if it's not one thing, it's another.

hmmm, let's see.  "baby"... dum dee dum... "break"...

oh, hey there!  don't mind me, I was just thumbing through the dictionary!  with the toddlers gone this week, it seems I've run out of things to occupy myself with.  so, just thought I'd, you know, bury my face in the dictionary for a bit.  gotta keep the ole noggin' in shape!  ha ha.  by the way, did you know that the word "break" comes after the word "baby" in the dictionary?  you did?  oh.  well, I always knew you were smarter than me.

no, but seriously.  I suppose you're wondering where I'm heading with this?  well then, let me explain.  (and I assure you, it will make sense.  I think?)

if you recall, shortly (like less than a week) after Scarlett was born there was an incident that occurred which resulted in a broken leg (see? "break" comes after "baby" aren't I clever?)  an incident that could have been avoided had my children listened to their mother.  but, moms don't know anything... besides maybe their age.  and sometimes, they don't even know that.  I'm going to be 35?  you're kidding!  and here I've been telling everyone that I'm turning 25 in a couple weeks, ha ha whoops!

below: Phoebe with broken leg (pictured here with one week-old Scarlett, April 2010.)

okay, so.  fast forward a year and a half.  it's been a whole six? maybe seven? days since I gave birth to Finley.

mm-hmm, I see you all nodding.  go on... go on.

so yeah, long story short.  I'm relaxing on the couch, sipping my afternoon cup of coffee, when suddenly Sawyer bursts into the house screaming, his face white as a ghost. between chokes and sobs he manages to squeak out that he can't move his arm.  "mom, am I PARALYZED?"  also, something about racing and a steep hill and a Razor scooter and... yeah.

end result: broken collarbone.

apparently, this appears to be the new trend around here; have a baby, kid breaks a bone, tra la la, no big deal.

uh, excuse me while I go sob into my pillow.  and wonder, why... why do these things always happen to me?  

-jessica

big brother.

Jake cannot pass by Finley without giving him a kiss or a little squeeze.  melts my heart.

My little eyes
are watching
All you say and do
And when I grow up
big and tall
I want to be like you.


My little ears
are listening
To everything you say
I am learning how
to grow up
To be like you
someday.


So be careful how
you teach me
To be the person
that you are.
You're a knight in 
shining armor
You're my brightest
shining star.


Author: Unknown

-jessica

whew.

thought I'd pop in here and give you a run-down on the latest happenings since Finley's arrival, if I can remember even.  I mean, it has been five whole days, you know. crazy though, how something so tiny can create such a stir.  all I can say is, whew.

hmmm, let's see.

we arrived home from the hospital early Friday afternoon, just in time to meet the elementary school kids as they were getting off the bus.  thus commenced the arguing slash fighting between Ella and Phoebe over who got to hold Finley first.  or "Finlin" as Phoebe keeps wanting to call him.  yeah.  apparently, Phoebe told her teacher she has a new baby brother named Finlin.  WHAT.  I'm sure the teacher scratched her head over that one.  although with all the strange names floating around these days, maybe she didn't even bat an eye?

after being fought over loved on the entire evening, Finley slept a five and a half hour stretch that night.  WELCOME HOME, BABY.  hehehe.

what else?  

ranking among one of the top five most chaotic days of my life, Saturday was mostly a blur.  the little kids (Sawyer on down) were awake at the crack of dawn NO LIE, and fighting and screaming over who knows what shortly thereafter.

in an attempt to drown out the noise and ambush the headache I suddenly felt coming on, I promptly whipped the pillow over my head and considered checking myself and Finley into a hotel for the weekend.  knowing full well that wasn't a realistic option (like who would drive me there?), I resorted to Arm Chair Parenting instead, barking out orders from my perch in the living room.  unfortunately, my demands to bring me coffee! and rub my feet! fell upon deaf ears.  that's when I began brainstorming creative ways to list "slightly used children" on craigslist.  kidding.  well, maybe only a little.

