Names!!!

It has been so long since I got on to blog, that I all most forgot my sign in :) I have so many different things I could write, but it seems the most prevalent on my mind would be names. So I thought I would write about names tonight and get people helping out in the naming of our baby girl (we still have five months so it is not a HUGE rush).

While Josh and I were engaged we talked about the names for our future kids. Josh made the deal with me that if he got to name the first boy child Joshua junior, that I could name all the rest. I took this deal. But it really hasn't worked out that way.


Our oldest child is a boy and so he was named Joshua junior. There was no question once we found out he was a boy. We knew his name. We did have to try and decide what to call him, because we already had a Josh. Josh wanted to call him Junior, and I liked JJ. We called him Joshua for A LONG time because we couldn't agree on anything else. In fact we called him Joshua until he got old enough to tell us to call him Josh Jr. So my oldest is Josh Jr. to family and family friends, but he is just Josh at school and with his friends. I'm sure it will get more confusing as time goes by.




When we found out our second child was going to be a boy as well, I got excited to come up with his name. And I can honestly say I can't remember if there was a lot of discussion on what we would name him. I was reading a book and one of the important character's name was Benjamin. I liked Benjamin. I also thought that it would be fun to have a Justin (just-in-case haha). But I wasn't going to go with Justin for the first name, but I thought that Benjamin Justin Case sounded good, and people wouldn't have to know his middle name, so he shouldn't be picked on too much. And so he was Benjamin Justin Case the whole pregnancy. I thought Josh was good with this. And then he was born... And we had to fill out the paper work... And Josh started to think of all the times he would have to use his full name... And he is not Benjamin Justin Case. I did get Benjamin (though I don't know that we ever called him Benjamin), but I did not get Justin. We decide we would name him after his grand fathers. Josh's dad is Jerry and mine is Don. So his middle name is Jerdon. And it works for him. He has always been called Ben, and I don't see him going with anything else. He is our Ben.

When we were pregnant with our third child we did not find out what she was until she was born (it was not completely planned to do it that way, but that is another story). So we had to come up with a girl name and a boy name. We agreed pretty quick on a boys name (though I don't think I really picked it), but we could not agree on one for a girl. We had it down to two names for a girl. McKayla Joy and Brooklyn Joy. I liked McKayla, and Josh was all for Brooklyn. Our third child was a girl and so we had to decide at the hospital which name to go with. Josh really wanted Brooklyn and I agreed if we could change the middle name to Rose instead. So our oldest Daughter is Brooklyn Rose.

When we were pregnant with our fourth child we found out she was going to be a girl. Which was probably a good thing, so that we could figure out a name. I decided that since we had a Brooklyn that we should go for another city name for our second daughter. We quickly narrowed it down to Sydney Joy and Savannah Joy. I was for Sydney and Josh was for Savannah. We went to the hospital to have her still not agreeing on which name we would use. Our forth Child is Savannah Joy.

When we found out that our fifth kid was going to be a girl we had to pull out the maps. We had many family members and friend trying to come up with a city name that would work for us. And now we had the added requirement that it had to be in the U.S. Josh and I quickly agreed on the middle name, and both loved the name, but I was set that she had to have a city for her first name. I loved Alexandria...but Josh did not. We couldn't come up with a nick name that we could agree on for her. I have a nephew that goes by Alex and Josh didn't want another Alex (even though he lives in Ohio and we don't see him all that often). Josh also didn't like Lexi or Andy for a nick name... Josh did not like Alexandria. I couldn't list all the name we went through. I really clung to Alexandria, and Josh continued to look for something better. We had many friends and family members that searched U.S. maps in search of a name we both could agree on. About a week before our daughter was born, Josh's coworker came up with Catalina island. We couldn't find it as a city, but we decided that it might work..Or I guess I should say I decided it might work... Josh Loved it! I wasn't sold on it completely when we went to the hospital to have our baby. But Josh was.

