30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge

Blogging just hasn't made it high enough on my to-do list lately.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a list of things I'm grateful for as a make-up for all the days I've missed.

1. I'm grateful for Lexi.

From the very beginning I've loved this girl!

She's so full of personality. 

Lexi is a little mother. She just loves babies and I love that about her.

She is also so feminine which I think is so fun, I like all the bows and ruffly skirts too.

2. I'm grateful for Avery Joy!

This girls brings me so much joy.

I think Avery may be our family's comedian.

She just loves to make us laugh and smile.

She's our "cuddle bear." She loves being held and babied. And I love it too.

3. I'm grateful for Eli.

This chubby little guy has me wrapped around his fat little fingers.

His smile often brings tears of overwhelming love and joy to my eyes.

And his laugh is one of my favorite sounds.

I sure love my baby Sean!

4. I'm grateful for my parents.

My did I luck out! My parents are awesome.

Tears are welling up in my eyes and making it hard for me to type. 

I just love these two so much.

I miss them EVERYDAY!

5. I'm grateful for health.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

I'm so happy I have a healthy family.

A member of my family recently had a healthy scare.

And even though I know they are okay,

 I still think about what could have happened and cry and cry nearly everyday.

6. I'm grateful for modern medicine.

Without it I would have died giving birth to Lexi and she would have died too.

7. I'm grateful for our home.

Even though we don't live in a house, we have a wonderful home,

filled with love and happiness and the pitter patter of little feet and the squeals of children.

8. Friends. We have been blessed with some great friends.

And that's a huge blessing when you don't live close to family.

Recently, I went with a few women from our branch downtown to hear the bell choir on Temple Square.

I also recently went to the bridal shower of one of my good BYU-Idaho friends.

And this past weekend we got together with Buck and Aubrey and met their new daughter Lucy.

We also have recently been making an effort to invite families from our branch into our home 

to have dinner and Family Home Evening with us.

9. Family scripture study.

We've been reading the seminary scripture mastery scriptures every night with the girls.

We're also been working on memorizing the articles of faith and a few scriptures.

Even Avery is learning them.

It's so fun to hear the girls reciting the things we're learning from memory.

10. Sleeping in.

Lately my kids have been sleeping in.

Some days past 8 am. It's AMAZING!

And I'm enjoying EVERY minute of it because I know it will be over next year once Lexi is in first grade.

30 Days of Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving Tree

 Earlier this month we made a Thanksgiving Tree.

We talked about gratitude and what we're grateful for.

We wrote down those things on the leaves of our tree.

It turned out pretty good.

And adds some much needed interest to our very boring dinning room wall.

I'm grateful that Lexi is starting to realize how blessed our family is.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - Sleeping Babies

Eli hasn't been sleeping well at night.

We found out today that he's getting his molars in.

So that explains his snotty nose, lack of sleeping and change in bowel movements.

Poor little guy.

Today when I went to walk him up from his nap so we could take Lexi to school, I had to snap a picture.

Sleeping babies are like little angles.

Holding a sleeping baby, especially my sleeping baby is like heaven.

It's my happy place. 

See...

This picture was taken when Avery fell asleep on me. Which was rare when she was 6 months old.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - My View

This bright beautiful tree is what we are blessed to see from our deck, Eli's room 

and one of master bedroom windows.

And I love it!

I wish it would start like this. 

I just love looking at these leaves.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - I Survived!

I survived my first Sunday sitting alone with the kids.

When Sean got his call to be in the branch presidency,

 I was only worried about being alone with the kids during sacrament meeting.

But we survived!

Lexi was AMAZING!!!

Seriously, she was perfect. She just colored and looked at and wrote her sight words the whole time.

Eli did good too. He sat in my lap the whole time.

I fed him and entertained him and he was happy.

And that brings us to the three year old, Avery.

She did better than normal.

She only needed to use the bathroom once 

and she didn't run up to the stand until I was done giving the closing prayer.

She played with ABC flashcards and little princesses for a good chunk of the meeting.

And she was repetitively quite as long as I continued to bribe her with marshmallows.

During the sacrament though, Avery was swaying back and forth while saying, "Shake your bootie."

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - Answer to Prayer

Today, we had a Fast and Testimony meeting for our new branch.

All of the members in the branch presidency shared their testimonies to start off the meeting.

Sean got emotional when he shared his testimony.

At one point he even looked like he was gonna cry.

Which is really saying something since Sean NEVER cries.

Seriously, he has never cried once since we've been married.

The last time he cried was when his mom passed away over 10 years ago.

Anyway, in his testimony, Sean shared that 

his calling as second counselor in the branch presidency was an answer to our prayers.

And he's right.

A few weeks ago, Sean and I stayed up late and had a real heart-to-heart talk.

We talked about our marriage and our family and our goals.

I cried enough for the both of us.

We both agreed that we wanted more spirituality in our home.

When Sean was extended the call to be the second counselor 

we both knew that this was the Lord's way of answering our prayers.

This past week since Sean got his call, he's been busy!

He was gone last Sunday night, then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night.

And then last night we had a branch potluck.

But even though he's been busy, Sean and I have already felt closer to each other and the Lord.

...

I'm grateful for answered prayers.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - Going Back to School

Last week, I signed up for a photography class.

I'm going back to school!

Well, kind of.

It's a no credit continuing education class through our local community college.

It's a $75, month long class about the basic of digital SLR photography.

The only requirement for the class is that you have to a DSLR camera.

Which is perfect because Sean and I are planning on buying one for my Christmas present this year.

YAY!

HALLELUJAH!

YIPPEE!

I've been wanting a DSLR camera since before I bought my current camera.

And I've got my sight sent on the Canon Rebel T3i.

I'm hoping I can find a good deal on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

I'm so excited for this camera and so grateful to finally be getting it!

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - There's No Place Like Home

 Ever since Sean got his new calling (church assignment) last week,

we've known that we're living right where we are supposed to be.

Our lease is up the end of June. 

But I think we'll renew it one more time (I'm not sure for how long) before we hopefully buy a house.

For now, I'm content.

Our apartment has three big bedrooms and two bathrooms.

And we have 1400 square feet which is twice the size of our Rexburg apartment.

So this week I've been working on making it look like people like here.

I'm finally putting things up on the wall.

None of my projects are done but I'd thought I'd share some pictures anyway.

...

I moved our buffet and the direction of our dinning room table.

And am working on making a picture wall.

I am going to change out some of the frames at the top and rearrange the third row from the right.

And I still need to print some more pictures.

But it doesn't look too bad considering that I just starting hanging up frames without a plan.

I'm also going to put a bunch of picture frames on our buffet.

I love looking at pictures of the people I love!

Originally, I was going to do our "temple wall" in the dinning room.

But I decided to do it in the hall where we will walk past it countless times each day.

I haven't even hung up half of our pictures but you get the idea.

This wall is going to be covered with pictures of us at the temple.

And I've hung up some pocket charts for Lexi's sight words.

It's so exciting to finally start making this place feel like home.

Now I need to work on getting some things up on the walls in our bedrooms.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - A Healthy Family

         Wednesday morning after Eli woke up at 9:30, I fed him and we left the house to go do some shopping. I was on a mission to buy some more picture frames and finally get some pictures hung up on our walls. First, we went to Ross. As we were in line to check, out Lexi was standing on the side of the chart. I asked her to get off and told her that she could tip the cart over if she did that. And then we talked about how scary that would be.

         Next, we went to TJ Maxx. My kids were already so done shopping. So I just grabbed all the picture frames that I liked and we went to go check out. While we were waiting in line, I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I thought it was because this was all going to cost me more than I wanted to spend. At the register I was deciding which frames to buy as we were checking out, so it look a little longer than normal. Lexi was mourning the owl sticky notes that I didn't buy her. And Avery was running around the cart playing with Eli who was strapped in the seat.

        I had my back to the kids when I heard it happen. Avery must have been standing on the side of the cart and tipped it over. When I turned around after hearing the loud crashing sound and instant screams, Avery was stuck under the cart and Eli had hit his head on the hard ground. There was no one around so I had to try to pick up the cart by himself then comfort the two screaming kids. I gave the cashier my card and then we got out of there ASAP! I was worried about Eli since he hit his head so hard. And I knew Avery was hurt too but I was also mad at her. I've told both of my girls repeatedly not to stand on the side of the cart.

       The whole way home all three kids screamed (even Lexi though she wasn't hurt). And Avery kept telling me that she wanted to be alone and just go to her bed. She was upset and I know she felt bad. She was more hurt emotionally then physically hurt. When we got home I took Eli to his room and rocked him until he was only whimpering. He was rubbing his eyes and acting sleepy. This had me worried since I've always heard not to let people sleep if they have a concussion. Does that mean that concussions make you sleepy? Did Eli have a concussion?! Would he fall asleep in his crib if I laid him down? I thought I'd put him in his crib and see what would happen. I never had any intention of actually letting him sleep, I just wanted to see if he was sleepy.

      I went to go check on Avery who was crying in her bed. I told her that I loved her and that I was sorry that she was hurt. I held her and kissed and then read her a story. Meanwhile, Eli wasn't making a peep in his room. It sounded like he was going to go to sleep. So I went and got him out of his crib and took him to the living room. I put him on the floor and tried to make him happy. Then I went to get something from the kitchen. While I was gone, Lexi, for some reason, ran across the room and tried to jump over Eli. In the process of jumping, she knocked him over and he hit is head again and began screaming immediately. I was so frustrated with Lexi. I instantly sent her to her room. Then I began to comfort Eli again.

      Avery then told me that her stomach hurt. Was she going to throw up? Could she have a concussion too. I was beginning to feel more and more worried and overwhelmed. I texted Sean and told him what happened. He call and tried to comfort me and suggested that I take them in to see our pediatrician. When I called the clinic the nurse I talked too told me that I needed to hurry and get Eli to the E.R. Once I heard that I lost it. I called Sean in tears and he told me he was leaving work and would be meet me at the hospital. I called my sister-in-law Michelle. I unsuccessfully tried to hold back the tears as I told her what happened and she told me she was on her way to come get the girls. I'm so grateful she lives so close and is always more than willing to help me out.

      Twenty minutes later, the girls were playing with their cousins and I was checking Eli into the E.R. While a nurse was checking Eli's vitals, he was so upset and crying already. Which made it really hard for me to keep it together. Once we got into an exam room Eli was calm. I laid on a hospital bed and he just sat on my lap! He didn't try to crawl around or get down and explore. That's so not like him. He's an active one year old. The fact that he wasn't acting like himself made me nervous. Maybe he did have a concussion! A nurse come in to check on us. She told me that we might be there for a while because before they did any test they would probably just want to observe Eli.

     About 15 minutes later Sean got there just as the doctor was coming in to examine Eli. I was so glad to have him there. And thank heavens our doctor was amazing. She calmed all of my fears and after examining Eli told me that he should be fine and we were free to go. We just had to check on him frequently while he slept and bring him in immediately if he threw up. No words could adequately express who grateful I was to have a healthy baby.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - My Children

 I've always wanted to be a mother.

And now that I am one, there is nothing I'd rather be.

Motherhood brings me more joy than anything else ever could.

I love my children more than I could ever express.

And I think about having more all the time.

I know I'm not done.

And the thought of not having any more kids makes me want to cry.

I want a loud and crazy house full of kids.

...

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to share them.

So now would be a good time to at least share the pictures of the kids.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - Gethsemane

Yesterday morning,

Sean was watching on YouTube Elder Bruce R. McConkie's final testimony.

Which reminded me of the Savior's perfect and all encompassing love.

When I think of all that he did for me, I'm always humbled once again and brought to tears of gratitude.

...

Then at our special four ward sacrament meeting,

our (now previous) ward's primary sang a special musical number.

A little girl who is about, maybe 8, sang and then the other primary children 

and primary leaders join in singing with her on the chorus and other parts of the song.

It was such a powerful musical number and the perfect way to start the meeting.

I've had that song stuck in my head since.

The name of the song is Gethsemane.

Here's a version of it I found on YouTube.

Lexi has listened and sang along with it more than a dozen times since yesterday.

Here's the lyrics:

Jesus climbed the hill
To the garden still
His steps were heavy and slow
Love and a prayer
Took Him there
To the place only He could go

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So He went willingly
To Gethsemane

He felt all that was sad, wicked or bad
All the pain we would ever know
While His friends were asleep
He fought to keep
His promise made long ago

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So He went willingly
To Gethsemane

The hardest thing That ever was done
The greatest pain that ever was known
The biggest battle that ever was won
This was done by Jesus.
The fight was won by Jesus.

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So he gave His gift to me
In Gethsemane

Gethsemane
Jesus loves me
So he gives His gift to me
From Gethsemane

...

Today I'm grateful for my Savior.

For His love, His life and His sacrifice.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - Revelation and Faith

Today, I am grateful for revelation and faith.

This morning, we had a special meeting for four wards in our stake, including our ward.

The boundaries of these wards were being changed.

The apartment complex we live in has 10 buildings which are divided into three wards.

Well, today our apartment complex was made into a brand new branch and the boundaries of the other wards were shifted around to compensate for the lost of the apartment buildings in their ward.

Sean is the second counselor in our branch presidency.

So he is going to be a busy man!

Since we are starting from scratch, every single calling needs to be filled.

Sean is up for the challenge.

And he and I are both excited to be apart of this new branch.

Now we know why we didn't feel right about buying a house back in July.

The Lord had other plans for us and our family.

Sean and I both know that his new calling will be very time consuming 

but we both feel that it will bless our family greatly and help bring the spirit into our home.

This will be the third ward and building in our stake we've attended all while leaving in the same complex.

We're starting to get really good at starting over and meeting new people.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - Living in Utah and Being with Family

I'm so grateful that we moved to Utah.

Since we moved here we have been able to see our parents several times and all of our siblings.

And lots of extended family.

I love being able to see our families so frequently.
Here's some pictures of us with our families since we moved to Utah.

30 Days of Thanksgiving Challenge - Thankful for Sean

It's November!

Crazy!

I love this time of year. The holidays. Time with family and friends.

And just the extra feeling of love and excitement for life.

Sean and I decided that every night before we put the kids to bed,

 we're all going to share something we're thankful for.

I decided that I'm going to share some of those things on my blog.
(I won't blog everyday but I'll blog frequently.)

Today I'll start off by saying I'm grateful for my husband.

Sean is AMAZING!

There have been several little things that have happened lately that have reminded me of this.

I really did luck out and marry my best friend.

Sean is funny, easy going, a good cook, great to talk to,
super support, is an awesome dad, he's fun to kiss and  he's just a happy guy.
We have known each other and been friends for over 12 years now.
And every year we spend together is better than the last.

I want to record this story on my blog-
One day this week, after Sean got off work
 he saw a homeless man with his little girl who had blonde hair and blue eyes 
and looked about the same age as Lexi. 
Sean went to the Disney Store and bought a little Cinderella play set
 with all the characters from the movie and went and surprised that little girl with them.
 I know he must have made her day. And then Sean offered to buy them both dinner. 
Sean is generous and always willing to help those less fortunate than us.