Birthday Season

This little corner of the web has been quiet for a few weeks. Between school starting, spending a lot of time at the hospital for asthma visits, two rounds of company, an end-of-summer trip and celebrating half of our family's birthdays, down time has been non-existent. 

I do love this time of year as hectic as it may be. Sandwiched into all of the back to school hoopla, Troy and I have birthdays 13 days apart. We usually try to plan a night out for each other to celebrate. Now that we're in Southern California, we have a whole new realm of possibilities for date nights.

Troy's birthday came first and instead of making him a traditional cake, I constructed what I knew he'd appreciate more; a Coca-Cola cake.

We headed to Newport Harbor and grabbed some BBQ on the pier to bring aboard a sunset cruise.

I had a hard time nailing down plans for Troy's birthday this year. I polled my friends and changed my mind about six times. The idea for the sunset cruise didn't come into play until just hours before the event when I found an amazing Friday night "off-season" deal. 

I'm so glad plan F was put into action because it was absolutely perfect.

We cruised along the harbor and our captain pointed out various celebrities' homes.

It was calm enough that we ventured out into the ocean and cruised along the shore.

There were sea lions galore resting on the rock jetty.

There were even more out in the middle of the Pacific.

Our cruise concluded right as the sun was disappearing into the horizon.

We walked around Balboa Peninsula and the pier before topping off the night at a new ice cream sandwich joint.

Less than two weeks later, Troy planned a night out to celebrate my birthday. He took me to a restaurant right on the beach at Crystal Cove. I don't think it will ever get old to go on dates that involve the ocean in some way.

I became a little fascinated with the twinkle lights above us that framed the sun as it sank lower and lower.

The celebrations continued all weekend long when we met up with friends in Vegas (more on that soon) and my friend made me my long-time birthday staple; peanut butter pie.

The following week, my friends rented a Duffy boat back in the Newport Harbor to celebrate two of our birthdays. It was not an easy task to coordinate all of our schedules and husbands/sitters to watch our little ones for us to leave early enough on a weeknight to catch the daylight.

Twenty minutes before we were scheduled to meet up, it starting torrential downpouring. In a place where it hardly ever rains, we didn't even consider the possibility of inclement weather. When I finally got ahold of the boat rental company, they confirmed our suspicions. Everything was being cancelled for the rest of the night. I assured them that the radar showed the storm blowing over, but they couldn't risk putting anyone on the water after spotting lightning.

We were so bummed, especially because the opportunity for eight of us to escape on a weeknight wouldn't happen again for a long time. But since we had all lined up childcare and had coolers full of food to share, we resorted to plan B; a picnic at the beach.

Sure enough, the weather cleared right up and we overlooked the water that we should have been out on. But once again, you really can't go wrong when that ocean view is involved. And since we weren't juggling our combined 17 children (plus 3 on the way), I think we could have stayed in the car the entire time and still been happy to get away for a few hours.

I never doubted that I would love living in California. These ladies have just been the icing on the cake. I'm so grateful for their friendship and for our daily chats in the neighborhood and pool playdates and much needed girls' nights out. 

After Troy and I wrapped up our birthday festivities, unfortunately time did not stop and Finn went ahead and turned one to conclude our September birthdays. Stay tuned...

Snapshot 2014

It's time once again for our annual family snapshot. The little details of our lives that I haven't documented elsewhere. 

Here are some snippets from our lives (and a few pictures) to document the here and now:

I was recently looking at some photos from our trip to Hawaii last year, and was shocked when I realized that there was a point in 2013 where we only had two kids, and now we have four kids in 2014. That really put it into perspective for me how quickly our family has grown. 

Before Finn was born, I had a lot of people ask me if I wondered what he'd look like. I responded that I had a pretty good idea. We seem to have a mold for blue-eyed, blond-haired boys.

Now that he's here, the question is, "How is life with four?" Some days I feel like I'm drowning, but thankfully that is rare. I think we reached a level of chaos when we added a third child, so what's one more?

