as good as it gets

Tater Monkey

2012-02-04T11:08:00.000-06:00

Tate helping himself to some popcorn at Grandma's house over Christmas break.

Exploring everything on the table. Such a curious kid.

He loves to climb. We find him on tables or counters like this everyday.

This was him yesterday. He is standing on a table outside, looking through the window at me. He would climb up and say "homie, mommy." (Hold me)

I would get him down and he would climb right back up and say it again. Funny kid.

Brylee's Play Kitchen

2012-02-04T10:53:00.000-06:00

We got this little kitchen/ cupboard piece from in-laws garage over Christmas.

I had been eyeing it for a few years, and finally asked about it.

It was built by Brian's grandpa for Brian's little sisters.

Lucky for me, neither of the little sisters were interested in it.

So with some time and a little TLC it went from this to....

This!

I like how it turned out, and most importantly, so does Brylee.

We had to have a Cardinal on it. :)

I free handed the branches, made potato stamps for the flowers and green birds, and made a stencil to trace for the cardinal.

It was fun. I'm glad it is done and being used now.

We don't need no stinking forks!

2011-12-31T13:13:00.000-06:00

Tate dropped his fork on the floor.

Saw Brylee's hair pik on the table next to him.

Solved the problem himself.

Mmmm, waffles.

Boo Bears Birthday

2011-12-31T13:08:00.000-06:00

Brian's birthday was on the 14th. He turned 33!!

Holy moly.

He made a big change this year...

He chose a different kind of cake for his birthday!!!

Every birthday, since I have been making his cakes, he has had the same kind of cake.

Red velvet with chocolate pudding frosting.

Not my favorite, but it's not my birthday, so I always granted his request.

But this year, he chose red velvet swirled with a cream cheese and chocolate chip filling,

and some homemade chocolate frosting.

It was so good.

(I'll have to add this recipe to the food blog- yummy!)

Ice Skating

2011-12-31T13:02:00.000-06:00

Brian's school put on an "End of Tri" party at an outdoor ice rink.

So we got to take the whole family for free.

The kids LOVED it.

They could not get enough, and did not want to leave.

Of ourse Tate was too little, so he had to stay off the ice.

I think he still enjoyed being outside, and drinking hot chocolate.

On the way home we played the quiet game and Tate won.

I couldn't believe how long he was quiet for.

Very out of the ordinary for him.

Brylee loved the ice skating too, just no pics to prove it.

How about that smile though!!

Uh oh...

2011-12-26T19:52:00.002-06:00

Tate is an aspiring artist.

His medium of choice?

Himself...

I can't seem to figure out where he gets it......

Fall

2011-12-26T19:50:00.000-06:00

We had quite a few leaves to clean up this fall.

It was actually sort of fun to get to work with the kids, and luckily it wasn't too cold.

Fortunately we had LOTS of help!

We also had to pick the rest of our tomatoes because a frost was coming.

We had lots of tomatoes this year, but only 2 or 3 ever turned red.

So here is our big bowl of green tomatoes, that we never ate...

Nails

2011-12-26T19:44:00.000-06:00

Brylee is ALL girl. She loves to wear princess dresses, and jewelry, and have lots of shoes, and she even enjoyed these press-on nails. (at least for a little while)

She did eventually get sick of having to be so careful with her hands, and having to put the nails back on everytime they fell off. So we put them back in their case and will save them for another time.

2011-11-17T12:16:00.002-06:00

Seriously, Brylee needs to take a vacation to see a grandma for a week or so... Pronto!!

Silly Tired Tate

2011-11-10T14:18:00.000-06:00

Fun Run

2011-11-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

I find it hard to get the motivation needed to go running. Tonight an old friend called me out on it, and gave me that push I needed to get moving... with all 4 kids.

So I loaded up the stroller and made Dallin and Cody run with me. It really was fun. I think we will do this again!

Hair today, gone tomorrow...

2011-11-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

This is what Brylee's hair has looked like since she grew it. She has never had a hair on her head cut, before today...

Yesterday I noticed a bunch of short hairs that weren't being held in by rubber bands and they were sticking straight up. Even Brylee noticed them, she asked if her hair was 'poinky.'

So this is her, seconds before the cutting of the bangs.

This is after. Now, I'm not a fan of bangs, but in this case they were necessary. And as much as I don't like bangs, I still think she is adorable. I also think she looks about a year older than before.

Anyway, hair grows back, no big deal.

Everyone has to suffer through bangs at some point, right? ;)

Halloween

2011-11-02T19:38:00.000-05:00

A happy cat woman, not an everyday sight.

Scary cat woman, this is more like normal.

Everyone dressed and ready for some trick-or-treating!

While trick-or-treating door to door, Brylee made a comment about one girl that was passing out candy. "That's the prettiest baby sitter, ever!" (We had never met this girl before.)

Camping

2011-11-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

Holy picture over load, Batman!!

Brace yourself, there are a lot of pictures.

We went camping this weekend. It was SO fun. The kids had a great time.

Brian asked Cody if he was liking camping.

Cody said, "Dad, I like it so much I'm going to pee my pants."

Brian then said, "Why don't you say you're going to cry instead?"

Cody replied, "No, I'm going to pee my pants."

Here is our new tent. Thanks Aunt Casey, this is what your Christmas money from two (or so) years ago bought us!

We had some cooler weather this weekend. (Ok, it was down right COLD at night!)

Here is Brylee warming up with some hot chocolate and crackers in the basket of her bike. (Which got run over while we were there. The bike, not her)

Tate, being a big kid and drinking from a water bottle.

Cody, warming up by the fire.

We camped at a place called the Johnson Shut-Ins. About 5 years ago a dam broke and washed everything away in its path down the side of the mountain. (Including the old camp ground. They have since moved the location for the campers.) We took a hike up the 'scour' path. It was pretty neat. Lots of rocks, some cool tunnels. All the trees had been washed away. They now have a siren system that will go off if the dam breaks again. We found that comforting...

Our family on the scour path.

One of the tunnels the kids crawled through.

A crack the kids crawled up.

Cody, eating a foil dinner.

We camped with a few other families from our ward.

Tate, playing with rocks under the truck. That's what babies do when they go camping, right?

Our family at Elephant Rocks State Park. These huge granite rocks were some of the highest points around. They were fun to climb and play on.

It was a great weekend. We can't wait for our next camping get away.

