Sleepy

Who can come up with a witty caption for this picture?

Journal Entry Sixtyseven

Tell about learning how to be a mother.

Click HERE to read mine.

help..............

So Emiko is being blessed next month and our church is at 9am.
Usually afterwards you have people over for a light something to eat and to mix and mingle.
I'm stuck with what to do.
Since our church is at 9am then it'll be over at 10am (the blessing part) but the rest of church goes till 12 noon.
There'll be people coming out to attend.
I'm not sure if we stay the whole church THEN do a little get together at noon.
OR simply go back after the blessing at 10am and do something.
The problem is is that Dru has to teach his kids at 10am.
He could get a substitute I guess.
Another problem is what do you serve at 10am?
You assume that everyones eaten breakfast you know.
It's kinda early to have a shin dig right?
But are people going to come back to party?
I'm not sure what to do..................or what to serve.
I mean I could do nothing (like Dru suggested) but isn't that slightly rude considering that people have come all the way out?
Plus it IS a celebration and there ARE going to be people are from other faiths there and witnessing a blessing in our church for the first time.............so this will be what they base blessings on WHAT WE DO.
I'm slightly stressing out about it to tell you the truth and I need some advise.
CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME?
Anyone?
People?
Who still reads this blog?
I need help.
What do I do?
When do I do it?
Do I do it?
What do I serve?

Casualty

 I'm actually surprized that this is our VERY FIRST bike casualty to be honest.

 Takeshi's been riding this red bike................well LEARNING how to ride it.
He'll practice everyday.
I can't believe I'm going to have a 2 year old be able to ride a bike..........

 Anyway he left it A LITTLE on the nieghbours driveway.
I saw it when I went somewhere and thought 'That's out of the way enough, there's no way they'll drive over it"
Well I forgot that their teenage son was looking after the kids and would be driving the car.

Masaru brings this to me this morning and goes...........this is what happens when you let Takeshi park his bike mum, it's totally wrecked.
I feel bad since Takeshi was excited to be learning.  I think it's the one on one actually.
So now the decision.............do we buy another one.................or TEACH HIM A LESSON?
Is he too little?
I'll have to have a talk to him, plus it WAS partly my fault...........I mean I saw it and did nothing.

Yuki

I was taking pictures of everyone else and Yuki wanted on of her to put on the blog.
So here it is.
'Love you bub'
'Thanks for being a great sister'

Another one 'bites' the dust

 So Masaru lost his 5th tooth last night.
He's got that other one growing through all the way back there and so we told him we were taking it out no matter how he felt about it cause that big tooth needs room to fit into his mouth and his little tooth was getting in the way.
Dru got out the pliers and just ripped that sucka out.
Masaru seems alright with it.
It bled like a head wound man, but then settled down after a while.

 Here's his top teeth growing in.
Like how crooked they are?

 He's got his father's problem I think and has big teeth for a small mouth.
Now it's a matter of trying to fit in.
We'll see if the teeth can work themselves into a nice place to settle.
Otherwise it's braces.

 Out of all 7 of us kids only ONE of us had braces and that was only on her top teeth.
All the rest of us didn't and our teeth turned out great.
It pains me to think that my kids might need braces.
I really hope they don't.
How come they get Dru's genes for the crap stuff and not the good stuff?
It's simple MY GENES for eyesight and teeth, DRU'S GENES for colouring and body.
Doesn't quite work out the way we want it to though does it.

The tooth fairy came and Masaru was pretty excited about that.
I asked him if he felt her and he goes 'No, cause she's as quiet as a mouse mum'
He's excited to have some money.
Maybe he should save it to put back towards fixing those shark teeth?

So where do I fit in all of this?

 So my poor sweet Takeshi is having a hard time adjusting to his family life.
He's weepy and emotional and doesn't quite know where he fits into all of this 'new' stuff that's going on.

