Memorial Day Weekend

So, Memorial day use to be just another holiday I forgot existed after high school. But, This year I had the opportunity to go to my Dads grave with the Counters and Kim. I think Dad would have been happy. My memories of my Dad are random and scattered for some reason.
 I am thankful for the Dad that he was. I never doubted that he loved me. I hope that my accomplishments and path have/can make him proud. I wasn't the best daughter and I know I could have done more. But I am thankful for the times I had with him. It seems like I can look back at visits with him where we were able to have even just a few minuets of one and one time that was special. I hope that he is watching over Lucy.
Last Sunday I was also able to attend sacrament meeting in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Where a very cute young couple had been asked to speak. The Young lady stood up and spoke about the definition of hope, that hope is something we can control. Her husband then stood smiling and talked about how we were sent here to be happy. That we can be happy through our trials and to myself I sat and thought really? You're young newly weds, what could you possible know about being happy through your trials? After having some time to really think on the topic I realized, (yet again). I need an attitude adjustment. That he is correct, we have our trials so that we can more fully appreciate the good things in our lives.
I got Lucy out of the shower first this morning and then proceeded to dry myself off and put on some clothes before looking for her, big mistake, I walked out to the front room to find, a big turd on the floor, great. I quickly rinsed her off and dressed her, and then while scouting out my cleaning supplies I thought, I should grateful for the turd on the floor because it means my little "turd" is home with me, And she is apparently very healthy. As I watch her today I realize how big she is really getting. She knows what she wants, what she doesn't want, how to ask for things, how to get into things. We went to the grocery store, and she had to have her shoes and her hat. When we returned home she walked in the door, put her hat on the table, and then took her shoes off and put them on the table next to her hat. I know things will get more difficult as she gets older, but I am grateful that she is smart and strong...someone may have to remind me I said that but I pray that her strength will keep her out of worldly troubles.

   

Mothers Day and Lucy's Blessing

Thank you EVERYONE that came to Lucy's blessing. Grandpa Dean gave Lucy a beautiful blessing on the evening of Saturday May 11th.
Mothers Day was nice too. Had the chance to sit back relax and enjoy the nice weather.

Blessed

There have been so many changes lately. Every once in a while I think what was it like to have a "normal" life? and then I realize that there is no normal, there is no set blue print that our Father in Heaven sets for us. We are expected to try our best to be like him. I know he hears my prayers, daily, hourly...in fact I'm sure he wishes I would pipe it down a bit. There have been so many adjustments and shifts in just the past few months. I feel like I've been blind folded, spun around and told to find north.  I have tripped, I have fallen, I've been dusted off and stood back up and Through it all, I look at Lucy and think what a blessing she is, how cute she is, what an amazing gift, and I get to be her mom. I pray I can do it right, I pray that I can be what she needs when she needs it. I pray that she will understand that all the choices that I've made in my life have been done with purpose. I pray that she will always know what a light she is in, not only my life, but others. She is the stength I needed to remind me that I am going to be ok. That Heavenly Father loves me just as much, if not more than I love her. I know he wants me to succeed. I know that we've all been challenged to bare our testimony, and I am light years away from standing up in sacerment meeting. But I know the church is true. I know God hears and answers prayers, we may not always see it, but I know he is always working on them. I know he loves me. This sounds a bit like a narrative from many others, but it has taken me time to truly come to the knowledge of these things, to be able to say it for myself, that I KNOW.
I am grateful for the people that he has placed around me, for the people that have stood up to help me when I've been down. I have been surprised by many, that have offered words of encouragement and understanding.
I am so grateful for the spirit and is guidance in my life. I have recently been able to go back to the temple and feel the peace that comes within is walls. I know that I need to be there, I know that's what I need. I have been praying for direction for months now, and that was the first place I was directed. My first time back I was nervous and antsy hoping to find all the answers I had been looking and so desperate for, some of them came. Others I know I am not ready for but they will be answered in time. I am grateful for all I have been given and the people that have helped me along the way.
This weekend Lucy will be blessed by her Grandpa Dean, I have been torn up about it. Thinking it should have been done sooner, But I realize that to move forward I can not look back. That our road to happiness lies in front of us. We must keep moving on. We cannot have fear and faith.

