A decade

Do you remember what you were doing a decade ago? The thoughts and feelings you were having? Even who you spent the day with or what you ate? No? Well, I remember everything.

You see, at this time on February 1st, 2000, I was realizing that I was going to become a mother that very day. I was experiencing contractions, getting stronger and closer together and it finally hit me--Today I will meet the little soul that will make me a mom. And, at 5:17 pm we welcomed little Curtis Taft Preslar into our loving arms and family. I never imagined 10 years ago that I would someday actually have a 10 year old. Did anyone else feel that way? But, that's what happens after your baby is around for 10 years!

The last 10 years have been full of love, happiness, fun, frustration, anxiety, smiles and tears as we have navigated parenthood. It has been a challenge, but an even bigger blessing. Curtis is such a cute, goofy, sensitive, talented, sweet kid and I am so glad he is mine!

10 for 10 about Curtis:
1. He is a Lego building maniac.
2. He loves his brother and sister so much!
3. He still loves trains, just like his dad.
4. He loves Cub Scouts and will receive his Bear award this week!
5. He loves to read.
6. He is a great helper.
7. He loves his family-immediate and extended, and idolizes cousin Taylor
8. He loves animals and is so happy to have a cat. (much to my dismay)
9. He loves spending time with friends but will also play happily by himself for hours.
10. He is very loyal. He's got your back.

Happy Birthday, Big Boy! For now and forever, my baby you'll be. I love you, Curtis.

ps. don't freak about the cub scout background. This week is the Blue & Gold banquet where we will celebrate 75 years of Cub Scouts, Curtis will receive his Bear and move on to Webelos and Noah will be introduced as a new Wolf.  And since Sam and I are Bear leaders, it's kind of a big deal around here! So, in honor of that, the first FEMALE who can tell me what a Webelo is, will win a prize!

Primary Program

Yesterday was our Primary Program in Church. The theme was "Our Eternal Family". It was a very enjoyable meeting and the boys both did a great job. My mom asked Noah before what he his part was in the program. He promptly replied "Classified". He just was not willing to give any spoilers! Curtis was asked to talk on his baptism. He wrote his part himself. He said "I was really nervous because I was afraid my dad would mess up." He also said some really sweet things but I can't remember because I was laughing too hard at that sentence! Sam and I were asked to speak for a few minutes about how family prayer has strengthened our family. Lucy decided to join us and yanked the microphone towards her every few seconds and uttered a "yah yah yah" into it and then chuckled to herself. I was glad for her comic relief as I was able to get through my part without crying (a curse of mine, for certain). Lucy also decided to make a dash out of Sam's arms towards the stand during the closing prayer and (observed from my one eye while trying to show some semblance of reverence)did her best to elude the grabbing hands of the Primary presidency. She managed to get a little dance in next to the podium before the "amen". My thoughts of putting a child gate on the end of the pew have resurfaced.

Cute kids

I just had to document a few cute things my kids have said/done before I forget!

Friday while driving home from Chuck E Cheese, Noah and his buddies were talking about their names/middle names. I told the kids that Curtis' middle name is Taft which is also my dad's and grandpa's middle names. Then I asked Noah why we gave him "Evan" as his middle name. He shook his head so I told him it was my grandma's maiden name. He said, (matter of factly) "oh, I thought it was from Heaven." (because it rhymes) Oh, sweet boy, it definitely is from heaven!

Lucy has been babbling up a storm lately but not a lot of words, except for "Mom!". The other day we were sitting on the couch and Sam walked up behind us. She looked up at him and said "Uh oh, Dada." and then back to her babbling. She keeps us entertained!

Curtis had his first Pinewood Derby last week. He wanted a Ferrari so he and Sam designed it and Curtis sanded it down good. He put some cool racing stripes and numbers on it and it was ready to go. He was so excited. He actually took 3rd place out of 20+ kids. Before he even received his medal, however, he raced the car down the steps at the church and broke off a wheel. Oh well, fun while it lasted!

I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to be the mother of these children. These little moments in their lives make all the hard parts so worthwhile!

