He's done!

Really, he's done with medical school! Can that possibly be?! Wow! The time has really just moved right along and he's done! It seems like just a little bit ago he came home with the inspiration to become a doctor. He had to take classes while he worked his full time job in the Air Force. He had to take tests and put out applications and pack the house and still do his full time job in the Air Force. He had to plan a prepare for a move to the island, get all our stuff packed and moved to Massachusetts, and still do his full time job in the Air Force. He drove the entire way and set up the tent and bedding while we camped our way to the lower 48. He made everything look so easy and it all worked mostly according to plan. He handles the tasks and learns the stuff and all that goes along with it. We moved to the island and he had different experiences than the rest of us (mostly freezing while he studied on campus). Then we had to move back to the US and get some of our stuff to Michigan and find a place to rent. Then he decided to buy a house and moved us again. Before clinicals he had to move the rest of our stuff out to Michigan. Lots of studying and learning and now he is a doctor! He has worked so hard, studied so much, and really learned a ton! He is amazing, to me. He has the next several weeks "off" and will start orientation at the end of June and then the residency starts the beginning of July. Wow. I thought about celebrating, but it just sort of happened and it was just another day. So here's to Dr. Kevin R. Roy!

Note: Kevin said we can refer to him as Dr. Dad.

2 months old

Harmonie had her 2-month well-baby check-up today. Yes, she's a bit older but it'll do. She weighs 12 pounds 8.4 ounces, and is 23 inches long. Average. At the appointment, she started out super happy and ended crying. I fed her and she felt a bit better, and then the nurse gave her some shots and she screamed. I fed her some more and she went to sleep. She is doing really well. I have started to sleep her on her tummy at night and she is getting better at finding her thumb. Last night I think I slept all night - no one got up, made noise or anything. It was really nice. She is also getting better at getting her thumb throughout the day. She may be a right thumb sucker rather than a pacifier baby - although she'll take the pacifier as well.

Peek-a-Boo

I love this little one! She is talking so much and it's so fun to watch her learn and understand.

She is such a little sweet heart - as are all my kids but it's just different at this age.

Glorious Moment

It happened today, and I could have missed it. We went to the library, our normal Tuesday morning activity, and then I thought about going home for lunch. I decided to go ahead and run errands and stop by a park before Harmonie's doctor appointment. I had planned for this possibility so I had granola bars and juice for the kids. We ran our errands and went to the park - surprised the kids and they were so excited! They ran, yelled, climbed, played, and had a good time. I really enjoyed watching them. We couldn't stay very long so I started to take things back to the car to get ready to pack them all up. Xiomara saw me heading to the car and said, "Mom's leaving, it's time to go." Kemiah, Domonique, and Xiomara headed to the car. Marissa saw us and said to the other two, "Mom's leaving, let's go." All six kids were in the car, getting buckled up and I hadn't said a word! No one complained about having to leave so soon or whined about wanting to stay longer. I didn't have to chase them, yell and holler, or threaten them to get them into the car. It was amazing, fantastic, wonderful, GLORIOUS! I got into my seat amid children saying, "thank you for taking us to the park" and we were off! It truly was a moment to remember forever! Thank you guys, for making the trip great. Maybe we'll go to the park every afternoon.

Good new and bad news.

That is what my husband said when he came into the living room this evening. The furnace backdrafted some smoke so we were airing out the basement and main level. He had just closed things down and came back in saying, "I have good news and bad news." I waited. Eventually he said, "Good news is the furnace isn't smoking anymore." Damage was done but at least it wouldn't get worse. I waited. "The bad news is there's a skunk in the garage." Bummer. He opened the garage door in the hopes that it would decide to leave on it's own by morning. We hope it doesn't find a way into the coop where the chicks are because that would just be bad. We hope it doesn't decide to spray and make the garage all stinky. One of the only times I will be grateful for a detached garage.

Dreams do come true.

