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!