Pressure

Today Breanna said to me, when I grow up I'm going to be a Mommy. I'm going to be a Sarah, just like you.

Jesse has a CTR Ring that he says he's going to wear until Jesus comes. And he really has been wearing it for a month straight. Who has that kind of commitment? Not me, I ate 10 chocolate chip cookies tonight.

These are real people. My real people. Jesse just told me when he grows up he wants to be a dentist and fix teeth. Last week he wanted to be Superman, because then Superman would be real ('cause yes, I told him Superman isn't real.) But these kids are going to be real people. Dentist type real people. Did I say real?

This is a lot of pressure.

Today I did one thing right. Around 1 o'clock when I wanted to take a nap or clean my house, I took the kids for a walk. (I didn't even care that Breanna's pants were on backwards). I figure if I do one thing right a day I'm not doing so bad right? Oh and I took Breanna to ballet and made soup for dinner. Three things!!

What did you do right today? Ask yourself, it's sure to make you feel better :)

The Weekend

It was a perfectly beautiful January day in Southern Alberta

When two lovely people got married for time and all eternity.

 Their nieces and nephews are super cute. Two of them are mine.

 It was a good wedding, a Mormon wedding.

Now I am so tired I keep getting dizzy. And I ate enough to make the time and hard work I spent exercising this week completely useless. 

Babies

I just want to write a little about babies for my sister Candace and sister-in-law Katie, because when I had my first there were things I didn't know and these are my best tips about babies. Also after every baby I forget everything. You don't have to listen to me, I won't be offended. Yes I will. But I'll pretend I'm not!

Sleepers, with the feet. That's all you'll want your baby in because it's comfy, and it's what they look cutest in anyway.

Nursing hurts for the first few weeks!

Swaddlers. By Pampers. They're expensive but they are so soft and comfy, worth it! I always mourn the day my baby grows out of swaddler diapers.

Nose sucker thingy. And saline drops. Babies get stuffy especially if you have them in the winter, and that's the only way to clear their nose out so they can breathe! Sorry if that's gross. It's true.

Swaddle the baby nice and tight for sleep. Babies always surprise themselves with their movements and wake themselves up.

E.A.S.Y. It's a perfect little routine for a newborn because then you know what they need when they cry and their needs are always taken care of. They Eat, are Awake for a minute, then they go to Sleep and when they sleep, it's You time!

You time in order of priority (as per my Mom): Pray, eat breakfast, read scriptures and shower and get ready. Also (as per my MIL) sleep when the baby sleeps. If that's all you do all day, you've done your job! Unless you have other kids in which case you time=other kid time :)

Put them to bed when you see that first yawn and their eyes start to look sleepy and flutter. When they cry you pat them. That way they learn to fall asleep on their own. It's true, it works every time for me!

Sling- it may seem hippy but really, it's just an awesome way to be close to your baby while you're cleaning, etc. Then they fall asleep in there without a peep and it feels so good to have your baby close like that.

Trust your body! Your body will grow a healthy baby,  give birth all by itself, nurse your baby all by itself and turn it into a beautiful, healthy human being. Any voices that tell you otherwise should be shut out.

 I can think of more but I'll leave it at that for now. I know advice can be annoying, but just in case you want mine, I have had three really good babies to show for it! :)

P.S. My poor baby I need to start taking pictures of her!

P.P.S. Here is a little note I put on my family website the other day so you know I feel better after that last post!

Church was really good. I've been kind of stressed about my calling lately, like I was back last Sunday, then I had a meeting with one of the girls that night, then I had the activity on Tuesday, then I had a Stake meeting yesterday morning, then I taught today and I'm planning an activity for Tuesday and then another meeting Thursday night...etc. and that's on top of life itself. Anyway, so I complained about it and wrote about it on my blog. Then one girl replied and said she found that as she fulfilled her calling everything else in her life went smoothly. I was like, oh yah! I forgot about that part! So anyway, since then I've had ideas come into my mind about what I want to do for activities. I was able to get a babysitter for Saturday morning so I could go to my meeting and the meeting was at 9:00am so I had to pick up the babysitter at 8:30. Well, miraculously, I was EXACTLY on time for my meeting! That's with getting all the kids ready and out the door and the baby fed all by myself and not knowing where this lady lived and getting myself ready! It truly was a miracle. Plus I slept last night straight through from 10:30 at night until 7:00 in the morning. It was amazing and we were able to be at church on time for 9am. Then today I had to teach and I literally did NOT have a chance to prepare the lesson (but that's because I don't prepare it the week before like you do, Mom). But somehow I felt calm about it. I prepared it during Sunday school (bad I know) and not only did the lesson go amazing, but Afton slept straight through. I'm being blessed in so many ways that way and in every other area of my life too so far. I just know Heavenly Father is being like, see, it's true, you are blessed when you do your calling. Anyway, that's my church thing and we had Roast beef dinner for supper courtesy of Brad. Now Brad is having a nap and guess what? I don't even need one! Sometimes I love life!! :)

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My opinion and your advice? And post edit.

The other day I read on CJane's blog this post about so what if I'm fat. I agree with her underlying premise. But I still have 30 pounds to lose (I lost 35 right away-that's one benefit of being almost 200 pounds at the end of your pregnancy) and I'm going to lose it. So I ask myself, why?

