Daniel

 So last week I wrote in the blog an update for each of  our girls and what they are like at their respective ages.  Dan jokingly said he now expected a blog post about what he is like at 29.  This morning I am happy to oblige!

If you asked me to describe Daniel in one word I could do it simply. It would be 'kind'. He is one of the kindest most thoughtful people on this planet that I have ever encountered. He spends a good part of everyday thinking about how he can help others but he doesn't stop there he actually does something.  Then he comes home from work and serves his family; helps with household chores and LOVES his children. He never wants anything and is really great at recognizing his blessings. And at the end of everyday he kicks himself for not doing more for people.

There are people in this world who can be distrustful of kindness, because so often when kindness is done something is expected in return.  But if you knew Dan you would know he is simply and purely good. I say it all the time: You show me someone who doesn't like Dan and I'll show you someone I don't trust.  Dan gets on my case about being fiercely loyal to him, partially because I threaten to punch in the throat any one who has ever wronged him, but I can't help it, the good things of this world need to be protected.

I don't want to make him sound super human or flawless. He is always making me late for example, and I HATE to be late. It makes me feel out of control and yet it takes him longer to get ready every morning then it does for me to get myself and three whole other people ready to completion. I know we can be nauseatingly in love sometimes and that's all people see but trust me we have cross words with each other too. I say 'we love hard, we play hard, we fight hard, we pray hard.' 

Dan is FREAKED out to turn 30 next year. He has like 4 grey hairs near his temples that I tease him about but secretly love.  I don't know why he is worried about getting older, he is pretty accomplished I think. He has three healthy beautiful girls, a house that doesn't do too much leaking, a decent job,  a couple cars, and a smoking hot wife.  

Anyway, I won't gush too much. I think he's the bees knees and I love him very much. He rights my world and keeps this girl grounded.  He tells me he loves me a dozen times a day, not that I had any doubts.  I think he is probably the best choice I've ever made in my life and I'd choose him again, every time.

Brighton

Since the last time I really used my blog (February) Brighton hit a little milestone of her own, She turned 5!  Is it possible for me to have a five year old?
Yep, Ain't she beautiful -------->

    I know as a mom you aren't supposed to love one of your children more then the other. And I don't love any one of my girls more then the others, but I do love them differently. They all three of them are different and have different challenges and strengths.
    Paisley for instance, as the baby gets the benefits of parents who know what they are doing, we have a little experience at this point...but she also has to share those parents with two others.
    Fairon gets a raw deal, everything is a hand-me-down and just as she is starting to get used to it we take it away and hand it to her baby sister. But She benefits from wiser parents then her older sister had and has never gotten hand-me-down love.

   And poor Brighton, She dealt with me and Dan as first time parents.  She went to the emergency room for a cough. She listened to her mother cry, up to my elbows in poop, about how I would NEVER be able to wear clean clothes again. She dealt with an over packed diaper bag that still managed to not contain the things we needed....like diapers. She did managed to walk despite the serious disadvantage of never being put down.  She got shampoo in her eyes, had to eat sweet potatoes, wore a helmet to go sledding, and suffered through a mother's inept attempt to cut her bangs.  But she did get time; a whole lot of time, attention, affection, and love.

    Brighton is so smart she scares the pants off me! She is a great older sister most of the time, and makes tons of concessions to keep her little sisters happy. She is slightly over dramatic, but let's face it  she comes by that naturally. She doesn't like to cuddle.  She is is a total type A personality!  She acts responsibly most of the time. Sometimes we say she was born 30 years old.

She loves:

Art, painting, coloring, scrapbooking, crafts,

reading, science, nature, 

She's really interested in: 

learning to ride her bike, the states, the presidents, and WHY everything exists.

Her favorites: Best Friend is Ella

Favorite show: Frannie's Feet, Pinky Dinky Doo, Wild Kratts

Fav. Color: Think PINK!

Loves to experience new things

Enjoys baking

Dislikes:

Unplugging

Brushing her teeth

Getting her Hair done

Lima Beans

Speaking or singing in public

Meeting new people

 Brighton is an all around exceptional 5 year old, I'm so proud to be her helicopter mom!

Fairon

I'm going to throw people for a loop and actually blog two WHOLE days in a row. I thought it was only a natural progression that I tell you how about Miss Fairon Nicole. She just turned THREE!

You know how people, when they say something negative about their child, always immediately follow it up with how much they love them? Gosh that annoys me. I just like when people tell the truth. I know you love your child even if you are struggling with them. 

