Being a good blogger??

It's hard to be a good blogger when you don't have the internet. I know I've said that before.

It seems that once I have the internet I'm all but inspired to write a new post...

But, I'm going to try and get some inspiration today!

Best thing ever this week? Having a healthy baby again!

Brielle was sick ALL last week and it was miserable. She was feverish and groggy and fussy and sad.

I hate having a sick baby.

Other best thing ever this week....The perfect bowl of cereal. You know, like when the cereal to milk ratio is PERFECTION. So perfect that when you finish your last bite you have NO milk left. I love that.

Third best thing this week....

Going to my grandparents house in Syracuse for the weekend.

My sweet cousin, Kayleigh, is going on a mission and we came to see her off!

It is sooo nice to get out of Cache Valley (no offense to you Cache Valley lovers...) I've just decided it isn't for me.

Don't get me wrong I am trying to "bloom where I'm planted" and I think I'm doing ok at it but it's seriously sooo good to get out.

Oh, and another thing....Another awesome thing..

I got Netflix free trial for a month on my phone and it has been the most addictive wonderful bit of life too.

Haha, we don't have internet so I just watch everything on my ghetto android phone but it's bliss, and all those that have internet/tv/netflix be grateful.

This winter needs to end so I can enjoy the sunshine and being outside...but I will try and keep myself busy.

Whatever that entails.

DRACULA: the ballet

John surprised me today with tickets to go see Dracula: The ballet....

It was really good!

I do love how Logan has such a cute little theater that is close and has some really good shows!

Ballerinas are awesome! I could never move the way they do!

We had fun and it was a great little date night!

Thanks, John!!

Motherhood..

I woke up today pretty tired from my long night of disturbed sleep.

I didn't want to roll out of bed, but knew it was about that time because Brielle was in her room talking, screaming, crying, and calling for anyone that would get her out of her prision  bed.

So I took a deep breath, stretched, and slowly got out of bed.

The second I opened her door I was greeted with that precious smile and the "Hi, Mama" that always melts my heart.

After I changed the poopy diaper and watched Brielle walk off to get some toys I had an overwhelming feeling of love wash over me.

I just felt so happy in that moment with my little life and my little family.

Sometimes I don't feel like I am doing enough as a mother.

I feel inadequate, and a bit puney (sp?).

I worry that I'm not teaching Brielle good things and that some days I'm just so tired all I do is let her eat junk food and watch Tangled 5 times in a row.

I feel like "maybe she's the only child I'll get because I'm not a good enough mom"

I worry that I am not taking advantage of the moments I can teach her about Christ, or the family, or the gospel in general.

I get bogged down comparing myself to other mother's who seem to have it down. Who can do all. Mothers who can keep a clean house, make crafts, dinner, and  keep up with snotty noses all day long.

I get anxious that Brielle will be a bully and never stop pulling other kids hair or pinching.

I don't know what is the best form of discipline sometimes and feel like I'm not being consistant enough.

I worry I'm not patient enough to have any more children that I so desperately want to have.

Etc, Etc, Etc...

These are all the thoughts, and worries I have from day to day.

I like to think I'm not the only one who does this from time to time.

We know motherhood/parenting is SUCH a huge responsibility and we only want what is best for our children.

I say to all you mother's out there who think this from time to time...

STOP.

STOP.

Stop.

(Including me)

I read some of these quotes and they made me feel so much better and gave me hope that I am not complelety messing up Brielle's life and that I'm ok:)

(This is a quote from the talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland-Because she is a Mother)

"You are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He knows that your giving birth to a child does not immediately propel you into the circle of the omniscient."

This is one for me to remember on those days when I compare what I have to what everyone else does...

"You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out. It will not be the money you have made. It will not be the cars you have owned. It will not be the large house in which you live. The searing question that will cross your mind again and again will be, How well have my children done?"-Pres. Hinckley

And the last one I loved for today is...

"Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value. Let your first interest be in your home. The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days."-President Hinckley

So though I may just be speaking mainly to myself here, I think it's a good reminder to help us on those hard days. We are not perfect, but we can get a lot of help from our Heavenly Father who loves us and wants us to be happy and enjoy the life we have been given.

 

zoo pics!

The polar bear was her favorite! She stood like this forever.

The long awaited zoo pictures.

I realize I don't have any pics of the animals...

Oh well.

We went and it was fun:)

oh we are still here, don't worry.

Where have we been?!

I'll tell ya...

First we made awesome Batman shirts for the new movie

The Dark Knight Rises

(I would have put a picture right about here but my computer isn't wanting to do that for me)

Anyway,

We went to Salt Lake to watch the movie with some friends and left the child with my sister:)

It was my first time away from Brielle for a whole night and I think I did pretty good!

She did great! Slept all night, so my sister tells me.

