In Hiding For Over a Month

Oh man, it's been like over a month and it's been madness around here. First of all, I need to talk about Naiya. She turned one on April 16th! I can't believe it's been a whole year already. She is so fun to have in our family. She's so full of life and joy. She finally decided to start crawling about 2 weeks shy of her birthday. Now she's all over the place. Her favorite thing to do is chase Melia around the couch. They are so cute to watch together. They just laugh and squeal and giggle. Melia is really happy to have a playmate that actually plays back now. Naiya has 4 teeth and one more coming in on the top. She's still got her cute curlies on her head, but they are much lighter now. She loves to play with her food and lift big cups up to drink out of. This kid can eat a massive amount for her size! Her favorite part of meal time though is after she gets cleaned up and we move her chair away from the table. She immediately starts rocking and it makes a noise that she finds totally entertaining. She squeals with excitement whenever she sees a dog or a squirrel or when daddy comes home from work. She has decided that diaper changes take too long and is not happy until she escapes. We just love her so much and she is a joy in our lives.

Ok, on to other not so fun things. A few days after Naiya's birthday, we discovered that all of a sudden we have way more cable channels than before. We always just got a couple of the channels that grandma had, but now we have more than we know what to do with. We didn't know how long it would last either, so we spent a week staying up way too late watching cable and eating junk food. Bad idea. The next week Melia, Naiya and I all got sick with head colds. Let me tell you, it is no fun to take care of sick kids. It's really not fun to do it while you're sick too. So that week we spent having no school, no library story time, no play dates--basically cut off from the social world. Mommy no likie being cut off from adult interaction.

So Melia finally felt well enough to go back to school and then she came home with pink eye. This was my first experience with pink eye, so I was kind of freaked out about it. My week was full of impossible tasks--trying to keep Melia from touching her eyes, touching things and touching Naiya. It was full of one million hand washings, countless laundry loads of towels, pillowcases and everything else touched, spraying down everything after the kids went to bed, holding a screaming, flailing child down twice a day to try to put eye drops in her eyes, etc. Then Bo got it. Luckily, he can take care of himself. Melia got better after about a week and we were able to resume normal activities for a couple of days. Oh, by the way, did I mention that I stopped breastfeeding Naiya during all of this so my boobs were super sore for a few days and felt like they were going to pop every time I had to pick Naiya up?

Then Bo and I started a sugar cleanse because I finally wanted to kick my sugar addiction and start a new way of eating that would help us be healthier. Well, I've done other cleanses in the past, but I've never had such a rough detox. My body was getting those toxins out every way possible. My nose was running, I was coughing up stuff, my throat was super sore, etc, etc. So another week of sickness and isolation. I finally started feeling a little better on Mother's Day, so I went to church and it was really good. Melia made me some sweet cards and Bo wrote me the nicest letter and gave me a whole envelope full of coupons for him to do random chores, give massages, etc. I give him a coupon and he will stop what he's doing, no questions asked, and do whatever it says. I've got a good husband. :) And a wonderful family. I am truly blessed.

So anyway, later in the afternoon, I discover that I have pink eye in both eyes. Happy Mother's Day! My case was pretty severe too. Both of my eyes were totally swollen and oozing tons of yellow goop. When I woke up the next morning, my eyes were sealed shut and I had to stumble blindly to the bathroom to try to pry them open. Bo took the next day off work because I still had all of the detox symptoms to deal with plus the pink eye and the last thing we needed was to have Naiya get it or Melia get it again. I was in pretty bad shape, so I went upstairs and just laid in bed all day. I have to say that despite how bad I felt, it was kind of nice to be able to just lay there and take a break because the last time that happened was....well, I can't remember. All you moms out there know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I got through that week and I'm on the mend now. My eyes are all better and I only have a slight sore throat left now. The cool thing is I went to my holistic doctor and she tested all of my organs and systems and she said I tested completely different than I did before. I didn't need any of the supplements and herbs that I needed in the past. All I needed was a little immune support. That was really encouraging news because it shows me that my body is responding well to what I'm doing even though I don't feel great yet. I'm on the right path. Anyway, we went to library day yesterday and school today and I feel like I'm back in the land of the living. I think the isolation for stay at home moms dealing with sickness is almost the hardest part. Must have adult interaction to stay sane!

What??!

Ok, so we have been living here in this little town of Paradise for 2 years now. We are pretty much used to how different it is from LA. However, every once in a while, I still experience things that trip me out. Let me illustrate. A couple of days ago, I was driving down to Chico and there are a lot of fields on the way. All of a sudden, I saw a cow running down the side of the highway with another cow behind the fence, where they are supposed to be, chasing after her--probably trying to help her come back to the herd. It kind of caught me off guard to see that, so I said a little prayer to help the cow get back to the herd safely. Then, on my way back out of Chico is when I saw what I have never seen before. There was a police car blocking the highway with some traffic backed up behind it. Yes, I have seen a million and one traffic jams in my lifetime, but never have I seen a traffic jam with a loose cow running around and a cowboy on a horse trying to lasso it! Crazy! It felt surreal. Anyway, I never thought that I would have a prayer answered by a cowboy on a horse. :)

