The Lord's Hand in putting things into perspective..

So anyway in case you guys didn't catch on last week was a bit hard for me with the kids getting sick and getting down on myself for not reaching my sometimes unrealistic expectations of myself. Well the Lord must have seen fit to pull me out of my "Woe is me" attitude and He did so in a very interesting way. Some may call this a coincidence but I think it was more some tender mercies from Him. My first tender mercy came when I heard President Uchtdorf's talk at the General Women's Relief Society meeting on Saturday night. It was amazing!!! I felt like he was saying all of the things I needed to hear but I also imagine that many women watching felt the same way. My next tender mercy came at Wal Mart in the check out line. I was putting all of my grocery items on the conveyor belt or whatever it is called and there was a nice lady behind me who looked like she was in her 60s. Anyway, Clark started coughing a little bit (they still have little coughs) and I covered his mouth and told her, "Sorry. they are pretty much better but they still have little coughs. No one ever told me how often kids get sick." She then said, "Yeah I know. My 14 month old granddaughter has cancer and she has two older siblings who are in school and get sick and bring stuff home to her and she is not supposed to get sick." I immediately felt very humbled. Here I was feeling sorry for myself that my kids had croup, an ear infection, and a throat infection, and her granddaughter had cancer. I asked her if she was going to be ok and she said she was expected to survive and they just had to be careful to not get her sick while she was receiving treatment. All of a sudden I realized I needed to be thankful for all I have. Life can be hard for all of us but this experience put into perspective how small my current problems were compared to some other people. And I'm trying to remember not to resist problems or just every day annoyances because they are a part of life and the plan to help us become stronger. I love this quote I just read in a Dr. Laura book and I think it is so true, "The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." -Theodore Rubin. We all have problems or as I said in a mental health presentation I did for enrichment a month or so ago, "We all have issues." We all have our personal internal struggles and our outward demons to fight. But I'm trying to instead of pushing against problems to just accept them and deal with them the best I can. But it is a struggle for me. Especially since having children I think that every moment with them should be wonderful, happy, you know the type of moments that you see on Hall Mark commercials. But that is just not always the case. There are many moments like these but there are also many moments that are not. There are times when Savanna is screaming that she will not go in time out or that the dinner got burned or I'm struggling with the whole "I'm just a mom" mentality. (I love staying at home don't get me wrong and feel it is the personal right decision for our family but I do miss working in my field sometimes.) But I'm grateful that every day is a new day and I can try to be a little better each day. Because that is really all that is expected of us I believe. Just to try every day to be a little better. Anyway, I'm done. I've been a bit introspective and emotional lately so of course it has shown up in my blog because you all know how good I am at keeping my thoughts to myself...hehe.

Good luck Ashley & Chris!

Our good friends, Ashley and Chris, are moving to California this week and we are excited for them but we will miss them! Chris has impressively just finished his Ph D and is now moving on to post school life and having a career job. They came to dinner on Sunday along with our other friends, Tim and Aubrey, and Aleta and Bryan and we had a lot of fun. It's funny before TC said the prayer he mentioned how all of us have been friends for a long time and we have all known each other longer than any of us have had kids and now we all have at least one child. Weird. I'm grateful for friendships that last over time! Time really does fly though... We will miss you Ashley and Chris! But I'll be calling you Ashley and staying in touch for sure!! And we look forward to seeing you when you get back to Utah!

From left: Me with Savanna and Clark, Aubrey and Tim with their kids, Ezra and Maya, Bryan and Aleta with their daughter, Holland, and Chris and Ashley with their daughter,Katelyn

Basically the same picture minus Aubrey and adding TC

Am I Cut out for this?

