Small & Simple Things

Well, I'm almost 15 weeks and I can finally say that I'm starting to feel almost human again. I still take Zofran once a day, but overall things are getting better. It's the small & simple things, like...
-Actually cleaning off the table after a meal
-Being awake when McKinley comes home from school (she brought home a Mother's Day card & it asked what she thinks her mom does while she's at school. "Sleep" is what she said. Yup - pretty much)
-Making food that doesn't come from a box
-Fixing the girls' hair once in a while
-Actually reading the girls the entire book at bedtime instead of skipping lots of pages
-Dressing myself in something other than PJs and an ugly jacket
-Making sure the girls screen time is less than 2 hours
-Cuddling with my family instead of feeling nauseated every time they try to get near.

Still to come is getting up before the kids, exercising, personal study, and eating better. I still eat WAAAY too much salty, processed foods right now.

All-in-all, though, I am just thankful to be where I'm at right now. And looking forward to the next few months:
-End of school party for the kids! No more carpooling!!
-Memorial weekend camping with family
-Trip to San Diego with my sweetheart
-Mother/Sister Retreat!
-Baptism of a nephew, Blessing of a nephew
-Sweet Summatime! Playing in the water, overload of otter pops, camping, swimming lessons, trips to see friends and family, enjoying "Festival City USA", trips to the park, picnics, and more hands-on exploring of the beauty around here.
-Hopefully finding & moving into a new home. We got notice of public sale on the twin home that we are renting, so we are going from finding our "dream home" to finding something that we like and will work for us.

12 on the 12th in 2012

It's true! :) Today we celebrate 12 years of marriage on May 12, 2012. Kind of cool, doncha think? We're celebrating in St.George for the evening and then at the end of the month we're planning a more extended celebration :)
So - what do I think about 12 years of marriage? Well, we've had more trials than some, less than others. We've had more blessings than many. And I'm sure we'll have many of both in the years to come, but I hope that we get to experience them together. Because, you see, Jason grounds me. He strengthens me. And more than these things, he LOVES me! Even through all the grouchiness, the defensiveness, the stubbornness, the pride, and the selfishness, he LOVES me. And I love that. Because I love him, too.
We are at the point in our marriage where finding time to just BE TOGETHER in a quiet setting is difficult - and
we sure don't always agree on everything...
He thinks you dust first, then vacuum. I think it's the other way around.
He thinks you pack, then shower. I think it's opposite!
He won't eat peas, broccoli, or cantelope. I love 'em!
He likes dirt bikes & video games. I really don't care for them.
He isn't a big reader. I always need a new book in the queue.
He has a hard time paying for vacations when we could use the money for other things. I think vacations are one of the BEST uses of money!!

But somehow we get along just fine :) Because he makes the best pancakes and Spanish rice. He loves to cuddle with me and play with my hair. He listens to me and values my opinion. He loves the Lord, he loves me, and he loves our children. And to top it all off, he is a hunk of a guy. That gray hair on his temples only makes him more handsome!! :)

I made this graphic for him. You'll have to enlarge it to see the pictures a little better, but it's from our past 12 years - mostly anniversary pictures and a few pictures of when our children were born.

April Newsletter & Slideshow

Even though Heidi has not been up to doing much, we still managed to stay fairly busy this past month. Here is the slideshow & updates. Enjoy!