Our fifth child's name is Catalina Jacquelle (her middle name is another story). And we call her Cat. I use to tease Josh all the time that I had made him a "Cat" lover :) Oh and FYI there is a city in the U.S. named Catalina :)

We are now expecting our sixth child... a girl! So we are headed to the drawing board (or maybe I should say map). We would love ideas, but there are a few requirements. It needs to be a city in the U.S. We would love to go with one that starts with an S or an S sound. We have two Js, two Bs, and two K sounds. So we thought that we would even things out with an S or S sounding name. We also need a middle name that is a J or a R (preferably an R). All of the middle names in our family are Js and Rs (we have three Rs right now and four Js). I know I'm crazy, and that we should just pick a name. I didn't intend for it to end up this way when we first started having the girls. But now I see why people end up with the names they do :)

Now I want to point out something. If you remember back to the beginning (sorry it's a long blog again) Josh and I made a deal. He got to name the first boy child and I got to name ALL the rest of the kids. I don't know if you paid attention to the names that "won", but I didn't fully name ANY of the kids. And as far as first names go, I have really only picked one (Ben). As I have sat here writing all this I figured something out. Josh waits until I have just given birth to the kids, and then he slips in the name he wants. I am to tired, over joyed, wiped out, what ever you want to call it. But I give in. He waits until he can slip it in on me... and he wins... every time! I guess this next time I need to decided what I want and be set for sure on it before I go to have the baby :)

Just an FYI... I Love all my kids names. I wouldn't change one of them. They are the right names for my kids... I just didn't get to pick them :)

Jasmin

I had planned in this blog to write about more than just my current day. I hope to one day go back over the years and share fun and exciting event from years past. But my mind is very sluggish these days, so I guess that I should be happy that I can come up with something to write most days :) Tonight I am going to write about Jasmin. For those of you who don't know Jasmin is Josh's car. He bought her right after he got off his mission before we even met (He brought two cars to the marriage where as I brought none). Jasmin is a stick shift, and Josh had to teach me how to drive her (I had a couple different guys try to teach me in collage, but it didn't really work). I remember when were newly married and he would make me drive up Union Blvd. to practise starting on a hill. I HATED it. I was always afraid I would roll back into someone. Thankfully I never did. Now we have been through a lot with Jasmin. We have been on many trips and had lots of fun with this car. But I have started (OK maybe started is not the right word) to think that she might be on her last leg. Now I am not hoping for this, but I do worry. Last March we traded our mini van in for a newer NICER model. Before that it had been 6 years with out a single car payment. We are almost at a year mark on the new van, and we still have a long way to go before it is paid off. I hope/don't want to have two car payments. But there are MANY signs pointing to the fact that Jasmin's days might not be too much longer.

To start with Josh was in a car accident with her back in 2003. I still feel to this day that it was a miracle that he wasn't hurt and there wasn't more damage to Jasmin than there was. I would post picture of the accident, but that was back before I had a digital camera, and I don't have a scanner. But Josh went off the road and up on the driver side of the car. He slid this way for who knows how long and then the car just stopped and dropped back down flat... right on the edge of a little ravine...just big enough for the car to fit into. Again soooo thankful that it all turned out all right. I think we only spent around $350.00 dollars to get it up and running again (we did not fix the body though). And josh has been driving it ever since.

Well about two...maybe three years ago Jasmin lost third gear (again Jasmin is a stick shift). We looked into fixing it and was told that we SHOULD replace the whole transmission because once one gear goes they all will. They wanted 2000 dollars to replace it. The blue book value for the car at the time was $1000 for excellent condition (remember we did Not fix the body damage). So Josh decided that he could drive just fine without third gear...And he has for two or three years (I really think three). I have even gotten good enough at driving Jasmin with out third gear.

So this brings us to last October. It was a cold icy Saturday morning, and Josh was headed into work when he was hit (actually not too far from where he went off the road 6 years earlier). The kind driver, who it turned out did not own the car, left the scene of the accident. Luckily for us a nice Samaritan who saw the accident followed the guy and got the plate number. Again I am so grateful that Josh was not hurt. But the airbags did go off. And when they went off the shield that blocks the passenger airbag hit the windshield and shattered it...

But there was no damage to the engine. The power steering container broke, so there is no longer power steering, but every thing else was just fine. But it took almost a month, and many not so happy phone calls (I still feel bad for a couple of them... not too bad though), for the insurance company to decide to total the car. Since there wasn't any major damage to the engine we bought the totaled car back from the insurance company for 150 dollars. Not to bad of a deal, because they still gave us over 2000 for it. We spent 180 dollars to fix the window, and Josh cut out the airbags, and taped down his steering wheel. And he has been driving it since then... with out power steering (he plans on fixing that he just hasn't had the time).

So this brings us to last weekend. Josh called me Saturday night saying that his car had died. He was not even two minuets from home, and had lost ALL power. Josh's Dad ended up coming and towing him home. They talked about what it could be, and decided it was either the battery or the alternator. Last Monday Josh took the battery in and was told it was DEAD. So we bought a new one for the car. And it started right up. And he has driven to work twice and other places since then this week...

