Tuesday, January 31st

I’ve forgotten to blog the past couple nights. I’ve realized how much goes on in my life when I try to catch up.  Sunday was a meeting-free Sunday. I love those kind of days. After church we came home and changed and headed to Jacob’s parents so that he could pick some stuff up and the boys could see his parents. Cousin Gavin was in town – he had come back with Grandma Patti from UT, so the boys got to play with him. After the Edgels’ house, we headed to my parents’ for Becca’s birthday dinner. My mom made chicken enchiladas and I made the Spanish rice because everyone likes the way I make the rice. We sang to Becca, ate some strawberry cake, and the kids ran around while G-Ma and G-Pa Romero catered to their every need. I think that is why we love to go over there so much. We get a break, and the kids are happy.

Yesterday morning I wasn’t able to go walking because I had to do a photo shoot at 10am for my friend Karol. She had a baby about 8 weeks ago and wanted some pictures of her baby Sophia. Easton woke up with a little bit of a croupy cough so I kept him home for the day. He and Teags went with me to the photo shoot and hung out with Karol’s little brother. After the shoot, we headed to G-Ma Patti’s so the boys could spend the afternoon hanging out with their cousin Gavin. I dropped them off, and then I headed to do some shopping at Target. I scored some really cute baby shoes on clearance for baby Logan, and I bought a few shirts and a grey cardigan to help me make it through the next 9 weeks. I don’t like to feel frumpy while I’m pregnant, and when my clothes feel like they aren’t fitting, it’s time for a wardrobe update.  After Target I headed home to work on the pictures. I had a few hours at home to myself which is sometimes quite nice. Jacob brought the boys home after work, and Teags came home with his birthday presents from G-Ma and G-Pa Edgel since they will be out of town on a cruise for the next week. Teags’ birthday is Saturday, and they didn’t want to give him his presents late. He got a skateboard which he has been wanting and a few other little toys.

Today I watched my friend Savannah’s son Asher while she subbed for another teacher. So I didn’t get to walk this morning either because he came at 8:20 am.The house usually gets a little wild when there are 3 boys running a muck.  And today was no exception. Other than watching Asher, the day was uneventful. We pretty much stayed at home all day. I worked on bills and filed the taxes, did some laundry, yelled at the boys to clean up messes. So just the norm.  Asher left about 4:30, and I ended up making waffles, eggs, and turkey bacon for dinner because I couldn’t think of anything else. Jacob didn’t complain, and he never does, if I don’t have dinner ready.  After dinner I headed to Joann’s to get some fabric to make Teags a blanket for his birthday. Hopefully my mother-in-law can sew the edges for me tomorrow before she heads out of town.

I took this picture of myself today to show what I look like at 31 weeks pregnant. It’s blurry, and the bathroom mirror is dirty as it always is the same hour I clean it, but you get the point. I think I was bigger with Teags than I am with Logan. I avoided cameras with Teagan’s pregnancy, so I’m not positive.  And I think that I’m actually bigger in person than I am in this picture, but I can’t tell.

In these pictures I am 25 weeks pregnant with Teagan. I like my hair short and wavy, but I like it long too.

Tomorrow I will be walking in the morning. After I pick Easton up from school I have to do pictures for Becca’s mother-in-law. From her house we will head to Becca’s and play with Sadie and probably walk to the park. Should be a good day.

1-28-12

After watching our movie last night, the boys didn’t get into bed until 11pm. I went to bed shortly after, and Jacob must have come in after I had fallen asleep because I don’t remember it. Since the boys didn’t go to bed until 11pm, they didn’t get up until 9:45 this morning. Actually, they could have gotten up earlier, but that is when they came into our room. I’m guessing it wouldn’t have been more than a half hour that they were up because Teagan immediately wants milk and Easton wants green beans. They both need me to get those things for them. It was really nice to be able to sleep that long. I appreciate mornings of that nature.

After I got up and got the boys fed, I got ready for Stake Women’s Conference. It was from 8:30 to 3, but I figured I’d go before lunch and catch that class and then make it to a few more after lunch. The class I went to was taught by my stake president, Wayne Tew, and his wife. I seriously don’t think I have ever known and loved a stake president like I have President Tew. I got to know him better from meeting with him for my temple divorce. He’s just a sweet man who is so much fun to be around, and everyone absolutely loves him and his wife. He and his wife taught a class on Raising Royalty in Righteousness. He said this: “Despite our children’s agency, we need to approach child-rearing with faith and hope that our children will choose to live righteous lives.” Sometimes I feel a sense of hopelessness when I think of the fact that my children have agency that could potentially lead them onto paths I have taught them not to take. I sort of feel like what does it even matter what I teach my children if they later choose not to accept it? Which I know is not a good attitude to have, but I sometimes look at Laman and Lemuel and realize that Lehi did the best he could and got Nephi but still ended up with two wicked and rebellious sons. President Tew pointed out that we shouldn’t assume that any of our children will make wrong choices or fall away. He also gave 7 steps that we should be doing in our homes to establish the foundation that our children need to withstand the temptations of the devil.

1. Family Scripture Study

2. Family Prayer

3. Family Home Evening

4. Attend the temple and let your children know of your love for the temple.

5. Show love and affection of your children.

6. Show love and affection to your spouse and be sure your children know how much you love each other.

7. Have an open dialogue about gospel principles in your home.

I felt very happy sitting in this class and knowing that we do all of these things. I do think we need to work more on talking about the gospel in our daily lives and being sure that they boys know that it is who we are and not just what we learn about in the scriptures and in church.

His wife talked about the importance of The Family: A Proclamation to the World and how we need to read and live by it and teach it to our children so that they know what a real family is and don’t grow up thinking it’s like The Modern Family, that show on tv that shows families of every kind – gay, divorced, you name it. I think we will learn about the Proclamation on Monday for FHE.

After that first class, we had a fancy lunch with silk table linens and fancy silverware and a harpist and violinist playing classical music. They really went all out. I went to another class on pornography, then a cooking class, and then I headed home. I came to an empty house, and I figured that the boys had gone on a bike ride or something. Easton came in about 25 minutes later, running up the stairs to find me and say hi. He was so excited to tell me that Jacob had taken them on a bike ride, and then they rode to the desert to go exploring. He said they found rocks and  bunch of other garbage that my sweet husband convinced them was something awesome. He said it was so much fun. Teagan came upstairs later and told me about rocks and sticks and sands that they found and said that Easton found treasure. I love my husband for taking the boys out to do fun things that they absolutely love doing. Who takes little boys exploring in the desert and makes rocks into magical findings? Jacob does, that’s who. I’m glad that he has a great dad who taught him to be a great dad, and I love that he loves the boys so much. Makes it so easy for me to love and appreciate him for just being good to me and those boys. He’s wonderful with children, his nieces and nephew included, and I think it is one of his best qualities.

