Rant

Okay. Here are a few things I'm easily annoyed by and have both come up recently. Here's my rant:.

A new client comes in saying, "So you graduated from BYU. You a Mormon?"  I respond, "Yes, I am." Then proceeds to tell me that the church used to own Safeway and Coca-cola, and that Mormon's don't believe that the blood of Christ covers all sins and aren't Christian because we're secretive. What?!  After responding peacefully, he gives me the skeptical eye and tells me he's pretty sure he's right. I really like this client, and we've had many sessions since and he's a great guy. What I don't get is where people find and why they look for this crazy information, let alone feel comfortable telling someone else what they believe? I wouldn't think to tell a Lutheran , just for example, "untold truths" about their religion. Why make up stuff about someone else's beliefs, then have such a firm opinion on it? Anyways, this is one reason I enjoy my job- so people can realize we're normal, ask me questions, and I can correct any weird misconceptions.
If you do want information- Mormon.org people, mormon.org- that's the real information.

And by the way, I love being Mormon and we definitely believe that Christ's atonement covers the sins of ALL mankind. And no, we don't own Coca-cola or Safeway.  The important thing is, I have a relationship with Jesus Christ and being a member of the church brings so much peace, joy and happiness in ways I could never find it elsewhere.

Rant #2: Health. Working in the health industry, specifically as a personal trainer, I cringe at what sometimes I'm told what people think I do. My motivation to be a trainer does not come from wanting to make "people skinny." Yes, some people do want purely to shed some pounds, tone up and look good. But that is only a FRACTION of what I cover.

I have a 90 year old client who wants to be able to keep walking, getting up from the toilet, and improve her balance to minimize falls. I have 63 year old man, obese with diabetes, clot issues, high blood pressure, among many other things that if he doesn't lose some weight and get healthy he's looking at death. I have a 14 year old girl who is a developing tennis player, wanting to strengthen her serve and returns. I have an early 30's client who pees her pants often and needs to strengthen up her pelvic floor to prevent this from getting worse. I have many who want to be able to keep up and play with their children/grandchildren and have a good quality of life, increased energy, injury prevention, and avoid/get rid of a whole list of diseases (diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, reduced range of motion from flexibility issues, sleep better, lower cholesterol, get off medications, ETC!).

Point is, everyone wants to look good, yes, but health is SO much more than just looking good. It's quality of life, it's a matter of life and death at times, among SO many other things, and this is why I love my job.

Don't even start me on the lady who blow dries her crotch in the locker room with her leg on the counter.

Okay, I'm done.

Lately

Morning time with everyone in bed!

Happy, giggling boys!

RARRRRRRRR!

Sweet side

Crazzzzy side!

Gavin LOVED blackberry pancakes

 

Have I mentioned yet what Jaylen has nicknamed Gavin?  He calls him Gavin-wees, or Gavin-weesie. So, we all call him that now. No idea where it came from, but it's stuck. Gavin is CRAZY about grapes- grunts and grunts and grunts for them. He ate 2 bags of different kinds of grapes we got from the store Friday. It's pretty funny watching him enjoy them. He loves all fruit- like these blackberry pancakes (notice his completely empty tray!).  

Gavin crawls, stands up on furniture and walks along, and babbles like a crazy person. Jaylen loves playing with Gavin, and almost smothers him too much. They are really cute and are able to play more and more together. Jaylen loves having Gavin watch him do things. Gavin is quite amused by Jaylen too- although he's cautious as well with how crazy and careless Jaylen can get when he's excited. 

REAL SNOW! Ha!

I was laughing at the little snow we were so excited for in the last post- and then this storm came. School was out for the week. We didn't go out for about 3 days- talk about cabin fever! Snow turned to ice and made this one a doozy.

We had a blast on this hill by our place. So fun to be able to play with cousins, missionaries and neighbors..

Jaylen was SOOOOOO excited. It was like Christmas morning all over again.

Aaron and birthday girl, Heather, watching the fun.

Jaylen and Birgita loved sliding down this hill...

So glad the roads are finally clear! I had the busiest week of training planned last week, that was cancelled due to all the snow and ice. SO, I am super excited to get on with this week (and my new clients!) and Jaylen will be happy to be back in school with his friends. Let's go!

