Hard to Say Goodbye

I can't believe that President Hinckley is gone. I appreciate all the phone calls and messages we got to let us know out here. I have been thinking about it all night. It is so strange because I feel so sad and yet so peaceful, I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else. It feels like the world has lost some of its brightness and it will never be the same. I feel so grateful to have lived during his ministry. He gave so much to the world, the church and to me. He is for the most part the only prophet I remember. I was 12 years old when he was sustained as the president of the church. Just two weeks ago our family home evening lesson was on prophets and we taught Luke about President Hinckley and we bore our testimonies about living prophets. I feel sad that Luke will never know him like we did. When I read the statement posted by the church I was awed at the life that he lived and the good that he did and how much it was recognized by the world. We who have lived the last 13 years knowing him as our prophet are truely blessed. I can't help but hear the words to "We thank thee oh, God for a prophet" over and over again in my head. I am so grateful for my testimony of the restored gospel, and I am truely grateful for our prophet, I will miss him.

Lagging Behind

Don't you hate it when your family gets sick? I have noticed now that we have two kids and I have less hours to devote to my daily routine, being sick really throws things out of wack. Today I am finally starting to catch up. My house just drives me crazy when it is so chaotic (ie: piles of laundry, two year old tornado paths through every room, dishes etc.)I know that they are the things in life that don't matter as much, but I notice that I feel much more at peace when I have things more contained and manageable. Believe me, my house isn't always perfect, but it has been a week now with someone being sick and requiring more attention and now I have it on the tale end and am just barely getting my energy back. Oh well, we will get there eventually. Hope this finds you all feeling well.

Hating the Writers Guild Strike

Well, I feel a little silly admitting it, but the WAG strike is really buggin' me. I miss my shows-especially The Office. We only have a few shows that we watch regularly, but those are all effected and we havn't had new episodes in months. Now one might not be coming back at all-I probably shouldn't care, and maybe it is a sad commentary on our society that we love our T.V. shows but I do love the little diversion my favorite shows bring. But tonight, Chuck is back. It is a really funny show, and Jake and I love to watch it together and laugh. And next week Lost is finally back on. Come on Office and we will be doing great!

Loving Life with Luke

Lately it has been so cool to see Luke's imagination growing. He is really starting to grasp the world around him and now loves to imagine new things. Every meal is an adventure with him because at least one of his pieces of food becomes something else, usually something that goes-like a car, airplane, a sailboat or a bird.
Everyone knows that he loves to play with his lightsabers that he got for Christmas. Each time we play he pretends to be a character and assigns a character to us. For example he puts a blanket on his head and says, "Oh, The Emperor". Or he graps both lightsabers and says, "Oh, General Grievous." Then he totally pretends to fall down and play dead. It is pretty funny,(Jake taught him that).
He has also learned to tell stories. He always starts by saying "Once Upon A Time..." and he stands there and holds his hands like they are a book. He is just getting so big and changing every day, learning new words and becomer clearer and clearer in his speech.
His new favorite song to sing is "Follow the Prophet". Only he says it like Follow the ProPet, it is really cute. He LOVES to sing and just randomly starts to sing all day long. Jake always adds that he thinks that Luke has really good pitch, it is true though, he really follows the notes. Maybe he got his Dad's talent. We also find him frequently singing Star Wars to himself. Usually when he is sad or in time-out, or just bored. It is kinda like a security blanket for him-strange I know, but funny!
The other thing he loves to do is draw and play with playdough. He calls it "make". So he comes to me everyday and says, "Make, Mama, make?" He is so much fun...a handful, but so fun.

Small Miracles

Today I am thankful for small miracles. To be brief for some reason over the last three days Ty has been unable to sleep. Whether it was nap time or bedtime he just couldn't sleep more than an hour and then he would wake up screaming. I was having a really hard time with it. Mostly because I couldn't stand to see my normally easy, content and generally happy baby so upset. Then sleep deprivation kicked in and I was feeling very close to the end of my rope. I feel a little silly for admitting that it only took 3 days, but I was out of ideas, patience and sanity. Last night in desperation I had Jake give him a blessing. I figured that we had tried everything else. You should have seen the poor kid. His eyes had bags under them, literally. His eyes were totally red and everything about his demeanor said utter exhaustion. So how did things pan out? 12 hours of sleeping, only breaking twice to eat. I feel so grateful that our prayers were answered. I swear, as a Mom, I don't know how I would make it from day to day without prayer. I feel so blessed to have a worthy priesthood holder in my home and the fact that that is coupled with a loving, concerned and hands on father is beyond a blessing. I don't know what I would do without Jake. I guess this wasn't very brief, but it is because I am truely grateful.

