Hard days

Can I just say how grateful I am that we have a prophet and conference! Dr. Pepper and chocolate just haven't been doing their jobs.. I have been in need of a pick me up lately, and even though I have only been able to listen to most of the first session, it's an amazing difference of how I feel. I feel like I have more hope. It totally sets everything into an eternal perspective vs. a temporal earthly perspective. I feel like Heavenly Father wants all of us to succeed and be happy, after all isn't that what our earthly parents would want for us. Seriously I feel like conference is a big pep talk to all of us. It's truly amazing at how fast we forget certain things, or when things get a little hard how we distort them in our minds. I love how all of the speakers are so inspired! The way they convey their messages to have some new meaning to me is amazing. And it's always neat to have your prayers answered through one of the speakers! It completely changes everything to place everything into our loving Heavenly Father's hands. He is the one true being we can completely trust right? He never breaks his promises as long as we keep up our end of the deal right? I hope that I can continue on with this spiritual high.  If you haven't or have no idea what Latter Day Saints believe check out  lds.org in the comfort of your own home.

So many little things...

                                                                               Aspen has been reaching so many milestones! She has been moving all over! She has been sliding around since the beginning of March, but now she can make it to almost wherever she wants! She doesn't quit crawl but now she is getting on her knees, she used to butt crawl and once I saw her try crawling on her head, and even doing a head crawl, but soon she will be more mobile and I will need to supervise her more.                                                                                                                      Reese always wants to get married in the temple. It's so cute how she asks, and it's pretty often that she does. When she asks I have to have Aspen stand up and hold her hands, because apparently that's how you get married. I love her little ideas! Every day I go to the mailbox hoping to receive an ok from the 1st Presidency to be sealed. Nothing yet, but it's kind of exciting going to see every day. Hopefully soon I will get the letter, because waiting is fun and all, but I still want to get it done while the girls fit in their dresses. I had my very talented friend make their white dresses out of my wedding dress in the same style. They are so adorable! I already get emotional thinking about seeing my little family in the temple all in white. I get teary eyed thinking about it, I will be such an overemotional lady that day it will be totally ridiculous, but I will love and appreciate every wondrous second of it!                                                                                                                                              I have been running since the middle of March. I still can't go very far, but I have lost 5 lbs!!! I have been using a program called Couch-to-5K and I have actually started dieting! I have always had it pretty easy. I've been pretty skinny my whole life without having to diet, but I have been pretty active up until I had a c-section when I had Reese. It has seriously taken a ton of self discipline and control to eat more healthy and not always eat what I want whenever I want. I have also cut out a lot of dairy, breads, and carbs, but I do give myself a break so I am not hating life. I also watch my portions and I honestly think this has made the biggest difference. I have noticed that there are always excuses like "we never eat this, so I can totally shove it all in my face and not feel guilty!" wrong! "we are just here at a family get together so of course I need to try everything, and of course go back for the good stuff." wrong! Also I have found that I am completely addicted to sugar! Ha ha, if it's there I honestly feel like saying no to sugary goods is like a heroin addict having heroin sitting in front of them...it's nearly impossible! Hopefully I stay on the health kick. I haven't ran for almost a week, so the next run should be interesting....it's been cold and windy, so it's not really my style to run when it's cold. I have been trying to get ready for a 5k that is this Saturday, but with crappy weather I'm not as prepared as I would have liked to be. Oh well it will still be awesome to do! It's been pretty hard on me to not have my body back since I've had babies, so it's my goal this year to get in shape. I never thought it would have such an effect on me but it has. Back in the day I was so distraught over my infertility problems that I didn't care about the after baby effect it could have. I am totally thankful for my two angels and would still go through it all again. Speaking of kids, can I just say how much Reese loves to push my buttons! She is also too smart for her own good! She has been escaping grandma's house through doors she has found that don't have the child proofing on them. Yesterday Grandma locked her door so she couldn't sneak out through the door that leads to the patio. A little while later Reese came begging me for keys so I gave her some. She actually figured out how to unlock it!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  I love my kids so much and cannot imagine life without them! I hope that as they grow, they know how truly important they are to me and how much I love them. I tell them everyday "Reese, Aspen, and daddy are Mommy's whole world!" I have a lot of hopes for them and ultimately want them to be happy. I hope they will make the best choices they can, because that's where our happiness comes from. I have been thinking a lot about advice for my kids choosing their spouse. 

