pooping stories and other happy moments of motherhood

Here's what I happened to see my hooligans doing after they were silent up there for 15 minutes, whatever, Until someone cries then I will worry about it.

I need to figure out a new niche for blogging for me. I used to just LOVE blogging and I couldn't wait until I could sit down and post these cute pictures I took of Max and the sweet stories or feelings of that day or a cute little complaint about motherhood. Fast forward to having twins and I am so exhausted when kids are sleeping, Max has most probably done lots awful stuff that day and I don't take like any pictures with my big girl camera almost ever because I'm worn out from fall's family photo season and it's so much easier to take crappy pictures on my iPhone of the kids. But THEN i have to get the pictures onto my computer, shoot me now! It takes forever.

BUT I love blogging, I really do. It can be so totally therapeutic (on awful terrible no good days, let's be real) but I find myself really living in the present, seeing the joy and capturing the small sweet moments of everyday with my little stay at home army! So we need to find a balance.

Let's just forever and always assume in EVERY post I ever post the beginning true words "I'm so tired and exhausted" I will then delete those and save you the time of reading that, but know they are there. ha.

Our hands are getting REALLY full with these kids, 97 pounds right here!

If something really awesomely awful happened I will share though, because later it's funny.

Like that one time last week when Max wouldn't poop on the potty (HE'S TOTALLY POTTY TRAINED PEOPLE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) and I was scrubbing poop out of his underwear (luckily that only happened once for us, wee!) and locked the door because I didn't want the kids in the shoebox size bathroom with me getting into things while my hands were occupied, Max was crying, whining at the door. Oh well I thought. 

Oh well was wrong.

I came out to 3 more big logs of poop on the floor in my room (thus Maxson's crying and whining because he was scared to poop more in no underwear, diaper, or potty, poor kid and was probably scared and embarrassed on what he was doing) and then cute little Quinn squatting right next to the poop touching it seeing what this strange object was.

Did I paint a good picture for ya?

It was funny in the moment actually, and I'm really glad I laughed through it.

So yes, those kind of moment I will share with you.

But the ones where Quinn and Bry had the worst diaper rashes the past 2 weeks we were struggling with and I finally had to let Quinn go naked for a long time to dry it out because he was constantly having runny poop every 10 minutes so I cleaned mushy poop off my floors about 6 times that day. Yeah I will spare you those ones. Because that's just the misery of motherhood sometimes and you gotta just suck it up.

I'm already SO done with winter. It really hasn't even been super long yet since it didn't start until mid December but I can't go anywhere with my kids during the day when it's cold out. We can go to the church and they can run wild. Beyond that, there is literally no way I can handle my kids out in public alone. It's rough.

Winter is killing my soul nice and slowly, per usual.

The babies are the best sleepers, I thank my lucky stars we see trained them so early (because we were so exhausted from our kids we had no energy but to let themselves cry for a few minutes before they would go to sleep, best thing I ever did).

This morning we woke up at 5:30 to the lights on downstairs, Max turned the TV on himself, found a cartoon channel, got a few yogurts from the fridge and went to town.

Sign I love him and struggle with him, ha.

I thought I was only going to share positive things on here unless it was super bad that it's just so funny. As you can see that didn't happen, Oh well, I'm actually very happy in my insanely chaotic, messy, crazy life.

There's little bits of bright happiness all day long, like when Bryson can't stop saying "momeeee and daddy!" all day long, or when Quinn won't stop giving Bryson and books kisses, or when Max (shockingly) hugs one of his brothers after he hurts them and is genuinely saying sorry. Yes, those little bright moments make all the crappy stuff worth it.

Peace out.

ps- did I ever mention you should click on the links of the advertisements on the side of blog when you visit? You should because I get a penny every time you do and if I even got a penny for every diaper change I've done in the past 15 months I'd be a RICH woman! SO let's start those pennies coming my way, shall we? wink wink. You can totally just exit out of them after you click on them.

pps- I never have time to re read this before I post more often than not, I am sincerely sorry for my grammatical errors. The children are crying so I must go forth

An unsuccessful excursion to story time.

