Oscar Stew

With my tired eyes…

4 neglected children.

One hiding from the camera with poopy pants.

One wishing she wasn’t elected as the babysitter.

One performing the tasks set before him.

And one cat napping in a spot safe from wandering feet and falling debris.

We’ll be home tomorrow. Home sweet (freezing cold) home!

There’s been a lot going on inside and out lately. We’re wrapping up our last week in St. Geezy, and it’s been a great time! Thanks to all the family and old and new friends that have made us feel welcome. We couldn’t have done it without your support…

Last week Uncle Mark rolled through town and made sure to give Drew & Brinley the nickel tour of his sweet ride. It’s a Peterbilt for dang’s sake!

Before the visit was over Uncle Mark asked D&B to ensure that his rig was properly working before moving down the open road. Lights? Check!

Ye olde tire thumper, which Brinley executed with the grace of a true ballerina. Yes, ballerinas and truck stops. Yup. Thaaat’s right.

Lights fading…limbs wrapped…temperature rising…zzzzzzz…Either that or she’s already learned to pucker her lips and make smokey eyes at the boys.

Smokey eyes?! Now that’s funny!

Check out my crow’s feet! And when I relax my face they magically disappear. Don’t even start to think you can afford the lotion I use.

Rowan made sure to fully enjoy the great meals we received from the generous people of our ward. Hey Rowan, are you gonna put mayonnaise in your hair when you’re older? Just asking…

You’re gonna put what in your hair?!

Up on top of Dixie rock there was one rule: Hold to the rod, the iron rod. They even sang the song. Should we tell them it’s actually steel? Nah.

And it came to pass that they wandered on forbidden paths and became lost and were smote on the head despite their great strength.

But behold they did repent of their ways and did build their foundation upon the rock and became strong again.

The studio got left in Denver, but we were still able to put together Eleanor’s first model portfolio. When there’s a will, there’s a way! Why so serious, E?

Eleanor is a good sleeper, once you actually get her to sleep! She likes to wiggle and squirm out of her swaddle, although in this case it appears that she wanted her head swaddled too.

Finally zonked! See you in 4-6 hours!

Mommy and Elea-snort needed some uninterrupted nap time the other day, so I rounded up the troops and headed out in search of two-purpose activities. Two, you ask? Exactly. Why only have fun or just work when you can have fun and work at the same time? It’s the man’s version of multi-tasking. My first target was easy: Sally was sitting in the driveway just begging for a good scrub down. And so it went… 

Keeping track of three kids in a carwash stall while documenting the momentous occasion proved to be rather difficult. As soon as I had Drew set on a task, I had lost Brinley and Rowan was looking mischievously at the ground.

My worst fears were realized when she stuck her hands in the mud and then rubbed them all over the car.

I actually didn’t have to look for Brinley. She was whining for her turn to hose down the van. Turns out she not only sprays well, but a beam of sunshine comes out of her forehead for quick dry results. A sunbeam…a sunbeam…

It was becoming apparent that both big kids were going to end up victims of friendly fire with Rowan holding the trigger…

If the van didn’t get clean, the stall and the drain pipe sure did.

As well as Rowan’s shoes.

Ok, no more fighting over who gets a turn. Drew you squeeze and Brinley you aim. Looks like they’re both satisfied with this compromise. Riiiiight.

Eventually I had to actually get the car clean. The monkeys seemed able to take care of themselves while I did the heavy scrubbing.

The iPod helped though, as they were drumming the beat and singing along while I rinsed away the evidence.

D&B must have chosen a song that wasn’t a favorite of Rowan’s.

Mission accomplished! Car is clean and nobody got run over. Off to the promised land!

Ahhhh! Sweet reward!

Hi there! It’s me, Eleanor Blair. I just came crashing into this world, so please forgive the dazed and confused look on my face. And those aren’t blemishes or bruises on my face; they’re speeding tickets. And quit it with that flash photography Daddy, Mommy hates that!

Hi Mama! They got me all measured, weighed and vaccinated. How are you feeling? Yeah, I kinda figured you might say that…

Check out my cute little dried out toes! Anybody got some lotion?

Are you still here?! Can’t you tell I’m tryin’ to take a nap here? Leave me alone and come back in an hour…that’s 7 a.m. Sharp!

My bro and biggest sis made some cool crafts to welcome me to the family. Aw, shucks!

