The Journey: My Testimony and Gratitude

If you want the details of our journey, call me.  It's too long for anyone to care to read.  ;)

I did want to share my testimony through all of this.  The Lord truly does guide us in our lives.  He hears and answers our prayers.  He knows what we need and can see what we can't see.  If we put our trust in Him, He will never lead us astray.  He will help.  I know this with all of my heart.

Twice during this journey, we felt lost.  We knew what we needed to do but weren't sure which direction to take.

Twice, the Lord showed us.  Well, way more than that.  He's guided every step of this journey.  Every step! When we were in doubt about our job search, He helped us find the right job within 30 minutes.  Within a week, we were hired.

When we didn't know what to do when we were there, checking out houses but not finding any, this quote was discovered in my email:

"Our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives."  (Italics to indicate my favorite part.)

                         —Thomas S. Monson

After we read this, we took Him up on that.  We prayed for guidance.  Within minutes, our realtor was calling us and we were able to look at a house we had ruled out because of (enter lengthy details here).  As soon as we saw the neighborhood, let alone the house, we knew we had found the right one.   

I have no doubt in my mind the Lord's Hand has been in this journey, has guided us when we were feeling lost, has watched our for our family when we didn't even know we needed watching out for (because of other lengthy details).

I'm so grateful for this opportunity.  I'm so grateful for the wisdom to see when we're being blessed.  I'm so grateful for this job and this house and for Hazel (again, more details).  She rocks.  I'm grateful that even though it had been snowing all day, the roads were clear for our three hour drive home in the dark.  So many blessings have been bestowed upon us, this past week.  I'm so glad my kids were able to see them, as well.  I'm grateful we were able to come up with more than enough money to pay for this trip.  (Blessings of tithing!!) I'm grateful for everything being on sale when I needed to stay inside a strict grocery budget.  I'm grateful that because of this, I was able to get my son's birthday treat for school.  I'm grateful our prayers for the first jobs we applied to weren't answered.  There's been so many (seriously, so many) blessings given to us this week.  I can't say enough how grateful I am and how awesome the Lord is.  :)

Now, on to the next step:  selling our house.  And more praying and having faith that all will be as it should be.  :)

Owen-ba-jowen

My sweetest little tiny is the joy of our whole family! We wouldn't be complete without the little stink! :)

I found this one in camera land, the other day; I think he's 3.5 months old... he fell asleep with his little thumb in his mouth.  I thought for sure he'd be a finger sucker.  He's not an anything sucker.  Nice, now, but man that was rough!

 

My kids generally started crawling in their 10th month.  I think he'll still be in his 9th month when he starts... he's starting to move backwards, like the rest did before they figured out the forward thing:

(His poor little face - it's either rashy from his sensitive skin, or his birth mark is flared or he's scratched himself.  We still love it, though!)

 

I love this little dipey bum and chumpy legs! He likes to chew on his socks while he's still wearing them, but one came off. haha

 

I had given him a spoonful of peanut butter and he literally licked every inch of that thing:

Everyone who sees him loves his quick smile.  He's not shy! :)  (I think if you look close enough, you can see his two and a half toothies... he's working on the top ones, now.)  We have since buzzed his hair.  I miss it!

 

When he flexes his feet, which he does whenever he's studying something or excited or mad or talking... haha  anyway, they kind of curve and point out.  The doc's not worried about it and said we probably just need to see how he does standing when he does it, more, since they're not like that unless he's flexing.  She did suggest we put him in high-top shoes, for now.  Aren't they so cute!:

 

He was 27 3/4 inches at his 9 mo. check up, and weighed 18 lbs. 9 oz.  He's finally in the 25th percentile for both - he's been in the 15th or lower for a while.  He's my sweet little tiny!

Lootin'

Last year, he was Thomas.  This year? James.  We love used costumes.  ;) 

 

And, of course, we have the silly face:

 

 

My little skeleton baby.  He glows in the dark! :) And he's so sleepy...

 

Oh, I love that widdle face! I just want to smooch it! He had his first sucker, tonight.

(My camera got smacked on the counter... doesn't quite focus that well, anymore.)

 

 

We bought her vampire teeth, two that stick to your real teeth.  She threw away the instructions on how to make the epoxy - so they didn't work.  Oh, well.

