So, once upon a time, we got a new house with a fantastic and very spacious back yard. Just a few weeks ago, I was wondering why the kids and I spend so little time in it. Is it too hot? Not enough shade? But after some serious contemplation, I realized that the reason we never really played in it was because there was nothing to do in it.

UNTIL NOW!

My Sister-in-Law, Maren, mentioned once that she got a backyard swing set for free off of KSL, and somebody else mentioned doing the same thing. So I was like, no way am I going to pay for stuff. So I stalked KSL for a couple weeks and SHAZAM! Look what we got for FREE! (With the blessed assistance from Josh’s parents and their truck for moving it.)

 

But Fay doesn’t seem to like it very much. The first day we had it, she only spent 75% of her waking time on the swing set, and that was the day she had pre-school. Oh well. Maybe she’ll learn to like it. 🙂 Speaking of Fay: This is her on her first day of “Princess Preschool! It is just her and her cousin Lexi, but they have SO much fun! And so do the moms!

 

Also in our back yard we have tomatoes!!! Some are getting red despite the fact that we planted them quite late! I’m so excited to eat them!

Another thing we got is actually something that Josh awesomely MADE for me!!!!! I have lamented our lack of a mantel to decorate for quite some time, and I found a tutorial for a really simple faux mantel online. I showed it to Josh and told him that I NEED one! “Tomorrow!” I said. (This was a couple weeks ago.) Well, he was all for it until he saw the design for the one from the tutorial. Then he decided that if we were going to do this mantel thing, we had better do it right.  This is what he designed (on two tiny pieces of paper in about 18 minutes) and made for me in one day! We are going to put a black panel on the back so that you can’t see the wall through it. But it is just so beautiful I couldn’t wait until we got the panel! Josh is the best!

Anyway, speaking of my kids… they are so cute! Let’s have another look, shall we?

AHHHH! They really are so cute! So cute, in fact, that we think we’ll have another one! Baby Monson #3 is due on March 17, 2016! We are (okay, I’m probably the only on who really cares) hoping that he/she doesn’t come on the exact due-date, however, because that would mean I would have to share my St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with birthday celebrations. Obviously it doesn’t really matter. But if this baby does come on its due-date, it had better love the color green!

 

We have been a busy bunch through the month of August. We have been to a family reunion, been to a wedding, gone camping and 4-wheeling, hosted gatherings, finally got a new pediatrician, I attended education week, Josh has gone to work, and the kids have done their thing wherever they are. I am apparently really good at forgetting the camera whenever we go anywhere cool; so you just get to glimpse our home life.

 

This past week, Josh and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! I can’t believe we have only been married for 4 years. I feel like obtaining 3 college degrees, having two children, moving across the country twice, and buying a house must have taken longer than only 4 years. But maybe we’re just over-achievers. 🙂 I am so grateful to be married to Josh, and for the beautiful life we have created together! Some days are hard and long; but I really wouldn’t change the life we have for anything in the whole world!

Can I be real with you all for a second (aka: post)?

Sometimes motherhood is stinkin’ hard! Some days, you wake up and you think, “Yeah, maybe I’d rather write a research paper  than ‘ride a dragon’ with Rapunzel one more time.” or “Why can’t kids just be kennel trained?”  Some days you are so out of ideas that all you do is watch Daniel Tiger and Olivia on Amazon all day. Some days you wish that you were simply somewhere else doing something different. It’s true. Ask any mom who has had kids for more than 6 months.

And so, you admit that, and the so-called “feminists” of the world chime in immediately saying “See!!!! Women who confine themselves to the drudgery of motherhood are miserable! If only they would put those little gremlins in daycare where they belong, those women could make something great out of their lives!”  And then the images they paint in your mind are those of a beautifully dressed, all powerful, fabulously wealthy CEO. That could all be mine, they tell me, if only I would give up my kids and do something really meaningful, like work.

But what they don’t paint in your mind is just how many days you wake up on a day where you are in the midst of your awesome degree or job and think “Yeah, I’d basically rather do anything that wake up and submit that product analysis.” or “Is there no end to the amount of work they want me to do here?” They also never paint in your mind the reality that NOT every woman who leaves her kids in daycare goes to a glamorous, prestigious job. Most of them are just normal people–normal people who sometimes have bad days, and wish they could do something else. I know, because once upon a time I didn’t have any kids. I was living the dream! I was in school, hanging out with friends, sleeping in on the weekends! It was great! And there were still a lot of days where I woke up NOT wanting to do any of it.