Round 2

So today I had a Young Women Presidency meeting at my house. While we were talking Luke came in again with -you guessed it- poop on his hands! Plus he also decided to color the kitchen floor with his brown crayon-I guess I should be thankful that is the only thing brown there. Ha ha!

Two year olds are disgusting!

Wow!!! Okay, so we have been talking about starting to potty train Luke. We thought that we would wait a few more months at the advice of those who have done it before. We figure that when he is a little older and when it is warmer makes sense. But today I wish that he was. He has started hiding when he needs to poop. This isn't usually a big deal, but occasionally he will emerge from his secret special place with poop all over his hands. Apparently when he is done he decides to explore. But I guess thankfully he developed his Dad's sticky hands phobia so he immediately comes to me to clean him up. Not a fun job. This has only happened a couple of times-and very sporadically. So today-(of course since I am writing this)it happens. But for an added bonus he decides that the family room carpet makes more sense for cleaning than water and soap.AHHH! So I clean him up and we have a conversation about not putting his hands down his pants. My pediatrician warned me about not doing the "shame and blame" thing. So as positively as I could we discussed why that was gross and not to do it again. He looks at me with his big blue eyes and says, "okay, Mama." On he goes to play. I kid you not-1 hour later-he comes to me with his hand covered in poop. This time I admit to say I wasn't so upbeat about it.
Jake and I always laugh that changing a kid his age is like changing a teenager. One time Jake said to me, "I swear I half expect when I put his legs down for him to ask me for the keys to the car." I laughed so hard. It is amazing how there age creeps up on you. Jake and I are not the type to be squeamish about diaper changing, but babies are one thing. This is bad-and this is coming from someone who used to change adults!
Anyway, so as if you were not grossed out enough, another side note of a habit I am trying to stifle. Again thanks to his father's sticky hands phobia, Luke hates to get his hands dirty when he eats. You would think that this would encourage a mess free eating pattern-oh no, he makes a mess, but has recently decided that using his hair as a napkin, instead of the one provided, works great! The napkin or rag that we give him he feels is better suited for wiping the table! I guess at least he is trying, but needing more frequent baths.
I am sure that I will miss these days when they are gone, but sometimes I am anxious for personal cleanliness to kick in!

Let me explain

I feel compelled to let you all know that we are doing fine. Everyone was so sweet to leave comments on my last blog, and I even got a concerned phone call about it. I guess that in writing I am not very good at conveying that it was less serious than it sounded. I was just frustrated. The only reason I decided to write it was because I thought that so many of you would be able to relate to the frustrations we all face day to day. Just an outlet. I am fine, we are all fine. And yes, we will survive Decatur-if only just. Just kidding! love you all.

I hate rude people

Today I decided to take Luke to the mall to play on the indoor jungle gym. I felt like he needed some exercise and a change of pace for the day. The area is for children 42" and smaller. The last two times I have taken him there it is full of BIG kids. Last time it was full of probably 12 year olds and today there were seceral kids pushing my height-I know that isn't saying a whole lot as far as height goes-but still way to big to be running and jumping off of the equipment. What gets me so fired up about it is that the parents are sitting there, watching there kids almost clobber (? spelling) the little kids. I was sitting on the side holding Ty when this girl fell right into me and Ty. I was so ticked! Then the big kids wouldn't let Luke down one of the slides. I have been to public playgrounds before and there are always those who don't obey the rules, a few bullies and oblivious parents. But I swear it is worse here. Almost everytime I go out in public I am amazed at the lack of class, courtesy and respect around here. It is absolutely ridiculous. I feel like a fish out of water most of the time. I know that nowhere is perfect, but for those of you who think we exaggerate our town, I affirm that it really is THAT bad!
Jake was talking to his boss the other day about the customer service here. Holt, is from Mineapolis. He was laughing so hard at the stark contrast in customer service. I swear people here do not know the definition. Most people we know that are transplants here just like us say the same thing about the town. And to those of you who have so graciously visited us, you understand a little. My sister, Heather, always makes me feel good about backing me up on this-the town is a hole! I know that some of you try to make me feel good about it and say that is couldn't possbily be that bad, but it is. I just feel bad for Jake. I know that whenever I run into issues out and about it is frustrating, but these people are his every day world. They are his employees and his donors. Every day he is constantly reminded of the yucky things of the world. He gets threats and there have been some altercations in and outside his work, one knife fight. A lot of his donors are just completely living off of the government with no desire to better themselves, comletely no self-worth or sense of inner pride. I know dealing with that day in and day out is so taxing on Jake. I love him so much for working so hard for our family.
Sorry to complain. I actually just meant to post about the stupid people at the mall and this kinda turnded into a "I hate Decatur" gripe session. Thanks for the therapy.

Ty's Nursery

I have been saying that I was going to post pictures of Ty's nursery-voila!