neglectful mother

evan celebrated his birthday a week ago - april 25th - and i didn't even put up a post! lest i be accused of favoring my other children over evan, here is his birthday post:)

i say it with all our kids and i will say it again - where does the time go?? i remember like yesterday when evan was born. our biggest baby with all that dark hair! our 3rd little boy. what a sweet and adorable little baby he was - and what a sweet and adorable little boy he is! evan is still so cute and cuddly. he never forgets to tell me how beautiful i am and what a good mom i am - i hope he never outgrows those feelings:) - even when i'm not! he loves his older brothers and wants to be big just like them. we can't tell evan he isn't able to do something - he is too stubborn and independent to listen.

we love our evan!!

hooray for girls!

after 39 weeks and 5 days, our little girl is here!! born 2 days early (yippee!!), we welcomed paige jacqueline in to our family on april 30th at 2:57........in the afternoon! yes, one of our children arrived at a reasonable hour. i was able to recover from having a baby (which was fast and furious - can't believe i did that again!) before bed time and actually slept the night she was born. poor burton is still the odd one out - paige seems to favor jensen and evan in the looks department (atleast at this stage) - and is our only child that doesn't have an april birthday. funny how that worked out! burton was quick to remind me when i pointed this out that he was the only one born on christmas day which makes him extra special.

we are all enamored with little paige (paigey-face as evan has decided to call her) already and are so very thankful that our little girl made it safe and sound in to our home. we love her to pieces already!!

another evanism

i was just tucking the boys in, saying goodnight, giving kisses, letting them know how much i love them. after helping evan say his prayers, i gave him a hug and a kiss and told him what a good boy he is.

he smiled, looked at me and said, "thanks mom. and you're a good mommy too."

thanks evan - you just made my day

just so i can show off my handsome and adorable boys, click here.

am i really a bad mom??

that question has been running through my mind a lot in the last few days. here are my reasons why:
1. evan and jensen both look like they have been beat up. evan started it with a huge fall at a preschool drop in gym time at jensen and burton's school. he fell in to the edge of a bench in the gym and has got a black eye and skinned nose. jensen followed later that day with a head first tumble down the 4 cement stairs in our garage. yes, i said head first...or more accurately face first. he now has a huge goose egg on his forehead and several large scrapes on the side of his face. isn't the standard excuse for physical abuse, "i fell down the stairs?????" i hope jensen's teacher believed him when he told her what happened the next day!
2. yesterday we rode bikes to the park after school to play. well, the kids rode their bikes while i struggled to keep up, waddling as fast as i could. jensen and burton were well ahead of evan and i when burton had a huge wipe out on his bike. jensen, who was right behind him, proceeded to drive over burton's arm with his bike as he could not stop in time. a very kind young man, walking by, stopped to see if burton was ok and stayed with him until i made it down the hill with evan. i'm hoping he noticed my very large pregnant belly (really, how could he not??) and didn't think i wasn't running to my child's aid for some unkind and uncaring reason!!
3. also yesterday, i was taking burton and evan to the library to story time...what good moms do, right? we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things for supper on the way. because i only needed 2 or 3 things and i am very hugely pregnant, taking the effort to unload the kids out of the car and in to a cart just for a few items required much too much energy. SO, i "smartly" told burton and evan to stay in their seatbelts and i woul be super quick. after being in the store for maybe 4 or 5 minutes, i was on my way to get the last thing i needed and then pay when i heard over the PA system the following announcement:

"excuse me shoppers. there is a van in the parking lot with 2 small children in it and the alarm is going off. could you please go take care of your children."

as i made my way to the parking lot, i noticed a lady looking in the front window of my van. as i approached, she turned my way. i smiled, trying to be friendly. she looked at me without smiling and said, "your children are getting panicky in there," rolled her eyes and walked away. as the smile disappeared from my face, all i could think of was "well i would be getting panicky too if i saw you looking in at me!!" and i'm sure she was thinking, "and she's having another one??" i opened the door and evan said, "mom, i couldn't find you!" burton just giggled, thinking it was funny.

does anyone else have days or weeks like this?? hurt kids, errors in judgement, simple mistakes that all come crashing down, making me want to say that i really am a good mom...really!

i just hope our little girl doesn't change her mind about joining our family in the next 3 weeks:)

happy happy birthday

happy birthday jensen! yesterday was jensen's 7th birthday. wow - 7! he is growing up....which means i am getting older too!!!

jensen is such a joy in our family. he is kind and thoughtful and sensitive to others. his imagination has impressed brent and i since he was just little. he is always thinking and planning and coming up with something. jensen is learning so much at school and loves to read! he still really loves butterflies and all animals and still wants to be a zookeeper when he grows up. we had a rainforest themed birthday party this year and jensen helped decorate his rainforest butterfly cake.

jensen is growing up way too fast! it is exciting to see but also a bit sad:) we love our not so little boy so much!!!

smarty pants

evan and i were at the doctor's office yesterday. i had to go around the corner to get weighed (oh joy!) and evan stayed in the waiting room. when i came back in the room, evan said, "hi mom." i replied, "hi evan." he again said hi and so did i.

back and forth a few more times with evan getting increasingly irritated with my copying him. finally evan said to me, "mom, you're annoying me." clear as a bell. there was no mistaking his choice of words.

i laughed, of course. then i asked him if he even knew what that meant.

he said, "that means you need to stop it."

i barely suppressed my laughter this time as he was quite serious. yes, my almost 3 year old does know exactly what "annoying" means.

smarty pants.

home sweet home

brent and i just got home today from a 4 day stay in vancouver. brent was attending a dental convention there and i went along for the ride. we had a great time - not too long of a trip but long enough to relax, decompress, rejuvenate, and revive ourselves without our boys. it was fun to see some of the "old gang" from saskatoon - christy, sharon, jacquelyn and heidi - and do some girl stuff. LOTS of walking around and shopping, chatting, and even hitting the spa. did you know you can get a massage in your third trimester of pregnancy!!?? what a revelation!!!!!!! and how heavenly it was:) i really enjoyed all the girl time and being with such great friends. i didn't even miss my boys....too much:) needless to say it was good to see them this morning and give them all big hugs.

a BIG thanks to my brother, steve, who did a fabulous job of holding down the fort and entertaining 3 energetic boys for the days we were gone. burton's new favorite thing to say is, "steve rocks! steve rules! steve rocks! steve rules......" you get the picture. i am grateful my boys love their uncle steve as much as i do:)

evan just came out of his room, saw me, and came running with his arms open and a big smile on his face. he is supposed to be asleep but how can i resist when he is so adorable!!?? i guess he will be hanging out with brent and i for a bit:)

could you resist this?