All Grown Up

He was due on the Fourth of July and no matter how much castor oil I drank he didn't come on his due date. I woke up on Sunday morning not feeling to great, with some pretty bad contractions, so CJ called over to Logan Regional to find out what we should expect if indeed this was real labor. My contractions were five minutes apart, but I told CJ we weren't leaving the house until the kitchen was clean. So we quickly washed the dishes, straightened up the rest of the house, and headed to Logan.

At 4:29 pm Sunday, July 7, Keaton James Roberts entered our lives! Grandma and Grandpa Firth were so excited because he was their first grandchild. Grandma and Grandpa Roberts were excited because he was the first grandchild to carry on the Roberts name.

He was such a good baby, but at the young age of two weeks he ended up at Primary Children's for emergency surgery because he was not gaining weight. As it turned out he had pyloricstenosis and a duodenal web. After a two week stay in the hospital (my worst nightmare) he came home and has grown like a weed ever since!

Keaton has always been such a big kid. When he was about two, he was wearing a Jerry Rice jersey that my brother, Nate, gave him and my uncle Mike commented that he had "NFL written all over him" not because of the jersey, but because of his size. My sisters friends referred to him as "Little Rock". Now I think Keaton often gets the short end of the stick because he looks like a sixteen year old, but still acts like a typical twelve year oldboy.

I loved teaching at North Park while my kids were going to school there because I got to see them all the time. Keaton would pop in my room and Mr. Firth's (Grandpa Lloyd) room to say "hi" and steal a treat at breaks and lunch time. Keaton's teachers have always enjoyed having him in class because he tries hard and is a good kid. He earned the Mayor's Award as a fifth grader at Century. This past year, as a sixth grader, he got to have Grandma Firth as his language arts teacher. I only hope Grandma enjoyed the year as much as I know Keaton did.

Keaton takes after his dad A LOT! He will strike up a conversation with anyone and before you know it he's your new best friend. I don't think he's got a shy bone in his body. He's also pretty tenderhearted, like his dad. On Sunday, when we were spotlighting him in primary, CJ started to get a bit teary-eyed and so did Keaton. I think it was good for him to hear his dad praise him for being such a good boy. . . young man.

I'm so glad Keaton has made good choices and I sure hope that continues as he gets older. I'm excited about what the future holds for him, but I'm also sad to see my baby boy growing up. We love you Keaton!! Happy Birthday!

Willard Bay

My Reality

I've never really thought of myself as "old" until just recently. CJ's business (Envision Electric) is sponsoring a women's softball team this year. When he was asked to be a sponsor he said he would on the condition that I would play on the team. It's been about 12 years since I've played women's ball. I quit playing when I had Keaton.

Last Thursday was our first game and I was so nervous that I would make a complete fool of myself. The first time I got up to bat I think I dislocated my left shoulder. Then after I crossed home plate I had to head directly to the bathroom so I wouldn't wet my pants. Happy to say though, we won our game, 17-4. Later that night as CJ was rubbing Icy Hot on my shoulder I realized, sadly, that I am the oldest one on the team. :(

My sister shared a "kid conversation" that she overheard between Klayson, her son, and another friend. It went something like this:
Friend: What does your mom look like?
Klayson: She's tall and she has brown hair that's pokey.
Friend: Pokey hair?
Jayden: Yeah, her hair does poke out.
Klayson: And she's kinda fat.
OUCH!! The truth hurts!

Keaton is turning twelve in a few weeks and I was sad when I realized that he just sang the last of his Mother's Day and Father's Day songs to us. I know he is glad to be leaving Primary, but I kind of brings a tear to my eyes.
Kennedy continues to ask me if she can start shaving her legs. After trying to explain to her why she doesn't want to deal with the hassle of it, I just told her not to ask me again until she was twelve.

The Tag Thing

No wonder I always got caught as a kid, obviously I'm very slow!

4 Jobs I've Had
School Teacher (13 years)
Nanny (more info. forthcoming)
Waitress (Crossroads)
House Cleaner

4 Movies I Seen More Than Once
Mary Poppins - "She's so HOT!" CJ Roberts
Shawshank Redemption
Chocolat
The Wedding Planner

4 Places I've Been
Peru
Hawaii
East - Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, NYC
Nauvoo

4 Places I'd Like to Visit
Germany
China
South Dakota
Palmyra, New York

4 Favorite Foods
Bacon Cheeseburger
Pepsi
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Fredrico's Ham & Cheese Salad

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to this Year
Keaton turning 12
Olivia talking so we can understand her
Boating with CJ & the Kids
Vacation in Oregon

They're Never Too Young!

So school's been out for almost a week now. I am glad to have some time to spend with my kids, but I will also admit we all almost went CRAZY on Monday. It seemed like every two minutes one of my kids was asking to have a friend over, fighting with a sibling, or the ever popular "I'm B-O-R-E-D what can I do?"
Tuesday morning things changed!! They each woke up to a list of jobs. Oh, life is good! They have gotten right in and worked hard so that the house is clean by 11:00. We even have a "Good Cleaner" award. This goes to the child who does their jobs really well without complaint. Isn't it amazing what they'll do for $1 or a slushie! Oh, how I hope this lasts throughout the summer!!!

A Bit of a Mishap

Friday afternoon my kids wanted a snack, but there wasn't much around the house because I desperate-ly need to go to the store. Microwave popcorn seemed like a good idea. I took off the plastic, put it in the microwave, and pushed the "popcorn" button. Like all moms I am a multi-tasker, and while the popcorn cooked I was vacuuming.

You know as well as I do that the popcorn is never done by just pushing the popcorn button, you always have to push the more button a couple of times. So while I continued to vacuum I asked Keaton to start the popcorn again.

Kennedy said to me, "Mom, what's that?" I looked up and my kitchen was filled with smoke. I was a bit scared to open the microwave because I thought there might be a fire in it, but when I did even more smoke billowed out. I took the bag out to the deck and sent the kids running through the house opening windows and turning on fans. Needless to say, we spent the next hour playing outside.

Once the smoke had cleared, I came in to clean my microwave. I scrubbed and scrubbed and the inside is clean, but still yellow. I have managed to burn the inside of my microwave; which is why, even three days later, my house still stinks!

I told CJ the bright spot in all of this is that we are now taking our first step toward stainless steel appliances. :)

Klayson Nate -- We Think You're Great!

Okay, just another proud mother moment. I received a call from the secretary at Century inviting CJ and I to attend the Kindergarten/1st Awards Assembly because Klayson would be getting an award. Now, mind you, the assembly was in the a.m. so it was a special trip to attend and bring Klayson, since he's an afternoon kiddo. We got there and never saw Klayson's teacher, Mrs. Richins. We sat through the awards from all the kindergarten classes and nothing for Klayson, still no teacher either. Then they started on the first grader awards. I figured I had messed up and we came at the wrong time. After all the awards, the principal, Mrs. Shaffer, gave out some special awards. Klayson was chosen from his class to receive the "Principal's Award" for good citizenship, responsibility, academic, and leadership skills. Way to go Klayson!!