Wild Children

I've always been told that if you can have three children than any more after that doesn't make much difference.  I beg to differ with that statement.  Three kids was managable for me, it is four that is pushing me off the cliff into craziness.  Hayes is really a good baby but it is the time consuming factor that is killing me.  It seems like everyone needs something all at once.  Every time I sit down to feed Hayes (which is the ONLY time I sit during the day) someone else is crying or yelling for me.  Hagen insists that I am a jungle gym while I am nursing and the sensation of being claustrophobic overwhelms me.  Hagen also takes advantage of my weakness when I am feeding by using this time to be naughty.  The other day he was using the bathroom and before I knew what was happening had plugged it.  When I asked him what he put down there he answered "a huge, huge, huge pile of toilet paper!" The use of a plumbers snake was required for that one. 

I feel like my older kids are neglected.  They still need me a lot and especially in the evenings.  My hardest time of day is from 4-7.  Homework needs done, dinner needs fixed, Hagen is whiny and tired, and the kids want to tell me all about their day. This is usually the time of day that Hayes decided to be fussy as well.  It is mass chaos and I feel horrible that that is what Kallie and Cole get every night.  Maybe one of these days I will be better able to handle four kids! As for now, we will keep trudging along!

In the midst of all the madness, we are still able to capture a few wonderful moments.  Hagen loves to have the clean laundry fresh from the dryer dumped on him.  My mom used to do this to me too! He lays under the heated towels perfectly still and then giggles as he kicks them off once they have cooled!

Cole is usally out the door to play within minutes of being home from school.  I have decided to let him play before homework since it gets dark so early these day.  He and Preston spent hours breaking the ice in the canal and catching these little fish.  They thought I would let them keep them in the kitchen sink which I did not, but snapped a quick picture before I ushered them back outside. 

We finally let Hayes bath in the big tub with the boys.  He loves his bath and will lay and enjoy it as long as I let him. 

Kallie spends the majority of her free time playing school with herself and working on new hairstyles for her doll.  She is becoming pretty good at the hair thing. 

This is cute little Brookie with Hayes.  Kallie gets so frustrated when she has friends over and all they want to do is hold the baby. 

These two on another great hunt! This day they came home with a muskrat from the canal that they shot with a bb gun. Or so they say.  Im thinking it was probably already dead.  I love watching these two play and hope they can always be best friends.

Norman the Mormon

Our Goat Debbie was moved to G&G Crapo's house for the winter so she could eat their corn patch down.  She had a baby while she was there.  When her baby "Norman" was just a couple days old the dogs got into Debbies pen and beat her up real bad. She was able to protect her baby but after a few days of trying to nurse her back to health it was obvious she wasn't going to make it.  As a result we have a baby goat to bottle feed. It has been a good job for the kids but very annoying for me.  Cole has had to get up extra early to get chores done before school. 
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Norman is a cute little fellow and thinks he is a dog.  He follows the boys all around and Hagen affectionatly calls him Mormon.  It is adorable.  The warmer days of November for Hagen were spent outside playing with his new pet.

 

 

Winter Wonderland

December started off bitter cold with temps reaching -20 degrees plus wind chill.  The kids got out of school two days and to top off the fun the power went out at 11:30 pm and stayed off until 8:30 am.  Weston spent a portion of the night packing water lines with straw to keep them from freezing while I huddled in our bed with all four kids trying to stay warm.  We realized how unprepared we are for disasters and have since been working on changing them.

Living in a frozen tundra isn't all bad though.  The beauty of frozen trees, fences and windows really can't be beat. For days I felt like my backyard should be on the cover of a National Geographic magazine.
 

 

 

 

Hagen Update/ Eye Appt. 12-6-13

Hagen is as wild as ever.  There really is no other way to describe him. He is one mess after another, but absolutely the sweetest thing. He loves to play with friends and one of his favorites is Paige.  They are good little buddies who rarely fight.  This particular day Paige came to play for a couple hours.  They were being awfully quiet in the pantry when I discovered them playing is jello sugar.  They were having a great time licking it up and wiping it everywhere!