And since I spent the first half of this year with debilitating, all-day morning sickness, nothing is as hard in comparison. The best way I can describe the feeling to someone who has never experienced nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is that it is like having food poisoning all the time for months on end. Each day was foggy. Every smell and taste was repulsive. I was unable to walk without crippling dizziness and nausea. I wondered how I would make it through. But eventually the long days turned into weeks and months and here I am with four miserable pregnancies under my belt.

I found out at delivery that I was severely anemic. I didn't have my labs drawn throughout pregnancy so there was no way to know for certain, but I had a pretty good idea that anemia might be within the realm of possibility. I lived on crushed ice during the last trimester which is usually a tell tale sign of iron deficiency. My midwife said she didn't know how I wasn't completely miserable with levels as low as mine, but my body must have adjusted. I attributed any fatigue to being nine months pregnant and besides the ice cravings, didn't notice any other symptoms. Except that my hair wouldn't hold curl, which my hairdresser told me was also an indicator of low iron. I'm now taking an iron supplement to help with the anemia because I just can't stomach a lot of red meat.

Speaking of hair, all the hair that I lost in masses after I had Crew has finally grown back. It is almost long enough to tuck behind my ears. Just in time to start the hair loss and awkward regrowth cycle all over again. 

In our church, we fast every first Sunday of the month. We skip two meals and pray for specific needs and search for needed answers. But when you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you abstain from fasting. I've been either pregnant or breastfeeding for six combined years of my life which means that in the eight years we've been married, I've only fasted for a total of about two of them. 

We only added one person to our family but I swear the laundry has quadrupled. I only wash clothes one day a week. I'd rather pound out seven or eight loads on one day instead of dragging it out. But sometimes the folding and putting away of clothes lingers for a few days now that my snuggling newborn takes priority over all chores.

Troy reads The Count of Monte Cristo every year. It's a whopper of a novel and it is his favorite. He wants to start a charity someday named "Sinbad the Sailor" based on one of the characters from the book.

Troy decided not to do any physical therapy after his knee surgery and recovery. It was partly a time issue and partly because the surgeon was bit anti physical therapy. His knee still hurts though when he runs around with the boys.

The best perk of Troy being down for months was the handicap parking pass we were given. It was a sad day when it expired at the end of August and we had to park far away at the movie theater, restaurants, and the school parking lot again.

Troy paces when he talks on the phone. That made things tricky when he was in a wheelchair and on crutches. He said his words didn't flow as freely. Now that he is mobile again, Crew follows him back and forth when he paces.

Troy is still serving as a counselor to the Bishop at church and I was called to teach the Young Women after four years as the Primary secretary.

Troy gets together with his childhood friends from Boston every spring for a fantasy baseball draft. They usually meet up in NYC or Washington, DC and spend the whole weekend drafting their picks for the season.

In that same vein, we started doing a fantasy draft for the television show "The Bachelor" with our good friends from college. It's completely ridiculous but it's actually a lot of fun. We pick our candidates before the show airs and then receive points for all sorts of things like crying, retelling a tragic backstory, taking a flight, promoting a career, receiving a rose, etc. We plug in the data to a shared Google document and the winning team takes the losing team out to dinner. It keeps us connected to our friends who now live states away from us and keeps our guilty pleasure show more interesting as well.

I have a staging area for my clothes. The key to getting ready efficiently in the mornings (especially since I have five people to get out the door) is being prepared. I like to pick out several outfits in advance and hang them in my staging area. That way, when it’s Tuesday morning and we’re in a hurry, I don’t have to ask myself that all important question, “What am I going to wear today?” I just go right to my staging area and there are options waiting for me. I am far from a fashionista, but I like to utilize the clothes I have in my closet and I like to look somewhat put together. If I don't plan outfits in advance, I end up resorting to the same five shirts that don't need ironing or layering. We don't have a ton of extra space in our closet so I have a rack that hangs on the back of our bedroom door that is my staging area (insert annoyed eye rolls from Troy who often bumps into the staging area). 

I can't wear anything with wool in it. It makes my skin break out in hives. Anything with the word "acrylic" on the tag is off-limits. This is unfortunate during the season of chunky scarves and pea coats.

