Eli just told us as we're eating lunch that her "foot-wrist" is bothering her. Huh? Oohhhh...you mean your ankle?

Extra Motrin

Ane is showing signs that her ear might not be hurting her as much. Yesterday was relatively relaxed, as I spent the majority of the day outside planting all my planters and potting all my pots while the kids ran around in the backyard, imagining and getting dirty all at the same time. The night before that Eli woke up screaming and grabbing at her ears, yelling that she was pretty sure that now she had "ear nafections" too. So after my yardwork yesterday was done we ran to the grocery store to stock up on more children's motrin. Now I know why I was prompted to grab an extra bottle...

This morning Malia was collapsing the girls' daybed that she slept in beside Eva last night. It was her first time collapsing it, and Ane and Eva were both sitting on the bed for a fun little ride as she put it down. It happened a bit quicker than Malia had anticipated, resulting in Ane losing her balance and landing with both front teeth on the top portion of the daybed's solid hard metal frame. I heard the painful cries and immediately went running to the source. I was doing the usual inspection, searching for goose eggs, bloody noses, puffy lips, or bloody tongues, etc. I couldn't find anything! On closer inspection I discovered that the bottoms of her top two front teeth looked a bit uneven, and there was CSI-like evidence of scraped metal on the bottoms of them...hardly noticeable, but there. So, time to up the doses of motrin. Lucky for us, we already have a scheduled dentist checkup on Monday at 8:00. No coincidence, I'm sure.

I think I broke my body today. It is so frustrating! I truly want to be a runner. I continue to try to be one, but my body is screaming at me that perhaps it's just not meant to be. I ran another 10K today, feeling absolutely fantastic in my ability to keep going, mentally and and with my breathing. But I kept myself going forward despite my shins burning, my back throbbing and my right foot aching. What is with that? Mentally and with my breathing I feel like I could run forever, but my body just can't keep up. I tried to go get the right shoes and have had trouble ever since. Uuuugh. I feel sore tonight in all the right places as far as muscle development that I want, but sadly I've felt all this before and have yet to see any changes come from the soreness. Hmmm. Perplexing.

Lose came home from school yesterday, completely stoked that she finally had the final draft completed of her autobiography. I read it with her, and it seriously is the absolute cutest thing EVER. I'm going to type what she wrote, although it won't be complete until you get to see her adorable pictures.

My Wonderful Life, By: Lose Maile, Illustrated by Lose Maile

My name is Lose. I have brown, shiny eyes. I am a girl. I have round, big teeth. I was born September 9, 2003, in Utah. I have 5 sisters.

I went to first grade, door 117. I hugged my mom. I was scared. I am a student in Windsor Elementary. I don't like not going to school. I LOVE school.

Now, I have mean friends and I have nice friends. I like nice friends best because they are NICE! That's why!

I am a Maile. I am a dog lover. I am not a cat lover. I LOVE SNAKES! I hate when people fight.

I love BYU! I like sports. I like ballet too! My favorite food is pizza.

My favorite movie is, dum da dummmmmmm...National Treasure and National Treasure 2! They're both so awesome! I love them.

My family is the best family in the world to me! I have two big sisters and three little sisters.

The thing that is special in my family is that my Dad likes to fart! It is fun because he says it is one of us! And it isn't ANY of us! Really! Now I call that FUNNY! Do you? Hm? Hm? I do!

My Dad died October 16, 2009. I was sad. My Dad's birthday is April 23. It's the same as Mrs. Greene's birthday. My mom's birthday is St. Patrick's Day! Whoo-hoo! I love my Dad. I love my Mom.

I went on a trip to Idaho. It was fun! This year I'm going to Florida. But I don't want to go.

My family's Christmas tradition is having Cinnamon Rolls every Christmas! I LOVE getting presents every CHRISTMAS!

My favorite animal is a puppy. My favorite kind of dog is a golden doodle. I love puppies!

I hate when friends tell secrets!

It is not fun. Promise, me, promise not to tell secrets anymore! None! Cause I promise, I went down that road and it did NOT end well, I tell you!

The Owner and Author of this Great Book is: Lose Maile

The End

"You have just read one of Lose Maile's best books!"

