Big Boy Steven

Today Steven not only sat on the toilet, but he WENT as well. :-)A couple months ago Sarah insisted on bringing up the kid toilet to start Steven potty training. The picture below is from January 25th, the day we brought it up. He has sat on the toilet multiple times, but today was the first time he actually went. We all cheered for him and he was pleased with himself. I don't know if this will be the start of his potty training, but I'm glad he's showing interest.

Story telling Sarah

Sarah loves to tell stories, and I love to share them.

She asked to come to the Young Women General Conference broadcast with me. She kept herself busy drawing pictures and writing letters. She has been sounding out words and writing what she thinks they are if she's unsure. She wrote the following note "to the young women" w/o asking for help. (She wrote the right side first)


Translation: Love Heavenly Father for Young Women. Go to Church to learn about Jesus... Young Women. :-)

On St. Patrick's Day I went into Sarah's class to pick her up. She's a bit of a teachers pet, if you can imagine. One of her teachers asked me for a copy of the picture Sarah had recently brought to school. She draws so much I had no idea what she was talking about. She asked Sarah to come draw it on the white board and I immediately knew what she was talking about. After drawing it she gave a very animated description of what the picture means.


The man in the middle is Jesus. The two men on the outside are the bad men that wanted to kill him. Jesus is sad and crying because he is going to be hung on a cross, but in three days he'll be resurrected. (she went into the story of his burial and resurrection w/Mary coming to the tomb) The little person at Jesus' feet is Sarah and she is crying because she loves Jesus and is sad for him. There is a heart on the right side because she loves Jesus and Jesus loves everyone.

I can't retell it as well as she explains it, but it was very sweet. Sarah gave her teacher a copy, and her teacher in response wrote her a very sweet thank you letter and told Sarah she was going to hang it up in her house. I love my special little spirit and the joy she brings into my life.

Laurel Cabin Retreat

This past Friday we took most of our Laurel class up to Kristen Brady's cabin for the night. These girls are not only amazing, but a lot of fun to be with as well. We ate pizza, indulged in lots of goodies, played Rock Band and watched part of Pride and Prejudice. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be around these fun and special young ladies.

Welcome Spring!

Saturday was the 1st day of Spring, and we have been feeling it. I love springtime. I love that we can go outside with light layers and not worry about being too cold or hot. I love the flowers, birds singing, and the sharp increase in outside activities for my kids. :-)

On Friday we took advantage of the partial sun and wind to fly kites. We've already lost two kites this year, so I've learned to get my camera before we go outside instead of while the kids are flying the kites.

Sarah's new kite was a little big for her, so she was happy to allow her friend a longer than normal turn. :-)




On Tuesday we went to Copperton park with our friends the Smith's. Sarah wore the same outfit two days in a row because of St. Patrick's day. She even wore it to bed because she liked the green combination so much.





And, just for fun, here is proof that Steven likes broccoli. :-)

Being a peacemaker

Today in Young Women's we had a really good lesson on being a peacemaker. Although I "know" everything that was taught, I still needed, and appreciated, the lesson. I know I've blogged more than a couple times on my need to relax and not get upset over small things, so I won't go into that again. I'd just like to share some of the scriptures and thoughts from the lesson. I remembered a lot after church, but it's 11:30, I'm tired, and should have blogged this earlier. :-)

One of the things I love about this teacher, Kristen, is that I see myself in a lot of what she says about herself. We both got lucky in marrying men that are peacekeepers. Mike is perfect for me in a lot of ways, and one way is that his temperament is different than mine. He never gets upset over trivial things, and if I do, they are quickly resolved because you can't argue one way for very long. :-) He is a great example to me.

One thing that Kristen mentioned is that during an argument, it doesn't matter about what, the Spirit will leave if there is contention. Even if you don't believe in the Holy Ghost, or Spirit, there is a different feeling in a home when people are getting along, and when they're arguing. Sometimes I feel justified in my bickering because I think I'm right, (or am right) and therefore it's ok to argue to get my point across. That isn't the case. If I get upset, or bring contention into my home, the Spirit will leave regardless of who's right. I know this, but I don't always do it. (why?)

Romans 12:10-21

Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."

Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

Matthew 5:39, 44 "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." " But I say unto you, Love you enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you:"

I love the Sermon on the Mount, because it is all about love. That is the underlying factor in being a peacekeeper. You love others, so you are willing to be patient, forgiving, long suffering (terrible two's last a whole year ;-) and all of the other attributes of our Savior that make Him the supreme example to everyone. It is really hard sometimes to "turn the other cheek" and walk away, or to bite your tongue when you really want to be heard, but the resulting blessings will be a more peaceful house, better behaved children and better relationships with other people. Tomorrow is a new day, and it will be filled with peace. (and lots of laundry because it's Monday) :-)

I know I've suggested this talk before, but it's one of my favorites. I have a few quotes from it hanging on my mirror. It is called, "The Tongue of Angels," by Elder Holland.

It's a Boy!

On Monday we found out that we're definitively having a baby boy. We are VERY excited. I thought that Sarah would be disappointed, because she wanted a baby sister, but she's just as happy to help out with her new little brother. Although I would have been happy with either sex, it will be nice for Steven to have a play mate. Sarah is a little princess, and poor Steven would have grown up wearing nail polish and tutu's if he was sandwiched between two sisters. :-)

Here is a profile picture


Up top, there is a part circled that says "I'm a boy"


My pregnancy so far has gone really well. The first trimester was a little rough, but once it passed I went back to feeling almost normal. (besides the ever growing belly) I get a little tired, but I allow my self to rest when the opportunity arises. Steven doesn't really understand what's happening yet, but Sarah is very excited. She has a box under her bed of toys and books she's saving for the new babies arrival.

