Working Hard

My motto around here lately has been Working Hard is Good.

And Samuel has been taking that to heart.

I started teaching him piano about 2 months ago and he is doing amazing. I am going to do a longer post about this another night. But I'm seriously considering teaching piano to a couple of students starting in August. If you know anyone that may be interested let me know!

Samuel also had his Karate promotion and received his white belt with a purple stripe. He LOVES Karate!

Love the expression he has on his face if you look in the mirror. Such a tough look!

And in January he learned to ride his bike without training wheels. Someone told us a great trick to use and we did it. Samuel literally learned to ride his bike in less than a couple of hours. The trick is to remove the pedals and then let the kids practicing balancing as they coast down a little incline putting their feet down as needed. I can't believe how well this worked!

Chuck decided this was so successful he removed Bella's pedals. Bella is quite a bit more wild than Samuel and the first time I saw her flying down the hill without the pedals and unable to break I was sure it was a recipe for disaster. And she did take a major crash at the bottom of our street, but in true Bella form she jumped right back up without a tear and tried it again. She hasn't quite mastered it yet, but she's working on it.

Light Bulb Moment

I was so proud of Bella this week I had to call Chuck, Grandma Jerri Lynn and Aunt Trina right away to share the great news!

Bella and I have been going to speech class once a week for a year and a half. She has made such huge improvements from when we started. Her teacher encouraged me to be consistent in our practice at our first meeting. Well, if there's one thing I'm pretty good at it's being consistent especially if it's important!

We practice our sounds every day and this week my Bella girl had one of those light bulb moments where things just click. The J sound is her last big hurdle and her teacher introduced the sound this week and had her practice at class. Can I just say that I am fascinated by speech pathology. I am just amazed at all the coordination that has to take place in the mouth for sounds to be made correctly. Maybe in my next life I'll be a speech teacher! Later that day we were sitting at the table and Bella out of the blue started making the J sound correctly then she said, "Hey, Jenna starts with the J sound." I was so excited I about couldn't stand it! Before then Bella would replace the J sound with an S so instead of saying Jenna she would say Senna. But the light bulb clicked and she called her sister Jenna for the first time! And now she is starting to say all the other J words correctly.

Until I had kids I didn't realize the love I would have for teaching. I absolutely love learning with my kids. There's nothing like seeing those light bulbs go off as they catch onto a new principle. It just makes me smile! And it makes me have to call all the family and share the great news!

On a side note I had to take this picture of Bella before church because of her reaction when I put that giant pink bow in her hair. She looked in the mirror and exclaimed, "I LOVE it!".

Concrete Legs & Cute Shoes

I just love to watch babies learning how to walk. Their legs are spread apart like giant tree trunks and as they try and pick each leg it seems so heavy to move, almost like it's been dipped in concrete. Too cute!

I think little baby shoes are adorable, but I refuse to buy them.

When I was pregnant with Samuel and reading all the material so I would be prepared to be a "good" mom I read somewhere it's better to let babies learn to walk without shoes. So of course I didn't have him wear shoes until he learned how to walk because that's what the "experts" suggested. Fast forward a kid or two and my mind set changed. I could care less what the "experts" think it's just impossible to keep track of shoes for the kids who really need to wear them. Who needs the burden of trying to keep track of another pair of shoes not to mention trying to get and keep the shoes on a baby!

But now that Jenna has been walking for awhile I did break down and get her these super adorable soft soled shoes.

And like my other kids when I finally started putting shoes on them she really didn't care for them.

I must say those are some super cute shoes on those adorable concrete legs!

This is what happens when Jenna decides that it's okay to wake up at 4:40 a.m.! By 7:00 a.m. you're ready for a nap. Now if only mommy could take a nap with you!

Jenna has been our hardest baby because she just doesn't sleep very well and she likes to wake up super early. I guess she fits in well around here with all the other early risers.

End of an Era

Saturday evening was my last night nursing my sweet baby Jenna. It was bittersweet. I held her a little longer and cherished those last precious moments. Tonight after I fed her a bottle and laid her down I cried. My friend shared a thought that one of her friends had shared with her – she said she takes comfort in hoping that some of these moments and experiences are not final, we will get the chance to experience them again in the eternities. It is a beautiful thought!

One of my favorite parts of each day is retreating to my rocking chair in the early evening to nurse my baby to sleep. I shut the door and let the peaceful calm wash over me as I bring my precious baby close and feed her. There are usually noisy happenings just outside the door as Chuck plays with the other kids. But here, there is a quiet beautiful closeness as just the baby and I share the end of the day together. I rub her head, hold her little hands and look deeply into her blue eyes. In these quiet moments, I marvel at the miracle of this sweet baby in my arms and I wonder what the coming years will hold for her. I LOVE this experience, this time together.

These moments of motherhood will always be precious to me. When I think back to these years, I know some of my fondest memories will be holding and nursing every one of my babies in the rocking chair. I feel blessed that countless hours of my time have been spent in this quiet closeness. I can't think of anything I would have rather been doing!