Here is a list I have been pondering.... 

 *Worthy member of the church 

 *Honors priesthood, obeys commandments 

 *Seeks and only wants a temple marriage 

 *Respects you and others 

 *Takes care of you when you are sick or not having a great day 

 *College education with a degree :) 

 *Practical 

 *Good with money, just because someone makes a lot of money doesn't mean they use it wisely. *Contemplates big decisions carefully

 *Make sure to agree on if you want a stay at home mommy. This was not in our plans and we have to sacrifice and adjust to make it happen. A loss of a second income is a lot, but so worth it! Your kids are only kids once. Also you can't trust others to raise them the way you want. 

 *Honest, trustworthy 

 *Treats you as an equal

 *Never degrades anyone, builds people up

 *Not critical 

 *Patient

 *Someone you laugh with and have fun with. No one is perfect, we all have our ups and downs, but at the end of the day if you would still only want to be with that person inspite of the bad, then stick with them! Work through everything-even the hard things-there is no way to agree on everything so let stupid things go. Being stubborn isn't worth losing your best friend over.

SOLD

Life has been pretty crazy lately. We had some people come look at our house on Saturday, February 2, 2013. We had already had a couple wanting to make an offer on it, but the husband had to have bank history before they could get pre approved, which would have taken a few weeks by the time Kesley and Wes came to look at our house. It's funny. Last summer when we decided to sell, I said that we wouldn't sell the house until we went through the temple. This has been a crazy blessing that has come true! We had had a few people come and look at it since we had it put up for sale, but it wasn't until we started our Temple Preparation classes that we started getting more and more interest. Then about February 11, we had an offer from Kelsey! It was what we were hoping for. Jake received his endowments in the Logan Temple on Saturday March 2, 2013. We closed in April. We are currently still waiting for my sealing cancellation so that we can be sealed as a family, but I think it is pretty neat how everything has come together. We have put total trust in Heavenly Father and are waiting to see what our next adventure will be. We originally wanted to build, but now we can't really decide on a lot that we both love, so rather than settle on something that we don't super love and settle we may just rent for a year or so and then build. I'm not going to lie, I'm super sad and I know Jake is dissappointed to not build right away too, but sometimes you just have to be patient for what you really want. Kelsey and Wes (the people purchasing our home) are super awesome! I am so glad they are the ones that are buying. I mean don't get me wrong, I really wanted to sell it, but I also wanted someone I know that wouldn't trash what we worked so hard to fix up.

Aspen started saying "Da-da" the beginning of March. I am shocked that she knows what it means! Almost every time we say it, she looks for Jake! I'm still in denial that this was her first word...can't they just say "ma ma" first? I guess they end up using that one more later on. The Easter Bunny came and spoiled the kids. Reese got a movie, some socks, bubbles, and a ton of candy! Aspen got a baby binki and a stuffed animal. The day before Easter we took Reese to the Easter egg hunt in Preston and she grabbed a ton of eggs! I didn't think she would get much, but she filled the basket, my pockets and her hood in her hoodie.

