Just a thought

Somewhere amidst the many "special offers" you get in the hospital/mail/email/Motherhood Maternity store I signed up for Parenting magazine. I don't remember doing this at all and I'm not really into getting magazines, but Jonathan insists that since I get that he gets to sign up for ESPN magazine (even though he reads every Parenting issue I get from cover to cover :) ). Still, I also devour them every month during my random spare minutes during the day and this month I read one of the most heartwarming things I've ever heard on parenting. It may just be touching to me because of the whole tantrum issue and the fact that Easton has been really sick for over a week and now I'm also sick, the house is a mess, and I'm going nuts not being able to go out because of the cold and now being able to play with friends because of those darn germs, but I thought I would share it anyway in case it might brighten someone else's day. The article is called "Learning from Liam" and is about a mother who was 41, already had 4 kids, and found out she was (suprise!) pregnant again. She talked about how she sobbed and didn't want to have another since her youngest was finally in preschool and she was actually getting time to herself to do things like volunteering, yoga classes, and swimming laps. She also knew how crazy people would think she was for having so many and for having a 15-year gap between her first and last (she should come to Utah) and so at first it was hard to accept. Well, a few things happened to help her put things into perspective and she talked about how now when her 14-year-old gives her trouble about curfews she remembers her as a little girl and knows it's just a stage, and also how when her new baby keeps her up all night she remembers how "the baby time of total contact is gone like a blink forever -- and I snuggle in and enjoy it." (Since the last two months have been a marathon of sleepless nights and sometimes days I really appreciated that.) Easton hasn't been too difficult and has really mostly been a lot of fun, but there are just some things I miss like sleep, getting to rest when I'm sick instead of still needing to take care of him, actually getting to read a whole book, and getting to run as long as I want instead of just until he decides he's done with the stroller. So what really touched me and helped me put my life into perspective is what she said at the end of her article: "I know that there is nothing better than being a mom. There will be time for myself later, when my children are grown. Right now, I'm busy having a wonderful time." From now on, when I'm playing with Easton, I'm going to forget all the really unimportant things that seem to fill my day and just enjoy having a really, truly, wonderful time.

Football and Food!

A few weeks ago we got to go to the state championships for football because Jonathan's alma mater, North Summit High, was playing. And what do ya know? They won! On a field goal with 3 seconds left in the game! It was pretty awesome! We also got to go to the semi-finals with Jonathan's sister Whitney and here we are with Easton.After the game we met up with Jonathan's brother and his wife and their kids and went and got some dinner. It was a blast and Easton loved playing with his cousins!
Here's Aunt Whit and the kids being crazy!
Our sister-in-law is pregnant and due in a few weeks! What's even cooler is that Jonathan's other brother's wife is also pregnant and due in March, so they'll be pretty close!
At this point Jonathan was still sporting the Fu Manchu, but don't worry, after a little encouragement he's decided to put those days behind him. ;)

It was such a fun day and so fun to see family!

Way Behind! (So this is waaaaay too long!)

