A trip to the dentist

Yesterday I got to make my semi annual visit to the dentist. The funny thing that I observed about this was that as I told people where I was going I found that I got the same reaction as I had gotten three weeks earlier as I prepared to attend my Grandmother's funeral. As I dropped Connor off at his usual Thursday outing, his friend Lara's house, my friend asked me, "What fun thing do you have planned to do today without Connor?" I said, " I've got a dentist appointment this morning." Her face immediately fell and she said, "Oh, I'm sorry" I then headed to another one of my friends houses to drop Madison off. She knew where I was going, but momentarily forgot and as I was leaving she said, "Have fun! Oh...wait I didn't mean that...I'm sorry,I forgot. You're going to the dentist...well, you know in the long run it's really for the best." What most people don't know is that I really don't mind going to the dentist. I mean it's not up there with a trip to Disneyland or anything, but it's not so bad. I must have had a really good mom because I have never had a cavity, a filling or any other sort or orthodontia work done. So really the worst part about going to the dentist for me is the not being able to eat for a half an hour after the visit! And another thing, I have a REALLY great dentist. He was my bishop before he was my dentist, and he's just a really nice man. In fact I shared my observation with him about the parallels between a dental visit and attending a funeral and he thought it was quite funny. For all you Mormons out there he just said, "Well, you know it's just all part of The Plan..your Dental plan that is." As I picked Madison up from my sweet friends house, she gently put her arm around me and said, "Are you OK, I mean, I know it hurts a lot" I am not making this up, I'm not nearly clever enough! Just try it out yourself. Next time your going to the dentist take note how people react. Who knows, if you really play it up enough, and it gets back to your Relief Society President, maybe you could get meals brought in for a few days!

Step watch update

I just have to share the comment I got today when I informed yet another mother that my thirteen month old daughter was not yet walking.

She said "Oh you know they say BIGGER babies just tend to walk later than other babies"

I should have gotten her name and address so I could send her the bill for when Madison goes to Cirque Lodge for an eating disorder.

Step Watch

Madison turned thirteen months old on Sunday and is STILL not walking. Yet another way for one of my children to let me know that I am not as good of a mother as I thought! (See earlier post!) All of my other children walked between 9 and 11 months, but not Miss Madison. Not only is she not walking she seems to have no intention of doing so any time soon. If you stand her up, you get jelly legs. My pediatrician tells me it is perfectly normal for children to not walk until even between 15-18 months. I understand that and I know that she will eventually walk, but I really get TIRED of explaining it to all those other mothers out there whose children walked at 9 months!

Typical conversation with another mother:

Other mother (whose baby walked at probably about 6 months!): Oh your little girl is sooooo cute (maybe I'm exaggerating a little!), how old is she?

Me (whose baby is currently NOT walking!): She's 13 months.

Other mother (whose baby skipped crawling and walked at about 3 months): Is she walking now?

Me: Not yet.

Then come the pity responses, I'll list a few.

Other mother (Whose baby I'm sure came out of the womb walking): With three older siblings to carry her around, she just doesn't need to!

or (as I'm carrying her around):

I can tell she be up and around any day now!

or, my personal favorite:

You're so lucky! Once she's walking she'll just be into everything! (Because she doesn't seem to get into anything since she's not walking yet. Refer to post entitled, "Gross")

In reality, it doesn't really bother me much that she is not walking yet. I know she will someday, and I am in no hurry to grow her up! She is my last little one and last night as I saw her "cruising" along the couch I realized how much I am going to miss watching her little diapered bottom crawling down the hall!

Gross!

Yes, this is what I just PRIED of Madison's mouth! And not just one, but a few. Of course they didn't look like this when I pulled them out, they had gone into defense position, and rolled up! Connor's latest past time seems to be creating little habitats for "roly-polys" out of what ever rubbermaid contra ban he can get out of the kitchen with out me noticing! Roly-polys are in a surplus in our yard right now, and Mads happened upon a fresh catch of his. Luckily his friend Lara is here and started screaming when she saw what Madison was doing. I just wish I'd taken a picture of the bananas, pasta, and crackers that I just SWEPT off the floor because my pickiest eater(Madison) had refused them! Apparently her train of thought is "bananas-yuck, small bugs with A LOT of legs and an exoskeleton-YUM!"

The Missouri Waltz

Anyone who has visited my blog recently may have noticed that I have updated my playlist. My original playlist was put there by brother when I was still a "novice" blogger and didn't know how to do it! He picked the songs for me and everything. It's crazy how well he knows me! Anyway, I decided to update with some of my recent favorites. When you first pop onto my blog the song "Missouri Waltz" will greet you. My grandmother ,that recently passed away, loved this song and it was played by a wonderful pianist at her funeral. Loved that little woman and now I love this song! Enjoy!

Nothing much to say

I haven't posted for quite some time, and so I thought it was about time I let you know what our family is up to We drove to Utah for our Spring Break about two weeks ago. That's 11 LONG hours in the car. But I can tell you this, I would much rather spend 11 hours in a car with all four children, then an hour and 45 minutes on a plane with a one year old! I flew to Utah two weeks previously and Madison was TERRIBLE on the plane! A small confined space where she has to sit without moving or making a noise is not an ideal situation. She was great for about the first 5 minutes (see picture), but it was all downhill from there! On our drive to Utah, I actually met my parents in St. George and they drove in the rest of the way with me. We had a great week there spending a lot of time with family and shopping, my two favorite things to do in Utah! My parents drove home with me and spent their Spring Break here at my house, scrapping it and starting to paint it! We're getting ready, (hopefully !) to sell and wanted to spruce it up a bit! We also did some fun things, but unfortunately my memory card on my camera has been full for awhile so no pictures to share!

Game ball, again!

OK, so in my last post about a game ball I told you that I wasn't bragging, but this time I am. Amanda got the game ball, again. The coach gave out the regular game ball, and then said that someone on the team had such an awesome game that he decided to give out ANOTHER game ball, even though this person had already gotten one, and it was Amanda! She really did play a great game. She got two really good hits and caught a fly ball out in left field, with the sun in her eyes!(I told you I was bragging!) Unfortunately their team lost, but Amanda was excited anyway about getting the ball. The picture is a little blurry, but she has since showered and I'm leaving for Utah tomorrow (no time to re-enact) so I posted this anyway!

Madison's First Birthday!

The Birthday Girl! Madison got to spent her first birthday in Wyoming. Unfortunately her dad and her siblings weren't there, but she was surrounded by family who love her and made a big fuss over her. Her birthday happened to fall on the same day as Grams funeral, and so a big family get together was planned for that afternoon anyway, we just turned it into a big birthday party for her. She wasn't sure about her bunny birthday cake, (Thanks Uncle Matt for not only buying it for her, but smashing her face into it!) and wasn't sure what to do with the gifts placed in front of her, but I know she had a great time! It's hard to believe it's been a year since she was born. I can't imagine our family with out her. She has what we affectionately call a "Maditude", but her brother and sisters can't seem to get enough of her! Each of them is so loving and protective of her, and I especially love seeing how much she loves her dad, I definitely have another "Daddy's girl" on my hands! We love you Mads!