8 whole months…keep ’em comin’!
So another month has gone by and I am constantly amazed by how they are flying by! I find my free time disappearing and I’m wondering if there is some mathematical equation that spits out how much free time you have based on the number of kids you’ve got. It is hard to believe that my mom had 11 kids. As I think about my 2 kids and the differences between Lanette’s first 8 months and Parkers it keeps me humble. It helps me not judge other mothers of 3 or 5 or 6 kids ’cause you don’t really understand until it is your life being pulled 6 different ways.
Some times when I’m being sarcastic about some situation I’ll use the phrase “to each his own” (and those of you who knew me in my really sarcastic years will understand how truly sarcastic I can be) and chuckle thinking my way is the better way. I’m thinking maybe I can open my eyes a little and start saying with gusto “to each his own” in a I-have-no-idea-what-their-life-is-really-like way. And to Parker with his screams and giggles that rejuvinate me I say 8 months with you has been heaven – keep ’em comin’!! (I’m realizing that one of the best reasons to keep having kids is that you can always have a 7 or 8 month old and they are SO EASY to love! When the older one starts throwing tantrums it is nice to be able to know at least one of your kids will “quickly obey”!)
So here’s to Parker. I wish you could all get to know him ’cause he’s got many, many charms!
Whoo hoo!
Usually during the week my big outings are to the library, the park or the grocery store and you know what? I’m okay with that. This has been one of those weeks when I wonder if running around all over the place is really worth it. It has been a fun week even though my kids have been up before 6:15 EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING!!
Monday- my awesome parents brought us this piano. The best part about getting a piano from my parents? I don’t have to feel too guilty about being spoiled ’cause my dad got it at and auction for $50. (He got 2 actually and they gave the other one to my little sis and we happen to be the only 2 kids in the whole family who didn’t have pianos!) Even though I’m not the best pianist and neither is Aaron we are super duper excited about our new addition to the family (our neighbors maybe not so much….) and we are excited to have our kiddies grow up with a piano in our house! Oh, and we got to have FHE with my parents and Lanette was very excited to have Papa and Grandma there to decorate cookies for our treat!
Tuesday- my sister was in town from Tennessee to bring her oldest son to the MTC. 
Holey moley. I really did babysit this kid and now he is going on a mission to California! (He’s thinking that the first part of his mission will be mostly cleaning up after the fires.) He is the oldest grandkid and although it is nuts to have him go on a mission I’m thinkin’ it will be a LOT crazier when one of my neices or nephews gets married. Yikes. It’ll be here sooner than I think. Deosn’t she look good for having a 19 year old? We all had dinner together at the Brick Oven. Mmmm. I think I need another frosty mug of Rootbeer.
Wednesday- Aaron has a work party. Which was fun. Except for the part where I mistakenly let Lanette take her glow in the dark bracelet to bed. Tip for other out there – always take the toys away before bed NEVER, NEVER, NEVER wait until they have been in bed playing for the last 3 hours and your 7 month old is fast asleep. Seriously. She was still awake at 10:30 when we finally took the bracelet which brought on the wailing, which woke up Parker, which only stopped after we threatened to put her in the pack n’ play.
Thursday – (Did I start this with dear diary?) Normal day. The kids both took REALLY long naps. Thank goodness. I went to an emergent literacy class tonight. It was awesome and I think I’ll post some of the tips later.
Tomorrow? We have our ward fall party. Did I really want to dress the kids up in their Halloween garb twice in one week? Not really. Am I going to dress them up for a third time on Saturday to do trick or treating in downtown spanish fork? Heck ya! Isn’t it crazy how we’ll do just about anything to enjoy the holidays?
We took this picture last week at a combined FHE with my bro. and sis. and their families. Whoever thought up the idea of joining forces for additional family night fun was a genius. (Do you like how I’m holding my little twin and Aaron is holding his little twin?)
