I am too Blessed to be Stressed

A lot of family and friends know what I am up to, but just in case you don't I will post it. First I have welcomed a 4th child into the family. His name is Jordan, he is 2 months old. His mom (Nicole) teaches and dad goes to school full time. Dad (Tae) also is playing collage football. He comes Mon. , Wed., Fri. noon-4ish. Then Tues & Thurs 9-4. Sometimes he is here more when things come up. He is really cute, but I am definitely not ready for a 4th of my own any time soon. While he is here all I am able to do it take care of kids. Nothing more gets done.
On Wed. and Fri. I do a preschool for my boys with a few friends from the ward coming too. This takes a lot of time, since I am such an over achiever and everything has to be perfect. The boys love it though and look forward to school days.
Then my calling. I am the Beehive counselor in YW. Again I am such a perfectionist. I have to do everything the handbook says and pray for the girls night and day, then act on impressions. I have 5 girls right now only one comes from a strong gospel home. Two others come all the time, then I have two that I am working on keeping active. They are such sweet things, I just really want to give them a solid base in YW and make it a positive thing. Next month we are making quilts. Ya, I made my first quilt this month so I could teach them.
Then besides my boys, school, and YW I have my number one, Don. Since I am so busy we really are setting aside days now just for each other. Making date nights a priority.
Like I said we have been so blessed because of our faithfulness to the gospel teaching. We have hard times, but even then we are lifted through the atonement. I am way to BLESSED to be STRESSED.

Eldon 1 year old

Yes it is true Eldon is one year old. He has been officially walking for a few weeks and been taking steps since around 11 months. He is almost 25 lbs. and 31" tall.

He loves his food. I don't know what would happen if I let him eat until he said he was done. I usually cut him off, he eats as much as I do at certain meals. He will eat anything, really anything. Weaning is going really good with him so that is good.

He tries so hard to play just like his brothers do. He makes car & animal sounds as much as he can, and tries hard to make his little people talk to each other. This usually comes out as a scream more than words but he is trying. He likes to read just as the other boys. Baths are not his favorite though. He is so easy going he does anything, but I can tell he would rather not take baths.

He is an early riser. Lately I am lucky if he makes it until 6am. But he talks to himself for a few minutes while I try to force myself out of bed.

I short we are happy to have the little guy he is such a blessing.

Eldon 11 Months

August 19th Eldon was 11 months old. Times sure flies by. He had his first haircut a few days before he turned 11 months. That did not go well. He didn't like holding his head down much. The spoon picture - well he had been getting molers this month and bits his spoon when we feed him. Don won't feed him because it is such an ordeal to get the spoon back. I just think it is cute : )

Knick

Was I not suppose to eat your cucumber plant?

On July 24th Knicker joined the family. His birthday is April 12, 2010. He is a shiatsu/rat terrier mutt. So still just a little guy. He loves to chase the boys and catch them by the pant leg and chew things do shreds. He loves to pull weeds (and my plants). He also is really good at digging holes. He has one that is a good foot deep that he works on all the time.

Eldon 10 Months

On July 19th Eldon was 10 months old. Such a big boy. He is cruising all over the place and standing up to furniture to walk. Still not ready to walk though.

Texas Year Anniversery

One year ago we entered the state of Texas. I wanted to do a post saying some things I have learned over the past year. From one of my favorite movies comes, "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." I have felt that way many times this last year. My trials didn't kill me they made me stronger and I like to reflect after each trial to see what I have learned. So I have learned:

1- I can survive over 115 degree humid weather, with no AC & it won't cook the baby inside me.
2- I need to read EVERY WORD of EVERY contract I sign, who knows what is really in it.
3- I am a lot stronger than I give myself credit for.
4- I have learned I can give natural birth to a child.
5- I learned how spiritual natural birth can be & the instant bond it creates with the infant.
6- I gained a new respect for family and the support they can give even so far away.
7- Don & I learned to truly communicate. We were good before, but when you are all each other have, you learn really quick to be united and talk things out.
8- I gained a testimony of food storage. Have it! Who knows when you will need it.
9- My faith in my Heavenly Father's plan for me, grew immensely as I learned to rely on him for EVERYTHING.
10- I learned the importance of temples. Dallas is two hours away. But going is so vital to a happy home, the sacrifice is worth it.
11- I learned the basics of putting up sheet rock.
12- I have learned to be self-reliant spiritually. I struggled, but did learn to be happy no matter what was happening and who was upset.
13- I learned how to plant a garden (still not awesome at this)
14- Although I learned I am strong, I also learned my body has limits and not to push it.
15- I learned how to cook all over again at a different altitude.
16- I learned to make my own laundry soap.
17- I learned the difference between needs and wants.
18- I learned the in-and-outs of buying a house.
19- I learned no mater where you live the gospel is true.
20- I learned to be humble and except help sometimes.
21- I learned the value of friendship.
22- I learned that I can find great joy in being a mother.
23- I learned from the people here to just relax sometimes.
24- I have learned to identify many insects, snakes, and spiders. Including the brown recluse.
25- I have learned that love really can solve so many things : )

My time is up, but these are a few of the priceless lessons I learned this year. I am sure I will forget some and have to learn them again and again. After all I am just human.

My Dog Pepper

After 13 years my little dog Pepper finally went to heaven.
I got her for my 13th birthday from the pound. She was two years old and had been severely abused by her previous owners. She had several ribs that had healed incorrectly. Her windpipe had been crushed, making it hard to breath at times. Her hip also had been injured and fell out of socket when she ran. I saw this little dog in the window and knew no one else would want her. They said she was being put to sleep the next day. So I took the ugliest of the bunch.
She was always a very loving dog licking my tears when I cried and seeming very concerned. She never bit out children unless she was approached while in her bed, her safe spot. She even would act as if she was going to bit, putting her mouth around their arm or leg, just letting them know she didn't like what they were doing.
Father's Day morning nothing was out of the norm. She ran with me to get Eldon up and then ran back down the hall to go to her door. When I came out of the boy's room she was laying in the hall. It looked like she was trying to itch her ear so I bent down to scratch them for her. But I realized she was not okay. He breathing was really labored and her eyes glazing over. I continued to stroke my little dog, her chest filled then all the air went out. It was very peaceful and appeared painless.
She was buried under out tree that night in her blanket, in a box. We all said some words about her and covered her. She now rests in our backyard awaiting the resurrection.

The boys were her care takers. Bryson got her food, Jaron the water. Bryson woke to go check on her and asked where she was. His major concern was that we no longer have a dog. His request is a brown dog. He still remembers the lesson we had a Easter about the resurrection and talks about Pepper coming back to life often. Jaron was a little sad, but also has a lot of faith in Heavenly Father's plan, even for our pets.

We love ya Pepperoni, thanks for being such a great dog.

Eldon 9 Months

Our little boy is growing big, eating everything in sight, and now almost 10 months. He is crawling all over the place and yelling (talking) a lot too. We love our big Teddy.

Summer in Texas (June)

This is our friend the rat snake : ) When going outside he was on our window. They are climbing snakes and do bite, but are not poisonous. Not a fun surprise.

Before the fire ants Bryson's encounter with fire ants. His hand and feet were just as bad. Poor boy. We were so happy playing in the long grass, but could not see the ant pile. They both know to stay away from ants, but the ants you can't see are hard to avoid.


For enrichment we made pillowcase and donated them to a hospital. Here are my efforts. If you want to do some good just Google million pillowcase challenge. It has patterns and things. I had fun using material laddies from the ward donated to make the pillowcases.