A little of this, a little of that

Our furnace died about a month ago. The electrical panel is fried. When it happened the house smelled like something was burning. I'm glad it didn't catch on fire because the house would be gone. Our furnace sits under the house in the crawl space. We've been heating our house with space heaters since then because we don't want to pay several hundred dollars to fix a part that might not fix the whole problem. The furnace is nearly 30 years old, so we're saving up for a new one. In case you're wondering, yes, the electric bill was really high this month. A week into our space heater days we came home one night to the house smelling like burned plastic. Then we found this:

We had a bad connection in this socket and all the extra amps caused it to get too hot. That's not even where the heater was plugged in. And let me just tell you, we must have guardian angels at this house because that burned up socket was behind a curtain and left a burned spot going halfway up the wall.

At the same moment that we discovered that socket, I got a text message from our renter in Tennessee saying that our house had been burglarized AGAIN. Last year the front door was kicked in and we had to replace the whole thing. This time they broke in the front window. Thankfully, we only had to replace the glass and not the whole window.

It's a good thing I have this adorable baby to cheer me up...

As if the baby wasn't cute enough by herself, Sarah decided that she needed a snugly bear to sleep with her. 

David is multi-tasking.

This is the lovely hair cut that Sarah gave to Kathryn.

Sarah didn't think it was too much of a problem to hack all of Kathryn's hair off. (I sure did!) This isn't the first time that she has cut someone else's hair and I wasn't really sure what I could do to teach her that it's not okay to cut hair (on anyone or anything).

Later that day.....

This is the haircut that Kathryn gave to Sarah's ponies. Kathryn said "They didn't like having hair in their eyes". 

 And here is how Sarah felt about it. It took all my self control to not laugh when she started sobbing over the cut hair.

Maybe, just maybe, she'll think twice about cutting someone else's hair again. In the meantime, Kathryn gets to buy Sarah a new pony...but not until her bangs have grown back to a normal length.

That sleeper is a genuine NMSU aggies outfit. (Un)fortunately, baby wasn't too fond of it. She always gets too hot in fleece unless we're outdoors.

At his 2 year check up, David weighed 28 pounds and is 33 inches tall -- around the 20th percentile for both. 

Green chile and cheese biscuits. Yum. (before baking)

Davey is helping make dinner. He made up this recipe by himself: combine spinach, salt, and a little egg. Whisk together, then pour it into the Bosch mixer.

She's all smiles! 

Sarah likes to get her hair braided now. Her favorite is a "crown" braid, or one that goes all around her head.

Davey wants to potty train. He likes to sit on the potty and wipe. He tells me every time he needs to go (or just went). Sarah thinks it's fun to help him go potty. (Hmmmm...maybe I can get her to train him?) He's still in a diaper for now, but come summer, we'll work on it full time and I'll bet it won't take too long. (I'm crossing my fingers).

Just a few pictures

Here are some more pictures of our little lady:

12 days old - this was her Sunday dress.

2 weeks old

She sleeps a lot and we love it. =)

I wanted to show some pictures of the other kids when they were babies so you could see how much they all look alike.

 Joseph, 4-6 weeks old (not sure exactly)

Kathryn - 2 hours old

David - 4 hours old

David - a few weeks old

Sarah - 2 1/2 (What a cutie! She looks like Eden.)

Kathryn - 2 months and already turning blond

Joseph - age 2

A (Not So) Brief Update

I've been meaning to post some pictures from Christmas but our other laptop (where I had the pictures stored) crashed two weeks ago and the hard drive was completely fried. Don't worry, I still have the pictures on my cell phone, so you'll see them eventually.

The kids have been back in school for two weeks but David has still been home because the college doesn't start classes until next Tuesday. He's been so helpful and it's been nice to be able to rest when I need it. David spent several days finishing up one of our big house projects. With the help of a good friend and his fancy power tools, David has successfully installed all the baseboards and door/window trims in our house. He also put up beadboard around Sarah's room (at 3 feet high) and the baby room (at 5 1/2 feet high). I love the way it looks! It's so nice to feel like everything is put back together again--our baseboards were pulled off over a year ago when we had the new carpet installed and we decided to upgrade from the plain, flat 1" stuff to something more modern and 4" tall. The next project will be painting all of that trim...but not for a few months.

I'm am growing larger everyday and recently hit an all-time high weight, even though I haven't gained as much as last time, I started out 15 pounds heavier. So, I feel huge and am ready for this baby to come...except that we're not totally prepared with the right car seats (to fit 5 seats in the van) or other things like that yet. My mom is coming out here next Thursday and will stay for a week. She will actually leave before my due date, but I'm really hoping (feeling pretty confident) that she won't miss the baby. Either way, having some help will be great, whether she's helping us prepare (making freezer dinners, etc.) or taking care of the other 4 kids while I take care of a newborn, I'm grateful for any aid I can get. I'm 37 weeks along now and I'll hit 38 weeks on Sunday-ish. We're planning another home birth as long as everything is going smoothly---and I hope and pray it does because the hospital here just seems so yucky to me.

