catching up

I too have been bad at blogging lately. Like most people I keep current from August until December then spurt out a post every now and then until August rolls around again. So I am going to at least post whats going on currently so that I dont forget what my life was like in May, come August.

My sister Amanda just arrived at the Guatemala MTC yesterday and will be there for six weeks before she is let into the field. I am very proud of her and love her very much.

Elias will be 1 in five day! He has been walking since he was 9 months and 5 days old so to me it seems hes been 1 for the last three months. He likes golfing, boxing, playing baseball, chef boyardee pastas and clinging to me. He still wakes up twice a night and I cant seem to get him to cry himself back to sleep until he has nursed :S

Carmen celebrated her 5th birthday last month! Her birthday decoration theme was black and hot pink and before the party Carmen and I prepared chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels and made 4 mini pinatas. We played a toss game with the mini pinatas knowing quite well that 5 year olds cant catch- how else would we get candy out of pinatas without a stick? She had lots of fun and got a lot of cool stuff for her birthday. She passed her kindergarten assesment with flying colors and we are currently working on teaching her phonograms.

Isaiah currently isnt feeling well. His eczema is flaring up and he has been in pain. I need to be more consistent with his allergy medication and the 4 different creams we use on him. He also has a fever and stomach ache and this morning he said his head hurt. Illness aside he LOVES sports. All sports. He lives to play wii sports and even practices wii boxing on his little brother. Dont worry, they dont actually make contact, they just move their fists around in the air at eachother until one falls to the ground and then they start counting down to knock out. He is also still pretty good at knowing his letters and numbers and is talking a lot more.

Julian is in his last month of first grade! When did I get so old!? Last week we went to the Honor Roll Award Ceremony because he got Principal's Honor Roll! He has straight As on every report card! He is very kind, considerate, sweet and wants to always be and do his best. Today he asked for a Capri Sun. I told him that he shouldnt have another because he already had one. I said
"Julian, do you know how many kids are in our family?"
"Four."
"Do you know how many capri suns are in a box?"
"No. How many?"
"Ten. Now if each kid had two capri suns how many are left in the box?"
"Two. Can you put them both in my lunch tomorrow?"
"No because we need to share."
"Cant you buy like a lot of boxes of capri suns? Like 10 boxes? That would be 100 capri suns!"
"But Julian they cost $2 a box"
"That would cost $20! So next time you have $20 can you buy 10 boxes? I have some money from the tooth fairy I could give you to help pay for the capri suns!"

As for Nick and I we are doing well. I have been a little on the depressed side lately but I think its just an accumulation of lots of little annoyances adding up to one big headache. For one, I got mono last November. Nick didnt want me telling people because he was afraid people would start talking. I told him that no, people would understand that the "kissing disease" isnt always spread by kissing and that he and I know that I couldnt have gotten it that way. Despite being at the peak of my illness I put on Thanksgiving for my family and my inlaws, and made it to Oregon and back for Christmas and it took me months to feel back to myself, yet Im still always tired. Also, my sister Rebecca just moved her family back to Oregon so aside from my Guatemalan sister Amanda I am the only sibling not living in Oregon. I would love to live near my family. Every good woman with a good mother wants to be close to her. I want MY mommy and I miss my family so much. My sister sarah was by my side for 17 years and being apart isnt easy. And- now this is selfish of me, but I dont have a best friend. I see so many friends of mine put aside other friendships for thier "best friend." Now to clarify, my husband is my bestest friend but girls need girl time sometimes. I have lots of friends and friendships but when Im in my worst of days I have no one to call to vent to other than my mom or one of my sisters and Im starting to think they are getting tired of me always calling them. I know, selfish of me isnt it? But then again Nick says I just need to get out more :S I also have been having lots of family visit lately and it takes its toll on me. To keep my sanity I have to be in control of my surroundings and I have to make sure my home is clean and the home is running smoothly and on top of that entertain and cook and run errands.

Today things looked up for me. I woke up this morning and Nick had brought me three muffins from Starbucks. Then I went to the park and had a great time talking with the other moms. Later a delivery man brought me flowers (from my mom, dad and siblings) and then I made brownies and to top it all off the kids were all pretty good today! We all get in ruts sometimes and I know I cant be the only one that feels this way about life- its sad when we get sick, its sad away from family, its sad to feel alone even though we are not, but when the day is over and the sun rises again, there is love and hope.