Sacrament talks

<p>In October we were asked to speak on veterans day for sacrament. Our topics were about gratitude. It was pretty amazing that Jake didn't say no. I sure am proud of that boy! So here is what our talks were. Maybe one day we will need to be inspired again&#160; :-)</p>
<p>I started off with a few jokes. Doesn't sound like me does it. Lol. I told the story of how when the bishopric member called that I told Jake to tell him we would be sick the day he wanted us to speak, but he must have felt like we would be ok since our names were still on the program. I also joked about how if acted loopy it was because I stayed up writing two talks. Ha ha. I at least felt like I was funny!</p>
<p>I talked about how Jake and I had tried to have a baby for quite a long time and how bitter I was toward the people I felt didn't deserve to be parents.&#160; It wasn't until I changed my attitude to be grateful for the things I had that we found out we were expecting. It was very hard for me to be grateful during that time, but I sure tried my best.</p>
<p>Gratitude is defined as a feeling of appreciation for blessings we have received. It's more than just saying thanks and being on our way. I feel like gratitude makes us want less and be truly grateful for what we have. It's an exalting attitude we should seek after. It will make us less angry in our hearts, less bitter in our lives, and gives us a me cheerful outlook on life.</p>
<p>Times in my life I have given gratitude. We have had hard times just like anyone else. We had hard times when we haven't had much, but it's when we have had the least of things we've been the most grateful.we saw all the things that truly mattered. Over the summer we had to sell our brand new car so we could start paying tithing. That was really hard because it had all the bells and whistles you could ask for.&#160; Yet by doing this it opened or eyes to arete we were lucky to have a dependable car. In ways I feel like we traded our car for temple blessings.</p>
<p>When we moved into our first apartment, we didn't have much. We were both starting over in our lives. We didn't have couches, our a kitchen table, or even chairs! These were our most simplest times, yet we were so grateful for being able to eat"Chinese style" even if we had to. We were still blessed to have food in our bellies and a home to sleep in.</p>
<p>How do we start having gratitude? Do something for someone that can't repay you. Don't let bitterness enter into our hearts. Continually count our blessings! Write them in a journal, we forget to easily, just like Laban and Lemuel. Live through hardships or trials and come out grateful for what you have, even though it has been hard.</p>
<p>I'm sure some are aware it's veterans day. It's not a holiday I have really thought about, until I was given a copy of a memoir my great uncle Gordon wrote his WW2 experiences.&#160; So what is veterans day? It's a federal holiday honoring all that have served our country. There is a celebration on 11/11 at 11am to celebrate the signing of the armistice that ended WW1.</p>
<p>Not many veterans speak of their experiences. Many feel guilt, or were ashamed of what they had to do. I am truly grateful for my uncle Gordon to have written his experiences.&#160; While reading his stories it had made me hold tight and be truly grateful for the comforts we have.&#160; I will read some stories that have made me forget about poor me and the silly things I complain about or take for granted.</p>
<p>With Thanksgiving just around the corner I know food is on or minds.would you be willing to give up your unlimited choice of food? Uncle Gordon wrote,"The food.&#160; There was a kitchen crew for each company.when we could get to the kitchen tent, the food was ok except there were no fresh eggs. (he grew up on a farm.) We had so many powdered eggs that even now it is hard to eat scrambled eggs.what I want to tell about is the food we had when couldn't get near the kitchen for a week our more at a time.</p>
<p><i>C Rations</i><br>
Most of the time we had all the C rations we wanted.a meal consisted of two cans, each about 3 1/2 inches by 2 1/4 inches.&#160; One can had three biscuits and three pieces of candy or three cigarettes, instant coffee, or chocolate mix. We didn't know what was in them except the biscuits-they were always there.&#160; In the other can we had a choice of meat and beans, meat and vegetable stew, or meat and potato hash.&#160; I never did like the meat beans, so it was hash or stew for me.&#160; I don't remember missing a meal, but on occasion it was postponed for a day or two.<br>
<b><i>K rations</i></b></p>
<p>K rations were more concentrated.&#160; There were three wafers,a fruit bar, some gum, or candy, and three cigarettes.&#160; These were packed in a water proof box.&#160; We soon got tired of them.</p>
<p>D <b><i>rations</i></b><br>
D rations were the most concentrated.&#160; They consisted of one chocolate bar with lots of calories. No one liked them after the first one.&#160; They were emergency meals.&#160; </p>
<p>Usually in our packs we carried one blanket,a shovel,a mess kit, and four to six cans of C rations.</p>
<p>Once in the Huertgen forest we had been in the same position for some time.&#160; The kitchen crew had been getting a meal to us each day.&#160; We didn't have a chance to wash or mess kits so we wiped them out with grass or pine boughs. After several days of this the kitchen crew said that we should leave our mess kits in a pile and that they would wash them before the next meal. Things didn't Work out as they had planned. The mess kits weren't washed so for the next meal we dug someone else's dirty one out of the pile, wiped it out with pine boughs, and ate."</p>
<p>How would you feel if you had the privilege of eating cold turkey for Christmas dinner? Uncle Gordon wrote," Turkey for Christmas. we were in a secondary position. other outfits were on the front line ahead of us. the Germans have been stopped but we had lost a bunch of ground during the Battle of the Bulge. Both sides were well dug in and just holding. We had been promised turkey dinner for Christmas. It was well after dark when the cold turkey and dressing arrived. The worst Christmas dinner ever, but the one I remember the most. Some of our guys had to eat spam, the GI steak."</p>
<p><i><b>Comfort</b></i><br>
There have been times that I have wished for nicer, even more comfortable furniture. Once I read these next stories, it let me know how truly comfortable I am. Uncle Gordon wrote,"40 &amp;8 box cars. We went in box cars back to Germany. I imagine it was the same 40 &amp; 8 box cars of works war 1 fame. They each held forty men and eight horses. However, in this particular box car there were 26 men and no horses. It was cold. There was three inches of new snow on the ground. The car was small enough that we couldn't all lay down at once and there were no seats. So some had to be sitting on the floor, some standing, and some lying down. Occasionally we would change around.</p>
<p>Nearly all the men on the train were new-fresh from the states. Just a few of us old birds going back for seconds. I think we were about 70 hours on the train and covered about 100 miles so this would indicate that the thing was stopped most of the time.</p>
<p>We tried to have a fire on the wood floor in the train. I don't remember much heat but it smoked plenty-everyone cried a lot. I remember one of the new guys saying that he sure wished we would get there. He said that anything would be better than this. I told him I was willing to spend the rest of the war right on that train as I figured that where we were going would be worse than where we were right then. I think I was the only one in that car that didn't complain about three accommodations." Doesn't sound comfortable? How about sleeping in a hole with a wet blanket?</p>
<p>Uncle Gordon wrote,"the next night there were four of us. We had two shelter halves and two blankets. The blankets were wet and smelled moldy but were warm. I was one of the two that had a blanket and we got to sleep in the center. It was pretty hard for four men to stay under a GI blanket, but that was better than what we were used to.<br>
When we were on the line, sometimes we each had a blanket. Sometimes one for two men and sometimes no blankets at all. When we were in a rest area we would get our bed roll, one blanket, and one shelter half. Two of us could then put up a tent. Quite often in rest areas we would call for someone else's bed roll who wasn't coming back. Then we were able to get comfortable." The next part he wrote about the civilians and how war was hard for them too. <br>
"The civilians (German, French, our Belgians) wherever we were, usually knew when we were going to move out of a bivouac area. They would line up across a field where we were camped and then as soon as we moved out they would cross the field picking up everything that we had left. It wasn't easy for them. I was glad my family didn't have to go through what they did. When ever we had a chow line, there was always a garbage can. Our guys would scrape out the mess kits-bits of food, orange peels, cigarette butts, and coffee. The natives would dip up the garbage with their clean buckets to take it away. I don't think they used it to feed pigs."</p>
<p><b><i>Safety</i></b><br>
I don't know about you guys, but when Jake has been gone I freak out. I hear noises, check doors to make sure they are locked, even though we live in safe little Nibley. I definitely wouldn't have made a good soldier. Gordon faced many times, not knowing if he would live one minute to the next in battles he was in.
Gordon wrote,"I initially served a few days as a rifle man. A rifle company should have 178 men. At one time we were down to 28 men in the company. We received 50 replacements. We made an attack that day. The next morning, there were again only 28 men in the company. Many replacements never got up to the front lines.
9th division history books tell us that in those days a rifle company averaged 100% turn over every 30 days. Obviously it didn't take long to become an old man. I fought in France, Belgium, and western Germany."