We spent the next couple hours just hanging out at home, having a good time with each other, and I prepared my lesson on the Holy Ghost for Young Women’s tomorrow. Around 6pm we headed over to my sister’s to watch a UFC fight, so the boys got to play with Sadie Face and we got to hang out with Bec and Jud and Joe and his date Samantha. I love my family, they are the best.

1-27-12

Ok, I’ve finished my bench. Well, mostly. I haven’t put a poly coat on yet and I haven’t decided if I want to distress the bench a little bit. But it looks good. Who knew that we’d turn our old table into a bench for our new table. We are so creative. And handy.

And Teagan wanted to take a picture on the bench with his guitar. I let him because he’s cute. For some reason the boys are just as excited about this bench as we are. I think it’s because they think it is so fun to sit right next to each other at the dinner table. They’re adorable.

New Beginnings was a success last night. The program was quick and to the point, and the girls had fun at the carnival we put together. We had good food – corn dogs, pop corn, nachos, cupcakes – and fun games and prizes. They all said it was so much fun, and sometimes you just want to put together a fun activity. After mutual I made a trip to Target where all my sorrows and cares slip into oblivion. I got stuff for Valentine’s Day for the boys and for a cousin party with Sadie and Jaedyn, and I scored a pair of shoes on clearance for Teags for $5. Can’t beat that! They are dressier shoes, but Teags loves them and has worn them all day. Kids are so cute with new shoes. They both got new shoes last Saturday and happen to think that they are really cool. Here is Teags wearing his new shoes. I promise I do my children’s hair daily but about an hour later, they look homeless again.

And there’s one of Easton just because he’s cute.  Earlier this evening I came downstairs and said to him, “Whatchya doing, bud?” And he said, “Oh, just starving.” He will eat us out of our home.

I had an appointment with my nurse midwife today. I gained 6 lbs. Last month I lost 2, and this month I gained 6. My body does just what it feels like, I have no control over any of it. But that still only puts me at an 11 lb gain, and for 30 weeks that’s pretty great for me. Now I just need to not gain more than a pound a week, and I’ll be good. I just hope I can actually keep it under that.

I mentioned that Teags wants to keep his new shoes on all day. I just found him like this 10 minutes ago.

He took his clothes and shoes off, as he always does when he needs to go poop, but then he put his shoes back on. He never wears shoes when he goes to the bathroom. Until this moment. And it just makes me smile.

Today is my lovely sister’s birthday. She is 23 years old. Not all sisters get along, and that’s about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. I love my sister more than anyone else in the world besides my husband and children. We are such good friends and can talk about anything and everything, and I love having such a great friend in my sister. It would be such a sad thing to not have a sister or to be like a lot of people I know and have sisters that I didn’t get along with. So happy birthday to my beautiful sister who I love so much. She doesn’t even read my blog (yeah, some great sister she is), but it needs to go in my blog book anyway.

Now we are off to watch Real Steel as a family in our jammie jams. It will be a good Friday night.

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I am just about 30 weeks pregnant. On Friday. 10 more weeks until my due date, but I’m not sure if this little guy will be late like the other two or if he’ll be my favorite and come on time. Just kidding, he wouldn’t be my favorite. Sometimes Easton asks me who my favorite is – him or Teagan. I always tell him I love them both the same, but he’s sure he’s the favorite. As long as they each think they’re my favorite, then I’m doing something right. Sometimes Easton tells me he has two favorite moms. But then I tell him that I’m actually the favorite because he lived in my womb and because I take care of him every day. He always says, “Then who’s your favorite, me or Teagan?” And of course I can’t pick between the two, so he throws that in my face and says that it’s not right to pick favorites. I’ll just pat myself on the back for teaching him to be impartial and compassionate. Plus, I really am the favorite mom, and he’ll understand that when he’s older. I can share many things, but the title of Favorite Mother belongs to me. I earned it from the many years of service and love I have given to these boys. They lived in my womb. They kept me up at night. I’ve rocked them to sleep. I live to love them. Their other mom can be Favorite Step-Mom (I like their stepmom, she’s very sweet, but I’m THE mom nonetheless). It’s funny – I can let go of an ex-husband, but just back up off my kids. It’s one of those things I knew that I never wanted to deal with – the boys having a stepmom. But luckily I like Angelica, and I think she is quite sweet, so it’s never been as bad as I anticipated.  And I thought of something one day that helps me if I ever feel like my status as REAL mother is being threatened. I call Jacob’s mom “Mom”, and I love her and think she is great. But just because I call her “Mom” and love her doesn’t take away from my mother’s role or importance in my life. She can never be replaced – she is the world’s greatest mother, and calling my MIL “Mom” doesn’t mean I wish she were my mom or that I love my mom less. Whenever I think of it like that, I remember that it’s okay if my boys call Angelica “Mom”. They need to know that their stepmom loves them, and when they are away from me and with their dad’s family, I want them to feel loved and secure. I want them to feel like they have a family away from their family. So I’m glad that she’s sweet, and I’m glad that she loves them and they love her because they need that. They need that love when they aren’t home with me, even if they don’t see their other family that often. When I put the needs of my children in front of my own, it makes all the difficult things about being divorced much easier to deal with. I know they need their parents to get along, and I’m happy that they have that. I feel blessed that our relationship is very civil and my children don’t have to be stuck in the middle of my-mom-hates-my-dad-and-my-dad-hates-my-mom.  They are blessed boys, and I never thought I would say that about them. I used to feel so sorry for them being born into a broken home, but I see that Heavenly Father has made the best of a situation that I never wanted to happen, and just like Lehi told his son Jacob, “. . . behold in thy childhood thou has suffered afflictions and much sorrow . . . nevertheless, thou knowest the greatness of God, and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.” 2 Nephi 2:1-2. Every time I come to those verses I feel gratitude for that promise that I know Heavenly Father also makes to my boys. Easton was so little when his dad left us, and Teagan was born into a fatherless home. But they will be better and stronger for it.

This morning I didn’t walk because I was too tired. My body has just been hurting lately. I think I’m feeling 30 weeks pregnant. I had to get the house clean and grocery shopping done today. I also washed my hair, and it sounds funny, but that is always an event. That is why I only wash my hair twice a week. With this bench project I’ve been doing, my cleaning has gotten ignored. It’s a good thing I don’t constantly have projects to get done. My house would be in shambles.

We had our friends the Brox family over for dinner tonight. We got to meet their new little baby Sophia. She is just darling. It is always nice to catch up with friends. They used to be in our ward but moved out back in September, so we’ve only kept in contact through Facebook.  Karol is so sweet and wants to throw me a baby shower, but I feel silly having a baby shower when I’m having another boy. Although, this is my first Edgel baby and Jacob’s first (blood) baby as well, so maybe that means I deserve a shower? I don’t know. I have a lot of things still, but I’m pretty sure I need some more clothes for the baby stages. They get ruined by the spit up so easily. I also a need a car seat and a crib. I think I have a swing and bouncer at my mom’s house. And a high chair.

