Chinese

Almost three months ago I started a new job!

I have been teaching English to kids in China online from my home. 

It is through a fantastic company called Vipkid! 

They have over 70,000 students in China who are learning English from almost entirely American teachers. 

Pretty much how it works, is I have a profile that parents can look at and decide if they want me to teach their child a class. Then they book me and I teach their child a week or so later. If they like me then they will book me again and some will have me be their child's primary teacher. 

It took a little bit to build up students, but now I have several who primarily get lessons from me. 

It is seriously the most relaxed, wonderful, fulfilling job! 

Since it has to be when the kids are awake in China the peak times to do it are early in the morning here. I do 5:00 - 7:00 AM every weekday. Many teachers do a lot earlier than that though.

I honestly feel like I have found a diamond in the rough, incredible opportunity. 

I get to connect with these sweet kids half way around the world every day, all before my own kids wake up. 

It pays well for a stay at home job too! 

Being able to make money for a couple hours a day has already been so great for my family. 

It's been great in several ways, not just financially. I honestly think it has helped me be in a better mood overall. 

Being a stay at home mom is the best. 

It truly is.

I have several, if not dozens of moments every day where I stop and look at my babies and tell myself "I will never get this moment back with them." I am watching them grow and develop in all senses  of those words. I am being able to be right there. I wouldn't trade being a stay at home mom ever. 

Being home all the time with tiny humans is also pretty exhausting emotionally. 

Some days I just want to talk to other adults. Heck....some days I just want to talk to someone older than 5 years old! Ha ha ha ha.

Between the sweet, tender moments with my babies, my days are full of keeping up with the house and other things that would be considered pretty dang mundane. 

So much laundry!

So many dishes!

The toys that pierce my feet as I walk the mine field of my house never ends!

Among all of this repetitive, everyday stuff....

I had been feeling like I needed something for me.

And as weird as it is......

This job IS for ME!

It makes me so happy!

I absolutely love teaching.

In many ways it's a hobby for me more than a job. 

It has brought me out of bad habits like sleeping in or going to bed late. 

It has given me an energy boost to be up and ready for my cute babies every day. 

The children I teach every day are SO nice too! 

It's so funny seeing the difference in cultures. 

I've been around American kids as many different roles. 

I've been a teacher in public school.

I've been a mentor and friend at after school programs. 

I've been an aide in several different kinds of classrooms. 

I've been an at home therapist in dozens of homes. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the children I've worked with in person here. 

They are just different. The cultures are so diverse! 

Neither one is better than the other.

I think a big part of teaching English to these Chinese children is the fact that it is extremely important to the parents of these children that they learn English. They know it will better their futures. They know the impact it will have for them. Those feelings strongly trickle down to these kids. 

I've seen the youngest, littlest kids at 4 years old be so focused and determined to learn this language, because they know it's important. 

It's inspiring to me! 

Yes, there are some crazy, silly kids, but for the most part they have been some of the most respectful, polite, and attentive little things I've ever worked with! 

Done teaching my four classes! 

Mr. Boy usually wakes up right when I'm done writing my feedback everyday. He's such a good baby. I love love love him!

I feel so blessed to have this job!

Kids Kids Kids

Do you ever feel like your heart could explode from all the love you feel?

I've been feeling that way a lot lately.

My kids make me so happy.

They also stretch me to limits I didn't know I had! Ha ha ha.

They are both doing so well. I'm amazed all the time at new things they are learning.

Hunter is so cute.

He's been very needy lately, which probably has to do with two things....

His age.

And he's probably, most likely, maybe, possibly, really getting a tooth.

I think?

Who knows?

I mean, it KINDA looks like he is, but maybe I'm just willing it to look that way in my head.

Ha ha.

Either way, he's grumpy.

His six month appointment is tomorrow and I'm kinda nervous.

Nervous, mostly because I just don't want them to keep telling me "oh yeah, he's getting enough to eat it seems....well, he's NOT getting as much as he could, but it just seems like you're scooting by just fine."

I mean, obviously they don't say it like that....but that's the gist of what they say about his weight every time.

We are six months strong with breastfeeding and I have every single emotion about it.

I love it. I hate it. I want to be done. I don't want to be done. I don't think it's what is best for him. I think it is what is best for him. I would rather just do bottles. I can't imagine only doing bottles.

He's had 2 bottles every day of his life so far. But then the other 6....5....4....and now down to 3 other feedings have been breastfeeding.

