A Week in the Life {1/21-1/27}

My darling little Paige has spent a lot of time in time out this week. The way I do time out, is they have a specific corner and they have to sit there for their age+ 1 minute so Paige sits in time out in two minute increments right now. It has mainly been for biting and hitting. She is getting a little aggressive streak, which is very unlike her.  For about six months, Paige has this habit of going number two in a fresh diaper right out of the shower. It's pretty annoying. I basically waste 15 cents every day. I started putting her in the shower at different times, but it makes no difference. It makes no difference either if she has already done number two, she still goes right after a shower/bath. The past few days, I've sat her on the toilet to see if she'll go before I put a diaper on. She thinks it's funny, but won't go...no matter how long I sit her there, she always waits until the diaper is secure around her little waist, then she'll go. So today (Sunday) I finally just made her sit there until she would go. It took about 15 minutes. I took a phone call for two seconds and she got off the potty, squatted right next to it, did her thing, then sat on the toilet again. Oh brother. At least I didn't waste the diaper....and everyone gets to read about it now so lucky you.

Hannah has been a wonderful helper this week. With all the sickness going on in the ward/our family I decided to keep her home for a week. We did end up going to Pump it Up for Tayden's birthday party and we had to go to the library, but other than that Hannah has been home. It has been kind of a crazy week and I'm sure she'll be glad to be back in a good routine but I'm sure grateful that she is such a good sister, and an awesome helper. She is always wanting to help make her bed, clean her room, and help me with dinner or to make Paige happy. I'm grateful for this stage. I've really loved three.

I have to cool down on reading. As of yesterday I'd read over 2000 pages this month and by the end of the month it will be more than 3000 as I finish Anna Karenina. I kind of feel burnt out to be honest. I've started reading the Book of Mormon again on my own and it's been an eye opening experience. I'm finding that with Nephi and his brothers the only difference was humility vs. pride rather than obedience or belief. I'm going to work harder to be more humble and to listen more to the spirit. I was called to be the assistant camp director for our young women and I'm really excited for the opportunity.

Adam had an extremely stressful week. He had report cards coming up and had a lot of grading issues. This year has been really frustrating with grades because they implemented an new grading system, so they weren't even able to put grades in until late October. November was all about testing and grading then in December, the district switched them back to the old grading system and they couldn't put any new grades in until this week. He's felt like a bad teacher, although it isn't his fault. He even got a fever blister from the stress. He's been such a good dad though, and a good helper. He even worked Saturday (as he does many Saturdays) at the SAT testing. I watched THIS video and it made me cry cause it reminded me of my good husband.

As a family, we spent Friday night with some friends, the Packard's. It was kind of spontaneous but it was awesome, as we really haven't been able to see or do anything with them since early December. We also went shopping together as a family which is always interesting (especially when I'm cranky).  All in all it was a great week.

A Week in the Life {1/14-1/20}

Paige is the best. Have I mentioned that already? She has the sweetest heart. This afternoon I spent cuddling with her and examining her chubby legs, soft skin, perfect fingers and toes. She loves to have one on one time with the ones she loves. She always humors us as we try to make us laugh and she has the sweetest expression of love and joy in her face. She loves to dance and does so at the first sound of music. Her favorite things are soft. She loves to put two fingers in her mouth and suck while caressing a soft stuffed animal or blankie.

Hannah had a great week, going to preschool, a friends house for playtime, and going to the library. This week we started a program called 1000 Books before Kindergarten. She loves Lalaloopsy dolls and we found some Lalaloopsy books at the library. We've read each of them at least 20 times and she never gets tired of them. We are also doing the program with Paige but we aren't as anxious to read them because she has two extra years until Kindergarten than Hannah. Hannah threw up on Friday and it made me snap into action. Next week, we will all be quarantined at home so that this sickness can leave our home.

I have been reading a lot this week. I read Edenbrooke, Little Bee, and The Light Between Oceans which was incredible. A must read. I loved it. I've also loved my little boot camp with my friends. We are having fun together working out. I've decided this week that I am going to sign up for the St. George marathon and start training. It is going to be intense, but I want to accomplish that before I have another baby. The marathon is October 5th so it'll be a good birthday gift to myself.

Adam had a fun week teaching. He's always so busy but loves his school. This week was Pajama day and so he wore his PJs to work. Hannah decided it would be Pajama day for all of us so we each wore our PJs all day long.

Essential Oils?

I've always looked at essential oils with skepticism but curiosity. I'd love to win this contest and try them out.

Check it out:  http://www.housewifeeclectic.com/2013/01/how-essential-oils-changed-my-life-and.html

A Week in the Life {1/7-1/13}

This week was a blur to me.

