Jacob Checkup, Pie, the Muddy Hunt and Nicole's Clownfish

Jacob had his 2 year old checkup this week! His siblings behaved the best yet when I told them to hide under the exam table so they wouldn't get shots. Worked beautifully. Jacob weighs 23 pounds (3rd %) is 33 inches long (13th %) and his BMI is 14.7 (7th %). He is just a little guy but packs so much energy and curiosity into his mini muscles and small feet. His eyes are a gorgeous blue and he has these long lashes that make him just irresistible to hug and kiss. Such a sweet boy!

One of Jacob's developing habits is to wrestle tackle his siblings. He'll pull on their blanket, mess up their hair, pretend to be a monster... anything to get their attention to play with him. Michael and Jacob play together best and although there are some bumps and bruises along the way, they really love each other. It is a learning process for both of them, but I love watching them take on the world together- with a car in each hand.

I started craving lemon meringue pie after my glucose test. Random. So I made the pie and oh it was so delicious! Makes me want another one just looking at it... And the house smelled like a pre-Thanksgiving cooking day because that's the only time I usually think about making it.

Our little town of Apex had an Easter Egg hunt last weekend. Last year it rained and they had it indoors. So we drove over this year anticipating the same sanity. Instead, we had a muddy Easter Egg hunt in the sprinkling rain. The kids certainly didn't mind! We used our Halloween bags as Easter baskets. Same function, right?

You can see all of the kids in this picture- Jacob front and center, Michael with the orange shirt/green bag mid-left, and Nicole in the pink and white top in the top middle. They squelched around in the mud enjoying every second!

Jacob had the hardest time waiting for the starting signal. Every 30-45 seconds he'd run from my side to grab this blue egg just a few feet away. He was so cute because you could tell he was eyeing it and then finally couldn't help himself to go try to grab that blue egg again. You can see the ratio of mud to grass in this picture.

Nicole brough home her class fish- two clown stuffed animal fish and she and Michael had fun playing with them all weekend. By the end of the weekend, they were just any old toy, but it was sure fun while it lasted!

Striving to Become

In a recent Relief Society lesson on missionary work, several sisters shared how inadequate they felt to share the gospel when their lives were so crazy. How could someone want to be like me when I have to work so hard at it myself and am not doing anything perfectly? I felt the Spirit teach me a lesson as I pondered these questions and thoughts. I've tried to write down what I am learning since it seems to be replaying in my mind over and over again.

 When Christ said "be thou an example of the believers" did He mean that if you are not perfect you should bury your talent in the ground? Hide your light under a bushel because it's 60 watts instead of 180? Look down on ourselves because we have no incredible life story to amaze others into listening to our testimony?

 The perfection we seek, yet will always lack in this life, should not be what we expect of ourselves before we can be disciples of Christ, be an example to others, and join in missionary work. So if others see your children throwing tantrums, your lawn looks slightly deranged because your teen is developing yard skills, and you seem to always find spit up on your shirt...what do you do? Focus on the "striving to become."

 When I go grocery shopping with three active kids ages 5, 3, and 2 while I am 6 months pregnant things can get a little crazy. It's easy to feel self-conscious as my constant stream of words is in my much-prayed-for patient voice asking the kids to stay in the cart, sit down, don't touch, please put that back, etc. I often stop and crouch down to their level and have a little chat about obedience. I get lots of looks and just about every time a "you've got your hands full" from another shopper. And yes, I'm sure there are those who judge me as insane for having so many little ones. Just like anyone could judge negatively your lawn, house, state of dress, or any other of differences in the way members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints eat, dress, and speak. We are certainly different from the world- and not in way some would "envy." For example, I probably won't have someone approach me and say "I wish I could be chasing three screaming kids in different directions, looks like fun!" Or "Wow those weeds are so green, wish I had those!" However, there is a wonderful blessing we have in the difference of our "striving to become."

