Candy Turkeys

My cousin had posted this link her facebook page over the weekend and I thought it would be a fun project/activity to do with Tali for Thanksgiving.  It was so much fun!  Here are some pictures of how ours turned out.

 One package of Oreos for the recipe I chose makes about 16 turkeys....if your children don't sneak them and eat them.

I used double stuffed Oreos (glued everything together with vanilla frosting), candy corn for the feathers, mini Reese's peanut butter cups for the body, Whopper malt balls for the head, pieces of colored marshmallows for the beak and then those little bags of colored frosting for the eyes and feet.  They are a lot of fun to do with your kids and only cost maybe around $10 or so.

4 Months Old

I know I'm a little late, but here are some photos I took of Jairus at four months old.

 I can't believe how big he's gotten!

 Haha!  He looks like he could be a little football player.

 I took all these photos at my mom's house.  She had all these decorations for Thanksgiving, so I borrowed a couple for the pictures.  He really LOVED the turkey.

I know I'm bias, but he is so stinkin' cute!

 This is my FAVORITE picture that I took of our little man!

Our cute little turkey!

"Goodnight Petey"

Yesterday, our little parakeet, Petey passed away.  I had bought him before Brian and I started officially dating which was about six years ago.  I was kind of shocked to see him lying at the bottom of his cage.  He didn't seem sick or malnourished.  We don't really know how long their life expectancy is, but we assume he died of old age.

I woke Brian up to let him know about Petey and he took care of the dead body while I had Tali in her room playing.  When she finally came out, she was asking where Petey was.  We tried explaining it to her the best we could.  We told her that he went to live with Heavenly Father and that he is taking care of him now.  She kept going over to the empty cage and was saying in this sad voice "Petey. Heavenly Father."  I guess she wasn't really understanding because before her nap today she wanted to say goodnight to Petey.  He had moved Petey's food and gravel and went to take the cage out to the shed so she wouldn't see it and keep asking about Petey.  When Brian came back in the house, Tali had moved the food and gravel back to it's original place and telling him where it's supposed to go.  She then kept pointing to the shed thinking that Petey was out there while Brian continued to explain to her that he was gone.  He even got a little choked up.  He and Petey bonded.

How do you explain death to a 2 1/2 year old?  I thought we did a pretty good job explaining it, but she still doesn't get it.  Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful.

 

"Goodnight Petey" 

Charity Never Faileth

I have to warn you.  This is another long post.  Today was literally a day from you know where, but it was also a huge lesson for me.  The day started off with me getting mad at Brian for some stupid things which later I wondered "why am I so worked up over this?"  As I explained in my previous post, Brian has been having to work some mandatory overtime at work which leaves him very little time to do his homework.  Today Brian stayed home from church to finish his homework that is due tomorrow.  That means I ended up taking the kids to church by myself.

When I got to church, the only seats were in the front.  We sat on the second row between two older married couples.  Things were going good until right after the Sacrament had been passed.  Jairus started fussing so I gave him a bottle.  I burped him, but he still continued fussing.  Then Tali started acting up getting into my friend Shearyl's purse.  Tali loves purses so she didn't want to listen to me.  Shearyl kept telling me Tali was fine and that she had 8 grand-kids.  I tried to keep Tali occupied by drawing, but that wasn't working.  She got on the floor and then proceeded to try and climb under the bench.  I pulled her out and she started freaking out and would collapse everytime I tried to stand her up.  I didn't know what else to do because I had Jairus who was fussing and Tali freaking out.  Thankfully another kind woman in my ward, Gabby told me she would watch Jairus while I took Tali out.  I was SO embarrassed and humiliated.  I felt like the bishopric as well as the entire congregation were just staring at me.

I took Tali into the mother's room and gave her a good scolding and just started balling.  I remember feeling like I couldn't breathe because I was so upset.  As I was crying, Tali came over to me and just started rubbing my back.  It was so hard to be mad at her being so cute and so sweet after that.  After I had composed myself, we went back into Sacrament meeting.  When I sat down I noticed Gabby had taken Jairus out.  I asked Shearyl if she wouldn't mind watching Tali so I could relieve Gabby from Jairus.  After I had thanked Gabby profusely she went and sat down.  I stood in the back by the doors bouncing Jairus and watching Tali with Shearyl.  Then it looked like Tali had climbed under the bench and so Shearyl decided to bring Tali out and walk around with her.  I was so embarrassed.  You'd think I could handle two kids.  Sacrament ended and I was able to take Tali to nursery.

