Because of Julio's genes all our kids start out life with a mohawk. So the other day with Emily I decided to try and make it girly with hairspray and my fingers. Even if the hair looks silly isn't she adorable? Oh and we're having her blessed this Sunday so I've been working on a dress for her and will hopefully have some more adorable pictures to show soon.
We've all been taking turns here with the flu. Poor Bubba had the worst of it. His fever finally broke at like 3 this morning. I am done with mine and since that means late nights up with kids I get a lot of quiet time at random moments for reading (the one positive side when everyone gets sick is that they sleep more.) I read the funniest statistic ever in this article about sun care with babies and thought I'd share it. "23% of lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 18 according to the national Safety Council." At first I was alarmed. Then I started thinking isn't the life expectancy here in America like 75 years? That was the last I heard. So I calculated it (not hard). 18 is 24% of 75. So the statistic is that by the time your life is nearly one fourth over you will have had nearly one fourth of your sun exposure. That's like saying "Most people will have a dozen flowers by the time they have bought 12 of them." What would we do without statistics? Thanks for letting me share.
I just realized I had not posted this picture. Jon and Dad went to visit Ben before Jon left for the MTC. They got this picture taken. I don't get to see Ben very often so I love having this picture. For those of you who know him, he is doing well. He's been taking college business courses, getting A's, the best in most of his classes, and he's been moved to a dorm area. I'm so proud of my brother and his never quit attitude that has enabled him to work so hard and improve himself.
I think in some ways I underestimated how much more work a third child would be. Bless you mothers who have more for having that fourth one. haha I mean I had thought about the fact that there would always be a kid walking even when we had the double stroller and that there would be no room between carseats for books or toys on long trips. I knew naps would be trickier and schedules more complicated. But I never anticipated situations like this...I am nursing my baby to sleep while one child keeps trying to climb on my lap and no matter what I say I can't convince him to stop, meanwhile in the kitchen the other is helping herself to the brownies I baked making them look like a small animal attacked them. Or how about this one? The kids have been outside playing with the hose so you tell them we're going inside to take a bath and clean off the mud. One child strips and gets in the tub calling impatiently for you to turn the water on which you can't do because the other made so much noise coming in he woke up the baby who is screaming hysterically while you chase him trying to get him away from the furniture that he has already muddied up. Or while you bathe one child the other decides to test fire their squirt gun (which she's not supposed to be playing with) on the couch, the carpet and the sleeping baby who wakes up cold and wet. Or how about this... Eliana wakes up in the middle of the night with a nightmare and as you calm her Emily wakes up from the noise and on a side note you notice that Tavian has once again rolled out of his bed and onto the floor where you have to remember to not step on him until you can move him because even though moving him right now might be easier he'll probably wake up with all the noise and then you'll have three crying kids and you are oh so aware that you have more kids now than you have hands. Does it seem like there's someone bored, crying, or getting into something twice as much with three than with two? How does a mother of ten do it without an octupus assistant? hahaha Please tell me somebody else has stories like this too. P.S. These are not all from one day, but they are all about my kids.
This Easter, along with a basket full of treats, I tried to share with my children the true meaning of Easter and what the Savior did for us all. I don't know how much they understand, but I know Eliana understands a little because when we talk about how Jesus Christ died she gets a little teary eyed and how He came back alive she gets a big smile. We're blessed to be so close to the temple that even though we didn't attend the whole pageant at the temple we could hear it every night and we walked over and watched them rehearse a few times. What a great feeling to hear "I know He lives!" ringing through our bedroom window every night until Easter. I know He lives. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that because of the sacrifice he made we can all return to live with Him and our Father in Heaven. I know that He paid for our sins. He is our Savior, Redeemer, our Brother, and a perfect example for us to follow. We may meet with persecution, indifference, and people rolling their eyes at us, but I pray I never lose the courage to share my testimony of Him. I have been pondering part of the Lectures on Faith that says "such is the weakness of man, an such his frailties, that he is liable to sin continually, and if God were not long suffering, and full of compassion, gracious and merciful and of a forgiving disposition, man would be cut off from before him ... but by man's believing that God is full of compassion and forgiveness, long suffering and slow to anger, he can exercise faith in him and overcome doubt, so as to be exceedingly strong." How do we overcome that doubt? By understanding that God is forgiving and through the atonement of Jesus Christ. As the apostles have said "God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son." (The Living Christ April 2000) I loved the testimony Elder Jeffrey Holland shared this last General Conference.
As I attended church yesterday and spoke with my brother Jonathan today (on a plane layover in Dallas from the MTC to Mexico) I felt humbled and resolved to do better at the important things and spend less time on the fluff. We are blessed to be a part of a great work!
Julio got a job finally! Yay! He's doing tech support for a web hosting company called IPower. It's the end of his first week and I am so relieved. He was doing commission only sales for a short while but it paid almost nothing and he was gone for really long hours. This new job has an hourly wage we can live off of and he can earn commission on top of it for any sales he makes. Plus it's a lot closer to home, he could ride the lightrail if he needed to and he has an early schedule so I have backup in the afternoons with the kids. My mom and dad lent us their van for a while so I have a vehicle to use while Julio's gone. The Lord has really looked after us the last 6 months while Julio's been trying to find work. I feel really blessed. I mean we're not going to be rich by any means, but to not be wondering where the money to pay our bills will come from is a huge blessing. I know a lot of people are losing jobs and being laid off, but I feel really at peace that the Lord will continue to look after us like he always has. Oh and the last two days I have been picking, washing, and juicing the mulberries from our front yard. One of our neighbors came and laid out a whole bunch of paper and we shook almost three gallons of berries out of the tree. They make a horrible mess every year, turning the pavement black and tracking into the house. So this year we picked them and I'm making syrup out of them. It's very time consuming because the berries are so small there are like 500 gazillion of them, but not bad tasting and it contributes to our food storage. It makes me realize everything that seems to be a curse can be turned into a blessing with enough effort. Also, I have some pictures of the kids I want to post. I just need to find the camera. So hopefully you'll see them tomorrow. Emily is getting so big and she's started smiling and cooing. Aren't babies so much fun?
Because of Julio's genes all our kids start out life with a mohawk. So the other day with Emily I decided to try and make it girly with hairspray and my fingers. Even if the hair looks silly isn't she adorable? Oh and we're having her blessed this Sunday so I've been working on a dress for her and will hopefully have some more adorable pictures to show soon.
