My Poor, Poor Family . . . OR . . . Why I Hate Clomid

I feel happy and sad and angry and giddy and thrilled and enraged and hopeful and despairing and frustrated and calm and cheerful and exasperated and anxious and peaceful and contemptous and loving . . . all within a 10 minute time span.

I laugh and cry and scream and apologize and thank and accuse and frown and smile and overreact and apologize again and pray it will all be over soon. . . all within another 10 minute time span.
 
It's exhausting, I tell you.

My Wonderful, Growing Family . . . OR . . . Why I Love Clomid

Lucy:

 Kye:

 Isaac: 

 Adam: 

And Baby #5:

Expected Arrival: April 2011

(p.s. The stick figure is supposed to look gender unspecific, in case you can't tell.  I certainly think it looks boyish myself, but we won't actually know for another few weeks.)

Disney: Day 3

The fortunate timing of our trip to Disneyland (going on a MTW after the Halloween weekend) allowed us to experience all the attractions and rides with very few lines.  It was delightful.  And fun.  And we only used one Fastpass the entire trip.  And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to go at any other time. 

Wednesday was our "Favorites" day.  We started out at Toy Story Mania as soon as it opened and rode it twice to get our fill.  We rode a few more of our favorites and went over to Turtle Talk with Crush.  Isaac got to talk with Crush.  Crush named him "Intense" Isaac and then asked to talk with his father figure.  A snippet of their conversation:

Crush: What's your name?
Zach: Zach.
Crush: Ohhhhh, Zippin Zach.  How many little squirts do you have, dude?
Zach: Four.
Crush: They keep you busy?
Zach: Yep.
Crush:  I know what you mean.  I have 56.

All in all a very happy day. 

Kye and Lucy:

 Crush:

 On Wed. morning, I stopped to take a picture of a family and noticed that it was the family of a friend from my home stake in South Dakota.  (With so few youth growing up, we were incredibly close as a stake youth group.)  Erin and her brother Brian were good, good friends, and we missed them when they moved away to Missouri.  It was good to catch up.  And slightly weird that we ran into each other at Disneyland after 17 years. 

Erin and me:

 Kye and Lucy, Jedi apprentices:

 Adam in Toon Town:

 Please allow me to point out my incredibly overwhelming geekiness.  Not only am I wearing a fanny pack (gasp!) but I rolled up my pants because it was so dang hot.  A pinnacle of fashion, that's me.  (But the fanny pack thing was so stinking convenient and much lighter than my camera bag.)  And it was soooo hot.  Did I mention that?  Lucky things my kids are still too young to be embarrassed by me yet. 

 Meeting Mickey:

 Jail time--Kye and Lucy:

 Tea cups: I was so glad for the excuse not to ride.  The only time I rode on a tea cup ride, I had to walk right over to the garbage can and . . . well, you know.  The rest of the family seemed to enjoy it, though.

 Whenever we saw a character, Adam was the first to high tail it the other way.  So imagine my surprise when we ran into Minnie on Main Street and he actually wanted to get a a picture with her.  There was no line, so we got a picture AND an autograph.

 Watching the Celebrate! parade.  The 3 older kids got to go out and dance and do the bunny hop.  Videos later.  Adam preferred to stay close to the dad.

As we walked back to the hotel for the last time, Kye draped himself over a bench by the buses and declared himself too exhausted to walk another step.  Impressively, it was the first time we had heard any such thing from any of the kids for those 3 days.  They were troopers.  (I may have mentioned it myself a time or two, but I'll never tell.)

We had a great time.  It was so nice to spend that time with the kids.  When we left the hotel on Thursday morning, I tried to convince Zach we should spend the day at the beach and head back on Friday instead.  Didn't work.  We got home on Thursday night and the kids spent all day Friday catching up on homework.  There was a LOT of homework.  So much, in fact, I thought it was a little ridiculous.  But we survived and we're now back to our routine.  Yay for Disneyland!



Disney: Day 2

We spent Day #2 entirely at Disneyland.  We managed to visit SoCal as they were experiencing a record-breaking heat wave.  As in, it was 97-98 degrees during our trip.  We hadn't bothered to get ponchos for the water rides and we were glad to run through Splash Mtn. first thing in the morning.  Refreshing.  After our no wait rides at Splash Mtn., Lucy and Isaac were happy to snap a shot with Winnie the Pooh.  Kye wasn't interested and Adam ran the other way in terror:

 After Critter Country, we headed over to Fantasyland.  We ran into the only crowds we hit in our 3 days there.  After a few rides (schnookahs scared out of Adam again during the Snow White ride), we ditched Fantasyland for Thunder Mountain and Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.  The kids had a blast exploring while Zach and I lagged a bit in the unexpected heat:

Dem bones, dem bones:

Adam, pleading for another snack.  (I've never seen a kid more contented to sit in the stroller all day and eat snacks.)