One of Hagen's favorite games is to run to the bed or couch when I pull a load of laundry fresh from the dryer.  He loves to have the warm clothes piled on top of him.  I have fond childhood memories of this exact thing! One particular time I was sick and had the chills terrible and I remember my mom dumping warm towels on me.

Mr. Cheesy is still a lover of all foods healthy.  He prefers an apple or banana to other 'treats' and his favorite snack is green peppers.  However he does insist the fiber filled peel be taken off the apple before consumption.

 

 

Hagen is super independant and insists on dressing himself always.  He is picky about what he will wear and there is no changing if it is on backwards.  I really think it is a stubborn pride issue more than anything.  Dang Munns blood! Hagen wont let me help him wash his hands but has figured out that the bathtub is just the right size to do it himself. 

 

This stubborn boy refuses to miss out on anything and therefore rarely naps.  This particular day it was obviously a necessity because he barely made it in the house before he was asleep.

Hagen had his six month checkup at his eye doctor in Salt Lake.  It was the first time that he was able to tell them what he could see which was very helpful.  They showed him a paper with a bunch of different pictures on them and he told them what they were.  Then they put them on a screen and quizzed him.  They continued to get smaller and about three sizes down he wasn't answering correctly or sometimes just sat silent.  This was pretty worrisome to me because I have TERRIBLE vision even with my contacts in I can't read any words on a T.V.  I was able to see the pictures on the screen perfectly when he quit ansering.  Hopefully he was just sick of the game instead of not being able to see them. 

The doctor said everything looked good and he was developing well however his astygmatism has gotten worse and he will probably be in glasses to help correct that within six months.  (I can't imagine a three year old wild man keeping glasses in one piece!)  We are still very concerned with his obsession with staring at lights.  It continues to get worse and he should actually be very sensitive to them.  So confusing.  Dr. Hoffman is still very sure he has Ocular Albinism, but confused as to why he would want to stare at lights.  We are taking him down in January for some more in depth tests.  They will put him to sleep and from what I understand, put a contact like object on his eye that has electrodes connected to it.  They will then be able to see if there is some underlying cause for the light obsession that we are missing.  Fingers crossed everything is good!

Hagen also had a well check recently and weighed a whopping 28 pounds placing him in the 11 percentile for his age.  We are growing a giant here people! NOT! All that healthy eating he does is getting him nowhere on the charts! Hagen was a grump through his appointment and furious after his shots.  He told me "That was a naughty trick mom!" Yes indeed it was! We love this boy and the joy he brings into our home is inmeasurable!

2 Months

After weeks of worrying, I had a slight meltdown that resulted in a text conversation with my nurse friend Debi who took care of Hayes in the hospital.  At 9 weeks old Hayes was still sleeping ALL day, he wasn't smiling at all and I was freaking out that something was wrong.  I could pick him up, move him around and lay him back down and he wouldn't even stir.  When he was awake it was barely long enough to eat and then he was zonked out again.  It was like he was three weeks old not nine. 

Debi reassured me that I needn't worry quite yet, and that in reality he was considered to be barely a month old.  After studying "corrected age" and a two month check up, my worries have subsided a bit and we are thoroughly enjoying this little guy.  He is growing fast! At his checkup he weighed a hefty 9lbs 15ounces.  (I guessed ten pounds right as the nurse put him on the scale).  Nearly doubling his birthweight.  He is a really good baby unless I eat spicy food.  (I had to learn that the hard way!) Within a few days of my worry meltdown, Hayes "woke up" and also gave me a HUGE smile that I had to work WAY to hard for!  His smiles are few and far between, Wes still hasn't seen one.  He still sleeps an awful lot during the day but is staying awake for longer periods of time.  He does good at nights and last night he slept from 10-4! Yay! Things are looking good for this boy.  We couldn't be happier!