 He was my BEST potty trainer.
Remember?
Well now he's peeing his pants around 1 to 3 times a day............like FULL ON pee right down to puddles in his shoes.

The last few days he's been pooing in his undies as well.
Can I just say how much I LOATHE cleaning pooh from undies?
I thought I had avoided that with Takeshi.
Turns out that just because your child has been trained for 8 months with ZERO accidents that they can STILL go backwards.
I thought FOR SURE I had avoided this since he was PERFECT with his potty training.

 Turns out I'm wrong and this is his way of getting our 100% undivided attention no matter what's going on.
I guess he doesn't mind that it's negative attention.
He'll get a time out.
Yesterday he poohed his pants and I was in the middle of feeding the baby.
So he had to wait for 5 mins in the bathroom till I had finished feeding and burping her.
He sat in there and cried and cried.
I'm thinking 'Well what did you think was gonna happen?'
Dru and I are really trying to give him attention.
I think we're giving him a TON almost more than before Emiko was born.
But I guess 100% of our attention 24 hours a day just isn't doable for us and that's what he wants.

Hopefully this will pass soon enough and he'll work through his fears, doubts and 'where do I fit in' struggles.
I'm sure as we keep showing him love and attention and he has time to figure things out things will get to a new normal for him and he'll be back to his happy, peeing and poohing in the potty self.
Luckily he's really cute, and this works out in his favour.
He still makes me laugh and I love it.
'Hope you feel yourself soon Takesh, love you bub'

One Month

 So Emiko is one month old today.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
I can't and I've been there THE WHOLE TIME watching her grow into a month.
Crazy business.
Time really does go by fast.

 Emiko is the sweetest little baby man.
She's way chill and pretty easy.
She's doing SO GOOD with her feeding and is my easiest to breast feed.  Hopefully this is a good sign.  Time will tell I guess.

 The other kids simply love her.
It's easy to know why though since she's so good and easy to be around.  They smother her with hugs and kisses and toys.  I hover around (I know I know it's my only time I hover) to make sure they don't suffocate her or hurt her in some affectionate way.

 I have no resentment feelings so far.
I'm relaxed and feeling great.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her to bits and am so glad she's a part of our family.
Dru and I do what typical parents do and sit there with her exclaiming how beautiful she is and have you ever seen a more beautiful baby...............lol
We're smitten by her.

 I'm looking forward to getting to know her more and seeing her grow into herself and how she works with her siblings.
Last night one of the Elders asked me what it was like to have four kids and if it was way harder than three.
I said 'Nope, it's not harder, it's not too bad actually'
I sware three was my toughest and four just seems to be adding to the chaos that's my home life and I'm just rolling with it.
I don't feel like I'm too much busier at all, which is really nice.
I must've made all those changes at the number three............

 She looks like she'll have blue eyes.
I was thinking that MAYBE she'll be white with brown eyes.  That's always cool.
But alas (and I know it's only early stages) I think she'll have her sisters beautiful blue eyes.
But we'll see.

 A month with Emiko has been great.
I'm glad she's eased me into motherhood and four children so well.
I owe her man.

"Love you Emiko, we look forward to the next month with you"
Mum

Pat on the back

I went out with four kids today, on my own, and did some shopping.
It was to the 'Playland' shopping as my kids put it.
So I dropped off two of my four to the playland and kept the oldest and the youngest and went around and did my shopping.
It was pretty easy.
It was raining though so we had to hightail it to the van.
It all went pretty smooth.
Plus the lady in the playland said (when I went to pick up the middle two) 'Your kids are so well mannered and polite'
I pretended that that was normal and smiled like it's because I'm an awesome mother.

I must admit though, I AM feeling pretty awesome for taking out all four kids on my own.
Emiko's a month old.
It only took me a month........................

Now I've done this once and announced it to the world (my husband) I'm going to be expected to run errands now and be fine with it all................
Maybe I shouldn't of posted this accomplishment.