P.S. Today Lanette said “Best friend Daddy…Daddy you are my best friend”. Talk about adorable. Aaron asked me if I felt shafted. I said no, but I think I did a little bit – don’t worry though later in the day she said I was her best friend too! 🙂
Over the weekend
Well, some dreams don’t come true. You know how I was wanting good weather? Well, it SNOWED on Saturday. Every stinkin’ weekend lately has been cold! Luckily we were smart and didn’t go to the football game ’cause it was a blizzard in that stadium. However, we are back to beautiful sunny but cold weather (I mean what do you expect there is snow on all the mountains!).
********Kid’s Room Update*************
*I decided to make the blanket and pillows – the other side has a different pattern!*
*I pained her bookshelf too, but you’ll have to come over if you want to see it!*
A few posts ago I kept going on and on about decorating Lanette and Parker’s room. I just thought I’d post a few pictures of how it turned out. The dresser still needs new knobs, but that is the thing about living the life we’ve decided to live – the frugal one. I’ve come to a realization that I’m okay with – we’ll always be trying to cut back and trying to save up for things ’cause that means I get to stay home with my kids (and have more kids).
On Sunday in Relief Society I got to sing all the verses to the song “As Sisters in Zion”. It was a originally a poem by Emily Woodmansee and later it was set to music by Janice Kapp Perry. In our current hymn book we have 3 verses. The poem has 10!! I thought I’d post them because this song is one of my favorites.
*As sisters in Zion we’ll all work together; The blessings of God on our labors we’ll seek. We’ll build up His kingdom with earnest endeavor; we’ll comfort the weary and strengthen the weak.
*We’ll turn from our follies, our pride and our weakness, The vain, foolish fashions of Babel despise; We’ll seek for the garments of truth and of meakness, And learn to be useful and happy and wise.
*We’ll wear what is sensible, neat and becoming The daughters of Zion-the angels of light; We’ll work with a will, while the angels are scanning Our aims and our actions from morning till night.
*We’ll bring up our children to be self-sustaining’ To love and to do what is noble and right’ When we rest from our labors, these dear ones remaining Will bear off the kingdom and “fight the good fight”.
*Nor shall our attention be wholly restricted To training our children or shaping our dress; The aged, the feeble, the poor and afflicted, our labors shall comfort, our efforts shall bless.
*The Lord hath established the cities of Zion, The poor of His people are trusting in Him, He makes us a source for His poor to rely on’ Oh! Shall we not brighten the eyes that are dim?
*Oh! Shall we not hasten to soothe the condition Of the humble, the needy, the honest and pure? Oh! Let us remember, whate’er our ambition ‘Tis our duty, our mission, to comfort the poor.
*The errand of angels is given to women, And this is a gift that, as sisters, we claim: To do whatsoever is gentle and human, To cheer and to bless in humanity’s name.
*How vast is our purpose, how broad is our mission, If we but fulfill it in spirit and deed. Oh, naught but the Spirit’s divinest tuition Can give us the wisdom to truly succeed.
*Repeat verse 1 as the last verse.
COOL HUH?
wishin’ and hopin’
After hearing my friend Annie talking about the scorching weather in Arizona I’ve decided 
that I am very grateful for seasons. Especially for Fall. I love it when you can comfortably wear a light jacket, when the leaves start to change colors and when the upcoming excitement of holidays gets you outta bed in the morning. Oh, and when it cools down enough that I can whip out the hot chocolate without strange stares from my hubby. There are few things better than Stephen’s Hot Chocolate, pumpkin bread, and the best part of football season. I really, really, like all the candy at Halloween (and for some reason, carving pumpkins is still fun…. If you want to carve an virtual pumpkin go to this site.), the pies at Thanksgiving, and all the peppermint stuff at Christmas.
That being said – I feel like winter is trying to get the jump on fall this year and I’m starting to feel like I need to put my foot down. I feel like it finally started to cool down and then it went straight to freezing! I mean it did SNOW the last weekend in September. Geesh.