Oh, and FYI, Cody didn't actually pee his pants. :)

Trunk-or-Treat

2011-10-27T19:14:00.000-05:00

We had our ward trunk-or-treat on Tuesday. We all had a great time.

Cody went as a ghost, and Brylee was Cat Woman.

Tate was an Ewok, and Brian came straight from work so he got to be a referee by default.

There were games set up in the gym and Tate LOVED this game. Not that he really played it, he just like to pick the duckies out of the water and put them back again. I think he played this for about 30 minutes out of the whole night.

Dallin went as Luke Skywalker.

More of Tate playing with the ducks.

During the trunk-or-treat part Brylee must have thought it was supposed to be done the same way as an Easter Egg hunt, except the candy wasn't hidden. She must have made 6-8 laps around the parking lot collecting candy from people. Her pumpkin basket was FULL. Thankfully, she was also very excited about sharing. By the time we came home she had given away at least half of her candy.

Tate just wanted to wander around during the candy collecting. He did steal a fun size crunch bar out of the bag I was holding, and he ate right through the wrapper to eat the candy bar. (I think he ate most of the wrapper, too.)

I just wanna braid your hair, mommy....

2011-10-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

One of these containers is used as a cleaning agent for the floor/ windows. The other is water, used for wetting Brylee's hair when I need to do her hair. Guess which one Brylee used when trying to do my hair today...

At least it was just vinegar and not bleach!

So if I smell like vinegar today, that's why.

If Tate smells like a man today, it's because he rubbed Brian's deoderant in his hair and on his face.

Fire Station Halloween Party

2011-10-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

I love our local fire station. They do some pretty cool activities for the community throughout the year. Did I mention it's all free, too??! On Father's Day they do a free pancake breakfast. At Christmas time they have Santa available for free visits. Our favorite activity is their Halloween bash. We get to tour the fire station and the engines. They have a bunch of activities set up for the kids to do, like these bubbles, pony and horse rides, face painting, hair painting, hot dogs, chili, carmel apples, kettle corn, free pumpkins, candy bags with candy, apple cider, hot chocolate, and the list goes on. We just love going and we have a great time each year. I mean look at these pics, who wouldn't have a great time!?

(This kid is not mine... my kid is behind him in the red Cardinals hat. GO CARDINALS!)

Evil Knievel

2011-10-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

So is he a trick rider? Or is he sleeping...

He is not sleeping, just being funny. Crazy enough, he was even steering around our cul-de-sac. Funny kid.

Trivia Question

2011-10-17T20:44:00.000-05:00

Can you guess how long it takes to pick up 2 pounds of thin spaghetti noodles, with the help of a 15 month old?

If you said 15 minutes, you would be correct.

On a side note, stepping on noodles like this makes a very fun noise, if you are a 15 month old.

Got milk?

2011-10-17T20:29:00.000-05:00

That was at least 3/4 of a gallon... and that paper on the table is Dallin's homework.

Fall

2011-10-17T15:20:00.000-05:00

We have been enjoying a beautiful fall here in MO.

Here are a bunch of random pictures of what we have been up to lately.

Here is Tate's cheesy grin.

Dallin on a neighborhood kids motorcycle, with the kid being pulled by hanging onto Dallin's shirt...nice.

Some more cheese from Tater.

Tate LOVES to ride the plasma cars.

Where's Tater?

There he is!

Did I mention we like cheese with our Taters??

Uh oh!

Jumping in leaves

First day of school

2011-08-16T08:53:00.003-05:00

The whole gang waiting for the bus. The weather was perfect this morning so it was that much more pleasant walking to the bus stop.

I can't believe I have two kids in school already!

Dallin is in first grade this year.

Cody is starting kindergarten, and I'm not sure who is more excited about that, me or him.

ER

2011-08-16T08:44:00.003-05:00

Poor Brylee. She slipped on the tile after getting out of the bathtub. We made another trip to the ER. We could see a cut on the inside of her mouth and one on the outside, so we feared she had cut all the way through and would require stitches. Luckily, it was two separate cuts. They still had to glue the outside cut back together. This poor girl has been to the ER more than I have. Hopefully this trend will end soon. :(

Cody turns 5!

2011-08-12T21:25:00.003-05:00

THAT is a baracuda cake. Cody imagined up, in his crazy little mind, that he should have a baracuda cake for his birthday. And since I'm not one to disappoint... I gave in and made it for him. I'm such a great Mom, I know.

Does he look happy or what?

And now he is 5. FIVE! He is starting kindergarten. He still wears some clothes that are size 2T. :( But he also wears some clothes that are size 4. We will get to size 5 someday. Someday...

Today we went to his new school for a meet and greet with the teachers. He wanted to stay and play. I don't blame him. I was wishing I could go back to kindergarten as well. ;)

Love that boy!

Tater-tot

2011-08-12T20:45:00.006-05:00

It seems just yesterday that Tate was still a baby. Oh wait, he was... But now, he has exploded into a toddler. He is saying words and picking up more words each day. He is making animal noises. Following simple directions. He LOVES shoes. He will bring us HIS shoes all day long, even if he is already wearing some. He will throw his dirty diapers away for us. He LOVES to read books, and will bring us books all day as well. He does some sign language, which we love. He is a pretty fun boy. (Except when it comes to bed time) We are still working on mastering the art of falling asleep in his own bed, on his own. Last night I was trying to get him to lay down to go to sleep. I would pat his pillow and say "Tate, lay down." He looked down at the pillow, then up at me and said "no." (In a high pitched, squeaky little baby voice.) It was so cute, and funny, and caught me completely off guard. I was trying not to laugh, and thinking please don't start that already.

Some of his favorite words to say are:
uh oh
oh no
no
see
go
cool
mama
dada
shoes
book
car
let's go
cow
dog
and a bunch of animal sounds

What a sweetie. He can also be a trouble maker though. He really likes to climb. We have to take him off the table about 10 times a day. (We've learned if we push the chairs in he can't get up. Now we are working on teaching the other kids to push their chairs in. Sequences.) He can also scale the SIDE of a chair. Picture a rock climber. He also loves the bathroom. There are drawers to play in, fancy white bowls full of water that is begging to be splashed all around. And rolls of fluffy paper that can unroll forever, and turn to mush in the bathtub...

