Easter Fun -- He Lives!

It's that time of year when bunnies and chicks run rampant alongside kids with multi-colored fingers searching for eggs full of oodles of junk food. For those who are religious, it's also the time for Easter dresses and ties and a church service to honor our Savior. For those who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it was also a time to hear our prophet and church leaders speak to us during General Conference.

I love love LOVE conference, and look forward to it every April and October. I'm always excited to hear words of peace, counsel, advice, warning, and comfort. I love the reassurance I get that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and all His children, and that He has placed a prophet on the earth to lead and guide us in these days!

If you want to listen to these talks (or read them!) you can find them at lds.org --you won't regret it!

This year we sent GB on his very first Easter egg hunt.

Which is to say, we set the brightly-colored plastic eggs in the rocks so he couldn't miss them.

I put a few mini marshmallows in each egg and set them out, and he ran down the sidewalk. I pointed out the first one, and he was all over it! Somehow he already knew to open the plastic egg, and once the marshmallows fell out he was in heaven. He stuffed all of them in his mouth and ran for the next one. This kid will do anything for marshmallows!

A few of the eggs I stuffed with jelly beans and a little love note for Husband Man. GB helped to pick up those eggs, but precedence told him that there would be marshmallows inside and next thing we knew he was stuffing jelly beans in his mouth as quickly as his fingers could get a hold of them. All evening he begged us for more every time we tried to sneak a jelly bean!

I love this little guy so much. And I love my Husband Man, who was totally willing to help out with the hunt! It was fun to go outside for a few minutes.

I am so grateful for my family, and that I can be sealed to my family for eternity. I am grateful for the prophet and church leaders who guide us today. I am grateful for my Savior, who rose again on the third day and overcame death and my weaknesses and shortcomings! He Lives!

FHE Monday #9

Yesterday I made rice and meatballs for dinner. It was going to be on time, and it was going to be delicious. I set the gravy on the stove and turned the burner on so it could get warm, and went to sit with Husband Man for a few minutes while I waited.

Then the smell hit me--something was burning. I dashed into the kitchen to see a plastic mixing spoon and a plastic scraper melting on the back burner of the stove. I had turned on the wrong burner and now there was a pool of white, smoking plastic on our rental deposit.

Dinner was not on time. As a result, FHE was late and haphazardly planned. GB was running around like a maniac, so I decided we could have some family time (roughhousing) and talk about families. It's interesting, however, that even though I felt terrible for the burned spoon and even though the apartment smelled absolutely awful and even though FHE was a spur-of-the-moment thing last night... I still felt the spirit and I still learned something.

We sang "Give Said the Little Stream" and said an opening prayer. Then I opened to Genesis 18:17-19.

This verse made me stop and think. The Lord knows my husband and I, that we will command our children and our households to keep the way of the Lord... that the Lord may bring upon us the blessings which He has promised unto us. Isn't that so awesome? I love these promises towards the family. The family is truly a central unit to God's plan.

Husband Man grabbed the Book of Mormon as I read to him, and he turned to Alma 56:47-48.

This is one of the reasons that the story of the Stripling Warriors is one of my favorites. We must teach our children that God is vital to their lives. I've always thought it would be such a blessing to hear my children say that phrase, We do not doubt our mothers knew it. Then I would know with certainty that I had done what the Lord has called me to do. I am so grateful for my family, and that we are able to be together even beyond the grave!

After we read those scriptures we sang a myriad of fun Primary songs with GB, including "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "Popcorn Popping". When I asked GB if he wanted to sing "Popcorn" he tried to say it and waved his hands. I love watching him do the actions for that song, it is so stinking cute!
"It wasn't really so..." (he points and waves with one finger) "but it seemed to me..." (he points to himself repeatedly with aforementioned finger) "popcorn popping on the apricot tree!" (he flaps his hands in the air)
I love my little boy!

