Lauren's Blanket

When each of my children were born, or at least soon after, they have received a home made blanket/quilt from my mom. She has some major talent in this area! While all my kids love their blankets, Lauren is especially attached and has been known to cry for 20minutes in the car when we have refused to take it with us. The last few days I have notice Lauren pushing around her stroller. I assumed that she had a baby in it then put her blanket on top. It looked as though the baby was being smothered but whatever it is a pretend baby any ways.

It cracked me up that she was just pushing around her blanket in the stroller. Her blanket deserves the sweet life in her eyes. The other thing I noticed is that she plays with the chenille (i think that is what it is called) side of her blanket by rubbing her finger over the ridges in the material. Towards the end of the video you can notice her little finger. I am glad she loves her blanket and has that little quirk, the one I am not too thrilled about is the thumb. Did you notice when she tried to steer the stroller she wouldn't take her thumb out of her mouth, she just leaned and used her arm pit?

Another little passion she has is chocolate. She is a choco-holic. If you mention the word during dinner she will push her plate away, put her thumb in her mouth, and turn around in her chair to watch the location of chocolate (yes we are still working on our Halloween candy) to make sure she gets her piece. She will refuse to eat the rest of her dinner until she gets her chocolate. Sometimes I give in and let her eat the chocolate then return to her dinner, sometimes I let the fit run it's course while she is on her bed and she will humbly walk back to her chair, thumb in mouth of course! She may have a lot of spunk and personality but she sure is a cutie!

Being Mom...

The kids are so proud to have me as a mom and the give me the kindest gifts. The latest is a cold! That's OK for as much time as they give me hugs and smiles I will proudly take the germs as well.

Jackson is just over two months, I can't believe how time flies. I have learned from experience that the first three months after birth become a blur, and this is no different. I can't tell you how much I love this little guy. I think I have written that in every blog post about him. I was holding him this morning and I came to the realizations that he is already 10 weeks and he has grown so much. He still seem so tiny to me though.

Last week he had his 2 month appointment. Are you curious to know how he has grown? Just as a refresher he was born at 9 pounds 1 ounce, now he is 11 pounds 8 ounces. He is in the 41st percentile for weight. For height he started at 21 inches long and is now 23 inches. He is in the 59th percentile for height. He is growing well. It is funny going into appointments and hearing I have tall skinny kids, especially when referring to my biggest babies. Look at those long skinny legs! The doctor was surprised to hear that Jackson is sleeping a consistent 7 hours at night. Last night he slept for 8.5 hours, and let me tell you I needed it! The little sweetie will then wake up and just start wiggling with little grunts. It is way too cute. I would typically like more sleep but I am so grateful that he slept for so long that I will feed him. I love our hour in the morning where we can snuggle. I love to stare at him, even with his Freddy Kruger like scratches on his forehead. Jeremy says it reminds him of an extremely ugly wrestler, it was hard not to be offended by that. Jackson is adorable. Now thinking about it Jeremy should be offended since Jackson "looks just like him."

Which reminds me of this cute shirt Jackson got from a dear friend, isn't it fitting!

I have a couple post I need to get up but I couldn't resist writing some stuff about my little baby!

Mormon Messages...

Following a friend's blog she lead me to Mormon Messages on http://www.youtube.com/. I have been out of the loop with the "Big Love" Controversy. I know the gist of it but I haven't gotten involved. Anyway, the Church has put together small videos and posted them on YouTube on the Mormon Messages Channel. In response to the controversy the current video is "Why Mormons Build Temples?" It was a neat video but the one that lifted my heart was based on a talk by Elder Uchdorf. The video is entitled Create.



It is always uplifting. In his talk he does talk about motherhood. Which relates to me in about 6 different ways ;-). It is so nice to be reminded of this great talk and put to beautiful music as well as put together in a way that not only applies to women but men as well. We are all given the opportunity and ability to create, whether it is creating happiness, peace, comfort...there are so many things that really require no skills, money or education.

I am truly blessed to know this.

Miranda is...EIGHT!

I can't believe it! I knew this day would come, in fact we have talked of little else around here, eight is a big age for our family. In our church, eight is considered the Age of Accountability. It is the age when you are considered old enough to be baptized. In Moroni 8:8-12 it talks of baptizing children before they are accountable is a mockery of God. We are taught to have faith of a little child, with their innocence. In modern revelation found in D&C 68: 25, 27, it specifies the age of eight.

I am so excited for Miranda to be born into the gospel and to have such a firm foundation in our Savior. With baptism she receives the greatest gift of all. The gift of the Holy Ghost as her constant companion as long as she lives in such a way to hear his guidance. I hope she will grow in her appreciation for this constant companion. She will be guided along the right path and receive confirmation of good choices with positive feelings even when her decision maybe the tougher road. I have been so blessed to have Miranda be not only my first child but the oldest of the bunch. While she is not perfect, she is such a great example to her siblings of how to love the gospel and wanting to learn as well as making good choices. I love this little girl so much and am so proud of her. They always say you learn more from your children than you can ever teach them. I whole-heartedly agree.

