Small Update

Nothing much to report here, but I thought I would do an update on our lives lately.  I have no new pictures to report though so it's sort of boring!
We have, as of today, moved Mason back into diapers, as number 2 has not been landing in the potty...ever.  I am tired of all of the messes, and so yes, I have three kids in diapers...... yay me...
Ok, Brenna is only in pull-ups at night, but still a pain.  We just spent about a month doing any and every method we could think of for Brenna's night time and Masons poop training, but all to no avail, so I gave in and went and bought diapers and pull-ups today.  Not a fun pill to swallow, but we'll figure it out eventually.
Owen is good like always.  He is still growing big and fast, and happy as can be, good sleeper, and generally a joy to all those around him!  We just LOVE our Owen boy!  Or Owenator as the kids have started calling him, akin to Masonator which Mason insists is his real and only name.
Brenna is learning so much lately and intent on doing everything herself.  I caught her trying to breastfeed Mason the other day while they were playing baby... yes, it was awkward.  It has been really neat lately to see how quickly she's learning new things that we had been working on for a long time.  She loves writing all of her letters now and can spell her name, and the word run without help.  Everything else she asks letter by letter and writes them all down!
Mason is a full-forced two year old whose whining and tantrums have really heightened, as well as his stubbornness, hence the return of the diapers.  Luckily he's still the cutest two year old I know, so I'm willing to wait it out!

My cousin Brent moved here a week ago to attend Midwestern for dental school and we have been really enjoying hanging out with him in the evenings!  He started school today, so we won't be able to play as much, but we will still make sure and enjoy having someone from my family around!  Also my brother and his wife are visiting next week and I can hardly wait to see them!

Our house is still up for rent, and our future still a bit unsure, so I will hopefully be able to post about that stuff sometime soon!

Organs...

So, in our ward I am sort of the back-up organist.  I am not great at the organ, but I'm sort of the only other option most of the time, and I can fake it ok.  Not good, just ok.  And I almost never know the hymns ahead of time, because our usual organist is incredible and can play any hymn without warning. I, on the other hand, cannot guarantee a great performance having not practiced.  ANYWAY, it works, and I don't mind at all, but I do hate messing up and it's embarassing.
Last Sunday I was playing for the first time since Owen has been around, and I don't mind the opportunity to sit up front every once in a while and relax enough to feel the spirit more!  Stake people were there speaking, at least one of which I know is very musically talented, and the hymns were ok, one I was a little nervous about.  So, the first speaker was great, and then it was the hymn I was nervous about.  So I played the intro loud, and bad.  I  messed up a lot and when it was over I was already feeling a little flush and glad the intro was over, when I looked up for the cue and noticed something was wrong.  I had played the wrong one.  The closing song instead of the intermediate one.  I honestly wanted to just shrivel away and disappear.  BUT I had to flip to the right hymn, and fudge my way through it through tears of embarrassment.  I just sat down after and didn't look up, but then the next speaker made a little joke about it (in a very nice way, not at all rude) but I was already feeling emotional about leaving the ward soon, and being so embarrassed, so his joke made people look at me, which made me start having trouble controlling the tears.  The rest of sacrament was hard for me because everytime I looked up someone was looking at me waiting for the chance to give a comforting smile or mouth some nice words, which is nice, but it didn't help my situation of not wanting to cry on the stand.  I rushed out after, grabbed my baby and headed for the nursing room, where I am almost always alone.  I burst into tears as soon as I shut the door.  BUT today I wasn't alone, I sat down when another person came in, and when she saw that I was crying she politely left, which I was glad for, but as she left someone else said "is Lana in there?" and she came in, and then another person came in...

Family

I finally remembered to snap some pictures before church when everybody was looking cute!  I am so glad I did!  This is our cute family!  (minus me.. somebody has to take the pics!  And we were almost going to be late!)

This is the one that reminds me of you dad!  Don't ask me why, but it does!

Jeremy gave a talk on Sunday, and he did such an amazing job.  I think almost everybody in the ward told him how much it touched them afterwards.  A funny story... He spoke with another sister in our ward who is very spiritual, and very umm astute person.  So halfway through her talk, she says a quote from a talk Jeremy gave in 2007 when we first moved in.  She said "a quote from a talk Brother Jeremy Cook gave in 2007...".  It was so funny that he was quoted, but sort of cool.  Jeremy was actually sort of embarrassed since he was speaking the same week and it was so funny that it happened.  anyway, it made me laugh, that doesn't happen every day!

Prayers

Here's a post that's perfect for Sunday.  Let's start two nights ago I think.. maybe three.  Jeremy and I were going to bed, and we had a talk about ... well about lots of things.  (It's Jeremy's favorite part of the day... haha) and it got around to the kids.  Bedtimes have been hard lately, almost only because of Mason.  Then I told him that I was frustrated with all aspects of bedtime.  Between a year and a year and a half ago we started reading scriptures with the kids at bedtime.  We each read a verse (kids repeat after me).  At first it went great, and I really loved it and noticed a difference in our home and it was wonderful.  But now, it's a struggle.  We still do it, but usually while one kid is hiding in the closet yelling their words, and another is jumping on the bed, and mommy is bouncing a fussy baby while trying not to resort to yelling and threatening for two minutes (probably less) of peace and quiet and, dare I say, reverence, for our scripture reading.  By the end, everyone is stressed and upset, and I feel it was the farthest thing from uplifting, and I was telling Jeremy I wondered what the point was.  Maybe bedtime would be more peaceful without it?  They aren't getting anything out of it.  I always hear people say things like "It's hard, and I often wonder if it makes a difference, but I'm so glad we stuck with it through the years."  I assumed they were talking about the waking up at 5:30 am for a chance to read as a family, which would be really hard... but maybe they're talking about the baby/toddler years.... probably both!