Tater turns 1- and yes, I know the pictures are out of order

2011-07-23T15:54:00.009-05:00

Tate celebrated his first birthday with a racoon cake. We thought that would be fitting seeing how much he loved the racoon that frequently visited our backyard. By the time we got around do having cake Tate was pretty tired. He still made a good mess while trying to eat his frosting, but then he started rubbing it in his eyes and that was the end of that.

Racoon Part 1

2011-05-18T16:45:00.001-05:00

Part 2

2011-05-18T16:43:00.005-05:00

Cody Cody Cody......

2011-05-17T23:23:00.005-05:00

No, this picture is not from the 80's, nor is it a sneak peek from an abercrombie catalog. This is just Cody. He had a bouncy ball that wouldn't fit in his pocket, so he tried wrapping it up in his shirt and this is what we got. The pants... they are always undone because that is easier when you need to use the restroom. No need to be slowed down by those cumbersome buttons and zippers. Just pull 'em down!

And below is the letter Cody had me write to the Easter Bunny for him. Nice try, Bud!

Hair

2011-05-17T23:05:00.007-05:00

I try and get creative with Brylee's hair sometimes. Sometimes it isn't worth the effort, but other times it actually turns out good. Not that these hair dos are super great, but Brylee always wants me to take a picture of her hair when I'm done. So, while cleaning out the pics from my camera, I figured I might as well put these on here too.

Cookies

2011-05-17T23:01:00.004-05:00

One of my new favorite blogs is whipperberry.com. They had this recipe for these amazing Red Velvet White Chocolate Chunk cookies. Brian LOVES red velvet so I knew this would be a winner at our house, and of course, it was. So yummy! Click here to get this recipe and so many others. (Like red velvet pancakes, yummy!)

Zoo, Park, Field Trip

2011-05-17T22:35:00.005-05:00

We took a trip to the zoo a few weeks ago. Tate was sick and Brian had school off, so they stayed home. The rest of the kids had a good time petting these goats, and combing their fur.

There were sting rays and sharks in this petting pool. Brylee was WAY to scared to actually touch any of them, but the boys thought it was great. I have to admit I was really nervous too, but I did do it, and they felt pretty cool.

And on a separate trip, Tate fell asleep in the swing at the park.

This is from Dallin's school field trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I was lucky to get to go, and I had a great time with him.

Feelin crafty

2011-05-17T22:25:00.003-05:00

I have recently discovered the world of craft blogs. I'm wondering how I didn't know about them before this. I have book marked about 100+ ideas of things I want to make. It may just take me forever to get them all done. This wreath was inspired by one such blog, not sure which though. Actually, the inspiration came from a few blogs. Anyway, the flowers are made from fabric, and are velcroed (sp?) on so I can change the throughout the year and have the wreath match any season or holiday I choose. Pretty shnazy huh!? (I don't know why this text is blue and underlined... oh well)This is the apron I made for Brylee. It was my first attempt at using a pattern. It went pretty well. I still have lots of learning to do, and I need lots more practice, but I had fun.

Brylee was so helpful in pinning down the pattern. hehe.

Notice all those pins?

Posting

2011-03-28T13:59:00.003-05:00

So I got a new computer, YAY!! It works better than my old one, a big plus. However, when I want to publish a blog post, the button will not work on the new computer. Great... So now I get to create the post on the new compuer, save it, then open it up on the old computer and publish it from there. Super annoying. If anyone knows how to fix this problem please enlighten me!! Seriously, every other buttons works, except the 'publish post' button. Aggghhhh!

Dallin

2011-03-28T13:36:00.004-05:00

Dallin thought he was so funny while taking these pictures. He kept making funny faces, such a 6 year old.

I can't believe how big he is getting. Just like everyone always says, they grow up so fast.

Cody

2011-03-18T10:33:00.002-05:00

Cody, all boy. His smiles always look like smirks, but I like 'em.

Brylee

2011-03-18T10:11:00.005-05:00

She has so many expressions. She did great for her own pics, but was done by the time we got to the family pics.

Tate

2011-03-14T10:39:00.003-05:00

Tate has a great smile, but unfortunately we didn't capture it with any of the pictures. Of course. He is still pretty cute with his little half smile here.

Clippers are traumatic

2011-03-07T10:07:00.002-06:00

Tater's first hair cut. Before, notice the hair coming down over the ears, that was driving us nuts.

And after. Look closely you can see tears on the bottoms of his cheeks. Awww.

Another after, I loved his expression here. Again, the tears on the cheeks. Haha.

How big is Tater??

2011-02-25T10:23:00.002-06:00

We always ask our babies "how big is ____?" Then we teach the kids to raise their hands above their heads and say "so big!" This is usually followed by some cheering and clapping. This was Tate's first sign of playing along. We loved it.

Princesses, Ballerinas, and Babies... Oh my!

2011-02-25T09:38:00.002-06:00

Here are some things we've been up to this last month.

What princess doesn't love wearing bunny ears... umm yeah. Still too cute though.

Awe! Love those BLUE eyes. He has been crawling since before Christmas, I am just now getting around to posting some pictures of him on the move. He loves to crawl under the table and chairs, he gets stuck under there a lot.
He just melts my heart, I love him so much! :)

Always watching his Momma. He follows me around like a puppy dog. Always trying to crawl up my legs so I will hold him. He LOVES to be held. In fact he thinks he should be held all the time.

I showed Brylee some videos of ballerinas and gymnasts. She loved it. Here she is practicing walking on the line on our rug. Apparently Dallin couldn't resist it either.

birthdays

2011-02-25T08:57:00.006-06:00

Since Brylee and Dallin's birthdays are only 5 days apart we did a combined birthday for them when their Bushman Grandparents were in town. Then Dallin also had a friend party a week later.

Dallin and his friends. (They are wearing train conductor hats)

This is the cake from Dallin's friend party. I used homemade fondant, and it tasted amazing. I'm not normally a fan of fondant, but this was good. Unfortunately it wasn't so easy to work with, as you can see from the pics. Lucky for me, Dallin LOVED it anyway!

His new pose. Brian calls it the 'Zoolander' pose. This was the only face we could get him to do.

A Chess set. (Plus it has 9 other games with it) Dallin learned to play chess one day at a friends house and he is in love. He memorized all the rules just after playing that one day, and he just can't get enough of it now. His school has a Chess club, I am going to sign him up for that next year.

