Private

I have officially made my blog private. So of the few who wanted to keep reading my blog, thanks! Now you get to keep up with my craziness.I decided to go private because I didn't like the idea that anyone could read my blog and look at pictures of my family. I didn't really like that. I also thought that now my blog is private that maybe I can be a little bit more open. Don't worry I won't be hanging all my dirty laundry out to dry, but before I never really talked about my church that often. I have to admit that I am not one of those Mormons who runs around letting everyone know that I am a Mormon and that I have a message to share. To be honest I don't like that style. But I have been afraid of what others might do or say if I talked about my religion. I think this stems back from jr. high. Such a horrible time. Anyway that was the last time that I was all about sharing my religion and I got reamed for it once or twice by some "friends". So I decided that I would try and live the best I could and if anyone was curious they could ask. Since then I have had a fair amount of good experiences sharing the gospel and I hope some good came from them. So you might be thinking "why are you going to be more open about your religion now that you have gone private?" The answer to that is for my family. This blog is my journal. I want my children to know what I believe and how I try to live what I believe. If they ever look back at this blog I don't want them to think "wow we went to church every Sunday but it must no have been that important because Mom never thought to write down anything about it." Maybe they won't think that maybe they will, but I want them to know that so much of who I am and how I want to raise them comes from my belief in Christ and his gospel. Okay now I am done being preachy preachy. (That is also another reason I never really blogged about church related stuff before, I don't like it when people try to show how good they are and how wonderfully they are living the gospel.) So hopefully I won't be preachy preachy, but I do want to share my testimony a tad more.

I love this picture.

Dishes

 I snapped this picture...its a rare sighting but always much appreciated when it is seen.

Love him.

Aaron and I have differing opinions on what clean dishes should look like. I may let more things slide, like a piece of dried lettuce on a bowl or water stains on glasses. I say flick off the lettuce and drink out of the glass its fine. But Aaron likes sparkly clean dishware. I don't blame him, it is better, but I don't want to take 40 minutes to re-clean all the dishes when the dishwasher should have done it :)... Anyway that is not what this post is about. Its about Aaron. This week school started back up again and on top of that he has had to work 12 + hour days everyday this week. Sometime I am amazed that he just goes and does. I am lucky to be able to stay home with my kids. I am thankful that he is always working so hard to improve our lives. 

( Not that this has anything to do with my wonderful husband, but I am so sick of my kitchen cabinets! If only I had an extra two grand lying around to redo my poor kitchen. Maybe they would look good blue? They might not survive another coat of paint.)

Chores

Last week my friend Brenda and I made chore charts for our little girls. Very simple and easy. I remember my Mom making me a chore chart and I got a gold star sticker every time I did my chore. The only chore I remember though was saying my prayers. I remember she drew a little girl kneeling. Since then I rarely fall asleep without saying my prayers. I felt that Daisy is now big enough to learn how to help out a little bit around the house, help her learn how to work, have some responsibility and a sense of accomplishment. Okay that might be a lot for my two year old but start em young right?

We have been doing them for three days so far and it is still fun, my goal is to stick with this.She has been really enjoying her chores. She feeds Finch, puts the silverware away, puts her toys and books away, brushes her teeth, says her prayers, and puts dirty clothes away. The silverware takes forever, but I am being patient. I want my children to be good little workers and enjoy a job well done.

So now on to my chores. I feel that I keep a clean house for the most part. I do fall behind. Two kids, church, life, and just plain old "I am sick of washing the dishes again!" usually are my excuses. But I am really trying to be more of a grown up. The last two week I haven't had anything much to do and my kids both were sleeping in till 8, which has been unheard of for the last few months. I took advantage and slept in. It was nice, but after a few days I started feeling kind of blah, kind of like I had missed an important part of my day. So I decided that I need my own chores. I am after all an adult and should be more in charge of how I treat my day instead of just doing whatever. So my goals/chores are as follows:

Wake up well before my kids to exercise, get dresses and study my scriptures.

Do my Daily chores around the house. I even made chart so I know what day needs what done.

Plan my meals.

I know that the saying is a goal written down is half way there. I don't believe that. I cannot tell you how many times I have written a goal down and that was all I ever did towards that goal. My follow through isn't great when it comes to some things. But I really want to make sure my day starts off well and that usually means I am in charge of how the day starts not my kids.

Wish me luck in my attempts to stick to my goals for longer than a week.

Family Photos Summer 2013

While up in Pinetop we were able to get family pictures taken. I think they all turned out really well!

We have been lucky to get out of the heat every few week this summer. This particular trip was with the Brooks family. Aaron's grandparents own a cabin up in Sky High, so we all headed up there for a few days at the end of July. It was nice to just hang out and enjoy the beauty, the weather, and each other.

A lot of quad rides were taken and we also had a golf cart which was just the right speed for little kids.

Aaron not posing for me...

Here are our cousins Camden and Addison. We don't get to see them a lot, but they are such fun girls!

We drove up to Hawley Lake for an afternoon adventure. It is BEAUTIFUL. I have only been up there once or twice, my parents preferred Big Lake. So when we got there and found this little cove I was very much taken with the beauty of this place. 

Brandon, Grant, Brooke, Kim...

I think this is my nephew Benton, Aaron was earning favorite uncle points.

Rockwell and Piper

Aaron and Daisy

Heidi, Jer, and Brandon

Getting ready to fish...nothing was caught.

Daisy and Grandma Rena were buddies.

Its been hard getting Daisy to take a normal faced picture, this one was pretty cute though.

Rock.

Lions

I am not great at family home evening. I have been a slacker, but I have been trying a little harder to be better and more consistent. So when I saw a post on pinterest about 5 minute family home evenings I thought that was perfect for our little family and Daisy's short attention span. Anyway this particular lesson was learning right from wrong. I had two jars one with a smiley face and one with a frowny face. I then printed out a list of good things and bad things, then cut them into strips for Daisy to pick out, read as a family, then decide if it should go in the happy jar or the bad jar. She caught on after 2 strips, and with some help she picked the right jars.

I decided to make a strip of paper that said "lying" on it. We haven't talked about lying yet because Daisy is just starting learn how, mainly at bedtime when she doesn't want to sleep.

Just a side story that goes with lying...The other night Daisy would not stay in her bed. Up and down, up and down. She had to go potty, she was scared, she needed the light on, she needed more sippy, this went on and on. Finally I was about to lay down the law when she creep-ed out one more time, but this time she said there were ants in her bed and they were biting her and she needed to take a shower. Obviously there were no ants in her bed, but it was kind of a freaky little pretend story she came up with. And that is why I decided to make a strip about lying so we could talk about honesty.

So when Daisy pulled the strip about lying out, I started to explain that lying is when you say one thing but you know that it isn't right. I could tell she was trying hard to follow, I know the concept of a lie is still a little above her thinking capacity, but I could see the wheels turning. She looked at Aaron and I and in a very serious voice said "I am afraid of lions"... Then started talking about her room. We just laughed. Maybe you had to be there, she knew what a lion was but no what lying was. Maybe next she will get it.