Tomorrow I have New Beginnings. I have to bake 3 dozen cupcakes and get my booth together and somehow clean 3 bathrooms and referee Teagan and Jaedyn all day  and have dinner ready and be out the door by 5:30 for New Beginnings. And I have to look cute while doing this stuff. I will wish myself luck. Melisa and I won’t be walking in the morning because we both have to get things ready for tomorrow night.

Oh, and my bench is done, but I have to do a poly coat over it to seal and protect it. We did bring it in for dinner tonight, and I’m quite happy to have it, but I don’t want it in the house until I’m done with it.

1-24-12

It’s nearly 12:30 in the am, and I should be sleeping but instead I’m browsing Pinterest looking for ideas for cupcakes for New Beginnings on Thursday night and wondering what kind of yummy food I can scrounge up in my kitchen. I usually don’t eat late at night, but if I’m up on Pinterest I am uncharacteristically munchie. Ravenously hungry, even.  I have to make 3 dozen cupcakes for Thursday evening, and I’m trying to decide if I should go fancy or just do something normal. And I’m sure I’ll just do something easy because I still have to put together a booth for our Values Carnival. I’m always glad when these big events in YW are over for the year.

This morning I was unusually tired and lacking in energy on my walk. It was colder than it has been, so maybe that had something to do with it. But I continued to feel weak and tired the rest of the day, kind of like I feel when I’m fasting, except I wasn’t fasting. Maybe I’m just 30 weeks pregnant and feeling it on my 3 mile walk. I’m not going to stop, though, but I probably won’t go tomorrow since I’m up so late tonight. After my walk this morning, I finished the little bit of sanding that was left on the bench and then picked Easton up from school. After getting the boys fed and happy I started the priming on the bench. That probably took about an hour and then I had to let it dry for an hour before I could paint. So I laid on the couch between priming and painting, feeling loved by my little Teagan who climbed up on my lap and said, “Can we snuggle, Mom?” My guys sure love to snuggle, and I’m never opposed to it. I’ll take it as often as I can get it. I finished the first coat of paint by 4pm and then started on some chicken parmesean for dinner. It was really yummy tonight. After Jacob got home, we ate dinner, and then I got the boys into the bath before we headed out to watch Jacob play church basketball. They really enjoy going to the basketball games so that they can run around like animals with the other children that like to go for the very same thing. Jacob’s team won tonight by 4 points. It was a close game, and my hubs did a lot of the scoring the first half. He’s such a cute little basketball player. But I tell you, those games get heated. Jacob doesn’t always like to play because the men can get so upset and way too into the game, but he really likes to play basketball so he goes anyway. He just doesn’t care if they win or lose. At least I’ve never seen him care either way.

We got home from the game at 8:30, so it was bedtime for the boys. After our nightly routine of prayers, scriptures, story, and songs I got some stuff done before heading back into the garage to finish the final coat on the bench. Legs are done, bench top is done, and tomorrow I will finish the sides of the bench. We are having company for dinner and I was hoping to have the bench done, but I don’t know that it will be dry enough by then for us to sit on. Plus, I still want to do a poly coat to seal it and keep the paint from getting stained. I am the mother of only boys, after all. This is been a fun project since today. The sanding was just a daunting task that I was sure would never end. Now I know why so many people want to skip the sanding, but the table had such a bad paint job that sanding could not be skipped on this project. After priming and painting today, I want to find more things that I can prime and paint. But not sand. I don’t even want to think about doing my cupboards. That’s next on my list for renovations. Somebody else needs to come sand them for me.

Tomorrow we are having our friends, the Brox family, over for dinner. They had a baby recently, and I haven’t gotten the chance to go meet her yet, so I’m happy that they are coming over. I should go to storytime at 10:30 am, but I just don’t think I’ll feel like it. I’ve been doing a lot with my boys lately, and I realize that I don’t have activities for every day of the week. Too many playdates and sotrytimes and park days in one week are just overwhelming and unnecessary. Plus I need to get everything done for New Beginnings. I don’t know what I’m going to do for this booth. I wish it would just make itself, like I wish for so many other things in life.

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Jacob is out in the garage right now finishing the sanding on my bench. I have put in a good 8 hours of sanding, and that bench is still not finished. So he’s being a good husband and finishing it for me, even though I wanted to do it all myself. I understand why people skip sanding now. Maybe our sander is just not a good one, but it just takes forever. I spent a few hours sanding today, but it was raining out and since I sand in our driveway, I could do it. Easton didn’t have school today because of staff development so, even though I need to get my bench finished, I met my friend Sherrelle at McDonald’s for the boys to play with her son Colton. I didn’t mop floors like I’m supposed to on Monday, and I’ve decided that it’s a good thing that I don’t have a project to work on all the time or I might never get any cleaning done. Anyway, we stayed at McDonald’s for a couple hours and chatted while the boys played. I forget how much I need to get out of the house too. Playdates are as much for moms as they are for children, and I love hanging out with Sherrelle. After McDonald’s, the rain had let up enough for me to finish sanding so that’s what I worked on until it got dark. And Jacob didn’t make me cook dinner today. He’s a good husband.

Tomorrow I will prime and paint. I was supposed to hang out with my friend Anisha who is in town from LA for Ashley’s wedding (which was very nice, by the way, and had really good food), but I’m likely watching my friend Savannah’s son while she substitute teaches for a friend of hers. If I can get the darn bench finished I will post pics tomorrow.

1-21-12 The Bench!

This morning Jacob went to his friend’s house to use his tools to cut down our table. I am in love with how it turned out, and it took him about an hour with the help of his friend.

Here is the after and before of the table. I have to finish sanding and painting the bench this week. I’m so excited to finish this project. My old table makes a darling bench. I love it.

Here is my new table with the unfinished bench. I will post another pic next week after I get it sanded and painted. I really love how the legs look. And now my table can seat 7, so we can even have people over for dinner.

Now for the rest of the day I’m just cleaning the bathrooms that didn’t get cleaned on Thursday because I was visiting teaching, and tonight I have my friend Ashley Peterson’s wedding reception. I would work on the bench but it is raining and blowing like a hurricane. So no sanding today.

1-20-12

Today was eventful. This morning while Easton was at school, I worked on the bills and did laundry while Jaedyn and Teagan ran around downstairs. After picking Easton up, I had to run to the post office and I grabbed a pizza for the kids to eat so I wouldn’t have to make lunch. After lunch, we headed to the zoo to meet Becca and Sadie. The kids ran around like wild animals, which is only fitting for the zoo. The lion was out and about today. Last time she was sleeping, and the kids were sad. They loved the river otter today. They watched him for a good while swim back and forth then climb out of the water into the rest of his home.

