hAhAhA...like I will keep up ;)

Okay so the life of a mommy is a beautiful and wonderful experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, but it is also a super busy one where you come last. I am okay with coming last but I obviously am so not staying caught up on my daily blogging.

My poor kids all got sick with something which didn't last long at all for my boys. My poor sweet princess on the other hand is having a very difficult time getting over this. She has had a pretty constant fever at about 100.8 for the last three days. I have gotten it down to 99 a few times but it won't stay down. At least it hasn't gotten any higher then 100.8. I have kept her oiled up and sleeping as much as possible and I even moved the diffuser into her room. My poor little thing though. It makes me sad :( You can even tell how yucky she feels. I am hoping by the weekend we can kick whatever it is. If not we are doctor bound because I am not going to put it off until things get really bad!

So onto being thankful. Yesterday the last day of February...I am thankful for the chance I had to go to subway and get a februany. To bad Subway doesn't carry it through March maddness right. Maybe we should suggest that to them. I love that Subway does the 5 dollar footlongs because it is pretty healthy and I can use it for two meals. You just really can't complain when you pay 2.50 for one meal in my opinion. Probably a funny thing to be grateful for but there is so much junk out there to choose from that I find it very nice to have a decent place to stop at when you are busy running around with 4 kids.

March 1- I am thankful for the movie I watched today. It was a great movie and it was nice to watch something that didn't disappoint. The Odd Life of Timothy Green is such a sweet movie. If you have not seen it I would suggest watching it. I really like finding movies that I would feel great about having my kids watch and this was one of them. I don't feel like there are a lot of movies like that anymore. It is kind of sad to say that, but in my opinion very true. A lot of people think I am so crazy to no want my kids to watch certain movies or certain video games. A constant statement "they are going to learn it eventually anyways" or "it is the world we live in." My reply to those people is one why is that an excuse to thrust it upon them at a young age and better yet should they really learn such poor behavior from their parents. I think it important to teach your children how to handle themselves in this world and to tell them of the dangers out there. I also find it important to teach them about nature and some of that is sad, but I think those things are important. I don't however feel my letting them watch crude television or games is in any way going to prepare them for those things. All it teaches is violence and poor standards. I want my kids to know how to protect themselves and stand up for themselves not how to start the problems. Sorry end of rant.

I am also thankful for my diffuser and all the oils I have available in my home. As I mentioned above my poor sweet girl is sick but having the diffuser in her room has made a world of difference. I am glad we also have so many oils to combat so many different things so that if one oil is not working I can choose another.

Why Hello :)

So grateful today that I got to see my Daddy! I may have only been able to see him for a little while, but it was so nice to get to chat with him about how life is going. I have missed my parents like crazy since we moved back to Cedar City. Don't get me wrong I love Cedar City, but I do miss all the people I love back in West Valley. It is hard to go from being close to family and seeing them whenever you want to moving 4 hours away again. I am a lucky girl to have such an amazing dad. He was always there for me and supported me always. I love watching one of my dance videos and you hear him yell "Go Bear!" Hearing that makes me smile everytime. I am lucky to know how much my dad loves me. I am also super lucky to have had a dad who was good to not only me but my mom as well. He showed me how a man should treat his wife and children and I have to say I chose someone who is great to us. I am so thankful that I had such a great example that has allowed me to have such a great life! I love you so much Daddy!

moving RIGHT along..

Okay so today I had an idea of what to right about and be thankful for and todays events have created more things to be thankful for. I was worried at one point along this challenge that I might have a day where I struggled with finding something to be thankful for and worried about repeating anything. Honestly though I could still possibly have that problem but I feel it is highly unlikely. For one, there are so many things to be thankful for. Two, can you ever really be to thankful for a person? Lastly, there are like a million reasons to be thankful for just one thing. At least that is how I am feeling now but we are only to the end of February and my challenge is running through October. I have enjoyed the "Attitude of Gratitude" this has always created. I think it is a positive head space to live in and I enjoy how it effects the rest of my life!

Okay so I was going to just write about how thankful I am to my husband. He is so romantic. Yesterday he just showed up with a dozen white roses just because he loves me. Is that not the sweetest thing ever? I am glad that he brings me flowers because he loves me and not because he feels like he needs to apologize or suck up. I love that he wants to surprise me and even more then that I love that he chose white roses. The reason for that is because the first high school dance we ever went to together he brought me a dozen beautiful white roses. I know cheesy right. I don't mind if people think that though. I love my husband so much and I could not be happier or luckier to have such a wonderful loving man in my life. Thank you Geoffs for just being you and loving me for me!

The other thing I was not expecting today was a blessing from our favorite doctor ever, Doctor Newman. In our house we love Dr. Newman. The boys look forward to seeing him and he is always so willing to listen to and explain whatever we need him to. We have been going to Dr. Newman since before Ian turned 1. Needless to say we all get along pretty well. He is also the doctor who took care of Owen and Dessa before they were ever born. We trust him and are so glad to have that amazing of a doctor! Today I had to go into the doctor. I am not currently uninsured, but I had no choice. He made sure that the visit was not to stressful on our family finances which I am beyond grateful for. Words cannot say how grateful I am to him for taking the time to care that much for our family. If everyone was lucky enough to have a doctor like him then kids would never hate the doctors office! Thank you Dr. Newman for being such an awesome doctor.

failed...

