Being A Mom is not so bad!

I have read a couple of things lately that have made me feel that maybe having 2 children isn't as hard as I thought. I get overwhelmed quite frequently, and many times I feel that I have not accomplished much in the day even though I have worked myself ragged.

Currently, I am reading "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" by Dr. Laura. The book is really putting things in perspective for me. It is very true that if Mom isn't happy, nobody's happy. It's our responsibility to make sure that we are being as pleasant as we can around our husbands and family. If it means taking a nap, or asking for someone to watch the kids for an hour so you can have alone time, so be it. We determine the atmosphere in our own homes. I do not know where this quote came from, but it enters my mind daily. It says something to the effect of "Care and love your family in this life so that they will WANT to spend Eternity with you."

There is a story about a woman named Cornelia Africana who is considered the perfect example of a virtuous woman. When women questioned Cornelia about her mode of dress and personal adornment, which was far more simple and understated than was usual for a wealthy Roman woman of her rank and station, Cornelia indicated her children and said, "These are my jewels."

As I am sitting here with my son asking me to try his pretend pizza he made in his pretend stove, and Maya trying to climb up my legs to sit on my lap, I am reminded, "These are my jewels." They are what life is made of, and they bring me joy.

And before I end my post, here is a little fact to make you glad you have 1, 2, 3, or 6 kids and not as many as this woman had. We really don't have it so bad!
The highest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69, to the first wife of Feodor Vassilyev (1707-1782) of Shuya, Russia. Between 1725 and 1765, in a total of 27 confinements, she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. 67 of them survived infancy.

Who uses that word?!

The other day we were eating dinner and there were ice cubes in our cups. Hayden looked at the melting ice and observed, "The ice is being integrated into the water!" What? I don't think I've ever used that word in my life, and here Hayden is using the word rather correctly. Do I have a genius on my hands, or what?

My OTHER baby

I walked upstairs to put Maya down for a nap and found Cali sucking an old binki of Maya's. She wasn't chewing on it like most dogs would. She was actually sucking it. Aww, even doggies like to be babied.

I am finally starting to love our dog. We bought a doggie door yesterday and have not had a single accident since! She plays so well with our kids and visitors. I really couldn't ask for a better dog. (I guess she's really still a puppy--6 months old--but she's as big as Hayden!)

Like Mother Like Daughter

I found this picture of me, and knew that I had a similar one of Maya. Both riding a horse, both in pink overall, both about the same age. I know she looks a lot like her dad, but there are a few similarities to us. I thought these pictures were fun! Enjoy!

The Latest of Maya

Our First Camp out

This past weekend we went up to South Fork Campground to camp and tube down the river with my Mom and Roy. I know my mom doesn't read these, so I'm going to say that we thought this was not going to be very fun. We were WRONG! It was a blast! As soon as we got there we floated the river twice, cooked tin foil dinners, let Cali play in the water, and roasted S'mores. Hayden couldn't wait to do all these things. Poor kid! We've only ever set the tent up in the Living Room! It rained-no-POURED the whole night on our wimpy little tent, but Hayden slept right through it. (We got to leave Maya with Grandma Judy!) The next morning we had pancakes, bacon, eggs and hot chocolate. It was pretty cold because it had rained all night, but Hayden asked us every 2 minutes if it was time to float the river again. Finally about 9AM, we agreed to go to the river. We got some of the strangest looks walking to the river with our tubes in the cold weather, but by the second time floating it, people started to follow. It was such a great time. I have lots of scratches and bruises from the rocks, but we will definitely be going there a couple of times next year. The water is perfect for young kids. Not too fast and not deep. We have already planned another camping trip to Bear Lake over Labor day weekend. Let us know if you want to tag along. The more the merrier!

Parade of Homes

The Salt Lake Parade of Homes is always a highlight of my year! This year there have been some AMAZING homes. There were many 2 and 3 million dollar homes and a 5.3 million dollar home as well. Here are a few of my favorites from this year. Pink with brown and ice blue with brown are still very popular! I am going to redo Maya's room with those colors as soon as she out grows her crib. I like the white antiqued cabinets above and we are in the process right now of re-painting our cabinets to look like that. (I'll post a picture when we're done) I also like the way the towel is hung in the picture above. One home had a football stadium inside one of the boy's rooms complete with 3 plasma TV's, lockers, and astroturf! That same home had a huge swimming pool with water falls all falling into it and a large waterslide! I can't believe that people live like this!! It has been funn checking out all of the homes and the latest trends. Can't wait until next year.

Am I Not the BEST Mom EVER!?

If any of you know my Maya, you know what a handful she is. I am lucky if I get anything done while she is awake, and if I do get something done, rest assured she will follow right behind and undo whatever it is that I've done. During her nap times I rush to get as much cleaning done as possible because it is my ONLY opportunity. So, the other day as I was struggling to get dinner ready with Maya standing literally between my legs and crying, I had an idea. I got out a pudding cup and set her in her high chair and let her go to town. She had more fun painting her face and high chair with the stuff, rather than eating it. I have done this again because it is worth it to me to have a 5 minute mess to clean up for 20 minutes of peace! She gets so excited when I pull out the pudding, and she does her little sign language sign for eat over and over again and claps her hands. She makes me feel like the best mom. But really, can a mess get any cuter than this?

My 3 year old Outsmarted me

Today Maya emptied out the whole kitchen garbage can, and unfolded all of the laundry from the basket all before she had even been awake for an hour. Hayden asked me, "Why don't you put her on time out?" To which I replied, "Because she doesn't understand what time out is; it wouldn't make sense to her yet." Hayden then quickly said, "Well, then I don't understand time out either!!" Smart boy, huh?!

"Who will eat Whom?"

Every month for Enrichment, we do a cupcake of the month at my house. Everyone brings an item for the cupcakes or 25 cents and we have a blast putting them all together! Family Fun's website has hundereds of ideas. This is the one we made yesterday! This is Shark Week on the Discovery Channel after all.