Whether you have kids or not, whether you are at home with them or not, sometimes we all have days where we want to be doing something different. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t doing something important.  I stay home with my kids, through the good days and the lousy ones, because they mean more to me than even the life of a beautifully dressed, all powerful, fabulously wealthy CEO. Yes, I am aware that theoretically I could have both of those. That’s why there’s daycare, after all. But being able to truly witness my children grow up–so that one day I can look back and remember that when Fay was 3 she LOVED to pretend she was a princess riding a dragon or a camel and that when Carter was 1 he would always crack up whenever Fay was throwing a tantrum–and most especially to truly teach my children about Heavenly Father and His Perfect Son, Jesus Christ so that we can all live together with Them forever, is more important to me than even the ultimate “feminist” dream.

I’m a mom when its hard, because family is what life is for!

Really.

It’s crazy to think that we have now been in Utah for 5 weeks! We are totally loving it here! We love being so close to so many people we have missed so much! We love having our own house and yard and garage! I love that when I went to the temple on Saturday only to find it closed for summer maintenance, that I could just drive another 8 minutes to the other temple in the same city that is also open for all ordinances all day long, no appointment needed!

And yet, when Josh started singing Carolina in My Mind the other night, I definitely remember why we weren’t so sure about leaving our old life for our new one. Sigh… James Taylor said that his growing up in, and subsequent love for North Carolina had more to do with the landscape and climate than with the people. Though I will admit that there are few things more spectacular than North Carolina in the spring–when the leaves have just come out, and are so bright after long months of nothing but brown bark–I feel like my love for North Carolina is immensely tied to the people there. And so many people that were so dear to me aren’t even originally from North Carolina, but they were there for MY North Carolina experience, and so when I hear the song, I think of them. And I miss them.

 

ANYWAY, here are some pictures of my kids!

As the summer first began, I felt like there were way too many things I needed to do that I didn’t really think too much about all the fun that summer can be. But now that things are settling down a little bit, I am realizing that I’m the mom, and therefore I get to make summer anything I want it to be! I am a little timid by nature when it comes to just getting out and having adventures, so I”m starting small. Yesterday, the kids and I had a “picnic” of lemonade and cookies out in the back yard. They loved it and so did I!

 

Also! Josh’s birthday was last week!!!! I totally should have given him his own post… Oh well.

So, once there was a fantastically adorable boy named Josh.

He grew up into a fantastically handsome man named Josh!

Some fabulous things about Josh are:

• He can fix basically everything that needs fixing–being home-owners makes that more important than ever!
• He works hard all day at work, and then comes home and plays hard with the kids! (I really don’t know how he has all the energy for it.)
• He set a record at his new job in the first 2 weeks!
• He is hilarious!
• He is loving, caring, forgiving, and in all other ways, good.

For his birthday this year, Josh (of course) made his own cakes. He couldn’t really find that perfect design for a super big, showy-offy cake, so he decided to go for simple, but outrageously delicious instead of really fancy.

The cake on the far left is (believe it or not) lemon blueberry. That night, it was my favorite! Perfectly moist, and a lovely blend of tangy and sweet! The middle middle is a salted caramel cake. That night it was good, but yesterday it was divine! The whole bottom layer of cake was saturated with the salted caramel sauce! I wish I could give you all a taste through the internet. Alas.

I am so glad that Josh has been on this earth for 27 years, and even more glad that he has been in my life for 5 years!

Fay’s birthday marked the beginning of a very large string of events that have led us to where we are now. I will give you the “bulleted” version

• May 7: Fay turned 3, Josh’s mom came to visit for graduation and help us pack
• May 8: My dad arrived for graduation
• May 9: Josh graduated with his Masters degree in computer science from UNC!!!!
• May10: My dad flew home
• May 12: Josh’s mom flew home and my Mother and sisters arrived in Durham by train to help us move
• May 13: We loaded a truck in the morning, turned in our keys, and started driving at about noon. We arrived in Union City, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta) and stayed the night.
• May 14: We drove to New Orleans, saw the city a little, ate some beignets and gumbo, and stayed the night in La Place, Louisiana.
• May 15: We drove to Austin, Texas to see my brother, Michael and his family. We also, filled out all our “closing” documents for our house and sent them to Utah. We had a fabulous weekend in Austin!
• May 18: We left Austin at 5:30 in the morning and drove to Lubbock, Texas where we stopped at a library to finish closing on our house, and establish utilities in our name. (The way timing worked on that was positively miraculous!) We arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico where we stayed with my cousin, Asael and his family! They took very good care of us!
• May 19: We left Albuquerque around 9:30 AM and drove to Monticello, Utah to visit my Grandma! Fay was able to meet Grandma Fay! It was very special! She also took good care of us, and we learned lots of family history!
• May 20: We left Monticello about 8:00 AM and made it to our new house (which we had never seen before) in West Jordan at about 1:30 PM! Our families came to help us unload our truck and give us hugs! We felt amazingly blessed by how everything turned out just right!

