Answers to Prayers

Yesterday I was trying to help Kate go #2 on the potty. I don't know why it's such a struggle for her but we spend hours a day trying to get her to go on the potty and not in her underwear. My frustration was mounting as I knew she needed to go but she just wouldn't. Before I reached my breaking point as I have many times I said to her, "Kate let's say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help you go poopie on the potty." She folded her arms and I said the prayer. We ended our session on the toilet there and she went off to play. About 10 minutes later I put her back on the potty and she pooped. She was happy and I was beyond excited. She looked at me right after she pooped and said "Mama, Heavenly Father heard you. He helped me go poopie!" I said "Yes, he did Kate. Do you think we should tell him thank you?" She folded her arms and said the prayer, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for helping me go poopie. I love you. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

I love that even a 3 year old can understand that we have a Father in Heaven who hears and answers our prayers. It was such a beautiful example of faith and the love a child has for her Father in Heaven. I hope Kate will always understand that Heavenly Father is always there for us, we just need to ask him.

First Prayers All Alone

Last night was monumental for us. Kate said the prayer which is always a struggle. For some reason prayers at night time are hard for her. She won't sit up, she won't fold her arms, and usually she talks during the middle of the prayers. I've been frustrated more than once by our night time prayers. Recently on a trip to D.I. I picked up an old kids book on prayer. We've read it every night for the past few weeks and it has made such a difference in her prayers. Last night she decided she'd say the prayer all by herself for the first time. Usually we have to help her out here and there with her prayers. It went something like this:

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day. Thank you for our blessings. Thank you for the church. Thank you for the steeple. Thank you for my family. Thank you for the dinosaur park. Thank you for markers. Thank you for our crayons. Bless us to be nice. Bless us to watch movies. Bless us to go to the dinosaur park. Bless us that the butterflies will fly outside at night time. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


It was cute. In other news Gabriella is walking. It's still kind of a fun trick but she's getting better and better.

1. Gabriella got her first tooth today. I thought one was coming, and it finally did.

2. Kate has been sick and not too happy about it. Tonight after her being difficult and upset for about an hour I finally put her to bed. She wanted to sleep in my bed, which was fine, whatever was going to help her go to sleep. She had a hard time going to bed and really didn't know what she wanted, she wanted me then she didn't. She wanted a drink, then she didn't. I finally just said goodnight and closed the door a little. During that time Gabriella and I were hanging out in Kate's room. Gabriella had crawled her way over to the little table where she then wanted to stand up and play. I stood her up and she immediately started banging on the table. Every time she would bang on the table I would hear Kate scream form my room "Don't do that Gabriella!" Then it was quiet, a minute later Gabriella would bang again in response the same protest came echoing out of my room "Stop doing that Gabriella!" It just cracked me up, it went on for about 10 minutes. Oh Kate, I sure hope you sleep better tonight than you did last night. Nevermind, I can hear her screaming. Oh well, maybe another night I'll sleep.

Stories

Tonight for the first time Kate said to me, "Let me tell you a story." Then she went on to tell me stories about "Princess Mama" and how I played on the wall, and Kate had to tell Mama, "You not play on that wall!" "You not play on that wall right now." She went on to tell me stories about dinosaurs, horses, and going potty. In her stories she switched me and her and would say things like " Mama went on the potty and Kate said, do you need to use the potty? And you used the big potty!" I sure love this girl.

Scoldings

Every time Kate scolds Gabriella for something she says "Gabriella Rose Peterson you not do that!"

Out of Shape

Went running yesterday for the first time in forever! Really I haven't worked out for about two years. I took Duke and after about a mile or so, I completely threw up. That was the first time in my life that I have thrown up while working out, how ridiculous! Today I'll just have to make sure I don't eat or drink before I go.

Toddler or Teenager?

While getting ready for church last Sunday I picked a dress out for Kate to wear. When I went to put it on her she replied "I can't wear that, I already wore that dress to church." I tried to explain to her that you can wear dresses more than once to church but she wasn't buying it. So we decided on a different dress. I could have sworn she was 2 going on 3, but maybe it's 2 going on 16?

Baptism

I took Kate and Gabriella with me to a baptism yesterday at the Logan Tabernacle. I explained to Kate where we were going and what was going to happen. I asked her as we drove over there what being baptized means, she repeated back to me what I had told her. She told me we get baptized because Jesus was baptized and it makes us clean, and we become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I figured that was a good enough explanation for a 2 year old.

The man being baptized was the husband of a sister I visit teach. Along with him her daughter was also being baptized. He went first, Kate stood on the chair so she could see. She watched intently and as he was getting out of the font, it was dead silent Kate asked very loudly, "Mama, Where's Jesus?" I quieted her, and she repeated the question again. Apparently she was under the impression Jesus would be there. I quietly explained Jesus wasn't going to be there. She was disappointed but that was soon over shadowed by her thoughts of how silly it was that people were wearing clothes into the water.