So do you ever have those mommy days when you wonder whether you're cut out for being a parent? Today and really the past couple of days have been like that. My kids have been sick with croup and Savanna has an ear infection as well. I'm tired because I've had two bad nights of sleep in a row because I can't sleep well when I hear them coughing plus Clark was up three times last night. (I'm spoiled my kids sleep so well when they don't it affects me more I think because I'm not used to it.)They have been fussier and I've been to the doctor twice this week just to get them doses of steroids. They sound a lot better today-they are coughing a lot less which is good. Anyway but sometimes I just get so MAD at myself when I don't handle situations with my children as well as I think I should have. And maybe it is too personal to share all these thoughts but it is therapeutic for me. Anyway, just about forty five minutes ago was one of those moments. I'll let you all see how imperfect I am... Savanna wanted to get out our Ticket to Ride game. I REALLY don't like when they get that game out because the trains are everywhere and I usually end up finding a few underneath the couches and end table so I told her she could only get out two sets of colors. She said ok and I knew she understood me. I came from cleaning up the dishes from lunch to find all of the colored trains scattered across the living room. I said, "Ok Savanna you did not listen to what I asked so we need to clean up all the trains and put them away and stop playing with the game right now." She completely refused so I put her in time out. She would not stay. I kept putting her back and back and back. At this point she was hysterical (this is one of the worst fits I've seen her have. The pharmacist did tell me she probably would be grouchy with this steroid. Guess he was right). Anyway, I ended up holding her down on my lap for 3 minutes and then told her she had to clean up the trains. She still refused. I was getting really frustrated so I plopped her down into bed and yelled, "No stories! No learning time! You cannot act like that!! and slammed the door." Of course then I felt bad. I lost my cool. I yelled at her. I should have been able to control myself. I felt bad putting her back in time out over and over again too. But she needed to stay, right? I can't just let her not have a consequence. Anyway, after I read a story to Clark and put her down I went in and apologized for yelling and told her though that she had to clean up the trains once she woke up. She nodded. Now I'm analyzing everything I did wrong. Oh, being a parent is so hard sometimes. And I try so hard to do the right thing...but sometimes I lose my cool. And I always feel bad after doing it. Anyway, so now probably all of you feel better about yourself thinking of how good a parent you are-just kidding. I just thought we all could relate and know that when you are frustrated ore lose your cool with your kids you are not the only one.

Welcome Home Jonathan!

My brother, Jonathan, just came back from his mission in Calgary, Canada yesterday. I talked to him yesterday and he seems to be doing well. I love you Jonathan and can't wait to see you soon!

Savanna Update-About 3 years and 9 months old

Sorry that my last blog posts were about vomiting and poop. I guess those just become common topics when you become a mother. Anyway, I realized it's been a bit since I've done an update on Savanna. I'm always good about doing monthly updates until my kids are about 2 and then I don't do them as much so sorry Clark has gotten a bit more attention. Maybe I should just do a monthly update on her as well... Anyway Savanna is our sweet, girly girl and makes us smile every day. The only time she really doesn't make us smile is when she is whining or pushing over her brother... Anyway Savanna seems like she is getting older and more grown up every day. I decided not to do a preschool with her this year. She will just do one year of preschool next year which I think is sufficient. Preschool is expensive and I'm kind of sentimental and want her to enjoy not being in any type of school a little bit longer and being able to hang out with her little brother. But she is taking a gym class again which she loves and taking music class along with Clark. Here are some updates about Savanna over the last few months.

Savanna's Favorite things/activities

• Taking care of her babies
• Cinderella
• Watching movies (I'm a bit hard core with not letting her watch much movies so when she gets to she is very excited. Maybe I should loosen up a bit and she won't like them as much...)
• Riding her bike
• Playing at the park
• Reading books
• Dancing to music
• Dressing up
• Playing games (ie: Memory and Uno)
• Doing puzzles
• Playing with Cricket (TC's sister, April's, dog) Savanna loves dogs.
• Helping in the garden
• Playing the piano
• Learning time (time after Clark is asleep and before she naps that we work on learning something)
• Getting her little brother to do what she says

Savanna's Current Favorite Color: Blue

Savanna's Current Favorite Foods: Spaghetti, Cheese, any type of treat

Savanna's Recent Accomplishments/Milestones

• Can write, spell and read her name
• Is learning how to write her letters. She can write quite a few of them.
• Knows how to read some words:ie: up, dog, bed, red
• Is starting to sound out some words (I'm going to start Hooked on Phonics with her shortly. I heard it is a good program).
• Is starting to learn how to read digital time
• Can read the hand clock when it is something o' clock (ie: 7:00)
• Can ride a bike with training wheels
• Can count to 20 almost all days and 30 some days
• Can spell my name and TC's name (I know TC's is not that hard-lol.)
• Can tell you where she lives, her grandparents, and her aunts and uncles (most of the time)