Another story from Gordon,"we had been in combat for two or three days when a lieutenant came by and says,"you're a new man aren't you?" "yes sir, I've been here two days."
He said, "you're an old man." He was right. One day a lieutenant Smith cane along and said,"what do you know about a machine gun?" My answer was nothing. He went on.
The next morning I saw him again and he said, "Don't you know anything about a machine gun?" This time I said I could takeone apart and put it together again. He said to come with him. From then on I was a machine gunner (30 caliber air cooled). There was no one in the machine gun section at that time. It should have consisted of three NCO's, one staff sergeant, two buck sergeant, two squads of a first gunner and a second gunner, and three ammunition bearers. Being with a machine gun was more risky. Automatic weapons would draw in artillery when rifles usually wouldn't. When advancing, people thought that the machine gun should be in front to keep the enemy down while the rest came up. It took some doing. I soon learned to move away (if possible) from the area after shooting the machine gun. If we were stopped, we started digging in.
It was about this time that we spent 21 days wet. It rained at least once each night, sometimes all night, and sometimes during the day, and we were never able to get completely dry. Clothes and blankets smelled moldy. Here I developed a life long appreciation for wool clothing. Wool, even if wet, will keep you warm."
Another story, "I decided that I better get in town so I started running again for the houses. I had gone just a little way when I came upon 8 to 12 Germans in a trench. I waved them out with the machine gun. I hoped I knew something that they didn't. I didn't have one round of ammunition for the machine gun. I am sure there wasn't one round within 200 yards. After they were all out of the trench,I pulled the 45 automatic out of my holster. It was loaded. Then I waved and pointed for the Germans to go back to where I had come from. They nodded their heads and I went on into the nearest house."

