Seven Years

                                           Love is Patient

                                                                  Love is Kind

                                                                 Love Is Old

                                                                        Love is New

                                                         Love suffereth long

                                                               Love is True

                                        I loved you then,

                                                               I Love you still.

                                                                 I always have

                                                                 and I always will.

                                                Happy Anniversary Kimball.

Sleeping like a man

Well as you can see our son has decided that it's time to start sleeping like a man. I see a lot of his father in him everyday but this scene had Kimball written all over it...asleep with his hands behind his head, reading not only a book, but a book about superheroes no less (totally Kimball). It goes beyond this still as I have recently gone to check on him before turning in for the night, on more than one occasion, to find he has shed all pajamas and is fast asleep under the covers with only his pull-up, a ritual Kimball always thinks of fondly from his former years (minus the pull-up of course)...and where does the apple fall?

Chloe bell had her 4 month appointment this past week and is tipping the scales at nearly 17 lbs. putting her in the 95%, she's also in the 95% for her height but I can't remember what the actual stat was. The only one who has outdone her at this point is Mya who was in the 98%...we make em' big apparently. Kimball has been diligently studying for his inservice exam, so our nights have often looked like this. I appreciate how hard he tries to spend time with the children even if its just a few minutes before bed....Ahhh, the life of residents!

Name them one by one...

This week....This week, this week, this week....this week was a doozie. It started with Monday just like every other week does usually and got progressively worse until the week ended like it usually does on Saturday.

• Problem #1: Aiden- as I mentioned in the previous post, talking to him is like talking to a dead cat. I shall now revise my statement to likening it to talking to my dead cat that my mom took to the "special place" to be put to sleep 14 years ago in Utah which is 1500 miles away. It's like talking to that cat. Not only is it dead, but it's so long gone you can barely remember what it looked like, or that it even existed. Okay, enough with the dramatics. Suffice it to say our listening problem continues to get worse. So much so that Thursday night he laid in his bed from the hours of 3pm to 7pm, because he had punched his sister for the third time that day, so I told him that he was going to bed early. We both cried.

• Problem #2 Chloe- she has been so fussy, and unwilling to take an appreciable nap, but she continues to sleep through the night so I will make an end of complaining about her. 
•  
• Problem #3 I can't seem to be able to look past these things and simply come to grips that non-listening children and fussy babies are what comes with the territory of being a mom. In the moment all I can hear is Aiden crying from time out and Chloe crying from her crib and I begin to think that nobody has ever had such a difficult life as me. 

I called my sister who in her seasoned motherly wisdom said "Count your blessings, name them one by one" with emphasis on "one by one" ...literally count them. So to conclude this week and this rant I will list my top ten blessings that I came up with as I began to count.

• My loving Heavenly Father and the knowledge that he lives and loves me
• My Eldest Brother and Savior and the knowledge that he died for me and lives today
• My membership in the true church upon the Earth
• My husband who comes home from a 14hr. day and lets me lay in bed the rest of the night while he tags in to take care of the hungry attention starved kids
• My Healthy children who are growing like weeds and despite them not listening they bring me the greatest joy I have ever felt
• My parents and parents in law who support us beyond degree in every way. Emotionally, Physically, Financially, Mentally, Spiritually.
• My sisters who also support and love me and tell me "this too shall pass"
• My Friends and ward family who come and pick up the punks without asking and go out to dinner with me at 9pm so I can rant some more.
• My warm and comfortable home where I can be with my family in peace.
• My own health that allows me to take care of my kids, which is the only thing I actually want to be doing despite its difficulties.

Of course I could go on but I'll do that on my own. Hopefully next week I'll be singin a different tune. Till then'...

Thumbsucker

Well true to my resolution here I am at the end of one week and the beginning of another. Sunday's are normally quiet (well...quietER) so I thought today would be a good day to reflect on the week past.

It finally snowed. Monday was supposed to be our first day back from the break but was canceled due to "adverse weather conditions". I use quotations because it seems like the West Virginians equate snow to one of the seven deadly plagues, and every time it snows you always here someone say "Its not typically like this here". They're funny. I walked upstairs to find Mya all dressed and ready to go with her bed made, thanks to her trusty alarm clock which she got for Christmas. She was disappointed. Holy Cats that girl is growing so fast. Not just physically, more so in her maturity. She says and does things that adults don't even do sometimes...like ask me how my day was on our drive home from school, and ask me how she can help me around the house...my friend thinks she's an alien. Alien or not though I wouldnt trade her for all the riches in the world.

Chloe is officially a thumb sucker, and she has slept through the night faithfully for the past 6 weeks. I love and hate how attached she is to the thumb (always the right one btw). I love it because its so stinkin' cute and she can self soothe independently. I hate it because when the time comes I can't take her thumbs away like I would a pacifier, and yes she self soothes, but I'd like to soothe her sometimes...does she really already not need me??? She's a giant by the way, I don't think we'll make it much longer without giving her rice, the formula just ain't cuttin' it anymore. 

Aiden is his normal old self, he's having such a hard time listening to what I tell him to do. It's like talking to a dead cat. He is the hardest thing about my life right now in fact. But he's so dang cute when he's not being a terd, that I forget at the end of the day how crazy he drives me. He has such a tender heart. And speaking of terds...(I'm pretty sure only mothers begin sentences that way)...he has finally done his big jobs in the toilet!! No more cleaning up food babies! 

Kimball is Kimball, aside from the fact that he is now taking out gall bladders completely on his own...I have a husband that cuts people for money and occasionally fun...wait. I'm me....same as yesterday...we are both going to try and start an exercise/diet program. I can no longer hide behind the "holiday excuse"! Anyway, I hope subsequent posts won't sound so "newsletter-ish". I need to take more pictures. Until next time...

 

Resolve

re.solve [re-zolv] verb, noun

verb

1. To come to a definite or earnest decision about

noun

1. a resolution or determination made as to follow some course of action.

2. firmness of purpose or intent; determination

Today I'd like to resolve to

~Gossip less (yes I know it'd be better to resolve to not gossip AT ALL, but I don't want to set myself up for failure....Dont tell me your secrets!!!!!)

~Examine my demands on my family and close friends more carefully

~Be more positive, particularly with my husband

~ Make my demands more thoughtful, and quiet.

~ Read the Sunday school lesson each week.

~Blog once a week

~Eat healthier, excercise more (...groundbreaking I know.)

and we'll see how we do with those few things, and with God's help, and yours Dear Reader, I can make 2012 better than any year before.

What we did.

January

~We found out.

~We played in the snow

February

~We wrote love notes.

March

~We went green.

April

~ We dyed.

May

~We had lunch with some friends.

June

~We dug.

~We swang.

July

~we slid.

~We swam.

~Then we swam some more

~Then we slid some more.

August

~We started.

~We waited.

September

~We welcomed.

October

~We dressed up.

~We went to the pumpkin patch

November

~We blessed.

~We gave thanks.

December

~we celebrated.

~we decorated

~ we opened.

~we stayed in.

...and at the end of it all we'll start again as "We" .....our favorite thing to be.

Worth It.

The pregnancy was long...even though it was almost the exact same amount of time as the other two...it seemed longer. The nausea, the horrific headaches, the heartburn radiating from my knee-caps, the sleepless nights, the exhausting days, chasing two children around in the summer temperatures while I got bigger and bigger...was all worth it. My darling Chloe Jean... you were worth it.

Chloe Jean Knackstedt

September 14, 2011 10:40am

8 lbs. 11 oz. 19.5 inches