Recent Savanna Quotes

• "Daddy why is that car wearing a birthday hat?" (said when she saw a Brick Oven pizza delivery truck)
• (While reading "Go Dogs Go" this morning) "It is good to work and it is good to play. I don't work though. I just play. I do pick up stuff though and fix things. That is all the work I do."
• (Told to her primary teacher in her primary class) "My favorite animal is snakes. But my mom does not like snakes." (That is very true about me! But she has never said that is her favorite animal before. Sorry honey if that is true you will never have one as a pet...)
• (While playing the piano) "The name of this song is 'Mommy I love you!'"
• (While playing the piano) "Doesn't this song sound like a hug?"
• (Heard in Savanna's prayers) "Please help me not be mean to Clark. Please bless me to see Cricket. Please bless Mommy's bug bite to go away."
• "When I lived here for a long time I had to go pee pee because my bladder was full. That's what happened. I had to go pee pee."
• (While saying good night to her one evening and caressing my forehead) "Mommy are you going to go to sleep with your little cute forehead?"

We love our Savanna!

Good Friends

So I'm always so grateful for the wonderful friends that we have and the support that they give us especially when we do not have a lot of family that lives here (some cousins and TC's sister though she is moving in a couple of weeks and we will really miss her! And our family does come and visit frequently and one of my brother's will most likely be moving here around March so I should not complain. Just sometimes I wish we had more family closer.) Anyway Friday was one of those days that I was reminded of how good our friends are to us. So I was driving to visit some friends of mine and it was about a 40 minute drive. As I had just about reached the exit I needed to get off on Clark threw up. I was really surprised. I pulled off into a Wendy's parking lot and started trying to clean off his clothes and the car seat. I was wondering what to do. I called my friend, Aubrey, and told her I would probably just head back home in case he had a stomach virus because I did not want him to get any of her kids sick or the two other friends' kids who we were meeting up with. She insisted that I could not drive back with him not getting cleaned up and that since we were going to a park and I had driven all the way down there I should just come to the park anyway. So we went to Aubrey's house and she headed back from the park and let us in. I bathed Clark in the bathtub and she found a pair of clean shorts and a shirt for him to wear. Then while I was getting Clark dressed she sneaked out of the house and started getting out the car seat. She let me wash his car seat cover, then gave me a key to her house so I could go back and pick it up after the park since she had to go somewhere right after. She also brought us yummy treats and my other friends, Ashley and Aleta, were still fine with us coming to the park. I was just really grateful to them for saving my day. I especially am grateful to Aubrey for not really thinking about herself and just seeing that I needed some help. She is always a great example of unselfishness and service. Thanks again girls! And I really hope your kids did not get sick. Clark had no other symptoms after that so I concluded it was most likely getting car sick though I found out today that my friend's daughter who was over Thursday night threw up later that night...so now I'm not 100% sure. Let's cross our fingers.

Sibling Bonding

I guess the sense of smell isn't fully developed until later in life..

Utah State Fair & Cowabunga Bay

So we have done some fun activities this past week and the kids had a great time. Savanna gets excited whenever we do any type of fun activities. I love how happy and fun loving she is! Clark had a great time as well. He is a happy boy too! We just have to make sure we stay in our budget for the rest of the year. It is hard with kids because you just want to do all this fun stuff with them but lots of stuff cost money. But we are trying to stay disciplined and TC is AWESOME at finding deals and coupons for just about everything.Anyway so last Thursday we went to the Utah State Fair. We decided we wanted to make that a yearly tradition. Thursday was opening day and it was half off and I was worried it was going to be super crowded but it wasn't at all! Last year we went close to the end of the fair and it was packed so I think we will try to go on opening day next year as well. Anyway, Savanna was so excited when we told her we were going to a fair and she would get to go on some rides. She loves rides! It reminds me of when I was a kid. I was the exact same way. We could have spent even more time there but we enjoyed going to the Little Hands of the Farm, seeing all the farm animals, and riding a few rides with Savanna and Clark and watching Savanna ride some on her own. We even went on the ferris wheel and she kept saying, "I'm not scared at all! I love this ride!" We also went to Cowabunga Bay last night and that was a lot of fun though it was a little bit cold. It was in the 70s but it was cloudy on and off which made it feel colder. Savanna and Clark could only ride two of the slides but we had fun playing the lazy river as well. We love playing and having fun with our kids! It helps us remember how fun and precious childhood is!

They had this fun exhibit at the fair called Little Hands on the Farm and you are able to go through and pretend to be a farmer. You plant seeds, harvest your crops and then trade it in for money at the end and a little treat. It is a fun, free, cute exhibit!

