Bianca, Bottles, Bedtime, Bucket, Beets and Battlestar Galactica

I've been thinking a lot about doing hard things. How being a parent forces you to watch and push your children to do hard things and it's not fun! I can't imagine how hard it must be for Heavenly Father to watch his children struggle, even knowing the trials that are ahead of them and gently nudges them to keep going, so that they can overcome. In one of my favorite scriptures Jesus tells his apostles, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) It gives me hope. He has overcome it all, and he can help us do that too. Although we may not be able to overcome all things in this lifetime.

My first instinct when my children are going through a hard time is to remove them from the situation, to take the stressor away. But that isn't always the answer. When I think back on trials I've had I've been frustrated that the Lord doesn't just take them away! Now I see that although some trials do remain with me, I am able to handle them better. In the Book of Mormon there was a group of people suffering from some hard trials and God said to them:

“I will … ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that … you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

“And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

I know as I trust in the Lord, he shows his confidence in me and strengthens me. I think that's something that I'm bad at as a parent. Eric tells me that I need to exhibit more confidence in Bianca. (She's going through a tough time right now, explained below.) I need to work on that. I just want to rescue her instead I need to strengthen and support her. Let her know she can do something even if it's hard and she will be better for it. With the right foundation she's not going to break, she's going to be built up. We decided to say a prayer every morning before she leaves for school so we can both feel better about the day.

The challenge below may seem small but it's just been one of many challenges lately that have made me think about these things.

So the story with B. She was so excited to start school and see her friends again. The first day she was up and ready at 6:30 and couldn't wait to get to the bus stop.
This is her first week and it's totally different. She tells me she cries everyday at school. She misses the crafts she used to do in Kindergarten and she hasn't been eating her lunch because lunchtime makes her miss home. ): Today I picked her up from school and took her to McDonalds as a reward for eating even a little at school. It's hard for her but hopefully she will overcome this with time. I don't like the idea of her going all day without eating so I give her a big breakfast and have food ready for her when she comes home.

She wanted her hair curled for her first day:

Her and Wy being silly while waiting for the bus.

Bucket ,Bottle: Clark has thrush again, and so do I. I think we've had it most of his life unfortunately. I got so upset about it that I decided I was going to switch him to a bottle. He wouldn't take it so I basically didn't feed him until he would. It was a terrible day and I was much more emotional about it than I have ever been really about anything. Which led me to believe that I wasn't ready to stop nursing and he definitely was upset about it as well. Yeah, he finally took a bottle that night because he was so hungry but it wasn't satisfying to anyone. So I decided to take it slower and keep trying different bottle nipples, and sippie cups, which he takes better than any bottle. I might just go straight to the sippie cup at this point.

Bedtime: Bedtime is usually hectic I think in any household so I'm not saying ours is perfect but I do love when everyone gets in the bed together for stories. Clark loves this time as well. I can just tell by his face and he gets so relaxed and cuddles with Eric and Bianca. It's really fun.


And I just had to say beets and battlestar bc I'm cool like that. Shyeaaah, (:.

August 2011 Update

A few things I want to remember about the kids at this age. Wyatt is 4, Bianca is 6 and about to start first grade!
Wyatt talks to himself a lot. I guess it's more like talking to an imaginary friend. He will ask a question and then answer it too. For example, this is all him talking , "Where did you get that balloon?" "Oh, I got it at the dollar store today." It's a little strange but fun to listen to the conversations he has with himself. He's very athletic, climbing all over playground equipment and the house of course. He can ride Bianca's bike and drive her Jeep really well. He loves to have parties. This has a different definition than you might think. He tells me that he is going to have a party and then proceeds to decorate a room. It's pretty cute.Bianca is really into crafts. In fact she found this website http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/ by herself and began to make crafts (see below). She keeps herself busy doing that and reading. She loves to read to people and sometimes to herself. She is super excited to start first grade. I still think it's a little long for a 6 year old to be gone all day but hopefully she'll have the energy and stamina to do well and enjoy school. She only likes to eat fries and nuggets and pizza for lunch so this will be a perfect time to broaden her horizons by having lunch at school. When I told her she would need to eat new things she said " Well, you could just make me fries and nuggets and I could take them to the lunch lady and ask her to heat them up." She's a problem solver that one. (:And baby boy is doing so well! He's got two new teeth on the bottom of his mouth. He's sitting up on his own, but not quite ready to be in a shopping cart that way, as I found out the hard way. He is an eater. He will eat any baby food, love this! Well, except for peas, he gags on those. And he loves our food. He grabs so fast, you have to really watch him. I was at subway eating a sandwich and when I brought it to my mouth he intercepted it and shoved it in his mouth. It made me laugh outloud. I tried to switch him to a bottle, oh I tried so many things but he was having none of it. And I have to admit I do like nursing him, he's my last baby and though it is a sacrifice for me sometimes I think I'll stick with it. He knows his name, and his family members and he even smiles for pictures now.