 

 

And if you don't see my husband in this face, you need your eyes checked.  hahaha  He paired up with a friend and hit half the neighborhood, scoring him a grocery bag AND his bucket full of candy.  Glad he didn't hit the WHOLE neighborhood; he'd have candy to last him till next Halloween!

 (FYI, he was the Scream ghost - or whatever it's called.)

^^^ This was his costume ^^^

 

My two older ones are old enough to go with friends, now.  My daughter had a hard time choosing between going with us or with her friend and her parents... my son? Never gave it a second thought... he was out the door as soon as we said he could go without us.

 

Quin, after every single house, almost, kept asking, "Do we go to the next house, now?" After an hour, though, both little boys were ready to get back - one for bed and one for candy THEN bed.  haha 

 

It was a fun night! Kinda glad it's over... I'm ready for Thanksgiving!

Bring on the cold!

"I think it's snowy out."

 

 

First snow of the season, and he insists on wearing his favorite outfit, still.  "So people don't think I'm ugly." or something like that.  He won't go outside because it's so cold, yet, he's literally running back and forth from kitchen to living room because he's going stir-crazy. 

 

He's not squinting due to brightness... Apparently, this is his new signature pose.  See here for a duplicate.

 

Love this kid!

The Girl Next Door

 

Me:  Quin, do like Emma?

Quin:  Yes.  Emma's my best friend.

 

They're pretty much inseperable.  They talk about each other from morning till night.  Literally.

 

 

And, Karen, this is the outfit I was telling you about.  (For the rest of you, it's the outfit my three year old insists on wearing every. single. day.  I have to wash it often so it's not as dirty as it could be.)

Younglings

I decided it was time, again, to post some pictures. 

How sad that the first picture I came across on my SD card was one of Owen when he was first trying baby food?? I didn't even have baby spoons, yet!

 

 

And I must've taken more pictures with my other camera because the next ones I had were of my kids riding a horse.  We had a Not-Bummer Summer list of things we wanted to do, this summer, and riding a horse was one of those things.  :)

For the record, I'm skinnier, now.  hahaha

 

 

 

Owen, chillin' in the stroller with his goofy hat while he waited:

 

 

People have said these two could be twins... I don't think they look that much alike, but you can definitely tell they're brothers.  These were just taken last week, I believe.

 

 

 

 

 

I have more on my other camera, but I'll save those for another day.  :)

The Cat's Outta the Bag

The other morning, my oldest woke up with his loose tooth relocated to the other side of his mouth.  (I know.  Yuck.)

Needless to say, the tooth fairy was due for a visit.

Only, she didn't have any dollar bills laying around... and sorta forgot.

This morning at 6am, she remembered...

She dug through the change jar in search for enough to add up to dollar.

With perfect hearing, my oldest came out of his room, wondering what "all that clanking noise" was.

With four quarters hidden in hand, any noise of the clanking sort was denied in a round-about way so as to not be totally outright dishonest.

My son made mention that the tooth fairy failed to show, again.  Then he asked if I was sure it wasn't us, because his friends all say it's their parents.

With a sigh of defeat, I reluctantly opened my hand to show him the loot.

"It IS you!".... pause.... "That's disappointing."

Yes, yes it is.

Then comes the inevitable next question, "So is the Easter Bunny you, too?"

"Really, Andur? A bunny that hides eggs around your house??"

"Oh, yeah.  I guess that's true."  (Please don't ask the next question... walk away, Jami! Walk away!!)

"What about Santa Claus?"

(me) "He's real."

"My friend said she looked it up in the encyclopedia and read that he's just a myth."

"Well, go look it up."

So he did.

"Hey, there's a town called Santa Claus!"

(Me) "Really, where?"

"On the same page as the other one."  (duh.)

(Him) "It says he died somewhere in the 300's A.D.  That's kinda creepy - some dead dude coming in our house in the middle of the night."

( ... )

So, I told him. 

I said he IS real, he's just not alive.  He's been immortalized by parents and children for generations. 

I linked it to the first gift of Christmas - how our loving Heavenly Father gave us His only Begotten Son; how the humble and meek were guided to Him by a star, the reason we have a star atop our tree. 

I told him, now he gets the wonderful opportunity to embrace the true meaning of the season; that he gets to help us keep the magic alive for the younger ones not privy to this conversation.  (Well, Owen was, but he didn't seem to care.) 