I could probably write a whole post about this, but the Pepperplate app has changed my life. All of my recipes are now together in one place with no clutter. They are accessible to me from anywhere and I can create instant shopping lists. Here is a great outline of the simple process.

I am a terrible gift buyer. Gift-giving is not my love language. I think I'm too practical to buy things that I deem useless and clutter-promoting. I'm having some serious anxiety about the upcoming holidays and gift-buying expectations.

My boppy makes the best laptop pillow ever. It fits snug around my waist and it's the perfect balance of cushion and firmness. In fact, I never even packed it up in between babies (not that I had much of an intermission).

When Troy and I kiss in front of the boys, Blake exclaims in a sly voice, "Awkward!"

For some unknown reason, the boys think they must take their shirts off when they jump on the trampoline. I really have no idea why they do this. Even Crew joins in the shirtless jumping. We had a gorgeous October this year and they were out there every single night with no shirts on.

The boys love to come up with riddles while we eat lunch. We take turns giving three clues and guessing what is being described. Nash has a habit of looking directly at the item he has chosen, but Blake and I try to humor him by pretending we have no idea what he is depicting.

Blake and Nash also started a random rhyming game at dinner recently that has become a tradition. They go back and forth forever with words that rhyme and morph into other words that rhyme. It's especially entertaining when they are sitting at opposite ends of the dining room table and we have company. Trying to have a conversation over all that rhyming is a challenge.

Troy loves to take the boys out to breakfast on Saturdays. It's kind of their "thing." Sometimes he sends me blurry pictures of the boys' food choices.

The boys have learned that the key to getting me to read to them longer and delay bedtime is to play with my hair.

We play the version of war where you only go through the deck of cards once and then compare your piles to see whose is taller.

Blake and Nash are obsessed with Pokemon cards. I'm still trying to figure out what the hype is all about. They don't even know how to play the game. But they bring their card collections to school and trade them with their buddies and think it is the best activity in the world.

Blake eats apples right down to the core. There is not a morsel of fruit to be seen after he is finished.

The pace has really picked up in first grade. Blake has homework every single night. He attempts to focus on his math and spelling homework while his brothers are climbing onto the dining room table and clamouring for his attention. Whether he completes it efficiently or not is hit or miss. But we always wait until Nash and Crew are in bed to read. He stays up later than the others so he can have my undivided attention while he reads.

I wish I could volunteer in Blake's classroom more but I can't exactly commit with two babies in tow. I was able to go in a few times while my mom was in town and I had so much fun being a fly on the wall in first grade.

Blake mostly takes homemade lunches to school but he usually has hot lunch once a week. I'm already completely burned out from making lunches and I'm only three months in to the first year of school with my first child. Anything involving prep time in the kitchen is not my favorite.

It's ironic that Nash was the cop and Blake was the robber for Halloween, because Blake is our ultimate rule enforcer which unfortunately leads to a whole lot of tattling. It was a big problem when the boys were playing conference bingo during General Conference and Nash kept sneaking Skittles before topics were mentioned. 

Nash checks the front porch for visitors or packages multiple times a day. He always thinks he hears knocking.

The second Troy walks in from work (on the rare days he makes it home before the boys are in bed), Nash runs to him at full speed and declares, "FIGHT!" He sure loves to wrestle and roughhouse his dad.

Nash is particular about his clothing. He hates wearing jeans and shirts with buttons. If I lay them out for him to put on, he always chooses something else. I'm still trying to get through to him that he can't wear sweatpants to school. 

If it were up to Nash, he would wear his "Tough Guy 36" shirt every day. He loves that shirt almost as much as he loves his nie-night.

I usually lay out Blake's clothes out for him to wear to school. But when I let him pick out his own clothes, he puts on his Superman shirt without fail. It's getting much too small on him, but it has a cape which means he may never pass it on to his younger siblings.

Nash is still a serious hoarder. I have a love/hate relationship with his favorite hobby. His collectibles keep him entertained for hours, but I despise putting all those little toys back in their homes.

Nash puts up a fight about going to school. He always has a huge smile on his face when I pick him up, but I think he just really likes being home.

