Church

Netty has never been a super easy kid to deal with at church. Many Sundays have left us wondering why we even bother to go at all when she throws fits for a large chunk of time. With the arrival of another baby looming, we decided to take some serious action. It means shoving food in her mouth and letting her play through most of Relief Society, giving her a "longer leash" during Sunday School, and making the foyer boring while giving her "special treats and toys"--things that she doesn't get any other time--in the chapel during Sacrament Meeting. Reminding her of Sacrament Meeting rules has made a huge difference. She understands a lot more than we were giving her credit. Sometimes it's still difficult, but each week is getting better and better. She behaves better in all the meetings. Here's how Sunday School went down this week:

Cool Kid

We decided that it was time to move the toys into Netty's room so that we can keep the living room cleaner. This was a good move for us. Not only do we have an easier time keeping the living room picked up, it gave us an excuse to go through the toys. Netty found some forgotten treasures.

The Family

So far this week has been packed with a large "to do" list of all the things we've been meaning to do for several weeks (and in some cases, months). One of today's projects was to hang up a copy of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." Of course I have to make nearly every project more complicated than it needs to be. A simple copy of this document in a simple frame would have been much easier. However, once I started, I decided that a copy wasn't good enough. It didn't seem personal enough. So after hours of working on a project that only needed to take ten minutes, I turned a task into a much deeper and more personal experience.

The collage on our bedroom wall

A close-up of the print in the frame

Today is the eleventh anniversary since my Aunt Teresa died of an aneurysm. Those who know me best know that this experience deeply affected me. Without going into any great detail, it changed nearly every aspect of my life, and it took many years for me to fully resolve my grief.

As I was working on my Proclamation project today I thought about my family--my marriage and my children, both the daughter I have now and the children I will have in the near and distant future. And then I thought about how I had always imagined Teresa would be here for every big event in my life. I thought about how much she has missed out on. Her nieces and nephews have had twenty-six of their own children in those eleven years, and the number is growing by three before too long. I thought that she would be at my wedding and would maybe visit me when I had my first child. I like to think that Teresa attended both of these events in spirit.

I'd be lying if I said that I don't miss Teresa or that thinking about her doesn't make me a little sad still. However, I find great comfort in knowing that my family is a forever family. I don't know exactly how everything will be sorted out in eternity to come, but I do know that I will be with my loved ones again, including Teresa. I am grateful that Jon and I can be together forever, not just until one of us dies. I love my family--immediate and extended. How blessed I am to be a part of it!

I love you, Teresa.

Yummy Dinner

Netty is finally becoming less of a picky eater, and I LOVE IT! There are still many things that she won't eat, but we are now getting to a point where she'll try something at least once before she decides she doesn't like it. And what's funny is that this girl loves the healthy stuff. When given a choice between white and wheat bread, Netty chooses 100% whole wheat every time. In fact, she'll try white bread and then turn her nose up at it. And tonight she ate three helpings of our corn-bean-carrot-pea combo. I don't get it, but I'm definitely not complaining!

Here's a little snippet of how tonight's dinner went down:

Utah: Life Elevated

For months we had been looking forward to a quick trip to Utah for Jon's brother Jeremy's wedding on May 31st. After several discussions and a few life-altering decisions (more to be discussed at a later time), we decided to turn our quick trip into a vacation and go for Memorial Weekend to spend a little time with the Kays and then spend the rest of the week in Spanish Fork with the Phelpses. It was a much-needed trip, and minus a few small hiccups--like the water in Spanish Fork being shut off due to construction and a night where Jon had to sleep upstairs while I slept downstairs due to a little miscommunication about where the mattresses needed to go--exactly the kind of vacation we needed.

Jon drove almost the entire way to Syracuse the Friday before Memorial Day. That left me time to crochet a piece of Twizler's Pull 'n Peel and feed Netty all the fruit snacks she could handle.

When we arrived in Syracuse, Netty was so excited to play outside with HoneyGram.

Netty loved the rocks at HoneyGram & Papa's house.

Utah was HOT! We were grateful for air conditioning and the swimming pool--even though the water was still freezing!

On Memorial Day my parents invited family and friends over for a barbecue. Netty was tired and somewhat crabby through the day, but she did enjoy all the different foods.

"What am I eating again?"

After spending so much time on the grass at the barbecue, Netty decided grass isn't evil. In fact, now she loves it, and screams when we try to take her inside.

We are so grateful for Netty's car seat that she tolerates a million times more than her infant seat. We are also grateful for our minivan. Not only does Netty appreciate being able to see out the window, but it came in handy on a few occasions through the course of the week when instead of having to take two cars, we were all able to fit in our van.

