I have lost my desire to blog. What in the heck is wrong with me? Maybe too many things to try and figure out right now.
Where to move and why to move there - that decision is coming up quickly.
Aftyn - she's 5 and needs to socialize more with her peers. How??
I need to spend more time with my scriptures and prayer - When?
I need to continue to balance the time to eat right and exercise
and keep myself motivated to do so.
What in the world am I supposed to be doing right now with other relationships
that aren't where I feel they should be?
I'm not by any means desperately seeking a fix for all these things now, just struggling with how
to balance it all and my family's needs and my own needs and everything.
On the bright side, this happened today in Primary:
(By the way, I'm a Sunbeam teacher. That's why I was there.)
Bishopric Member: "The Holy Ghost speaks in whispers to us. Does anyone have an example of when the Holy Ghost has whispered to them?"
Aftyn raises her hand. Cue me looking curious and nervous as to what this outcome could be.
Bishopric member: "Go ahead and tell us what happened Aftyn".
Aftyn: "I was sleeping and when I woke up I couldn't find my unicorn. So I said a prayer."
Primary President: "And what happened?"
Aftyn: "The Holy Ghost told me it was under my sisters bed and I looked there and found it."
Cue me looking on with tears in my eyes and a feeling of peace in my heart.
Yes folks, life might be full of questions but in that moment today
I knew we were doing something right.
Loving our ever changing, crazy, fantastic life
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
7 Years
A few days ago, Reed and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary. We consider it a pretty special year for us since we were married on 7-7-07. (No we didn't mean for that to happen, it just so happened that the day we wanted to be married the temple would be closed on so we had to go for a week earlier which happened to be 7-7-07. True story)
Here are some of our accomplishments as a family in 7 years:
Reed has earned 2 degrees
We've had 3 girls
We've owned one house
Moved 6 times
Lived in 4 different cities
Crossed the United States by car twice
Held LOTS of callings, including ward mission leader, elders quorum president,
11 year old Sunday School teacher, ward choir director, Wolf pack leader,
primary presidency 1st counselor, and sunbeam teacher
AND THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
Through thick and thin, we still love each other and want to stay married!
Here are some of our accomplishments as a family in 7 years:
Reed has earned 2 degrees
We've had 3 girls
We've owned one house
Moved 6 times
Lived in 4 different cities
Crossed the United States by car twice
Held LOTS of callings, including ward mission leader, elders quorum president,
11 year old Sunday School teacher, ward choir director, Wolf pack leader,
primary presidency 1st counselor, and sunbeam teacher
AND THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
Through thick and thin, we still love each other and want to stay married!
Friday, July 4, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
A Little Tidbit
We've got a real jokester on our hands.
Over the past few days Mirren has been a little off,
sleeping more than usual,
not going to sleep as easily,
and other things associated with a baby who is teething.
But the real kicker is when she eats.
As you might guess she likes to and wants to chew.
Anything to relieve the ache in her gums.
When she nurses, you can tell when she's almost done.
She starts to tighten her little jaw.
I give her a warning, "Mirren..." to which she giggles and releases.
And then continues in that pattern.
Tightening jaw,
warning from Mom,
little giggle
and then release.
She's only good for about 2 times and then she's almost straight up biting.
It is at that point I tell her she's done and then offer her a binki.
Why do I put up with it?
It's all for her little laugh.
Her cute little winsome laugh from that biting little mouth.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
The eyes have it!
Yes, I have lots of other posts I could be putting here and that I frankly feel a little behind on but oh well. This is what I have most pressing on my heart at the moment. The last 3 months have been a bit heavy on eye appointments and eye issues yet to be resolved.
