Cake anyone?

I think one of my New years resolutions should have been to post more in my blog. As far as resolutions go I have to admit that I have failed in regards to not wasting food. For example, this colorful birthday cake didn't really get eaten at all. Micah had a tiny bit and Ryan and I didn't have any at all, first of all we aren't big cake fans, and second, I have given up desserts for the month of January. (I am planning on giving up something for a whole month all year long, this isn't a resolution just a personal thing I am doing). So why stay up until the wee hours of the night to make a fancy cake that no one is going to eat? I think Micah's face says it all! He LOVES cake and has been saying that all he wants for his Birthday is cake. We planned a rainbow themed party but ended up having to cancel it because both of the boys caught a cold.

As far as other resolution go, I have been doing really great on my photo journal. So I got this idea from my SIL Katie, she did a photo for every day of the year a couple years ago and I loved the idea. We have gotten lots of fun photos so far and it has been really fun for me and Ryan to take a night once a week to go through a weeks worth of pictures and choose the one photo that will represent each day. January has been a blast!!!

Happy New Years 2011

Don't I look so happy!? I don't recommend bringing in the new year with a broken nose. Last night I was giving Micah a bath, when bath time was over, Micah and I were cleaning up the bath toys. I was hunched over the tub and Micah was standing bellow me. He got really excited and jumped straight up right into my face. I can't say for sure that my nose is broken, but I hurt it last night and it is still killing me tonight. From what I know about broken noses (which isn't a lot), there isn't much you can do to fix it. So I am going to wait out the pain and hope that it heals itself.

Happy New Years, I am very excited to start this new year! I have goals, resolutions and expectations for this coming year. I know myself well enough to know that I won't succeed at all the things I want to do this year, but if I don't at least try I am depriving myself of the opportunity to become a better person.

What I plan to do this year
Exercise
Read more
Eat more Fruits and Veggies
Waste less food
Quilt
Sew an outfit for each of my boys
Be less critical
Go to bed at a reasonable hour
Enjoy any free time Ryan and I find together ;-)
Photo journal for each day of the year that will include my family and our adventures.

Bring it on 2011!!!

2010 The year of tears

I have recently started referring to 2010, as "the year of tears" (just to myself). I'm pretty sure I have shed enough tears to fill a reservoir. Mind you, not all my tears have been sad tears. An extreme of any emotion will usually cause me to cry. This year has been very influential and meaningful, with so many blessing and trials coming one after another it's hard not to get weepy.

A highlight of the things that have impacted me this year

Micah
Micah is just so darn funny that sometimes I laugh so hard I cry, seriously! Let's be honest though, Micah is in his TERRIBLE TWO'S, and there have been moments that have been down right terrible with this head strong boy!

Sam joining the Family
I am so grateful to have my little Sam. He is the cuddliest, happiest baby. It's hard not to have tears of Joy when a new baby joins the family. With that said, Sam is a very hard baby. Sam has no interest in sleeping, and for the longest time he was only happy when he was being held. it has been a common occurrence for me to brake down in tears in from feeling uncontrollably tired from the lack of sleep from caring for a new baby. It never lasts for long though, all Samuel has to do is look at me with gummy smile and big brown eyes and I melt.

Moving Cross Country
This is a big one. Moving away has been so HARD! I have missed my family so much. I definitely have a greater appreciation for them and for all the love and help we received so abundantly. We still enjoy these blessings from them, but it has so hard to be away from the physicality of it all.

My Grandma Passing away
For the last couple years I, along with several other members of my family, took part in a wonderful opportunity to take dinner to my grandparents a couple times a month (It added up to them receiving meals almost every single night a week). We did this to help my Grandpa who was constantly caring for my grandmother, she suffered from Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease. It was really hard to see her suffering, so when she was coming close to the end, I was feeling a sense of relief for her. Her passing however was so hard. I love her so much and it was so painful to say my last goodbyes to her. She was bed ridden when we moved and I was firm on coming home when the inevitable happened. It was about a week and a half after arriving in Virginia that I got the sad news that she had passed. My grandmothers condition brought tears to my eyes several times as I saw her and my grandpa endure these tough times. Her passing however was heartbreaking. And when my plans to fly home for her funeral services fell through, I was devastated. I really wanted to surround myself with my family because we were all going through the same thing, I didn't like grieving alone. Thankfully for technology, I was able to view the service via Skype. It didn't exactly make up for being there but it helped. This experience was a good reminder to me that through Jesus Christ, Families can be together forever. This is a beautiful, wonderful promise.

5 Year Wedding Anniversary!
I didn't exactly cry because of anything that has to do with my Anniversary. The fact of the Matter is November 11, 2010 was a hard day. The funny thing is, the day started off so well. My spirits were high because of the occasion at hand. I woke to a beautiful sunny day, I had a fabulous time with my kids at the park and we had a wonderful afternoon at home together. I had even thought to myself earlier that day that there isn't anything in the world that could spoil my day. Then out of nowhere Micah started becoming very weepy and whiny, patiently I tried for several hours to figure out what was wrong. Eventually both boys were crying, it was more than I could handle; I started to cry too. Something was clearly wrong and I couldn't figure out what. My poor boys just wanted to be held. I did the best I could but it was so hard to console them, so from 3:00 pm to 7 or 8:00pm my boys just cried and cried until they fell asleep. We have had a few of these episodes this year and I am not sure what triggers them. They have definitely taught me to be more patient.