Thank goodness Maxson has stopped fighting us on naps! He's back to being awesome at going to sleep 90% of the time and now that he's back in his bed he doesn't wake up during the night and cry for us. ROUTINE people, routine. So here we are, nap time and I'm blogging!

Today I tried going to story time at the library today with the kiddos by myself. I'd say I felt 35% successful.

Things that were successful
1. We got there
2. Max participated and listened maybe 40% of the time
3. There were no huge tantrums
4. Max was obedient on the way into the library and helped push in the stroller
5. Babies didn't cry cry during story time much

Things that were unsuccessful
1. I planned for the babies to be asleep the whole time, they woke up as soon as I got them out of the car
2. Max suddenly turned all shy and was standing by the wall far away from everyone else and wouldn't participate near others, even his friends. I was kinda surprised.
3. As soon as story time ended Max bolted for the door out into the ginormous library. Max runs really fast, the third time he did it we went home. And he still managed to escape 2 1/2 more times while I tried getting us ready to go
4. Max played with the name tag table for 20% of story time and made a huge mess pulling a bunch onto the ground
5. We couldn't check out the book Max wanted because I left the library card in the car and since it's under Casey's name she wouldn't let me (other branches have!)
6. During said check out time, Max ran almost far away 3 times
7. Yelling/tears ensued when we couldn't leave with the book
8. I had to carry him yelling and push the stroller out of the library and maneuver through small doors
9. I let him down to push the handicap button on the last door out. He then ran outside as fast as he could bolting to the street. I in turn chased after him before a car could hit him and right when I turned around the stroller was right behind me racing towards the street
10. Once to the car Max wouldn't stay in the car while I was getting the babies in and ran 2 car aisles away before I could catch him.

Fun, huh?

Overall he did just fine during story time, I will give him credit for that, it was the whole post story time that was awful. Maybe next time we will just bolt out the door as soon as story time is over…that is if there's another story time in the future. Honestly Max just isn't quite old enough/obedient enough for me to take all 3 kids by myself somewhere. The babies are both kinda demanding with needing bottles or being held and Max, from what you read, just runs away.

Any suggestions on toddlers running away? Other than a leash?

And a picture because we love pictures. After our trip we rearranged the car again. We brought the 8th seat back in so all the kids could be in the front row. It's working out super well actually! I love looking back there and seeing Maxson holding their hands!

Funny, thus far when I've asked him "is that baby asleep or awake?" he'll look at them and yell AWAKE! From what I've learned thus far, if the baby is awake he yells awake in excitement. If the baby is sleeping he yells awake to wake them up. We're working on the proper actions and responses to the question.

A story about waffles.

Have I ever written about the story of waffles and labor with Maxson? I think I've not so I will do so now because it's funny.

At some point during my labor with Maxson, during the 2 hours I was pushing, Casey decided he was hungry. He must have mentioned that out loud or something because the nurse said "well you better order soon before the breakfast kitchen closes." So amidst my incredibly strenuous, tiring bouts of pushing, Casey asks me "Babe, do you want waffles or pancakes?" In my overly exhausted state of mind my thoughts are "WAFFLES! OF COURSE I WANT WAFFLES! WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME THAT STUPID QUESTION WHILE I'M PUSHING A BABY OUT OF MY BODY?! HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT I PREFER WAFFLES OVER PANCAKES AND YOU DARE ASK ME RIGHT NOW!?" But all I could snap at him was a very irritated
"Do you think I care about that right now?!"




He ordered me pancakes.



