Bryce's baby blessing

Today, Bryce was blessed. It was the same sunday that Spencer gave his farewell talk. It works out great to have Wilford and Neil in town as well. Honestly, it was a chaotic sunday for me. I remember as James started the blessing, he was saying that Bryce has such a calming influence. I was by myself on the row and Dallin and Tommie were full out wrestling and yelling at each other while Jax is mad they are kicking him. The crackers they were fighting over were getting thrown everywhere. I remember laughing out loud while trying to get my boys to calm down. I tried really hard to catch the blessing but it wasn't happening. I am so grateful Kathleen emailed me the notes :). I hope that's not an omen for bryce's life. But, I love that he is willing to put up with it all. I also love that Bryce was blessed to understand truth. He somehow makes me think about what really is important every time i am alone with just him. 

Notes from the Infant Blessing given to

Bryce Clayton Andersen

Dec. 28, 2014

Mesa Vineyard Ward, Mesa, AZ

Dear Heavenly Father, by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, we give this baby a name and a blessing.  The name we give him is Bryce Clayton Andersen.

Bryce, We are grateful you are here at this time.  We bless you to know that your Heavenly Father has sent you here to do special things. 

We are grateful for the peaceful feelings you have brought into our home and for the calming influence you have upon your parents and siblings.

We bless you to know of our love and gratitude for you at this time. 

We bless you to be a leader among your friends and family.  People will look up to you as an example and for your calming influence. 

We bless you to use this influence for good.  We bless you that through your influence you may bless others around you. 

We bless you to have a seriousness about the gospel.  We bless you even at this early time with a desire to keep the commandments and covenants of God.  And because of your obedience, we bless you to be able to return to live with your Heavenly Father.

We bless you to have the strength to avoid temptation.  We bless you with sound understanding.  We bless you that your mind will be able to understand truth.  We bless you to gain a knowledge of the principles of the gospel and of secular knowledge.  We bless you that you will learn and grow. 

We bless you that you will be able to serve a mission and that you will bless those you come in contact with. 

We bless you that you will be married in the temple and make covenants and have the strength to keep them. 

We bless you to feel love for the Savior and gratitude for the blessings He has given you. 

We bless you with a desire to learn and understand the priesthood.  We bless you that you will see it as a gift and a great blessing to be able to serve others.  We bless you to be a blessing to those around you and that through your use of the priesthood worthily you will bless others for good.

We want you to know of our love for you at this time.  And we say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen

 



Why is it so hard to just get a good picture? :)  Oh well, these show how the day REALLY went!

Spencer did such a great job on his talk. He seemed so old to me. I loved that he had a few days to spend with my boys again. Honestly, I started crying when I said goodbye to him. He will be a great missionary and is so lucky to go to rome. But, I recognized that I really appreciated all he did for our little family. I realized how much my boys looked up to him and how much I already missed having him live with us.

Happy birthday to Emily!

When sunday family dinner was cancelled, James and I decided to have Emily over for an early birthday party. Even though her birthday isn't till this wednesday, we tried to play it up a little - and it was a success. She seemed to have lots of fun and it was good to see her laughing. She was a trooper to put up with us and Shaela's family. It was definitely loud with lots of little kids - but awesome! :) 

Happy Birthday Em! We love you! 

Random thoughts from the past 2 weeks

Well, we had a little bout of stomach flu - or food poisoning. Even James stayed home throwing up - that's not normal. Tommie threw up the next night, all over james' side of the bed. I kept trying to wake james up so he wasn't laying on it but he kept telling me he didn't care, it wasn't bugging him. Let's just say, that come morning, he wanted to know why his clothes were crusty and what that smell was! come to find out, he didn't remember any of it! And, after tommie had thrown up on me, I had cleaned up my side of the bed and rolled all the dirty sheets over to the middle- putting down new ones just for myself. You could tell that james thought I looked a little selfish! Ha! I am SOOO glad we have a king bed - do they make any wider to handle all the kids at night?? :)

Jackson had his franklin winter sing - held at Westwood's auditorium.  I'll admit that we were running a little late so james dropped me and the kids off at the front and went to find a parking spot. After he got in and sat down, Kristen Millet walked by and wanted to see the new baby. We looked around and couldnt find him. Turns out he was still in the car! James ran out to go get him and we both realized we weren't quite used to the 4 kids things yet... :) But, jax had a little solo part of Alvin from Alvin and the chipmunks. Actually, there was a little group of Alvins - but somehow he was the only one who said anything at the right time. He had the whole audience laughing and really did look so cute. He is a smart - quick boy. He had enunciated the words "i still want a hula- hoop" so clear that the "p" sound was so loud "puh". He said, "I guess everyone thinks the "p" sound is funny". Ha - he really makes my day. His whole life is surrounded by babies - but everyday he finds ways to get them all laughing. I will really miss the day he recognizes that staying home with me is not the coolest thing ever. He is really thinking through things lately. He spells out so many words and writes me so many letters. I posted on Facebook his latest discovery. "Jackson figured out why all the other reindeer didn't like Rudolph- "because mom , his first name was Rude" ha! Merry Christmas! " 