Fairon is a stinker. She is a challenge. She is difficult. She is strong willed. She is independent.  She is just like me.
AND I love her. See, it's hard not to do.

Three is a tough age. I'm not sure why people say 'terrible twos' because three is so much worse! But with Fairon she was just born this way. Everything has to be her idea. She has to master everything. Did you know that Fairon is an American variation of an Irish name Farren? Which seemingly  has a hundred different meanings that all seem to boil down to: Stubborn and Spirited.  I felt God gave me that name for her, turns out it was perfect. Perhaps I should have done some more research.

    Fairon is a little mother. She is so compassionate and empathetic. She feels ALL her feelings to their highest degree. She adores her little sister and her father, and merely tolerates me and Brighton. Fairon's affections are hard to win, but that makes them more valuable.  She is complex, wonderful, and difficult to describe. She has that X factor. We call her our little Warrior Artist.

 Fairon Likes:

Music

Calliou and Dora

Paisley

Purple

Art in every form

Praise

Reading

Everything HER Way

Fairon Dislikes:

Lima Beans

Having to accept help

Not being able to make the letter sounds, F, V, TH, X

Having to share with Brighton

Not going to preschool everyday

Shoes

Sleeping in her own bed

     She is deeply smart, but people have a hard time seeing it because she lacked language skills for almost three years. She is a total character, extremely dramatic, and expressive. It's how she first learned to  communicate. She wears her heart on her sleeve. She is an awesome combination of strong and sensitive.  I admire her and fear for her because I see so much of myself in this one. 

     She is beautiful; Always puts her shoes on the wrong feet and will fight you till the death if you suggest she did something wrong.  I have always felt really strongly that God gave me a sliver of myself to teach me, not to tame her, but to love her for who she is and ultimately to love myself.

 

Paisley

     I have been slightly bogged down lately with all the things it takes to make a life: laundry, bills, work, dishes, baths, dinner, bedtime stories, teeth brushing, hugs, boogers, diapers, shopping, pinterest.  

      It's been awhile since I stopped and really evaluated my blessings, and that has to start with my greatest blessings, my beautiful girls.  We just passed a milestone with Miss Paisley Morgan, who recently turned 18 months old.

    Our little mop top is about the sweetest little chickadee you'd ever want to meet. She is even-tempered and a total mommy's girl. She follows me where ever I go, if she is not playing with her second mom, Fairon.  She has a million kilowatt smile that lights up her face, and she shares with everyone...except the pediatrician. 

    Paisley is fond of music and art. No surprises there as she follows in the footsteps of her older sisters, and has been holding a crayon beside them since she was 6 months old.

  A few of her favorite things:

Baths

Rubber duckies

Elmo

Yo Gabba Gabba

 Fairon

Oreos

Crayons

Stickers

Breastmilk

Mortal Danger

New Words

Things she isn't excited by:

Clothing

Diaper Changes

Hair Brushes

Hair Ties

Shampoo

Eye Doctors

Actual Toys

Mom Working

 Sleeping Through the Night

This kid has a serious knack for getting into trouble and the sweetest face to apologize with.Case in point this morning she pushed a chair over to the cupboard climbed up and pulled a couple steak knives out of the drawer. She is learning new words everyday: Book, Duck, Jesus, Stuck, Sick, Bump, Sis, Dada, Mama, Eyes, Thanks, Ears, Glasses, Poop, Stink, Yucky, and Bright. She can point to all her body parts and some shapes like circle and star. Her favorite songs are "open shut them" and "I'm Elmo and I know it".

 

Her eyes are still hazel although less green then they were 6 months ago. She is FINALLY getting the last of her little teeth in, which I pray will be over soon. Her curls are loosening up which makes me wonder if by next year she'll have straight hair like the other girls.

I'm blessed to be this sweet baby's mama, if all children were like this I'd have a dozen!

Resolutions

So, this blog entry has been a work in progress for almost 3 months. I've been wanting to write for sometime about resolutions and goals. It seemed totally proper to have this be my new years entry...I'm nothing if not punctual.

Which brings me to my first new years resolution. To be more organized. My lack of organization is probably my biggest issue with myself. I have always been a personality that thrives in chaos. <---that last bit is the lie I have told myself for the last few years. A couple years ago, there was this little status update going around on the facebook that asked people to describe you in few words and the most common thing people had to say about me was, "free spirit". People say things to me all the time, like "Emily, you are such a free spirit." I love that term "free spirit" because it makes being flaky sound almost positive.