Since May 20, we have unpacked roughly 75 boxes, Josh has done a comparable number of home-fixes, we have been to a bunch of super fun family parties, seen some old friends, gotten a new library card(!!!!), done some yard work, been to our new ward, rediscovered the joys of Macey’s and WinCo, and are starting to feel at home in our new place! Oh yes, and Josh has started the new job that brought us all the way out here!

The best thing about our new life is that Jesus is the Christ and we are an Eternal family! That was also the best thing about our old life! It is just the best thing about life! We are SO grateful for the hand of the the Lord in our life!!

And here is some photo documentation of the whole thing!

 

Today, Fay turns 3 years old! The other night, I told her the story of when she was born. She couldn’t believe that she was so small and it is even hard for me to believe how tiny she actually was.

When she was born, I was convinced that she was the most beautiful thing that ever lived on the earth. And I recall hoping that she would not grow to look different. But as she grew, and continues to grow, she just becomes more and more beautiful–as you can see.

Anyway, enough about THEN. Let’s talk about Fay NOW!

Fay’s interests/likes include:

• Princesses—especially Belle, Aurora, and Odette
• Dresses—it is just about the end of the world if none of her dresses are clean
• Twirling and dancing
• Coloring
• Make believe going to her “class” or to her “choir”
• Singing
• Reading stories
• Racing with Mommy and Daddy
• Ramen–her request for food on her birthday

Some dislikes of Fay:

• Getting her hair done
• Wearing pants
• Fire alarm—the loud noise is absolutely terrifying for her
• Bugs on her
• “Going potty in the car”*
• “People pushing me”*
• “Bears, lions, and tigers who go rarrr!”* (she actually loves pretending to be all of those animals and scaring anyone who will be scared)

*From the mouth of Fay

Fay is always wanting to be a princess! She will allow me to do her hair only if it is “a bun like Tiana” or “one braid like Elsa” or “two braids like Ana.” She loves dresses because princesses wear dresses. But she also knows that princesses are brave and strong and she wants to be those things too!

Fay also loves helping! Last week, Fay awoke from her nap to find that I had cleaned the bathroom without her. She cried and sulked for quite some time because she LOVES to help with the bathroom!  She also loves helping in the kitchen and with babies! She will sometimes entertain Carter for me when she knows I’m busy or stressed. She is, in my opinion, the perfect first child!

She loves playing with the other kids in our neighborhood. I think it will be hard for her to move away from the land of a jillion families with young kids within 1/4 mile.

 

This video is just a tiny taste of the princess musical we live in daily thanks to Fay!  If you want to know what she is singing, just look up “Dare to Risk it all Sofia the First” on youtube.

One of the sweetest experiences I’ve ever had with Fay was just a few days ago. She woke me up for the day by climbing up on the bed and singing “We are a Happy Family” from the children’s songbook and giving me a little kiss on the cheek. She definitely has her moments of tantrum and deliberate disobedience from instructions; but on the whole, she is a sweet, loving little blonde angel. And we love her with all our hearts!

Happy Birthday, Faymous!

 

 

 

 

Our little Buddy-Boo (coined by Josh) turns one year old today! I’m pretty sure that it took Fay about three times as long to turn a year old as it did for Carter. It seems like barely any time ago that I posted pictures like this for the first time:

Here’s a little bit about Carter THESE days!

Carter is a hungry boy! He will eat anything and everything we give him–except for ramen, mushrooms, and avocados, which he throws on the floor. 🙂 He will often eat more than Fay at a meal.

He loves to play with doors! He plays with the cupboards in the bathroom and kitchen, and he sometimes closes himself just inside of bedroom doors (which is kind of a tricky situation for those trying to release him).

He loves playing with balls! He can play rolly-pollly forever!

 

We have these little animal puzzles (the kind with the handles on each piece), and Carter LOVES to hold one in each hand by the handle and clap them together. He gets super excited even when somebody else does it! I have used it as a means of helping him to forget that he was forced to share!

He also likes to unstack blocks. You know those toddler building blocks? Well, Carter loves it when there is a ready made pile that he can disassemble!

Other likes include:

• Walking with his walker
• looking at books–especially faces
• ANYTHING Fay is doing
• dancing to music from his toys
• pointing to what he wants
• banging on keyboards (computer or piano)
• bugs–especially butterflies
• using the knocker on our front door
• bathtime

Some of Carter’s dislikes include:

• getting dressed
• pacifiers
• sharing–younger siblings are forced to learn to share at such a tender age!
• getting his nose wiped
• being left alone

Some of Carter’s “tricks” are:

• waving “bye-bye”
• taking about 5 steps unaided
• “high-5”
• clapping along with pat-a-cake
• eating more than Fay

Carter is now a completely indispensable part of our family! It is such a privilege to see him develop and grow! Josh and I are Eternally grateful that Heavenly Father gave us the opportunity to raise one of His most precious spirit children!