They were just happy to be together. We hung out at the zoo for almost an hour (it’s a lousy zoo) and from there went to Jacob’s parents’ house so that the kids could all play together for a while. G-Ma and G-Pa Edgel have a fun backyard with an awesome sandbox. So Bec and I hung out there with the kiddos and later with my mom-in-law. We left after about an hour because I had to get home to get ready to go to the temple. 

I met Jacob at my mom’s at 5pm. The boys hung out with Uncle Joe until my mom got home from work, and Jacob and I left to try to make it to the 6pm session. We ate dinner at the temple, like we always do because we love their food, and then headed up for the session. But the temple was swarming with people today, so we didn’t end up getting in until the 7pm session. And we barely made it in to that. We were in the last 6 people they let in even though we got there 45 minutes before it started. I have never seen the temple that busy. Must be New Year’s resolutions or something. It was nice to go to the temple tonight. Sometimes it feels like everything will go wrong in your day or you’ll get in an argument with your husband right before you’re ready to leave for the temple, and then you don’t even want to go. Not that Jacob and I ever argue :).  It was good to go and put aside all our stresses and remember that Heavenly Father is completely aware of what we need. After the temple, we visited at my mom’s for just a bit because it was late. Jacob left a few minutes before me, and I got home about 10:30. Teagan fell asleep on the drive since it was 2 hours past his bedtime, and Easton snuggled up right next to him when we got home.  When Easton said his prayers tonight, he gave thanks that Jacob and I could go to the temple, asked that G-Pa Romero wouldn’t miss them while he was fishing, and prayed that Uncle Joe would have a good time on his date. What I love about my little Easton’s prayers is the fact that he prays right from his sweet little heart about all the things that have happened in his day. I don’t help him think of what to say. He’s just very perceptive to what’s going on around him and always concerned with the feelings and well being of his family and friends. Joe must have mentioned that he had a date, and Easton hoped it went well. And Grandpa was gone fishing tonight, but Easton knows how much Grandpa likes to take him fishing with him , so he prayed that G-Pa wouldn’t miss him. I’m sure it’s only sweet because it’s MY child doing it, but his prayers are so pure and straight from the goodness of his heart. If he always keep his prayers that way he’ll build the kind of relationship with Heavenly Father that I always pray my children will have. It’s just evidence to me that he knows that he’s not just talking to the air. He really believes that Heavenly Father hears him and answers him. I’m not an utter failure after all.

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Today began with my morning walk and visiting teaching at 9:30. Anthony dropped Jaedyn off on our walk so she got to walk with us for a bit. We walk 1 mile uphill and 2 miles just regular. Jaedyn had to walk uphill for 3/4 of a mile because I could not push her and Teagan in the stroller. I’m 29 weeks pregnant, for crying out loud. I can barely breathe. She was pretty tired, I felt bad for her little legs. While I went visiting teaching, Jaedyn and Teagan went to Melisa’s house to play for a little bit. I walk every morning with Melisa and I serve with her in YW (she’s the President). We’ve become pretty good friends, and I just love her. Easton and Teagan like to go to her house even though she has 4 girls and only girl toys.

After visiting teaching, the day was pretty uneventful. I cleaned, did homework and reading with Easton, showered, washed my hair, made dinner, refereed 3 children all day, and that in and of itself exhausts me. Why must children fight? It doesn’t matter that I teach them to love each other. It doesn’t matter that they really do love each other because they still spend half of the day fighting and tattling.  I love being a mom, but sometimes I feel like an utter failure. When my children won’t listen to me, which seems to be often these days, I just can’t help but wonder if I’m teaching them anything. Time out works for a minute, but then they are back in time out again for the same thing they did an hour ago. Most of the time I wonder what it’s all for. And I always hear that you shouldn’t raise your voice because it drives the Spirit away. Let me tell ya, that Spirit is nowhere near here. He took a leave of absence – said notify me when that woman learns to chill out. But I feel like I’ll tell the boys to do something over and over in a calm and civilized manner, and finally, when they think that Nice Mom means “you don’t really have to do anything if you don’t want to” I turn into Mean-and-crazy-foaming-at-the-mouth Mom. But I still don’t think they listen, they just seem to get this look of disbelief like, “Gees, why do you have to be so mean?” I don’t know. I just want my children to be good little children that say, “Yes, Mom. Right away, Mom.” I want them to say that the first time I tell them to do something, not the 50th. Then maybe I’ll feel like I’m doing some good as a mother.

After mutual tonight I came home and got my little boys into bed. After reading scrips and praying as a family, Jacob went out and I stayed in to sing songs and read a story. While I still feel like I’m an utter failure today, Easton and Teagan snuggled up next to each other as I sang and held each other’s hands and exchanged their “I love you’s” and “you’re my favorite brother” comments. At least the night can end on a good note with those two loving each other and loving their mom. If only it could be more like that all day.

Tomorrow I plan to take the kiddies to the zoo after Easton gets out of school. And in the evening Jacob and I are going to go to the temple while my mom watches the boys for us. On Saturday Jacob is going to be converting the table into a bench. Here is a picture of our table before, and when it’s done I’ll show the bench. I love this table, but it’s so small, and it will be a fabulous bench.

 

The chairs are staying.  And technically so it the table, just in a bench. I’ll have to take a pic of my new table tomorrow. The next thing I want to do in my house is redo my cabinets. Kinda the same color as the table. I know my appliances and countertops will need to be changed then, but I’m really just concerned with getting rid of the orange cabinets.

Anyway, I’m off to bed now. And to eat a delicious glass of Sonic ice.