Now I personally love this story because I think it's hilarious that Casey was trying to be considerate in asking me what I would prefer for breakfast but also incredibly awful timing to ask such  question while I'm exhausted in the middle of pushing during labor. I laugh at the thoughts in my head and how I could not get them out but in reality I did have a very strong opinion but it was not worth my energy to share it. And I laugh that in the end he ordered me the wrong thing.

jorts

let's go way back in time,

october 2008 back in time.

it was casey and myself's first date.

we were going to the byu v utah st football game up in logan.

i swear, just the week before a friend on my freshman floor, stacey,

brought up the conversation of jean shorts aka jorts,

and how no boy should ever wear these,

that they were the ugliest thing ever,

that no one in their right mind would buy/wear them these days,

only weirdos wore them.

i fully believed her.

i soaked in all her words.

i was like "yeah, they are ugly. what are these boys thinking?'

well you guessed it, casey wore JORTS on our first date!

gasp!

luckily, i was able to look beyond the jorts and easily forgave him. 

we're sitting here talking about them and casey thinks that when we were engaged i told him they were yucky and he should never again wear them.

wow, am i a rude person or what?!

but what can i say? i didn't like 'em? ha. 

well, i've been working on a project and those shorts were i the pile.

i held them up and we laughed.

casey says he still likes 'em.

i still don't like them so much.

other kinds, maybe...

those ones definitely not.

but i just cut them up so he can never wear them again :)

i love you, sweetie!
thanks for never again wearing jorts :)

conference weekend.

wow, it's thursday.

mwf went so fast for me, they always do.

my thursday and fridays are so easy, i just look forward to getting over my wednesday!

general conference was wonderful this year, as always.

we woke up at 9:56 to prepare ourselves for the 10 am session, we're awesome.

casey and i snuggled on the couch while we watched.

and then i fell asleep between sessions.

sadly, i can't remember one particular talk from those sessions, i just remember feeling good and happy the whole time.

every once and awhile, i say to casey "this is such a good talk!"

i'll be happy to see november's conference issue of the talks come out.

but for conference,

my brother, kirk, and his most dear, dear friend, whitney, came up from mesa!

i got to pick them up from the airport late saturday night

i was late picking them up and took the wrong way home.

we shared some great memories on that drive home.

the 4 of us got to go to the (very early) sunday morning session of conference.

sadly, we only had 3 tickets to that session.

so casey and i stood on the corner as he held up his finger begging for a ticket.

most embarrassing and funniest thing ever.

oh my word, i was dying of laughter and wanted to give up asap.

our attitudes weren't making it any better either, ha.

an old man in an electric wheel chair came up to us and said he was meeting his grand daughter on the other side of the conference center and that she might have an extra ticket.

(our countenance may have brightened up a little bit).

but his elderly wife (with a walker) needed help getting there.

so for about 5 minutes we helped this cute, old couple get to the other side of the building.

once up there, we began waiting around for his granddaughter.

not sure if she was really going to have a ticket or not, casey began holding up that very embarrassing finger, notifying to all others we were begging for 1 more ticket.

within 30 seconds, a couple tapped casey on the shoulder, and handed him a ticket.

ah, the sweet joy of relief (of embarrassment!).
what a tender mercy from the Lord.

after another little embarrassing scene with getting through security,

we made it inside.

casey finally looked at the ticket and realized the ticket we received was for the very bottom level!

yes people, the bottom level closest to the apostles etc.

umm, so cool.

way worth the embarrassment of holding up that one little finger.

my favorite part of the session was hearing the mormon tabernacle choir sing "I Believe in Christ."

it's my absolute most favorite hymn and it brought to me a reconfirmation of my testimony of this gospel.
top left picture is me with the wilford woodruff statue, "oh hey grandpa! we have the same chin!"

we met kirk and whitney outside where we walked around temple square a little.

it was a gorgeous day outside and the very first conference session i had ever been to where the weather wasn't cold!

so glad we got to go with these 2.
it'll be a great memory we'll all have together!

ps- this last weekend we had our first date 3 years ago and did the same activities together these 3 years later:
BYU v Utah State game + conference.
precious.
i remember after the date staring at this top picture SO much! i thought casey was so cute, and couldn't wait to see more of him! 
i also thought we were so cute together! 

