Change

Change is upon us, a great Change. I don't like change. I never have and I doubt I ever will. We are at a crossroads and really don't know what direction to go or how to get to where we don't know. My one and only comfort is that God is all knowing and sees the beginning to the end. He is the one we have put in charge of guiding us through this journey. I only need the faith to follow his directions and believe he will lead us safely through this change.

Sundays

Sundays aren't always easy for me. In fact they are hard. Today one sweet sister stopped and asked what she could do to help me as I started unloading my kids. I could have done things on my own more quickly but a little voice said "let her serve you, let her help you." So I let her carry one of my bags and we walked in to Sacrament together. Then another sister came over to me after sacrament meeting and told what Joy and  happiness Maggie brought to her. I apologized to her for Maggie being a distraction (she is a stinker) and she said "no not at all, She made me so happy, I loved watching her and her freedom and joy, just think of what happiness she brought to other people today."

The Lord is teaching me. I'm a slow learner and its hard, SO VERY HARD. There is no easy button to push in life. This quote has brought me a lot of comfort :

It will work out. It always does.

Faith

I'm having a difficult time exercising faith. So I turned to the brethren for some inspiration. 


Elder Bednar came to visit our stake last year around this time. It was an amazing experience to hear his words and learn of Christ through him. He said something about faith that struck me. I tried to find a better word for word quote but couldn't. He said 

"Unlike the popular movie I believe that Moses and the Children of Israel had to step in the Red Sea and get there feet wet, maybe even there knees, before the sea was parted." 

Again that quote is paraphrased and not word for word but the general idea is there. I skimmed through this talk by Elder Bednar called Pray Always which is amazing as all of his talks are and found this quote:

"Remember, Nephi tried several different approaches before he was able to successfully obtain the plates of brass from Laban (see 1 Nephi 3–4). And he did not learn how to build a ship of curious workmanship all at one time; rather, he was shown by the Lord “from time to time after what manner [he] should work the timbers of the ship” (1 Nephi 18:1)."

Kind of the same concept of the Moses quote.
I also found this from Elder Packer The Edge of Light. This is taken out of a story that he is retelling,

"The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning." I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: "You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you." Then he quoted these eighteen words from the Book of Mormon: "Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

I would love to be able to see just 2 steps in front of me. I'm afraid of the dark. I need more faith and I need to exercise that faith. I know that at the end of this month we will be taken care of because we always have been. Its just a waiting game to see what the Lord has in store for our family and for me. I know that he knows me I know that he knows the true desires of my heart and I know that he will bless me and even carry me through this trial if I just rely on him. 

First aid badge...

So I know that many moms have had to deal with cuts and breaks and hospital visits, but in my five years of experience I have avoided those for the most part. I honestly would look at bloody wounds and think "oh gosh please not my kid." So here is the story, David went to the temple this morning which just happens to be 1 1/2 hours away. We had Daniels birthday party planned for 3:30 so I was cleaning to get ready. I was just vacuuming the play area and set the kiddie chairs on top of their table so I could vacuum underneath it. I continued vacuuming and heard a loud cry. I turned around and Maggie was crying. I asked d what happened and he said she had climbed up on top of the table and sat on a chair and was trying to convince him to do the same when she fell backwards off the table. I was hugging her and realized she was bleeding  a lot like dripping down the back of her head. I think she hit her head on the edge of our toy shelf.  I called my cousin who luckily lives 20 mins away and she came and sat with d and Noah while I ran Maggie to the ER. While I was waiting for her I fed Noah and then did a frantic "I wasn't planning on anyone seeing this mess till 3:30" clean up. Then headed to the hospital that was recommended by the dr.  Maggie was a trooper. She broke down when Madi walked in the door and when we arrived at the hospital, she doesn't like shots, but really she was so brave. She ended up with two staples. I almost vomited. It made me so queasy when I looked at the cleaned up gash and still does when I see the staples sticking out of her hair.
Again I know that moms everywhere do this all the time, I'm not saying I'm amazing at all. I'm just really proud that I was able to stay calm and rational through the whole process and so proud of Maggie. I know I was blessed.  So I've earned my ER staples badge and hope that I don't have a repeat.

The Bishops Wife

Yep that's me. David was called and set apart as the bishop of our ward on Sunday. I have mixed emotions but I know he will do a great job. I know this will be a great growing opportunity for us and we will be blessed. I also know there are going to be hard times too. I feel at peace though and I'm excited for this new chapter in our New Orleans adventure.

Just a little

Blog Throw up in the form of Pictures:

 David and I were able to go to our first Saints game

 Great Grandma came to play for a week

 Noah enjoys his bath time

 We hosted Thanksgiving 

 little kids table before the feast

 Little kids table after the feast

 our spread

 David entertaining all the kids while the adults played a game

Everybody

We Love FaceTime

 Car racing

 Melting Pot/Saying good bye to great friends

 Official first mess

 Cute little faces

 1st letter to Santa

 Gold glitter shoes love

 Cottage cheese buns

 she does her own make up

 Happy 

 Saying good bye to a best friend

 super heros

 waiting in line to see these lights

More facetiming

Sick boy for Christmas 

 1st Christmas

We survived our first (and hopefully last) Christmas alone.

