Iain is so sweet

So yesterday afternoon, Iain and I were in my room and he saw my phone. He very sweetly asked if he could play the puzzle game. As a baby we taught him to sign a few things, one of the signs we taught him was please. Well, he never did get the hang of doing the sign the way the book taught you, he just runs his hands up and down on his chest for please. So he while he was saying "Momma please may I play the puzzle game. Please momma puzzle game." He was signing please. Of cause I told him yes. Right after I said yes he looks at me and said "See Momma I use my manners. I have good manners."

Brian and I have mean working really hard on teaching Iain manners. I was in despair that it wasn't working. We are really good about praising him when he does use his manners. So when he said that do me yesterday it was like it finally clicked for him. I guess we are doing a good job with this whole parenting thing.

I'm so proud of my little boy. And watching him turn from a baby to a big boy is amazing. I can't wait to see him with his little brother and sister.

Hate being sick...

On December 9th, we went on a marriage retreat that the Army was doing, it was in Ruidoso New Mexic0. Well I soon as we all got back Iain and Brian caught a stomach bug. Iain has had it since than. And now I think I'm getting it. My poor little boy can't seem to kick this bug.

We are in Texas

We finally moved out of my in-laws house at the end of July. Brian called me the Monday before we moved to tell me that he found an apartment and was ready to sign the lease and get things moving. He also said he hoped to be in Colorado by Friday night. Well I was in no way ready to move (I had not finished packing our stuff yet). I told two of my really good friends (sorry I don't use names unless I have asked them before hand) that it looked like we were leaving at the end of the month but I needed help packing. One of them set up a packing party and even said that she wanted to throw a farewell party. So the Thursday before we left a bunch of our friends came to the house to help me pack. We were packing for 6 hours. And got all but the last minute stuff done. I'm so thankful for friends and family that helped that day. If it had only been me I don't think I would have gotten it done. Brian got in last the next night. Saturday morning a few people came over to help bring everything up stairs and to stage it on the lawn before we picked up the truck. After we finished staging everyone left but told us to call them after we picked up the truck. We did and between my husband and brother-in-law and two others we got everything onto the truck. Sunday morning we finished all the last minute things packed on the truck and our van than we were off. We got a much later start than we had planned but oh well stuff happens. Darrell drove the van while we drove the van. Iain wanted to ride in the truck with grandpa so we let him. We drove till about midnight and just couldn't go any longer. So we stopped for the night in New Mexico. And left early the next day to drive the rest of the way. We finally got in and started to unload the van and truck. We left most of the stuff on the truck till the next day. And we explored the area. The next day we called the missionaries in our new ward to see if they could come to help us unload. They come over and we were able to get everything off the truck and into the apartment. Than the real fun began. Oh unpacking is so much fun. I think I like unpacking less than I like packing. But oh well I love being able to use my own stuff and having my our house. Its great.

So Sunday is the day...

As a few of you know Brian and I have been trying to have another baby for a while now. Gotten pregnant and miscarried more than once. So we (I) started going to see a specialist and after the tests for run and the results came in, the doctor's advice was that we try Clomid. Brian and I talked and prayed about it, so we told my doctor that we wanted to try the medication for a while. She also told me that she wanted me to go on a higher dosage of the Clomid. So I'm on a higher dosage of this medication and Sunday is the first day that I supposed to start taking it. Here's hoping that the medication works the first month. Here's hoping and praying.

Waitting to sign a lease...

So Brian found us an apartment. Its 15minutes from the base. Which means Brian was able to attended the ward that we will live in the bounders of. We are going to be the newest members of Hondo Pass Ward of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Brian is going to see if the apartment complex has a 4 bedroom because he said he thought that he read somewhere that it did. But if not there is a 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom with a washer and dryer. We are just trying to get all the paper work together so that we can get the ball rolling. He won't be able to come out here to get us till he is done with in processing which could take up to another week (or more) than he has to wait till he gets the all clear for the DDY leave. So we are looking at August till we are together again. And can start setting up our home together. But the best part is Iain will finally have his own room for the very first time. I actually get to decorate a room for my little boy. Its not the nursery that I wish I had been able to do for him but a big boy room. He says he wants a Thomas the Tank Engine room. Maybe one day I'll get to decorate a nursery. I'm just so ready to have our stuff out of boxes and out where we (and our guests can see it). Decorating our home the way I want to. I'm really looking forward to it.