FAMILY:  April started off for Heidi & the girls in Salt Lake – there to see our new cousin/nephew – Spencer Simon – and to enjoy spring break. We also enjoyed watching General Conference with the family – and on Sunday afternoon there was a family get-together to watch the last session of conference and eat a yummy dinner. Other fun activities that we enjoyed while in Salt Lake: A (very belated J St. Patricks Day party put on by Grandma Potts – complete with Irish stew and bobbing for green apples, a trip downtown to see the new City Creek Center – complete with playing and getting SOAKED in the splash area there, a trip to the park so the kids could play & the girls could show off their no-training-wheels bikes, visiting Spencer at home, 3 sleepovers with cousins – and Aunt Cindy taking the girls to see The Lorax, dancing with grandma,  a McDonald’s trip with the cousins, Tiffany having us over for yummy grilled cheese sandwiches at her house, and stopping in Provo for a visit and lunch with the Bensons. It was great to see so many people that we love! We were glad to get home to daddy, though. We missed him so much after not seeing him for 2 weeks! We got back just in time to dye some Easter eggs and get ready for the big day. The Easter bunny was good to us and the girls got flip flops, bubbles, coloring books, a big chocolate bunny, hair accessories, a ring pop, and an Easter Lily pin. We had to really rush to get to 9am church & were about 10 minutes late, but we made it. The egg hunt came after church. The eggs were in the front yard & the girls had fun looking all over for them. LOTS of candy & money!! That night we had some yummy slow-cooker stew & the Hamiltons came over for a visit on their way back to St. George. The 13^th was our big hair chop day! There is probably at least 3 feet less of hair at our home since all the girls got their hair chopped for springtime. The irony being that it snowed 2 inches that day. Oh well – we are all happy with our new ‘do’s! Also that day Jason & the girls headed to Parowan to watch Sedona play basketball. They said she did a great job! On the 21^st, we got to help clean the church as a family & the girls did a great job! Afterwards, we grabbed some pizza & had a picnic at the park. Later on that day we looked at some homes for sale. On the 23^rd, Jason took the girls to a family night at Canyon View High School. With free food & bounce houses, and getting ice cream, the girls had a great time! On the 24^th , we all came to East Elementary to watch McKinley in her end-of-year Kindergarten program. It was based on Dr. Suess & McKinley did a fantastic job! Afterwards, we went to Maggie Moos to celebrate her special day. On the 27^th, we took our trailer & headed to 3 Peaks Recreation Area for our first camping trip of the year! We had a great time enjoying our trailer, roasting marshmallows & hot dogs, singing songs,  playing on the swing set, climbing on the rocks, playing games, and watching the rock crawl competition that was going on. Daddy also had a great time riding his dirt bike all around the trails. It was a lot of fun & we are looking forward to many more camping trips this summer J That next day, on Sunday, we got to visit with Grandma & Grandpa Devenish for a few minutes on their way back to Richfield. It was great to see them. In home news, we dropped the price on our lots, so we’re hoping to get an offer soon – and we put an offer in on a short sale in Enoch, so we’ll just have to wait & see.  

JASON:  April was another busy month for Jason at work. Unfortunately, between a busy work schedule & Heidi being sick & needing more help at home, Jason hasn’t been able to work out much. We’re hoping May will slow down a bit. Jason has been helping out a lot at home & taking to girls to do activities so Heidi can rest & she TRULY appreciates the extra help. He did enjoy seeing his family this month  - at Sedona’s basketball game – and with the Hamiltons & Devenishs stopping by for visits. And he really had a great time getting his bike out on some trails at the end of the month.

 HEIDI: Heidi has mostly just been in survival mode this month. If she can feed the family, make sure everyone is dressed, and carpool when needed, she feels accomplished. She tried Zofran this month & was very thankful for it. It doesn’t take the nausea completely away, but it does help her throw up less. She ran out of Zofran and really learned to appreciate it after she threw up three times in one morning. She got a glimpse of what this pregnancy would be like without it. On the 9^th she went in for her appointment (she was 9 weeks at this point) and was able to get an ultrasound. She has been very worried about this pregnancy after her miscarriage, so seeing that precious baby on the screen with that beautiful heartbeat definitely brought her to tears. She is so thankful that everything seems to be doing well with this pregnancy. It certainly makes all the misery worth it!! The 13^th was the Young Women New Beginnings program & Heidi helped by putting together special plaques for the girls & doing a presentation on personal progress. It all turned out great & was a special night.  

McKINLEY:

-Tiarra, Micheal & McKinley had fun on April Fools Day. Boy did they get everyone!! Sugar in the salt & salt in the sugar, putting something over the computer mouse sensor, putting a rubber band on the sprayer (Kezia got sprayed)… they were some pretty

-McKinley practiced for a week before we went to Salt Lake & sang Michael Row the Boat Ashore and Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and When My Mother Calls me to everyone at Cindy’s house. She also stayed up till after 10 making a bag for Spencer with a cute card. She made a thing on the computer for grandma that said "I love roses red and white. I love to hug my gradmo vere vere tit" J

 -McKinley is still excited about being a big sister again, but she’s had a harder time this month with mom being sick a lot. She still helps out a lot, but she feels overwhelmed a lot, too and says she doesn’t like being “in charge.”

-McKinley still likes Kaden at school, but she’s not sure she wants to marry him anymore & she found out that he doesn’t go to church. She told Jared that she might love him a little bit. After she told mom this, McKinley said “If I married Jared, my last name would be Sowards.” Mom made an interesting face. McKinley said “Mom – I’ll get used to it!”

-One day, McKinley came home SOO excited! She finally won the Lin’s receipt goodie bag at school! It had yummy candy & treats & she felt pretty darn lucky that day.

-The whole family came to see McKinley’s end-of-year Kindergarten program & we are SO proud of her.  She sang out loud & clear and had a smile on her face the whole time. GREAT JOB sweetie! We also enjoyed seeing the picture slideshow at the end & saw many cute pictures of our sweet pea.

-McKinley got to see her friend Destiny at the park & got her number, so we had her come play at the end of April. They had a good time and McKinley was really sad when she had to go home.

-McKinely had a hard time sleeping when we went camping. When Kezi was crying at 2am, McKinley told mom she had been up the whole time & couldn’t go to sleep L

IRELAND:

-Ireland had mom in a worry when we were in Salt Lake. Multiple Times! She would go out into the front yard without an adult, she rode her bike in the park to a place where we couldn’t see her or find her, we lost her for a couple minutes at City Creek, and then she got into the hot tub without permission!! Mom was ready to lock her into a bedroom! But she is just thankful she didn’t get hurt or taken any of those times!
-Ireland REALLY loves babies. So – she was in heaven when she got to hold Maddy AND Spencer on our trip to SLC. She was especially cute with Spencer. She kept asking if she could sleep in his bassinet and she was running around trying to get him a bottle of milk. It was so cute. She kept wanting to hold them and kiss them, too.  She also loves the baby in mommy’s tummy & will pat her tummy & hug it & kiss it  J
-Daddy gave a FHE on marriage & he asked “how do we prepare to get married in the temple?” Ireland said “You get your marry stuff on!!”
-If you ask Ireland what she dreamt about, she will make up some elaborate story based on what she sees at the moment.
-Ireland has some bad habits we’ve been trying to break – especially chewing on her nails and her cuticles. She just bleeds and hurts & we have to put band-aids on.
-We’ve also been working with Ireland on putting her clothes & shoes away. 90% of the clutter in our home comes from a little 4-year-old who likes to throw things on the floor instead of putting them away.
-Ireland’s notes have been so cute lately. She writes “I {heart} you” a lot. Most of the time it’s reversed, but it’s still so sweet.
-Mom asked Ireland what she wanted in the newsletter & this is what she said: “Dear Grandma: You must have a good choice. And you really give lovely kisses. And you really hear nice. You have lovely kids. And you have lovely children. And you’re so good at giving kisses and you’re so good at giving hugs. And I love you.”

KEZIA:  Mom wishes she could capture so much more of Kezia’s little saying. She misses so much. She is just at such a fun age and says & does the funniest things.

-When we were in Salt Lake, Kezia went downstairs & came up a little bit later without a diaper. Mom put a new one on her, but later on when mom went downstairs, there was a surprise there. Apparently Kezia had taken her poopy diaper & decided to “decorate” all over with it – on the walls, carpet, door jams. Oh… what fun that was to clean up!!

-One day mom overheard Kezia yelling “Ireland ‘Nita – that’s MINE!” Apparently she has picked up on mom & dad’s use of her middle name when we mean serious business.

-Kezia loves to say “HAVE A GREAT DAY!” when Jason leaves for work. And if she doesn’t get to say it to him, she gets really upset and we need to call him on the phone to say it.

-Kezia is the “that’s enough!” police at mealtimes. She will let you know when you’ve had enough cereal, milk, water, etc.

-Kezia continues to have random night wakings. A few interesting ones: One time she said there was a spider in her bed and it was taking her book, another time she wanted to say a prayer & afterwards she said “have a great sleep mom!”, another time she wanted us to scare the gorilla out of her room, and another night she was mad about not getting cookies or applesauce.

-We went to IHOP one Friday night for dinner & Kezia said “IHOP is for bunnies!”

-When Kezia has a sad face, mom likes to help her try some different ones. She will say “that’s a good sad face. Now show me your silly face!” and Kezi buys into it every time. She loves to do sad faces, silly faces, scared faces, and grouchy faces. Of course, she turns the table on mom as well & will push back in her bottom lip & tell her to make a different face.

-Kezia is pretty particular about her blankets at bedtime. She has a LOT of blankets and she remembers whenever any one of them is missing. And she won’t go to sleep without them. There is her blankets from Aunt Kim, her GG blanket, her ball blanket, her purple blanket, and her baby blanket.