She said...

We got to church late today because I had a hard time waking up this morning plus I set my alarm for 6:55PM instead of AM. I hate it when I do this! But we made it to church in time for the water...not the bread though. Better luck next week when I will have the help of my husband back. He is in Seattle this weekend for a WAPA conference.

Anyway.

We walked into the chapel after the sacrament was passed and sat with my visiting teacher because I didn't know if I was going to have to leave with Lincoln. Love that I can call on either of them at any time. They are really good to me! We got settled and the speakers started to talk. Eliza turned to me and said: "She said Joseph Smith." I was surprised that she was paying that close attention and then a couple of minutes later she said: "She said the Book of Mormon." Still paying attention? I was pretty impressed by my daughter's attention span...but she is a morning person. A couple of minutes later she said: "She said my church." And a couple of minutes later she said: "She said Joseph Smith."

So I was pretty impressed with my dear Eliza. I know that she will be a strong woman in the church. Her testimony is already developing and will keep on developing if she keeps on paying attention in sacrament meeting. This just made me smile!

Oh and check out the picture in the Pacifying Lincoln post that I updated. I love my husband and can't wait for him to get home to help me rally the troops again.

Pacifying Lincoln

Is this cool or what? He has found his fingers...the same ones that Chelsea found when she was a little girl. I have got to get that picture of her when she fell asleep on the toilet sucking on her fingers. Who knows maybe one day Lincoln will produce the same picture for us to have. I have noticed though that he only sucks on them to pacify himself when he is hungry and I am not feeding him. When he is really upset-with a tummy ache or something I don't dare try to give them to him because he refuses. He still takes a pacifier but I have to hold it in his mouth. I haven't come up with a device that holds the pacifier in for me yet. Neil did once though and I took a picture of it. I will have to find that picture and post it because it is quite ingenious.

Speaking of pacifiers...Eliza lost her "binkie" today. She wanted to hold it in her hand while I took a shower and when I got out, no "binkie". It's lost and I am excited to see how long it takes her to get over it. She won't shut her eyes without it. Hmmm......

Cutie Pie

Eliza has been saying some of the funniest things lately. Her fire personality is really starting to shine!
The other day we were sitting at the table eating breakfast and she said to me: "Grandpa is a cutie pie, mommy." To which Brendan replied: "Grandpa is not a cootie." (This is just an illustration of how Brendan's language skills are still developing.)
Later on that same day--I'm telling you that she was really on one lately--Brendan and her were getting into it and Eliza told him off by saying: "Get out of here Grumpy." To which Brendan replied "I am not Grumpy." The whole thing just made me laugh.
Tonight Neil was laying down with her to go to sleep and she pushed him away telling him to go and load the dishwasher.
She sure is our gabber. I don't even want to think about what she is going to be like when she is a teenager...with a cell phone? Let's not even go there. I don't want to have her grow up faster than she already is!
I sure do enjoy her right now. She makes me smile more than anything else. Love you Eliza!

True Love's Kiss

So I was helping Brendan get dressed this morning and went to put his shirt over his head. He stopped me and asked me to give him a kiss through the neck opening. I did this and then he pulled it down and couldn't wait to tell me as he was putting his arms in by himself that that was a "true love kiss."

Yes, Disney's Enchanted is not only one of Eliza's favorite, but Brendan's too. They both go around singing all of the songs. Grandma Bedke got it for Eliza and we watch it all the time. Neil hadn't watched it before Christmas. He finally sat down and watched it during his break and he can't get the cute songs out of his head either. The one that he has in his head "how does she know."

Well, Brendan you aren't my true love kiss...Daddy is. I DO love you though!
And to Neil...I know that you love me because of so many things. Mostly because you just accept me for me and you have given me the opportunity to be a mom...3 times in 3 years :) And you love our kids and they adore you. So that's how you can know.

Yesterday

5:00 am: Eliza asks for cereal and milk. I persuaded her to eat a sandwich instead and while she was eating PB and Honey she told me to go back to bed. She later joined us, butjust tossed and turned and was finally relaxing when Neil's alarm went off at 6:30. Eliza was up for the day but luckily I married a good mad who took care of her until he had to go to school. They even went to the store together. When I got up and found out what her hair looked like...I'm glad that no one here knows us.


Mid morning: Brendan and Eliza start getting into it and are yelling and screaming over some toy, I think. I call Brendan aside and start talking to him and suggest that he go and "Cool down on the couch for a minute." His response was classic--"But mom, I'm not hot right now." That just made me start laugh.


Right before lunch: Lincoln has a blow-out diaper. He doesn't have these very often, but lately they have become the norm. And it isn't that his diapers are too small. We just moved up a size. I guess we just need to work on his aim...I don't know.

Then during lunch Neil remembered to check in on me and tell me that he was coming home right after class instead of later. That one just made my day because he remembered that we were at home. Thanks hunny.

I wonder what today will bring. At least we got a better nights sleep and Eliza seems to be feeling a little better.

I love my family and what they teach me about every day.

