90% & An Almost ALL NIGHTER...

My Happy... 90% Better

I woke up Saturday (which is when I was supposed to be writing this post) feeling AWESOME again!!! I slept as long as I could Saturday morning (Cat's and I had a plan to run at 1 p.m., so I knew I could sleep in until Maya woke up, which is always around 8 a.m.). Maya came in our room and for the first time in months... she smelled poopy - she had diarrhea in the night :( Jake got up and cleaned her, because I still hadn't sat up, I wasn't sure if I would feel better. But to my surprise as soon as I did, I could tell I felt at least 60& better. I told Cats if I even felt 30% better I'd be running our 9 mile run with her... As soon as I could tell I was SO much better I got to work. I wanted to rid our house of whatever bug was plaguing it!!! I figured I had a good 4 hours and made my list in my mind of what I could do...

Well, any of you that know me, know that when I make my "To Do List" it is inevitably much more than I can really do in the space of time I have alloted myself. Even if I tone it down... I just think I am SuperWoman and will somehow be able to beat the odds... Saturday I just wanted to clean, clean, clean... To get any trace of sickness out and to play catch up since I was sick or taking care of sickies all week. And that is what I did. I fed and got the kids ready and then continued to Clean and Clean and Clean... Cats ended up going skiing, and we decided to run our long run Monday. Her cross training was skiing and mine was house cleaning. This was good news because I could just continue to clean. We still had Christmas to take down and put away too. By the end of the day and I mean by the time all the rest of the family was in bed I honestly felt 90% better and had even decided to eat more than crackers, 7up, and bread. And I still felt good. It was fabulous!!!

Since my camera battery is dead & I cannot find my battery charger (I could have taken before and after pics and you truly would have been impressed) and I think it is more fun to look at words w/ pictures... Here is what I feel like I looked like - except I was wearing the same thing ALL DAY...

All this cleaning leads me to my sad of the day... An Almost ALL NIGHTER

It was a poor choice I admit looking back on it now but it was SOOOOO tempting... Everyone is in bed. I have time to myself. I can work and work without any interruptions... No one requiring anything of my time. I can get SOOOO MUCH done. To anyone who is not a mom. You are laughing at this. Anyone cleaning all day since about 8 a.m. until the early hours of the morning because she wants to is plain loony. I think I would have thought it was crazy too but it was something between determination to get that bug out of there and start the week off right that got me in the mess. So, I gave in and cleaned and cleaned and caught up all my laundry loads and... WOW!!! Our house looked awesome... but it spiralled downhill from there to my sad of the day for today... Sunday. The reason it was the sad of the day was because I gave in to the temptation instead of using my better judgement...

Now you have to know, the reason I did not right this post at the close of Saturday was because I was still cleaning - and then I figured it was Sunday when I went to sleep so I might as well right it after I slept a couple hours...

What I learned...

Don't give in!!! I still felt great (as far as my health) when I laid down to sleep!!! I still feel great today and I only got a few hours of sleep and no nap yet, but it was still wrong. Technically... It was even Sunday and I was not keeping the Sabbath Holy... So, as a mom or as anyone, use your better judgement. Even if you want to stay up and clean the house all night long, okay?!!

My Turn & Sibling Love...

Yeah! Sometimes I worry I didn't get the smartest smart phone. Just now it wasn't letting me write in the text box.

My happy today was Sibling Love...

The best moments of my mom adventure today were moments where Maya & Teancum were loving each other. One in particular was when Maya asked to get in T's crib right before one of his naps. When I'm at my mac next I'll add it to this post. It was adorable!!! I LOVE that they love each other!!!

My sad today was that it was "My Turn"...

The kids have been sick. As a mom you cannot avoid being around your kids (even when they're sick). Mine don't get sick much at all but anything they get I almost also get (usually just colds - until this last week). We all got flu shots so I thought we were off the hook for the bug going around but somehow we still caught it. I'm laying in my bed now. I had the most unproductive housekeeping/cooking day ever. I felt so sick. I haven't been sick in SO long, I forget what it feels like.

Here's what I learned...

#1 Sometimes being a good mom means taking care of yourself in order to take better care of your babies. #2 It is nice to focus on making memories and not just getting the dishes done. And #3 Opposition always reminds us of our blessings. "You've got to be sick to be grateful for your health." -My Turn on Earth. I am blessed to have such good health 99.5% of the time. So, I am once again reminded how grateful I am to have such a healthy body!!!

Snuggles & Blow Out

My Happy for today... Snuggles...

- Teancum is 8 months old (as of Dec 26) and unlike Maya (who had her first tooth at 5 months) he is still toothless. However I can tell a change is coming. He has been drooling like a little puppy lately and warm food on his gums make him cry. He's so good natured that crying is just not very much a part of his vocabulary. It's funny because my sister in law was in awe today as she watched him, "For a baby that is teething he sure doesn't act like it" He is still so good natured that you wouldn't be able to tell unless you were his mother and with him all the time. But he is more cranky than normal. The good part about all of this is that he wants to snuggle more. It is so cute. I love it. I've really been taking in the moments. I think I kissed him over 100 times today and I loved EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!

- Maya too has been a little under the weather. She threw up 3 different times yesterday. She is also very good natured so you'd never guess it either. She bounced right back today :) After her bath she took this morning (since the last episode of throwing up was around midnight and I wasn't about to put her in the bath when all we both wanted to do was sleep), she let me snuggle her. Because of being sick she was a bit more snugly too. I love it when my kids let me snuggle them. I never thought I would but I do. I just love them SO much and it is such a fun way to express that love. I never considered myself a snugly person but I am. I even snuggle with Jake EVERY NIGHT.


My Sad for today... Blow Out

- I have had my fair share of Blow Outs but today was pretty bad. I think it was mostly sad because he (of course I'm talking about Teancum - if Maya had a blow out it I would be more than sad about it) had 2 yesterday. The kind where you have to stick them in a tub or sink because wipes just won't be enough (unless of course you want to wash the changing table after too). I was sitting in Teancum's room after nursing him (a time when I am forced to pause - so I read) finishing up my Book of Mormon reading for the day (I like to read The Book of Mormon during my first feeding and maybe the second one too - just to start my day off right). When all of a sudden I could smell Teancum (I really think that God gives mom's that gift of strong smell to help us care for our children - and it starts during pregnancy - and doesn't end there). I had set him down and was even headed down the hall (crawling away from me) and I could still smell him. Sure enough he had had a blow out. But as I started to strip him down to give him a bath I noticed he not only had poop running all down his pants (not to mention that I had just dressed him in), he had it coming out of every opening in the diaper!!! I am somewhat of a diaper snob because I don't want things like this to happen, but today Huggies sort of let me down. I thought you were supposed to be the best??? Anyway I digress, it was coming out of everywhere. I quickly cleaned him up and redressed him.

What can I learn...
I think the biggest thing to learn from a blow out is to just clean it up and move on. To even be grateful for it. I'm glad my baby boy is eating and digesting his food well. I'm glad that he is alive and well and working properly. Poop is a natural part of life and if he were not pooping there would be a serious problem. I know that life is about attitude and I know during a blow out situation I can just roll my sleeves up and get to work cleaning it up. And I get some more snuggling time if it is bad enough I have to bath him because Teancum is more cuddly after his baths - and he smells more delicious too!!!

Happies and Sads...

It is no secret that I am not the best blogger. I think it is because I don't pause much in life. It is the same reason I don't read much. I like to "Go. Go. GO!!!" It's not even so much that I like to, it is just what I do... For example in high school I got the "Energizer Bunny" award at the end of one of my swim seasons. I just "keep on going and going and going"

I've been thinking a lot about blogs lately since several people have complained about my lack of blogging - even though I have one. I know it is disappointing to them and actually I hate to start anything that I don't stick to (another point of my personality), so it has been bugging me too. But I don't want blogging to become a chore. I want to enjoy it.

Combine those thoughts with one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2012... to keep a better journal. I want to record about my children. I have already missed so much because of my Go. Go. GO!!! attitude. I want to reflect on each day. I know it is something that God would have me do too. To keep a record, it is one of His commandments and I am so bad at it.

Each night while growing up my mom would ask my sisters and me about our 'happies' and our 'sads' for the day and what we could learn from our 'sads'. I read an article today by Elder Christofferson, "Recognizing God's Hand in Our Daily Blessings"  (while running on my treadmill of course - I'm telling you, I don't/won't stop) it made me think about that tradition. I LOVED it growing up and I still do, but I rarely do it. Elder Christofferson said, "In reality, there aren’t many things in a day that are totally without significance. Even the mundane and repetitious can be tiny but significant building blocks that in time establish the discipline and character and order needed to realize our plans and dreams... As you retire to bed, think about the successes and failures of the day and what will make the next day a little better... You will be able to rejoice in one more day, one more step toward eternal life."

This article started me thinking about how to fulfill my New Years Resolution, my distaste for doing something only halfway, and most importantly fulfilling God's Commandment to keep a record of my life. I want to rejoice in each day and move as close as possible in this life towards Eternal Life. I decided the thing I want to write about most is about my adventure as a MOTHER. That is my life right now. It is my full-time job and I LOVE IT!!! Since Valentines Day 2008 (the day I took my first pregnancy test - and saw a + sign) that has been my life. I'm all wrapped up in Jake and our most precious treasures from the Lord (so far that is Himaya & Teancum, & I am not ashamed to say hopefully there will be more to come). This is the reason for this blog. It is for me to think about the successes and failures of the day and think about what will make the next day a little better. In a nutshell (or my mom's words) my 'happies' and my 'sads' and what I can learn from those 'sads'.

I really don't care much who will read this blog. If you want to read it great. If not, that is okay too. Here is your fair warning that I will be baring much of my soul here. One thing about turns me off about blogs, is only writing posts to look good. I agree we should be positive and put our best foot forward but I like REAL. I like REAL people. I like TRUTH. I like when what you see is what you get. And on the other extreme - be yourself but be your "Best Self." What I care most about is fulfilling what I have decided to fulfill and keeping a true record of each day. To learn what God would have me learn. Writing has always be therapeutic for me and now I am going to put it to work in my life.

The title of this blog comes from my dear friend Falicia Poteet. When I told her I was pregnant (with Maya) she congratulated me and said something to me that has been running through my mind ever since... From the very beginning of this adventure until now and I'm sure it will stick with me to the end of time... "Mom's Not for Wimps". This statement is one of the truest I have EVER heard. Being a Mom is HARD WORK especially if you want to be a good one. The one that God has intended you to be. And that is what I want to do more than anything else in my life, be the kind of Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Niece, Neighbor, Granddaughter, and friend that God would have me be. But mostly Wife and Mother since those are my most sacred callings in this life.

There you have it... and here it goes :)