The School of Motherhood

When Jason and I were newly married we both felt strongly that we didn't want to wait for me to finish my Bachelors to have kids. (I finished my Associates a few months after we were married but had a long way to go still for my Bachelors). I knew lots of people who had kids and went to school at the same time and just figured that's what I would do. After having Justin in the middle of my second semester at BYU-I and completing one more semester of online classes after his birth, I quickly realized that this wasn't the right answer for me. I LOVE school. Sitting in a class full of people learning about the world is seriously one of my favorite places to be, but I knew that I wanted to be a good mom more than anything and that wasn't something that came quite as easily for me as being a good student. When it came down to studying for a test or taking care of my baby I really struggled. I'm not someone who does ok with just doing "enough" in my classes and I really didn't want to feel like I was putting my family's happiness and taking care of my baby second to my secular education. So after lots of prayers and tears I decided that this was the season in my life for me to focus on being a mother. I knew I could finish school later when the time was right, but my kids were only going to be little once. On more than one occassion I had a strong answer that I wasn't "putting off school" but beginning a NEW type of school. I could be sitting in classes learning great things about the world, or I could be at home with my babies and LEARNING GREAT THINGS ABOUT THE WORLD.  I often find myself dreaming about finishing my degree, but I have to remind myself of those feelings that I was supposed to make my experiences at home into an education. I want to keep learning and in the process teach my kids the things I'm learning. Finishing my formal schooling is still in my future, but for now I've decided to focus on (and try to document) the things we are learning together, here at home, in the best classroom my Father in Heaven has ever created. So here goes...

Things I've learned this week
(May 3rd-9th 2015)

+ An amazingly easy, diy recipe for pedialyte (that I can make in the middle of the night with ingredients I already had): 1 qt warm water + 3 Tbsp sugar + 1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp salt

Poor little guy threw up every 10 minutes all night long. I really
enjoyed getting to cuddle with him when he slept though.

+ It's possible to hold a fussy baby in one arm AND fold large sheets AT THE SAME TIME. (they won't be perfect, but they'll be good enough to get them put away from the dryer so you can get some desperately needed clean sheets and towels washed)
+ Staying awake in the middle of the night to watch your husband gently hold and comfort a crying, sick baby has the ability to simultaneously break your heart and make it overflow with gratitude. (And it's almost as good as getting the much needed sleep he kindly offered you.)
+ Talking to your Mom is one of the best ways to help you feel better when you've been up all night with a baby that's been throwing up and crying. (ok, I might have already known that one...but I just remembered it again this week)

+Electrical conduit and two weights work really well to easily empty the plastic kid pool every day. (Jason actually figured this one out and taught Kayden how to suck on one end of it to start the siphon.) It allows us to play with the pool every day because we can easily empty it each time we're done so no one drowns and the grass doesn't die from it sitting in the same spot. :)
+Rash guards are great for preventing sunburns...unless your 3 year old keeps removing his. Also, it is definitely possible to get a bad sunburn before noon. :( Thank heavens for aloe vera and lavender!

+ Having your husband called to be the scout master & in a councilor in the young men's presidency is a terrific way to get your garage cleaned out in a very short amount of time. (They needed space for all the scouts to come fix up their bikes for the 60 miler they're planning.)

one of our eight new chicks

+ Little tiny chicks rapidly turn into much larger chicks that can jump out of cardboard boxes and run around the garage while you're not looking.

The big chickes LOVE fresh greens.
(In the background you can see the
cardboard enclosing the little chicks
temporary new home.)

+ Cardboard actually works surprisingly well (as a temporary solution) to enclose a roosting house well enough to provide protection for chicks being evicted from the garage.
+ Throwing fresh greens into the chicken coop and opening the door is a lot faster way to gather escaped chickens than trying to chase them down and catch them one by one. (Don't know why that took me so long to discover!)

+ The baby elm trees that sprouted up all around my grape vines are in fact NOT grape vine shoots... but they ARE edible. -who knew?

+ Turnip plants that have gone to seed are an AWESOME way to attract tons of butterflies for little boys to enjoy. And a heck of a lot easier than building a "butterfly feeder"

+ Plastic bags tied around the watering spouts in the grow boxes are a perfect (slightly hick) solution for helping disperse the water so it doesn't run directly back down the pvc pipe to the ground beneath the grow box.

He really needs a hair cut, but I
love this kids adorable bed head!

+ 88 cent hot wheels are officially the BEST solution for keeping a little boy in his own bed all night. (Kayden has gotten in a really bad habit of climbing into our bed in the middle of the night when we're too asleep to notice, which always results in a horrible nights sleep for me. I tried lots of threats and bribes but this one finally worked. If he goes to bed without a fight and stays in his bed until the sun comes up he gets to pick a hot wheel out of the surprise bag. Arguably the best money I've ever spent!)

+ A hot pink bracelet, hand braided by the most adorable little boys and their daddy, is WAY better than any store bought jewelry for Mothers Day!!! (especially when it was used to tie each other up before it was fashioned into a beautiful bracelet...it makes me smile every time I look at it.)

2014 in a nutshell

2014 in a nutshell 
(add pictures later)

February 25th- Jason was offered an awesome job opportunity in Joseph City (his hometown) and we decided it was worth terminating his contract at Duncan early and moving across the state with a 36-week pregnant (slightly emotional) mom, a very spirited and then sick two-year-old, a happy little four-year-old, and a giant dinosaur u-haul full to the brim with all our junk possessions. We had three weeks from Jason's official "you're hired" call until his start date, so it was a tad bit crazy trying to pack, find a place to live, move and start work. It was also, surprisingly, really hard to leave Virden. We'd planned on it being a temporary location, but in the two years we spent there I fell in love with the people, the dirt roads, living right next to cousins, and only an hour from my Momma. The new job and move was definitely an answer to prayers, but I still cried. a lot. 

Things I loved about Virden: The sunrises & sunsets, morning walks with Debbie, running with Kristin (first time I actually learned to LOVE running), our awesome rent price, getting to fix up the trailer we lived in, story time at the old Virden church, playing in the irrigation water, living next to Dan & Kristin, Karly, Ky & Kale, Football games, getting to see my family on an almost weekly basis, playing tennis at the old court on the hill, and getting to know all the AWESOME people that live there)

March 18th- Jason started his new job as the Tech Admin for JCUSD and we moved up to JC into a little rental house on the end of Randall ave. I unpacked what we needed, spent hours and hours on the phone working out all of the crazy last minute insurance changes & changing our address everywhere, found a new OB in Showlow, and tried to get ready for our new baby that was due any day.

April 15th- Our third little red-headed boy, Logan Leon Gardner, was born in Showlow, AZ and we all immediately fell in love with him. He is the sweetest, easiest, happiest baby ever! He's been a HUGE blessing in our lives and a source of so much joy.
End of May- I was called to be the new Primary President in our ward. Awesome calling, but super overwhelming and lots of prayers and tears involved. It has definitely been a growing experience for me. Thankfully I've had amazing counselors and some awesome primary teachers and it's been a beautiful opportunity to get to know all of these awesome kids in our ward.

October 27th- I started working part time as an interpreting/teaching aid (American Sign Language) working in Mrs. Dewitt's first grade classroom with the sweetest little deaf girl. Working part time was definitely the last thing I wanted or planned to do, but the little girl was in foster care, had just been placed in Joseph City, and the school couldn't find anyone to take the job. So to keep her from spending most of her days with a coloring book when she should be learning to communicate, my mother-in-law and I agreed to go in and sign for her (teach her ASL) part-time. The boys would go to Jane's house while I signed, then we'd switch off and I'd take the boys home while she signed. I've loved the opportunity to learn more ASL and loved being able to help and get to experience the excitement of a little girl learning to communicate, but it was also REALLY hard to leave my boys when I knew the most important place for me to be was home with them. So I told them I'd have to stop after Christmas even if they hadn't found someone full time yet, and that I'd only be able to come in once in while. It breaks my heart to think about the little girl being sat in front of a coloring book while the rest of the class is learning and she's falling farther behind, but my first priority needs to be my family.

December 20th- We bought our very FIRST HOME! I'm absolutely in love with it. We've been renting for six years, and since Jason graduated in 2011 we have spent hundreds of hours looking at house plans, drawing our own house plans, walking through homes for sale, looking at property and praying to know what was right for our little family. I honestly can't believe how perfectly everything suddenly fell into place for this first little home of ours. I have been in love with it from the moment I set eyes on it. The Bryant's were friends from Pima and had it built in 2011 so it was fairly new, absolutely beautiful, well taken care of, and just perfect for us. It had almost everything from our "wish list" (open floor plan, high ceilings, gas range, big windows, separate tub & shower in the master, and a big back yard to play in) and it was actually in our price range (definitely a huge blessing and wonderful miracle). It's perfect for our little family and I still thank my Father in Heaven for it every day. <3
December 25th- Our FIRST Christmas in our new home, FIRST Christmas with Logan, FIRST Christmas staying home with just our own little family, and FIRST real Christmas tree. I absolutely loved having just our little family on Christmas morning. It was such a sweet experience to get to really focus on our little boys and their reactions to everything. I love that Justin was most excited about his new toothbrush with lights and Kayden was super excited about his new super hero underwear. They liked the legos, balls, candy, angry bird bean bags, play dough, pajamas and paints too. Oh, and the trampoline that Santa almost lost his fingers to frostbite setting up on Christmas eve.