Volleyball Shoes

Growing up we always got new nice shoes. My Dad made it a point to make sure that we did. I don't think we ever had a lot of extra cash laying around for new nice things. But when it came to sports we got new shoes. Not ones from Payless but from Eastbay or a sporting goods store. We never got the 150 dollar shoes but maybe the 80 dollar ones and always a nice name brand. It was important  and became important to me. So all growing up, I had new shoes at the beginning of each new softball, track, and volleyball seasons. Sometimes I would even get new shoes in the middle of the season, I am rough on footwear. When I moved away from home my parents bought me a new pair of shoes to play volleyball in at practice. The school paid for our game shoes. That season ended and I killed both pairs. However the next season came around and my life had changed a little bit. I had gotten married and was now a poor newly wed with no budget to go and spend 80 plus dollars on new volleyball shoes. So I started my last season of volleyball with old shoes. Luckily my game shoes from the previous year weren't in that bad of shape so I wore them, but they weren't going to last long. One day about a week and a half into the season, my older sister told me in passing that Ross randomly had volleyball shoes. I went down there after practice and there they were new red volleyball shoes. They originally retailed at 80 dollars, but were being sold for 15. They were all out except for my size. I bought them and they were my practice shoes for the whole season. And like I said I am rough on footwear, Target brand shoes weren't going to cut it.

Why did I want to tell this random seemingly unimportant story? Well the other day I was cleaning out my closet and found these shoes. These shoes mean a lot to me. Not just because they were exactly what I needed when I needed them. Not just because they matched the colors of my new school. Not because I wanted name brand volleyball shoes. But because I got them because Aaron and I were honest tithe payers. The Lord new that I couldn't afford a 100 dollar pair of shoes, but I could afford a 15 dollar pair. I look at these shoes and know that the Lord is very aware of me and my needs, all the way down to a pair of shoes.  Maybe volleyball shoes are a silly thing and I cared too much about them, but the Lord knew me and took care of that need for who I was at the time. I know that he did that because one, he loves me and two, I was being obedient.

I'll Go Inside Someday

A few Sundays ago we made an afternoon visit to the temple being built new us. It is only about a half an hour away! I have more picture somewhere... But for now these are the only ones I could find.

I am so looking forward to having a temple close again. I know it is a lame excuse to say that the Mesa Temple is so far away. But as a nursing mom I can't take off the 5 to 6 hours to make the trip over there very easily. But I can when this temple is open. I am so thankful for temples. I know to those who don't understand them, they might seem like a strange Mormon mystery. But they are a blessing. I know that the love and peace I have felt in and even near temples is from God. I am so blessed and thankful that because of the truth of this gospel that I can be with my whole family forever. 

8 Months!

I was looking at my blog from two years ago and I saw a post I had done about Daisy at 8 months old. It made me laugh and then feel a little guilty. I laughed because at the time it was just me and Daisy, Aaron was gone to boot camp and that little girl was my everything. Every little breath she breathed was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I was so aware of her every little new thing and milestone. This is when I started feeling a little guilty because it is very different with Rockwell. Don't miss understand I LOVE this little boy! But the difference between having your first then your second is so different.I am not keenly aware of his every little breathe. I guess the Lord sends them when they are suppose to come, and in the place they are suppose to be because Rockwell could care less if I am not keenly aware of his every move. He is such a sweet, happy, laid back baby. I love it! I am much more laid back with my parenting with him.  I also baby him a little more I think. I would let Daisy cry it out a lot, but not this kid. He is just so mellow and sweet that when he does cry I have to take care of it. I am also amazed at how different he is from Daisy. I guess I shouldn't be that shocked no one person is exactly like the next.  

Rockwell isn't in a hurry. I can tell though that he wants to crawl! Right now he just rolls and flops wherever he wants to go. Sometimes though flopping is just too slow and he starts to grunt. This is his new thing, grunting all the time. He furrows his brow and growls and grunts when he is frustrated.

He is also starting to jibber jabber a lot. One of my favorite sounds to wake up to his his little voice over the baby monitor, just talking to himself.

He is eating three times a day now. Although I think he might have gotten some skin irritations from some new foods. He has red dry patches of skin on his back, arms and cheeks. Its sad. But he does like to eat.

We are still nursing too! I am still enjoying it and I think he is too.

No teeth yet, soon though I think.

He also get a hair cut every month.

He has also not been waking up for a feeding the past week during the night. I am good with that.

HE is a lean baby, I say lean others may say skinny. Aaron and I don't seem to make very big babies. But I love his little body!