Tommie is fast lately- and so curious about everything. I had made a box of mac and cheese - which we really never have. Everyone was so excited, even James. When we sat down to eat it, it was so nasty. I realized that Tommie had dumped a serious amount of garlic salt in it when I put dallin in his high chair.  I am also now missing all the spices from my spice cabinet. While I answered the door for the neighbors (wanting to borrow something), he opened each jar and dumped it out -- luckily not in dinner though!

I left the family room to put dallin in the bathtub yesterday. His diaper had leaked everywhere. I got the feeling to go back and check on bryce. He was acting weird on the ground. I picked him up and discovered he had a mouthful of at least 6 raisins. All shoved in there by little tommie. "He was hungry mom" Tommie smiled at me.  I said a prayer right then thanking Heavenly father for whatever angels are assigned to watch out for bryce. He could've choked so easily.

Bryce is the easiest baby. I struggled those few days with balancing out my milk for him - i obviously have oversupply and his poor stomach was struggling. But, then we got it all worked out and he sleeps so good. He falls asleep on his own and sleeps 4 hour chunks at night. It is incredible and I love him for it. I still don't sleep well at nights, but dallin is trying harder to sleep through the nights. Tommie has been waking up at 4 lately so we really need to get everyone on the same schedule :) But, I am back walking and trying to be more active- so i must be feeling better.

The best news of all - the yukon is finally fixed and back home. We all drove out to queen creek last friday night to get it from the repairman. Can I just say what a difference it has made in my life?? Amazing. I love having a big car that fits everyone. I love that no one pulls my hair while i drive or kicks my seat. The kids love seeing out the window and I am just a new person. Because of that- I now go places with all the kids all by myself. Call me super mom! :)

Eternal love

Is this not the sweetest picture of Grandma and Grandpa Bennion. I love that he has 3 pens in his pocket - and that his keys are hanging out. I love how it shows both their personalities. But, I thought about something when I saw this picture--- I really hope that someday, after living with James for YEARS, I can look at him, quirks and all, and just have plain happiness and love on my face. Not that I don't NOW -- but we have our days where I think - man, marriage is work. :) It's definitely worth every little bit of effort I put in to it- but still- I hope that our relationship can become as strong as theirs still is.

So much to be thankful for....

1) Bryce: he is so sweet and already puts up with a lot from his brothers. I say prayers all the time "thank you that bryce wasn't hurt when..." the blanks are filled in with - when dallin dumped him out of his carseat, when tommie went to steal his blanket and pushed him off the couch, when jackson's football landed on his face... etc. It really isn't funny, but I am doing the best I can! He is precious and has given me a few smiles I think were real. He gets really uncomfortable at nights - doesn't cry just moans and grunts. I think I have a nursing issue like I had with Tommie. I am working on it, and he is now a stomach sleeper- we will see if I can get him to sleep at least 2 hours in a row again. Nights are still long. But, I feel really positive this time around. I am so thankful that I really do feel happy and hopeful each day. My emotions and energy levels are really better than they have ever been postpartum.  That in and of itself is a huge blessing.  He had his one month check up and is now 9 lbs. Still only 20 inches long. I love how tiny he is. We made it through our first full sunday at church this past week. It was exhausting. :) James seemed to have a harder time than I did. He said he just felt like the kids could never stop moving and he couldn't pay attention to anything. I think I am a little more used to it and actually thought they were really behaved. Plus, it was Tommie's first ever sunday to go to nursery all by himself and stay the whole time. So, for 2 hours, it was just 2 babies! 

                             

2) GREAT neighbors. Sis. cluff brought in a meal this past week and 3 neighbors and my grandma the week before. How amazing! The neighbor girls will walk my boys back inside if they leave the house while I am nursing. This happens a lot now that tommie figured out how to open the back gates and carries dallin out with him. Speaking of... Tommie has someone watching out for him. He really does. He has so many "near misses" of accidents. Last week he was out bad playing with Jackson. Jax got mad when Tommie bit him really hard and threw a chimney starter (a huge metal thing used for heating charcoal) at him. It hit him really bad, and he came screaming inside with blood everywhere. James was still working, which always stinks on saturdays, so I carried him over to Matt Porter's house. Matt offered to stitch him up right then- saving me from figuring out how to get everyone down to urgent care or something. So nice! He had 7 or so stitches put in and it's still super glued shut. Needless to say, I'm back forcing him to wear his helmet when he plays. :)

3) Time at home. I go days without going anywhere and I love it. I miss going to the little things like library story time and the museum, but I love my house. I love that I have so much time to just do nothing with these boys. I seriously think all I do is feed people, clean up after them, and change so many diapers... but I love that I don't really have other responsibilities right now. I'll admit that people ask me to do things and I say no - but, I love capturing some of our daily moments together.  (and yes, dallin has a huge cut on his head too. He fell out of the car while I was trying to load the baby up. He had pretty bad road rash poor guy!) 