We finished by singing "Families Can Be Together Forever", and said a closing prayer. Even though it wasn't planned very well, I still felt the spirit as we got GB ready to go to bed. I am glad that I remembered to do FHE, because the Lord always blesses us!

Keeping a Calendar... er, Journal

I'm SUPER excited to talk about this idea because I LOVE it!

One of my friends came up with it, so I won't take any credit for it. She posted on facebook a picture of a calendar, and she had written in each square something that her son had done that day (her son is 2), whether it was going to the park or something silly he had said...

At first I wasn't sold. I would go to the store but every time I was about to grab a calendar I talked myself out of it every time. What on earth would I write every day?? Finally, while shopping with my MIL, I gave in and grabbed a calendar. Even if I didn't write every day, maybe I would at least have some of his milestones written down (or new words, since he is just starting to say stuff).

I am SO glad I did it! It has been so much fun to remember silly things GB did or new words he said as I write them into the squares.

 (It's only pink because of February, I promise... No girly calendars for my boy! Haha)

I picked cats because he learned how to say "meow" over Christmas, and at the beginning of the year he got a stuffed cat that he is absolutely in love with (it went to the library with us this morning, for example.) My friend let her son pick his out, which is kind of a memory to what the kid likes at that time.

Ok, so what I will take credit for is that I took it a step further. I love calendars anyways, and we've always gotten one even though we don't even write birthdays on it. This year, however, that changes. I don't write every day (because let's face it, GB is what happens every day) but when someone comes to visit, or when we take a trip, or when there's a wedding/birthday/anniversary/funeral/etc. or even if one of us does something that just makes us feel awesome... I write it on the calendar.

And it's so easy that there's almost no excuse not to do it. I don't usually write every day, but I make myself do it at least once a week, filling in days past by looking at text messages or facebook posts. If I don't want to forget something funny he said or did, I'll make a note of it.

It doesn't eliminate journaling completely, though. If I have a spiritual experience, for example, maybe I don't want it on the calendar. But it does make it easier, and is also a weird exercise in teaching myself to tell stories in a concise manner...

FHE Monday #8

Yesterday I spontaneously remembered to do FHE, which is great because GB is getting older and we really need to be better about doing it. He doesn't really participate in the lesson, but we at least try to do songs and a scripture with him.

We started off by singing "I Am a Child of God", and then prayed. Husband Man said he had an impromptu lesson, so while he got it together I sat down with GB's Book of Mormon board book and we read the story about Nephi building the boat. He barely sat still while I read the condensed version in the book, but then I sang the corresponding verse of "Nephi's Courage" to him, and he grinned and waved his arms in the air. When I finished he made his little "sing a song" noise, (kind of a... whine? "ooh"? but not really? hard to describe) and so I sang the third verse too. Then he played in his play hut while Husband Man and I did the lesson.

We've been reading in Preach My Gospel for companion study, and so Husband Man turned to the Attribute Activity in chapter 6 (page 126). We each had a piece of paper, and we wrote down all the numbers (1-57). The activity is divided up into different sections based on Christlike Attributes (faith, hope, knowledge, etc) and Husband Man said to pick two sections. Then we filled in the responses for each question using the response key. It was a fun but difficult activity! For a few questions I thought, "Oh, I'm all right! Whew!" For a few other questions I felt awful, because being honest with yourself is always awful. On top of it all there were a few other aspects that I hadn't even considered!

But despite it all (or rather, despite the guilt that comes with knowing you are imperfect), the activity really opened my eyes. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all of the advice you hear from talks, all the ways you should or can improve, all the steps to take to becoming a stronger disciple of Christ. When I want to sit down and figure out how to start, I can't decide where to start. This activity broke it down into sections, and from there we started with just one. It doesn't matter which one. You rate how you're doing, and then pick one you feel you could do better. It gave a direction for us to go.