Tis the Season

To be Jolly FALALALALALALALALA!!!!
Well It's Christmas time and so much is happening. Its been far too long since I last updated and I don't want to overwhelm you but here is just a point by point update of our lives.

Noah 

• 7 months
• Has 3 almost 4 teeth
• Army Crawls all over the place
• Smiles from ear to ear
• Loves his blankie
• Loves his binkie
• Loves his older brother
• Isn't quite sure of his older sister (she's a firecracker)
• Has started giving wide open mouth kisses
• Genuinely happy
• At 6 months weighed in at 22.9 lbs and 28 inches long still off the charts

Maggie

• 2 1/2 years old
• Loves her new gold glitter shoes so much she sleeps in them
• Loves to wear my clothes (true story she cried because I wouldn't let her wear the shirt I had picked out for myself to wear.)
• Loves Jewelry
• Loves Makeup and loves to do her own
• Strong willed and spirited
• Starting to talk back
• Giggles at everything
• Is a super happy little girl even when she is in trouble
• Oh and her best friends are my friends

Daniel 

• 4 years and 11 months old
• Sweetest older brother in the world
• totally into Christmas
• Loved soccer but glad its over (he had a beastly coach)
• Wants a Bike for Christmas or a Skateboard and armor "cause you have to have armor with a skateboard" or Thor's Magic hammer, or a baseball glove or a drum set or a baseball shirt.
• Loves his siblings. 
• Is loving fighting with any weapon
• Loves his friends
• Loves playing games
• Still loves Dinosaurs

David

• Super handsome
• Elders Quorum Pres
• Super Busy
• Started a new improv group called Hug Life 
• Performing at Comedy Sportz
• Excited about new games for Christmas
• Best Spin instructor at The Parks Fitness 
• Grateful for an amazing job that supports his family

Me

• Tired 
• happy
• fitting into smaller pants
• getting a sense of style in a very small way (I love bright colored skinny jeans)
• Growing through daily trials
• Loving/enduring Motherhood
• Grateful for my blessings
• Sad to be spending Christmas away from family but excited for a new chance to start traditions as our own little family unit.
• Totally in Love with our little family unit

New Orleans is good for this little family of ours. We are learning and growing and stretching and gaining stronger testimonies and being tested and coming together and really enjoying each other. We are truly blessed and happy to have this experiences in our lives. 

Just a sneak peak at our family Pictures:

(The raw unedited ones that is)

Sinking

Lately I feel like I'm sinking underneath all the responsibilities that I have. My house sadly comes after everything. If you walked in you would be able to tell that at one glance. There is always a pile of unfolded clean laundry somewhere and more piles waiting to be put into the wash. The floor always has stuff on it. Stuff could be anything, toys, clothes, food droppings from my darling little ones, whatever "it" is, it's just stuff. I'd really like to cut back on the amount of stuff we have. I'd love to be a minimalist but I fall more a long the lines of pack rat/hoarder. The windows all have fingerprints or face prints on them. The walls are colored on and bare the remains of thrown food/drinks (which I've tried with no luck to remove). The kitchen counters are always cluttered and the dishes are waiting to be loaded in the dishwasher that is waiting to be unloaded. This is my life. I know that something needs to change. I know that I have this really great schedule hanging on my fridge and if I actually kept to it my house would look amazing. I have a problem sticking to schedules though. I'd much rather be out enjoying the sunshine at a park then scrubbing my kitchen floors or looking at the animals at the zoo then folding laundry. I've become lazy. I blame most of this on my lack of sleep. I can't remember the last time I slept all night, without having one of my children wake up or without me having to get up to pee (pregnancy). I honestly think its been over a year. I'm tired, exhausted most days and when I get a spare moment all I want to do is lay on the couch and do NOTHING. I also blame it on my priority list. My kids are just more important to me then this dirty old house. I love them and I love spending time with them and I can't do everything right now. So I choose them over everything else. Which I don't think is bad but I've got to get back to a more balanced life. I'm ranting and this probably makes no sense to anyone but I need to put it down. 

Big baby gets bigger

 Noah is 4 months old and let's just say he's big. Well off the charts actually. The Dr informed me he is the size of an average 8 month old baby. Oh and yes he does have teeth, 2 actually, to go with his large size. He is full of smiles that melt my heart. I sure do love my big baby boy. 