A little while ago I had a dream that my farmer neighbor helped us with our little garden plot. He brought some workers and a tracker to till up our garden. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when Greg, our farmer neighbor, actually brought his disc harrow and then the cultivator into our garden. He told Kevin he had been waiting for us to clean it up, which Kevin and the kids had done just the day before. It was awesome! Kevin had been working with his tiller and so Greg saved him a ton of work. Especially helpful since Kevin was trying to help our next door neighbor by tilling up a plot of his ground which was thick grass. I just can't express my gratitude for the small act of kindness. I'm sure Greg hasn't thought about it again. It took hardly any time at all. Our family enjoyed watching and the kids enjoyed going through the newly turned up dirt to find our huge carrots from last season. It was a neat moment.

This hurts my eyes

but the kids seem to like doing it. Weird. Maybe this is why we think she has cross-eyed issues.

Sisters

I love when they are willing to play with each other. I love when they are willing to let everyone play, and not exclude anyone. I love when they are laughing together. I love when I take the time to capture the moment.

You can't imagine.

Kevin and I were watching a movie, sitting next to each other on the couch with Harmonie in my lap. We were both enjoying some Ben and Jerry's ice cream. It was a comedy and we were really enjoying the movie. She seemed to be enjoying her time in my lap.


Then I noticed a smell that could only come from Harmonie. I looked to my left and saw nothing. I looked to my right and that's when we got the surprise you wouldn't believe.



Kevin got some on his arm, and Harmonie didn't get any on her clothes. I just laughed because I hadn't noticed her doing anything. She was just playing with her hands and doing a bit of cooing. Watch out for the sneaky baby who finally decides to go #2.

Kid play

My kids are getting lots of exercise today. Does it count if they get a weeks worth of exercise in one day? Three neighbor kids are over playing tag and all sorts of running/chasing games. It is funny to me that they will spend 15 minutes trying to figure out who IS it rather than someone just saying, "I'll be it," and get the game started.

Really out of it.

I'm not really sure why but this is what Kevin was doing to Harmonie to try and wake her up. She wouldn't go for it and just kept right on sleeping.



She kept right on sleeping after he took her to his lap. And kept right on sleeping when he passed her on to me so I could snuggle with her. What a sweet heart.

This is what happiness looks like...

Okay, only if you're a boy who finished all his school work before 12:30 and earned a mint chocolate chip Klondike bar. Way to go, Ben! He was trying to give me kisses.


It's a new incentive program we are trying. The kids just need a little more motivation to stay focused on their school work. We'll see how it goes. As it warms up I think I'll try adding the park into the program and see if it helps with their worksheets. I'm willing to try anything. I'm reading a book now, that I probably should have read a long time ago, that talks about not having an institution in the home. I'll see if I can figure out a better way to do this yet.

And he happened to pull his loose tooth today, too. It's the new hole on the top.

When he went to the dentist on Monday, I questioned why the other front top tooth hadn't come out yet. The hygienist wasn't concerned but then she realized he is 10 years old. She took an x-ray of the front to make sure he had a tooth. It is there just not coming in yet. She mentioned concern about crowding and we may need braces for this kid to pull that tooth down, but we'll see what happens as he grows.

She found it!

Harmonie has been waking up in the middle of the night the past several days. I was pumping before because she was sleeping through the night. I'm not really sure what changed. This morning I woke up to Emily saying she had a nightmare. I was amazed to see that it was almost time to get up anyway - and Harmonie hadn't woken me up. I checked on her, to make sure she was still alive, and this is what I found...




Yes, she's sucking on her thumb. She has been working at it for a while now but she must have found it last night and actually put herself back to sleep. I guess we'll see what the future holds for her and this new skill. Maybe this means I'll sleep through the night, too. Who am I kidding?!

