Breakfast!

(A double-yolker!)

This morning after everyone else had rushed out the door to school or work, Butler, Ricka and Hal had fried eggs and sausage patties for breakfast. While they ate, I asked Butler, "So, do you like having chickens?". It was clear by the way he was savoring his breakfast, that he definitely liked having chicken eggs.

"Yeah," he replied, "because now we get lots of eggs and we can have eggs and sausages for breakfast!". Then after another bite and some quick thinking he asked, "Where does sausages come from?". "Pigs." I told him.

He was quite for half a minute or so, then wiped his plate with his toast and exclaimed, "So, if we get some pigs, they will lay sausages?!?" "No," I began, doing my best not to disappoint him, "you have to kill pigs to get their meat which you can use to make sausages from." Apparently, that was acceptable, but he was still trying to work something out.

Then, he had it! "How about we can get pigs so we can have our own sausages?!" Of course that would be the perfect solution, but I had to tell him we wouldn't be ready do that for a long time probably. But, we can still eat eggs for breakfast in the meantime.

(MaranX, Orpington, Sussex, Leghorn)

Dream Job...

For a little boy who lives to see if 'it' can be broken - this is heaven!

Now he wants to trade in all his chore money to buy more 'cause I told him $4 a bag (that I'm pretty sure was less than a pound) was just too expensive for me to provide him with a full time job of hammering.

Mr. Nutcracker.

'Makes me wish, for a minute, I was little again... sitting on the fireplace hearth with a 50lb feed sack full of walnuts to crack... persimmon cookies (made with the mushy persimmons that no one in the stores around here has ever heard of)... So many pomegranates you could juice them and make cases of jelly (instead of choking at the thought of shelling out over $1 each!). Rain at last... grass turning green...mud boots... new calves... fresh milk... waiting for somebody else to get up and build a fire before getting out of bed and making a mad dash to get dressed in front of the fire... walnut pie... churning butter... dancing by the light of a single gas lamp, on the braided floor rug... walking on pineapple juice cans. Yes, the memories of Fall - they could be a post by itself!

Learning the Ropes

"You missed a spot here, Mom."

Hal has moved up in the Janitorial Ranks around here from Master Floor Sweeper (he does a better job than my kitchen broom) to Chief Dishwasher Inspector. He even tries to help out by making sure all dishes in his jurisdiction have been licked clean- I have such helpful sons!

Speaking of sons... PC got lost in the barnyard before school this morning (he was 'checking on the chickens'). He almost got left behind and all he had to say for himself was, "I forgot it was a school day!" This was slightly alarming as yesterday he almost missed breakfast before school. Instead, he barely made it back from the barn with enough time to wolf down his waffles before it was time to go. He's been banned from the barnyard before school for a while now...

And Butler learned today, that when gathering eggs, one must not 'clink' them together on one's way back to the house, regardless of how exciting it is to be the egg-finder of the day. Some chickens lay more fragile-shelled eggs than others and some eggs will not survive 'clinking'. I'm not sure if anyone will break his 13 broken eggs record anytime soon! :)

Telling me all about it!

Butler's Other Life

So, we were having breakfast this morning after Sir and the big kids left, and Butler started this rambling narrative without even pausing for my interaction. I did interrupt him a couple of times to clear up a point I didn't understand or to establish that maybe he was telling me about a dream he had (which he firmly denied because "dreams aren't real, and this weally did happen!"). After the first two sentences or so, I knew I needed to grab my pencil and paper and do some serious short hand. This is what I got:

"Mommy, once upon a time, a cougar catched me. When I was in a tree." (I interrupted him here to ask what the cougar did with him when it caught him.) He continued, "Actually, it was a nice cougar. I was falling down and it catched me. I was hanging in a tree - like a monkey! I did NOT climb the tree" (I wanted to ask him how he got into the tree at this point, but he was already moving on). "It was when I was a little boy. When I didn't have a daddy and mommy or kids. I just had a friend. I mean, I had another brother." (I had to ask about this other brother - "What was your brother's name?") "His name was John, I think. Maybe it was Shiloh... or something." Then as if he remembered something really important, he exclaimed, "EVEN - it was when we could drive a Ye-Haul truck or a car- I mean a truck! When I got catched by a cougar. And then we played soccer-ball. And then, we came in the house and eat." Then he finished his last bite of cereal, asked me if he looked messy, cleared his place and went off to wash his hands and face.

He's always been my Lions, and Tigers, and Sharks, and Whales and Collapsing bridges, tall tales boy, but now it looks like Cougars have joined the ranks. I love it!

At Long Last...