It was bittersweet, this conversation.  I remember all too well the heartbreak upon finding out why my dad's handwriting was suspiciously similar to every fantastical character of my youth.  My heart ached for his; for him having to take yet another step in this growing up process. 

Yet, to see the light in his face when he finally (*finally*) "got" what Christmas really is all about...

"Oh, I get it!" 

...not much I can add to the greatness of that. 

Crossroads

10.

Double digits.

Going on 11.

5th grade, even.

*sigh*

I remember reading or being told, once, that children become who they're going to be by the time they're five.

On the way to a meeting with my son, tonight, I realized how untrue that is.

I can't believe the changes occurring in my son and his life. 

He wants to play the viola in band at school.  He passed the test to play one with flying colors.

He told me next year he wants to play football and be a lineman.

He told me about the girl he had a crush on last year.

He's going to be learning about, you know, "things" in school, this year, so we had the opportunity to have "the talk" before school started in hopes of squelching any notions of sex being OK as long as you're using protection or whatever such nonsense they teach kids nowadays.

He's joining clubs at school that promote responsibility and maturity.

He's liking GIRLS, for crying out loud!

He's entering a time in his life that will greatly define who he'll be when he grows up. 

Ha, it's not when he grows up, anymore, rather as he grows up.

As a parent, this is both exciting and scary; both bitter and sweet.

I can only hope that I helped him lay a firm enough foundation so when he's faced with life-altering decisions, he'll know which road to take and it'll be one he'll always be proud of.

How on earth did I get here?

Heaven help me...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

12 years ago, tonight, I won't tell you what I was doin'... hehehe


But I WILL tell you it's been one heck of a ride!


12 anniversaries

11 how old we were when we met

10 jobs Matt's had and I've supported him through

9  the number of kids we swore we'd never have

8  apartments we've shared

7  cars we've owned

6  years of living in Wyoming

5  lay-offs we've survived

4  kids we DID have

3  states we've lived in

2  houses we've owned

1  happy marriage


I love you, Matt! Here's to 12 more! (Actually, you're stuck with this chica forEVer! hahahaha!)

Ten. It's the new thirteen.

My son.

*sigh*

He's enough to make a person reconsider having kids.

He's already spouting unfairness about his parents "getting whatever they want" (HA).

Oh, the demanding.  The attitude.  And, yes, the tantrums. 

He insists he follow what I said, say, 37 days ago, verses the new restriction I doled out 37 seconds ago (due to a decline in behavior on his part, but that doesn't count, apparently).  To change my mind in such a way makes me not only a promise breaker, but a liar.

Indeed.

He wants to be like other "normal kids".

*normal:  adjective:  To sit and play video games all day, every day.  To have a cell phone that is paid for by the parents.  To not have a reasonable bedtime.  To do whatever one wants, whenever one wants to do it.

I "pawn off" my chores on to him simply so I don't have to do them. 

I give him the opportunity to play my new XBOX 360 w/Kinect with me and he complains that he never gets to play by himself (on MY game system) and he never gets to choose what he gets to play (on MY game system) and he never gets enough time to play (on MY game system) and it's SO NOT FAIR.

He claims he's going to save up his money and buy his OWN game system so he can play it whenever he wants and I can't say a thing about it because it's HIS.  (He forgot about the part where he uses my TV, my electricity, in my house, but I'll let him dream.)

Yesterday, I decided to let him earn some alone time on MY game system.  A time when no one else gets to play with him and he gets to choose to play whatever he wants for a whole hour. 

In exchange, I get out of doing the dishes. 

So, he's looking forward to it all day yesterday and this morning, re-verifying that he gets to play alone for a whole hour, because "You said, Mom."

His time finally arrives.  A fight breaks out between two of my kids for reasons not worth mentioning, but it leaves his sister crying in the kitchen.  I go to shower, not wanting to deal with anything, anymore.  I come back down to find

they're playing together.

Hmm...

I fully expect my smart aleck son to inform me that this doesn't count against his "alone" time.

Instead, I inform him that it DOES count against it.

He says, "I know.  But she was in the kitchen, crying, so I let her come play with me."

I have to admit:  it doesn't take much for that kid to totally melt my heart and make me forget about how much he's like his stubborn, willful, unrelenting mother before she learned how to make that work for her.  ;)

Instead, I'm reminded of what he'll become and that I need to nourish that.

Heart attacks and six packs. Oh, and flan.