I have become more of a homebody as well. I feel so frazzled on the rare days when we are running from one thing to the next with no down time in between. Thankfully, I've had seven years of afternoon naps that have ensured we spend some time at home each day. And I have at least three more years to go. I really don't know what I'll do when I'm not tied to afternoon nap time anymore.

Crew can easily out-eat his older brothers.

Between Crew and Finn, there are binkies everywhere in our house. I mean, everywhere. We tried to keep them separate for each boy but gave up after about a day of Crew confiscating and sharing all the binkies. 

The boys have a habit of losing one of their shoes. Sometimes those lost shoes resurface and sometimes they don't. I found one of Crew's missing shoes in our neighbor's front yard last week after being lost for a few days. And my dad found one of Nash's missing shoes on a bike path in Michigan at least a week after he had lost it. That was pretty miraculous.

Finn and I have been co-sleeping in the guest room/nursery since he was born. I can't bear to put him in the crib that is a few feet away so he sleeps right next to me. We all get the most sleep out of this situation since I can roll over and feed him. I stay up much too late soaking in those quiet moments where his profile is illuminated by the lamp and I watch him drift into sleep. Nothing gets better than that. Life is good.

The Babymoon is Over

Troy had the last two weeks off work for paternity leave. It was, in a word, divine.

Maybe it wasn't quite as heavenly as when we shipped the older two boys off to their grandparents' house for ten days when newborn baby #3 entered our world. But since school made that option impossible this time around, having Troy around to help for two weeks was the next best thing.

The boys relished the time spent with their dad. They have rarely seen him over the last year with increased work hours. In fact, the night before Finn was born, which was a Friday, Troy walked in the door at 7pm and Blake asked, "Dad, why are you home so early?" That was especially sad considering they hadn't seen each other since Monday.

While I adjusted to taking care of our new baby around the clock, Troy completely assumed the daily routines with the other three boys. He got them ready for school every morning and took over carpooling to and fro. He brought them to every soccer practice and game. He took whoever wasn't in school to the gym every day. He went on many special outings with the older two boys; roller skating, mini-golf, the Natural History Museum, a high school football game, the Nickelcade, the movie theater, breakfast dates, and one-on-one grocery shopping trips.

Since the rest of my family was so well taken care of, my world for the last two weeks consisted of Finn being in my lap, or in my arms, or on my chest constantly. We slept in together after nights with several awakenings. I couldn't bear to put him down when he fell asleep after his first feeding of the morning, so he stayed in my arms while I caught up on phone calls or leisurely reading. Then, when Crew went down for his nap after lunch, I snuggled Finn on the couch for a few more hours, sometimes dozing off myself. And the minute the older boys were in bed each night, Finn curled up on me for hours while I worked on my laptop. 

I did do the occasional house cleaning, laundry folding, children's book reading and spelling word quizzing. But for the most part, I soaked up every last minute of being relieved of most of my daily duties.

I knew all too well that the demands of our other children would take priority once Troy went back to work. I only had a small window to enjoy alone time with baby #4 and I took full advantage.

Today was our first day back to reality. It was brutal getting all four boys fed, dressed and loaded in the car by 8:30am for the school carpool. Blake cried on the way to school when he realized that his dad would never be home for such an extended period of time again. He sobbed, "I guess we'll see him at Christmas. And at nighttime. Well, maybe." Broke my heart.

When Troy walked in the door at 9pm, I relayed to him the details of my first day with four on the floor; the school drop-offs, Target run, car feedings, and pediatrician appointment that had us all burned out by the time preschool ended at noon. The after school homework saga where Crew climbed up on the dining room table again and drooled all over Blake's math sheet. The meltdown Nash had when Crew popped his beloved balloon he received in school. And of course, Finn needing to be fed the second we sat down for any meal.

I missed Troy more than ever today. Not just because he took so much weight off my shoulders the last two weeks. But also because I was getting used to having my best friend and moral support around. The shift from seeing him all day, every day to only an hour or two in the evenings is never an easy transition.

I missed my baby today too. I certainly didn't get to hold Finn as much as I have grown accustomed to. 

