I am Wonder Women!

When I first met Ryan's mom I thought, "She is wonder woman" I remember feeling like there was no way I would ever measure up to this lady. Over the last few years it has become a joke between Ryan and I. Whenever I accomplish or do something I thought was difficult either Ryan or I will refer to me as wonder woman. Today was one of those days. Ryan was sick in bed with the flu so that meant I got to take all 6 children to church by myself. Hmmm? I wondered at the plausibility of this task but went forward with it any way as I felt like it was the right thing to do and would be the best example to my children (I never expected to get anything from the service today)

So to my shock and amazement my children were angels. Only one little tiff that lasted about 30 seconds. But more then that I got to really listen and absorb what was said. Then the baby slept all through church so I got to really listen to the full three hours. I learned a lot today and felt very full as I got the kids in the car to come home. Ryan greeted me with a "you are wonder woman"

As I did dishes tonight after the house was filled with sleeping children I thought about what this term means to me and why sometimes I feel like I can conquer the world and other times I feel deflated and very unable to do anything well. What I concluded is that we all have an inner Wonder Woman in us. Does that mean perfection is always evident in our eyes? Unfortunately not. What it does mean is that we are able to accomplish so much more then we realize. And it is in those moments of great accomplishment we fell on top of the world. It seems to me that in those moments that is who we truly are. A Goddess in the making. Creating and organizing matter that has been placed before us. We get distracted at times like a few weeks ago I was having a rough moment and Ryan said something about Wonder Woman and I started to cry and said "I am not wonder women." He loving reminded me of all that I had going on and that simply because I was having a rough moment did not take away from my inner wonderfulness.

As women it seems so easy to notice other women's greatness but fail to see our own simply because we see our faults so plainly before us. It is not in spite of our faults that we are wonderful it is because of them. It is through our hardships we learn to overcome, to get up when kicked down again and again, to press onward when all we really want to do is go back to bed. God gave us our strengths and our weaknesses so that we might learn to bring them together that we may rely on Him in all things.

What does it truly mean to be a wonder woman? Accomplishing something you previously thought difficult, challenging, or even impossible. Recognizing you are not perfect yet you keep striving for it. Desiring greatness and never settling (for very long) anything but the best you can possibly give and do.

Embrace the inner Wonder Woman in you.

My little three month old

I love this picture. It seems like I always get the pictures I love best when I am not trying. Some one asked me to take their daughters wedding pictures for her today. (I think she was finding out if I would be interested-her daughter might just elope) I would think that would be so amazing. The whole reason I love taking pictures is the ability a picture has to capture emotion. So to be able to capture one of the most passionate and love filled moments for a person would be a privilege. I don't really know that I am qualified but I would love to give it a try. That was off topic..
..Back to my little Jacob. He just turned 3 months and is seriously the happiest. He smiles all the time and the kids love when they come say hi to him and are greeted with the biggest Jacob grin. He is finally has a good little schedule. It seems to be the same most days. He wakes up at 7 and nurses about every three hours. He goes to bed around 8-9 most nights. I love schedules.
Jacob Milestones:
As of tonight he weighs 17 lbs
Cooes frequently and razzes especially when he has just eaten.
He has discovered his hands and loves to suck on them
He pushes up when on his tummy
Has "accidentally" rolled over a few times. (meaning he used my leg to push off or he was on an incline
He got his first hair cut about a month ago (I shaved it with the clippers and it's growing in great)
He really doesn't cry much. Only if we wait to long to bundle him and give him his pacifier.
Last night he went 7 hours before waking to eat (This could be due to the fact that I finally put him in the other bedroom and it requires him to really cry for me to wake up)
He has discovered his tongue and enjoys making faces
If you razz at him he will usually razz back.

Joshua and Joseph love to come and kiss his head or hold his hand. Wow I am curious what three little active boys will be like. The three older kids love to hold him and Sarah loves to get him dressed and change his diaper. Sometimes they pick out really cute outfits and other times, well...I find a reason to change him if we are leaving the house.

He brings a great happy spirit about him and I feel so blessed to have him in our home. I think we all feel that way

Blogging my dear friend...

...How I have neglected you.

I have such guilt in my life about all the things I think I should be doing. Tonight I am going to try to elevate the blogging guilt. So what that means is this post will be nonsensical. I want to document some of the events in my life before I forget they even happened.
Jacob is now 11 weeks and weighs 16.5 lbs. I did a double take on the scale. He is as big as an average 5 month old. I thought for sure he was going to be my skinny little boy. He doesn't look as chubby as 16 lbs sounds. He is long as well so it works nicely on him.

Joshua cracks me up with the things he says in regards to Jacob
"He's spilling him" When he was spitting up
"My baby always spits on you"

I woke up one morning and decided to start potty training him. Went out and got a new potty, underoos, and candy as a prize. As soon as we get home he goes and sits on it and goes #2. This is a big deal. I hate potty training for this reason. The fact that he has that one down makes all the wet accidents no big deal. In fact he still pees his pants more then he goes in the bathroom. But it is not a big deal. The funny thing too is that he sits on the toilet backwards. I tried to convince him that you don't have to sit that way but he is totally content. Silly boy.

