Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Journal Jar: #1

What makes each of your brothers and sisters special? Be specific. 

Megan:
Megan is special because she has always been someone I look up to. We are 15 months apart so we've always been close. I was always the person Megan tested things on, like cutting my hair, throwing toys out the window & then wanting me to jump out the window to get them, mud masks, & eating dog food. Although these things were the short end of the deal, I always willingly did whatever Megan said because I knew that she "knew" what she was doing. She was the older one after all. ;) Megan & I are super similar so I feel like we get each other a lot of the time. However, we also are complete opposites in certain areas as well. Megan has always been my best friend, an awesome sister, a great role model, & a great motherly figure in my life. She is special in so many ways to me because she's my older sister. 

Marissah: 

Marissah is special because she is fun to be around. Whenever you're around her, you are usually having a good time. Rissy & I go way back.. ha! well duh! we're sisters! ha.. but we have always been pretty close. We lived at my dad's together for a couple years & learned how to lean on each other. We were like peas & carrots. Riss & I would go on walking trips together, had underwear dance parties, we sang loudly to the Jonas Brothers, & we would cuddle on the couch together watching "George Lopez". Anyway.. Riss is also special because she was there for me during a lot of my hardest times in life. She has always been my shoulder to cry on & the person to slap the most sense into me. Even though a lot of people tell her how to live her life, you'll never see her complaining, talking bad about someone, or crying about anything. I don't know how she does it because I feel like I cry about everything.


Mason:
Mason is special because he makes others want to be a better person. Mason has always been the one to choose the right. Mason is special because he carries the true light of Christ with him. He has taught me so much even though he is 5 years younger than me. While we were on vacation at Disneyland one year, he diligently read his scriptures every night (something I wasn't doing). He is so selfless & would probably give the shirt off his back to anyone in need. He is special because you will never hear him complain. He is such a great kid & I am lucky I get to have him as a brother. 

Maddie:
I think Maddie is special because she is able to speak her mind. She doesn't worry about what others think, which I think is a good trait because we need more people who feel comfortable telling it how it is. I know I have a hard time speaking my mind. Another thing special about Maddie is the fact that she loves to laugh. Whenever I am with her there is usually a lot of giggles going on & tears of joy falling down our faces. One time when we were at the mall with Kayleeh & Caydince we were getting on the escalator. I was holding both of the little girl's hands. The two little girls didn't understand the concept so they ended up doing the splits. Maddie & I were laughing our heads off for weeks after the incident. (p.s. you probably had to be there if you don't find it funny..)

Malachi:
He is special to me because he is such a silly boy. He knows to have a good time & make people genuinely laugh. Even through the hardest of times he is seen sharing a joke, smiling, and making it look like life is easy. a few Christmas' ago we were playing Creationary (a Lego board game) & the thing he created looked nothing at all like the image he was supposed to recreate. We laughed the rest of the night. 

Steffan:
He is "my" baby. Steffan is special because he has the biggest heart. He is always doing the sweetest things for people. He is so giving, caring & loving. A couple years ago we visited my mom during the summer & we were celebrating everyone's birthdays (because all my siblings.. including my husband & my sister's husband's birthdays are in the summer) & Steffan read a card my mom wrote to him & he started crying. It was so sweet we all started tearing up. 

Kayleeh:
Kayleeh is special because she is such a great auntie to Elsie. She loves playing with Elsie. I think what also makes Kayleeh special is the fact that she has always loved church. When she was younger she would beg me to take her to church with me, she would say the longest prayers (she'd bless the prophet, plates, family, anything you can think of), & she always asked questions like "how come Heavenly Father made me so cute?" & then she would answer her question for us.

Caydince:
The last time I saw Caydince she was about five years old.. so it's been about three years now. I can't really say much because I don't know how she is now. However, she is special because she used to be my little buddy. She loved spending time with me.

Conrad:
I have only meet Conrad twice, once when he was like 2 months old & once when he was 9 months old so I do not really know him the best.

All of my siblings are special to me because I feel like we've always been close. We always have a great time whenever we are together! I am so grateful to have these guys as my siblings.

That's all for now!

Happy New Year!

