I love this talk

Stan has been listening to talks from the BYU speeches web page.  This was his latest and he passed it on to me.  It's a talk by Stephen R Covey from 1975.  It may be old but it was revelation for me.  It must have been exactly what I needed because I soaked it all up and I'm so motivated to be a better person and to be more in tune with the Spirit and have it direct my life.  I know I will see greater progress as I do this.  Here's to great reading and/or listening.
http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=948

One of these days I'll get a new family picture up that includes Spencer.  We did have one taken in August but we haven't seen any of them yet.  And I really think I need to blog more.  Sometimes there is so much to say but I don't think anyone needs to hear it.  Maybe someone does need to hear it.  We'll see...

Joel

 Joel turned 8 on May 31 and was excited to be baptized.  We had a fun weekend and I survived it without any breakdowns, which is huge for me.  I get anxiety having people in my home, for some reason, and feeding 20 people is also difficult for me.  It all went smoothly and I had lots of women help.  I'm pretty sure it's a blessing that I don't have to host family events very often.  It sure was nice to see everyone and share in this special day with Joel!  It's so fun to watch him grow up and develop. Being a parent is hard but there are many neat glimpses of these little children of God that will become adults one day.

The handsome 8 year old

Those who came to celebrate with us

Family photo!

 He excited for his new bike.  I love that face.

 The kids had so much fun with Kali, and then with Torri, Tess and Derek( no picture of them).

Joel loves soccer and he has really improved since the beginning of the season.  It's fun to watch him.  I love soccer and played it lots as a kid.  He's a natural athlete but he really loves to play and wants to practice because it's fun and so he can get better.  I love sports that keep him running.  He has a lot of energy.

Spencer

Isn't he adorable?  Sometimes I can't believe it.

We have a nine month old boy!  I don't feel like it has gone by super fast but I'm happy that he is growing up and learning.  The baby stage hasn't been easy but it's getting better.  Yesterday we went for our first bike ride together.  I have a seat that sits behind my seat on my bike.  He loved it after he realized the helmet wasn't so bad.  This little Spencer LOVES to be outside. If he is fussy, he almost always settles if we go outside.  He loves to watch Joel play sports and also any of the kids playing outside.
He just figured out crawling two days ago.  Tonight he went a little bit further but he still fusses when he does it and thinks he isn't getting anywhere.  I'm assuming it will only be days before he is motoring around everywhere I go.  Now I'll have to be really careful about always have a clean floor.  Hopefully he won't swallow too many little toys.
He is a good eater and is weaning himself slowly from his bottle.  He eats so much food that he doesn't want or need as much milk.  I'm Ok with it.  Formula is expensive and he eats just about anything I give him so he has a pretty balanced diet.  I think we'll be buddies for awhile, him and me.

Spencer

 I had to create this collage because all of these faces are Spencer.  He can change his expressions quickly.  Big and smiley, serious, very sad (I didn't have one of that but I see it a lot), unsure, curious.  He has the biggest smile and it makes me happy when he smiles at me.  I'm starting to look at myself and wonder who I am.  I feel like I look different already and I'm only 32.  It's kind of creepy(I only picked that word because Macy says it all the time but it sounds like "cweepy").  We are trying to work on her 'r's.  She has a hard time.

His two little teeth.  He got one around 6 months and the 2nd shortly after.  did I already post these pictures?  They are fully in now and he has been working on other ones. I thought it was two more on the bottom but nothing has poked through yet.
Spencer is past 8 months old.  He is anxious to move.  He seems frustrated to have to be still.  He kind of gets in the crawling position but hasn't figured out how to go yet.  I'm a little fearful for him to move because it will be tiring for me in a different way.  Right now he screams and wants to be held so it just might be better for him to move and follow me around, even though I'll have to keep my eye out constantly. It's always interesting to watch your children learn and grow.  Fascinating each time.  We sure love our Spencer.  He is full of life and spirit.  He loves his siblings.

Pleased

A couple of days ago I woke up wishing I could just stay in bed.  I was really tired and grumpy.  Getting the two oldest kids out the door wasn't an unusual task, followed by my week day workout.  Spencer wasn't too happy to be awake that day either or he was just feeding off of me.  He screamed all through the workout and then had only a 20 minute nap. I was frustrated and unsure how to turn my day around.  I called a trusted companion who offered some fixes, sure that they would bring me happiness.  This annoyed me further.  It wasn't that simple.  I just needed to be heard.  Here's the best part!  Normally I would have continued on this way and the whole day would have been crappy and I would have taken it all out on Stan when he came home from work.  However, the Lord helped me to laugh at what had happened, the advice I'd been given, realize the person offering it is imperfect and not able to meet all of my needs.  My attitude shifted and I enjoyed the rest of the day.  Hooray for progress.

