Dressing up

Sometimes, we go out on the town. Well, to a church activity with a photo booth.

We could be royals.

And sometimes, JB sends me pictures like these of my baby boy wearing a breast cancer awareness headband from the U.

Gotta represent.

The highs and lows of radio reporting

It's been a back-and-forth, high-and-low, up-and-down kind of week in my job.  I don't blog about it much here, but I thought I'd run through just some of the stories I did this week (I do around 3 a day).

Monday
My green coat and I showed up in several Deseret News photographs as I covered a protest at the Governor's office. There were more reporters/photographers there than protestors.

I was there for hours, and any time someone new came to talk to the protestors we huddled up around them again. I kept getting shoved into a cameraman's armpit, or had a reporter breathe down my neck as we scrunched together.

Tuesday
Fun stories on the 3 Utah women ski jumpers in their first Olympics, and on Joss Christensen, the Utahn who won Gold in the Ski Slopestyle.

Wednesday
I worked for a long time to put together a longer, indepth report to run Thursday on heroin overdose deaths in Utah. Many families had called us after Philip Seymour Hoffman's death.

Thursday
Two assaults at the University of Utah. When I got to work at 4 AM, my executive producer said to me, "Go up to campus soon and find people to talk about it."  !

Friday
A police chase and crash; then a viewing party for Utah's Noelle Pikus-Pace in the Olympic skeleton race. I saw the live feed that morning with hundreds of her really nice family, friends and supporters in a movie theater. I reported live during her final race with all the cheering around me. That was really fun.

Conclusion
So you see the crime and grime and heartbreak mixed in with more upbeat stories.  It's been a couple weeks of this. I covered the funeral last week for officer shot and killed in Utah County, did a story on the 5 new apps your teens are using, and had follow-up stories to the school where lunches were thrown away. 

Some days I think, "It's early, it's dark, it's cold, and this is a depressing story." But the next day it's, "I think I'm making a difference with this story" or, "This story is so awesome, I really hope people hear it."

James at 8 months

(James pre-haircut a couple weeks ago, reigning in the chair)

Before James was born, a neighbor was giving away furniture that belonged to her late grandmother, Gloria. The most comfy, squishy blue recliner rocking chair was among the group.

Sometimes I think of Gloria when I sit there -- I think of her eternal optimism, of her twinkling eyes and that her favorite color was yellow.

The chair is perfect for nursing sweet baby James, and for grabbing a little more sleep during middle of the night feedings (yes, my baby still has a middle of the night feeding at 8 months old).

It's also a perfect chair for sitting him up like a big boy. JB will send me pictures while I'm at KSL, around 7 or 8 AM, right around the time he gets the baby dressed for the day.

Though it's awfully fun to just keep him un-dressed for a while. Because.....mmmmm nom nom nom. Nom.

On the morning of the 6th JB sent me these, because our baby is now 8 months old.

"Hello!"

"Hiya,"

"Wait, what's on my tummy?"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to eat that."

In fact now starts the age of putting everything into the mouth.  It's a good thing he's not mobile yet, because despite our strict instructions, little Legos and Rainbow Loom bands sometimes show up on the living room floor. We found out Andrew was carrying them around, not the older boys. He'll hold up a block and say, "See my alligator?" Sure, sure.....

Baby James is showing no sign of wanting to crawl or scoot yet. His day consists of Exersaucer-lap-living room floor-crib-highchair-hip-baby carrier-kitchen floor-lap-hip-crib-queen bed.

He loves to grab faces and bite chins and pat cheeks and smack stuff and splash. 

He's getting better at eating solid food. He likes the baby food puffs. And so does Andrew. "My 'nack!" yelled Andrew when I took them away from him yesterday.

His 3 older brothers love to hold him. Andrew doesn't weigh much more than him but really wants to hold him on his lap. James arches his back and squeals. Max and Ben like to carry him around, which sometimes makes me nervous, but it is very convenient to have those extra arms. And I am trying harder to say yes when they ask to hold him. I realize he doesn't belong only to me, he's their baby brother, too. 

As mentioned, he doesn't sleep through the night yet. But, I think other babies are going to bed at 9 or 10 when their normal parents do. I have to put all the boys down by 7:30 so I can go to bed. So he gets hungry again before the night is over, and I'm a big softie, and I like to nurse James before I leave. But I know he could do better. He wakes up early for JB sometimes, too.  JB and I are tired.  Almost always tired.

During the day while nursing, he gets distracted easily by a noise or the sight of a brother. So I've been going into his room to feed him in the blue chair in the hopes that he'll get nice and full. But the boys come in. They need me, too, I know. And Andrew climbs onto my knees with a book from the nearby basket and I read it to him with my free hand. Another reason why I love the blue chair.

James's first haircut

This sweet baby boy was born with a ton of hair, and didn't lose any of it like my other babies. Despite it getting in his eyes and curling over his ears, I have been in denial of him needing a hair cut for a while.

JB: The time has come to talk about...
Mary: Ssssshhhhhhhh. Other babies are jealous of this amazing hair.

A few weeks later, he would try again.

JB: Don't you think James is looking a little like a baby hobo?
Mary: Wha? Nooooooo.

And again.


JB: I think we should get baby J a trim-up.
Mary: WHY DO YOU HATE OUR BABY?

Finally, when rice cereal was getting stuck to his hair and then in his eyes, I gave in.

We went to the barber shop and he sat on my lap like such a big boy.