The lord has promised,"He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious." d&c 78:19

I have a testimony of the gospel. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet a well is president Monson.  I am truly grateful for all we have been given. Amen.

I finally found Jake's talk amidst all of the moving stuff that has been crammed into my old bedroom that we now share at my parents' house. "Gratitude" Gratitude is said to be the memory of the heart. We can lift ourselves and others when we cultivate within our hearts the attitude of gratitude. Let us show gratitude for our mothers, fathers, friends, home, prophet, and Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. There are so many things this type of person does for us. She trades girl's night out for dirty diapers, she trades carefree living for constant worry over her children, receives spit up on new clothes. We call her Mother. She is the one that we could count on in situations where we would need a fighter on our side her bond is so strong that we can always count on her and she would fight until she knew her kids were safe. Here is an example of a mother's unconditional love for her children. Our family had moved to an older home out in the country where box elder bugs came in handfuls and overwhelming numbers. Our only heat source was a burning stove. I swear that by having a wood burning stove it multiplied the bugs' numbers. For example you could look at a wall and count half a dozen or so climbing all over. On one particular night after thoroughly and repeatedly checking my blankets to make sure there were no box elder bugs to snuggle with, my sister Heidi, who was 15, wasn't convinced that we had ridden our bedding of the bugs, so she decided to go sleep with our mom. Me being 16 at the time, I joked and made fun of her for doing so. After some contemplation and frustration I decided she had a good idea. Needless to say, we both slept with our mother that night, to escape from the bugs. Years later our mom told us that on that night as she was sleeping in bed, a box elder bug happened to climb on her leg-and she didn't want to move or to alert us to something we were certain we had just escaped from. It's truly amazing what mother's do for their families that we take for granted. The next type of person wipes his wife's tears when she has had a rough day, makes everyone laugh, races with his children, shares special treats, trades sports cars for the family sedan, trades snowmobiling for sleigh riding, and trades the remote control for story time. I always have to have some sort of snack before I go to bed; however, since Reese came into our lives it seems I have had to add more of whatever I have so my two year old can have the rest. This poem describes the next group of people and why we should show gratitude for them. A smile or a tear, laughter or fear. In the darkest of days, or most glorious nights. Our friends show us love, even when we aren't right. When we needed help and didn't ask, they are always there to accomplish the task. They support us to the end. We have much gratitude for our friends. (by Katie Hamblin :) ) Let us show gratitude for our home. We are so blessed above many other people who have so little. In Nibley, we are blessed to feel so safe and content with our day to day life, lacking nothing and always wanting more. Does a disaster need to happen to truly appreciate the simple things in life, like a home that's in order, heat, a hot shower, and not to mention a hot meal? It's wonderful because all we have to worry about are our weekend plans, we don't have to worry about survival or terror attacks. We live in a sheltered lifestyle. Next, he sees things ahead of time and warns us of what to come, he loves all unconditionally, has whole faith in Jesus, we call him the prophet. Born December 23,1805, in Sharon, Vermont, Joseph Smith Jr. was the 5th of 11 children of Joseph Smith and Lucy Mack. He worked on the family farm in Vermont and later in Western New York. A series of remarkable spiritual experiences prepared him for his prophetic calling. Beginning in 1820 at Palmyra, New York, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a vision, through revelation, he translated and published the Book of Mormon, organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on April 6, 1830, and received revelations to guide the church. By inspiration, he called Apostles, and other church leaders, defined doctrines, and taught the principles and ordinances that would lead to exaltation. Under his leadership, Latter Day Saints founded communities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. He was sustained as 1st Elder of the church on April 6,1830. On June 27, 1844 at Carthage, Illinois, Joseph Smith died a martyr to his faith. It's amazing how when I think about our own brothers and sisters we sometimes don't show them the same kind of love Jesus did for us. In the Friend magazine 2002, it says this about Jesus: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16) Jesus Christ is my Savior. DO you ever feel peaceful when you pray? Do y9ou feel grateful when you think of your blessings? When you sing a reverent song, do you feel close to Heavenly Father and Jesus? These spiritual feelings are the beginning of your testimony. An important part of a testimony is to believe that Jesus Christ plays a central role in Heavenly Father's plan for us. He was born to Mary. He increased in wisdom and stature. He was baptized as an example for us. He organized the church, called twelve Apostles, and taught the gospel. He healed the sick and raised the dead. And He suffered for our sins, died, and was resurrected. Because of Him, we can repent and return to live with him and Heavenly Father again. Your own testimony of the savior will be strengthened as you learn about Him and read the testimonies of the prophets. You can read some of these testimonies in the scriptures. President Gordon B. Hinkley shared his testimony with the children. "Jesus is my friend. He is my exemplar. He is my teacher. He is my healer. He is my leader. He is my Savior and my redeemer. He is my God and my King. Gratefully and with love I bear witness of these things."