Babies grow up

So I cant believe that Iain has gotten so big over the last few months. He is talking up a storm and doing more and more by himself. Iain is even understands that we are moving to Texas (though he say to the airport on a plane. Its super cute). His loves Disney's Cars and Thomas the Tank Engine. Everything is either about Queen or Thomas. He loves to say nap time and bed time prayers. Favorite books right now are Hand Hand Fingers Thumb and Stop! Train, Stop! Playing in the dirt and sand is more fun than anything else in the world. I love my boy who is getting so very big each and every day.

Motherhood...

• No one told me that I would fall so madly in love the first time I saw 2 lines on a home pregnancy test (no not announcement just my thoughts) with someone I had never seen. But be so scared that I was going to be a mom to a little person.
• How much labor hurt but forgetting all about the pain when you hold your baby for the first time. Knowing that you would do it all over again for each and every child that is yours.
• Breastfeeding is hard but worth it (as long as your not under a ton of stress). Wishing that I hadn't given up when I did.
• Get as much sleep before your baby is born because you won't get any till they are 18years old.
• Saying no the first time is always the hardest. But your the mom and you need to let them know that.
• Dirt is ok it won't kill them. Because it didn't kill you. Kids say "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt." Believe it and just get over your fear of it.
• Kids are fearless. They will claim on everything and jump off everything that they can.
• If you try and protect then from every germ they will always be sick. Some germs are ok. Be careful but don't try and shield them from everything.
• Kids smile all the time. And they don't hold grudges for long.
• Your child will always know that you are his/her mom but they just do.

I sure there's more but it has slipped my mind for the moment.

The Doctor says...

According to the doctor that I've been seeing about the recurrent miscarriages, she would like me to go on Clomid and possible do a few IVF treatments. Brian and I are ok with going on Clomid but the IVF we are a bit unsure of. We want to try the medication for a little while and if nothing happens we'll go through with IVF. I don't know how many of you have been reading our blog but this has been really hard to write and even harder to go through. I'm sorry for any of my friends that have gone through losing a baby and than being told that you should try IVF to carry a baby. I know Brian and I haven't been trying for another baby for very long. Please keep us in your thoughts and your prayers while we go through this.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Iain loves Thomas the Tank Engine (I'm obsessed with Tomas and any and all trains). When we went to see Brian at Fort Sill in OK, Brian got Iain his first Thomas train wooden play set. And since then he has gotten 2 more trains, aquarium cars, and and expansion tracks for the wooden play set and he even has a battery operated train (which is pretty cool). Brian asked me to pick up a big Thomas wooden train set (which I have yet to get. I will hopefully on Monday). But which one to get? Any suggestions?

All Domestic and stuff...

So earlier this week I decided that I wanted to make home made jam. I have never canned in my life. I thought that it would be so hard but in truth it was quite easy. I made 14 jars of strawberry freezer jam to take with us when we move to Texas in July. I had all these strawberries left over but I didn't want to have my freezer totally full of freezer jam. So I made shelf jam. You have to cook it than while it is still hot you ladle the liquid into the jars. So I made 5 pint mason jars of strawberry jam and 3 pint mason jars of cherry jam. That's a total of 22 jars of jam. I want to make pear,orange marmalade jams, and salsa. Any one have recipes for any of those. So how knew that I was this domestic.

Oh yeah, Iain has croup. So this is fun. We are leaving for VA on Tuesday. So of cause he would get sick so close to us flying out of town. Hopefully he will be all better by the time we leave on Tuesday. I don't want to fly with a sick little boy.

