finally some pictures

the mcdonald's play place

I forgot that during spring break, I don't like to go places because everyone is already there with their kids...We decided to meet some friends at McDonald's and it was pretty crazy. The kids were real excited because I hate going there so we rarely go. Ansel came crying to me because he got kicked in the face. Ansel cries pretty easily and I know that it's crowded up in that play area so I didn't think much of it. But, another mom immediately came over and said that her son was also kicked in the face. I decided to walk over to try and see if anything was going on. I found a little girl coming out crying. The girl helping her said she got kicked in the face. So, I'm now aware of three victims and feeling certain this is not some accident. I get my stern voice out and say: Hey, whoever is up there kicking people needs to come down right now. As we are waiting some of the victims start describing the kicker. Pretty much all the kids are coming out of the playhouse and one boy asked: are you talking to me? One boy is lingering at a tunnel opening so I ask him if he is the one kicking everyone in the face. I turn around and all the kids are like, yep, he's the one. By now there is quite a crowd of parents and kids. I look around asking if this kid belongs to anyone. no. I tell the kid to come out and we better go find his mom. He said he didn't want to see his mom. I said, I bet you don't. I also said that I thought his mom would be happier to see us come to her together than me going by myself. At this point some lady is asking me if there is a problem. I tell her that this boy was kicking kids and we were going to find his mom. She said she was his aunt and I said oh, ok, great. Then I went back to sit down and eat my food. About 5 mins later Isabel reported that she was playing with the kicking boy and he was being real nice. I went and told the aunt that my daughter said they were playing together and having fun so I thanked her for talking to him. I know that several of the parents appreciated what I did. I have to say I feel a little bit like a superhero. It feels great to make the world a safer place!

scripture study

When we read scriptures as a family, we all take turns reading. For the kids that are too little to read, we tell them the words and they say them. Lincoln has a tendency to add his own words in. I've been meaning to write this down and tonight just cracked me up so much.

for, for the reward TRAIN of their pride and THOMAS their foolishness JAMES they shall reap destruction MOM.....etc.

It's SO funny to hear what is on his mind by the words he adds to the verses!

funny kids

Ansel at the dinner table: I guess I ate all my sandwich. I've looked all over the place and I can't find it anywhere. (By "all over the place" he means around his spot at the dinner table.) The funniest thing about this was his genuine surprise, facial expressions and tone of voice. It was like he really expected to take another bite of sandwich before he came to the realization that it wasn't there.

I told Isabel that I had been looking for her calculator and she said that it was behind her shoe rack. I said, "No wonder I didn't find it; I would not think to look there." Then she said, "Yes, it is a queer place to keep a calculator." I had to chuckle at her vocabulary. She must have learned that word from the boxcar children books that she loves so much. (I did tell her that "queer" is an older word that people don't use much anymore.)

Lincoln wanted a doll that Ansel had been playing with for a while and started whining about it and saying that he had it first. (Which was not true.) Lincoln kept whining about it and when I was starting to loose my patience Joseph said, "Lincoln you are not still whining about that doll are you?" "NO." Lincoln whined back. Joseph: "Good, because it would be completely ridiculous if you were." This just struck me SOOOOOO funny. When I get tired of my kids being whiney or something and I'm starting to get frustrated, I LOVE it that Joseph makes a joke about it. What a great perspective it gives me and it just cheers me up. I think that's one of my husband's major jobs: to make me laugh when I'm on the verge of getting upset.

mischief

I can pretty much describe mischief in my house with one word: Lincoln. He was supposed to be taking a nap. I had moved our lighthouse nightlight up on the very top of the hutch on the dresser because Ansel kept taking it apart and borrowing the light bulb for other things. Anyway, Grandma heard Lincoln not sleeping and sent Isabel to go check on him. She said that he had climbed up, got the lighthouse and put it on the dresser. Isabel ran out to tell Grandma what was going on. When Grandma got to the door, she saw Lincoln sprinting across the room and then dive onto his bed flat on his stomach. (He didn't see g-ma.) She went over to him and looked at his face and his eyes were shut and he remained as still as could be. She waited for a few minutes just looking at him and not believing how good he was at faking that he was asleep.

