Busy Bees

This is a huge journal entry for me, so if you don't want to read it that's fine.

We have been so busy lately! It's hard to confront a busy life after an awesome christmas holiday. Yes, my feet have been dragging since then. I just wish life were a little slower, but I am going to have to buck up and figure out how to enjoy it while it's busy. Actually, yesterday was my turning point, the overwhelming part has been building up since I got my new calling. I was called to be in the 2nd counselor in the primary presidency. I am loving my calling and everything that comes with it. I know it's strengthening me in so many ways. However, it's a lot to do with going to school, being a mom, and all the other lovelies in life. (I call them lovelies because I would like to think of them as positives since they are the things that come with life...bills, schedules, traveling, family events, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings of not attending things, cleaning, etc.) I know everyone reading this can relate.. I have come to find that everyone's life is really about the same as mine. I just had to realize that I can't do everything, but I have to stay on top of things or else I'm going to have another day like yesterday.

So-last night I had to come to grips with reality. I sat down and found ways of not overwhelming myself. It's basically the same old things like time management and calendaring better. I usually am organized, but I needed to take it a couple steps further because I want to be a pleasant busy person. I decided to go week by week, and time manage my days each week. Every Sunday I will sit and go over my week. This way I can get everything done, spend time with Dawson, and have time for myself here and there.

I planned at least 2-3 hours (1 hour increments) with Dawson each day. We've had some big issues with him lately. #1-he is NOT sleeping at night. He will wake up at least twice, if not more. Trust me-I'm working on it. #2-he loves church, but once sacrament is over he starts to have anxiety attacks. He gets so worked up he is throwing up everywhere. Nursery is the problem. He is scared to death to go into the room or even talk about it. I try prepping him all week, talking positive about it, playing in there when there is no other kids or leaders,...it's not working. This hasn't been going on until the last 4 weeks. I am pretty sure something happened in there that no one is telling me. Something with a leader or another child that has affected Dawson. Any suggestion???
*Now that I'm over Nursery in the presidency I have been working on changes that definitely need to be made, and will happen here in the next couple of weeks. Maybe those changes will help, they aren't just for Dawson...but we have 20 kids on the roll and 5 actually stay .. parents just take their kids because they are having the same problem we are. ... makes you wonder what the problem is. Trust me, I am working on what problems I've noticed already.

School is going good. I got a little behind because I had to take the Praxis Exam. I don't know my scores yet, but on Feb. 15th I will....If I don't pass I can't move on with my school. I just am at a stand still until I pass. The assignments are a lot of busy work, but it comes with going to school. I just have to find time to do the assignments. This means consecutive time...with no interruptions. My solution-I am turning my phone off during my scheduled hours. So at 5 I will have lot to answer to, but I will get my school done. I'm treating school like my job, with not being able to answer. SO everyone- between 2-5 please know I will not be answering to my phone. :-) If it's an emergency, please come knock on my door like the old school ways. lol!

I don't mind being interrupted for emergencies. I love helping out if I can. Usually I can since I get all my things done at home- I don't have to go places most of the time.

That's my spill. Other updates- well, we have come up with a really good plan that J.D. and I have been praying for as far as our future. We haven't heard from any dental schools yet, but we got another email yesterday about interviews going til April with one school. We actually have gotten 2 reply's that were no, but their are a few we are still waiting to hear from. There are a lot of other plans, but I really don't want to mention them yet. They are set, but I just don't feel that I can say anything right now. We have been trying to stay a little more private with things just in case we change our minds or we don't feel good about them. It saves us from a lot of over explaining decisions.

Dawson is doing great other than no sleep, and not loving nursery. He is growing up so much! He loves to help me clean and cook! He keeps saying he wants a baby...which won't be happening for a very long time. We ask him what baby he wants, a boy or girl? a brother or sister? He says a sister. Dawson loves little girls. He plays with them so well and loves taking care of them. lol! We got a new aquatic center here in cedar and we LOVE it! It's so warm and fun to play at. Dawson wants to go every day! Not kidding! He will get ready and tell me it's time to go swimming. lol! He loves to shower by himself, sing and dance, (mainly dance with me) and is so into How to Train Your Dragon. It's his new love. He re-inacts all the parts. He finds a basket lid for a shield, has a play knife and will talk to the dragons and say, "Get you Dragon!" And every night he sleeps with his gun-why??? He will whisper, "there's a dragon. ssshhh!" and all of the sudden BANG! he will shoot it. He reassures us too that he shot it. "Mom, Dad? I got him. It's okay. Sleepy time." lol! It cracks us up! His has lots of favorite people and will name them all. It's so funny how he pretends with things and people. I run everyday on the treadmill and lift. Dawson will get his bball shorts and shoes and follow in my footsteps. He hears us grunt sometimes when lifting, so he pretends to grunt as well. He's gettin ripped! lol!

Well, that's all I have for today. I will get pics up soon.

Print your blog!