4) THANKSGIVING! Both of our dinners were held at the park this year. The weather was way warm - almost hot- and it was perfect for my active little boys to spend so much time running. We met with my family when my grandma and grandpa Matthews came down from utah. It was a week early, but still fun to be with them. James smoked the turkey. It was delicious and everyone raved about it. (of course). And then we met with all the Andersen extended family this past thursday. So fun to have so many cousins. Spencer had been down to visit for a few days. Man, I miss him living with us. He is such a help with my kids - they love him. He seemed so much older to me and ready for his mission. Yep, he was called to Rome, Italy. He leaves the end of January. So exciting for him! 

Thanksgiving morning, we went to run the annual 85201 turkey trot. I had the hardest time waking up jackson and james to come. James said he was going to sit this one this year, and jackson said he didn't even want to leave his bed. I convinced them both, but we got to the church building right as the race was starting. We had just unloaded Jax's bike and were unloading the strollers when the announcer said "go" and Jackson took off. He was riding his bike (with no training wheels now) SO fast and passing everyone up. I told James to run up ahead and catch him but it turned out that we never even SAW jackson the rest of the race. James ran his fastest 5k ever - mostly trying to find jackson. We were afraid that he would get lost, or not wait at the red lights etc. I pushed the double and Brianna pushed a single stroller and just walked the rest of the race. Jackson was found at the finish line. He said "I did it- I won mom! The guy said I was the first kid across the finish line!" Ha! James and I decided we probably need to address his competitive energies again and get him back in some sports. 

5) It's christmas time around here! We put up our tree and the fun activities are starting. Dallin is in love with the christmas tree. Ya, he destroys it, but he also spends a lot of time just sitting looking at it, pointing, saying "ooh". It's way cute. Tommie refused to go anywhere near santa at the neighborhood tree lighting, so Jackson was the only one who would take a santa picture.

6) James - It wouldn't be fair to not give another shout out to James. He is always the best - but something has been different this past baby.  He has been so understanding and calm about everything. I can think of os many times that he would come home, or call, and just wonder how things were going. I'd roll off a few short answers, and he'd say, "no really, how are YOU?". He has been so aware of my needs and the things I need help with. Another day, by the time he made it home at night, I had had it. Everyone was crying, house was trashed, and I mostly just felt guilty that I couldn't give each kid the attention they needed because bryce had needed me all day. He looked around, started laughing, and picked each boy up. He started asking about their day, wrestling them, and with in 5 minutes had everybody laughing.  It's little moments like that where I recognize what a  good dad he is to pay attention to each boy and what they need. No wonder they all drop whatever they are doing and sprint to the door when he gets home. He is always greeted by a line of boys yelling "dad's home!" pushing each other out of the way to be the first to get to him. Also, he has always slept through the night - and I used to be amazed that even with a baby screaming, he was just snoring. But, this time, something has changed and he is up  A LOT with me. And we need it with the 3. He jumps up before me to go get Dallin when he is crying, or takes Bryce from me and camps out on the couch so I can sleep.  His work days start way later now so I can sleep in a little and not have to do the breakfast routine all by myself. Some days he doesn't even leave until 9 and I love it! He really is the best, and there is no one else I'd rather be with. Sometime we joke around about how fat and old we have gotten lately. Especially since 7 years ago, it was just us, engaged and oblivious to what was ahead! And, it seems even more crazy to think that when we moved here it was with just a 3 year old jackson and now TWO AND A HALF YEARS later- we are a family of 6! That helps put it in perspective how quick life has changed for us. I love him and am so grateful he's willing to put up with us. He doesn't have easy days right now, doesn't always love his job, or love taking on landscaping side jobs to fill up his spare time, he doesn't know where his career will take him or if he'll even find a career he loves - his nights are even longer and he is totally sleep deprived, but he'll still wake up for an occasional basketball game with his friends at 5 am - or stay up late while I'm nursing and watching cheesy hallmark christmas movies (every single night). He tries so hard to stay involved with his calling and is always in contact with the sister missionaries - helping them with their needs. But, I love him for all he sacrifices. I love him for just being a good man - worthy and choosing the right. I love him for just being my best friend and making me so happy. I need him now more than ever.