Vernal Equinox

How we welcomed Spring:

this is our little lady friend, Cecelia 

not a happy snowman because he will be melted by the end of the day...

he really is our angel

after snowman was all finished the guy just had to push him over. that's half the fun.

Passover Seder

When I was about 13 my dad took me and some people from church to a Passover Seder led by a local Rabbi. I loved what I learned from the Jewish perspective.

When I was a student at BYU, my older sister took me to a Passover Seder led by one of the religion professors of the school. I loved what I learned from the Latter-day Saint perspective.

Last night I got to expose my little family to the joys of the Seder and we all enjoyed it. L got snuggled by the Jewish ladies who wanted some baby love. The guy got to eat and throw the "plagues" around and then eat some more. Jared and I learned, listened, and learned more. Oh, yes. And the food was good.

I love listening to the songs in Hebrew. I love the symbolism of Passover. I love filling the gaps of explanation where I see them. And I especially loved read Exodus 12 with my little son in preparation of the evening.

As I read Exodus 12 with the guy, I felt so good that we were doing this.

14 And this ^aday shall be unto you for a ^bmemorial; and ye shall keep it a ^cfeast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a ^dfeast by an ordinance ^efor ever.

I laughed out loud as I read verse 15.

15 Seven days shall ye eat ^aunleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be ^bcut off from Israel.

Well, I may not be cut off but I might deserve to be because all morning the guy and I made (leavened) breads for our friends and then went on a walk to deliver them. HAHA!

It was a good day and we had a great experience as a family. Oh, except a few people acted like we weren't there because we're Gentiles. : / I hesitate to mention it at all, but it certainly was part of our evening. That was the only downer. One lady at our table had the gall to ask another woman, "who are all these other people?" as if we were not even there sitting next to her. She literally ignored our presence most of the evening, and talked about us and "Mormons" like we were not present. She did the same to another new lady at the table until she found out she was Jewish and then talked to her abundantly. But not us. That was disappointing but we still had a great evening. Jared said it was a wonderful way to spend an evening as a family. Agreed. Thanks for supporting me in my fascination with religions, honey!

This basket contained all the symbols of the 10 plagues. Our guy was in charge of the basket for the whole table. I was glad there were no other little kids at our table. He got to enjoy the plagues (HA!) but they didn't make a big deal of finding the afikomen or else that would have been all for his enjoyment too.

the frogs. He got the throw them, the blood (or red pom poms), and  hail (white foam  balls).

the locusts and boils (bubble wrap... so clever)

the hail

the darkness

the afikomen

the dessert

L's 27 week summary

I am no good at blogging. This draft was originally titled "L's 18 week summary." Whoops. Now she's 6 months old!

This little lady has absolutely emerged these last 2 months! She is a giggling, talking, smiling, interactive woman! The guy and I regularly sing her the line... "whoa, whoa, whoa, she's a lady!" And she is.

• She had a check up this morning and she weighs 14 lbs exactly. 90th percentile for height, 50th for her head, and 25th for weight.
• She still fits into a lot of her 3-6 month clothes and I just pulled out the 6 month stuff. She is not huge, but growing.
• She sleeps so much better as long as she gets enough to eat. She usually sleeps without incident from 7:30 pm - 6:30 am. And usually takes three naps a day. Hallelujah! Prayers are answered.
• She still talks, more likes moans, when she's very tired. Both her laugh and talk have a deep, guttural sound. No high-pitched girly screams here.
• She doesn't like being tickled. She might grunt but than usually cries. She does love peak-a-boo, but only with the right people. I am not one of them. :( 
• She wants to be mobile and moving, but doesn't seem to have the patience to struggle through tummy time to learn to roll yet. She rolled three times in one day and has not done it again. 
• She started solid foods last week. She still has food sensitivities and it shows in her stools and gas pain. Because I know she has gut flora issues, we are following the recommendations from the GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) when we introduced solid foods. First homemade chicken stock with homemade raw yogurt. She liked it. Then a bit of home pressed carrot juice. She struggled with the taste of that. Now she's trying pureed carrots, and she has only enjoyed them mixed with breast milk. Not so much mixed with coconut oil. 
• She is obsessed with her binki and when she wants it she will cry for over an hour to get it. I want so bad to toss it, but she just CRIES with no end in sight. Any suggestions??!

And please excuse all the blurry pictures. My phone camera is pretty much my all-the-time camera. I never claim to be a photographer. I've just glad to have the technology to catch these moments. :)

Old picture, but seriously. Anyone else loving this cheetah outfit?

a child's faith

“Because I Pray for You”

BY ELDER GLEN L. RUDD

of the Second Quorum of the Seventy

---

Strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers (D&C 108:7).

"One morning a good many years ago, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve came to my office and told me of a beautiful, touching experience that had happened to him that day. He had gone to the old Deseret Gym to enjoy the steam bath. As he sat there in the heavy steam, he heard the door open. He looked up to see who was entering. He couldn’t see anyone, but he had a feeling that someone else was there in the room with him. After a few minutes, he saw a young Primary-age boy seated two or three feet away. The boy gradually slid closer to the Apostle, and they finally said hello to each other. Then the boy moved even closer until he could look up into the face of the Church leader. The boy said, “Mister, I think that I know who you are.” The Apostle said, “Who am I?” The boy said, “I think that you’re one of the Apostles of the Church. I think you’re the one who travels all over the ocean on big boats and little boats and all kinds of airplanes—and you’re the one who never gets sick or hurt in any wrecks.”

The Apostle acknowledged that he was the one who was having those great experiences. The boy then said to him, “Do you know why it is that you don’t ever get killed or get hurt?” The Apostle said, “No, why is that?” The boy said,“Because I pray for you.”

