Motherhood ain't easy

Being a mom has it's moments. Some are bad, as in everyone is throwing tantrums at the same time where I just want to lock myself in the bathroom and just cry. Ok, yes, I've done that. Then there are moments that are filled with joy beyond measure. 

But then there are moments that are just plain hard. The past few weeks Jason and I have had to have some talks with Wyatt-some were easier than others and some brought tears by everyone. It's so difficult to see your kid hurt but also tell them they might be causing the problem.

I want my son to be a good friend. I want him to work hard. I want him to have a testimony. I want him to respect others. 

Sometimes I feel like I have failed when things are hard and my kids aren't what I know they can be. I've done some reflecting and maybe they've learned it from me. FYI- don't ask for areas you need to be more humble because they will come. Motherhood isn't easy. Just when you think you've done something right a curveball is thrown your way and next thing you know you have sworn at your kid because "smartalec" just didn't fit the description. 😬

Motherhood is not for wimps!

But I had a good experience watching Elizabeth help me vacuum today. She used to just sit on the couch or run into the other room scared while I vacuumed. But today, she took her own vacuum and "vacuumed" the entire house with me. It showed me that things can change. Show them in your actions how you want them to be. 

One of my favorite quotes is:

Teach your child everything you know. If you must, use words! 

Motherhood is hard. But it's worth it when you see them grow to be what you know they can be. 

"Mom, Jesus loves me!"

This is not a staged pic. The twins were pretty quiet one morning. I went in to see the trouble they were causing and saw Elizabeth doing this and luckily I had my phone in my back pocket. She looked up and said, "Mom, Jesus loves me." I've been telling her that sometimes before naptime so I'm glad she knows that at an early age. Hopefully she will remember it her whole life.

Jason's job switch

Well, the month of October was a bit crazy for us. Jason was amidst a lot of stressful changes at work-one being switched to a new role at UOP. He was definitely sad to leave his "baby" aka mini empire that he built up but the new executive officers want him to build another area. 

The past 6 months Jason has been up and down with work. Sometimes he likes it and sometimes it's a job. I get it! I totally felt like that my last year of teaching. But, luckily, Jason works smart for our family. We saw a lot of miracles and tender mercies the past few months that we've lost track of them. We are so blessed. 

I just want to record somewhere (for our kids) that no matter what life tends to throw you, if you put your faith and trust in God, things will work out. And if they haven't, it's not the end of the journey. :)

Thanks, Jason, for all you do for our family. 

Horses and garage shenanigans

Liam loves horses. No seriously this kid is obsessed. And the cutest part of this obsession is how he tries to ride them--no matter how small. Yes, he has tried to ride the Lego horse that we have. Silly kid. 

His other pastime is spending time in the garage. When I'm not looking and have forgotten to lock the door, Liam sneaks in there to hang out. He loves to look at Daddy's car, put on the bike helmet and try to ride the bike, and has even tried "mowing the lawn" with the real lawn mower. Yikes! So, let's just say I try to remember to lock the door. I actually wouldn't mind if he spent time cleaning it. 

Flip flops and lip gloss

Elizabeth inherited her cousin's flip flops after she left them at our house after family dinner. She seriously won't take them off...ever!  I was planning on giving them back but Elizabeth wouldn't hear of that. It is so cute to see her put them on in different ways. I have a love/hate relationship. I love that I don't have to deal with her shoes or the fact that she is already loving the kind with no heel strap (Wyatt still likes though. Ugh). But they fall off all the time when she sits in car seat or cart. That's the part I hated in case you didn't realize it. Haha!

And boy does this girl love lip gloss. Watch out! "I do it!" Is what I hear all day. She carries Chapstick around always reapplying about 5 billion times a day. She is like her mother. 

We sure do love Elizabeth and the cute girly factor she brings into our home. 

First broken bone

Well, it happened....the first broken bone for our family. Wyatt has been a trooper. He fractured his big toe. He switches back and forth on who is to blame depending on the day between Jason and Liam. 

Jason asked Wyatt to help Liam get off the chair. Apparently Liam wasn't ready to get off the chair or was nervous/mad that Wyatt was given such a responsibility, because he suddenly took the chair into a death grip. As Wyatt tried to take Liam off the chair, the chair and Liam fell down right on Wyatt's big toe. 

Due to the excessive bleeding and crying I knew it was broken. So Jason spent the rest of the night in the ER. We had to go see a specialist the next day and we've been good since. Wyatt got a boot to wear for 3-4 weeks. 

We went to the dr yesterday and got stitches out and more X-rays. Fracture looks good. So maybe we will be able to catch the tail end of soccer season after all. 

Language explosion

The twins are talking up a storm!!! Some people are amazed at how well they talk and the fact that Elizabeth even talks (she can be shy around others). Here are some funny things they have said lately:

Jason was being silly and tickling Liam and Wyatt. All of a sudden Elizabeth said, "Daddy crazy!" It was adorable!

Both twins are quick to tell me who "hurt" them and where it hurts. 

Liam is ornery 80% of the time so he often will say "hug" a lot. Hey, at least he can tell me what he wants sometimes. The other times it's a guessing game but he is usually mad because I won't let him play with the iPhone or iPad. 