I’m a squirmy little one. I managed to wriggle out of my swaddled blanket, slide my shirt up and take my hat off. And now I’m exhausted!

I’m outta here! No autographs please. My skin is taking on a yellow jaundice-y tone that is not very becoming.

This was the first time I met the sibs. Germy kids are not allowed at the hospital. Hey Drew, what’s the deal? Is that a raccoon on your head?

The deal was Drew got to have a mohawk for Crazy Hair Day at school. Then Mommy went into labor, so he ended up getting to keep his hawk for two days! Rock ‘n’ roll!

Rowan was super excited to meet me too. But, it seems the adrenalin wore off about 5 minutes too soon. Looks like I’m not the only one who falls asleep while eating. Well, we’re all pretty tired around here, but we’ll see ya again soon!

tic tac toe! We have three girls in a row!!

Forget what I said about this baby being slothful! Obviously she was just building up momentum. Amy woke at 3 a.m. to light infrequent contractions, only to be swept away an hour later in a tsunami of intense and constant contractions. We got to the hospital at 5:04 a.m. and had a new baby girl 7 minutes later! She came out strong, restless, and hungry at 8 pounds 6 ounces, 21½ inches long, and three days before her scheduled due date. She is the biggest baby we’ve ever had! Both mama and baby are doing great. Drew, Binnie, and Ro can’t wait to meet their new little sister. Now for a name…

I know you hoped for a post about the arrival of #4, but instead we are all left wanting. Amy is now more pregnant than she has ever been before. That’s a fun record to break! Although this baby isn’t due till the 8th it is officially late, considering all the other kids came at least a week early. Way to buck the trend #4; we could really do without all the slothfulness… Maybe clearing our conscience with a new post will induce labor. Here’s hoping!

It wasn’t so long ago that it was still 2009, when kids were kids and Amy still had ankles. On the Eve of Christmas Brinley and her wiggle racer got into a fight with a wall and the wall won. Needless to say she had an extra egg for making the fondue.

Drew had a very important lesson to teach all of us. The hardest part was keeping it under wraps.

All the fam gathered in the living room for the reveal, which was distributed machine-gun style.

So what was the message? The Christmas story of course, courtesy of Fisher Price.

Then the big day came. What did Santa bring? Well for starters, Santa observed that if Brinley crashed into walls on a slow, low center-of-gravity device, going even faster on something with a higher center-of-gravity would increase her safety…right. Drew gave her a helmet, just in case. 

Rowan & Santa both know that calculus, cold fusion and molecular biology are for the birds. On the other hand, shape recognition and text messaging are a tuffy! Check out that tongue action!

Drew is a decade too young to be getting his own car, and it may be tough for his friends to bum a ride until Drew can get some engine and body work done…

Mommy & Daddy must have been listening when the kids BEGGED them for Pillow Pets for Christmas. If we had this moment on video you’d know why we are deaf.

Rowan wouldn’t even let go of hers to open more presents. A little filler here: Rowan’s lovey is a zebra too, and anywhere she sees the slightest imitation of zebra print she is sure to let you know: BABA!

What? You mean you can talk on these things, not just text? Kids these days… 

We might be where the palm trees grow, but it didn’t take long for us to find a snowy slope to satisfy our powdery desires. Check out Amy in Brinley’s snowsuit. I mean Brinley in Amy’s…one in the same.

Daddy taught the kids proper sledding technique: Sit down, hold on, and scream like a wild man!

Brinley was even leaning into the turns!

Then Daddy tried to be a show-off stuntman. as usual…

We’ve adapted to this mild climate, so before long our less than adequate footwear had served us to its breaking point and it was time for a warm-up. There’s nothing like getting cozying up to the fire with a good book. Kids these days…

Sapatos en fuego!

Moving on, the kids called in the teleporter and had themselves dropped into a jungle infested with dangerous and deadly wild beasts. Good thing they each had a set of binoculars and a speaker that told them what might attack next!

Where did that bear get that speaker and those binoculars from? Oh, hi Drew. 

Rowan’s teleporter must have had some kind of glitch, as she ended up on a sheer rock face. Hold on Ro!

There was a “disagreement” about whose binoculars were whose, and somebody ended up being able to do without…

Eventually Rowan managed to get off the cliff unharmed and just in time to see more Baba! Hey Ro, you don’t happen to notice any problem with that zebra do you? Kids these days…

Mommy says it’s midnight somewhere! Happy New Year! And these things are good!