i jinxed my family

story:

for christmas, birthdays and any other kind of holiday to celebrate, casey's parents were sweet enough to take us all on a cruise for christmas this year! we've all been way excited for awhile now for it

it was the one where you leave from san diego and go down to mexico (the mexican riviera i think?)

we were going to leave on Dec the19th, and get back on the 26th, 

it was going to be a blast!

then, like 5 days ago, i sent the family members this video.

it's of a cruise liner that went on that same kind of cruise we were planning,

but they had a fire in the engine room and were stuck out there for days with no electricity, lots of food rations, no running water, and a lot of other no fun stuff!

well, turns out that ship was going to be OUR SHIP!!!

guess what that means!?

cruise cancelled!!! :( 

wo is me, wo is me!

tragic/ironic huh?

so now, the family is facing a huge dilemma (no, not that big but you know how it is...)

the cruise line is of course being very nice and trying to be accommodating to passengers in exchanging cruise line tickets, and kinda helping w airfare etc.

so naturally, we're all freaking out a lot and trying to find another cruise to go on.

carribbean sound good?

don't mind if i do!

oh.

but wait.

originally, casey and i were going to drive to san diego making our trip only the cost of gas and excursions.

what does a carribean cruise mean?

 way cool? yes.

same price for us? yeah right.

now we have to deal with AIRFARE!

blah...

mmeh...

noooo....

airfare = an arm and a leg.

 airfare = a good portion of tuition

airfare = rent for 2 1/2 months

airfare = a bajillion cute shoes i could have bought

mmmeh

we just keep telling ourselves "the memories, the memories, we'll make so many good memories"

today my mom told me "you can't expect memories like that with saving all your money"

breathe kimber, breathe :)

pepper spray round dos

my oh my!

i'm realizing there's quite a bit i'm needing/wanting to catch up on! goodness!

so...pepper spray training...

here's the low down:

casey was my moral support and "partner" in this (thankfully).

my heart was pounding leading up to it the closer it got!

i knew it was going to hurt but i knew i was going to do it bc everyone always does it!

i closed my eyes, covered 1 eye, and then they sprayed!

btw i wore that awesome turban/scarf on my head so it didn't get in my hair and make my eye/face hurt again in the shower

like casey did, immediately after it happened i hosed my face down with cold water to get as much of it off my face as possible but sadly enough it had already gotten in my eye and started burning! after the water, the best thing you can do is air out your eye til it feels better. although my eye felt back to normal after 15 min or so, my face did not! imagine thee worst sunburn in your life on half of your face...that's about what it felt like, burn baby burn! i looked like two face pretty much: half of my face pretty darn white and the other fire engine red! ha! but at least now casey and i can say we have been sprayed by pepper spray! why would you ever need/want to be able to say that...i'm clueless...but we can :)

the last pic is of all the new library security people who were recently hired and got sprayed.

why we made a pyramid...i don't know...a team united and bonded by mutual pain?

ps- this all took place in provo at the lds motion picture studio...who knew they had that in provo!? i didn't! it was way cool to see the place!

the most important things at the grocery store

late saturday night on the way home from the rodeo the following converstation was held at about 11:00 pm in the car:

casey: we need to go grocery shopping

kimber: tonight? i'll just go monday when i have a grocery list

casey: but we don't have any food

kimber: what don't we have?

casey: cereal, ice cream, chocolate covered gummy bears, food

in that order

on another note, i don't know what we'd do without our gps

it saves our lives.

especially here in roseville, ca where the roads are wacko.

most the times we like it (her).

many times we passionately dislike it (her).

it's a her because that's the voice, either an annoying american voice of british :)

currently it's british.

sometimes we call her the gps wench .

mainly when it leads us some dumb way and we follow its directions instead of going where we know is better is when we passionately dislike her

the following conversation was held in the car one day:

kimber: why are we going this way?

casey: i don't know, the gps is dumb

kimber: i wish our gps took us the most direct route

casey: i wish our gps took us the practical  route

i thought it was funny

note the only options the gps has "fastest time", "least distance", "surface roads only" and other silly ones that i swear no one would ever use.

