I think it is interesting that a couple of my friends recently have blogged about the frustrations they have been having recently with motherhood. I feel for them because most of my days recently have been filled with those same frustrations (hence the reason I haven't blogged much about my kids recently). I don't know why but for some reason I don't generally write about the "bad" times on my blog. It's not that I want others to think that I have a perfect life because well we all know that no one has a perfect life (remember my last zoo outing?) Well, I've had a three year old scream at the top of his lungs at me almost everyday several times a day since then and his sister is starting to pick up on it now. It's great...Anyways, I guess I mainly like to focus on the good (with a little of the bad-to keep it real) because that is what makes me happy and that is what I want to remember when I get old and gray. I don't know about others but when I focus and dwell on the bad I feel down and depressed and sometimes angry and it can be hard to get out of that trap. I hate feeling that way and I find the only way to get out of those moments are to look for the good (often times that is easier said than done). Well, this last month has been really hard, especially with Nathan working long hours (on average 13 hours a day 6 times a week) so the last couple of days I have been trying to find the positive things my kids are doing.
Easton:
I gave a lesson on the Holy Ghost a few weeks ago during FHE and I'm wondering if he got a lesson on it at church a while ago too because recently he will come up to you and say, "I want to tell you the spirit." This means he will whisper something in your ear. I love moments like this where you know he is learning/paying attention to some things you are trying to teach.
Easton is such a smart kid. He seems to pick things up quickly and remembers them well. He gets this from his dad. I'm not sure if I wrote about this or not but last month in sacrament meeting all the primary kids got up and sang a song. Easton knew almost the entire song (3 verses) and it was a song that I have never heard before (I guess they got it out of the friend) so he had only heard and practiced it at church a few times. I was amazed and so was a couple of people from our ward. We have been working on the articles of faith with Easton (one a month) and I swear he pretty much has them memorized within the first week of learning them. Yesterday my visiting teacher asked me if I work with Easton with the primary songs because he picks them up so quickly. I told her we've been working on the articles of faith but most of the time he won't tell me what he sings in primary. He often tells me that he can't remember but I've noticed that he is just being stubborn. If I keep asking him he'll eventually give me hints as to what he sang.
Easton is really into telling stories recently. It is pretty funny and cute to hear the things he comes up with. He has quite the imagination. Most of the stories have to do with animals eating or killing each other which is a little weird (maybe it's a boy thing) but when an ostrich eats a crocodile, it's a little funny. Along with telling stories, Easton has to make sure that you are paying attention so I swear almost every other word that comes out of his mouth is your name. It can get a little annoying when it's you but anytime he does it to Nathan it just makes me laugh.
I have no idea where Easton got this but most of the time when he answers yes to something it is hardly ever a yes. It is generally, "ya, ya!" It reminds me of that boy off of Sandlot.
Easton now refers to Blair as sister. "Sister, come play with me." "Sister, can you share with me?" I'm not sure where he picked this up but I'm wondering if he got it from watching the Bernstein bears a couple times last month.
I keeping kicking myself because I keep forgetting all the funny things that Easton has been saying recently. Being pregnant must do this to me. If I don't write it down right when it happens I completely forget what it was. These aren't the best quotes from Easton but they still got a laugh out of me.
"Can I have a different soda? One that doesn't have any bubbles?"
I overheard Easton talking to Nathan.
Easton: "Do you know what a pirate cat says Dad?"
Nathan: "No, what?"
Easton: "meowwww argh!"
Yes, I admit that makes sense and it probably isn't that funny, but it was so random that I couldn't stop laughing. Who talks about pirate cats?
The picture above of Easton is after he threw a huge fit for about a half hour because he didn't want to leave the park. We walked home with him screaming at me the whole way and then continued until Blair gave him his freshly washed blanket and he finally gave up and feel asleep next to the door. Okay, not the most positive thing but he did take a nap and those don't happen very often these days so in a way it became a positive thing.
