"i a mommy"

my mornings just got a lot easier.

max kept saying, "i a mommy. i a mommy!"

and chase just kept looking up into her beautiful baby blues.

with his own little set and ginger hair.

i am loving this once a day break.

and missing it all at the same time.

funny how that happens.

b/c i spend more on a cafe rio pork salad {radon testing}

11:50am--let the games begin.

"Because you can't see it, smell it or taste it, 

people don't think it exists,

but if it is there it can be deadly."

-Christine Keyser

{Indoor Radon Coordinator with the

Utah Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Radiation Control}

.....

this weekend i'll be testing my basement for radon.

the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer.

{the 1st being smoking}.

a $7 test to see if the beautiful wasatch mountains and our lovely dug out basement 

have caused the gas to drop down into that unfinished space.

1 in 3 homes in utah has it.

click here for the article.

excerpt here:

"The gas develops from the breakdown of uranium and other minerals in soils, rock and water sources, and negative pressure draws it into homes, according to Keyser. Exhaust fans in kitchens and bathrooms, as well as dryer vents, actually help to suck the vapors into a home through cracks and gaps in the foundation, rather than just expel bad air as one would suppose."

i've always figured that we don't live out by the Kennecott Copper Mines so surely our area wouldn't have to worry about things like this, but if you have a basement in Utah you should be worried about this. your neighbor can have it, and your basement can be fine. OR your neighbor doesn't have it, and your basement CAN. we're not sleeping our basement yet, so we shouldn't be too worried right? 

WRONG.

excerpt here:

"Radon is no respecter of homes, and some homes suck (in) more than other homes," Keyser said. "Newer air conditioning units also impact radon levels, as older, evaporative coolers created a positive pressure environment within the home, circulating air better, Keyser said, adding that, "people don't air out their homes like they used to.""

So i ordered my test, 

waited for the storm to pass through the valley last weekend
{storms and wind can mess up your test}, 

and set my test up in the basement this morning.

here are the rules:

18 inches off of the ground,

at least 3 feet away from windows and the furnace,

in a place where no one will touch it,

away from drafts.

for the next 48-72 hours.

no more, no less.

then i will seal it up in it's little white pouch,

and slip it into the mail on monday morning.

{testing on a friday is better so that you can mail at the end of the test on monday morning and the lab can get it before the following weekend. more accurate results.}

anything over a 4 needs to be mitigated.

{aka new big fat pvc pipes}

let's hope we're under 4.

despite sandy city being a "hot spot" for granite and uranium deposits.

may the odds be ever in our favor;)

{thanks jenjamin}
{thanks Margaret for making me think about it!}

buy your test here.

b/c $7 is less than i spend on a Cafe Rio pork salad.

GET TESTED!

just say no to radon!

letters to Emily AND an EXTRA Beth {recipes, 3 cat nights reply, & surprise package!!!}

Dearest Emily,

Wow!! Three cat night! Well, we have 3 cat nights around here plenty!! And yes, I watched it....hilarious! So true. Smith, as you know, has irregular sleep/awake cycles, we finally figured out after many years and with help from major research projects around the country with children with Angelman Syndrome, how to get him to put himself back to sleep at night. We live in a two bedroom flat right now, soon to be three, we are moving a few streets away from here to student family housing, anyway, so Bear and Smith were sharing a room for a while and let's just say we played musical rooms for Bear or Smith to sleep in for a few months before we just decided to move Smith to our living room! And oh the glory in it!! I woke up at 4:00 am last night with out waking up to a crying child, I didn't know what to do. My body just woke up. Saying, " why have you been sleeping so long? This is weird. Wake up." But not two nights ago we were both up with Smith who was screaming all night. When Smith has a belly ache or anything is off for him, it's not about putting himself to sleep, it's about not understanding his pain. And he doesn't cry, he screams bloody murder at the top of his lungs (I am pretty sure the neighbors think we abuse him) and we just have to lay next to him (much like sweet Sean and Max) and hold his hands and maybe feed him something, or sit him up, it's still a guessing game with Smith, and most likely always will be, Bear is an avid night eater and I have been cutting back this week! It is so nice. But still, nights around here are nothing to look forward to.

And If I was living close I would come over and watch your kids so you could take a nap. Then I would give you some ice cream because my mom always says when I feel like I have had enough I probably just need a nap and some ice cream, bless her. Oh and that tilamook peanut butter chocolate ice cream I had at your birthday party was heaven. I can't wait for Bryce to try it.

As for me and my house.

Well, Bryce, a.k.a thesis Taylor is finishing up his thesis.

Bear now says, yes. no, mama, dada, sith (smith), signs please and more, will stand up free handed but still not walking yet ( I knew he would be a late walker)

Smith is enjoying his school and learning to sit up on a step! So excited. It's all about baby steps with him.

