Most of all I am a mother

I just thought I'd post a little bit about my babies on here.  They are so amazing to me.  Before I had children I had no idea how amazing it is to be a mom.  I get to see them grow up from their very first moment on earth, as they learn and change every day.  The human mind and body amazes me in it's perfect design.  I often find myself trying to train my children to be what I want or do what I think they should, but as long as I can keep myself from interfering I find that they are built for what they need and they will develop just the way they need to. 
      As a mother this can be difficult for me because I have preconceived notions and sometimes comparisons based on other people's kids about how my kids should act at a particular age or what is "safe" to ignore and what needs to be changed.  On the other hand, I understand that children need to be taught and directed as they grow up.  Where to draw the line?  Well, there's the rub.  I suppose it can vary with the person, situation, parenting style, previous precendents, and any number of other things.  Sometimes my brain just gets tired thinking about all of this.  Anyway, sometimes I just ramble, but in case you're interested those are some of my ramblings...
    Here's a little update on the amazing little people at my house:
      Hyrum-He's already four and a half and it boggles my mind.  He is trying to learn how to write his letters.  He practices by scratching lines into the carpet.  So far, he can do an H, A, O, L, T, I, and he's working on Y.  At least, that's all I know of.  He is very obedient and has been unusually cooperative lately (not sure why, but hey I'm not complaining).  That being said he is also pretty loud a lot of the time and has tons of energy, but likes to spend some of it entertaining his sisters, so again I'm not going to complain. :)
      Sara-Every bit a princess, as her name meaning implies.  She loves Jenna and cuddles her all the time.  She is very bright and begs me every day for "school time" so we can practice reading words together.  Reading is her passion already it seems, as is coloring (and she colors in the lines, by the way).  She is so sweet to me, even when I get impatient with her.  Sara can be very dramatic, but it's easy to get her to smile again.
      Genevieve-A very happy child is the best way to describe her.  I used to think she was just mellow, but I find now that happy is a more accurate description, since she is very clear about her opinions and has a champion set of lungs to match.  Even so, she is relatively easy to please and is capable of entertaining herself.  She hangs out with Hyrum and Sara quite a bit too.  This month has been a big month for her.  She started walking and now can take four or five steps at a time.  I can't believe she is already mobile (besides crawling).  She is also starting to differentiate between her gaga's and dada's.  Most importantly (to me) is that she now clearly says "mama" and even looks towards me as she says it.  Melts my heart evey time.

                                          Jenna's new hobby: emptying all the drawers

                                           Eating out of the peanut butter jar...priceless

                                               Halloween 2010 (I'm not that crafty-don't judge ;)

      Ah, children.  I love you and I love being your mother...

Sara's Birthday

     Yesterday was Sara's third birthday.  We just had a small family party, but we all had fun and Sara loved it.  I made a fondant cake for her this year, my very first fondant cake.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it was my first experience handling fondant at all.  I loved it!   Sara told me she wanted a lady bug cake and I decided to make it 3 tiers, since she was turning three.  My friend Jolene, who is a fantastic woman in all ways and extremely creative showed me how to make the fondant and helped me assemble the cake.  She has made several spectacular cakes before and I don't know what mine would have looked like without her help.  So, thank you Jolene!  Here are some pictures of the cake and the birthday party:

                                     .                                                        The finished cake ta-da!

                                                            Me with my birthday girl

                                                                Daddy and his girl

Jenna's getting in on the fun too

a momentous occasion!

Something happened today that I have been waiting to happen for a long time. I can't remember when I started to consciously think about it, but at some point it became an active thought in my brain and I almost couldn't wait until it happened. Well, today it did!
Before I tell you what it is that was so amazing, let me fill you in on a little background. Now, try as I might, I am not always a consistent parent, but one thing that I have persisted in doggedly has been having my children clean up their toys and such before bed. If things get too crazy during the day, I also make them clean up their messes before they go on to the next activity. This has been a challenge for me for more than one reason. First of all, taking the time every day to get 2 and 3 year-olds to pick up toys and put them in the correct spot, using up twice as much or more time than it would have taken me to throw just throw them in the toybox myself, gets me a insane sometimes. Now, I have continued to do this mainly for two reasons:

A. I think it's important that the children learn to do it young
B. I knew that the day would come when one of them would finally stop for a moment, before getting all their toys out at once and consciously think to themselves, "If I get every toy out at once, I will have all of them to pick up. If only get one out, I will only have to pick up one later."

Let's focus on B. It happened today!!!! Hyrum and Sara had some friends over to play. Whenever they have had friends over in the past, we ended up with a big mess at the end, but today was different. Hyrum's friend wanted to dump out all the toys and start playing when I heard Hyrum gasp. "No!" he exclaimed. "If we dump all those out my mom will make us pick them up and I don't want to!"
I was so happy I wanted to shout it on the roof so all the neighbors could celebrate with me. Luckily our roof has no easy access, so I didn't get the chance (sorry neighbors, maybe next time;).
All my coaching, coaxing, encouraging, exasperation, my (sometimes desperate) pleading, and various disciplinary method cocktails finally paid off! I can't tell you how fulfilling it is to see your child display an active understanding for a concept you have worked on literally for years. My mom always told me that whatever a child was doing (or not doing) while their parent is trying to teach them something, the information always goes in, even if the results don't surface until much later (see mom? I was listening!). Well mom was right, as usual.

While I'm on it, let me tell you something else my mom told me that has been a priceless gem of advice. I often call her up to tell her how tired I am or frustrated or lost or whatever, and it was on one of these occasions that she told me this. She said "Rachel, just remember that in all you do with your family, you are building something. It may be frustrating and draining at times, but always remember-YOU ARE BUILDING SOMETHING." That phrase has stuck with me and I hear it in my own head frequently. Today was a perfect demonstration of that and through all the drama, I hope that this small lesson has been one that Hyrum will keep and eventually enlarge into an understanding of personal responsibility and thinking before acting. If he does, then I know all this work for something so seemingly small will be worthwhile. And I would just like to add a little something to my mom's advice that was probably implied anyway, and that is to remember that in teaching a child you are building something eternal.

Halloween Party

Every year since Rachel and I met we have had a Halloween party. We would always go all out. This year we kept it simple and turned our annual gala into family home evening. We played tag in the leaf paths. We decorated cupcakes. We ate popcorn, chips and dip, and veggies and dip. To top off the night we watched a halloween cartoon. It was an all around good time, I fell asleep early. Happy Halloween!

Here we are!

Well, I decided to switch over to google, and so far it's working out great! For anyone who has been following my other blog (which I know has not had a new post for quite some time) this is now the one I will be using. I have more time now and will be updating much more often. Here are some pictures of the kiddos to make this post infinitely more interesting...



Who could resist this face?

Sara reading to the guys

She is so good at posing!