Playing catchup

We've been busy, sick, etc. Whatever the reason/excuse, I've slacked when it comes to blogging. But it's still 2012 for a few more hours, so I figure I can squeeze in a quick recap (mostly in pictures ... mostly shot by my dad) of our (relatively) recent happenings.

Thanksgiving

Bekah and Ana spent the night at Grandma Scott's house so they could get up early (6 a.m.) and help get the turkey ready.

The group (minus Grandpa Scott, who was standing on a bar stool taking the picture) before Thanksgiving dinner. Grandma Scott, Grandpa Wirkus, Aunt Jessica, Aunt McKall, Bennet, Uncle T, Seth, Winnie, Andrea, Bekah, Miriam, Analee. Check out those purple mashed potatoes! 

We had another Thanksgiving at Old Grandma's house the Sunday after the holiday, with Uncle Brent, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Fred, Uncle Doug, Grandma Susan, Grandpa Dennis, Uncle Kent, Aunt Melissa, Emma and Nandy, Old Grandma's bird. That's the first time I've seen a bird eat dinner with a group of people.

We had yet another Thanksgiving at Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Susan's house the next week as well. What can I say ... we just can't get enough turkey.

December

The Saturday following Thanksgiving, we went on our annual Christmas tree hunt up by Fall Creek. Bekah decided she was big enough to follow Seth all around the hills in search of the perfect tree.

We took some pictures and ate some treats back at the parking area while the men loaded the trees into the back of our truck.

Another group of tree hunters offered to take our group picture if we'd take theirs. Winnie, Seth, Analee, Miriam, Andrea, Rebekah, Grandma Scott, Grandpa Scott, Aunt Jessica, Uncle T, Bennet, Aunt McKall.

Gwendolen was blessed Dec. 2 by Seth in the Coltman 3rd Ward. After the block of meetings, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Scott's new place (one street over from our house and on the same street as Seth's parents) to have dinner.

Winnie in the blessing dress Grandma Scott made.

One December Sunday after church, the family made gingerbread houses. Seth helped Bekah make her house. Andrea helped Ana make hers. Miriam put a candy on each house as her contribution.

Seth played "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" at the ward Christmas party Dec. 18.

 The Primary sang "Away in a Manger" at the party. Miriam, Analee, Lily and Calvin go to dress up as shepherds. Bekah got to dress up as Mary.

We traveled to Salt Lake for Seth's cousin's wedding Dec. 20. We had quite the caravan on the way down--Grandma Susan, Grandpa Dennis, Calvin, Lily, Aunt Rachel, Kelsey, Uncle Kent, Aunt Melissa, Emma, and our family of six--all in three vehicles. Remarkably, we made it to downtown Salt Lake in time for the sealing. (I say "remarkably" because we had to drive 200+ miles AND stop for potty breaks, food breaks, baby-feeding breaks, cleaning up projectile spit-up breaks, etc., ) And when we reached our destination, Melissa, Diane (Seth's cousin) and I got to watch eight kids--including three babies--while the rest of the adults attended the ceremony. No kids were stolen/maimed/lost, so we considered it successful.

In between the sealing and the wedding dinner, we had some downtime at the hotel. The kids watched PBS Kids.

 At the fancy wedding dinner, Miriam wore an orchid in her hair.

Lily, Ana and Bekah got to stand in the group that tried to catch the bouquet. Bekah just missed it.

After the dinner, we left Winnie with Grandma Susan at the hotel and took the three older girls to Temple Square to see the lights.

The next day we (Grandma Susan, Grandpa Dennis, Calvin, Lily, Seth, Andrea, Bekah, Ana, Miri and Winnie) went back to Temple Square to see the sights.

We went to the Church History and Art Museum and spent a healthy amount of time in the children's area. Seth learned some fancy Mexican dancing.

The ride home was almost as exciting as the ride down. We had just turned onto State Street with the intent of getting on the freeway when Miriam threw up in the car. After we pulled over, got her changed and cleaned up the car, we gave her instructions to grab the newly minted "barf box" (an empty Teddy Grahams box) if she felt like she was going to do it again. Somewhere north of Ogden, Ana had to reach for the box as she threw up. We again stopped and got things cleaned up so we could continue home. Gratefully the rest of the trip was puke-free. However, both Miriam and Analee were down with the tummy bug for a couple of days.

