Mom Math

1 Ignored dirty diaper on an otherwise naked boy

+

1 Boy who likes to play with the tag in the back of his pants

=

2 Messy hands waving a gross paci at mom while the boy spits at the yucky taste

+

1 Mom on a hunt to discover where else the boy wiped his hands

+

The New House

As per request, here is the new house. (No pictures b/c our camera was dropped. So you get John's walking tour instead!)

Poop!

Edward did it! On the potty! We're just so proud.

I should mention that the way it happened is not repeatable. And we have no expectations of it happening again in the near future. But it was still great!

Birthday Gifts for Christ

I accidentally posted this to the wrong blog! But it's something that's becoming a beloved tradition at our house, so I though I'd leave it here too. Enjoy!

Our family has several birthdays during the month of December. A few years ago I realized that this gave us the perfect opportunity to talk about Christ's birthday.

Throughout the month, as we're talking about what to give and what each of my boys wants for their birthday, we make a point of mentioning Jesus's birthday as well. We discuss all of the different things we could give him and try to come up with the things he would most want from us this year. In the past, our choices have been things like obedience to our parents, helping our siblings, and reading our scriptures together more.

Even if you don't have December birthdays, the season of giving will offer many opportunities to discuss what we can give our Savior.

Or, try throwing a birthday party for Jesus as an FHE. Act out the nativity as your party game, celebrate with cake, and give presents by recording what you will give Jesus as a gift this year, either in pictures or in your journal.

I can attest to how wonderful it is to turn the world's focus on gifts back towards the true meaning of Christmas. Give it a try this year!

Homeowners!

That's right! We've acquired a mortgage! Merry Christmas to us!

This was our big project that's been in the works this last month. We were able to meet the realtor, look at a crazy number of houses, research our top options, and make an offer in under a week! It was intentionally fast so that John would be able to do the house-hunting with me before starting work. Then we closed a few weeks later.

I'll post pictures as soon as I remember to take some. These next few weeks will involve lots of cleaning, painting, packing and unpacking. We plan to be completely moved in to have Christmas in our new house.

The details? It's in a great town with a fabulous school system just a few minutes north of where we are now. The house is large, with enough rooms for a guest bedroom, a playroom, and an office. We're across the street from a park with several playscapes, a stream, a wooded area, and lots of open space to run. Also a pool! And as an extra bonus, the elementary school is on the other side of the park. We'll be able to walk there in less than 10 minutes.

So for Thanksgiving this year, I am grateful that we've come out on the other side of this year, not only stronger, but much better off than when the year began.

Round Two

Ethan was discharged from the hospital Thursday morning. With the meds, he was (and is) doing just fine. Still has the cold, but can breathe easy. So I went to make an appearance at work.

When I came home around 11:30 that night, John said that Edward was having a really hard time sleeping. He's had the same cold and was coughing and tossing and turning. I was pretty confident that I knew what it was. Unfortunately, I was right. The boy was wheezing and sucking hard to get air in. Not nearly as hard as Ethan had been, but hard enough.

Back to the ER we went. We weren't rushed right back this time, but ulitimately the experience was the same. Nurses, drs, and respiratory therapists. Breathing treatments and an x-ray. Our nurse from two nights before did a double take when she walked by and saw me. It was nice to be remembered. The respiratory therapist was one of the ones who treated Ethan as well.

After a few hours we were able to go home. New nebulizer and prescriptions in hand. (Now we have the full set of asthma treatments at home!)

Edward's diagnosis wasn't asthma, mearly a tightening as a reaction to a virus, called bronchiolitis. But it could be a sign of things to come.

This virus has been a nasty one for our boys, so if you don't see us around until it's gone, it's because we're trying not to share!

Hospital Stay

Two nights ago, Ethan had a cold. Not really a bad one, but oh did his body react. Ethan started to have trouble breathing, so we took him to the ER where he was diagnosed as having a major asthma attack. We'd hoped a breathing treatment or two would ease things and we'd be home. We weren't so lucky.

By that first morning, Ethan had figured out where everything in the ER was. (He was in the ER for 12 hours. First the PICU didn't have room, then they downgraded him and they didn't have a room in intermediate care, and finally they downgraded him again and we got a regular room.) Ethan was fine with it. He'd been introduced to the game cabinets in the ER and was happily playing away.

When we moved to his room, we hung out for a while to give the numerous drs, nurses, and respiratory therapists do their assessments. (Mom, your bag of fun was a big help during room-time.) Then Ethan asked where the hospital's toys were. So we spent much of the day in the Child Life playroom. Only popping out every hour or to be checked by the nurse and get his breathing treatments. We also discovered some garden areas that had fun things to climb on and walk around.

Honestly, if he didn't have to be woken up in the middle of the night, Ethan would love to live at the hospital. All the attention! All the places to explore!

He'll be coming home today, but the treatments and steroids will continue for a while. And we might avoid you if you're sick :)

We'd like to thank the friends who stepped in to make things easier. One who came over late at night so that we wouldn't have to take Edward with us. Another who took Edward all the next day so that mom and dad could take turns being with Ethan and sleeping. And yet another, with plenty of asthma experience, who volunteered to take both boys this afternoon if John and I need to make appearances at work. And of course, to all who expressed their concerned and offered prayers for our guy. THANK YOU!