"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only."
James 1:22

Well, Butler is now 2 years and 4 months, and I'm just getting his pictures out. At least his 2 year pictures were taken on his birthday (which is pretty good for me), but I've been working on getting everyone else's late pictures out, and now it's finally Butler's turn.

I spent waaay too much on these pictures, but I really loved some of the other poses. They conveyed quite a bit of Butler's personality, but you couldn't see his face. BUT, the good news is, that I was able to put the usually useless 'mini size' pictures useful!!! I love practicality. I cut the little mini size pictures down and glued them onto the pictures where you couldn't see my little man's face, and the result was 16 extra wallets that are little collages! After all, who really wants a mini picture any more? This way, I get rid of the mini pictures for a change, and whoever gets the pictures, gets two for one!

Anyway, Butler is always on the go. He loves to jump - off of things, that is. And the higher he can go, the better. One of these days he's gonna break something and I don't mean his surroundings. He's very opinionated, and everything has to be according to how it was first ordained. Woe to the sibling who thinks they can get away with compromise when Butler is around! But he's also very sweet, and can be quite a little charmer when he feels like it. Particularly if I'm slicing olives or kiwi's or avocados. He's happy to flutter his eyelashes and give me a kiss for every single morsel he can wheedle from me. I'm enjoying it while I can, because one day he's going to be too grown up to give me spontaneous baby hugs or great big slobbery kisses.

I especially love his latest phrase of encouragement directed to me. If I'm doing something he thinks is commendable such as helping him zip up his jacket before he asks me to, or if I'm bringing an armload of firewood inside, or sometimes even if I'm just checking whatever dinner is cooking in the oven, he'll say in almost an awe-struck tone of voice, "Good boy, Mommy! Good job!!" Hey, I don't care if the shoe doesn't fit all the way... I'll wear that one any day!

However there are a few angles of Butler that are not so sweet and adorable. In other words, you can definitely tell that he's two years old sometimes. Some of the battles we have leave me wondering if we'll ever get through this stage. Sometimes I can't decide if he's actually more of a handful than the previous kids at this age, or if I'm just busier and it just seems that way. Maybe it's a combination of both. The good thing is, it is a phase, and eventually we'll be on to the next one!

Anyway, while I was posting pictures of Butler, I thought I might as well include the previous set that got lost in the chaos of life. These were supposed to be his 18 month pictures, but the one weekend in May that I could have gotten them taken on, snuck up on me by surprise and I just didn't get it done. Then I played the 'wait till the schedule is a little free-er' game, but things weren't slowing down any.

Before I knew it, Ricka had come early and it was all about adjusting to one more addition. I finally got Butler's picture taken in the middle of July (right when it was time for Ricka's one month pictures and PC's 5yr. pictures) and he was already 20 months old. So close to 2 years, that it almost seemed pointless, but I figured I'd probably wish I'd done later on if I skipped them. Then it took me so long to get them ready to give away, it was already time for his 2 year pictures so I put them away and still have the complete package. Kids grow so fast, their pictures get outdated without any help from me, but here they are anyway.

Butler's 18mo (actually 20 months)Picture

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
2 Corinthians 6:2

Baby Steps

Today was like my birthday. Not only did Lily watch my kids all day long, but Chasm's Lady sent supper over and Aunt Casey spent all day helping me unpack stuff that's just been getting shoved from one room to another! We worked on the stuff I've been procrastinating on unpacking because I didn't have enough time to focus on finding spots for it and putting it away!! I found so many thing I've been looking for too. Dry erase markers, the yard waste calendar, yard waste bags, the 'play' sprinkler, my small bottle of vanilla extract and the grocery list pad that has a magnet for sticking it to the fridge just to name a few! We got picture frames hung, kitchen cupboards more organized, a box of stuff collected for goodwill and even the curio cabinet curios finally in the cabinet. And we sorted out the stuff that needs to go to the storage unit from the stuff that can be put away here so I can make a trip out to the storage unit tomorrow. It's progress, and it feels so good! The Bird Room looks like it lost a ton of weight, the living room is down to just a few boxes, my room is almost box free and there's only a handful of boxes left here in the middle room. Getting so much done was wonderful, but all the help was even dearer. I'm often reminded of what a loving God cares for me by the people He's put around me who are so selfless. It's nearly overwhelming at times.

Butler took his first steps today! I caught him playing in the toilet and I think he was trying to get out of trouble and wasn't thinking as he dashed towards me taking at least 6 little steps before crashing into my arms. By the time he went to bed even he knew what he was doing and would take a step, catch his balance again and then take another before trying to dash/lean and toddle into my arms. I totally forgot to address the 'playing in the toilet' issue in all the excitement of coaxing him to walk. I'm sure the matter will arise again. This wasn't his first visit to the toilet bowl as I've often found toys floating in the water once the culprit has moved on.