1-17-12

Easton didn’t have school yesterday, and Jacob was supposed to go to work, but at 10am when I was still sleeping and the boys hadn’t disturbed me, I realized that Jacob had stayed home. I love it when he lets me sleep in. He kept me up all night the night before because he was tossing and turning and couldn’t sleep which made me unable to sleep to. So he had to let me sleep in or else. I ended up getting up at 11, and he went to the gym. The boys played outside with their friends for a while, and I sat downstairs watching them out the window and reading my scriptures. Then Adam texted me and told me that he’s moving to Idaho, which just annoyed me because he follows his family everywhere they go with no regard for the fact that his children live in Las Vegas. He doesn’t see them as it is, and now he’ll see them about twice a year. Not my problem, I realized. He followed his family to Cedar City, and as soon as they all started moving to Boise, I just KNEW he would up and follow them, and then tell me that it’s just the right thing to do. And I shouldn’t care but I just feel like he should be closer to his boys, and he keeps moving and changing his mind about things all the time. Yes, we get along fine, and yes, I think he’s a good dad when he sees the kids, but he hardly sees them, and that just boggles my mind that someone could live without seeing or talking to their children for months at a time. Anyway, I don’t mean to talk bad – I do think Adam is a good guy (from what I can see, anyway). I just don’t get his reasoning. And this is my journal, so I can say what I want about what frustrates me. The boys loves him, and they need to feel like they are just as important as the other people in his life. After he texted me, I was still sitting on the couch with the window open when suddenly some man started screaming at the top of his lungs, yelling at his child. It was so loud, and I could hear it in my house and hear everything that he was saying. So could anyone else that may have been within a block. Apparently his child had tried to help him bring in groceries and she picked up a jug of water and accidentally dropped it. The water went spilling out, and he started screaming at her. I felt so bad for her. She was just trying to help. She was about 5 or 6 years old. Then he started cussing, and my kids and the neighbors are just standing there staring with wide eyes. I’m was watching him from my window, and I see his wife standing at the door, and she must have told him to quiet down or watch his mouth in front of the other children because then he said, “I don’t effing care if there are other kids around.” He screamed that for all to hear, so I got up and went outside and said, “Excuse me but can you watch your mouth while there are children playing outside?” He was being so loud and causing a disturbance in our quiet neighborhood, and it was rude and completely indecent to be yelling like that for all of us around to have to listen to. Well after I asked him to watch his mouth, he said, “Why don’t you just go back in your house and shut up?!” Yes, he was a real charmer. After he said that I heard Jacob running downstairs to see who just told his wife to shut up, and he was completely ready to go out there and tell this guy to not talk to his wife like that, but I pushed him back inside so that he wouldn’t start anything else with this irrational man. I don’t care that the guy told me to shut up. I don’t, however, think it is appropriate or considerate to be screaming expletives at the top of his longs for the entire neighborhood to hear, particularly a bunch of little children. I feel bad for the wife and children that live in that home. He clearly has no respect for them, and that is just a sad way to live. It makes me sad to think that children are treated like that. The poor little girl was just trying to help her dad bring in groceries. I’m sure she gets beat by that crazy man.

After that incident, and after Jacob finally calmed down, we got ready to go to Amanda’s for dinner. She bought a new dining table, so she gave us her old one. We went over to pick it up, and then she fed us dinner. She furnished and fed us. She’s such a sweetheart. The table is bigger than the one I have, and my chairs already match it perfectly. We’re going to turn our old table into a bench for the table, and then we’ll be able to seat 7.

This morning after we got back from walking Easton to school, I got started on sanding my old kitchen table. It had a really bad paint job, and I’ve been itching to refinish a piece of furniture. I was thinking of turning it into a coffee table, but Jacob had suggested a bench for the table, and that is a much better idea. We just have to cut the table down and trim the legs to the right height. So I spent the day sanding and running to Lowe’s to get stuff to paint it. I’ll probably start all that later in the week after Jacob trims the table down. Tonight we went and watched Jacob play church b-ball. The boys love to go, and they don’t watch but they love to run around with the other kids. It was a fun time. Now I’m off to bed and to think of my table that is just waiting to be refinished.

1-15-12

I don’t think I’ve gotten the chance to enjoy our 11am church except for once because I keep having meetings every Sunday morning. This morning I had a meeting at 8:30 am for Ward Council which I don’t typically have to go to but the YW Pres was out of town so I had to cover since I’m the 1st Counselor. I had a 9 am board meeting last week and I have another 9 am meeting next week to finish planning New Beginnings at the end of this month. I hate mornings, and so many people like them. I hate hate hate having to be somewhere before 10 am. I just find it to be painful. Yesterday at the bridal shower I was listening to all the moms talk about their children that wake up every day around 6 am. My kids have never woken up that early, and I am totally appreciative of that. I thought 7 am was early. They occasionally stumble in my room at 7 but they typically don’t wake up until at least after 7:30. And if Teags does come in that early he’ll usually fall back to sleep in bed with me. Anyway, I also had a meeting after church today with my advisors and class presidency to plan activities through the end of March. There is also a meeting after church next Sunday, but I just can’t go to two meetings again, so I might just bail on that because it gets in the way with dinner at my parents. I shouldn’t complain – it would be much worse if I were the YW’s President, so I should be grateful. I’m just not a morning person, and that is my downfall. I blame it on my mother.

After my meeting I came home and got ready to go to my parents’ house. They hadn’t seen the boys for a couple weeks since my dad was sick last week. My brother Adam was also in town from North Dakota, and it was his fiance’s son’s birthday today so we celebrated that at my parents’ house as well. Adam is going to work in Vernal, UT for a couple months, and he’s hoping to find a permanent job there instead of where he’s at in North Dakota. It’s so far away and the city that he works in is small and dumpy and Amber doesn’t want to live there. Vernal is a much better place for them, so hopefully they can stay there and be 8 hours away instead of 20. Anyway, we hung out with my fam for a couple hours. Easton was playing in the backyard and swung a golf club at the golf ball. The golf club came apart leaving the handle in Easton’s hand and the rest of the club went right through the dining room window. We heard a loud crashing of glass and ran over to see Easton crying in disbelief and fear that he was going to get in big trouble.  But he’s a grandchild. My dad gave him a dollar to stop crying. Easton broke the window, and my dad paid him. What does that tell you? Ok, so he did freak out a little at first as he watched the club go through the window, but then he realized it wasn’t Easton’s fault and that he didn’t do it on purpose and felt bad for getting upset.  Now there is a big hole in the window that they will need to get fixed. If we had done it as children it would have been a whole different story. The kids throw tantrums and my dad says, “I’ll give you a surprise if you stop crying.” When we were kids and threw tantrums, he’d say, “You want to cry? I’ll give you a reason to cry.” Not that he ever beat us :). It was always more of a threat. It’s just so different with his grandchildren. All of his parenting skills go down the toilet, and his motto is “Give them whatever makes them happy, whether they are being good or not.” I suppose that’s what grandparents are for.

Easton is off school tomorrow, and we don’t have any plans for the day. Jacob is still going to go in to work, but he might decide to cut his day short depending on if the people that he needs to talk to are working tomorrow. He deals with a lot of human resource departments, so if they’re shut down for the day, there isn’t a lot he can do. Hopefully we will find something fun to do for the day.

