You Are Doing Better Than You Think You Are

Posted by Chandra January 22, 2016

You Are Doing Better Than You Think You Are

I am loving 9am church! It's so nice being able to attend all 3 hours! Ray is doing so well in the nursery and Jack falls asleep on Tanner's shoulder so I can sit peacefully in Relief Society. I made it a goal to do one activity for "me" each week. Sometimes it's a girls night out, sometimes it's book club, sometimes it's spending time with my mom or sisters, and sometimes it's a Relief Society meeting! We are not even through the entire first month of the year, I've been to Relief Society once and they have already asked me to substitute teach! ha ha To be honest, I was happy to accept. I am by NO means a gifted teacher like Tanner is but I thoroughly enjoyed preparing for this lesson. I was given Elder Holland's talk, "Behold Thy Mother" and immediately I thought of the amazing Cassie Barney art I just recently received. Leave it to me to think of table decor before actually preparing the lesson. It was such a joy pondering this wonderful talk. "You are doing better than you think you are." That's the message I really needed to hear.

We fixed the hot tub (just cleaned it out, basically) and have been enjoying some lovely afternoons outside!

Jack is such a character.

Kim wants a picture of the 3 kids for a frame she has hanging in her home. It is so incredibly difficult to try and snap a decent picture of the 3 of them looking/smiling at the camera! I've given it a few attempts and nothing is turning out! It might be 2017 before I can send her a nice picture!

I had the brilliant idea of having them all sit on the slide....

My boys. Parker:8 years old Jack: 8 months old

I love this little guy! I can't make him sit still any more! He wants to be up and about!

Parker knows how much I love sunsets and so he made me this Lego sunset the other day. Tonight he stayed in his room and colored a whole huge sunset picture for me. He's just the sweetest and is constantly creating sweet gifts for people- especially me!

Huston, we have a cruiser!

I've been trying to get back into the habit of daily yoga but it's pretty hard with the little ones crawling around me the entire time......

I thought this was a crazy throw back to our fun Utah days! Look how much I was able to accomplish! ha ha

Jack cut his top tooth!

I was mopping the other day and Jack was following me around. He slipped on the wet floor and smacked his face into the tile and had a bloody nose. I felt awful!!!!! It's pretty easy being with these babies- I love playing with them and taking care of them. But when other duties call such as bill paying, cleaning, cooking, etc, they are not happy about it and sometimes I drop the ball. :-(

A nice trip to the park is the best cure all!

Friday night we took the Bishop and his wife out to Laguna on a double date. I really wanted to get to know them better and I was wracking my brain on where we could go or what we could do so we could talk and have a good conversation. Then I realized the best place to talk is in the car! So I asked if they minded driving to Laguna Beach for dinner at La Sirena Grill and gelato for dessert! They were stoked and we had an awesome time. They have 7 kids, home-school, and seem to have life all together. It was fascinating talking with them and we never missed a beat! She just recently just went through a double mastectomy for breast cancer and they are such a devoted husband and wife. We loved getting to know them better and the food was amazing! We are lucky to have such an outstanding Bishop and a great ward, too!

I love when Jack falls asleep in my arms. I just relish it. He's getting so big and I know my days are numbered. So I soak it all up as best as I can!

Another mom-fail. This time I gave Rayleigh a bloody nose. She went poopoo in the potty and I was chasing her around trying to wipe her bum (we were laughing and having fun) when she tripped and smacked her face into the tile. I was terrified she'd busted a tooth. Luckily she just had a fat lip. But man, I'm 0 for 2!! ;-((((

So what do guilty mothers do? They bake brownies for their children! And let them help! (But I won't go so far as to say I let him lick the bowl- I wasn't feeling that guilty.) Parker is such a great helper and loves to bake with me!

Ray was feeling very zen on our drive. So much so that she fell asleep! On Saturday we went to my parent's for a little visit/lemon picking. And then off to another cool park! This one was in Mission Viejo!

At the end of playing on the playground we took a little walk down the trail. Parker sped up in front of us on his scooter so we had to keep going to find him! Turns out we went for like a 4 mile long hike! ha ha It was fun and I'm glad we were prepared for it. We had plans to take our bikes out for a ride but the car rack wasn't the right fit and we had to return it. I'm glad we got some exercise in, anyway!

Rayleigh finally had her first dance class, after so much anticipation! But when we arrived at 4 for the class no one else showed up! So we got bumped to the 5pm class and by then she was soooo over it. We had to leave after about 15 minutes. My kids are used to eating dinner at 5 so we were pushing it. This dance class business is proving to be far more difficult than I was expecting! But she had fun running around playing before the 5pm class.

I found her like this pushing all the buttons on my computer.... The princess does what the princess wants.

It's a good thing we have this video monitor because it allows me to crush on my baby boy even when he's asleep. Love that little bum in the air!

My goal a few months ago was to start having dinner at 5 every night and eat at the dinner table. I was always waiting for Tanner to get home which put pressure on him and caused contention when there didn't need to be. And it was easy to just feed the kids in front of the TV while I busied myself with other chores. But then I realized that we were missing out on that sacred family time and that the kids were starving and going nuts if I waited much past 5 to eat. So now we eat at 5 regardless if Tanner is on his way or not (which is almost always "not"). We enjoy a nice meal together around the table. I can do the dishes and get the kids in the tub all before melt downs start to happen. Sometimes Tanner gets home in time to help but most of the time I'm on my own. And it's wayyyyy easier when I start the routine early. I've always been a fan of bedtime. Knock on wood: it's always been a cherished time of day. Not every day goes smoothly but most of the time it does! And Tanner is usually home by 7 to at least kiss them goodnight. And then we have about an hour to play with/read to Parker. Anyway, I've been taking a lot of "dinner time" selfies to send to Tanner. This dinner looks good but it actually really wasn't... ha ha

On January 15th Jack turned 9 months and I was able to take him in for his well baby check! Cami watched Rayleigh which was sooooo nice. Jack is in the 98th percentile for height and weight. He is 24 pound and 30 inches tall. He's ready for a big boy car seat! He's happy and healthy in every way! It's always a pleasure to see Anique and it never gets old when the doctor tells you what a great job you're doing and that your kids are precious. Having just Jack with me was such a treat! I love this little dude!

He cried for just a second when they gave him his shots. Such a stud.

I need a video monitor for Ray. She sleeps in the most random positions. She is totally outgrowing her crib but I can't pull myself to get her a big girl bed! She has only climbed out once so I know she can but she doesn't seem to want to... yet. Oh, my sweet baby girl is growing too fast!

I need to up my Valentine's Day decor game! Here is what I came up with in about 5 minutes... I think I need to go shopping! ;-)

One day, Ray was still napping when I needed to go get Parker from school so I put Jack in her car seat and his mind was blown! He stared out the window the entire time like he'd never seen the world before. It was adorable!

I love when Parker can have friends over! This is his buddy from church, Malakai.

They swam in the hot tun and played Uno and they were being so good so I asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner. I wasn't sure if he'd want to because I was making Muz's German Cabbage and Sausage. But he said he would! And this kid stole my heart when he ate all of his food and asked for seconds! He was so polite and just a great kid! I'm sooooo grateful for awesome friends for Parker!