living the dream

almost a month ago i read this post and i immediately loved it and have been thinking about it ever since. because what she wrote resonated with me. she expressed how i feel about my life as a stay at home mom and captured it in writing far better than i could. in writing about her life and days at home with her son she said,

plenty of people would look at it and think, "yuck." plenty of people would look at my marriage and think, "limiting." plenty of people would look at my daily list of things i accomplish and think, "silly." but somehow i feel like i lucked out big time. somehow i feel like i'm living the dream.

it's not like my life is anything particularly noteworthy or exciting or special. it's just the life of a mom cleaning up after a baby...and yet, this is it. for me, this is it. brandon goes off to work and i don't feel jealous of his importance or his title. i rather respect his sacrifice all the more, because i had that life once and i hated it. it was not for me. this right here, this is the promotion. and huck's not the boss, like some might think. i'm the boss. i'm more than the boss. he is my kingdom, that little turkey, and this little apartment on the upper west side, this blessed little home,  this is my palace. and i will tell you something: it feels regal, the work i do here. in here, i am a queen. 

i love that! the names of husbands, kids and locations are different, but she summed up how i feel. this is important work i am doing here and there is no place else i would rather spend my days and no one else whom i would rather spend them with than my 2 little peanuts (other than dave of course). i feel so grateful for a husband who supports me in my desire to be at home, even though it comes at a (financial) sacrifice for our family. because it is my dream come true. this is it for me. and i feel so blessed.

"Let every mother realize that she has no greater blessing than the children which have come to her as a gift from the Almighty; that she has no greater mission than to rear them in light and trust, and understanding and love; that she will have no greater happiness than to see them grow into young men and women who respect principles of virtue, who walk free from the stain of immorality and from the shame of delinquency.... I remind mothers everywhere of the sanctity of your calling. No other can adequately take your place. No responsibility is greater, no obligation more binding than that you rear in love and peace and integrity those whom you have brought into the world."-- Gordon B. Hinckley

true love

yesterday i got slammed with sickness. sore throat, congestion, body aches, headache, chills, followed immediately by hot sweats. it has knocked me out and dave has taken care of me so thoughtfully and lovingly. yesterday after church i took a long nap and he let me keep sleeping while he took care of the kids and made dinner. after the kids were in bed he read to me (tonight too) and rubbed my neck and back because my body hurt so bad. he got me whatever i needed, rubbed essential oils on me and at 1:45 am when i was so upset because i couldn't sleep, he hopped online to try and figure out what was wrong with me. and then he gave me a priesthood blessing (the best service by far) and blessed me to be able to sleep. and today i couldn't help but think, this is true love. it isn't glamorous, but it is real and it is lasting and it is the simple, but significant service, that binds our hearts together even closer. it made me think of president hinckley's statement, "i am satisfied that a happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one’s companion." i don't mean this sound overly dramatic when obviously i just have a cold or the flu (although i can't remember the last time i felt so completely awful), but it made me so grateful to have dave by my side through everything, happy and hard and to have chosen someone who has such an "anxious concern for [my] comfort and well-being." i love you baby!

and two tender mercies from the lord today: both of my kids took 3.5 hour afternoon naps, which meant i got to spend 3.5 hours in bed resting and sleeping. and my sweet friend debbie brought us dinner (and medicine) so we didn't have to worry about it. she is the most service-minded person i know and i hope i can be more like her in recognizing someone's needs and then just jumping in and helping.   

blueberry babies

last night for dinner the kids enjoyed some blueberries and their hands and faces turned a lovely shade of purple (check out emma's sick/tired/droopy eyes)

 

i literally took 13 pictures of logan and his eyes were in a varying stage of being closed in every single one of them. the evidence:

 

neither of them have been feeling good since yesterday(they've both had 102 degree fevers and logan has been so achy and cries if we touch him or move him. so sad).
i found logan like this yesterday morning. it should have been my first clue that something was wrong.  

so we're doing a lot of this

and this today (watching shows)

(and obviously i'm doing a lot of blogging). 

luckily their fevers have broken and they are on the mend, which is great because i really hate it when my babies are sick.

dads, babies and bottles

i thought this moment was too cute not to capture

 

this moment, not so cute, but still worth capturing i guess

 and logan snuggling with grandma gg. we're so excited they are here to STAY!

i also tried my first traditional st. patty's day meal of corned beef and cabbage this night. it was good, although i still may be partial to our family st. patty's day dinner tradition of green pancakes and green orange julius (which we had last night for dinner). what can i say, i love breakfast foods!

myles' baptism

this past weekend our feisty and sweet nephew myles was baptized. i can hardly believe he is already 8 years old. the room was full of friends and family and we were so happy to be there to support him and show our love. i thought it was pretty cool that every person involved in the program (with the exception of the ward leaders conducting and welcoming him) were family members. he sure is loved!

 myles has always loved dave and when we're together for family events he's often right by dave's side (sometimes showing his love by kicking and hitting. he loves to rough house with dave). i thought it was so sweet that myles asked to have dave give one of the talks at his baptism. dave gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the holy ghost and then was able to be part of myles' confirmation.

we're so proud of his decision to be baptized! it is the best choice he could make right now.

  

speaking of being in denial about how old my nieces/nephews have gotten, i can't believe lexi is 12 and in middle school! i still think of her as being logan's age, with her "joystick" hairdo! she is sweet, thoughtful and beautiful (and she too loves her uncle dave)!

my parents with their 2 little granddaughters (2.5 weeks apart). check out emma's pouty face. she was soo tired. by the way, i think my parent's are so good looking!
to avoid the crying picture we resorted to the binkie

 our best family picture with 2 very tired kiddos.

i'm so used to being the baby in my family that sometimes it is hard for me to believe i have 2 babies of my own! it's the best! speaking of family and babies, we were missing ryan and lynda and their kids, but they had a good reason for not being there. they were busy on the other side of the country welcoming baby lauren into the world! friday was a big day for our family! congrats! she is beautiful and  we can't wait to meet her!

playing with cousins

the taylors came to visit last week and we had so much fun with them. we played at an amazing new park, went swimming and played in the backyard at nana and papa's! their visit went too fast and i'm sad they're already gone.

the park had these awesome rocks to climb on. logan spent most of our time there climbing up the rocks and going down the slide (up and down, up and down).

 spencer is an awesome climber

 it's a whole new group of grandkids playing in the sandbox at nana and papa's now. it was emma's first time and i think she only ate a little bit of sand!

check out that little chunk! i love her chub!

 the older boys played flag football

  and were even nice enough to let this little dude "play"with them for a bit

 post sandbox bath time with cousin kate!

can't wait to see you again in june, taylors!