Official

See that?
I'll wait...............
Yep.......that's right............look a little closer....................
THAT'S RIGHT................it's Dru's name on a door.
Don't you think that makes it official?
I do.
His very own office.
Now he's REALLY made it.
Now we'll wait for the big reveal once he has it looking how he likes it.
Keep your computers open for the BIG REVEAL coming soon of the inside of the office.
"Good job babe"

And just because she's cute and I can.............here's a cute pic of Emi.

This is how I feel about 20 out of the 24 hours of every day.
She sums it up quite nicely doesn't she.
The word 'Tired' in the dictionary should have this picture beside it.
So cute man, loving it.

Stats

So I went to the doctor's today with Emiko and the two other kids for her four week appointment.
Anyway so she started off at 7lbs 10 oz right?
Then when we left the hospital she was 7lbs even.
Then at her 2 week appointment she was 7lbs 13oz, so she's growing great.
But when she was born they measure her as 21inches.
Then at the 2 week appointment measured her at 18inches?
Sooooooooooo what's up with that?
She SHRUNK like 3 inches?
That's disturbing.
THEN TODAY they measured her and she's 20 inches!!!!!!
So did the hospital get it wrong and was she really only 18 inches?  I mean that's short man.
Anyway they weighed her today and she's a whopping 9lbs and 2oz.
OH YEAH BABY......................................
Growing like a weed.
Man it's only been 3.5 weeks and she's already so much bigger.
HOW CRAZY IS THAT.................
It really does only last a short time.
I better go give her more snuggles and try stretching her a little so she can get back to her 'original' height of 21 inches ;)

Hairy is cute

 So Emiko totally has hairy shoulders.
And she makes hairy shoulders look cute, I must say.
Look at that cute peach fuzz.

 I don't think I've seen a cuter hairy shoulder.................am I right people?

 She must need extra warmth at the moment.
She was totally born on time, don't they just come out hairy if they're premature?

 Anyway I was looking at some pic's of Yuki and she looks very similar to her sister.
So it'll be interesting to see how she turns out.

 Right now she's in the 'baby acne' stage where they get those red dots all over their face.
Dru's like 'Melissa she's breaking out in a rash, what do we do?'
I'm like 'Relax babe, all our kids went through this stage, she'll have clear skin soon'
Easy how you forget, even when it's your fourth.

Hanging out on the change table just taking it all in.

Two nights in a row of waking up once.
I'm loving it.

The Help

So I gotta give a shout out to my Boise peeps.
I have no family in Boise, yet have received so much help it's been amazing.
Sometimes I sit there and look at my messy house and think "Why can't I keep up with everything?" and then I remember........"Oh yeah, it's because I have FOUR kids"
Although I must say, today I cleaned the bathroom and am heading into the other one to clean it.
I'm pretty proud of myself about that.
AND YESTERDAY I VACUUMED.
One thing a day, that's what I'm trying to do amongst the typical, kitchen needing swept and cleaned and the washing being done and the kids rooms, blah blah blah, so I guess one EXTRA thing a day.
This week is the first week of trying to keep up with everything.
It's going ok.
Plus tonight will be the first time I've made an actual dinner since Emiko was born.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?
Then in 3 more weeks I'll need to add the gym into the mix.
I'm tired just thinking about it.
I thought I was wearing a tight bra the other day so ran on the spot just to see if it'd keep my boobs in check.
NOT EVEN CLOSE....................my boobs were all over the place.
How am I going to work out any kinda decent with these HUGE MILK FILLED BOOBS?
I gotta figure something out.
I miss my small milkless boobs.
Oh well. It is what it is.
At least I have milk and she's feeding like a champ.  So far so good.
Alright, back to Boise.
I'm extremely overwhelmed with all the help our family has received.
Here I was trying to move to Boise and make no mates so I could hibernate until Dru got a job in Utah where we could move back into our house and be back in our old ward..........
Turns out he got a job here and I LOVE Boise and don't wanna leave and am really in love with the area and MY WARD.
What am I gonna do without these people?
People are so nice.
Between taking my kids, giving me meals, calling to check that I"m ok, emails, cards, gifts, visits and well wishes I find I get more and more attached to everyone in this area and find I don't wanna leave.
It's a dangerous place to be in, especially since Dru doesn't have a permanent job just yet...............I wonder if we'll ever 'settle down?'  Probably not.
Anyway I'm doing pretty good this birth and I think a lot has to do with the help I've had this first 3 weeks.
It's been amazing and has helped keep me afloat.
So I need to remember this and help others where I can.
I feel pretty good 'mentally' and that's where I usually struggle.
I've got no feelings of resentment yet with breast feeding, just confused at how I'm going to work out with massive, out of control, boobs that like to do as they please.............any suggestions?
Burpies will take on a whole new meaning with these bad boys trying to escape..............
I'm extremely grateful for the goodness of others and the caring nature of people who are willing to help.
Maybe a fifth wouldn't be so hard if I had it here.........................
jokes Dru jokes.........................

