New Year's Resolutions....

   I've never really been a "long term" goal setting person.   I always set small goals, goals that aren't life changing or make me a better person.  For example, I will put a load of laundry in the washer and set a goal to have certain stuff done around the house before it's time to put it in the dryer.  That is about as good as my goal setting gets. 
    I have decided to teach my lesson in Relief Society, which is on January second, about the importance of goal setting and including spiritual goals into your resolutions.  Most would say I am not fit to teach this lesson because I have never done this.  Maybe this is true, and maybe the only person that will get anything out of what I say will be me.  Regardless, my personal goals have been weighing HEAVILY on my mind.  What the goals should be, who I want to be, and how I can set and achieve realistic, manageable goals.  So far my list of goals are:

1. Read the Book of Mormon ALL the way through once, then ponder and study it a second time beginning to end.

2. Start reading and learning more out of the Bible.

3.  Read at least 5 non-fiction books throughout the year about various subjects.

4.  Organize my house, and keep it that way.

5.  Organize my schedule and stick to it.

6.  Pray more both personally and with my kids.

7.  Make family home evening something that isn't "optional" depending on my mood or if Jason can't be there.

8.  Think less about myself and more about others.

9.  Recognize the needs of friends and family and be more charitable to them.

10. Plant a garden.

11.  Learn how to preserve that garden come fall with canning and freezing.

12.  Spend less money on "things".

13.  Spend more time with people that I love.

14.  Saying I love you more to my husband and children.

15.  Learn to understand my husband and children's needs, setting my own aside when the time requires me to.

16.  Learn more about myself to separate the 'wants' from the 'needs'.

17.  Be a better friend, not only to neighbors, but to my husband and children.

18.  Spend less time on facebook and the computer in general.

19.  Count my blessings when I'm feeling down instead of focusing on what I don't have.

20.  Learn and master the skill of patience.  I don't expect to be perfectly patient all the time, but I would like to learn be patient perfectly when things are small and not life altering.

21.  Start limiting TV time and game time not only for the kids, but for myself.

22.  Eat out less, cook more.

23.  Learn to eat healthy and teach my family the same.

24.  Start 2 new family traditions that can carry on year after year.

25.  Find good in people.  Especially those whose 'good' isn't their first recognizable quality.

26.  Run 4, 5k races, 2-3 6k races and finish the year off with the Layton half marathon in October.

27.  Learn to be more punctual.

28.  Be more reliable.

29.  Spend QUALITY time with my husband and children, both individually and together.

Realistic?  Achievable? Too few?  Too Many?  I'm not sure.  I do know that all of these things are so important to me and the first thing I need to do is prioritize.  I will learn as I go too (I hope).   In the meantime I will prepare my lesson and learn so much about myself and the things I 'need' to set, and set aside the ones I 'want'.  Afterall, isn't that one of my goals??



  

Kaysia's Surgery...

Over a year ago Kaysia started complaining that her neck hurt.  She showed me where it hurt and I felt her neck and felt a big lump.  I FREAKED out and took her to instacare right away.  The doctor was concerned it was her thyroid and he had me even more freaked out than I was when I went in.  He ran some blood work and her thyroid came back normal.  The doctor then referred me to an E.N.T. doctor to see the next day.  The doctor said it could be one of two things a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst or a Dermoid Cyst.  He said either way it needed to come out and he seemed too anxious to cut into my little girls throat.  I decided to get a second opinion and the next E.N.T. I saw actually ordered an ultra sound of the lump to determine what it was.  It was in fact a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst.  Both doctors said that it wasn't something that HAD to come out right away but told me the sooner we can get it done the better.  Having my beautiful daughter have a scar on her neck and the invasive procedure was unsettling so I put it off.  Well her cyst got infected and the doctor said it HAD to come out soon.  So we scheduled the surgery.  Kaysia was so excited to have her surgery.  The day before she was drawing pictures of the hospital and her cyst and the doctor.  I feel like I did my best to prepare her and not scare her but apparently I failed.  After they brought her out of the recovery room she was crying and said, "This is not what I had imagined at all"!   A few hours later she started perking up and wanted to color and do puzzles.  I was so relieved that she was getting her spunk back!  She was so hungry but could only be on a clear liquid diet, then later that day she got moved to a full liquid diet which meant she could have ICE CREAM.  I asked her who she wanted to stay in the hospital that night with her and she pointed to Jason.  At first I was sad that she didn't want me, but then I saw the bed Jason had to sleep on and I was secretly thankful that I got to go home to my AMAZING bed!  The next morning she was put back on a normal diet and she ordered bacon, sausage and potatoes for breakfast with chocolate milk.  She was so excited to eat!  We are home now and doing great, she is really bored and hasn't needed any pain medication.  She is such a trooper.  I'm so thankful that everything went well and that this adventure is behind us.