Brylee got another Our Generation doll. (Targets version of the American Girl dolls, WAY cheaper) She was having a princess cake and therefore had to dress as a princess. (Thanks cousin Rayne for all the pretty dresses!!)

Zoolander, again.

Pretty Princess Brylee. Loved her Cinderella cake.

Waiting for her party to start. She never smiles this big for the camera, that tells you she is SUPER excited.

What fun kids I have. I can't believe they are a year older already. Time is just flying by.

random january

2011-02-01T12:52:00.006-06:00

Some random pictures from January.

Grandma came to visit, and quickly became a friend of Tate's.

All the kids are enjoying Tate's Christmas present.

This kid was cracking us up. He kept leaning over like this, and even bent over backwards a few times to look at a light behind him. So silly.

Happy boy. I love that smile.

Dallin is growing a new tooth. Only it is growing in behind his baby teeth and not really pushing them out. One baby tooth is loose, but it's not close to falling out yet. Uncle Todd, the dentist, has assured us that everything is ok though. The baby will eventually fall out.

After an attempt at sledding. Tate was all bundled up, nice and warm, and napping.

Once again, he is a pretty happy baby, with the best smiles. :)

Christmas

2011-02-01T11:06:00.009-06:00

Here are a few photos from out Christmas vacation in Montana.

Tate loving the wrapping paper.

Dallin and Cameron

Ear infection, Strep, and Pneumonia... Oh, my!

2011-01-26T13:00:00.002-06:00

We took the kids to the doctor on Monday and found out that Dallin has an ear infection again, Cody has strep again, and Brylee has pneumonia again. For the moment Tate doesn't have anything but a cold, but I'm sure that will change soon. grrrr. Have I mentioned before how glad I am that my Mom is here?!

As for me, today is a better day than yesterday. I've learned that coughing is really not fun when your stomach muscles are cut up, but even worse is throwing up. I didn't like that.
My swelling has come down quite a bit, that makes a lot of things easier and more comfortable. Most of my bruises are turning a yucky green now. There really isn't much news for me. Hopefully I just continue to get better each day. :)

Disclaimer

2011-01-23T20:02:00.002-06:00

I am heavily drugged right now. I guarantee there are grammar errors, and most of these posts are mis-mashed sentences and probably don't make sense, sorry. It's the best I can do right now.

Also, some funny things from the hospital.

1. The lady who delivered my dinner congratulated m. I'm guessing on my new baby, since I was in the maternity ward.

2. The doctor told me "don't worry, I did the incisions so you can still wear a bikini." Oh good, what a relief. Haha.

Day 5

2011-01-23T19:16:00.002-06:00

Today was day 5 at the hospital. Luckily it wasn't a full day, I got to come home! When the doctor came in to see me this morning and said I could go home today, I cried. I was so happy, and maybe a little loopy from 5 days in there. My fevers have finally gone away. They took my bandages off today, revealing my new lovely battle wounds, that will soon be battle scars.

I was so happy to come home that I cried each time I thought about it. I was ready to hug my kids and hold my baby. Being away from baby for that long has REALLY depleted my milk supply, I am hoping it will come back. Those first few days I only consumed water, and a little broth on day 3. Not really enough calories to keep up milk production. Even when they allowed me to start eating again I couldn't really handle the food and I'm sure didn't eat more than a few hundred calories in a day. So, you would think I had lost a bunch of weight during this whole ordeal, at least that is what I thought... Well, I haven't weighed my self yet, but I look like I just had a baby. I am so swollen, and bloated, and sore, that I have resorted to wearing my husbands clothes. (At least I'm not going out in public)

Anyway, I really wanted to express my thanks for all of you who have left comments expressing your support, have offered prayers, put my name on prayer rolls (there were at least 3 temples), and offered any sort of help. My family is SO grateful. We could not have made it through this week without help. I have been so touched to see how many people care about us. I wish I lived near more of you!!

A little better today

2011-01-22T12:19:00.002-06:00

My fever spikes haven't been as high, yay! My echocardiograham came back normal, yay! That means no heart murmur!! They took out my IV today, yay! And they even said I can eat some food, yay! This will be my first bites of real food in 4 days.
On the flip side, I had to be put on oxygen. I had strep throat a few weeks before the surgery and was supposed to finish my last dose the day of the surgery. But the cough from the strep has stuck around and it is SO painful to cough when you have a big incision in your belly. So I haven't been coughing as much as I should to get everything out of my lungs and I guess that is making my lungs work a little harder or something. Also it is super dry in here and my nose is really stuffy, which doesn't make breathing any easier.
So, because I had basically a small c-section, I am being treated in the maternity ward. The lady who just brought in my lunch was congratulating me. Haha.
Anyway, that is a quick update for now. I'm going to go enjoy some food!

Update

2011-01-21T10:39:00.002-06:00

Things haven't gotten any better, yet. The doctors have been worried about my body developing infection, so they have had me on anitbiotics constantly since the surgery. I have fevers that keep spiking and dropping. My white blood cell count was high, but has dropped back to a normal level. Last night I had quite a scare when my fever jumped to 103.8. My pulse was elevated also. You know it's not good when your nurses start moving a little faster and are putting in several calls to your doctor and several other doctors. My temp did finally come back down to 99, and my pulse rate stablized after a few hours. When one of the on call residents came in to check on me he noticed that my heart beat was off. So now they think I have a heart murmur as well. I have an echocardiograham sometime this afternoon. Hopefully it goes well.
This has been a very challenging experience for me. I'm scared. I have really appreciated all of your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. It's nice to know that so many people care about me.

So I was thinking I was going to go home today, but no. My doc wants me to go a full 24 hours with no fever. I still have a fever now, so the clock hasn't even started yet. Also I am waiting for some blood cultures to come back, and those can take 24 to 48 hours. So I will be here for another couple of days still. I'll keep you all updated with my progress.

And, just in case any of you were considering an IUD, I don't recommend it. ;)

Things just don't always go as planned

2011-01-20T16:46:00.003-06:00

So I had my surgery, and it didn't quite go as planned. It was supposed to be a 30-45 minute procedure, with a 3 day recovery period. Instead it took over 2 hours. There were only supposed to be 2 small incisions, but they are at least 3. One of the incisions is about 10 cm long. So basically I had a c-section, but with no baby. I am still in the hospital and am hoping to get out Friday afternoon. I guess they had a hard time findng the IUD and my colon was larger than it should have been and not where it should have been. So the colon got knicked and leaked. Thus the need to cut me open and clean me out. So now I am waiting to make sure there is no infection before they will let me go home. They are also telling me that it should take me 6 weeks to recover. Wow, I definately didn't plan for all this. I am so glad my mom and Nana were able to come out and help. And it snowed a bunch today so Brian's classes were cancelled, lucky me! He was able to help out with kids and spend some time with me at the hospital.
Anyway, hopefully I will just get better and better and be able to go home soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

1 in a 1000

2011-01-17T20:35:00.002-06:00

Those are pretty good odds, huh!!? Maybe, if the "1" was something cool... but it's not, not today, not for me.

I have no idea who all reads this blog anymore, so if you are someone who doesn't like to hear about girl issues or gets grossed out WAY too easily, then stop reading now.

Ok, you're still reading, so you must want to know about how I became '1 in a 1000.' I got an IUD (intrauterine device) back in July 2010. I was told to expect some cramping and spotting, that those are normal side effects. So when I started bleeding and having some sharp pains, I brushed those off as 'how my body is dealing with the IUD.' Not the case. Apparently the IUD perforated my uterus (most likely during insertion), and is now residing in my abdominal cavity somewhere. Lucky me, I know. (1 in a 1000 baby!!)

What next? Well, since you asked. I get to have lathroscopic surgery. What's that? My, you're nosey... that's ok, I will tell you anyway. My doctor says "we will stick a video camera in through your belly button [ouch!] and make a 5 mm incision right above your pubic bone, and go in that way as well." Thank you for that lengthy explanation... I later found out they will also fill my abdomen with some gas, and put that scary tube down my throat. Needless to say I'm super excited... to get it over with. My doctor also offered to put in a new IUD for "free!!" (told ya I'm lucky) I think I'll pass this time Doc. You can keep that IUD. Oh, and as if all this isn't exciting enough, the surgery is only going to cost me about $5,000. I see a great money making business here. I should be a doctor and insert IUD's, and when I "accidentally" perforate the uterus I can make big bucks taking the thing out. That's a joke. However, it wasn't my fault. I think the office should be covering this.

Anyway, if you're still reading, wish me luck. In 24 hours my Mom will almost be here, and in 48 hours it will all be over with. Can't wait.

And, if you do think those odds are pretty good... here are some numbers that you could, I don't know, try in the lottery 8, 16, 24, 73, 81. (I don't even know how many numbers you use in the lottery)

Stay tuned for post surgery news, woo woo! ;)

5 Months Later

2010-11-22T10:22:00.002-06:00

Awww, our sweet little baby.

Look how much he has changed!! We can hardly believe it! Still super cute and sweet though.

I've been busy

2010-11-22T09:42:00.003-06:00

This a small cuboard my great grandpa made for my mom when she was little. I used when I was a little girl too. It means a lot to me, but it defnitely needed a new paint job. It was green and blue when we first started, but of course I don't have a picture of it like that. Anyway, before all the scraping and sanding, and scraping and sanding, and scraping and sanding (you get the picture)...

and after- Dallin wanted to be in a picture. And it only took us 3 years to do this!!

I got this at the local goodwill store. It was $8 and we painted it red. Now I LOVE it. Sorry no before pic though. Now we have some pictures on top of it and looks great, and so functional for the kids to hang their coats on!

Another after, she just wanted to be in a picture I think.

I've been wanting a rocking chair since we moved here to MO. We sold our old one back in CA, and I've been missing it. I got this one at a garage sale for $5.

After some sanding and smoe black spray paint. I also found a cute brown chair cushion at the local goodwill, it was $2! I had looked at the fabric store for padding to make a cushion and the padding alone was $12.

I asked Brylee to give me a pretty smile and this is what I got. hmmmm

Halloween

2010-11-22T08:59:00.002-06:00

A few pictures from Halloween, took me long enough... I know.

This was at our ward trunk-or-treat. Brian wouldn't let me go without a costume, so I ended up being a fat referee, yikes. Brian was Nacho Libre, Dallin was Dash, Cody was Robin, Brylee was Pink Girl, and Tate was the Incredible Hulk. It was a fun night!

Our funny faces and the pumpkins we carved.

wrestling

2010-11-19T12:16:00.001-06:00

King of the mat

2010-11-19T10:32:00.004-06:00

A take down challenge. Start with the smallest boy and add the next one bigger. Dallin lasted for a while! He is absolutely loving wrestling!

Going against a 7 year old

2010-11-18T21:12:00.002-06:00

Quick Trip

2010-11-09T20:29:00.004-06:00

We were lucky enough to have some visitors today! Uncle Todd and Aunt Crystal came, and they brought cousin Henry with them. A little later Aunt Brooke and baby Pearl came too. We had a fun visit with them, even though it was a quick one.

Cody got a hold of Uncle Todd's camera and took a LOT of pictures. This one of Henry isn't too bad.

Here Cody took a picture of himself...nice.

Finding lady bugs with Aunt Crystal.

More lady bugs and 'dirt houses,' as Brylee was saying. (AKA small handfuls of dirt)

Cody, doing what Daddy is always telling him NOT to do.

Uncle Todd got some good smiles out of Brylee.

Cody throwing the frisbee.

Boys being boys.

Crystal was nice enough to send Dallin off on the bus.

Aunt Crystal got some good action shots of Dallin riding his bike. He has gotten really good this last month.

Thanks for coming Todd, Crystal, Brooke, Henry, and Pearl! It was good to see you all!

Sticker Face

2010-10-30T13:24:00.005-05:00

Dallin and Cody had WAY too much fun decorating Tate with stickers. He obviously didn't mind too much, and he gave us some great smiles in the process!!

Awww, stickers everwhere and still so cute!!

Nice Dive

2010-10-15T20:29:00.002-05:00

Love Frankenstein!

2010-10-07T13:49:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!! I was able to make this fill the whole screen since it doesn't seem to be fitting on this page. Or you can watch it on my facebook page.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Family Fun

2010-09-29T19:36:00.003-05:00

We enjoyed seeing family and friends on our trip out west. We were really lucky to be in town while our family friend Erin was there with two of her kids.

Erin's son stole some soda, he was so cute.

Playing football with the kids. The kids loved it!

Jumping on the trampoline. (and there weren't even any serious injuries with that many kids!)