I suppose we all survived day one without any major catastrophes. But one thing is for certain. The blissful babymoon is officially over.

Epic 30th Birthday

I entered a new decade this week. I can't say I was looking forward to this milestone.

Not because I necessarily cared about the advancement in age, but because I knew that being nine months pregnant would limit any sort of celebration. And after a tough year, I didn't expect nor want a lot of fanfare.

Little did I know, my husband planned an elaborate evening to make sure I ended my 20s on a high note.

It all started on my birthday eve. Troy came home from work early (which never happens - I found out later that he didn't go to work at all that day) and was out in the garage on a phone call. I was preparing dinner as usual when he came inside and mouthed to me that I needed to stop and go get ready. I was halfway through the preparations and had ingredients spread across the counter so I couldn't just stop. He came in twice more and whispered to me to just leave it. I was so confused. Didn't the boys need dinner even if we were going out? Who was watching them? Where were we going? When were we leaving? And what did I need to do to get ready?

I finally got it out of him that the boys were taken care of for dinner and I had a half hour to get ready. I stuck the now fully prepared dinner in the fridge and attempted to "get ready." Had I known what was coming I may have put more effort into sprucing up, but it wasn't my actual birthday so I threw on one of my few dreaded maternity clothing options and called it good.

I was trying to get some more information out of Troy when Blake announced, "There's a HUGE car outside with lots of people in it."

We all headed out to find a stretch limousine parked diagonally across our driveway. I was completely thrown off when my father-in-law pulled in our driveway at the same time. What I gathered from the scene was that I needed to give him instructions for taking care of our boys, and Troy and I would be hopping in that limo.

Looking back, I did not have the best initial reaction for such an epic surprise. I think I've always imagined what it would be like to have a surprise party thrown for me and how I might react with a jaw-dropping gasp, or tears, or screaming, or something. But in that moment, my head was spinning in a million different directions.

I felt frazzled about the boys getting fed and ready for school the next day. I felt silly with my ginormous belly and frumpy clothes. I felt blindsided because I hadn't seen anything of this proportion coming. And then when I finally peeked in the limo and saw a bunch of my friends in there, I felt terrible because it was some of their kids' first day of school and I couldn't believe they would come out and celebrate with me instead of their own families.

Once the initial shock wore off and my complete lack of a visible reaction passed, I finally realized how completely amazing this night was going to be.

What I also didn't realize at first was that Troy wouldn't be coming with us. Since his dad came over to our house, I assumed he was babysitting. But then Troy started passing out sparkling cider and giving a few last instructions to the driver and it all made sense.

He had planned an entire girls' night out from start to finish and he would be staying home with the boys (as well as running around town to change reservation times and set up other aspects of the evening, which I found out later).

He gave me a stack of cards that spelled out our itinerary for the night. I was instructed to open one card after each stop we made.

I opened the first card and read:

Happy "I’m not excited to turn 30 so I’m going to celebrate my last day in my 20s instead" party day! As you can tell by the people that will be celebrating this night with you and the mode of transportation, you are supposed to cut loose and have a fun time. And I am counting on the rest of the girls to make sure that happens.

There are a few logistical items for tonight. There will be an envelope to open after each stop and one after you read this card. Each message needs to be read out loud by someone in the group and will send you to the next phase of the evening. There will also be a card with the address for the driver. Everything is already paid for so don’t worry about that. And don’t spend all of your time behind your camera tonight! Let other people take pictures for you.

Remember, let your hair down and go party like a 20-something year old!

We all filed out of the limo for a group shot before seeing what was in store for us. My friend Steph happily took over camera duties for the evening as per Troy's instructions (he knows me too well).

What made the night even more thrilling was that none of my friends knew what we were doing either. When Troy was emailing everyone to set it up, he described the celebration as "a fun girls' night out," but he didn't give any indication as to what we would be doing.

My friends were all just as shocked as I was when they discovered the limo at their designated meeting place a few blocks over.