Brendan-isms

We were at the dinner table and Brendan started to sing I am a Child of God. He thinks his parents are "kind of dear" instead of the verse that reads:

I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.

Neil and I just looked at each other and couldn't stop laughing.

"Mom, can you turn this upside down?" (When he wants the volume turned up on the tv)

The other day I was changing Lincoln's diaper and didn't get the clean one on fast enough before he peed all over. Brendan saw the whole thing and came over to scold Lincoln: "Lincoln, you supposed to tell Mommy when you have to go potty." (I think that would be a record in potty training--6 weeks old!)

"Mommy we do this in the morning" (Anything he doesn't want to do at the moment and wants to put off until in the undertermined future.) And anything that happened in the past was "just last night."

We love you Brendan!!!

There were 4 in the bed and the little one said...

This is what my bed looked like at 9:00am this morning. Where was I supposed to be lying? Poor Eliza is sick right now. I know that I wanted her to start sleeping in a little bit, but I didn't want it to be because she got sick. She feels better and then worse again and the doctor says that it might last for a little while...but mostly that she is super contagious right now. I may be in this of the long haul then if it passes from kid to kid. I just have to keep her away from Lincoln right now...that is my main concern. No kisses for Lincoln for awhile. Sorry, Eliza. Hopefully I will have a better sleep tonight. But honestly kids...

A Blessing

So we had someone in our ward over to help us with our computer. He was over here and discovered that the hard drive was still recognizable and he did a few things...that took FOREVER. (I am finding that I am less and less patient--especially when it comes to computers!) But we thought that we had done everything we could and just had to wait for it to copy some files. On his way out a thought came to his mind. The computer stopped booting up when the CD drive started acting up (well died would be a better word). He said that maybe that was what our computer couldn't get past when it was trying to start. He suggested that we just unplug the drive and then try and boot up. We tried that and IT WORKED tonight! I am sure that it was the Holy Ghost that whispered that idea into his mind and I am grateful to that. All of our computer clutter (which is what I call all of the documents that I have saved, but never used again) is still here and I can return to my internet addiction. YEAH!
I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers. He has such a knowledge of what is right for us and I know that he is constantly watching out for me and blessing me becuase he loves me.

CRASH

My computer isn't working right now so I have stolen Neil's everyday so that I can have an outlet with the outside world. I wasn't aware of how much I am addicted to the computer and how much I rely on just it being there. It doesn't even have to be on neccesarily ... just knowing that I CAN turn it on gives me the solace I need. So, hopefully the hard drive isn't ruined completely. I am proud to announce though that my pictures are all backed up and that is what I am attached to the most. So prayers...that my computer can turn on again soon...because we can't afford a new computer right now.

So I think that it is about time that I started writing again. For right now, the house is quiet and I am hoping that I will have a little bit of time to write. The fact that it is a new year is exciting to me and I am looking forward to all of the fun times that we are going to be able to have.

Christmas was a fun time for the family. The children really made Christmas come alive. It was fun to see their faces as they opened new presents and the joy that they felt in giving presents to each other. I can't believe that Brendan will be a Sunbeam tomorrow. We talked about it on the way home from Utah and he is really excited to go to his Primary Class. It will be fun to watch him in Primary as he is learning the new songs and participating in Sharing Time. I feel really lucky to be able to be in there with him.

Neil and I were talking about how Eliza will be in Nursery still when he is done with school. That really seems like a long time to me and it will be compared with Brendan's time in Nursery. They didn't have one in New Castle until he was 26 months old I think. But then Eliza has a February birthday and so that means she will be one of the oldest in her Sunbeam class once she enters Primary. It will be interesting how she will do without Brendan in there. Her teachers say that she really doesn't talk much in there right now....which is just so odd to us. Here at home, we can't ever get her to stop talking. She is the cutest little girl and I love her. My only gripe right now is that she has been getting up so early! I need to be a better mom and get up with her, but then I feel like I am not very kind the rest of the day to all of my children. It really is a toss up, but I can't get her to go back to sleep and end up letting the TV babysit her while I try and pry my eyes open. I think that one of my New Year Resolutions is to go to bed earlier so that I can get up earlier with her is going to be the hardest one to keep. But I am going to try.

Lincoln is looking more and more like a baby to me instead of a newborn. I can't believe how fast he is growing! He is already wearing 6 month old clothes. They are a little bit big on him, but he doesn't seem to fit in the clothes he was wearing when he was born...imagine that! When we were in Utah we were able to bless him. I was glad that we were able to have family around us. I have to apologize to all of my family in Utah with letting them know of the blessing only 2 hours before. I will have to remember to let all of them know ahead of time with the next baby blessing.

But I am not even thinking of the next baby yet until Neil is out of school and Lincoln is sleeping through the night. I am envious of all of those moms whose babies are sleeping through the night already. I really do think this is my permanent trial in life.

Life is really good right now and I hope that I can keep a positive outlook on life for awhile. We do have so many blessings to be thankful for.