Poor, sick Analee fell asleep on the couch with her sippy cup of apple juice still in her mouth.

Christmas   

We attended the annual Hendricks family Christmas party Sunday, Dec. 23 at Aunt Cathy's house. Even though we had kept Miriam home from church because she didn't seem to be completely over her sickness, we thought it would be safe to take her to the party because she had perked up considerably throughout the day. However, Andrea had to duck out of the party quickly with Miriam when she proved to us that she still had digestive problems.

Seth shot this picture of the Hendricks family nativity after Miriam, Winnie and I went home. Bekah was Mary again. Ana was an angel.

By Christmas Eve things had quieted down. We took the girls to the Museum of Idaho for their annual Christmas exhibit. 

When we got there, it was time for Winnie to eat. I sat in the hallway and nursed her while Seth took the other girls to the Children's Discovery Room. After Winnie had eaten and been changed, we saw the gingerbread houses, nativities and other Christmas items.

Later on, we opened some presents at Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Susan's house, then ate dinner with them.  Then we packed up the girls and went to Grandpa Wirkus' house to open jammies.

 Seth holding Miriam, who quickly put on her new "bunny jammies."

Grandma cooing at Miriam, who also got new jammies.

  

Although Analee and Miriam were over their bug before the holiday, Seth, Andrea and Rebekah caught it right in time to spend Christmas fevered and pukey. We opened presents at our house, then went to Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house to open some more.

Miriam (who actually wore her jammies all night ...she usually strips them off and sleeps in just her diaper) received a teddy bear backpack.

 Bekah got an owl. Shortly after this picture, she made a quick exit to the bathroom and hugged the porcelain for a while. Seth took her home after that.

And that's that! We're all over our stomach bugs/pink eye/croup now, so life's much better. To see more pictures from our adventures, click here. 

Outtakes

I have so much blogging to catch up on. In the meantime, here is the Christmas card we sent out:

And here are some outtakes from the shoot, which took place in our living room. The setup: my camera on a tripod, one of the lights on its stand, and a graduation gown taped to the wall.

I heard the bells

Of the 14 Christmas songs in the LDS hymnbook, my favorites have always been "Silent Night" and "Angels We Have Heard on High." So when our ward choir director told me that she had picked "Silent Night" as one of the songs we would sing for the Sunday before Christmas, I wasn't surprised. But when she told me her other pick was "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," my thought was more along the lines of "Meh."

Today as we sang from the stand, I had a sudden change of mind.

It came during the fourth verse. I tried to sing along with everyone else:

      And in despair I bowed my head;
      "There is no peace on earth," I said;

     "For hate is strong,

     And mocks the song

      Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

But I choked up and had to resort to mouthing the words.  My thoughts had turned to the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. I thought of turmoil in the Middle East and of starving children in Africa. I thought of all the sad, ugly, horrible things that happen to good people every day.

Of course the song doesn't end there. I was able to find my voice, and I fervently sang with the rest of the choir:

      Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
      "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

     The Wrong shall fail,

     The Right prevail,

      With peace on earth, good-will to men."


The world can be a scary place. Some pain is inflicted by people. Some pain comes from natural disasters. But God is mindful of all His children. He loves us. He knows what trials we face. He wants us to be happy.

I'm grateful for this knowledge. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who allowed us to come to this earth to experience all that life has to offer, including joy and sorrow. I'm grateful for His Son who came to this earth and died for us so we can live again.

It would be easy to be discouraged by all that's bad in the world today, but I take comfort from the final verse of "I Heard the Bells" and these words from Ammon:


"Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen" (Alma 26:37).

Miri-ism #9

Miriam had colored some pictures of Ariel and wanted to hang them up on the side of the cupboard. Andrea got a piece of tape and stuck it to the top of each one. Miriam tried holding the paper against the cupboard, and when it wouldn't stick ...

Miri: I can't.
Andrea: No, Miriam ... you have to push down on the tape.
Miri: (Carries her picture over to the table, sets it down, and uses both hands to push down on the tape dispenser.)

Names

For the sake of posterity, I thought it might be nice to record how and why we have chosen our girls' names.