Love these kids.

Bianca 4 months

I can't believe this! I was just looking for a baby pic of Bianca for a friend and found this one of her at 4 months, she is Clark's twin! This is exactly how he looks when he gets excited about something. Crazy!

On a mission

I love my little Bonk. She's always coming up with new ideas. She loves to read and write. I wish I had her books that she makes on my computer but I don't yet. I'll post them though. Anyway she makes her own books by stapling papers together. She writes the words and uses stickers and drawings for the illustrations. They are awesome books. So awesome that she wanted everyone in the neighborhood to see. She decided instead of having a lemonade stand that she would sell her books for a dollar each. She was very determined, she made a sign and everything.

Her and Wyatt got a little tired of standing so they got the strollers out to sit in. After a few minutes of sitting out there Bianca said to me really perplexed, "Mommy, no one is coming to see my books!?" It reminded me of my mission and the first time I went to an appointment and the person wasn't home. I couldn't believe they would forget their appointment! My companion knew better, the reality of the situation was that maybe they just weren't interested and missed the appointment on purpose. I also knew better that Bianca's books are a treasure to me but most other kids might not want to fork out a whole dollar for a 2 page book written by a 6 year old.

What I love about the whole situation, and about my girl is this: She decided on her own that since no one was coming to her she was going to go out and find them. She got in her jeep, packed her books in, and her sign. She was going to sell those books! She could have been discouraged and quit, instead she was proactive. A girl on a mission!

She didn't end up selling any books but I wanted to remember her positive attitude and determination. I also love that she saw worth in her creations. She was proud of her work and wanted to share. I hope she never loses that kind of confidence. It makes me wonder if we all had a little more of that when we were younger like her, before we faced rejection of one kind or another. She's an inspiration to me, and helps me remember what's important in life. My little Bonky is my favorite girl.

Youngest to oldest

Clark: three months old. Was wearing 3-6 month clothes when he was 2 months bc his torso is so long. Can only stay up an hour and a half to two hours at a time. Just started to go to sleep on his own, yay! I never put my other kids down to do that. I didn't know it was possible. Is just getting over thrush which he had for a month. He's starting to talk baby talk a lot and smile at us. He's also starting to resist formula. Eric was giving him a formula bottle a day but we stopped bc of the thrush. We're working on getting him to take it again. He sleeps up to 6 hours at a time at night. His biggest fear right now: running out of milk.

Wyatt: 3 years old. Would rather drink apple juice and chocolate milk all day than eat. Favorite tv shows are Brainsurge and Tom and Jerry. He enjoys driving his sisters jeep, playing ball and flying his kite. Biggest fear right now is thunder. Is very sweet and cuddly with his brother. Sets up "parties" all the time by lining his balloons and action figures on the island in the kitchen, then he invites us to come to the party. He's enjoying preschool a lot more and is starting to speak up more often at school and church.

Bianca: 6 years old. Is over playing princesses every day with me!): I always complained about it and now I miss it. She prefers to do crafts and or homework. She does get book reports all on her own. She's even started to write her own books. I'll make a separate post on that. She wants me to do her hair for her now and has taken an interest in skirts. She's gone all girly! Her best friends are all the kids in her kindergarten class. If she sees someone from her class outside of school she runs up to them and hugs them, acting like she hasn't seen them in 10 years. It's very cute. Biggest fear right now is skeletons. Her and I have been reading Ramona and Beezus at night before bed. She comes home and tells me all about all her boyfriends. She's getting into barbies and her favorite tv show is Spongebob.

Bianca's new bike

Bianca turns 6 and Clark's blessing

Clark is almost 3 months old now and I wanted to see how he looks compared to how Wyatt looked at his age. See the two pics below. I think they look really different. The first pic is Clark, second one is Wyatt.


For C's blessing Eric's sister and my sister and all their kids came out. It was pretty crazy around here but also a lot of fun. The kids were playing nonstop. They were so tired when everyone left that they ASKED to go to bed at 6:30 that night and slept until 7 the next morning! Here is my sis with the babe.

Here are some of the cousins and Bianca doing some art.

Bianca's birthday is April 8th. I don't remember why we decided to do Clark's blessing on her birthday weekend but it all worked out. She's having her party this Saturday. She got to have her "special day" though on her actual birthday. This year she is having a spongebob birthday. One of the presents she asked for was a spongebob pillow.

She had to wait until after dinner to open her presents and she was very excited. Her big present was her first big girl bike with training wheels. I'll put a video in another post. She wanted the barbie bike vs the princess one. She's moving on to Barbies already! It's pretty hilarious, the Barbie bike has a smaller bike on it to put a Barbie doll into.