Just as I managed to get caught up I miss a day...go figure.

Okay so yesterday I had one of those moments that you can't help but be grateful for. As anyone who really reads my blog (which is like no one) knows I love my kids! They are my whole life and whole world. I wouldn't change my life at all. I gave up a lot of what I use to do and enjoy to take on being a mom, but it was well worth it. I eventually will get back into those things I know that so what is 18 or so years to enjoy such a sweet time raising such beautiful children for the world. I know they will move on and have their own lives and hopefully they are happy ones full of love and I pray that I will get to be a huge part of their life still, but I also know when they move on that I will be sad. I have no doubt that I will need something to do with all my time when that comes around.

Anyways sorry for the long introduction...There are so many sweet moments that I get to witness of my sweet babies alone and together. I am so grateful that I have a camera around to capture some of those beautiful moments. I really need to get pictures up on my blog but who knows when I will manage that. I am just so glad I can take pictures and get them printed. That I can share pictures with my family online and that I have them to hang on my walls!

Feb 25- I am so grateful that my little Owen bug is so willing to sit down and play fun educational games with me. Due to his delay in speech I put in a lot of time trying to help him catch up now that he can hear. Honestly thinking about the fact that it has only been a year come the 28th that he could really hear my little boy has made leaps and bounds. I know that is because he such a happy hard working little guy. He does enjoy the new games we make up to learn our colors and the fun little activities we pull out. I love that he is so willing to try. It is an amazing thing to watch a childs drive and determination. I am so lucky to have my sweet little boy!

iS iT oDd To Be GrAtEfUl

Have you ever had those days where life just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Well today is one of those. We went to a beautiful funeral today and listened to many people who cared for this man that passed away and heard how he had come so far in his life and was on the right path just to be taken from us all to soon. Isn't that just crazy!?

This week has been an interesting one as I have almost felt guilty to be happy, hungry, or grateful. How can I do all of those things when my friends lost their son. I have come to a realization where we must move forward in a positive way or we are wasting our lives which is not what anyone would want us all to do.

I am happy to say today that I am so grateful that my friends family is doing well. Yes they are heart broken and sad, but they are also in a way at peace because of their faith and they are full of love. The services today were a perfect send off to their precious son. It was such a wonderful thing to see them with a positive outlook even in a time of such pain. I love them all so very much and will continue to pray for them as they work to move forward in their own lives!

Not so Speedy Update

Okay so here it goes...
Since we moved Aiden has managed to read up to a fourth grade level and then he got switched to the Dual Immersion so he is now reading both English and Spanish. He loves the program and does come home and say some of the words he has learned. I love the most when I see him pull out the Spanish homework and he says "Mom, I know what to do." He is so confident and I love that. I hope that he gets to stay confident in both himself and school. He is such an amazing boy and a huge blessing. He is a great big brother as well. He has his moments, but then don't we all.

Ian up north was skating along in school. Since moving back to Cedar my sweet boy has been doing a lot better in school just in regards to class behavior. School work wise he came down into his class with no great handwriting. He has an amazing teacher who works with him at school and between her work and mine on pushing him to "do his best work" he has come so far in such a short amount of time. He has such a fun personality and though he still is clueless sometimes he is pushing himself to achieve more. I am so proud of my little guy and all that he has accomplished so far. He also has grown as a brother. He is a lot better at paying attention and playing careful. I have watched his love for his siblings grow as he has started to pay more attention to the world around him instead of being in his own bubble. I am so proud of him and I love him more then I could ever say. I will share one of my scary mom moments....

Ian rides the bus to and from school and has been doing so for about 2 months now. We have never had a problem until...
That one day :)
Ian gets off the bus with a little boy who lives across the street. I am a weird mom and I am usually outside when the bus drops them off but not quite to where the bus stops. So about 2 weeks ago Ryder gets off the bus and I wait for am minute and there is no Ian. I asked Ryder if Ian was on the bus at first he said "No." I thought okay he just stayed at the school and now we have to go pick him up. I hope he is okay and not freaking out. Then Ryder looks back up at me and says, "yes, he was." By then the bus had started to drive forward. I was freaked out a little but started to run after the bus. The bus had one more stop on our street so I started trying to wave the bus down when it stopped. I had no luck and the bus drove off. At that point I wanted to just sit down and cry as I couldn't catch the bus and who knew where my son was going to end up. I didn't because I wanted my son back so I ran to the top street hoping to catch the bus before it left our neighborhood. I did talk to the bus driver and he had said he dropped little kid off on our street and that the kid looked like he knew where he was going. So I started running back home. The bus driver had looped back around and dropped Ian off by our house. When I saw Ian I was so relieved and I did break down and cry and I think everyone here thought I was a little crazy, but I am so glad that my sweet Ian made it home to me. I have said a few times since then make sure you get off the bus with Ryder and so far we have not had any more problems. I hope it stays that way!

