Advice for my new brother

Dear Baby Brother,

This is your big brother Search. When you finally arrive I will surely take you under my wing and teach you and protect you and play with you. But, I figured I'd get started ahead of time by making a list of tips and other important things that you need to know to make the most of your baby/toddler/little boy career. So here it is.

1. No matter what Pampered Chef says, their stonewear CAN break. You just have to shove it off the counter onto the tile floor.

2. It's easy to rip blinds down out of their brackets by simply jumping off the window sill with the blinds cord around your neck.

3. Rotary cutter rulers aren't good for hitting your bother(s) because they break in the process. They also cost $20 to replace (which will be taken from your allowance).

4. Despite time-outs, threats and yelling from mom and dad, it is possible to flood the bathroom EVERY time you take a bath and cause the molding to separate from the walls and caulking.

5. Ball point pen does not come off of white leather couches and chairs, no matter what you try (or your mom tries).

6. Orange crayon doesn't come out of carpet either.

7. There's nothing a barstool can't help you reach.

8. Flour is fun to play in and makes a monumental mess in the pantry and all over the floor.

9. Hiding Mom's cell phone isn't a good idea if you want her to be happy.

10. Brushing your teeth requires toothpaste. And lots of it. And Mom likes it when you "clean" the counters and mirrors with it also.

11. Redecorating always starts with tearing down loose wallpaper. In any room you can find it. Mom keeps saying that she needs to switch my name, Search, with Destroy on the blog, but I have no idea why. Then she says it would just be too confusing for everyone so she doesn't.

12. It's easy to help air circulate in the house. All you have to do is rip holes in the window screens. The holes are also great for shoving your super-heros down to the ground on the first level.

13. It is possible to empty entire shampoo bottles in one bath session. Numerous bottles, numerous bath sessions. I don't know why Dad doesn't just put it up out of reach.

14. Drawing on walls with orange and red crayon and pink pen helps to spice up the life of the home decor (especially when the wallpaper is as ugly as ours).

15. Drawing on the computer screen and speakers helps to remind mom and dad that they should be playing with you and not wasting time blogging and checking game scores.

16. Destroying Mom's bed right after she makes it really gets her going.

17. The filling inside a Pull-Up makes a huge mess if you repeatedly bang it against your bed. But, cleaning it off your bed, dresser, bookshelf, floor and toys isn't very fun.

18. Ripping clothes off of hangers in Mom and Dad's closet will most definitely land you in time out.

19. When Mom strips her bed of the matress pad and sheets (because you just peed on them), the vinyl matress bag is fun to rip big holes in.

20. Dumping large amounts of hand soap on the carpet makes a pretty good mess. And even after it's "cleaned up", it still attracts lots of dirt.

Here are just a few to start with. I'm sure I'll be able to add more in the next few months, so stay posted. You might be wondering how it is that Mom hasn't booted me out to the nearest adoption agency. Well, here are my tricks. You just have to be outrageously cute and tell her that you love her and that she's "the best mom in the whole world" without being prompted. Then you'll win her over and you'll be allowed to stay. See you soon!

Love,

Search

Man Post

You all may think you have the best husband in the world, but you're wrong. Because I do. Looking through my past posts, I realize how much play the kids get and how little my hubby gets. Well, here's a post to help equalize the situation.

REASONS I LOVE AARON:

The other day I went grocery shopping in single digit weather (it's the only thing grocery shopping in nice weather). I drove up to find him outside with the kids building them "polar bear caves". Not one but two caves, and for not one, but two hours he was outside with them. In the freezing cold. HE LOVES HIS BOYS and will do anything for them.

HE IS ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP OUT. In November our furnace broke. Luckily I was out of town for Thanksgiving, and Aaron was gone working a lot so he didn't have to be in the freezing house too much. But instead of hiring someone to fix it, he fixed it himself. And he doesn't know anything about fixing heaters. It saved about $300.

A couple of weeks ago I bought paint for three rooms in our house and I was all ready to do it myself. He immediately intervened telling me that the paint wasn't good for me or the baby and did all three rooms by himself. Primer and paint, no small feat!

