A Bad Day Turned Around

Today started out not great. I had terrible nightmares last night, the boys were crabby and I had to drive down to Orem which is not that big of a deal except that I got lost about 5 times this morning, driving around Orem. American Fork, Saratoga Springs, and Eagle Mountain. Awesome. But then. on the way home from picking up Jake, we decided to stop at Smiths and chicken was on sale for 69 cents a pound! Not going to lie, chicken sales put me a good mood for a few days. Then we got home and someone cut our grass! So nice of them. We really needed to but we don't have a lawn mower and Jake was going to try to borrow one this week but someone beat us to it! We are so grateful to whoever did this for us. I hope we find out who so we can somehow return the favor.

Since the day turned around, I decided to blog. When I'm crabby and I blog, I don't normally publish them- my mood is too strong in the writing. There aren't pictures of the house yet but when stuff is put together a little more I will post about that too I am sure.

So we moved to Eagle Mountain September 12th and we are so glad. We love it! Our house is nice and big, we have a great yard. The two best things about our house- the dishwasher and the toyroom. Yeah, you read it right. We have a room in our house dedicated just to the boys toys. They don't take toys downstairs (we have 4 downstairs toys) and it's so great to not have to chase those silly little toys all over the house. Plus our ward is so excellent. The first Sunday we went we met so many people and they are so friendly. Jake really likes the Elder's Quorum president and the Relief Society president made me feel so welcome and I am so grateful that we decided to go to this ward instead of our other options. 

I included a few random pictures documenting what we have been doing since we moved- which is mostly nothing- except I have unpacked a ton.

watching Ratatouille. I had never seen it before but it was on ABC Family so I recorded it for Mikey and now he won't stop watching it. And it turns out, I don't think it holds up. But Mikey, Jake, and Adam like it so I am outnumbered.

My little ham.

Adam is always eating. Seriously. He eats everything. And now he was 2 teeth and has 3 coming in. Poor guy is a terrible teether.

Adam at his cousins 1st birthday party- which was so fun. Way to go Abby. I think that you might have not made enough food though haha.

Mikey was throwing a fit- one of those charming terrible two ones they talk about so I asked him to help me make brownies. He was so  good- he held the cup measures and stirred it for me. What a good help. (I promise he had fun, he is just very serious about his jobs)

Isn't he just adorable? And huge? He is like 24 lbs. Way to go buddy.

A picture showing us at our finest. Can you see my baby belly? I am 23 weeks along... I think. Turns out when you have been pregnant 3 times in three years you lose track of weeks.

Here are two pictures of my latest project. It is a little pillow seat for the boys. I am going to make another one, I just ran out of time during naps today. It has a little handle and Mikey has already taken to dragging it around the playroom.

I am proud of it. Yay for PInterest. And thanks to Aunt Cheri for pinning all those sewing projects- that's how I find just about all of them.

Update. A pictureless update.

So I can only get the photo uploaded to work about 5 percent of the time which is seriously annoying. I think that my computer has a virus- you'd think that since my husband is a professional computer programmer, he would fix but geez, that guy is just so busy.

So here is just a plain ole boring pictureless update

Jake
Has a huge deadline at work so has been working crazy hours. Let's see, its Friday afternoon and he has already put in about 50 hours and he will probably still put in about 14 more hours. Awesome. One of the other programmers is working on getting him some time off next week because he has worked so much. I can dream but in reality, it probably won't happen.

Me
Just as sick as ever. Lately, I have been crazy sick which is unfortunate, especially since Jake is working so much. I am having loads of cramps and pains but it's okay because I am almost half done my pregnancy! And then, hopefully, we will take a bit of a break. But thus far, it hasn't really worked out that way. We have been packing a lot, and we are probably about half done- mostly just our clothes and food is left. Go us. We are moving in 8 days which is insane, especially since we don't know when we will get possession of our house. We are waiting on this loan and they don't allow updates which is annoying. But we are being patient and just hoping that everything will work out.

Mikey
Well, he's two. That says a lot. He is crazy and needy and loud. But still adorable. He is constantly giving hugs and kisses to me and Adam which is adorable. Yesterday, I was sick and laying on the couch and Mikey came up and patted my head and kissed my cheek. It was so cute, not terribly gentle, but still so sweet. He is slowly putting some words together- the other day he said Mama, where Dada. I was very proud. He has pretty much just said Mama since then but still, he is gonna figure it out. He has a comprehensive hearing and speech test on Tuesday so we will know how damaged his hearing is and how severe his speech delay is. Wish us luck.

Adam
Crawling all over and quite the little bully. The other day, Mikey had a toy and Adam took it, and then held Mikey at arm's length while Mikey screamed but he couldn't reach it. So funny but kinda sad. He is a squawker which is pretty cute. He gets incredibly excited for when Jake gets home from work and can pull himself up to standing and will take steps when we hold his hands. We are proud.