Updates

Yesterday marked the end of one of my "busy seasons" with Young Womens. The last 2 months I have been attending Ward Conferences to visit the Young Womens classes. My counselors and I have been teaching the lesson so I only had to teach twice. We decided to use the talk from Elaine Dalton entitiled "A Return to Virtue". I feel like this call is so timely as our world actually looks down on virtuous women and we are being bombarded on all sides to abandon our virtue.

A few thoughts that stuck out to me were:

"What could be more deceptive than to entice women, young and old, you and me, to be so involved in ourselves, our looks, our clothes, our body shape and size that we lose sight of our divine identity and our ability to change the world through our virtuous influence?"

"I truly believe that one virtuous young woman or young man, led by the Spirit, can change the world, but in order to do so, we must return to virtue."

We talked about standing in holy places and where those holy places are. One of the leaders yesterday said that our holy place can be inside of us and as we live a virtuous life people will be drawn to us. I realized that this greatly applies to motherhood that as we make every aspect of our lives a holy place, we will always be prepared to teach our children by the Spirit in any situation.

Our Stake President spoke about the Lord being mindful of each of us. One of the quotes that struck me yesterday was by President Ezra Taft Benson: "men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life."

I love that but sometimes forget it. As I work diligently as a wife, mother, and Young Women's President, I will be blessed now and eternally. Sometimes I can only focus on the stress and busy-ness of now and not realize the blessings that are in store for me. I just need to remember that the Lord will make up the difference when I have done my best.

In other news: I finally got Sam to go to Ikea with me. For the year that Ikea has been here, he has wanted nothing to do with it. So, I was a little shocked on Saturday when he actually agreed to go. When we got there he was a little intimidated by the amount of cars in the parking lot ( he generally avoids big crowds) but as we started looking around, he realized what all the fuss was about. He actually admitted to me that he thought it was an awesome place! We ended up buying two shelving units to hold the myriad of Legos that our boys have accumulated. We needed a better storage solution (or ANY storage solution, for that matter). Curtis actually put both shelves together by himself, well, Sam had to step in a few times by for the most part, it was all Curtis!

Check him out with his completed shelf! I think this kid has a future as an architect or engineer. he loves to figure out how things work and how to put them together. He's a pretty cool kid!

9 YEARS!

Because of this sweet boy, I have now been a mother for 9 years! I can't believe how fast 9 years has gone by. It seems like just yesterday we were preparing to bring our first baby home. Now, we have a young man who is almost as tall as me! The last 9 years haven't always been easy but my life is better because of Curtis.
Here are 9 things I love about my Curtis:

1. He is my first born baby.
2. He is a great big brother to Noah and Lucy.
3. He loves being a Cub Scout.
4. He is a friend to everyone.
5. He is a great Lego builder and will spend hours working on creations.
6. He loves learning and is especially enjoying Cursive right now.
7. He has overcome some hardships the last few years and is thriving.
8. He is so affectionate and loving.
9. He has great curly hair that totally fits his personality!

Happy Birthday, my big boy! I love you more than everything!

Long time, no post

Life has been crazy lately and I haven't really felt like blogging.
For the past week and a half, everyone in my house has taken a turn being sick (some took 2 turns!) and it has not been fun. But I think we are all feeling better and getting back to some semblance of normal life.

We started the month saying goodbye to my sweet sister Amy. She got a new job in Arizona so made the move. I miss having her stop by or calling her to go to lunch or just seeing her weekly. It has been so great having her a few miles away for the past 2 years. My kids miss their Aunt Amy and Sam just worries that she won't have a "Sam" to call upon with car, plumbing or other fix-it problems. Can't wait for Thanksgiving to see you, Aimes!
I have re-discovered my love for sewing. My mom taught me to sew at a young age and I used to sew a lot but since having kids I've only made a few sets of curtains, a few pair of pjs at Christmas and a few other odds and ends. This last week I decided to make Lucy's Halloween costume. She is going to be Tinkerbell. I found some fabulous green silky material on sale so I've been busy working on the costume. Plus, I bought a pattern online for baby shoes. They are adorable! I'm working on my second pair (for Tinkerbell) right now and can't wait to make more.
We had parent/teacher conferences this week and got good reports on both boys. Curtis, of course, still gets distracted easily and has a hard time sitting still but he is doing really well academically. Noah's teacher said he is capable of more than they are doing so is sending home extra work for him each week because she is afraid that he will get bored. I was happy to get good reports!
Well, that's about all I have for now. If you want a good read, check out my sister Suzanne's blog...she and her husband are in China right now and she is posting daily about their trip. It is pretty interesting. I'm hoping to get better about posting and will post some pictures soon!

