January 2018- All the Best Things

January has been slow and leisurely and also madness and busy.

Ella turned 5 months old on January 17th and has officially entered my second favorite baby stage (the first being new born). I love the squishy rolls, the fact that she doesn't move around too much, (She DID recently fall of the bed and made her nose bleed a little bit. I was reading to the kids and Parker was with her but had left her on the bed not realizing that she could roll all over and fall- he felt terrible), sleeps most of the night, is endlessly smiling and occasionally giggling, grabs her toes any chance she gets, plays with toys, makes a new noise each day, and will still snuggle and fall asleep in Mommy's arms. Ella continues to impress us with how "good" of a baby she is. She eats like a champ, sleeps like a champ, smiles at everyone, is engaging and healthy and bright! We are all obsessed with her. How lucky I am to have 3 other children who adore the baby in the family.

Jack and Rayleigh officially share a room and aside from a handful of incidences regarding bedtime, they have done tremendously well! We have a new bedtime routine which works well for everyone. Tanner has been home a total of ONE time this entire month/year to help me with bedtime. (Including weekends) So the pressure is really on my shoulders to create a healthy and positive bedtime routine. We had a few times when the kids thought it was a good idea to leave their room and perform various antics, and one terrible night when I was awoken at 12:45am to the sound of happy laughter and found them in their room playing with the lights on brightly. Ummmm no. The next day when I checked the camera, I learned that they had been awake for about an hour! 

Other than that, I start the bedtime routine at 4:30 in the afternoon. I make dinner while they play and we eat around 5pm. I give them baths around 6pm and while I get the baby bathed, they run to their room and pick out 10-20 books. (I'm a huge reading advocate and, time permitting, I allow for as many books as they wish to read together) I hold the baby in my lap as I sit between their beds and have them try to settle down and sit still while I read. This has been life changing for me. I was often very distraught at the fact that I didn't read to Rayleigh and Jack nearly as much as I did with Parker. I worried and fretted about their futures as thirsty learners and competent communicators. But this has changed everything about that outlook. The future is bright! After we read, we put the books away and say prayers. I make a point to thank Heavenly Father for several specific ways each child individually has been helpful, kind, or had good behavior. They LOVE this. Then I hand them their milk, give them each a kiss, turn out the light, and say good night. Jack ALWAYS says, "Good night mommy, I love you!" His love language right now is definitely verbal praise. I shut the door and can hear him tell Rayleigh "good night". It's the sweetest thing and does my Mommy heart good. They are in bed around 7pm each night. I then rock Ella to sleep who is now (mostly) in her own room. And then I have about an hour to dedicate to Parker for one on one time and gospel discussion. Before Parker goes to bed around 8:30, Tanner is usually home.

Everyone is usually up around 6:30am. Parker is amazing and gets himself ready including making his lunch for school. I get the kids off to school and Tanner is off to work. The man does nothing but work! But we are grateful for good employment and his tremendous success!

This January, as always, I have set some personal goals: workout and diet to lose the baby weight (I've lost 7 pounds so far!), listen to/read one book a week (So far I have surpassed this goal), and then of course there's always the financial goals, goals to read the Book of Mormon, and work on completing all of my CMEs. I've really enjoyed listening to books this year. I utilize the Deseret Bookshelf app to listen to gospel centered books and books written by LDS authors. It is so nice having an inspiring and uplifting message in my ear as I go about my day. It helps me to not get distracted with my phone and social media and it's also I nice way to drown out whiny voices sometimes. I also download audio books from the library and am excited to participate in several Book Clubs.

Church so far this year has been incredible. Rayleigh has an amazing teacher who is patient and kind, loves her, and she's also a speech pathologist! Winning! We have church at 9am which is a better time for little ones. Every single Sunday I receive praise about Parker which warms my Mama heart. We have had some very inspiring Relief Society lessons regarding the Savior and his forgiveness, unity, and personal growth. Seriously, one Sunday was like group therapy and we all grow closer together that day. I love my ward. I was also able to attend a fireside given by the Stake Presidency to the women of the stake which was wonderful. Any chance I have to fill my cup is so wonderful! I was also able to leave the kids with Tanner one Sunday after our ward got out and drive down to Laguna to hear my Dad speak in church! They have church at 1pm. He gave a great talk on repentance and even shared with us some connections he has with our new prophet, President Nelson! With great sadness, our near President Monson passed away. But how marvelous that we have a living prophet on the earth today to lead and guide us. I sustain President Nelson and I'm so grateful  for his love and stewardship! We are all members of God's Kingdom on earth, as my Dad always says. I love that. Makes me feel secure and also like a princess. :-)

I just have to take a second to brag about Parker. He is a good kid.  A really good kid. Every Saturday he gets up with Rayleigh and Jack so we can sleep in and he makes them breakfast. One week it was chocolate chip pancakes. One week he baked muffins. One week he even got the baby up and was feeding her a bottle so I could sleep a little longer! He is a gem. A saint! And I love him so much. Obviously I am grateful for the astounding ways he helps me as a mother by cooking and cleaning and watching his younger siblings. But he is also very generous with his friends, is doing so well in school, loves church and scouts, and we have had some very poignant devotionals together. One benefit of Tanner being gone until late at night is that I can have that one on one time with Parker and I prefer to have a little gospel lesson before we turn on a show or do something else. I know I can do better in this endeavor but the times that we've shared learning from the scriptures and other gospel resources has been good for the soul.

I know my life is about to get a little bit more busy with Rayleigh starting preschool. She was evaluated for speech therapy and was admitted to the Special Education Program for speech and will have a phenomenal team working with her. I am happy and proud of her but a part of me wants to quit life and stay home forever- playing in the backyard and watching cartoons. We are entering the point of no return and it's bittersweet. She's going to do great, though! Jack is not going to know what to do with himself from 11:30-2:30 every day....

