Home Sweet Home

This is our home! An old pink house in the desert with chipping paint, broken windows and other various "issues" that might make it less than desirable to most people, but like most things, you can't really judge this little house by the outside. Inside we have made it a comfortable place. I struggle in keeping it as clean and tidy as I would like it to be. That is something I am working on, but it is warm and it is beautiful. This is the home were we brought our first child, and where we will bring our second! This is where we have celebrated anniversaries, birthdays, holidays!

Like the saying goes...home is where your heart is, and for now, my heart is here!

This picture was taken during Adolfo's birthday party a couple of years ago! Royce, Lupe and Adolfo lived in this house at that time. Tyler and I hope to restore the yard to the state they had it. Right now it is a little overrun by weeds! I am excited to make it beautiful!! I have a strong desire to improve and beautify!! Let's just hope it warms up soon.

Hot Pockets

I don't know if anyone is reading my blog anymore, due to the fact that it has been weeks since I have posted anything! I have been very sick the last couple of weeks. I am feeling much better now and hope to be writing a little more often!

A couple of weeks ago I was laying on the couch, not feeling well, when all at once an overwhelming need for a ham and cheese hot pocket came over me!! It would not leave me alone!! I was tempted to make the 12 mile drive to the Border Inn and Cafe to see if they had any ham and cheese hot pockets I could buy. I decided not to and just went to bed.

The next day I awoke with the same overwhelming need for a ham and cheese hot pocket!!! Talk about make me crazy!! Luckily I was going to be going into Springville for a doctors appointment in a few days, so I told myself to just hold on!

To make a long story short.....I bought my hot pockets!! A big ol' Costco box full of them, and I will admit that there were days when I ate three of them in one day! I simply couldn't get enough of that ham and cheese goodness! Now the box is empty, and just as suddenly as this craving arrived it too is now gone!

Now as I sit typing this, there is a familiar nag in my belly! Only this time it is Chocolate Milk!!! Good thing I'm going to Springville this weekend!!

Hi

Lately Emilee has discovered the word Hi. She will enter the room with an enthusiastic "Hi", or she will sneak up behind you and surprise you when she pops her head around your shoulder with another adorable "Hi".

She knows we adore her new vocabulary, so now if she is gets in trouble for something, she will respond with a charming smile and sweet little "Hi". It does make it harder to be upset with her, but the thing that worries me is that she has already figured out that she can charm her way out of trouble (or at least she tries).

I do love it though. I love that she can figure things out and figure out what she wants! I love that she challenges me. She challenges my patience. She encourages me not to sweat the small stuff. She teaches me that when times get tough it is always best to just smile and say Hi!!!

One Year!

My little Emilee! This picture was taken of you less than 24 hours after you were born. I love how angelic you look! February 25 2008 is probably the most beautiful day of my life up to this point! Don't worry, Daddy knows exactly what I mean when I say that, and I know he won't feel bad to know that our wedding day has now dropped to number two! It was a day blessed by our Heavenly Father, where Mommy learned a lot about the joy that comes through the struggles in this life! I worked harder than I have ever worked for anything, and in the end I got you.....the grand prize!!

Thank you for coming to this earth with your light, your love, your infectious laughter, your mischievousness, your energy and your goodness. Every moment of this past year has been magic. From the moment you wake up each morning to the moment you finally fall asleep each night, you are teaching me and your Daddy what it means to really experience this life!

I feel so emotional, thinking about you. Thinking about all that the future holds for you! What an honor it is to be your Mommy!

We had a birthday party for you on Saturday at Grandma and Grandpa Iverson's house! I know you will not remember that day forever, but I think in the moment you felt loved and celebrated. Grandma and Grandpa Bernier and all of Mommy's family were there along with all of Daddy's family! I will write a special post all about it when I get to feeling a little better. I just didn't want this day to go by, without recording something about how much I love and cherish you!

Happy Birthday my tiny girl!! May all of your dreams come true!

Love,
Mommy

Baby Steps

The other day Emilee and I went out for a little walk! Seeing her walk around outside put into perspective just how tiny she is! Daddy drove by in his work truck while we were out, and took a few quick pictures!

Isn't she sweet?

She toddled around picking up rocks, eating snow and enjoying the fresh air! We are both looking forward to spring, where butterflies, bunny rabbits and green grass are waiting to be discovered!

Motherhood

It feels like just yesterday I was laying around feeling so sick I thought I would die! My pregnancy with Emilee was a rough one for the first few months. I literally wondered if it would kill me sometimes! This time, I am quite ill, but I feel so blessed to still be able to function.

The first time I did this, I would lay there in bed thinking, how in the world am I going to do this when I have other children to care for? Heaven help me!!! I realize each pregnancy is different, but I am wondering if indeed heaven helps us rise up to the challenge and do what we have to do! I don't claim to be a super mom or anything like that. If you saw my house, you would see that the dishes are piling up, the shelves are rather dusty and we only get around to vacuuming every few days, however, I feel so much more capable than I did the first go round!!

Tyler is so helpful!!! He takes such good care of me and Emilee, but I realize that I need to be the one to step up and take care of things! He does have a job after all!! The extended family has been so good to me too! Watching Emilee, helping me clean etc. Thanks so much!!

All of this teaches me just how amazing my mother and mother-in-law are! They did this multiple times, and I know they didn't just lie around being waited on! They both inspire me to buck up and do what sometimes feels so impossible!

After I completed my first delivery without an epidural, I said to my doctor,"Now I have joined the ranks of the strong woman", to which she replied, "Michelle, you always have been a strong woman, or you wouldn't have done it." That compliment meant a lot to me, as someone who has wimped out a lot when things get hard. I don't mean to insinuate that a woman who has an epidural is not a strong woman, it was simply something I needed to prove to myself. It also made me realize that all women are strong and amazing! We will all go through things in our lives that will prove that to us!!

Hooray for husbands who are willing to cook, clean, and hold our hair while we puke! Hooray for babies who are willing to happily play with toys while we lay lifeless on the couch! Hooray for ourselves, for getting up and finally cleaning the nasty bathroom! And Hooray for our Mothers who have gone before us, and are proof that yes indeed we CAN do this!!!

Lovely

Don't you love the word "Lovely"? I think it is one of the most beautiful descriptive words. I used to worry so much about being pretty, and I never felt I compared to any of my friends growing up! I was miserable most of my life wishing to be pretty, but now I am realizing that being pretty is nothing compared to being lovely. The definition of the word inspires me!

1. charmingly or exquisitely beautiful: a lovely flower.
2. having a beauty that appeals to the heart or mind as well as to the eye, as a person or a face.
3. delightful; highly pleasing: to have a lovely time.
4. of a great moral or spiritual beauty: a lovely character.

When I think of loveliness, I think of many women including Sister Hinckley! I love her soft kind face molded by a life of goodness, service, laughter and love! She is sassy and yet very reverent and respectful when it comes to sacred things. She seemed to really enjoy everything about life. What a patient and strong woman!

As the years go by we create the face we will live with in our 70's, 80's and 90's! Will it be soft, or hardened? Will we shine, or be dulled by feelings of bitterness? Will our faces be lined with worry, or sculpted by faith and hope? What will our eyes tell those who look at our pictures long after we are gone?

When it is all said and done, I hope to be thought of as lovely!