1-14-12

Yesterday morning I had to do the glucose test. I took Easton to school, came home and drank that sugary drink, and waited for Jaedyn to get here so that I could head to my Dr.’s and have my blood drawn. I don’t like taking both Jaedyn and Teagan with me to the Dr. They weren’t bad, they were just hyper. Like little children can be when they are required to sit still. After the Dr., we came home and mostly just hung out doing nothing special. We picked Easton up and came home and still did nothing special. Anthony picked Jaedyn up around 3, and then the boys and I went to the grocery store for the 5th time this week to buy stuff for dinner for that night. I’m so bad about planning my menu ahead, so I typically make daily trips to the grocery store to buy stuff for dinner that evening. It’s really annoying. I should do better. I made this really delicious meal that I saw on Our Best Bites’ blog. It was kind of like pasta with an alfredo sauce except the sauce was a cauliflower base and didn’t have any cream or butter. Much healthier and equally delicious. After I finished making dinner and got it in the oven, I got dressed for my girls night with Andy, Staci, and Becca. I left my sweet husband to hang out with the boys for the night. He always encourages me to go out with the girls and have a good time. I left at 5 and headed to Andrea’s to pick her up and drive to Becca’s. Andrea just found out yesterday that she is having a girl. She was so excited, and I am happy that she gets a little girl to do girly things with. Maybe one day I will have one. When Andy’s husband Joey got home we headed to Becca’s, and then she drove to Staci’s house which is 40 minutes away from all of us. She’s way out in Henderson. Once we got to Staci’s she drove us to the mall for our pedicure appointment. I LOVE getting a pedicure. And doing it with my favorite girls was so much fun. We think we will do this on every girls night now.

After pedis we headed to In N Out to eat dinner, but for some reason I was suddenly not hungry and feeling kind of sick. So I didn’t really eat my meal. From there we went to Walmart to get snacks for watching a movie back at Staci’s. Staci also needed flowers for her table, so that is why Becca is holding flowers. A nice man in Walmart offered to take our picture, so we let him.

Becca has very tan feet. I need a sun tan.

And then we did silly pics on Staci’s coucg. When I am with these girls,  I question the level of my maturity and wonder if it’s high enough to be a mother of 3. It isn’t when I am with them.

Aren’t they just the prettiest?

 

We mostly just laughed and watched Bride Wars back at Staci’s. We left right when the movie was over at 12:30, so after going back to Becca’s to get my car and then driving Andrea home I stumbled in the door about 1:30 am. I came home to a clean house and sweet husband who was watching The Office in our room, waiting for me to get home without a single complaint that I had been gone for 8 1/2 hours at a girls’ night. Have I mentioned how much I love him? I will keep him.

After getting home so late, I was pretty tired this morning when my little Teagan came in at 8 am to ask me for milk. But after I got the boys their breakfast, I joined my husband back in bed. He got up about 9:15 to go to the gym, and Teagan joined me in my bed again to snuggle with mama. I got up about 10 and started getting ready for a baby shower for my friend Marleen at Cheesecake Factory at 11. I like the girls in my ward quite a bit, and I have made plenty of friends since we moved into this ward. The baby shower was fun, about 8 of us showed up to eat lunch. When I got home from that I spent the rest of the day hanging with my cute little family. Jacob rode bikes with the boys outside for a bit, and they played outside for several hours. Later they came inside and played on the computer together. As Mr. Teags was sitting next to Easton he puts his arm out in a really sappy way and Easton leans into him in a really sappy way, and Teags says, “You’re my best.” Then Easton said, “I love you, Teagan.” And they hugged each other in the sappy little way that they always do, neither of them aware that I’m watching and feeling sappy and sentimental and grateful for the life that I get to live with them.  I love that I get to see them interact that way, and they do it when they are just alone together and happy to be brothers. I couldn’t love anything more than seeing them love each other that way.

Around 6 pm, we made chocolate chip cookies and then put on Mr. Popper’s Penguins and ate our chocolate chip cookies nice and warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, pazookie style. Now the boys are in bed, and I am pooped and ready to sleep after a late night last night. So Jacob and I will probably cuddle for a bit and chat in our bed. I have an 8:30 meeting in the morning and then a 2:30 meeting after church. Young Women’s certainly keeps my Sundays busy, but I do love this calling.

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1-12-12

Busy day today. We were supposed to walk this morning, but at 8:10 I was just waking up, and the boys were still sleeping. If we walk we have to leave by 8:25, so that wasn’t happening today. It’s impossible for us to all get ready that quickly. I went to bed late working on the craft we were doing for mutual tonight, so that’s why I didn’t get up when my alarm went off. My New Year’s Resolution to be in bed by 11 is the only one I’m failing at so far. I just hate going to bed when the house is quiet and I can be alone to do absolutely nothing. Anyway, after taking Easton to school Jaedyn arrived, and I got started on cleaning the bathrooms. I don’t like bathroom day. I wish for 2 fewer bathrooms on bathroom day. We were going to go to Story Time with Savannah this morning, but the class we actually want to go to meets on Wednesdays, so that is just a better day since I don’t have to clean bathrooms that morning. Plus, Asher was sick so Savannah bailed. I was glad she did because then I didn’t have to go. After I finished cleaning the bathrooms and getting ready we headed to pick Easton up and then to Sadie’s house to play for a few hours. The kids had fun seeing Sadie Face, and she and Teagan were just delighted to finally be able to be friends again. She showed off all her new Christmas toys to the kids. It is just good to not see her like she was at the hospital.  We stayed there for a few hours so the kids hang out and play with each other. Around 3:30 we headed back home so that I could get dinner started before leaving for mutual. I had to leave early to get a couple of things I had forgotten at Michael’s before I headed to mutual. We made this cute little wood plaque with my favorite quote about happiness. I am just loving this quote lately. I’ll post a picture of it tomorrow. When I got home from mutual my house was spotless and my boys were happy.  My husband is always so good to have the house all picked up and the boys bathed and ready for bed. I appreciate all that he does when he gets home from work so that it’s not just me taking care of the boys from morning until night.

On another note, one of my resolutions for this year was to grow my photography business. As I was talking to my husband last night, he commented, “I never know if you love or hate photography. What do you want out of it?” But I never know if I love or hate photography either. Some days I just want to shoot all the things that I want to shoot and never shoot another paid session or event again. Other times I shoot something for money and think that the money is nice. I suppose if we had all the money in the world I would be content to find people or couples or weddings that I wanted to shoot, and I’d do it for no money just because I loved it. Like I did when I first started doing photography when I was 15 and shooting with my little ol’ fully manual film camera. I don’t think I actually like shooting events like weddings because I don’t like dealing with all the families and bridal parties. But I love shooting couples. I like being with a couple that I want to shoot and not that I HAVE to shoot. So I don’t know what I want out of photography either. I don’t know if I love it or hate or just semi-like it. Sometimes I think I’d be fine if I never booked another client again, but then other times it makes me sad to think about that. Maybe this year will help me decide.