I got Joseph a big bag of peanut M&Ms because they are his favorite. He keeps them in our room. They are also Lincoln's favorite. Joseph shares them whenever Lincoln eats a good dinner, but we have caught Lincoln several times getting into them in our room (which he is NOT allowed to go into). One day Joseph starts walking down the hallway and sees Lincoln coming out of our room. Lincoln looks VERY nervous and worried and has M&M candy shell coloring all over his face. He says, "no candy!" (This means: I didn't have any candy.) Of course Joseph put him in a time out and told him stealing candy and lying is wrong.

And he is only two...I hate to wonder what we have in store from this child as he gets older!

It's a good thing that boy is SO cute! It has saved his life many times already! ha ha ha.

super dad

So, thing have been pretty busy. I have several things I've been wanting to post, but do NOT have the time. Anyway, the day after Titus was born I picked up Isabel from school and did some grocery shopping afterward. I walked into the house to find Joseph holding a crying Titus who was calming down because he was bouncing a little and AT THE SAME TIME holding a bucket for Lincoln in his other hand while Lincoln was throwing up in it. Lincoln has had some bad viruses and lots of vomiting. He always does a little and says he is done and tries to get away, but ALWAYS does more. So, you kind of have to chase him around with the bucket to get him to puke into it. Anyway, I had to smile because a situation like that would stress me out a lot. Here was my amazing husband who just calmly sees what needs to be done and does it without stressing out. (Maybe this can help you see how he delivered our third child while the doctor was getting to our house....) I'm so grateful for his ability to handle stressful situations calmly and intelligently.

Titus Benjamin Ashby

Titus Benjamin Ashby was born at 4:07am on January 25th. 7bls, 13 oz. 19 inches long. We made a little family pool and Lincoln won! Who would have thought after having babies 3, 6, and 11 days late that the forth one would be only one day late?! I woke up at 2am and thought: I don't feel good, what's going on? Then I realized it was a contraction. I told Joseph and he didn't really respond. I went to the bathroom and laid in bed and wondered: could this be it?! Strange to wake up to a contraction, but it's way too soon to have this baby. 30 mins later I had another intense contraction and so I tried to wake Joseph up again. This time I got through to him. I had another contraction maybe 10 mins later and at that point I realized we better not play around, we need to get moving. (Lincoln's birth was really fast and we had a 20 min car ride this time...) Joseph called our friend to come over and stay with our kids and was loading stuff up in the car.

When we got to the birth center, we were actually at the front desk about twice as long than we were in the room before I had the baby. Even though I pre-registered, she still had two forms for me to fill out. I'm like really?! now?! I was going to have Joseph do them until I realized it would be better for me to do it while he pushed on my back. Anyway, I said something politely about how this is our forth kid and they come really fast and how we need to call the doctor. As soon as we got into the room Joseph asked the nurse if they had called the doctor yet. no, no. (I knew that I should have called the doctor myself at home...) Anyway, she checked me and I was fully effaced, dilated to 10cm and at a station of -2. They said they would call Dr. Jensen, but better call the resident too in case he didn't get there in time. Well, I had the baby at 4:07am before either doctor got there. But, at least I got there in time!! (I REALLY didn't want to have a baby in the car.)

Titus is not real fussy compared to our other babies and falls asleep by himself way better than any of our other babies. He does like to stay up ALL night and then sleep well during the day, but our other babies did that too. Last night was the first night that he slept more than an hour. Today he has been a little fussy and more awake (like he usually is when we are up with him at night.) I'm hoping that he can continue to be a little fussy during the day and then sleep good tonight.

Sleep has been a challenge. Sunday night (mon morning) before I had the baby, I was up all night with Lincoln who was sick. Monday night (tues morning) I woke up and had the baby. I dozed off at the hospital a bit. My favorite thing was when an unidentified person walked into my dark room where my baby and I were sleeping. (I wasn't all the way asleep, but kept my eyes closed because I didn't need anything.) This lady said: Are you leaving today? ARE YOU LEAVING TODAY? I opened my eyes and said yes. Then she said something to herself as she walked out like, I guess you don't need one of these then. I just think: could you have waited to ask me? OR could you have just asked one of my nurses. One time I did fall asleep and I got a phone call from the birth certificate lady who needed a lot of information. I just couldn't wait to get home. I have trouble falling asleep sometimes, but last night Titus slept so much more than he ever has before. I think I got six hours of sleep last night, in a row. Joseph woke up and fed the baby once, but I pretty much stayed asleep. It was SOOO nice. Hopefully, Titus will sleep good again tonight. Well, I've been working on this post all week! ha ha, I better just post it now or I probably never will!