I somehow managed... no.  scratch that.  only after locking myself in my bedroom, did I somehow manage to survive the afternoon.  after a gourmet dinner of ham buns, followed by the fastest packing job in the history of mankind (because I was all but shoving him out the door), Gary (plus seven kids) headed down to Phoenix for the night. with just me, Hannah, Myra and Finley left at home, suddenly I could breathe again.  that evening, the girls whipped up a lemon cake which we devoured while playing Phase 10.  I NEED the extra calories now, right?

Sunday was blissful.  while Hannah and Myra worked on their homework, I kicked up my feet and snuggled with Finley.  the troops didn't get home until nine o'clock Sunday night.  good-bye quiet, hello bedlam.

Gary was home yesterday, using up the last day of his paternity leave.  he spent the day browning hamburger and shredding cooked chicken to put in the freezer, while I joked about practicing for our retirement years.  although hopefully by the time we retire, there won't be a river of wash flowing out of the laundry room threatening to drown us.  unless at age 65, I suddenly decide that I need to change outfits twice a day or something.  you never know.  

that leads us to today.  thanks to friends/family members, bless their hearts, Rowan and Scarlett are in Phoenix for the week.  *enter chorus of hallelujahs*  which means that while the rest of the kids are at school, Finley and I get to fill our days with well, absolutely nothing.  I mean, how relaxing is that?  in fact, the house is so quiet, it's almost... erie.  but you know what?  suddenly, erie is my best friend.

a few snapshots from the hospital.

that's 4:18 A.M.  Gary got about an hour and a half of sleep that night before he had to get up and get the kids off to school. 

The Motley Crew.  Scarlett's already glaring at me for kicking her out of the baby slot.

heading home: will he ever fill this thing up?

and now I'm off to cuddle with little Finley!  such a treat!

good day!

-jessica

Hello.

meet our newest blessing from above!

Finley David Kesti arrived on September 22nd at 3:30 a.m.  he weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 inches long; a beautiful, healthy baby boy.

already, he has captivated our hearts and we couldn't imagine life without him!

-jessica

ulterior motive.

admittedly, I had an ulterior motive the day we went apple picking in Sedona, and that was to take pictures.  bet you would've never guessed that in a million years, right?  I mean, me?  take pictures?  do chickens have beaks?

in fact, Gary just confessed to me a couple weeks ago that he'd almost said forget it! when I first mentioned that I wanted to purchase a DSLR camera because you know, DOLLAR SIGNS!  he assumed it would be "just another one of my phases" (yeah, so there's been a few), and that after a couple months the camera would be tucked away on the shelf collecting dust, and he'd be left sobbing into his pillow at night over a waste of several hundred dollars.         

and here's where I get to butt in and say, "was he wrong you guys, or WAS HE WRONG?!"  like they say, never assume anything, because it makes... well, you know. 

in the past two and a half years, my trusty dusty camera has been here, there and EVERYWHERE.  from 14, 000 foot mountain tops, to the deep depths of the Grand Canyon and beyond.  wherever I go, my camera goes.  I guess you could call it my third "eye?"

I have not once regretted the purchase.  and fortunately, neither has Gary, which I just now found out.  

here's Ella, modeling 1crown3tiaras:     

so.  bet you can't guess what the first thing to go in my hospital bag was, before my underwear even?

-jessica

it's a wrap!

finally getting around to sharing the rest of the pictures from the little girls' room re-do.  I'm really happy with how it all came together-- lots of bright colors keep it both fresh and fun.  oh yeah!

the room is not really all that big (maybe 10x12?), so my main goal was to find a way to keep everything organized (toys, trinkets, clothes, etc), yet still have it look relatively cute, DUH!  and of course, be functional and kid friendly as well.  that's when I decided to pick up one of these IKEA cube bookcases.  and let me tell you, they're awesome. and reasonably priced too.