Okay, so my good friend Stef just posted this on her blog (THANK YOU STEF!!) and I'm am freakin out excited! lol! It's a website that turns your blog into a scrapbook! I am doing mine in labels by year and just filtered through the posts I wanted to be printed. (Do this in your blogger within your label. You will be printing your label) Then go to

www.blog2print.com

I just ordered my whole year of 2008 and it was only $32 for a hard cover!! Not even kidding! I'm so excited because I have no time to scrap book anymore, but I post everything on here. So now I will have books to show my kids and lots of good stories to tell. :-) So another huge THANK YOU to stefanie for sharing this. I sit back and wonder all the time about how I am going to catch up with scrapbooking, I'm only 1 year behind, but I still..I have no idea when I'll catch up. NOW I dont' have to. I can just order my book which is cheaper than printing all my pics. :-)!

Is it just little boys??

I have the hardest time trying to get Dawson to eat. This is a constant battle and has been since he stopped nursing. This kid wants milk ALL the time. He could care less to take the time to eat...why should he, a bottle you can carry around, and it fast and easy. EXCEPT it doesn't keep you full as long, so he wants one every other hour. NOT EVEN KIDDING! He will cry and cry and throw fits and refuse to eat UNTIL he just falls asleep. He is so stubborn about it. I tell him, NO bottle (sippy cup) until you eat. I don't give it to him at all in the day..and he basically starves himself.

Some days I give it to him if he's way upset, and then after his bottle he will eat okay...but that is occasionally. If he does eat, it's top ramen, mac and cheese, apples, or pizza. He is such a picky eater... I have no clue where he got that from.. jk, i am a way picky eater. lol!

Is it me..or is it just little boys?

A little of our life

Well, for New Years we were up in Holden. J.D. had 4 beds ordered so we made a trip up to Holden to get started. There was too much snow to go up on the mountain, so we just turned it into a little vacation. It was so fun because we got to see baby Kyson again. We were so tired that we completely missed out on the New Year's celebration. We were in bed by 10. Normally we would have done our New Year's tradition of steak and potatoes on the living room floor, but since we were in Holden we did it a little different. :-) Our steak and potatoes tradition came from our first year being married, we were so poor and that was the coolest thing in our fridge to eat. To make things more interesting, we decided to make it elegant, but on the floor just for fun. We get so creative with decorating and setting it all up to make it special. We love it! So next year for sure!

J.D. is getting ready to start school again. He's going to finish the 4 beds by the end of this weekend and then school starts monday. He is pretty burned out with school, but this is his last semester to receive his bachelors. We have talked about him getting his masters if he doesn't get into any dental schools this year. He is still waiting to hear back for the dental schools. The masters program is only 1 year here at SUU so it would be do-able, but we will just wait and see.

I am finished with another class as of last night! WHOOHOO! I am starting a new class today and also studying for the Praxis exam. It's about 3 hours and I just hope and pray I pass. It covers Math, Reading, and Writing. I am pretty nervous, but I can only prep and try to be ready. On the side, I am still loving that I can be at home with Dawson.

Dawson is growing up so much! He is getting so smart too! Last night...
Dawson: "Daddy. I want a blanket."
J.D.: "Okay, well go get one then."
Dawson: "NO! You go get it!"
J.D.: laughing, "No, you have 2 legs, you go get it."
Dawson: "No legs. You get it."

Well, this goes on and on, but as you can see he is getting smart. lol! He loves to help me clean the house (yay for that one!). He helps me with all the laundry. He especially loves the rolling part when we roll our top and bottom g's together. He is into dragons, dinosaurs, trains, and cowboy stuff. Dawson absolutely loves to twirl mom's hair when he is tired or just cuddling. It's second nature to him now. :-) He loves milk, mac and cheese, soup (top ramen), apples, and chocolate. Of course he is a little boy and really could care less to eat a full meal...he's a snacker. He really hates nursery...well he hates the idea of mom and dad leaving him alone for 2 hours. I think Dawson has anxiety issues like me with being alone, or having to say goodbye.

history: If you don't know this, I really struggle saying goodbye. I have since I can remember. I remember sunbeams and crying by the door asking for my mom to come back. I would settle down after 20 minutes (yes, I remember specifically how it went because it was so traumatic for me). Saying goodbye while going to school I got used to, but i remember asking if my mom can come to class with me. After knowing my mom couldn't stay, I refused to play with anyone before school (I was in an afternoon class) in fear that my mom wouldn't be there to drop me off. I had to stick to the plan of mom dropping me off and going home. I became way good friends with Brie and Andy there. So, those are the only 2 houses I would go to after school if it wasn't my own. BUT I wouldn't go anywhere else. With dance, my sister taught me so I was okay. This is the sister who raised me (she was 14 and shared a room with me to take care of me at night).

I struggle saying goodbye to family especially. Anytime my brother chad and his wife would leave, I would go hide in my room and cry. I just hate to say goodbye. I cry when I say bye to my dad, J.D., and especially Dawson. I don't want to talk to anyone for a good half hour, and then I start to be okay. It usually takes a couple of days for me to get back into routine.

SOOO, I keep getting this feeling that Dawson is the same way. He really doesn't like to say goodbye. BUT it's hard to deal with it because I feel that if I think this way he will act more upon it...but if he really does struggle with it, I don't want him it to be traumatic like it has been for me. How do you handle it? I try to talk to him about what will be happening for a long time prior to leaving. This helps, he does cry...but it helps a little. Maybe it will help more when as he gets older. What would you do?