Happy Valentines Day!

It's a few days late, but I thought I'd share a little of our fourth Valentines Day with you.  First of all, we celebrated on Friday night, because Jared had to leave on Sunday morning for 6 days in Atlanta.  Boo!  We had a great time eating dinner at Texas Roadhouse (LOVE that place!) and Jared got me truffles and the best caramel corn in the world from our favorite chocolate shop in Rapid City (he was there for the first half of last week, training his replacement) as well as a couple of new Scentsy bars.  Great gifts, I love my husband!


That being said, I was about to kill him the next night when I sent him to the grocery store for one item that I needed for my Sunbeams class and he returned with this:

That's right, he apparently couldn't say no to the cute little Brownies selling cookies in front of King Soopers.  The next morning he took off for Atlanta, leaving me with a box of truffles and FIVE boxes of girl scout cookies.  Praying for some will power...

As I took the picture of the boxes of cookies, Nathan said "Ready, cheeeeeeese!  Oh, that's cute!"  Yikes, I guess I'm predictable, huh?  :-)

When Times are Tough

The last month has been difficult for many reasons, some too personal to post on a public blog.  In life there are ups and downs, and for me this has been a down period.  With my husband's travel schedule and the fact that we live farther from home than ever before, I have felt very alone.  I love my children dearly, but I have found my temper growing shorter with them as my pain and loneliness grew.  I finally ended up on my knees in tears a few days ago, pleading with my Father in heaven to take the pain and anger that I felt, and replace it with love and forgiveness.  Some days are better than others, but I know that He has been faithful to answer my prayers.  I feel as if the fog has lifted and I am finally able to move on and become the person I want to be, with His help.

A book that has been so helpful to me in this time is "When Times Are Tough: 5 Scriptures That Will Get You Through Almost Anything" by John Bytheway.  My mother-in-law gave this book to all of her kids at Christmas, and I am so glad she did!  This was the first book that I have read by this author (who incidentally was one of my husband's professors at BYU!) and it was so encouraging to me when I needed it most.

On a bright note, Hannah has officially started solid foods!  So far she has tried green beans, peaches, carrots, and of course, rice cereal.  Carrots seem to be the favorite, as you can see in this picture.  They grow up so fast!

Sleepless Nights and Runny Noses

My children have it: the dreaded Cold.  Some colds are easy, a couple days of runny noses and they are gone before you know it.  Not this cold, it started five days ago and shows no signs of letting up.  All four of us have it, but poor Hannah has been suffering the most.  She gets very congested at night and wakes up every 1-2 hours.  In fact, the longest stretch of sleep she has gotten since the cold started was 3 hours a couple of nights ago.  That felt like heaven to me, as I am also getting up a couple of times per night with Nathan as well to use the toilet.  The only thing that seems to help Hannah has been sleeping in her car seat, which isn't ideal, but necessary to allow us all some rest.  Being more upright in the seat seems to help her drain, and she breathes easier.

The sleep deprivation is getting to me, and I do not have much of interest to type, except for this funny/sad, cold-related story.  Nathan and Hannah were both feeling quite lousy this morning.  At one point, they both had green snot pouring out of their little noses.  As I dove for Kleenex, they looked at each other and simultaneously burst into tears.  Later, after Nathan had perked up, he noticed that Hannah's nose was running again.  "Oh!  Baby!  Nose!  Hannah!  Wipe nose!" he exclaimed.  He grabbed some tissues and began wiping every inch of her little face, yet somehow magically leaving the snot intact.  He was so sweet and so proud of himself though!  What a great big brother...

midnight potty trips and failed resolutions...

So toilet training is going well.  A little too well in fact.  While I am content for Nathan to simply be dry during the day and wear a pull-up at night, he has decided that he wants to be dry all the time.  This has caused toilet trips at ungodly hours, last night it was at 1 AM.  He is so cute that I can't be annoyed though, squinting in the bright bathroom light as he sits on his Elmo potty seat.  He asks funny questions too, points at all the parts of the shower wanting to know the names of the parts (faucet, curtain, etc) and at 1 AM this morning asked "Where Grandma is?"  Random.  I remember thinking to myself  "I have the cutest son in the world.... I hope I don't fall asleep here sitting on the edge of the tub..."