Pack Meeting and Pinewood Derby

The last Wednesday in March we had our annual Pinewood Derby. Ben recieved a couple awards. I didn't take any pictures during the Derby. Weird. The boys had a fun time and so did all the spectators. The car that won last year won again this year. Just thought I'd share. Ben is enjoying Webelos and is working on several activity pins. I still need to get into the book to see what sort of things we can do around the house to pass things off.

Did I mention?

Emily lost another tooth. It was a couple days before my birthday (at the end of March) and we were having our nightly routine. She pulled it out on her own and I had her put it on the table so we could finish getting to bed. I then proceeded to forget out it. The next morning I wiped the crumbs off the table and tossed them out. That night Emily mentioned her tooth and I realized it had been the hard crumb I tossed out. Yes, I went through the trash and offered a prayer to Heavenly Father. I found the tooth and I offered a prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father. The two front teeth on the top are finally pushing through. It has been a really long time.

Second most popular question

that Kemiah will ask me is, "Can I feed Harmonie?" Her next question is, "Will you pump?" Since we started off a little rocky with the nursing, I did pump and fed the baby bottles. We eventually figured out the nursing thing so I don't pump as much. That also means the kids don't get to feed the baby bottles anymore. Kemiah really wanted to so back on the 30th of March I pumped before dinner so she could feed Harmonie a bottle. They both enjoyed their time together.



This baby was the only one to get bottles this early in life. It is nice to know she'll take a bottle but I usually nurse if I can. Otherwise I have to pump and that just isn't as much fun as watching my little baby.

Check this out!

Emily found this dandelion in the yard on Saturday. She was so excited about it that she brought it inside to show it to me and wanted to put it in a cup of water. Take a very close look - it's siamese twins!

My baby is growing!

This happens way too fast. It is really fun to watch her smile and coo at everyone. She is very social and doesn't like to be left alone. She is sleeping very well at night and likes to be wrapped up. She takes a pacifier but she has also found her thumb several times, so we'll see which one wins out. What a happy, pleasant baby!

Interesting, very interesting.

I was thinking about Little Caesar's crazy bread today. I was even thinking about making some at home. I looked on the internet to see if I could find a recipe and I found several. They all talked about using Pillsbury pizza dough. Well, I don't have any of that on hand, so I wondered what I could do next. The interesting thing is that, while I was nursing the baby, Emily said our neighbor wanted to talk to me. I asked her to see what he needed. She came back in with a big smile on her face and said, "Do you know what you are making for dinner?" I hadn't decided yet so she informed me that our neighbor gave us a pizza making kit. She brought it to me and you know what? It was a Little Caesar kit with all the fixin's, including crazy bread! I'm not kidding you! I felt very loved - by both my neighbor and my Heavenly Father.

Within 24 hours

a lot can change within your reality. Kevin used school funds to buy a new iPad to use at work and to study with. He was at the house when it arrived on Monday. He got right to work getting things set up and figuring out how all the finger taps and flicks and what not make the thing do what he wants it to do. He even did our Family Home Evening lesson on it, complete with pictures he could show the kids. It really is a neat thing. He took it to work with him Tuesday and was able to get some studying done during down time. That was really helpful. Last night, I needed his help getting information and he used the laptop. I sat there, feeding the baby, and watched him touch the screen several times trying to get it to do what he wanted it to do. He'd laugh and then use the mouse. It was really funny to see how quickly his mind had changed gears and then couldn't shift back to the old ways.

What can I do?

This is a very common question that Kemiah asks 200 times a day. I'm not kidding. She just asked me this and my response was, "Poke out your eye," knowing full well that she wouldn't actually do it. This was her response to my bad suggestion, "No, something good, not something that will make me bleed." Oh, right. I forgot about what a mess it would make to poke your eye out. Funny girl. I guess she should work harder at figuring out these things on her own, without asking for my suggestions. She never likes what I suggest anyway - read, color, play. None of it is what she wants to do. But now Xiomara is done with school stuff so maybe they'll both go outside to play. Then Kemiah will say, "What can I do?" It never ends.