First words!

"They" say that babies focus on either walking or talking first. We were really rooting for Asher to be a "walking first" baby since he was being replaced as "the baby" at only 13 months old. I didn't want 2 non-walkers! And Asher nicely obliged. He has been walking for a couple of months now. But now that he's figured that out, I am anxious for words! ("Uh -uh - uh" with a pointed finger and an increasing sense of urgency is only cute for so long) Finally Asher has started talking. First was "Dah -de" for Daddy. Richard loved that. A week or so later I noticed him saying "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma..." as he followed me around the house. And just the other day he saw a dog on the street and said "Dah-ge". Now pretty much every animal is a "Dah-ge".

I am anxiously waiting to hear what he will say for Naomi's name. Cousin Andrew dubbed her "Mimi" which was cute, and my favorite. And Cousin Avery said "Omi". We have a friend in the ward who just gets all confused and says all the right sounds but in random order. Like "Mi-o-nay" or "Nay-mi-o". Then there was cousin Winter, who speaks Dutch with her mother. She thought Naomi was a naughty little girl named "Omi" because everyone was always saying Nay (No, in Dutch) to Omi. But I have a feeling that whatever Asher says will be a semi-permanent nickname since he will probably pass it along to Isaiah in a year or so when it's his turn to start talking. So stay tuned to hear what else comes out of that cute little Asher's mouth!

Kidz Day

Today was a happy Kid's Day for us. I had to go to work. I think next year I'll plan on having some vacation time to use for playing with the kids all day.

Here's some of what I missed out on:





Dinner was a kid-friendly mac and cheese. After dinner we went to a mall nearby and rode the carousel. Then we all enjoyed a nice cookie from Mrs. Fields. Yum.

Mothers Helper

Today the most wonderful thing ever happened to me (Ok, that's an exaggeration, but it was a really, really, really good thing). My "Mothers Helper" came for the first time. She is a 15 year old girl who I hired to come over twice a week for a couple of hours and help out. Today she was here for 2 1/2 hours and here is what I accomplished: mailed a package at the Post Office, dropped off the dry cleaning, returned a movie (those 3 things I did with OUT dragging 3 kids in and out of 3 carseats at each place), cleaned the kitchen (REALLY cleaned - so clean that if my mother was coming over today I wouldn't have to re-clean it for her sake), cleaned the laundry room (which meant putting away 2 big stacks of blankets that had been there for months), ate a snack all by myself, fed Isaiah and was able to actually focus on HIM while doing so rather than the other 2 demanding kids, put away a load of laundry and washed 2 other loads, made lunch for the kids. Here's what I would have accomplished with out my Mothers Helper: maybe loaded the dishwasher, fed Isaiah while trying to be the "patient" to Naomi's "Doctor" and making car noises for Asher, messed up the house much more.
So to all mothers everywhere with little ones, I say HIRE A MOTHERS HELPER TODAY! Isn't it worth it? As my mother pointed out, I could actually end up coming out even at the end of each week. Here's how: when I go to the grocery store with three kids I am distracted and frazzled. I don't pay as much attention to sales or think through what is in my cupboards as much. So I probably loose money there. Say, $10. When I go to Target or someplace like that, I splurge on the kids a little to keep them happy. Say, $5. When I am stressed, I eat out at Chic-fil-A. And the kids come with me. Say, $10. That right there is $25 that I SAVED by hiring my Mothers Helper.
At first I was a little embarassed by the idea of needing a Mothers Helper. I can handle it, right? Well, yes, I can. But I can handle even more with her help. So to all you out there in the Blog World I proudly proclaim:
I have a Mothers Helper and I love her!!!!

Why my laundry takes so long

There are several reasons why my laundry takes so long to get done. If I'm being honest, the number one reason is that I hate doing it. But numbers two and three have specific names. Naomi and Asher. (Isaiah is too little to be that much trouble yet. Asher makes up for him though.) Here are a few pictures that illustrate part of the problem.

My sister-in-law, Stephanie, recently made the point that she doesn't have time to blog. Maybe this proves her point a bit. I just complained about laundry taking too long, while spending 10 minutes on the computer doing this post! But this post was way more fun than the laundry.

Bob's Goodbye

Nancy and I watched Bob Barker's last time hosting The Price Is Right last night. It aired during primetime. The audience was obviously very excited to be there and showed a lot of love for the host who has missed only three shows in 35 years! The first couple of contestants had t-shirts on with writing about how happy they were to be there. Bob made a couple comments about them waiting in line for a day or two. Just before the second item up for bid he turned to a young man in the contestants row and said, "I thought I recognized you. I just figured out why. This morning I was eating breakfast and I saw you being interviewed on our local CBS station while waiting in line. How long did you wait outside?" 5 days! Wow.