I am having fun coloring in my kids coloring books and drawing while my kids are napping...

I walked a couple miles in the snow to go grocery shopping. totally worth it.

And you have to find on of these anywhere you can.

you should try making this, since you are a food goddess

http://joythebaker.com/2009/07/buttermilk-ranch-dressing/

and this.

http://www.food.com/recipe/german-apple-cake-16883/review

anyway life is great here and even though you aren't sleeping I bet you are still Mrs. USA, holding your bouquet of flowers with a crown on your head every day because you make motherhood look like it is so fun and easy!! I love it!

Anyway I hope you have a wonderful week.

love

Beth

Dear Beth,

i CANNOT believe it! not 5 minutes after i finished reading your email today there was a knock at my door. brennan was getting dropped off from preschool. 

i open the door, 

and he goes, "mom! a package!"

and i think, "what did i impulse order from amazon??? i can't remember anything, but there is most definitely an amazon box on my front porch."

and then

I

SAW

IT.

the return label:

"sugar mama

PO BOX

Quincy"

and i knew it was NOT an impulse amazon purchase {phew},

but a surprise package from your most wonderful mother MAMA SMAILES!!!

so i ran into the kitchen,

brennan ran to the tv.

i was in a such a great mood i let him turn it on AND have my phone to play with.

and then things got better,

which i didn't think were possible 

b/c even an empty box from your mother would have been fun.

so i opened it up,

and it was all of a sudden christmas morning as a 5 year old AND your favorite birthday you've ever had all at the very same moment.

BEHOLD:

she mailed me the last known box of seasonal peppermint joe-joe's on the face of the planet!!!!!!!

or at least the last box known to me at this very moment.

i was jumping and screaming in my kitchen looking and sounding like a crazy woman,

b/c indeed i am CRAZY for joe-joe's.

and your most amazing mother sent me a box of her own.

and i'm crazy for you!

I ADORE YOUR MOTHER.

I ADORE YOUR LETTER!!!

you are the most amazing mother.

and have an amazing mother!

i am over here whining about my 3 cat night and you are having 3 cat nights all of the time.

i marvel at your ability to take care of your family!

i will make your ranch dressing recommendation for the super bowl.

i don't watch the game.

i just make the food.

eat the food.

and have joy in giving people the food.

i saw that aubrey was wanting a ranch dressing recipe and went to post your link, 

but you had already been there and posted it for her.

i wish for all smailes women to move to utah immediately to join the rest of us already present and accounted for. is laura still here??? i need to see if megan has seen the hobit yet. i will see les mis. soon.

i am not a fan of cakes with the word "german" in them in general,

and i don't particularly care for cooked apples,

but here is how i'm willing to compromise.

you fly back to my house, make it for me, and i'll try it!

perfect perfect idea:)

smith in the living room=GENIUS.

you are brilliant!

{if you are moving to student family housing, does that mean bryce got the gig??!!}

i'm all about thinking outside the box with motherhood.

you have to do what works right then and there, 

and forget about everyone and everything else.

however, i assure you i am not holding a bouquet of flowers or wearing a crown,

although sometimes i wear one to play dress up with max.

in fact, right now i am wearing a black and white striped sweater with chase's lunch smeared on my left arm, which i chose to NOT wipe off b/c things like that don't gross me out.

they just make me think, "ok good! now i don't have to wipe chase's face."

when my kids all sleep through the night on the SAME night, i wake up and think, 

"someone is dead!"

and then i sit up, shake sean's arm to wake him up, and ask him if he thinks anyone is dead.

he always grunts b/c he's still half asleep, opens one eye, and will sometimes stumble into everybody's room to check on them for me so i know everyone is alive and accounted for, 

and then we go back to sleep, and wake up in the morning, 

and laugh about how i was so worried someone was dead.

i can see you right now in my mind coloring in coloring books and eating a ham and cheese sandwich, dipping it in boysenberry jam.

melty cheese.

to make it a monte cristo sandwich!

oh MY OH MY OH MY!!! 

i completely forgot about our love for that movie until just this very minute.

...

Luigi: So, mi amici, I would ask who you are, but in view of your shredded clothes and the fact that the Chateau d'If is two miles away... what's the point? As for me, I am Luigi Vampa, a smuggler and a thief. My men and I have come to this island to bury alive one of our number who attempted to keep some stolen gold for himself instead of sharing it with his comrades. Interestingly enough, there are some of his more loyal friends who are insisting that I grant him mercy. Which, of course, I cannot do, or I would quickly lose control of the whole crew. 