The next weekend we went to the Mosman Family Reunion.

That was also a blast. It was so fun getting to know all the family that I hadn't met yet,

and just getting to know everyone better.

(There-John is wearing our homemade Batman shirts)

Then a few weeks ago my sister was taking the kids she babysits to the Hogel Zoo...

I spontaneously decided to go meet her there with Brielle.

I threw some treats in a bag and off we went!

We had so much fun looking at the animals and visiting with Rachel.

Brielle LOVED the polar bear.
She didn't want to leave.

(I took pics of that too but can't seem to find my camera at the moment)

Now we are just getting ready for John to start school again!

He'll be quite busy working and going to school full time so I'm preparing myself to be busy..

I've set up play groups and am planning a trip to St. George and have decided to be motivated and clean out all my junk drawers and junk closets throughout the house;)

John is busy currently writing a fun little story that is quite whimsicle and clever...

I'd share it, but alas, it is not complete:)

He is so good at writing.

He needs to be published.

Anyway-those are the going-ons in our lives.

We should be back more often with updates!

a lot of updates...or just a lot of rambling.

I'm not really sure what I wanna write about today but I do want to write a little something since it's been a while.

I guess I'll start with what's been going on lately in our world.

Brielley- She has been seriously repeating EVERYTHING these days. I am very impressed with how much she can say at only (almost) 15 months. She is awesome! She says, dadda, mama, stretch, duck, doggie, Audrey, (attempts saying Lily), happy (which started this morning on the way to church), lunch, snack, watch, show, bite, work, more, stairs---and many other little words a long the way. And the cool thing is she is really speaking very clearly. It's not hard for me to understand what she wants most of the time...except all the words that begin with "B" are all "baba"...so sometimes that gets tricky.

She loves playing with little kids and is IN LOVE with babies. She loves the pool and any form of water. When she swims she just goes face forward into the water, not minding it in her face or in her ears. That makes me sooo happy! She is so active and crazy that I literally am worn out completely by 7:00 every night. I try to keep up with her but it's really hard somedays. She's so much fun!

John- He is out of school for the summer and focusing strickly on work. He applied for an advancement where he would be a supervisor and focus more on other things rather than taking calls all day. It excites him that he would have a change and feel a little more challenged with day to day things. We are crossing our fingers that this works out because we could really use that in our lives right now! We'll probably find out in the next couple of weeks. He is also being a super awesome husband and helping me so much when he's home. He has also been trying to get back into a work out routine, which can prove difficult when life gets so busy, but he's doing great and is happy....well I shouldn't speak for him, but I think he's doing great;)

Me-Well like I said, I'm just trying to keep up with Brielle these days. She is quite a firecracker. I have also started participating in a play group with some girls from the ward once a week and it has been so wonderful to get out and talk with other mom's and girls my age that are all in kind of the same phase of life. Unfortunately, a lot of close friends of mine are moving on with school and work so I am going to have to start really branching out. I also have recently redecorated a little (with the immense help of my father-in-law's wife, Jackie). We had a BLAST going shopping for fun little things to freshen up and change the house around a bit. I am really grateful for the thought and time she put into making it a fun day and enjoyed the time we spent together.  On a blah note-I haven't been feeling the best these days-and NO I'm not pregnant...unfortunately....

I've been to the Dr. and have a couple of things we are going to try but I basically get sick to my stomach all the time and it's just something that's been really hard for me to deal with lately. I really do take my health for granted and have realized how much I need to be thankful for feeling well every day. I miss that! Hopefully with some of the things we have to try I will start feeling better and will be able to get my life back to normal....

I almost forgot the most exciting news of all!

John, and some others pitched in and got me a BIKE for my birthday!!!

I am so excited about this. I haven't had a bike in years and have been wanting one basically since John and I started dating. He really spoiled me this year. I'll have to think of something really awesome come September, for his bday.  I'll post pics of the house and my bike later!

Anyway that is the overload of updating for y'all.

Until next time,

Happy Sunday!

Family!

I have a big family.

There are 8 kids and 4 of us are married.

All of those that are married have kids...

Every time I've visited since I've been married we've had some new additions.

We took a leap and had some family pics taken...

Let me tell ya, it wasn't easy...

But here are a few.

I think they turned out cute!

LOVE my family!

My cute loves!

The whole clan

Youngest sister Carly and Niece Madison

2nd oldest brother, Dave and his family. Their baby was only 5 days old here.

Silly faces! Mom and Dad didn't get the memo

We may not all be smiling but we are all looking!

Squeeze!

3rd brother Justin's family! So darling!

Oldest brother, Josh's family. Love his boys so much.

Sisters!!!!! So love these girlies!

My baby sisters.

All the girls, except baby Ryden on the left.

Grandma Tommie and baby Tommie. Love Grandma in this picture.