We had a sharing time in primary today about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, and we talked about writing in our journals. I've not been very good at this, but thought I should write a little. Bree is now 2 months old and I can't hardly believe it. It has been a very hard adjustment to having 3 kids. I have really been struggling to keep sane and patient. My recovery took a lot longer this time, maybe because it was my third time giving birth, or maybe because i'm older now. Don't know all the reasons, but it took me close to 4-6 weeks to feel well enough to get out of the house. Lizzy and Caleb have been so helpful and loving with Bree, but it has been very waring on me to have to watch Caleb so closely with Bree. He is a little to rough with her and it is so frustrating to constantly tell him to be soft, stop kissing, be nice.... Lizzy just begs and begs to burp her or hold her and then after like 1 minute, is done. It just all takes so much energy, which i don't have. We moved Bree out of our bedroom at about 6 and a half weeks and she has started sleeping about 9 to 5:30am, which has helped out a lot with how I feel and my ability to have patience, however its still hard to get up that early, and then by the time I get back to bed, then the kids get up at 6:30 or 7am. So still have to figure it out and how to keep it all together. Somedays I feel like I can do the three kid thing, but so far most days leave me pretty beat up. Life is all about learning and having faith, so we move forward, but man, having little kids is a lot harder than I ever imagined. But like I told my kids tonight, I couldn't imagine my life without any of them, so I'm so grateful for each of them and how great they are. So, I'll end with some positives of each: Caleb is so thoughtful and almost always says Thank you. If we go somewhere, He will say, "Thank you for taking me here." He also loves to compliment others, usually on their shoes or earrings. He'll say "I like your shoes."

Lizzy is super creative. She loves to do crafts and projects. Every morning while I'm still in bed, she will make something. Lately she has made a laptop computer out of tin foil, A broom and dust pan with paper and spaghetti noodles for the broom bristles, she loves doing pop ups with paper, like a jack in the box or she made a picture with a temple and costco buildings that stand up. She made shakers and a drum, lots of drawings, she made a weekly report for me saying I'm a good mom and I'm loving and nice, and she took sea shells and taped them together to say I love you. She really can be such a sweetheart and I sure love that side of her. She also had a friend over yesterday to play and she always allows Caleb to tag along and play too. She doesn't complain, but just lets him play with her and her friends. It just shows me how much she does like to play with him and thinks of him as her friend. She says the sweetest prayers and is always so anxious to say the prayer and thank her Heavenly Father for the beautiful day she has had.

Finally Aubree has just been my angel baby. She has been happy, a great sleeper and good eater. She is starting to smile and it just makes us all smile. We are so excited to see her grow and a tad sad that it is happening so fast already, but such is life.

Year End

Wow It is so hard to comprehend how fast time flies, A couple months ago I was so amazed that the Christmas season was here, and now in the blink of an eye it is gone.Today is December 30th. Looking back this has probably been the hardest year of my life, (that I can remember at least) I have been tried and stretched more than I thought possible at times, but I am still here and actually wanting to write tonight because of how sweet my kids were tonight and how good they made me feel. As I put them to bed they both separately said they wanted to tell me 2 things. (A tradition Caleb has started, He says every night,"I tell you 2 things" (or 3 or 4) So Lizzy said, I love you, and you are the nicest mommy ever. Then I went to tuck Caleb in and he said, I love you so much and I love my family. Just melted my heart to hear them share their love.

Back to the year in quick review, The first 6 months were kept busy with pregnancy, speech classes for Caleb and even a fun babymoon trip to Newport Beach with CJ and I in March. And a fun trip to see my parents at their new home in Greeley Hills, Ca. We had lots of fun, but my pregnancy left me with lots of aches and pains this time around that were tough to live with and enjoy times with family. Then at the end of June, Aubree joined our family and of course we all fell in love with her instantly. It is the best to see Lizzy and Caleb ooh and ahh over her and still to this day, say things like, "I just love her so much, She is the cutest baby ever, and today Lizzy even told me she is the cutest baby now and will be the cutest big person when she grows up." Bree or BreeBree as Lizzy likes to call her, was really an angel baby for the first 4 months. Just happy and content unless she was tired or hungry, but just so sweet and really slept lots, even sleeping through the night at 6 weeks and just better and better till she now sleeps about 12 hours a night and I LOVE IT! This month finally I have slept in my bed all night for more than one night in a row, between the 3 kids someone was always waking up for some reason. But the last few weeks have actually gone pretty good. At 4 months Bree started teething and now has 2 teeth, she is still a great baby, but I did have to take the angel baby title away because she got a bit fussier and more needy. So, thankfully she has been a great baby, because I figured three would be hard, but I had no idea. It has been incredibly hard. Just trying to divide my time and take care of physical needs has been hard, but adding all the whining and complaining is almost enough to due me in. Lizzy and Caleb can be the best of friends, but both are very strong willed, so they also fight and complain a ton. "Its not fair", "She or He is copying me" are phrases we have banned in our house, but still heard quite often. We are learning a lot as parents and some areas making progress and some not. We really feel like we have great kids and we know what they are capable of, especially Lizzy being so sweet and helpful when she wants, but it makes it that much harder when she is not cause I know what she can do. Probably how our Father in Heaven feels about us and our free agency. Being a mom is so rewarding and so exhausting, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I feel so blessed to have my three kids and just marvel at the things they say and do. Caleb has totally caught up with his talking and it is so fun to hear the things he is seeing and what he thinks of it. Although if I don't understand something, he usually gets pretty upset that I can't figure it out:)

All in all Life is BUSY BUSY BUSY, but I feel so blessed to have my children and a loving and patient husband. I am so thankful for my Savior and to have the restored gospel in my life. I truly feel blessed and amazed at all the things HE continues to bless  my family and I with.