May Chronicles

Addie's mother's day card:

"My mom has blue eyes.

My mom has brown hair.

Sometimes she eats candy

but I don't care."

Addie's riddle poem:

A is the oldest

Q has a good imagination
J is a baby

and E is trouble.
T is a genius

and A is smart,

but F is the BEST!!!!
What is F?

Other big events for Addie include incubating real live chicks at school, practicing and performing the Reading Restaurant, and discovering 3 cavities at the dentist, who knew kids needed to floss? Obviously not me. Her dentist happens to be her primary teacher also. After her first filling Aaron asked her if she still wanted to go back to church and luckily she said she did. She also turned 6 years old and had a wild and crazy Mad Scientist Party.

The highlight for Quinn this month was going to Wednesday morning Sporties for Shorties at the local Aquatics Center. She's getting especially good at rock climbing. And for the record: she can now brake on her bike!

I have to note the curious black eye Enoch was sporting in some of the photos from last month. That was from playing frisbee, with Quinn, on the trampoline; a favorite pastime of the two of them. This month he discovered soccer. He even takes the soccer ball with us in the car when we go most places. He has also decided to take his sense of fashion into his own hands. That always happens when my 2 year olds discover 'the Red Cowboy Boots.' A particularly choice outfit consisted of a Brazilian soccer shirt, cars and trucks long johns and red cowboy boots up to his knees. He wore it to the grocery store. He got a lot of comments.

Jean started smiling. Of course, it's cute. The kids really like to get her to smile at them. It's a good thing her outfits are so darn cute on her to make up for Enoch's fashion statements.

We have all been working on planting our new fancy garden boxes. Addie is excited about the carrots. Enoch likes to keep an eye on the fast growing peas. Quinn planted her own zinnias (incidentally, the same thing my mom planted in her 'garden' when she was Quinn's age). Aaron's pride is his lettuce and spinach box. I'm especially looking after the herbs and flowers. I really had to argue for one box being my flower box. Aaron wanted all produce harvest crops. I tried to warn him that you don't garden in Flagstaff, (at 7000 ft, with an average late frost date of June 15) for a bountiful harvest; it's more for the experience. I like to say, I garden to learn more about God. It's a good experience.

April Chronicles

Kiddo Anecdotes:

Addie's latest doctrinal ponderings have been about a possible favorite color for Jesus. Maybe it is all colors. (mom: good thought. He used all colors when he created the world. I bet he liked them all). What if he only used his favorite colors, and there are more that he didn't use. But we don't even know them because we only know the ones he used on Earth?!?! (you got me there. What if?)
I also overheard her informing her siblings at dinner that 'all things are chicken. Even people have chicken in them." Chicken is a generic term for meat at our house.

Quinn's word of the month is "awesomest." The real bone tickler in her use of the word is how fast she says it. Say it as quick and enthusiastic as you can. That's how she uses it. It has an almost 'Napoleon Dynamite casualness' feel. If only you could see her riding her 'sweet' bike she'd gladly show you her 'skills.' which she refers to as her 'awesomest tricks.' One thing about Quinn is she always spends more time explaining things than actually doing them. Her first awesomest bike trick is to stand up while she pedals. "even Addie can't do that trick." The second awesomest bike trick is to pedal with no hands (even if that means using your wrists to steer sometimes). The third is a sparatic back and forth steering to make a snake pattern.
All of this she can do, and yet, she hasn't quite figured out how to use the brakes. We're working on it though, and when she gets that down, it will most definitely be the fourth awesomest bike trick. She turned 4 this month and had the awesomest "Q-U Heart" party. She chose the theme, thanks Grandma for making it happen.

Enoch's choice words and phrases this month took on a disturbingly slang sound. They include "wuck a heck" (what the heck-which he distinctly got from Addie). "Dang it!" (Quinn's curse of choice) and "hoe-we moe-we" (holey moley-picked up from Nana Tana). All exclaimed with full emotion and impeccable timing. It's a bit frightening to hear, but it makes us laugh. He also has this way of saying "O-kay" with the perfect mix of disappointment and consent. Half a sigh and half an agreement.