Well there ya go. Hopefully one of these days I will be able to get the photo uploader to work. I probably won't post again for a while. But the next post will probably be sharing the baby's gender! Care to take guesses? Jake says it's a boy and I have truly no idea.

Mikey turned 2!

On Saturday, our big guy turned 2. I can't believe it. How can he be two already? Also, to add to the craziness, my oldest is 2 and I am 16 weeks along with my third. Yeah. Nuts.

When I asked what he wanted for his birthday, every time he told me "Dada". Lucky for him, Jake didn't have to work on Saturday so he got the whole day with him!

It was a fun day. We just had a simple party- Provo Splash Pad and then a barbecue in the backyard. Originally we were only going to invite family but then the more we thought about it, the more we realized that we wanted to share the day with our close friends outside of the family too. (and on Monday we went and saw Planes for his birthday. We were going to go on Saturday before the party but I got lost on the way home from picking up the cake. So, yeah, we missed it)

He made out like a bandit with presents. Let's see if I can list them all- a toy piano, two books, a Toy Story cell phone (that he carries around in his shirt- thanks to his Aunty Hannah haha), a Jake and the Neverland Pirates matching game, a playdo book, bath toys, Nerf balls, bubble gun, a bike, a fabric alphabet book, toy dinosaurs, and I cannot think of anything else- which means one of two things: I named them all, or my pregnancy brain. That's all. 

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera when we went to the splash pad but I still got a few pictures from the day.

The night before his birthday, I blew up a ton of balloons and let him outside his door. Sadly, the helium didn't last quite long enough but he still loved it.

Our younger big guy, Adam getting stuck in the balloons. Poor buddy is a mover but not great at steering.

Ah, this cake. My great friend Mandy from Baking with Blondie made the cake for us and it was so cute. But then I drove it home in my crappy car that shakes all the time and it settled so the beautiful cake didn't look as great. But it still tasted great- and I don't even like cake. Chocolate with coconut filling.

I tried to move the cake back to the center of the plate with a spatula which Mikey found and sucked on it for about 10 minutes. 

Toy piano from his dad!

He loved the bubble gun and pretty much didn't want to open anything else so he could play it.

Mikey's grandma was in town and bought him a bike for his birthday! He loved it, until he fell off, now he is much more hesitant. But we are working on it.

It was a great day and it is so much fun to celebrate it with our great family and friends. Too bad the rest of them couldn't have been there too!

Introducing...

Baby Logan #3. Coming soon (ish-- Jan30 2014) to a hospital near me.

Well there's the news. We are expecting our third little munchkin. And before you all wonder and want to ask, yes we were planning on it and expecting it.
Wish us luck! It's a big adventure but we think we are up to the task.

(For some reason, I can't get the picture upload to work on blogger so the ultrasound is on facebook instead)

Here's to the Bad Days

Ever have a bad day?
Like everything seems to go wrong? Or even worse, doesn't even start out right?
That was Monday. I felt a little sick, I was exhausted from all the traveling (so grateful to be home by the way- the trips were great but there is nothing quite like home), overwhelmed by the mess from partially unpacking and getting distracted by my kiddos who kept screaming. It was bad. Not the worst ever but still hard.
All day I was constantly praying that if I had to go through today, at least could tomorrow be better? I tried to change my attitude. I tried cleaning and when that didn't work out, I tried to distract myself from the mess. I tried to play with my kids so that we would all be happy. The bad news is, my day didn't get any better. The good news is that my prayers were answered.
Tuesday was much better. The boys were good, my house was reasonably clean- let's be real- it's still a little messy- I can't make two and half weeks of traveling go away in a day and a half.
Tuesday was a great day because I know that Heavenly Father answered my prayers. I know that He knows who I am and what I need. If I am just humble enough to ask for help, if it is what is best for me, He will help me. Everything in my life, if I live right, will make me a better person. Life has been tricky- it is for everyone- but I am quite pleased at how I have turned out. I am still a little moody and I have an edge but overall, I feel good about who I have become and while it is daunting, all the growth that is in my future will be good too.
And another thing I learned from Monday- one bad day, or even a bunch in a row, cannot negate the great things in my life.
For example...

I think that looks pretty great.
So here is to the bad days because they won't be around forever and they help us know that good ones will be coming.
Here is to the bad days so we can better appreciate the good ones.

