Support Systems

Lately I have been reflecting an awful lot about how blessed we are.  We seriously have the most amazing support systems anyone could ever hope for.

My family puts up with me and my crazy kiddos almost every day while Sean is at work.  After naps I load the kids up and we go play at Grammie's house.  On the days we don't go there my kids seem lost, and Mara begs to go up there.  They absolutely adore their Grandparents and I know that feeling is mutual.  Mara & Logan are definitely spoiled rotten!

Sean's family let us live with them for 2 1/2 years while we figured out life as newlyweds and then as parents of one, and then as parents of 1.5.  Let me tell you--we were not the easiest people to live with.  We expected a lot and gave very little in return.  Every time we felt there was an issue about something they tried their hardest to accommodate us--even about the silliest/most trivial/ridiculous things.  They must have A. TON. OF. PATIENCE.

Again we are finding ourselves in a situation that we need a lot of support.  Have I ever mentioned how incredibly stressful it is having Sean working full-time and going to school full-time :) ??!!?  One of the biggest stresses is money.  It never seems to stretch far enough.  Don't ya just hate that?

Sean's parents have graciously agreed to let us move in with them again.  In a little over a year we will be debt free and ready to try living on our own again.  I am so grateful they are willing to sacrifice their basement so that we can follow the Prophet's council to stay out of debt.  We have made some silly rookie mistakes and now have the opportunity to fix them. 

I just wanted to thank our amazing families for opening up their homes, hearts, and lives so that we can become better people.

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
(I'm pretty sure Sean's parents don't even look at our blog, but I felt like this needed to be said!)

Logan

So lets talk about this handsome little man.

I questioned our craziness MANY times when we decided to bring another bundle of joy into our lives so soon.  Especially with questionable pregnancies...but I KNEW we were suppose to have another child.  I am so glad we listened to the promptings from Heavenly Father. 

He is the happiest baby I've ever known.  So easy going right from the start.  He loves everyone.  He absolutely adores Mara.  Even when she is climbing all over him and driving him bonkers.  He has recently started the LOVE playing and wrestling with daddy.  He lights up when Sean walks in the room.  He is definitely a mama's boy--and I wouldn't want it any other way!  A couple of days ago Sean got the kids up in the morning while I took my sweet time getting out of bed.  I came downstairs and Sean told me that Logan wouldn't drink his bottle...right then I look down and he is crawling towards me with his bottle.  He gets to my feet, holds up the bottle so I take it.  Then he held up his hands and smiled.  I picked him up and he downed his bottle.  He just wanted mommy to snuggle him!!  How adorable is that?!?

He is a speedster at crawling.  We blame that on survival of the fittest.  If he wasn't he probably wouldn't be a happy camper!  :)  With a two year old sister who can blame the poor guy?  He knows when it's time to run for his life!

He walks along the furniture and is getting brave...he has started letting go of things while he is standing up...and stands there for a minute.  I am SO NOT READY for that.  He can take his sweet time learning to walk!  I refuse to play the "walking" games with him.  I'm not ready!!!!  I don't want to lose my baby!

The other day we watched him crawl from our couch to the back of the couch then up into the window sill!!!  He started climbing the moment he started crawling and continues to get more brave every day.

He loves "talking".  Ga, Mom, Da, and Maw are his favorite words. :)  It is actually pretty adorable because when I yell for Mara he starts yelling with me!  Maw Maw Maw!  He clearly says Mom all the time and I know he knows what it means.  Recently he's started with the Da noises.  It is super cute. 

Right now if you ask him for his game face he scrunches up his nose and breathes really hard through it.  All tough like.  (If you ever saw Mara do it--it's the same face).  Sean loves teaching our kids funny things.

He is a cuddle bug.  Seriously.  He loves a good snuggle.  Through out the day while he's playing he'll come find me and give me a hug and a kiss.  I love his open mouth kisses.  They are the best!!!

He is so tough.  No joke.  The kid is currently cutting NINE teeth at once.  He is a trooper.  He gets mildly cranky at times but nothing a little motrin won't fix.  I guess that's what he gets for only having one tooth by this age.

We love our Logan and are so glad he's a part of our family!

I just want to squeeze him!

How is he already one?

Mmmm...

I am seriously craving fall.  I can taste it.  The crisp air.  The crunchy leaves.  Homemade doughnuts, caramel apples, canning the goods from the garden, boutiques.  Jackets, long pants, and early nights.  Long walks.  I seriously cannot wait!

p.s. I didn't wait.  I went right downstairs and made a batch of fresh doughnuts.  So yummy!  Great way to kick off Sean's birthday week!

Where to start?