I was so exhausted, I just sat in the chapel just relaxing and thinking.  There were very few people in the chapel which I was thankful for.  As I was rocking Jairus to sleep in his carseat, the Young Women's President sat down and started talking to me.  I was so glad she didn't mention the kids acting out.  She asked me if I'd been to the shooting range recently (her and her family like going too) and we started talking about gun stuff.  She then asked if I was okay.  She sat and talked to me and was so kind.  I was so thankful and surprised at how easy it was to talk to her.  I didn't really know her that well (I knew who she was, but didn't really know her), but it was just so nice to talk to her.  She reminded me that when we have little ones, we mainly go to church to stay in the practice of going to church because with little ones, we don't usually get much out of church.

When the men started coming into the chapel for Priesthood meeting, I started to go to Relief Society.  I was stopped in the hall by the nursery leader and was told Tali needed a diaper change.  So I go to the mother's room again to change her when Jairus wakes up.   My friend, Lera came in with her little boy and asked if I was okay.  I told her no.  She asked what she could do to help and there really was nothing she could do.  I told her it had just been one of those days which she could relate to.  I get everything done, take Tali back to nursery and go to R.S.  I sit down and start to relax and then Jairus freaks out again!  AHHHH!  I figured by now I have had it and I decide to go home early.

Later I had gone to a fireside that my friend Jason had put on for the youth of our stake.  It was so nice to see his family.  His parents are awesome people!  I've known them for years.  I am friends with their daughter Laura (LOVE YOU!).  We ended up sitting by Jason's family....until Jairus started freaking out again.  SIGH!  I stood up and went to the back by the doors....again.  Tali came after me and wanted me to hold her.  I obviously couldn't because Jairus was in my arms.  Jason's mom came and helped me with Tali which I was super grateful for but felt guilty because it was her son's first fireside.  To make a longer story even shorter, I was up and down, back and forth in the back of the chapel with Jairus.  Tali came to me in the back when I told her to go sit down when she started to go past the benches where were sitting.  I couldn't necessarily chase after her because I didn't want to cause a scene and disrupt people from the fireside.  Thankfully there was a young woman around the age of 18 that asked if I wanted her to go get Tali.  I said yes so she went and got Tali and brought her back and started playing with her a little bit.  Tali then wanted to get down and I told her to go sit down on the bench by my friend's family.  She must have forgotten where were sitting or something because she passed our bench and went in two benches in front of us and sat with perfect strangers for a minute.  I was kind of freaking out at this point, but tried not to show it.  HA!  Thankfully, Tali wasn't with them long and came back to me.  The Young woman who had helped me before along with one of her friends kept Tali a little distracted with scripture marking crayons and some scratch paper Jason's mom had given Tali.  The fireside was really great from what I caught of it.  The music was amazing and had really touched me.  The thing that I got out of the fireside and basically throughout my whole church experience was that "charity never faileth."  I had been so blessed with all the craziness that had gone on today through the service of others.  It was a reminder to me that eventhough it was hard and I felt like I was going to loose it several times, that my Heavenly Father loved me.  I knew he was looking out for me and blessing me through the kindness and service of others even strangers like the kind young women.  I will NEVER forget the service that was given to me today.  I am so overwhelmed, yes by my kids, but more importantly by the love of my Heavenly Father who sent others to me.  I am so grateful for the lessons I had learned today.  Here are some thoughts/scriptures that came to me.

• His love and mercy will ALWAYS sustain us.
• "Charity never faileth....Charity is the pure love of Christ"-Moroni 7:46-47.
• "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."-Matthew 25:40 
• "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."-Mosiah 2:17

Coping

For those of you reading this post, I will just warn you it is long.

 

Recently, I had been feeling not myself.  I used to think it was just stress until I was feeling angry all the time.  Brian had told me that he noticed I wasn't "myself."  I'm not one to share something like this with everyone, but I wanted to help just in case someone else was going through this too, plus writing about it is therapeutic.  On Wednesday, I had gone to a doctor's appointment and was diagnosed with PPD (Post Par-tum Depression).  I was very bothered by this for several reasons.  The biggest reason was I didn't want people to think of me as being crazy, unstable or fragile.  I think a lot of times we don't want to admit when we are weak and need help.  