(I apologize for the poor quality pictures as the lighting is not the greatest.  but, at least you get the idea.)

bedding from Target, letters from Urban Outfitters, lights from IKEA, wall book shelf from Land of Nod.

reading nook: paper lanterns from World Market, white ledge from IKEA, "read" letters from Land of Nod, flokati pillow from Target.

bird hook from Land of Nod, backpack by Skip Hop, cuckoo clock from The Company Store, buckets from the dollar section at Target.  I added my own tags and ribbon to dress them up.

the two white cupboard inserts corral Scarlett's pj's, socks, and bottoms.  the polka-dot and pink bins (on the bottom) are from Target and hold dress-up stuff and miscellaneous toys.

far right: picture frame from IKEA.  it was originally black, but I spray painted it bright yellow and turned it into a cork board.

artwork from HERE, globe was an antique shop find.

tissue poms from HERE, recycled from Scarlett's first birthday shoot.  I simply attached them to pipe cleaners and placed them in a glass bottle. 

so, there you have it.  lots of storage + fun, whimsical decor = AWESOME!

now to get started on the next room...

-jessica

in the name of sanity, amen.

the one thing I miss about having family close by...

wait.  let me try that again.

one of the things I miss about having family close by is being able to call on them for help, say like after having a baby.  (hey, that's going to be me soon, what a coincidence!)  I mean, to be able to dump off my toddlers at their cousins' house for a day or two is like indulging in a slice of New York cheesecake; heavenly.

because as those of us who've had babies know, the first couple of weeks postpartum can be a little well, rocky, to put it mildly.  hormone changes, coupled with sleep deprivation can leave us absent-minded and not quite "all there."  getting that extra noise and chaos out of the house for a few hours in the afternoon allows us to kick up our feet and rest a bit, which in turn, helps us recover faster and alleviate some of that dreaded "post-baby fog."

also, it never fails.  the second you sit down to feed the baby, it's like the signal suddenly changed from red to green.  immediately, the toddlers are off and running with one sole purpose in mind: search and destroy.  in other words, mom's occupied-- let's take advantage of it.  before you can even say, "holy guacamole!" they're on top of the refrigerator practicing their new juggling routine.  with your freshly sharpened knives.

why are you guys looking at me like I'm making this stuff up?

anyway, with Alfred due any day now, I had this sudden panic attack.  with my sister-in-law Ruth gone, who can I possibly call up to take Rowan and Scarlett off my hands? sure, Gary will be home for a few days, but then what?  shove them in straight jackets?

this got me thinking.  with all the entertainment I've provided you guys by sharing my crazy stories and whatnot on this blog, I figured the least each of you could do in return is to take these two hoodlums angels for a day.  ONE MEASLY DAY, that's all I ask.  I don't know the exact number of blog readers I have, but I'm guessing if everyone took a turn, Rowan and Scarlett would be out of my hair for oh, close to a year!  hey-oh!

that sounds fair, doesn't it?  I mean, just look at these sweet toddlers and tell me how you could not agree?

and this guy, well, he's as innocent as they come.

so, who wants to get it ove... um, go first? ;-)

-jessica

*disclaimer* this post was not written with the intent to make you feel sorry for me, but was rather a product  of (yet another) one of my hair-brained ideas.  we'll manage just fine.  uh, I think?

the power of positive thinking.

I have to admit, the first thought that came to my mind after studying this image was, what's wrong with this picture?

but then I thought to myself, NO!  instead of continually dwelling on all the negatives (which I find myself doing a lot of these days), how about I try to focus on the positives for once?  

by simply flipping the switch, the difference between the two perspectives was startling, like night and day.

because instead of seeing nothing but two diaper-clad, rambunctious monkeys messing up my bed and wreaking havoc on my "valuable" possessions, their loud shrieks annoying me to no end, I now saw them as two vibrant, healthy and energetic toddlers having an absolute hay day jumping on my (rather invaluable) bed, their squeals of delight bringing a smile to my face.  and did I mention healthy?

suddenly, I felt very fortunate.

-jessica

PS. life's too short to sweat the small stuff.

California!

to clarify: no, we didn't go to California AGAIN, although if someone were to inform me that they were heading there this weekend, I think I would drop everything and jump in the ride.  just like that.  oh right, I can't jump.  well then, maybe I could just roll myself... excuse me, what was that?  you're telling me I should stay home because I could like, HAVE THIS BABY ANY DAY?

