New Addition

Thursday night the steady stream of workers came to an end. For the past two weeks, our loft (play room) area has been under construction. And it's finally finished (almost--they still have to come back to do the tile backsplash)! Here's the finished product. (I took the pictures when it was dark out, and the flash makes the walls look yellow, but they really are green. You get a better sense of the real color in the closer up picture. I'd take pictures now in the daylight, but there are toys out on the floor, so these pictures will have to do for now).



On Friday afternoon, my mother-in-law (who is an expert organizer) came and moved all of the kids' art supplies and puzzles upstairs into the desk. We built the desk because I was so sick of always having art stuff out on my kitchen counter. This new desk area is the new art station. It's also the new computer/homework/puzzle area. Hopefully now my kitchen will be a lot easier to keep clean. We still have to get chairs for the three desk openings, so the desk isn't fully functional yet, but we are hoping to get those this week. I really love how it turned out!

When It Rains, It Pours

Because it wasn't enough to have one sick baby....

Nate walked into the kitchen at 3:30 this afternoon, and threw up. Then he took a step back and threw up again. I grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard and caught the next three throw-ups. Then I put him in the tub and proceeded to clean up my kitchen floor. Thank goodness it was on the hardwood and not the carpet. And thankfully, it was very short lived. By dinner time, he was asking for food and has kept it down perfectly.

(Just in case you were wondering, lunch was strawberry yogurt and pink milk.)

Owen Update

I talked to my mom today and she was missing our little Owen, so I told her I'd put up some current pictures of him for her to see. So, here we go:





I wish I could say that Owen is all smiles today, but he's not. We are dealing with Thrush at the Howell house this week. On Monday afternoon, I noticed the white spots taking over his mouth, so I called the doctor, but they couldn't get him in till the next day. Meanwhile, he because very fussy. He screamed and nothing would console him all Monday evening. And he stopped nursing. He would still do a bottle, but would just scream if I tried to nurse him. So, I dug out the pump and have spent the last few days pumping and then feeding him the milk in a bottle (although, it did occur to me that if I decided to just dump the milk, then I could partake in the Monday night family pizza dinner, but I refrained). I took him to the doctor yesterday and got medicine for him to clear up the thrush. I'm hoping the medicine works quickly, so he can get to feeling better soon. The extreme fussiness and no nursing continued all day yesterday and through most of the night. I'm exhausted. One can only take constant screaming for so long before it starts to take it's toll. I think he may be feeling a little better today, because I've gotten him to nurse twice today. I just hope the worst is over.

In other family news, Savannah found out this week that she got a part in her school play, "The Jungle Book". She is part of the wolf pack. We won't know till next week when they hand out scripts whether it's a speaking part.

Aaron continues to play dress-up on a regular basis.


Nate got ahold of a pair of scissors and cut a chunk of hair out of the back of Savannah's head. It's going to take a while to grow out, but hides itself pretty well when her hair gets brushed. That kid gets himself in so much trouble these days.


And on Sunday afternoon, Scott and Owen took an afternoon nap together....on the kitchen floor. Hey, wherever you can find a quiet place in this house!

Today I am Thankful for....

It's been a rough couple of weeks and I'm really behind on my blogging. It's one of those days when I need to count my blessings to remind myself that life really isn't that bad. So, here we go...

Today I am thankful for....

Owen's new swing. The sleepless nights have really worn me down. Owen is an adorable little baby, but he's a terrible sleeper. He has to be held to sleep. I'm beyond tired! I got so desperate, that I went to Babies R Us on Saturday and frivolously spent $150 on this swing. It swings side to side and I was hoping that just maybe Owen would sleep in it. Scott assured me that if it gave us our bed back at night, that it was worth the money. And it works! Owen sleeps in it at night (and during the day). He still wakes up to eat 2 or 3 times a night, but at least we get some sleep between feedings. And the swing plugs into the wall, so we don't have to worry about constantly changing batteries!



Little thumbs. Owen has been a pacifier baby up till now. He has to have the pacifier at night, so I spend all night putting the pacifier back in his mouth every 15 minutes. It's a bit tiring. I've been hoping he would find his thumb so he would be able to self pacify. And he finally did! On Sunday he found his thumb and he likes it. He's still not very good at getting it in his mouth and keeping it there, but he'll get better. He's also not very good at not scratching himself with his fingers when his thumb is in his mouth.



An amazing husband. Scott helps out so much around here. He works hard all day long, then comes home and helps out with dinner and the kids. I really am lucky to have him. He got a promotion at work this week. He is now a Vice President at his company. He assures me that it's really not as cool as it sounds, but I'm pretty impressed. His boss decided that Scott has enough big important clients, that they need to know that Scott's important too. So, he changed Scott's title to Vice President, so he'll sound important when working with clients. Scott said the only thing that will change is that he gets new business cards. I'm so proud of him. He works so hard to provide for our family.


Kids that can be friends when they want to be. For the most part, all my kids get along really well (it's when they don't that things can get a bit trying around here). The other day, I walked into my room and found the kids watching TV and Sara had her arm around Nate. It was so sweet, I had to take a picture. Then Sara spent the rest of the afternoon thinking up poses for her and Nate to get their picture taken together. I love it when they get along.





Four boys. Although I've spent the last few weeks wishing that I'd instead had quiet and dainty little girls, I really am thankful for my little boys. They definitely keep me entertained. Nate played outside on Saturday while I was shopping, and I came home to find him asleep next to his dad (still in his coat and shoes). He's so sweet when he sleeps. And Aaron has an imagination that has no end. This week he's a cowboy, but last week he was Cinderella.





Little helpers. The kids love to help out with Owen. I can always count on one of them being willing to hold him when I need to free up my own arms. The other day Owen was laying on the rug and started to cry. Nate sprung to his rescue and piled a couple of stuffed animals on top of him to make him feel better.



DirecTV. Just before New Year's, our motem bit the dust. Scott has been wanting for a while now to get cable tv. He thought that since we needed a new motem, it might be a good time to get Cable One's phone/internet/cable package. We looked into that and compared them to Qwest's DirecTV package. We decided to go with DirecTV and Qwest gave us a free motem along with it. The kids love the Disney channel and NickJr. and I love the HGTV channel. Now when I sit around feeding Owen, I can also be entertained. I'm getting lots of decorating ideas from watching. And Scott is enjoying being able to watch sports!

Nate. I'm hoping if I say I'm thankful for him, I might start believing it. He's two. Need I say more?



Good friends. On Monday Owen had his two month check up. He was 23 3/4 inches and 12 pounds 13.5 ounces. He's just above the 75th percentile in both. He got shots that day, and did not enjoy the after effects. He ran a fever the rest of the day, and was very very fussy. I didn't have any infant Tylenol in the house, so I called and asked Scott to pick some up on his way home from work. At 3 one of my friends called to talk about music for Relief Society (that's my calling). Owen was crying the whole time I was on the phone. I was holding him and walking all over the house trying to help him to be happier, but nothing worked. 45 minutes later, my friend showed up at my door with infant Tylenol and pizza for dinner. It was so sweet. The Tylenol worked and Owen did much better the rest of the day

An adorable baby. I love having another baby, but I am so completely exhausted. It's hard to see the positives when you are so worn down. But, despite the exhaustion, I love this little boy so much. He has such a sweet little spirit. Every single one of us has been blessed by him joining our family. We truly love him.