savages

casey and i are savages.

did you know this?

well we are :)

and we are proud of it.

last week we went to the grocery store to pick up oreo ice cream

on a week night after a long day

we are obsessed with all things oreo, did you know that too?

so on our way home we really wanted to eat it!

right then!

in the car!

but problem: no spoons :(

solution: be savages

bite around the edge of the container

once no more ice cream can be reached that way,

casey used his fingers,

yes we are savages.

teeth marks can be seen in the back left corner still

we thoroughly enjoyed are savage, ice cream eating car ride

trash bag fun

roll of black trash bags

+

stairs

+

casey

=

a large roll of black trash bags that has rolled all the way down the stairs

the dumb trash bags

casey had lots of fun rolling them up :)

Pepper Spray Training

So I felt like I had to give this post justice since Kimber was not able to come and watch my Pepper Spray Training. Note to everyone out there Pepper Spray hurts when it gets in your eyes!!! The shower afterwards was even worse because it was unexpected that I got the spray on my hair into both of my eyes. OUCH! We did this for my work at Library Security, who would have ever thought that this would be apart of my work, but to be able to carry around Pepper Spray we needed this training first. I am glad that I did it because it was worth the experience and now I can say I have been sprayed in my eyes with Pepper Spray. Here is some of the pictures and the video. Don't laugh too hard!

Pepper Spray Training from Kimber Cutler on Vimeo.

Imagine this:

it's cold outside.

you have to go to zee bafroom. 

but your hands are full of bags and all thees other thingz.

zee door is locked.

so you have to fumble around to find your keyz and try to open zee door

but can't put down zee bags bc thas gross putting zem on zee floor.

so you struggle vith all your might trying to unlock and open zee door.

once you finally get in zee house,

zee epic journey is not over:

you (I) have to go up zee stariz,

clanking all zee bags on the side of the wallz as you struggle making it up the stairz,

all zee time youstill have to pee REALLY bad

you put zee bags down

but put zem down so zee stuff in the bags don't get all messed up.

zen you FINALLY are able to start your way to zee bafroom

but by now you're trying with all your might to not pee your pants, literally

but you have to take off your glovez,

zen scarf

zen unbutton your jacket

unzip your jacket

take off your jacket

oh yeah, you had to take off your boots when you got in zee house, that vas horrible too

about now you're trying with all your might to seriously NOT to pee your pants

FINALLY after all the excruciating pain of trying to not pee your pants,

you can go to zee bafroom

but zen you have to sit down on zee freezing cold seat- that's death

moral of the story:

when it's cold outside,

your hands are full,

the door is locked

and you have to pee really bad,

it's going to be a long time til the relief.

note- yes i posed for this picture, that is not my jacket or scarf or gloves

nor my santa toilet decorator- but they are all super cool huh? haha 

girl jeans

so, yesterday casey and i had a massive day of shopping

christmas shopping

house stuff shopping

window shopping

all that fun stuff...

well our last stop was down east outfitters (one of my absolute fave stores btw)

and there was a sales rack outside,

looked like guy jeans for once, so i told casey to look through it to see if any fit

he came in with one and said "the sizes were weird but this might fit"

tries em, they fit decent for american eagle jeans, a little big int he waist but they work for 12 bucks

as we go to the counter to buy them, casey reads the tag:

amercian eagle: women's jeans

hehe casey almost bought girl jeans :)

one more story, we came out of a store (to our embarrassingly still decorated car),

found an envelope on our car that said,

congratulations! someone did this for us when we got married, thought we'd pass it on!

inside was a few bucks, so sweet of them huh?!

our hope is to pass on this sweet gesture to others :)

blah

Yesterday I was fed up with school.

So as Casey and I were walking into the library I said,

"Casey, let's quit school. It's hard and I don't want to do it anymore

Let's become hippies and live on our love!

People have done it before! Why can't we?"

Then the girl in front of us, turned around, made eye contact, and started laughing.

Haha, ok so maybe school isn't all that horrible

but it sure feels like it a the moment!