I love the Maytag

Before we sold our last house, we bought new appliances.  We tried to sell our dishwasher but it didn't sell, gratefully.  With all the money we have spent so far on our "new" old home, we were so happy to have our old dishwasher.  Stan got it installed on Saturday and it is so lovely to hear the hum of the dishwasher going, knowing that I don't have to scrub all the dishes by hand.  Little conveniences make such a big difference in our modern-day life!  And have I mentioned before that I'm happy my kids are at school!  It might not be the best education but I sure hope we do enough real life learning at home, to make up for all the hours spent at public school.  It sometimes does feel like babysitting, not free, and the kids do learn, and they socialize, and they learn how to deal with conflict a lot, which isn't a bad thing either.

The girls have moved into the basement

Paneling. Some wood looking and some other.  Dirty and gross.

Drywall!  My dad helped Stan get a great start when he was here for Christmas

Having some fun painting.  Brynn is a good painter!  Macy loves to help

.The mostly finished product.  We need curtain rods and decorations on the wall.  Something for their closet and a desk.  But they are in!

Spring

I've discovered, especially since living in the north, that I really like spring!  Spring gives me hope that summer will come eventually and that we will enjoy a few months without any snow, even if we get a spring snowstorm, which we usually do. 

Also, I made my first visit ever to a mental health professional.  She is a psychologist, R.N. and working toward a doctorate in Nursing, specializing in sleep something.  Through the craziness I've experienced over the last year and more, and encouragement from some family members, I decided maybe I should get some counseling.  My biggest issues are being optimistic and finding joy in everyday life.  I know these are things that lots of people deal with but Stan's benefits cover the help and it's a way to talk about my life, outside of my family, in a confidential way, with someone who can help give me some strategies.  The psychologist is a perfect fit for me.  We are similar in enough ways that she is easy to talk to.  She is a very spiritual person, which is huge for me. I've had an introductory visit and I'm really excited to move forward.  Something that she and others have helped me see lately that in order for me to be helpful to my family, I must find things I enjoy to fill up my bucket, so when life sucks it out, I won't be completely depleted.  As I have been working on that, it has made a HUGE difference.  Having "me" time has always been important.  I'm an introvert by nature and get recharged by being alone.  Being surrounded by kids all day just doesn't work.  I have to have some breaks or at least some outings to break it up.  I can easily see why homeschooling made me crazy.  However, I also recognize that things weren't too ugly until I got pregnant.  Hormones do crazy things to me.  Enough rambling...I'm excited to see someone who can help me.  Stan is actually really good at helping me too. He can see things that I don't always recognize and he's nice about pointing it out.  He's also learned when he can safely approach me, which is a big deal.

Macy is good at being 5

I have a short memory and I don't really remember what my other kids were like at age 5.  Macy has really looked forward to being this age and has been talking about it for 6 months or more.  She was excited to:

Open presents

go out to eat for dinner

And have a friend party. 
She is really excited that she is now old enough to go to school, even though she has to wait until September.

It's May!

I'm on a journey to the new me.  It's been hard, depressing at times, exciting, and hopeful!  I've been a mother for over 9 years and somehow lost myself as I was giving to my children, not realizing that they, and I, needed me.  I'm making a comeback and it feels so good.  I feel alive again and excited to be a mother and a wife, a fiddlest(I've only had two lessons), an exerciser again and boy does that feel great!. I actually played basketball with Stan and Joel outside the other day.  It was so fun. I forgot how much I love sports.  I still read a lot because it is a great source of spiritual communication for me.  I receive many answers to my prayers as I read and learn.  My favorite reads of late:  The Acts of Faith Series by Janette Oke and Davis Bunn. It's historical Chrisitian fiction around the time just after the Savior was crucified.  I'm in the middle of book 2.  They are wholesome and uplifting and cultural and I like that.  Phil Callaway is another Christian author I've been reading.  He writes about having a positive outlook on life and finding humor in all the little, everyday things.  I desparately need that. And...the book I'm just finishing is Stephanie Nielson's Heaven is Here.  She shares her experience of her perfect life before her airplane crash that burned 80% of her body, and her recovery  up to now.  It is amazing!  She is a very personal writer and shares the struggles she faced as she has come back to life from near death.  I read it in just over 2 days.
Thanks to my family and friends for encouraging me and helping me in ways that has saved me from further despair.  I'm so grateful!

Joel

 Joel is a very logical thinker.  We had some pots and pans out and the kids were drumming.  He looked at the bottom of the pan and said "I can tell how old this pan is."  "How do you know?" we say.  He said, "I counted the rings."  Then we figured out he was counting the rings like you would a tree.  Smart kid.

 

Joel played basketball again this year and this is a picture of him from his tournament.  They don't keep score, which is good.  It's a good way to get experience playing other teams.  Joel loves to play sports and is going to try soccer this year.  We have to hope for a good spring.  I've always boycotted soccer here in Canada because it's always too cold and snowy for much of the season.  I wish they would do it in the fall when the weather is nice. 

Random happenings

Macy is helping me make Shrimp Scampi, a new favorite recipe.  We love it and it's so quick and easy.