January 2015:
Elsie was learning how to walk. She kept having back to back double (or single) ear infections that caused her to struggle with walking. Dee took 21 credits & I took 13 credits.
 (She was so tiny :( I thought she was SO big back then but compared to now, she was still a baby!!)
February 2015:
Elsie got tubes in her ears (thank goodness!!) & she turned one.
(Oh yeah! She used to do the sign for "more" like that! She has been doing it the correct way since August!)
March 2015:
I got to be there for the birth of my niece. I cannot believe it's almost been a year since she was born! Seems like it was just yesterday! We also went to Zion National Park with my sister Megan, our brother-in-law Justin, our niece & nephew, & my brother Mason. So fun!!
April 2015:
We got ready to move to Texas in April. We were focusing on school & packing & Els was a busy body getting into everything. We took our finals a week early so Dee could go to Sales school. 
May 2015:
We visited my mom in Idaho & moved to Houston, Texas.
June 2015:
We celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary & we went to the Houston Space Center.
July 2015:
 We went to New Orleans & the Golf of Mexico for the first time. We also celebrated Dee's Birthday.
August 2015:
Elsie & I visited my mom for almost 2 weeks while Dee finished summer sales. We moved back to St. George & started school. Dee took 18 credits & I took 9
September 2015:
We went up north for a couple days. & Uncle Mason came to visit again.
October 2015:
 We took Elsie to Disneyland & the Ocean during our semester break.
November 2015:
 We celebrated my birthday & my mom, brother, & sister came for Thanksgiving. Els was completely spoiled by them & totally forgot about mama & daddy while they were here.
December 2015:
Dee graduated with his bachelors in business administration & now he is working on the GMAT.

Temples we went to in 2015:
Houston & San Antonio

Goals for 2016:
*Ween the babe!!
*Go to at least 2 new temples
*Get into Grad School (Dee)
*I want lose 8lbs & Dee wants to get to 210 (or below)
*Spirituality (daily scripture study, prayer, church attendance, etc.)

That's all for now!

December Updates:

-She told me she needed to go pee pee while we were away from home & actually went pee pee in a public restroom for the first time. (Dec. 1)
-Els has Croup -_- (Dec. 2)
-Elsie can open the refrigerator now. (Dec. 3)
-Elsie threw a huge fit because we weren't going to "chuuuch" (Dec. 6) now she always comes up to me & says "Mommy chuuuch?"
-We have to bribe Els to get into the shopping cart now. (popcorn at Target and the rides at Walmart).
-Right before I start nursing her she says "mmm muck mama" & kisses me. (we were working on weening.. but how can I say no to that?? plus she got croup & all our progress went down the drain).
-Elsie takes her diaper off whenever she feels like it. -_-
-She loves to jump!
-She said "Where did it go?" & "Where is the other one" today for the first time. (Dec. 13)
-She is stringing words together to form sentences now.. out of nowhere! One second she was barely talking now we can carry on a conversation with her!
-We went to our Ward Christmas party (Dec. 14)
-Els is getting two more teeth in on the bottom.
-We did Coins for Kids this year. (Dec. 16)
-We decorated gingerbread houses at my Aunt and Uncle's house. (Dec. 17)
-Elsie sings "Jingle Bells".. so stinkin' cute!!
-Every time we go to the mall Elsie thinks she gets a treat from See's Candies. 
-We got Elsie's Allergy lab back & were surprised to find out she was not only (moderately) allergic to peanuts but also dog dander and milk -_- (Dec. 23)
-She has to carry a Jr. Epi-pen with her now. (So scary!)
-Elsie loved opening her Christmas presents (Dec. 25)
-Els is 22 months (Dec. 26)
-Els is pretty much potty trained when it comes to peeing. She refuses to go poop on the potty (& i'm not going to force her) she insists that she needs her diaper for that & then hides... But she tells me every time she needs to go pee pee. (Dec. 27)
-Elsie told me "I not a bebe mama" because I said "come here baby" (Dec. 31)
-Words Els says that I don't want to forget: "moojsh" (move), "pgs" (pjs), "toes" (clothes), "harpah" (Harper), "utter" (other), When she says "shirt" it sounds like a four letter word that starts with S.. We laugh every time she says it... We are horrible! haha "tuming" (coming), "bebe bear" (baby Bella), "ronies" (macaroni and cheese), 
-New signs Elsie knows: cracker, hungry, thirsty, hot, horse, ice cream, bread, cheese, happy, cookie, & cereal. All together she knows about 40 (or more) signs in ASL now.

 

That's all for now!