I hope you are all having a wonderful 2012. Maybe my next post will be about our new baby. =)

P.S. Do you have any name suggestions for us? The kids have a name that they call her, but I am still undecided and don't have any middle names on a list either.
For first names, I prefer...
1. Very traditional names, or
2. Names that are part of our family history, or
3. Names of people we admire, and
4. Names with 2 syllables, (three syllable names are too long and always get shortened to nicknames, one syllable names often get lengthened when they are made into nicknames).

I don't want...
1. Ultra popular names (check out the top 10 names of 2011 for a list of names we won't use--at least not for a first name), or
2. Names that are too similar to Kathryn (Katie, Katelyn, Kaylynn, etc.), or
3. Names that don't translate well into Spanish (a kid whose parents both teach Spanish has a good chance of traveling abroad or living in a Spanish-speaking country during childhood, so having a compatible name is useful....my name is completely un-pronounceable in Spanish).

Okay, I think that's most of our my criteria. Middle names don't have to follow all the rules. So....any ideas?

4 + 1 = 5

 

Grandma Visits!

This was another busy and fun-filled week at our house. This week I have a lot of pictures, we'll start with one of Sarah - she likes to dress up, all day, everyday. This is classic: tutu with winter gear.

Location of old entrance - right in the middle of the living room wall.

New entrance, where the coat closet used to be.

Here is her messy room seen through the new doorway
and the air mattress that Rory used all week.

Monday - the work on the new entrance to Kathryn's room was completed, except for installing the new door because it was on back order. (The door was just installed today and it's great having a door again.) Classes started at the college and David went back to work--or rather, he went back to teaching. He is ALWAYS working! He is teaching two sections of Spanish 202 and an English course called "International Literature" that he's really excited about. That Monday night, David, Rory, and I ripped out all the remaining old carpet and pad. The dust and dirt was disgusting.

See how that dirt tracks up and over to the left?
That's where the entrance to Kathryn's room used to be.

Uncle Rory - earning his room & board for the week. =)
Just kidding, he was good company and willing to help.

Tuesday - The new carpet was laid in the morning, then Grandma Carol arrived right when it was finished. We picked her up at the Lewiston airport, which is less than two miles from our house. Sarah was so happy to have her visit that she told me that she "was too tired for school" and wanted to stay home and "take a nap" that day. She didn't sleep, of course, but enjoyed some one on one time with Grandma.

Our baby loves the bath more than any of our other kids.
He bounces up and down and gets super excited every time.

Wednesday - Cold and rainy weather kept us inside, but we enjoyed playing some games with Grandma. David taught his first Institute class this semester (Church History), then came home was sick for next 3 days.

Thursday - The sun came out briefly and it was warm enough to play outside. The kids and Grandma Carol had races down the driveway all morning. David slept all day - that's how you know he's really sick because he actually stays in bed.

Friday - Grandma flew home and Uncle Rory found an apartment.

Saturday - Rory, David, and I finished assembling the swing set the kids got for Christmas from Grandma Carol -- we wanted to have it set up before she came, but the weather had been bad, or David was out of town or sick. I read the instructions and let the guys do the hard work.

Sunday - Ward Conference this week. I was a bit nervous because the stake leaders sat and observed Primary the whole time. Then I went to ward council and had to give the spiritual thought with the whole Stake Presidency there. At church we found out my friend's little boy had broken his leg the night before. She's one of my counselors in the Primary presidency. Last week, my secretary's son had an emergency appendectomy.  I'm starting to get a little nervous that one of my kids will be in the ER next week. =) I hope not.

Today - We had the best weather (near 60 degrees) that we've had since early November. The kids didn't have school today, so we enjoyed playing and working outside most of the day. They helped me wash all the windows in our family room inside and out. They played on the swing set and in the mud. I took advantage of the warmer weather to do a little spray painting (it has to be at least 55 degrees and you have to do it outside). A friend recently gave me an old chandelier that she didn't need anymore. It was in great condition, but was that shiny brass color - so I spray painted it to an "Oil-rubbed bronze" color aka black with golden flecks. Now it will match our new door knobs and soon-to-be newly painted other light fixtures. =) I also spray painted our mail box dark blue. It was previously a rusting aluminum color. David had the day off - so he helped out around the house in the morning, then went into his office for the rest of the day. He says he gets the most work done on days like that because he doesn't get interrupted nearly as often.

