"man, you sure have your hands full..."

Yep, that's the phrase I hear over and over lately. In fact, 3 different ladies told me that in the parking lot of the craft store, I hadn't even made it in yet. It's either the fact that I have 3 kids now, or because I still have to carry Tommie on one side, and hold the car seat on the other, and then we fill up the WHOLE cart, and Jackson hangs on to the side. :) But really, I am loving having 3 kids.

My biggest challenges:

1) trying to get tommie to stop taking the baby's binky and blanket. It's hard for dallin to ever get a little break away. Tommie can climb up into anywhere the baby is, and he is always getting "rudely awakened".

2) Trying not to get so tired by 7 pm. Most nights James gets home around 7, and I try really hard to just not fall apart from sheer exhaustion. But, I always wake up happy and ready to go the next morning. Really, I do. Mornings are way easier for me.

3) having the missionaries live with us. Yep, that's right, they moved in over a month ago. Bishop Merrill called us at 8:00 one monday morning and asked if they could live with us for awhile. We said yes, and then he told us they would be over at 11:00 am. Ha! we didn't realize it was so soon! But, we hurried and cleared out a bedroom , cleaned out kitchen space, and tried our best to make it work for them. They aren't supposed to share a bathroom, but we got permission for spencer to share with them. That's our ony bathtub so that makes it a little challenging. The first few days were extremely hard as Tommie was always running into their room, putting their things in the toilet, etc.  Dallin was only 3 weeks old, so a LOT of nursing was going on, and I just couldn't keep Tommie out of their stuff. Poor elders can't pick up little kids, so it was crazy. That, and Dallin hated having a blanket over his face while breastfeeding, but i was always trying to stay covered. So, I spent A LOT of hours locked in my room, with tommie in there with me. Jackson has been great about, and has never complained once. I didn't know the poor elders study so long. They don't leave the house until 2:00pm because of studies and lunch. Needless to say, we spend a lot of time together. Really though, I do think blessings have come since they have been here. Our car break lights instantly started working again when they came back, we have somehow had better control over finances (even though we spend more on utilities), James seems a lot less stressed, and we all have to improve our media choices. (mostly because they can't have the tv or music on, so we probably just have more of a peaceful spirit in our home).

4) Jackson has been getting really angry again. He's getting bigger and stronger, and when he kicks and punches me, it actually hurts. I can get pretty mad back, and that never helps. Lately, I am doing so much better at just sending him outside to play. It takes at least 20 minutes for us both to calm down, and then we talk. I give the same speech every time on scoring points for Jesus' team, and not Satan's. Because we want to live in Heaven, as a HAPPY family. :)

5) Nap time. I don't get naps anymore because I can't get Dallin and Tommie to sleep at the same time, and Jackson is just too old now. He has "too many things to do" he tells me! :) But, today, the boys are sick and all asleep, and look, I'm paying bills, catching up on emails, and blogging. Ha! so it goes.

6) Church. It is way hard having 2 kids not in a nursery and a husband that teaches. Whew. No wonder I have only stayed all 3 hours once. And, we had a total emotional breakdown as we left. Jackson screaming, wetting his pants, Tommie's diaper exploded all over me, and Dallin with curdled spit up everywhere. You would think having my family in the ward would help, but so far, we haven't found a way to make it work yet.

My biggest blessings:

1) Living on orange street. At 3:30 every day, some neighbor kid comes over to play with Jackson. And they don't just play inside, they run the streets, jump on the trampoline, play basketball, sword fight, etc. All things my little boys NEED... By 6, it is dark outside, and Jackson comes back filthy, and totally exhausted yet can't stop talking about how much fun he's had. I don't even worry that he's out in everyone's front yards. I keep the doors and windows open and go check on them every now and then. Usually Jayden leavitt, or Janie Dale will come take Tommie outside and let him just destroy things outside. He can run now and climb up anything, and they let him just go and go and follow him around. I love it! It gives me a little bit of time to just be with Dallin, and make dinner.  I love my neighbors.

2) Dallin. He is so sweet. I will be irritated at something, feeling stressed, and he looks at me with those big brown eyes, and it's all gone. Sometimes tommie is really rough with him, and he doesn't cry, or if he's really hurt, he just gets the biggest frowns and tears come out. He sleeps pretty good right now, so i usually get a 4 hour chunk in a row. I love his dark hair and secretly hope it stays, it probably won't, but it's adorable. I am lucky to have him.

3) Tommie. He is crazy. Somehow he went from being this happy-all-the-time, content with whatever, to a real, normal boy. He shrieks so loud, throws himself on the floor when he doesn't get what he wants, throws anything and has broken so many things, runs out the front door, answers the phone, slams the piano, etc. But, he can be so loving. Often he comes up and just hugs my leg, or gives me the longest hugs, or wants to just snuggle at nights in my rocking chair. I don't remember Jackson ever wanting to be as snuggly, and I soak it all up. I of course feel guilty he got pushed out of being the baby, because he is still addicted to blankets, binkies, bottles, and car seats. He will actually sit on the baby in the seat. :) But, I love him. I really do. I love his cute little dimple, and huge smile (which now has 4 more teeth thanks to his crankiness the past month).

4) jackson. Poor kid does so much for me. "Go get tommie". "bring me a diaper", "get your own snack". etc. I wish I could say I always ask nicely, but reality is I probably don't. He is so willing to help and always tells me I look nice when I get dressed. He may have anger managment problems, but he is incredibly smart and I love him. He just had his first primary program. His part was "Adam and Eve were placed by a garen called Eden. They were given agency, to help them choose right form wrong." He did it perfectly. With so much enthusiasm. And, he was so reverent and peaceful the whole time. I am biased, but he was the best sunbeam up there.

5) James. I don't know how he handles me sometime. But, he is so quick to jump in and help. One day, after the missionaries moved in, we had just had a bad day. I didn't know he was coming home earlier and was just sitting in my room crying. The boys were crazy, dallin was screaming, the house was a disaster, spencer was just watching tv (totally oblivious to the chaos around him --thank goodness!), no groceries in the fridge, so no dinner ready, and I was still in my pj's. He didn't even say anything, just stepped in, grabbed the boys, took care of them, cleaned the house, took out the garbage, then came in to ask where we should go eat. Not once did he ever complain or act like I was crazy. In fact, we never even talked about what was wrong, mostly because i didn't need that, I just needed help. :) He is now way into cooking good meats. Grilling, smoking (borrowing other people's smokers, etc.) He is getting really good at it. He made me an amazing prime rib meal to celebrate my birthday. I'm just glad he is finding some hobbies.

6). This house. I love that we are the owners now. And, I love everything about this house. Ya, it needs some repairs, and ya, I don't take care of it like it should, but I love it. I love that we have enough room to help the people that needed to live with us. I love that my kids can run circles in the house when I need them to "do some laps" I call it. I love how open it is. I love that the pecans are falling in the backyard, and that I wake up to the sound of my chickens. Ha! Who would have ever thought I'd like those chickens. We do get 5 eggs a day now, and they actually do taste better. And, Jimmer made me $1000 in the past month, thanks to dog breeding. It couldn't have come at a better time, and it really has helped him calm down. He is getting much more manageable.

 We call this "president monson hair". Weston got Jackson started on it.