I'm reminded of an object lesson from high school, where the teacher handed us each a balloon full of air, and a push pin. She said, "TRY to pop this balloon." So everyone put pushpin to balloon and popped the balloon. Then she said,

"you see...there is no 'try' there is just 'do' or 'not do'."

The thing about goals and resolutions (or almost anything for that matter), is that if it's really important to you, you make time to do it. You work on it, and possibly for the first time in my life it has become important to me to become a better version of myself.

The first lesson I've learned this year is you don't have to be the best at something to enjoy it. I give myself permission to do it anyway. I am not the best singer in the world, I'm not great; I might not even be good. In the past that would have been enough to keep me from preforming. But I love music and enjoy singing so I have been accepting invitations to sing in church and other activities. Of course I am nervous but afterward I am grateful for the opportunity to do something I love.
I find I can apply that lesson to a lot of things in my life: running, photography, parenting, cooking, crafting, gardening, scrap booking, my church calling, and even organization.

My second resolution is to simplify.





















(see I'm doing it already)

The Best Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Well the title of this post says it all. This recipe is THE best cookie recipe. I consider this recipe a no fail for delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Trust me, if I can't screw it up you can't either. People literally beg me to make these cookies. In our house we make them once or twice a week.

Mix in a bowl: 1 C. Sugar & 1 C. Brown Sugar

Add & Stir: 2/3 melted Butter (you can sub. anything butter like, but butter is best)

Add & Stir: 2 eggs, 2 tsp. vanilla, 2/3 C peanut butter (more or less is fine), 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp Baking Soda.

Add and Stir: 2 1/2 C. Flour

Add and Stir: 3/4 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips. (not more or your cookies will fall apart, not milk because these are super moist gooey cookies and milk chocolate chips will make them fall apart)

Drop by the spoonful on greased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes. ( I do 9) And I make them small, just the perfect size to be eaten in a couple bites.

I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does!!!!

Angry ranting for your enjoyment...

I have gone through this baby weight loss journey three times now, and the most surprising thing to me has always been how other people react to my weight loss. Mostly I get positive feedback, usually from people who care about me and my health. Sometimes I am "thinspiration" for others, I appreciate that, I don't feel worthy of it, but I appreciate it all the same.
The thing that surprises me most is when people seem offended by my weight loss. Like my losing weight is some affront to them. I'm losing this weight for a few reasons, none of them being anyone outside: myself, my kids, and my husband. My motivation is truly my health and being a positive role model for my girls. Of course looking better in my clothes and having my husband look at me like a goddess, doesn't hurt either. ( I can't believe I am feeling forced to define why I am losing weight) I recently posted this picture to my facebook page:Brighton picked out this Hello Kitty T-shirt for me, in a size Medium off the clearance rack at Target a month ago. As it was only 3$ and it makes the kids happy I bought it and wear it, even though it's getting a little 'baggy' in the tummy area. The kids giggle every time I wear one of these shirts. And Brighton thinks I am the coolest mom at the bus stop! ( A title I am so thrilled to win)....

So, I was a little confused when this innocent photo...taken Tuesday morning in my sweats caused my weight loss to again be the focus of such criticism by some. My improper pride and vanity has been called into question. Also, because I want to lose my baby weight I somehow don't appreciate my children? I understand some people see vanity as a sin, but I think the Lord wants us to be beautiful and take care of the temple he has given us. I'd like to share a quote by Brigham Young he says:

"Let the sisters take care of themselves, and make themselves beautiful, and if any of you are so superstitious and ignorant as to say that this is pride, I can say that you are not informed as to the pride which is sinful before the Lord, you are also ignorant as to the excellency of the heavens, and of the beauty which dwells in the society of the Gods. Were you to see an angel, you would see a beautiful and lovely creature. Make yourselves like angels in goodness and beauty."

.... I am so amazed by what my body has done it is expanded and stretched 70 pounds three times! It has produced 3 beautiful perfect little girls who I love with all of my soul. I would say all of my heart, but a body is a temporary vessel and my love for my children is eternal. I am mostly hurt by the assertion that I am some how hurting my children by being healthy. Shame on you, anyone who believes that. And finally, that I am proud of my weightloss....Well heaven forbid I be proud of the hard work and effort of losing 70 pounds! (3 times) I have seen much less worthwhile things being toted onto facebook for the world to see.

So without further ado:
I weigh 149 pounds
Size 6/8 jeans
I have lost 71 pounds since March.
(and hell yeah I'm proud of that!)
And I have revised my goal from 135 pounds to 130 pounds.
So here's to the next 19!

P.S. I should mention that most of the drama took place off facebook, in case you are wondering where the fuel for this post came from.