Logan's Blessing

Earlier in October we blessed Logan at our church!

There is nothing greater than having all the people you love crammed in to one place to celebrate life's events.

Especially celebrating a tiny baby.

We had all of our family - parents, grandparents, siblings (minus a couple that live far away), and nieces and nephews there. Plus our ward family.

We have such a great church group. We have great friends there and lots of support. Our ward radiates love.

Jeff gave Logan an excellent blessing. The resounding thing that I felt from Logan's blessing was that he is meant to serve in the church. I hope he always gladly serves God and His children. I can already tell from his sweet spirit that God has sent him to us at this time for a reason. I know he's meant to be right where he is!

Brothers. I love that they'll always have each other as friends. 

It was testimony meeting in Sacrament meeting that day and my eyes couldn't stay dry.

Just thinking about my testimony and the future of this sweet baby had me all over the place with my emotions.

I thought about going and bearing my testimony, but then my friend bore hers and that had me crying. Then Jeff's grandpa bore his testimony and there was no way I could even say anything that made sense after that. Haha

I was a complete emotional mess from then on.

I am blessed to have wonderful grandparents through Jeff. They love each of their grandchildren, great children, and those who marry their grandchildren so much. We were grateful to hear grandpa's testimony that day.

Days like this feel like a piece of heaven. It makes me so grateful for the temple. I know that my family will be together forever, because of God's plan for us. I know we can be a forever family, because Christ loved us enough to die for us. How blessed are we, because of that Atonement and plan of salvation? So blessed! 

Handsome boy!

He wore the same blessing outfit that Hunter AND Jeff wore when they were blessed!

We had our families over to our house after which was fun! Grace was large and in charge telling all the cousins how we operate in our house. Hahaha. 

We appreciated all the food everyone brought. It was fun having all those people here. 

Through all the crazy busy times in life, I look forward to times like this where time slows down and we can enjoy everything that God has blessed us with. 

So lucky they are mine. 

Strong Genes

The little girl and little boy versions of me. Hahaha

Hunter looks like Jeff, and these 2 look like me. 

2/3

I guess my genes are more dominant. 

Sorry Jeff. :)

I actually think Logan looks a lot like my grandpa. 

But I don't think I look like my grandpa. 

But I think Logan looks like me. 

So there ya go.... 

Hahaha.

They are so sweet. 

It's weird having clones. I have written about this before. 

Grace is my clone in all ways. 

She thinks it's her way or the highway....

Probably my least favorite way she is like me, haha. 

She LOVES her favorite things with a crazy, weird passion. 

Probably my favorite way she's like me. 

She's at a tricky age to be my clone. 

My mom has told me that my hardest age was 4. I think Grace might be copying that in some ways. 

She's just learning how to live this crazy life. 

She wants me to be a part of every little thing, but also doesn't me to have anything to do with it. Learning to be independent sparks those feelings.

One thing is for sure.... I love watching her grow! 

She is learning new things all the time. She brought home some things from preschool today that I wanted to share. 

I laughed out loud at this. Hahahaha. SOOOOO cute! All the heart eyes for preschool. 

This also made me laugh! I asked Grace about it and she was kind of embarrassed about it, so I didn't push it. Haha. 

I think this is adorable. I told Grace I wanted to save it for our Halloween decorations and she said "no! It has to go on our wall right now!"

Being a mom is so tiring, but MORE than that it is phenomenally worth it. 

I'm seriously in awe of my Gracie Goo. She fills my heart with the craziest joy and worry and happiness. 

I am so proud that she is MINE! 

I love her and her brothers so much.

Sequoia Trees

Yesterday we had a regional conference for church. 

President Ballard was the presiding general authority there. 

I loved his talk! 

And I can mostly say that, because 3 of my family members were out in the hall, not distracting me, and I could actually listen to him.

In fact, his talk may have been the only one I heard. Hahaha

Logan and I enjoyed it. 

One thing he talked about was a story of some Sequoia trees. 

I have been to Sequioa National Park twice in my life. Once with my family when I was younger and again 5 years ago when Jeff and I went together. 

Sequoias are the biggest trees in the world! 

There is NO WAY you can visit them and not be influenced by their greatness. 

They are SOOO big!

Obviously they left an impact on me, because I decided to take Jeff there when we went to California for my graduation trip.

So why was President Ballard talking about Sequoias? 

He made an analogy between these beautiful trees and members of the church. 

Sequoias don't burn. They can't be eaten by bugs. 

They can live for over a thousand years! 

They are VERY resilient. 