ANYWAY, we had just had this big talk, and obviously I know it's a very good thing to do, but hard!  So, at church today, Brenna had a substitute Sunbeam teacher which happened to be an older lady in the ward that we've spent some time with lately and know pretty well.  She stopped me in the hallway part way through church and said to me "Brenna is such a beautiful child of God!  She said the opening prayer in Sunbeams today, and she is grateful for so many things, it touched my heart.  What 4-year-old uses the word grateful?  So wonderful!"
Wow, what a nice thing for her to say.  I told Jeremy about it later and he leaned over and said "and you were wondering what good you were doing".

So, though it's hard to see sometimes, I guess it is at the least setting a good example!  It's sure nice to hear such lovely things about your kids!  Scripture reading was just as crazy as usual tonight, but we did it, and we will keep doing it!  And I do love hearing my children pray.  They both love to pray, and Mason's are so simple and cute, and Brenna's are pretty lengthy and very sweet.  Some of the precious moments of being a parent!

Cat's Out of the Bag

Well, it seems like it's time to formally make the announcement!  Since there's a big ol' sign in our front yard, it's not really on DL anymore!!  After the sign went up I got a few concerned phone calls from people who live nearby, and then I mentioned our home being for rent in my last blog post, and I got a few more urgent text messages asking what the deal was.  SO, this is the deal!

For about two years now Jeremy has been trying every way possible to qualify so that we could buy a home.  With the market being so good it was hard to resist the opportunity to get in our long-term home for a great deal.  For a long time though, we couldn't qualify, and it got so that when he'd talk about it I would just assume it was all just talk and not really think about it.
Turns out that in about March or so (right around when Owen was born) he found a way for us to qualify.  I still didn't think it was serious until he casually mentioned he'd been scoping out the market and had even gone to see a couple of homes with our realtor (Sister Farrell).  Realizing that he could be serious this time I quickly joined in the hunt and was out seeing homes with them whenever I could with the kids.  We made offers on quite a few homes, but the market right now is absolutely crazy, and we didn't get any.  We then put an offer on a short sale home and after a few bumps they told us we got it and our offer was submitted to the bank.  We were given 90 days to wait.  That was 30 days ago.  It turns out it may all be happening a bit faster than we thought as things are moving along quick!  There are still no guarantees, and for all we know we will still be here for a while, but we are trying to rent out our home here so that we don't have to worry about it when things start getting crazy.

For a long time I couldn't wait to get out too.  It seemed all my friends were leaving the ward / state and I was pretty excited about the idea of getting out.  Now that it's happening though, I am at a place where it will be hard to leave.  I love our ward and all of the people in it.  I feel like we have a "place" in our ward, we have great friends, an amazing bishop whose family I love to bits, and so many great people that I'm glad to know and was looking forward to getting to know better.  I am excited for this opportunity for our family though to be in a better neighborhood for when Brenna starts school next year.  I am hoping it does all go through, and then just wishing away the next couple of months when things get stressful and crazy and a bit sad too.

Randoms

So, I have been losing my hair like a crazy amount since Owen was born.  I knew it was a lot, and I knew it was grossing me out, but I just noticed that it's making me have two little bald spots on the sides in the front!  Ahhhh!!  I've heard of this happening, and then I'll have to just have the little hairs growing back forever.  That's fine, as long as I stop losing my hair  so it doesn't get worse!  Yuck!  Any tips?

Today I went out for a visit with the sister missionaries.  I got to the apartment complex before they did, and it was a scary place... like one of the scariest places I've been.  I was sitting in my car waiting, nervous, and a police drove by and asked me what I was doing here.  I told him I was waiting and he left me alone, then he came back a few minutes later and said "Hey, it's your business, but this isn't a good place, and a pretty girl like you in a nice car... you should get out of here".  And I said ..."pretty?  Thanks!"!  haha just kidding, I got my butt out of there.  I went to a gas station and called the sisters, and then we all three went over together in their car and we survived... but I was nervous.  Definitely counting on a blessing of safety for doing missionary work!

This week I have been getting up early.  Well, except today, I slept in till 7:30 today, but Monday I got up to feed Owen at 6:30, and instead of going back to bed I just came out and before 9 I had cleaned the whole kitchen, playroom, got the floor ready to vacuum and made a grocery list and a meal plan.  Tuesday I did the same thing and before 9 I had already showered, got ready (blow dried my hair.. big deal these days) and got my grocery shopping all done.  It is nice to get so much done in the mornings! 

We have a problem at breakfast with Mason where he is all happy when he wakes up, but when we start getting breakfast, something is always wrong.  Wrong color of bowl, wrong color of spoon, wrong cereal, wrong seat, no booster seat, even if everything seems right, there seems to always be a melt down at breakfast.  This bothers me, so I have been trying different things.  I had his booster seat strapped down so it wasn't an option, I had the bowls and spoons already out, only one cereal on the table.... anyway, so far, it still hasn't totally worked, but I hope it's getting better!  

Just some random thoughts from me!  And here's some cute pictures!