Good times at the Organ

My latest calling in church is playing the organ. Our ward was very desperate when they issued the calling. Nonetheless I have enjoyed it as I get to sit up at the front and stare at people (one of my most favorite pastimes). But, I'm afraid more times than naught, I have been the recipient of many a stare. Here are a few organ stories:

*During the silence of the Sacrament being passed, Zannah decides to share some very important information with me from the pew: "MOM! I want to be a witch for Halloween!" I give her the shush sign and nod my head yes, hoping that will pacify her. "MOM!!! I really want to be a witch for Halloween, not an M&M!" I give her the thumbs up. "MOM!! I don't want to be an M&M, ok? I really, really want to be a witch!" The ward, including myself got it Z-meister.

*During prelude one Sunday, Max escapes from Marcus's grip. He just wants to tell me something and to sit with me on the bench, but not before he steps on every possible foot pedal he can.

*Today, I was feeling pretty smug after the Sacrament hymn as I had just finished the last verse with very few blunders. I even ended the notes right on cue with the chorister. Then there was silence. Too much silence. I look up and they are still breaking the bread and I am getting stares from the bread-breakers and the bishopric. So I clumsily start to play another verse of the hymn, but in my haste I play on the "Great" keys instead of the "Swell" keys, which was set really loud for the opening hymn of "Joy to the World". I barely get the first measure played when I notice they are now done breaking the bread. But, I am not too quick on my feet, or hands I should say, to end the song in any decent fashion. So I just play a really loud, boisterous Sacrament hymn solo with many mistakes mixed in because my sweaty hands are sliding all over the place. No staring for me today, I kept my head down.

Metta Miracle

Exactly one year ago my brothers were all at our house for Thanksgiving.  Marcus, Phillip, Lex, and Justin gave me a Priesthood blessing asking that my body would accept the medications I was about to start taking and eventually accept the embryo that would later be transferred.  That was the first of several blessings I recieved up until Metta was in my arms.  Looking back, I can easily recall the power I felt then.  It is pretty amazing that I am surrounded by worthy Priesthood holders and it is equally amazing that this little gal came to us.  And I can't leave out the fact that Swisser-pants gave me the first shot in the rump the following day and Ange-babe cheered us on.  Amazing sisters-in-law too.    

Ain't That the Truth

Marcus's contribution to our grateful tree we made for Family Home Evening.

Baby Eli

Mid-October we went to Pullman for baby Eli's baby blessing.  He is such an easy-going, happy baby.  And I'm not just saying that.  If you know Phillip and Ange-babe, you know they are happy and amiable and all that is good in the world.  Well, baby Eli is a perfect mix of them.  I couldn't get over how smiley he was.  And I'm not sure I ever heard him cry. 

Halloween 2013

 Quinton (one of Zannah's best buddies), Zannah and Max at her class party.

 Zannah riding her little broom out of a classroom during the parade.

 Metta and I on Halloween day.  She is so stinking cute.

 Trick or treating with friends.

Zannah was a good witch for Haloween.  Her class had a party/parade and Max and I attended. Max started out as batman and morphed into superman.  Yes his superman costume is a dress, what do you expect with an older sister.  Metta, Marcus and I were dress-up poopers this year.  I made it to Zannah's class party with camera in hand, so I felt like I had already succeeded this Haloween, costumed or not.    

Urban Farmers

We have chickens!  Friends of ours were moving and offered us their 4 chickens and their coop.  We couldn't pass it up.  Marcus was skeptical as I was the one who picked up that free kitten two years ago and then demanded he find it a new home a year and a half later.  I just couldn't handle the hair all over the stroller seats (where it slept outside) and the midnight escapades with other cats we could hear going on in our garage at night.  And to give credit where credit is due, Marcus was the only one who fed and watered Littlefoot.  But this time was going to be different, I had a back-up plan.  My dad said he would take them if we couldn't handle them.  I was just sure that this would be the perfect set-up to teach the kids a little bit of work.  We let them free-range all over the back yard for one week.  Too much poop everywhere!  So, we fenced them in the garden area.  It has been perfect.  The kids feed and water them each day and gather eggs.  So far, we get two eggs a day.  We were told in the summer that number will go up. 

They are friendly chickens and the kids can usually catch them.  They also composted all my leftover zuchinnis in the garden and eat most of our table scraps.  If you look at the last picture that is taken from my bedroom window.  That is the best part!  I don't even have to leave the house to oversee the kiddos feeding and gathering.  And I throw our table scraps right out the window. 