And PC is on his first Sleepover. Aunt Casey took him home with her - it's been planned for a few weeks now and PC has been looking forward to this weekend so intently, it's been a blast to watch. This morning he woke up and told me, "Mommy! I get to go to Aunt Casey's house today!" "I know!" I enthused then he continued, "But I need to wear long pants because Uncle W and I are gonna make fire and I need to be safe." He called me before going to bed tonight to tell me that after dinner they went and "saw a lot ah lot of airplanes!" landing. My little shadow is growing more and more independent all the time. Sometimes bittersweet for me, but really it's a good thing for him. I just need to get all the hugs I can while he still offers them!

Anyway, it's getting late, and I'm tired. Last night all four kids were up between 4 and 5am because I accidentally missed the charger when I put our cordless baby monitor down on my nightstand. Consequently, I didn't hear Butler wake up the second time because he was still hungry, and I didn't hear him wake PC and Emma up and I didn't hear Emma wake Dolly up until they were all wound up and I finally tuned in to the commotion from the other side of the house. When I rushed to the rescue, I found PC shining his flashlight for Butler "to make him be happy" and while I started settling the boys down I could hear Dolly telling Emma that she (Emma) was just pretending to be scared which only upset Emma all the more. So, I left the boys which didn't make Butler happy and took care of the girls before going back and addressing the boys. By the time they were all quiet, I was finally awake and it was starting to get light out so going back to sleep was a little tricky at first. At least they all went to bed without any fuss tonight!

And now, I'll follow suit!

Butler's 1st Portrait

"After that, He was seen of James;"
1 Corinthians 15:7

As Butler is two months old today, I figured I should probably post his one month picture sooner than later. In this picture, he was 1 month and 4 days old, but that was just because it was easier for me to take him in on a Saturday when Sir could watch the other kids than for me to drag all four of them in on the actual 1 month anniversary.

Because of the holidays, I think the photography places work faster to process pictures. In any case, the pictures were ready for pick up in ten days as opposed to the usual 3 weeks. This was really nice, since it helped me make up a bit of time catching up on getting my kids' photographs sent out to family.

At one month old, Butler was smiling in response, and would even smile at you in order to get you to play with him. He was getting better at sleeping, but still hadn't figured out that ALL night is for sleeping. At his first check up, he had gained 2 pounds and grown almost an inch.

Now Butler is 'goo'ing and 'uhh'ing at anyone he can capture for a conversation. It's so much fun to watch him. Especially when he gets really excited and tries with every bit of him to make a more 'difficult' sound like 'gee' or 'buh'. He smiles even more easily than before, and has the funnest sense of humour. If he finds something funny, his right eyebrow will raise slightly and he'll crack a half-smile. Sometimes I think he's almost trying to hide his amusement, because he can really beam the smiles when he wants to. And he almost laughs - he gets all the actions right, but doesn't come up with any sound.

Next week is his two month check up, and I know he'll have made another huge leap in the growing department. He recently outgrew another handful or two of outfits and I have a sneaking suspicion that he's too big for his size 1 diapers now too (they go up to 14lbs).

Anyway, if I go on too much longer this won't get posted until another day and I've already been working on it since Monday!

Smiles and Smugglers

I tried getting a picture of Butler smiling the other day, but I kept getting the tail end of the smiles in my pictures. By the time I thought that maybe taking a video would work, he was getting bored, although I did get a whole smile that way. There's two smiles in the video below and Butler even added a few words of his own. He was trying to convince me to pick him up since it was time for his breakfast and he'd been waiting very patiently for his turn regarding my attention. I apologize for any dizziness caused by my video skills.

Good Morning Baby

Last night I was getting the kids ready for bed. It was Dolly's turn in the bathroom, and when I checked on her I found PC in there at the sink with his pajamas unsnapped. "PC! what are you doing in the bathroom- WHY are your pajamas unsnapped? Do you need to go potty?" I grilled him. He shook his head and I started snapping his pajamas back up. Two snaps started he said, "I can do it Mommy! Please can I snap it?" Dolly was out of the bathroom by then so I nodded and stood up watching him. "Don't watch me, Mommy - I can do it." he insisted, so I glanced down the hall to see who else needed attention. Then PC closed the bathroom door. I opened it and he insisted as he tried closing it again, "Don't watch me, Mommy. I want to do it myself." I let him mostly close the door and then I headed to the kids' bedroom to supervise the 'getting the toys out before bedtime' process.