Brynn and Joel had a lot of fun this day making forts out of our abundant supply of wood and the little bit of snow to help it stay up.  Since this picture, we got a couple of feet of snow, most of which has now melted again. 

 

A Sunday afternoon.  I'm pretty sure Stan is napping.  Joel's trying to help Spencer be happy while he is on his tummy.   

Spencer at 6 months

 

 

 

Spencer sure is growing.  He is sitting up really well and has been for most of the last month.  He is happiest when being held and walked around, particularly by Mom.  He does really well too if the kids take him away and play with him, where he can't see me.  He still has to be completely wrapped tight in order to sleep.  He's so strong now that we have to wrap him twice, once with a thin blanket and then again with a stretchy knit blanket so we can wrap him tight, so his arms don't escape.  It seems extreme but he sleeps pretty well.  Right after the last month's post about him sleeping through the night, he stopped.  I never know if I'm creating a habit or if he really has a need.  He goes to bed at 7 or so.  He is now sleeping through the night again.  He usually has 2 really good naps a day and sometimes a 3rd.  I'm grateful for that, as those are the times when I can get something done.  He really likes to be outside and in areas where there are lots of people to look at.  We are grateful that he is healthy and strong.

5 months on Earth

Our sweet baby is now five months old. It feels like longer, in some ways, but the time has gone by quickly. Spencer is growing and changing and we are enjoying the process. This past month, he loves his jolly jumper. He does a little dance in it and it's so cute to watch. The other night he laughed and laughed at Joel who was being a very silly boy, throwing his lunch kit around and running into things.

This pumpkin hat has been worn by all of our kids. Brynn was a pumpkin one year for Halloween. The kids wanted to dress Spencer up and this is what they found. He's a cute pumpkin head.

Brynn got a make-up set for Christmas and Macy loves to be her client!

Spencer is sleeping through the night most of the time now, which is a welcome blessing. He likes to be held much of his waking time these days. It hurts my back but I know it doesn't last forever. He just likes to be near me or someone and see all that is going on. He's almost sitting up and seems anxious to be growing up, but he doesn't like to be on the floor much.

We've been hit again with nasty colds. Stan and I are just a little sick and I'm trying hard to learn about natural ways to stay healthy. One guy that my mom has been reading for years has some great ideas. I'm reading his brochure online right now about cold and flu. Check it out, he has some really interesting stuff.
I've been doing pretty good with my whole foods eating plan. It's hard and expensive to keep fresh stuff in the house all the time but I know my body enjoys it a lot more.
Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day and here's the link to some health stuff
Dr. Richard Schulze BLOG

I got a REAL bedroom door with a lock

Yesterday was a wonderful day with a most wonderful ending.  Stan and I went on a date and it was so fun to spend time together.  While we were out we bought a bedroom door.  Since October this door is the one on my bedroom.  Notice Macy waving through the glass.  She would sit there and watch whatever was going on in my bedroom.  I would have to be sneaky if I wanted any privacy.  We didn't have a lock either.

This is at the end of the day!  No windows and a beautiful door knob with a lock.  Happy day for a mama.

The awesome installers

Spencer at 4 months

Isn't Spencer so cute? This is what we get most of the time from him now. He's a happy kid and has learned to roll from tummy to back. I don't put him on the floor much. I need to keep an eye on him if I do, so he doesn't roll away and down our unsafe stairs.

Happy New Year

Spencer is now 4 months old.  Time is passing quickly.  He is so much more content these days and interacting with him is so much fun.  He is 15 pounds and closer to the 50th percentile.  I think they have changed the growth charts since my other kids were babies.  However, he is my smallest at this age.  Crazy!  He is still healthy and chubby, which is great.  As a gift to us, he has slept 9 hours the last two nights.  I hope he is on to something.  After weeks of waking up every 3 hours instead of 6-8, we welcome the 9 hours with much enthusiasm.  I just might make it with some decent sleep.  We forget to take pictures of him, partly because my camera batteries died and partly because I just don't think about it. I need to do better.
We are happy it's a new year and that we've had a very mild winter to this point.  We enjoyed having my parents here for Christmas and the week after.  Stan had a few days off and that was great.  We have set some new goals and really look forward to having a fresh, new start that comes with the new year.

We have survived!

Brynn has talent. She's playing "Jingle Bells" while holding Spencer.

The kids built some forts and wanted Spencer to have the king chair.

We (Spencer and I) have both survived the first 3 months! Recently Spencer is really interactive. He loves to talk and make noises with his mouth, especially when you put him on his change table. Brynn loves to change his diaper now, just for the conversation. The fussiness is decreasing, or I'm finally getting smart enough to know what is wrong. This last week he's figured out how to squeal and scream. Doesn't work so well at Church, but it's kind of fun. Sometimes he likes to be rocked to sleep and sometimes he just wants to be put in bed. We swaddle him up tight and he likes that, and he likes his soother. What would we do without it?
We sure are enjoying him. He is healthy and big and so adorable!