Ground zero

I can't believe I haven't blogged in a while!  Guess I've been busy prepping for our baby girl whose due date is today!  Still a few hours left in the day right??  I keep getting false labor this time and wondering, is this it?? I wonder.  Paul and I are pretty excited to meet our new little cutie.  Lizzie is too.  She pats my tummy and says hi baby Grace and even kisses it.  Poor baby Moses is about to be out-babied.  I think it might be a big rough on him.  Anyhoo, here we go!

Can you get a look at these cuties??

Easter recap

Our Easter was pretty mellow.  I took the kids to a local Easter egg hunt and that was nice.  I'm tired so I'll let the pics do the talking.

Four more weeks left

Feeling good.  36 weeks out.  Pretty tired.  28 pounds gained.  Excited to meet our new baby girl.  Wondering what Moses will make of it all.  Can't wait to see Lizzie around her.  So grateful to have a third on the way.

Power of Moms Retreat recap

• I had the most incredible Saturday!  Paul was so great and agreed to babysit our lovely children so that I could attend a Power of Moms retreat all day at Richard and Linda Eyre's incredible home in Park City.
  
  I desperately need to write all I learned down while it's still fresh in my mind.  So many incredible ideas and inspiration!!  My biggest one is that I want to be a deliberate person leading a deliberate life being married to a person whom I deliberately work with to achieve excellent and worthwhile goals and mothering my children in a purposeful and deliberate manner (hey!  mission statement much??  Just thought of that.  Cool).  What I am saying is no more letting life just happen to me.
  
  Here are some of my other main takeaways
  
  
  • You must have and/or create a family culture built up of strong ties and traditions
  • You and your spouse must be on the same page in making sure this happens
  • Your family culture can fight peer culture
  • There is so much joy in motherhood and also respect.  This retreat was a "professional development" opportunity for all of us 100 ladies and worth every penny.
  • More on professional development.  What she said about this really struck me.  She (Saren, daughter of the Eyre's) said that every field has many many professional development opportunities except not moms so much so this was one of them.  Once she said it this way I was like "yeah!  I NEED to be here if I am going to get better at what I do.  
  • You can (nay you must!) have quiet time in your home (read: nap time or kids are letting you nap) even through teenage years.  
  • Put chains at the top of your doors so your kids can't unlock them.  You know, like the kind in hotels.
  • Hold an "executive committee meeting" with your spouse every Sunday to go over the upcoming week in a purposeful way.
  • There are really three parts to a family system:  Discipline System, Economic System, and Family Culture.  
  • You need to get your kids invested in creating the rules in their home so they will abide with them.  They need to make the consequences as well.
  • Saren went into intense detail on the economic system.  I absolutely love it but our kids are still too young to even begin with it but I will do it when they are about 8.  That's the age the Eyre's encourage.
  • Everything you do with your kids (especially chores) can be a RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING ACTIVITY.  I put this in caps because it was so important to them and to me.  Chores or tasks together is when people can really find new things out about each other.  They gave some cute examples.  
  • Oh man so much to write about but suffice it to say that we need to show our kids the joy in being a parent.  It truly is a joy and privilege.  Also, I need to organize our toys better.  : )
  Bye the way, they had the coolest home in PC.  It's a Balinese home which means everything in it they got in Bali.  I can't get over their incredible fireplace and rattan ceiling and bed and indoor glass balcony.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In the meantime, Paul took the kids biking in his new bike trailer which fits two kids.  How cute do they look in their little helmets?  He texted me and said it was fun but that Moses got diarrhea in it!!  Of all times!!  Oh no poor Paul and Mo.  But Paul handled it like a champ and even took them out in it later that day after naptime so he must not have minded too much. 
  
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Moses at 12 months

I realized I forgot to add stats to Moses' birthday page and also updates on what he's doing new.  Here are some for ya:

• He is 29.8 inches tall
• He weights 22 lbs and 11 oz
• The doc says his weight and growth charts are leveling off a little bit more which makes sense because he fits in 18 month clothes.  He is about 50% in height and weight.  
• He is trying to talk some more but no words yet
• He is able to stand without support for a couple of seconds
• He is drinking milk and juice out of a straw finally!  I just put away his bottles today.  Yippee!
• He only gets his binky in his crib. 
• He is a good kid about going to daycare at the gym and no longer cries yay.
• He loves baths with Lizzie.  
• He loves Lizzie
• He loves "jumping" on the bed with his sis
• He is always ready with a smile
• Gosh I love him so much!

Moses you are 1!!

 

Happy birthday to the cutest little boy in town!  What a pleasure you have been in our lives.  You had a lovely birthday.  We got you up and gave you some presents (which Lizzie enjoyed) and a banana bread muffin.

Then you took a nap and later on we took you to see the BYU exhibit Sacred Gifts which are lovely paintings of Christ by Carl Bloch.  

You seemed to enjoy and appreciate that and were very reverent.  Then, we took you to the Provo pool which is enormous and so fun!  Sorry, no pics there cause I left my phone in the car.  Then, we grabbed some pizza and had a picnic up by the Provo temple.

Happy birthday my little prince!  I love you so very much Moses McAllister.