Rebekah (nicknames: Bek, Bekah, Bekah Lou)


Seth and I had this name picked out before Bekah was born. Before we were married. Before Seth left on his mission. In fact, in my Comm 111 class my freshman year of college, we were assigned to write our obituary. I listed four children in my obit, including our oldest daughter, Rebekah.

Why did we choose it? Because we like it. And because we like Bible names (although only two of our daughters have Bible names ... there are fewer girl names to choose from). That's why we spell it this way instead of the more traditional spelling of "Rebecca." Rebekah was Isaac's wife.

Analee (nicknames: Ana, Ana Banana)


I've always wanted to give a daughter an An- name. My parents told me that I was, in part, named "Andrea" so I could kind of, almost be named after my mom, Annette, without having the same name. I thought it would be nice to pass that on to one of my girls.

I compiled a long list of An- names: Angelina, Analiese, Angela, etc. Seth and I had a hard time agreeing on one of them. Annalee had been on my list for a while, but it wasn't until Seth heard a song — "The Weight (Take a Load Off, Annie)" with the lyrics "Do me a favor, son, woncha stay an' keep Anna Lee company?" — before he was sold on the name. He liked the look of "Ana" versus "Anna," hence the spelling of her name.

Miriam (nicknames: Miri, Miri Biri, Mir-Bir-Tiddly-Ear (bestowed by Bekah))


Our other Bible name. We chose this name for two reasons: (1) Miriam was a sister to Moses and watched over him as he floated down the Nile as a baby. (2) Myriam is an incredible lady Seth knew while on his mission in south Texas. 

I met Myriam while Seth and I were engaged. She came to the Logan temple to receive her endowment, and we drove south to meet her there. We've only been able to see her a couple times since then (once when she came to I.F. for another missionary's reception, and once in Laredo, Texas, when we visited Seth's mission areas), but Myriam is such a good example and a sweet person that we thought it would be nice to share her name with our daughter. However, we decided to keep the Bible spelling again.

Gwendolen (nicknames: Winnie, Gwen, Win-Win, Winston, Winifred)

After naming three other girls, we weren't sure what we were looking for in a fourth female name. We turned to our family trees for ideas. In Seth's line, there were several Gwendolyns. Both of us liked the sound of the name, but we decided to go with the traditional Welsh spelling, which is sans "y."

I think she has the most nicknames because she has more people at home to create them. Or maybe we're just playing around with the new name in the house, and in a few years we'll have settled on just one or two nicknames. (Seth used to call Analee "Zombie Buffalo," but that one didn't stick ... thank goodness.)

Gwendolen's 2-month check

Winnie was a champ at her 2-month checkup. Here are her stats:

Weight: 9 pounds, 4 ounces (10th percentile)
Length: 22 inches (33rd percentile)
Head: 15.25 inches (70th percentile)

We found out a couple of interesting things. First of all, her birthmark is totally normal.

The doctor said it's not uncommon for red marks like this to show up a little while after the baby is born. The good news is that it's on the back of her head. And there even appears to be hairs coming from the spot, so she shouldn't have a bald spot there.

Secondly, she has a little bit of a heart murmur. The day she was born, the pediatrician at the hospital told us she had a murmur then. He said that, in most babies with that type of a murmur, it would correct itself within 24 hours. He reported to us the next morning that it was gone.

Now she has this murmur. Our pediatrician says he believes it's benign. He'll continue to listen for it at her well-baby checkups and document what he finds.

Winnie also got a round of immunizations. She was none too happy, but she settled down fairly easily afterward, and she fell asleep almost as soon as she got buckled in her car seat.

 Three sets of shots in her two scrawny legs.

And I managed to almost catch her beautiful smile on camera.

Nearly a smile. She had a full-blown one (and a full-blown diaper ... hmmm ... those two may be related) just a moment before.

She followed her smile with a few words.

You can compare her with our other little ones by clicking here.

Budding poet

The other day, Rebekah left this out on the counter for me and then ran away and hid:

"Belle's dress is yellow just like your hair. If you don't come find me, you'll be Slytherin's heir." (Spelling and punctuation corrected for your ease of reading.)

A few more Winnie pics

'Cause you just can't get enough.

Miriam thought Winnie needed a couple of her lovies while she napped in the carseat.

Analee reads Hop on Pop to her baby sister early one morning.