 After one of my somewhat crazy shopping trips, I was loading the kids and groceries in the van, when a lady came up and offered to return my cart with hers. I thanked her for her kindness and she started to leave. Then she turned back and said "You know, I just have to let you know you're doing a wonderful job with your children." Her words didn't focus on the barely contained behavior of my toddlers, instead she had watched me and how patiently I had treated the children and handled the situation. My "striving to become" more patient and speak more kindly had made an impact on her.

 So if you're child isn't the star student at school, if your calling requires major sacrifices, if you have to change your outfit three times a day courtesy of an infant...don't feel your life cannot be a window to Christ. Your spirit, attitude, the way you carry yourself and handle the many responsibilities that come from the hard work of bringing yourself and your family to Christ- all of this "striving to become" is what can touch the lives of those ready to feel the Spirit and welcome the hope and joy we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 We know that despite our many trials, even when being a faithful member of the Church seems so difficult, we have a hope in Christ. Through His merits, mercy, and grace our lives can be shaped by the Master into a masterpiece far beyond what we can imagine for ourselves. He gives us our weaknesses that we might turn to Him to find our greatest strength. He heals our sins when we humble ourselves and come to Him. And despite our weaknesses and feelings of inadequacy, we can bring others closer to Him as they see our striving to become as He is.

March-ing On!

I know this is an odd picture, but does it remind you of the broken latch? This is a door knob lock to keep kids out of the master bedroom. Because Jacob learned to put a finger from each hand in the hole and hang until it broke, we put clear strong packing tape around it several times so it could not be taken off unless you use scissors or something to cut it. Today I found this on the floor. Packing tape still completely wrapped around it!! I think my kids would make great magicians because they've totally stumped me on this one!

For St Patrick's Day we had green pancakes. I used the wilton cake food coloring paste so the color was much brighter than food coloring drops make them.

Michael didn't care what color they were, as long as they had syrup on them! I like his excited/impatient look of 'okay mom, take the picture so I can devour these.'

Jacob regularly eats just as much, if not more, than his siblings. His height and weight will surely rise above 7th percentile soon!

Our mild winter has blossomed into a beautiful spring. I've had windows open for weeks now to enjoy the fresh air. Hours at the park and backyard in shorts and t-shirts make for happy, tired kids at the end of each day. My magical discovery over the years is crocs. Instead of boys (and girl) with stinky feet and shoes with mud, sand, and dirt encrusted on them, I just rinse off the shoes and they're clean and dry by morning! Also, the air outlets somehow make their feet not stink. From memories of my five beloved brothers, I can tell you this is a 'wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles!'

Our pear trees (don't produce pears, so not sure why that's their name) blossomed and the backyard view was gorgeous! We had a windy day the other day and it looked like it was snowing as tons of the little petals fell from the trees. I absolutely love having all three kids play outdoors! I hope you admire our green lawn as well. I will admit that it is 99.7 percent weeds. We do have the most beautiful weeds, though, don't you think :-)

I'm now in the final trimester, and we're all excited for this little girl to arrive. The boys have to put up with a less active mommy (can speed-walk-waddle after them which definitely not as thrilling for any of us!), I've had to quit working out (love to watch the body slowly break down!), Nicole is such a helper and has learned how to bend over and do the laundry for our front-loaders, and Jim gets to mow the lawn this summer (unless we decide to aim for an early delivery, just kidding). Here's to a fast-forward feel for the next 90 days!

Two Years for Jacob Don

Today Jacob is two years old! He is wearing his birthday crown from nursery at church, a shirt handed down from Michael handed down from his Uncle Caleb, and playing drums on an oatmeal container from breakfast. A complete package of cuteness!

Jacob kind of got what all the excitement was about, but mostly just enjoyed his frog, singing bday card, and new outfit. I think the best part for the family was having his siblings celebrate their brother and give him the total spotlight.

Jacob reminds me a lot of a monkey sometimes. He can cling to toys, railings, bars like you would not believe. He has a lot of tenacity of spirit and a strong grip and he loves to climb and swing. We have a pullup bar his height in the doorway to his room and he LOVES it. So for his bday cake, I made Monkey Bread! Kind of like cinnamon rolls but the dough is rolled in little circles, dipped in butter and cinnamon/sugar and piled in a bundt pan. Delicious!