Since none of us knew where we were going next, it made getting into the limo that much more exciting after each stop. The first destination card read:

Time to get this party started right with some good party props. Head off to Zurcher’s to get fully stocked. You’ll need to split up into groups of two and get everything in five minutes. Babe, you aren't in a group, just roam around and watch the fun. Every group has an envelope with a list of things they need to get and money to buy those items with. Anything left over get some fun stuff for the group.

Everyone set out to obtain party hats, candles, table decorations, and fun things for all of the girls and "birthday girl" to wear.

I think my friends officially picked out some of the most obnoxious accessories they could find. The balloons alone turned into a battle of Bre vs. the balloons within the confines of the limo.

They dressed me up in a ridiculous boa, crown, gloves, necklace and plastic bling ring.

The next card read:

It’s your birthday so I guess you get to eat where you most like, at least since I’m not with you, even if it isn’t a "real meal." Just don’t get anything sweet - that’s for later. And remember, no walnuts. While a limo ride to the hospital would make for a great story, it would mess up the rest of my plans.

In the envelope was a gift card to Zupa's, my favorite soup and salad restaurant. If a meal doesn't contain a large portion of meat, Troy doesn't consider it a "real meal." He typically boycotts those types of places.

We broke open the non-alcoholic bubbly while en route to dinner; living it up in true fashion.

My friends put on their crowns, necklaces and rings and we made quite the spectacle. From that point on, people everywhere asked us if we were having a bachelorette party. That gave us a good laugh considering how pregnant I was.

Troy scouted out the location ahead of time so they had a table ready for us to decorate. The employees made sure to let us know that our table was "in the back." Ha ha.

After sufficiently embarrassing ourselves at dinner and outside the restaurant, I opened the next card:

Okay, now that you have had soup and salad (both not a meal) you might as well just skip straight to dessert. The reservation is under Tanner. The only requirement is you have to light the candles and get sung to. And none of this everyone shares stuff. Everyone step up and order something.

Oh, and I want a picture.

We took a nice long limo ride downtown. I think our driver took the absolute longest route possible. We didn't mind too much since it gave us more time in our fancy mode of transportation, complete with the party playlist that Troy sneakily put on my phone to hook up to the speaker system.

We eventually arrived at The Cheesecake Factory in an upscale shopping center.

Troy knew us all too well when he indicated that we each needed step up and order a dessert. We probably would have shared two slices of cheesecake had it been up to us. We were all completely stuffed after our "non-meal," so we ordered our desserts in to-go boxes. We kind of forgot that the candles would be going in the to-go box slice instead of on a nice plate. And there wasn't enough room for "Happy Birthday," so we made do with "Happy."

It all worked out, even if the moment wasn't very picturesque.

After dessert, there was one final card to open:

Hope you’ve had fun tonight. I’d say it's time to hit the clubs but there aren’t too many clubs open on a Tuesday night. But feel free to start your own dance party!

The limo is yours until 10pm. Tell the driver to go up above the capitol building for some great views of the city or wherever else you want to go. I’ll see you when you get home.

Love, Troy

We drove up to the capitol building and recapped the night in awe of all that had gone into planning such an epic evening. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by such great friends. And imagining Troy arranging all of the details and keeping it a secret for over a month put a huge smile on my face.

We took in the panoramic view of the city on a perfect September evening.

And then it was time to hop in the limo one last time and call it a night.

I arrived back home only to find out that the evening was far from over.

My in-laws were at our house to watch the boys and take them to school the next day. Troy swept me away to a hotel downtown. He had packed everything up and checked in while we were out on our adventure. I was greeted with a vase of fresh lilies.

I was on an adrenaline high after such an exciting evening and it was a highlight of the night to recount all of the details to Troy. I felt bad that he wasn't there with us to soak it all in after so much planning, but it was also so much fun to talk for hours about how he had pulled it off and how each phase of the night played out. 

We walked to a darling bakery that I've been wanting to try the next morning and ate brunch on the sidewalk. We caught a movie and he sent me off for a pedicure. We topped off the evening with a family dinner and more candles to blow out with our boys surrounding us.

They say that 29 is the ideal age; the age that you tell people you are for the rest of your life. But I can't say that I'd ever want to relive the last year. I say, bring it on 30s. Let's do this.