Good Friends

First, sorry I haven't posted in so long. Too much to do, too little time to do it. But I love this time of year and all the wonderful craziness it brings.
I am feeling so grateful for good friends right now. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Gina today and probably would have spent another hour if kids waking up from naps and husbands getting home from work hadn't interrupted us. (So glad they do though!) I hope Gina doesn't mind me giving a brief background here... She's recently been working with her doctor and exploring some possibilities for fertility treatment. There is a lot going on in her life right now and after having 3 boys in less than 4 years (I know - wow!) she and Jason are having some difficulty getting pregnant again. I'm not minimizing the situation, only limiting the unnecessary details here. We spent a good portion of our time on the phone today just chatting about it. Talking about Heavenly Father's time table. About giving ourselves a little credit for the stress our minds and bodies go thru. And about how grateful we are for our collective 5 BOYS! (not including wonderful husbands!)
I have a friend in the ward who recently asked me why I thought it was that I miscarried twice between Aiden and Zack. I think she thought maybe there was a physical problem that I could enlighten her with, she having miscarried recently as well. The truth though is that medically speaking miscarriages - even two in a row - are rather uneventful. Medically speaking. I can never deny the intense emotional pain that exists in being so excited to welcome another of Heavenly Father's spirits into your home only to lie on the ultrasound table, alone in a new state, far away from my mom and realize that sweet excitement doesn't have a heartbeat. Maybe never did. Maybe only produced enough pregnancy hormone to read positive on the test and then slowly fade away again. But let me explain the peace I have felt since this friend asked me about my miscarriages (not Gina, the friend in my ward). I was able to tell her that I have no doubt that the only reason I miscarried is that Heavenly Father knew I couldn't handle Aiden and a 14 month old. He knew that I would have a REALLY hard time handling Aiden and a 20 month old. I feel so strongly that His communication with me (had I been in tune enough then) would have gone something like this:
"Tiff, I'm so pleased that you and Jeremy want to raise more of my beloved spirit children. I want to send them to you. But right now Tiff, that would be a trial that you couldn't handle. I can't give you a trial that I know you can't handle. I've promised I'll never do that. So, I'm going to give you a different trial. You won't be able to carry these pregnancies for very long. I'll be here for you and cry with you when you find out they're gone. But be strong because I have a plan for you and this family you are working so hard at. I love you."
I am so grateful for the perspective that I have gained. I'm so blessed.
I am so glad for good friends who inspire me. Gina is one of the best! She is taking her trial in stride and has faith that she will have the same eternal perspective that Heavenly Father has for her. She is a great mom. She is hard on herself, but she's great. She worries that she has crazy kids, but we are mothers of boys. They chase spiders and climb 8 ft ladders and stand on their heads and bounce off of walls. They are boys. But they are our little strippling warriors. So to Gina, and all of my wonderful friends, I love you! You are all amazing examples of what good mothers are. Thanks for teaching me!

Scentsy Party

For those of you who read my blog and live in AZ, who I don't have an email address for... consider this your invitation! I'm having a Scentsy Party on Tuesday Nov. 18th from 6pm to 8pm.
I'd love to see you all... and since we never got around to having that "come see our house bbq"... you can come see my house!
Come smell yummy candles, eat yummy treats, or just visit!
I can't wait to see you all! Email me if you need my address or phone #! swmngrd99@yahoo.com

I'm gonna eat you up Zack!

Our yard...

... has a 5 o'clock shadow. Even at noon! This was actually a few days ago. We tried to get some grass to grow a couple of months ago, but a combination of not enough water, not enough sun, too much heat and too many birds had us feeling like we had a big NOT green thumb! I mean c'mon! Anybody can grow grass! But not us. This Arizona climate is strange. I'd never heard of "winter" grass until we moved here. That's dumb! I thought, grass is grass. It grows better in the summer, but you don't RE-plant it when it gets a little cold out! Well, apparently you DO. So we did. After 2 Saturdays, and a lot more money than anyone should have to pay for DIRT, we have grass growing in our front yard (planted on the first saturday) and the pleasant thoughts that it will soon be growing in the back too! More pics (even though we might be the only ones who care) coming soon!

Zack is 7 months

I haven't been very good about posting about all of Zack's little milestones. You don't see a post on the 25th of every month documenting all of his glory. But the other day as I sat at the park holding Zack on my lap, watching Aiden play, I got very sentimental, yes almost teary, about the fact that he is now closer to his birthday than he is to, well, his birth day. He is on the verge of crawling right now and is getting into all of his big brother's "small parts" type toys, which has me stressing. I think that 'on the verge' of crawling should be a milestone in and of itself just because it seems to last forever. At least when you are on the 'not crawling yet' end of it. Once they start, it seems like 'on the verge' went by way to fast. Zack has been a more difficult baby than Aiden was, but has gotten so much better recently. I am lucky to still be able to breastfeed him and I love that time when only I can hold him and talk to him. And then he smiles and milk runs down his cheek. I adore him so much. He is a beautiful baby. So different from Aiden in so many ways, but there really is no comparison. I love both of them more than I could have ever dreamed. I knew I was wrong when I thought I could never love another kid as much as Aiden, but I still wondered. Not a day goes by that Zack doesn't remind me just how wrong I was.

Going for a Drive

I have always enjoyed going for a "sunday drive" on any day of the week. I know... right now, with gas prices so high, you are all probably cringing at the thought of getting in the car without a destination and a purpose! Jeremy has never been too fond of it either. UNLESS.........we take the baja! Lately its a nightly or every-other-night-ly occurence. Last Saturday and the Saturday before that we ran all our errands and went garage-sale-ing in the baja too. Added bonus- it gets great gas mileage. At least that is what Jeremy tells me. Jeremy recently put a new seatbelt in the back seat so that Aiden has a 'big boy seat' and Zack now has Aiden's old seat. (I think Aiden is getting used to all his old stuff becoming Zack's- but I still don't think he really likes it) Here's a few pics of the boys in the back seat before our ride.

Aiden's thoughts on Conference - And my thoughts on Scripture Power

If you recall, the music for the Saturday Afternoon Session of Conference was provided by a children's choir from northern Utah. They did a great job. We got a kick out of watching the kids try SO hard not to look at the cameras! When they were singing "I am a Child of God" Aiden was really excited, since it's one he knows. When they were finished, he said "Now they're gonna sing Wheels on the Bus?" I can just see the little nursery kids doing just that!

He has also learned to sing "Scripture Power." For any who don't know this song, I REALLY encourage you to learn it! It is my favorite primary song EVER! When I was the Primary chorister we would sing it almost every week. When the senior primary would sing it, I would get chills and they even got me to shed a tear or two when they sang it on my last week in that calling. It is a simple, FUN song that packs a powerful message. Even with its upbeat, almost sunBEAM-jump type actions, the spirit speaks everytime it is sung.

What have I been doing?

A whole lot of not much! Over the last month, my den got to be such a disaster that I have completely avoided it. And therefore, no posts! And a WHOLE lot of catching up to do on everyone elses blogs!
We got to go to Vegas for my cousin Casie's wedding 2 weeks ago. It was a great trip. We got to do the endowment session with some of the family and be in the temple again for her sealing. It had been too long and was wonderful to be back - both in the Temple and in Vegas! I'd love to post pics from the wedding but my camera was hybernating in my purse and I didn't get one shot of the bride & groom! But here's a couple pics of the boys in the truck on the way up...



A while ago, we were reading books on the floor in Aiden's room and Zack (whose only mode of transportation is rolling) rolled right under Aiden's bed. Story time was over. They both thought it was a blast to play together under the bed. They are getting to be such great buddies.