That is why you are such a fortunate find.
Edmond: Why is that?
Luigi: You provide me with a way to show a little mercy to Jacopo - that maggot you see tied up over there - while at the same time not appearing weak. 

And as a bonus, the lads will get to see a little sport as well.
Edmond: How do I accomplish all this?
Luigi: We watch you and Jacopo fight to the death. If Jacopo wins, we welcome him back to the crew. If you win, I have given Jacopo the chance to live, even if he did not take advantage of it, 

and you can take his place on the boat.
Edmond: What if I win, and I don't want to be a smuggler?
Luigi: Then we slit your throat, and we're a bit shorthanded.
[pause]
Edmond: [smiles after consideration] I find that smuggling is the life for me, 

and would be delighted to kill your friend the maggot! 

...

i can't wipe the smile off of my face.

this is just a fantastic fantastic fantastic day!

love,

emiline

letters to Beth {3 cat kind of night}

my body is finally putting its foot down.

i'm pretty excited about it:)

.......

dear beth,
this morning i woke up with the intent to quit nursing.
something has to go, and it's gonna be that.
and boy oh boy, i haven't been so excited about something since last saturday night at harmon's {will explain THAT part later.}
i think i'll stick with the beginning of the day and the end of the day feedings until march, and then start working him into whole milk like i did with the other two.
plus, this means i can go skiing with my dad when he comes next month.
chase was up about a hundred times last night.
max about the same.
maybe it was 6 a piece.
whichever.
it is really all a blur anyway, and i have no clue.
it just felt like all night b/c they were up at different times making a consistent night of zero sleep for us grown ups.
god bless brennan and his ability to sleep through anything.
even when he shares a room with max the kid will sleep through her screaming.
who knew HE would end up being such a great sleeper?!
sean usually goes in there and lays on the ground with a pillow next to her crib {i leave my kids in their cribs as long as possible. i have been blessed with babies that don't climb. verdict's still out on chase. we will see if he climbs like spidy}.
anyway, he lays there next to her crib and holds her hand through the bars of her crib until she falls back asleep, but sometimes sean falls asleep doing it, so i will go in after an hour and wake him up to come back to bed.
it's really sweet to walk in on.
so last night he was in there with max, and we were both going back and forth between his room, our room, and brennan and max's room from about 3:30am until the sun came up.
chase finally gave up on sleeping around 6am.
i took him to the pediatrician again today to see if the third antibiotic worked.
it appears that not only do the garlic drops NOT work, but antibiotics don't work on his ear infections either.
it's a crying shame.
apparently, chase's Eustachian tubes are smaller than fishing line.
or smaller.
whatever is smaller than fishing line,
that's how small his Eustachian tubes are.
i killed 3 cats last night over the whole ordeal.
so today Dr. D told me we could do an antibiotic shot or do a fourth and final oral one.
the shot is this big strong antibiotic.
i said no thanks.
he said thanks in return.
he doesn't like the shot either.
and i liked that he has opinions about this kind of stuff.
man oh man, i can't tell you how great this doctor is.
we just switched to him, and have mercy, having a doctor who has 3 kids is a completely different ball game compared to a doctor who has never had kids.
i'm in there explaining how chase isn't sleeping and he was all, "man i hear ya. my wife and i got a total of 3 hours combined last night. let's get chase sleeping so you can get back to sleeping."
and then i told him about how he had to watch the youtube video with his wife,
so he would understand why i was telling him that i killed 3 cats last night.
b/c seeing as we are new patients and all i can't have him thinking that i've ACTUALLY killed 3 cats,
and then have him call peta on me.
i love animals.
i don't really kill animals.
just cats.
after i've been up with kids all night.
but not really cats.
have you watched it yet???
{for the record--i don't really kill cats}.
"why mother's need their rest." watch it!
how have your nights been going lately?
1 cat? 2 cats? i hope not 3.
love, emily

...

chase thinks max is the cat's meow.

she plays peekaboo with him.

he laughs hysterically.

p.s. look what they had at harmon's on saturday.

i bought 8 of each.

only 6 of the reese's eggs left. 

i've been trying to limit myself to one a day b/c of our talk we had with laura.

but obviously, there must be an exception for reese's eggs.

i don't like cadburry cream eggs.

but i still buy them for my family.

too messy.

i'm just not a gooey center kind of gal anymore.

i used to be, but no more i say!

i will buy 8 more reese's eggs this next saturday, and every saturday until they run out at easter.

thank goodness the easter candy people are finally marketing like the christmas people.

3 months early:)

also,

it's been freaky cold here.

at least freaky cold for utah.

california too.

how about germany???

still haven't seen the hobbit.

or les mis.

too busy killing cats.

maybe this weekend i'll take a break from the cats, 

and eat popcorn with cherry coke in my movie mug instead.