I'm in Love

It's official, I am crazy in love with this little girl! Just the fact that she had a bad night (she's teething) and I had intermittent sleep, but I still just want to eat her up proves that I am whooped! And can you blame me? Look at that face!

Last Monday Lucy turned 6 months...6 months!!! I honestly am freaking out a little that she has been with us for that long! It saddens me that the newborn phase is over but at the same time, she is so cute and interactive and learning so much that I can't wish for time to stand still.

Here are her 6 month stats: 17 lbs. 11 oz. , 24.9 inches. That translates to 79th% for weight and 20th% for height. Oh my! Two little sharp baby teeth poked through last week and her top gums are swollen. She is on the fast track for teeth! She is sleeping pretty well (except for last night) and is such a delight! She loves her brothers as they make her giggle; Curtis can actually make her belly laugh which is an almost unbearable sound. She is starting to get a little hesitant about other people, always has to make sure mom is close by. She really is such a happy baby and our whole family is smitten!

Both of the boys have had a stomach bug the last week. Sam and I have both had to clean up barf on more than one occassion. But, I think they are both doing better. Last Friday was Noah's Kindergarten Share. His class sang about 4 or 5 songs for us and then showed us their "portfolio". The songs were hilarious and oh, so cute. I laughed to the point of tears. Here is the video of one of the songs from the Kindergarten Share. Unfortunately, I shake when I laugh so the picture is pretty shaky! I love how they all start to giggle before the "bums out" part. I think Noah was most excited about the portfolio, though. In there was a certificate from the Mileage Club showing that he had run 79 miles this year! He is an amazing little guy! Yesterday I took him to the Dr. and she was checking his lung capacity and said it was well above other kids his age/size and that he is really in shape. I've got to find some good sports programs for him!

Curtis had a busy week with a field trip to the park one day and swimming the next. He also went bowling for Cub Scouts. Noah, Lucy and I were able to go bowling too which was fun. Curtis didn't care about form or style, he just wanted to see how much energy he could get behind that ball! He would practically run up to the line and sling the ball down the lane. It was quite a sight to see.
I took him to the Dr. last month and he has grown 3 inches in 6 months! He is gaining on me quickly! He has been working hard at home trying to earn money so he can buy Legos. He will ask me what chores he can do so he can make the most money! Legos are the hot item in our home. Sam got a Lego catalog in the mail a few weeks ago and at any given time during the day I can find one of the kids just poring over the catalog deciding which Lego set to buy first. Curtis actually slept with it last night! He told me that if he won $1000 he would buy the $499 Millennium Falcon set for Sam. Such a thoughtful kid!

Thursday is the last day of school which brings mixed emotions for me. I'm planning on doing fun activities every week with the kids and making sure they aren't bored at home all the time. The part I'm not looking forward to is the fighting. Those boys have a love/hate relationship. My sis told me about someone she works with that when he was growing up and fighting with his siblings, his mom would send them to the front porch until they resolved their differences. They hated it so they very quickly learned not to fight! I have been using this tactic and it is actually working...hopefully the summer will be fight-free! Am I dreaming thinking this?

Sweet Silence

So, I am obviously not the best blogger since my last entry was a month ago yesterday! Oh well!

Right now it is 9:51 and everyone in my house (except me, obviously) has been asleep for at least an hour. Did you hear that? EVERYONE!!!! That is unheard of! It is so quiet! My kitchen is clean, my bathroom is clean, the laundry is folded and I just put another in the dryer. What's a girl to do? How about Blog!!!

Today I took Lucy in for her 2 month appointment. I really can not believe this little girl has been with us for 2 months...it really has gone so quickly. She has gained exactly 3 pounds since birth and grown 2 inches. 37% for weight, 44% for height. She has met all the milestones that a 2 month old should meet. Her little neck muscles are so strong and she is holding her head up really well. She is also so smiley! I love it! She smiles so big that she lets out a little giggle.