SNOW!

Yesterday morning Jaylen came running in to our room SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about there being snow outside. We were pretty surprised to to see white flakes falling. He was in such a hurry to get out there and play. It was really entertaining to watch him going crazy about what little there was.

Gavin's first peak at snow.

 

One happy kid!

Cheesie Weenies!

Our sign for Daddy..

Yum!

Silly kids

Parenting Jaylen is like riding on a rollercoaster.

You want to pull your hair out one minute -
 For example:
*Waking up to see him putting glue in all his toys and trying to glue everything to the couch
*Deciding he wants to pee in the bowl the plunger sits in instead of the toilet. I found this probably a month after he decided it would be fun since it was filled to the rim with jelly like pee. Talk about gross!
*Finding him in the bathroom putting all my makeup, expensive creams, lotions, foundations into a sink full of toothpaste, contact solution, his trains and water. NOT happy at all.

Then, he says super cute things that makes it all worth it a few minutes later: 
*Jaylen came walking in while I was taking care of Gavin yesterday, shut the door, came up to me and rubbed my back and said, "Mom, I'm very proud of you because I just love you so much."
*Jaylen came down from Grandma Leona's house when Grandma Merilee and Bryan were here and came into our bed saying, "If Grandma Merilee and Bryan go back to Maryland, how am I ever going to be able to see them again?!"
*Jaylen told me last week, "Mom, my heart hurts because I miss Lyndon too much."
*Yesterday morning Jaylen said, "Mom, I'm really glad that Daddy is your sweet pea." So am I, so am I.
*I love walking out to the car in the morning and he'll often say something like, "Oh, what a beautiful day Mom." "It's going to be such a fun time today, Mom." I love the optimism of him!
*"I just love my little life guys." -Jaylen
*On the way somewhere Jaylen told us, "Remember when I was in Albuquerque? I just thought my heart would break because I just missed you too much."  Whenever we asked him, he says he had a fun, great time but just missed us too much. He's so sweet about it too!
*Over Christmas, when he wasn't in school, we'd go by his school and he'd say, "If I don't go to school how am I supposed to learn anything?!" or "If I don't go to school, who's going to play with me?!"
*Dropping the kids off at childcare, Gavin starts crying when I pass him over to the worker. Jaylen says, "It's okay Gavin. I'll stay with you and play and make you happy." Love that bond they're forming. 
*Gavin was crying from being put in his car seat and after I got in the drivers seat, I looked back and Jaylen was wiping the tears out of Gavin's eyes. "I'm just wiping Gavin's little tears with my fingers Mom."

Update on Gavin-
We had his 9 month checkup on his 10 month birthday- and here were his stats:
21.7 lbs
29" tall
He's a happy, healthy baby. Around 50% for weight and 60% for height.

The doctor also recommended we let him cry it out to get him sleeping through the night. First night- TORTURE. He cried for hourS. But, second and third nights I haven't heard him at all. SO, HELLO SLEEP! I'M BACK! Unfortunately, I've been getting a cold, so I've woken myself up from coughing so I haven't truly enjoyed a full nights sleep, but soon enough!

He's babbling "baa,baa, baa, baa" alot. He also started saying, "mamaaa, maaa, maa." So close to Momma, but not sure if he's really "said" it yet. He is such a cute, full of smiles, MOMMY'S boy.

Great article on parenting

Oh my goodness. I LOVED this article. This woman speaks my language. In fact I'm going to copy and paste the article here.

 Post is called:

2011 Lesson #2 : Don’t Carpe Diem

Every time I’m out with my kids – this seems to happen:

