One Month

Callie is such a great big sister.

That's my boy and his...toupee(?)...mid sneeze.  

This big boy...1 month pictures

4 weeks

I can't believe it's already been 4 weeks.  For only 4 weeks this little guy has been with us in our home.  It feels like it's been so much longer.  It feels like he's always been with us.  I guess it was just meant to be.

We Are Family

All we wanted was a picture of the kids....

The first one never works, right?

And Micah was freaked out by the ponies 

"Dude," says Callie, "why don't you like the ponies?"

Sammy wasn't terribly interested in holding her baby brother.

As much as he wanted her to hold him, she remained indifferent.

Callie's all smiles, Sammy's unsure how much longer this will take, and Micah's already pulling the funny faces when we're trying to take a good picture.

Yep.  

It's a keeper.

Be looking for this beauty in our 2013 Christmas card!

My Favorites

Our Lil Man

Remembering Wholeness by Carol Tuttle

Wow.  After a discussion with a friend, she handed me this book to read.  She thought I'd be interested in what Carol Tuttle had to say and so...I took the book and I read it.  I'm so glad I did.

There are some books that we read that are entertaining.  Some give us insight into other worlds and allow our creativity to soar.  It's invigorating and exciting.  Some books give us information that we've been looking for and tap into our logical minds.  And some, some books can do both.  This book did both for me.  Not because what she said is ficitional, but because it opened up my mind to a completely different world...a world that is right here, but a world that I haven't spent too much time reflecting and thinking about.  hmmm  This is confusing I'm sure.

Remembering Wholeness explores the spiritual realm of Energy.  Tuttle talks about how we are creators...born creators...on Earth here to create and learn how to create.  And through some of the things she explains and teaches, she encourages us all to create the life we want through our thoughts -- through energy.  Some of this, I admit, I thought was a little crazy at first.  Yet at the same time, it rang true.  There's a vernacular used with energy work.  Phrases like "Living your truth" and such are often used and then overused by society.  Talking about having our energy flow properly and things or the sort...connecting our energy with others...and if you are new to the topic, it can seem too much.  Strange.  Really out there.  But, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are certain doctrines that we recognize as truths.  We are all born with the light of Christ in us for one.  And as I read her book, I found I had been subconsciously substituting "energy" words with my own "religious" words.  So, when she would talk about energy, or connecting our energy with others...to me it made complete sense.  If we all have the light of Christ in us, perhaps that's the energy I can focus on.  It is light.  It is energy.  It is the power to create happiness.  Right?  (As a side note: Carol Tuttle, herself, is a very active of the LDS church.)

All I can say is that I have found more peace in my life, more calm and more happiness, as I have tried to implement just a little bit of what she talks about.  It's an interesting book to read and one that I think we can all take pieces from.  Did I agree with or accept everything she says ~ no.  But overall, I really enjoyed reading it.  If anything, I felt empowered when I was reminded that I am in control of more things than I think, while being humbled remembering that I have a Father in Heaven who is in control of it all...so when things don't turn out the way I'd like, there's a reason.  And most likely a really good reason.

The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

While I was in Utah doing therapy with Samantha, I wanted to read some books.  I also wanted to write a book...but that's another story.  I started reading Gone With the Wind but as much as I loved it (and am still loving it), I felt a deep desire to finish a book while I was gone, and I knew at the rate I was going, I wouldn't do it.  I really had this deep desire to finish something...and this book fell into my lap.

It was at the BYU sidewalk sale for only $2.00.  I bought it, read it, and it was finished in only a couple nights.  It was a perfect book for what I was looking for.

It was fast.  And it was overall happy.

The book revolves around the relationship of Jack and Laurel Cooper.  In the first chapter of the book, you are made very aware of how deep their love for each other is and the rest of the book is a reflection on their lives together -- how their romance began and evolved over their married life.  Their children read letters that Jack wrote Laurel every Wednesday during their life together.  I actually did that one year for Marcus for Christmas...but they were Sunday Letters.  And I'll tell you what, that is a commitment!  But it was really fun to do.  For one year I wrote him every Sunday and at Christmas, I printed them off and bound them in a book.  It was a fun project.  Anyway...back to the book.

What I liked about the book is that I was actually surprised.  I thought it would be very predictable but it wasn't all of the time.  I enjoyed that.  And, at the end, I had the self satisfaction I was looking for of completing a book on that trip as well as feel hopeful and happy about life.  It's a good book to read one time.  I enjoyed it.