Count Your Many Blessings

Thanksgiving was so much fun. I love to be surrounded by people I love...and delicious food!  

FABULOUS FOOD-

My babies ate this for breakfast. Thank you Pinterest, they thoroughly enjoyed eating their turkeys!

There was no way I could pull off Thanksgiving dinner for 10 adults and 3 kids alone.  Everyone graciously contributed some of their favorite dishes which made the meal a huge success.  We had plenty of food for everyone.

All the desserts/appetizers **chips with cottage cheese french onion dip, frog eye salad, cranberry salsa, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, pumpkin pinwheels, cranberry jello** The spread took every inch of counter (and sink) space

 Relish tray, light and dark meat turkey, homemade rolls, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes

Just a few dishes I made:

Can't have Thanksgiving without pecan pie.  I even made an extra for the father in law.

I attempted this dessert a few weeks prior to Thanksgiving and the cream cheese filling was too runny. Glad I could redeem myself with these pretty pinwheels.

DECORATIONS-

It's amazing what you can do to decorate when you rub to nickels together! 

Mini pumpkins from a friends garden. Fake leaves from my preschool teaching days. "Tablecloth" is dollar store wrapping paper. Pinterest for the name cards- I "borrowed" the wheat lookin' stuff from a ditch on the side of the road ;)

THE COMPANY-

Quite a few people had to go to work at some point or another in the day.  We ate mid afternoon, then sent the poor men on their way to work.  Later, Some of the ladies braved the Brown Thursday crowds. (is that really what it is called? Maybe cause it's totally crappy that people have to work on Thanksgiving hahaha) Then most everyone came back for seconds.  We were stuffing our faces, enjoying games, watching a little football, and sharing bargain deals till midnight or later.

Deeana and Chris Alexander

Brittany, Teancum, and Michael Livingston

Ben Knecht (his boo went home for the holiday since he had to work...we missed you Aubs)

Twodles enjoying olive fingers :) 

Mr Medic is seriously the best ever!  He may prefer spending time as a small family, but definitely goes all out to help me in my party-making shenanigans, and always without complaint. 

Momma Brown pulled off her fair share of the food-making.  

Christopher and Vanessa Hannan

THANKFUL FOR...

I really love our little Thankful tree tradition.  We try to add something every day in November, but as you will see we miss a lot.  But...we truly are so grateful for all that we have been blessed with.  We know that the Lord has been mindful of us!

Our list of thankful's with some explanation (so I can finally throw away the little discs without feeling guilty and fuel my hoarder-phobia at the same time haha)

• Flower pen- Twodles got it from the dentist
• Books- Goob loves to read
• Skinny hot mom- Mr Medic wrote that one. (I met my weight loss goals. His tribute to my success)
• Grammy- the boys are spoiled rotten by Grammy and they couldn't love her more
• Clothing Swap- I got some stinkin' cute clothes that actually fit, from an activity with girls from my ward...$FREE.99
• Tulane Medical School- MR MEDIC WAS ACCEPTED!
• Haircuts- Mr Medic would love to have his hair cut every 2 weeks if he had his way
• Binky- Goob is in love
• Orange plants- I don't think I have blogged about the TREES Mr Medic is growing in our house...I'll have to do that sometime.
• Good health- We've been uninsured since April 2013 and thankfully haven't had any serious issues requiring medical attention.
• Sock and shoes- Goob loves to put them on...several times a day!
• Daddy kissing owies
• Best friends
• No skids in the undies- Twodles is...a boy, so everyone is glad when we don't have to deal with that little mess. Even he was thankful for that since we've been making him do his own cleanup.  #meanparentaward
• Grandkids- Grammy loves her babies
• Flynn Ryder- Twodles loves to get his boots on and carry his satchel around just like Flynn
• Madison Fire Dept Gym- I can workout most anytime I want for free, even on holidays.  
• Bishop Kunz- There couldn't be a greater person in all of married student wards for us to love and adore
• Tangled- boys fav movie at the moment
• Mommy
• Blankies- our boys love 'em
• Ben and Aub- any friends specifically singled out are compliments of Twodles.  He has big kid BFF's and these two are some of his favorites.
• Diaper changes- no explanation necessary
• Baths- I think I may have given birth to two little fishies.  They scream out of excitement, strip down as fast as humanly possible, and run for the tubby
• Momma Brown- no words can express my appreciation for all she does for us
• Milk- Come on, I have 3 Idaho boys living with me. What do you expect? 
• New coat- I won't go in to detail on this cause I might throw a clot.  Needless to say, Mr Medic now has a new coat that we both agree on.
• JESUS- We are eternally indebted to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is because of Him that we can be clean from sin, have perfected bodies someday, and have hope to be together forever.  

"...cast about your eyes and being to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgement day, according to their works." -Alma 33:22 (The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ)

Our Little Man

I can't believe that 9 whole months have passed since our sweet Goob joined our family.  If you ask Mr Medic his opinion on little babies he would respond "I hate the first year!"  You would think I might say something similar, but I've got momnesia!  I suffer on a daily basis and seem to quickly forget the not so fun moments.  Although this babe is far from sleeping through the night, I am somehow able to function from day to day.  And he sure makes up for rough nights with his sweet smile and contagious giggle during the day.  

Isn't he handsome?

