Something New

We woke up to about an inch of snow on Thursday morning. It was only the 2nd time this winter that we've had more than about 2 minutes of flurries so it was a big deal. It wasn't icy at all (I went running in it), but most of the schools in the area were still closed. Some neighbors knocked on our door at about 8:30 wanting us to come out and play, so we quickly bundled up and headed out. It was a good thing we went when we did because the sun was out and most of the snow was melted by lunchtime.

We went to the park around the corner along with most of the other kids in the neighborhood. We don't own snow gloves or boots though, so Spencer wasn't too into making snowballs or running around. He mostly just wanted to swing. (We're both so ready for spring!) Spencer did try the slide once, but was a little surprised by how fast you go when it's wet and didn't want to go again. I attempted a snow man, but it fell apart when I put the eyes on so I don't have anything to show you. :)






When we came in, I made Spencer some hot chocolate for the first time. We called it "hot", but it was really room temperature. Spencer won't touch any food that is even the tiniest bit warm. I always dish his dinner plate 10 minutes before we're ready to eat, so everything can cool completely off. Anyway, he LOVED his cocoa, especially the fruity marshmallows he put in it because we were all out of the white ones. Gross!




And, this is what happens after you play in the snow in the morning, don't go to sleep during nap time and then play at a friend's house in the afternoon:



He crashed in the car on the way home and didn't move a muscle as Alan brought him inside. That's very unusual for this guy. It was a fun day though. So nice to have something a little out of the ordinary. Spencer keeps saying he wants it to snow again. I think I'm good until next December.

Happy Love Day!

I have decided that Valentine's Day is quite possibly my favorite holiday. Falling right in the middle of my least favorite three months of the year, Valentine's Day really helps to brighten my attitude. We never do anything fancy, but it's nice to celebrate the thing that really makes life worth living - love. Here are a few pics of some of our activities:

Spencer and Alan helped me make Valentine's cards for family home evening one night, but I forgot to take a picture, so here's Spencer helping me finish the last few. He had fun with the stickers.




I'm always looking for healthy snack recipes, so I tried out this new cracker recipe from here. (I've been using this blog a lot for healthy recipes lately.) I like these crackers, but Spencer will only eat them sometimes. Alan tried one and wasn't impressed.




Even though we're trying to eat better, we couldn't pass up the tradition of anonymously delivering heart-shaped sugar cookies. I did only make half a batch this year and we gave almost all of them away, though. :) Spencer got more involved this year. He helped cut out a few of the hearts and loved putting a piece of candy on each one after they were frosted.




I tried a new recipe for cherry heart scones for our Valentine's dinner this year. They were messy to make and didn't taste good enough for the effort, so that recipe went in the trash. We also had a skillet with potatoes, ham and eggs. That would have been better if I hadn't burned it on the bottom. The frozen juice was good though. :)




Playing "balloon catch" was definitely the hit of the evening. Spencer thought it was hilarious to hit the balloons and get hit with them. All three of us just played around for awhile and had a great time. We need to do that more often.




I'm not sure how I managed to snap this picture of balloon head!




When we were tired of balloon catch, we took turns hiding and finding paper hearts around the living room. Spencer hides them in the same spots every time.



I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful people we have to love in our lives, especially my two best buddies. Wouldn't life be so sad without that? Thank you Alan and Spencer for loving me back and making Valentine's such a special time of year.

Faith

I'm not pregnant. Yesterday was a bad day. I was short and grouchy to Spencer all day long and avoided people as much as possible.

A good night's rest and an early morning run can do wonders for me, however. Today is a new day with renewed faith and hope. Not necessarily hope that we will have another baby soon, but trust that we will be alright with whatever Heavenly Father has in store for our family. It's taken me awhile to get to this place - I certainly wasn't there before we had Spencer. Now, even though I occasionally have bad days, I'm mostly at peace with our situation. We have done everything we can reasonably do.

As I was feeling sad yesterday, I read an article by Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy from the January Ensign. He says, "Your future is not determined by the conditions around you. It is determined by your faith, your choices, and your efforts." Even though Elder Johnson was referring to conditions in our society in general, his words spoke directly to me yesterday. I don't have to be living my ideal life in order to be happy. Happiness comes from a much deeper place. And, I truly am happy. I have an absolutely wonderful, funny, sweet little boy so what do I have to complain about?

Mostly for financial reasons, Alan and I have decided to take a break from medical treatment for now. Everything with the treatment and IUI (intra-uterine insemination) actually went really well. The shots didn't really bother me at all by the end. IUI just doesn't have a very high success rate. Fertility specialists would normally try IUI 2 or 3 times before moving to In-vitro. I think a lot of couples go straight to In-vitro, however, because it has a much higher success rate. IUI or In-vitro might be options again in the future. Adoption is still a possibility as well.

I'll leave you with a picture of my two favorite people. Best buddies working together. What more can I ask for? I have such a wonderful life!

I'm a Big Boy Now!

I'm so proud of my little buddy! For some reason, potty training just clicked last week despite me putting him a diaper nearly every morning for my doctor's appointments. Spencer is now wearing "big boy underwear" all the time except for naps and nighttime. And, he's actually keeping his diapers dry too. It's sort of funny and sort of sad that he wakes up crying every morning because he needs to go to the bathroom so bad and won't go in his diaper. M&M's and Swedish Fish have been awesome motivators for this little guy.

Our biggest challenge now is that he only likes two or three of his ten pair of Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train underwear. When the cool ones are dirty, he digs them out of the hamper then asks for a diaper when I won't let him wear dirty underwear. It sounds gross, but maybe I need to lighten up for the sake of training as long as they're not too dirty.

Anyway, hooray for Spencer and hooray for no more expensive diapers!