Disney World (a month late...)

 Instead of getting together for Christmas this year my parents decided to plan a trip to Disney World. Two of my siblings live in Orlando, so we all flew out to join them. We stayed at a timeshare a few miles from the park and had a blast together. The weather wasn't great. We had two days of sun and the rest were rainy. The plus to rain is short lines though.  We all got 4-day passes to see all the parks. The teenagers (as I still call the siblings without kids) went to Islands of Adventure one of the days to see the new Harry Potter World. They said it was amazing. I would have loved to see it. Next time.

Our kids did really well on the flight. They are good little travelers. We shared a two-bedroom condo with my parents and we had two more condos next door for the other out of town families. There was an amazing pool and hot tub close and we spent a lot of time swimming. It is so nice to relax in a hot tub after a long day at the parks.

The flight. Thank heavens for tablets. 

We were VERY NERVOUS about the kids sleeping, especially with all the Luke sleep issues lately, but for the most part they did really well. Luke did better there then he was doing at home, go figure. We had Luke in a crib in the living room and he loved it. We ended up buying a crib on craigslist on our way home from the airport because he did so well in it. (He's been okay in the crib since we've been home. It's maybe helped a little.) Carson slept on our floor and Kendall slept in the closet. I was dreading this part of the trip and was so relieved that we all got decent nighttime sleep. We tried to keep the kids on California time, so we had them up until 10 every night and that worked out.

This is how they ended up by the end of the night most nights. I love how they snuggle together both trying to watch something on my phone.

Jetted tubs are the BEST for bubbles!

Luke and Carson with Katherine and Adam

Monday, Day One: (the nicest day of the week) we went to Epcot. I love Epcot. There is so much to see. I thought it might have been a little boring for the kids, but they all seemed to really enjoy it. The had a Perry the Platypus secret mission activity at each country and Carson had a lot of fun with that. We didn't stay too late at any of the parks. Usually until 5:00 or so. The kids were done by that time.

Waiting to get into the park

Carson saved all his month for the last few months for a Mickey Sorcerer Hat

Luke and I on Space Ship Earth. Luke picked Portuguese for the language, so I was lost the whole ride

Soda flavors from around the world. Steve was thrilled there was Guarana

Luke and Gma in Mexico

Laura, Kendall and I in Marraco

Carson and Gage in France

Carson and I eating the most delicious chocolate ice cream in France

Luke after eating his

Gpa and Carson exiting Test Track. Very cool ride!

Finding Nemo

  
Tuesday, Day Two: Animal Kingdom. I ended up staying home with Kendall on this day. She needed a few solid naps after Epcot the day before. Those without kids felt sorry for me that I stayed behind. Those with kids were jealous of my naps and pool time all (almost) by myself. Steve said the kids had a lot of fun. They loved seeing the animals, especially on the safari.They also loved the water ride.

Carson and Ollie

Pete and Noelle

The whole group

On safari

Laura with the boys

Wednesday, Day Three: The weather was so rainy that we decided to make this our day off. No one seemed to mind though. Everyone was ready for a lazy day. The pool was nice and warm so there was still plenty of swimming. We got babysitters from Amanda and Brian's ward that night so the adults could go to the Orlando Temple and do sealings. It was very special to be there with my family. We had three nursing babies so Becky, Amanda and I took turns with them in the waiting room. We had a yummy dinner that night at Carrabbas. I love adult time!

 

Babies by the pool. Kendall and Garrett (2 months apart)

  Thursday, Day Four: The day we went to Magic Kingdom it was pouring, 40 degrees and windy. None of us lasted long. It was just too cold, especially for the little kids and babies. Carson did do some pretty cool big kid rides (Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain.) We tried to do as much indoor stuff as we could and we hated leaving in the early afternoon because the park was a ghost town, but I seriously thought my nose was going to fall off! I love comparing the differences of Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. There's nothing as magical as Magic Kingdom to me.

Main Street USA has got to be my favorite place in the park esthetically speaking

Luke was so cold he was curled into a little ball most of the day

Carson's "this is ridiculously cold" face

Nice warm Small World with Ollie, Ryan and Gpa

Escaping the cold in a restaurant

 Waiting outside of Carousel of Progress out of the rain waiting for the rest of the party so we can leave. Carson and Luke keeping warm by dancing.

Annie and Asher once we gave up. Riding the train back to the front of the park.

Friday, Day Five: Hollywood Studios. I love Hollywood Studios. I love the old Hollywood look of everything. We took Carson on Tower of Terror. I don't know what we were thinking. That is a intense ride! Poor guy! Luke was a trooper the whole week. When he got tired he just crawled into the bottom seat of the stroller and curled up in a ball and fell a sleep. He never minded waiting when he wasn't big enough for a ride. Such a good boy.