Paige gets cuter and cuter every day. I got to spend some time with her while Adam and Hannah went to the doctor on Saturday. She is always a wonderful person, but when she is one on one she seems to shine. I noticed a couple times this week that she needed her mommy and nobody else, that a cuddle and a kiss and a little personal attention would make everything all better. She is the best dancer. Have I said that before? She also is a great singer and tries to mimic the song every time she hears one. Have I mentioned before that she loves apples? She often begs (hands together) for "Apple please?" This week she brought me a fresh onion from the pantry and asked "Apple please?" I saved her from chomping into a raw onion, although she may not have been phased. Unfortunately she had her first time out this week, after she bit me because she wanted to play with the ipod which is very much against the rules. She was pretty devastated and embarrassed  She was also very sorry.

Hannah has been so excited about being a big primary girl. She uses her new status to gauge what she can and cannot do. "I can't do that, I'm a big primary girl, I'm not a baby..." she'll say. She has been sick this week and now is on a steroid. Last time this happened we had a major tough week as she was out of control on the hyper/silly scale. I have to remind myself that it's only until Wednesday and she can't really control her body and actions as she normally does. The girls and I made brownies this week together. I love doing things with my girls. Hannah also went back to preschool. They are learning new letters. I want to really work on writing letters in the next several months. She earns a dollar for every letter she can write upper and lower case and when she has 26 dollars we can go to the store and pick something out. We went to the park this week and to the library. Hannah really enjoys playing with older girls and she is really into Lalaloopsy so she played with Bryn Leedom and got Lalaloopsy books.

I started a post baby boot camp for my friends this week. I've now done it an entire week and really enjoyed it! I've gotten several comments from people like "my abs are thinking about you this morning." I think people are getting motivated--I know I am. I read the book Edenbrooke: A Proper Romance, set in the Regency period and thought it was very cute. It was a little fluffy but I still enjoyed it.  I spent a lot of the week preparing my  Relief Society lesson (Learning by Faith--Lorenzo Snow). We had a fireside tonight in Relief Society, which truthfully opened up some doors to anxiety. They had three guest speakers. The first had lost her husband due to suicide, the second lost her mother to the same thing (and 9 months later her six year old son was diagnosed with cancer), and the third had lost her baby. Everyone kept talking about how we all go through really hard trials, and honestly, I don't feel like I've had any soul crushing trials in my life. I kind of feel like I'm in for quite the storm eventually, which is not really the point, but I feel like I have "mourned with those that mourn" quite a lot lately. I watch the people around me go through really difficult things and it scares me that one day I may have to face something equally tragic. Sitting at the fireside gave me an intense head ache and stomach ache and I felt like leaving but it was so intimate and I couldn't get up. I know it's irrational but I just thought it was a little too much for me to handle tonight. This week,  I also came across a talk that Dieter Uchtdorf gave to the priesthood brethren and came across these two quotes:
"There are times when we have to step into the darkness in faith, confidant that God will place solid ground beneath our feet once we do."   

"Guided by the Holy Spirit, we will learn from our mistakes. If we stumble, we will rise. If we falter, we will go on. We will never waver; we will never give up."

I really liked those and I've been thinking about it a lot. I guess that is really the point and I just need to have faith and trust in the Lord's plan for me. 

Adam was the one who finally got us all to the doctor and hopefully we'll all stop coughing and feel better soon. This time of year is quite a crazy time as far as health and strength for everyone goes. Thanks to Adam, I hope we all feel better soon! Adam and I have been trying to read the gospel doctrine lesson before Sunday and I really enjoy that time with my husband. It's kind of nice to have those gospel discussions away from our children. He has great insight. This week I made a soup we were both kind of disappointed in. He was super supportive though and pretended to like it. When I told him I was sorry he said "Don't apologize! You did a great job and it's not your fault." I also learned something new about my husband this week. He is an amazing listener when you need something to change. He always listens to perspectives, and then ponders those things in his heart and tries to change things. He is also very open to other perspectives and I really appreciate that about him. I'm a lucky girl to have such a great guy. 

I'm going to go ahead and post this now, since my camera is nowhere in sight. I'll add pictures later when I'm thinking of it! 

A Week in the Life {12/31-1/6}

Happy New Year. 

2013 is shaping up to be a beauty so far. I am sure I haven't mentioned, though many who are close to me probably already know (or can guess) that I suffer from (for lack of a better term) sever mood swings. I have periods of time where I have great anxiety and or bouts of depression. It's gotten better over the last few months, but it's always terrible to feel terrible. You tend to treat those you love in not a very nice way because when you feel badly you don't always do good, or do what you should. At any rate, I have had a completely blissful week. One where I feel like I have scads of perspective, which always leads to joy. It's nothing to be worried about, and I feel it has to do more with a lack of hormonal balance in the past four years, spending a lot of that time being pregnant or nursing. Since it's been a while since I've done either, I feel like it's getting better...not worth mentioning really, but it's just been such a blissful week and I've really been counting my blessings...like how I realized this week that Adam has been home from his mission ten years last December, which means he's been cancer free for ten years now. His health (and the fact that we have two beautiful girls despite his type of cancer) is one of our biggest blessings.