What do you love about fall or the changing of seasons? I have to admit that after a long (or short) winter nothing feels better than those first few weeks of warm weather when everything starts to turn the springy color of green.
BTW, have you been to the dollar store lately? Aaron takes Lanette there a lot for their Daddy/daughter dates. She is in heaven. I know their stuff is cheap, but I don’t mind it if a toy breaks when it only cost a dollar! There were so many cute things that Aaron, my AARON (who chastises me for talking about Christmas before December) actually mentioned that some of these things would make cute gifts for a 12 days of Christmas for Lanette. Do you think doing the 12 days of Christmas is a good idea for kids? Have you ever done it? I’m thinking I like the idea.
Things I love about a small town…
Weiser, Idaho is a small, small town. It boasts a population of about 5,000, but there are lots of things I love about Weiser. Here are a few things…you can see the stars at night, a little place called Jebs where you can get the best soft serve twist cone, and a friendly wave from anyone who passes you out in the country. There are lots of other things and there are quite a few things that I hate about a small town (mostly that we don’t have a Wendy’s and I just gotta have a frosty every once in a while!).
Technically where we live isn’t really a small town to me, but with about 20,000 people it is small to Aaron. Plus, after the other places we’ve lived it does seem small town-ish even to me. Since we’ve lived here we’ve gone to a couple of city sponsored events and we’ve had a blast! Last weekend we stopped by the city activity and it was so fun! We didn’t wait in long lines, we didn’t park a million miles away and we didn’t have to fork out a load of cash! Lanette got to go through a hay bale maze, play in a little pumpkin patch, make a fall leaf craft, have a free donut and see a pony! I wish we could have stayed longer ’cause there were even more cute things. Do you take advantage of the activities in your town? Or are you too cool? 🙂 Thank goodness Aaron is fascinated by anything small town! Is it weird that I hope we settle down in a smaller town? Do you have a town size or city size preference?
No one told me that once Lanette started wanting to do EVERYTHING by herself that I would learn the true definition of tantrum! We’ve had some very interesting experiences lately (think being late for everything to holding her screaming in the parking lot of the movie theater!) because we helped her with something she wanted to do by herself. How do you deal with that? Do you have any tantrum tips for me? We’ve already implemented the “start-getting-ready-30-minutes-before-you-need-to-go” rule. And we’re doing our best with the “ignore it” idea. I guess I’ve discovered that I’m the one who has a hard time learning…I keep forgetting that she has to buckle each velcro strap on her shoes (Do you think it will hurt her feet if she always wears her shoes on the wrong feet?) and that she can put on her own shirt-but she needs my help to take it off! Once she gets it down a little bit more I think it’ll probably be a blessing…but there are some big bumps on the way.
Surprise!
You may have been thinking that I was taking a little blogging break, but really I was just wrapped up in planning and executing a super-duper birthday for my hubby! Aaron turned 29 on Wednesday and although he is insisting that he is only 25 I like that he is 29…’cause it means that I’m only 26!
*we had the real cake at the surprise party*
I have to say that I’m SO glad to have it all over and done with! Not because of all the work, but because I’m sick of keeping a secret from Aaron! I wanted to make this year a big one because next year we will be in Logan, UT away from (well, relatively) friends and family. So planning for this year’s birthday kinda morphed into planning a big bash as though he were turning 30. Anyway, I never realized how hard it was to keep all the surprise stuff quiet. First, I had to make sure that I still planned enough stuff that he wouldn’t be thinking “man, what a lame b-day”. Second, I had to do all the calling and getting stuff ready while he was gone (read- with 2 kids in tow). Third, I had to get him into the house at the right time without letting on that I had alterior motives or that I didn’t have my house key (’cause my sis. had it so she could let people into the house and decorate!). Everything worked out wonderfully and he was super surprised…so I guess I’m pretty good at being deceptive! 🙂
*If you didn’t know…catch phrase is Aaron’s favorite game*
*The theme was a BYU tailgate party! BYU beat UNLV 24-14….Go Cougars!*
Along with pizza, soda, chips and birthday cake we had french dip (the decoy dinner really helps throw them off the “scent”). Even if you don’t really like french dip…you’ll love this recipe!