If you want to do it, you can read the chapter in Preach My Gospel about Christlike Attributes and then look over the Attribute Activity. The directions are straightforward. You can do the whole thing at once, but I would recommend doing one or two sections at a time. Try not to feel overwhelmed with how good or bad you might feel you are doing, but instead be prayerful in your heart and be honest with yourself. The Lord knows your weaknesses, and wants to help you improve. Satan wants you to feel disheartened and give up. You are a good person! 

After we had finished the activity we sang some silly Primary songs with GB. My favorite is "Popcorn Popping" because he can kind of do most of the actions and it is SO funny to watch him. Then we sang "I Love to See the Temple" as the closing song, and ended with a prayer. I am so happy that we had Family Home Evening this week, because I always feel better about everything when we do! I can tell it strengthens our home for the challenges that we will face this week, whatever they may be.

Gummy Bear: 18 Months

This little boy is simultaneously so funny and so aggravating! One minute he will be running around and having fun, and two minutes later he'll be rolling on the ground throwing a tantrum. He is still just as opinionated as ever, but he's also growing and learning and it is so much fun to watch.

Developmentally he's doing great. For a while I was worried about his speech, since his dad didn't talk until age four, but especially in the last month I'm discovering that he's trying to say things. It really blossomed after both sets of grandparents visited in February, and with each visit I also learned a lot about how to catch on to things he says that mimic actual words. Over Christmas Gma S taught him "uh oh", and since then he's learned "oh no", "mah" (meow), "cack" (quack), "up", "app" (apple), "cah" (car), "ko" (coat), "hi" (or an ultra-squealy version of it, apparently I have a high voice inflection when I say hi to him), and "buh bye" (said only when he feels like it). And last night I think he tried to say "all gone" after he finished his grapes.

He loves to help me with certain chores. When I put clothes in the dryer, I'll drop them down onto the dryer door and he shoves them inside. His current favorite is the dishwasher. He loves to help me unload it, putting the tupperware and his plates and bowls away, and handing the rest to me if he doesn't know where it goes. Lately he's been learning that sometimes we put things inside the dishwasher too, which usually means that when I'm loading dirty dishes he takes all his clean bowls and plates out of his drawer and stuffs them inside too. Its a great lesson to me in patience--they're just bowls and plates, and if they get dirty again then they can be washed again.

It's also super interesting to watch him pick up on stuff that I do every day without thinking about it. He was in the bathroom with me yesterday while I brushed my hair out, and when I put the brush on the counter he picked it up and rubbed it on his head. I found his little baby hairbrush and he refused to let go of it (and so it went to the library with us too). This morning I was putting in my contacts and trying to keep him away from the case, when I caught him sticking a finger in the case and then poking that same finger into one of his scrunched-up eyes. A few days ago he somehow got a hold of Husband Man's thumbdrive, and he took it right over to the computer and was trying to put it in the usb port.

He still loves to run around, and he is all boy for sure. We've managed to get to the park a few times in between winter weather, and he has figured out how to go down the big twisty slide by himself. He always starts with the slides and then begs me to push him on the swings, and I get tired of pushing him long before he gets tired of swinging. We've started volunteering at the YMCA for a free membership, and the nursery has a ball pit that he absolutely adores. He jumps around in it and throws himself into the balls and yells with joy! Then we usually go play in the pool after volunteering, and he has no fear of the water. He splashes and plays and sometimes will beg me to carry him out into the deeper water, where I drag him around and he kicks his feet and makes happy noises until my arms are tired. He hates putting his head back in the water, but mean old mommy makes him try it anyways.

Books are still a favorite, and our library has a small section of board books. He doesn't seem to be very good at branching out to new material unless it has a specific draw (like flaps or touchy-feely stuff) but my SIL says that's a developmental thing. Husband Man and I have been sick of almost every board book we own as GB rotates through which books are his favorites (ie the books we end up reading multiple times a day for a week). He rotates through his toys, too, so even though he has so many he'll find a forgotten one in the corner of his toybox and play with it like he's never seen it before. He also likes the basic matching puzzles; he has already figured out the matching aspect of it and is quickly getting better at working the piece into the space. Sometimes he gets lazy and just sets the piece over the spot, without bothering to put it in properly.