A pig and her little cute baby pigs. It was funny watching this pig with her piglets. They were all squealing and trying to get their share of milk and the mommy pig was acting kind of annoyed. After a few minutes she got up, walked around and lied down again but this time with her teats unexposed. Guess even animal mommies need a break sometimes!

Petting and feeding the baby goats

The Rides!

Cowabunga Bay

A Visit from Nana

v So my mom came again for a little over a week to support and watch me when I ran my half marathon and of course to see her adorable grand kids. This visit was extra special for Savanna because she got to have a sleepover with Nana! Savanna stayed the night with just Nana in my parent's town home and she was so excited. She loves having sleep overs with family and we brought it up at the beginning of the her trip and she asked us every night if it was time for her to sleep over Nana's. She ended up sleeping over last Monday and they had a great time watching a movie, eating popcorn, going to the park, and playing. It was so great to have you here Mom and thanks so much for all the support you give me!! It meant a lot to have you here. Love you!

9/11-A Decade Later

I have been pretty emotional and reflective today thinking back to the events of September 11th, 2001. I even requested that we sing America The Beautiful as the closing hymn at church today (I'm the ward organist) and I got a bit teary eyed while playing. Every year on 9/11 I do think of the victims and the tragedy that so drastically changed our nation but this year it hit me a lot harder-probably because of all the media attention with it being the 10 year anniversary.

Where were you on the morning of September 11th, 2001? I think it is interesting how pretty much everyone can tell you the story of when they found out about the terrorist attacks. I was a freshman at Brigham Young University. It was only my first or second week of school so I was adjusting to college life and being away from home. I was walking from my dorm to a class and my roommate was walking back to our dorm from an early morning class and she told me "Did you hear that an airplane hit the Twin Towers?" At this point I do not think the second plane had hit yet. I remembering thinking "Oh that is bad. I wonder what happen." But then as more information unfolded and my mom was calling me I realized how serious it was. The next day I attended a special memorial service at The Marriott Center.

President Monson wrote a beautiful blog entry in the Wall Street Journal of how we have changed since September 11th, 2001 and how we turned to God at that time but we need to continue to turn to Him in good times and in bad. Also many of you probably know of the memorial that they are building at the Twin Tower site to honor those who were lost. Actually it is already built- it opened today but the museum will not open for another year. It sounds awesome and I really want to visit it one day.

Today was a day to think of those who were lost, to think of those courageous heroes on Flight 93, to think of those who have sacrificed their lives since for our freedom, and to think of how much I love this country. My heart goes out to all those who were grieving today who lost loved ones on that day 10 years ago. May they find comfort and strength knowing that even those who do not know them were praying and thinking about them today. May we be united as a nation and remember how blessed we are to live in this country is what I continue to pray for.

Clark update-17 months

So our little Clark is 17 months today! He continues to be a fun little boy and learns more and more every day. Clark's favorite things/activities include dogs, blocks, dancing, eating, being outside, swimming, jumping, shoes,cars, and trucks. Clark's favorite book is one of a garbage truck picking up trash and he will turn the pages saying, "trash, trash" over and over again. Clark is a very happy kid though he can get sassy sometimes. Sometimes when I ask him to do something that he does not want to do he will point his finger at me and say "Uh". Pretty much translated into.."I don't feel like doing that Mommy." He will let you know when he does not like something you have done like interrupt playing with a toy he is really enjoying. He also lets Savanna know if he does not want to do something she is trying to get him to do by letting out a loud scream (Clark has a nice set of lungs on him which he uses when he is upset or having a really fun time). Clark continues to learn more and more words. Some of his new words this month include: garage, trash, church, Kris (for Kristine, my brother's fiance), Spens (for my brother, Spenser), play, amen, etc. He also has started putting some phrases together like "right there", "one, two, three", "There it is!" and "ready, set, go (though this one is mumbled and the only word you can really understand is go!). He also has started trying to explain what is going on with more than one word. The other day I was dancing with him and he said, "Dance, Ma". Then Savanna was saying something to him the other day and he kept saying, "Adas...followed by what she was saying (Adas is what he calls Savanna. It sounds nothing like Savanna but if you ask him to say Savanna this is what he says.) Anyway, we love our little man! He is growing up so fast!

I RAN IT!!!!!!