Let do all of July's happenings in one post!  We started the month off by celebrating the fourth of July with my family.  The typical BBQ and fireworks.  I think it's safe to say that no one was prepared for how cold it was!  But we survived.  It was actually quite fun cuddling up in a blanket waiting for it to get dark enough.  The fireworks were Logan's first and they pretty much rocked his world!  It was beyond cute.  Mara had a blast as usual!  It was definitely a fun relaxing day.  I was so glad Sean didn't have to work it.  It was nice having him home for a holiday!

Logan took an hour nap while we waited for it to get dark

Mara is obsessed with my sunglasses.  It's actually surprising they are on her face and not around her waist...

Aren't they the cutest?  And yes these are all of the pictures I took that day.  What a slacker mom I am!

 Next we went to the Steel Days parade.  Stephanie was amazing and set out blankets the night before only to get rained on all night long!  Then she went and checked on them at 6:00am and picked up doughnuts for everyone.  She is awesome!  Our kids had a blast.  Let me rephrase that...Mara had a blast and Logan got a good nap on grammy's lap!  I was paranoid about going because I had started potty training Mara only three days before so we took her potty chair along in our car.  It went well and she had no accidents.  Speaking of potty training--it was so easy!  Mara was definitely ready which is why it went easy.  After day two (which was accident after accident pretty much all day long) she was great!  I officially declared her potty trained!  She even survived a road trip and vacation after only a week!  Back to Steel Days...

Mara playing with Kayden & Maddux her best buds

Logan taking a nap on Grammy

Enjoying the parade!

Next we have Pioneer Day!  Grandpa Evans likes to go see the baseball game and watch the fireworks show up in Salt Lake.  For one reason or another we haven't joined them the past couple of years but fortunately everything worked out this year and we got to go.  It was so much fun.  It definitely helped that the Bee's won by a zillion points.  The firework show was incredible.  Thank you Grandpa Evans for taking us!  Trevor bough Mara a Bee's baseball and she still carries it around with her and talks about uncle Trevor all the time.  I guess we know how to get Mara's heart!  Buy her stuff.  She's such a girl!

Logan enjoying the game

What a cheeseball!

Towards the end of the month we decided to try a camp out.  Just in Grandpa's backyard.  That wouldn't be too bad, right?  We'd snuggle the kids in their bed at the usual bedtime and then Sean and I would get some alone time to swim in their pool.  It would be so much fun!!!  Right?  Wrong!  I'm pretty sure it took us 2 hours to get the kids asleep.  By then it was 10, so we hurried to go swim for a bit and I kid you not as soon as we got wet enough for it to be cold to get out Mara realized we were gone and didn't want any of that.  So out we got and went back to the tent to sleep.  Sleep?  Hmmm....I learned that doesn't really happen in a tent with two squirmy children.  Oh no.  My favorite part of the day was when they decided to wake up at 5am because the sun was up!  I guess all that matters is that the kids had a blast.  I'm not too sure we'll be doing it again anytime soon, but it was really fun to watch how excited the kidlets were.

Settling in for the long night :)

Mara was so excited she just kept bouncing around on top of the air mattresses.  Yes we used them.  Who wants to sleep on the hard ground if you don't have to?  Not me!

At one point Logan managed to escape the confines of the tent.  What a sneaky little guy he is.

Well, I think that is all of July.  At least all that I took pictures of.  We also had swim lessons and a road trip to Idaho.  How did I not get any pictures of those events?  Sad day.  I'll have to be better about picture taking now that I have a few tips on how to take better photos!  Gotta love enrichment night activities!

Called of God

"You are called of God. The Lord knows you. He knows whom He would have serve in every position in His Church. He chose you. He has prepared a way so that He could issue your call.

You are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as His voice, your hands to lift the same as His hands. His work is to bless His Father's spirit children with the opportunity to choose eternal life. So, your calling is to bless lives.

There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed. One of the ways you will be attacked is with the feeling that you are inadequate. But you have access to more than your natural capacities, and you do not work alone. The Lord will magnify what you say and what you do in the eyes of the people you serve."

         Pres. Eyring 

I came across this quote here. I've been slightly overwhelmed lately with my new calling as primary chorister...It is the farthest from my comfort zone that I have EVER been in a church calling.  I do not like standing up and talking in front of people (yes, I realize that most are children but I am terrified nonetheless).  And I don't sing.  Ok, that's sort of an exaggeration.  I sang in choir in high school.  In a LARGE choir, and sang alto.  So I do not fit the typical "mold" for a primary chorister.  Coming across this quote today was a blessing for me, so I thought I'd share it with you all!