My little Owen bug. He is such a fun little guy, but oh boy is he a little spit fire. Part of me can't get made for him being a little wild, because it has been part of the development that he missed that first little while when he couldn't hear. I am so glad to see him grow and learn new things all the time. I am so glad that I stepped up and had him checked when he wasn't talking. He has been delayed by that, but now that he can hear he is catching up quickly. The only thing he is still  working on is self help skills which seem to improve on a weekly basis and his speech. The boy has caught me off guard a time or two because he will just all of the sudden say something so clearly that he couldn't say days ago. It is an amazing thing to watch him learn these skills and put them together so fast. In an odd way I am kind of glad he was delayed and that it is fixable. It is very interesting to watch a little bit older of a child pick up skills that such young "babies" have. It is amazing how the brain works honestly and the order things are suppose to fall in. I enjoy watching Owen bond with his sister and to learn not only how to talk and do all of those things, but how to become a big brother and a kind boy. I love him more then I could say. He is a spit fire and will give us a run for our money but the fun and loving moments will always be in more abundance!

Sweet little Dessa...
My little girl is still little, but she has grown a lot. It is funny to see such a tiny thing with such mature gestures and behaviors. I am in love with this little girl. Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he sent her precious soul to our home. All of us love her and our family wouldn't have been complete without her. Little miss Dessa is not a big fan of the baby stuff and wants to be as big as she can be. We sit her at the table in her booster seat which is where she wants to be. She will hold her hands up for you to put the tray on and wait until it clicks before she puts them down. She doesn't like the walker at all, and loves to crawl back to the boys and play in the room with them. She will crawl on their beds and just sit and laugh with them or at them while they are being crazy. She still won't walk on her own, but she did take a step today all on her own so I think that is coming along! She is full of personality and has a cheesy little grin which isn't shocking because personality seems to be big around here. Then again would you really want it any other way? I know I wouldn't. As much personality as she has she has a sweet heart. She is still cuddling me. She is a mommy's girl big time and I am so not complaining. She is so calm and quiet most times and just wants to sit on you and cuddle. It is nice to have one calm one. I am not holding my breath that it will last though. Not with crazy brothers like hers. :)

We are so blessed to have such amazing children and our lives would be pretty dull if we didn't have them around. They are our greatest blessing and such special gift from God. I love being a Mom and I know nothing else in my life will give me as much joy as these sweet spirits do. That being said I am also beyond lucky to have such an amazing and loving husband.

Aarron is an awesome dad. They love him so much and you know that he loves them as well. He is kind and loving and so willing to help them learn. He is such a hardworker. He doesn't always love everything that goes along with his job but he does it anyway. He puts in the time when he doesn't want to and when I don't want him to either simply because it needs to be done. He is such a caring person and applies that to his job. I love to see the man that he is on a daily basis. He is still working at Chrysalis and already making a difference in the house. He is good at what he does and I believe it is because he cares about the people he works with and wants the best for him. I am so blessed to have such an amazing example in my life for my children and myself. We have grown a lot as a family and individuals in the past 7 years and I look forward to seeing how we have grown in the years to come.

If you read through this I hope you weren't bored to tears, but it is important to me to keep track of this journey we are on and to express my overwhelming love for the beautiful people who bless my life. I love them all if you couldn't tell...I love them more then I could ever say to them so I will do my very best to always show them how important they are to me :)

Jibberish??

I am so grateful today to have wonderful friends to talk with. It has been good over this last week and the trials it has put on so many of the people I care about to get out and talk through our feelings and about what is going on in each others lives. It is so nice to have people to share the good and the bad with. People who love you and understand and are right there with you. I can't really say I have understood everything that has come about or why it has had to but I do know with all my heart that Our Savior and Heavenly Father do love us unconditionally and that they are right there with you to touch your heart and heal it and to hold your hand and guide you through all those tough moments that life does present. I am grateful to have had those moments in the week where I know my testimony has been strengthened and where I have also had the opportunity to come to terms with my friends death. This year was especially hard as I just turned 25 and he died at 25. I also have a weird perception on time now because Aiden was born just weeks before my friend died so 7 years seems so fast when I think about Aiden, but then I think about Brian and 7 years seems so long. I know he is in a good place and that we will meet again.

All of that being said my friends did lose their son on Monday and he happens to be 25 and his younger brother just turned 17 which is how old I was when I lost my friend. It definately made me confront a lot of what I had not yet done after he died. I think I had not allowed myself more because I didn't know how to. I had just become a mom and I was in a whole new situation trying to figure out how our lives needed to go, and because Aiden was sick my focus was not on grieving. I am heartbroken for my friends and there loss. I wish they didn't have to hurt so much and that there was something I could do, but I cannot. I am glad to say I have walked away from this week healed from one hurt and that even in the midst of a new pain I know that we have a forever and that "it's all good." I am praying that my dear friends can heal now and I will continue to pray that they have the love of our Savior to help them through such a rough time. Honestly rough doesn't seem to cut it in my mind but it is the best I can do as I don't think words describe what they are going through.