So Saturday I completed my first half marathon and it was awesome! I loved it and I want to do another one! I've always loved to run but now I think I'm officially addicted to it. I actually want to run a marathon one day but it just seems like too big of a time commitment right now with taking care of my little ones. Training for a half was a lot of work as it was. I may do another half in October.. I have not decided yet. Anyway, I think one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much and did not think it was an awful experience was because I did something called the Run/Walk Method by Jeff Galloway. TC really pushed this saying he thought it would really work for me but I was not sure. The idea behind it is you actually improve your time by taking walking breaks because you have more energy to run faster during your running intervals and it also is supposed to prevent injuries. Therefore, Jeff Galloway says that you actually will improve your time by using this method. I just didn't want to walk any of it because to me that seemed like giving up. But I finally agreed to try it on my 8 mile run the week before my race and it totally worked. Pretty much what you do is you pick what pace you want to maintain for each mile and he has a chart with a ratio of how long you run and then how long you walk. So for me I was ambitious and went for a 9 minute mile pace ( I can maintain an 8.5 to 9.5 minute mile up to about 6 miles but then it gets a lot harder after that.) So I ran 4 minutes and walked 1 minute throughout the whole race. It was really hard to make myself do sometime but it totally worked. My goal was to run this race in 2 and a half hours or less and I ran it in 2 hours and 8 minutes so I was happy with that time for my first race. I averaged about 9 minutes and 48 seconds a mile. It was really hard in the beginning too because the first 4 miles were steep, steep, uphill but then it was downhill for awhile so that helped. Anyway, but I do have a funny story associated with this race that I just can't help but share. SO after I was done running and we were about to leave they started announcing the winners for the various age categories. I decided I wanted to stay because I just wanted to hear what the times were for the people that placed in the top 3 in their age groups. Anyway, I got distracted talking for a minute and the next thing I knew I heard "2nd place: Ashley Perry". I was shocked! I was happy with my time but knew it was not amazingly fast. Anyway, I went up to the front and the announcer asked with a confused look on his face, "What is your name?" And I told him. I said, "Are you sure this medal is for me? I'm stunned." Anyway, by this time my mom also made her way to the front and was screaming very loudly bringing some attention to herself (she was very excited for me. It was cute.) Anyway, the guy then said over the microphone that I just said I was stunned that I got this and asked everyone to cheer for me and brought attention to my cheering mother in the front. Anyway, I was a bit embarrassed but excited about the medal...until later that night when TC was checking the race results online. I wanted to know how many people were running in my age group and what other people's times were. Anyway, TC told me that my name was not listed under my age group but under placing second in the Athena category. I had no idea what the heck the Athena category was! So we googled it. Turns out the Athena category is a special running category for women over a certain weight (Over 150 pounds). I was so confused. For the record I do not think 150 pounds is overweight and I am not really sure why they have this category but I do weigh less than that so I was not sure how I ended up in this category. We went to the registration form and there is a spot for special events and you can check yes or no if you wanted to be included in this category. I'm guessing I checked yes. There was no explanation of what this category was but I guess I will know not check yes for it next time! Anyway, it turns out I placed 27th in my age group and the 1st place winner ran it in 1 hour and 36 minutes. A lot different than my time. I was a bit deflated and embarrassed thinking back on the whole scenario when I went and received my medal that I did not even rightly deserve!! No wonder the man announcing the winners was so confused when he looked at me! Oh embarrassing! Oh well, better to place in a category you don't even belong in than not one at all? Right? I don't know, maybe not. But it does make for a good story. But overall it was a great day, a great run, and great fun so I can't complain too much!

Showing off my impostor medal

Enjoying a free Red Mango smoothie after the race

The supporters (And yes my brother's fiance, Kristine, did make posters. What a sweetheart!)

The crowd just starting the race

Stretching and getting ready

My friend, Emily, and I. We trained a bit together. It was really cold in the morning before the race in case you couldn't tell.

Daddy Daughter Date

So TC took Savanna on a Daddy Daughter date sponsored by Chick-fil-a last Tuesday and they had a great time together! We try to alternate taking Savanna to do something one on one every month and she felt so special going out with her daddy. It is so awesome too because TC found this event on his own and decided to take her. What a great father! They were supposed to dress up for the event and Savanna was so excited and wanted to wear her Cinderella princess dress but we convinced her to wear her fancy blue one with her Cinderella shoes, necklace and bracelet. Anyway, they were able to order anything on the menu including a dessert, Savanna got a rose and a corsage, made a tie for TC, listened to some Disney music on a harp, and rode in a limo while she snacked on some candy! All for just $15! Here are some pictures from their evening. Aren't they just adorable?