Kittens Inspired by Kittens

Ok, so after being gone for so long, I know this is a really odd post, but it's for my sister, Jill. I promise I will write something real soon...

We've Got Our Eyes on You!

We got a new camera for Christmas and we had an excellent time taking pictures of our eyes and examining the different colors they are. Just thought I would post 'em up here so you can talk about how weird we are.
Jason

Me

Mikaily

Kyle

Evan

Laney

I Blame My Booty

When I was a teenager, I was into all kinds of sports. I played basketball and soccer. I dabbled in track and cross country. I even took a shot at volleyball once. I loved being active. I loved working out. I loved pushing myself until I could barely breathe, knowing that my muscles would be screaming at me 24 hours later.

I can remember when I was on the school basketball team they used to kill us during the first week of practice. By that second day, the muscles in my body hurt so bad I could barely move. I can also vividly remember smiling as I would run up and down the stairs in my house everyday after practice for that first horrific week. That feeling of my muscles screaming at me in agony was almost euphoric. IT made me feel alive.

Apparently, I was on CRACK!!!

I have started working out again. Mostly because I was sick of lying down with my family to watch a movie on our family movie night and having my children laugh at the fact that my butt jiggles when they smack it. I tried to tell them that their butts all jiggled too, but they didn't listen. In fact, when I grabbed Mikaily and pinned her down to show them, my boys took advantage of the fact that my hands were tied up holding Mikaily down and each of them picked a cheek and started smacking away at my butt. Little Punkers......

My. Body. Hurts. No, hurt isn't the right word. My body aches. No, my body is in ANGUISH! How could I ever have liked this feeling?? Could it possibly have felt like this back then?? Maybe it's worse because I am approaching 30...?? I doubt that, though. I am older now, but I worked like 17 times as hard when I was a teenager and on those various sports teams. It hurts when I stand. It hurts when I sit. IT HURTS WHEN I BREATHE!!! Our baby gate has become my nemesis. Do you have any idea how high those stupid things really are?? I am going to have to move a mini-fridge and a port-o-potty into our toy room so I don't have to attempt to scale that dang-blasted thing tomorrow. I can just imagine myself crashing to the floor after flinging my first leg over and then not quite clearing the toes on my second foot. I imagine I would probably knock out a tooth......or 3, on the hard, tile floor on the other side. Maybe I should just throw down one of the mattresses on the other side of the gate. Then I can just walk up to it and fling myself over with no worries of permanently maiming myself. This sucks.

Stupid jiggly butt. It's all your fault.

Is It Just Me, Or Are You Glad That It's January Too?!?

The past couple of weeks have been so crazy. I know, it's that way for everyone during the holidays.

Remember when I posted about cutting Evan's hair?? I was completely distraught over the demise of his magnificent curls. Well, I have seen a new light. I now look at the whole experience in a different way. I feel as though it must have been inspired. Why, you ask.
Well, a few days ago I was sitting on my couch, reading. I suddenly realized it was quiet. It shouldn't be. All of my children were home from school for break. I pulled myself out of the book and cocked one ear, straining to hear something...anything. I did. It was a giggle.....well, actually, it was a lot of giggles. I immediately tossed my book onto the couch and jogged towards the chuckling...it seemed to be coming from my bathroom. (Never a good thing, is it??) I opened the door and there, standing in the middle of the bathroom floor, were Kyle and Evan. I noticed a small, purple teacup that belonged to my daughters tea set. Inside that cup was a small pile of dark brown hair. I immediately gasped and shouted "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" Kyle placed a pair of safety scissors on the counter. "He wanted a haircut," was his genius reply. It was right then that I realized the impromptu cutting of the curls a few short weeks earlier had been divine intervention. Because, if that small pile of hair in the tea cup had been a small pile of curls, I think I would have been down one child. Evan now has a bald spot on the side of his head. I told him we would have to shave his head again and he fell to pieces. He had been studying his hair every morning for the last week, wondering if his curls had come back yet. I didn't end up buzzing him. I figure if I give it a week or two, his curls might be back enough to cover the small spot. When people ask what happened, I just tell them it was a confused seagull.
This all, of course, was after Kyle and Evan had decided to play "Vampire Baseball" in our kitchen, mowing their baby sister over as if she were the umpire, trying to stop the winning run. And that was after they had decided to rip a hole in the center of one of their mattresses. A hole that goes almost all the way to the springs (And stop rolling your eyes at me, I do actually supervise my children. I promise. You'd be amazed at how little time it takes to rip a gaping hole into the center of a mattress.)
I was glad when my older children headed back to school yesterday, because that meant I could get the younger ones back into some semblance of normal.
Needless to say, I need a vacation!! Although, oh....oh!! That reminds me. I am getting one! Not until April, but it will be well worth the wait. I am going to go meet Kellan Lutz (AKA Emmett Cullen)in Orlando at AccioCon with my sister. Are you jealous?? Yeah. You should be. So at least there is a light at the end of this super long, bald-headed, hole-filled tunnel!