Emiko was fed last night at 10pm then got up at 3am then got up again at 7am.
HOW AWESOME IS THAT?
It's just one night, but one night of more sleep feels way better...................
"Come on Emiko................keep it up girlfriend."
She's grumpy at nights, just like my other kids, from about 7 till 10.
So Dru and I juggle her between us as she floats in and out of sleep.
That's about as bad as it gets, and that's fine by me.
Love you Emiko.

What happens................

When you have the best big brother in the world?

You whip out your princess game on a Sunday afternoon and get him to play with you.
And like a champ, he does and just secures his spot for 'Brother of the Year' award.

You're awesome Masaru.
Pity this picture's gonna come back to haunt you one day and pity your mother is so mean, since she knows this and took the picture anyway.

Love you bub and I know Yuki does too.
Waita be a 'real' brother!!

Sisters

Yuki can't get enough of Emiko.
She's BY FAR the most interested in her and wants to hold her CONSTANTLY.
She follows me around watching the routine and starts telling me what's next.
"You have to feed her right mum?  Now you need to burp her right mum? You need to feed her on the other side, then burp her again then change her nappie THEN I can hold her right?"
Crazy.
She'll entertain her, talk to her, read her books.  It's actually pretty great and I'm happy she's so involved.
One night when they were in bed together though Emiko wasn't a happy camper and Dru and I heard Yuki say "Just be quiet Emiko, you're too loud"
We were laughing.
Things are going ok.  I'm letting her cry a little at nights and that's helped me out.
She'll go down great for one of the night feeds but the other one she's a stinker for man, so I stay out on the couch till she's finally sleeping then if I'm still awake, which I"m usually not, will slip back into bed.
Often I find myself asleep out on the couch and waking up there for the next feed.
Hopefully she'll learn about nights and that she needs to go right down for BOTH night feedings soon enough.
Until then we're in the fox hole trying to figure things out.
How long does this stage last again?
LOL
I know, I know 'but a small moment, so enjoy it'
I'll try.
.

Journal Entry Sixtysix

Tell about learning how to be a wife.

Click HERE to read mine.

First bath

 Ok so these aren't the best pictures.
I couldn't figure this bath out and she kept slipping and trying to drink the water, so I had to hold her and try to take pictures at the same time so this is the result.
Sorry Emiko, you got a raw deal.

 She liked it.
So that was good.
I must've got the water temp. just right.
Usually I go to hot, but both Yuki and Takeshi like cold baths so I never know what temp. I really should do you know.
Masaru likes hot, hot baths.
So I guess we'll see what Emiko likes.
So far it's warm, like a normal child!!

 I must've lost my touch, cause I had the hardest time bathing her.
I think I filled the tub up too much, usually it's not this hard.
I'm glad she was entertained though.
Plus they always smell so good after a bath, so it makes it worth it.
Her skin gets super dry though.

