Birthday Fun!

Today was Olivia's 3rd Birthday and we had so much fun!!! It was her first birthday where she knew what was going on.  As soon as she woke up she knew she was 3 and that she was different :D Nathan took some time off of work so we could go celebrate.  We rode FrontRunner down to the Gateway and went to the Children's Museum.  Then we came home and made some cupcakes and frosting.  After dinner we opened presents, blew out candles, and ate ice cream.  It was a good day.

Olivia loved the train.  She was super excited the whole ride and was amazed at how fast we were going.  It was pretty fun to watch her have this new experience.  At the Children's Museum she was beside herself.  They are not kidding when they say that kid's will have fun.  She didn't know what to do first.  I think her favorite thing to do was play with the water and go shopping in the little supermarket.  Nathan's favorite part was the building block section and the helicopter.  We were only there for a couple of hours when Olivia started to get tired.  She wouldn't admit it, she really wanted to keep playing, but we eventually dragged her out of there.  On the train ride home she almost fell asleep.  It was a successful trip.

 Waiting for the Train

 Super happy to be on the train :D

 Showing off what they made

 In the helicopter with dad

We made cupcakes in ice cream cones and Olivia chose purple, teal, and orange frosting for the tops.  After dinner we opened presents.  I think she got more presents for her birthday then she did for Christmas.  She loved opening all of them and she loves playing with them even more.  Then it was time for cake and ice cream.  We lit the candles and almost before we could start singing she had them blown out :D

 Showing off Uncle Chase's present to her.  Yes it is a Master Chief action figure.

  

Overall it was a really fun day! We are so blessed to have Olivia in our lives.  I love her little smile, her excitement over little things, her new-found pastime of play acting, and I love how happy she is.  She is a wonderful daughter and will be an excellent older sister.  Happy Birthday Olivia!!

Ugh Pregnancy!

So my last post was full of optimism and hope, but today I just need to complain.  Most women enjoy, may I say even love, or at the very least tolerate pregnancy and its myriad of symptoms.  I on the other hand hate pregnancy.  Please let me clarify - I am more than grateful that I have the ability to get pregnant and have children of my own.  And I am beyond humbled to realize that Heavenly Father is trusting me yet again with another precious child.  I just really dislike the getting there.

It mostly hurts in my hips, lower back, and legs which is why I prefer to lay around a lot.  My hips sometimes feel like they slip in and out of socket.  I have no idea if that is the case, but it surely feels like it.  On paper, I have a very normal and healthy pregnancy.  Me or the babies ever have any major complications.  I am so grateful for that, I know it could be worse. Even though I am perfectly healthy I hate that I feel like I'm falling apart.  The other day Nathan commented on how he thinks I could have a natural birth because I seem to have a higher pain tolerance.  I've been thinking about it and think if I wanted to I probably could do it with no drugs.  But then I think, it may be worth the extra money to have 8+ hours of no pain.

With my first pregnancy I had the luxury to lay around all day.  I didn't have a job, I wasn't going to school, and I didn't have any other kids so when it was too painful or tiring to do something I simply wouldn't.  I would lay around, store up my energy if you will, and then eventually get around to it when I felt well again.  This time around I have to keep up with a little one.  However, it is only fair to add that Olivia has been very patient and understanding for an almost 3 year old.  She is learning to play by herself more and has been adapting "play time with mommy" to mean, play around mommy while she lays on the bed.  She really is a blessing and puts up with so much.  

Nathan is also a wonderful blessing in my life by pulling doing double duty around the house.  As soon as he comes home from work he is on full Daddy duty while I lay around some more.  He has been very understanding and does his best with my crankiness (which can be pretty bad by the time 5 pm rolls around).  I am so grateful for my family and love them so much for all they do for me.

When I started this post I really just wanted to complain to the world, sometimes you need those "life isn't fair" moments.  But upon finishing it I have realized how blessed I really am.  Things could be worse for me and the baby.  I have a super supportive family, and I do have the blessing of being a mom.  Even though it comes with a lot of pain, I'll get through this pregnancy.

I will just say this, if you see me around town and I don't seem that polite, or I just seem down right out of sorts, don't say that you haven't been warned :D

Some thoughts on Patience

Hello blogging world! I have definitely fallen off the band-wagon, but I may be jumping on a bit more often.  I just had some thoughts I wanted to share, and they may be a little disjointed.  Some thoughts on patience and our role.

To make sense of things I will need to give a little background.  I have been managing my fibromyalgia with medications and exercise and living a productive and functional life.  And then I went off the medications and was re-introduced into the aches, pains, insomnia, and well crap of it all again.  I tried supplements and they seemed to be helping quite a bit, it made it tolerable.  But then I had to stop taking some of those as well.  Needless to say, my patience has been tried!

Living with Fibro with a 2 year old.  I hate to sound melo-dramatic or over the top.  But the only way I feel like I can explain it is by relating it to an endurance race (I would say marathon but I've never ran a marathon, so can't really say what it is like.  I've done a triathlon, I'll go with that.) So every morning I wake up and I'm in the middle of the race, I'm tired and sore and I have to keep racing until the end of the day.  I feel like I have just enough energy to barely finish the race and then ... I hear "mom" all day, have to change diapers, try to potty train, do chores, do the dishes (I know it is a chore, but it deserves its own category), keep house clean, cook dinner and play with olivia (albeit that is enjoyable, I do have to run around a lot).  I hate to admit this, but this can be pretty tiring for me and when I'm tired my patience/tolerance can be pretty thin.