19 Months

19 months! I think we are starting into the terrible twos... Lucy is smart and sassy! She has added yogurt, shoes, please, book to her ever growing vocabulary. She runs and has just started to jump, or I guess I should say try and jump. Whenever there is music playing on the T.V. or my Ipad or a even just a toy she will stop and dance, sway side to side to stomp her feet side to side. She has good rhythm! She loves going to the park and climbing the steps and running over to the slide. She has also just started going down the slide by herself, where I catch her. She mothers her baby dolls and has tea parties at her table. She still loves to chase Frank. She is still mastering patty cake, patty cake. and tries to do the Itsy bitsy spider. Everything is still a phone. She eats pretty well and still has a thing for grandma Joan's home canned peaches and apples. She has figured out that she can move her chairs over to the bean bag and use it to climb into the bean bag. She has also just discovered that she can reach the top drawers in the kitchen, Where she will blindly open and reach into one...cute...Right? She is obsessed with shoes, always wants them on or off or to carry them around. Its even cuter when she tries on my shoes and carefully walks around in them, not always successfully but she makes it work.
Nursery seems to be going alright. The walk to nursery is like a parade, she has wave to everyone and says bye, or yells bye till someone looks. Once we make it to the room she is unsure of all the other kids. Chad and I joke that its because she is like him, and hates other kids.
It is amazing to watch her grow, everyday seems like something new. She is in the 70th percentile for height and head and the 30th for weight, so she is tall and skinny just like her mama and papa.
Its getting to be garden time! I was watering in some fertilizer and Lucy found the sprinkler! She loved it! Ran in and out of the water, laughing and giggling. She would bend over like she was getting a drink and then say ahhh and walk away. She is too much fun.

Girls Weekend

Lucy and I went to Utah last weekend for the Salt Lake Marathon that Tasha ran, Go Tash! Also Katie came to visit us from Texas, Us...wait who am I kidding she came to see Lucy, lol. She was suppose to fly into Boise but she got to Salt Lake and her flight was canceled so Tasha and I met up with her, Missy and Nicole the next day for lunch. We got to stay at The Kimball right in down town, thanks to Michelle and her awesome time share. The next day we met up with the rest of the "gang" for pizza after the race. We shopped and ate good food until we were tired.
Lucy was a real trooper the whole weekend. And even got her own private suit...the walk in closet.She started yelling "bye" and waving whenever someone was leaving the room. She seemed to warm up to everyone rather well. There was one evening when we all met up for pizza that she was a bit over whelmed but considering there were 23 of us in a smallish room talking and eating, she had her reasons.
We drove home with Katie, grabbed a bite to eat, watched some tv, surfed facebook and went to bed. It was a nice low key weekend to catch up with each other. Thanks for coming out Katie it is always good to see you, love you.

 

 

18 months and growing!

18 months... I know I say it all the time but where has the time gone? And where did my baby go?
Lucy is full of it! She is so happy. She will spin around and get dizzy and fall over, and then just lay on the floor in he same spot and laugh and kick or twitch. She dances, she will blink really hard and slow and if you do it back she laughs and laughs. We go on walks and she will run and stop, turn around sway and stomp her feet. She laughs at everything, everything is a phone and she says "hello?" She loves Frank, she will put blankets on him when he is laying on his bed or she will sit next to him and she will put her necklaces on and off of him. she hugs and kisses him. If she is crying and he walks into the room she instantly stops and points and says "dog". She still loves apples, and cheese and popcorn. She loves to play in the dirt, I bought her a little gardening set with a hand shovel and rake and bucket and a little watering can. She will fill the bucket with dirt, throw dirt at Frank and entertain herself for hours. She also loves water. I put a dish of water with some spoons and cups and she played and played. Scooping the water out with the spoon and walking over to the dirt to dump it, and then she must have gotten thirsty so she drank and drank the water out of a cup. She loves showers. Anytime I shower she has to as well. And then she will play in there for as long as I will let her after wards. and is not always a happy camper when I pull her out before she thinks she is ready. We had to find a new baby sitter this month. We have a trail run on Monday. I hope she likes her. Finding child care is so scary. Lucy seems to be doing well with the transition. She is always happy to see Chad when its his time and she is always happy to see me when I get off of work. Makes it easier to leave knowing that she is happy and well taken care of.
I also took her crib apart and made it into a toddler bed. She sleeps really well in it. I put her to bed around 8 and she wakes up between 7:30 and 8.  She pops open her door, says mom? and then brings me Lenny her Lamb and her purple blanket, every morning.
Lucy loves to go on walks and play at the park. I'm always scared someone will call me in when we leave, she screams like someone is kid napping her!
Poor little thing has been sick for the last few days. Lots of crying, her and me!

Easter!

Easter Sunday. Went down to Kimberly to celebrate, with almost everyone. Most of the Counter clan, the Melville family and Kim came up from Utah. Nicole and Frank and Luke were all over at Solomon's house. We had a nice dinner and a huge egg hunt that everyone kicked in...except for me, I didn't contribute this year. Next year for sure, Thank you everyone for making the holiday a great one.
 Since Lucy already loves Easter eggs, egg hunting was pretty natural for her. She picked up a few and put them in the basket and then she realized there was candy in them, and it was over, she opened one, ate some of the candy, dropped it and looked for another. She was rather happy about the whole process.
We had a couple of Easter dresses, so we had a morning church dress and an afternoon egg hunting dress. :)

-love this first picture! Thank you Mandi