missing Max

In the fog of being really sick 2 weeks ago I forgot to write about our little parrot Max. He is such a sweet, lovable bird........with adults. Max is deathly scared of the kids and it's no wonder, he sees them as screaming lunatic death traps. The kids are now scared of Max because he launches preemptive attacks on them when they get near his cage. With the new baby here and my friends baby going to be here later this year during the day we felt that it would be best for all to find Max a new home- especially in our cramped quarters. Dave and I have both struggled with being a responsible pet owner and keeping him vs. doing what's best for our family by finding him a better home where he would get more attention and less stress.

One of Dave's patients works with animals and wanted to get a bird. His family agreed to meet Max and give it a try. We cleaned out his cage and packed up all his things on Valentine's Day so Dave could take him to work to meet the family. He has been gone for 2 weeks now and I'm pretty sure things are going well for him in his new home. Dave said the family, especially Dad, is enjoying him. I guess he is talking A LOT, something he probably couldn't do here because of all the noise already going on. He already imitates sounds in the house; the phone, the whistle that calls the dog (which confuses the poor canine), and all the songs he knew from our house. I miss him a lot sometimes, but will freely admit that my days and the kids are more calm. I still catch myself walking into the kitchen to get Max to take in the shower with me (he LOVES showers!), and I can't fix a meal without thinking about walking some scraps over to Max's cage (he loved those too!).

Jessie was just getting to the age where Max would have behaved for her and she could have helped taking care of him, yet she seemed to be the most afraid of him. The day before Max left us Jessie made him a little toy. When we told J that he was leaving us to go to a new home she ran into her room crying. She said she didn't want Max to go. They could have been such great friends. That made it even harder for me.

He loved to take showers on Mom or Dad's arm One of his favorite activities during the day was just chilin' on my shoulder while I did things around the house. He loves popcorn, the top of peppers with the seeds, sugar snap peas, carrots, dunking crackers in his water bowl, plowing through an apple to get the seeds, corn on the cob, garbanzo beans & fruit. He would start "dialing" the phone with his voice as soon as we picked up the phone to make a call. He did a perfect imitation of the smoke alarm, Toby's scream ;(, mom's laugh, wolf whistles, and whatever whistles and clicks we could make. Since Toby learned to whistle recently he could often be found standing near Max's cage whistling to each other. He loved head rubs when the house was quiet and would nudge your hand when he wanted more. He adored Grandma Evie and would sing her songs as soon as she walked in the front door that he wouldn't sing for anyone else (she was just as upset about Max leaving as me). here he is with Grammy So here's to Max. I never thought I would get so attached to a silly bird. Towards the end of his stay here he caused me too much stress, but he is such a cuddly, sweet parrot and I will miss him for a long time.


And now I'm crying

over a little bird

back to normal

It seems like every couple years I get REALLY sick and it renews my thankfulness for a healthy body. I am so grateful that I don't have to struggle with chronic illness or health problems on a day-to-day basis. After getting this nasty flu that's going around I was out of commission for almost 2 weeks. We're talking fever for 5 days, a headache that I was sure would cause my head to explode through my eyes, and the parting shot was a sinus infection which added throbbing pain to that nasty headache. I'm so glad that's over and now I feel like I can get on with life. The boys got to watch plenty of movies while I lay in bed and I felt like I missed 2 precious weeks of Sydney growing and changing. I was so sick that she felt like a constant leech that needed feeding every few hours. It sounds terrible but that's how horrid I felt with the flu.

The kids all got sick too. I think Jessie brought it home from school because she was first. Then Logan and I got it and Toby was a few days later. Dave was the last to get it. Bless him, he worked the last part of last week not feeling well and crashed over the weekend to recover. My prayers were answered and Sydney didn't get it at all. She had a weepy eye for about a week and that's it. I worried about what this gombu flu would do to her month-old body.

Valentine's Day totally passed me by being sick and all. I bought some cute containers to take treats to all our friends. Jessie and I had plans to make some fun Valentine's for all her classmates and we even talked about surprising Daddy at work with some goodies. None of those plans came to fruition. All I could do was get out of bed to feed the boys, myself and Sydney that day. Dave came home late from work with balloons for the kids, a pink rose for Jessie, and a beautiful potted orchid for me. Thanks my love. We put the kids to bed and Dave treated us to Red Robin burgers for a late dinner. He didn't get home until almost 10 PM from picking them up because the restaurant was having issues, but the food was free.

Jessie is getting so big and more independent. A couple days before Valentine's Day she came home from school, got out all the supplies from her art shelves and started making her own Valentine's for her class. I was in bed with a fever most the day, and by the time I dragged myself out of bed to make dinner she was working away with her cards all over the table. She even made foam bead bracelets for all her teachers and office ladies.

Sweet Sydney is 6 weeks old this week and the time really has gone by scary fast. She stays awake for longer periods of time now and is starting to smile and react more to people. Last night we had family night at my parents, and Sydney was smiling away for Grandpa Bob while he talked to her. Daddy especially likes getting "cheesers" from the beebs. She is a pretty mellow baby. Last night she slept for 6 blessed hours. The only bummer for Mom is that I can't eat lots of onions and spicy food or it really hurts her tummy.

I have been watching the Jane Austen movies on PBS with a bunch of girl friends every Sunday night. It's a nice distraction to get together in our jammies and talk "family, money and connections" while we watch. We finished Pride and Prejudice (my favorite) on Sunday. I have always loved Miss Lizzy Bennet's character because she knows exactly what to say in every situation and isn't afraid to say it. That is a talent I wish I possessed. I'm the type of person that gets into a confrontational situation and either let things pass or chickens out. Then I sit and think of all the things I should have said. This quiz was fun. Go check out what character you would be.

Take the Quiz here!

Our Golden Pig

Happy Chinese New Year! one day late

We have the Chinese Branch in our ward at church, and with the large concentration of Chinese in this area where we live, yesterday was a big day. To celebrate Dave looked up each of our animal signs for the year we were born. He showed the kids a picture of "their" animal and why the Chinese use them. We learned that there is a lot of fire in our house, 2 dragons and a fire snake. Some of the fire traits are strength, persistence, warmth, creativity, however an excess of it can bring aggression, impatience and impulsive behavior. That about sums up our house at any given moment.

When all the sweet Chinese ladies at church found out we were expecting a girl in January I heard more than one excited squeal from their usually shy, reserved mouths. "It's year of Golden Pig" they'd say, "very lucky, very lucky!" So when we were looking at each family members signs yesterday I laughed out loud remembering this picture.

It's 2 day-old baby Sydney right after getting out of the photo-therapy for jaundice. From the bridge of her nose and up she is yellow because of the mask protecting her eyes. It was harder to notice it when her whole body was that yellow. We teased that she was a yellow raccoon. Not quite- she really was our cute little Golden Pig.

The ladies from church were right about the lucky part. WE are lucky to have this sweet, healthy baby girl in our family.

Syd's big day

Our little Sydney was the star of the show yesterday. It was her and my first Sunday back at church. We dressed her up in a frilly white dress and Daddy blessed her with most of our local family there. It felt good to sit in church with so many of our extended family there with us.















Dave and I both agree that adding another kid to the family after the third is not as big of a transition as from 2 to 3 kids. As Dave puts it, "it's the same method of crowd control." All the chillies have been so good with the addition of baby Sydney. Jessie rarely complains about the extra chores and errands she has to run for me, usually when I am nursing baby. She can get the kids cereal for breakfast or make toast to tide them over until I can fix lunch. Toby is the least interested in interacting with Sydney. He is my deep-thinker and I know by the questions he asks me that he loves and is thinking about Sydney. He often talks about where Sydney came from and what happened when I pushed her out of my tummy, etc. Logan is the big surprise in the house. He is such a snuggly Momma's boy that I worried he would easily retaliate when baby came. He hasn't though. If anything I have to watch baby closely so Logan doesn't love her too much instead of showing any aggression. He always picks the time she is sleeping soundly on my bed to go smother her with kisses and rub her head as only a 2 year-old can. It's been a great transition so far. We'll see if the kids are this entranced with her when she starts crawling and stealing their toys. ;)

I always think of profound thoughts or funny stories to write here and once that blank New Post screen comes up my mind goes blank too. That's where I am today........................................................

Sydney is sleeping in her Boppy pillow on the couch, Logan is climbing in, over and through my legs that are resting on the couch, and Toby is reading by the portable heater that is cranked up because it's cold here. I know, 40 degrees is not that cold for the rest of the country, but this Cali girl is used to the mild winters and just above freezing is not normal. Jessie is at school and I miss her a lot. She is such a good helper now that baby Syd is here and taking a lot of my time. I'm avoiding housework because I'm tired- it was a long night with not enough sleep.

My worries before the baby was born of getting Jessie to and from school are coming true. This morning Dave woke me up to say goodbye at 7:45. The boys were still sleeping and Jessie was getting ready for school. Sydney woke up as we were talking and wanted FOOD! My mission impossible was to help Jessie get her lunch, feed and diaper Sydney, wake up the boys and get us all dressed (at least shoes and coats on), diaper Logan, and get into the car to take Jessie to school in 20 minutes. I managed but it is not a rat race I like to run. Thank goodness for friends and family that are willing to help out. My friend picked Jessie up with her own son and walked her home most of last week. It's the same thing at 3 PM when J gets out. Logan is usually asleep and Sydney needs to be fed when it's time to pick up J from school. I suppose if I just lived in the car it would be easy....but way too cold and boring.

I just reminded myself of a priceless exchange between Logan and Great-Gram when the boys were with her during my hospital stay. It was the 3rd day that my chillies were without Mom at home and their behavior was starting to show the divergence in our routine. Logan had been Mr. Destructo all day at Grams; leaving a trail of toys wherever he went, getting into things he shouldn't, and peeling the paper off crayons and breaking them. Gram had had enough and nicely reprimanded him for breaking crayons and not minding. I can totally see in my mind the grumpy, bull-dog face he shot her as Gram asked Logan to behave. He pipes up and says, "If you're mad at me I'm going to hide behind my Mommy's butt...........................that's right, I said butt!" His 2 year-old brain was trying so hard to buck the system because butt is a "bathroom word" that the kids aren't supposed to say.