A Visit From Aunt Shauri

I didn't get any pictures of Shauri, but I used the cute hat that she brought to take these pictures. It was great to have her here, even if it was just for the day!

Is This a Trick Question?

Every now and then a question comes along that you just aren't sure of the answer. Katie posed one of those to me tonight:

"Mom, when you grow up do you want to be a missionary or an animal?"

Maybe some of you have pondered this one, but it caught me completely off guard. I ended up going with the animal option, for the simple reason that I have already been a missionary and I've never gotten to be an animal. Katie said she would be a missionary, but if she were an animal, she'd be a puppy. Becuase that would last the longest. No, on second thought, she decided that a dinosaur would be a better option. Mason chimed in that he would be a puppy missionary. I imagined having a dog as a missionary companion and decided that I wouldn't have minded it at times, so maybe he's on to something.

Fall Photos

Chloe is sporting her new Baby Uggs (thanks Schills!)--I love her skinny chicken legs--, and Mason, Katie and Andrew are all enjoying the leaves that Grandpa and Grandma Burnside spent two days raking and bagging. I love fall!

New Pictures

Babies are not the easiest creatures to photograph. Unless you like to see them asleep--then it's a piece of cake. Somehow one eye is always half closed, or they have a spit bubble on their lips or they're yawning...it just never quite works out. Here are a couple that I managed to get where she just looks like herself.

I can't believe she's only been with us for two weeks. I can't imagine life without her.













She had her first bath the other day. It was traumatic, as it has been for all of my other kids. Eventually it will be relaxing for her...but not yet. This picture was clearly taken after the torture had ended.













The picture of Andrew on his bed is what he does when he goes to sleep at night. He deliberately scoots his bed away from the wall just enough so that he can stradle the side rail. He does still wear a diaper, so I guess the extra padding must help. Why he does this, we're not sure. We're also not sure why he can't manage to keep his clothes on when he's in his room for quiet time. So many questions, so few answers.

One of my favorite things as a mom is watching my kids playing together. Especially during that window of time when everyone is having fun and before someone starts to cry. It's the best.

Unexpected Outcomes

Chloe's arrival has created a number of unexpected outcomes in our family, one of which is the fact that Ryan is actually the one writing this blog. Go figure. Unfortunately, I am writing it from my computer, where I don't have as many pictures as Amy, so I can't post one of the pictures I would like to, but hopefully Amy will do it when she gets a chance.

So here are my stories.

The first set of stories are about Katie. The birth of Chloe has awakened an interest within Katie about her gender identity. As we approached Chloe's delivery date, Katie began to ask more questions about what it is like to "born a baby." I think we told her at one point something about how it hurts to give birth as a way of letting them know how much their mother loves them and was willing to do to bring them into the world. Days or weeks later, Katie began to put pieces of the puzzle together, and realized that since she is a girl, she could be a mother, and if she is a mother, then it could hurt her too. Then, during the week before Chloe was born, she asked me where babies come out of their mommies. I answered the question as clearly but also discretely as I could. She promptly announced that she did not want to "born a baby." I tried to reassure her that this would be her decision when the time comes and she could make up her own mind about it.

After Chloe was born, everyone (including Katie) was happy to have this adorable addition to our family. On the day Amy came home, I was taking care of the kids while Amy went upstairs to feed Chloe. Katie asked where Amy was going. I told her that she was going upstairs to feed Chloe.

Katie thought about this for a moment, and then asked what Chloe would be eating.

"Milk," I said.

Katie pointed out to me that there is no milk upstairs.

I explained to Katie that the milk comes from Mommy. Katie then exclaimed, "LIKE A COW??!!?"

I'm not sure there was anything I could say at that point. I tried to point out to her that most mammal mothers provide milk for their children, not just cows, but I think it may be too late and the very idea of motherhood has scared her off for life.

The second set of stories I have is about Andrew. We were worried about how Andrew would respond to a little sister. He tends to dominate his mother's attention, and we were not sure how he would respond to having to share it. We thought jealousy was a strong possibility.

Instead of jealousy, Andrew has displayed an amazing attachment to Chloe. He constantly wants to hold her, touch her, tickle her, cuddle with her, and carry her around. We only let him hold and cuddle her, and that only with close supervision. His holding and cuddling is, shall we say, highly aggressive. We are afraid that any lapse in our vigilance could have dire consequences for Chloe. He is, nevertheless, adorable, when he holds her--a full body hug with his cheek caressing hers. A friend of ours pointed out to Amy that he and Chloe were up in heaven waiting together to come down to our family for quite a while, and Andrew is excited to see her after having been apart for almost three years. We love that image. And if Chloe survives Andrew's affection, she will be one tough girl.

One last image of Andrew. With Chloe's arrival and me staying home from work, Andrew and I have been spending a lot of time together. Yesterday Andrew and I went for a walk in the woods. We went along a path we had only taken once before. The last time we took this path, we passed a section where there was some garbage at the bottom of a hill. We had discussed this with the kids, telling them that it was "sad" that people left their garbage in the woods. We have only done this once--probably over a month ago--but as Andrew and I walked passed this section of the woods, he pointed down the hill and said, "Garbage. Sad." Here is a picture.

Baby Chloe

She's here! Chloe Grace was born on November 1st at 5:45 pm. She was 7 pounds, 7 oz. and 20 inches long. She has just enough dark hair to cover her head. Labor was fast and painful, but got the job done.

I'm happy to be home with her and I'm feeling great. The exhaustion will set in soon. But after nine long months, I can't say enough how wonderful it is to have her in my arms!