XOXOXOXOXO

just more than dripping

at 6:44pm tonight my uncle dave called me.

to tell me to run my water all night long.

b/c my cousin's pipes froze last night.

and his house is newer than mine.

it's THAT freaky cold out.

and at the rate we've been going the last 6 months,

i'd say better safe than sorry with the pipes.

{even though the "utah's the 2nd driest state" commercials keep flashing in my brain},

so the water is running "just more than dripping" like he said.

at no extra cost.

did you know the water company charges me 

for 1,000 gallons of water every month, even if i don't use it?

this is what uncle dave was telling me while i was stirring tomato soup.

that just rubs me the wrong way.

except tonight.

and the rest of the week.

when i will be running my water just more than dripping.

so our pipes don't freeze.

or burst.

b/c even if they weren't going to,

i don't want to tempt them to.

kind of like how chase was tempting himself to dive down the little stairs tonight.

every time i turned around to flip a grilled cheese sandwich,

there chase was, making a b-line for the stairs.

so do you know what i did?

i grabbed that baby man,

and put him in a box.

a baby man in a box.

with an assortment of pint sized toys.

i didn't burn anymore grilled cheese sandwiches after that.

and he stayed in one spot for the next 30 minutes.

yes, i am aware that this is the same thing as a playpen,

but good grief i felt like a genius.

and much more original.

winning!

{at least until he figures out how to climb out.} 

man i love to smooch his toothless little baby man mouth.

i can hardly contain myself from kissing my computer screen right now.

watch out,

i might just smooch you by mistake.

brennan took chase for a few spins around the kitchen table,

boat racing max.

chase would jerk back and then lean forward, or flop to one side with every turn.

lead foot brennan isn't the smoothest of sailors.

it was pretty funny.

i loved how his little baby man face would pop up out of the top of the "boat" 

and peek at me as they passed by.

no whining or crying,

just happy to be pushed around on the ocean blue.

dear chase, hold on for dear life. 

love mom

the over your underwear stuff.

the moment when you have everyone dressed for the snow and you realize no has gone pee yet.

DOH!

boys have it so easy.

max and chase lasted for one run.

and really, chase just watched from his car seat.

then they both opted out for lady and tramp in the van.

heater on.

chase fell asleep.

max came back out half an hour later.

brennan went down on his penguin inner tube penguin sled head first before we even had our gloves on.

no fear.

i just knew we were going to end up in the emergency room.

we didn't.

and every time he fell off, 

he would laugh his deep chuckle laugh, 

roll over in the snow, and go back for more.

he even started carrying his sled up by himself at the end.

so proud:)

climbing up the hill is always the pits.

but it's so worth it for that 10 seconds of bliss on the ride down.

i mostly climbed up on my hands and knees.

sideways stepping.

kicking my toes into the hill.

using the grassy parts where the snow was already pushed away.

off of the grassy parts where other people's tracks made a path.

on the slick parts where the sleds already went down {this is the worst way to climb up}.

9 times out of 10 i fell onto my knees about halfway up, and sean would yell out, 

"meniscus tear!"

{i love my physical therapist!}

max's polar bear sled lasted about 20 minutes.

apparently those things have weight limits.

and grandpa gibson "ate too much," said brennan when it popped.

we all tried to see who could get the furthest out into the untouched powder.

the green sled was always the winner.

brennan was a grump about it by the end.

after about 10 times down on the penguin, i walked out into the fluffy powder with max.

we kicked the snow around with our boots.

so light it just flew up like a billion tiny snow flake feathers.

i laid down in the snow and looked up at the blue sky.

arms and legs out in the snow.

i could have laid there for an hour.

birds flying.

quiet all around.

warm in my coat and long johns.

and i just kept thinking,

"best snow on earth! BEST snow on earth!!!"

big smile on my face.

the kids lasted 1 1/2 hours.

1 hour and 20 minutes LONGER than we thought they would.

sean is a cheater.

the picture on the left is proof.

he has the grey hoodie on.

grandpa wild bill never saw it coming.

or maybe he did.

whichever.

bill, brennan, sean.

{3 generations of snow tubing cheaters}

max came off of this sled saying she wanted to go again.

we all thought she'd be crying instead from the snow that flew in her face.

she was happy as a clam, asking for more.

30 minutes more.

christmas miracle!!!

in january:)

 coldest temps utah has seen in twenty years.  

it's supposed to hit -5 tonight.

the kind of cold that only a shower can warm you up from.

and makes you cough when you breathe in outside.
and then 40* hits, and the sun comes out,
and you don't even need your coat.

thank goodness for long johns.

not the fish place.

the over your underwear stuff.