Becoming a Smooth Stone

Things are looking up around here. (Very, very up. But more on that in the coming weeks.)

As we are finishing up this tough year and beginning new things, I've been particularly impressed to pay close attention to what we've been through. To see how each tough thing, no matter how small, polished off a rough edge.

Ethan asks me about the crosses on other churches on a regular basis. We always talk about how we don't celebrate the crucifixion, but the atonement and resurrection. Last week, it struck me exactly how different that makes us from other religions. We know that the plan we agreed to doesn't allow for the Lord to snap his fingers and make everything easy. The plan requires sacrifice, in many different ways.

Heavenly Father had to sacrifice his son to give us all the chance for eternal life.

Eve had to eat the fruit, sacrificing life in the garden of Eden so that the Lord's other commandment could be obeyed and we could all come to earth.

We've all chosen to sacrifice an easy life for the freedom of choice. To become the wondrous person the Lord sees inside, we have a lot of learning to do. And we all know that lessons stick when you've learned them the hard way.

So here we are. Coming out of a rough year. Feeling a little smoother. A little less rough.

On my mind

1. Ethan can sound out and write all of his letters now. So instead of "spelling" by yelling out a stream of random letters, he's working hard to hear each of the letters in the correct order. I love that he works so hard! He's even managing to read a few short words by sounding out the letters!

2. Edward backed off on wanting to use the potty for a while. But the interest seems to be back. He saw a potty at Target last week and fell in love. (It's frog shaped.) He's been sitting on it multiple times every day. No success yet, but the dry diapers all day and the overfull ones at night indicate that he's learning some control. We'll get there.

3. Please don't tell me how thin I look. I'm very aware. My pants are hanging off of me and all the baby weight has disappeared. (Wish the extra skin would too!) Even my face is thinner. This was not an intentional weight loss. It was achieved by a combination of stress, too little sleep, frequently eating only one real meal a day, and lots of Dr. Pepper to keep the blood sugar up and the headaches at bay. I am looking forward to gaining some weight back in Dec. Then losing it in a much more healthy manner.

4. So happy for John. He's loving his new job. It's exactly the type of growth opportunity he was looking for, and they need him there so badly. He jumped right in, meeting with people to figure out what he needed to learn, interviewing someone to do their SEO, and scheduling a business trip to get some hands on experience. Nine months was worth the wait!

5. Think I might attempt to fold the many, many loads of laundry and clean a bathroom or two before having to go to work. Better get started...

Goodnight Moon with a Twist

As a fan of speculative fiction, I absolutely love this review of Goodnight Moon. It's so good, I couldn't keep it to myself.

(Please don't read it if you want to continue to think of Goodnight Moon as a sweet children's book.)

Ummm... I think I forgot to mention...

We've been crazy busy this last week or so. Much, much busier than usual. All because we're making some big changes around here.

It all started when JOHN GOT A JOB!!!

That's right. After almost 9 months of unemployment, my husband will start his new job on tuesday! Can I tell you how relieved and excited I am?

We've been getting the ball rolling on a few major changes during this final week of joblessness. I'll be sure to let you know about them as they happen!

Listening

As we've been particularly focused on pleading with the Lord for John to get a job, I've been thinking a lot about how I listen for an answer. Or really, how He speaks to me.

Usually, it's a gut feeling kind of thing. Something just feels right. We're in Austin right now because of one of those. The more I fight against those feelings, the stronger He makes them, until there is no room for doubt.

I've had physical experiences when He needed me to know right then that something was right. As in, punched in the stomach, knocked the wind out of me experiences. Went to BYU and married John because of those.

I've even had an audible answer. If you don't remember, I got my Edward because of it.

I received the strangest one yet last month. While I was in the shower, BEFORE going to the temple, I received a clear picture in my mind. Literally a picture. A picture that will be a comfort to me for the rest of my life. Couldn't even focus on what we'd planned to pray about at the temple, because this picture was reinforced for me the whole day. It didn't even answer the question I'd had. Simply put it in perspective. With a picture. (No, I'm not going to share. Probably ever.)

Finally, I'm becoming more aware that He's talking all the time. And part of me has been listening. All those little day-to-day inspirations as a mom and a wife that I'd taken for granted. That somehow I hadn't realized I'd been enjoying. I'm sure there's even more that I'm missing because I'm not listening as well as I could.

Gotta love those big answers, but it's the little ones that affect me every day. I need to focus on hearing those better. To work on being a better listener.

It's the next morning and I feel the need to clarify. I don't mean to brag that I've had all these memorable answers to prayers. Not at all. In fact, I'm a little bit embarrassed by how the Lord has to talk to me. Because apparently I miss the little messages. I just don't get it unless he "sends me a sign". So I need to work on being a better listener.

Yummmm

Have you seen Foodzie yet? It's like edible Etsy.