Worms

So today it was pouring rain and I was getting the girls ready to go grocery shopping. On our way out, Melia noticed 3 worms floating in a puddle by our door. They were still alive and trying to wiggle their way out. Melia immediately wanted to help them. Melia: "We need to get the worms out of the water because they don't like water." Against my more practical instincts that would tell me that it was more important to just get out of the rain and get to the car, I let her go ahead. I admit it--I am a sucker for all animals in need--great and small. So she tried and tried to get them out of the water unsuccessfully as it continued to rain on us. I tried to speed the process along by grabbing a pen and trying to fish them out myself, but to no avail. I finally told her that we just needed to go. Melia: "But what about the worms, mommy? They need help." Mommy: "I know sweetie, but we just don't have time to help them right now. We need to go." Melia: "Can we help them when we come back?" Well, I know and you know that they would probably not make it that long, but how could I say no to this sweet little girl wanting to help the worms? So I told her we could try if we had time. Up to the garage we went to finally get loaded in the car when what should we happen upon? Another worm in need. So as I got Naiya buckled up in the car, Melia actually got this one out of the puddle and put him on the floor of the garage. Melia (to the worm): "There you go little guy. It's nice and dry in here and this can be your new home forever and ever." As we drove to the store, Melia was so happy that she was able to help the worm and couldn't stop talking about how we needed to hurry and go back home so we could help the worm's mommy, daddy and sister, who were still in the other puddle by our door. She told the check out lady at the store all about how she saved the worm too. I asked her if she wanted to see a picture of her new baby cousin, Jacob, when we got home and she said, "Well, maybe after we help the worms." So when we came home, I let her go to work on helping the worms while I put away the groceries. There were only 2 left in there when we got back. I guess the sister managed to escape or floated down the stream. Anyway, Melia managed to get both worms out and on to dry land. One of them was still alive (barely) and the other had clearly gone to meet his maker. However, she watched over both of them and kept checking on them throughout the afternoon. The one worm managed to crawl away and the other is still lying in the exact same spot. Melia has accepted the fact that he died, but is comforted by the assurance that, if it's not raining tomorrow, we can dig a little hole and bury him. In her prayer before she went to bed, she let God know about her burial plans for the worm. :) Having kids makes me understand more and more why the scriptures tell us to be like little children.

Happy Easter!

We had a low key, but fun Easter this year. We spent the entire day on Sunday in our jammies at home. We watched conference, had a little Family Home Evening about Jesus and the resurrection, painted Easter eggs, had a hunt, made Easter bunny smores, and just hung out and enjoyed our little family. :)


Melia "reading" a book to Naiya from their Easter baskets.


Melia met the Easter bunny at the park and was totally enchanted by him.


You can't really see in this picture, but Bo has a green bean in his mouth and is feeding Naiya "birdie style". It was totally cute!


Naiya and Daddy ready for the egg hunt!


The spoils from her conquest.

A Moment

Yesterday at church I had this little lightbulb moment. It was testimony Sunday and one of our little 5 year old girls got up and wanted to give her testimony. She was a little shy, so her mom whispered what to say in her ear. As I listened to her say things like "I know God loves me." "I love my family." and "I am grateful to come to church.", it struck me that this mother whispering in her daughter's ear was like a physical picture of a mother passing on her faith and knowledge of God and life and what's important and what it's all about to her daughter. That moment was pretty cool and I'm grateful I get to be a mom and that I have so much light given to me in my life that I can pass on to my girls. :)

Chocolate Anyone?

So I stopped eating sugar at night, which was my biggest downfall, and I'm on my way back down to my pre-pregnancy clothes. Yay! Miracles do happen. :) I give myself the weekends to eat whatever I want, but weekdays, I stay away from the sugar after dinner. Let's just say that this has been a challenge to say the least. Some days are better than others...and some days I feel like I would kill to get a sugar fix (Literally. Not really. Well, maybe.) Anyway, it was especially hard when I first started and that is when the chocolate incident happened. One day Melia, Naiya and I were out grocery shopping and Melia left a treat bag full of chocolate eggs that she had acquired somewhere in the car while we shopped. When we came out, we got all buckled up and on the road again and that is when I heard cries of distress from the back seat. Apparently, the chocolate eggs had melted and Melia squeezed one. Chocolate all over. I made her give me the bag and tried to clean her off without getting into an accident and before the chocolate spread all over Grandma Adeline's car. In the process, I inadvertently got chocolate on my finger. Then, my nose started itching so I swiped my finger across the bottom of my nose and got chocolate all over not only the outside of my nostrils but the inside as well. I tried my best to clean it off, but lets just say the aroma of sweet chocolate was with me for the rest of the day. Oh the irony of it all. But, thanks to Heavenly help, I did not falter. Life IS like a box of chocolates...and sometimes it gets smeared all over you, but it's what you do in those moments that makes all the difference. :)

Letter to Melia

Dear Melia,

You are 4 years old now and you are growing into a beautiful girl inside and out. I wanted to let you know that you are a huge joy in my life! I look forward to spending my day with you every day. You are so sweet and smart and fun to be around. You are such a good example to me of loving everyone and helping people to feel good around you. You love saying hi and talking to everybody that we encounter in the day and you put smiles on the faces of people everywhere you go. Never underestimate the difference that can make in someone's life. You never know what kind of day they may be having.



I love to watch you be you every day. I love to see you dance and sing and stop to pet every animal you see. I love to see you adore all things pink, purple and sparkly. I love to hear you talk to your Heavenly Father every night and tell me you want Jesus to come soon so you can give him a hug. I love to see how your face lights up when daddy comes home. I love to see you dance with him and hear you call him your prince. I want you to know that he loves you sooooo much! I love how much you love Naiya. I love to see you play with her and make her laugh. I love to see you give her hugs and kisses before every nap and before bedtime. I love to try to answer all of your questions and act silly with you. I love to snuggle with you and read you stories.



I want you to know that I'm so grateful to be your mom and I've never tried harder at anything in my whole life. My wish for you is that you will live your life joyfully, feel your worth, and feel the love that your Heavenly Father has for you. You are wonderful. Just be you.

I love you forever!
Mom :)