1. I'm a visual person, I like beautiful things. And I think I look better when I'm thin and fit. (Brad, on the other hand, can't decide if he likes me better plump with big breasts or skinny with none :)

2. The future. I like the challenge of sacrificing now to improve my future. I want to be able to play with my grandkids and help my kids out when they are parents, just like my Mom and Mother-in-law do. Being overweight is unhealthy and leads to diseases. No fun.

3. Activity- I love love to be active. I love running, walking, dancing, hiking, playing sports, etc. and I want my body to be able to do those things. Even if I can't do them well, I don't want it to be because I'm fat and my joints hurt. Those kinds of things make my life so much more fulfilling!

4. If the reason I'm overweight is because I lack the dedication, motivation, strength and self-control to lose the weight, I would feel bad about myself. Lack of motivation and self-control are not good reasons, in my book, to be overweight.

5. This is the body I'm going to have for eternity and God wants me to care for it. It's a beautiful thing. Even when it's 30 pounds heavier and has just given birth it's beautiful. I want to care for it.

6. When I am fit I have more energy, I can do more, and therefore am able to serve my family and others better. I can play, clean, cook, shop, work more.

So I just finished my first workout on 2 1/2 hours of sleep and I am dizzy and feel like I'm going to throw up and faint. Isn't this fun. My kids "worked out" beside me and it was fun. For them at least. Ironically, my baby slept from 11:30 until I finally woke her up at 7:30 this morning. But I was having some kind of anxiety attack and couldn't sleep, even when I did sleep it wasn't well. I'm stressed out because it's like, okay, you've had your 6 weeks now it's time to get back to life! Come on, buck up! I'm a sinner because I blame it on my calling. I need an attitude adjustment/ spiritual pep talk. So even if you don't normally comment, please do. But it's hard taking care of 4 other people and myself on very little sleep, so add to that and it stresses me out. So, if you read my blog and you are a Mom, I really like advice.

Post Edit-(I've always wanted to say that!) I love the Young Women with all my heart! They had a shower for me the other night and they each gave me a gift like homemade treats and lots of free babysitting. I seriously love those girls. They just take a lot of time! :)

Funnies

Jesse woke up a couple of times the other night. I asked him why and he said, "well-uhm-my leg was hurting and-" Then his eyes lit up and he got a big smile on his face. "I grew!!" he exclaimed.

I had the oxyclean upstairs because Breanna had spilt hot chocolate all over my sling. Jesse saw the container and asked Brad "is that metamucil?" So Brad was like, "What? how do you know what metamucil is Jesse?" "I saw it on a commercial."

In church yesterday we were singing a hymn and one line says "out in the desert they wander, hungry and helpless and cold." Jesse says, "why are they cold? The desert is hot." Good point, Jesse.

The other day Breanna was sitting on the floor brushing her hair and said she was not going to stop until her next birthday because she is Repunzel. She was getting a bit frustrated that her hair wasn't growing longer.

We were a couple of minutes late for Breanna's ballet last week so when she was ready I said, go to class! And sent her on her way. I was sitting talking to my friend when one of the moms said, is that girl supposed to be in class? She had been dancing away all by herself the whole time in a big open studio. That's my Breanna!

One of my favorite things about my kids is their imagination. They are always making costumes and declaring, 'I am so-and-so!' (Batman, Robin, spiderman, Indiana Jones, Batgirl, some princess or other) and all I can think is "hm...that's a bit of a stretch." I've decided this is a direct result of their being bored all the time. There are some upsides to being pregnant for nine months :) My favorite was the day Jesse came downstairs with Indiana Jones's fedora: a piece of paper he cut out in the shape of a hat, colored brown and attached a string to so he could wear it. He even punched the holes for the string. My Mom and I laughed so hard when he came downstairs with it on-so that's what you've been doing up there for so long! Then Brad helped the kids make these:

The Riddler, Robin and Batgirl. 

Real fast.

We go through garbage bags like crazy around here.  They make great capes. Which reminds me of the song We'll Make Great Pets by Porno for Pyros. Remember that song? There are some songs that stay in your head your entire life. Like I will never for the rest of my life say to someone "to the left" without thinking of Beyonce's song. But that's beside the point. The point is, my kids are in their pajamas ALL the time these days. Don't get dressed unless absolutely necessary. :)

Christmas Time is Here!

Looks like I'm getting behind on posts but here is my Christmas one! We had the best Christmas EVER! Going to the nativity, going to see Santa, sleeping under the Christmas tree, doing a Christmas puzzle, playing all day with our new toys, singing Christmas carols and watching the Grinch and Rudolf, swimming, sledding, bowling, sitting in the hot tub, going to the movies and Uncle Matthew's basketball game with cousins, dancing at the Taber Stake New Year's party and eating more treats and chocolate and yummy stuff than we could handle! Sometimes the anticipations is the best part. We put a cottonball on Santa every day in December until finally it was Christmas Eve!

I liked Christmas Eve night, watching Elf with Brad and wrapping presents, sitting around and cuddling and staring at my baby, eating and reading.

Can you see the dollhouse in the background? That's my childhood dollhouse. My Mom gave it to me and Brad spent hours fixing it up.

The best present of all.