Snow White...with attitude

Kate is all things Snow White lately. She puts on the dress, jewelry, shoes, and headband. Then she must color in her Snow White coloring book while also watching Snow White on the television. I'm reminded over and over that her name is not "Kate" it's "Snow White." Matt and I are not allowed to sing the songs, only "Snow White" can sing them. I'm thinking maybe I'll remind her how Snow White lived in the castle and did all the cleaning for the queen, I wonder if she'd like to be Snow White then?

Piggyback Rides?

Today I was showing Kate all the lady bugs on a tree by our deck. There were about 20 lady bugs scattered on the leaves of the tree. Kate was ecstatic about the discovery. As we stood there counting lady bugs she saw two lady bugs, one on top of the other. She started laughing and said, "Look, that silly lady bug is giving the other one a piggyback ride!"

The rest of the day as she played with her toy horses they all gave each other piggyback rides. I would have taken a picture but it seemed a little inappropriate.

Dadadadada

Gabriella has been repeating sounds we make recently. It's adorable, she studies your mouth as you make the sound and then tries to repeat it. Tonight she started saying "Dadadadadada" Matt was pretty happy about it. She sure loves her dad these days.

Milestones

Gabriella started crawling yesterday. It's sort of an army crawl/worm movement. She gets on all fours and rocks back and forth to get her momentum and then lunge forward. She also started walking holding onto the furniture today. That girl just can't hold still.

Kate is potty trained. She's done great this time around. She has had only 1 accident in over a week and when she did have that accident she was a lot more upset than I was.

A couple days ago Kate was in the kitchen playing with the dogs at the backdoor. I was making my way up to the kitchen when I heard her yelling "What the freak, Duke!" over and over. Something she overheard her father say while playing one of his computer games. Matt and I had a conversation about it latter that night.

You've Got To Be Kidding Me.

We've delved into the world of potty training again with Kate. She is doing great this time, no accidents and has gone in the potty for the past 2 days. Then yesterday she started getting her little mushy poops. She had about 10 of them yesterday. It about drove me bonkers! At one point during the day she went upstairs while I was downstairs playing with Gabriella. Not too long after she left she came back down asking me to wipe her bum. I was frustrated, I said, "Kate why didn't you sit on your potty." She just asked me again to wipe her bum. As I was cleaning her up I asked, "Kate where did you go poopy at?" My mind wandered to images of poop all over the carpet, my bed, toys, ect. She thought for a moment and replied, "On the counter." What? I thought she must have been confused. So I asked again, her reply was the same "On the counter." After she was cleaned up I walked upstairs watching every step in case the poop happened to be on the stairs somewhere. I made it upstairs into the kitchen where I found a nice little pile of mushy poop right on the counter. At least she's honest about where she decides to poop!

Trying Harder

I'm going to try to start writing in here more often, my goal is daily but we'll see how that goes. Things are going great for us.

Kate is working on potty training, or maybe I should say I'm working on potty training. She has this amazing ability to hold it in as long as she can (she only went 2 times yesterday). She has developed a bit of an independent, defiant streak recently. I try to be patient but I fear I'm not being as patient as I should. She is generally happy and helpful. I love being able to be home with her everyday. The older she gets and the more I think about her going to preschool and kindergarden I start to feel anxiety build inside me. Not because I'll miss her so much (although I will) but I just feel so anxious that someone else will be teaching and taking care of her. I don't know, the world is such a hard place right now. There's so much wickedness I guess I fear for what she is going to have to face when she gets a little older. Ahhh, the joys of parenthood I guess.

Gabriella is almost 8 months old and all I can do is shake my head. This little girl is just as sweet as can be and gives these huge smiles. You can't help but feel happy when she looks at you. She is also about the most decided strong headed little thing I've ever seen. She has so much personality and determination for an infant I sometimes can't believe she is still so little. She wants to be standing and walking constantly. She is very good at voicing her frustrations when she is unable to do what she wants. I can just sense her frustration at her physical limits right now. She usually wants whatever Kate has and is not shy about voicing it. She yells for your attention, or makes really loud grunting noises. She loves any and all food. I swear that girl could eat all day long and still be hungry. I love having her but my goodness, she sure does take up a lot of my energy! I can't even imagine what she'll be like when she's 2.

Matt start school next moth and I think he is excited. His job has been especially demanding lately. We're hoping we'll be able to find a different job in the next few months that will allow him more time at home and more time to spend doing his school program. I sure love and appreciate all he does for our family. We are not rich by any means, but we've never gone without the things that we need in this life. I've never had to worry about not being able to afford food, we have a warm house, clothing, and lots of extras that I'm sure we don't really need! He's been a great provider for our family and I am so grateful to have him.

