Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Summer fun

In April we celebrated Easter by going to some egg hunts in Downey and Arimo on Saturday and dyed eggs that night. Also in April Axel and I went to Bear World with my mom, Des, Mike and their girls. It was fun and kind of cold. They did an Easter egg hunt for the kids and the girls rode on some rides. We drove around the park and looked at the animals and got to see some new baby bear cubs.

In May we went to the Idaho Falls zoo for Braelyn's 3rd birthday. The kids had a good time looking at all the animals and watching a show.

In June we did a family trip to Island Park. My moms friend let us stay in her cute cabin. We rode 4-wheelers, played games, ate good food, went on a hike and looked at beautiful waterfalls fishing and enjoyed each others company. It was a lot of fun.

In July I put together a birthday party for Shane and Axel. Shane turned 30 and Axel turned 1. It was a lot of fun but super windy at Robin park. Shane got teased quite a bit from family. Axel wouldn't really touch his smash cake. We made some baseball cakes for Ax and black cakes for Shane.

In August we went to the Ross park pool for Brielle's 5th birthday.  Axel liked the lazy river, but didn't like being splashed. We went to pizza hut after and sang to Brie.
Shane, Axel and I went to Sun Valley and had a little mini vacation. We stayed in Hailey at a hotel and went swimming one night. We went on a nice bike ride and enjoyed the scenery and looked around. We watched an orchestra practicing and that was pretty cool. On our way home we stopped in Twin Falls and went to an ice cave and a waterfall.


Why not me?

So a couple weeks ago Shane and I were talking one evening and he showed me a movie trailer for 'just let go' that is coming to theaters soon. Its about a man who lost his wife, unborn child and 2 other children in a car accident caused by a 17 year old drunk driver. In the trailer toward the end it says "why me, why did this happen to me?" and then the husband going through this trial came to the conclusion of "why not me?" It stuck out to both me and my husband and we were talking about it later. So many times we question things that happen or go wrong in our lives. So many times we ask why me or how could you do this to me. When we are faced with difficulty in our lives through trials, deaths, financial difficulties and many other things, it is often hard to see the positive things in our lives and we tend to dwel on the negative. A lot of times after the storm has passed and things start to look up and we may get what we were hoping for we can often see why things were the way they were or are. For example, when I was struggling with infertility I would get angry and be so upset that Heavenly Father wasn't blessing me with a child that I so desperately wanted and longed for. After 4.5 year of trying to have a baby we were shocked and surprised to find out we were expecting. Even when our precious baby was born so early and we spent 3 weeks in the NICU it was hard and sometimes I asked why me. But after all that I have been able to look back and see why things happened the way they did and I have been able to appreciate my baby more and appreciate what Heavenly Father has given me. He has given me an amazing gift and He is trusting me with this wonderful soul. When we want something we want it now, we don't want to wait and be patient. I have learned to trust in my Heavenly Father's plan for me. He knows what is best for me, He knows my wants and wishes, but He also knows my needs and capabilities.

All that being said, it is still hard to go through difficult times and sometimes to have the faith we need to get through it. We have these difficult times to make us stronger, better people. We can either learn from the things we have to go through or we can give up and stay miserable.

Back the the 'why not me' part of the film, I have been pondering on it since I watched the trailer. I have thought about how that can humble us a little bit. Someone else out in the world can be fighting a greater battle, someone else can have a harder circumstance to bear. That phrase has made me look at things a little differently. How am I any better than the next person that has to deal with trials similar to mine? I am not perfect and I still have a lot of learning and growing to do in this lifetime. We knew we would face trials in this life when we agreed to gain a body and come to earth. We know that we need to get through these hard times in order to make it back home with our Heavenly Father. So instead of questioning  His plan for us, let us think 'why not me.' We can focus of the positive rather than the negative and go through our dificult times with faith and hopefully someday we will be able to understand why we had to go through them. Heavenly Father is always with us and knows what we are going through. He understands. He had to bear burdens so great we could never understand. He was perfect and he still had to pass through difficult times. He bled from every pore for OUR sins, not His own. He had to be tortured and nailed to a cross for US, for OUR salvation so that we could be forgiven and return home. He knew what He had to do and He did it. I would assume He never questioned 'why me' or 'how could you do this to me'...He knew why and He understood why it was so crucial for Him to go through all He had to endure.

Maybe next time when we have to go through something hard or difficult we can say why not me and try and become better, more faithful and knowledgeable. 

Monday, September 14, 2015

7-14 months

Axel has learned so much and is growing so fast. Since I am a little behind on the blog I am going to update from 6 mos to a year.
At 7 Months old he can sit, does a fake cough (that is pretty hilarious), says gaga and enjoys peek-a-boo.
 9 Months old he can say mama, wave bye bye, can sign all done, he loves to make motorboat noise, loves to play catch, he shakes his head no no, he has learned to growl, yell and throw fits (which are super fun). He has a few new things where he puts both arms straight behind him like he is flying backwards and with his left arm he puts up by his ear with his hand in a fist (we call it the superman/superbaby arm).
10 months old he calls Shane dada or bob :) he gets on his hands and knees, claps his hands and likes to cross his feet when sitting. He can feed himself finger foods and likes to pinch peoples neck. He loves his blankie and likes to rub the corners of it under his nose, on his cheeks and hands and likes to chew on the corners as well. He doesn't like to try and hold his own bottle so while I hold it for him he likes to play with his ears and my face and neck or pull my hair.
11 months he reaches his arms when he wants you, does the army crawl, pulls himself up on furniture and figures out how to full on crawl. He likes to put his finger in other peoples mouth and hang upside down.
12 months old he is into everything (we call him the master of disaster) and throws everything, including food and toys, he has a fake laugh, he eats solid food, loves to be outside, finally got two bottom teeth popping through, likes to point to things or people with his finger, he tries to share his binkie, gives hugs and puts phones up to his ear and jibber jabbers (it is so darn cute!) His last checkup he was 19 lbs 12 oz (3%) and 30.5 in. long (75%)
13 months he can take a few steps and says uh-oh, bye bye, baba, mama, dada, nana, papa. He is starting to imitate sounds and noises and likes to empty toys or clothes from a bin.
14 months he loves to be chased and held and is a huge mama's boy. He likes pat-a-cake, this little piggy, and music. He loves to play with other kids, he hates when I am out of sight and sometimes gets frustrated when he can't do something himself. He can say peek-a-boo, thank you and is trying to imitate sounds of dogs barking, cows mooing and birds chirping. He is getting so good at throwing and catching a ball. He is taking several steps by himself and getting more comfortable with walking. He has become quite the fit thrower when he doesn't get his way and screams when he is mad. He has an awesome fake laugh and cough. He now has 4 teeth, 2 on top and 2 on bottom. He is so active and fun, we can't imagine life without him.