Blair:
Blair is really starting to take off with her words. It is cute to finally hear her talk (even though Easton tells me that she can't talk). With the good comes the bad and she is often heard bossing someone around. During these times though you really can't understand what she is saying. I think it's because she has so much to say and can't figure out how to say it fast enough. It makes me laugh most of the time when she does it to Easton. I try really hard not to laugh (keep it in or turn my head so she can't see me smiling) because I know I shouldn't encourage this behavior but sometimes it is just too funny. I think her vocabulary is really starting to take off because she is finally starting to like to read books and will sit long enough to read very short books.
Blair LOVES nursery. Right now she is the only girl with about five boys and I'm told often that she is very motherly to all the boys. I take this as her being bossy but they assure me that she makes sure that they are where they are supposed to be and doing what they should be doing. The nursery leaders say that she loves singing time and knows all the words and actions to all the songs. They love watching her get into the songs. Lots of people comment on how much they love watching Blair in sacrament meeting during the songs because she will just belt out in song and loves to lead along with the chorister. It is cute but a little embarrassing because she is just so loud! Sometimes I swear Easton and Blair have a competition with each other who can sing louder (which can be embarrassing because neither of them know the words!)
Blair refers to herself as "Bair, Bear" now. It makes me smile every time she says it. It is just so dang cute!
Blair is finally coming around and using her manners. She's pretty good at saying please (meese) and thank you (dank do) which is always exciting but what I'm really excited about is recently when she asks for things she is saying it nice and polite. Before she would just come up to me and scream and demand something over and over until she got it. It would drive me nuts. She had no patience what so ever. I've been working with her but the best I could get from her was a scream and demand over and over followed by a sweet little "meese" after. I thought this was the best we were going to get from her but surprisingly the last couple of days she has come up to me in her sweet soft voice and said, "Wawa, meese."
I love hearing Blair say words that end with K (milk or snack) because she drags the K sound and it sounds like she is gargling or in a weird way speaking German. It is just funny to hear.
I've been having fun with Blair's hair recently. It is finally getting long enough to do some fun things to it and she is actually sitting still long enough for me to experiment. Just a couple of pics of the last two hair styles I've done.
Its weird how life is sometimes. One moment everything seems fine and wonderful and then the next thing you know something drastic happens. My sweet mother-in-law (Nathan's step mom) passed away unexpectedly early this morning from sepsis (she had the flu which turned into pneumonia and then sepsis-blood poisoning). We got the news that she was in the ICU yesterday morning/afternoon and that things didn't look good. We were all praying for a miracle to happen but unfortunately (for us left here on earth) Heavenly Father had a different plan for her. I'm glad that she isn't in pain or suffering anymore and that she gets to be reunited with her mom and dad (and puppies), but it's still hard. I've had family pass away before so this isn't new for me but for some reason I'm really having a hard time this time. 
Part of it is most likely because it was so unexpected and that she was young, but I think the main reason was we had a pretty close relationship. It is hard to loose someone you are close to. Sue not only was my mother-in-law but she was my friend. From the first time I met her she was nothing but sweet, caring, and very generous towards me. It was easy for me to love her. The thing I admired most about Sue was how thoughtful and caring she was. I swear every time I was out shopping with her she would find something that reminded her of someone and had to buy it and send/give it to them. She was always working on a craft project to give away to someone. Whenever we got gifts/packages you could always tell that she put a lot of thought into her gifts (often times it was themed).
Layne and Sue were always very generous to us. Some of the big things were flying Nate and I to California so Nate could be at his best friend's wedding. If it wasn't for them Nate wouldn't have been there because at the time we were poor college students and couldn't afford it. Layne and Sue also helped us buy our first car. Layne and Sue helped me move from Utah to Maryland. They packed up all our stuff in the back of their toy hauler and drove me all the way to Maryland and helped unpack. That was probably one of the best vacations I've ever had! They also helped us on our last leg moving from Maryland to California. And these are just a few of the many generous things they have done for us.
One of the perks of having Sue visit was often times she would end up doing a project to decorate my house (often time curtains or valances but she also did pillows and bench seats for the playroom). I must have learned something during all this because I actually tried my hand at making Blair's valences myself instead of waiting for Sue to do it for me.
I love you Sue! I know you are in a better place. Thanks for being such a wonderful mother-in-law, gramma, and friend. We will definitely miss you.