As for me, I'm just trying harder to educate myself on all sorts of things. It seems we're at kind of a critical point in our Nations history and things are about to change here in America. I've been reading, studying, and trying to learn about our Nations history, and what's going on these days in the world. I try to read both sides of the issues, and form my own opinions. It all kind of came together for me last night and now I know where I stand and why I stand there. It seems so many of our basic freedoms are being taken away from us, the government is growing while the private sector shrinks. Government welfare programs are at an all time high and unemployment keeps growing. After reading the prophets words and the scriptures it seems the same battle that was waged in the preexistence continues today. Satan works hard to take away our agency. He tricks many into believing that Government is the answer, they can save you. There is only one Savior and he will never take away our agency, our freedom, or our right to choose. America was the "chosen land" what an amazing place to have been born, the only true free place in the world. And yet it seems America is forsaking God, turning her back on him and when that happens God will forsake us. I'm trying hard to be more grateful for this country, to be grateful for the men that sacrificed and founded this great nation. Those who were led by the hand of God and established this land as a land of liberty. I don't think I will ever take it for granted again.

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

We were lucky to have my parents come out to visit us for a few days this past week. Matt was able to arrange his schedule so he had two days off to spend with us. They got in Tuesday evening and after a good dinner my mom and I went for a late night walk. It had rained most of the day but by that night it had cleared up and it was a beautiful evening.

The next day we got up early and went fishing at a little lake for Tiger Muskies. The fishing wasn't too great but it was a gorgeous morning. After trying there we headed over somewhere else to catch some trout. We all reeled at least one up, even Kate. After fishing we headed to Pepperidge Farm to load up on some delicious soup and goldfish crackers. That night my Dad and Matt watched the girls while my mom and I went to her Uncle's Genealogy class. It was great and gave me a good place to start. Kate dressed up as Cinderella that night and danced with Grandpa all around the room, it was adorable. She had a lot of fun playing and laughing with her Grandpa.

Thursday morning the girls and I headed down to Coalville with my Mom and Dad. We had fun visiting with my Mom's relatives. Kate and Grandpa took the time to feed horses and cows (or buffalo as Kate calls them). It was a fun day and Kate was quite social with everyone.

I was so grateful to have my parents come out, we sure don't get to see them often enough. Hopefully it won't be so long before we see them again.

I absolutely love this picture. Gabriella doesn't let many people hold her. She let my Mom hold her and even went to sleep.
Gabriella hung out in the back of the car trying to eat a banana while we fished.
It was an amazing morning, the water was as smooth as glass.
Grandpa helping Kate fish, she let go of the pole, luckily Grandpa has quick reflexes.
I think this is such a cute picture, my Mom reeling in a fish while crossing her legs, a true fisherwoman.
Our dinner.
This was in Morgan at my Grandma and Grandpa's grave site. It was so beautiful up there with the mountains and rain clouds. Again, I love this picture too.
Feeding the "Buffalo" Kate told me they even gave her kisses.

Gabriella just screamed with excitement and Kate's reply "Don't talk to me that way!"

Thanks A Lot

Recently I've been emphasizing the importance of talking nice to Kate. I correct her when she yells, talks mean, ect. The other day I started to sing a song to her when she was on the computer doing her alphabet letters and she looked at me, gave me her really big happy face and very slowly said to me, "Could you pleeease stop singing." Smiling the whole time. I couldn't help but laugh. I guess I should be glad that talking nice is sinking in.

Milestones

Two days ago Gabriella started rolling over from back to tummy. It was pretty fun to watch her try and try and then finally do it. She was so proud of herself (or she just prefers the view from her tummy) that she is constantly doing it now. It has amazes me how she doesn't get frustrated, she just tries and tries until she does it. She continues to be a super happy sweet little girl.

Kate also willingly and happily went to Nursery today. I still had to stay with her or the tears started, but it was an improvement from a month ago when she was screaming and clinging to the door frame to keep from going in.

Kate has also learned to navigate two different programs on the computer. She does her alphabet letters all by herself and also the Disney Princess website. It amazes me that a 2 1/2 year old can sit on the computer and play games all by herself. It's a little ridiculous, but she loves playing the games. She also learned this last week how to spell Kate, Mom, and Dad. We're working on Gabriella but it's a little long.