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Things I don't want to forget...

 So after adding another little beauty to my world I have realized how fast time slips away. It wasn't too bad after I got used to Reese, but now I have less memory and less time. I keep a journal for the girls, just little things here and there, but sometimes I get busy and forget to take the time to write down the things I don't want to forget.  So I have thought of some of the things from this year that I don't want to forget.

Yellowstone, Bear exhibit June 2012

1.  When we were on our way to Yellowstone in June, we stopped at Arctic Circle to eat.  Jake was eating, and well when he eats he usually is wearing some of it on his face.  Reese was sitting next to him and all of a sudden she said, "Mess. Dad. Mess" and then handed him a napkin.

2011 Dodge Journey we said goodbye to :(

2.  Jake coming home the day before my birthday saying, "We are going to start doing something, and I don't think you are going to like it...."  this was when he decided to start paying tithing, which lead him to sacrifice some of the things he really wished he didn't have to...the nice car, eating out, and pretty much being flat out broke.  But this is the beginning to the end of our journey to the temple to be sealed forever.  <3 best.birthday.="best.birthday." ever="ever" gift.="gift." p="p">

Reese in the Nibley baby contest.

3.  Reese copying everything I say, and now she loves to say, "Thank you, so much, so much," to everybody for everything.

4.  Seeing Aspen for the first time, and not being able to wait to hold her. I couldn't wait for the nurses to bring her to me, even for the night feedings. I was so excited! I couldn't sleep, so they gave me some sleeping pills to help.

5.  Reese always wanting to hold Aspen all the time. Reese loves her so much! She will only show Aspen certain things and not us. Like when I wanted to see her do a "front flip" (somersault) she would only show Aspen. Reese claps her hands at me when she wants to hold her and then she says, "hole her."

6.  When we sold our car before we wouldn't have been able to make a payment.  Reese getting potty trained at 25 months old! Having Jake at the hospital when Aspen was born (Tithing blessings.)

7.  When we bought our Elantra and Jake had to work on it, Reese was always out there with him. One day she was not really paying attention to anything Jake was doing, just swinging on the handrail by the stairs in the garage, he just finished doing something kinda important, and she looked at him and gave him the thumbs up and said, "Good job, Dad."

Going to lunch with grandpa and getting her this huge cotton candy that she devoured!

8.  Reese wanting to put makeup on with me in the mornings.  I love it. I won't lie. I think it is adorable that she wants to play dress up.  While putting on make up one morning, she looked at me and said, "Mommy pretty." Melted my heart!

9.  Reese doing hair the way she sees me do other people's hair.  But sometimes it hurts. LOL

10.  Reese kissing Aspen while in my tummy.

Reese eating batter from her birthday cake

11. Reese watering my flowers outside. Reese helping me mix the cookie or brownie batter.

12. Going for long walks in the summer with Reese and Jake.

13. Reese grabbing my face when she has something important to say and telling me, "Listen." Or when she tells us "Having fun" and nods her head like it's fact.

14. Jake always kissing me goodnight and before he leaves for work.

Reese's first day at nursery 2/12/2012

1st day after nursery-couldn't make it to lunch

15. Reese learning how to say a prayer, and in her prayer praying for "Assen, mommydad, grampas, Asher, Jesse, Tyler Bakin, Pocket, chooch, Jesus, wook. AMEN!" (Translation: Aspen, Mommy and Dad, Grampas, Asher, Jesse, Tyler Baker, Prophet, church, Jesus, work. AMEN!) She will sometimes include grandma, but for some reason it's just grampas.