The Benefit of a Sincere Compliment

Have you ever wondered what a compliment really means to someone? Have you ever seen someone with just incredibly well behaved kids and want to tell them but aren't sure? Or someone just rocking some awesome shoes or a shirt? Or what about a friend that is just absolutely brilliant? Or gorgeous? Or pee-your-pants hilarious? Do you ever tell them? If not, why not? What is the harm in passing a compliment.
Last night, I was getting into the car to go to a Relief Society meeting and one of the woman we were car pooling with turns around and goes "We were just talking about how beautiful you are." Whoa. Color me surprised. Sure, Jake tells me and trust me I don't take that for granted. And when I go to HI those cute old Polynesian men tell me I'm a beautiful haole girl- but they also tend to be the ones that would say a fish is beautiful so you just say thank you and move on? My whole life, I always just thought I was plain. Not ugly necessarily, but not attractive either. And now, I hear these women tell me how I am beautiful enough to be a model? Why don't people give just honest to goodness compliments all the time? What is it about saying something nice that seems to make someone vulnerable or something? I don't get it. I know that I tend to not tell people. For example, I think my siblings are just geniuses. All five of 'em. Do I tell them? Not so much.

My brother Jeff? I have incredible respect for him. He has had a hard life but he has turned it around. He is a husband, and a father and almost a pharmacist. That's a doctor. I wanted to cut off my little toe after my bachelors (well truthfully, only about 3 years in) and Jeff is a doctor? What. Nuts.

How about Jordan? Dude has almost 4 kids, a wife and is a chiropractor. What I said about being a doctor before, applies here as well. He lives out in the boonies being a doctor. That is pretty cool. He is living his dream. Lucky. And he is silly. But in a fun way. I like him.

How about Malcolm? Okay, now don't get me wrong, I think all my family are above average intelligence but I just think Mal is a make me feel like a dunce brilliant. Plus, what a nice guy. When I was a freshman, I called him to help me figure out speakers for my computer. So the next weekend he came to visit, he brought me speakers. A nice, sealed box of speakers, that I still use almost daily 6 six years later.

Shelly. Oh Shels. She lived in Africa- twice. What the heck? Isn't that scary? Why, yes yes it is. (Granted I think going even to Nevada where we have no family is scary so maybe I am not the best judge? Who knows.) And she is getting a Master's degree. I have an incredibly educated family- me? Not so much haha. You know what is kinda poopy but in a great way? Having an older sister that is smart, funny and beautiful.

And James. Little Jimmy. (who is in fact about 6 or 7 inches taller than me) His personality is totally wasted on a youngest child. He is so protective and caring and just wants to take care of everyone. Kinda great. Plus he is doing accounting. (smarty-pants) And then wants to be a lawyer! My little brother with floral suspenders, coke bottle glasses and gum boots a lawyer? Good on ya.

I have a pretty great family. I like them. I am sad that we live all over the place but we do a fairly good job of seeing each other and keeping in contact- not good enough to keep up with all the babies but still.
Well family, I hope that these sincere compliments made your day as much as the one I got yesterday.

Seriously? What a cool and intelligent looking family.

Love you!

"I don't know what your generation's fascination is with documenting your every thought...

but I can assure you, they're not all diamonds" (Mr Griffith in Easy A- awesome movie, watch it. That's all)

Most of the time when I make a really good dinner I think to myself "Man this is so great, I need to take a picture and blog about it and maybe text the picture to my family. Everyone will be so amazed at what I did." And then I realize, what the heck is wrong with me? I am no great chef, I don't have a cooking blog and my family couldn't care less about a junk quality image of food that they can barely see and don't get to eat. 

It makes me wonder, when my mom made a kick-A meal for my dad did she grab the good ole camera and snap away and then mail copies to her friends and family? Hmm, probably not. I imagine they ate it, were pleased, and moved on.

Sometimes I think that I was born in the wrong generation. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer, my kindle, my television and all that other great stuff but my cell phone- I hate it. Today Mikey lost the battery to it on our walk (we found it eventually, extended our walk by about 20 minutes. I think it was a plot) and while I was worried that Jake wouldn't be able to get ahold of me to pick him up from work I was so excited. I didn't have a phone. I was off the grid so to speak. It was fantastic. I hate that I feel chained to that stupid little box. I leave it at home, or on my dresser for a day just to feel free. I hate Words with Friends- play scrabble with the people sitting next you, interact. It'll blow your mind. I hate twitter. Seriously, it is okay to have a little privacy in the world. I understand the benefit of things like facebook, twitter, cell phones, etc.- it makes the world small. It is so incredibly easy to stay in contact with family and friends. But you know what I have noticed. Because I read my facebook newsfeed, I feel like I know what is going on with people but in reality, I don't know them at all. I never actually talk to them. I think I do because I read their status updates and see their throwback thursday instagrams or whatever those are called, but in reality, I don't know anything. I am starting to get so content to just sit at home with my boys and feel like reading facebook and blogs are sufficient adult interaction. But in all actuality, it is not. When I spend time with my neighbors, or friends, I feel so much better. When I see Mikey run around with other kids, I feel like giving myself a mom point (a real one, not the sarcastic ones me and Shelly do because we think we are funny) because he is so much happier to be with other people.

I just think that maybe I would've fit better with the previous generation. Who knows. There probably would've been things I thought were silly then too. Like, bell bottoms. Blows my mind.