For a long time he was at 6 feedings a day (2 bottles, 4 breastfeeding), BUT he was sleeping 10-11 hours at night, so do the math, he was eating every 2 hours during the day.

I was on the brink of who knows what, but it was bad!

Ha ha ha ha.

It was too much.

He's eliminated a feeding though and I finally feel like I can come up for air finally.

The problem is.....

He's still so little.

He had a fever a couple weeks ago that wasn't going away so we took him to the doctor and he weighed 12 pounds 2 ounces! At almost 6 months old! Ha ha ha ha

I know he was little to begin with, but I just want him to thrive!

He's supposed to be okay to go off the bottles after his six month appointment, which is another thing I'm nervous about.

Bahh....

I just don't know what to do.

Even though he's little, he's so strong and smart already.

I know, laugh that I just called my six month old smart, whatever. Ha ha.

He rolls everywhere, he is scooting more and more everyday. He pulls himself up when we're holding him.

He loves trying to figure out toys. And he likes throwing things on the ground to see what happens.

So far he's tried oatmeal, squash, banana (hated banana), and peas.

He's loved oatmeal the best. Squash is his second favorite, I think.

He's actually an extremely clean eater. Most of the time I don't even give him a bib!

I remember Grace getting handfuls of food and and smearing it all in her hair.

(Or lack of hair)

Hunter loves to dance and will laugh and laugh when Grace and I dance with him.

I can tell he's already a music lover. He gets so happy when we play music in our home.

He absolutely ADORES Jeff.

If he can see Jeff he'll reach for him or fuss until Jeff picks him up.

He laughs the most at Jeff and just is generally very calm and happy with him.

They are going to be good adventure buddies someday.

Miss Gracie Goo Eden is a silly girl.

She very much thinks she's the boss of the whole world.

I think a big part of that is because I have always given her choices.

Do you want apples or peaches?

Do you want to go to the store or park first?

What do you want to drink?

What toys do you want to take to Grandma's?

She almost always gets a say.

And before it was fine, cause she was little and didn't realize that there were 1,000 other choices a day that I was making for her.

.....but now she's starting to see all of these things getting decided and is definitely trying to add her opinion, hahahaha.

Her latest word is "option".

"Gracie want to know a option."

Hooray 3rd person.

Very age appropriate.

"Gracie have a two option!"

She also says "first" a lot too.

"Dinner first than watch a show! Woohoo!"

We've been doing pretty good with my goal of having less screen time.

She will still watch movies, but not as much as before. We've even had some days with no screen time at all! That usually only happens when Hunter takes good naps. He's been doing so much better with napping too. He will sometimes take two 2 hour naps during the day. And last night he slept 12 hours! He does pretty good most of the time.

Grace gets bored quite a bit, (which I'm blaming on my pure awesomeness......hahaha, jk....) cause she always wants me to play with her. I think a lot of that has to do with her cousin being at our house the first two years of her life too.

She'll often say to me: "I want do sumpin [something] fun!" or "Gracie do sumpin fun wit you!"

I've been trying really hard to let her be bored, because I know it's good for her in the long run to be able to think and not be constantly hooked up to something like a TV or phone.

Kids need imaginations!

She is a sweet girl, even though she does run the show most of the time.

She hugs us and tells us she loves us multiple times a day and on her own.

She tells us what makes her happy all day long.

"THAT MY FAVORITE!"

"Gracie love that song!"

"I like that too, Mom."

"That Daddy favorite, Mom? What Daddy favorite?"

"I need chocolate milk make me happy. Chocolate milk make me happy, Mom!"

She is a cute and funny girl, that's for sure!

She has been learning SO much as far as ABC's and early reading skills are concerned.

She loves anything that has to do with the alphabet. I think she probably can recognize half the letters so far.

The other day we were driving by Target and she pointed out the window and said: "A G!! I see a G! G like me! The same like me!"

She loves G for Grace!

6 Month Pics

Sleepy boy ready for nap

We found a white rock on our walk that she wanted to wash. She would live at the sink if I let her. She loves playing in water. 

Leaves as big as her face!

He's so precious!

Beautiful girl!

She has always slept like this! Her pinky is always like that on her cheek, haha. Funny girl. 

So happy about her pony from Grandma and Grandpa!

Flowers from Daddy!

Their faces look so similar here!

Love love love them!

All the People on Earth

Ever since I've been a mom I feel like I cry over everything.

My children do something cute...

Cry.

People get given stuff on Ellen....