We were able to visit my cousin and his wife and brand new baby, Samuel, in the hospital. It was so fun to hold a new baby again! It made me super excited to see Atticus!

The girls hogged the baby most of the time, but Jon did get a little turn.

Netty wasn't so sure about Baby Sam and kept her distance.

While in Spanish Fork we spent an afternoon playing at the park with Jon's five youngest siblings and his older sister and her family. Marianne (14) took Netty down the slide a few times, and Netty loved it.

It's kind of hard to see because we were back so far, but here is Jon's brother Jeremy's ring ceremony. Jeremy and his wife Cassie were married on May 31st in the Salt Lake Temple, and they had a ring ceremony that evening before the reception at a park in Orem. The weather was beautiful, but I felt a little like we were in Rexburg with how windy it was!

After a long day of wedding festivities, we were beat. We didn't get home until well after Netty's usual bedtime, and she had only slept a total of 30 or 40 minutes the entire day. Of course after Netty's bath, jammies, and bottle, she was completely wired. She kept bouncing against a big ball all around the living room. Finally she fell on her back on the floor next to Jon's youngest brother, Tyler (7). When we took her downstairs she dive bombed her bed and slept more soundly than ever.

All week we were trying to get Netty to walk on her own. She has been so stubborn about it. Finally, Stephanie was able to coax her into taking a few steps on Sunday.

She still won't take more than a few steps at a time. I hope that someday very soon she'll realize that yes, she can walk, and that she'll just take off on her own.

Her treat for walking was a Popsicle. And she ate the entire thing without help.

This is "Life Elevated!"

Jammin'

With a little pushing from Jon I decided to get brave this week and make my own strawberry freezer jam. I grew up helping my mom make jam almost every summer, so I knew I could do it, but the thought of doing it "on my own" still intimidated me. Thanks to Certo/Sure-Jell, it wasn't all that difficult. Tiring for sure, but not difficult.

Here's 8lbs of strawberries and 16 cups of sugar worth of jam. Yum!

We decided to set aside some for visiting and home teaching families and a few friends, so we emptied some 6-ounce baby food jars, and I made my own labels with printer paper and packing tape. Jonny thought it was a little silly, but I'm pretty proud of it.

Part of Growing Up

Part of growing up is having a daughter who is also growing up. I know in many ways she is still such a baby, but in the last couple of weeks she has grown up in incredible ways. She is learning to communicate with us. She says, "Na-na-na" for "no," and she is beginning to call me "Ma" and Jon "Da." She also has a certain sound for "yes," and she jabbers to us like we know exactly what she's saying. She points (albeit with her whole fist in a kind of erratic motion, so it's still hard to tell what she's pointing to), and she waits for us to follow her. And, most exciting is that she understands much of what we say. If we say we're going bye-bye, she starts waving her hand wildly, and she will follow simple commands like, "Go get your blanket," and "Come here."

And in case that's not enough evidence that she's growing up....

She gets really excited when she sees me brush my teeth. We brush her teeth as well, though she'd much rather sit in the sink and chew on the toothpaste tube.

She's very interested in feeding herself lately. It makes mealtimes messier, but she eats better when she feeds herself.

Sometimes she even sits right up at the table. The tray on her chair fits perfectly under the table.

While she was sick she watched her first Disney movie, and her cousin Sophie would be proud to know that it was "Ti-nana and the Fog." She watched it almost in its entirety before she fell asleep on my lap.

She has taken to spending much more time with books, and I must say it makes me proud. She's even starting to sit still a little better while I read to her. Thankfully, she is still really good about turning pages carefully, so I don't have to be too concerned when she looks at them by herself.

This is one of her newest tricks. She brushes her own hair now, whether with her own brush or with mine.

Fishy Face - she laughs at herself when she makes this face.

She is learning the art of cleaning up her messes. Of course it's a work in progress (and if it's anything like my mom teaching me to clean up after myself, it will be a lifelong process....), but for now she thinks it's fun. She sat for nearly a half hour the other day loading and unloading this little plastic drawer.

Little Sick-O

Over the last few weeks (basically since her birthday), Netty has been sick with one thing or another. First it was just a fever from her 12-month shots, and it has ended in a stomach bug that has left her with a bad case of diaper rash. 

It's Chickenpox!

Netty had an adverse (yet mild) reaction to her chickenpox vaccine. The poor girl was covered in a couple hundred spots for a few days. Luckily they didn't cause too much discomfort. We gave her Benedryl the first day (which made her hyper), but she didn't need it after that.

