, in the course of taking care of four children, editing a 45 page paper about the economic interdependence between Taiwan and China (*yawn*), doing approximately 295 loads of laundry, and just living everyday life I have forgotten most of this brilliant, heart-wrenching post.
So I'll just tell it like it is.
Tess has always had issues with eating. She's a lazy eater and knew from the beginning that it was way easier to eat from a bottle than from mom. I'm kicking myself for ever having given her a bottle, but she was so tiny and not gaining weight and the doctor was freaking out and then she (Tess, not the doctor) got so sick... anyway.
A few weeks ago Lance was out of town for an entire week. This was stressful. During that week I realized how much money we had been spending lately on unexpected expenses. This was very stressful. During that week none of my kids wanted to sleep through the night, so I was up all hours and very tired. This was annoying. And stressful.
And I think this stress, coupled with Tess's general eating laziness, made her decide she didn't want anything to do with nursing anymore. Every time I sat down to feed her she would fuss and cry and cause general mayhem. This was stressful and frustrating and probably didn't help matters.
I tried all sorts of things and even called the local nursing center, but no dice. Tess would have none of it. I was feeling very sad about all of it - so rejected! Rationally I knew she wasn't rejecting me. But since when are mommas always completely rational when it comes to their babies? So I kept trying and trying, with no luck.
I'll admit that part of the reason I kept trying with her was because I didn't want other moms to think I was a bad mom for not nursing my baby. I know, it's totally stupid and lame, but there it is. (Who says peer pressure ends in high school?) Plus, I didn't want to have to take Tess to her next appointment and confess to her doctor that she was no longer nursing. I was pretty sure the La Leche League (a.k.a. the Nursing Nazis) would come and harass me about it.
I was on day four or five of this when I wondered at what point does the total frustration and sadness (for both Tess and myself) of this whole thing outweigh all of the benefits of nursing? Then I decided that I was at that point. If feeding times were always going to be apprehensive and frustrating, then it just wasn't worth it. A day or two later Tess was down to one feeding a day, and as of today she's down to none.
And you know what? We're both happier for it.
Do I wish I could have nursed her for the entire year? Sure. Do I like paying crazy amounts of money for formula? No way. But was this the right decision for the both of us? You bet.
Will I confess to Tess's doctor about this or lie through my teeth? We'll see.
My Grandma Roper (Tess's Great-Grandmother) sent this dress to Tess when she was born. We lovingly call it The Pink Cloud because it is so very pink and fluffy and slippery. Seriously slippery.
I thought for sure Tess would smile this week. I could feel it in my bones. My bones were wrong.
This almost looks like a smile, but really I think she's just gnawing on the stuffed rat. Because when you have three boys in your family, stuffed rats are fairly common.
Well. If The Pink Cloud and the attention of every member of the family couldn't get Tess to smile, I just don't know what to do!
Oh my goodness. It's been half a decade since THE LONGEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE. Which means it's Joshie's 5th birthday!
Yes Josh, I will hold your labor against you for the rest of my life. It was that traumatic.
Josh is a connoisseur of what I call garbage food - fat and sugar laden anything. The child loves junk food. So we started the day with the breakfast of champions: oatmeal with a side of chocolate fudge Pop Tarts. The kids were most excited, and even managed to eat most of their oatmeal after scarfing the Pop Tarts. Over breakfast I had a conversation with Josh that went a little something like this:
Me: Josh, when you were inside of me you didn't want to come out.
Josh: Why?
Me: I don't know. You just really didn't want to come even though I tried and tried to get you out.
Josh: Maybe I was too warm. I do that now. I don't want to get out of bed because it's so warm and comfy.
Me: Haha! You're right!
Josh: Did I see Cole and Tess in there?
Me: Um, no. You were the only baby inside me at the time.
You can't beat the kid's logic. He knew Spencer wasn't in there because he's older than Josh and had obviously already been kicked out of me. But it seems perfectly plausible for him to see Cole and Tess because they came out later. The whole idea tickled me.
After breakfast it was off to preschool, where Josh was Helper Of The Day and got to wear a birthday crown. He was most pleased. On the way to preschool we had a little conversation along these lines:
Me: Josh, when you were born you were soooo big!
Josh: No, I was a baby.
Me: Yes, but you were the biggest baby in the whole hospital!
Josh: I was? Was I bigger than Cole?