Joseph caught a fly the other day and I told him to throw it in the toilet. His response, "NO, he's my friend."

Joseph wanted me to turn something off the other day. I must not have done it right in his mind cause he told me, "no off-er"

Jacob started sucking his fists while we were in Orlando and I think it is the cutest. He babbles and razzes and that started then also. He rolled over this morning but I think it was an accident. I took it as a cue to not leave him on the couch any more. Since we have only hard wood floors I had to go out and get a rug. I love it. I'll post pictures soon. I also bought plastic (but they look like ceramic) dishes from target. They are green and cream and they make me happy!

Joshua cracks me up. If you ever say "whats gonna work" he has to say team work. He can't help it. He will be in the middle of throwing a fit and all we have to say is "what's gonna work" and he will say it. Sometimes he tells us, "Ok I see team work and you say wonder pets" or "I say team work you say what's gonna work."

My wonderful sweet parents are finally home from their mission and it was so great to get to see them after them being gone for two years. My sister also had a birthday party for my nephew Darin while we were their and it was great for the cousins to get to play. It was nice to just talk with my parents about the little day to day stuff. It has been such a crazy few months and some how talking with them helps life to seem a little more normal.

My Mom cooked us up a yummy French meal, snails and all. I couldn't eat the snails cause they were covered in butter but every one else said they were fine. I have eaten snails before. Growing up my dad always had me taste strange things. I never cared. Jared is that way. He will try anything.

Then a week or so later they came down for Jacobs baby blessing. The day before we (my sister and her family came down to) went to old town San Diego and walked around. We really live in the coolest place in the world. Then my brother Clark came down to my house and we had a nice visit and enjoyed dinner together. I miss him and wish I got to see him more. He makes me smile and his laugh is really the best. I also got to take senior pictures for my Nephew while they were here. This one was my favorite.I love that my sister thinks I am a great photographer. She lets me practice on her family and sometimes they turn out great and other times not as much but she believes in me and that feels goods.

The blessing was wonderful and so the opposite of stressful. I guess having 6 kids has helped me to realize that life is not perfect and that's ok. I still struggle with wanting things to be just so but I am a work in progress. I did a very simple dinner and just enjoyed visiting with family and friends.

Some friends of ours, The Chambers, from St. George were down for the weekend and we got to enjoy a nice dinner with them at downtown Disney. I was surprised how well behaved all the kids were. They had 5 kids with them and with our 6 that makes for a big group. Ricki has been doing some longer runs and she inspired me. I am just starting back into running since I got pregnant and it is slowly getting easier. I really want to run a marathon some day. My friend Julie (also from St george) has always inspired me with her long runs and I really believe this is something I can achieve. I think now is finally the time I will get serious about this goal

Ryan had to go to Orlando for a business trip and I mentioned that it would be fun to go with him so he took me and Jacob along. We have a wonderful friend Delma who is retired and loves children. She came and stayed with our kids and I didn't worry about them at all! Everyone should have an Aunt Delma. Our Kids just love her!

It took almost a whole day to get their and I traveled by myself on the way their cause Ryan was already out on business. It was pretty mellow. Jacob was great! Nice people helped me when I needed it and I was able to manage when I needed to. I got to read and just enjoy the quiet time.

The next day Ryan was in a meeting. So what did I do all by myself with only Jacob? I took the day really slow. I slept in, eat breakfast, took a nap, went shopping, and just relaxed. That night Ryan and I went to a Brazilian restaurant. I decided I was going to taste all the meats and just get sick. I wanted the experience. For some reason I do this about once a year. I think I want to taste the meat cause it sounds good and then I remember that I don't really miss it and getting sick over it is not worth it.

On Friday we went to The magic Kingdom or Disney world. Before we left we tried so hard to fins a smoothie shop but to no avail. I didn't even know that it was called the magic kingdom. We had a really great time even though we couldn't go on the fast rides. We decided that it really is not that much different from Disney land. They had a few rides I had never heard of and some old ride Disney land had gotten ride of. The castle was much more grand and very cool! We also stuck around for the fireworks and I was very impressed. We meet a nice retired couple and had a good chat with them. They are locals and came down for the night just to watch the fireworks.

Then on Saturday we took it real slow and just enjoyed the slow pace of the day. We did finally find a smoothie shop with fake smoothies (mostly ice) but it was better then nothing. We went down to the beach and saw a huge jelly fish that had come ashore. It made me glad we weren't going in the water. Basically it just felt so great to slow down. It reminded me of the importance of taking life a little slower and enjoying the day to day. Now how do I tattoo that on my brain???

We had spring break and it was so wonderful. Not because we did anything grand but because we didn't. We just relaxed and it made me so excited for summer. No school! Just simple enjoyment with the kids!