Helpers, Heimlich and Harried Nights

I think Neil and I have a pretty great marriage.  It's not perfect and there are things we are both working on to make it even better but we're both happy.  It was nice while listening to Elder Clayton's talk on marriage in this past conference to be able to mentally check off many of the things he mentioned to have a good marriage.  It was assurance that we are on the right track.  One thing I would add to his list is service, which comes out of love for the other person.  I often ask myself each day what is one thing I can do to serve Neil today, to lighten his load or make his day brighter.  Some days it may be as simple as a little note in his bag or putting the kids to bed by myself or making a huge batch of pico de gallo or black bean salsa because I know it's his favorite snack.  He does the same for me.  Well this week he was pretty busy and on top of it he realized he didn't pass out the flag donation sheets to the neighborhood and it needed to be done Monday night so they could collect the money on Tuesday.  He needed to work late, but also wanted to be at Mikey's t-ball game and make sure we had FHE as well.  Something would have to give so instead of making him do it I enlisted the help of Mikey and Lucy and we went around putting the info on the doors.  It made me so happy to see how happy Mikey and Lucy were to help and serve their daddy.  Mikey would just run from door to door with sweat running down his face. It happened to be the day it was 93 degrees.  Lucy tuckered out half way through and sat on top of Eliza's car seat in the stroller.  Mikey was a rock star and was rewarded with two popsicles.  Mikey really needs positive reinforcement so it was easy to dish it out when he was such a great helper.

Conner is kind of quirky, but aren't we all.  He absolutely loves ketchup and puts it on everything from tacos to pizza.  It drives me crazy  Another thing is he eats cereal dry with no milk.  He puts it in a bowl and eats it with a spoon like it's totally normal.  One morning I was in the family room putting Eliza's car seat back together after washing it from a blow out while the kids were eating breakfast.  I feel a tap on my back and Conner is standing there with his mouth wide open, drool falling out with his hands to his throat and his face is turning a funny color.  He can't say anything or make any sounds and all of a sudden it hit me that he's choking.  I ask him if he can cough and he couldn't.  The look of fear and panic in his face was terrifying.  I stood up and didn't know what to do but then realized I should perform the Heimlich maneuver and so I did twice and the cereal become dislodged and he was okay but traumatized.  We were both trembling and I hugged him and he went to sit at the table.  I tried to stay calm on the outside as not to scare everyone but on the inside was about to break down.  I couldn't believe Conner just choked and wasn't able to breathe on cereal.  Who would have thought?  Never would I have imagined someone would choke on cereal.  I always thought it would dissolve.  Now I know.  I called Neil and he wanted to talk to Conner but Conner was sitting at the table with his head in his arms staring off into space and wouldn't respond to any of Neil's questions and so I hung up and pulled Conner into my lap where he just curled up into a ball and sat for awhile.  I love this little boy.  He is just too sweet and good for words.  I'm thankful he was safe this day. 

I happened to turn on the dancing show So You Think You Can Dance while I was nursing Eliza and it happened to be a contemporary number.  Conner was watching it with me and after the number he said I don't like that kind of dancing.  It's just a bunch of laying on the floor and people trying to fly.  I thought that was such a funny observation.

Our sweet Eliza was not so sweet this week.  On Thursday and Friday she was up from 6 pm til 2:30 am.  She would not or could not sleep and would cry bloody murder unless she was held.  The first night Neil and I took shifts holding her until 12:30 when Neil had had it and left the room to sleep downstairs.  We tried to let her cry it out but she would always poop which would make her cry louder.  On both days she had 9 poopy diapers.  On Thursday she threw up a ton and then finally conked out so I think she must have been having some stomach/digestive issues.  Oh it was a hard two days and nights.  We have been completely spoiled with her only waking up once each night and going to bed usually between 10-11.  Our sweet little angel had turned into a monster and not being able to sleep was torture.  I'm so glad that today she is back on her normal schedule of sleeping 2-3 hours and then nursing and going back to sleep.  She has been back to her sweet self.  Poor little things face is covered in baby acne.  It just looks terrible and there's nothing I can do but let it run it's course which can take up to six months.  It makes me so sad.  It feels like sandpaper.  What's happened to her baby soft skin.  She still is pretty dang cute and is smiling more in response to us.  It's like a game with the kids to see who can make her smile first.  We are sure loving having her in the family.

Sam had some college students come do some nutrition presentations in his class and so he is all about the food groups now.  So funny, at dinner he'll go through all the food groups and is always surprised when they are all there and gives me a shout out of wow mom good job.  I guess he doesn't realize that's what I taught for 3 years.  It's funny.  In the presentation they made breakfast sundaes and he's been dying to make them for us.  It's basically a yogurt parfait that I make all the time but with a different name he thinks it's something new.  Sunday morning he asked if I would make them the sundaes but I was busy making muffins and suggested he make them.  He was so happy and got out the ingredients and made everyone one and then stood in front of us and stared us down as we took our first bite.  When we all exclaimed they were so delicious he beamed and giggled.  It was so cute.  He now has another recipe in his repertoire and will be happy to make anyone one.  One of my goals for this summer is to give these kids some cooking lessons.  I used to teach a summer camp for 8-10 year olds in Park City so my kids are definitely ready.  I told Neil my kids will not be like him on his mission.  Neil would disgust his companions by opening a bunch of cans and mixing it together and calling it dinner.  Does salsa, tuna fish and green beans sound good to anybody?