American Idol

Thank you America. Although we do not vote, we do watch American Idol every week. Needless to say I am THRILLED that she FINALLY left!!!!

Tori the Mermaid

Everytime Tori takes a bath she uses about 20 washclothes. I finally asked her why. "I am making my mermaid tail." Oh. This is Tori (notice the tail) singing. Ariel just got her voice back. Thanks Tori for the explanation!

A Mother's Intuition

Michael will celebrate his 9 month mark on May 6th. Michael still is not a huge fan of solid food. He favors barley and rice cereal. He will eat some fruits and vegetables, but not consistently. I have wondered if it is because he seems to ALWAYS be teething. He has 9 teeth. I figure who wants to eat when their gums hurt? I have talked to his doctor who said that by 9 months old he should eat 3 meals of solid food a day. He is not. I mean should I actually force a spoon in his mouth when he has his gums tightly closed? So I met with a nutritionist today and she referred me to a developmental specialist for an evaluation. She felt that Michael may be handicapped because he does not like to eat solid foods. She feels as though he may have problems swallowing. I met Jared for lunch, he laughed. He told me to be patient Michael will eat when he is ready. We both feel that he may just have a sensitive stomache. He cannot have lactose. Both of his grandfathers had food allergies, he may too. I came home and put him down for his nap.

He woke up and I fed him. as you can see from the picture he ate. He ate a ton! Two huge bowls of cereal and peaches. Again I am reminded that children develop at their own pace, and I need to relax. It is important to be aware of what the milestones are, but a mother needs to trust her instincts!

Motherhood

This morning I woke to hear my children talking to each other in their room. I looked at the clock and it was 7:30am my mind immediately went back five years ago when I could sleep as long as I wanted to. It was a fleeting pleasant memory. I then got up and began my day with my children. Even though I now survive on 5 hours of sleep a night, I would not change being a mother for anything. I cannot believe how much joy they bring into my life. I marvel at all they learn and can do. Although there are still some days when I wish I could sleep until 10am....Honestly I think that most mothers miss those days too every once in a while.

Siblings

Last night while taking a bath Tori asked if her brother could take a bath with her. I said sure. I put Michael in the tub and he likes the water. In fact he likes it so much that he loves to crawl from one end of the tub to other splashing the whole way. The splashing annoyed Tori. You see she was upset that she was not in charge of of how they were going to play. He would have the choice opportunity to watch her play and then she could wash him. He had other plans. I realized she was frustrated when she said to him while slightly pushing him with her legs "you can go back in Mommy's tummy right now." Needless to say their joint bath ended.

Blessings

Tori is amazing, smart and funny. Our biggest struggle with her is that she is messy. We have tried everything to help her clean her room...different bins for her toys, a timer to help her clean up, we help her, etc. sadly NOTHING has changed her attitude toward cleaning up her stuff. Tonight I tried to explain to her that Heavenly Father has asked us to keep our homes neat and clean. When we obey his commandments He gives us blessings. Blessings are presents from Heavenly Father. The whole time Tori shook her head in agreement until I talked about presents from Heavenly Father; her response was "you have Heavenly Father for presents and I have Grandma Judi". Just when I thought that I was making some progress.....

Michael

Does not he have the most BEAUTIFUL blue eyes. He is such a sweet little boy. He spends his days following around his sister and trying to walk.

Tori

I LOVE Tori. She is full of life, energy and disorganization. I spent most of my life organizing my mom, and now I spend my days organizing her clone and I am LOSING. Tori can destroy faster than anyone else that I know. In the video you will notice her zest for life, Michael ADORES her and her idea of how their room should be decorated.

I wish I had her energy!

My mom always buys them the cutest things, this is one of their favorites. CARS is a favorite movie in our house.

It is almost spring

This was the best of the billion pictures that we took on Easter. Note to self for next year take the pictures BEFORE church.

That is the question that Tori asks me EVERYDAY. She was quite disappointed when it was snowing on Monday. As far as she is concerned we had Easter and now it is spring. We are so excited that Jared's semester is almost over...only one more semester and then he will graduate! We are looking forward to spending some quality family time this spring and summer. Last year I was so pregnant and dreaded the heat and just about everything else associated with summer last year.

I love Spring! It is a great opportunity to re-evalaute life and make changes. We just had our General Conference last weekend. It is always so wonderful to hear from the Lord's prophet. We are so thankful that we have a prophet today who communicates with God. Wouldn't the world be so much more frightening without the knowledge that we have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves us individually? As I reflect on the talks given at General Conference they each were so wonderful and what I needed. Check out Elder Ballards talk on Motherhood. I was ready to give up, and then I heard that talk and I have had a much better attitude and conviction to be a better mother. They will be little only once, and this too shall pass. All mother's will appreciate this talk member and non-member alike.