Yesterday he gave me a real love too. I was holding him before nap and he rested his head on my shoulder and just cooed. 

He LOVES Daisy. It make my heart happy to see them giggling at each other. Obviously it will still be awhile before they can really play together, but right now he loves to watch her bounce off the walls.

 He is a stud. And I love his smile. He scrunches up his nose and it can't get enough of it.

Found him sleeping like this one day. He was breathing, but it always scares me a little bit.

Sunday morning snuggles. 

He eats a lot of prunes to help him poo, this day I looked away for one second and this is what he did.

Love those buns.

He looks like just a little boy here!

I was making fun of his face, most of the time he has his mouth open.

Potty Time!

Well we have begun potty training and Daisy it has done great this week! Its day five and we have only had a few accidents. I decided with our busy summer schedule it would be easier to put off potty training till our we slowed down. From what I had heard it can be pretty horrible. I was not in a hurry to begin. But I couldn't put it off any longer, so we started. Actually the push I needed to get going came from Daisy. Last Saturday I was cleaning and Daisy was running around in the nude when she said she needed to go potty. So I plopped her on the pot and she went pee pee for the first time! Then I put undies on her and she promptly peed and pooed in them. Not fun to clean. So then she went nude again and went to the potty the next time she needed to go all by herself without even telling me. It was time.

On Monday morning we went to Target for supplies. We bought jelly beans as pee pee rewards, nighttime pull ups, Clorox wipes, and flush-able wipes. I wanted to be prepared. Daisy picked out a Mini Mouse camera as a poo poo reward, as my sister in law called it her poop camera :). I also got her a new dress up. I told her that she didn't get her new toys till she pooped on the potty. When we got home I hung them up high and told her once she pooped she could get them. So about 15 minutes later she went poop on the potty for the first time! Guess she really wanted her new toys. Each day after that she kept using the lou, especially since she realized she got candy each time. The first day was the longest. After the "fun" wore off she didn't want to sit on the potty any more. So we held up in the bathroom for close to an hour, just me and her. We sang songs and I told her stories until she finally couldn't hold it anymore. Since then we haven't had to lock ourselves in the bathroom. I completely got rid of diapers. She only has asked for them once or twice. Its been a long week... but there have been some high lights.

I love watching her naked little buns run to the bathroom as she yells "run Mom, hurry!"
I like not changing diapers!
One day she told me in a whisper "I tooted, I tooted...I smells it..." While a smiling.
She has been very attached to me this week, which I kind of liked. She never slows down most days to give me loves. This week she has wanted lots of hugs and kisses.
I also used to cringe at the word pantie. I hated it. Maybe I am immature. But after hearing my sweet two year old's excited squeaks about her pannies it may become one of my new favorite words. She was just too cute saying it.

The low light of the week was today though. She has an unexplained fever. I thought it was a UTI. A few of the signs pointed to it. We made a trip to the doctor and all is well so far. I was very worried though because she needed to pee in a sterile cup to test for the UTI. Now she has only just been using the potty and going in a cup seemed like a big job. The alternative was a catheter, I did not want that for her! But she did great and used the cup!

So overall I think this week was a success. Our first step on the road to completely potty trained has been taken.. Hopefully she continues on the path to potty perfection.

Now I have advice for my future self as the next rounds of potty training will inevitably come:
Don't rush it. If my kid isn't ready don't force them to use the potty.
Let them explore the potty so they aren't afraid of it, long before they use it. (With safety of course)
Read books about the potty.
Don't compare my kids potty skills to other kids. Each child develops at their own pace, unless you have a very dedicated Mom who trains their kids by 18 months. Whatever crazy ladies.
Try to get it done before they go into sunbeams.

This advice may mean nothing with Rockwell but I figured I should write it down just in case.

Jelly beans!

She figured out pretty quickly that if she peed she got candy. This was great until nap time...

You always need an extra pair or two or three on your buns...

Most days Daisy has been in the buff...

She is going great!