My First Article to be Published on "Power of Moms!"

So... A few months ago I was introduced to a website called "Power of Moms: A Gathering Place for Deliberate Mothers."  But it wasn't until Tydon was born & I seemed to have lots of time on my hands just sitting around on the couch feeding him all day that I started to really READ many of the great articles & LISTEN to the podcasts they had about motherhood.  Their emphasis is about not just surviving as a mom, but thriving as a mom.  It's about being really deliberate about everything we do as moms, so that we won't have regrets later & so that we'll be helping our children & ourselves become the best people we can be.

And somehow, over time, the few thoughts & ideas I started reading on this website started inspiring me to start living a little differently.  A little more passionately.  A little more on purpose.  I felt my focus start to turn more INWARD, towards these sweet little spirits I spend all my days with.  I started filling up notebooks with all the ideas I was getting & the new books I was reading & then I started trying out a few new things in our family.  Things like making family dinner-time more meaningful, developing family traditions & we even came up with a family song :)  Some of the ideas we've tried have been flops & haven't fit our family's style, but I've been loving the direction we've been moving towards.

But more recently, I'd noticed that there hadn't been quite as many articles being posted on the site & I had the thought that maybe I should check into writing a few articles for it (they post articles from LOTS of different moms!).  My second thought after that though was, "What?!  ME?  I have NO idea what I'd even write about!"  So that night, after everyone else was in bed, I said a little prayer & explained to Heavenly Father that if this was something that HE really wanted me to do, to strengthen other mothers, then He needed to help me know what I should write about.  Well, I spent the next HOUR writing down all the ideas that kept popping into my head, so I definitely think I've got His support on this one!

And so, I'm trying to be brave & go with this new idea.  It's a little daunting though to put your ideas "out there" for so many more people to read through & judge & roll their eyes at if they don't agree with you 100%.  And I certainly don't think that I have all the right, amazing answers out there about being a great mom.  But I do believe that us moms NEED each other's help, encouragement & great ideas!  I can't think of a better topic to write about or a better group to be a part of than other deliberate mothers, all trying to be the best moms we can be.

Two months ago I submitted my first article... It was nerve-wracking & exciting & exhilarating, but I didn't want to tell anyone, for fear that my article wouldn't get used.  But about a month ago, they e-mailed me, telling me that they wanted to use my article & I was ecstatic!  I guess when you're a mom, doing a lot of the same mundane things over & over everyday, writing an article for a website (other than my blog!) seemed BIG!  Bigger than I'd ever dreamed up for myself before.  So, fast-forward several e-mails & weeks later, and here we are with my first article being published TODAY!  You'll have to click on the link below & check it out!

"A Mother's Day to Remember"

I know that God has a plan for each of us.  A way that we can touch the lives of those all around us.  Until now, I just thought that raising good kids & helping out an occasional neighbor was as big as my influence would ever be felt.  But this journey is reminding me that with the amazing capabilities of the internet, our sphere of influence can be far more reaching than just that!  And so for now, I'm just trying to be brave & do what I feel like Heavenly Father wants me to do.  Now I've just got to somehow find the time to WRITE all of these articles that are bouncing around in my head... :)

Christmas Magic

Christmas morning this year was magical.  Maybe it was because of the kid's fun ages & excitement over their presents.  Maybe it was because of the focus we really tried to put on the REASON we even celebrate Christmas in the first place.  Maybe it was because we'd been singing Christmas songs as a family around the Christmas tree every night before we went to bed for the last few weeks.  Or maybe it was because we kept things more simple this year (mainly because of our 1-month-old baby!) & just tried to enjoy every moment a little bit more...

This year I tried doing a few ideas I'd read from a new book I'd found called "A Christ-Centered Christmas", that really helped us talk about CHRIST more throughout the Christmas season.  Basically, we talked about each character from our Nativity Set one day at a time, to help us think about the TRUE meaning of Christmas more throughout the month.  We kept it pretty simple this year, but I think we’ll definitely try to use some of these ideas again NEXT year!

On Christmas morning, the first present we opened was our present to Christ... All month long, any time we had done any service for someone, we wrote it down on a piece of paper & put it into our "Sparkle Box" as we called it.  The kids felt proud as we read all the items out loud that morning, reminding them of all the ways they had served others throughout the past month.  Because of course, serving others is just about the BEST gift we can actually give to Christ.

And then it was present time!!!

This year the kid's main gift was a little bigger than normal, mainly because we decided to just buy something used off of KSL, which was much cheaper!  Skyler got a big Basketball hoop & the girls got a Dollhouse with lots of accessories… What a fun morning full of squeals of excitement & delight!  I only wished I had FILMED them opening up the presents!  Priceless!

For Laron's gift, I bought him a new set of Scriptures (since he gave away the new ones I had bought him a year ago!) & he bought me a really fancy brand-new CAMERA!  I was pretty excited, because I’ve always HOPED that someday I’d be able to get one, but I didn’t think it would be quite YET!  I’ve been having fun being able to finally take some up-close shots of Tydon & the kids.  What a great husband I have!  

But actually, one of the BEST gifts I was given this Christmas was from Skyler…  A few weeks ago, Laron had taken him to the store to spend some money he’d gotten from the Tooth Fairy.  He had a toy all picked out for himself & was walking up to the front of the store with Laron to buy it, when suddenly he saw a little pack of Bobby Pins & asked Laron how much they cost.  When he realized that he had enough money to buy them, he decided to put back his toy & spend his money on the Bobby Pins for ME for Christmas instead!  Laron said he tried to talk him out of it at first, but Skyler was determined!  When I heard the story on Christmas morning, my heart melted at the sweetness of his offering… It was definitely the most THOUGHTFUL present I received!  What a great kid!  Thanks again Skyler!

