Gratitude

I always knew that having children would change my life. There would be extra mouths to feed, poopy diapers to change, scraped knees to kiss, more clothes to wash, and toys to buy. But I knew I could handle all that -- how hard is it to buy an extra gallon of milk or fold one more load of towels?? The change that I wasn't prepared for was the influence that these small young babies would have on me.

E (3 weeks old)

I always wanted to be a mother. I watched my mom as she would bring home new babies and I just remember loving them. I loved their tiny features and sweet spirits. So I was ecstatic when Jared and I brought home our baby E. I felt lucky to have a hard-working husband, which allowed me to stay home and raise this baby. I remember "ooohing" and "ahhhing" over every little thing he did, feeling so  blessed to be in that moment. I remember times where I would cuddle with him and watch as he stared at the ceiling, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was glimpsing into heaven. The thickness of the Spirit in the room was overwhelming. We had been entrusted with this baby; to raise him and love him and help him. What a daunting, yet fulfilling task we had ahead! Now he is almost 3, and I can't believe how fast time goes.

K (1 week old)

And now as I sit here typing, I stare into the sleepy eyes of our newest addition. Thinking back on all those moments with E, I am now experiencing them all over again -- the "ooohs" and "ahhhs", the gratitude I feel for being a mother, and the occasional glimpses into heaven. Tears stream down my cheeks as I thank my Father in Heaven for these 2 precious boys and pray that I can only grow to be the mother that they need. And while MOST days with an almost-three year old can be taxing and some days I look back on the day and think, "That was a TOTAL fail" -- I am grateful to have these moments to remember and when I sneak in at night and watch my sweet babies sleeping, I am filled with an increased desire to do better, to try harder, and to LOVE MORE.

A Year and A Half (Plus 2 Months)

This post is long overdue but as I was looking through my posts, this one was saved as a draft. I loved the pictures and knew that I wanted to post them. I can't believe our little baby is now almost 2! At least once a day, I stop in amazement at how big he's gotten and how smart he is. He loves to learn new things and always wants to help me do whatever I am doing at the moment. He never sits still! He loves reading books and is really trying hard to talk. He knows a couple letters ("o" and "i" or "i-dot" as Jared taught him!) and will point them out any time he sees them. 

Today, I was mixing something in my Bosch and he was standing on his chair next to the counter. He kept touching the dial and making it mix faster and then would make the mixing noise. I would turn to him and tell him to leave the dial on the "2" so it wouldn't mix too fast. After about the 50th time of telling him to not touch the machine, I could feel myself getting a little impatient. I kept hearing him make noises and I turned to tell him to stop touching it. There he was looking at me with wide eyes, pointing to an "o". "O", he said. My frustration melted away as I saw his face and proud he looked at me that he had seen the "o". We talked for a minute and he pointed to all the other "o's" on the machine. (P.S. I love to see him move his chair over from the table and put it right next to me when I am cooking. He picks it up, says "ugh" a few times as he stumbles over to the counter. He pushes the buttons or picks something up and pretends to pour it into the bowl. He loves to be so involved and be at the same level to help me.)

It's moments like these and the many others I have on a daily basis that make me feel so blessed to be a mom! I can always count on Ethan to brighten my spirits if I'm feeling down or to make me laugh if I haven't laughed for a while. He has such a sweet spirit and as much as I try to "parent" him and teach him things that are important for him to know, he teaches me so much more. 

"For the natural man is an enemy to God...unless he...becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

-Mosiah 3:19

Mr. Independent

Ethan has finally hit the stage where he wants to be Mr. Independent! He loves doing things on his own, just like mom and dad! He will no longer sit in a high chair; he has to be in  a big chair at the table. He eats his dinner with a fork and has to hold his own glass to drink! He seems to be eating much better and will often eat the things that we do. 