1-11-12

My computer got a virus yesterday – the whole thing was infested – but thanks to a computer brother who is just a phone call away my computer is up and running today. I appreciate having a brother in the computer biz. Now I just need a sister that’s a hair stylist. And a brother that’s a dentist. And a carpenter. Anyway, on Monday I had written about Sadie in the morning. As of today she is doing much better. She is able to move her neck and she’s up off the couch smiling now. The abcess on her neck might be a little bit smaller, so this is all good news. Today was her best day yet, so thank goodness it wasn’t something more serious. I don’t know if they know what the thing on her neck is, but the doctor had suggested that it could possibly have been from a chicken pox that opened up and got infected. She has been on a whole lot of antibiotics, so whatever it is, hopefully it’s gone now. We are going to visit her tomorrow because she and Teagan have been asking for each other and haven’t been able to see each other since she’s been so sick. But her pediatrician assured Becca that as of tomorrow Sadie is no longer contagious and can go back to the gym daycare. So we are going to go play with Sadie Face since she hasn’t done anything fun or left her house for a week.

Monday afternoon I took the boys to the park. I’ve been doing a good job of taking the  boys out to do things and spending more quality time with them. We didn’t do much yesterday, but Jacob came home to visit the boys at lunch time. He drives a Smart Car at work, and Easton has always wanted to see it, so he stopped by to show it to him. Easton has seen the car out driving before and has asked, “Is that an action figure?!” So he thought it was pretty cool.

Last night I went to a baby shower for a friend in my ward who is due just 5 weeks before me. The entire ward was there. At least most of the ladies, anyway. This morning we went on our walk to school with the Hanseens, and then I came back and got ready for the day. I took the boys to the park at 2 pm with some ladies I work with in Young Women’s, Savannah Buckner and Brittany Anderson. The boys like playing with Asher who is Savannah’s and Taylor who is Brittany’s. After the park we came home and I got dinner started while the boys rode their bikes and scooters outside. Teagan and I just finished Skyping Sadie to tell her that we are going to come play with her tomorrow. When Jacob gets back from home teaching tonight, I will probably head to Michael’s to get some stuff for a craft we are doing for mutual. I’m looking forward to Friday when I get to go on a girls night with my sis and besties. Can’t wait for that! We also might go to the Zoo again on Friday. We’ll see.

1-9-12

After I finished blogging last night my mom called to tell me that my sister had just taken Sadie to the ER because of swelling on the back of her neck which made it nearly impossible for Sadie to move her neck up and down. Sadie’s neck was apparently really tender and sensitive all day, and Bec and Jud realized that she didn’t want them to touch it or move it at all, and if they did she would freak out. They also realized that it had really swollen throughout the day. Becca was telling my mom this when she was talking to her, and my mom was instantly worried (not uncharacteristic for my mother) that her neck was swollen and that she couldn’t move it because she’s aware of the symptoms of meningitis. So she mentioned that to them, and Juddy called a doctor in his ward who told him to take her to the doctor in the morning, but then called back just minutes later and told him to take her right then because it was worrying him that she couldn’t move her neck up and down. So they drove to Sunrise Children’s Hospital and they took Sadie in right away since she had chicken pox and neck swelling. I ended up going down around 10pm when Joe called me to tell me they were going to sedate Sadie and put a needle into her spine to see if there was any meningitis in it. Poor Becca was just like any mom would be in that situation. When I got there Sadie wanted to see me, so I went in to see her and nearly cried when I saw her laying on that cold bed with IV’s in her hand still gasping for a breath every few seconds from crying so much, the way that kids do after a lot of crying. Poor little Sadie just wanted to talk about Teagan and show me her owies, but then she moved or tried to and that made her sobbing start again. Then they came in to do x-rays, and of course she started screaming for mommy, so I went  out and brought Becca back in, all the while trying to hold back tears from seeing sweet little Sadie in so much pain and discomfort and being too little to understand any of what’s going on. As adults, we understand sickness. But whenever my children are really sick, and that hasn’t been often, I’m pained by their heartache because they just don’t understand it. Easton asked last night as I was putting them to bed, “Why did Jesus do this to Sadie?” He’s always so quick to wonder why Jesus lets things happen, and I’m touched by it because he seems to at least know that Jesus loves us. He just doesn’t understand why we are allowed to suffer.

After they sedated Sadie, she was much better and really quite loopy. She was laughing at everything and chatting and showing off her owies, and it was much better to see her like that than in all the pain she was in. It was actually quite adorable to see a 2-year-old on morphine, so Becca recorded some of her loopiness. After they sedated her they took the sample from her spine, and a couple hours later the doctor came back and said that everything looked ok right now, but that because of Sadie’s neck swelling and inability to move her neck, they wanted her to come back again today. They couldn’t completely rule out meningitis because they said it could be in the very early stages before showing up in her spine, so they needed to do another test the following night to be sure it wasn’t moving to her spine. So they gave her a good does of antibiotics and benadryl and were going to send them home, so Joe and I left about 1:30 am and headed to home. I texted Bec and Jud around 9:30 this morning to see how she’s doing, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. I assume they are sleeping.

But poor Sadie just tugged at my heart seeing her in so much pain. She was really one of the sickest kids I had ever seen, and I just wanted to pick her up and love her. Which means my sister wanted to do that even more than I did since she’s the mama. As Joe and I were in the waiting room, I kept looking around at all the sick babies in their parents’ arms, the look of worry heavy on those parents’ faces. Parents really love their children, and we always wish we could suffer things in place of our children. I’m certainly Heavenly Father, the ultimate of all parents, feels that same tug at his heartstrings when any of his children are suffering in any way. How I bet He’d like to run to our rescue and stop our cries, but in His infinite wisdom and love stays His hand because He knows that our suffering will lead us to higher ground. It comforts me to know that when I can’t take away the suffering of my children, or when I see my sister so upset because she can’t hold Sadie the way Sadie wants her to, that there is a loving Father - whose love far outreaches mine - that knows exactly what He is doing. And He does it all for the benefit of His children. There are so many children that are sick and suffering in those hospitals, children that visit them on a regular basis. I think of my friend Jami and her daughter Regan who suffers from cystic fibrosis. While my children are healthy and we go about our happy lives, Jami’s heart is constantly being tugged at by little Regan and all her sufferings and daily treatments and hospital trips. Children don’t belong in hospitals. They belong in parks and playgrounds. As I walked past all the rooms with the children in them, my heart felt such great compassion for the people that I know that are dealing with things like this, and my prayers for them will perhaps be a bit more earnest. Sadie isn’t even mine, but she’s close to mine, and seeing her in such a way caused me to see the frailness of life and to remember to squeeze my children tightly and pray, sincerely, for those whose hearts are heavy with concern for their own children. For those who feel helpless and who do worry how many more times they will be able to squeeze their children.  There is so much suffering, but there is a loving Father who is the ultimate of all parents that knows what He’s doing. When I can’t fix other people’s problems, the knowledge that I have of His love for us gets me through the day. And I remember that I don’t have to worry about them because He’s doing a better job loving them than I ever could.

