Just us

This was our very first Christmas that was just us, and Chuck's sister Megan. We ate diner by candle light on Christmas Eve (a tradition from Chuck's family). Julia Child's lemon chicken, roasted red potatoes, stuffing, green beans, a light soup, french bread, and lots and lots of "bubble juice" as Fiona calls any thing with carbonation.

It was kind of weird not to have the mass chaos of all the aunties and uncles and kids etc. But I did stop up to my neighbors to enjoy their chaos for a moment... I think now that I spend so much time at home alone with the girls, I crave being around lots of people.

We decided that this time off of work for Chuck would be a good time to start the co-habitation of the girls... up to this point Daphnie had been in our room. I was super nervous about it... I wish I could say I have all the kinks worked out... but alas from about 7:00 to almost midnight Chuck and I find ourselves trying to get one or both of them back to sleep (the writing of this post has been interrupted twice thus far). But it ain't all bad...lately I have been trying to be present... you know like in the moment and enjoying it without thinking of what you still need to do or what happened last Saturday...etc.etc. So when I can actually be in the moment I enjoy my late night babies and the fact that I can hold them and rock them and hear their sweet little voices and soft breathing. 

Just look at those luscious cheeks!

Christmas morning was great... I had been trying to build Fiona up for it for weeks. But she opened one present... a hot pink electric keyboard from Grandma and then she didn't want anything to do with anything else. I ended up unwrapping all of her presents and just showing them to her and she was less than thrilled. However, since Christmas morning she has thoroughly enjoyed all of her new toys which are much more age appropriate and challenging for her.

I just wanted to post this pic because I love her little outfit.

I am in the process of uploading some videos of the festivities to YouTube... so be sure to check out my account for all the live action footage :)

The 23rd as many of you may know was my birthmas. I am now 29 years old. Maybe I will go do something crazy this year... just maybe.  

Stressful Sundays

I was under the impression that the sabbath day was supposed to be full of peace and rest. Not true if you are a Mormon in charge of primary kids. 

I currently team teach five year olds with Chuck. They are cute and sweet yada yada yada BUT they seem to have an attention span of about 2 minutes... so you can imagine that after an hour being quiet in sacrament meeting, listening to talks that don't make any sense to them they are not ready to sit quiet and still in a huge room with all their friends. Despite my best efforts to maintain some sort of classroom order (because that is what the primary presidency and other teachers expect of me), they just wanted to jump around, laugh and talk about belly buttons.

If we are going to make them stay at church for that long they should be able to run around and play. I am sure some would consider that breaking the sabbath day.... I remember getting yelled at as a kid for running in the gym when church was over. People would say "No running in God's house." I wonder if God would have a problem with little kids running and being happy and playing in His house. I submit that he would not. I mean Jesus told us to be like little children. So why do we spend so much time each week trying to make them act like little adults? Someone gave a lesson in sharing time a few weeks ago about being good... she noted that "wiggling your feet in church was BAD" Are we seriously trying to shame kids for having the wiggles. Movement is important for young kids growth and development.

I seriously want to bring a bag full of toys and games next week... have a two minute lesson and then just play. 

Number two review

I am just recovering from my second bout of strep throat in the last month. That makes, one cold/nasty thing, one mastitis attack, and two cases of strep in only a short month and a half. Honestly I have never been sick so many times in my life in such a short period of time. It has made things interesting at best and horrible at worst with a new born in the house. I can only blame myself for a few reasons... one because I committed the cardinal sin of stopping my antibiotics before they were finished (I will never do that again!!!) and second because sometimes I don't know how to stop moving around and take a break. My doctor told me I have exhaustion... she told me to get some sleep (sometimes easier said than done) But Chuck has been helping me get some extra ZZZZZ's and Daphnie is getting better at sleeping through the night.

Speaking of Daphnie, she is delicious. She is soft and plump, smells like heaven (and sometimes a fine baby cheese), she makes the cutest faces when she cries, has the most tiny mouth... and makes a little poutty lip that kills me.

Funny how different the baby experience is the second time around. Daphnie really helps to slow things down around here in comparison to the Rambunctious Rhino Rumble that is my toddler. Which makes me feel really torn. I love playing with Fiona, she says funny stuff, and laughs, cries, dances, eats my food (sometimes) and enjoys a good book almost as much as I do. BUT Daphnie likes things nice and quiet and to be held near constantly. It's hard to know if I am giving each child what it is that they need, because right now they need really different things, and I am only one person and can only do so much.

I still scratch my head every time I try to imagine my mother in law with a house of eight kids. What a women.

The Bizz

Well... good news. Chuck got a job!! Can you guess from the poster above which Village Person looks like Chuck when he goes to work?

If you guessed construction worker you are correct! Only his helmet doesn't have a lightning bolt on it, however I do feel a slight temptation to put one on there now. And where he is working it is much too cold to be leaving his shirt undone. (I just have this thing for the Village People and couldn't resist the photo... in college I actually found a LIFE SIZE poster of the group for only $5.00 at a antique shop... It was so big it covered an entire wall of my apartment, and it made me laugh every morning:)

I like my construction workin hubby. Today he came home all dirty and stinky, and I just wanted to smooch his face. This job will help us get through the next few months and help funding for Chuck furthering his work with my brother in law.

We are gearing up for winter. Fiona has been out in the snow, but her favorite place to be on cold days is in front of the computer, watching Barney, drinking a bottle, with her hand in her diaper.