Not only does Miranda, reach the age of accountability, get baptized (at the end of the month), receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, she gets to start attending Activity Days. Growing up it was similar to Pioneer girls or maybe cub scouts for boys. They will get to do lots of fun things. They will focus on the Faith in God program. The purpose of the Faith in God guidebooks is to help boys and girls ages 8 through 11 live gospel principles, develop testimonies, and build friendships. The program also helps boys to prepare to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and girls to become righteous young women. The activities for the program are outlined in two guidebooks: Faith in God for Boys and Faith in God for Girls. I can't help but be excited to watch her grow but can't help but want to hold her close, conflict of interest.

With all that we celebrated last night with family. As all of our kids are, Miranda was completely spoiled. We started the day with they typical waking up and singing of Happy Birthday and doughnuts. When possible Jeremy takes the kids birthday off of work. So he walked the kids to school. He then met Miranda and had a cafeteria lunch with her. They both enjoyed it, what a special treat. Her friend surprised her with a gift after school. It was so thoughtful! We had a quiet afternoon, except when I lost my patience and had to leave before I ruined Miranda's special day. I was able to come back quickly. (I just added that to remind you I am so far from perfect!) Then we had Aunt Tamra, Uncle James, Hunter, Uncle Chris and Grandma Bev over for Miranda's dinner of choice, barbecue hamburgers, green salad and fresh fruit salad. Miranda actually helped with the fruit salad, she was very excited to help with "her birthday dinner for the first time." It was like summer, FABULOUS. I have missed barbecues. After dinner Miranda got to open presents. Miranda got a bike from us with Jeremy promising to teach her how to ride it since they don't make training wheels for bikes her size. She also got some adorable clothes, a CD, two Wii games and a mini digital camera. Our friend Cindy knows that 8 is extremely special for us and offered to make Miranda's birthday cake. She did an excellent job!

Instead of a birthday party she decided she wanted to go see Wicked in San Francisco. I think she will enjoy it, for those of you who live under a rock (just kidding) it is about the origination of the Wizard of Oz characters. Kind of like the prequel to the Wizard of Oz. Let me be very clear, the play is nothing like the book. Well it could be similar but the book has mucho raunchiness and the play has NONE. For my big 3-0 Jeremy took me to LA to see it, while my fabulous sister-in-law and her co-horts watched my kids for the evening. I really want to go with Miranda for two reasons 1) it will be her first musical and it makes me sad I won't get to see the excitement on her face as she sits on the edge of her seat learning a new appreciation of music and performance 2) I have seen a few musicals and this is my favorite, so far. With Jackson being so young I can't leave him for that long. Those are the breaks!

I started this post on a spiritual level and ended very frivolously. I do know that this is such an amazing time for Miranda and am so grateful I get to be her mom through it all.

Miranda, Happy Birthday, I love you so very much.

Hannah makes us laugh too!

It seems like when a "twin" does something funny I often forget which one said what so it is repeated in general terms. One of the downfalls of being a twin.

On Sunday there were two funnies. Saturday, and I will admit Friday too, I did Haylie's hair a certain way. So Sunday after their bath Hannah wanted her hair done that way and Haylie wanted a different style. Jeremy is at meetings before church and doesn't get to see them. Part of his new calling is to come in and introduce the monthly theme in Primary. So he is talking to the kids ans asking questions. haylie and Hannah were wearing identical dresses, so Jeremy relied on the hair and called on "Haylie" to answer his question. She puts her hand down with a big cheesey grin and says "No Dad I Haannaaahh!" It was pretty funny since he doesn't usually get them mixed up. Another downfall, sometimes your parents can't tell you apart!

Later that day Jeremy picked her up and flipped her around. After putting her down he said "OK my turn." Rightfully so she started laughing and said "Daddy you are bigger." "Bigger than what?" he asks for clarification. Hannah again giggling says "bigger than a house!" Of course we we all expecting her to say "bigger than me." Luckily it wasn't me she was referring to I am not sure my delicate ego could handle that comment.

High School Musical 3

One of our fun family things is to watch a movie and have a theme. It keeps the kids entertained, it is cheap and we always enjoy the time together. On Saturday night we did High School Musical 3. Our menu theme was high school food. We had cheese Zombies and Tots along with some corn, Jeremy assured me that was school food. We were going to have chocolate milk but I forgot. Then for dessert...well we ran out of time and we never got that far to decide, it was probably going to be chocolate chip cookies.

After all movies there are music and credits so tradition would have it that they all danced while I filmed. Seriously music and coordination are not my gifts, but I sure do enjoy watching others enjoy them!

American Idol

Well I couldn't help but laugh. We got rid of cable about a year and a half ago. Surprisingly we don't miss it. I can't lie and say I don't miss a few shows, mostly American Idol. For that I am extremely grateful for the Internet. I get to watch the performances, which I love, but I miss the judges response. Yes I am bummed about that. I am embarrassed to say I miss Simon's honest and harsh words. I miss making comic relief of absent minded always kind Paula, and Randy, well, the name dropping and "Dawg..."

For those of you who don't watch it I thought this performance while totally a joke, was hilarious. I have never seen a performance like it. It really was a breathe of fresh air. The sad part was that someone who would take it seriously missed their chance, but again I am grateful for the lightness of this guy.


It isn't the best quality but tell me you didn't laugh and mean it.