Here are some fun facts about Goob:

• First tooth on January 26, 2013
• Crawling with more coordination/consistency on February 8, 2013
• Pulls himself up for the first time on February 22, 2013 (and subsequently falls out of the crib)
• Starts waving to someone at church on February 24, 2013
• Second tooth on March 7, 2013
• Loves to chew on baby wipes (don't let you kids do that.  They can make them go blind...its a battle every time I change a diaper)
• Is a little more snuggly than Twodles ever was
• Is a blankie boy just like his big brother, and a binkie boy not at all like his big brother
• Wants to eat normal food rather than pureed baby food
• Likes to drink from a sippy cup
• Starts scaling the couch on March 19, 2013
• Is going through a bit of a separation anxiety phase right now
• Has a rolling giggle when he is tickled 
• 18 lbs as of March 18, 2013
• Doesn't handle teething well
• Seems to play more independently than Twodles did
• Has sensitive skin and the cutest little birth mark on his left cheek you can see above
• HE LOOKS MORE LIKE ME THAN HIS DADDY!!!!!!
• Nicknames include:  Goob, Goobie JJ, Goobie Loob, Goober, etc

We sure love you Goob!

Snap Back to Reality

I was having one of those days...

Twodles, my ever-so-sweet 22 mo. old is developing his own opinions and is VERY willing to let you know if he doesn't want to do something.  Its all about "I do it" or "I not" these days.  Out of sheer desperation of going completely bonkers if I heard "I not" one more time, I taught him to say "no thanks" or in his words "no tanks."  This age is so extremely taxing on my patience and then to add being a pregnant mess on top of it sure makes for just a few runny nosed, mascara shmeared, snort in laughter at how ridiculous I am, sob sessions.

Church the last couple weeks has been somewhat of an embarrassment.  He is quite vocal when he doesn't want to do something, which isn't so great when its supposed to be a quiet place of reflection and worship.  Last Sunday, I was so hot I thought I was going to pass out.  Twodles didn't make things any cooler, insisting that only I hold him, or when he attempted to use my blimp-like body as his personal play place.  Then add a little thing I will forever more think of as pregnant torture...carpal tunnel syndrome!  I felt like Jennifer Garner on Alias being tortured by some KGB member.  I couldn't say or do anything given where I was, but I literally wanted to stand up and run out of the chapel screaming and crying.

I was bombarded by wacky thoughts like, "I can't stand my 'rotten' child right now, I just want him to disappear!"..."My husband has NO IDEA what I am going through!"..."I can't complain because then Mr. Medic will never consent to another child again!"..."I can't do this for 4 more weeks!" (the last one isn't so wacky, its totally legit)  Then just as the service ended and I thought I was spared an embarrassing scene of insanity, I began to bawl!  Darn it all, I couldn't hold it in any longer.

No sooner, I get "the look" from Mr. Medic.  Every woman knows what I'm talking about.  You don't even have to have been pregnant to know.  It comes when any type of unexplained emotion is manifest and he JUST DOESN'T GET IT!  The look of "what on earth is wrong with you, and where is my wife?"  Thankfully "the look" was followed by complete love and compassion.  But you know that didn't matter much, because I felt like a complete mess.  I tried to explain how I was feeling without succumbing to a total fit of hysteria.  But to be honest I was feeling guilty for my wacky thoughts.

After taking the remaining time at church to chill, I came home feeling a bit better.  I was blessed to have my eyes opened to some of the wonderfully cute things that Twodles does and it made me appreciate him, and being a mommy a little better, rather than sulking in pregnant hormonal resentment.

I CAN DO IT!  There is so much good that comes from the hard parts of being a mom.  Here are some of the great things that Twodles is doing that are my tender mercies and snap me back to reality...

Twodles got on a bike kick for a bit there.  I got the idea to teach him to tell Daddy that he wanted a bike.  I quickly changed my tactics and taught him to say "Daddy, I need a bike!"  Twodles recited his line when Daddy got home from work without a problem.  This is what we found, but our little guy is kinda a shrimp and still can't quite reach the ground. 

He's learning all sorts of "boy" things like playing with his "guys" and making what I'm guessing to be shooting noises. (The bandana is compliments of Uncle Kendall.  Twodles loves wearing it.)

Getting in some practice at taking his clothes off all by himself.  I have NO clue how he got this way!

So excited to show me that he put his shoes on all by himself!  

We worked on sorting beans.  He was pretty darn good at it and was excited to say "cheese" for the picture!

Spending time with Daddy just chillin' which doesn't happen too often.

Prime example of  my child's OBSESSION with vacuums!

The SUPER unusual cuddle time with momma!

Working on hand coordination.  

He knows quite a few words.  He gets his smarts from his Daddy.

Again, learning to do "boy" things!

One day I noticed him rolling his arms, and then it clicked that he must have learned it in nursery at church...so cute!  

Waking up from a nap happy!

This one is quite long so I don't blame you if you don't even watch it, but he sure does surprise me with the new words he picks up every time we read together.

I really do love being a momma to this cute little boy, and can't wait to add one more to the bunch.  Mr. Cooper will surly bring more trying times.  But even better, more of those sweet reassurances that all the hard stuff is totally worth it!


SO.....help me out here:

What are some of your tips for dealing with tantrums, keeping your cool when your about to lose it, and ideas to keep kids as reverent as possible during church?