Yesterday was Mother's Day...(a few days late)

Lately I've been thinking about what a mother should be. Growing up my birth mother wasn't always the best example of what a mother should be. She had days that she was the worlds best mother but for the most part she wasn't. I loved her but I feared her more. I didn't want my children to fear me. Than after I was placed with Anne and Russ (from here on out to be Momma/Mom and Dad). I got the best example of what a mom should be. And I hope that I'm more like her than the other. I had so many good examples of what a mother should be while at church. I was blessed to be exposed to these wonderful women while attending church.

So some of my thoughts on motherhood are: you don't have to have it all together all the time, sometimes your house is going to be messy but your kids will be happy so does it matter that the dishes in the sink have been there for a few days. The answer is no. I would rather have a happy baby. Rocking your baby is more important than dusting any day of the week. Even if you take a shower while your kids are napping and not when you wake up who really cares, your kids don't mind. Playing with them on the floor is more fun than just watching them play. Teaching them about the world around them gives you more insight and joy than you could ever imagine. There are always going to be days when you want to throw the towel in but when your kids give you the brightest smile and tell you that they love you we'll know that you would go through it all over again but so you could hear that sentence and see that smile again. Let your kids know that you love them not just with your words but your actions. You may be a mom but try and remember that you were a wife first and show your husband that you still(and always will love him), again not just with your words but your actions. Even if you don't like what you look like after having kids your husband still does and your kids don't care anyway. Show everyone around you that you take proud in your family (no matter how small or big it is) because being a mother is not a right but a privilege and a blessing. These are just a few things that I have learned over the last 3 years (mind you the first two were kinda a blur). I'm so blessed that I have the privilege of being Iain's mommy and learning from all the wonderful women in my life of what makes a great mom (being able to pull together for my self from taking from their collective wisdom is an honor. Thank you to all you wonderful and caring mothers out there. Hope your Mother's Day was as uplifting and joyful as mine was.

Mark.....Set.....Go!

So today Iain and Gabe were running circles around the main floor of the house. And Iain stopped in front of Leslie and said "Mark...Set...Go!" than starting running just as fast as he could. Every time he would get to were Leslie was sitting he would say it again. How funny is that? I didn't know that he could say that at all. This morning before we left for his doctor appointment I had he watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so that I could get stuff together to go. And todays episode was about shapes. He could name all the shapes. I was quite impressed by that. He doesn't do it on command but when he thinks no one is listening and watching him he will say and do many things. He really is quite smart and a huge stinker.

Iain is 2 years old today

Happy birthday to my sweet little boy. I can hardly believe that you have been here two years today. You have grown so much over the last year and can't wait to see what this next year holds for you. You are so very smart and so kind to everyone around you. You, my sweet boy, amaze me each and every day. You have shown me what wonders there are in this world and have shown me more love and kindness than I ever thought one little boy could ever hold. You have this way at looking at people and knowing that they need a smile and hug to brighten their day. You are mommy best little helper always wanting to cook and clean. I love that you are turning into such a gentleman and a kind little boy. I thank Heavenly Father each and everyday that he sent you to me. Being your mother as been the greatest blessing of my life. One day you will be a man and marrying your forever sweetheart but I will have loved you first and best (well your father too). But for now you are my baby and I can't wait for the changes that are coming to our family this year and to see how you grow. I love you Iain and happy 2nd birthday.

10 days till my baby turns 2

So Iain will be 2 years old in 10 days. And I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday that Brian and I brought him home from the hospital. I can't believe that he has turned into this little boy. One day he was a baby and than I blink and he is a toddler. He is talking up a storm and learning by leaps and bounds. I can't keep up with all the things that he is learning. Seriously where did my baby go.