Cry. 

I see a cute animal....

Cry. 

Haha :)

Yesterday during fast and testimony meeting there were several kids and youth that bore their testimonies and were making me bawl my eyes out. 

Our ward is unique, because it has a TON of youth and older elementary aged kids. I've never been in a ward like it. 

One of the cute girls, probably either 8 or 9 years old, that bore her testimony said: 

"I want to thank all the people on the earth, because everyone in the world decided to follow the Lord's plan and come here and get a body." 

I looked down at the sweet baby on my lap and it almost knocked the wind out of me realizing that he chose Christ. 

My tiny little boy wanted to come down to earth and experience all there is to learn and go through in this life. 

And then the same adorable little girl said: 

"And I know if we try really hard we can go and live with Heavenly Father again someday." 

I was losing it. 

We borderline needed a row boat and paddle, cause I think our aisle was getting sea worthy from my tears.

I squeezed my little baby and thought about how much God loves him. 

Him as an indiviual. 

My son. 

God loves him so much that he gave him the choice to come down here and live this life, and my son loved Him enough back that he accepted that. 

That little girl's sweet and pure testimony touched me very deeply. 

I know God lives and loves us. 

He'll never leave us.

We're the ones that leave Him from time to time. 

I'm grateful for the chance that we have to live with Him again. I hope I can teach my kids the right way to live up to that goal.

I'll be grateful everyday that both my babies chose Him and came to earth! 

Kids Rooms!

I seriously love little kids rooms!

I think they are so fun to decorate.

And admittedly my two kids rooms are the only ones in our house that are fully done and decorated. Hahahaha.

Everywhere else has pictures and what not on the floor, leaned up against where they are supposed to go.....but that's as far as they've gotten.

Grace LOVES her room! She is also extremely proud of it. She calls our house her "new pink house", purely because of her bedroom.

Grace's room ended up being lots of pink, princesses, and Minnie Mouse. Pretty much it's a pink Disney room! She loves loves loves everything Disney!

Walking into her room

Princesses!

Minnie bed, Little People castle, and baby doll gear. 

This shelf was here when we bought the house! It has lots of Disney figurienes and other decor. Grace loves using the word "decorations!" now, haha. She's cute. 

She seriously has soooooo many stuffed animals! She rotates through her favorites. Minnie and Skye are some of her favorite characters, so I put them up on the shelf as decorations. So far she hasn't asked for them down. I wonder if the fact that she has 3+ other Skyes and Minnies has anything to do with that.....haha.

Oh and of course her famous pink wall! She looooooves pink!

Collage!

Princesses, alphabet, wood block from her nursery, Minnie Mouse, G for Grace, her Precious Moments cross stitch, a picture of her blessing day, heart made out of flowers, picture of Christ, and a twinkle twinkle little star quote!

So funny story about this collage. Hahaha. I had almost everything on the wall except a couple last finishing pieces. So I took Grace to Hobby Lobby and we were looking mostly for a G for her name. That one you see in the picture was the first one we found. It is super glittery and Grace immediately hugged it and wouldn't let go. 

I was like.....oh great, it HAD to be a lower case g. I wanted capital to go with her name (maybe I'm the reason Grace is so particular, haha).

(My mom and husband are rolling their eyes right now).

So I kept trying to show her other ones, but she wouldn't change her mind. At one point I even told her she could get a second item with it if she picked the one I wanted! Hahahaha. 

I'm pathetic. 

She stuck with her original choice. 

It's very cute though, so it all works out.

Another castle/princess picture hiding in the background. She has told us that the castle picture and her G are her favorite things on the walls. :)

We love our princess girl!! 

Next is Mr. Hunter Boy!

His room is Winnie the Pooh!

Grace took a little figuriene that I had on Hunter's bookshelf and was like "look mom, take a picture of the decoration!" Haha

I made that temple string art while I was pregnant with Hunter.

I've done that with both of my kids so far. Grace has a temple wood block craft that I made while I was pregnant with her. 

Traditions like that are fun! I like being able to do something like that while I'm pregnant with my kids, it creates a special memory. 

I have always wanted my kids to each have a picture of the temple and a picture of Christ in their rooms. I love adding those elements into the decor!

These pictures and sayings are so cute and fun! So perfect for a baby! 

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart." 

"How do you spell love? -Piglet 

You don't spell it, you feel it. -Pooh"

"As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen." 

"Any day spent with you is my favorite day. So today is my new favorite day."