Jean is a little dear, who is still figuring out the world. She can gulp more air than any baby I've ever cared for and it causes her a lot of grief. She does not like to nurse to sleep. She does not particularly like to be rocked to sleep. She does not like to sleep when she can hear the kids playing. And she does not like the pacifier. But amazingly she does sleep. We just have to make sure to burp her for long enough and lay her down in the perfect drowsy 'window' of opportunity. She spends the majority of her life in the double jogger and a car seat. She likes to be on the go (a person pretty much couldn't survive in this family without that trait).

Special "Addition": cousin

Only 12hrs old and she still doesn't have pictures on her blog. That is so Camille!

There is still some heated family controversy as to how to spell his name:

Snorky, Snorkey, Snorkie, Snorkii, Snorki, Snorkee....

What is the popular opinion?

Special Edition: Baby Jean

Jean Hopkinson
March 29, 2009
8am
8lb 2oz, 19.5inches

More baby pictures than you ever wanted to see:



There's not much to report by way of 'birth story.' Mine are pretty run of the mill, which I'm grateful for. I go into labor at night and a week early: check. Water breaks, debate with Aaron about seriousness of going to the hospital, drug me up, push her out, no complications. Amazing. A miracle. A blessing.

I thought having a 4th baby was great though; I got hand-waved through so many things. The nurse came to triage me and when I told her this was my 4th she lowered her clipboard, took off her gloves and sighed, "oh, well you know you're in labor. Let's skip this and go straight to a room." When the next nurse checked my progress and I was complete she really hustled to call the dr. when I told her to be ready to deliver the baby because I won't wait to push just because she asked me to (she tried to tell me I would wait and I humored her by negotiating for 10 minutes). When the recovery nurse was giving me the shpeel about all the paperwork on my clipboard she kept pulling sheets out and throwing them in the garbage muttering, "you can skip that, and that, and you don't have to watch this movie...." When another nurse checked in the second morning she entered by saying, "I don't need to tell you anything, you could probably tell me a thing or two, you have more kids than me." And to top it all off, a dr. never even checked me after the delivery. They ended up calling and getting my release permission over the phone! All of this kept me chuckling through the whole experience, I mean, 4 kids isn't really that many! but I guess it is in the context of popular society.

Which reminds me of a funny little observation Aaron made over the last 9 months. He likes to relate the various reactions and comments he gets in reaction to each successive pregnancy:
1st child: "Oh! how exciting. Good for you. You'll love being parents."
2nd child: "Oh! that's great you want to have kids. How fun."
3rd child: "Oh! that will make a nice little family. You'll be busy!"
4th child: "How many kids are you going to have?!?!?!?!"

This is clearly the line where we crossed all social acceptability and the doting sugary coated encouragement completely dissolves into incredulity.

March Chronicles

In a desperate and, arguably, insane attempt at staying busy during these last few weeks of pregnancy, I signed Quinn up for swimming lessons.
But the class was full, so I looked into a Parent-Tot class at the same time and thought I might as well put Enoch in as well. I even checked in with the head life-guard to get some kind of official clearance for having 2 kids to one parent. (Although, one look at me made it clear I was practically at the 3:1 ratio in all reality.)
My simple $25 swim lesson idea turned into a $100 lesson by the time I got both enrolled and had to buy a swimming suit I could fit in!
It turned out to be a lifesaving activity to get us through some long weeks and the kids made some great progress. Enoch is fearless. I wish I could somehow depict it in words. Jumping in, face under the water, careening back for more as soon as he comes up, kind of crazy.
The other lifesaver this month was a visit from Todd, Tana and Aunt Nicole. I wasn't feeling brave enough to face Spring Break alone with all the kids and 39weeks pregnant. This team was kind enough to come the week before the baby, which I think is really selfless. The kids loved spending special time with Aunt 'Nini' They spent a whole afternoon getting pedicures and playing card games on the tramp. They also loved riding bikes and flying kites at the park. Aaron and Todd tiled the backsplash in our kitchen! (picture in next month's slideshow).

I have to publish a tribute to my amazing friends who really saw me through the last few weeks before my baby came. They brought me meals the week before as well as the week after, which did wonders. They kept up my spirits and kept my mind off the endless wait the last few days. And they completely carried our family through the first week after Jean arrived. When I say completely, I mean completely. I'm a different person because of their love and this experience.