Look at her BEAMING with excitement!!

Her incision with the drain.  The drain had to stay in all day and night.

Watching TV doped up on Lori tab, not happy that it wasn't what she "imagined".

What a difference a few hours makes!!!

Her first meal in almost 40 hours.

She ate the entire plate!!

I do have to make note that the night before Jason gave her a really neat blessing in which he got a little emotional in parts.  When the blessing over Kaysia asked him why he was sad and we explained to her what exactly a blessing was and that it is so powerful it sometimes brings tears to your eyes.  We told her that when you get a blessing it is heavenly father speaking through the man giving you the blessing telling him what to tell you.  We told her that when daddy said, "Heavenly Father wants you to know he loves you so much" it was Him telling her that, not daddy.  The smile on her face was priceless!  She said, "When you were giving me a blessing my legs and arms got really tingly".  It was really neat to hear her explain how she felt the spirit. 

Playing Catch up (once again)...

This blogging pattern really is the pattern of everything in my life.  Get WAY behind, let it build up and build up and then FINALLY get to it.  My house, my car, the laundry and everything else in my life seems to build up before I get to it.  There are so many things I should have blogged about over the past few months but decided in this catch up session I would hit some key points in the past few months.  Enjoy the catch up because I'm sure you will be hearing about our Christmas this summer!!

Kaysia turns 7...

Last month Kaysia turned the big SEVEN!  I can't believe how fast my baby girl is growing up.  Not only is she 7 but she is 7 going on 17!  She is into music and loves watching movies.  She is great at playing the piano and LOVES to put on make-up.  This year her birthday landed on the Saturday we celebrate Thanksgiving with my extended side of the family and the Friday before her birthday was a big relief society activity I couldn't miss.  I felt so bad that I couldn't give her a birthday party like I did Kyson, but I think it worked out great in the end.  I took her and two friends to go get pedicures and ice cream.  She thanked me for the best birthday ever and asked if we could do it again next year.  One of her little friends that was with us said, "This is the best day of my life, thanks Mellisa!"  Who knew pedicures were so great, even for 7 year olds!

At Dairy Queen.

We (when I say we, I ultimately mean me) made these flip flops during our pedicures to show their pretty tootsies off.

Halloween...

Halloween was a busy time for me.  My grandfather passed away just before and Jason was working on a big project at work all week.  Mother of the year didn't take any pictures!  I did however take pictures of the kids when I told them about their new sister we will be welcoming into our family in March.  They got home from school that day and waiting for them was a cup and hiding in the cup was a cupcake frosted with pink frosting.  This year the kids decided they would be Woody, Jessy and Buzz.  I also bought Jason and I Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head costomes to go with the theme.  Unfortunately we didn't get to wear them and I took them back : (

Kyson turns 5...

Kyson turned 5 this year.  I can't believe how big my kids are getting.  This year we did a friend party after school one day and then had our usual family party.  He wanted a Transformers cake (which I didn't attempt to make, unlike years past).  He had a lot of fun.  I love having him in our family.  He loves being around people, playing games and building stuff with his Trio blocks.  He is such a good big and little brother (when he wants to be) and can be so helpful.  I just love this kid!

Picking pumpkins...