I feel like every time we have some sort of shift in our routine, the girls change. Perhaps it is simply because they grow up so fast, but I feel like they have grown up since we went to Utah over Christmas.

Paige has completely blossomed. She is so funny. It is so nice that she is so easy to communicate with. She can tell us "eat" when she is hungry and will sometimes even ask specifically for "apple" or "banana" or "treat." She asks for "drink" when she is thirsty, she'll ask for "book" or "blankie." One of the sweetest things she does is tell us "happy, happy, happy," over and over again when she is feeling happy. We went to Pump it Up this week and she climbed up the 20 foot slides all by herself. She also slid down them like she did it every day. She likes to go go go, and all week long she's hated being in her car seat. Before I forget, she has been doing this thing lately where she'll bring a book to you, or just want to snuggle and she'll just back right up into your lap. She is becoming a climber like Hannah. She was climbing on our high bar chairs this week. We've been really good at reading our Book of Mormon Reader every night at dinner as a family. As soon as I get it out, Paige looks at all of us, puts her finger to her lips and says "Shhh!" She knows it's time to be reverent. She's also very good when we say prayers and always says "Amen" and folds her arms.

Paige playing "tea party" in her sisters ballerina skirt . 

Paige Coloring

Hannah is probably my best friend. We have conversations as if she was 20 years old. For the first time this week, we had a few friends over, Emily and Abby. Hannah had so much fun being an independent, big girl. While reading the Book of Mormon reader on January 3rd,  I read “Laman and Lemuel were angry.” Hannah sighed and said “We already read this story Mommy!” I had to tell her that in every Laman and Lemuel story, they are angry. On January 4th, at 7:15AM Hannah woke me up saying “I need to take a shower.” While I lay in bed, she got undressed, hopped in the shower, turned it on, and started washing her body. After about ten minutes I got up and found her perfectly happy, showering on her own. She has LOVED her dollhouse and dollhouse toys, and wants to play with them every minute of every day. She is afraid of everything right now like driving, the dark, and going too fast or too high. I'm surprised she survived Pump it Up. She has even started leaving her dolls and toys outside her room at night "just in case they come alive." My big girl even started primary on Sunday. She was very excited to be a Sunbeam. One of the presidency came up to Hannah in the hall and asked if she was ready for primary. Hannah went into her arms as if she was going to take her right then. I ducked out of gospel doctrine and watched them sing "Here we are Together" to Hannah's primary class. Then I watched as Hannah joined all the other classes to have the Primary sing to her. I asked about Primary after and all Hannah had to say was that she didn't get to speak into the microphone and that "I wasn't shy of Primary but the kids in my class were shy of me....one of the kids in my class is scared of the dark." I asked suspiciously which kid it was. She confirmed my suspicions by saying "I am." She was excited to get candy in class and I asked "What do you think Jesus would want you to do with your three pieces of candy?" "Eat them all. By myself." I'm sure.

Hannah's creepy toys waiting to come alive at night. 

Hannah and Emily. They are just a few days apart in age. 

Hannah said "I drew a human but I think I made a mistake because it looks like Mike Wazowski." 

Beautiful girl choosing her own clothes in January. She rationalized that it was 3T and that it matched. 

 Adam and I have had a good week, partly because he is on winter break still. We came home from Utah super sick with aches and pains, chills, coughs, congestion and sore throats. Adam took super good care of me (since it seemed to hit me harder. I am reading Anna Karenina and really enjoying it. Adam is reading World War Z and really enjoying it. We've been playing Harry Potter Lego on the Playstation. I don't typically play video games but Adam wanted to play one together and figured I would enjoy Harry Potter. I'm kind of nerding out to it. Adam also got a chance to go play video games with some friends whose wives are out of town this week. He had so much fun. I like when he gets to hang out with guy friends. We also had our friends Megan (Winegar) and Eric Long come stay with us, with their 5 month old baby Clara. We stayed up until 1AM and chatted like we weren't even parents at all who had responsibilities and stuff. I'm grateful for my two decades long friendship with Megan and it blows me away that Hannah is almost the age I was when we first met and became friends at four years old. 

Adam color coordinated and created a spreadsheet for our finances this year. I was so impressed! 

As a family we've been reading the scriptures together like I mentioned. We also went to Pump it Up, had Family Night on being a Child of God, took a trip to the library, went to Town Square, played dollhouse, watched Yo Gabba Gabba, cuddled, teased, and of course argued a couple times.