Confession: I have already failed in one of my New Year's Resolutions.  I have been working out closer to 2 times a week instead of 5.  My excuse?  Between midnight potty trips with Nathan and early morning (usually 5 AM) feedings with Hannah, I have found that if I don't get enough rest my milk supply suffers.  Since the only way to get a work out in and shower before the kids are up for the day is to get up around 6 AM, once again I am sacrificing my body for the nourishment of my children.  Sorry, Jared!  :-)

I am pleased to report that I HAVE actually been following through with a couple other resolutions: keep a cleaner house and have people over to dinner at least twice a month.  We have hosted two dinners at our house in the past couple of weeks and have invited another family to dinner this coming Friday, so that will make 3 times this month!  It is so much fun to entertain, and it has given me extra motivation to keep the house in tip-top shape. 

I can't blog without posting a picture, so here are my cute babies all ready for church a couple of weeks ago.  Aren't they darling?  :-)

Adventures in Potty Training

Potty Training has begun.  I have been dreading this almost since I found out I was pregnant with a boy.  How do you potty train a boy?  Standing up or sitting down?  Pee guard or no pee guard?  His own little potty on the floor or a little seat that fits on top of the toilet?  When to start: when he starts to show signs of readiness or wait until he initiates it himself?  So many options, and no clear right choices.  With a lot of doubt and nervousness, we began the potty training adventure yesterday. 

This is the text I sent my mom last night:  "I decided to start potty training Nathan.  Put him in underwear all day, watched him like a hawk, put him on the toilet every hour, and ran him to the bathroom every time he started to have an accident and yet somehow he managed to get not a drop of urine in the toilet.  Plus Hannah was really fussy so I was a little frazzled by the time Jared got home." 

I spent most of FHE last night searching for the part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus talks about potty training "Blessed are those that potty on their Elmo potty chair."  I know it's in there somewhere....

Needless to say I was a little frustrated.  The only saving grace was the all the funny one-liners Nathan kept coming up with while sitting on the toilet, "Whoa whoa, what's going on?"  "Pee, where's the pee?"  and of course "Wanna watch Cars?"

Today was a lot better.  With the help of a little warm water, I was able to finally show Nathan what exactly was expected of him while on the toilet.  He peed on the toilet every time today, even staying dry while running errands with me and during his nap.  I know every day won't be perfect but I was greatly encouraged.

Next step, poop.  Can I skip this milestone?

...and in with the New!!!!!!

Happy New Year from our family to yours!!!

Happy New Year!  A new year (and decade) has begun.  I have been thinking about my New Year's Resolutions.  Starting a new year is so exciting to me, like a fresh chance to do things right.  I am proud of the things Jared and I accomplished in 2009 (biggies such as: him-promotion, me-baby), but I have many goals for 2010.  Here are a few in no particular order:

1.  Blog at least weekly

2.  Potty-train Nathan

3.  Wean Hannah (not till this summer, but it is key to #4)

4.  Go on a trip with Jared without the kids (we are thinking New York in the fall...)

5.  Visit Jared's extended family in Utah, we haven't been down there since before we got married!

6.  Lose all my baby + holiday weight (10-15 pounds, yikes)

7.  Exercise at least 5 days a week

8.  Increase fruits and veggies, decrease sweets

9.  Study the Scriptures daily (not a new goal, just one I need to get better at)

10.  Become a better wife and mother!!!!

11.  Keep a cleaner house

12.  Less time on the computer, more time on the floor (playing with the kids)

12.  Learn new ways to be frugal

13.  Establish some great friendships in Denver

14.  Have people over to dinner at least twice a month

Okay, I'd better stop.  This list is certainly not complete, but I'm starting to feel a touch overwhelmed... :-)

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Sisters

My sister Heidi came to visit us the week before Christmas.  Last time she visited, my water broke less than 24 hours after she got there, so I was quite excited to have her come to Denver when there was no possibility of me giving birth!

We had so much fun shopping at Cherry Creek Mall, visiting the Denver Aquarium, and exchanging gifts the night before she left. 

We ate at the restaurant in the Denver Aquarium, which was really fun.  Our table was right next to a huge fish tank which ran the length of the restaurant.

This is a picture of Hannah in her stroller next to the tank.  Heidi and I loved the aquarium, and I was surprised by how it captured Nathan's attention as well.  He didn't seem bored at all as we walked through.

My favorite part about having Heidi visit were the afternoons, when we would make Christmas treats and talk about anything and everything.  Nathan loved having her here also, he very quickly learned her name and (I'm ashamed to say) mostly used it to boss her around.  Ahh, two year olds.

I'm pretty sure Nathan's favorite part was when she gave him his Christmas present, a giant stuffed McQueen toy from the movie Cars.

Thanks for visiting, Heidi!  We sure had a great time...