Lately he's been throwing tantrums-- throwing himself dramatically onto furniture or the floor, rolling around, tossing toys as hard as he can, crying, yelling, kicking feet... Yeah. Our tantrum patience wears thin, and he ends up in his room. Sometimes his tantrums make me laugh, because they're just so ridiculous! And he always has to have a tantrum about a quarter to five, every day. That's usually when I'm in the kitchen cutting up stuff for dinner and he decides he has to be held RIGHT. NOW. or else. I think maybe he just wants to see what I'm doing, but it's hard when your kitchen is tiny and you're wielding sharp knives. Sorry kid.

He's opinionated, noisy, fast, and adorable... but this is nothing new to us! We are so grateful to have him in our family!

Gummy Bear: 1 Year!

Gummy Bear is a year old! He weighs 23 lbs 5 oz, and is 31 inches tall. (They forgot to give me percentiles, which is a bummer. Why do I find those so interesting?)

I had this questionnaire thing that I saved to do with my kids as they got older, but as I'm looking over the questions I see they're more for kids who can actually answer the questions... but I'll try it anyways.
Age: 1
Favorite food(s): Grapes, spaghettios, greek yogurt, and hot dogs, especially if that hot dog comes with ketchup. And did I mention he loves grapes?
Favorite dessert: Marshmallows. Hands down. And popsicles.
Favorite color: Yellow? He's always seemed to have a slight preference to yellow.
Favorite book: Any book he can chew on. So, nothing. Punk.
Favorite tv show: Commercials. Without fail. If I'm watching a show and go into another room, I can always tell when the commercials end because that's when he comes running in to bug me. And when the commercials come back on, he disappears and stands in front of the tv. If you block his view, he moves to see it or tries to shove you away. I may or may not abuse this occasionally during mealtimes... 
Favorite game: Probably playing with Daddy. He gets such big smiles!
Favorite song: ???
Favorite animal: I'd go with puppy. He has two stuffed dogs and he loves to carry them around. When you show him the stuffed puppy, he imitates my "woof woof" noise, sort of by making an adorable "ooh ooh" noise... it's hard to explain. But it's adorable.
Favorite toy: It changes. Often. In general, he loves little stuff that he can carry around in his hand.

 He is still just as opinionated as ever. Lately he has entered the meltdown stage, where if something happens that he doesn't like he just melts into a puddle. I try to hold his hand and lead him towards the car or something, and if he doesn't want to then he pulls and collapses... I also don't sit on the floor anymore, because he often forces his way into my lap. That's tough for me, because half the time he's just being annoying but sometimes he insists on giving me a two-second hug... His loving is sweet but vicious! I still don't get to snuggle him to sleep; instead we're often fighting to get him to take naps. Especially at church. Church naps are still the same: he gets cranky during the end of sacrament meeting, Husband Man takes him out during the last talk, and after sacrament I come out to find him sacked out sideways...

Going outside is the BEST to him. He runs to the rock beds around our apartment building and grabs a rock to carry around, and then he's off. Every time we come inside our apartment building he cries and throws a tantrum, even if we just drove to the grocery store and back. Running up and down sidewalks, eating the bark at playgrounds, carrying rocks around... sometimes he'll even play on park equipment, and ride in the swings; there's a bouncy horse at one park that he thinks is pretty cool. But he loves it all. Especially the running. This kid loves to GO.

