Updates and Goals

At times in my life I have been avid at keeping a journal. I feel like I am an all or nothing type person in many ways, and record keeping is no different. There are so many things that I want to blog about -mostly so I don't forget-, and that really is the true purpose of me spending my precious free time keeping a blog. I imagine that at times I will not post very much at all, but right now while I still have a lot on my mind I will probably continue to post a lot.
Last night I had the opportunity of going to the Edmonton Alberta Temple(where Shane and I were married) with our youth group to do baptisms for the dead.While I was there I had a lot of time to sit and reflect about the happenings of my life. Can I just say, I feel so privileged to be a Mom to my boys. I love them so much and I am so thankful for their patience with me as I learn and fake my way through being a Mom. I know that some aspects of Motherhood are natural but really, you only get one chance, and I have never been a Mom before, so I am just doing my best and hoping that it all works out!

Cooper is already 2.5 months old. The time seems to be going even faster this time around. Cooper is such a good boy. He is really peaceful and calm. I wish I had all day to just sit around and stare at him and make him smile. I  am so thankful for this little man's demeanor. He lets his brother poke and prod him relentlessly. I can't believe this little dude is growing so fast. He has started to get on a schedule and really is only up once a night. All of his little clothes are fitting him now and he has already grown out of some of his outfits. This guy isn't quite as smiley as his brother was, he makes us work for his smiles, but he is sure giving them more and more lately.  Coopy loves baths and lays on his play mat and loves to kick his hanging toys. It really is my greatest wish that somehow Cooper will know how much I love him and how thankful I am to have him in my life!

 A dose of some daily steam rolling

 It literally took over 100 pictures to get this one-Hudson has turned into such a turkey with photo shoots.

  Not a huge fan of Cooper crying-as evidenced by this photo! heehee

Right now with Hudson we are somewhat attempting potty training. I am hating it.He is solely motivated by candy and really just picks and chooses when he is into toilet training. This big boy is so smart and loves letters, numbers, spelling words and talking! We talk about many things. He loves to sing and his current favorite songs are Book of Mormon stories and Wise men from nursery. Hudson LOVES his nursery leader "Zemp". I tell ya, Sister Zemp really is a saint. Hudson is always concerned with if we are happy or sad, and wants us to be happy. He is also quick to apologize when he does something wrong and hates being sent to his room.(that is really the only way we can effectively discipline him. Hudson loves Cooper and always tells me that Cooper is his pal. On a daily basis Cooper gets steam rolled by Hudson or I will be doing something and I will hear Hudson carrying Cooper over to me. Hudson is wild, but SO MUCH FUN. He loves wrestling with Dad and laughing! He loves his buddy Ethy and they are too cute when they play together! I love this tender hearted Tasmanian devil.

 Poor Hudson was sick- so I took advantage of his medicated state and tried to get a couple pictures

Now on to some goals for the year. I really want to get my life organized. I have been working my butt off in my spare time trying to establish order once again in my life. Since I went back to work after having Hudson so many things had to be pushed aside so I could do the essentials. I am loving organizing my life and I am hoping that as I organize things around here I will be able to focus more on my family. I think that one of the aspects of my life that needs some attention is establishing my priorities. I need to determine what is good, better and best. I want to use my time doing the best things, and then I think that I will feel more inner peace. On more goal that is a bit easier to measure is going to the temple. I want to make a real effort to go to the temple once a month. I really have no excuse. We live 15 minutes away and  I know the blessings I receive from attendance there are so worth the sacrifice. I am going to try to make monthly goals so that I can constantly be working on bettering my life. I am so thankful for this time that I have to be at home with my little guys and work on some of the areas of my life that need attention. So far 2012 has been good to me and  my family and I am hopeful that it will continue to be good!