 

(He's actually 19lbs 7 ounces not .07)

God Loves his Children

Last night I was filling my car up with gas. I was flustered because there was a man sitting watching me the whole time. I hurried and cleaned my car out and after I filled up drove away. Minutes later I was at the drive through ordering some treats for our girls night out and couldn't find my wallet. My friend was with me and paid and we started searching the car for my wallet. We went through everything and no luck. We decided to go back to the gas station to look in the garbage thinking I'd thrown it away. Nothing. I retraced my route and couldn't find it anywhere. All that kept going through my head was that creepy man saw it and stole it. I was so upset because I had $50 cash and gift cards in it and of course my drivers license, debit cards and temple recommend. The thought of having to deal with all the loss and canceling my credit cards was really overwhelming. I called the credit card company only to have them tell me it was after hours for my bank and I'd have to call back in the morning. David called while I was on hold with them and I told him I'd call him back but he said no wait its here and I said what? Emily your wallet is here at the house.  My first thought was No way I just paid for gas I couldn't have left it at home. Then he explained. I guess in my hurry I had left my wallet on top of my car. A very kind man found it and all the contents scattered across the road. He picked it all up and called the police. The police, the man and his son all showed up at my door with my wallet. There was nothing missing. Nothing. No cash, no gift card, and no credit card, not even my dumb receipts, NOTHING. David handed the man some money in thanks for his honesty and kindness. The man in turned thanked David telling him he didn't even have enough money to fill up his own car with gas.
I was hysterically crying, I seriously couldn't stop.The man was broke he had no money and there was my wallet with "free" cash spread across the road. He could have taken it and no one would have known but he chose to do the right thing and in return he was blessed. I can't thank him enough for returning my wallet. God knows his children he knows there needs and I needed to loose my wallet in order to bless this man and for him to bless me. He showed me that there are still so many good people out there willing to do the right thing. He showed me that Heavenly Father loves me and knows me. He answers prayers. I am grateful for this tender moment in my life. I never thought loosing something could be so amazing. 

Big Baby

He is getting so big.

Today he weighs 16 lbs. 14ozs.

He is 26 inches long.

He is in the 97 percentile for both height and weight. 

He is the size of the average 6 month old baby. 

He also has an ear infection, poor big baby.

David being David

2

she is 2

she is all girl

she is Fancy Nancy's biggest rival 

she has beautiful big brown eyes

she had lovely long blonde locks but now a short spunky bob

she is feisty

she is loving

she looks out for others

she has a loud scream

she changes voice tones from super high to super low

she loves her brothers

she loves her blankets 

she loves to go anywhere

she loves babies

she loves purses

she loves shoes

she loves dresses

she loves clothes

she loves swim suits

she LOVES candy

she loves anything that sparkles

she is my little buddy

We Love her!

Happy Birthday Miss Maggie

july in a nutshell

These last few weeks have flown by! We have had lots of visitors and a lot of fun! 


Pop Pop came to visit first. He flew in late on the 3rd and spent a whole week just hanging out with us. D loved just snuggling up next to him playing games for hours on end. 


We celebrated the 4Th of July with a big bang, literally a BIG BANG. One of the fireworks that we lit was an M80 and man alive that thing was powerful. 


Mike (Pop Pop) was able to visit with 3 missionaries he had in his district while serving at the MTC as a counselor in a branch presidency. They are all three serving in our ward. Those missionaries hold him in very high regard and love him so much. 


We hung out at home on Thursday and on Friday made our way downtown taking the scenic route past downtown over the bridge to the West Bank and back again. (I always get lost downtown). 


Friday was also Miss Maggie's Birthday!!!! She turned 2. Pop Pop took her to the toy store and let her pick out whatever she wanted. We had cake on Sunday when all the family was there. She loved being sung to and we made sure to sing at every opportunity. 


David, Mike, and Daniel all went to a premier showing of Ice Age 4 in 3D. Fun little boy trip. 


My parents and Lindsie joined the party after driving 2 days from Utah very early on Saturday morning. 


We blessed baby Noah on Sunday the 8th and it was so great to have so many family members there to support us. His blessing was amazing. I love hearing what each child has in store for them. David mentioned being worried that Noah would  cry because he is a crier. Well true to his character he did, the whole blessing my little man cried. Ironically in the blessing he was told he would have a happy countenance. He really is so sweet and I adore him but he has his moments. 


All our visitors and D went to the WWII museum which they loved. I didn't go because I wasn't feeling well and ended up sleeping the whole time they were gone. 


Pop Pop left on Wednesday and for the rest of the week everyone just hung out. 


We had a few lazy days (I had a lot).


The kids got to go downtown to a plantation and to see gators. 


We also had a surprise visit from uncle Jake. 


We spent three days at the beach in Pensacola Florida with everyone and it was such a blast! We loved relaxing and playing on the beach. 


Lindsie went home Thursday morning and everyone else left Saturday morning. 


We love having family visit! Seriously we love it. Thanks to everyone who has come and spent time with us. Family is so important and we are blessed to have one that loves and supports us in all we do. Now its time to clean the house and get back into our "regular" routine. Happy July Everyone!!!

.

Summer 2012 Pensacola Florida

 These are some of my favorite pictures of my little man. 

 I LOVE HIM!