Every year we go to a neighborhood party hosted by J&J Nursery.  It's always a lot of fun, complete with hamburgers and hot dogs, a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and some pumpkin picking.  This year Jason was at home laying grass in our backyard so somehow I tackled 3 kids and 6 pumpkins (one for each person in the family including the unborn).  Thanks to my friend Jill and her husband, I was able to get the pumpkins back to the wagon!

Camden and Kyson on the hay ride.

Kaysia and my friend Missy on the hay ride.

Camden and his pumpkin.  He's the only one that stayed close enough to me so I could take a picture.  The other two ran crazy through the patch!



Soccer Season...

This year we were crazy busy with soccer.  Kaysia and Kyson both played and we did 3 games per week.  Although Kaysia's talent is playing the piano, she really enjoys playing soccer.  Here is a picture of her team warming up..

This year the field was DOUBLE the size as last year.  Kaysia isn't used to a lot of physical activity (she's enjoys rather lazy activities, part of the reason we insist on soccer) so the bigger field was a big adjustment.  Here is a picture of her after playing 2 quarters...

Towards the end of the season the bigger field wasn't as big of an issue and she really enjoyed herself. 

Now Kyson is a different story when it comes to soccer.  He LOVES it and is actually REALLY good at it too.  He scored at least one goal every game (most the time multiple goals, but who keeps count right?).  The look on his face is PRICELESS after he scores a goal.  He is so proud of himself and it is one of those mommy moments that melts my heart!

Ahead of the kids on his way to a score a goal.



He's so proud and I just love being his mommy! (I'm pretty proud too.)

I can't wait to put Camden in soccer.  We actually had to go buy some soccer nets to take with us to the games because Camden was SO mad that he couldn't kick a ball into a net too.  He quickly learned that you don't play soccer outside the white lines and he wanted to be in the game too.  Poor kid still has a couple years!  I know he will be super good at it too.  He is a born athlete!

Kaysia's CrAzY Hair day....

This year Kaysia had a crazy hair day for spirit week.  Since her hair is SO long and SO thick, I knew we wouldn't be able to get it to stand up straight (as she requested).  I left 40 minutes available in our morning routine to "improvise" on her mop of hair.  This is what we came up with...

I thought we did a pretty good job considering I had NO IDEA what I was going to do when we started.  But the next day....THAT was a crazy hair day!

I guess now we know for next year!

The (almost) Finished Backyard...

Remember WAYYY back when??  Our yard looked like this....

After A LOT of dirt (3 full dump truck loads) and a lot of moving around of dirt, we went from a swamp to this...

Then after a LONG few months, LOTS of hard work and an UNMENTIONABLE amount of money, we finally have THIS....

We haven't totally finished they yard but what is left is a few weekend projects we are going to tackle next spring.  We ran out of good weather and thankfully for us, this year the good weather lasted quite a long time!  I am VERY glad to have it done and am pretty impressed with the final product.  The kids will have a fun place to play this coming summer while mommy and new baby kick back!

Pictures of my Grandpa Whetman...

I took these pictures just as candid shots of my grandpa and grandma at my sister's wedding last August. I thought I would edit them and clean them up a bit. My grandpa was such a happy man, I love him so much and will never forget him!

Breathing...

   Breathing in and out is something that comes natural, something that is easy, for most of us that is.  Someone very special to me has been struggling to breathe for the past few years. 
   Six months ago my grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis and years earlier emphysema.  Regardless of his struggle to catch his breath he continued to do everything that he wanted to do.  He continued to live, not only live, but live well.  He continued to live like Christ.  He blessed others with his optimism, wisdom and his giving, loving heart.  He gardened, traveled, rode his ATV's, went cruising in his yellow baby and continued to show his love for others.  I am so glad I got to spend time with him.  Each time I saw him his struggle to breathe became more and more obvious.  The last time I saw my grandpa was 5 days ago.  He was sitting in his chair wearing sweats, slippers and had a blanket on him.  His struggle to breathe left him cold and weak.  We talked about so many things in the short time I got to spend with him, but even talking left him short of breath.  The tears would fall down his face as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose to get oxygen into his frail body. 
    Today was the last day that my grandpa had to struggle to breathe.  He took his last breath surrounded by my grandma and his kids.  I'm so happy that he isn't struggling anymore and that his strong spirit is living on continuing to do some of the things that he loves so much and learning new things about himself and the new life he has begun. 
     While driving home from his house today a song I have never heard before came on and the chorus touched me so deeply and is such a perfect song to remember my wonderful grandfather and the lessons he taught me not only through the years of my life but through his struggle 'til the end.