I feel like so much is going on for us right now; and yet, we have so few pictures of what is going on. I think that is because a lot of what is going on is involved with our house hunt in Utah, of which we don’t have pictures because we have not actually been there at all. And the other reason I think is that I feel like a lot of what has been going on has been in my heart. Figuratively, not literally–I have no cardiac issues (at least none that I am aware of…). 🙂   In any case, I feel like I am going to indulge in a bit of personal reflection today.

The past couple semesters have been very stressful ones for our family. This past fall, Josh was working his tail off because of his enormous school-work load, and I was still getting used to having multiple children. This current semester, we have been through about 6 fairly substantial financial setbacks at the same time as we have been trying to figure out how to move our family across the country and get a place to live.  Despite all of these setbacks we are still feeling very blessed  because through it all, we have still never been in want. The Lord has provided just enough for every necessary step we have made. Things have coincided so perfectly that it  is undeniably the Lord’s planning!

And while we do feel very blessed, and we know that the Lord will provide for us as we continually strive to follow Him, I realize that my overall stress level is simply higher than I would like it to be. And the stress rubs off into other elements of my life. I feel like there are many things to which I can’t give the energy I would like. And even on days where I feel like I am able to give energy, I run out of energy for those things much sooner than I feel I used to (who knows, maybe I never had energy for some things). There are lots of times when I feel like I just want to check out of everything but the bare essentials of survival. But then I feel the Spirit telling me that, despite the extra effort it takes to even give effort to something, giving up is not going to make me happy. “‘Hanging in there’ is not a principle of the Gospel” after all. 🙂  And so, I keep figuring out new ways to try. I talk to friends and family who encourage me. I try to forgive myself for the times that I fall on my face. And most of all, I am trying to better understand the Savior’s power to carry me through the times where I am clearly not enough.

I have learned recently that patience is a beautiful principle of the Gospel! As I have experienced a lot of waiting and wondering the past few months, my mind has been drawn to my last big waiting experience–waiting for Carter to be born. This time last year, I was a cranky, impatient pregnant woman. I think about how I acted, and I am ashamed of myself. Heavenly Father has given me the ultimate privilege of bearing my own children, who are healthy and beautiful, and all I could do was whine about how uncomfortable I was and how hard it was that nobody cared that I was pregnant but me. (Embarrassing!)            So this year I determined to be better. I thought about what I was being asked to wait for, and what I had to trust in, and I prayed. I prayed and told Heavenly Father that I was going to be patient this time. I told Him that because I loved Him I was going to give Him my gift of patience.

But I very quickly learned that patience was not a gift that I was giving to Heavenly Father or Jesus. It was and is a gift that They have given to me! When I turned my heart to Them, They relieved me of my doubt and worry and replaced it with peace and faith. Do I still feel extra stress about stuff? Sure. But I remember what my impatient self was like and I know that, left to my own devices, I would make this experience a million times worse. And, honestly, I think that if I more fully applied the principle of patience to those “other” parts of my life I would feel even less stress!

Clearly, I’m not an expert in patience yet. But I am grateful for the privilege I have had to learn, once again, that the commandments that the Lord gives us–even the ones that just seem hard–truly are for our benefit. My choice to allow the Lord to help me be patient has brought me peace through some tricky stuff in my life. And because of that principle I have learned, it makes me feel like heeding the Spirit and continuing to try on those other things that I just want to give up on truly will be worth the double effort they take, AND that in the end it will actually be Him who gives the gift to me, not I to Him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most beautiful thing in this world! He is the answer to every problem that any person could ever encounter in life! I am grateful to say that I have a testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ and His sinless life, His Atoning Sacrifice, and of His Resurrection! It is an enormous privilege to have taken upon myself His name through my baptism, and to have made subsequent covenants with Him! I am grateful for His Restored Gospel and the knowledge that He directs His Church today through His Prophet, Thomas S. Monson!  These things are everything to me!

Happy Easter!

I feel like a post with little explanation and many pictures is in order.  So here’s all the explanation you get this time:

We had pi day with friends. We had St. Patrick’s Day. And we’ve had lovely weather!

 

Fay can speak so well these days! She is always using new phrases that totally blow me away. Like yesterday, I was telling her to put her shoes on so that we could go to the playground and she said, “No. I want to go barefoot.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, Fay!  But as she is learning to speak better and better, I know there are things she says in her baby way that I will miss.

When she makes an “L” sound, it usually comes out sounding more like a “Z” or a soft “th” sound. Usually this is really cute. But sometimes it is SO ADORABLE that I can barely handle it!  This is an example of one of the latter circumstances.