The rest of the morning we just tried to enjoy ourselves & make a good breakfast & play with toys.  It was SO nice not rushing off to anyplace in particular until LATER in the afternoon...

 And then it was time to go celebrate at Grandma & Papa's house, where we got spoiled, as normal. :)  My brother Robert & his new wife Molly couldn't be there because they were sick with the flu, so they skyped us & joined us that way for a little while at least...

My sister Emily made each of my kids their very own "Foot Warmer," which they were THRILLED about!

Then we decorated Gingerbread Houses & ate dinner together, which ended the night off perfectly.  Even though we didn't do much traveling that day, it was still a very FULL day of fun.  And everyone, including Tydon, was quite ready for bed by the time we got home!  What a fun Christmas!  

But one of the most special moments of the day, happened after we'd put the kids to bed for the night & I found Laron in our room sitting on our bed reading his Patriartical Blessing.  I asked him why he was reading it right now & he said, “Well, after opening all these presents from each other all day, I thought I’d read my Patriartical Blessing & see what gifts Heavenly Father has given me as well.”  Wow!  His comment hit me hard & I suddenly realized how powerful that statement really was.  I sat next to him & read his Blessing.  A few days later I read MINE as well.  It was amazing to read it during this Christmas season & to realize that the blessings we’ve received from our Heavenly Father FAR outweigh anything we can un-wrap under a tree.  And THOSE gifts will last throughout eternity!  Gifts like faith & prayer, our testimonies, the Book of Mormon, health & strength, the gospel, & most importantly, our Families.  It was such a great way to end our Christmas Evening, that I’m hoping we’ll remember to do this EVERY year!

Merry Christmas everyone!  :) 

Kimberly's 4th Birthday!

So 2 weeks after Tydon was born, was Kimberly's 4th Birthday... Not exactly perfect timing for me, but I tried my best to make the day special for her, despite being in "survival mode"!  We started the morning off with our traditional "Mickey Mouse Birthday Pancakes"... Sang "Happy Birthday" & blew out candles.  Check!

Then my Mom came over in the middle of the day to watch Tydon for a little while, so I could somehow give Kimberly a little one-on-one attention & make her feel special on her big day... All I had the energy for was a quick trip to Arctic Circle for lunch & playing on the playground, but the girls seemed to LOVE it!  And it actually was REALLY nice for me to have a break from the baby for a little while!  :)

Lately we've been trying to let the kids pick one exciting thing to do as a family on their Birthday, but knowing that I didn't feel up to going & doing anything too exciting this year, nor that I wanted to be taking a new baby out into public much in the middle of this terrible flu-season, I STRONGLY encouraged Kimberly that she should pick playing out in the snow together as her "family activity."  Luckily, she fell for my idea & so while everyone else had a BLAST playing with Daddy in the snow, Tydon & I kept each other company inside while I tried to clean up the house for our visitors that were arriving later that night... :)

Oh yeah, & as SOON as Daddy got home from work, she BEGGED to open her presents right away... She'd been counting down all day long & couldn't wait another minute!  I just tried to enjoy the moment of watching her enthusiasm & excitement, so alas, I don't have any pictures of that part of the day.

And then, the official party started!  My sister Emily made this beautiful Princess Birthday Cake for her (thanks a million Emily!), which Kimberly was THRILLED with!  And when Grandmas & Grandpas showed up with a few additional presents, she was anxious to get going on those as well!  Her brother & sister were anxious to get in on the action as well... :)

It was Laron's idea to put the 4 candles in the tops of the towers, which worked PERFECTLY!  He was happy to be able to contribute to the party in some small way... :)

All-in-all, I think she had a good birthday!  She'll never quite understand the energy & stress that it required of me to make that day perfect for her, until maybe SHE'S having kids of her own someday & celebrating a birthday for one kid, with a 2-week-old crying for attention in the background.  But my plans until Christmas were pretty simple otherwise, so I guess I can handle ONE day of chaos in the meantime!  The funniest comment Kimberly made today was when she first woke up... She was getting dressed that morning & commented, "Wow, Mom!  My socks STILL fit me!"  I asked what she was talking about & I guess she thought that once she was 4-years-old, her clothes would suddenly be too small for her & she's need to get all new ones.  Funny girl!  :)  We sure love you Kimberly!  You bring SO much character & excitement & love to our wonderful family!

1 Month Already!

Our little Tydon turned 1-month-old right before Christmas... And what an accomplishment it feels like to be able to get through the 1st month with a newborn baby!!!  I'm not so sore anymore & we're all figuring out this new life of having a newborn around again... We really just did nothing more than hang around the house most days & enjoy being with our little family, but I didn't have too high of expectations about accomplishing anything MORE than that, so it was a good first month.  Tydon is a great eater & a fairly decent sleeper (he usually wakes up about twice a night, which is about as good as it gets at this point!).

The kids all ADORE Tydon... Especially Kimberly!  If he starts crying, she will almost always LEAVE whatever else she's doing & run to him to put his pacifier in his mouth, without me even ASKING her to!  Bailey's a good little extra Mommy too & thinks something is wrong with him if he makes any little sounds at all.  Skyler likes him too, but has better things to do than dote on a baby all day long.  Maybe once he grows up a little, Skyler will be a little more interested!  We are SO thankful to have our little Tydon finally with us!  Our family wouldn't be the same without him!  :)