I need to paint the door still.

Family Night

He stood up here all by himself.
He likes playing in the kitchen (this one AND mine).

Birthdays and Moving

It's been a busy month. After returning from our trip to California we had just over a week to find a new place, pack and move out. We've been in this short term rental for a couple of weeks now and things are settling down. I'm still behind on the laundry - but what's new? I swear, I was just starting to get that all under control and had everything so well organized and then we had to move again. We're only here in this new place until mid-October at the latest because this house is being sold at public auction.

We found a house in our price range with 4 bedrooms all on one level and made an offer on it. After much price haggling, we've finally got a purchase agreement and we're hoping to close on the house by October 1st. Then, the first order of business is to paint and install new carpet. After that we'll move in.

Now, back to Joseph's birthday... let's start at the beginning.

August 8, 2006 - This little stinker took 4 hours to push out. =( He was 7lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long and had great lungs.

He also was rather jaundiced. Here he is getting a little natural sunlight (just for a few minutes) when he was a couple days old.

This is one of the best pictures we have of him between the ages of birth to about 4 months. Let 's just say that he didn't photograph well during those months for some reason...maybe because he was so colicky that if he wasn't crying when you took the picture he looked as though he would start crying at any moment. Poor kid. (Poor me, actually...I don't think I slept more than 3 hours at a time for a full 4 months).

By Christmas (4-5months), he was sleeping more, I was sleeping more, and he was getting a lot cuter too. =) I decided that maybe we would keep him after all.

6 months old -- look at those chubby cheeks and compare him to David -

Definitely brothers. (That's little David at 5 months)

Easter 2007 - 9 months old. Sarah is 13 months here.

November 2007 (I can't seem to find the files of pictures from his 1st birthday...I'll add those later if they show up).

January 2008

March 2008 (Easter)

June 2008. He got the smalled little scratch on his nose in June that year and picked at it every night while he was falling asleep. It would scab over, then he'd pick it off until the wound covered his whole nose. Bandages on his nose never lasted more than a minute, so we resorted to socks on his hands, with tape around his wrists to keep the socks on. It took a week with the socks to get the scab all healed - all in all, I think he had that wound for 2 full months. He still has a little scar there.

July 2008 - This is when Grandpa came to visit after Kathryn was born. I think it was the first time they ate spaghetti and it was so cute to see them eat it and try to say it.

September 2008

Christmas 2008

February 2009 (Don't ask me what Sarah is doing with that towel).

July 2009 - they discovered the chocolate syrup in Grandpa's fridge and he made that perfect little mustache all by himself while he tried to make chocolate milk and drink it.

August 2009 - 3rd birthday. This is a train cake...kinda hard to see in the picture, but my first attempt at a creative cake.

December 2009

May 2010 - that's his remote controlled car and a new shirt from Grandpa. I love how blue his eyes are -- too bad the picture quality is so poor.

Now, August 2010 - I can't believe he's four. Here's the whole story of his big day (we celebrated a day early, so we could celebrate Krista's birthday on the 8th. They share a b-day but both needed their own day).

Here's the birthday cake I made. Not your typical, fancy blogger fondant cake - but he liked it. That's regular, ol' made-from-scratch powdered sugar & cream cheese frosting.

Here's the poster that David drew using markers. It's a Wiseman family tradition to make a big poster for birthdays. As you can see, this year's theme was Thomas the Train.

On Joseph's big day we went to a huge "castle" park (the kind with wooden towers and bridges, etc.) Aunt Krista came too. Little David was glad to get some attention.

Joseph thought this park was awesome. There were so many new things to see and do. Next we went to feed the ducks and geese, then he got to open his presents. He got soooo many presents because we were at Grandma's house.

The other kids got something too, and that helped them to not be so jealous.

The doll in the lower corner is not one of Joseph's gifts...just thought I should clarify that. =) He got Lincoln Logs, Cars, new Buzz Lightyear shoes and........ (drum roll please)......

A train track set complete with a Thomas engine, of course. =) Grandma and Grandpa had it all set up and did a fun reveal at the end of all the other gifts. Naturally, it was the favorite gift and he quickly forgot about everything else.

In the afternoon everyone went to see Toy Story 3 (except for me and the napping babies). Then he had his birthday day dinner and got stage fright when it was time to blow out the candles. He did NOT like having everyone sing to him while he sat there as the center of attention. He literally crawled under the table in the middle of the Happy Birthday song and refused to blow out the candles until Sarah and Daddy did it with him.

Since I'm posting this on September 8th, (maybe) I have to throw in a picture of little David, because he is 6 months old today!