Today was also the first time I've attempted Sacrament meeting by myself with both the girls. Matt didn't get home from work until 6am. He was teaching Sunday School so I knew he was coming but I didn't have it in me to make him get up early with us to go to Sacrament so I got the girls and I ready and we headed to Church. They were both amazingly good which I am so grateful for. Gabriella just stood on my lap and jumped while smiling at all the people behind us. Seriously that girl is so social. She loves to be around people and will smile all day long at anyone that makes eye contact with her. Kate did great folding her arms and trying to sit reverently although half the time she was lying on the bench. It was a good experience over all and I'm so glad we went.

Resurrection

Tonight Kate and I were watching Beauty and the Beast together. At the end Kate asked what happened to the Beast. I replied, "Do you think he dies?" She thought for a minute and then confidently said "Yea, and then he'll get resurrected and then he'll be alive again and live with heavenly Father!" I'm glad to know sometimes she pays attention.

Gabriella

I can't believe she's almost 6 months old. She has developed such a sweet personality. I love that she smiles at you no matter how tired she is, or if she has just woken up crying, the second you smile at her she gets a huge grin on her face. She reaches and grabs everything within her sight. Her favorites are Kate's hair, cups, pop cans, and food. She really is just a pleasure to have around. She loves to jump and really only laughs when you kiss her neck, tickler her, or when Kate jumps up and down with her. She loves the dogs and especially loves them to lick her. (Gross) Today she just started sitting up on her own and did it for about 5 minutes. She really is starting to grow.

She is starting to sleep a little better although it seems she sleeps best in a hotel room (at least that's been the experience from the last two trips we've been on). She wakes up 1-2 time during
the night to eat, and some nights 3-4 times to get her binkie.

I can't imagine life without this sweet little girl. I just wish time would stand still for awhile so I could enjoy her that much more. Matt and I always say how much we love this sweet girl. Her smile just brightens anyone that sees it. We sure love you Gabriella!

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

This is my favorite hymn. It used to be the hymn book but was later removed. Every time I hear it it touches my spirit. It draws the veil back slightly and I feel a glimpse of the Premortal life where we dwelled for so long with our Father in heaven.

Yesterday I was listening to it and my thoughts immediately went to the Premortal life again, and the life after this one. I thought of being with my family for eternity. I thought of my brothers and sister, how much I love them, and seeing them there. Then the reality of Brad's decision hit me. He wouldn't be there.

My heart ached and still aches when I think of him not being there. He was there in the Premortal life, he chose righteously then to come to this earth. He knows the truth, he was taught, yet somehow along the way Satan led him ever so carefully away. When I picture my parents, brothers, and sister all dressed in white, having a happy reunion after this life I can only pray that he will be with us. That he will somehow remember the promises he made before this life, that his spirit might awaken, that he will remember his Savior. He knows him, he knew him before this life and I believe in my heart he has felt his love, and seen the miracles in his own life.

I'm grateful for music. I picture the choirs of angels singing this song, and I long to be there. I know our time on this earth is short. I want my children to know how much I love my Father in heaven, how much I love the Savior. He is our Redeemer, He knows us, loves us, and longs for us to live righteously, to repent, and return to Him. I hope I can live a little better, be a little happier, more grateful, and loving. I've been truly blessed in my life. Sometimes I'm not sure why but I am indeed grateful.

Kate Says Funny Things

Kate has been saying some pretty funny things lately. Here are a few of my favorite:

1. She'll ask a question and then answer her own question by saying "Sure, that sounds good."

2. When something goes wrong she says in a sad voice, "That's not good."

3. Matt had gotten out of the shower the other day and Kate said to me, "Look mom, Daddy's putting on his panties."

4. Whenever we start her bed time routine she says to me pointing her finger, "You see that clock, that clock means TEN MORE MINUTES."

5. Last night she was playing with Matt with all the pillows and after she handed out pillows she said "Perfect."

Chatching Up

Gabriella laughed last night. I was kissing her cheeks and neck and she just started laughing and laughing, it was adorable. Then this morning Kate and I were trying to wake Matt up, Gabriella was just staring at Kate and smiling when she again started laughing at her. I can already tell how much this little baby loves her big sister. I just wish her big sister had a little more interest in her.

We had a great time in Omaha over Christmas. We were delayed a day getting there due to a huge snow storm that swept across the Midwest. Omaha received about 14 inches of snow in 2 days. Mom and Dad were stuck in their neighborhood for Christmas and most of the day after.

It was great having Amber, John, Makenna, and baby Hudson there to play with. Kate and Makenna played well together, and Hudson was a dream baby. I don't think I heard him cry once. Matt was kind enough to stay with the kids several days so that I could go out shopping with Amber, and go to a movie with Mom and Dad.

We went ice fishing one day which was super fun, we caught about 60 little fish. We were able to see most of the family and even went over to Lance and Tanya's one night to have dinner and play Battle of the Sexes. It was really great seeing everyone. I only wish we were able to make it back there more often.