Baby Zachary and more

I spent 10 days with Jonathan and Kristy since they had a new baby and their kids were on Spring Break and then Jonathan had a work thing out of town for a day or two.  So Camden and I made the drive (and he was sooooo good!) and had a fantastic time with their young'uns.

There were a few challenges - Emily in potty training; unhappy tummies; moderate puking; sibling quarrels; and my own clingy child suffering fear of abandonment if I moved more than two steps away.

Poor David, his tummy was really hurting.  Isn't he so cute?
My favorite David story from this trip -- he said the prayer for breakfast, but he had to wait for Miriam to get done with whatever it was, and it was taking her forever.  In his prayer, he asked God to bless the food and also "please help Miri not to be a slowpoke."  Not so surprisingly, Miri took offense and said, "That was rude!"  David: "But I was asking God to help you not be a slowpoke."

It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be, so one day, Camden, Isabelle, Miri, and I went to the park and had a great time.  There was an old train car there - quite fascinating!  This may have been the time with the least quibbling between these two siblings.  Both girls are great about helping with Zachary and holding him, when Kristy or I needed more hands.

Here's the cute new addition.  Zachary seemed like a good baby to me - he ate, slept, cried.  Now I know my experience with babies is relatively small, but I must say, this kid pollutes more diapers at a faster rate than I would have considered possible.  And he's a very grunty baby.  But it did seem like he demanded attention at the same times Camden really NEEDED something.  So I got some practice having a baby in both arms.  Though Camden wore my arm out much faster!

  Everybody loves baby Zachary!  You can't really tell here, but Emily had a dozen or so stitches under her chin.  We traumatized her by trying to pull them out at home, but she didn't really respect our authority, even with us three grown-ups trying to ease the way.  So the doctor got the privilege of dealing with that! Emily is a great girl!  So funny.  She loved for me to read the same two books over and over.  Towards the end of my stay, she would read them along with me, even to the sound-effects I made up.

I think it was a little hard for her not to be the baby anymore.  If she was already unhappy and Jonathan or Kristy was around, she was adamant that her parent help her, not I.  "I not talking to you!"  And if I persisted in trying to solve her trouble: "I don't like you!"  I do find the honesty of children refreshing.

Emily pretty well did potty-train herself.  With the significant assistance of Miri and Isabelle.  There was really only one day of accidents and then we were pretty much home free!  I can see that I will need to quell my obsessive-compulsive cleanliness tendencies when the time comes to do this for Camden.

Isabelle is introducing Camden to Louie, the great Pyrenees livestock guard dog.  Right now, he doesn't really guard anything, but soon there will be sheep and Louie will be much happier.  He is rather enormous, though you can't really tell in this picture.

Jonathan and Kristy are super amazing in their progress to have a farm.  They have chickens that produce lots of eggs (although I found cleaning them distasteful - I'm not sure I want to think about where eggs come from!) and their orchard and garden are well-planned and impressive.  I'm so impressed to be related to such clever people!

This is the remarkable view in the morning from the kitchen window or the deck.  So pretty and peaceful!

I know God really blessed me to increase my capacity while I was there, so I could actually be a little helpful to Kristy.  I cooked.  That, in and of itself, is remarkable!  I corralled children; I negotiated childish disputes (with very little finesse though); I snuggled and soothed a teeny-weeny featherweight baby; I washed dishes like I haven't done since my days at the BYU Cannon Center cafeteria.  I read books!  And I managed to do that with my wonderful Camden, who came down sick part of the time too.  See my enhanced skills?

Here I am, holding Camden, talking on the phone and chopping beans all at the same time.  There's fried rice on the stove behind me.  Yeah, this is definitely beyond my normal abilities!