The kids came in to watch for a while to see what all the fuss was about.
They watched for a minute then left.

She's two and a half weeks old and I'm through the two week rough patch I always go through because of my recovery.
So now that's over I'm feeling good, my scar has healed nicely, I feel somewhat comfortable again in my skin and so now I can concentrate on adding a little more to my plate.
I'm still in survival mode and nothing around the house has been 'deep cleaned' yet, I'm still surface cleaning.
Maybe next week I'll start tackling things one day at a time.

I'm still sorting through all the stuff Dru brought back from Utah as well.
All the girls stuff is sorted and now I need to sort through my boys stuff to send home to family in NZ.
All of a sudden this place feels like it's getting smaller and smaller for all of our things.
Fortunately Dru has mad ninja packing skills and is finding places for all of our stuff.
So it's slowly beginning to get a little order.

I drove my sienna the other night and it's really nice but different from driving the cruiser.
The cruiser is so big and I'm so high, the minivan is lower and I can't see the hood so have to guess how close I am to things.
It has a back up camera.
What would be nice is a camera in the front too so I wasn't guessing where I am.
The kids love it and feel so far away.
Masaru is the most excited.
We drove out to the mall to get me some much needed maternity bras.
I guess I must've driven slow as Dru hopped in the drivers side on the way back so I thought 'Hmmmmmm he must be slightly impatient with my driving'
Plus I don't know where I'm going, so he has to direct me.  Maybe he doesn't like that either.
Anyway I got a little drive.

Dru's work is going well.  It's a bit different from his work in the main office but he's treading water pretty well.
A lot of stuff is science talk at the moment and he's slightly clueless.  But I think he's doing well for the most part.
His boss said yesterday 'It's so nice to have you here on site so I don't have to collect all the forms, fax them through to corporate, then go down there to sign the forms and bring them back................'
So that's good right?
He just passes the forms to Dru and says 'Read through this and let me know if I should sign it or not'
I think it's a lot of responsibility for Dru and he wants to meet up to the task.
With help from the Lord and the common sense he has I'm confident he'll continue to do well.
It's only the first week, I mean how good was it going to be?
LOL
Turns out we've both been thrown into the deep end and are figuring out our 'new normal'
Good luck to both of us ;)

Cell phone

This is Takeshi's cell phone.
He walks around, most days, with it in his pocket ready to use.
He calls Masaru and asks him when he's coming home.
He'll often call Dad to see when he's coming home and asks him what he's doing.
The other day he rang my friend Shannon and asked her when she was going to be here to take him to the park.
He always ends the conversation with 'Ok, love you, bye'
It's pretty cute.
Then he puts the phone back in his pocket till next time.
I need to try and get a video of it.
Anyway I was talking to a mate on the phone yesterday and went to hang the phone up and this is what I found.
He'd put his cell phone in the charger.
I was cracking up.
I don't have a cell phone but Dru does.
I guess he sees me talking on the home phone and his father talking on his phone and is taking matters into his own hands since we won't buy him his own cell phone.

MS Walk

So my mate has MS and is doing the yearly fundraiser walk next month.
I just thought that I'd throw it out there on my blog if you happened to be able to donate to the cause.
Click HERE if you can spare a little.
Thanks
Milz xx

Dinner

This is what Takeshi does at the dinner table to entertain himself.
He does it quite often actually.
Dru just happened to capture it this night.
Crazy kid.
His T-shirt sums it all up in a nut shell.

Wrong

It's only an extra $25 for the plates not $50.
We're going for it.

