Little Valentine Lovers

Meghan had a little Valentine's party for the little ones. It was crazy, but at the end of the day... they just melt my heart! Few things make me happier than seeing Jude play with friends his age. It is humbling just to watch them. They are so innocent and special. :) After the party, Daddy told Jude it probably wasn't a good idea to hang out with both his girlfriends at the same time... oops!

The action in this shot captures the constant movement of the party!

Jude and the fish.

Dad brought home some trout the other night after his day of fishing and Jude was pretty excited about it. He was a little unsure at first, but that uncertainty quickly turned into excitement and amazement. I think we have a little fisherman in the making on our hands... Daddy's boy! He would start out touching the fish's face with one finger and within a couple seconds he was wiggling his fingers all over and in the fish's face. He could not get enough!

a day not to be forgotten.

yesterday:

danny sleeping in.
rachy &jude play.
danny painting the wall.
rachy planning jude's meals.
rachy feeding jude [goat milk] all day.
danny sitting out with jude in the back patio, relaxing.
goat milk, goat milk yogurt, goat milk cereal.... lots of goat milk.
dan hacking away briars &thorns and paving a pathway to the waterfall in our backyard.
rachy &jude exploring the pathway &waterfall in the backyard.
dan spotting a trout in the creek in the backyard.
rachy &jude riding the red rider &visiting the neighbors &all the dogs in the neighborhood.
danny making quesadillas for lunch.
jude dancing &rocking out to daddy on the electric guitar (his moves are unbelievable).
back door open with a barrier covering the stairs.
jude going in &out and exploring.
jude's nose running, running, running.
jude spying on neighbors, waving & "ooh"ing.
loving our neighbors and our backyard chats.
danny &rachy inviting friends over last minute for a weenie roast in the backyard.
rachy makes a quick trip to ingles.
valentine's day chocolate on sale, victory!
weenie roast, cupcakes, chips&hummus, smores with friends.
hot dog dance.
rachy sending jude's empty bike down the hill, causing jude complete hysteria.
rachy comforting, loving, holding, kissing jude.
rachy wearing a big blue moo-moo that also served as jude's neverending kleenex.
bocce ball in the backyard.
another friend joined us, hilarious stories &heartfelt laughs were shared.
jude eating a hot dog.
rachy went in to put jude to bed.
hot dogs chunks that had not been chewed, now on mommy &carpet.
daddy helping.
baby nursed, feeling better, fast asleep.
lovely night continued.
scriptures studied.
highly entertaining stories written by emma hale smith enjoyed.
aunt bee wins the tv show.
tired, tired mama.
dreams of gluten-free cheerios (this is what i dream about now)

lots of love.
a perfect day!

Cherishing

Today has been a day where I have been reminded of my blessings many times from waking up before the sun to lying down to sleep long after it sets. We are at an unusual time in life where Dan is only taking one three credit class and otherwise we get to spend lots of time together. No life-changing exams to study for over here, thank you! I am so thankful for this time and know I will always look back on it fondly. My life is not without its trials. I have my days and moments where I have to bring sense back into my mind and remind myself of my innumerable blessings. Some nights I look back on my day, trying to think of the important tasks I accomplished and what is up for tomorrow. And I realize, it's okay that I didn't work on a Master's Degree today or have some really fascinating job. I spent an hour outside with Jude today and let him run free and pushed him around the road on his Red Rider as he quacked at all the dogs on our street. I was patient as I fed him a carefully concocted meal containing every food group. I hugged my husband at least twice and told him how much I love him and how thankful I am for him... And I am content with that.  A day where I do everything for Jude is a productive day to me. I am at a phase in my life where I am in the background. A lot of what I do may seem mundane, but I do it for the ones I love and that makes the work truly enjoyable. I love reading "Llama Llama Red Pajama" (thank you Dolly Parton) to Jude every night while Dan gets him ready for bed and it always takes his tears away. I love it when I steal a kiss right on the lips from my little boy and I especially love it when he willingly gives me one, or two. I love it when I find a hidden stuffed heart, that my sweet Ashley made, under the cupboard in the kitchen with a precious heartfelt love note attached from my man. I love having a dance party to Taylor Swift in the kitchen (22 is still Jude's favorite). I love it when tummies are full from a successful meal and the sink is shiny and clean with no dishes inside. I adore my little home &the love we have inside.

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. The Spirit they bring with them is so refreshing. They shared a scripture and their testimonies with us and in the most heartfelt way told us how they feel something different when they walk through our front door. They explained how they can truly feel the Spirit when they come into our home and they love to be here. They encouraged us and told us to keep doing what we're doing. They told us that we have the power of God in our home and how special that is. How is it that two 20 year old boys can have such strength and bring such clarity to my mind as they remind me what really matters in life? I tried not to shed a tear as they told me these things. They probably didn't know how much that means as that is what I truly strive to create in my home. This year and past several months have been life-altering for us, in more ways that what may seem on the surface. Our lives are being completely remodeled on the outside, but even more so on the inside. We are getting a good kick to the pants and being humbled by our eternal Father, who is taking the rough stones we are and smoothing us out until we become perfectly smooth and molded together. I am so thankful!

We have been extremely diligent in our efforts to have scripture study personally and as a couple daily, say our personal and family prayers morning and night, have Family Home Evening, attend the temple monthly, and do our home &visiting teaching. I believe these few "simple" things are indicators on where we stand with the Lord. They may seem simple, but they are profound. Anything else we are doing in our day is meaningless if we are not kneeling in prayer and studying our scriptures. If we are feeling sorrow or just feeling down, if we are feeling emptiness, if we are feeling unsure or confused and wonder why.... are we doing these things? Are we trying to fill our lives with light and serve others? I feel overwhelmingly grateful to my Heavenly Father for humbling us. I want, more than anything, to develop righteous traditions in my own family that will bind us together into the eternities. This talk had a tremendous impact on me. I am working to create righteous traditions in my own family... traditions of daily scripture study and supplication to our Heavenly Father, traditions that will give us the strength to face our challenges with confidence and move forward with faith.

I love my little family of three. I love my family that is yet to come. I can feel them and see glimpses of a future house-full and it is beautiful. I am thankful. Thankful for my world in this little blue house at the end of the cul-da-sac. Thankful for the strength I have within me. Thankful for the hard things in life that make me stronger. And right now, as I imagine Jude lying so skilly-wompus in his bed, dreaming of breast milk ice cream cones, I am thankful to be his mother.

quote of the day

"Jude, how am I supposed to get anything done if you keep grabbing the broom?"

-Daddy

Our Adventurer

As of yesterday, life doesn't seem like such a mystery anymore. Things may just be falling in to place for us! More on that to come...

For now, let's talk about Jude. He has been soo much fun lately. He will just walk around the house exploring all by himself. The other day I walked into his room to check on him and he was climbing up his bookshelf, no big deal. Then he walked over to me, grabbed my hand, and we walked out into the hall together. I headed towards the kitchen, he stopped, looked up at me, let go of my hand, waved at me, &walked into the bedroom. He was like, "Bye, Mom. I'm goin in here... It's okay if you don't come." I loved it.

Last Friday when we were at UAB for Dan's interview he reached up and grabbed my hand and walked with me hand in hand for the first time. Oh, how the little things are just the best! He loves his Daddy. He always tries to sneak in the office to play with him while he's studying. He will give each of us a kiss and then clap because he knows he's done something good! He gives us raspberries on our tummies while we're all playing before bed. His favorite thing is still to be outside and play and explore and ride his bike. I get my work out pushing him all around the col-da-sac and up and down our steep driveway. Today we went exploring in our woods and walked down the path Daddy made and looked at the creek. We walked back up to the front yard and I set him down by the tree stump. He turned around and oh so courageously headed straight back towards the woods. It's a slightly steep hill into the backyard so I put my hand out to see if he wanted a hand. Nope, he was doin it all on his own. So off he went, two steps and fell. I put my hand out again, nope. Walked a few steps and fell again. This happened several more times until finally he took my hand and we ventured back out to the creek again together. This time he was walking down the path all by himself and he was getting nice &dirty.

He also loves to play in his room and chase us and hide around the back of his crib. His most recent accomplishment was climbing up on his crib and holding himself up. He was a little scared about getting down at first, but he quickly figured it out. He likes to play the kazoo, too. :)