I wouldn't have been able to get through the last year with out the support of family and friends. I have been especially grateful for my husband and my Faith in God.

Merry Christmas

TEST

Sweet little thing

Yesterday I was headed down to the car with my two boys in tow. We made our way down the Elevator making a couple stops before we hit the ground level. Micah quickly made friends with two of the people that rode down with us, our new friend Marge and the self proclaimed Man with a cane. Marge walked with us down the long hallway and held the big double doors open for us. I walked to the second elevator that we need to take to get to our car and I noticed Micah was still at the double doors. I beckoned and bribed for Micah to catch up to me so we could catch the elevator. The whole time I could hear Micah calling out to someone in his sweet little voice, "Come on man, come on, I'm waiting for you, I'm holding the door for you man." I walked back to the doors to see who Micah was talking to. It was our new friend "The Man with the cane." Micah was patiently holding the big heavy door for his friend who was going as fast as he could (which wasn't very fast) to get down the hall. I was so touched by Micah's kindness. I couldn't help but think that this was such a beautiful Christ-like moment, Micah was showing love to his neighbor.

The Truth

Okay, everyone keeps asking me how I like it out here in Virginia. The truth is I LOVE all of the friends I have made. If I didn't have them I would be miserable. With that said, I am SO HOMESICK! I feel that I have had one too many encounters with the rude people of Virginia.

I feel as though this area is not very child friendly. Just the other day Micah was running down a long, wide hallway in our building and a man started yelling at him telling him he shouldn't be running inside. I felt really angry because I told Micah he could run, besides us and the man the hall was empty. One more story for venting purposes. I had to take Sam to the department of heath to get his next round of immunizations. While we were waiting for our turn, I let Micah look out the window down at the cars. It was time for us to be seen and Micah was not interested in leaving his spot at the window. After failing to persuade him to come with me, I just scooped him up and took him to the back with me. He was obviously angry with me, he began to yell at me and hit me. I looked at him and sternly said, "Micah, I don't hit you, please don't hit me." After waiting in the patient room a little longer, the nurse finally came back with Sam's vaccines. Once the door opened Micah booked it out. She told me not to worry about Micah and to hold Sam while she administered the vaccines. I am sure this nurse has done hundreds of vaccines, but I was very distressed by her technique. There were four vaccines, after she took her time with the first one (poking Sam, cleaning the blood applying the bandage). I asked her to just get it over with and handle the blood and bandaging at the very end. As you might imagine, she did not appreciate me telling her how to do her job :-). After a little spat (very little) she took my suggestion. Sam was a wreck once it was all over, I could not console him. I was feeling very stressed out because I couldn't comfort Sam and Micah was up to who knows what!? The Nurse told me to just take a seat and try to feed Sam, and She would keep an eye on Micah for me. While I did this, I could here her outside chastising Micah,

Nurse: DID YOU DO THIS?, DID YOU DO THIS? ( I have no idea what was going on outside).
Micah: NO!
Nurse: Your Mama says she doesn't spank you, if you were my baby I'd spank you!

The Nurse came back in and told me that I need to change my parenting techniques. She continued to tell me that Micah was the one in control, not me, and I should start spanking. I felt that her judgments were harsh and unfair. The situation was more than I could handle. I don't mind so much that she was criticizing my parenting, after all I probably deserved it for trying to critique her. But she was completely out of line for yelling at Micah. I was so angry that I left nearly in tears. At This point I am planning on writing the department of health about their less than friendly employees (this is only one of several experiences there).

Thanks for letting me vent a little.


My little trouble maker and his sure to be partner in crime :-)

Guess what? It's Ryan's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Ryan. I wan the whole world to know how wonderful Ryan is, it's really hard for me to be specific, I'm not very good at being gushy. All I can say he is a great husband, Friend and father. Happy Birthday Ryan.

For Ryan's Birthday we spent the day at home enjoying each others company and trying to enjoy General Conference. Micah woke me up bright and early, so we decorated our apartment and made a yummy stuffed french toast breakfast for Ryan. Micah keeps running up to Ryan saying, "guess what daddy?... It's your Birthday!"

How I spend my days

It isn't uncommon for people to ask me or other stay at home moms what we do all day. I wondered the same thing before I stepped into this role. And some days I still ask myself that same question (usually it is with a more exasperated tone "what did I do all day!?"). Thankfully, I have photos that serve as a great reminder of how I spend my time.

The photo booth pictures are from the last time Micah and I went to the Living Planet Aquarium. Micah and I spend a lot of time reading books, going to the park, playing with trains or building with his blocks. Micah is also a really great help around the house.

This is a photo shoot during tummy time with Sam. Sam and I spend a lot of time cuddling, looking at our reflection in the mirror, and babbling to each other. Sam loves to be a part of all the action going on around him, he is practically attached to my hip. :-)

My Sunbeams

I have more to post, which I will do soon, here are some fun pictures from the last week. :)

Sam reminds me of a Sunbeam, he is so cute!

Micah is in awe of the Washing Wamingment aka Washington Monument