Eric ordered these special cupcakes for the kids. Wyatt got Elmo and Bianca got Oscar. They were really yummy and cool looking!

So here is Wyatt the day of his blessing in the same outfit Clark wore. I didn't have Clark wear the vest because I didn't love it.
Again, comparing how Wyatt and Clark look....

These are of Clark....


They are both so cute! I love my boys! Clark's blessing went well and we want to thank everyone who came out and those who were thinking of him on his special day.

Tennesee and other updates

We recently got back from a trip with some friends at their timeshare in Tennesee. I figured traveling with a newborn is better than when they are over 6 months of age. Clark still sleeps a ton so I was up for taking him on his first trip. It took about 5 1/2 hours to get there so we decided to split it up on the way there. Eric booked us a suite at the Holiday Inn Express halfway to our destination.
The kids had their own little room.

They had a lot of fun at the indoor pool. They are such goofballs. I didn't even tell them to make funny faces, they just pose that way "naturally". (:

Bianca got to work unpacking as soon as we got there. We were only there one night but she unpacked her and Wyatt's things in their room and got them all settled.

Then it was off to the timeshare the next morning. Here is a picture of Bianca with our friends little girl watching Charlotte's Web and eating some yummy kettle korn.

The kids all got along really well and had fun having art contests and telling each other what to draw.
The weather was colder than I expected but I didn't want the kids to miss the horseback riding. They were pretty chilly but still wanted to have their full amount of time with "Freckles".

We had a great time!
Updates at the homefront are as follows: Clark is growing like a weed. He just turned two months, I can't believe it! He has his two month check up on Friday and has developed his first cold but hopefully will be recovering soon. This is him and Bianca ready to go to church.

Baby boy again. He's smiling at cooing now, so sweet!

And our Spring project is the garden. Daddy got the kids to work right away. Wyatt of course doesn't see anything as work. Little turkey!

Eric raked out a lot of grass and redid the boundaries of the previous garden, almost doubling it in size. We got the soil ready and are looking forward to planting some peppers, beans, tomatoes, and lettuce as soon as we know their won't be anymore frost. Yay!

Baby Girl lost her first tooth!

My little reader

Did I mention that our little Bonk is an avid reader now? When she started school this September she began to learn certain words. Eric and I thought that she was maybe memorizing how they looked and could spot them that way but it turns out she really was sounding them out and reading them. By November she was reading sentences and we were really impressed by how much she was learning at school! We had a conference with her teacher that month and discovered that she isn't learning all of it from school. Her teacher told us she must be practicing at home, and that she is one of four children in her class who is in the highest level reading group. Yes I realize that I am bragging but what are Mother's for if not to brag a little. (:
Eric and I have always read bedtime books with her, and we read scriptures almost every night after dinner. But she has never shown much interest in reading on her own until now. Now she seems to have a book with her everywhere she goes. Sometimes she likes to read on her own and gets embarressed when I find her, as if she were doing something wrong! She is very hard on herself so if she doesn't know all the words she likes to be alone to figure them out. Most times however she asks what they are. This pic is when I caught her reading under her blanket.

She loves to read to anyone who will listen and lately Wyatt is her number one fan. He loves to do anything she is doing so he has become her audience. Sometimes he even asks her questions, like "What's that Gaca?". I love to listen to their conversations when she reads as she explains things to him.

When Eric saw her enthusiasm for books he wanted to read her The Chronicles of Narnia. They have finished the first book and they enjoy their reading time together. They are currently reading the first Harry Potter.

I'm glad my little girl has a desire to learn and is able to read so well. Her eyes are being opened to a whole new world!

Do as I'm doing

There is a new phase going on in our house, the kids are playing together! Before this Bianca didn't want Wyatt near her things, messing them up. So Wyatt would mostly hang his balloons or do his own thing. I was usually requested as a playmate for both of them so I would try to take turns playing whatever they wanted to. It's so nice now that they find things to do together. Wyatt has always followed his sisters lead and now she's decided that she likes that.

She's started to see him more as a sidekick rather than a nuisance.

They still have their fights about whose turn it is to do what and they seem to always want to do the same thing at the same time but they have been working a lot of that out on their own.

I find that I actually get more done when they are home together. And we have more fun all playing the same thing. Bianca likes to teach her brother how to play games and do things.

They make up their own games.

And of course, they have what they call their "wrestle time". ( I think this is Wyatt's favorite). I allow them to wrestle using pillows or blankets and tell Bianca that she has to let him push her over sometimes to be fair. Sometimes one or both end up crying or hurt but most of the time I use a timer and they have fun and are OK. I remember doing this with my brother and I think it's just a good way to get out some energy. Another thing they've been doing since the colder weather is playing tennis on the Wii.
Anyway I am thoroughly enjoying this phase and I think they are too. I know it's not always possible but I think every kid should have the blessing of a sibling or two. (: