Utah time--back in May.

oh so much to get caught up on…and I already know by me starting to write this right now-this post might not be finished for a while but at least I am starting ha! Now the hard part trying to remember everything. I really wish I could be better (well if I just could focus more time) on keeping this updated regularly. Seems like life tends to be all or nothin as far as us doing things.

So back in May after we went to San Diego as a family we went straight to Utah right after! As soon as we got there we went straight to Salt Lake City with the Jensen family and went to lunch at the gateway then saw the fountains after…Corbin immediately yelled "splash pad!!" they started running through them a little-most the kids avoiding the water pretty well and not getting too wet but Corbin decided he didn't mind getting soaking wet! At first I figured oh well let him have fun…until after when I realized he's soaking wet and freezing and I don't have anything to change him into. (There isn't a single kid clothing store at the gateway anymore…the place is pretty deserted ha!) I thankfully had his jacket I could put on him and had a random pair of extra undies in my diaper bag. They wanted to go to the space museum place after just to look around and I didn't want Corbin to miss out since he wanted to be with his cousins..but once we got inside I was feeling pretty white trash with him in undies and a jacket…so thankfully I had the great idea of using my jacket as pants for him and they worked out great! :) And then we rode the front runner home which all the kids think is pretty cool! They really do love being all together!

The main reason we went to Utah this time was because I signed myself up for the Ogden half marathon in the fall…one to try to get myself back into shape (which is didn't totally help me until like 2 months before) and two to know I had a time I was going back to Utah for sure to see family! :) My mom, sister Candace, and friend Ran and his daughters all signed up for it. Their was rumor it was going to ran but you never know how bad. It rained last time I ran the Ogden marathon and by the end I was so exhausted and frozen that I wanted to die..I definitely didn't want the same experience. We rode up on the buses early morning and the sky was looking pretty cloudy and dark. I just was hoping it wasn't going to be pouring rain the whole time…well it definitely was! The rain started a little before the race and it only came down harder and harder as time went on. Soaking wet the whole time. Candace finish first of course and sadly she got to the miserable stage since he body cooled down too much by the time we all finished. I'll be honest its not as fun to run a race when you don't have the little "after party" at the end of the race. When its pouring rain you want to find shelter and your things and just get out of there. I don't mind running in the rain (of course not my first choice but I would probably take it over being extremely hot) but its sad when you don't really feel like its a race at the end. I was happy with how I did..not my PR but close to it. I think I finished under 1:50…but I don't remember my official time now..I wanna say 1:48.

 And a few extra random pictures of the rest of our time there. We try to fit time hanging out with everyone!

Gavin is ONE!

Oh man, I have been meaning to write this post for…over a month now. Life gets busy and to be honest I wasn't wanting a write a post about my child when he had been driving me a little crazy. My content happy baby and turned into a determined stubborn (knows how to throw a fit) yet still happy one year old. I am happy that he has an opinion and knows what he wants but at the same time wow he knows how to scream and throw a fit now. I forgot that it starts that early. ha! But really I think it is the combination of learning to be independent and getting a few teeth in at once. When he turned one he had about 7…now I think its 10 or 11. His tantrums can be kinda funny sometimes because he will be sitting down then flop his upper body on the ground and pitifully cry. But the other tantrums aren't so funny-just out of control screaming and crying (and has even flung his head back and hit me multiple times in my face)..every child does that right? ha I think that tantrum throwing streak is hopefully over now…for now at least. But he does scream pretty loud even if he is getting frustrated over something little…love when he does it at church…(happy to report that now that I am finally getting this posted he's back to being happy, lovable, and content-for the most part (: )

He is a good sleeper for the most part-like I said sometimes teething (and other things) can cause rough patches but his sleeping at night is what is most important to me and he sleeps usually from 8-6:30. He doesn't really fight me/cry to go down for naps or to bed at night..and I just love that! :) My kids are early risers. But he has been sleeping in till close to 7 lately more now. His naps are hit and miss and not consistent. Usually he needs one in the morning around 10 and its not very long..like 30-40 minutes. Then I try to put him and Corbin down after lunch in the afternoon sometimes. He hardly takes longer than 1 hr 30 minute nap. And he might take after me with having puffy eyes in the morning! (not matter how much sleep we get)

He is definitely a little pickier with food than Corbin has ever been. He will eat fruit all day long and prefers only fruit…yes that does mean he poops like crazy (like 6 times a day ha) He used to eat some veggies for me but kinda has been refusing them-Ill have to sneak them in I guess. He will eat green smoothies pretty well. He is not that bad but just hard to feed him other things besides fruit sometimes. (at least its healthy!) He seems like he is constantly hungry though-seriously I feel like I am in the kitchen all day long and the kid can Eat! One morning I gave him a banana while I was making pancakes. Then he ate 10 pancakes the size of my palm with a cup full of blueberries-He would have probably kept going but I stopped him and called it good! ha! I don't think I will have to worry about ever forcing my kids to eat-but we will see if there love of food ever changes...It didn't with their parents!

He got his first haircut the week he turned one. I figured I should trim it up and make it look nice for pictures. He had a nice mullet going on in the back and I think looks much better now that it is cleaned up. The first haircut is a little bitter sweet-just means they are growing up more.

He was walking with things really well (and now over 13 months old and taking lots of steps by himself but still falls after 5 or so steps)

He chipped his front tooth..don't know when it exactly happened but my sister pointed it out to me! good thing he'll grow a second set. But with my two boys now I can see some injuries in the future…hoping for nothing big/major! They do fight quite often and Corbin can be a little rough with him. They mostly fight over toys or me. Besides that they enjoy playing with each other and I think they really will once Gavin gets older and can interact with him more with playing. (looking forward to that day!) Gavin loves to play with Corbin and follow him around. He loves giving kisses and wrestling and being tickled. He still likes to cuddle and be around me a lot as well. He loves balls and cars and anything boy…probably because that is what we have! ha! He loves playing with water and being outside! He is not really saying any words yet. He will copy noises I make and he did copy back saying Mama! :)

Gavin is a definitely a sweet boy and I am anxious to see his little personality develop even more! I can already tell he will be a fun and silly but also very lovable kid! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I choose Happy.

It's funny how when you are trying to teach your child something you realize you have to be the example to follow for them to know how to act and be. It's an opportunity to try to be better in that area and just a nice little reminder I guess too. 

This past while a thought came up (that I am pretty sure my mom started somehow) that I wanted to teach Corbin that he was in control of his emotions and he gets to choose how to act and not letting other people's actions control him and his thoughts/behavior. Basically to not play the blame game and to not accuse someone else for why you are feeling a certain way. (If that makes sense). For example, I wanted to teach him that because of the choices he makes he gets the consequences that follow-he can't get upset with me and blame me for his unhappiness when he chose to make a bad choice.

When he started getting frustrated or upset and get grumpy I would ask him-"do you want to be grumpy and unhappy or do you want to be happy?" because ultimately we are in control of how we feel.

I kept thinking about how Heavenly Father has given us our agency. We are in control of how we feel. Not matter the situation you can make it a good one or a bad one. You can have all the "crap" happen to you and you can either choose to make the best of it or you can choose to mope. What does Satan want? He wants you to be unhappy, to think that life is unfair, to think you have an awful situation/life. He wants you to choose grumpy, unhappy, negative! Are we going to give in and let him win and be miserable like him or are we going to use our agency and choose to be happy? Good thing we have our agency!

Life can be hard and I admit motherhood is hard for me and some days it is really hard for me to choose happy. I think to blame my kids--they are so whiney for no reason, they won't stop crying, they won't stop demanding me, I can never make them happy. Some days I have let them choose my happiness. I let them be in control of my mood…and its really hard not to as a mom because you are emotionally involved of course. But just as I was trying to teach Corbin that he is in control on how he feels no matter the situation I was/am being challenge to learn the same thing.

Yesterday I had a rough day of just feeling deflated and exhausted from whiney kids who were fighting  for no reason and feeling like a failure in many ways. By the end of the day I just was done and I was putting my kids to bed a little early. I wasn't upset and being rude but I was definitely not myself. (sadly I was choosing grumpy) As I was putting Corbin pajamas on he was trying to be goofy and I give a fake smile back to him he then looks at me and says "Mom why are you not happy?" He could totally read my mood and was worried about me. I immediately played the blame game…and answered "well I am exhausted from you and Gavin being so whiney and crying all day!" Right after I said that I felt guilty as he replied "I will make good choices Mom! You be happy now?" Oh how I wish sometimes I was like a child again and could just forget about it and move on. He was reminded me right there that it was my choice to be happy or not! There wasn't anything happening right then that I needed to be grumpy for! I was choosing to be unhappy. 

We continued with our bedtime routine and I read him a few books. He asked me after we were done " are you better now mom? are you happy now?" ugh! It was finally in that moment that I realized I was continuing to choose to be unhappy and mope in my own misery of being negative-I had a choice right then to choose happy or to choose misery.
2 Nephi 2:25: Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
Heavenly Father wants us to have joy. Sometimes I need to remember that he wants me to have fun-I don't need to just stick to my tasks and make sure I am doing everything perfectly. I need to relax and "Enjoy the Journey". It continues on verse 26: "…knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not be acted upon…" Again reminding us that we have the agency to choose…to not just be acted upon. And in my case to choose happy and not let the world or people act upon me.
I know Choosing Happy is something I need to work on…sometimes daily and I am glad Heavenly Father sends me little reminders of where I need to improve. I can sit here and write this and know I need to choose happy and its my choice but its definitely an ongoing battle.