Made it

Dru's back and I did it............two nights without him and no tears shed since he left.........well I was watching a movie last night and cried at one part, but that's a given with me.
What I mean is no 'I can't handle this' tears shed.
So I'm  pretty pleased with myself.
Having mates take the kids to the park etc was a huge factor and having dinner brought to me the two nights was another huge factor.
Emiko did pretty good the two nights and that made it doable.
So I'm happy.
Hats off to all the service men wives who do it without their husbands for months or a year at a time.
I cannot believe the strength it would take to go through something like that.
I'd need a maid or a nanny or something................
Dru canceled his interview with JAG that he had in a couple of weeks.
I guess I don't have to worry about him leaving me for a few months at a time.  At least for now!!
He got everything sorted for our house so it's ready to rent.
He got the car ready and insured and brought the rest of our stuff home so now there's next to nothing bar a couple of boxes left in Utah which his parents will bring at Emiko's blessing in a few weeks.

Here she is in all her glory.
For an extra $50 a year I can get a personalized plate with 'kiwibus' on it.
What do you think?
Should we go for it?
Or does that scream I'm up myself since it wasn't a gift per say?

Random

 Masaru showing off his NZ tattoo's he got from family in NZ.
When he got them on he said "These are the best tattoo's I've ever had mum !"

 The kids 'sleeping' with Emiko.

 I guess they 'woke up'
Takeshi's given her one kiss.  That's the first time I've seen him really acknowledge her.
He starting to pee his pants if you don't go to the potty with him.  To make things worse he always seems to need to go the minute I sit down to feed the baby.
I'm pretty sure it's an attention thing and need to make sure I'm giving him what he needs.
Yuki wants to hold her all the time, asks tons of questions about feeding and babies and where they come from and if she'll have to be cut open etc.
I try to answer everything I can and not get too impatient with her hovering all the time (I know man, I'm a bad mother)
Masaru's stepped up to the plate and is being a big help around the house.  It's be great.

 This drawing on the left is Grandma's and the one on the right is Yuki's.
After drawing the family down the bottom Grandma showed her how to draw a person even better, so she copied.
Turned out pretty good I reckon.
She did this while I was in the hospital and Dru brought it to show me.  He was pretty impressed as well.

Here's all of us including Grandma since she was here.
Last night went well with Emiko and the fact I didn't have a headache probably helped as well.
Hopefully Dru will be home tonight, if not then here's to another decent night.

All then nothing......