Likewise, strong members of the church can appear very resilient as well. We can have a good testimony, we can be doing good things in our life, we can appear to be very strong. 

President Ballard went on to tell a story about some Sequoia trees that were planted down at BYU. 

One of them died! 

How is that possible? These trees are made to last hundreds and HUNDREDS of years.

That Sequioa died, because the water line that had previously been sustaining it was pushed and moved when the campus went to construct a new building. 

It died due to lack of water. 

There are so many ways that we can dehydrate ourselves from living the way the Savior would want us to live. There are so many ways that we can spiritually die.  

President Ballard talked particularly about letting too many negative influences slowly creep into our lives.

Seemingly stalwart and steady members of the church can leave due to those influences taking their spiritual water away. 

This has happened to several people I care about. 

Listening to President Ballard gave me a renewed conviction to maintain and strengthen my faith in Christ. 

We actually have to WORK at keeping our spirituality watered... or it can slip and fall so easily. 

Especially with the shouting and craziness that the world has to offer, it's so easy to listen elsewhere. 

Social media is blaring in our faces however much we let it do so. That influence can bog us down so quickly. 

I know that I need to fortify my faith and be strong, so my family can be strong. 

I have little souls depending on me. 

Jeff and I are excited to implement the Come Follow Me curriculum in our home next year. 

I have felt like this new program will be SO beneficial to my family. 

It will be extremely good for ME as a mother. 

I know God lives. 

I cannot stare at the grandeur of His creations and think otherwise.

I know my Father in Heaven wants me to be happy. I know that He has given me every reason and every way to be SO happy. 

Because of Jesus Christ we can be happy. We can be forgiven. We can be saved. To me that means security. What else is going to bring more peace? 

I am so grateful for inspired leaders of the church who are a mouthpiece for God. They tell us what He wants for us. 

How incredible is that? 

Give Me All the Flailing 2 Year Olds

This is my current situation.

So hey, why not blog?

We went to the Treehouse Museum today and had lots of fun!

 My kids had LOOOONG attention spans, which was weird. I found MYself saying: "uhhh, lets move along."

I was the one getting bored.

Hahahaha

That's good though. Let those creative juices flow, children.

It was nearing naptime so I told the kids 5 more minutes. They were playing in the tools section and both wanted the electric drill. It was Hunter's turn with the drill as time drew near us needing to go.

I was negotiating my life away with Grace, as per usual, and had my back to Hunter.

I turned to tell him time to go and he had the drill in his mouth! *shocked face emoji*

Oh my no....

No no no nooooooo....

Germs germs germs!

Hunter noooo!!

Do you know how many children have touched that? OR also put it in THEIR mouth!?

Help me.

There is one thing for sure, though, Hunter does NOT like getting in trouble.

He instantly started crying, before I could appropriately tell him to stop.

Poor kid.

I pulled out all my knowledge of how to handle 2 year old meltdowns and the situation wasn't resolving. He was screaming:

"play! Mom move! Plaaaay! No Mom, no! Play me play meeee!"

It ended up being a "throw him under my arm like a sack of potatoes and hope he doesn't kick the baby strapped to me" situation.

We stopped at the bathroom to wash ALL of our hands, which I do every time, not just when I'm ultra germ conscious.

Hunter ended up getting water completely down one side of his shirt.

More wailing. More flailing.

It's naptime, people, move faster.

Oy.

The crying continued to the car. After I threw him in and started taking care of the baby, I heard another fellow mom from a couple cars down yell over to me:

"I want you to know that you're a good mom!"

In that moment I paused and realized that I maybe should have been more frazzled by the whole situation than I was.

I appreciated that sweet lady saying that, don't get me wrong. Moms need to stick together and encourage each other. I ALWAYS need to hear kind words like that.

I think I wasn't too shaken up by it, though, because I have lived that scenario several times before.

If you haven't high tailed it out of a public place with a screaming toddler, you probably don't have children, haha.

Just another day in paradise, my friends.

Thus, we come to the title of this blog....

Give me all the flailing 2 year olds....

Because ANY DAY like THAT is easier than a negotiating, high emotion 4 year old.

Any. Day.

Any day!

Hahahahahaha.

Ahhhh.

Grace is in full force industry vs. inferiority stage of development.

If you don't know what that is, feel free to look it up. And you probably haven't ever taken a child development class, ha.

She is trying to figure out how to navigate the world.

She's learning how she fits in with all of the mess around her.

Through it all....

She has mastered the art of the instant cry.

She can go from zero to face soaked with tears faster than anyone I know.

It's the weirdest talent.

Most of this revolves around me and Jeff telling her what to do.

