boobs are like magic

last night was bunko. Around 10:30 pm I received a text from my husband. No words, just this picture:

I was already in the car when I got the text, but I pretended like I left the party early and rushhhhed home. Daddy was super impressed that I was there to rescue him 2.5 minutes after the SOS. When he says jump, I ask how high.

This is what she looked like 2.5 minutes after I arrived home.

boobs are like magic.

it's unfortunate my husband can't grow a pair.

Happy Birthday, Zack!

on the road again

Aaron and I talked extensively about how to simplify our family life in 2012. We wanted more quiet evenings at home. Scripture reading every night by the fire. Journal writing about things we are grateful for. Date nights after the kids are in bed. pretty simple goals, if you ask me.

We haven't done so well. In fact, these first few weeks of 2012 have been some of the most chaotic weeks of our married life. Two weeks ago we were in Arizona. We spent last weekend in Utah. Tonight I am writing from a comfortable bed at a Hilton hotel in California. Only three of our kids are with us. Ben and Zack wanted to stay with friends and we didn't have room for them in Aaron's car anyway. It's time to get a newer, bigger car for our family. We hope to sign our lives away on a 12 passenger van tomorrow. You heard me right.

Last Thursday was a really hard day for me. Aaron came home after a long day of work and a basketball game and told me "tomorrow will be better". But Friday Simon flooded the bathroom on the 2nd floor (water coming down from the ceiling in the kitchen). He also threw a basketball in Romy's face and bit her fingers... along with spreading a tube of toothpaste on Aaron's night stand and emptying a can of formula on the stairs. Later that night, Sunny broke off the faucet to our backyard hose. Water was spraying everywhere and I just wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out. Thanks to facebook (and some awesome friends and neighbors) the faucet was fixed in no time at all. When we went to bed on Friday, my optimistic husband told me to look at the bright side and said, "this will make a great blog post." Had I been in the right mood, it could have been.

Out of everything that's happened in the past few days/weeks the only things written in my handwritten gratitude journal are the lessons I've learned in quiet moments with Jane. I knew she was an amazing person when I first met her and I have grown to love her even more over the past 5 years of our friendship.. but I am completely BLOWN AWAY by her strength, powerful insight and testimony through this very difficult loss. She has taught me so much over the past few weeks. So grateful to have her in my life. Read her recent optimistic and emotional blog post HERE.

Hope to be home, back to "normal" and uploading pictures soon.

Love from Cali,

Janet

swinger

For the past few weeks, naps for Simon have been on an every-other-day schedule. The days he doesn't nap are brutal. Yesterday was supposed to be a nap day and boy! was I looking forward to it. After lunch Simon knew it was naptime and he went MIA. I looked for him for about 20 minutes and wondered if he had maybe fallen asleep somewhere because it was unusually quiet and clean! After calling his name and going through each of the upstairs bedrooms, I finally heard a giggle coming from the corner in the loft. He had been "hiding" in the baby's swing... such a sneaky little bugger.

When I finally found him, he laughed and said, "I swinging, Mom. Push me higher!" Eventually he went down-- and about 5 minutes later lil' Ro woke up from her nap. I can't seem to catch a break around here. Life is a bit crazy... and always full of surprises.

sweetest Jane

I just opened my laptop for the first time since Friday. I was so surprised to see that I had two new posts on my blog! I uploaded my Christmas letter and the baby's birth announcement weeks ago... and meant to save them as drafts, but apparently I set the date to publish in January.. and they did. Posting Ro's birth announcement a few days after my friend buried her baby seems very disrespectful and impious, but I think Jane will forgive me.

It's been an unbelievably long week. I've cried myself to sleep every night and tonight will probably do the same. It's amazing how emotional you can feel when someone you love is hurting. Jane told me today how exhausted she is each night and I can only imagine how drained she must feel, emotionally and physically. I have been completely wiped out and I am only a bystander in this tragedy.

We arrived home from Utah last night. The funeral services were beautiful. Yes, it was very sad and emotional, but it was such a special tribute to these two young, dedicated, wonderful parents. Jane's brother spoke about what an incredible mother Jane is and I couldn't have agreed more. She is the most playful, creative, musical, interactive and loving mom. My four boys absolutely adore Jane and want to be around her 24/7. Simon prefers her whenever we are together. He wants Jane to pick him up, open his candy, cut up his food, etc. "Jane's house" were two of Simon's first words and saying them in an excited manner has become kind of a joke in our family. A few months ago, Zack had drawn a really cool picture and brought it to me asking if we could drive to Jane's house. I asked him if he drew it for Jane and wanted to give it to her. Zack looked at me a little embarrassed and said, "No. I just want to show it to Jane." He knew that she would be so proud. Ben and Luke include Jane in their list of best friends and always make sure that her boys (who are years younger) are invited to their birthday parties because that will mean that Jane will come. They love going to Jane's house to play with her too!

I went to Jane's house this morning to pick up Zack. He had spent the night (long story... our van broke down in St. George. Rick and Jane were there to hang with us at Target and take Zack back with them. Another amazing friend drove up from Vegas to bail us out of our car problems and drive us home... what would we do without great friends???) Anyway, I went to pick up Zack this morning and see how Jane was doing. Little Vaughn, Jane's oldest, answered the door and told me his mom was in the shower. As he ran up the stairs to get her, he said, "Sit down and wait. If you get hungry, there's some food in the fridge. If you want to eat an orange, you can just take off the peel." He is such a little host! Jane came down with a towel wrapped around her hair. She took Roma out of my arms and held her and sang a song to her while rocking her in a chair. It was confirmed to me again what an amazing mom she is. What I wouldn't give to sing like Jane! Even though her baby boy never took a breath, I know he heard his mom sing to him. He is so lucky to have such a mother. I am so lucky to have such a friend.

This past week, I've wondered how I would handle such a trial in my life. I've realized that I am not as strong or as faithful or as diligent as I hope to be. I have become more dedicated to my family, to my scripture studies and my journal writing since I met baby Adam. The prayers I've offered in the past few days have been sincere and heart-wrenching. When something like this happens, being on your knees feels like the safest place to be. Little Adam's life was so short, but the impact he left on the lives of those around him was profound.

I hope when I grow up, I can be like my sweet friend Jane. Read a beautiful post recently written by her HERE.