Sleep Training

So as many of you know I started sleep training a few weeks ago. I thought for sure that when we went to Oklahoma to see Brian that it would set me back in the training. But when we got back he went to bed at the normal time very easy. I was so proud of my little boy. Now if I could get him to stay a sleep but his problem time period is anywhere from 12am-3:30am, he'll wake up and than sit up and say "mum...mum...mum" until I come down there and put him in bed with me. So I've been sleeping on the couch for a little over a week. I hope that he'll stop calling for me. It would be nice to sleep in my bed again.

A busted lip

The first night that we were in OK, Iain kinda woke up at the hotel and didn't know where he was. So he searched for something that he knew. Well in this case it happened to be my face. He landed right on it and busted my lip. It hurt so bad. The left side on my mouth swelled up so bad. I bit the inside of my lip. Besides swelling I have a pretty decent bruise on my lip. It hurt so bad to smile in pictures and kisses Brian made me want to cry. The left side just plain hurts. But it looks better now than it did. But my son gave me a busted lip. I think that's super funny.

My soldier graduated from basic training

So my in-laws and I drove to OK to see Brian. Family Day was March 31st at Fort Sill. So Wednesday morning early (really early). I stayed up late the night before to finish packing for our trip. But I made to much noise in our room and woke Iain up so I ended up getting into bed and getting Iain back down to sleep. So I set my alarm for 3:45am and that's when I finished packing. But At 4:30am Iain woke up and wanted to build a train with the blocks. So I let him build while took a shower and packed. I was all ready to go by quarter till 6am (it was 'o' dark hundred. And getting up that early remained me of when I was still in high school). By the time we had the car packed and ready to go it was quarter till 7am. But by the time we got on the road in was 15minutes till 8am (and my mother-in-law wanted to be on the road no later than 6am because we had a 13+ hour drive ahead of us). But we finally got on our way. Iain stayed awoke till 10:30am. Iain was amazing on the drive out (except when we were 30minutes from the hotel. Iain kept saying "me done", "all done", "home now" and "push". He was super excited to see Daddy. And thought that we were going to see him at the hotel. And was disappointed that daddy wasn't waiting for us in the room. When we got to the hotel I gave Iain a bath (because we had to get up and be ready to go eat and be on base before 7:30am). But I stayed up late trying load music so I could sync it to the Ipod (but I never did get it synced). Well we got to Fort Sill and headed over to where Family Day was going to start. After the opening exercises we were asked to go out side to see our soldiers. Well when the platoon march by us I didn't recognize Brian when he went by. Brian is so much darker and leaner than he was when he went in. Though he has only lost 10 lbs since going. Brian has lost quite a few inches all over and he looks great (I will post pictures as soon as I can. He looks really great in his dress blues). Brian picked up Iain and was holding him and Iain was just staring at him like you sound like daddy but you don't look like daddy. And was really unsure of Brian for a few hours after we picked Brian up. Brian had to wear his dress blues all day and is not allowed to drive and he showed us around base. We went to the PX (Post Exchange) and we went to a museum. Marlene wanted to take pictures (so of cause we took a ton). Brian had to follow all the rules that he had learned during training even while he was with us off base. He wanted to go get pizza for lunch (man that man of mine can put food away and he eats so fast). We than went back to the hotel (Iain needed a nap). Brian, Iain, and I watched a movie and talked. For dinner Brian wanted to go to Red Lobster. It was so good. I wish we didn't have to take him back to base for the night. But he had formation (at 8pm so we had to have him back no later than 7:45pm) and he had to do some packing that.