Go get dressed.

Instant tears.

Go grab *random object*.

Instant whine.

Go do whatever.

Whatever is the worse thing to whatever.

So Jeff in his infinite wisdom came up with an idea to have her earn a highly anticipated adventure that she's been wanting to do.

If she listens she gets a coin in the jar. If she doesn't listen, one coin out.

She was super excited by this idea when we presented it to her last night.

She's been earning coins all day (only 1 out, which is surprising) and each time she says:

"Dad is going to be SO proud of me!"

She really is the kind of kid that needs structure and reason behind every little thing we do.

When she has a purpose for something she thrives.

She's not as easy going as Hunter who would just happily lolly gag all the live long day.

Structure.

Structure is key.

It's when I lag on keeping that structure that she suffers.

I know that's a ginormous reason she's been pushing back at us so much lately.

I've let a lot of things go with having a new baby around. I definitely can take some blame.

AND...

Ya know, she's 4.

I think you'd be hard pressed not to find a 4 year old who wants to run their own life.

Despite the push back, she really is a good kid. She is kind and thoughtful to other children. She has a giving heart. She loves with her whole self. She's a good girl.

In the end, I am/was that child development major who over analyzes small people's behavior.

(Un)fortunately my children will have to live with that their whole lives.

But...

Let it always be known that I'll gladly take ALL the flailing 2 year olds.

Staycation

Jeff had 2 weeks of paid paternity leave given to him when Logan was born. He only took one week off after the birth, which meant he still had 5 days to party with us later on.

This week he used a bunch of those days and we've done a ton of fun things as a family. Sort of like a mini staycation.

We started out with Conference weekend, which was wonderful and relaxing as it always is.

We went and took a drive up by Snowbasin to look at the pretty leaves. It was beautiful! I loved it. That is one of my favorite October Conference traditions.

The overall theme that I felt from Conference was that we need to look for ways to serve others.

The Savior's life was completely service filled. If we are to be His disciples, we need to serve too!

Okay, but probably the biggest thing in Conference for me, and maybe everyone else, is the change to the 2 hour block!

Crazy!

It's going to be so good for everyone.

Its especially going to be really good for all of the primary kids. Primary is going to be a lot more age appropriate now. Such a blessing!

The biggest moment for me, was when President Nelson talked about the in home program that the Church is going to implement.

I felt the spirit SO strongly when he talked about that. I had this overwhelming feeling that was exactly what, not only the Church as a whole needs, but it's what my family needs.

It was an answer to a prayer that I never knew I needed to give.

How amazing is it to have a prophet who can receive revelation that directly impacts YOUR family. Seriously incredible!

The spirit was so audible to me in that moment. I know that this new program will bless my family.

Loving General Conference!

Building a temple out of magnets :)

Having a third child has made me think a lot about how we can give each kid individual love and attention. A big part of our staycation was focused around taking the kids and doing things one on one.

The first weekday I took Hunter, just the two of us, on a date. He was SOOOO happy. He wanted me to carry him everywhere, because I was at his complete disposal, hahaha.

I could tell he felt special, which was exactly what I wanted.

We went to Union Station and saw the trains. They were HUGE! I mean, I've been next to trains several times, but seeing them through Hunter's eyes made me realize the largeness, hahaha.

Seriously, who knew trains were that big? Okay, everyone, but me.

Love him

He's the cutest little guy

"Choo choooooooos!"

Hunter thought it was super cool looking at the trains. We liked pointing out all the different colored trains. The blue ones were his favorite.

We then went to Fiiz to get a sugar cookie. Hunter loves cakes and cookies more than ice cream type things, so we got a yummy cookie for our treat.

The last thing we did was played at the playground by our house. He was pretty pleased that I climbed up the structure to go down the slide with him. That's something I haven't done for awhile, cause I've had a tiny baby with us or was hugely pregnant.

He kept saying: "Mom, come. Mommy come!"

He will randomly come up to me, now several days later, and say: "MAMA! Choo choos.... cookie! Swing! Slide!" recounting what we did that day.

Sooooo cute. I love him.

Grace got to go to a movie with Daddy as her date with him. She was VERY excited! She kept telling people she was going to go on a date with her dad.

They went and saw Smallfoot. It's a cartoon about some yetis who are trying to find a "smallfoot", meaning a human. Grace liked it! I asked her if there was music in it and she said "yeah, a little bit!" Haha.

Jeff said she had to go and dance in front of the screen during the credits, cause "THATS WHAT WE DID WHEN WE WENT TO THE PONY MOVIE!"