He has also become quite the daredevil. Anything he can climb on, he will. And then he jump off . It doesn't matter how high or if someone is even there to catch him, he just jumps. We have had a few lot of great "saves" by Jared as he dives to catch Ethan. 

He loves to give "High 5", knuckles, and thumbs up! He is pretty good at it too! He knocks on the door when we go to visit someone and sticks one arm high in the air whenever he sees a basketball hoop! (Jared taught him that one!)

Here are a few videos for your enjoyment

Ethan being a daredevil

Mr. Independent using a fork to eat

He loves lights. In this video, we tried to get him to say light.

This is my favorite video. He will only drink out of regular cups (not sippy cups) and he saw this pitcher at my in-laws house. He thought it was the coolest "cup" and wanted to drink out of it. I put a little it of water in it and this is what he did! He pretty much says "Aahhh" after every drink he takes now!

March's Top Ten

As I was checking a few blogs the other night, I noticed that I hadn't posted the whole month of March. We have done quite a bit this month so I decided to post the top 10 happenings. 

1.FAMILY: March means Spring Break!! So my family travelled out to Utah/Idaho for a little vacation. My sister also flew out from California with her little girl, Lily. It was great to see them and we had such a good time. I love having family visit and now that we have a house to actually have room for people to stay-it was so wonderful! 

Lily turned 1 a few days before they came so we threw her a little birthday party complete with yummy cupcakes and a few presents. She was pretty worn out from our activities so she didn't eat much-just poked at the cupcake a little. Isn't she darling? She was so sweet while she was here-trying to give hugs to Ethan and play with him. Although, he didn't warm up to her hugs until they were leaving!

I posted this pic in family because I sure love this little guy! He is so happy most of the time and is so fun to play with. We took this picture right after his first haircut. Now I know you are saying, "First haircut? He doesn't even have any hair!" Well, as he's gotten older, he's grown  a nice curly patch on the back of his head. Along with that came a rattail and it was hideous-so it needed to be cut off! Now he looks so handsome! (Don't mind my cheesy face.)

2. CREPES & CARAMEL SYRUP: Some of you may know that I L.O.V.E to cook! I am always looking for new recipes to try or different ways to switch up old ones! I have made crepes several times before but was never really in love with the recipe I had. And then I found this one on Our Best Bites! It's so easy and yummy, I made it three times in March. And along with that I found this caramel syrup recipe. Even though I was pretty much eating dessert for breakfast, it was delicious! And on another note, this sauce is incredible on vanilla ice cream!

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

3. STRAWBERRIES: Strawberries have been on sale here in Idaho so I stocked up! And because we love them makes that even better! Ethan has a new found love for strawberries, whether eaten whole or cut up. I love his "pucker" face in this picture! I think I love strawberries so much because they remind me of summer and I'm SOOO ready for summer!

4. CARNITAS: Just the mention of carnitas now and I get hungry! These were A.MAZ.ING! I love some me good mexican food and this recipe lives up to "good mexican food"-maybe even "great mexican food". The meat slowly cooks in a mixture of orange and lime juice and some yummy mexican spices and then is finished off with a quick fry in some olive oil to make it crispy and seal in the incredible flavor. The first time I made this I served this on tortillas with traditional toppings and they were so good. It made a ton, but don't worry, I didn't let it go to waste.  For the next week, I finished it off several different ways and it was excellent every way I tried it! Now you should try it too!

Photo Credit

5. SILHOUETTE SD: This is my new crafty best friend!! This machine can do so much and I have done some very fun projects with this. In March, I used this machine to cut out the invitations for my brother- & sister-in-law's  wedding, which is this coming weekend! We are very excited for Steven & Rachel. I have several more projects in mind to use this machine for and I may even post some of them on here.