I have been praying a lot about this very issue and how to be an enjoyable mom and person to be around, when I am feeling so tired.  How to fulfill all of my obligations, but with a smile.  How to be patient through trying times.

On my wall I have a beautiful print that has the scripture, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." (psalm 37:7) which helps me throughout the day.  I know that I have to rely on the Lord and I would try, but then I realized I didn't really know how (I know, I'm a slow learner).  Then I read a verse in Isaiah which reads, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31).  Wow, what promises!! That is exactly what I was praying for - strength to finish my chores, to run around with Olivia, to be able to walk without getting tired.  I prayed for guidance and knowledge to know what I must do to "wait upon the Lord" and rely on Him.

1st Answer: There was an article in the July Ensign titled "Waiting on the Lord, Renewing Our Strength" sound familiar? This woman used the exact same scripture in Isaiah and explained it out to me.  It was exactly what I was hoping for - a specific answer to my question.  And I love how she describes it - that waiting upon the Lord is an action.  That we must serve the Lord and do His work patiently and diligently, this is what it means to "be still" or "wait upon the Lord".  We must be doing what He asks us to be doing, get on that path and stay on that path.

2nd Answer (rather a confirmation): I put it to the test.  Sometimes it is difficult for me to sit for a long period of time, I start to get stiff and sore.  Also, I have a poor memory, I am sensitive to extra stimuli (noise, touch, etc.), and it is hard for me to concentrate.  So 3 hours of church can sometimes be difficult, but I go.  Fibro symptoms don't go away, but as I pray to Heavenly Father to give me strength, just like in Isaiah, I can feel that strength and I'm able to sit through all of church.  It has been difficult to fulfill my other callings, but I have noticed that on days I teach - my mind is a little clearer, and I don't feel the aches and pains.  On days I visit teach, I have more energy, and I am more patient with my family.  I have been noticing that as I fulfill my callings and spiritual obligations - as I get closer to the Lord, I do have more energy, I have more patience, I have the answer to my prayers.

I know that there will be tough days ahead of me, but I am so glad that I know a little bit more about my role in patience and relying on the Lord.  I know I have a lot more to learn, and look forward to those learning experiences. I guess that could be what Paul means when he says he delights in tribulations, because tribulations give us opportunities to learn and grow.  I love my Savior and so grateful for the scriptures and the big help they are in my life.  

The zoo and other fun activities

This last month Olivia turned 18 months old!! At her last doctor appointment Olivia weighed in at 23 lbs (32 percentile) and is 32 inches long (73 percentile).  She has gained 3 lbs since our last visit which is a lot for Olivia, we were very proud of her :D She is growing up to be a healthy big girl.

We went to the zoo when it was nice out.  It was Olivia's first time and I believe she liked it.  She probably enjoyed the water globe at the entrance more than anything, but she did like looking at the animals.  She mostly pointed at the animals, and the only other reaction we got was when she looked at the tigers she said "meow". 
Olivia and I went on the carousel ride, as with everything new she does she was pretty expressionless.  We didn't even know she enjoyed it until we started to walk away from the ride and she started crying - silly girl.  My favorite part of the zoo was the giraffe, I find them an incredible animal. We bought season passes, so I'm sure we will be going back often.

 

 

 

 

 

Olivia's new favorite pastime is coloring and drawing.  She will color in her coloring books, but she prefers just plain paper to draw on.  She will sit and color/draw for 40 minutes at a time sometimes.  I love watching how serious she is with it, and I especially love how she lays on her stomach to draw - what a cutie!

 

 

Olivia still loves the park and we try to go to the park at least once a week, if not more. She is turning into an independent little girl and will run around the park like she owns the place.  She has gone down all the slides by herself and recently she has started to swing on the "big girl" swings.  Again, she is pretty expressionless on the swing.  I honestly didn't know she liked them so much until we started walking away and she starts crying.  I probably took over 20 pictures of her on the swing and there were only 3 that showed how she really feels about them :D

 

 

 

 

 

A video of Olivia drawing.

Jenna's Farewell, Family, and Dinosaurs

Last weekend we went to Vernal to go to Jenna's farewell - she is leaving on a mission this week to Vancouver, Canada Chinese speaking.  She is very excited and I am sure she will make an excellent missionary :D   It was really fun to get together as a family again, that doesn't happen too often for us and I love being with them.  I took a picture of all 3 sisters and it still makes me laugh how different I look compared to my beautiful red-headed sisters - love you both!

Most of our family was there which made for a great opportunity for Olivia to play with her cousins.  She loved following them around and occasionally harassing them.  They watched movies together, took every toy out of the toy closet together, had a tea party, and played dolls together.  The toy of choice, though, was definitely the piano - I don't think any kid can resist banging on a piano. 

We also took Olivia to the dinosaur museum they have in Vernal.  They have a kid section where they can put together puzzles, put on a dinosaur puppet show, play with toy dinosaurs, and of course, find dinosaur bones with paint brushes.  Despite all of this, Olivia's favorite part was the vast size of the museum and the simple fact that she could run around it.  Every once in awhile (when Nathan and I would bring it to her attention) she would notice a dinosaur or a rock and point excitedly, but for the most part she liked running around.  When we were all done we took her to the gift shop and the thing she got most excited about were the rocks they have for sale - so we bought her a 75 cent rock as a souvenir for her first trip to the dinosaur museum. 

 Olivia and Nathan were playing together so I snapped some pictures, after looking through them I realised that Olivia and Nathan have the exact same facial expressions in all of the pictures I took.  She is definitely Nathan's daughter :D

It was a great weekend and we hope Jenna the best of luck!!