Well, that's been our month so far in a nutshell!

Ella at 4,3, and 2 months old flashing the same open mouthed smile.

My precious sleeping baby. She is so beautiful.

Rayleigh wore this outfit when we went to Tahoe with Plum one winter weekend. Makes me want to go play in the snow! It's been so hot this January!

I'm about to the point where I can sing her lullaby's every night without crying. I'm a tender heart and feel all the feels when my babies are little.

Rayleigh's incredible teacher, Lisa, taking her for a walk around the halls. Rayleigh loves to look at each picture and talk about Jesus. When I get mad at her at home, she will come up to me with tears in her eyes and say, "Mommy, Jesus wants us to love together." Immediately, humility sets in and I can't help but to apologize and hug that sweet sweet girl.

Church! Sacrament meeting in the nursery again! ha ha

Cami spoke in Stake Conference! I so wish we could have been there to hear her speak! She did an excellent job and I'm so proud of her! She is such a valiant daughter of God!

My absolute favorite thing in the entire universe from here to eternity is rocking a baby to sleep.

Winning! Ok, so we aren't eating dinner around the dining room table like a civilized family, but hey! I'm doing it! Dinner, dishes, bed- all on my own!

I am in love with my Solly Wrap. And apparently, so is Ella. We both love for her to hang out, all wrapped up with me. She spends a good amount of time each day like this. It's very soothing for both of us.

Jack got his car stuck in his hair. I was going to cry if we'd had to cut his hair!!!! But we got it out safely. Whew.

Thankfully, no one in our family has gotten sick regardless of the fact that Tanner's building was on lock down because of the stomach flu and this has been the most horrific flu season in several decades. But there have been days here and there when one or more of my kids have felt a little under the weather. This particular day, Jack wasn't feeling well and REALLY needed a nap. I had a book in my ear, a sleeping baby in one arm, and Jack fell asleep in the other. It was literally heaven for 45 minutes. 

Bright eyed beauty

 Ella was giggling like crazy for Rayleigh! Parker tried so hard to get her to laugh that hard for him but there's a bond between sisters that cannot be matched!

Toe grabbing in the height of adorableness!

Ok, so I am aware that this looks like a torture device but I assure you it is NOT. Ella LOVES it and loves that she can hang with us in the hot tub! 

We've had one or 2 cool/rainy days but we've had a lot more sunny warm days. The kids get in the pool every single day no matter what the temperature or weather. This day they were chilly after getting out of the pool so they laid out in the warm sun. Then they had a picnic and I called that a "Win" for mumming that afternoon.

I was not supposed to take the kids to Rayleigh's first IEP. But my babysitter was sick and everyone I called with either sick or busy so I had to take all 3 babies! It was ok. Not great but not bad either. Jack took this picture of me holding the baby's foot and I kinda love it. I have such great kids. Ray's IEP was awesome and I'm excited to see how she learns and grows in this preschool!

Here's Parker slaying life- baking muffins for the family and feeding  the baby a bottle like a boss.

Kassidy sent us all a picture of the snow they received the other day and I had to send her this picture of my cute, swim suit donned baby girl. It ain't snowing here! I wish we could beam ourselves up to the snow though. My kids would have so much fun playing with cousins and aunts and uncles in the snow!

I have had several projects in the works and one of them was building Rayleigh and Jack each a head board for their beds in their "new" room. I was fully ready to take on the task on my own but Tanner was gracious enough to help me! He pretty much did everything but they turned out perfectly! I love them. Kaitlin pointed out that every time I look at them, I can think about how much I love Tanner for sacrificing his free time for me. Tanner literally wakes up in the morning, gets ready for work, and leaves. Then comes home, changes out of his clothes, and gets into bed. Every. Single. Day. It's difficult and not sustainable but we are confident that the time and effort he's putting into his career now with launch him to better positions in the near future. He's doing a phenomenal job right now and has received many accolades already! We are so proud of him! And of course we always cherish the time we get to spend with him. It makes our weekends hanging out at home much more valuable.

I don't know if this is a parenting win or fail. She fell asleep in the bouncer .... comfy!

Look at these beautiful children all ready for church! It's a rush getting everyone ready and out the door to make it in time for 9am church. It takes a lot of preparation on Saturday. But by doing so, we have much more pleasant Sunday mornings.

Last Sunday when I visited my parent's ward, I was filled to over flowing! I was able to see so many warm, friendly faces and hear so many kind words! I love these dear, life long friends and you know what? They love ME! Being a mom is sometimes a mundane and thankless job, but when you have the opportunity to receive adoration, I eat it up! I need it! I feed off of it and it helps sustain me through the draught of toddler appreciation. ha ha Bishop Leavitt looked me straight in the eye and told me I was beautiful and said I was like a young Lisa Braithwaite. Well, to me, that is just about the highest compliment I could ever be paid! After church we all went to my parents' house for dinner. It was so nice being there with just Ella! Tanner kept the other kids with him at home so I could actually listen to my Dad's talk. ha ha I was able to interact with my nieces and nephews more. Max even gave me a hug!!!! Wow! Best day ever!

This memory popped up of Rayleigh from 4 years ago. She was 3 months old in this picture. But I have the exact same car seat and saved the outfit for Ella so I recreated the picture and it's amazing to see how identical these girls are! Ella is a little older when you compare them side by side but they definitely look like sisters!

My smiley baby girl!
My kids are growing up and I'm happy and sad about it. The days are sometimes hard and always exhausting. But we are happy and thriving and there's really nothing better than that!