Boo

I'm fairly certain most know this by now, but I'm always surprised with each girlie how each of them are for sure their own individual selves. Ane is no exception. She lets me know every single day that she is here, and she is not to be ignored by being lumped into any category that any of her sisters qualify for. Just because "so and so" (fill in the blank with any of her sister's names) likes to do a particular thing, or likes to do it a particular way, does not mean that little Miss Ane-Boo will like it.

She has been advancing so much lately with her desire to be independent and being able to express it, even if it means getting hurt in the process. She makes me laugh with her stubborn little attitude. It's either laugh of scream in frustration...I pick laughing most of the time. This morning she was clinging to her stool, thinking she was about to drop off over an immense cliff. Ginny was standing RIGHT there. Ane was mad at her for something that had happened earlier, and even though it was obvious she needed help, she refused to ask for it. Both Ginny and I kept saying to her, "Ane, just say 'Help, Auntie...'", to which she would scream "No!" and then continue to flail and kick her little footsies which were only hanging about 4 inches from the floor. I'm not sure where her stubborn streak comes from. It's a toss up between Naki, myself, and then just her own little unique combination of the two. In defense of her freaking out about how high up she was, I discovered this different kitchen child booster system for our new stools. It's called Kaboost, and instead of sitting your kiddo in a chair that sits on top of a regular kitchen chair, you boost the chair instead. Here's Ane enjoying eating like her big sisters. I have considered getting a belt to strap her to the stool. I miss that about the high chair.





The other day she was running after one of her sisters and her mind was running WAY faster than the rest of her body. She tripped herself up and sent her head right into the edge of the door. She wailed about that for some time, but had no problems displaying her new squinty-eyed smile for the camera.




She was such a trooper this weekend. Ginny and all of my family were so helpful keeping her happy while I was constantly picking dancers up backstage and changing them for their next dance. They are officially even more amazing for their efforts after discovering yesterday at the Doctor's office that she has double ear infections. So that's why she's such a cranky pants. Poor baby. We have our fingers crossed that after tomorrow the medicine will have helped with her irritability and we'll see hopeful signs of the girlie we once knew.

You did what?

Last week while I was with the big girls at dance Auntie Ginny was holding down the fort with the littles during dinner and bath time. Eli, completely straight faces, came up to Ginny to inform her that earlier in the day she had fallen off her scooter and had scrambled her butt. Ahhh...I love these days when they mix up their words.

Time To Register

Many of you know that Naki ran his one and only 5k last 4th of July. I am so proud of him for doing something so very difficult...especially with the additional knowledge that I now have about his imperfect heart. It amazes me that he did what he did with a heart that was working extra extra hard the entire time. What an honor it was to run it with him. I am so grateful that the Lord allowed me that special memory with my baby.

I'm gearing up for the run this July, in honor of Naki. I've been trying to run outside at least once every week so that I can get used to running outside versus running on a treadmill. Very different experiences...I actually prefer the running that actually takes me somewhere. Today after I ran I got in my car to see how far it was. I was so thrilled to see that it was 6.2 miles! I was so proud of myself that it motivated me to finally sit down and register for the Freedom Run in July. No more putting it off. I hadn't registered thus far because the seed of an idea to run the 10k this year started growing in my heart and mind about a month ago. I remembered clearly how important it was to Naki last year to do something that was hard for him. I know that I could easily run the 5k, but in my heart I wasn't sure that by doing just the 5k I would be measuring up to his standard of challenging myself. Ever since I've had that thought I've been procrastinating registering...I wasn't sure if I could actually do the whole 6.2 miles. But after this morning, no more procrastination! I just registered myself, Line, Malia, Lose, and Eli...me for the 10k and the girlies for the 5k. I am so excited. After registering I went back and read the blog entry that Naki typed after running last year. It inspired me again to do hard things courageously. If you want to read it for some extra motivation to get yourself registered, click here.

???

What is going on? We're having meltdowns, screaming fits, yelling matches, hysterical crying, volatile arguments, unexplainable acts of defiance, and extreme exhaustion over here at the Maile house. It's as if I'm back to the first month of grieving. I've heard that around the 6th month they work deeper at their grief, but this is definitely more than I expected.