Me: Bigger than Cole when he was a baby. But not as big as he is now. You were so big that they had to get a special diaper for you. You were so big you looked like you wanted to eat the other babies at the hospital!
Josh: Hahaha! I didn't want to eat them! I wanted to eat mommy milk.
Me: Ain't that the truth.
Josh: What?
Me: Nothing. Yes, you wanted to eat mommy milk. All of the time. You were always hungry.
Josh: And I cried a lot. Because I didn't want to come out.
Me: Yes, you cried a lot. For months and months, in fact.
Josh latched on to this idea of being a big baby. He brought it up off and on all day. He's quite pleased with the idea that he was the biggest baby mommy ever had.
A few weeks ago Josh decided he wanted a Super Mario Galaxy cake. This terrified me to no end because we all know that birthday cakes are turning into my mortal enemies. The thought of having to make a cake that somehow resembled Mario was a bit more than I could handle. Then my good friend Gigi solved all of my problems and told me just to find some action figures and stick those on the cake. Gigi! You're a genius! So I found some cheap figurines online and that's exactly what I did.
You have to admit that the decorating is pure awesomeness. Those figures are cute and a birthday present as well, and idea that Joshie loved. (A present on the cake. Ha!) What's not awesome is the cake itself. I decided just to use a mix, not even doctor it up. I followed the directions precisely. I checked the oven temperature with my oven thermometer - perfect. I pulled the cake out a full five minutes earlier than I was supposed to. Dry as toast. Gosh dang it!!! What's a momma to do?!?! Not bake cakes anymore, that's what.
Also, I decided to try this frosting because I had heard such raves about it. I had two problems: 1. I cooked the milk and flour mixture to the exact specifications of the recipe. Then I let it cool, just like the recipe said. It got all lumpy, as can be seen if you look at the frosting close enough. I couldn't beat the lumps out. 2. The recipe said to beat the sugar and the butter until the sugar wasn't grainy anymore. My KitchenAid beat and beat and beat that sugar and butter for a good 15 minutes. Still grainy.
!%(@#^@*~~!!!
So the frosting is a bit grainy and sometimes feels like you're eating a bit of tapioca pudding. Oh well. I liked the flavor.
Stupid cakes. I used to be good at making them, I promise. I'm pretty sure this is all my kids' fault. Punks.
Anywho, since it's an odd-year birthday we only had a family party. Josh's venue of choice was good ol' Chuck-E-Cheese, which we haven't been to in quite a while. Cole was in heaven, since this is the first time he's old enough to really understand that this place is fun.
We played and played. Tess watched and watched. And then Chuck-E himself came out and threw a bunch of tickets for the boys to pick up. All of them single. All 196 of them (I'm not making that number up) needing to be put, one by one, into the ticket counting machine by yours truly. Thanks, Chuck-E.
This is the reaction I got when I said "Hey, how about a picture of the birthday boy?"
And this is the reaction I got when I tried to sneak a picture. Punk kid.
Finally, all of our tokens were spent and all of our tickets redeemed, and it was time to go. Well, not before Josh fell on the floor, sobbing, when he realized he didn't have enough tickets to buy some cotton candy and the lady at the counter was nice enough to give him one for free. And then Cole had to have a tantrum, and practically had to be dragged out the door. (He screamed "Stay! STAY!!" most of the way home.) And Tess decided she had had enough and let it be known to all.
That's how you know the kids had had a blast.
That should be our Madsen Family Motto: It's not a party until somebody cries!
Poor Lance had to go back into work tonight, so we had to go pretty quickly through blowing out candles and opening presents.
By five years old most kids are pros at opening gifts. Look! A Buzz Lightyear blaster! Just what Joshie needed to annoy his brothers!
He also got an awesome rocket launcher from Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie. Of course he wouldn't pose with it.
But he would pose with the funny card they sent. (Now Josh looks like a monkey - and he smells like one, too!)
Things quickly escalated from here. Spencer kept trying to open gifts. Josh kept freaking out. Spencer broke Josh's yo-yo about five minutes after it had been opened. Josh fell apart. We shoved cake into their faces in the vain hope that this would calm things down.
The birthday boy fell into this sort of attitude (even after all the fun things we had done for him!):
Which is why it was declared an early bedtime evening for all! Hooray!
Oh Josh. This day pretty much sums up who you are. You can be so cute and charming when you want to be. But cross your path in the least way and pay the consequences!
Let's hope we can survive another five years together. Mommy loves you... even if she keeps looking at you!