Many parts of motherhood are hard and nursing for me as been no exception. With every one of my babies I have cried tears of pain and frustration. The beginning has never been easy for me. Samuel was my hardest. I think back to those weeks trying to heal from a c-section, twice having mastitis only to be followed by another horrible infection leading to an abscess that I had to have cut, drained and packed returning again and again to the doctor for almost two weeks and I’m amazed I continued to nurse him and then all the other kids. I will always be grateful to a wonderful group of women in my Vegas ward. They offered encouragement and support when I needed it most. With their encouragement, I stuck with it even though it was extremely hard and I’m so thankful I did.

Tonight I don’t feel it, but I know in the coming days a part of me will be excited. Since I became pregnant with Samuel in June 2004 I have literally been pregnant or nursing without any breaks. Yes, that’s over 6 ½ straight years of either growing a little one or nourishing a little one and with two of my pregnancies doing both at the same time. (Now to be totally accurate, there was a 2 week break when I was not pregnant or nursing in between Isaac and Jenna, but really what’s 2 weeks compared to over 6 years!) So I’m entering new territory here, but I know the motherhood journey will continue to be filled with joy – just different types of joy!


Jenna has so many cute dresses I decided I need to snap a picture each Sunday before church. And just to confirm in case you were wondering, No Jenna still doesn't have ANY teeth. That's right, she's 13 months old and no teeth. (Makes the nursing a little easier!)

Differences

Grandma Luann let Isaac borrow this robot cat last time we were there for a visit. We discovered upon getting the toy home that Jenna is petrified of the cat when it starts walking around with its bright yellow eyes flashing, tail wagging up and down and making strange robotic cat noises. And this little toy magnifies the difference between the boys and girls in my home.

The first time Isaac turned this cat on and it began walking towards Jenna she started squawking, then screaming and when it reached her she was in sheer panic swatting it with flying legs and arms. I told the kids they needed to turn the cat off and get it away from Jenna. Then I walked away to take care of something else.

A few minutes later I hear Jenna squawking and both boys laughing. Yep, Samuel had cornered Jenna with the cat thinking it was hilarious to watch her reaction. Then I hear Bella come storming into the room and to Jenna's rescue. She started yelling at Samuel to take the cat to his room and when he didn't comply she was like a momma bear charging after him and the cat. She chased him up to his room and told him not to get the cat near Jenna again.

As I watched this scene play out I was fascinated by their natures. It's so interesting for me to watch the difference between my boys and the girls. Always constant entertainment around here! I love Bella's nurturing spirit. She will be an amazing mom one day.

Poison Salsa & Homemade Bread

In Samuel's Kindergarten class they always have a Fun Friday. Several months ago I decided we needed to do the same in our home because really who doesn't love Friday! As soon as Samuel gets home from school on Friday the fun begins. Yes, we clean the bathrooms every Friday to begin our fun. There was a time when I would clean by myself early in the morning or at night because lets face it - it was quick and easier that way. But then I realized I needed to be teaching my kids how to work and how to enjoy it. Yep, I actually like to clean bathrooms. Now the same can't be said about laundry, but I'm even coming around on that since I have redone my laundry room and moved all the kids clothes in there. So we work together first and the kids actually enjoy it. Their favorite part is spraying the mirrors. Everyone gets a bathroom where they get to individually spray and wipe the mirrors. They LOVE this part. If you ever look at my mirrors they're not that clean, but rest assured one of the kids sure did love trying to make it look really clean.

This little guy cracked me up when he said during our cleaning, "Give me the poison salsa". In case you're wondering

this is the poison salsa.

I'm not really sure why he refers to cleaner as salsa - and I don't know if I want to know why!

After cleaning and lunch we have our activity. One of these days I may post a few of our Fun Friday projects we really do have a lot of fun making all sorts of things. But this Friday we made 12 loaves of homemade wheat bread. It took us all afternoon - again a project that could have gone a lot faster without the "help", but then it wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining!

Samuel was so cute because it was his idea to make bread. I made homemade wheat bread a few weeks ago when my parents came for Jenna's birthday because I know my dad loves it. Samuel then told me this week, "Mom, you know how you made bread for grandpa. Well, I really like homemade bread too. So you can make bread for me next time, we don't have to wait for Grandpa to come." Now how could I refuse making my sweet guy homemade bread after a conversation like that!

And the hot bread fresh from the oven really was yummy!

It was a great day with poison salsa and homemade bread.

Helping Hands

This is what the kitchen floor looks like when the 2 year old decides he is going to help feed the 1 year old.

This is what happens when the 1 year old decides she is still hungry and opts to collect the almost empty cereal box from the garbage and see what scrapes she can come up with.

This is the sweet moment I love as a mom - watching my tough guy be so tender with his little sister. I seriously think Jenna my never learn to drink her milk on her own because everyone is always lending a "helping hand".