Life's not the breath you take.

The breathing in and out that gets you through the day, isn't what it's all about.

You just might miss the point trying to win the race.

Life's not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.

Just like it took my breath away when he took his last that morn.

Life's not the breaths you take.  The breathing in and out that gets you through the day, isn't what it's all about.

You just might miss the point if you don't slow down the pace.

Life's not about the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.

    Thank you grandpa for all you did for me!  I love you so much and I am so happy that you get to be with your dad and mom again.  I am especially happy that you don't have to worry about breathing anymore.  I know that my life will continue to take my breath away and I also know that your spirit will be there in those special moments breathing with me! 

Pregnancy...

  My pregnancy is officially HALF over.  I am so excited about that, but doing this 3 other times before I know that the second half feels a lot longer than the first!  I have so many mixed emotions about having another baby.  Of course there is the excitement of a new little life, the snuggling and just cuteness, but with the good comes the bad.  The unknown pain of a c-section scares the crap out of me since I will be having my first and only one this time around and the post partum depression is not a walk in the park either.  When having another baby, sometimes the bad out weighs the good for the first few weeks.  It will all be worth it. 
     We get to find out the gender on Thursday which is always exciting, but to be honest I am a little nervous.  I REALLY want Kaysia to have a sister.  I have been blessed with 2 and want her to know what it is like.  I'm afraid of telling her she has to have ANOTHER brother.  I catch myself almost referring to the baby as a 'she' ALL the time!  I love my boys SO MUCH and to have another wouldn't really be so bad for me, but like I said, I really want Kaysia to have a sister and she REALLY wants one so I am keeping my fingers crossed. 
     This baby will be our last, I am so happy yet nervous to make that a permanent thing.  I can't wait to start our lives as a complete family.  Sometimes being pregnant or having a new baby can really put a wrinkle in things like family vacations.  I know that I can't provide the kind of life that I want my kids to have for anymore than 4 and sometimes I think even that is pushing it.  I want to be able to put them each in a music lesson and an activity like dance or sports.  I have two now doing those things I am spread so THIN, I am not sure how I am going to do it with four.  Of course I will find a way, mommies always do.  One day I also want to be able to help them through college, go on missions and just be able to help them financially become the person they want to be when they grow up. 
     For now I am enjoying all the little kicks inside my belly and day dreaming (night dreaming too for that matter) about the day that we can welcome a new life in our family.  I am savoring this pregnancy (even though being pregnant isn't one of my most favorite things in the world) and trying to create a permanent memory of exactly what it feels like when the baby moves and how it feels to have a bulging belly. 

Slacker...

I have been a blogging slacker lately, but then again, I have been a slacker at most things in my life.  Pregnancy is no fun.  It leaves you feeling icky and very tired all the time.  I am approaching my second trimester (this pregnancy is going way too fast) and I am starting to feel much better.  So of course, before the house work that needs to be done and getting laundry done so my family has clean clothes, I HAVE to blog first because that is the MOST IMPORTANT thing....right???  Enjoy the update!

Random cuteness...

Camden likes to be a poser.  He will start striking the most random poses when you get the camera out to take pictures.  Here is one of them.  Sorry he is lacking pants but he loves running around in his "unnies".

This kid will fall asleep anywhere.  He is a good napper and sometimes I will just find him sleeping where ever he fell.  Once again he has no clothes on (this is kind of a thing around our house).  I was in Jason's office talking to him and came out in the living room and this is how I found him.  He also loves falling asleep in this position in his car seat and he does this same thing with his arms when he is watching TV.  He is such a funny little guy!

Kaysia is my girlie tom boy if that makes sense.  She loves everything her brother loves, but also loves getting into make up and dressing all girlish.  Here is an example of the two put together...