She's a creature of habit. And passion for life. Hahaha

Good thing they were the only ones in the theater.

Jeff said there was a young couple who looked like they were skipping school, but they left once the credits started. So Grace was able to dance to her hearts content.

They also went and had lunch at Costa Vida or as Grace calls it "Coasty!!". As you can see Jeff cares about taking photos of every little thing, just like me. ;)

Later that night we went and got ice cream as a family.

"Say awww"

She likes to pretend he's an incapable baby, ha. 

I looooove Coldstone.

We had Coldstone at our wedding reception! Fun fact: Jeff and I forgot to eat our ice cream and it got left in the freezer at the reception center.

I think we've made up for it since then. We frequent Coldstone.

Logan had his 2 month appointment during our staycation. He's doing SO well! It makes me proud.

He's 11 lb. 12 oz. so the 53rd percentile. His doctor was very pleased with that. I was too. Yay baby! His head is the 76th percentile, which isn't surprising considering his genes. He's the 19th percentile for height, which is also not surprising at all. Hahaha

He's the cutest little boy. I love him. He's so patient with me. He's right on the cusp of showing us way more of his personality. It will be fun to see him grow more.

He gave me some sweet smiles, but there were shadows on his face from not looking straight at the camera, so I picked another one to put with the milestones. 

These ones are super sweet though!

Cute, cute boy!

We took the kids bowling one night, which was a big hit! 

Cutest picture ever! 

They both had to bring toys with them...

They really enjoyed this activity. 

Hunter loved cheering everyone on, especially Daddy.

Next up was Dad's outing with Hunter Boy! 

They went to the Aerospace Museum to see "dustys". 

When I asked Hunter if he wanted to go with Dad to see airplanes he said: "YEAH! Dusty? Cookie? Slide? Swing?" Hahahahahahaha. 

He wanted a copy of our date, but trade out trains for planes. 

Nothing gets past that kid. 

Jeff did take him to the park after, which he made sure to tell me when they got home. 

"Dada, slide!" 

The Aerospace Museum is always a favorite. Grace was jealous they got to go there. 

And it's freeeeee! 

Grace and I went and got our nails done for our date. She was SO happy! It was cute. She always talks about how she loves my nails when I go get them done. 

We went to a place where the workers don't speak very much English. I always feel like I'm busting out my VIPKID skills to communicate with them. Hahaha

The worker girl was a little confused/didn't know how to tell me she didn't want to try a design on Grace's nails, hahaha. It was comical. 

She painted Grace's finger nails, then I asked if she could do a flower, cause Grace had told me that's what she wanted. The girl knew what I meant, but I don't think she wanted to attempt a design on Grace's tiny nails, so she asked if she could paint her toes instead. 

I thought she meant she would do the flower on the toes, so sure. Hahaha. That's NOT what she meant. She just wanted to paint the nails and no designs. I was thinking, 'uhhh, I could do this at home, lady. We came for the designs!' So I then asked for polka dots, which she happily did. Haha. 

Oh language barriers. 

Good times!

Grace was in paradise! You'd think she was at some upscale spa. Hahaha. I loved it. We had fun. 

I think the sweetest part of that day was when Grace said the prayer at dinner and said: "thank Thee that we could do dates just Hunter and Dad, and me and Mom today." 

I could see how much it meant to both Grace and Hunter that we did those dates. I know they both felt special and loved that they were able to spend one on one time with us. I'm grateful we were able to do that. 

To round up our week of fun we went to the pumpkin patch with Grace's preschool. She was so happy that Daddy could come to a field trip. 

The kids loved going on the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. They picked pumpkins with help from Jeff. Hunter was especially determined as he walked around the pumpkin patch. It was making me laugh. 

Tractor ride!

Hunter's face, haha

Where's the best pumpkin?

Me waiting for the dude to come cut off my pumpkin from the vine. 

Cutest pumpkin in the pumpkin patch!

Winner!

Seriously, he is adorableness personified. 

My children becoming permanently blind from the sun.

"Cow Train!" Which mostly consisted of pigs. 

The most tired pumpkin in the pumpkin patch!

I did not ask her to do that...

What's more American than corn flakes? Apparently rolling around in corn kernels. 

Scared/scary faces!

We had a fun week! 

We lead a pretty hectic life having so many tiny children, but it's a good, hectic life. We are very blessed to have the freedom and means to do all that we do. I owe all of that to Jeff for working so hard for our family. I know I run the show most of the time with our schedules, activities, and all that goes on at home, but none of it would be possible without him. 

God has blessed me with so much. I'm often in awe of the good lives we lead.