And that brings us to tonight. I took Brooklyn with me to go to a dinner for a missionary getting ready to leave on his mission. Josh stayed home with the other kids to get homework done. I noticed that the batter light was flashing as I drove, but Josh hadn't mentioned any problems with it since Monday. Brooklyn and I enjoyed dinner and headed home so that I could go to book club (I haven't actually finished the book yet, but almost). So as I am driving home I start to have some odd things happen. Like the radio keeps stopping for no reason. Then it just turned off for good. Then I noticed that I didn't really have dash lights either...Or head lights for that matter. At this point I am merging onto Powers (for those of you who don't live here Powers is a MAJOR street with HIGH traffic) and it is about 7:15 pm. It is dark and I have NO head lights. I don't know if I have rear lights, but I know I don't have a turn signal and that the odometer is not working. So I start praying that we can make it home. I get to about five minuets away going up a hill when the car starts to sloooowwww down. I have NO power. I look in the rear view mirror and a car is FLYING up behind me. Now I really start praying! I am afraid he can't/wont see me because he is going too fast. At this point I hear a weird noise and the car starts going again. I need to turn left at the next light, but know that there is no way I can get over three lanes with not much power and no lights. So I go to turn right. It is at this point that I lose all power again. But luckily I had enough momentum to cost around the corner and get out of the way of traffic. I am about three minuets from home... not to far from where Josh got stuck just a few days ago. I call Josh, and Josh called his dad. His wonderful dad came and towed Josh (who came over in our van) home once again. Josh was upset and felt horrible that I had to go through all that. I actually find it funny myself. I did not however make it to book club. And now we have to see if it is the alternator or if Jasmin might actually be ready to be retired.

Headaches

I am glad I didn't take on the 365 day challenge to Blog every day. I would have failed in under a week. I would like to Blog every day, but it just wasn't going to happen yesterday. Monday Josh and I had a very productive day. We got lots done including fixing his car and getting all my blood work/glucose tests done. We even were able to go look at a house to maybe buy (not making any announcements). We finished looking at the house and then got the van washed when a small head ache started to hit. But we still had more on our to do list to get done. We got home at the same time as the older kids and it was time for snack and homework. We decided to have a quick dinner so that we could go shopping for shoes for the older kids. It was while fixing dinner that the head ache got bad. By the time we were eating dinner I was feeling pretty crappy. I took two Tylenol with dinner hoping it would clear things up. They did help, and we were able to go shopping. But the headache was not gone all the way... Josh and I actually went to bed early for us Monday night, and I think I was a sleep by 11 pm. No kids woke me up during the night so you'd think I would wake up refreshed and ready to go... I was not so lucky. I woke up Tuesday morning with the most awful headache I can remember (and I have had A LOT of headaches, but that will have to be another blog). I spent Tuesday in a dark bedroom with a pillow over my head and heating pads on my neck trying to get rid of the pain. Being pregnant limits the meds I can take, and all that I had in the house that were OK was Tylenol. It didn't work to well. But I am very blessed that my sweet husband was able to work from home, and he was so wonderful in taking care of me. The headache is mostly gone and life is mostly back to normal :)

Books

I had a hard time coming up with something to write today. I'm still tired (see yesterdays blog) even though I think we went to bed at least an hour earlier than Friday night. We are lucky to have 8:30 church this year (I'm being sarcastic for those of you who aren't sure). My kids elementary school starts at 8:55. Sunday we have to be out of the house earlier than any other day of the week. So we have to get up early. Now you'd think I would take advantage of the early church to get a nap in today, but sadly I did not. So needless to say my brain is not as quick as I would like it to be. I had plenty of time to write something this afternoon, but I could come up with nothing. The best I have got for today is to list the books I am currently reading... That was bookS.
I am in two different book clubs, and they both meet every other month. But they are on the same month schedule. Now it wouldn't be to bad if I hadn't procrastinated for this month. Now I have two books I need to read by the end of the week for book club and one book that I need to read so I can get it back to my friend who loaned it to me (there are people waiting for it after me). Normally I am a fast reader, so reading a bunch of books wouldn't be too big a deal. Especially when I am pregnant. I usually read A LOT when I am pregnant. But this pregnancy has been different. I am having a hard time getting into reading. Even books that I love I can't seem to want to read (Twilight). I was lucky that two months ago the book for both of my books clubs was the same book, and that I had already read the book at least three if not four times (New Moon). So now I need to read, and don't really want to read. Plus I am teaching preschool this week (which was a surprise to me, but I will save you the story, you don't really want to know it). Anyways on to the list...