The boys ready to load up in the cars for another fun day

Browers and Bonners at the Disney Junior show. Luke had died and gone to Heaven. He is a Huge Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan and the show didn't disappoint. I wish we weren't front row though. It made it hard to see.

 Luke just giggled through the whole thing

See Kendall-girl's head? She was the warmest and driest of all!

Carson and Gage doing their scary faces while waiting for Tower of Terror

Escaping the rain at a cute little 50's themed diner

Love this face!

Grauman's Chinese Theater

 Wizard of Oz part of the Great Movie Ride

The fam minus Becky, Mom and Becky's two girls. They were at urgent care getting antibiotics for the sickies. =(

Regan, Laura and I

A homage to home

Luke on a giant ant in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play ground. I favorite for those 3 and under

Pete, Laura, Steve, Kendall and Regan

Gpa got all the kids matching shirts. I'm sad we never got a picture of all of them.

The hard thing about such a huge group is that to get anything done or go anywhere you have to split-up. We weren't able to spend as much time as we wanted with everyone. The Facers were sick most of the week, so I have hardly any pictures of them. The Kelley's usually met up with us later in the day because they live there and had school etc. The non-kid siblings dropped in periodically. We were able to explore the park with the Browers the most. My Mom and Dad joined when they could too. 

All 2013 babies. Kendall, Garrett and Nora

I love being with my whole family. It is getting harder and harder to do. There are seven of us kids, six spouses and 13 kiddos and we are all over the country. It really is a treat and blessing when we can all be together. Despite the weather, sickness, new baby and sleep issues it was a fantastic trip! I can't wait to be with everybody again.

Kendall 4 Month Update

I’m a little chatter-box lately. I love to make cute little sounds and pretend like I’m having a conversation. I am such a smiley girl too. I light up whenever anyone talks to me, especially my Mom. Carson says that he is my favorite person and he might be right. =) I had my four month check-up. Here are my stats:

·         Weight: 12 lbs. 14 oz. (22%)
·         Height: 2 feet 1 inch (69%)

I’m still a skinny little thing, but my height has shot right up! I went from 36% to 69% in 2 months! My body maybe skinny, but my cheeks sure aren’t! My face is round as can be with very chubby cheeks. I am starting to be a little more demanding. I don’t really like my carseat and like to be held when we are out and about so I can see everything. I am really need a sleep schedule now. I don’t do well sleeping on the go. I usually get small cat-naps in and am grumpy. Mom is trying her best staying home for naps, but it’s tricky with older brothers and their activities. 

I am still an amazing night sleeper! It doesn’t matter if I go to sleep at 8pm or 10pm. I usually sleep until 5am and wake to eat, then go back to sleep until 7or 8am. I like to nap around 9am and then take two more naps after that. One in the early afternoon and one in the late afternoon. 

I love to nurse and won’t take a bottle. I love to suck on my fist and will not take a pacifier. I am the sweetest baby girl in the world and get plenty of hugs and kisses from my parents and especially my brothers. I am one lucky little sister!

nervous breakdown update

Things are better. We did a whole colon cleanout with Carson to get rid of the backup that was causing the accidents. (Yes, it's as gross as it sounds.) It's the third time we've done it and it works. Luke has been doing really good compared to how he was. He usually wakes once at night, but will go back down quickly. His cars light turns on at 6am and he will stay in his crib until it does. We just moved Carson back into the room and they haven't been bothering each other. Let's hope it's all up from here!

I need to vent

Life is hard right now and I need to vent. If you aren’t in the mood for a long mommy vent stop reading now!  It isn’t the “having 3 kids” part that is making me loose it currently. Kendall is an angel baby. Most of the time she sleeps through the night (well, until 5 anyway). She is a happy bundle of joy and as easy as a newborn can be and for that I am thankful. It’s the other ones… 

I don’t like Luke right now. There, I said it. I love him of course and would do anything for him, but I don’t particularly like him. About a month before Kendall was born we moved him out of the crib and the nursery into a big boy bed in Carson’s room. He used to be a super star sleeper. Went to bed easy, never climbed out of his crib, slept all night. That all changed 4 months ago. Since then he has been waking up through the night and waking up ridiculously early. The middle of the night stuff is hard but do-able. It’s been the 4:30 am-5:30 am wake up call that is the killer. He is a VERY strong-willed child and has been making us pay for what we did to him. (He WAS NOT happy about losing his crib.) I wish I could do it over. I wish I never moved him out, but it is too late for that. We even bought a new crib for him recently and moved it into Carson’s room and it hasn’t really helped. 