1-8-12

Typically on Sundays we go to my parents’ house. Actually, we always go, not just typically. But my mom texted me and told me my dad had the flu all night, so we opted out of dinner at their house. Plus, Bec and Jud weren’t going since Sadie has chicken pox. So we’ve spent Sunday at home. I don’t know what to do when we spend a Sunday at home. It seems like the world is not right. Since we had such a fun day yesterday, I’m luckily not feeling all cooped up like I need to get out. I had a meeting this morning, then church at 11, and choir at 3pm. I made Spanish rice for dinner since I of course had no plans for dinner and happened to have at least a can of tomato sauce and rice for Spanish rice.

I was reading on Nie Nie Dialogues tonight, the blog by the burn victim Stephanie Nielson, and I stumbled upon one of her posts that contained this quote about love. It is perfectly true. In 30 years, I hope to look at my marriage and look beyond the giddyness of love and see something more substantial. I’ve seen enough to know what love is and what it is not. And while the butterflies are fun and so is the newness that is there when twitterpation has just begun, I need more than that. And I have more than that. I’m not in La La land with my husband. The newness is not there like it was when we were first starting and hanging on each and every anticipated word that the other person might say. We’re not googly eyed like we were all those many years ago. Ok, two years ago :). This is not to say that we what we have is not wonderful. Because it is far more wonderful than what we had when we were first dating and even first married. We have been through things together, loved each other through weaknesses, worked through kinks and comforted each other through tears. We have grown from two twitterpated newlyweds into two people who really know what love means. And that’s just after two short years. I can’t wait for the glorious love we will share in 30 years. That must be the stuff our parents have been talking about.
"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." Louis de Berniers

My parents used to talk about this song by Lex de Azevedo called The Last Touch:
Their first touch at 17 was in the park,
the moon was full: she was beautiful to him,
and her hair was long and her eyes were blue and her skin was warm;
she turned to him, and he thought that he knew what love was.

Another touch at 22 on their wedding night,
the stars were bright: she was beautiful to him,
and her hair smelled sweet and her lips were full and her skin was warm;
she turned to him, and he thought that he knew what love was.

Then again at 25 when the baby came,
and the sun was high: she was beautiful to him,
and her hair was damp and her fingers shook and her skin was warm;
she turned to him, and he thought that he knew what love was

Later on at 54 sitting on the porch -
all the children gone: she was beautiful to him,
and her hair was gray and her forehead lined, her skin was warm;
she turned to him, and he thought that he knew what love was.

Their last touch at 85 was by her bed,
and the moon was full: she was beautiful to him,
and her hair was thin, her eyes were closed, her skin was cold;
she turned to him, and he knew now he knew what love was.
After 68 years of laughter and tears, he knew (now, he knew) what love was.

I think it is sweet, and I want to grow old and grey with my husband just like this.

1-7-12 “Dis Was a Fun Day”

Jacob and I stayed up late last night watching Thor after we got back from our movie. It was probably around 2:30 am that we finally went to sleep. I knew that I would be tired in the morning, so I filled Teagan’s sippy cup with milk and stuck it in the fridge so that when he woke up in the morning and told me he wanted milk, all he would have to do is go downstairs and get his sippy out of the fridge. So this morning he woke up around 7:50, came into my room, asked for his milk, and I sent him downstairs to get it. Usually Easton is awake before Teagan and he’ll be watching TV downstairs, so Teagan will just hang out with him. But this morning Teagan woke up first, so he got his milk and headed back upstairs to drink his sippy while snuggling with me in my bed. My boys are pretty good about letting me sleep in the morning. As long as Teagan has his milk, he’s happy. And Easton will wait until I come downstairs to eat breakfast, or he’ll come in my room and ask if he can have an apple or banana. I appreciate that they let their mama sleep. Especially when I’m pregnant. I seem to be more tired when I’m pregnant. Anyway, Teagan climbed into bed with me and drank his milk and snuggled up under the sheet with me. He’s such a cutie. He likes to grab my face with both hands and bring his face right next to mine, and then he’ll smile so sweetly and talk to me. Never do I feel so much love as when those sweet brown eyes and that perfect smile that lights up any room are right in my face with love written all over them. And it always makes me wish that he would never grow up and that I could keep him at this adorable stage in his life for forever. I don’t want him to grow up like Easton keeps doing. I was thinking this morning about how I’ll just keep having to have more children so that I’ve always got one at that stage in my house. I surely love how much my boys love me. You would think I was the mother of all mothers by how much love they have for me. I just can’t get enough of it. After cuddling with me for a bit, Teagan looked over at Jacob who was sleeping and asked me if he could go see Dad, so I let him climb over to Jacob’s side to wake him up with snuggles. Nobody can turn down snuggles from a cute little boy who just wants to love on you. Then Easton came in and climbed between Teagan and Jacob. He and Teagan got right up next to each other and hugged and told each other how much they loved one another, and then Easton snuggled up to Jacob and told him he loved him,  and my day was already off to a perfect start before I even got out of bed. It makes me so happy to have so much love in our home. I can’t say enough about how much I love morning snuggles with the boys and Jacob. It usually only happens on the weekends because the other mornings Jacob has to be to work and Easton has to be to school.

After the boys were finished snuggling with us, they headed downstairs to watch TV while Jacob and I slept a bit longer. Jacob got up before I did, around 10, and then I got up about 11 when he went to the gym. Around 2 pm we headed to Jacob’s so Jacob could work on some things and fix the tiller with his dad. One of the legs on our kitchen chair broke off so he had to fix it at his dad’s and then get some other stuff done. So I chatted with my mother-in-law and the boys played for a couple hours while Jacob did stuff with his dad, and then we all headed to In N Out along with Jacob’s brother Jayden. At In N Out, Patti suggested that we all go bowling, so we took Jayden back home (because he’s a teenager and has more important things to do on a Saturday night than hang out with his parents and married brother) and headed to the bowling alley. The boys had a blast. And Jacob’s parents are the best. I seriously love having such great in-laws. They are awesome grandparents. They just love those boys, and the boys love them. Jacob and I always talk about how blessed the boys are to have such wonderful grandparents that call and tell us to bring them the grandchildren because they HAVE to see them. We both love our in-laws, and that is a rare thing. Not that we agree with everything about each other’s families, but we love them and get along quite well. We are certainly blessed, and the boys are just surrounded by awesome grandmas and grandpas. We love it. After bowling we headed back to Jacob’s parents’ house and watched Sherlock Holmes while the boys played and hung out some more with G-Ma and G-Pa Edgel. Teagan said after bowling, “Dis was a fun day.” And it was.