Introducing Miles Carter......AKA 'Beautiful Renesmee'

(Just keep reading and the title will be explained....oh, and notice his adorable dimple in his right cheek in this first picture. How cute is that?!?!!)

Last Friday night at about 5:30, I got a phone call form my brother, Drew. He said they were going to be inducing my SIL, Marquesas (who was overdue already), starting that night. Tracy and I decided to hop in the car and drive the 5 hours up there to be there when the baby was born.

We got there late Friday night. Well actually it was Saturday morning technically, and we went straight to the hospital. Marquesas was feeling fine. No real contractions yet. So, Tracy and I headed off to the house and figured we would come back at some point the next day, closer to when she would be delivering the baby.

My brother called us early Saturday morning and said her water broke. Tracy and I rushed over to the hospital and got there just in time for Marquesas to start pushing. She was obviously much more uncomfortable by this point. They had given her something to help take the edge off so she could get some sleep, but then things had progressed quickly. I learned something new about my SIL that day. Marquesas on drugs......is freaking hilarious!!! She was so out of it. She would push and then sleep. Then she would push and then sleep. In between her wake/sleep periods, she said some pretty funny stuff.

There was a nurse there who had pretty, red hair. At one point, she leaned over Marquesas to do some sort of nurse duty. Marquesas (in between sleep and awake, mind you) began stroking the nurses' pony tail and was like "I want my hair to be this color." (This actually happened before Tracy and I got there and my brother told us about it.)


When the time was close, the nurse had pushed the call button to call the baby nurse in. You heard the voice over the speaker say "Can I help you?" and then, in unison, Marquesas and her sister (who was also her Doula) Screamed "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" You could hear snickers through the intercom and from the nurse who had pushed the button. Apparently, Marquesas thought she had pushed it on accident, and wasn't in the mood for any sort of interruption.

Marquesas had been pushing for about 30 minutes. She would push and sleep and push and sleep. Her midwife had told her to stop pushing and breathe while she threw on all of her baby delivering gear. After about ten seconds, Marquesas picked her head up and looked around, confused. She then mumbled "Are we done now??? WHAT'S HAPPENING??"

One of my favorites came right after Miles had been delivered. It went something like this.
Marquesas: (who was holding Miles at the time) He's beautiful......He's....beautiful.
Nurse: Does he have a name yet?
Marquesas: *big sigh* Beautiful.


Then, shortly after that, they let Marquesas feed him for the first time. She got herself all exposed and situated and the nurse handed Miles to her. He immediately chomped down, which I'm sure from my own past experience with breastfeeding was not pleasant for Marquesas. She exclaimed "OUCH!! Renesmee!!!" Both Tracy and I laughed hard at this one. (For those of you who have read all four Twilight books, that is funny. To those who haven't, sorry. You don't get it.)

**This is why I now refer to my darling nephew as "Beautiful Renesmee."**

So, here is a picture of the happy new family.


Oh, and apparently, Drew couldn't be outdone by his wife, so the day after Miles entered the world, Drew threw in a few one-liners himself. My personal favorite was when they brought Miles back from his circumcision. Drew picked him up out of the bed and said something like, "Aww, he's a little lighter now. I guess he's only a Mile." Haha....he's such a goober.

So, here are just a few more of my favorite pics of Miles Carter, born December 27th at 9:42 AM. He weighed in at a whopping 7 pounds even and was 20 in.

Welcome to the world, Miles!!