Let's start with our main lady. Aftyn. I started to notice a little eye turn around the age of 18 months when she relaxed her eyes. With a family history of lazy eye in the girls, I talked to our family doctor and got her a referral to get her eyes examined and rule out the possibility of lazy eye. I'm still not entirely sure what that doctor figured out. Basically he advised me to keep having her eyes examined yearly to see if it got worse, became more noticable, etc and so I did just that. In Massachusetts, we had an older gentleman who had had years of experience in his profession as an optometrist who advised us to keep getting her eyes checked every 6 months to make sure her vision wasn't being impaired due to the muscle weakness in her right eye. He actually got Aftyn's right eye to do its weird thing for him every time in the office but never advised glasses or anything and over a year's time put our fears to rest that her vision was staying the same in both eyes. When we moved here I knew it was time to have her eyes checked again. Our lady optometrist checked her eyes in an entirely different way than either of Aftyn's previous doctors, and told me a WHOLE lot more information than either prior doctor. Aftyn's eye was turning out but our doctor decided it was because she was very nearsighted and that glasses should help. Also, Aftyn's right eye was suppressing which basically means it was allowing her left eye to do all the work and wasn't trying to carry its share of the load. The doctor had high hopes that getting Aftyn glasses would help with her eye turn and help her right eye to start working again. So after 6 weeks of glasses, we went back yesterday to have her eyes checked again. The eye turn had come back to a normal range thanks to glasses but her right eye was still suppressing! Aargh. Our choices were to patch her left eye daily or to do eye drops that would cause the left eye to relax to the point of making the right eye work harder to compensate, thus making the right eye get stronger. And the doctor advised that she had found the drops to be more effective than the patch because the patch could be taken off by Aftyn or Bronwyn or anyone really whereas the drops once they're in are good for a whole week. *Sigh* So last night when Aftyn slept, I put her drop in her eye. I think we're going to pray for her eye nightly until her checkup in 8 weeks to see if her eye is turning back on.
Bronwyn just had her eye appointment to rule out eye issues, thanks to Aftyn, last week. Good news: her eyes are fine. Bad news: she has the same astigmatism that Aftyn AND Mirren have. Thanks Reed. He has a gift he just keeps on giving! LOL Good news: She doesn't need glasses right now but may down the road. She loved getting her eyes checked at the doctor too.
Mirren has an astigmatism but mostly her problem is a drooping eyelid that we have to keep an eye on and we will eventually have fixed surgically. If her eyelid begins to droop over her pupil, which luckily it hasn't shown any movement of any sort yet, then surgery MUST happen to insure her vision isn't impaired in any way.
The best part about all of this is that no matter where we live, we are ensured yearly exams at least on all the girls to check their eyes. While Aftyn gets her eye issues under control we will get to see our doctor a whole lot more often than that. Boy am I grateful for optometrists and most of all I'm grateful that our eye problems aren't worse. I told Reed after Aftyn's appointment last night that maybe it's time to be done having kids if we're going to keep passing on all these eye issues.
Let's start with our main lady. Aftyn. I started to notice a little eye turn around the age of 18 months when she relaxed her eyes. With a family history of lazy eye in the girls, I talked to our family doctor and got her a referral to get her eyes examined and rule out the possibility of lazy eye. I'm still not entirely sure what that doctor figured out. Basically he advised me to keep having her eyes examined yearly to see if it got worse, became more noticable, etc and so I did just that. In Massachusetts, we had an older gentleman who had had years of experience in his profession as an optometrist who advised us to keep getting her eyes checked every 6 months to make sure her vision wasn't being impaired due to the muscle weakness in her right eye. He actually got Aftyn's right eye to do its weird thing for him every time in the office but never advised glasses or anything and over a year's time put our fears to rest that her vision was staying the same in both eyes. When we moved here I knew it was time to have her eyes checked again. Our lady optometrist checked her eyes in an entirely different way than either of Aftyn's previous doctors, and told me a WHOLE lot more information than either prior doctor. Aftyn's eye was turning out but our doctor decided it was because she was very nearsighted and that glasses should help. Also, Aftyn's right eye was suppressing which basically means it was allowing her left eye to do all the work and wasn't trying to carry its share of the load. The doctor had high hopes that getting Aftyn glasses would help with her eye turn and help her right eye to start working again. So after 6 weeks of glasses, we went back yesterday to have her eyes checked again. The eye turn had come back to a normal range thanks to glasses but her right eye was still suppressing! Aargh. Our choices were to patch her left eye daily or to do eye drops that would cause the left eye to relax to the point of making the right eye work harder to compensate, thus making the right eye get stronger. And the doctor advised that she had found the drops to be more effective than the patch because the patch could be taken off by Aftyn or Bronwyn or anyone really whereas the drops once they're in are good for a whole week. *Sigh* So last night when Aftyn slept, I put her drop in her eye. I think we're going to pray for her eye nightly until her checkup in 8 weeks to see if her eye is turning back on.