What a lovely and simple expression of faith! There is far more power in simple prayer than many of us think possible. I am convinced that the Lord hears the prayers of all people. Nothing is more wonderful than for parents to gather their children around them to enjoy the special, tender moments of communing with our Heavenly Father in family prayer. May the Lord bless us and help us to serve Him with simple prayer so that we may enjoy the strength, power, and beauty that come from living the gospel." (source)

Note to self: Join a gym; steam rooms are amazing. Pray for our leaders; they need it and love us. Become as a little child; their's is the kingdom of heaven.

Baptism

Baptism is the theme in our house these last couple weeks. The guy has taken learning to a new level if I am ready to dive deep into topics that interest him in that moment. Right now is the moment for BAPTISM!

It started with attending four baptisms since Christmas. He loves to watch and quietly observes it all. One sister in the ward asked what drug I slipped him before the baptism to make him sit so quietly. The answer? Nothing. He can be very observant when he wants to be.

Then we watched the Bible video of Jesus' baptism. We now watch it at least three times every day, per his request. It is simple and comes straight from the accounts in the KJV. He loves it.

Next, we started listening to the primary song "Baptism" and he's learned some of the words.

We explained in Family Home Evening that when he is big like his cousin Pierce he will get baptized too. And when he is big like his cousin Braden he can receive the Priesthood. And when he is even bigger like Uncle Matt, he can baptize other people. We also read a book called White Shirts about the white shirts he wears at his baby blessing, baptism, in the temple, etc. He is like a sponge, soaking it all up.

Since he talks about Jesus getting baptized every single day, I asked him if he wanted to share in Sacrament meeting at church last Sunday what he's learned. The meeting is like open mic when we come fasting and can share our testimonies of the Gospel. I know testimonies grow the more we live the truth and the more we share it. So, I asked if he wanted to share. And he said yes! It was so tender to hear his timid voice share a simple truth that Jesus got baptized by John the Baptist. That was about it, but it was sweet.

Then, out of nowhere he started baptizing his animals. At first I thought he was raising his hand to be called on, but no. He was acting like John the Baptist. Or as he likes to call him, John the Baptized.

"in the water...."

"Jesus came.... the sheep get baptized."

It is moments like these that I wish never ended. 

Being needed

On our wall we have a framed list of goals for our family. At the bottom it says:

"CONSTANTLY STRIVE TO FEED THE FOUR HUNGERS THAT ALL PEOPLE HAVE.

1. To be LOVED
2. To be APPRECIATED
3. To be UNDERSTOOD
4. To be TRUSTED

Elder Glen L. Rudd"

I strive to give my family these gifts each day. We all need to be needed by someone. By something. To be relied upon. It gets us going in the morning. Gives us motivation to keep trying. It is a universal need.

I tell Jared I need him almost every day. I need him like water, like breathe, like rain.... (Sorry if you've got that song stuck in your head now.) So I should not be so impatient when my little guy says "S needs mommy....."  about 50 times a day. However, I hit my breaking point the other day. I sat on the toilet to do my business - another one of those universal needs - when my toddler guy comes running in, busting down my what-I-thought-was-closed door. I not-so-patiently excused my guy from the cuarto de baño and listened to him needing me from outside the door instead of inside the room. He is cool like that and still loved and needed me when I came out. He melts my heart and most of the time it doesn't bother me at all. But he is going through a very needy phase right now.

Sometimes a woman just needs solitude and NOT to be needed. One of my universal needs these days is to go potty alone. Something tells me I am not the first mother who found bathroom time to be necessary alone time. Any mommies with me on this one?

My guy talks a lot!

He says the sweetest things.....

While playing with measuring cups in the sink: "Three cups of eggs. Three cups of water. Three cups of milk. Mmm. Nummy. "

While playing with animals in nursery at church: "Rabbit says ribbit? Noooooo!"

Talking about his sister: "There's L. A bushel and a peck!"

His choice of blessings during our breakfast prayer: "We're grateful for John the baptized. We're grateful Jesus goes in the water. We're grateful for S's eggs. We're grateful for S's water... is nummy."

After watching the story of Jesus healing the sick woman with the 12 year blood issue: "Jesus touch S's clothes. S heal all better. Jesus kiss it better."

Referencing one of his favorite primary songs: "Nephi was courageous fight the boat? Nooooo! Nephi build a boat!"

"Me and baby dolly go on a date to Shan's house."

growing

The guy learns so much so fast that I can hardly keep up. 

A few weeks ago he started saying "what the heck?!" so I need to pay more attention to what I say. He remembers names, characters and lyrics after one introduction and talks about it the rest of the day. One day he talked about "Oscar's worm" for hours after watching his first episode of Sesame Street. Another day it was the happy birthday song. He sang it all day to everyone and anything. 

He regularly bursts into song unprompted by us. His favorites include Nephi's Courage, ABC's, Trying to be like Jesus, Row Your Boat, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah, and Ring Around the Rosies. 

His imagination is really taking off. He plays all household activities with his stuffed bears. He named one Bear Louis Ondricek. 

Going in the snow with Bear

washing hands with "Pooh, Tigger and Bear"

Bear in his new underwear

Not to mention it is potty training central over here! The guy has been a great teacher to his bear. Together they are learning to go in the potty. S gets one m&m for actually going in the potty and two for staying dry. So far so good. The first day we went through all 6 pairs of training pants by noon, but he gets it and is very excited about it. Especially since Bear is involved. He goes on the potty and gets treats just like his mentor. :)

He is more and more independent - peeling his onion for dinner