I am so thankful that Marquesas let us be there and be part of such an awesome experience. She was absolutely unbelievable. If I didn't believe in superpowers before, I certainly do now. Even all doped up, she got down to business and did what needed to be done. Marquesas, I am so glad that you are a part of our family and that you have brought this incredible young man into our lives and our hearts.

Merry Twilight....er, I mean Christmas!

Never fear, my fellow bloggy friends. I have not....at least literally....dropped off the face of the earth. Although, if you asked my husband, he would beg to differ. I have spent the last two weeks reading (and/or re-reading) through the Twilight books. I spent every extra minute I had reading. I was (and am) truly a woman obsessed. I am embarrassed to admit the number of times I have seen Twilight in the theatre. Don't bother to ask. I will lie through my teeth! Seriously...it's embarrassing. (And, just for the record, I absolutely think that Rob Pattinson plays the PERFECT Edward. And um, hello....he sings and plays the guitar and the piano in real life. How hot is that?? Yes, that's right. I said he's hot. I am a dirty old woman!)

I keep dreaming about the characters in the book. I don't dream that I am in the book or even anything that has to do WITH the actual story. Like, the other night in my dream I was out eating dinner with my family and Emmett Cullen was there, eating with us. He was a part of the family. (It was not surprising to me that it was Emmett, he is probably my favorite Cullen. Yes, that's right....he trumps Edward in my book!) I also had a dream where Alice was there and she was teaching me how to make pork chops. I'm not sure why. I don't eat pork chops (and neither does she)!

I have somehow managed to get myself all ready for Christmas while walking around in this Twilight haze. The tree is set up and the presents are all bought (although not all are wrapped yet). I even managed to pull myself away from the last book long enough to take pictures of my littles in their Christmas gear a couple days ago. Although, embarrassingly again, I did not take the time to go get copies made of said pictures and get a letter written and Christmas cards out. I'm a horrible daughter/sister/friend/whatever. So, sue me. So, to all of you who were expecting a Christmas card from me, ummm......

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! and a Happy New year. We are healthy and happy. We miss you and love you and all that other jazz.

Here are a few of the pics from our little photo shoot. Notice I am all into the whole matchy-matchy thing....

When I tried this outfit on Evan in the store, he took one look at himself in the mirror, spun around to face me and exclaimed "I look like a ROCK STAR!!!!" and immediately began playing the air guitar.

Here's Laney. I caught her mid-jump.

Awww, if only they actually WERE as sweet and innocent as they look....





Laney decided that Kyle's tie was crooked and wanted to help him fix it. Notice Mikaily never breaks her "photo pose."

Sugar and Spice.....

Laney also decided the photo shoot was a little bland and she added in some props.

Kyle, looking very handsome if I do say so myself.

The Fearsome Foursome.....


I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. Hopefully I will be back and writing again before the New Year. I do need to figure out my new years resolution. Although, I don't really see the point because, let's face it, I'm just gonna break it 3 weeks into the new year. Although, maybe I can make my resolution to read all of the Twilight books again. Something tells me I wouldn't have any problem keeping that one.


***A little addition here. My SIL pointed out to me that my children are dressed all Twilighty (red and black and all). It was absolutely a coincidence!! I promise!! Although, it is kind of cool. hehe**

Poor, Poor Buggy =(

The other day while I was doing the dishes, Mikaily came up to me with a big grin on her face and little smudge marks all over her fingers.

She announced, "I'm gonna show you something I learned at school today!"

I smiled back, grabbed the towel, dried off my hands and turned and faced her. "Ok, let me have it!"

"I think you will want the camera," she stated. (She knows me well.)

So, I got it. (And was glad I did!)

The following is what my amazingly beautiful and brilliant daughter shared with me......

(The text over each pic is what she said as she held her hand up)

This....


Is.......


Buggy......


Buggy.......


says 'hi'........


This.......


Is.......


Buggy.......


As the car......


Goes by.......


We giggled together. She gave me a big hug and then ran off into her bedroom. I then I went back to doing the dishes. I guess it's good to know she is learning something from school, right??


(P.S. For those of you that know what trials my little Mikaily has faced, notice she is manipulating the fingers on her RIGHT hand to spell out the words, which would have been impossible for her to do a year ago!!)