We have honestly tried EVERYTHING with him and even locked him in for a few weeks. When we did that technique with Carson he broke in 2 days. Luke never broke. He screamed for the full 2 weeks we tried it. Carson has been sleeping on our floor for the past month plus so Luke doesn’t wake him up. It has gotten a little better lately. He is sleeping though the night now for the most part. We put a “special Cars light” in his room and he isn’t allowed to leave his room until it goes off. (We are up to 5:46 now.) Sometimes he stays in, sometimes not. He still wakes up way earlier than that though. It’s not just the waking up early, the worst part is the grumpy, chronically sleep deprived monster we’ve created. He is 3 now and in that horrible nap transition phase. What he is in the habit of doing is reducing 2 hours of night time sleep and wanting to replace it with a 2 hour nap during the day around 9am. Right now I am trying to not let him sleep longer than 20 min, which is very hard. It makes him even more unbearable. I’m hoping if I do it for long enough he’ll start sleeping longer at night. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Chances are I’ve tried it, but I’m open to any suggestions.

The issue with Carson right now is one we’ve dealt with before.  A year ago he pooped his pants every day for months and months. Once again we tried everything we could think of and finally took him to the doctor. Turns out he had chronic constipation. We did a full clean-out (super yuck) followed by 4 months of Miralax. We’ll it’s back. It’s been 2 weeks of poop in the underwear, multiple times a day. I am SO SICK of cleaning up poopy underwear. He came home from school today with poop running down his legs and while I am trying to clean that up Luke is SCREAMING about something (sleep deprived remember,) and I just burst into tears. I’m at my breaking point and I am loosing it. I hate being that kind of Mom who completely looses it. I hate feeling that way and it makes me sad. Right now they are watching TV and eating candy. I’ve locked myself into the downstairs room. Whatever it takes to get through the day sometimes, right? 

I’m also so sick of those moms who constantly post/say how wonderful motherhood is and how happy they are ALL THE TIME. Their homes and clean and organized, they look so put together, they do don’t let their kids eat candy or watch T.V. seriously?! Are you really that happy all the time? If so, there must be sometime wrong with me.

There are plenty more things I can vent about, such as; speech delays and not understanding what my boys say, fine motor delays, the battle to lose the baby weight, a house that we are fastly outgrowing, I’m exhausted, I only get to the gym once a week . The list can go on and on and you might think I am being ridiculous and a big baby, but after saying all of that I do know that I am richly blessed. I have 3 healthy, beautiful kids, a wonderful husband with a great job, the opportunity to be a stay at home mom, the gospel of Jesus Christ, wonderful family and friends—That list can go on and on too.

Sorry to be a whiner. I just needed to get some of this out. Being a Mom is not fun sometimes. There are days I wake up and the countdown to bedtime starts right away.  I guess all I need is for someone to acknowledge that motherhood sucks sometimes and that it is okay to feel that way.  Now onto folding 4 loads of laundry…

Kendall 3 month update

I continue to be the easiest newborn ever. I usually sleep through the night, only waking up around 5am to eat. Mom is so grateful for that because Luke is still having sleep issues. I go to bed around 9:00 and after a early morning feeding I go back to bed until 7:00. I am such a happy little girl. I love to smile and anyone and everyone. If someone even glances my way my whole face lights up. I giggled for the first time. It was a small one and I seemed confused about what came out of me, but it was a giggle. My family is excited to hear more.

I love my swing and can sit in it for long periods of time observing all that is going on around me. I have a long attention span for a baby, especially when someone is talking to me. I am very photogenic and smile and look at the camera. I am a good girl in the car, usually. I love to fall a sleep in my carseat, but only when the car is moving. I love taking baths and laying in the warm water.

We flew to Disney World and I did great on the flight. Complete strangers commented on what a good little traveler I was. Mom and Dad took me to all the parks and I did great! I still am little enough that I don't need much of a sleeping schedule and that helped. I do need at least one really solid 2-3 hour nap uninterrupted during the day. I take a few more small ones in between.

Crazy Hair Day

Tourists for the Day

Before the Grandparents left we spent the day in San Fransisco. We had perfect weather and the kids are at good stages to do this type of day trip. Luke can nap in the car rather then in his bed and Kendall isn't old enough to be on a schedule.

Pier 39:

I love walking on the Golden Gate bridge. It is so massive and majestic and has the most beautiful backdrop. I can't believe that this structure was built so long ago without the use of modern day equipment.

Golden Gate Bridge: