Preschool

Here's something that's been bothering me lately: Why does everyone feel it's so important that I send my children off to start school before they're even old enough for Kindergarten? I really don't understand what the big deal about preschool is? Everytime I have a conversation with an adult and they find out that Mark just turned four, the very first thing they ask is, "Is he going to start preschool soon then?" My answer is always the same, "No, I'm going to teach him here at home." Then they just give me a look like "why on Earth wouldn't you send your child to preschool" or "that's not good, he really should be going". Some have even been bold enough to say it out loud. My response to that is everything they would teach him in preschool I can teach him here at home. I'm already a stay-at-home mom with another child, why can't I keep them both home and get to teach them and spend more time with them? What's wrong with that? The answer, absolutely nothing! I love getting to be home with my children, spending time with them every day, and watching them grow into wonderful little boys. I feel extremely grateful that I have been blessed to get to do so! I don't think that keeping them home and teaching them here is going to make them dumber than children that go to preschool or start Kindergarten before they're even old enough. If anything, they get to learn the importance of family! I'm not saying that people that send their children to school early are evil either, I'm just saying that there is nothing wrong with me not sending mine! Everyone has a different opinion, and as long as they're trying to give their children the very best they can, love them, and teach them... that's what matters!

Eric

So, I realized that I haven't written on here for probably about a year now... so yeah, it's been a while! Anyhow, I was reading another friends blog and decided to update mine.

Life has been pretty exhausting lately, having two children can do that. Eric was born back in July and is two months old now! Wow, time flies so quickly! Before he was born I was really worried that life would be so different, and it is, but it's definitely a good different.

I haven't had much sleep lately. It seems like whenever Eric finally falls asleep, Mark wakes up crying. Then when I finally get him calmed down, Eric wakes up crying... and it's a never ending waking up in the middle of the night process. But, while I haven't had much sleep, I still love both of my little boys very much and wouldn't ever change having them around.

Mark is growing so quickly! He's learning to "use the big boy toilet". One way I convinced him it was something he should do, is by telling him that both 'Mario' and 'Samus' use the big toilet and he should too. We went out and bought him some Toy Story and Cars pullups, which he loves having as well! He's also a big fan of Zelda and Mario brothers. I think my son is the biggest two year old nintendo addict I have ever seen. We've been working on getting him to not play it nearly as much. He's also learning to read and can now spell his name... it's great! It makes me laugh when he pretends to be talking on the phone and says, "I'm Mark, I'm cute and I'm two"... then he brings the phone to me and tells me it's Uncle Jamin and that Uncle Jamin wants to talk to me.

I really enjoy watching as he learns different things in nursery and from our family home evening lessons. It's so wonderful to hear him repeat what he's learned. While we were watching General Conference, he even recognized President Monson and told us who he was and that he is the Prophet.

Eric is a growing little boy. He's so cute! (I'm not biased or anything). He's recently discovered that he has vocal chords, but still doesn't really know how to use them. Other than that, not much is different with him. Although, it is kind of funny to see how much he's grown. He's just now as big as Mark was when he was born. He definitely got his looks from Brett's side of the family. I saw a baby picture of his Uncle Eric the other day, and they looked almost exactly alike. It was kind of weird, but I guess that means he's going to grow up to look like his dad!

I've also been working on all of our Halloween costumes. Eric's going to be a Goron from "The Legend of Zelda", Mark's going to be Link, and Brett and myself are going to be Nerdherd crew members from the show "Chuck". The pictures posted on here are pictures of them in their almost finished costumes.

My life hasn't really been too exciting as you can tell, just taking care of the two cutest little boys ever! (or as Mark would say, the "cutest little buddy and little guy" ever) Sorry this isn't really the most exciting blog that's ever been written, but I thought some people might like to have an update. If nothing else, it at least helps me feel like I'm keeping everyone up-to-date. Though, most people that read this already know what's going on in my life.

trials

This past month has been... interesting. It started out great. My family came out to visit at the beginning of the month, which was really nice. I hadn't seen my dad for a few years, and so it was great to see him again. I was really worried about having the three of them, plus the three of us already currently here, staying in our two bedroom apartment together for two weeks, but it worked out. We went to the zoo together, an aquarium (which Mark loved), and a dinosaur museum. Each of them were really fun to see. Then, of course, at the end of the two weeks, they had to go back home. Mark had a really hard time after they left, but is doing better now. Hopefully I'll get to go back home soon to visit.

This week, however, has been more trying. First, Brett chipped one of his teeth and we don't don't have dental insurance. I was concerned about how much that would cost us. Then, to top that off, he got a flat tire at work yesterday, which is even more money to have to spend. I was really worried that we would have a difficult time paying bills, etc. Fortunately though, we found out at Brett's dental appointment this morning that it won't cost that much to fix it. The dentist didn't even make us pay for the exams, even though we don't have insurance and the flat tire only cost about $17 to fix.

As I thought about how much money we could've had to spend to fix everything, I realized once again how blessed I am. I have a wonderful family, both my immediate and extended (that includes you Erika). I have a wonderful husband and an amazing son. "Somehow" everything worked out so that we are able to have the money that we need for our bills and to eat. I know that "somehow" isn't really just a somehow though. I know that it's God watching out for my family and making sure everything will be okay. I am so grateful to have the knowledge that there is a god out there who loves each of us. He wants all of us to be happy and no matter what trials we may face in this life, he will help us through them.

So, I know I posted these on facebook as well, but I thought I'd put them on my blog too. That way you can look at them in two places if you want... lol.

He had so much fun at the park though. He just loves to walk around... and of course the slide was his other favorite thing.

Sorry...

I apologize to anyone who actually reads my blog. I haven't written anything in forever because I forgot my password to get in. I know, that's pretty ridiculous, but it's true.
Anyhow, I'm hoping to get some pictures posted that we took of Mark at the park the other day. It was really fun. I still can't believe how fast he is growing! It's just crazy! In only 2 and 1/2 more months he'll be in nursery... and I'll actually be able to try and sit through Sunday School and Relief Society without a screaming child. At the same time, I'm sure that will be so weird for me not to have him with me.
Well, Mother's Day was actually pretty nice for me. No, Brett didn't do anything that others would consider "amazing" or "so nice" for me, but he didn't have to. Just having him home and not being out of town was good enough for me. He got back from Texas yesterday morning, and brought me home a really nice USC shirt... which I love! He knew I wouldn't want disgusting smelling flowers, or ugly jewelry, or anything like that... so he got me a USC shirt. I thought that was pretty awesome! The other nice thing was that my ward gave all the women delicious chocolate... you can never go wrong with chocolate! It's just good stuff.
The other great thing about Mother's Day, was that I got to celebrate me being the mother of such an amazing child. I really do love my son so much! I couldn't have asked for a greater child. Anytime I'm in a bad mood, he'll look up at me and just smile... I can't help but smile back.
Well, this is just a random blog full of random thoughts that I decided to write because I realized it had been quite a long time since I actually wrote anything on here. Again, I really did forget my password. The next time I post something, it will have some pictures of my cute little buddy.

So, this month has been one of excitement for me so far... the Steelers, my favorite NFL team, won the Superbowl, we'll be moving into a 2 bedroom apartment soon, and Mark is just growing and growing.
While watching the Superbowl, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack towards the end of the game when the Cardinals pulled ahead and almost won the game. Thank goodness for Holmes catching that final touchdown pass in the last few minutes!
When we finally move into our new apartment, it will be sooo nice for Mark to finally have his own room! Since he was born, a year ago, we've had Mark sleeping in the bedroom and Brett and myself have been sleeping on the living room floor (not the most comfortable place to sleep, but at least Mark has been sleeping well). I've found that if I'm not in the room, he's able to sleep through the night much better.
Not only will he have his own room, but he is growing and learning so quickly. He loves to knock on the door and have me pretend to answer it. He's also learning to say thank you when you give him something (although, this is something he really only does for me when we're home alone... haha). He walks everywhere now and he's so much more interactive. It's becoming a lot more fun to play games with him because he'll laugh and react more to the things I do (like hide and seek, reading books, etc.) That's another thing he loves to do... read. Sometimes Mark will pull out a book and flip through the pages while babbling on and on. It's so fun to watch him think he's reading. He's also learned to say no very clearly.... he'll shake his head if he doesn't want something and sometimes say "no" along with it... and then babble something after it in a higher pitched voice.
It's so amazing to watch as my son learns and grows and even though that's all that I ever really get to do anymore (take care of Mark) I love it! I wouldn't change it for anything else in the world.

Family Picture

This is our family picture that my brother-in-law took for us to give out to the rest of our family for Christmas. I love Marks smile in this!