16. Reese dancing to the Wiggles, her favorites are "Hey Pirate Dancing's Fun," "Emu," "Rockabye your Bear."

17. I love seeing the excitement on Reese's face when she discovers something.  Everything is still so new and amazing to her!

18. Reese knowing how to count to 10 and sometimes 13 before she was two! She could also sing her ABC's!

Years ago, I would have said you were crazy if you would have told me I would be this lucky to have such an amazing life, but I guess there is always something that makes you appreciate what you have.  I am sure blessed. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I hope I can be truly deserving of all that has been given to me.

Our new life!

Summer is winding down, so I have a little bit of time to update; unless Aspen decides to not cooperate.  We   were able to sell our car in June, so that was a blessing.  Our house is still up for sale. We have had a few people interested, but no one serious yet. We are keeping our fingers crossed.  Our basement is almost finished, so hopefully that will help.  It will be nice when we have our home built and we don't have to worry about moving.

 I am trying to think of all the things we did this summer.  We stayed busy even though we didn't really do anything big.  We went to a lot of events around the valley.  The last few months of pregnancy weren't comfortable, as was expected, so that limited what I wanted to do.

  I was so nervous about having the baby. I really wanted to do a VBAC, but didn't want to go through hours and hours of labor, only to have a c-section and months of healing.  On August 1st, I went to my doctor's appointment.  He had been running non-stress tests on Aspen to make sure she was doing ok, since at my ultra sound she had been measuring 3 weeks behind.  He wanted to make sure she could handle the stress of labor. She did great, no problems or concerns.  Well at my doctor appointment, I was dilated to a 3, so he decided to strip my membranes to hopefully speed up the process.  Since I pretty  much have the worst luck ever, I wasn't expecting anything to happen.  On Thursday morning I mowed our weeds, hoping to put myself into labor, since that's what had happened when I went into labor with Reese.  Later that night on  Thursday, I went out to dinner with my good friend Jenn.  I had started having contractions that were pretty intense, but they were never consistent or regular, and of course when I started timing them they either stopped, or quit coming as consistently. I joked that McDonald's would be my last meal before I went to the hospital, and it just so happened to be that way.  The next morning I woke up and had some contractions and bleeding and decided to go to the hospital. I called Jake and told him I was on my way to the hospital, but told him not to get too excited since I would probably be sent home.  The doctor came and checked me and I was dilated to a 5.  So at about 11 am they broke my water.  Jake's mom was the first to show up, and then my mom.  My contractions still weren't coming as strong as they wanted them too, so when Jake got to the hospital we walked the halls, and I still hadn't progressed, so they gave me pitocin, which did the trick.  I wasn't too uncomfortable even though they weren't a picnic.  I was checked and had only dilated to a 6, so they turned up the pitocin.  A few hours later, at around 3:30pm I decided that I wasn't tough enough and asked for some kind of medicine.  They gave me Fentanyll, which worked for like 30 minutes, but then it didn't do anything for me after that, and my contractions were seriously not letting up, and my back labor was horrible! After trying to tough it out, the nurse came in and turned down the pitocin, but that didn't help.  I guess the baby decided it was time to come.  I lasted as long as I could without an epidural, but caved when I felt the baby coming.  I was seriously so happy when it kicked in.  After that our Aspen Brielle was born at 4:34pm.  So it went really fast. I was dilated to a 10 by 4pm, so pretty glad it went the way I wanted it to without complications.
 Aspen has been such a good baby.  After I brought her home, I had to wake her up to feed her, which was totally opposite of Reese. Reese would wake up every 2 hours! It's been a nice change to have a baby who sleeps at night-well kind of.  Last night she didn't wake up once, however, she hates going to sleep.  I can start trying to put her to bed at 9, but she usually fights it until about 12.  She isn't fussy during the day at all, it's just from about 9 until she falls asleep. I don't know what to do, and she sleeps good other than that, so I can't really complain, but if you all have any suggestions or ideas let me know. I have tried putting her on a schedule, and that doesn't work. So let me know.

