The Smell of a Baby - Part 2

The other day McKinley answered my question - "What makes a new baby smell so darn good?"

I walked into the bedroom and she followed me and told me that she wanted to smell my lotion skin. "?????" Okaaaayyyy. Then she told me she wanted to smell Luke because he smelled like Heavenly Father. Apparently I told her when I was putting lotion on him that it made him smell "Heavenly". So now she thinks that he smells like Heavenly Father.

So there you have it - the reason babies smell so darn good is because they just came from Heavenly Father and they still smell like him.


Profound thoughts or just a good imagination?? I love how this girls mind works!!

"Tootsie Rolls" All Around

Jackie has been trying to potty train since before Luke was born, but I was not ready for her to do it so I did my best to NOT encourage it. This week I decided that I was ready to devote the time to full-on potty train her.

In the last 3 days we have pottied on the carpet about 3 times and the tile about 5 times. I decided to do what we did when McKinley was potty training. When she potties in the toilet, she gets a tootsie roll - works like a charm. There is only one thing - when she gets a tootsie roll EVERYONE has to get a tootsie roll. This makes it a whole family affair, because McKinley and Grant cheer her along so they can get tootsie rolls too. Needless to say, we get tootsie rolls every 17 - 30 minutes (depending on how thirsty Jackie is).

Everytime Jackie goes to the bathroom, she has to strip down to nothing. So we have had to re-dress her every 17 - 30 minutes also. Which usually there is a little coaxing involved to get her dressed again, so we have spent approximately 10 hours (give or take) this week just getting Jackie re-dressed. This does not include the time that she just runs around in her panties because I am too tired to fight her about getting dressed AGAIN. She must think it is a game or something and loves to just shock us by streaking across the room - she also must like to hear us say, "Jackie where are your clothes?"

Good job Jackie!! It will be AWESOME to get back to only one child in diapers (except for naptime and bedtime)!!! Church is tomorrow - hopefully we don't have accidents there!!! :)

The Smell of a Baby!

Whenever I have a new baby I always think of this question "What makes a Baby smell so darn good?" I mean when they don't have a dirty diaper of course. I am not just talking about my babies, but every baby. They have the "New Baby" smell. After thinking about this for a while I went to my bathroom cupboard to discuss it with Johnson & Johnson. The only thing I got from them in their Baby Lotion is "Fragrance". So what is this "Fragrance" and why is it so intoxicating for most women? And here is another question, why does it not affect men the same way?? The smell of a baby is as good as the smell of chocolate to me maybe even better. I mean whenever I hold a new baby, I automatically have to smell it, to breathe that sweet smell - AAHHH HEAVEN!

My sister and I have joked about making a "New Baby" smell and marketing it to moms that have older kids, they can spray it on their older kids and then they would smell like a "New Baby". Kind of like how there is a "New Car" air freshner. Anyway, Bart's cousin Kristin told me a few years ago that she saw something called "Baby Cologne". And yep you guessed it - it is made by Johnson & Johnson. I have yet to see or smell it, but I will some day!!!!!

So I better explain why I have been thinking of this today. My day actually started at 5:30 this morning when Luke didn't just go to sleep after I fed him and I laid in bed just holding him, not wanting him to get bigger. So after I sat there for 1/2 hour, Grant got up and so I decided to get up and make breakfast early. The house was freezing (62 degrees) because the kids turned the furnace off when they got some chairs out of the furnace room last night. So I had to wake up Bart to turn it back on too. While Bart turned on the furnace, I made breakfast and listened to Sheri Dew. Then at breakfast we read our scriptures (a whole chapter - we keep sleeping in late and either don't read or only do 1/2 a page or something). It was really nice and a great way to start our morning. So I guess the saying "Early to bed, early to rise, . . . . " worked real good for me today. I even put dinner in the crock pot at 11:00 this morning so VIOLA, dinner is done. What is up with me today?



After breakfast Luke was tired and hungry but needed a new diaper so I changed him and went to throw his diaper in the garbage. About 1/2 way to the garbage he nestled right into the side of my neck and cheek and fell asleep (about 25 - 30 seconds after I picked him up). I thought it was so cute and I just couldn't put him down. Just to feel the weight of his body on my shoulder was so nice and comforting. I had to kiss his cheek a few times and just listen to his steady breathing and feel the rise and fall of his chest against my shoulder. It was amazing and I wanted to stay like that all day. I think that having a baby or any of my kids sleeping on my shoulder is so soothing. Kind of like when you are upset about something and someone simply puts their hand on your shoulder to comfort you - that is what it was like. After lunch I gave Luke a bath and just walked around smelling him.