I see other cute and creative blogs or else I see the ones that are updated almost daily and I constantly think, "I need to be more like them," and then... here we are almost a month since my last post and no, I haven't done any of the cute and creative things I've been dreaming about. I've decided I give up and I'll just be one of those occasional bloggers that does it whenever she's home from church sick and her little boy is actually napping (which is exactly what is going on today). In my defense, I did try a few times, but three sentences into a carefully thought out blog the computer would have issues or Easton would wake up from a nap. That's one thing I really don't understand. The second I quit cleaning and lay down to take a nap or hop on the computer or do something else relaxing, Easton's internal alarm goes off and he wakes up ready to run around some more. Lately he is becoming increasingly independent, at least as much as he can be for an 11-month old(which by the way is crazy! He'll be one year old next month!). My little baby was always so calm and easy-going and did whatever I wanted him to until a crazy thing happened: mobility. And we're not talking walking here, I mean the second he realized he could move at all on his own (beginning at rolling over) he turned into a much more demanding child that wanted to be moved all the time until he could do it on his own. Fast-forward to today and he is "on the verge" of walking and has been for months. Everyone keeps telling me how he's so close and it will be any day now, but he is completely content with holding mom or dad's hand and pulling us around the house all day(which is a bit painful on the back and more than a little time-consuming). He has his days when he'll walk around in his crib, let go of the coffee table and walk a little, and one day even walked all the way across the bedroom, but then for some reason he decides he doesn't want to do it by himself anymore and insists on being carried or hand-held to wherever he wants to go. Crawling has, unfortunately, completely lost it's appeal and walking is just not quite what he wants yet either, so we're stuck here in limbo. (By the way, I know this is quite long and probably pretty boring, but this is as close as I get to writing in his journal these days, so... you can just look at the pictures if you want. :) ) Anyway, back to the independence thing, does anyone have any advice for temper tantrums? If Easton doesn't get what he wants, and I mean just about ANYTHING he wants that he doesn't immediately get, he throws himself on the ground and cries till he gets it. If we're holding him he throws himself backward and arches his back and won't un-arch until he gets it. I know you're supposed to ignore their tantrums, but I'm having a hard time drawing the line between listening to what he wants and helping him learn to communicate and letting him think he should get whatever he wants, whenever. I try to only stop him if it's something dangerous, but I'm wondering if there are some more mom secrets I should know about this. Especially during church. Last Sunday he got to the point that every time I walked in the door of the Relief Society room he threw himself backward and screamed. The only reason we'd made it through Sunday School was because of a cute little girl that mesmerized him with her toys, but even then we were sitting in the doorway the whole time and we had to take him out a couple of times. By Relief Society the little girl's spell had worn off and there was no more keeping him in there. Granted he was tired and I'm sure a nap would have helped the situation, but I'm still struggling with the whole independence thing. So.... anybody have suggestions? I don't think Easton is terrible or anything, just very active and independent (sometimes stubborn... hmmm, wonder where he gets that) and probably pretty normal and so I'm wondering how other people taught their children about... well I'm not sure what you would call it, but basically how to teach him to not freak out if he doesn't get his way. If any of you have any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!
Even though I know I've already exceeded the maximum allowance for a single post, I have lots more to say! First off, I want to say Thank You Thank You THANK YOU Jonathan! While I've been sick he's been taking care of Easton, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and all that, even though he's doing finals right now. Mwah! I love you! I also want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I can't believe it's almost here! This year we're going to have a very busy and fun Christmas. David (my brother) and Robin (his soon-to-be-little-Mrs.) are getting married on Saturday, then we're going straight to Coalville to stay till Christmas, then we'll go to the Harward Christmas party and meet up with my family on Christmas Day and early the next morning we'll be leaving for California with them for David's reception and to go to Disneyland, Sea World, etc for a week and a half! Yay! It's all going to be so much fun! I'm sure we'll have tons of pictures of that and hopefully I'll post them soon!
Another exciting thing right now is that next semester is both mine and Jonathan's last! I'll have 2 classes and 3 online classes and he has 1 class and an internship and then we'll both graduate in April! I'm so excited! I'm really excited for Jonathan to get to have more Easton time. This semester has been pretty crazy and it's rare that he's actually home before Easton goes to bed so it will be a nice change. Easton loves his daddy so much still and is always crawling around the house saying "dada" and looking for him. Oh, and speaking of that, Easton's new tricks lately are waving, giving high fives, and pointing, all of which he does when he wants to, not when we're trying to show relatives. He also crawled in to me today, looked up and said "Hi" and then came up and grabbed me! It was probably pure coincidence, but I thought it was pretty cool. Anyway, I'm going to stop now in case Easton wakes up! I'll try to hurry and get some pics up since those are the most interesting parts of a blog anyway, but if I don't make it, I'm sure I'll try again in another month or so! :)