Grandpa, John Lamont, and Ryan

My kids with Nana, their great-grandma June.

Kissing Cousins... almost

2010-09-29T18:55:00.002-05:00

Brylee developed a big crush on Cameron and chased him all around camp trying to kiss him. I happen to catch a little of it on camera.

Brian face plants

2010-09-29T18:45:00.001-05:00

Dallin Kneeboarding

2010-09-29T18:29:00.002-05:00

Camping- TONS of pictures

2010-09-29T16:36:00.010-05:00

We went camping to the dust bowl of California. It was a beautiful campground, tall trees, nice weather, but tons of dust. Despite the dust we still had a great time, and wonder of wonders we did not get any ticks!! (In MO you are pretty much guaranteed to get some ticks) The kids loved the dirt, and they were just thrilled to be outside for so long. There was no way I could have done Brylee's hair with how dirty it was, so she went 4 days with no new hair do. It looked great! :) We had a great time with the cousins, Grandma and Grandpa, Nana, Aunt Casey, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Cathy, Uncle Juan and Aunt Kayla, the Lamonts, and Charlie Judd. What a fun camping trip we had.

Halle and Brylee

The quads (I think we had 11 total)

Katy and Halle

Alex- hey you got a little something on your face...

Ryan

Alex and Katy- some tough girls! They rode those quads all over the place! And there was NO avoiding the dirt.

Brylee caught a bear (about 300 pounds) and tried to eat it, notice the blood around her mouth.

Watch out for those chompers! (More blood)

Katy, Brylee and Saidi

Wow, those are some tough warrior faces! All the kids made bows and arrows. They loved it!

He is supposed to be making a tough face.

Cody with his bow. Watch out!

Alex doing homework. What a smarty pants!

Brian was brave enough to ride with Cody, I think Grandpa is giving them a push start. (or a pep talk, or a shoulder massage... not really sure)

Dallin driving BIG RED all by himself.

Grandma and her girl, Brylee.

Dallin giving Dad a ride.

Grandpa and Brylee snuggling.

Love the hair!

Dallin loving the dirt. (They refused to be bathed the whole camping trip)

So dirty and she is still so cute.

Halle, she liked the dirt too.

Grandpa and Tate

The hammock was a big hit, until it broke...

Brylee on the quad... again.

Brylee LOVED the quads. We couldn't keep her off of them!

Carter Family tradition- we always have a teeter-totter (or tater-tot, as my kids say) when camping. (We also had a swing and a homemade shower! Thanks Grandpa!!)

Swimming

2010-09-29T16:16:00.002-05:00

The kids had a great time swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They liked it the best when their cousins were there to swim with them.

Cody about to jump!

San Fran

2010-09-29T15:00:00.003-05:00

On our trip to CA we went to San Fransisco. It was a beautiful day in the city and we had a great time at Pier 39. The kids rode the two story carosel, and we watched a comedy show (kid friendly) and Dallin even got to participate in it. (Funny story, I'll see if I can get the pictures from it and post them too)

Cody

Casey and Brylee (Thanks for helping her Casey!)

Dallin

Nana, my Mom, Brylee, Me, Tate, Brian, Dallin, Cody, and my Dad. (I wish Casey was in here too, but she was taking the picture)

You can see a corner of Alcatraz here on the right side.

Brian and Brylee by the Sea Lions

Dallin by the Sea lions.

John's Inedible Pizza :)

2010-09-17T21:37:00.004-05:00

Who doesn't love unlimited pizza and arcade games? We had tons of fun at John's Incredible Pizza. One ride was a huge hit for our family. Laying on these yellow seats below, you would watch a video with a virtual roller coaster on it, and we loved it. You can see from everyone's smiling faces how fun it was. Notice Brylee's face?? I'm pretty sure she was having a great time, even Tate got to enjoy it!
My dad and I each hit the jackpot on the wheel of fortune game and each won over 500 tickets. So we did a little celebrating over that.
Brylee was trying to play the guitar and that was pretty amusing. And watch for Cody, he's got a gun!
(These captions may be out of order, but you get the idea)
We also played the Dance Dance Revolution game, which was fun, and funny to watch. I have a video of my mom and sister, Casey, competing against each other... I better not post it. But I think I'll keep it handy in case I ever need to get some revenge for something, bwaa haa haa haa. :)

USS Hornet

2010-09-17T21:16:00.003-05:00

We made a trip to the bay area one day and went to see the USS Hornet, with my parents and Nana (my grandma). It is an aircraft carrier that fought in WW2 but has since been turned into a museum (still in the water though). It also picked up astonauts after their landing capsules landed in the water. We had a great time aboard it, and we learned a lot. I couldn't believe how big it was, and the newer carriers are even bigger. Dallin and Cody have both expressed intrest in being pilots, or even astonauts, so I know they were very interested in all the planes and helicopters, etc. What a great piece of history.

Houseboat

2010-09-17T15:42:00.005-05:00

We had a great time on my parents houseboat. We jumped off the top (even Brylee did it!) Brian did a back flip off the top too. We ate, played games, spent the night under the stars, went kneeboarding and wakeboarding, and of course tubing. We loved it all! The water is so warm and our weather was perfect. I can't wait to go back. It was also nice to have our friends, the Fahrneys, come up with us.

A perfect 10!

2010-09-17T15:39:00.001-05:00

Obviously we need to work on the boys diving skills...

Cameron, Dallin and Cody Jump

2010-09-17T11:02:00.002-05:00

Family Pictures

2010-09-17T10:00:00.002-05:00

It seems like everytime we attempt to take family pictures, it doesn't go as well as I had hoped. I can't blame our photographer, because it was my sister, Kayla, and she was really great! No, the blame falls on ourselves. This time it was about 400 degrees outside and we had to wake Brylee up from a nap. So, of course she isn't smiling in ANY of the pictures. The boys were pretty cooperative. Oh, well. These pictures will have to last until the next time we get the urge to try again. A big THANK YOU to Kayla for doing these!!

