nature

One of the things I appreciate about Jake is his love for nature. He helps me to "stop and smell the roses," if you will. 

Last week, thanks to Jake, we made a quick trip up to the Uintas. The weather was PERFECT! We hiked up to Wall Lake, which was only about a mile each way--which was just right with little kids. It was so beautiful. It is amazing what being out in nature can do for one's mind.

 Little J fed and ready to start the hike!

Walking stick #1

Walking stick #2

 

Jake taking in some sun while M played. 

 

M couldn't wait (fell in the water) to put on his swim suit! 

M yelling, "CHEESE!" 

Walking stick #4 or so... 

Jake and the kids. Baby J did so well! She slept most of the time cuddled up to Jake.

We made it back!!! 

It was so nice to be in the great outdoors together. We live in a beautiful world. 

And, of course, we had to stop at Dairy Keen on the way home. It was a great way to end the day!

hard is good

Last week was a bit of a rough one.

I have really been struggling with all of the changes and demands of life with two kids. Don't get me wrong, my heart overflows with gratitude each day for the gift of these priceless bundles of joy--it has just been quite overwhelming for me.

For different reasons concerning these changes, last week was quite rough. Tears were shed as my efforts to get at least something noticeable done around the house, take care of the kids, and most importantly--spend quality time with them, seemed to prove to no avail.

At the peak of my frustration, I went with the young women in our ward to the Church History Museum in Salt Lake. The museum currently has an exhibit called 'Practicing Charity: Everyday Daughters of God' (I about died when I saw the name of the exhibit--so fitting and beautiful!). I'm not gonna lie, with the week I was having, I was pretty stressed and overwhelmed about going. However, all of that went away the second we walked into the exhibit. Between the adorable elderly man playing beautiful hymns on the piano and the paintings/depictions of the exhibit, all of my stress melted away. I was reminded of the gift it is to be a daughter of God and to be a mother. Truly, it was a perfectly placed tender mercy.

Motherhood is hard, but hard is good. I am learning that it is during these times that we truly turn to the Lord, humble, submissive and fully ready, for help and guidance on what we can do to help our individual children. It is during these times that we can, as Elder Holland once said, go to the Lord and "pound on the doors of heaven" for guidance concerning our children, and He will help us.

The exhibit was nothing less than incredibly beautiful--both in what I saw and what I felt. Here are a few of my favorite paintings with their depictions:

"To be human is to have the faith to remember our immeasurable individual worth and then labor each day to repent, to change, and to trust that we do not labor alone."

Love that. I'm putting it on my mirror as my mantra for the new week.

If at all possible, go see the exhibit! It is absolutely beautiful. If not, you can find all of the paintings and explanations here.You won't be disappointed.

I am so thankful to be a daughter of God with a mother heart. Whether we have children or not, as daughters of God, we all have a mother heart--a heart of love, comfort, and service. 

her shirt says it all

She makes me happy!

happy birthday, Kenzers!

Meet my sister, Mackenzie. 

Isn't she beautiful?!

Today is her birthday.

Here are just some of my favs about her: 

1. She is super optimistic!

2. It feels like a party when you are with her, really!

3. She is really generous. 

4. She is a great cook.

5. She is my sister. 

I LOVE YOU, Kenzers!!! 

Oh, did I mention she is single?!
 

Feel free to leave any comments about how wonderful she is!!!

containing my excitement

 See the kid in the red shirt and blue shorts? That's my little guy...at soccer! 

He is excited to get to play, and secretly, I think I am even more excited. Soccer was my life growing up! However, I want him to decide on his own whether he likes the sport or not, so I am trying to not be too overly excited. Either way, it will be fun to see him play for at least one season--as much as a three-year-old can "play" soccer!  

 Here he is warming up to the new situation he was in: soccer practice and new friends! Yeah, we'll see how this goes... :)

I love this boy!

she was blessed

Last month Jake was able to give little J her baby blessing. He did a wonderful job. The blessing was beautiful. We felt blessed to have so many friends and family share in the special occasion with us.  

We remembered to get a few pictures at the end with some of the grandparents! 

We love our sweet baby J!

the bean jar

With all of the craziness of having a new baby in the family (which we are so thankful for), my parenting skills have taken a backseat. Before, I could focus all of my efforts solely on M, but now I am struggling to parent M and take care of baby J's needs.

After bringing baby J home, I realized I was losing my patience with M a lot more than I used to. I was feeling like a terrible mother. It felt as if I was constantly nagging M to do what I asked. I knew something needed to change. My wise mother reminded me to ask Heavenly Father for help with knowing how to parent M, so I did. 

