Blessing Day Weekend

My little baby boy was blessed by his father in church on Sunday. Grandma Sandy got him a new outfit to wear, and I think it is just adorable! Aaron, Uncle Aaron, Grandad, and Uncle Micah all gave him the blessing, and Bishop Duran. Alek didn't even cry. It was the most beautiful blessing I've ever heard. My new priesthood holder is getting the hang of things pretty nicely.



Aaron took this picture of hum and I on Sunday. I think it's a nice picture.




Uncle Micah and cousins Zadok and Odin, and Aunt Kim, all stayed at our house for the wekened. This is Chancellor playing outside in a pile of rocks with her only cousins. And of course the dogs. Zadok was climbing the hill of rocks, and saying that he can do some very tricky things now that he's 4 years old. Odin was playing with his bubbles as the dogs ate them as they floated in the air. Chancellor was wandering around picking up rocks.

grandma Sandy holding baby Alek on blessing day.

Grandma Jodi holding baby Alek on blessing day.

Me and my son in the mei tai Sally made me.

Chancellor and Papa hanging on the pull-up bars.

Sally and Odin eating some snacks.

Zadok posing with a muffin.

Micah and Odin on Odin's 2nd birthday (day after blessing day).

Action shot of all the kids beating up Uncle Aaron.

Odin with birthday cake and gummy worms hanging out of his mouth. Happy Birthday mr Odin!

It was such a nice weekend! Aaron's family came to church and then back to the house with us on Sunday. And Rachele and Nate came to visit later that day. It was just a day filled with family and love and laughter.

my babies

Chancellor is getting so big! She's 14 1/2 months old. I just tried to see if she wanted to pee on her new little toilet, but it really scared her. She asked to put her diaper back on. And she HATES having her diaper on. She loves watvhing Yo Gabba Gabba, because it and she are just so awesome. She dances all day long! Anytime she hears music, she starts dancing. And she's talking now, too! Here are the words she says well enough for me and Aaron to understand:
dog
mama
papa
grandpa
grandma
grandad
aaron
katie
alek
cat
horse
up
more
peek a boo
roll
cheese
cookies
bottle
diaper
poop
bath
that
gabba
baby
broccoli
prayer
amen




Aleksandr is 1 1/2 months old. He's such a good sleeper!!! He's getting big and chubby, and still had a nice round bald head. He sleeps. He eats. Sometimes he's awake for a little while. But mostly he just sleeps and grows. His cardiologist thinks he's okay. He said the nerve that slows the heart down is more mature than the nerve that speeds the heart up, and that this usually corrects itself before his first birthday. He sleeps with me at night, and is getting really good about not eating too much while I'm sleeping. Once I've fallen asleep, he eats twice and needs one diaper change. Other than that, it's peaceful sleeping for us both! He's getting better at smiling and every now and then he'll make eye contact with me. He likes to look at the blinds when thy're closed, nice contrasting stripes.




My babies are growing up so fast! It's really fun watching them learn and grow every day.

Too busy to be grateful??

Seriously. I am soooo busy. Two kids is A LOT! I like to kinda try to do as much parenting as I can without any help, to prepare myself for when I'm not surrounded by extra adults. Chancellor just will not let you ignore you. Ever. She is happy and loud and energetic and always wants you to play with her. Alek is still new, and cries and sleeps and needs to be held. When I'm lucky, I get two showers a week, but it's usually just one. I make food for Chance 3 times a day. I make food for me and Aaron three times a day. I literally MAKE FOOD for Alek, about 8 times a day. I try to clean, but find that my children always need me right when I start. I was going to start learning to belly dance via fitTV, but I only got to do a couple episodes before that routine was ruined. Every moment of every day is taking care of children.

I used to want to write. I guess I still do. Everybody wants to do something. Write, dance, sing, paint, run, whatever. Everyone wants to be really good at something. I wanted to be a really good screenwriter. It's often hard for me to realize that the thing I'm really good at is being a mom. For some reason motherhood tends to not fit into the same category as things people get paid for.

But most of all it's just hard to stay positive while I'm living with my parents. It really sucks having no way to support my family. I want my own home! It's not fun being the mother in a family of four, and having your own parents leave you chore lists and tell you to wash dishes. In MY house, it's okay to leave the dishes dirty for a while so I can have a little moment to play with my kids, or maybe even relax. It's really hard to remember that this isn't my house. It's hard to remember that I am sooo lucky to have parents this nice. And as much as I want to run my life the way I would if I weren't living with them, I need to keep remembering that they're being nice enough to support my family in our timeof need, and I should just go ahead and empty the dishwasher.