Sorry to be so chipper it is just that I have had a real good day today. This whole "early to rise" thing is really getting to me I guess. I even worked out while Luke was taking his morning nap - I must be sick. Actually, my skinny pants are just getting a little snug again. :( Anyway, I guess I am just trying to say, that I love being a mom today, and I am reeeeally going to miss having a new baby here in a couple of months. Luke started rolling over Monday (thanks to Kaelyn's example). Before I know it, he will be walking and talking and having his second birthday. And I will wonder how it went by so fast and why I didn't cherish the babiness more.

No reason to put this on here - just a fun picture that I wanted to share.

Mrs. Clause

This morning McKinley informed of something that has apparently been on her mind.

She said, "Mom, I am going to ask Santa if he has a Mrs. Clause. If he doesn't, then I will ask him if I can be his Mrs. Clause. If he does, then I won't."

So we may have a McKinley Clause in the family some day. Pretty Funny!

Death by Cracker

The modern day Snow White.

We were out of apples so we had to substitute with crackers.

Halloween 2009

Last year we went to Witches Night Out in SLC, and ever since then McKinley wanted to be a witch. Grant wanted to be a ghost, and we couldn't get Jackie to be an elephant or a care bear, so she went as a kitty.

The Sabbath - a day of Rest!!!?????

Sunday was a particularly busy day for at least one of our family members. Jackie wanted to give mom and dad a run for their money. She started out by getting into the Crayola Color Bath Dropz and dumped the whole thing in the tub. She apparently wanted to know what would happen if you mixed ALL the colors together - FYI - it makes black. Then when we were getting everyone dressed and ready for church, she found my mascara and proceeded to "paint" her arms, legs, belly, and anything else she could find with it.




We went to Stake Conference where she chased two moms out of the mothers lounge because she was talking to loud (she was talking and singing into the vented door that echos into the baptismal font) and not letting the other babies go to sleep. Then when we went out to sit in our chairs she and mom played a good game of Church Wrestling. I still can't decide who won. :)


When we got home, I thought we could relax and spend time together as a family. HA, HA, HA, HA. Jackie and McKinley went into our bedroom and found a box that I had neglected to throw away that still had the styrofoam packaging in it. When I found them it looked like it had snowed in Luke's bed. They also had the little balls of styrofoam stuck to their hair, legs, eyelashes, diaper etc. (Oh, by this time Jackie had also stripped down to nothing but her diaper - if I get her to wear clothes for a 4-5 hour period I am doing great!) This little excursion took me about 20 minutes to vaccum all the tiny little balls out of Luke's bed, the bookshelf, Luke's swing, my bed, the floor, the wall etc.


Immediately after being chased out of the styrofoam bedroom, Jackie went to the kitchen and tried breaking all my mason jars that I was boxing up to make room in the pantry. Luckily Bart stopped her at just one. What a busy day you might think? Well it wasn't quite over. McKinley and Jackie wanted to move Grant out of his closet so they took all his clothes off the closet rod and placed them neatly around his room. The only sanity we got for the day was when Jackie fell asleep at the dinner table around 6:00.


Now you may think - where on earth were her parents during all of this???? Well, isn't it obvious? We were cleaning up all the previous messes.



Even though Jackie pokes her finger in 3 eggs in the carton, dumps 1/2 a bottle of bacon bits on the floor, or squirts toothpaste on my newly washed rug; or when McKinley fills up the bathroom sink to play swimming pool with the toothbrushes for the umpteenth time, they usually make up for it in the end. The simple "Me too" response I get from telling McKinley "I love you", or the cuddles I get from Jackie while I am feeding Luke with all three of us squished into the recliner, or the "your silly mom" that Grant tells me as I rush him out the door for the bus, makes my crazy days seem worth it.

Right now I feel like I spend 88% of my time chasing one or the other around cleaning up from their latest excursion - but I find that I love them more and more every day. I have been re-reading a book that I read this summer and in it the author talks about serendipity. The definition of serendipity is ". . . . . finding something good while looking for something else." The past few months I have only been focusing on the "something else". I have just been trying to get the laundry all caught up or the living room vaccumed. Instead of taking time to enjoy the moment with my kiddos and treasure the precious time I have with them. I know I need to focus on the "finding something good" everyday. Before I know it they will be going off on their own and I will be wishing that I could clean up the cookie sprinkles that have been half eaten - half sprinkled all over the pantry floor. :)