So I had Dru part time, so he was home quite often................I'll miss that........but I'm happy for full time work and for the timing. 
I'll be ok and I'll adjust eventually.  It's worth it and there's no time like the present to get used to being a mother of four kids right?
If I just had Yuki at school that'd be something LOL
But three kids at home is what I've got and so my guess is I'm going to be quite busy over the next couple of years till she starts school.
But who am I kidding right?  I'm going to be busy for a number of years and already have been.
Dru's mum and I were talking though and she reminded me of how fast it goes by and I'm sure it does.
She said a tough time in her life was when the kids got older and didn't want to hang out as much as a family.  Also when my sister in law went off and got married her brother went on a mission 3 weeks later and so Dru's mum felt as if she'd lost half her family, which I guess she did, so that was another hard time for her.
I know I'll get to this point eventually and it'll all come too quick, but for now, I'm a busy mother of four and since 12:30pm today am a busy mother of four without the help of Dru or his mother.
I was feeding Emiko so didn't get to give hugs or anything and didn't even get to say goodbye to Dru's mum properly or tell her thanks (lucky I wrote her a card and gave that to her before she jumped in the car) as I was too busy trying to hide the fact that I was crying cause Dru was leaving.
Now I realize I'm hormonal..............that's a given and I felt stupid crying (I'm crying right now.............hormones mate, who needs them?) but last night was my first rough night with Emiko.
It took me over an hour to get her to sleep after a 1am feeding.  To make things worse I had a headache.  I don't normally get these and I'm not sure why I had one last night, but I did and it was throbbing.
I don't like to (and haven't so far) asked Dru to get up, I don't mind doing it you know since I'm breast feeding and she's been doing great but after attempting to put her to bed and failing 4 times I threw myself into bed and started crying.
So Dru got up and in less than 2 mins had her asleep and me asleep...........but now he was up.
I think with seeing his mates in Utah this weekend and getting this full time job he was on a bit of a high and had slight anxiety about everything and so from 2 till 5am was just up blogging and such.
So that made me feel even worse and his mother this morning told me that Dru needs his sleep now he'll be getting up early and working full time.
This made me feel even worse cause she's right you know and I didn't mean to get him up............honest!!  He just got up and helped, but what kinda person let's their spouse cry and not help out right?
I just need to try and suck it up a little better I guess.
I hope I don't get another headache any time soon.
Today is the first day I've been weepy.  I'm hoping it's just because Dru's gone and I'm alone with four kids for the first time rather than a bout of depression coming on you know.
I'll have to keep tabs on myself and hope things are ok.
If you had given birth and less than two weeks later you spouse had to leave for a couple of nights would you be weepy?  Or wouldn't it bother you?
I need to gauge if I'm going mental or not.
Anyway Dru's hoping he'll just be gone one night, but he's got a lot to do on the house for the new renters and a little bit to do on the car before he brings it back.
Did I mention we're getting a car?  It's a Toyota sienna minivan and I couldn't be happier.  We found one in Utah and so got it since Emiko is here and we needed a car that gets better gas mileage than the cruiser since we'll be traveling forever to Utah and other places and it'll be nicer to cart all the kids around in.
I'll have to post a picture I guess.
Anyway it's good timing since Dru's sister is moving out and there's quite a bit to do on the house before we rent it out in a month.
So hopefully he can get everything fixed and functioning tonight and tomorrow.  Otherwise he'll stay another night.
I'm getting a lot of help.
As I type this a mate has the two other kids at the park............HUGE HELP since they've been watching a bunch of movies the last week and I'm feeling slightly guilty about that.
When Masaru comes home I get him to take the kids outside so they can get some sun time and breathe in some fresh air and work out some energy.
I've got mates tonight bringing dinner.
My other mate is taking the kids tomorrow and bringing dinner and I'm going to hang out with a mate on Sat morning if Dru's still not back so I have something to do you know.
So it's not as if I'm alone at home with no support you know.
Quite the opposite actually.
The majority of thank you notes I've written made me realize how blessed I've been in help this last pregnancy and it's a little humbling.
I'm pretty good at taking help when I need it though, so I don't feel too guilty saying yes to all the help.
It truly makes things easier and helps keep my chin up for the kids you know.
If there's anything I've learned from Dru going on that snowmobiling trip it's to ask for help when I need it, and that it's ok to get help when you need it.
I just need to remember to give help to people who need it.
I mean I bring meals to people all the time whenever they ask for it but I don't really do too much else and I need to do better with that.
I have play dates and babysit every now and then but I think I could do better to help others out you know.
People have just been such a big help to me and my family I just need to make sure I 'pay it forward' so to speak, then I won't feel as bad taking all this help I guess if that makes sense.
What a long post of rambled thoughts.
Anyway I knew I just needed to get some thoughts down so I can remember this part of my life I guess and the feelings I had.
Emiko's sleeping and so I might try and grab a nap while the kids are out.
Gotta squeeze them in while you can right?
Alright wish me luck tonight................fingers crossed Emiko will do great.
She so cute, even though she kept me up..............being cute always helps.

Full time..........

See this handsome guy on the left?
Yep the one in the blue shirt........
Well after months of part time contract work with Simplot he's moved to full time contract work with Simplot out in Caldwell at a new food factory they're building out there.
His boss 'Mark' went into bat for him at a meeting that Dru didn't know that was going on and tried to get him as a full time employee so we could get the benefits and pension Simplot has to offer.
But they came out of the meeting with Dru basically being on a three month 'trial' basis on contract work for them with the intention of full time employment for the next three years while this place is being built.
He'd be the attorney out there looking over all the contracts............and that's about all I really know.
The fact that he'd worked in construction his whole life was a really good selling point for him as well since it's a building project.
He starts on Monday.
I'm not worried about the trial as I know once they've had him for two or three months they'll be so impressed they'll have to hire him full time for fear of not knowing what to do without him........................ok, ok so I'm a tad bias but I'm mostly right............right?
What wonderful news to get on a Wednesday morning or any morning for that matter.
Now the commute................
Anyone have a toyota mini truck they wanna sell to us for 2-3k?
He can't commute in the landcruiser, we won't be able to eat it's such a gas guzzler.