Toward the end of my pregnancy and even after I had Jairus, I felt very irritable, short tempered and just angry all the time.  I had talked to friends, a family member and my bishop because I was scared that I might have PPD.  The majority of them told me that I was just stressed and it was just part of life.  They reminded me that it is also more difficult now because I have a toddler to worry about as well as a baby.  One of my closest friends kept telling me something was wrong.  I didn't want to believe it because I felt that I would seem weak and out of control.  One day Brian and I were talking and he asked if I was okay,  I told him yes then asked why he thought I wasn't.  He told me that I just didn't seem like "myself."  I told him I would make an appointment with my doctor to see what she thought.

When I went in for my appointment, my doctor asked how things were going.  I told her everything I had been going through, everything I had thought or said, etc.  She then told me that she was certain I had PPD and wanted to put me on some low dose medication for it.  One of the things I noticed on the label was that I was not supposed to nurse while taking the medicine.  I was kind of upset with the whole situation.  So much so that as I was driving to my sister's house, I got disoriented on the freeway and couldn't remember where I was.  I assume it was from a lack of sleep but also worrying that I was going to be viewed as being crazy eventhough no one knew.  I had turned down my sister's street, pulled in the driveway, got out and started walking to the door when I noticed something was off.  Something was wrong.  It wasn't my sister's house I pulled into.  It was her next door neighbor's when I could have sworn I pulled into my sister's driveway.  Later when I was driving home, I was a couple blocks away from my neighborhood.  I remember seeing a stop light and pushing on the brakes to slow down.  The next thing I know, I was rolling into the back of the vehicle in front of me.  Thankfully there was no damage to either vehicle, everyone was okay, but the thing I thought was weird was the vehicle in front of me didn't even pull over or anything to look at their vehicle, so I just went home.  I was pretty shaken up though.  I personally think that my blackout or whatever you want to call it was a combination of stress and fatigue.

 

Today, I was talking to a really good friend and found out she had gone through the same thing (PPD) so we talked about it for a while and she brought up some really good points.  She reminded me that eventhough I'm going through this tough time, I needed to rely on my Heavenly Father and council with him through prayer.  It was nice to be able to talk to someone who had been through the same thing that I could relate to.  The great thing about this experience was that I found a great friend.  We told each other that if we needed a break even if it was just for an hour to breathe, would would take each other's kids.  It was so nice to have that kind of support.  We also decided that to help each other, we would schedule a girl's movie night where just get together at someone's house and watch a movie or something, that way we still get adult conversation and the kids can play together so we can kind of relax.  I am truly grateful to be blessed with such wonderful friends.  For those of you who hung in there and read this whole post, thank you.  And a big thank you to my dear friends!  I LOVE YOU!

Num Num!

Jairus had recently turned 4 months old and so I decided I would let him try some rice cereal.  He was so stinkin cute!  He was totally loving it!  Here are some fun pictures of the little man's attempt at eating rice cereal.

 

 

  I love it when he gets this happy smile!

What a cutie!

First Day of Piano

As some of you may know, I had been taking cello lessons from a woman in my stake.  After about a month, I started wondering when and how often I would really be able to put my skills to good use.  I am too old to be in any orchestra or symphony and yes there is always church, but I haven't really seen people play the cello that much in church.  I then started thinking it would be more practical for me to play the piano instead.  I already have a piano and would LOVE to learn how to play it because I have always (especially around the holidays) envisioned playing for my kids and singing around the piano.  So I made the decision to switch from the cello to piano.

One of my best friend's told me a while ago that her mom had taught piano and had been for 30+ years.  The best part was she was very inexpensive!  I set up a lesson with my friend's mom and was SO excited to start!  Here is a picture of me leaving for my first piano lesson.

When I showed up for my lesson, I was blown away at how talented my friend's mom is!  She not only could pull several difficult pieces of music off the top of her head, but she also showed me a bunch of quilts she had made too.  She had told me that if I stuck in there long enough with the piano, she would teach me how to transpose music!  She also wanted me to start practicing Christmas music out of this simplified book that I have.  WHOO HOO!  I have noticed a difference in how I play just within a week of lessons.  Practicing the piano doesn't even feel like a chore, but more of a stress reliever.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

Trick-or-Treat!

