Sick Leave

There are lots of benefits of being a mom...little giggles, smiles, hugs, teaching moments, playing with my kids, watching them master a new skill, nap time :), and the funny things that they do that keep me laughing. But I need a few more benefits...the kind that every other working individual gets. And no, I don't mean the paycheck (although that would be nice as well). I want sick leave and a few vacation days as well.

I was sick last week (probably from cleaning up Nathan's puke). I couldn't call a substitute or call in saying that I can't be mom today. I couldn't lay in bed all day. No...being a mom means being a mom 24-7. Sick or not, the kids still need to be fed (even though the thought of food made me sick), dressed, entertained (thank goodness for the TV on days like this), and watched (or Nathan would tear the house apart).

O-well. The benefits of being a mom far outweigh the benefits that are lacking.....I just need to be reminded what those great benefits are next time I am sick!

Looking Through Dirty Windows

Last night was the General Relief Society Meeting. I LOVED President Monson's talk. If you have a minute, you can watch it here (his talk starts at about 57 minutes). Here are some of my favorite quotes from him last night:

"I begin with a short anecdote which illustrates the point I would like to make. A young couple, Lisa and John, moved into a new neighborhood. One morning while they were eating breakfast, Lisa looked out the window and watched her next door neighbor hanging up her wash. "That wash is not clean!", Lisa exclaimed. "Our neighbor doesn't know how to get clothes clean." John looked on but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang up her wash to dry, Lisa would make the same comments. A few weeks later Lisa was surprised to glance out her window to see a nice, clean wash hanging in her neighbor's yard. She said to her husband, "Look John, she's finally learned how to wash correctly. I wonder how she did it". John replied, "Well Dear, I have the answer for you. You'll be interested to know that I got up early this morning and washed our windows".

Are we looking through a window which needs cleaning? Are we making judgments when we don't have all the facts? What do we see when we look at others? What judgments do we make about them? Said the Savior, "Judge not." He continued, "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matthew 7:3) Or to paraphrase - "Why beholdest thou the dirty laundry at your neighbor's house but considers not the soiled window in your own house?" 

Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who worked among the poor in India most of her life, spoke this profound truth: "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." The Savoir has admonished, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." (John 15:12) I ask: Can we love one another, as the Savior has commanded, if we judge each other? And I answer--with Mother Teresa--"No; we cannot."

—President Thomas S. Monson  

Are your windows clean? I need to wash mine...or maybe Eric will get up early and do it for me :)

Nathan's Journal

Every birthday I write in my kid's journals about what they have been up to for the year. I pulled Nathan's out for his third birthday and got caught up in reading and remembering the funny things that he used to do. For today's Saturday's Story, I want to share a few of my favorite excerpts from his journal.

August, 2007 - "You should be born healthy and strong, in fact, you will probably be born walking because you "walked" 30 miles with me while I went on our Stake's Pioneer Trek in July when I was 6 1/2 months pregnant. We walked the entire way and it was an amazing experience. I hope that you have the opportunity to go again."

September, 2007 - "Nathan, it feels so good to finally know who you are! It was such a fun surprise to find out that you are a boy. When you came out, the nurses thought that you were having a hard time breathing because your face was purple. You were fine...you just had a bruised face and right arm from being so squished (sorry!). They even had to put a sign on your carrier saying "I have a bruised face" so that people don't think that you are suffocating."

June, 2008 - "Nathan Baby - you are already 9 months old - time sure flies when you are having fun, and you are a blast! You are such a cute, adorable little boy. You have HUGE, clear, striking blue eyes that people always comment on. You also have curly blond hair at the ends - Dad wants me to cut the curls off because he is worried that you look like a girl - but I won't let him. And you do not look like a girl - you look like the Gerber Baby. You love, love, love to eat! You cold sit and eat all day because when I am done feeding you, you always cry for more - even if you are stuffed."

December, 2008 - "You are very cuddly. Our favorite thing to do at night is to sit on my bed and say "Nathan, can I have a love?" and you will go around to each of us giving us hugs. Kaylee and Aaron love it. Sometimes you will even tease us by walking toward us to give us a love and then walk away. You had your first hair cut yesterday. I love your hair - it is very curly - but it was just getting too long and crazy, plus people were calling you a girl. I gave you a little trim and I miss the ringlets!"

March, 2009 - You are 18 months old and I want to write down some of the fun things that you are doing before we forget:

Your favorite things:

• Balls, balls, balls! You are obsessed with balls. If you pass a ball or even something the looks like a ball you will point it out. 

• Daddy. You love it when Daddy comes home. You hear the garage door and go running to the stairs saying "Daddy". You love to jump all over him.

• Lilah - You love our dog. You will follow her around and sit by her and sometimes lay on her. In the morning she comes into your room and your face will light up as you say "Lilah" over and over.

• Food. You love to eat - anything you can get your hands on - even dog food. You get pretty mad when you have to wait to eat or when we tell you that you are done."

Monkey Cupcakes

I found these cute monkey cupcakes over at The Two Savvy Sisters. Nathan saw them and wanted me to made them for his third birthday and they were a big hit:

I frosted the entire cupcake with chocolate frosting, then used a toothpick to spike the frosting into hair.

The eyes are chocolate chips, and the nose and mouth are licorice strings.

I spread yellow frosting in a circle for the face.

The ears are supposed to be chocolate cookies, but I couldn't find any that small so I just made them out of paper.

Enjoy!

Store Tours

Nathan and I are a part of a neighborhood group of moms and kids. Each week we do something fun with our kids. Nathan really loves the tours. They are free and we get a behind-the-scenes look into several businesses...and the best part...samples. We went to a local candy factory and saw how candy was made step by step. We went to a local bread store and saw how bread is made, start to finish.

We also toured a grocery store and saw how the trucks brought and unloaded the food; how they store the veggies, fruit, and milk in the big refrigerators; and where they make the cookies in the bakery.

So get a group together and go explore your community!

It's like a back-stage-pass for kids.

Tantrum Survival Guide

Kids don't come with a survival guide, but I did find a survival guide for tantrums. Nathan just turned three so I am preparing myself for some doozies...he has already thrown some whoppers but I know that he's got more up his sleeve! Click on the link above for the entire article, but here are some of my favorite excerpts written by Kristen Gough:

Tantrums often come when your toddler is experiencing strong emotions but doesn't know how to tell you about them, or how to deal with them himself. "If you understood everything but couldn't talk as fast, you would be angry as well," explains Dr. Ravinder Khaira, a pediatrician at Sutter Health in Sacramento, California, and the father of four-year-old twin girls. "Toddlers have tantrums because they want to become more independent," Khaira says. "They want to do things like put on their clothes or feed themselves and they become frustrated with their limitations and the inability to communicate."

 "Once a tantrum occurs the most effective way to deal with it is to ignore it," says Dr. Glass. While your child is in the throes of emotion do not establish eye contact. You may want to put the child in her room or another safe location and let him stay there, under your supervision, until he's approachable. When you feel your child is past the behavior, give him attention and eye contact. "By giving your child attention when he's being good, he's more likely to end his tantrum or have a less intense tantrum when you don't give him attention during a tantrum."

There are days when you'll be the perfect parent and days where parenthood is more a matter of survival. When those difficult days come, remember that parenting is a learning process for both you and your toddler. As you help your child deal with her emotions, you'll be setting up a relationship and trust that will extend from the terrible twos into the tumultuous teens and beyond. As Jen Singer, mother of two and author of 14 Hours 'Til Bedtime puts it, "Toddler tantrums are normal. They just don't make a sticker for it in you child's memory book." 

I think that I need a sticker, t-shirt, or award of some kind saying:

 I Survived

Nathan's Tantrums

Travis' Triumphs

What is my triumph today...just surviving yesterday! It was a VERY long day and I am VERY happy to say that today is a new day. Here is a little taste of my yesterday...got the kids off to school (Aaron almost missed the bus even when the stop is right in front of our house), worked out, went grocery shopping, played with Nathan's new toys, made a peach pie, laundry, laundry, and more laundry, it was just one of those days that I didn't get a minute to myself.

Then to top it all off, when I finally melted into my bed (I love that feeling after a long day) and was just falling asleep, Eric says "Stac, I need your help". I went into Nathan's room to see him covered in puke...all over him, his pj's, his 3 blankets, and through the sheets. I didn't think that he had eaten that much...I was wrong! After cleaning him up (thanks Eric), and doing 2 more loads of laundry, then began my long night of being "on call". Whenever Nathan would stir, I would jump out of bed to check on him just in case he needed to throw up again. I did not want another mess!

Just another day in the life I suppose.

On a more positive note: Travis has had a few triumphs of his own:

Eating solids...

kind of.

And rolling over...which I am not too excited about.

 I am not ready for him to be mobile!