A few days after I started praying for help, I went to get my hair cut. My hairdresser and I got on the topic of parenting little boys; she has two young boys of her own. It was in this conversation that I received some major guidance on what to do to help M.

At her house, they do the bean jar. Anytime she catches her boys doing something good, they get to put beans in their own glass jar. Doing chores the first time they were asked, using good manners, or playing nicely with each other are some of the ways they can earn beans. When their bean jar is full, each boy gets to choose a fun activity of their choice such as swimming, going to the movies, miniature golfing, etc. My hairdresser told me it works wonders with her boys.

I went straight to the store after my hair was cut and got a glass jar for M and some kidney beans. The following Sunday we had a family home evening on obeying our parents. We introduced the bean jar to M and we let him decorate it with stickers. He was pretty excited about it.

The following morning I woke him up and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Is my bean jar full?!"

Ha, sorry, not quite yet little one.

No joke people, the bean jar has worked wonders!!! M is much better at trying to obey and help out around the house. As for me, I feel like it helps me to focus on the good things M is doing instead of so much of the negative. And, as we all know, pointing out the positive in people does way more than pointing out the negative--and it is no different with kids.

So thankful for the help Heavenly Father is so willing to give us! 

i don't want to forget

Dear M,

It is late, but I just wanted to take a few minutes and write down some of my feelings I have about you at this time in your life. I don't want to forget these things!

Life has been extremely busy with adding baby J into our family. We are incredibly thankful for her and the blessing it is to figure out a new schedule/routine for our new family of four. It can be very tricky at times, but you have been a tremendous help during this transition. You are always so willing to go and get things for me, such as diapers, wipes, burp rags, etc. I so appreciate that about you.

You are an amazing brother. J is so lucky to have you as hers. You are constantly wanting to talk to her. You pretty much tell her everything I tell her...it's adorable, really. I have to remind you quite a bit to give her some space; you like to be right in her face, or on her, while talking to her. I know you do it out of love, and little by little you are understanding that you can't lie on her. As of the last few days, you have figured out how to talk to her sweetly and softly instead of talking loudly in her face. 

One of my favorite things to do with you is to sit down and read. You love reading, and that makes my 'English teacher heart' jump with joy. One of your favorite books right now is Awesome Dawson. It is about a boy, Dawson, who takes old junk and garbage and uses them to create new inventions.

You are EXTREMELY observant. You are very aware of your surroundings. You know what color of car everyone we know drives. If I tell you someone is coming to our house, or we are going to someone's house, the first thing you ask is, "What car will they take? The silver one or the blue one?" Honestly, your sense of direction is much better than mine. When driving, you will ask what town we are in. I'll tell you and the next time we pass through that city, you say, "Mom, are we in (insert name of the city)" and you are usually right. You are very smart and can often figure things out just by watching Dad or I do something.

At times, you are very motherly. You will refer to me as 'honey' when you think I should do something. You will say things like, "Honey, we need to put J in her car seat." Or, "Honey, we need to take a blanket." I love it! Cracks me up!

Tonight we went to a party at the drive in movie. You were in heaven! You thought it was the coolest thing! Last summer you had a difficult time sitting still, but this year, you did much better. You laid in the car, watched the movie, and had plenty of treats to make you smile from ear to ear. Dad and J had to leave early to get to bed, so just you and I got to stay and finish the movie. I love having that one on one time with you. 

One of my favorite things right now is that you ask me to come lie with you after you have been tucked in bed. Some nights I can't because I have been feeding J or putting her to bed, but I usually try and come in at least for a few minutes. I LOVE this time with you! You like me to sing to you and tickle your arm while I lie with you. Melts my heart...

Since J was born it seems as if you have grown exponentially! As if overnight, I have noticed a need for you to be challenged more. You have gotten to a point where you need to be out and learning and doing things on your own for a bit, away from me (which kind of breaks my heart!). You start preschool this fall, and as much as I hesitated to sign you up, I know you are more than ready for it. Today we signed you up for soccer as well. I am so excited for you to begin these fun things, yet a little sad at the same time because it means you are growing up.

Some things we are working on right now are doing things the first time you are asked, talking respectfully towards mom and dad when you are not happy about something, and using your "big boy" words instead of crying loudly. I imagine these are common things for a three-year-old! 

You are a wonderful little boy. You have been blessed with the gift of a tender heart. You really are a very sweet and thoughtful child. I thank Heavenly Father each day for the privilege it is to be your mother. I wish at times you could stay this age forever, however, I am also excited to see the person you will become as you get older.

Thanks for all you mean to me. I love you to the moon and back.

Love you forever,
Mom