UUURGH!

please don't remind me as my anxiety level has already soared into what surely must be outer space by now.  in fact, I've been giving myself daily pep talks in hopes that it will help ease my distress over having to give birth again, and it goes something like this: "look, Jessica.  you've done this nine times already.  NINE.  really, what's one more time?  I mean shoot, number ten should pretty much just "fall out" right?  and then you'll be all, hey that was such a breeze why did I waste all that time worrying when I could've been relaxing, like I could easily do that ten more times no problem-o...

UUURGH!

okay, so maybe the pep talk needs a little uh, fine tuning?

but, I digress.  let's see, we were talking about... um... not giving birth but... racking brain... uh... er...

oh yeah, our California trip!  how could I forget?

(please excuse my scattered thoughts as I'm currently suffering from a severe case of "Baby on the Brain" CAN YOU TELL?)

so, the KOA had these Banana Peel bikes that you could rent by the hour, etc.  the kids (and I confess, their mom and dad too!) had a blast cruising around on them.  we even held races to see who could do the loop around the KOA the fastest.  in fact, the bikes were such a hit that we actually considered buying one.  except after finding out that they cost $500 a piece (are you kidding?), we quickly changed our minds.  sorry kids, go ask your rich uncle... what's his name?  Don?  hahahaaa.  

I keep telling Gary, "you DO realize that your weird/funny faces are being posted for the whole world to see, right?"  obviously he doesn't care.

oops, this girl's not four anymore!

I would say this is by far one of the nicest KOA's we've stayed at.  there's a swimming pool and hot tub (relaxing), two playgrounds (great for burning off energy), laundry facilities (just in case), and showers (a must have.)  just about everything you'd ever need to keep the kids occupied and out of your hair.

*

I didn't take very many pictures at Sea World as we were too busy trying to keep the kids corralled and in our line of sight, especially the dynamic duo; Rowan and Scarlett. judging by the number of a.) stares b.) comments c.) questions or d.) all of the above we got by curious onlookers, I felt like we had our own show going on most of the time.  

"listen up folks!  come watch the Kesti's as they battle to keep nine kids under control at a huge theme park!  this is a most spectacular feat, I tell you!  one that you definitely won't want to miss!  and did I mention that the mom is huge and pregnant with, oh my goodness, number TEN?  craz-eee!  again, you don't want to miss this!"

would you believe me if I told you we were at Sea World for, wait for it... thirteen hours?  true story.  only I won't mention how many times I threatened to leave during those thirteen hours.

      

not sure who is having more fun here.  the dad, or the kids?

it was a hot day, so a few of the older kids sat in the soak zone at the Shamu show.  they got drenched!

this concludes the California posts.  we hope you enjoyed the "show!"

-jessica

evening ritual.

just your ordinary average weekday evening around here.  heaps of homework, with a serving of bedtime snack on the side.  and Queen Bee Scarlett, smack dab in the middle of it all.  at times like this, all I can do is simply shake my head and marvel at the chaos and the extreme amount of work it takes to raise this bunch.

and everyone tells us we'll miss these days?

sometimes I wonder.

-jessica

apples, anyone?

we made a trip to West Fork in Sedona this weekend to pick apples and pears.  we paid a $9 park entrance fee, and picked approximately 65 pounds of apples and 12 pounds of pears.

do you suppose we got our money's worth?

after contemplating what the heck we were going to do with all the apples, I texted my mother-in-law curious as to whether or not we could slice them up and freeze them. she replied back, "you most certainly can.  and when we get down there (they arrive in a few short weeks) I'll make them into pies for you!"

uh, 65 pounds should keep her plenty busy, you think?

so far on my list: apple pie, apple crisp, applesauce, apple pancakes, apple ???

if you guys have any other ideas (or recipes) as to what we can possibly make with all these apples, let me know.

um, k thanks.

-jessica

PS. if I consumed 10 pounds of apples, do you think it would put me into labor?  hmmm, just a thought.