I've seen my sister get so mad she passes out.  I've heard about nieces and/or nephews hitting their heads and passing out.  I've even almost passed out, once.

But I never saw my own kid do it.  Wait, I take that back.  Quin choked to non-breathing, once.  That was fun.

Natalie missed the bench when she tried to alley-oop onto the tramp and instead rammed her ribs into the bars. 

Fortunately, she was somehow able to make it to the back door where she stood sort of gasping.  In a matter of blurred milliseconds, I somehow made it from the stove, where I was standing, to the back door, a good 15 ft. away.  In this amount of time, I watched my daughter stumble backwards a step or two, then completely topple over.  Not a sort of crumple to the ground fall, a standing tall to a great big flat-out fall.  I heard her head hit the ground. 

Before I knew it, I was holding her, assessing her breathing, watching her eyes roll back into her head, and sort of frantically asking her if she could breath (she was starting to make sounds) getting ready to put all of my years of first aid training to the test.  Her head was floppy for a minute but then she started crying and asking me what happened.

In that short amount of time, she said she had a dream.  She said she thought what was happening wasn't real, that she thought she was thinking it would suck if that DID happen, and that she was late for a bus or something.  Guess the mind does funny things when it takes over for a person.

She's got a nice goose egg, and upon examining her rib area, realized my little girl's got abs any female would envy.  Six pack envy.  Not kidding.  Sheesh.

Oh, and I'm making flan for the first time, hence the standing by the stove. 

It's been quite an eventful last couple hours.  ;)

Natalie, the fearless:

You remind me of the babe...

I'm a little sad, tonight.

I just issued my last first haircut. 

*sniff*

Matt said he was going to mop my kitchen floor with Owen's head. 

Though, tempting as it was to get my floor cleaned, I chose option B.

And we went from this:

"Ladies Man"

To this:

"What on earth did you do to me, woman?!"

(If you look real close, you can see his first little toothie on the right.)

It looks darker in pictures than it does in real life - I fear he's going to be a blondie, afterall.

I loved having two brownies!

*sniff*

Oh, well.  I guess we'll have to see how it grows back out.

And for the record, I opted to not keep any of his hair.  Why? Because I was thinking about it last night, and really, that's just gross.  Might as well keep his first toe nail clippings or his first booger.  hahaha

I found Andur's first lost tooth and I have to say - EW.  So, no more hair-keeping.  That's just weird, if you think about it.  And I did.  So I'm not gonna.  ;)

Bright

My son, my oldest son, is a smart kid. 

This boggles my mind when he does something like give his little brother a wipe to, you know, do his bidness in the bathroom... and comes out of the bathroom with the LYSOL wipes in his hand asking if I only give him one.

It's then that I find myself saying things like, "Are you kidding me? Really??"

Sheesh.

Grammar check

This is for those who refuse to "speak the Queen's english".  You know who you are.  ;)

Slippin' and a-slidin'

Did you have one of these when you were a kid? I did... before the pool at the end or all the funky stuff they've added since.  Good times.  ;)

The Picnic - Andur & Natalie

Sulking...

The rare "just a smile!" (no open mouth full of food... no goofy face...): 

The dogpile... because there's plenty of room among the plates and food and people: 

This one's just funny - make it bigger to see all the facial expressions: 

Nice: 

I thought this one was funny... it was an accidental one, I was actually trying to catch Quin but he was too fast for me: 

It was a fun day.  Later, they tried out our new slip & slide thingy - so someday soon I'll have to post pictures of that.  ;)

The Picnic - Quin

Eatin' a samwich:

I told him he had to hurry and eat before the bugs did... 

"I can't eat this... the bugs will be sad!" 

Poor cowlicked kid - could use a serious haircut: 

He was running in circles around our blanket... I caught this picture by following him with my camera.  Not too shabby: 

As long as Owen doesn't cry, I allow the lovin' to continue, three year old style: 

One more... Andur and Natalie's turn!

The Picnic - Owen

Today, we found the most perfect place for a picnic... it was perfectly grassy, perfectly shady, perfectly close... it was... my backyard.  ;)

Owen was perfectly content.  He's totally in his element when out-of-doors, as I'm sure most babies are.

Ahh, the thumb: 

It was strongly recommended that I take a picture of the fly on his head: 

Achoo! 

Bless you!

Achoo! 

Bless you!

Whoa... thanks... 

Happy baby! 

Stay tuned for more on "The Picnic"...