Crockpot French Dip
Roast, thinly sliced (at macey’s they’ll slice it that way for free)
2 cans Beef Consomme
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
hoagie rolls
***slap everything but the bread into the crock pot and cook on high 5-6 hours. Serve on hoagie rolls (I like to toast them first) and dip in the extra “sauce”. So easy and ooohh soo good!
Babies on the brain
It seems like half the people I know are prego or wish that they were pregnant. Parker is only 7 months old, but sometimes I think being baby hungry is contagious. Don’t read into that comment…I’m not ready for baby #3, but now that the ball is rolling the topic isn’t that frightening. I think the reason wanting babies is contagious even to those of us who have kids is ’cause we can’t help but remember all the great times. For example, when I hear about a newly pregnant lady I start thinking about what it was like to be pregnant for the first time – all the excitement, all the newness, and of course all the firsts. Does it seem like the older you get the fewer firsts you have? And why are those firsts so sentimental? Do you have babies on the brain?
Parker had a first lately. He started kneeling in his crib. Lil’ stinker. 🙂
Family
I love conference weekend. Especially the time we get to spend with family. This weekend I got some much needed girl time with my mom and little sister. We walked around the South Town Mall and the highlight was definitely the carousel ride. Also on Friday night we took Lanette bowling for the first time – it has a hoot! Enjoy the pictures!
Have you thought about it?
When Parker was a few months old we went and got some pictures of him and one of our family. Because he was so little I didn’t want to do a big family picture just and 8×10. BUT, ever since then I’ve been thinking about / planning our next big (11×14) family picture. I like the idea of getting a new 8×10 every christmas unless you have a new kid and then you get an 11×14. Is this confusing anyone or is it just me? You’ve all heard this a lot, but I used to work and kiddie kandids and as hard as I tried I could resist buying into the idea that pictures make the best gifts – at least for grandparents. I mean really – what do you get your parents for christmas that they don’t already have / or they don’t really need. However, no grandparent can resist cute pictures of their kids/grandkids. So this is the time of year to start thinking about those gifts. Especially since sometimes it takes a while for pictures to come back from the studio. I know it isn’t christmas yet, but have you started thinking about it?
I’ll admit that I have. I’m sort of a holiday junkie. I’m not really thinking about Halloween ’cause I planned out their costumes a month ago! 🙂 Aaron makes me swear not to talk to him about holidays until we are in the month of the holiday. I think it is because the little kid in him doesn’t want to get too excited.
Back to the picture idea. The biggest pain about getting pictures taken is picking out what the family is going to wear. (I’m sure half of you just shuddered ’cause this is probably the reason that you don’t have a recent family photo!) I like to try and pick a theme. One year we did black on us and leopard on Lanette. Once we did spring colors – pink, purple and green. Once we did cream, blue, tan and pink. Of course, if you decide to go with a black and white or Sepia then you don’t really have to worry about colors just whether you are doing patterns or solids. I am a big fan of color family portraits – why? Because kids are so cute. When Aaron and I got a picture of just us (in the pre-kid era) we did it in Sepia and whoo wee did Aaron look hot. Still, I like color. So I’m going with various browns and textures for this years look. Cross your fingers that it turns out okay.
BTW, do you know how hard it is to find something brown for a little boy? I looked at Target (only a hoodie and we are doing a little dressier pic), Old Navy, and TJ Maxx (I found a onsie in 12M…it may have to work, but I’m still searching!)
I know getting family pictures is a big headache, but I’m tellin’ ya it is worth it! Be honest – how many of you have a kid who hasn’t been included in a family picture?? So, when you start thinking about Christmas (ahem) maybe a family picture isn’t such a bad idea. It takes all the guesswork out of what to get the grandparents.
Did you know?
Parker is 7 months old!!
Funny Things 