Jason and I were sitting on the couch and here comes Kaysia dressed up in Kyson's batman costume with dark red lipstick on.  "I'm BatWOMAN".  Strike a pose Kaysia...

You are my super hero!

Unfortunately I don't seem to have any random cuteness of Kyson : (

                      I will have to work hard to capture some of that and post about it another time.

Breakfast at our house...

It seems like everyone in the family wants a different cereal every morning.  One morning I saw all the different boxes sitting on the counter and I just had to take a picture.  I am not a rock star kind of mom that cooks breakfast in the mornings so yes, most mornings we do eat cold cereal.  At least we have a variety! 

First day of School...

Kaysia started FIRST grade this year.  I can't believe how big my baby is getting!!  She was so excited to go to school ALL day long, sit at a real desk and most of all EAT LUNCH at school!  She got assigned a teacher that I heard HORRIBLE things about.  Of course I didn't hear these things until the Saturday night before they started school.  I was at the school bright and early to talk to the principal about my concerns.  He told me that this teacher does come with some "baggage" and she is excited for a fresh start and has "promised" to turn over a new leaf this year.  WHAT????  Yeah, not for me and Kaysia.  She is a 'special' kid, in the sense that if she does not stay challenged she will become bored and not only become a problem causer in class but will fight me everyday to go to school.  Kaysia loves learning and is a great student, but that sometimes is our problem, if she isn't learning, she doesn't want to be there.  This teacher's "methods" I was sure would be a problem for us.  Anyway, I dropped her off at school to the teacher I wasn't comfortable with and cried all the way home.  Mixed emotions really, sad that she was growing up and sad that I was uncomfortable with her teacher.  The principal called me later that day and told me that he was putting kaysia in a different class at noon!  I was excited.  She loves her new teacher and so far loves first grade!

Great picture huh??  This is what happens when mommy spends the morning of the first day in the principal's office and doesn't have time to make sure she got a decent picture!

Kaysia doesn't look happy in any of these pictures.  It wasn't because she lacked excitement, it was because she wanted to go to class and we were stalling!

Kyson started his THIRD year of pre-school this year, yes I know, overkill.  He really likes it and he likes to feel big like his sister and that he too has a place to go during the week.  He loves his school and his teacher and to be honest I kind of like him having somewhere to go!  I love to see his face when I pick him up from school, he is so excited to tell me about his day and I am so excited to hear about it!

My babies are growing up so fast but I love to see them learning new things and I love them to start new adventures in their lives!

Fishing with Grandpa...

I took the kids fishing this summer along with my parents.  Jason had to pull an all-nighter at work so we went and spent the afternoon and night with them.  We went to some lake, I can't remember which, and didn't have any luck catching fish but the kids had fun anyway.

Kyson being a poser...

Camden just being cute.  He had no interest in fishing, all he did was throw rocks in the lake, which I am pretty sure is the reason for not catching fish!

Kaysia had to pee REALLY bad and at the time I wasn't aware of any bathrooms around.  There of course were but I didn't find out until after.  I decided instead of trying to help her squat in the bushes I would build this....

an outdoor toilet for girls!  It actually worked great.  Boys are so much easier in the wilderness, but if you ever have to take a little girl out in the bushes, I highly recommend building one of these!

Living Planet Aquarium...

I finally took the kids to the aquarium this summer.  I don't know who liked it more, the kids or me!  I am so fascinated with marine life.  I couldn't take a ton of pictures because the lighting was horrible but I did get a great picture of this ugly little guy!

My FAVORITE part of the aquarium was petting the the sting rays.  Most of them stayed deep in the water but there was one who LOVED being touched.  This sting ray would go up the side, jump at you and would just sit there so you could touch it.  Kaysia and Kyson weren't fans at all. Camden put his hands in the water and looked further down the tank and when he noticed one swim under his hand he pulled his hand out of the water so fast!  I finally got him to touch one and he thought it was pretty cool.  He was more interested than the other two for sure! 

It was a pretty cool place and although it was pricey, I think it is something we will do once every summer!