Currently that is cool with me because Daphnie does not handle the cold very well... she likes to be nice and toasty warm at all times.

We do try breaking up the video watching with some hands on fun. We made homemade play-dough the other day which was a real hit. I was boring and didn't color it or anything. It was her first time with it and I just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to eat mass quantities of it. She passed the test with flying colors and play-dough has been added to Santa's List.

Now to answer the top two most frequently asked baby questions: 

1. Daphnie is two months old

2. She sleeps pretty well, wakes up twice but goes right back to sleep. She actually sleeps in a hammock which my sister and law loaned us. It is the coolest thing, and gently rock them with the slightest push. They are from Australia called Natures Sway.

Daphnie continues to be a pleasant addition to the crew. We love her dark brown hair, and the little coos and goos she is starting to make. She also has some great fat rolls and is super snuggly... I just wanna squeeze her all day. But I make sure to set her down for some good Fiona time.

And what about me you ask.... Well I just finished reading the Lord of The Ring trilogy by J.RR. Tolkien. They have been a nice escape for me when I can't actually physically leave the house. I am going to do a movie marathon now to celebrate... but as usual the movies never do justice to a great book and a good imagination. This is the next book on my reading list.

Other than that life is great (minus my occasional meltdowns... I threw an orange across the house the other day in a fit :) but I have scheduled in weekly meditation in the closet which I use to release my crazy).

And that's The Bizz.

Defying Gravity

No this post is not about the hit musical Wicked. Although I do like that song.

This week I had a friend take me to Anti Gravity Yoga. We went as a girls day out kind of thing... only for a nursing mommy there is no such thing as "days out" there are only hours out, and even still it is hard to be away! I had never heard that anything like this even existed, but have to say it is by far the coolest thing I have done in a long time.

You start the class off by swinging in the hammock, then it was followed by a lot of hanging upside down in crazy positions. The teacher said it is really good for women right after they have a baby... something about inner-ear and body changes... I must admit I didn't pay much attention to the details, I was too busy playing in my hammock. (sorry for the blurry pic, I was moving.... Check out the link above for really cool pics)

If they have this in your area, I HIGHLY recommended it, OR if you live by me I would love to go again, plus I can bring a friend for close to nothing for their first time.

Elaboration

So a little bit more about the oils.... There are lots of different ways to apply essential oils. When I take a doTERRA oil internally I will sometimes just drop it directly in my mouth (which with some oils can be really intense), and other times I will put it into an empty gelatin capsule (you can buy them at health food stores). With the citrus oils like grapefruit, lemon and lime, I will put a few drops in a glass of water They are really refreshing and great for the liver among other things. My husband uses Clove oil to brush his teeth and just puts it right on his toothbrush.

 The feet are a great place to apply any oil. The bottoms of the feet actually have more pores than other parts of the body so the oils are quickly absorbed into the body. This is where I applied the Balance oil. With the other oils I used during pregnancy I applied them all topically but to different places depending on what I was using it for. When using Clary Sage to induce labor I rubbed it into the reflexology points for the uterus near the ankle. For the other oils I put the on different chakras. Geranium on the heart, Sandalwood on the third eye, and Elevation on the solar plexus. If you use Geranium to avoid episiotomy or tears it is best used for perineal massage (must be diluted with a carrier oil, I recommend fractionated coconut oil, also sold by doTerra).

In response to commentary on the last post. Yes... they are a little pricey initially. It is an investment for your health and oils will last a long time (depending how you use them). If you are just curious to know if you will like using essential oils there are some starter kits that are a great introduction. That is how Chuck and I started our oil collection. 

And, yes they are sold in Utah. Headquarters are in Orem, Yet you buy them through independent product consultants. The company is set up in a multilevel marketing way. WAIT DON'T RUN AWAY!! Chuck and I have always joked around about multilevel marketing and then we go and sign up!!!! HOWEVER, doTERRA is cool because if you sign up ($35.00 fee) you get to buy the oils wholesale (25% cheaper) instead of market value BUT you don't actually have to do the business side of it. 

So why am I talking so much about these???? Because I just think they are remarkably remarkable. They have been so amazing for my family and kids. You just HAVE to try them. Write me and I'll come give a foot massage, serious! 

Here is a link to a video that give more info.

The Essentials

I am hooked on doTERRA essential oils. Truly not all essential oils are created equal. They are by far the best product that I have found on the market.

I want to elaborate but this is one of those things that I have so much to say about it that I don't know how to formulate a short blog post that will keep your attention.

So... I will just say this... doTERRA essential oils were my little secret to such a smooth labor and delivery with baby number two. I used... 

• Geranium oil (hormone balance, ease tension and stress, avoid episiotomy)
• Elevation (joyful blend... keepin' my spirits up)
• Balance (grounding blend... calming, relaxation)
• Sandalwood (clear the mind of fear... be STILL)
• Clary Sage (induce labor, delivery, strengthen uterus muscles, start milk production). 

They really made a huge difference, and everyone in the hospital kept telling me how good I smelled.

There are so many oils and each has it's own healing properties... if you want to learn more, this book is an great guide. It tells you what physical ailments each oil is helpful for and how to apply and use the oils to be most effective. We consult it almost on a daily basis. I use oils on my kids all the time for lots of things from teething to headaches, to overall health, colds, sadness... you name it.

My brother in Law is writing a book about the emotional healing properties of essential oils... there is sooo much that these oils can do to help us. 

Ok... that's all for now. If you use essential oils or are interested in starting seriously we should talk.... email me or something I love talking about it.