Bronwyn just had her eye appointment to rule out eye issues, thanks to Aftyn, last week. Good news: her eyes are fine. Bad news: she has the same astigmatism that Aftyn AND Mirren have. Thanks Reed. He has a gift he just keeps on giving! LOL Good news: She doesn't need glasses right now but may down the road. She loved getting her eyes checked at the doctor too.
Mirren has an astigmatism but mostly her problem is a drooping eyelid that we have to keep an eye on and we will eventually have fixed surgically. If her eyelid begins to droop over her pupil, which luckily it hasn't shown any movement of any sort yet, then surgery MUST happen to insure her vision isn't impaired in any way.
The best part about all of this is that no matter where we live, we are ensured yearly exams at least on all the girls to check their eyes. While Aftyn gets her eye issues under control we will get to see our doctor a whole lot more often than that. Boy am I grateful for optometrists and most of all I'm grateful that our eye problems aren't worse. I told Reed after Aftyn's appointment last night that maybe it's time to be done having kids if we're going to keep passing on all these eye issues.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Swimming Lessons 101
Aftyn's swimming lessons ended last week. I was sure, in spite of her crazy arms and legs when she swims, that because she didn't lack in the courage department when it came to jumping in the water and putting her face under and holding her breath, that she would be moving on to the next class. Alas, it was not meant to be.
FAST FORWARD TO BRONWYN'S
On Bronwyn's first day of class, I was feeling a little nervous. Her lessons are held in a private pool in someone's backyard and taught by a teenage girl and boy. On her first day there were a LOT of kids in her class and what felt like total chaos as one little boy sobbed his way through almost the whole lesson. Kids were playing all over the steps where they were supposed to be staying but thanks to the crying and overall confusion, there was crazy stuff happening all over. One little boy got in well over his head and his mom calmly said to the teenage boy in the pool, "can you grab my son, he needs some help" cue me looking to a little boy who looks like he's drowning slowly bobbing to the top of the pool as high as he can but he is in WAY over his head, literally. Ack!!
I'm was feeling panicky at this point and no one seemed to be taking charge of the class and all of the confusion. Bronwyn was playing and wandering all over the steps and suddenly got too far out and *poof* over the steps she went into the deeper water. Cue ME freaking out because it was her first swimming lesson ever and she just fell in over her head!! I yelled, "Bronwyn!" and the mom who so calmly watched her kid practically drowning looked over at me and said "calm down!". It was a little more lengthy than just those two words but I'll spare you. She was trying to help but it didn't and now I just laugh at the memory. LOL
The teenage girl calmly grabbed Bronwyn's arm and pulled her back up and put her on the steps again with directions to sit there and not move around. Luckily the dunking seemed to have its desired effect, I guess, since Bronwyn after a week hasn't fallen into the deeper water again.
Bronwyn has become so comfortable with the water in such a short amount of time. It is truly incredible. The confidence that she shows in her teachers and the attention that each child receives from these 2 teachers has made me a believer in these lessons. Bronwyn is learning how to push off from the steps and swim on her own to her teachers. Oh yeah, and at the end of every lesson they jump off the diving board onto a swimming noodle. (!!!)
Aftyn told me last week that when given the choice between her swimming lessons and Bronwyn's, she would prefer swimming with Bronwyn's teachers because "I know the rules at her pool." So then of course I had to ask her if she knew the rules at the place she had had HER swimming lessons and she said "no!". Sadly, I don't really doubt it. So we are going to be enrolling Aftyn in another session of swimming lessons at Bronwyn's pool with hopefully much different results.