An older woman stops us, puts her hand over her heart and says something like, “Oh- Enjoy every moment. This time goes by so fast.”
Everywhere I go, someone is telling me to seize the moment, raise my awareness, be happy, enjoy every second, etc, etc, etc.
I know that this message is right and good. But as 2011 closes, I have finally allowed myself to admit that it just doesn’t work for me. It bugs me. This CARPE DIEM message makes me paranoid and panicky. Especially during this phase of my life – while I’m raising young kids. Being told, in a million different ways to CARPE DIEM makes me worry that if I’m not in a constant state of intense gratitude and ecstasy, I’m doing something wrong.
I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that  most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.
And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers – “ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN’T!” TRUST US!! IT’LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!”  - those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain.
Now. I’m not suggesting that the sweet old ladies who tell me to ENJOY MYSELF be thrown from a mountain. These are wonderful ladies. Monkees, probably. But last week, a woman approached me in the Target line and said the following: “Sugar, I hope you are enjoying this. I loved every single second of parenting my two girls. Every single moment. These days go by so fast.”
At that particular moment, Amma had arranged one of the new bras I was buying on top of her sweater and was sucking a lollipop that she must have found on the ground. She also had three  shop-lifted clip-on neon feather stuck in her hair. She looked exactly like a contestant from Toddlers and Tiaras. I couldn’t find Chase anywhere, and Tish was grabbing the pen on the credit card swiper thing WHILE the woman in front of me was trying to use it. And so I just looked at the woman, smiled and said, “Thank you. Yes. Me too. I am enjoying every single moment. Especially this one. Yes. Thank you.”
That’s not exactly what I wanted to say, though.
There was a famous writer who, when asked if he loved writing, replied, “No. but I love having written.” What I wanted to say to this sweet woman was, “Are you sure? Are you sure you don’t mean you love having parented?”
I love having written. And I love having parented. My favorite part of each day is when the kids are put to sleep (to bed) and Craig and I sink into the couch to watch some quality TV, like Celebrity Wife Swap, and congratulate each other on a job well done. Or a job done, at least.

Every time I write a post like this, I get emails suggesting that I’m being negative. I have received this particular message four or five times – G, if you can’t handle the three you have, why do you want a fourth?
That one always stings, and I don’t think it’s quite fair. Parenting is hard. Just like lots of important jobs are hard. Why is it that the second a mother admits that it’s hard, people feel the need to suggest that maybe she’s not doing it right? Or that she certainly shouldn’t add more to her load. Maybe the fact that it’s so hard means she IS doing it right…in her own way…and she happens to be honest.
Craig is a software salesman. It’s a hard job in this economy. And he comes home each day and talks a little bit about how hard it is. And I don’t ever feel the need to suggest that he’s not doing it right, or that he’s negative for noticing that it’s hard, or that maybe he shouldn’t even consider taking on more responsibility. And I doubt anybody comes by his office to make sure he’s ENJOYING HIMSELF. I doubt his boss peeks in his office and says: “This career stuff…it goes by so fast…ARE YOU ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT IN THERE, CRAIG???? CARPE DIEM, CRAIG!”
My point is this. I used to worry that not only was I failing to do a good enough job at parenting, but that I wasn’t enjoying it enough. Double failure.  I felt guilty because I wasn’t in parental ecstasy every hour of every day and I wasn’t MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY MOMENT like the mamas in the parenting magazines seemed to be doing. I felt guilty because honestly, I was tired and cranky and ready for the day to be over quite often. And because I knew that one day, I’d wake up and the kids would be gone, and I’d be the old lady in the grocery store with my hand over my heart. Would I be able to say I enjoyed every moment? No.
But the fact remains that I will be that nostalgic lady. I just hope to be one with a clear memory. And here’s what I hope to say to the younger mama gritting her teeth in line:
 “It’s helluva hard, isn’t it? You’re a good mom, I can tell. And I like your kids, especially that one peeing in the corner. She’s my favorite. Carry on, warrior. Six hours till bedtime.” And hopefully, every once in a while, I’ll add- “Let me pick up that grocery bill for ya, sister. Go put those kids in the van and pull on up- I’ll have them bring your groceries out.”

Anyway. Clearly, Carpe Diem doesn’t work for me. I can’t even carpe fifteen minutes in a row, so a whole diem is out of the question.
Here’s what does work for me:

There are two different types of time. Chronos time is what we live in. It’s regular time, it’s one minute at a time, it’s staring down the clock till bedtime time, it’s ten excruciating minutes in the Target line time, it’s four screaming minutes in time out time, it’s two hours till daddy gets home time. Chronos is the hard, slow passing time we parents often live in.
Then there’s Kairos time. Kairos is God’s time. It’s time outside of time. It’s metaphysical time. It’s those magical moments in which time stands still. I have a few of those moments each day. And I cherish them.
Like when I actually stop what I’m doing and really look at Tish. I notice how perfectly smooth and brownish her skin is.  I notice the perfect curves of her teeny elf mouth and her asianish brown eyes, and I breathe in her soft Tishy smell. In these moments, I see that her mouth is moving but I can’t hear her because all I can think is – This is the first time I’ve really seen Tish all day, and my God – she is so beautiful. Kairos.
Like when I’m stuck in chronos time in the grocery line and I’m haggard and annoyed and angry at the slow check-out clerk. And then I look at my cart and I’m transported out of chronos. And suddenly I notice the piles and piles of healthy food I’ll feed my children to grow their bodies and minds and I remember that most of the world’s mamas would kill for this opportunity. This chance to stand in a grocery line with enough money to pay. And I just stare at my cart. At the abundance. The bounty. Thank you, God. Kairos.
Or when I curl up in my cozy bed with Theo asleep at my feet and Craig asleep by my side and I listen to  them both breathing. And for a moment, I think- how did a girl like me get so lucky? To go to bed each night surrounded by this breath, this love, this peace, this warmth? Kairos.
These kairos moments leave as fast as they come- but I mark them. I say the word kairos in my head each time I leave chronos. And at the end of the day, I don’t remember exactly what my kairos moments were, but I remember I had them. And that makes the pain of the daily parenting climb worth it.
If I had a couple Kairos moments during the day, I call it a success.
Carpe a couple of Kairoses a day.

Good enough for me.

Zoo and Museum

Okay! So finally, here are the last pictures from the Christmas break. We went to the history museum where they had a model train exhibit, that Jaylen LOVED, and on Saturday Aaron and I took our kidos to the zoo!

They had a play room at the train exhibit. The man operating the train going around had a lot of fun teasing and playing around with Jaylen with the train.

Fun to meet up with Brett, Sharon, Nastasha and Corey at the museum.

Jaylen randomly talks to Aaron about wanting to hold seahorses at bedtime. Jaylen was really excited to show Aaron the seahorses at the aquarium. Completely random and completely cute.

Sharks!

This polar bear got all up in Jaylen's face. Jaylen was a little freaked out.

Spinning in the dizzy chair

Our lil nest of kiddies!

Music night

After Christmas, the family has a tradition to do a music night where the kids sing, play instruments, and perform. It was fun to be a part of this year!

 

Pretty sisters- Sarah and Hailey

Aaron got volunteered to hit himself in the head. Loved it!

Merilee and I playing "Up on a rooftop"

Gavin is the BEST!

Man, I've just been having such a tough time recently. Just not feeling on top of things or lacking the motivation to be on top of things. Today was downright ugly with Jaylen waking up at 5:30 am, whining all morning and afternoon after school and Gavin's constant fussing until a tooth popped through tonight. I felt like just plopping in bed and hibernating for the rest of the winter....THEN  Gavin pulls out these incredibly adorable smiles. 

Thanks Gavin, you redeemed by bad day and helped remind me why being a mom rocks.

And how happy corn on the cob makes me. Yum!

Gavin is such a sweet baby. I'm loving his age right now (minus the teething- YIKES!). He is so expressive, sweet and just so entertaining watching his little personality coming out. We have a checkup for him next week- but here on some of his latest:

- He started crawling on December 23rd, right before Christmas! He is sooo excited to be mobile and is so adorable seeing him crawl around so happy.
- He pulled up to standing a few days after crawling. He's ready to get moving!
- He is 9 months old, wearing size 18-2T. We're creating some monsters, I believe.
- He has 5 teeth, with the 5th one coming in today. Many more to come- I can see them coming and it doesn't look pretty.
- Still can't get this crazy boy to sleep through the night- KILLING ME. He's obviously not lacking calories and he's great at soothing himself to sleep. HELP!

Lyndon's 3rd birthday

YMCA day- we spent the morning playing wallyball and swimming. Boys loved it!

Crystal's family came over for lunch and birthday fun.

Lyndon and Vera with Crystal's sister, Tiffany.

Crystal's mom and family..

Presents

Cousin hugs

Lyndon opening his special pocket blanket from Grandma Merilee!

So fun to be able to celebrate Lyndon's birthday while they were here. I can't believe Jaylen and Lyndon will be in Sunbeams now!