He's also ridiculously smart... but sort of in his own way. He could care less about silverware, except when he wants to chew on it. He FINALLY learned to tip the bottle or sippy cup up so he can get FINALLY water or milk out unassisted... but at the same time he also knows how to pour milk all over the carpet. Climbing on the couch? Check. Climbing up my leg? Check. I have five-gallon buckets for flour and sugar, and if I don't keep them stacked then he climbs up on the bucket and grabs everything he can reach on the kitchen counters. He knows how to put the wooden rings on the dowel, and gets the idea of the shape sorter but doesn't understand that there are different shapes. He knows how doors open and close, but either doesn't care (and opts to cry every time they close) or is still too short to try again. And the dishwasher was randomly paused the other day, so I suspect he knows about the buttons on the dishwasher. The tv remote is another favorite--buttons!

Talking? Depends on your definition. He's always loved to babble, but I still don't know if he understands what "dadada" and "mamama" can mean. He says "dada" when he's happily yelling and throwing his toys, and "mama" when he's sad or upset... He still signs his version of "all done", which is great when we're feeding him, and a few times he's tried to say it, "ah dah". Sometimes his babbling isn't repeated syllables, and it sounds like he's trying to say things. Maybe he's one of those kids who won't say it unless he can say it correctly? I dunno. He can also sign "please", or his variation of it, but unless he really wants it and isn't throwing a tantrum... "Uh oh" is another one, he'll throw a toy on the floor while saying "Uh-uh ohh".

If you compare this post with the 9 month one,  you'll notice that he's only a pound and 2 inches bigger... but someone decided to cut six teeth in the last three months, and that brought puking and diarrhea like you wouldn't believe. Five of those teeth came in May, the sixth at the beginning of July, putting the grand total at eight. Husband Man and I are more than willing to have a break! (Since I'm late writing this, he's actually 13 months now. I took him to the doctor to diagnose a rash--dermatitis, just needs lotion--and they said he's now 25 pounds and 32 inches.... he grew a lot in a month!)

I also love this stage. It's so funny to watch him learn about his face and make the goofiest expressions. I love watching him show his personality, play silly games with me, babble and squeal while we're in the store or while he's playing with his toys, grin as he shoves his favorite camo blankie in his mouth every time he sees it... And I still think he's so. stinking. cute!

FHE Monday #7

Further evidence that we are not perfect is the fact that this is the seventh FHE post, and clearly not the seventh week of the year... but we are trying, and that is what counts. Maybe by the time Gummy Bear can actually participate we will finally have it down!

This week we started out by singing "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam". We were listening to the Primary songs on the church website, and I discovered that that particular song has a second verse! So we pulled out the words and sang both verses while Gummy Bear grinned and threw himself at us in his weirdo hug-attacks. Then we prayed, and let him play.

The sister missionaries had challenged us to read the chapter in Preach My Gospel about the Holy Ghost. It was about eight pages, and we didn't look up the scriptures so it actually didn't take that long. The sisters read from Helaman 5:44-47 to introduce this challenge to us, and that would be a great place to start. We talked about how those verses explained a few ways the Holy Ghost manifests to us, and how we each individually receive guidance from the Holy Ghost in different ways than others. (That's something I love about the Gospel--we are all different as children of God, and it makes sense that we would each feel the Spirit in different ways.)

As we read, if one of us had a question or a thought then we would pause and talk about it. A couple of times a passage would remind me about something I had read in my personal scripture study, and it added to the discussion. I loved learning the difference between the Light of Christ, the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Spirit of Promise. Even though Preach My Gospel focuses on missionaries sharing these principles with investigators, its a great reminder about basic Gospel Principles that I think are often overlooked or set aside for "deep doctrine". Reading this section reminded me that the Gospel is so simple, and to turn to those simple principles instead of looking beyond the mark towards things that aren't as important.

When we finished, we sang "Hum Your Favorite Hymn" and said a closing prayer. I feel like Gummy Bear feels the Spirit when we hold FHE, even if all he does is listen to the songs. The songs are also doctrine, so he is still learning. I also love how close we feel as a family, and I often feel like the Lord is smiling over our household for taking the time to do as He has asked.