Last week one of the belts in his car broke. Once again, instead of taking it in, he thought he'd give it a whirl and try to fix it himself. Here's me thinking, "you and your soft doctor hands are going to fix your car?" So he bought a new belt for $12 and a one day on-line subscription to Mazda's car manual... and he fixed it himself. You know, it's just like cooking, just follow that recipe, right? Ha! He doesn't know much about cars, but my grease monkey is slowly becoming the resident handy man. Him and his soft doctor hands.

HE'S SO CUTE. Even his kids want to look just like him. (Destroy is his clone).

HE'S A KID AT HEART! I think the thing he misses most about So Cal is Disneyland.

See? The only different is the gun (now he has REAL guns).

HE'S AMBITIOUS AND DEDICATED. It's one of the things that attracted me to him so much when we first met. I didn't really care what he wanted to be, I was just really impressed that he was so driven in his goals. Not only is he like this with work/school/training, but in other aspects of his life also. You know, like mastering Guitar Hero and Mario Kart. Those important things in life.

He MISSES SLEEP for hours on end just so that he doesn't miss anything fun that the boys and I are doing. Like going trunk-or-treating after you've been awake for 36 hours.

HE LIKES TO COOK. Especially breakfast and anything on the grill. And not only does he like it, he's dang good at it! Aaron can make some mean scrambled eggs and he's got some scrumptious grilled dishes under his sleeve. Come visit us in the great state of Indiana and he'll whip something up for ya!

HE'S AN EXCELLENT TEACHER and he finds lots of moments to take the opportunity. Not only does he teach the kids, but me as well. I'm sure I've said it before, but he has a large reservoir of strange facts in his head. It never ceases to surprise me. The primary kids love it when he subs for their classes.

HE LOVES HIS FAMILY (meaning us). He always puts us first. He rarely goes to anything social unless we can come too. He's very considerate and caring of us and our needs.

HE LOVES TO PLAY WITH HIS BOYS. From building train tracks, to legos, to reading, to playing board games, to sledding and swimming, there's nothing that he won't do with them. And they love it!

HE TELLS ME I'M BEAUTIFUL. Even when I know I'm not, or when I look like a cow. Like here with Destroy,Here with Search,
Or here with Dodge.

He even tells me I'm beautiful after I've birthed a child and am anything but.HE LOVES BABIES. I think he's more excited that I am for baby Dodge to make his appearance. He's always enjoyed holding babies and isn't ashamed to be animated and goofy to make them smile. He was always better at soothing the boys when they were tiny than I was.

HE LOVES ME.

AND I LOVE HIM! I'm so grateful to have him in my life.

30 weeks

For those of you asking for pics, here's baby bump at 30 weeks. I think we're in for another overly-active, crazy little man because this kid doesn't stop moving! He's woken me up at night a few times and stretches and rolls around like he's running out of room. Little does he know that he's still growing and he's not gettin' out any time soon!

We've set a date to get induced on March 31st because Aaron has a vacation week. If we wait, baby Dodge would be coming during a super intense rotation (the pediatric ICU or PICU). So, we picked that week to bring this little guy into the world! I wouldn't be surprised though if I went into labor before hand though (which I'd rather) because Search and Destroy were both a week early and this kid is measuring big. So, we'll see. Plus it's numero 3. That counts for something, right (Julia, you don't have to answer that:).

No names picked out. Maybe he'll just be Baby Madsen, or Dodge (not really). We came up with a few names that we both agreed on, but none that stood out. And, honestly, I can't even remember what those were. We already had a hard time naming Search, so baby Dodge is even harder! Why is that? We have a list full of girl names that we love, but boy names are hard. It's the same with everyone I talk to. I tend to like really nerdy names which my dear husband isn't too keen on. Bummer. He says Dexter is out of the question. But, seriously, isn't Dex the cutest name?

My pregnancies have become increasingly harder. I don't get morning sickness in the first trimester, just tired. The second trimester is great, as it is for almost everyone, and of course the third is uncomfortable. Varicose veins make my pregnancies just a treat... especially since I get them in an especially uncomfortable area, if you catch my drift. I didn't have any varicose veins with Destroy, they didn't appear until 7 months with Search, but with this one, they were here to keep me company around 3 months. I can't wait to give them a one way ticket home (well, round trip if we decide on number 4). But, I feel very lucky that I'm able to carry children full term and that my deliveries are easy!