I'm not the best photographer but I think I captured her sweet smile in these photos.
Unfortunately, she had shots today so we haven't seen that smile very much. I'm sure it will be back tomorrow.

This weekend is really special for our family. Curtis turns 8 on Friday and will be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Saturday. We decided to have Lucy blessed the same day so family doesn't have to travel two days in a row. Curtis is very excited to be baptized and also to share this special day with his baby sister. I honestly don't know how Curtis can be 8! I feel like it was just a few years ago that HE was my 2 month old. It makes me realize how important it is for me to make the most of everyday with these kids because they won't stay little forever and before I know it, they will be at college, on missions, married and having their own children!

Before I sign off, I just want to send a shout out to my dear friend Karen. Happy Birthday Karen! I hope this year is even better than last! Love you!

Service and Small world

So, for several months now, I've had this perfectly good scrapbook room in the basement just waiting to be organized and I just haven't had the energy (ok, let's be honest, I haven't had the desire) to get it done. Well, Friday night, my cute sister Amy came over to go on a Sonic slushee run. Of course, I jumped at that and when we came back we ate the dinner I had made earlier. Then I took her downstairs to show her some of Sam's handiwork in our never-ending construction and she walked into the dreadfully disorganized scrapbook room.
A: "So, Kath, what's in these boxes?"
K: "Um, I really don't know. I just need to get someone to help me go through them and get this room organized."
A: "Let's do it right now."
K: "Seriously? You want to? OK."
Little did I know that Amy was going to help me Hitler-style. "Do you want to keep this? Ok, what are you going to do with it? Hang it? No, don't put it down and wait, hang it right now." She was relentless! We cleared out 5 or 6 "keepsake" boxes in a matter of 20 minutes and kept only a few items that had really sentimental value (like my diploma and wedding certificate). I even parted with old letters from college and Oakcrest, AND my decaying wedding bouquet. Amy didn't pressure me into getting rid of anything, she actually questioned me a few times when I threw stuff away. But she did keep me working for a few hours and we accomplished so much. There is still more to do but we got a huge chunk of it done. Thanks, Amy, for your service. It was just what I needed and guess what? I actually made a card Saturday in my scrapbook room at the table! It was so great!

Sunday, more service was rendered to me, this time by my hubby. I noticed my toenails were looking pretty hammered and I tried to touch up the polish. Unfortunately, this big belly makes toenail painting near-impossible. So I asked Sam to help me, and he obliged. Now, you have to understand how huge this is. Sam HATES fingernails and toenails that are painted, especially toenails. I don't know why, he's never really explained his disgust, he just hates it. So, I knew it was a long shot when I asked him but he actually did it, and did a better job then I have ever done! Now, that, I tell you, is true love!

Now on to small world...a month or so ago, a man walked into my dad's office at church and told him he and his family were moving into the ward. He said his name was Phil Banza and my dad immediately recognized his last name as an Elder's that I served with on my mission. So, he asked him if he served in the Johannesburg mission and Phil replied that he hadn't but his brother had! So, Sunday, Phil and his sweet wife spoke in church and then Phil, his brother Junior (who was my first zone leader and someone I love dearly) and two other men sang "I need thee every hour." Sam and I attended with the kids and had a little reunion afterwards. It was so fun to see Junior and his family. I just can't believe what a small world it is, especially when you are LDS. Imagine an Elder from the Congo goes to South Africa on his mission and meets a Sister from Salt Lake City and 13 years later, the Elder's brother is in the ward where the Sister's father is the bishop! Crazy!

Baby update: Today was my 30-week appointment. The same girl weighed me and put my weight down as 19 pounds less than last time!!! My midwife came in and looked at it and said, "that's not right" No, it isn't. The girl doesn't know how to read a scale!!! She put down that I weigh 10 pounds less than I actually do. Normally, I wouldn't complain about losing 19 pounds in 2 weeks but at this point in my life, weight gain is critical. I swear that girl needs weighing lessons!!! Aside from the weight loss, everything is looking good with this wiggly baby girl!
Oh, speaking of weight loss...Curtis was watching "The Biggest Loser" premier with me last night and he suggested that after I have the baby that I go on the show. What is it with my kids and my weight?!?