Finally...In Which I Get Around To Posting...

I have not been inspired to write at all lately.  A couple of teenage girls from Oklahoma died in car accident last weekend and even though I didn't know them personally, I am friends with some of their friends so I was able to see all of their facebook posts/pictures which only added to the reality...that could be Ayris one day...that could be Ayris tomorrow...or myself or someone else we know.  SO, death pretty much sucks butt and puts me in a funk every time I'm faced with it.  OH, and then I watched an Oprah show about this mom who took her 3 kids to the mall and on her way home, she was sitting in traffic and got rear ended by a semi going 50+ miles an hour.  All three kids were taken to seperate hospitals and her husband got a call one by one saying that each of them had died.  Horrible right?  They were 5, 3, and 2 I think.  But Oprah assured us that there was silver lining....turns out, they got pregnant again with triplets...2 girls and a boy (same as before).  That is miraculous but it doesn't take away from the suckiness to begin with of losing all three of their children.  I seriously go crazy thinking about stuff when I get into one of these funks...for instance...there's a "long" way home and a "short" way home.  Probably a year ago, I asked the kids if they wanted to go the long way...it's literally 5 seconds longer but it's more "scenic" and it wraps you around the addition instead of just driving straight through it to our house...and I can't tell you how many times I've thought to myself, what if going the short way versus the long way could some day make all of the difference (like if we got into an accident going one way or the other) and I don't know why I just apply that in terms to these two options but I do...maybe because the long way winds around and has blind spots?  Then last night, as I was laying in bed, I was thinking about how I'm always worrying about the bad happening...what if we die because we went the long way and not the short way, etc...but I've never thought about the possible numerous times I haven't been in the wrong place at the wrong time...I've never thought about all of the times something could have happened but didn't because I left 10 minutes later than normal or just decided to stay home etc...I don't think any of us think about how fortunate we are on a day to day basis to be here...we only stop to think about it if we *just* make it out alive...like the people who were running late or called in sick on the day of 9/11...the whole idea of the butterfly effect is just creepy...and the fact that we'll never know what particular morning/day is going to be our last.

ANYWAY, this is serving as my kids baby book so I decided I needed to snap out of it and post some pictures before they're grown...

The many faces of Ayris...these particular pictures were taken right after she had won the Dora and Tigger memory game for like the 15th time.  Seriously, there's nothing like losing time and time again to a 4 year old...when literally all you're expected to do is remember a few pictures on some cards!  She's as sharp as a tack though and WAY smarter than I was as a kid (and I was smart so she's just THAT good =)...needless to say, I have high hopes for this one being able to manage the family once I'm too old to do so...







Seriously, this kid, as all the others before him, is like 96% head and 4% eyes, nose, ears and mouth =) The way he's turning and with his bib though, it kind of looks like he's in the barber's chair...





Okay, so I know this picture is blurry but I still love it for some reason...he just looks so confident...like he's modeling and knows that he has it going on. These were those buttless pajamas...they didn't make as cute of pictures as I'd hoped...I needed him to be walking for them to work how I wanted them to and it turns out he's busting out of them in a 12 month size...so, I don't think we're going to make it another 7 months until he's walking to get the butt picture...





Adler in his Dallas Cowboys Onesie/Hat...



He's just started doing this thing with his lips where he turns them inward...Chris pointed out that he's doing it when he laughs now too...



Doing it again...oh but look at those cheeks! Couldn't you just eat him up!!!



This next picture...Ayris made her very own pink cupcake, with purple frosting, pink sprinkles and a cherry on top...all her idea...this girl could be SO many things when she grows up! (As I was just reading this through, I had to laugh...other people who aren't moms could be reading this thinking "Dude, she made a cupcake...she didn't invent the wheel" BUT it's not just about her colorful cupcakes...she's very good at putting these crazy delightful outfits together...she's super smart and full of knowledge...I'm envious of her memory...she's extremely creative...the list goes on and on...but it's not solely because I'm her mother...if she were someone else's child, I'm sure I'd think the same thing..."Oh the places she will go...") And in the second picture, it looks as though Adler has been having a few cupcakes himself...popping those buttons off his 12 month outfit!



Instead of those yummy cupcakes, Adler is now getting lots of homeade baby food...yea for something I'm sticking with! My three big things I wanted to do with this pregnancy was breastfeed (finally gave up at 1 month because I wasn't getting enough milk), cloth diaper (that lasted like 2 seconds once I realized how much work and extra laundry there'd be AND the fact that his then 3 month butt was more like a 12 month butt in clothes) and lastly, I wanted to make my own babyfood...well score one finally because this is something I can do for Adler and I feel good doing it...and it's super simple to cook stuff up and then freeze it in these little cubes...AND I have a book chalk full of recipes that add stuff like cumin and other spices that will aide in creating a bigger palette for him in the future?? AND the picture on the right...I was so giddy when I opened the mailbox and saw 2 different sets of halloween cards for my THREE children =) It's the first holiday since Adler has been born so it kind of hit me...well there was July 4th but seemingly, no one sends cards for that one =) I also got a little twinge of happiness the other day because I've had Adler's big boy carseat installed for the past few weeks because his legs are hanging out of his infant carseat but I've had to carry him a few times when shopping because he's not readily sitting up in a cart...anyway, the other day, I decided to move Asher's carseat to the back row with Ayris so I could use Adler's infant carseat (and leave his installed carseat in at the same time) while we ran some errands...and with all 4 carseats in, it hit me that one day, the entire back car will be filled with kids (it doesn't feel full yet)...and if that weren't enough...look at all of us here! Me and all my babies =)



Yeah, it's not the most flattering picture...(I was laying on the floor with cramps sent from the devil himself (I'm not kidding, I would at times have to drop to my knees just to get through them...I felt like I was in labor minus the drugs...is that normal people?) I do know that I will be on the pill after I'm done having kids until my uterus falls out because I don't plan on dealing with menstral cramps ever again after we're done having kids) BUT that's what I look like 90% of the time anyways AND just seeing all of us laying there takes away from the ugly =)

Asher has said some things lately to Chris that he wanted to make sure got on the blog baby book:

Asher: Look I have a penis...
Chris: Yes, I see that...
Asher: Sometimes it stands up...
Chris:  Yeah, they'll do that...
Asher:  It stands up to look for food...Penis food.

A few days later...

Chris: Remember what we were talking about last night, did you ask mommy yet?
Asher: Yes.
Chris: What did she say?
Asher: She said be quiet.

Asher never asked me anything so I didn't have the opportunity to respond in that way, BUT, in his defense...I AM consistently telling the kids to be quiet =)