6. PIONEER WOMAN SALSA: I don't like chunky salsa and so when I found this recipe I knew I wanted to try it. This salsa has become my new favorite! I don't think that I will ever buy salsa again! It has a little bit of spice to it and all the flavors blend perfectly. It does make a lot but it kept well in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Photo Credit

7. MENU PLANNING: I don't have a picture for this one but this one thing has helped tremendously. I have always hated the stress of 5pm and the question of "What am I going to make for dinner?" Since February, I have tried to plan a menu each week and it has saved me the stress of rushing to make dinner, has allowed me to make healthier meals, and has saved us money on our grocery bill. I'm hooked!!

 8. SUNSHINE: We have started to get a little bit of sunshine here and it makes me ready for some warmer weather. Living in Idaho you never know what you are going to get, even in the summertime but one can only hope right?!?!

9. SURVIVOR: There is not much to say about this one but I have always enjoyed watching this show.

10. HOLIDAYS: When I was growing up, my mom always did something fun for us for even the smallest holidays.Now that I have a family of my own, I am excited to follow my mom and celebrate holidays-even the little ones!

The Many Faces of.....

We are enjoying Ethan more and more every day. He has such a fun personality and makes some of the funniest faces. There are many nights we just sit on the couch and watch him try to figure things out or just watch him play around. He is amazingly entertaining! 

Modeling his sunglasses

On President's Day, Jared didn't have to work so we took a trip to Idaho Falls. At the mall, Ethan had a blast "driving" the coin-operated cars! Here is his "cheese" face!

Angie dressed Ethan up one evening. He loved it!

Ethan, the climber!

We found the cutest kid chairs at Big Lots!! Perfect size for him!

Our little Toad! This was part of his cousin's Halloween costume. 

Getting ready for a card game! :)

Simplify

Towards the end of the year last year I came across this blog post on Tip Junkie. From there I found a post by Ali Edwards. In this post she says "A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow." Each year, she decides on a word to represent her year; something that she can focus on and think about as she goes through her daily life. I thought this was an amazing idea! I pondered for a while as I went about my day and tried to look for a word that might fit perfectly into what I wanted for my 2011. 


Then one day, a General Conference talk popped into my mind. Elder Uchtdorf quotes Leonardo da Vinci and says, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Not only did I love the whole talk, but that quote really stuck out to me. I felt I had finally come upon my "one little word". 


SIMPLIFY


It amazes me how we can fill up our days so quickly and become so busy with "things"-good and not so good. I don't feel like my life is as busy as many people, but I am busy. I have so many things I need & want to do, things I want to accomplish, etc.  that some days I look at the clock and wonder where the day has gone. So this word is exactly what I need to focus on for 2011.  


As I mentioned in my last post, I want to be able to cherish the small moments with my family, have a mind that is clear and not muddled with thoughts of negativity or frustration, make room for the "best" things in my life and REALLY focus on what matters MOST.


And for those of you reading this post, I challenge you to choose "one little word" that has meaning to you for 2011. It's never too late to start. Let's make this our best year yet!

Ethan Knows Sign Language

For the last several months, Jared and I have been teaching Ethan sign language.

I have a couple friends who know sign language (shout out to Andrea and Breawna!) and are teaching (or will teach) their kids. I always thought that it would be neat to have my kids learn sign language, except there was one B.I.G. problem -- I didn't know any sign language!

Enter-Baby Einstein "My First Signs".

One day Ethan and I sat down and watched this video. I obediently copied the signs as they were given and repeated the words out loud. I looked over at Ethan to make sure he was doing them as well but this was all I got...

Blank Stare!

I realized at that moment that I was a little more excited about this whole sign language thing than he was. But I pressed forward. Every day, I would do the signs while talking to him.

He didn't seem interested at first, but every so often I would catch him making the sign for "more." Around this same time, Jared really started recognizing the value of teaching him sign language.

About the time of his first birthday, we really started working on them. He picked them up so quickly and has been doing them non-stop since! It is so amazing to see how empowered he feels and we love "communicating" with our 1-year old.

I tried all night to upload a video so one will be coming soon!!