I like this urban farming thing. 

Metta's Blessing

Metta's blessing was November 3rd, 2013. Marcus gave her a wonderful blessing. We are used to blessing 6 month old babies, so she seemed so little. Grandma Dana made her a beatiful dress and bought her the most darling shoes. What a keepsake those will be. It was a delightful day with family and friends.

Zannah Mae

Zannah has really grown up the past few months. I don't know if it is school, or having a newborn sister, or just being 5 1/2, probably a mixture of all of the above. She gets home from school and goes straight to her markers and papers and writes and draws. Z is a huge help with Metta and tries to reason with Max during his tantrums. She still sets up parties galore and is still quite the socialite. She asks for friends to come over daily. She is fun to play board games and cards with. I find myself having a delightful time with her and it is wonderful.

Here are some recent quotes from her:

** "Chances are if you give a woman a cookie, she will ask for a glass of milk." Stated matter of factly after I give her a cookie.

** After I quizzed her about her first day at school, she tells me, "Mom, I made friends with a little girl crying in the hall, she doesn't have any parents or any home and her name is Sophia the First." "And all the kids in my class got red cards, except for me." (These statements made me a little worried that I would hear little truth for the rest of year, but she has calmed down)

** Said while I was changing Metta's poopy diaper, "I'll just stick to kissing babies, not ever changing diapers."

** We were cleaning out and bagging items to go to Goodwill, which got us on a conversation about donating toys we don't use anymore or having a yard sale. Zannah said, "I don't play with Max anymore, so we can sell him. Then he won't make trouble for us anymore."

** During the summer, Zannah went with me to an OB appointment where I had to pee in a cup. A month or so later, she and Max had to go with me to an appointment. We were waiting in the exam room for the doctor and Zannah said she needed to use the bathroom. It was right across the hall, so I sent her in by herself. She came back and said, "Mom, I did it!" "You did what Zannah?" "I peed in a cup and poured it in with yours." "Zannah I didn't pee in a cup yet." I ran out of the room to find the nurse coming out of the bathroom with a cup of urine in her hand. I said, "I am so sorry that is my daughter's pee." She said, "No it isn't, it is one of our patients, she just came out of the bathroom." I explained to her that Zannah had added her pee to someone's cup and I was pretty sure it was that one. Good times.

Everyday is Halloween for Max

This kid really likes to dress up. Here are a few Max Happenings and Sayings as of late:

**Max comes running to me crying and holding his finger. "Max, what happened to your finger" Max replies, "I bited it" "Why would you bite your finger Max?" "I thought it would be awesome."

**I was telling Max that in two years he would go to school like Zannah does. "Oh no mom, boys don't go to school. Only girls do. Boys stay home and find cows."

**His first reply to almost anything anyone says. "What? What you say?"

**Marcus came home for lunch one day and as he was leaving to go back to work Max says, "You wouldn't leave your buddy, would you?"

**"Mom, I keep my eye on the baby, now hand her to me."

**"Mom look what I have!" as he shows me some random object. I reply, "Awesome Max" "NOOOO!! You have to say that is cool and weird!"

**He is really into playing pretend games. He usually is some sort of animal and I have to pretend to be a mom (I guess I am not doing a good enough job playing a mom in real life). But, he is not just an animal, he is always a mad animal. Such as the mad dog, or the mad deer or the mad cat.

**Bless his heart, he has hit the terrible three's. I don't believe in terrible two's because so far in our house year 3 has always been the doozy. This is a real example of the tantrums we experience many times a day. "Max, do you want yogurt or toast for breakfast?" "ummmmh, I want toast" I hand him buttered toast two minutes later. "I DON'T WANT TOAST, I SAID I WANT CEREAL!!" As the toast is thrown at my head. It is hair-pulling-frustrating for all in involved.

Metta @ 2 1/2 months

HOly Cow, I love this girl and I love the newborn stage. Marcus doesn't get newborns, he prefers when they can play. I prefer when they don't move when you place them somewhere, they don't talk back, and they let you snuggle them all you want. Other than the sleep deprivation (which Metta is only waking up once during the night nowadays), it is a perfect stage.

I try to soak in every minute with her as I never know if she will be our last. Infertility is obviously tricky business when it comes to any sort of family planning. And I don't want to push Marcus over the edge. Three little kids is hard work. Add in the cost, emotional investment, cost, paperwork, medication, and cost of adopting traditionally or as an embryo, and I pretty much think Marcus is a saint for letting me do it 3 times. But, we all know how pushy, greedy and persistent I can be, so a 4th isn't totally out of the question :)

Back to Metta. I absolutely love this chick. She is long and skinny, think 90% in heighth and 25% in weight. She has a limit on her smiles, which really makes Lex all the more enamored with her for some reason. She makes you work for a smile and then will give 2, maybe 3 max in a row and that is it for a while.

She endures Max, and that is no easy feat. Max smothers her in kisses on her cheeks, eyes, hands, feet. I'm talking slobbery, gooey kisses that usually leave her squirming and a lot of the time screaming. She has

Zannah oohing and awwing over her all day, saying things like, "you are the cutest baby in the whole wide world", "when you get bigger I will teach you to draw and color and read and write" and "ahhhhh, baby Metta, don't be sad, it is your biggest sister, Zannah!"

At 2 months, she discovered her hands. It is so entertaining to watch her stare at her own hands for 20 minutes straight. Newborns just bring a whole lot of love with them when they come to earth and it is great.

May 2013

Cousin Ty's wedding.  MaKenzie graduated from highschool.  First swim of the year in Grandma Dana's pool. Kiersten's wedding. Girl cousins! Fun time in Malad. Kitten in the hood. Zannah finishes preschool. 

Metta Dorsey

Metta (just Metta without a middle name) was born August 29th at 10:02 pm. She was 6.4 lbs and 20 inches long and is absolutely adorable and perfect.

Marcus and I were at the hospital at 7:00 am to start the inducement. I chose to be induced for self-indulgent reasons such as: wanting her born before the school deadline of September 1st and I was also scared of pushing out a decent-sized baby and ample encouragement from my doctor. The pitocin was started about 8:00. Which did nothing more than cause my Braxton Hicks contractions to come at regular 2 minute intervals, but they were not painful, nor was I dilating anymore than I already was, which was 1 cm. The doctor came at 2:00 and broke my water, which was super painful. The contractions became real at that point and I wanted an epidural in a bad way. But, the doctor was worried it would slow the progress, so he wanted me to wait until I was dilated to a 4. I got in the tub, which didn't help much. I was feeling a lot of pressure and my good nurse fought for me and got an epidural, as she thought I would still progress. At 3:30 I got an epidural and shortly thereafter was in heaven. At 4:00 I was dilated to a 4. The nurse told me that normally you dilate 1 cm an hour, so we were thinking we had until 10 pm before I even started pushing. Shift change was at 7 pm, and my nurse checked me before she left and I was at a 10. The new nurse came in and we started pushing. Right before she checked me, I had told Marcus I was really tired and was going to take a nap. I wish I would have slept before the pushing began, by the end I had a migraine and I was exhausted. Metta had always been sitting very low, so we thought this was going to be a piece of cake. It turned into a marathon instead. With the exception of when I was vomiting, I pushed with each contraction (which were 2-3 minutes apart) for 3 hours! Her head was just not fitting under my pubic bone. At the 3 hour mark, my doctor came in because her heart rate was dropping. He tried vacuuming her out, but the vacuum wouldn't suction to her head because her head was too small. What the hay!! Her head was too small for the vacuum, yet wouldn't fit out of me. He then used the forceps and she finally came. The NICU team was in there just in case, but the doctor excused them as soon as she came out pink and crying. Marcus was a trooper the whole time. He isn't into the hospital stuff, but he did a mighty fine job at my side. He didn't want to cut the cord, so I asked if I could. I have now cut each of my 3 kids umbilical cords.

I was so, so happy to have her in my arms. Metta has a cute little cry, she sounds a lot like a sqeaker toy. She immediately pooped all over me and sucked on her arm.

I happily held her and visited with the nurses and doctor. And then I visited more with the doctor and visited some more. Why all the chit-chat you ask? My feet were still up in the stirrups and he was just a stitching away. I finally asked him if he was binding a quilt down there. He mumbled something about 3rd degree tear.......rectum......yadayadayada. I was still in epidural land and had Metta in my arms, so I just brushed that aside. Within 2 hours, I was wondering what the heck had happened. Yowzers, I didn't know if I was going to ever sit again and I'll spare you the details of my first several bowel movements. And I would do it all again (just not tomorrow)

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Have Some Steak

Wake up early from nap, stagger to the fridge and pull out large hunk of leftover steak.

Gnaw on said steak like it is completely normal.

Not even sure if he was really awake for any of this.