Another view of the chickenpox

Seeing Netty sick and miserable has been difficult for me. I hate when she's in pain and there's nothing I can do to make it go away. It has been exhausting for all of us. Over the last few weeks she's woken up several times a night, screamed for hours at a time, and left us utterly perplexed at what else to try to make her more comfortable. Because Jon had school and work, I took the brunt of the sick-baby tending. The one positive from this whole experience is that Netty has turned into a bit of a Mama's girl, and she now loves to snuggle.

And finally, she is starting to feel better, at least some of the time!

Warmer Weather

After several beautifully warm, sunny days, we have finally thawed from the freezing winter. Of course the warmer weather has led us to many adventures at the park. Jon and I have always loved spending time at the park, and we are working hard to instill that love in Netty. So far she loves it just as much as we do.

Loving her stroller

Trying to stand - those darn stroller wheels kept moving, but she thought it was funny!

Nice Shades

Happy Girl

Seeing Through Netty's Eyes

Drinking From an Unopened Pop Can

After a Walk Around the Park

Jon's and My Arms - Can you guess who they each belong to?

Red Hair in the Sun

Giggles

Brrrr! It's Cold!

Annuals and Perennials

Every spring/summer when I was growing up my parents would by boxes of pansies and plant them in rows in our yard. Every year they died (whether mid-season or at the end of the season was a case-by-case basis). I always thought it was a lot of work for flowers that only lasted a short time.

Now I am married to a man who is quickly becoming a little obsessed with plant catalogs. As he takes more horticulture classes for his major, he brings home catalogs from class and thumbs through them, picking out all the flowers he is going to buy for our "someday-yard." We look through the pictures together, and as one who has never loved gardening, I think to myself, "This will be a good 'Jonny-project.'" But more and more lately, a few other thoughts have come to mind--annuals, perennials, and what they mean for me.

Annuals: My ward has a wide range of Relief Society sisters, from those who have been married a few months and have barely moved into the ward to those who have lived in the ward for thirty or more years and whose husbands have died of old age. Over the last several weeks in our Relief Society lessons, several sisters have made comments expressing a common theme, and this is it: life is full of seasons, and each season brings different responsibilities, opportunities, and challenges. Heavenly Father doesn't ask or expect us to do everything all of the time. This is one of the reasons why life changes so much--so that we can progress through all of the seasons and, over a lifetime, accomplish all that Heavenly Father has asked of us. Heavenly Father doesn't expect me at this point in my life to go to the temple three days a week, call every Relief Society sister who might be struggling in any way, and make dinners for everyone who is moving or just had a baby or had a family member die, AND take care of my own family. In this season of life, I need to take care of my family, including myself, connect with three sisters once a month through visiting teaching, and go to the temple as often as I am able (which is not all that often right now). In other words, I don't need to feel guilty when I look at all of the wonderful things that other Relief Society sisters are doing, because my seasons will come, and they too were in my position at one time,  or they will be someday.

I am grateful for annuals, which die at the end of each season so that when the next season comes, there will be room for new flowers to grow.

Perennials: One of my friends posted on Facebook a link to an article entitled "3 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Got Married" and a comment to that article led me to a blog post entitled "The Biggest Myth About Sex in Marriage" (click on the titles to read the articles). They brought to my attention this misconception about marriage that I have seen and heard at BYU-Idaho, perpetuated by both married and unmarried students--that marriage is all about sex, children, and "enduring to the end." Don't get me wrong. These elements are important. But until the last six months or so, I felt that my life now was completely about raising children and "enduring." How awful is that? Who wants to "endure" life? These articles helped me see what I've been feeling lately, that marriage is so much more than that, and marriages that focus only on sex, children, and enduring will in fact not endure.

It's no secret that Jon and I have been on a relationship rocket ship since we first met at the end of April 2011. We knew each other only a few short months before we were sealed for eternity, and in less than two years of that sealing, we will have two children. That's just plain fast. Moving so quickly has forced us to learn about each other, marriage, and family at an accelerated rate (and I was already at a disadvantage, having never been in a relationship before I met Jonathan). It also means that I'm just starting to understand things that many couples probably learn in a similar time frame, only they are only a month or two into marriage. One of those things being this: Jonathan is my absolute best friend. He is the first and last person I want to see every day. And what luck--we have forever to grow and perfect our friendship! What I have found in the last several months is that as Jon and I have become better friends, our marriage has become stronger. We have more fun together. We enjoy spending more time together. And we are more committed to each other.

I am grateful for perennials, which continue to grow year after year, getting bigger, stronger, and more enduring.

Perhaps by the time Jonny and I have our own garden I will love him enough to work in the yard with him....