Aspen Brielle, August 3, 2012 6lbs 4oz, 19 inches long

What's going on

  I'm actually now 29 weeks, but apparently my camera didn't work, so I will have to take more.  This baby sure knows how to find my ribs-ouch!!! Reese wasn't in my ribs like this, oh well I don't have too much longer. We have just put our car and house up for sale, so hopefully they sell as fast as what we would like.  A lot of people have been wondering why we are selling.  We are trying to simplify life a little by getting out of debt and we also want to build a house that we plan on staying in.  Now that kids are actually coming, we want something that we won't grow out of.  We have found a few lots that we really like, but we aren't getting too excited until our house sells.  The market is really bad,  there are so many houses for sale.  So if anyone knows of anyone looking for a house send them our way.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=475&ad=20632049&cat=279 
http://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/9747269

 I wish that we could go back in time and just know what is going to happen.  I don't think we would have bought the house if we knew that we would finally have children, but I guess we make choices so that we can learn from them.

  Reese has been singing a lot of songs lately.  She sings "up above the world so high" from Twinkle Twinkle.     She sang "round and round, all through the town" from Wheels on the Bus today.  She copies everything we say now, so we are always on our toes hoping we don't teach her anything bad.  

 I am so glad it feels like summer! I can't go for as long of walks as I would like since my bladder is constantly squished, but just being outside is amazing.  It's also pretty fun to take Reese to the park.  She loves everything now.  However after her little slide accident in Preston she is way more cautious, which is nice because she really doesn't have any fear at all.

 Sorry there isn't much to update, we are just trying to make everything fall into place with our house, car, finances, church so I have been pretty MIA lately or just busy.  I'm definitely feeling the last few weeks of freedom slip away, since I know I will be even more busy having a family addition soon.  Just trying to get what I can done.

Putting on makeup

Black eye from falling from slide :(

Pregnancy memory

5/11/2012

I wrote this next post to remind me of the joys of pregnancy.....warning lots of complaining...
 
26 weeks is definitely getting uncomfortable! Sleeping is a challenge, heart burn, a toddler squishing me and baby, crazy hormone changes... Apparently the brain forgets these things even just 21 months after your last pregnancy! However, I feel like my hormones are way out of wack this time, everything else is also a little bit worse than last time, but I only have 14 weeks or so left and then it will be a bit more challenging in other ways.  I guess we go from one challenge to another.
 Things have been more than tight with finances lately.  We are honestly probably the most limited we have ever been- and hope to be! The doctor bills are what is crazy! Right now we pay close to $300 a month on doctor bills, and for July and August we will have to come up with another $370 for health insurance.  We have just started paying tithing as well. In the scriptures it says to prove that God won't bless us if we pay our tithing-I do feel comfort in that , even though it is hard to let go and have faith.  We have had blessings already.  Jake has had 2 full weeks of work, a guy that Jake helped on the side of the road brought us food, some of our bills have been lowered.  We have shut off our tv and gotten an antenna, but found that we actually get more than what we were paying for! We will soon be cancelling internet as well.  I guess we still need to sacrifice to prove ourselves as well.  I keep wishfully thinking that Reese will all of a sudden get potty trained as part of our blessings.  I know it's a long shot, but I did say wishful thinking.
 We are going to hopefully be putting our house up for sale.  We want to build, and get some things paid off so that we aren't so tight.  So for now I would have to say that we are living on faith and continue to try to live worthy of all of our blessings we are so grateful for.

24 Weeks and Easter Post.

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

Time to start whipping out the maternity shirts....I've been able to wear some of my t-shirts so far. This pregnancy has flown by since after week 12! It's crazy that in less than 16 weeks we will have another child.  Reese loves to kiss her baby (my belly), she has also been taking care of her babies as well. She feeds them her milk from her sippy cup, and wants us to diaper them too.  She has started acting like a baby lately too. She wants us to pretend that she is a baby.  She has found a binky and has reverted back to using it, well when she has found it again.  Hopefully she won't be too jealous when her sister is here.

          Easter 2012. We went to the egg hunt in Preston. When we got there of course she wanted to get all the treats, but after the firetruck siren sounded she didn't know what to think, but she had fun and loved all of the treats she got!

 The picture on the left was taken right before she started freaking out once she took a good look at the easter bunny.  The picture on the right is what the bunny left at Grandma Brenda's house.

 

 Reese Picking buttercups-an easter tradition. 

Reese Decorating Eggs for the first time. Let's say that most of them were thrown into the cups.