My Happy Ballerina

I love everything about this photo! It will forever remind me of my little girl, in tights and a leotard, so excited, so happy to finally be at ballet lessons. I think this means most to me because I have always loved ballet as well! I'm not one to live my dreams through my kids (well, at least I try not to) but I was blessed with a little girl who loves it as much as I do! I know it could change, but let me live in my dream world for now. I imagine her spending the next 15 years with me driving her to and from lessons. She'll trade in her cute little ballet slippers each year for bigger ones. I dream of the day when I will watch her pirouette across the stage in perfect elegance and form. She will turn and spin on the very tips of her toes like I tried to a million times as a young girl, in love with the elegant art of ballet! I just hope that no matter where she goes or what she chooses throughout her life, I hope she never loses that look of pure joy! I hope every adventure can be faced with that!

Tender Mercies

I have been thinking a lot, lately about this term. It seems to be talked about a lot at church and really first brought to many of our attention by a beautiful talk by Elder Bednar a few conferences ago. Last month, at Relief Society salad social, the talk was on the Tender Mercies of the Lord. Since that time, I find myself pondering and finding the many little moments throughout my daily life when the Lord shows me He loves me. I think I love these two words so much because they represent something so personal. We all live in awe at the big things God has done for us from the creation of our beautiful world to the quiet wonder of a newborn, just kissed by heaven's lips. But, to me, when I think of a tender mercy, I think of the things that may not mean anything to anyone else, but it means everything to me.

Just yesterday, I went grocery shopping and took the two youngest. Noah was great, for most of it, hanging out in the moby wrap, just happy to be looking around! Olivia was pleasant, but curious. She "needed" everything and I think we passed 15 potential birthday presents that she felt she needed to buy right there. She's 3 and definately to "mature" for riding in the cart, so what should have been an hour long shopping trip stretched into almost 2. By the time I reached the check out line with my cart filled to the brim, Noah was done. The poor thing was ready for a nap or food or both and just began to scream for all he had in him. Olivia was still trying to convince me that every candy in the check out area needed to be in our cart, and I was ready to join Noah in the screaming. At that moment, a kind man, clearly a grandpa stepped over and asked if he could unload my cart for me. I felt more gratitude than pride at that moment, and I stepped back to bounce and sooth my baby. He chatted while he unloaded and made me feel that I deserved the help. Noah fell asleep and by the time, my groceries were rung up and back in my cart, I felt more than joy at being done. As I pushed my cart to the car and encouraged Olivia to hurry just a little faster, I felt warmth around me. I knew at that moment that it was no coincidence that this kind stranger stopped to help. He felt a nudge from a loving Father in Heaven and he listened and helped. With the warmth I felt love. I knew that my Father in Heaven loved me, was aware of my struggles and weaknesses. I knew that through the hands of this sweet grandpa, the Lord was able to reach down and help me. He lightened my burden and reminded me that I am never alone.

It also made me stop and think if I listen enough to those little nudgings. Do I pass up opportunities to help the Lord in performing those small tender mercies for others? Do I let my pride or my fear keep me from being an instrument for Him? And if I do, how can I overcome it. I pray that I strive harder to listen more, love more, and show my gratitude for the multitude of mercies the Lord gives to me.

My New Blog Venture

Well, this is something I have wanted to do for awhile and I've finally figured out how to do it and took the plunge! I've started my own FREE blog wear blog! So, if you are wanting some backgrounds for your blog that have a bit of that "down-home baking" feel to it, then check out this link:

Home Baked Blogs

(much more to come, this is just the beginning!)

3 Months old--My Little Man

I do not know where the past three months have gone! It seems like just yesterday that I was admiring my new little son, just hours old! He is such a sweet and happy baby (especially now that we have the reflux under control!) and I just love him more each day! Here are a few pics to show him off!

Summer Update

I can not believe that summer is going by so quickly! It feels like we just got out and now I'm already getting info about the new year coming up. I hate how fast it goes.

We've had a good summer so far. The weather has been amazing and I'm learning to really love summer in a climate that is warm but not so hot it burns your skin off! LOL! I really love the mornings and the evenings.

Chipper is at scout camp this week, and it has been really hard to not see him or even talk to him. I know that this is just the beginning of slowly letting go, as he grows and gets older, but it is definately not easy!

Mitchell and Abby are gone with John this week to Nevada, for his meetings, so it's just the 3 youngest and me! It should be a very quiet house.

Sam is enjoying summer school and next week is his last week. It went so fast! He loves to go and especially ride the bus. I enjoy how easy it is when he's gone. That probably sounds bad, but he is so busy and keeps me on my toes! Just Monday, I took 5 of the kids to Thanksgiving Point to their Discovery Gardens. It's absolutely beautiful there and they have a Noah's Ark water feature. We had been there about 2 hours and we were all tired and ready to head home. I was helping Olivia put on her clothes when I turned around and Sam was gone. It was just that quick and no matter where I looked, I couldn't see him anywhere. I spent about 20-30 minutes looking on my own. I just kept circling the park, calling his name, etc. I had Mitchell and Abby wait by the front gate, so he couldn't come back and escape. I was exhausted and the heat was really getting to me by this point. I went to the front gate and asked the girl for help. She called Security and they came to help me look. I felt some relief at not being alone. They ended up getting a call from the large gardens (400 acres worth) next door and he had somehow gotten in over there. I was so relieved and amazed how quick he is. I wish I could say that he was unnerved by it all, or even slightly afraid of a stranger bringing him back, but he reappeared with the security guard with his usual smile as if nothing had happened. I swear he is the reason I will be grey before I'm 40!

Olivia is our little social bug. She is convinced that she is going to school this fall and every new thing she does, she say's she learned it at school. She cracks us up with the things she says and comes up with. Just yesterday, she told me I was born yestermorning! I love this age!

And sweet Noah is growing and doing so well. He has some reflux issues which is no fun! It has caused him some real fussy spells that are so hard with a newborn. Last week, I went to an essential oils class in our ward. I took him with me, and he was so fussy. You know that "stiff in your arms" feeling, like he was in pain. This has become so common for him, especially after eating. We put some oils on his little chest and rubbed lavendar onto his feet. Within 5 minutes he calmed down and relaxed in my arms for the rest of the evening. It was amazing! I bought some oils and have been putting them on him after every meal. I have seen some improvment and best of all, he sleeps 10 hours a night since then! I definately won't complain about that!

So, there's an update! There are so many more things I could write about, but little one is tired of being in my arms while I type, so we're going to go play!