One cute story is they were playing in my bathroom while I was getting ready. I told them not to play with the water in the bathtub because it would be hot. They turned it on anyway and they started blowing on it to cool it off. Haha! 

And out of nowhere one day, Elizabeth told me she had the hiccups. What!?!?! How did she learn that word? It was legit. She had them. So smart...but I'm biased. 

These two have a lot of fun together despite all the fights and tears. Gotta love twins! Blurry pic but these two don't stand still. I love their smiles because they were laughing with pure joy in these pics. 

Mama E!

We love our Grandmas! But Grandma Egan has a special place in Liam's heart. She won him over when he watched her play the piano on YouTube. So imagine his excitement when she played for him at her house. These two have a special bond. And after he followed her around all night, "Mama E" (as Liam refers to her as) let him play with her tornado cane.

First day of school

There were no first day of school jitters for him. Okay, maybe he was worried where to put his lunchbox but that was it. I had to beg and plead with him to let me take him to school instead of the bus. He got to ride the bus home so he was happy. Ever since then he has been a bus ridin' guy.

I on the other hand kept busy the whole day so I didn't think much about missing him. But then it got closer and closer to when he was going to get on the bus. It was the longest 30 minutes of my life!!!

He finally made it home. He was so happy! He has loved kindergarten so far. It was so fun to hear everything about his first day/week of school. Love my Wyatt!

Meet the teacher

Wyatt is in Kindergarten now. His teacher  is Ms. Beardsley. I had a feeling he was going to get her and I'm super impressed by her. She is so loving and will be so good for Wyatt. 

This is her third year of teaching. It reminds me of when I was young and first starting out. Oh the memories! 

We love our Wyatt and know he will do awesome in Kindergarten. 

Wyatt and the outdoors

I just love the outdoors. It's a way for kids to just be kids. To explore. To figure out nature. To just be. No screens. And the only distractions are watching snails eat leaves or ants walk along the sidewalk.

Wyatt got to go on a hike while in Utah. He built a beaver dam with Grandma Kathy and Papa Hugh and loved every second of it. Then he found a friend in the front yard. Too bad Papa sprays poison because Wyatt's friend was no longer with us in the morning. 

I can't wait for the winter. Can you tell I'm sick of this heat?!?!

Utah weather

Every summer I come to Utah to get out of the Arizona heat. And funny thing is that it is usually the hottest two weeks in Utah when I come. But we are always still able to enjoy ourselves because at least it cools off in the morning and night. We did a lot of fun/new things this trip.

I went biking in Midway with my mom and Hugh. That was a blast! We swam every. single. day. No joke! And it was so fun to watch the kids ride bikes and play in the front yard while I sat and watched. Dreams do come true people. I've always dreamed of doing that like in college so when families go by you stop and chat, etc. Too bad our street in AZ is not very good for that sort of thing. :(

We went shopping at City Creek (thank you Albion Fit) and Wyatt got to see the statue of where two of his ancestors were in the first group of pioneers to come to the Valley. And Jason and I went up to Sundance to see The Fiddler on the Roof with Kathy and Hugh. 

Thanks, Utah for great weather on our trip! 

Museum of Curiousity

If you have not gone to this museum....go now! It was SOOOO fun! There was something for everyone. But boy was I glad Grandma Kathy and Papa Hugh came. We each had a kid to look out for. :) We will definitely be going again.

Utah Aquarium

Utah has this new (to us) aquarium. I knew since Wyatt's favorite subject is the ocean that we needed to check it out. Besides being squirt in the face a dozen times during the 4D movie, we loved it! Petting sting rays and star fish, walking in the shark tunnel, and seeing jellyfish and octopus were the highlights. Liam kind of had a rough start but started having fun about 30 min before we left. Go figure!

Disneyland 2014

This was a big year for Wyatt. He finally (after all these years of talking about it) went on Splash Mountain! He also went on Indiana Jones. We were so proud of our boy! He is just growing up so fast. The test will be if he goes on them again. Let's just say he may "never go on the Haunted Mansion ride again in his life."His words, not mine!

Newport

On the way to the beach, Wyatt asked if he could say the prayer. He said, "Mom, I need to pray that I'll have fun in Newport just like I did before we went to the cabin."

Needless to say, prayers were answered. Newport was a blast! All the boys loved searching for crabs then taking great care for them in their bucket. I learned that boys can sit and watch those things for hours. 

The twins loved the ocean especially Liam. Elizabeth loved following Mae and Tomi around. They would go up to grandmas to color and Elizabeth would specifically say, "Mom, bye! Go!" She felt so big! 

Of course, our favorite was spending time with family and relaxing on the beach. The best vacation ever!

Fourth of July 2014-Prescott style

We decided to head up to Prescott for a few days for the Fourth before heading straight to the beach. It was so nice to spend time with family and get in cooler weather for a change (it was still hot but not 115).

Everyone had fun! The twins loved swinging nonstop and raiding Grandma Greta's candy. Liam LOVED the horses so much that if you didn't keep a close eye on him you may find him climbing under the fence to get into the horse corral. Not that that happened or anything. Wink wink! 

And Wyatt had a blast! I mean when you barely see the kid because he is playing with cousins all day I would say it was a success. 

And being the stars of the parade isn't too bad either.