A few minutes later PC stepped out of the bathroom smoothing his snaps and asked me, "Are they all done right, Mommy?" I nearly exploded in hysteric laughter, but managed to gulp back my guffaws, pull on a mostly expressionless face and answer, "Yes, they're all snapped right. Now, come with me." I reached for his hand and led him (bulging pajamas and all) to my room where Sir was waiting to say goodnight to each of the children. I said to Sir, "We have a S-M-U-G-G-L-E-R here, and he needs to say goodnight." Then I got to watch Sir control his urge to explode in laughter before he addressed PC.

Sir: PC, are you ready to say 'goodnight'?
PC: Yep.
Sir: What do you have in your pajamas?
PC smoothing his snaps with his free hand: I don't know.
Sir: PC, I can see you're hiding something in your pajamas.
PC checking his snaps again: How?
Sir: What do you have in your pajamas?
PC: I don't know.
Sir: That's not the truth. Give me the sippy cup and get into bed.

Sir and I were cracking up so badly through all of this, we couldn't properly address the situation, so we settled on keeping the cup and sending PC to bed without the 'drink all the water you can before bed' step of the bedtime process. While I was trying to stay out of sight because I couldn't keep a straight face during Sir's conversation with our son, I managed to snap a shot of the guilty party. It's not the greatest picture because I turned the flash off to avoid disturbing them and I couldn't stop shaking with laughter when I took it.

Thriving

In spite of Butler's claims every 10th day or so, he is NOT starving. We saw the Dr. on Tuesday for the 1month check up and Butler had gained 2 pounds and grown 1¼ inches all in 3 weeks!

I was relieved knowing that it wasn't all 'just in my head' when it came to the size of my youngest. At different points over the last month, I'd thought Butler was either 'gearing up for a growth spurt' or I just wasn't drinking enough water. I figured it must be me and the water option in the end because it happened more than just at the 2 and 4 week marks. But I wasn't entirely satisfied with my conclusion - he was also, it seemed, outgrowing his clothes. I really didn't have a explanation for the half-filled diaper box of baby clothes that wouldn't fit my son. Especially since they were the same clothes the other kids wore at his age and not just more clothes in general.

Anyway, after the doctor's appointment I went home and checked the shot and growth records I had for all of my kids and this is what I found:

Dolly, born 8 lbs, 12oz was 12 lbs, 7oz at 2months.
PC, 7 lbs, 6oz at birth was 11 lbs, 14oz at 2months.
Emma, born 9 lbs, 10oz was 11 lbs, 4oz at 2months.
and Butler, born 9 lbs, 8oz was 11 lbs, 4oz at 1 month old.

I didn't have 1month weights for all of the other kids to do a more accurate comparison so it will be interesting to see how big Butler is at his 2month visit. Other than that... I got some real smiles from Butler Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday evening. It was so much fun to see him respond - now just to catch a picture of it!

Getting Used to Normal

So much for posting anything in a 'day or two'. At first I was procrastinating because I hadn't chosen a blog name for our youngest - who will be henceforth called the Butler (there's a story to it, but I'll get to that). Then it seemed we were catapulted into normal life.

Anyway, here's a rundown of the last 8 days.

Sunday the other kids spent with Grandpa and Grandma C. and went to meeting like any other Sunday. Except for when Sir went and got them for a quick visit to meet their little brother before returning them in time for naps. They came back later when Grandpa and Grandma C. came to visit that evening before the hospital visiting hours were over.

I didn't get any pictures of the initial reactions, I don't think I could have really, it was hard enough to watch three little peoples' faces at the same time without worrying about getting a 'good picture'. Dolly walked in all bubbly with excitement - she knew what she was going to find and couldn't wait. I think she remembered seeing Emma for the first time. PC came in, all eagerness and almost in a state of amazement at the wonder of actually seeing this 'baby' he'd been asking for for so long.

And Emma - well, I wondered what her reaction would be and it was priceless. She came in, curious - probably more because the other two kids were so excited than any other reason. Sir lifted her up beside my bed where I was holding the Butler, and the look of shock/reality/irreversibility of this new thing in her life that flooded her little face was incredible. It was like it finally sunk in that this 'baby' we'd been talking about for so long was another person that was going to be part of her life - forever. In a few seconds, she recovered her composure, and was all excited like everyone else seemed to be.

We had enough time for each of the kids to hold Butler (I did get pictures of that) and then Sir had to whisk them back to meeting so they'd be able to take their naps.