 This year was so fun trick-or-treating because Tali actually got to go out around the neighborhood to go trick-or-treating.  Her first year we went to the neighborhood just south of us, her second year we were all sick so we didn't even go out trick-or-treating so it was nice for her to be able to go out this year around our neighborhood.  Tali was SO excited. 

We decided not to dress Jairus up because he hated the costume anyway because the microfiber on it shed really bad and would get all over.

Trick-or-Treating with Daddy was a real treat!

I think she had had about enough after an hour of walking around.

Tali was so polite when she would go up to the door.  She would say "trick-or-treat" in this quiet sweet voice and then say "thank you" afterward.  People at the doors thought she was so cute.  I was actually kind of surprised how many people had their lights off though.

When we got home, Tali was so excited she could not go to sleep.  Who could blame her though?  Free candy?  Who wouldn't be excited?

Halloween Parties 2 & 3

Halloween Party #2

Another friend in our ward had thrown a party for some of the nursery/primary kids which turned out ADORABLE!  There were SO many cute activities that were planned!  They had made Halloween styrofoam picture frames, super cute Halloween masks (Tali's was a witch), they colored really cute Halloween pictures, played a pin the heart on the skeleton game and a pumpkin bean bag toss game, and decorated pumpkin sugar cookies.  It was so incredible!  Here are some pictures of all the fun.

 Tali playing Pin the Heart on the Skeleton game.

 Pumpkin Bean Bag Toss

 I spy with my little eye...a couple of cheaters!  :)

 See?

I thought this picture was priceless!  This is the girl who had the party.

 Throughout the party, there were tons of fun Halloween songs playing in the background.  Anyone who knows Tali knows that she ended up just wanting to dance to the music.

This is what cracked me up!  All the other kids were coloring pictures while Tali decided to dance by herself in the front room.  Here she is grabbing the fireplace and literally shakin' her booty.  Ahhh....my daughter is so awesome!

Then came the pumpkin cookie decorating.

This is Tali's cookie.  She did it herself...well other than the frosting of course.

YUM!

 These two pictures cracked me up because they were the only two at the table with all this candy spread out in front of them.  JACKPOT!

 Thanks Kristina!  It was great!  We had such a blast!

Halloween Party #3

Later that evening Brian's parents came over to watch the kids so that he and I could go to another fun party at a friend's house in our ward.  It was so fun being able to talk to other adults and not have to worry about the kids!  We had some really good food, played some awesome games and the costumes were awesome.  There were people dressed up as Waldo and Wanda (from Where's Waldo), the Joker and Cat Woman, etc.  Brian and I didn't really feel like dressing up as the Wizard of Oz so we just reused some older Halloween costumes and went as pirates.  I didn't get any pictures because I forgot my camera.  I know.  Shocker.  Toward the end of the night we ended up watching a little bit of The Ring.  I still can't believe how freaked out I was.  People were laughing at me because I am such a baby when it comes to scary movies.  I can't do scary movies anymore.  The people at the party were so much fun!  Brian and I were laughing almost the whole time.  It was so great!  Thank you Kerri!  

Baby GQ

I had recently bought Jairus a couple dress suits for church.  He looked so stinkin cute I had to take a picture.  I love my cute little Jair-bear!

Isn't he the CUTEST?

Halloween Party #1

This year we had gone to several Halloween parties which was great considering last year we didn't really get to use our costumes because everyone in our house was sick.  It turned out great this year though because not only did we get to dress up in the same Halloween costumes as last year (which made it so incredibly cheap!) but we were also able to add a cute cowardly lion to our little Halloween theme.  Here are some photos we took at the party in our costumes.

 Someone had brought their dog and the only way we could get Tali to be somewhat happy is to hold the dog.  It turned out great though because we just pretended it was Tali's Toto.

The first Halloween party we had gone to was at a friend's house in our ward.  It was awesome!  There were several things to do from making shrunken heads (which turned out really cool) to bouncing in a bounce house (for the kids obviously).  There was a ton of food and great conversations with people from my ward.  It was nice to see people in a different setting than at church.  We had so much fun!  Thanks Betsy!