Growing

2010-08-18T19:04:00.003-05:00

Dallin had his first day of school this week. I am so excited for him to be in school. In the past few weeks I've been realizing how small Dallin's clothes are looking on him. Well, there is no allotment in the student loan check for "children's new clothes." So Dallin continued to wear clothes that were too small, and I got to eat all my words for swearing "my kid will never wear high waters..." Thankfully we have some cousins that are a few years older than my kids and they sent us a couple boxes of clothes, just in the knick of time!! Dallin was thrilled to have 'new' clothes, as was Cody, since he got Dallin's old clothes. That right there was the biggest shock for me. Cody was actually ready to wear Dallin's size 4 hand-me-downs!!!!!! He has been wearing size 24 months- 3T. So for the first time, in a long time, Cody's size actually matches his age. I'm still shocked. Oh, and he finally broke the 30 pound mark! My babies are growing up so fast,... which means I'm just getting older.

Visit from Mary

2010-08-11T11:59:00.005-05:00

Mr old roommate Mary came for a visit a few weeks ago. We had a good time taking her to the arch and to Pappy's BBQ while she was here. The kids had a good time with her as well.
The kids have also decided that they need to have a turn with the camera. So several of these pictures were actually taken by them. They got some really neat ones of the arch. Maybe we should give them the camera more often.

That's the Mississippi River in the back ground. It was really full this day. It was even flooding the street down below...but you can't see that in the pic.

This is at Pappy's. The BEST BBQ place I have ever been to!

Wow, Dallin looks pretty cool,...and serious, in those shades.

Roller coaster

2010-08-05T14:48:00.003-05:00

Here's Brylee being Brylee. She acts so sweet and then gets so mad and refuses to listen. And then she is happy again.

Tate's Blessing

2010-08-05T14:15:00.006-05:00

Last weekend we blessed Tate down in Springfield, in Brian's parents ward. It was really neat to have Tate's cousin, Pearl, blessed during the same meeting. I wish I had taken a picture of the two babies together. We did get some group pictures though. It was nice to have so much family in town for our special occasion. Thanks to Uncle Todd, Aunt Heidi, Cousin Brad, and Cousin Ryan and his family for all making the trip. Also Brent and Brooke were there with their kids, obviously since they blessed Pearl too. Anyway, we had a great weekend with everyone. I was sad to leave.

Cody's 4th Birthday

2010-08-01T13:58:00.006-05:00

Cody turned 4 a few weeks ago. He is pretty excited to be 4 now. (I am too, because I told him he has to wipe his own bottom from now on.) We had a small party for him on his birthday, but we were all sick. Brian was nice enough to let me sleep in that morning, and he took care of Cody's birthday breakfast. Cody wanted fried eggs...funny. Anyway, we had another celebration for him at Grandma and Grandpa Bushman's house. It was fun to have so much family in town. He wanted a bumble bee transformers cake, and he was pretty happy with it. (Even though it didn't transform into a car and stand up- that was what he wanted it to do)

Preserving Family History

2010-07-29T21:55:00.002-05:00

My in-laws were featured in their local newspaper for doing Family History and Pioneer Day. In the article they talk about using blogs and it even mentions their 4 year old grandson (Cody) who has his own blog sharing all the funny things he says. The picture on the article is of my in-laws and the computer in front of them has our blog on it. We were pretty excited about this moment in the spot light!

Here's a link to the article.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100724/LIFE07/7240312/Remembering-creating-history

I think this woman is living my life...

2010-07-21T09:44:00.002-05:00

Wow! I read this and I swear this lady must be spying on me. I didn't think there were any hidden cameras or listen devices capturing ever little thing that goes on in my house, but this is proof that I must be wrong.
I wish I could just copy and paste everything her blog entry says, because 'she stole the words right out of my mouth'!! Anyway, this gave me a great laugh.

http://mommymaria.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/things-i-never-thought-i-would-say-as-a-mother/

Things I can't post on facebook...

2010-07-19T14:38:00.002-05:00

This post could go on forever. However, I am typing with one hand, and the "L" key keeps sticking, so everything I type requires too much proof reading, and I have a cold and a sinus headache and absolutely NO energy, and my kids are driving me nuts. So I'll keep this brief.
"It's a good thing I am sick and don't have much of a voice, because now, hopefully, the neighbors won't hear me yelling at the kids."

(If they would listen I wouldn't have to yell... )

Lunch time is such a happy time...

2010-07-15T12:18:00.003-05:00

At lunch today Brylee asked for a sippy cup of milk. No problem, I can get that. Apparently I picked the wrong color sippy cup. Brylee then proceeded to scream and cry and throw the cup of milk in the garbage can. When I didn't jump up and react she got more mad. So she spit out her half chewed up bite of cicken nuggets and then smashed all the pieces onto the ground with her shoe. Just then Cody spilled his cup of grape juice all over the floor, the cupboards, and some on me as well. Swell. I tried to ask Brylee to pick up the pieces of chicken nuggets, which of course she refused to do. She then decided she is upset because there is smashed chicken stuck to her shoe. So she takes that off and throws it in the trash as well. I had been trying to remain calm, but by now I was approaching my limit. With a few spankings, I again 'encouraged' Brylee to pick up the chicken. Still no success. So she went to bed, screaming. I think I might go and do the same thing.

Dallin boy

2010-07-13T13:42:00.002-05:00

The other day Cody was telling one of his stories and he said something about throwing his cars into a pond. Dallin asked Cody how he would get them out, then answering his own question Dallin said "Oh, you could use 'the force'!"

Today Dallin turned on a movie for Brylee and I asked him which movie he turned on. He said "Princess in the swamp." (AKA the Swan Princess)

I had to laugh.

Feeding the ducks

2010-07-10T13:12:00.002-05:00

At one of the shopping centers in Chesterfield there is a big pond with fountains, and ducks and geese. The kids really enjoy going there to feed the ducks. So we have been saving all of our bread crusts and stale bread just to take to feed the ducks and geese. We couldn't believe how many birds showed up for the feeding. There were a lot!

July 4th weekend

2010-07-10T13:03:00.003-05:00

We had a good 4th of July weekend. We went to Springfield to celebrate with Brian's parents and his brother Brent and family. We had a good time, all the cousins got along and enjoyed playing together. It was fun to see baby Pearl again, Brylee was, of course, in love with the new baby girl. We did a few fireworks with the kids on Saturday, they loved it! I think Grandma and Grandpa were happy to have the grandkids in town!

Potatoes

2010-07-10T12:53:00.003-05:00

We were eating dinner at 5 guys a few weeks ago and we saw this:

We can honestly say that Uncle Paul grows some good potatoes!!

Curly Sue

2010-07-03T10:49:00.002-05:00

Pretty girl with curlers in her hair.