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

I am about half way through two of the books, and I have not read but a few pages of the other. I guess I need to get off the computer and read more :)

What I would give for a good nights sleep !?!?!?

I'm tired!!! I wish I could blame it all on kids, but I can't. Josh and I are night owls. We always have been. We thought it would change as our kids got older and started school, and it still might, but so far it hasn't. We are never in bed by ten, and hardly ever before eleven. So going to bed at one last night was really not too late for our normal. But today is Saturday, and there is no real need to get up in the morning (at least not for me, Josh still has to go to work). So I had hoped to sleep in a little. I guess I forgot to tell the kids. They were all up by 7:30. Which wouldn't be too bad if I had actually slept all night long.

I'm not sure what time kids started waking up, because it started with Catalina... And she doesn't always wake us up... To begin with anyways. She usually just climbs up the foot of our bed, crawls up to the middle top of the bed and goes back to sleep. But something we have learned about Cat (for those of you who are not too familiar with my family, Cat is our nick name for Catalina, we do not own a cat) is that she DOES NOT like covers! We will cover her up, and if she is enough a sleep she will be fine. But it never fails that sometime in the night she will vigorously kick the blankets off. And if at that point you try to cover her back up, she will just kick them off again. It wouldn't be to big a deal for her to kick the blankets off... If she wasn't in the middle of MY bed. When she kicks the blankets off ALL the blankets go! And Josh and I end up with no blankets on too. Now your probably thinking... why bother covering her up? Well our bed is a Queen size bed and our blankets are Queen size as well. So when you have a thirty pound weight laying in the middle of the bed, pinning the covers down, there really isn't enough covers to cover the two adults in the bed. I finally did give up and left Cat uncovered. I was just thankful that she brought her own blanket with her to my bed. Oh I forgot to mention that Cat likes to sleep with her feet propped up too. I think she usually puts them on Josh, but that isn't always the case. So sometimes you get the blanket kicking game in the middle of your back :( Now I'm getting use to Cat and her nightly visits (wish they would end), but last night I was also up with Savannah a couple of times and then Brooklyn as well. Needless to say by 5:20 when Josh got up for work (or was kicked out of bed by Cat) there were three extra kids in my room, one of them kicking me in the back (that would be Cat, not the one inside me... still haven't felt that one for sure yet).

One of those days

So it's been one of those days. You know the one. The one where you wish you could just go back to bed (even if it is only ten o'clock in the morning). I can't say that there was any one thing that made today one of those days... but it sure has been one. With that being said, I have had a hard time coming up with something to write today. I didn't want it to be another grumpy blog (see yesterday's), so I just didn't write anything. Now I have to say that even though I still have some grumpy kids, it doesn't feel like one of those days any more. So here is hope that it doesn't go back to being one of those days...

OK so on to more interesting stuff, maybe. My oldest got a bird for Christmas from Santa (I can't say I was too excited about this). And he has been pretty good at taking care of his bird (we only have to remind him every once in a while). And as far as birds go, Tiger seems to be a good bird. But he doesn't make any noise. I think it was New Year's Eve before we ever heard a peep out of him. And even then it was like for 30 seconds, and then nothing until the next day. The next day, at about the same time of day he started peeping... for about 30 seconds. But I have been keeping track over the last few days, and it seems that Tiger either likes noise a lot, or not at all. Because he seems to get talkative when kids are crying or fighting. Now don't get me wrong, Tiger's still not loud. You almost have to be completely quiet to hear him. Which I actually don't mind. With five kids I don't need another thing to make more noise for me :)

OK so the picture really don't have anything to do with this blog (they have their own story that I will share someday), but I thought they demonstrated what one of those days looks like :)

FYI TMI I H8 UTIs

This wasn't what I had planned to write today, and there might be some of you who don't enjoy reading this. But I did warn you. I went to the doctor yesterday for my first pregnancy check up. I'm 16 weeks pregnant. I waited to go to the Dr.s until the new year (mostly to save having to pay my deductible twice) but also because it is my sixth pregnancy and it is going just like all the rest, and with 5 kids at home, I'm just to busy! But having waited until now, I have a lot of test that are needed to be done now. But I'm not sure why I have to do some of the blood work. Why do I need them to draw my blood to confirm that I am pregnant when the doctor used her Doppler and listened to the heart beat of the baby? Are they concerned that it's a tumor that has altered my hormones to make my body think it is pregnant...and that the tumor has a heart???Just wondering. But I have gone off on a tangent... I didn't intend to talk about my blood work either.