WARNING SOPPY STUFF.............
I'm so proud of Dru and his hard work.
What a great guy and an asset to our family.
He's been a great example of sticking it out and having the faith to know that things will work out eventually.
We'll have to tell the kids they need to change their prayer from 'Help Dad to get a full time job' to 'Help Dad KEEP his full time job'
I'm so glad he took the initiative to ask for an externship at Simplot in the first place.
His missionary companion Tom knew the big boss guy at Simplot and invited Dru to have lunch with him and this guy and asked about doing an enternship.
This friend said it sounded ok but approached Mark to see if he'd be willing.
Dru said that Mark told him he didn't know why he said yes,  as he hadn't had a student in years and thought it'd be a gamble but for some reason went against his instinct and said yes he'd do it.
Mark said after meeting Dru once, he knew he'd made the right decision and has been in Dru's corner ever since.
Mark's the one who got him his part-time work and the decent pay for part time and Mark's the one that really convinced everyone to hire him to this full time work as well.  He'll also be there to convince everyone to hire him as a full time employee and will try and get him even more money than what he'll be making right now.
He approached Dru today and said 'Is this going to be ok?  Cause I basically already accepted on behalf of you'
The secretary said that Mark specifically wore dockers instead of jeans today to impress these guys to hire Dru.
That's a big deal for Mark.
Another guy said 'Mark had a lot of good things to say about you and Mark usually never has anything good to say about anyone!'
I'm sure he was joking but still.....
Without Mark things would've been a lot harder and may have gone in another direction.
With Mark though Dru's getting the job he really wants, and that's working for Simplot and we couldn't be happier.
I don't think Mark would do all of this if he didn't truly believe that Dru was a good hire and a great worker which is what makes us the most happy.
Mark forwarded an email to Dru that he received from one of his colleagues that basically stated that working with Dru was a pleasure and his contribution was an asset and it was nice not to have to motivate or push him or have to follow up with him with his work, he was always ready, prepared and working hard on what he was in charge of and it was nice to work with.
This is all stuff that makes Dru awesome and also makes me assured that he'll be hired on full time with these guys and we'll get benefits and a pension and will be able to continue to work for Simplot, hopefully for a long time.

Dru, Dru, he's our man, if he can't do it nobody can......goooooooooooo Dru.
We love you babe.
Thanks for taking care of us.
You're the best.

Beautiful and Perfect

 She's got a sassy face already.

 Dru was emailing a mate about Emiko and he said 'She's just beautiful and perfect'
I'm like 'I don't even think you've said that about me?  I've only been married to you for 10 years and have birthed all your kids, aren't I beautiful and perfect too?'
He just smiled at me like I'm joking around.....................
Sure I"m not too beautiful at the moment but I'll get there mate you watch.

 I know, I know, she just looks like a baby to everyone a normal, everyday baby, but Dru's right............to us she's beautiful and simply perfect.

 She even gave all of you a smile just for the blog.
What a champ.

 She is such a good baby.
I don't wanna jinx it or anything but so far so good man.
Eats really well, sleeps wonderfully.  I mean it's only been a week and even less at home, but I'll take every pain free day as it comes and so far Emiko is pain free when it comes to looking after her.

Lastly I just wanted to put a cute journal entry Masaru did for his Dr.Suess birthday.
There's a peep on my jeep.
I love it.
I'm not sure what a peep is, but I'm not sure what half of Dr. Suess' weird words are either.
I thought it was clever, plus I love his picture.
Kids drawings are the best right?