My conclusion: don't yell at any moms who freak out at swimming lessons. Aren't we all in this together???
FAST FORWARD TO BRONWYN'S
On Bronwyn's first day of class, I was feeling a little nervous. Her lessons are held in a private pool in someone's backyard and taught by a teenage girl and boy. On her first day there were a LOT of kids in her class and what felt like total chaos as one little boy sobbed his way through almost the whole lesson. Kids were playing all over the steps where they were supposed to be staying but thanks to the crying and overall confusion, there was crazy stuff happening all over. One little boy got in well over his head and his mom calmly said to the teenage boy in the pool, "can you grab my son, he needs some help" cue me looking to a little boy who looks like he's drowning slowly bobbing to the top of the pool as high as he can but he is in WAY over his head, literally. Ack!!
I'm was feeling panicky at this point and no one seemed to be taking charge of the class and all of the confusion. Bronwyn was playing and wandering all over the steps and suddenly got too far out and *poof* over the steps she went into the deeper water. Cue ME freaking out because it was her first swimming lesson ever and she just fell in over her head!! I yelled, "Bronwyn!" and the mom who so calmly watched her kid practically drowning looked over at me and said "calm down!". It was a little more lengthy than just those two words but I'll spare you. She was trying to help but it didn't and now I just laugh at the memory. LOL
The teenage girl calmly grabbed Bronwyn's arm and pulled her back up and put her on the steps again with directions to sit there and not move around. Luckily the dunking seemed to have its desired effect, I guess, since Bronwyn after a week hasn't fallen into the deeper water again.
Bronwyn has become so comfortable with the water in such a short amount of time. It is truly incredible. The confidence that she shows in her teachers and the attention that each child receives from these 2 teachers has made me a believer in these lessons. Bronwyn is learning how to push off from the steps and swim on her own to her teachers. Oh yeah, and at the end of every lesson they jump off the diving board onto a swimming noodle. (!!!)
Aftyn told me last week that when given the choice between her swimming lessons and Bronwyn's, she would prefer swimming with Bronwyn's teachers because "I know the rules at her pool." So then of course I had to ask her if she knew the rules at the place she had had HER swimming lessons and she said "no!". Sadly, I don't really doubt it. So we are going to be enrolling Aftyn in another session of swimming lessons at Bronwyn's pool with hopefully much different results.
My conclusion: don't yell at any moms who freak out at swimming lessons. Aren't we all in this together???
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Midweek Updates and pictures!
So remember how I said I was going to keep a daily log of
how I was doing with nutrition and exercise?
Yeah well, I got bored of it and I thought it made my blog boring. LOL
BUT something seems to have *clicked* and I'm killing it
on the eating clean and not reaching for sweets this week thus far. Go me!
Also, I'm giving my foot a rest so the bone can heal so no exercising but I'll
start again on that hopefully next week.
 |
| Modeling for the camera |
Aftyn had a one day hiatus from swimming lessons due to her incredibly sprained hand/wrist.
I've never seen so much swelling in a little hand. :(
But she is doing so much better today.
 |
| Totally in her element |
Bronwyn is having a hard time being happy at swim lessons because she is so jealous of
Aftyn but I keep reminding her that her time is coming.
Her lessons start on Monday. :)
 |
| Just lounging around, sucking on her toe |
Mirren is trying to get a top tooth and two bottom teeth all at the same time.
It'll be interesting to see which tooth wins the race.
Also, she is a crazy rolling fool!
She has figured out how to manuever around a room by simply rolling.
Here are some incredibly cute pictures of our littlest lately.
Reed is staying busy with work.
Some days he loves it, some days he wishes it didn't take so much time.
Overall, I really think it's a blessing.
This job gives him experience and blesses our family financially in ways we need.
We've been invited to a quinceanera for one of his customers next weekend.
It'll be our first! LOL
I'm actually pretty excited.
Dancing and yummy food?!?
I'm totally there.
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