The Pantry and Spices section makes me crave time in my kitchen to try out one or ten. Honey and Jam is making my mouth water. (Raspberry Cocoa Preserves! Macadamia Nut Blossom Honey!!) The Bakery..., well you know me and all things baked just go together. And I could spend my life's savings in Chocolate and Candy.

I'm having to force myself to think long and hard about what my first purchase will be. To keep myself from buying up everything I see. Maybe it'll be that honey...

I must be crazy

Because I've been feeling like I don't have time to do anything for me, I decided to commit myself to something else. I've joined the Daring Bakers.

What does that mean?

Every month, a host (chosen from the membership) challenges us with something they've been wanting to try. The recipe is a secret for everyone but the membership until the end of the month when we all reveal how we did at once. It's a commitment because you have to participate nearly every month to stay a part of the group.

For September, we made puff pastry. Absolutely crazy. I've posted about how I did on my other, sorely neglected blog. So if you're interested in my massive failure, go check it out!

Pictures while cleaning

Our house was an absolute wreck after a few weeks of a mom who was too busy, kids who were sick, and over-full weekends. We spent all day cleaning and have managed to get our house back into livable shape.

After cleaning the playroom, Ethan reminded me that we needed to make room for his preschool artwork on the walls. The picture is documenting the wall of artwork from last year. We took it all down and saved just a few. Ethan is so excited about filling it up again this year!


At the end of a very long, very busy day, John and I sat down for our "date night". Looks like fun, huh? Folding laundry while we watch a movie is becoming a regular thing.

Challenge Update

So....

We've completely blown past the $25 a week. We were doing well until last night when John decided we were having an at home date night and picked up some things for a nice dinner. And then today Ethan and I picked up school lunch items. (Because he would have had some strange lunches otherwise.) And Sunflower market has 5 lbs of potatoes for 99 cents! (Starting tomorrow for you TX folks.) Gonna stock the freezer with some hash browns and french fries. Plus, a trip down to Sunflower means stocking up on a few things I can only find there. I don't make it down very often.

The plan for the next three weeks is to only buy milk and fruit. (Plenty of veggies in the freezer.) Barring great sales on items I need to stock up on, we shouldn't go too far over.

Budget Challenge

We've been living pretty frugally these last several (seven!?!) months. At the beginning we spent nearly nothing and managed to eek by when it came to the bills. Then with both unemployment and my job, we relaxed a little. Still not extravagant, but we aren't being as conscious of our spending as we should.

With the end of unemployment checks looming, we're trying to get ourselves ready. I've decided to attempt Owlhaven's sept grocery challenge. She has a family of 12 and it cutting her budget to $75 a week! (Really only possible because it's harvest time in her garden/farm.) For me, that's going to mean no more than $25 a week. I think I could do it with less, but this challenge is for me, not John. And that wonderful man does the majority of the cooking while I'm working. So I need to stay under budget while not making life too hard on him.

$25 a week isn't to bad for us at the moment. We have a large amount of dry goods in our food storage and a well stocked pantry thanks to food stamps back in the spring. Really, we only need milk, fresh fruit and veggies, and the occasional loaf of bread when I can't fit in making it myself. Plus a few odds and ends each week so that John doesn't have to spend lots of time every evening in the kitchen.

I think it's more than doable. Wish me luck!

Church Growth

Any idea what the growth of our church looks like? I didn't. But now I do!



(For those of you who aren't LDS, a stake is a group of congregations (or wards as we call them), generally about three thousand to five thousand members in five to ten congregations.)

Rice

Gotta love how little it takes to keep them entertained!

(I do wish that I'd thought to put down a sheet or at least pre-sweep so that I could reclaim all the spilled rice. Next time.)

Edited: I wanted to note that they played with this for over an hour! The extra cleanup was totally worth it.

Laughing Through Life

After returning from our big outing today (a ten minute trip to drop off school paperwork for the dr to sign), it occured to me that life has been a little boring.

So I thought I'd share a few glimpses of my boys that made me laugh or smile this last week.

* Edward dumping water on the living room rug and then dancing as he splashed in it. (This was while swearing under my breath that he'd figured out how to make yet another kind of sippy cup leak.)

* Ethan rolling his eyes at me for singing along to a "Word World" song. ("You can never have too many OO's" is a catchy song! And I know mom. It's payback time.)

* Edward singing along to the same song a few minutes later. Doodly-oo is such a fun word to hear from his little mouth.

* Ethan saying all morning that he was tired and should probably take a nap. (I had a yeah-right kind of laugh at this one. He didn't nap, but he did lay on his bed and read books for over an hour.)

* Edward's run. It's hilarious.

* Ethan's excitement when I showed him how to use a Magic Eraser to clean up Edward's wayward coloring.

* Edward's imitation of his brother when I leave for work. Even if I've already said good-bye to him, if Ethan gets a bigger hug or a real kiss, Edward comes over for the same. Gotta love those little arms giving hugs and the slobbery kisses.

Not very exciting. But these boys are constantly reminding me why I'm pushing through. Give me a few of those moments a day and it's all worth it.