We celebrated our 9 year anniversary on January 29. This was my view on that day; extremely sick and laid up in bed. I haven't been that sick in a long time. It was a really bad chest cold, coughing and hacking up followed by fever, chills, body ache, and finished off with a runny/stuffy nose. I don't think I left the house for a whole week.
Holy cow we were so young in these pictures! I was 19 and Owen was 23! I sure love him! Despite all that we have been through, we have learned to work through things together, especially when it seems like our life is not what we had hoped it would be at this point. We both have faith that things will work out eventually; I'm just grateful to have someone to go through this with. Love you, Owen! I couldn't have asked for a better husband and father for our children :)
Unfortunately the bug didn't leave after it got me. Evie came down with it just as I was starting to get over it. Poor girl :( then my mom got it and my dad, too. Zayne and Owen dodged the bullet on that one.
That hair! That is what it looks like when we don't do it for several days in a row.
Finally feeling good enough to fight with Zayne ;)
This little man is a sweet, handsome, little character! Oh how we love him! He can be a little stinker, but still make us smile! We watched my sister's dog for a couple days as they were doing some remodeling stuff at their house. Zayne LOVED spending time with Bob! He followed him everywhere! At one point we looked out in the back yard and saw him trailing after Bob all the way back by the fence. He had no coat or shoes on! His socks were wet with mud, but he didn't even want to come inside! Silly boy :) That ended in a short tantrum when we made him come inside!
Owen's dad has a hat kind of like this one and it reminded me of him when I saw Zayne in it!
He LOVES to brush his teeth. Ok. That is actually an understatement. He's obsessed with brushing his teeth! We usually end up having to take it away because it's time for bed and it usually ends in a short lived tantrum! He also loves to wear headbands. He sees Evie pick hers out and wearing them, so he likes to pick his out too :)
I found this Captain America hoodie at Target on clearance a couple of weeks ago and he loves wearing it! Sometimes in the morning before he gets dressed, he insists on wearing it over his pajamas!
I've been doing really good at getting my work out in every day. Sometimes the kids are in the room with me, sometimes, if I'm lucky, they aren't! Zayne was wearing my head phones one day and enjoyed typing on the detached keyboard :) Owen called him a little DJ
Evie loves to be silly and loves to dress up :) she has been a lot more emotional lately and sometimes I feel like I might lose my mind. I also feel like I repeat myself a million times a day. She used to have a sticker chart for going to bed on her own and now we have expanded it to a listening chart. So far, so good, except that we just started it tonight. We shall see how that turns out. The other night I told her that she gets to start kindergarten next year. She got really concerned and said that she didn't want to go because she would miss me too much. Sweet little thing. I proceeded to tell her that she couldn't grow up and would just have to stay little forever to which she responded, " I want to be grown up someday, I want to be a mommy like you! A great mommy like you!" Yes, I might have teared up a little. I love that she still loves me. I don't want teenagers :(
My mom bought this pacifier at some point and Zayne has loved it! He doesn't even know how to suck on one, he just holds it and chews on it! It looks so funny on him :) on a side note, he is mostly weaned. No more nursing! I kind of miss it. I love bonding with my little baby, except he isn't so little anymore :( it was the only time he would really let me hold him. Guess it's time for another one?! ;) let's give our situation a chance to improve before that happens.
His face is just so adorable! I love it! He has recently started talking a lot more. He doesn't say things very clearly, but we know what he is trying to say. His newest one is "love" he tries to say "I love you!" He also likes to sing along to The Frozen music. We have it playing non stop in the car and usually non stop in our heads. I haven't grown tired of it yet. He sings "doooor" and "goooo" so darn cute :)
Speaking of speaking clearly, I started noticing that Evie's speech wasn't quite where it needed to be. I have a friend from college who is a speech therapist and so I messaged her on Facebook asking her about Evie and her situation. She gave me a great referel to a place here in town. Her first week was an evaluation of where she was at. We go once a week for a half hour. I'm really glad we got her in because she really needed professional help! She used her "s" sound for f, v, th, j and probably a few other letters. We were sent home with some homework to practice every day and she is doing so well! I think she will improve quickly, I hope so anyway. I really want her to be where she needs to be by the time she starts kindergarten.
She had some homework for preschool and was so excited to get to it! :)
Every once in a while Zayne will crawl into Evie's bed and pull the covers up like the above picture. Haha!
Evie generally doesn't like this idea....
Evie got a little stomach bug a couple of days before Valentines Day. She had to miss her party at preschool, I think I was more upset about it than she was. I knew how absolutely excited she was about it. She had been talking about it for a week and insisted on getting the valentines and writing all of the names and signing her own name a week or two BEFORE the party! I may or may not have been crying while I texted Miss Staci to tell her Evie wouldn't be there :(
I assured Evie we would have a super fun Valentines Day party as a family. Apparently it proved to be true. I loved their faces in the picture above this one!
We went and watched my niece sing with her jazz choir at the BSU Jazz Festival on Valentines Day. It was fun! It took me right back to my high school days. We sang at that very same Jazz Festival way back when. I even saw my old choir teacher. It's crazy how much 10 years changes people! We brought Evie's cousin home with us after we watched the singing and the girls played for a bit.
We have been hanging in there. Nothing new to report here. I used to look up talks on trials and tribulation on lds.org, but I'm pretty sure I have read EVERY single article or conference talk there is on the topic. I recently decided to search for articles and talks on hope because that is definitely what I feel I need at this point. It's hard not to feel like all hope has been lost, especially right now. I have read a really good one by Neal A. Maxwell titled "Plow in Hope" in which he states,
"Those, however, who "plow in hope" not only understand the law of the harvest but they also understand what growing seasons are all about. True, those with genuine hope may see thier proximate circumstances shaken like a kaleidoscope at times, yet with the "eye of faith" they still see divine design (Alma 5:15)"
He goes on to say,
"Uniquely, atoning Jesus also "descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things" (D&C 88:6). How deep that descent into despair and abysmal agony must have been! He did it to rescue us and in order to comprehend human suffering. Therefore, let us not resent those tutoring experiences which can develop our own empathy further. A slothful heart will not do, and neither will a resentful heart. So being admitted fully to "the fellowship of his sufferings" requires the full dues of discipleship."
I love these two quotes. I'm trying really hard not to be resentful of what has happened to us. It has taken every last piece of me not to write an email or pick up the phone to let those who have wronged us know just how much we have had to suffer because of them, but I realize it's not right on so many levels and I pray that this is a situation that will prove to be a blessing in the end. It's interesting how your prayers change as a trial continues on. I still pray to find a job, but I find myself praying to have strength and patience and understanding in this experience so that I can learn what I need to learn and become what I need to become. Life is never really what you plan it to be...