Now we just need to decide on a name. We don't really have any picked out yet. Mike isn't one for picking out names, but he is really good at using his veto power against most names. Here are some of Mike's conditions:

1. No more "S" names. Sarah and Steven weren't picked because of their first initial, and Mike doesn't want another S name. It's too bad, because the only name I've thought of starts with an S.

2. NO creative names. If it's "new" and "interesting", he isn't interested. He likes traditional names, but you'll be surprised at how many traditional names can be tied to people he didn't care for and therefore can't be used. :-)

3. No preppy, rich sounding names. If it sounds like it should have a III after it, he'll say no.

4. No names that seem popular as pet names. We know a Jackson and Cooper off hand, and he could probably rattle off more.

If you can think of a good, traditional, normal name that fits within these guidelines, please feel free to leave it in a comment. If you end up naming our child I'll give you a $20 gift card. :-)

Batman returns

Steven has been on a superhero kick lately. A few weeks ago we were at the library and he grabbed a Batman cartoon video and refused to put it back even though he'd never seen one. I let him watch one episode, and he loved it. Thankfully DVD's have one week rental limits. :-) We also have a superhero book which gets read 2-4 times a day. If you say the, "doo doo doo doo BATMAN!" he'll get all wound up and charge into action. It's so cute. Mike bought him a costume and he's worn it from sun up to sun down for the last couple days.



I tried to get some candid shots of him in the costume, but he's too all over the place for me to take a good one. I love this energetic little guy.

This is healthy, right?

I consider myself a pretty healthy eater. I eat my veggies, fruit, whole grains and I almost always opt for low fat options. My childhood left me with some eating habits my husband isn't too fond of due to smell, but they are usually healthy. :-) One "treat" I enjoy a couple of times a month during pregnancy that I can't justify as healthy is a Totino's Pizza. YUM! I don't know why, but I think they are delicious. We went through a stretch of time when I was young when we didn't have a lot of money. My mom was single, with four young daughters, working hard to put herself through college and give us a better future. I ate a lot of hot dogs, home made burritos, and Totino's pizza. Back then I could eat a whole one by myself. Now, I use restraint and share with my kids.

Since I'm going to indulge in these $1 delicacies I have tried to make them "healthier," if that's possible. On Tuesday I made one with artichoke hearts and tomatoes on my side and tomatoes on the kids side, as well as some real mozzarella, since I think theirs is "cheese product." :-) I didn't finish my half for lunch, but it also makes great leftovers.

Why am I blogging about something so dumb? I have no idea. The kids went to bed early, my house is clean, and I have time to waste before Mike gets home from school at 11PM. :-) I thought it would make a funny blog post, so I even took a picture of my delicious creation.

Sarah's trip to the ER

Sarah is a dream child, really. She is helpful, thoughtful, sweet, loving, forgiving, and everything I could ever want in a daughter. She is a very easy child as well, but in her short four years she has given us a couple medical scare. (like most kids) Her first scare was when she had her febrile seizure back in 08'. The other happened yesterday.

On Saturday night I went on a daddy/daughter date with my dad to Indian food. (YUMMY) Mike called me after we'd ordered to tell me Sarah had swallowed a penny and he wanted to take her to insta care. I had the car seats, so he took Steven to a neighbors (thanks Crystal) and borrowed one of theirs. I wasn't very worried, because I've heard of kids swallowing coins and then passing them at a later date and Sarah was four, not a baby. It was just her luck that the penny lodged perfectly in her throat.


They told us that there was a good chance it would drop and to bring her back Sunday afternoon for a follow up x-ray. If it had dropped, great. If not, we'd have to take her to Primary Children's hospital for removal. In the morning Sarah said she couldn't feel it in her throat anymore and thought it was in her belly, so we were hopeful. Unfortunately, it was in the exact same place as before. We headed up to the ER around 3PM.

They told us there were a couple ways to get the coin out. The "easier", non-surgical/anaesthesia needing way, was to put a tube down her nose to her throat, inflate a balloon under the coin, and pull it up. This would have been really easy, had it not happened to a scared four year old little girl. They had to restrain her, which meant tying her to a board with her hands above her head. To make it worse, despite my protests, they wouldn't let me be next to her because of the x-ray machine they used and my being pregnant. They tried three times, but she was crying and yelling so much they couldn't get it out. It took her a while to calm down.

Thankfully they were able to fit us in quickly for "surgery". She had to be put under, but there weren't any incisions or anything, so it was much easier. They sedated her in my arms and were done about 40 minutes later. They had her stick around in recovery for another 1 1/2 hrs to eat, drink, and be monitored, but finally let us go around 9:45 PM.

I'm still not sure why she ate it, but if you ask her, you'll get one of a couple responses. An audible uuhhhggg....followed by an exasperated "I just wanted to feel what it was like having money in my body." or "Steven was playing with it, so I took it away." (w/o an explanation as to how it ended up in her body)

She usually likes to tell her teachers about interesting things, but said she didn't want to tell them about this because they learned about money last week and they told the kids to never eat money. (I have as well if you're wondering)

Thankfully everything turned out fine and she's back to her normal self today. Her throat doesn't hurt at all, which is lucky considering the two different procedures and having it there for 24 hrs. At least she's learned a valuable lesson. :-) We're just really grateful it turned out so well.