So that brings us to Friday, 1st April 2011. Brian graduated from Basic training from Fort Sill OK. The day before Brian told us that he was going to be singing the National Anthem at graduation by himself and without accompaniment. He sounded fantastic and it was so amazing to see and hear him use his talent. I can't tell you how proud of him that I am. What he has done for us. And the things that he has gone through over the last 10 weeks (the lack of sleep and basic comforts that I know I take for granted). After graduation, my in-laws and I thought that we would have only a few minutes with him (we didn't know when he was shipping out). But we were surprised to learn that we were able to take him for the rest of the day. But we had to have him Back to base again no later than 7:45pm. So we spend most of the time on base with him except for lunch (he wanted Chinese food). We walked around the PX again. Brian and Iain played at the arcade for a little bit. We than took him back to the training field near his barracks. We took some more pictures and talked. I got to meet another of his battle buddies (the work in the buddy system no one can go any where with out a companion and that is what they call it). We than left Brian there at Fort Sill and started our drive back to CO (I felt like crying the whole way back but I didn't). I tried to not cry while I was with Brian (but if you know me you know I'm a big cry baby).

He is amazing and there is no doubt in my mind that he loves me and is willing to go through this trail to give us this chance for a better life together. I miss him every day but its only a little longer that we have to be apart.

Well I told Brian to call me when he was headed to the airport (I didn't care about the time I just wanted to hear his voice). So he called me at 12:30am on the 2nd of April. He said he was at the airport and his plane was going to take off at 1:30am and that he had a lay over in TX and he would call me when he got there. So I got another call later that morning and while we were talking I asked him to call my parents to keep them informed about things. He landed in Richmond VA at 12:30pm. He gave me a call and we talked for a little while and I reminded him to call my parents to let him know that he got into VA safely. I also asked him to keep me informed about everything. The van to Fort Lee finally got there and he said that Fort Lee was about 30minutes from the airport. And he would try and call me later on that evening (as long as they didn't take his phone from him) but he had to turn his phone off for a bit.

[So that's everything I think is safe to post (with Brian being in the Army I don't want to use names and I won't be describing places). And the reason for the two colors is for some reason it's not posting my posts in paragraphs (so each color is a new paragraph).]

Graduation....Yeah...

Brian graduates from Basic training on Friday April 1st. And we leave on March 30th to go see him. I can't believe that I haven't seen him in over 3months. I'm so looking forward to seeing him. Family Day in Friday so I think we are going to be able to spend most of the day with Brian. I don't know what we are going to do. I think if we have time I'm going to try and Skype with my parents. I think we maybe able to go out to eat. What I really can't wait to see is Brian's reaction to seeing Iain and how much he has grown since he left. And how Iain is more a little boy than baby.

Sleep Training

When did you moms out there sleep train your babies/kids? I know I waited to start sleep training Iain really late (I mean he is going to be 2 years old next month) but I just couldn't bring my self to let him cry it out. But I hate to hear him cry. So I've been letting him cry it out since last Sunday. I'm glad that my sister-in-law and her husband pushed my hand and started to sleep train him during his nap (they had brought him home early from church he had a cold so I didn't want him to go to nursery and his uncle Mark was giving his last talk before he leaves for the MTC (he is going to be sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ for 2 years in the Washington DC North Mission). So for the all of this week I've been putting him to bed and leaving the room. Iain cries for less than 5 minutes and that is while I'm still in the room. Once I'm gone he stops crying and settles down to sleep.

Sleep Training

So on Sunday my sister-in-law and her husband put my hand and started sleep training Iain without talking to me. Iain had a cold all last week and I didn't think it was a good idea for him to go to Nursery (I don't want it to be passed onto any other kids and their families). But Mark was talking for the last time in our ward before he leaves on his mission to Washington DC North and it was important that we were all there him. So I asked them to bring him home at 1st hour. Well Iain was very tired and I told them to make sure he got a nap. Well when they got home they put him in his crib and he screamed/yelled/cried for 15minutes. Well Julie saw that he was holding something small and ran down stairs to take it away from him. When she got down there she figured that maybe she should change his diaper. And while she was changing him she was telling him that it was going to go to sleep in his own bed. That when he woke up that mommy would be home and that Uncle would take him outside to play. After she left. He cried for 45minutes more and than finally fall asleep (well the stinker through all his stuffed dogs onto the floor). He took a long nap.

But that night Iain cried for 30minutes and I slept on the couch for a week and a half.