So it was fun to see all the old familiar scenes, Come On Down, One Dollar, A New Car, Plinko, Spin The Wheel, The Showcase Showdown. Bob even gave the audience a chance to show how loyal of fans they were. "Don't press the button before you're ready, because we can't restart it for, 'How long audience?' 37 hours"

Watching this landmark episode (and perhaps watching it at such an unfamiliar time - 8 PM) reminded me of what it was like to watch The Price Is Right growing up. Being a daytime show I would only ever see it if home sick from school (TV while sick? Never.) I remember feeling like it was only ever on on the days I was there to see it. It took me to another place for 1 hour. But the next day back at school, I would never think, "Oh, The Price Is Right is on right now. I'm missing it." In fact, I'm fairly certain it didn't air when I wasn't at home. It didn't exist on those days. It wasn't the only show that acted that way, but it was the most memorable. There was also Matlock, MacGyver, Columbo. And other gameshows of course. Hollywood Squares, Pyramid, Press Your Luck. So that was a fun little reminder of eating chicken ramen and sipping soda through a bendy straw.

Fun in the sun

Here are some photos of our family enjoying our new deluxe backyard pool.

Naomi is decked out in her "goo goo goggles" (so named from Dr. Seuss' ABC book), water shoes, and Princess swimsuit. Her head never goes anywhere near the water, but the goggles are still necessary because every Princess must be fully accessorized at all times. Always.

Asher also has all the necessary accessories (shorts, swim shoes, hat). But here he is sporting nothing but a swim diaper. Despite loving to splash and play in the bathtub, Asher refuses to do anything but cling to the edge of the pool. Hopefully he'll loosen up by the end of the summer.

Isaiah enjoys the backyard pool by contentedly sleeping in his bassinet inside the air-conditioned house.

The conclusion of the haircut saga

Ok - I feel totally vain because so much of this blog so far has been about me and my hair. But it's been such drama in my life that I feel I must post the conclusion to the story.

The curls were NOT working for me. They were working against me. The haircut I had just wasn't right for my new, slightly curly, do. So on Saturday I took things into my own hands and cut off the longest layers. It was a crazy thing to do. I could have totally destroyed my hair. Luckily it worked out OK. But there were still some alterations that were needed that I didn't dare do myself. So I went to the Haircuttery and had them fix it a bit. They were very sweet and only charged $5 even though they were not the ones who cut it in the first place. Now I am much happier with my hair. I still don't know how I feel about this curl. But it's better than it was the other day - so I'm just trying to dwell on that.

Here is a picture of my hair post-alterations. And as an added bonus, Isaiah is in the photo too. Maybe that way I won't feel so vain.

Holy Curls, Batman!

I woke up this morning all excited to get to play with my new haircut. I rushed Asher to his morning nap so I could shower sooner and have lots of time to play with my hair. When I toweled off my hair I had quite a surprise. My hair is curly!! Not ringlets curly, but definitely curly! I knew the little wispys around my face had been kinda curly during my pregnancy with Isaiah, but I figured it was just one of those wierd pregnancy things that would go away as soon as Isaiah was born. And as the lady cut my hair she mentioned that there was a bit of wave - but I thought it must have just been whatever product she was putting in it. But apparently my hair really has become curly. I don't know what to do with curly hair! The pictures are taken before my hair is really dry all the way - and if I'm right I think you have to let curly hair dry naturally before you can really style it. But what do I know?!? Anybody out there have curly hair tips for me?

A visit from Ashby and Avery

Today we (Mom and the kids) spent the day at Grandma Worth's house because Chelsea and her girls, Ashby and Avery, were visiting Grandma too. Chelsea and fam used to live near us and recently moved "far, far away" so we were so excited to see them again. Naomi, in particular, was excited to see her friends/cousins. Here is a cute picture of the girls.

A confession

I have a confession. A while back I sent out an email to all my female friends and relatives and invited them to join me in growing out our hair to eventually cut it and donate it to Locks of Love. Well, today I had my hair cut - and it wasn't long enough to donate. Sorry. It just HAD to go. I wish I had the patience to wait for it to grow more - but apparently I don't. So below are my before and after shots. The after shot is not great, and hair never looks quite how it really will right after you get it cut. But overall, I think I'm happy.

Isaiah, the Rock Star

Above is a picture of Isaiah, as of today, with his Rock Star hair. I admit that I helped it into a mohawk look today, but I did not make it stand up straight. It does that all on its own. As a matter of fact, I tried to make it lay flat once and it couldn't.

Above is a picture of Isaiah yesterday in the outfit that he came home from the hospital in (3 1/2 weeks ago). He was swimming in it then, and it is clearly too small now.

Meet the Worths

Richard - The Dad - Web Programmer by day, Web Programmer by night, enjoys chasing the kids around the house, riding bikes, and working on the house.

Nancy - The Mom - Loves her full-time job as Mommy, Happily slips away to the mall whenever possible for some "retail therapy", or to Ruby Tuesday's for some "chocolate therapy".

Naomi - 3 years old - Beautiful blonde hair, firmly believes that she is a princess, loves cats (the stuffed kind), can tell you what she was wearing during any given event.

Asher - 1 year old - A "soul man" (loves to bop along to music), obsessed with wheels and cars, can find trouble faster than you can think "where is Asher?"

Isaiah - 1 month old - Born with Rock Star Hair (think Luke Perry meets John Travolta), pretty much just eats, sleeps and poops.