Chubby cheeks

2010-07-03T10:42:00.001-05:00

I think she must be storing her grapes for the winter...

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere

2010-07-03T10:27:00.002-05:00

We went to the "Ballwin Days" carnival last weekend. Of course all the rides cost money, so we didn't ride anything, but these bubbles were free to play in. The kids had a great time chasing the bubbles. They even had smoke filled bubbles (which were really cool to watch pop and see the smoke escape) and they had glow in the dark bubbles. There were tons and tons of bubbles. It was fun, even though it was HOT outside. I think the heat index was 105 that day! Yuck.

Deep Sleepers

2010-07-01T20:59:00.002-05:00

Apparently we have some deep sleepers here. Brylee was so wiped out she fell asleep on the kitchen counter in stink bug position. It took a lot to wake her up. Tate was in such a deep sleep and looked so silly with his mouth open and everything, I just had to take a picture. So cute.

Bushman Grandparents

2010-07-01T20:50:00.002-05:00

Brian's parents came for a quick visit last weekend. Grandpa Bushman had to come and meet the new baby. We enjoyed having them here, even though it was a short trip. We did fit in some time at the pool. Cody enjoyed having Grandpa throw him in the air and then would land in the pool. Brylee has become our fearless little swimmer. She wears floaties, but she will go anywhere in them. She could run and jump into the pool all say, she loves it! Dallin is working on teaching himself how to swim again. He doesn't like to listen to me, so he just does it by himself. He actually did really well last summer. He taught himself to jump in and turn back toward the wall then swim to it, all by himself. Hopefully he learns fast this summer.

First bath

2010-07-01T20:21:00.002-05:00

Tate loved his bath, just like Cody and Brylee. Dallin screamed through his first bath, but the other kids have loved the water from the very beginning.

Pics

2010-06-22T14:31:00.004-05:00

We like our Moby Baby Wrap, and Tate is looking so much bigger sitting there in his car seat. They grow so fast!!

a few pics

2010-06-22T14:24:00.003-05:00

Here are some recent pics of us. My Mom came to visit, Brylee slept in curlers and looked so pretty for church, she also has a favorite outfit (she calls herself 'pink girl') And Brian and Tate taking a nap...

hmmm... not even sure what to call this one.................

2010-06-22T14:00:00.004-05:00

Hello 4 kids, goodbye any last remaing bit of sanity that I may have had...

Life these days is an adjustment. Baby Tate is such a blessing and we really love having him here. The other kids are a different story... :) I've really been struggling with the older kids lately. I never thought I was a great Mom to begin with, but these guys have me convinved I might as well stop trying. Dallin was the first to start acting out when we brought the baby home. There was the disobedience, the loud noises trying to attract attention, and being plain out defiant. The list goes on and on. As the days go by, he gets a little better, and some days are better than others. However, Cody has stepped right into Dallin's shoes and taken over the job of little terror. No matter what I try I cannot convince these guys to be good. Cody likes to randomly yell things at us (usually while in time out). Things like, "Oh yeah, well I'm gonna make you stupid!", or "then I'm gonna bite your shorts." Those are mixed in with a nice death threat here and there. We can't help but laugh at some of the things he says, but seriously, I'm ready for some good behavior.
We have tried chore charts in the past. A vain attempt to establish some sort of routine and responsibility, those did not work. We have tried spankings, timeouts, naughty chairs, tobasco (I don't reccomend that), taking toys away, sending kids to bed, yelling/ screaming, stomping out feet and pulling our hair out, but, low and behold nothing has worked. Surprise Surprise!
Some days I feel like I am at the end of my rope and I just can't take it anymore. If that feeling hits at bedtime, then it's not too bad because I can just go to bed. When that feeling hits at lunch time, or even before, I know it is going to be a horrible day. Today was one of those.
So, what to do. I would love to have my Mom come move in and take over the disciplinary responsibilities. (I didn't act like this as a kid, so my parents must have done something right.) None the less, I know that will never happen. What about Super Nanny?? I'm thinking I've got to call in some outside resources and she's about the only one I can think of.
Anyway, if you have some good advice that won't give me a guilt trip (I'm already feeling bad enough), please pass it along. Even some words of encouragement would be nice, something that will help me make it through another day. (I know my sister will say "next time don't have your kids so close together.") Advice that might actually be helpful is preferred. :) Anyway, thanks in advance for the help! I hope everyone else is having a WAY better day than me!

Ouch

2010-06-03T12:28:00.002-05:00

Everyone has been asking what happened to Dallin. I guess I can't post pictures of him looking like he does without also posting an explanation. He fell off something at a park. Nothing exciting. At least he is a tough boy, and this just makes him look tougher. :)

More Pics

2010-06-02T20:40:00.002-05:00

According to our kids this is our new baby "Tater-tot." They are pretty excited about having a new baby in the family.

He's here!

2010-06-02T20:19:00.002-05:00

Tate Rodney Bushman was born today (Wednesday) at 4:03 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz, 19 3/4 inches. He did great, and this was Mom's easiest delivery yet! Here are a few pics, more to come.

A few more funnies

2010-05-30T21:49:00.004-05:00

The kids each had a funny moment this week. I figured I better share them before I forget them.

Dallin and I were driving in the car and we were talking about knowing where we are going, so we don't get lost. He said "no one should get lost as long as they have 'googoo maps'." Ya know, like Brian has a 'google maps' application on his phone. I guess everyone should have that.

We have a small fenced in yard at our town house. Right behind it is a large grassy hill that we have let the kids play on. Well, when I saw that the neighbor lets his great big doberman pinscher go out on this hill and do his business several times a day, I put a halt to playing on the hill. I really hate dog poop, and I don't want to clean it off of my kids or their shoes. So yesterday Brian is watching the kids out there and the neighbor happens to come out with the dog at the same time. Cody marched right over to the neighbor and said "Thanks for letting your dog poop out here so now I can't play here anymore." I wish I could have been there! Of course I'm sure the neighbor will not take a hint and start picking up after his dog, but it was funny.

Brylee wanted me to hold her, but with such a large belly in the way it gets kind of hard to hold her while I'm standing. So I told her "No, Mommy has a big belly right now. Have Daddy hold you, he doesn't have a big belly." She looked a little upset, and frustrated then said "Yes he does. Big belly right there!" (as she pointed to Brian) It was pretty funny. Brian and I couldn't stop laughing!