Dolly's turn


Proud PC



Little Miss Emma

By the time we got checked out of the hospital Monday, it was just after noon. Grandpa and Grandma C. were keeping the older three until after their naps, so it was just three of us for the afternoon. I was still on an adrenaline high and kept tidying up bits and pieces of the house. I think I finally unwound enough to take a nap, but it wasn't very long in the end. Grandma C. brought supper when they dropped the kids off - one of my favorite meals actually, so it made the first evening at home pretty simple.

Tuesday was the really slow/lazy day that first week. Sir was home from work and Grandma C. and Uncle A came over for the morning to help out. They brought supper with them so I got spoiled by no cooking again. I took a nap, and sorted through the baby clothes. Being able to put the baby girl clothes away and narrowing the boy stuff down to the sizes we'd be using for the next while really made a difference in the functionality of the living room. Wednesday I did laundry and bathed kids like usual and we took Butler to meeting for the first time that night. After that, the week whipped into a blur.

Holding Butler at home

Thursday Sir went back to work, and PC had a speech appointment in the morning which I'd totally forgotten about until Sir checked his calendar Wednesday night. Thankfully Grandma C. had planned to come over and was able to stay with the rest of the kids while PC and I went to his appointment. She brought supper again and had lunch all ready to eat when PC and I got home. That afternoon Sunflower dropped by with a casserole supper and some DVDs that her kids had outgrown. The casserole made a great lunch on Sunday and the DVDs have been quite a luxury when it comes to keeping the older kids happy while I'm busy with Butler. Friday, Sir worked from home since I had scheduled flu shots for him and the older kids for that morning. Then we had enough time to come home and have lunch before I dropped Dolly, PC and Emma off at Lily's house and headed back to the hospital with Butler for his well-baby check-up. He had gained an ounce from his going home weight, so the doctor was happy. When I picked up the kids after naps that afternoon, Lily sent supper home with me!

Saturday, I took Emma in for her 2yr pictures (a month and a half late). She was finally facially intact on a Saturday. I've had to cancel picture appointments twice since her birthday due to how she manages to crash into something and end up with a bruised or otherwise marked face. Of course we'd been home from her appointment all of 30 minutes when she ran into the doorway of her room with the whole side of her face, so I was glad we'd finally gotten the pictures done already. Aunt Knittery came by with supper that afternoon, and brought a paint set that the kids completely fell in love with - they've spent hours playing with it and we haven't even had it for a week yet!

The little-ests

Sunday we were still adjusting to getting four kids ready to go somewhere and into the car with enough time to get anywhere on time. That has been the biggest difference I've noticed between 3 and 4 kids so far, but we're slowing getting the feel of it.

By Monday (yesterday), I was a walking wreck due to lack of sleep. Butler does not like to eat and get it over with like the rest of my kids did. Or at least, so far he hasn't seen the necessity of it. He likes to take an hour or more to have a meal taking a few cat naps throughout. It makes for a really long night between 11 and 4 when he mixes that in with 'awake time', tummy aches from gas and sharp-edged bubbles that refuse to be burped out. One of these days we'll work out a functioning system, but until then, my sanity seems to depend on how well the older kids take their afternoon nap thus giving me a chance to sleep as well. HisLady brought supper over for me that evening, and when Sir got home from work, I got to leave the older three kids with him and join the ladies at Lily's house for a 'Ladies' Spa Night'. It was so much fun and SO relaxing to be anywhere without hearing "Mom-my,...". Definitely a treat!

So, that basically concludes our first week with the Butler - I've been spoiled rotten and haven't had to cook a supper for quite a while now. I'm sure it'll be quite the shock to actually have to do something one of these days, but it has been nice. In fact, our kids have taken to asking at each meal, "Mommy, did you make this food? or did you just warm it up?" Once they've discovered where it came from they'll finish with, "Thank you for making/warming up this food!". It's really cute to see them resolve to thank the cook the next time they see her, but I have a feeling they usually forget in favour of playing with their friends!

The story of the Butler:
When I met Sir ten years ago, it was when he was traveling places with Chasm. His friends called him Sir - evidently it'd been his nickname for years already. Anyway, Sir and Chasm each had an imaginary 'servant' - I think the guys claimed Winston and James to be butlers - possibly chauffeurs, although from the way they talked to and about these servants, they seemed more like the personal servant that a nobleman of old often had. Winston was Sir's servant and over the years he'd drifted into the dusty archives of memory where Sir and I all but forgot about him entirely. Then we picked out a boy's name for our baby, had our second son, and named him. Two days later... it dawned on us that we had our very own Butler. And that solved the blog name search for our newest little one. He will be referred to here as the Butler, or probably in most cases just 'Butler'.
The end.