Adam and Buzz:

Isaac treasure hunting on Tom Sawyer's Island:

 Adam and Zach enjoying Autopia:

 Gpa D looks pretty determined to buckle up.  Must be nervous about his inexperienced driver. 

I can see my future in this shot.  Lucy, hardly tall enough to see over the wheel, a happily determined driver.

Gpa and Gma with the kids just before they had to leave for the airport.  Thanks again for coming, Mom & Dad.  We so enjoyed our time with you!  (And Adam hasn't stopped talking about how Gpa calls him "goofy gwape.")

 While Zach and Adam took Mom & Dad to the airport, LKI and I explored Tinker Bell's world and went back to a now-deserted Fantasyland to take in all the rides.

Isaac:

 Isaac and the mom riding Dumbo's Flyers:

Crazy driver: 

The obligatory castle shot.  You can't see the kids at all, but whatev:

So happy together, Lucy, Kye, and Isaac:

I was a little tired by the end of the day.  The kids had as much energy walking back to the hotel as they did walking to Disneyland in the morning.  How, HOW do they do that?  After McD's for dinner and showers, however, they were passed out before their heads hit their pillows.  It was a good, good day.

Disney: Day 1

After a nice restful Sunday at the Barlows, in which we got to go to a church service that didn't have 300+ children in the room (quiet), and got to attend Primary with kids named things like Superstar Five and Trixie Sassafras Sophronia (you think I'm kidding . . . but I'm really not), and even got to see a few famous-ish actors in the congregation, and had a wonderful Sunday dinner and a Sunday nap, we headed down to Anaheim.

The kids were over-the-top excited to get going on our first day at Disneyland.  I had a game plan in my mind (having checked out and read two Disneyland tour guide books.  Yes I am a nerd.) and was all ready to use it.  But there weren't any lines to fight.  Well, hardly any.  Most waits were 10 minutes.  We did wait in line--once--for 40 minutes to do Toy Story 3 Midway Mania, and the kids loved it so much it was worth it.  We spent the day with Gpa and Gma D at California Adventure.  We rode all the rides, saw a few shows (Aladdin was by far my favorite), ate lots of snacks, met Dennis and Annell for dinner, and stayed late to see World of Color.  It was a fabulous day.  Except perhaps when Kye got the schnookahs scared out of him during Tower of Terror, and maybe not when Adam got the schnookahs scared out of him during Aladdin and World of Color and It's Tough to Be a Bug and anything that was somewhat loud or overwhelming.  But other than that . . . Day 1 was super fun.

p.s. Isn't "schnookahs" a great word?  I just made it up.  Just now.  Just like that.  (Hopefully it is not already a word with negative or innapropriate connotations.  *Sigh.* The risks you take when you make up your own words.)

Adam and Speed, I am Speed (as Adam calls him):

 Lucy, Adam, Isaac and Kye, ready for Adventure:

 Adam's first official ride:

 As you can see, he was less than thrilled:

 Adam and Gma D:

 Isaac and Gpa D:

 Adam's favorite Disneyland activity--looking at the map:

 Isaac's consolation ride b/c he wasn't tall enough for California Screamin', the carousel:

 Adam felt safe on this one:

 Action figures:

 Lu and Kye with Mr. Potato Head:

 Again with the map?  Really?:

 It's Tough to Be a Bug:

 Lucy lovers her Gma D:

 Paradise Pier at night: 

p.p.s.  My very favorite part was watching the kids take it all in.  Every ride was new and fun and every show was a new experience.  Can you beat looking at the wonder in a kid's eyes when they realize the day is all about them having a good time?  No.  No you cannot.

Halloween 2010

I don't love Halloween.  I mean, I love decorating for it.  And the fall weather and the kids being so excited to dress up.  But, ugh!  The candy.  Or perhaps I love it too much and that is the problem.  Seriously, though, doesn't it just make more sense to buy the kind of candy you love and have your kids divvy it up and call it good?  Oh wait, this isn't about the candy I love?  It's about the kids?  All righty then.  Moving on.

The kids went to the Burbank tri-ward trunk or treat with Gma and Gpa and Dennis and Annell and Zach's cousin's family. Zach and I were at the wedding, so we missed out on seeing them dressed up. Thankfully, we still got some pictures. I had to pack light people, so the costumes were a little sparse. Fortunately, the kids could have cared less. (Couldn't have cared less? What is the proper way to say that phrase, anyway?) Here they are: our little cat, pirate, knight, and vampire.

 Happy Halloween Day!