The single picture is his picture of Christ. :)

Hunter loves his Winnie the Pooh mobile above his crib! He gets so calm listening and watching it!

Soccer ball for Daddy's sake, haha. 

I made those pom poms in the corner! They turned out really cute. 

Jeff's mom makes cross stitches for all the grand kids when they are born. Hunter's is darling! I absolutely love it!

They played in Hunter's crib while I took pictures. :) Grace loves being in there. I guess it was HER bed for 2 1/2 years, so that makes sense. :) 

Ramblings

My life with two little babies....

This morning was my first day teaching for my new job (see last post for explanation) and I think both my kids knew it,  because for some reason they wouldn't go to bed last night! Hahaha

Grace got out of bed 3 times and Jeff had to go put her back down.  She NEVER does that. Like.....I literally can't remember a time besides when she was a tiny baby, younger than Hunter, that we have had to help her with sleep.

And Hunter,  who also usually just goes to bed, cried for Jeff and had to be rocked for about 45 minutes last night.  

So basically Jeff is the hero of all the world.  

What else is new? 

:)

My life! I love this girl.  She's soooooooo so....soooooo in the pushing buttons stage of toddlerhood. She tries to figure out what makes us mad and tight rope walks along that fine line most days.  The other day her aunt and uncle came over and babysat her and Hunter Boy and when we got home they said she was great and very obedient/well behaved.  I was like.....yeah,  for you!! Hahahaha. But I'm her mom,  so I don't get that luxury.  ;) 

She LOVES LOVES LOVES nursery at our new ward.  There are only 5-6 kids in her class as opposed to the 25 in our old ward.  She skips right in there and doesn't look back.  And she talks about it all during the week too. 

"I show my new pink house to my new church nursery???" She wants all the friends to come over,  I guess,  haha. 

We got these pictures done in a December and I don't think I ever shared them. So cute! Oh,  I just love these babies.  Maybe I'll do a post with all the single pictures, when I get the time.  

Hunter had solids for the first time last night!

He LOVED it! And Grace was so excited about it all day "Hunta have baby oatmeal for dinna!!!"

He even cried at one point because he wanted more.  He did a great job actually opening his mouth for the spoon. I was proud of him!

Power Struggle 1.0

Grace has been fighting taking a nap for awhile. It started with changing the name from "naptime" to "quiet time".  Now she's not liking quiet time,  so it's now supposed to be called "rest". 

We're not particular at all over here,  don't worry.  

Hahaha. 

She still needs a nap though, cause on days she doesn't take one she ends up falling asleep on the couch at 5:30 or she's just unbearably grumpy the rest of the night. 

She is pretty dang sweet when she's asleep though!

Hunter for sure prefers breastfeeding over bottles.  He always has. He still gets 2 bottles a day,  as prescribed by his doctor. 

Recently when he nurses he pauses every minute or even every 20 seconds and looks up at me. Hahaha. He does the biggest smile and then continues to eat. 

Oh my sweet baby. I love him. 

I want Grace to learn the alphabet,  so we've started doing activities like this.

We laid out her play mat one day and found a toy for every letter.

She was ECSTATIC about it the entire time!

She thought it was the most fun thing.

She's definitely the queen of quality time.

She actually knows more letters than I thought too. (Thanks Super Why) She knew L, M, P, O, and S.


Those are some snippets of our life! I'm almost done decorating the kids new rooms, and then I want to write a blog about those! We love our new house! We lead a pretty blessed life!

Hi 2017.

Oh hey 2017.

I guess I'm being cliche and making a post about my goals for this year.

But......!!!!

It's already the middle of January and most people have given up on their goals by now, so it's good I'm still thinking about it enough to write about, right?

Right.

I pretty much have a goal for every part of my life.

And honestly they aren't really huge goals.

They really just are about being better and more well rounded.

A couple of my goals for my family include:
-LESS SCREEN TIME FOR GRACE (I could scream for days, this goal is so important to me)
-Help Hunter reach all his milestones.  As a premature baby that sometimes can be concerning,  but so far he's rocking it! This will be a big year for him.  He'll learn to crawl,  walk,  talk,  eat food!
-Spend more time one on one with Jeff 😄
-Read the Scriptures. This one we aren't really saying "we WILL read every day", we just want to be better.  We know it'll help our home.
-Go to DISNEYLAND!!!

So the less screen time thing.

Let's talk about that.

I'm not against letting kids watch shows or tv. Obviously I've let my child do so.  But it's too much.