He was very curious about what was going on around him.  Andrew was curious about what was in his nose:

She started to trim away. And I started the ugly cry.

Ok, stop it Mary, it's not an operation, just a trim!  I mean, look how much better he is looking already:

At one point James tried to turn around and nurse. "Since we are sitting here, momma....."

Starting to feel like he's done with this:

Done!

Cuter!

Stronger!

And still my baby, even with shorter hair.

Boring parents?

We were given 2 free upper bowl Jazz tickets the other night from a neighbor who couldn't go, and it was Benny's turn to go with daddy.  While they were gone, Max asked if he could practice typing.  I peeked over his shoulder to see the following written on my laptop (note -- he had chosen not to eat the beef stroganoff we had for dinner):

Maxwell is @his house Right now! Yo! What is up?

M y “Brother’’ is going to a Jazz game with my “Dad’’. Mom will not let me do any thing ! she is so boring! There is nothing to do! I am so hungry for something good! Not like gross “PASTA’’! I wish I could go to the Jazz game with Dad! Ben is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE will  probily get CHEESE BURGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEis so lucky because CHEESE BURGERS ARE MY FAVORITE FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Hyperbole much? 

I gently pointed out that  1) we, as a general rule, never buy food at sporting events, and  2) that was quite a lot of exclamation points.  And I tried to explain the "proper use" of quotation marks, but by then I was getting the stink-eye big time.

Hahahaha, I'm a boring mean mom.

I'm also kind of a meanie because we don't have any video game systems in our house, while other friends do. JB and I going to be firm on this one -- so let it be written, so let it be done.

But I do let them have 15-20 minutes at a time on my iPhone (Angry Birds, Temple Run and Minion Rush are the current favs), and they can play acceptable games at friends' houses for a short amount of time, like at our good friends the Peters.  We spent New Year's Eve with them. Great food, fun talk, their Wii, and the accessories we are modeling below:

By the way, which do you think is better for Bishop Richards? One, or two?

Funny, nyet?

But the next day was rough. The three older boys went to sleep at 10:20 PM and woke up at their normal 7 AM and it was hard for their bodies to handle. THIS IS WHY WE ARE BORING PARENTS. No sleep=sad times.

Nooooo Nap!

Growing up my siblings and I used to giggle at the scene in "Honey I Blew Up the Kid" where the giant toddler screams "Nooooo Nap!" Then he hugs his giant bunny as his mommy sings a special song into a megaphone.

Tee hee, makes me giggle more now that I am a mommy.

Because I have a three-year-old who still need a nap.  But now that he's in a big boy bed, I can't exactly expect him to stay in there and sleep.  Instead, he does a quiet time -- aka watches a movie. 

My first-born had a special quiet-time box with brain-boosting (I thought) activities. This third-born has a choice between Cars ("LIGHTNING KEEN!" squeals Andrew) or Despicable Me ("PICKABLE!")

He falls asleep almost every day either on the couch while watching his motorized and/or minion friends. Orr he snoozes somewhere else in the house.  Observe:

L-R: while playing trains, while eating dinner, and just because. I think he even covered himself up with the blanket after laying down on the carpet.

Then last week JB texted to warn me that Andrew had fallen asleep in front of the door, so I'd better use the side door when I came home.

Sweet little puppy dog just needs a soft warm spot.

Now if anyone could help me figure out how to help him not cry and cry when he wakes up.  It's like he wakes up mid-Rem, or is upset he's still not sleeping.  Benny used to do the same thing so I suppose we will just get through this stage.

7 months

He's now closer to 8 months old than 7; still, these stickers are helping us remember to chronicle the monthly progress of this fourth baby. And is he ever progressing. In CUTENESS!

We all can't help but kiss his him a lot. And squish him a little. He's soooo roly-poly. I'm quite glad about that.  I caught Andrew holding his little hand the other day and I about died at the sweetness of it. Because 3-year-old Andrew is more often than not trying to push his boundaries -- like how closely can I jump next to this baby before my mom (or older brother Max) sqwuaks and runs over?

Baby James is very content to stay in one place. We saw a tiny 7-month-old baby crawling everywhere at Benny's basketball game Saturday morning.  Our baby can sit like a champ. He hates being on his tummy still, almost immediately rolling to his back every time and refusing to roll back the other way.

He also is still saying "meh" to solid food. He'll take a bite or two of our twice-daily perfunctory efforts but then just closes up shop in a disinterested way.

(Where are you going, baby? You are slipping!)

He giggles, he babbles, he grabs at everything. He's starting to click his tongue and experiment with raspberry sounds. And he feels those bottom teethies a lot with his tongue and fingers. We think the top teeth will be in soon. He kinda bit me while nursing for the first time yesterday -- not on purpose, just experimenting. The older boys thought it was hilarious when I immediately put him down in a "baby time-out." 

While I'm at the radio station in the morning I stay as busy as I can, or I start to miss my baby -- all my boys, really. I'll chat with JB on the phone and hear them in the background and say "oooohhhh!"  It's one of the great mysteries of motherhood. By the end of the night you are sometimes SOOOO ready to tuck them in bed and have a break, but when you are away from them your heartstrings tug.

It was one year ago this week that we found out we were having another boy. I was very sad for a long time about not having a girl. It still stings sometimes. But  in my mind, that sadness is separated from the happiness I have over this baby. I can't imagine not having this boy in our family.