Happy Birthday to You!

It was Mikayla's one year birthday today! Time sure does fly. Especially when you have kids so close together. Mikayla's first few months are kind of blur to me. I am trying to take the time to enjoy her now though. She is sure a little pill, but is so fun. She steals her brother's juice lately, loves to carry the dish towels around the house, and has figured out how to climb onto the kitchen chairs to the top of the kitchen table. She keeps me busy. We are so glad she is here though. Preston sure has fun with her and we love her big smiles and bright blue eyes. One of our friends gave us a big box of shoes today and here she is sportin' the boots. We thought you would like this Grandpa G.!

Quilt for Nie's kids

I found out that there is quilt being put together for Nie's kids. They are asking to have people from all over send fabric squares to be pieced together for her children. How great is that? Wouldn't that be neat to be a child and receive a blanket made from people all over the world who have never met you and who all want to come together to wrap you with love at such a hard time? Well, if you would like to contribute, here is the link to the blog about it.

The little things

I am once again reminded that I need to make every day matter and to "eat up" all the time I have with my kids and husband. I have been thinking about this not only because of the lesson I am preparing for church on Sunday, but also because of a blog I have started reading that my sister ran into (click to read). It is the blog of a woman in Arizona that has inspired so many people around the world to become better and especially mothers to cherish their children. Her name is Stephanie and her family calls her Nie. She and her husband were in a private airplane crash a month ago and are undergoing skin grafts to try to repair their poorly burned bodies. They have four little children, which are now living with her sister. I pray that something like that will not happen in my family because I don't know how or if I would be able to handle it. However, I do know that my children would be taken care of by my loving family which would integrate them into their own families as if they were their children. And that puts me somewhat at ease. I know all things happen for reasons and that the Lord has things in store for us that we don't know about. I have been trying harder to pay attention to the little things in my life. Like playing the disappearing binki game with Mikayla (she throws her binkis out of her crib when she doesn't want to go to sleep) or listening to the funny things Preston comes up with. When he can't see anything, he says it is "hinis" for hiding. That always cracks me up. Then today he said that dad was cute, his shirt was cute and his dogs were cute. I think he is cute! I am so grateful for the life I have been given and know that no matter what happens, I will be able to see and live with my family after we leave this life.

Daughters of God

I am preparing to teach a lesson in church on Sunday from a talk that Elder Ballard gave in General Conference in April on Daughters of God (click to read). I have read it a couple times now and a couple of points have stuck out to me. There is a part that says, "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children." I seem to always try to find the "cure-all". The something that will work for both of my kids to help with tantrums, discipline, etc. Just to make them perfect children. But I have to remember, that like it says, each child is different and so what works great for one mother, may not work for me. It may seem trivial, but it was a good reminder to me not to look at other moms and kids and wonder why we aren't like them. Another part that was a good reminder to me was, "Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11). I seem to always be on the move and rushing to get places. Even on walks I take with my kids. I am always pulling them along instead of letting them enjoy their walk and letting them pick up leaves, or sticks, or bugs even. I need to be more patient. Just thought I would shares these little pieces of info with you!

"Conversation" with a two year old

I have been trying to talk to Preston more about Jesus and Heaven and where he comes from. I was sitting on the couch with him the other day and was asking him where Jesus and Heavenly Father are and if he knew he lived with them before he came here. Well, about all I got out of him was a couple kisses and then was attacked and he wanted to wrestle. I didn't even get a word out of him! I told Ryan about it when he came home and he basically said, "DUH! He is a two year old. And you expect to have a conversation with him?!" Who was I kidding? Maybe someday I will get to actually have a real conversation with him. I would hope that Mikayla will be a little easier to talk with and keep still, but if she is anything like she is now, in the future, I have no hope of keeping my kids contained for more than a minute or so. AHHH! Hey, at least they keep me moving, right?

Labor day Fun

For Labor Day, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some fun. We all ended up outside playing in the sprinklers and slip-n-slide. It was fun to see the kids all interacting and hanging out. Sorry so many pictures. I just couldn't help myself!

Things we have been up to...

I haven't posted much since Preston's birthday, other than my frustrated thoughts on moving the other day, so here is a little of what we have been up to.


The kids decided to get into a bag of shredded paper. And boy it made a big mess, but it sure kept them busy! Sometimes, that is all that matters!



We went to Cabella's the other day to get out of the house and Preston discovered a new love for fish!


Preston has learned how to say pretty. He will take Mikayla's bows off and put them on his head and say "Pitty!" He will love me for this one when he is a teenager! :)



Mikayla is once again showing us her streak of independance by almost refusing to eat baby food, except for when she feeds it to herself.


Now that Mikayla is walking (as of last Wednesday), Preston has decided she is definately big enough to tackle and wrestle with. Here is what he did after church on Sunday.



All in all, we do have some great times together and keep busy.

Limbo

Well, we are STILL trying to figure out where exactly we are going to move. Ryan will be done with school in a few months and we are not 100% sure what we are doing. AHH. I am starting to get really nervous. I am sad to be leaving my family and the state I grew up in, but am also very ready to start our lives. It feels like we are just in limbo and have been since we have gotten married. Now that Ryan has a career and I have two muchkins to chase after, it will be nice to hopefully settle into a place we love and that we can call our own. Where that place will be exactly, who knows? Our thoughts are to still go to Boise area, but we are still weighing our options trying to figure out where would be best for Ryan to open up a practice. Ryan is trying to meet his deadline of Graduation in December to be done with his clinic requirements, but we are getting nervous about that too. He has to have 200 adjustments and so many hours before he can officially graduate. We keep trying to figure out ways to find patients and get people to come in. That is something he will have to continue doing when he opens his own practice, but that is also why we signed up with a management company. Does anyone have any good marketing suggestions? Anyone have a good moving company they would recommend??