It's all she wants to do.

She begs and whines and cries ALLLLLLLL DAY to watch something.

It's her generation.

It's how their little brains are wired.

And once they get it enough then they think it's just the norm.

I want to start doing no shows/mom's phone/anything electronic before quiet time.

Our days are pretty structured as is, even before I'm trying to do all this tightening up. We eat,  sleep at all the same times every day.  So for her, "quiet time" (She doesn't like calling it naptime anymore) ends around 3:30.

I'm going to get a schedule in pictures drawn out for her so she can  see how our days go.

Because really, she wants to watch things because she's bored. She pretty much thinks if there's a lull in the day at all then she's bored and needs a show.

I think if she has a picture schedule she'll do better.

Anyways,  we'll be working on that this year.

Now that our lives have calmed down with having a baby and moving,  I think we can get more into a groove.

One of my bigger goals of the year is to do well at my new job!

Baaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

I have so much anxiety surrounding this.

I think mostly because I've been out of work for coming up on 3 years.

Three whole years.

Well,  really,  I work my tail off being a stay at home mom everyday,  but I haven't worked for a company for 3 years.

So I'm officially an independent contractor with an educational company called VipKid. They're based out of Beijing, China! All  of their offices and everything are over there.

So what will I be doing for them? Haha

I'm going to be teaching kids in China English from my home office here!

I'll be teaching them over a Webcam,  which is SOOOO different for me.

When I was talking to Jeff about it he kept reminding me that I have taught for lots of years and I have a lot of good experience, but seriously it's so different teaching over a camera! Haha

So it's an English immersion program where you teach one on one.  I think once I get used to it,  I'll love it.

Since you have to teach at a good time in China,  the times are actually very early morning here,  which is perfect,  because then I can teach before my kids wake up!

So nice!

I'm planning on teaching from 5:00-7:00 AM. Hopefully that won't end up being too early and tiring!

My first lesson is on Tuesday, so I'll find out! Hahaha.

Pretty much my goal with this new job is to just do a good job with it and enjoy it. And not to worry and freak out too much about it,  haha.

It'll be good. If I have any education friends that want to know more about it,  let me know! You have to have a Bachelor's degree to do it, but I think it's the perfect job for stay at home moms!

Other than those things I think my only other goal would be fitness and health related.

That's always everyone's goal,  right?

I haven't really decided what I'm doing,  I just know I need to do something!

I haven't done anything fitness related since Hunter has been born and it's catching up to me.

I feel like I gain all my weight AFTER the baby is born, hahahaha.

I really don't gain much weight when I'm pregnant for some reason.

I think this goal will make more sense and come to life as it gets warmer outside. I do so much better with those things when it's warm.

I'll keep thinking about it,  obviously,  but that one might go on stand by for a bit.

Well, I think those are pretty realistic goals for me and my family.

We kind of need a rebuilding year with how crazy 2016 was.

We need calm!

Which I feel like we never get....

But we're going to try!

Bring it on,  2017!

My Hunter Boy

Dear Hunter,

My sweet little boy.

I felt like I needed to write you a letter tonight.

Our lives are so busy.  And for what reason, I'm not really sure.

It's not like how it was when your sister was little.  When she was your age I could just hold her all day and love on her.

The most quality time we get is when I nurse you, and even then Grace is screaming, hitting, bugging me for attention.

I don't get a lot of time devoted to only you, because really....your sister is so loud.

Haha.

Oy.

She wants every last piece of my energy.

And she usually gets it.

You're so patient with me though, even through your tears sometimes.

I love how you immediately calm down when I pick you up and you lay your head on my shoulder.  Or how you'll snuggle into me and let me know I make you feel safe.

I hope I can always let you feel so loved.  Even when I'm yelling at your sister, because she literally just asked me for the thousandth time that day if she can watch a show.

Somehow we make it through.

You have the most tender smile.  I honestly think you're going to have the most kind heart as you grow up.  Your temperament already shows me that.

I think part of being a mom is feeling guilty a lot of the time.  Feeling guilty that you're not feeding your children the right things, or enough things.  Feeling guilty that you don't have enough patience with them.  Feeling guilty that you don't give them enough of your time or love.

I hope you never feel like I'm doing any of those things.  I hope you always feel like I'm enough.

I hope we'll always be best friends.

You are so loved.

Thank you for putting up with everything that it means to be in this family, including having an extremely needy sister.

We all love you more than you can imagine.
Love,
Mom