I enjoy being entertained...

I've recently re-fallen in love with reading.  I was always reading tons while growing up, and then ever since having Jake I've slacked off (hmm I wonder why... ;).  Just in the past 4-5 months I've re-read 1-6 of the harry potters, read the first two anne of avonlee books (forget the exact titles), jurassic park, lost world, the hound of baskerville, and, I'm kind of embarrassed to say, the first two of the twilight series.  I had read the twilight books back when I first got back from my mission when everyone was crazy about them.  They were entertaining but I categorized them under literary "fast-food" as I call it- once in awhile it's fun, but not really of substance, and we had watched the first twilight movie with riff tracks recently at my brothers' so it got me thinking about  them again.

It seems like I'm so bipolar with this stuff: entertainment (books/movies/tv) Either I am obsessed and enjoy them entirely too much/spending a lot of time on them, and then all of the sudden I'll go cold/tire of them for awhile like I got burnt out.  I think I need more 'moderation in all things' as it were.  Be more balanced.

As I've read all of these books I've gotten SO sucked into their different worlds and consumed by them.  It's fun but it's kinda frustrating cause all I can think about in my free time is the next time I can pick up the book and read/staying up WAY too late reading etc.  It doesn't help that all of these books have movies so then I get in the mood to watch those etc so it's a very time-consuming cycle.  So lately all I've been doing in my free time is read/watch movies.  I def think a classic should be the next book I read-less chance of a blockbuster movie plus I tend to read slower/think more with those....any suggestions?

Maybe I'll try to only read 3 days a week before bed instead of every night til midnight, that way I won't get burnt out/tire out my eyes.  Sigh...nerd problems.....


On a completely other tangent, I am so grateful for my family- I'm so blessed with an amazing loving husband and the sweetest boy in the world (biased of course).  We'll be doing xmas pics of the fam soon and I can't wait!

Confessions of a germophobe

I'm a germophobe.  As a mother you can imagine how tricky it is when you have a lil perfect baby and all you can do is imagine all the germs surrounding him.  Then your little baby gets older and he's the origin of all germs.  Now you'd prolly think that changing diapers etc would be the worst for me, but it's not.  I can change diapers all day.  Puke?  no biggie.  But for some reason I HATE, I repeat, HATE any by-product of the nose.  So you can imagine how fun I have when he has a cold and is constantly oozing out stuff.  When he was younger and he had nose issues and we had to use those awful nose-sucking things, I'd ALWAYS call for code.  If I did it I'd start dry-heaving.  I eventually had to just deal and start taking care of it myself cause I couldn't stare at it all day.  My favorite, and by favorite- I mean it fills me with rage and disgust, is when he sneezes at point blank range into my face.....when my mouth is open.  It's pretty much like this:




Sometimes it's hard to be a mom-it means allowing someone else to do things to you that you'd NEVER let anyone else do.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

No, I'm not one of those who listens to christmas music before thanksgiving-not that there's anything wrong with that-I just don't.  No, I was just thinking about how much I love this time of year-meaning now: Fall/Thanksgiving/Christmas.  What I love most about this time of year is that the rest of the world seems to just be in a better mood.  They all seem to be more focused on the things that matter in life: family, gratitude, etc.  Ya know, the eternal perspective that puts you in a good mood.  The greatest part about it is that not everyone is necessarily religious, but you don't have to be religious to have gratitude.  It's the wide-spread gratitude (religious or not) that, I think, accounts for the uptick in mood this time of year.  If only people could hold on to this mindset all year round.

I've read a few great talks on gratitude lately.  One of my favorites is The Divine Gift of Gratitude by President Monson from the October 2010 conference.

A few of my favorite quotes:

"This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways.  We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” 8

"A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

"Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love."

I definitely am feeling my Heavenly Father's love as I watch my energetic and loving 15 month old son toddle around so pleased with the world.  I feel that inward peace as I can't wait for my sweetheart and best friend to get home from work.  I am so blessed with a beautiful and loving family, home, the restored gospel in my life, and a loving savior who will never leave me.  I hope everyone can take a minute to reflect on all of their blessings and feel their Heavenly Father's love!!!

some pretty photos

I'm going to miss this view when we move

just toddling about

I don't know what has caused it but lately (as in the past 2-3 days) I just can't stop looking at/watching Jake.  I just feel like he's somehow switched over from baby to toddler and I'm trying to figure out just when that happened or how.  Maybe it's cause we've been doing newish things lately for the first time like going to the mall to walk around when it was a lil cold for a walk and I let Jake get out and run around the play place with the other much bigger kids.  Or yesterday when we stopped and played/explored at the park we always walk by.  Seeing him getting more coordinated physically and the sheer joy on his face when he's running around and doing new things combined with some pixy dust and he just seems older. shrug.  Plus, lately I've started to discover that he knows a lot more than I was aware of.  Like, when we were face timing with gpa Richards and my dad asked: where's your feet?  After a second pause Jake looked down at his feet and pointed.  I don't remember teaching him that?!  Or he'll point at certain things in his books when I ask him where something is etc.  Just little things to show that even though he's not talking a lot he knows a lot.

I've already posted most of these on facebook but I'll put up the full videos for the grandparents.  Ya know how how it is, you take a bazillion photos cause you know that 90% of them will be blurred or not cute but so many turned out cute and I didn't want to delete them:

At the mall:

At the park:

Chillin' at home:

sportin' a new haircut-he only cried a little :)

So excited to be out and about:

and apparently he likes to tidy up...oh, and sorry for the 5 sec bum shot-but at least it's a cute bum haha:

We love our lil jaker!  But I'm not loving the increase in bumps and bruises that goes along with all this exploring :(  Oh well, he's definitely toughening up cause he rarely cries anymore.  All comes with the territory right?