Starting the new year off right

Here's for the males in my house!

My boys

Last week the boys went on a preschool fieldtrip to a bounce-house place. Search and Destroy are a year apart in school, so they are in separate classes. When they got home I asked them about their trip and who they played with. I was surprised but not shocked to hear that they played with each other and not with their friends. After all, the are used to each other, and comfortable with each other. And... they LOVE each other! I find myself reflecting lately on how grateful I am that these two are such good friends and have so much fun together.

Although, it hasn't always been this way.

The first two years of mothering for me were so hard. I wondered what I had gotten myself into and I wondered if I would ever want kids again. Destroy was a very challenging child and it was that much harder when Search was born. Isn't it funny how none of the pictures I took when they were young summed up those years? If I had only taken pictures of Destroy sitting on Search or pulling his hair... or being the unnaturally young defiant child that he was, then I would be able to convey my thoughts through pictures. But, no, just like you, I mostly take pictures of the good times.There were moments when they were nice to each other. Like, once a week :) But overall, I thought there was no hope in friendship for these two.Yes, you can see how much Search adored his big brother back then. I mean come on? Who doesn't like the choke-hold? But when we moved to Indiana, things drastically changed. Up until we moved the kids had tons of friends right outside their door (gotta love student housing). Why play with your brother when you can play with your friends? Outside. Any time of year, I might add. (This single digit weather is making me miss the 70's of So Cal about now).But when we moved, they only had each other. They quickly learned how much fun they could have with each other and they fell into a groove. Now the two are inseparable. I mean, they don't even go over to friends' houses without one another. They do EVERYTHING together. Including: wrestling, rockin' out to Green Day and Jimmy Eat World (their new favorite, dancing to rock music), and even peeing together. They think it's hillarious. I just roll my eyes and remind myself that they are boys.The love to cuddle with each other, especially while watching movies. I often hear one telling the other how much he loves him. It melts my heart. They comfort each other, they stand up for each other (like against the big bad parents), and they encourage each other.

They love to be creative together and they engage in imaginative during play most of their playtime. I love hearing the things they come up with and play together.I think the best thing about boys is that they can forgive and forget. Just like all other siblings, these guys have their share of quarrels. But, 3 minutes later it's over, and they just go on playing like they were before. I'm so grateful for these two. I love that they love each other so much. Let's pray that it continues when they get older!

Now, another boy. The question is... do we have another baby a year and a half later (because at this point I think a girl is out of the question :) so he can have a buddy too? Am I willing to go through two years of hell again? Maybe the second time around would be different. I guess we'll wait and see!

Starting over!

So... I feel like I am starting over with the whole baby phase. It's been a few years since we've dealt with bottles and binkys and booster seats. Oh my! Even naps and diapers seem a thing from the distant past. Search will be almost 4 when this baby comes! In Mormonland I'm way behind in the child-bearing category, but I needed some space from the baby phase and time to recover from Search and Destroy in the younger years. Now I'm starting to gear myself to be prepared for midnight feedings, a nap time schedule and doing things with only one hand again. But mostly I'm trying to prepare myself for the lack of sleep that will come, and with that, crankiness on my part. Crankiness too often turns into me yelling at the kids. So, I'm already praying for help with that. I figured a head start wouldn't hurt :)

Anywhoo... I just have a couple of questions for y'all. Even though we have enough baby boy clothes to clothe a small country, we do need a couple of things for this child. The changing table that the boys jumped to death for instance and a bouncer that shouldn't have, but was used so much by a toddler that it sat on the floor and was no longer able to, well, bounce. My questions for you are:

Did you use a sling for your baby? If so, did you like it? And what kind was it?
What about the Bumbo? My babies tend to take a while to learn to sit up so it seems like it would be a nice thing to have, but it's pricey. Has anyone used one?

Are there any other baby items out there that are especially helpful? Any info is helpful!

Book Talk

I read this in one day... it was SO good. Her story is so sad, she lost almost her entire family during the genocide. But overpowering the sadness and atrocities in this book are her faith, her devotion to God, and most of all her forgiveness to those in command of the genocide. It was an amazing book... books rarely make me cry but this one did. She's written another book which I have put on hold at the library. I HIGHLY recommend this book!