Perhaps we ought to retire this particular blanket.

Miri-ism #8

Last night, Miriam took my nearly cup of juice and did something unconventional with it ...

Andrea: Miri, did you spill juice on your forehead?
Miri: I have juice on my forehead?! (While spinning in circles and slapping her head:) Get it off! Get it off!

This girl is quite the little corker.

Arizona wedding

Seth's "twin cousin" (the cousin closest to his age) Diane celebrated her nuptials November 10 in Mesa, Arizona. When we first heard the date and location, we assumed we'd send a card and stay home with the baby. Then we started having second thoughts. We knew we'd love to support Diane and Michael on their special day, but how could we swing it?

Option #1: Take the whole family down there. This option was immediately dismissed because who wants to travel with a young family of six from Idaho to Arizona for a mere weekend?

Option #2: Leave the three older girls with my parents and drive down. But when I looked up the distance and saw it would take us 15 hours of driving PLUS the time it takes to stop every three hours and feed a baby, I was concerned.

Option #3: Leave the three older girls with my parents and fly down. This would cost us a little more, but we'd spend a lot less time traveling.

Option #4: I stay at home with the girls while Seth either flies or drives down. This (obviously) would cost the least, but even though Seth could have traveled with other family members, he didn't want to go without me. (Awww!)

After debating about it and making a choice only to question it and change my mind several times, we opted for #3. Thus Gwendolen experienced her first flight.

Seth holding Gwendolen on our flight from I.F. to Mesa while Grandma Susan watches.

She was perfect on the flight. She slept, nursed, and looked around. No fussing, no wailing.

We left Friday, November 9, and came home Monday, November 12. My parents/sister watched the big girls while we were gone. While is Arizona, we spent a lot of time with Seth's Uncle Keith and Aunt Carol at their lovely home, we had a big family dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we witnessed the wedding (Gwendolen didn't so much ... she was under the nursing apron during the ceremony) and danced at the reception, we attended the televised regional conference on Sunday, and we enjoyed the flora. (This was my first time in Mesa.)

Seth holding Winnie at the wedding dinner. It was a lot cooler in Arizona than we expected it to be. We huddled under the propane heaters they had in the orchard, kept Winnie bundled in her blanket, and gratefully borrowed the sweaters/sweatshirts Carol brought from their home. 

Susan, Seth and Winnie at the wedding dinner.

Keith has several citrus trees in his backyard, including this grapefruit tree. I took pictures of a few to bring home and show the girls.

The thorns on the lemon tree.

Even though the big girls had fun at the "blue house" (where Grandma and Grandpa Scott have recently moved), Ana felt a little put out that Winnie got to travel by plane before she did. We promised her that she would get the opportunity to fly in the next few months when we take our family to Washington, D.C.

Dirty kid

Remember that time before we had four girls? This story takes place then.

One Saturday (September 29, to be exact), Rebekah and Analee were in Island Park with Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis. We had kept Miriam at home because she was still on antibiotics for her double ear infection. We were hoping the baby would be making her grand entrance any day, but because she was still safely tucked in my womb and I had a beautiful new bike to try out, we decided to hook the trailer to Seth's bike and go to the greenbelt.

We started in Freeman Park, admired the falling leaves as we went around the whole loop, and took the bridge that connects the park with the main part of the greenbelt. After going along Memorial Drive, we crossed Broadway and continued north on the trail. As we neared Pancheri, we could see that the paved path was overrun by water from the sprinklers.

Not wanting our lovely ride to end, we plowed through the water until the path was dry again. Then we heard a feeble, "I dirty!"

While following Seth through the water, I had noticed the muddy water splashing from his back tire up on the back of his shirt. I had not even stopped to think about what that tire and the runoff was doing to our 2-year-old.

We rode a little farther to the pier at Snake River Landing, and then I put the wipes in my bike basket to good use.

 Poor sodden Miri.

Getting cleaned up.

Seth and I awarded ourselves the Parents of the Year award, then took another route home to avoid the muddy path altogether.

Miri-ism #8

Rebekah and Analee arguing over whether or not Ana had agreed to give Bekah the book she was reading ...

Bekah: But you pinky promised!
Miri: (In a conversation with herself) Pinky promise! Pinky Dinky Doo! Pinkie Pie!