20 (ok, really 7) Questions

There are some things that I really think are important. Yet, I seem to be struggling to keep on top of them. So, I'm asking for your advice. How do you make these happen?

1. Spiritual well-being. How do you make time for quality scripture reading & pondering, meaningful prayer, reading the Ensign and conference talks, getting something out of church when you're feeding a baby or wrestling a 2-year-old, going to the temple regularly, and just feeling the Spirit present in your life?

2. Physical well-being. How do you make time, energy, and motivation to exercise? How do you get enough sleep when your baby is still not sleeping through the night? How do you make time & motivation to prepare healthy meals for your family (especially when you don't really like to cook? and especially lunch? I seem to really have a hard time with lunchtime.)

3. Marriage. How do you spend quality time with your spouse? How do you continue your courtship when going out on a real date sometimes seems impossible due to expensive babysitters and nursing babies?

4. Getting out of the house. How do you make sure to get out of the house? Especially when your kids just whine half the time when you try to go somewhere? And when lots of places cost money? And when you have to go and be back before your baby needs to eat again.

5. Social. How do you make/keep friends? How do you infiltrate yourself into your new neighborhood? How do you get people to do things with you and get yourself invited to things? And then how do you do that with kids and naps and bedtimes, etc? How do you make yourself more exciting and a better conversationalist so that people will want to hang out with you?

6. Parenting. How do you prepare meaningful, engaging activities to do with your children rather than just let them play around you (and get bored in the meantime?) How do you not get frustrated when they don't cooperate or make huge messes?

7. Taking care of yourself. How do you make time for & motivate yourself to make yourself look nice when you know you're just going to get spit up on and not go anywhere (and half your nice clothes don't fit yet anyway)? And every time you step out of the shower, your baby starts crying or your toddler whines about needing this or that. How do you make time (and money) for your hobbies?

It seems as though I spend all my time & energy responding/reacting to my kids' needs/whining/crying/or whatever when I could probably be more proactive about taking care of these things. I just don't know how. I am really trying to be better about these important aspects of life and any tips you have would be greatly appreciated.

4 Months

Mr Zach-man turned 4 months this week!

At 4 months, Zach:

-weighs 16 lbs, 10 oz.
-is 25.2" tall
-16.7" head size (which is only 1 inch smaller than Emily's head currently is)
-is a MUCH happier baby, and smiles and laughs frequently, and cries less frequently (hallelujah!)
-loves his dangling toys
-likes stroller rides
-is still struggling with sleeping. In fact, I will confess, I started putting him in the basement for part of the night so the rest of us could actually get some sleep. The first time he wakes up in the night (usually around 1-2) I feed him and then move him downstairs until at least 6. Call me a horrible mother, but he does not need to eat 4 times a night anymore, and at least I am better rested and he is learning to go back to sleep on his own.
-loves to watch his big sister
-still spits up a TON!
-is not liking his bottle anymore
-is starting to like his baths

Anyway, I'm so glad he is happier and more comfortable these days. Although this picture doesn't illustrate that...it was his first taste of rice cereal! Apparently, he didn't like it too well.

Valentines Day

So this is what you get when you let a 2-year-old loose with some stickers to make a Valentine for her daddy....

Emily LOVED making Valentines this year, and it was so fun to watch her. She put about 500 stickers on each one and then traced around them with markers. It was hilarious. Then she was so excited to give them to Daddy and her grandparents and put one in the mail for Kyle.

Emily and I had a little Valentine's date by getting some fro-yo. Emily was in HEAVEN getting to choose her own color of ice cream and which toppings she wanted.

That little girl has such a sweet tooth! (Don't worry, that huge cup was not full of sugar...that's the only size cup they have!) We had such a fun time.

Then, later that evening, Matt came home and cooked us a yummy steak dinner. And cleaned up. We decided not to get each other material gifts this year, but rather services. So the dinner and clean-up was one of my gifts. I also got coupons for him to wash my car, give me a massage, paint Zach's room, and have a complaint-free night out by myself with him taking care of the kids. Sweet! Then on Friday night, we convinced my Dad to watch the kids and we went and finally saw Les Miserables. Loved it!

I have such a great honey! Happy Valentines Day!

Allison's wedding

So my littlest sister, Allison got married last week. She was supposed to get married the end of March, but decided to move it up 7 weeks and got married Feb. 8. Her now-hubby, Jacob, just happens to be the little brother of one of my friends from freshman year at BYU (whose name happens to be Emily and we have the same birthday!)...what a small world!

Anyway, it was a great day!

Since Kyle was on his mission, and was not present to do his traditional "run up and hug the new in-law as they are coming out of the temple" move, we made sure to re-enact the moment that he created at everyone else's weddings by putting a picture of his head on a stick.

Allison did not know about this plan and about died laughing!

We had lots of fun with Kyle.

He made sure to hug everyone!

Here are all the sisters!

Emily and Rivers had fun with Kyle too. And crawling under that white tablecloth in the background and knocking all the pictures off. Oops!

Matt and I took advantage of this moment in which neither one of us had spit-up on us to take a picture of ourselves actually looking decent to remind ourselves that it's still possible.

The reception was fun...Scott made yummy Caribbean food and we did the Crocodile Rock dance, during which I'm sure Jacob's family thought we are all nuts.

Their luncheon was catered by Olive Garden...mmmmm..... 

Anyway, it was a fun day. But I'm glad it's over! My mom was in Hawaii for 10 days right before the wedding, and Allison was calling me like 4 times a day asking me about this or that or wanting me to do this or that. I was happy to help, but I seriously felt like the mother of the bride or something doing all that stuff!

Congrats to Allison and Jacob!

This is why I had kids

I know I complain a lot about how hard it is to be a mom right now. But there is nothing sweeter than hearing your children laugh. And that's why I had kids. Here's Emmy thinking Zach is hilarious!

Zach can laugh, but I can never catch it on video, so here's one of him smiling. (And me being an idiot trying to get him to laugh!)

My little sillies

Emmy was helping me make brownies the other day for my cousin, Mitchel's mission farewell, and she decided she needed to eat some of the batter.

Then she talked about how we went to Uncle Paul's house all week long and had brownies.

I came out of the bathroom one Sunday morning to find everyone on my bed!

Then later they just looked so cute all dressed for church.

Zach got this stinkin' cute little church outfit from my friend, Sarah, and last Sunday was the first time he was able to wear it. He looked so handsome!

And then Emmy wanted me to take a picture of her too!

I know I complain a lot about how hard it is right now, and it still is, but I really do love my little sillies.

Super Bowl

Ever since we got married, Matt has wanted to watch the Superbowl at home. But every year, we get invited to at least one party, and we have always gone. It was just easier to go somewhere else. Until you have 2 kids. Then it's easier to host your own Superbowl party. So that's what we did this year.

We invited my brother and sister and their families, and we had a great time!

Emily was so excited that Rivers was coming to our house. (We may have bribed her with it for 5 days before he came to get her to do things...)

Everyone brought yummy food.

And before the game started, we predicted what the score would be at the end of each quarter. The closest person got a prize for each quarter. John pretty much won every time. (Although at halftime, it was a 3-way tie between him, Matt, and Mystie.)

The prizes were: 1st quarter: football brownies. 2nd quarter: California Baltimore raisins. 3rd quarter: Rice a Roni (the San Fransisco treat!) and the final prize was a Superbowl ring pop and hat, which John won.

I really could care less about the Superbowl, but I had fun hosting and coming up with the prizes (and eating all the yummy food). The raisins were inspired by Emily because I was asking Matt what color the Ravens were and Emily said, "The raisins are black, Mom!" Ha!