Ok not so known fact about me... I get UTIs... A LOT! It started back when I was a little kid (like two). I ended up having surgery on my bladder and kidney to fix ALL the problems that resulted in me having UTIs. And then they went away... Until I hit adulthood. When I am pregnant I get UTIs a lot (more often when I am pregnant with boys). I had a UTI that started on the 27th of December (my fourth this pregnancy). I did the antibiotic route and was feeling better when I went to the doctor yesterday. The Doctor (really nurse practitioner but that is too much to write so we'll just call her the doctor) asked if I was feeling better and if I thought the UTI was cleared up. I told her yes (this was at 1:40 pm). Buy 3:45 I was NOT feeling good anymore. And by 5:30 I knew that I either had another UTI or the last one was not gone all the way (I was only off antibiotics for two days). I then had to try to get a hold of the on call doctor and get him to call in antibiotics. Which he did...twice! The wonderful pharmacy lost/didn't get the order so I had to go through the whole process of getting a hold of the on call doctor again. And so last night was a painful, crappy feeling evening. I'm just thankful that my mom had invited us over for dinner, so I didn't have to worry about feeding my kids while I was stuck in the bathroom for hours :(

Catalina "The Enforcer" Case

I probably should start by talking about my husband or my oldest child, but Catalina's daily antics is what prompted me to want to write stuff down. She is So darn funny! I don't remember my other kids being so funny. I'm sure they were, but I have forgotten. And I feel bad. I hope that in writing these things down now, that I will start to remember what the other kids have done.
Catalina is the youngest (for now), and at two and a half she thinks she rules the house. She has LOTS of energy and can destroy a room faster then five or six kids combined. But it's hard to discipline her as well, because she is So darn cute. She has taken to telling me lately when she wants something (mostly snacks and candy) that "it's not yours, it's the families." And if you don't give her the treat she wants, don't turn your back on her or she will just go help herself. She will climb or drag a chair to get anything and everything she wants.

I could probably go on for hours about Catalina... And I am sure she will be the subject of many blogs to come, but I thought I would go on to explain why she is "The Enforcer". Being the youngest child, Catalina has learned (probably out of need) how to defend herself. She seldom hesitates to take back a toy that was take from her. And if she is hit or bit, she will retaliate. She also hesitates to take a toy she thinks should be hers. Sometimes I think that she bullies her sister Savannah (who is 4) into doing/giving her what she wants. But on top of not being afraid to stand up for herself, she will defend her brothers and sisters if she thinks they are being picked on. My oldest often cries out because he was pinched or scratched after he picked on one of his other sisters. If Catalina see it happen, she will defend until the end. Even if a minute later she has turned on the one she defended to fight them. The other morning Josh was resting trying to get rid of a head ache. Catalina thought it was a good time to wrestle with him. In her wrestling she head butted Josh leaving him in pain, and not in any pain herself. I told her she needed to tell Daddy to "take that" when she head butts him... She turned to Josh and said "take that". I'm sure I will regret teaching her that, but I laughed a lot at the time :)

Getting Started...

I have been reading my sister-in-law's blog every day, and it has gotten me thinking that blogging would be a great way to journal. So I am off to try something new. We'll see how long this lasts :)

I'm not sure what to write in this first blog, so I guess I will start with a little about me and my great family. I am a stay at home mom of five (and a half) wonderful kids. I love being home with them, even if some days I swear they are trying to make me crazy (they win every once in a while). I am also married to a fantastic guy who spoils me all the time. I havI have been reading my sister-in-law's blog every day, and it has gotten me thinking that blogging would be a great way to journal. So I am off to try something new. We'll see how long this lasts :) I'm not sure what to write in this first blog, so I guess I will start with a little about me and my great family. I am a stay at home mom of five (and a half) wonderful kids. I love being home with them, even if some days I swear they are trying to make me crazy (they win every once in a while). I am also married to a fantastic guy who spoils me all the time. I have been sick a lot lately (because of the half kid inside me) and Josh has taken great care of me. I am a native to Colorado. I have lived here almost my entire life. Sometime I joke with Josh that it would be nice to move, but I don't see that happening any time soon (at least not out of Colorado). We are lucky to have most of our family with in ten miles of us, and my kids love to spend all their free time with Grandparents or Aunts and Uncles. I think that they would move in with them if they had the choice, they are all much more fun than me :) Here is a picture of my crazy kiddos (maybe)