Here's a video of our little bday fun for Jake. My favorite is the dance party at the end thanks to the fun card from Kathryn. Go to http://delbifamily.blogspot.com

Jim's SuperSprint Triathlon and Nicole's "Beautiful Day"

Jim raced in a super sprint triathlon this morning! This morning was chilly so the boys brought their blankets and Michael hid under his while waiting for daddy. We sure felt glad we weren't the ones coming out of the pool and running to the bikes while being soaking wet! I missed seeing Jim for this first part. Michael had a little run-in with the blacktop while running around.

We found a spot where nobody was crowding and waited for daddy to run by! Of course the camera took right when Jim ran past the tree, but you can see how excited the kids are. We cheered for him until he was too far away to hear. So fun!

There goes Jim on the last leg- the running! Going from bike to run was a really strange feeling and Jim said it took a bit for his body to get changed over to running mode.

Waiting at the finish line! Nothing like a rest on the blacktop.

Here comes Jim!! His timing chip was attached to a band around his ankle and it came off somewhere between this picture and the previous one. He had no idea when it came off, so we had to drive back along the race course and look for it. Fortunately, someone picked it off the ground and turned it in for us. We were so grateful we didn't have to pay 50 dollars to replace it! Jim had a great time and said it was fun to have the variety of events. Since it was his first one, he was at the very back of the swim starts and that was not fun waiting for 150 people to start before him, 15 seconds apart. From now on, he'll have an official swim time so we won't have to go through that again. We also didn't realize he could have stuff in the bike area besides the bike. So he had no towel, goggles, etc. Just socks, shoes and bike :-) Jim wasn't sure how to pace himself, so he just kept a good pace the whole time without any stopping. During the bike portion, he had just passed a few people when his shorts or foot caught on the seat height lever and pulled it out so his seat came slamming down! He had to quick pull the seat back up and fix it. But I'm sure he gave those behind him a good smile or two. We had some adventures waiting as well- the craziest part was the kids all wanting to use the restroom and getting their first introduction to port-a-johns. I'll spare you details. The kids were magnetized to every dog and Michael got so excited each time it always made the dog wary of him. Not too often a human gets more excited than a dog about meeting new people.

I have a video with just a few seconds from the end of Jim's triathlon as well as some video of Nicole. Each morning we watch the birds and squirrels in our trees and she wanted to share the song the birds are singing. She also wanted to tell you about her favorite tv show and her day at preschool. I think this will be a cute memory to look back on as she grows up. can't see it? go to http://delbifamily.blogspot.com

Exhibit A

Sometimes I think people don't believe me when I tell them how active and curious my boys are. Or maybe they think I just don't watch them closely enough. But let me tell you, my boys really truly are blessed with an abundance of energy, curiousity, and strength. I'd like to share exhibit A:

Our bookshelf cupboards are kept safe by these child proof locks. Thick plastic. Hard for me to remove so you'd think it would be impossible for a soon-to-be 2 yr old? I heard the crashing sound of game board pieces and puzzles on the floor and ran into the room.

Sweet Jacob simply broke the lock when he couldn't figure it out. He did the same to the fridge lock by hanging on it. I wonder how he broke this one. This picture is symbolic of a lot a things. My boys view the world differently than many others. If you leave anything out, they will get into it. I'm always a little in awe of the kids that walk right by their daddy's iPhone charging in the wall. Or simply let alone the figurines on the entry table... It's a different world over here. But I wouldn't change it for anything. Tonight Michael said "I love you, family." and he even squished a spider yesterday for me. LOTS of love for that! And I found Jacob reading books by himself on our big chair today, quiet as can be. Last night I sang songs to him- I stand up since I tend to fall asleep if I lay down on his bed. So he started a little routine of laying down, getting up to give me a hug and going back to bed, then getting back up to hug me and then going back to bed, etc and doing this until I finish singing. Such sweet, loving kiddos.

Now, if only they had child locks made of steel.