Updates

Joshua: Keeps growing up. He may have a third loose tooth.  He is not losing his teeth as quickly as he would like or as quickly as his classmates, but he may have a third one coming out soon. He is excited to be getting baptized soon. We have focused our latest FHE's around baptism so that he is prepared. He is excited to be getting a real suit when he turns 8. He still says funny things. He innocently says things that could be deemed as racist or sexist. The other day Jon Mark was playing soccer with Joshua and he turned his hat around sideways and didn't put it on his head all of the way. It was more just resting on the top of his head. Joshua laughed and said something like, "Dad, you can't wear your hat like that, you don't have brown skin. If you did have brown skin I'd say, it looks cool dude." His teacher met with me the other day and told me that his standardized test scores are always high. She pointed out that his school work is sub-par compared to what he is capable of. This opened up a great opportunity for me to have some meaningful discussion with him about his potential and the plan God wants for him. I may have already blogged about it, I can't remember, but it was a really good discussion.

Mercedes: Mercedes went on a daddy daughter date last weekend. Jon Mark took her to see the new Cinderella movie and she dressed up like Cinderella. She looked so cute. She is very responsible with Caleb and is quite a nurturer. She likes to hold him and kiss him. She is bothered by his crying and will try to soothe him. She recently made it into the 100 Club. This has been a goal of hers all year long. She can now count to, and write to the number 100. She was so proud of herself and had the biggest smile on her face when she showed Jon Mark and I the paper. She wishes that she still shared a room with her brothers. They are all really good friends at night time. She feels like she is missing out. We keep telling her that Hannah will play more with her someday.

Luke: Luke is my big helper. He is really motivated to help. I look to him to help me most because I know he won't fight me on it like his siblings. He doesn't complain, he just says, "sure". He loves to eat pizza and prays for it every night still. He like apples and strawberries, a lot. He likes playing with his cars and riding his scooter. He is quite coordinated for his age in nearly any activity he tries. He likes showing me tricks on the scooter and trampoline. Recently, he had a nightmare and came into my room. He told me all about the crocodiles that were trying to eat him and gobble him up. He was so cute, but I know he was also very scared. I let him sleep next to my bed in the big recliner.

Hannah: Hannah is so cute and feisty. She does this thing now where she wags her finger at you and says (rather demands) that you, "watch! Watch!" Then, she will do some silly little trick like spin in a circle and spit at the same time, or run really fast while shaking her head. It's really funny and I hope I can always see it in my mind when I think back upon it. She is more determined lately to not be left out. She puts up a fight when she thinks she is being left behind. She still takes great naps, but she lets me know she isn't happy about it. She talks well. She likes to tattle on her siblings and wags her finger at them. They all think that she is absolutely hilarious.

Caleb: Caleb is so precious. I love feeling him sleep on my chest. He is a bit more high maintenance than my other newborns. If he is awake, he expects to be held. He cries if he isn't. But, he immediately stops crying when I pick him up and snuggle him. He gets a lot of gas at night and fidgets and squirms. I have to help him get the bubbles out. He usually ends up sleeping on my chest for half of the night because that is how he is most comfortable. I get tired, but I know that the newborn stage is short lived and so I should enjoy it while I can. He is a great nurser and has taken to sucking a pacifier. None of my other kids did, and he looks so cute doing it. He holds the paci in his mouth with one hand. He likes to be swaddled with his hands tucked under his chin.

The Family Is Of God

Jon Mark took the kids to church and I am at home. I had the opportunity to watch the General Women's Conference from home. Technology is amazing in that regard.

I love the children's song, "God Gave Us Families". The message of the song is not a popular one by the world's standards. It talks about the different roles that a father and a mother have in the family. It even talks about how children play a purpose in the family. The chorus is, "God gave us families to help us become what he wants us to be. This is how he shares his love, for the family is of God." There is much confusion in the world regarding families. I'm so thankful for a living prophet. I know that the gospel is true. I'm grateful to have the knowledge of the gospel in my life to guide me and my family. There is so much happiness in my life, and I know it is because of how I have been taught and how I have chosen to live the gospel standards. I wish I could put into words how much joy and love that I have for my husband and my children. The family really is the structure that teaches us how to love as God loves and how to serve one another.

As I have been recovering from childbirth, I have seen the love in which others have served me. My extended family has served me in countless ways. My husband serves me so graciously everyday. It truly is romantic when Jon Mark wakes up early with the kids so that I can get more sleep. And, nothing says romance like taking off work to stay home with me after I had a really good cry from feeling a little overwhelmed. He's done dishes, cleaned counters and tables, changed more poopy diapers than I can count, grocery shopped, made dinner, went on a daddy daughter date, played tirelessly with the kids, and even took them all to church by himself. He's such a great man and I am so glad he is mine. I wish that all children in this world had a dad like my husband. He does a great job. I wish every woman in this world had a husband like him. This world would be a better place.

I loved the talks that were shared about the family. We need to defend the gospel truths. We belong to the family of God. Our earthly families need to be defended. We are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him. He sent us to earth to learn and grow. I am thankful for the family I grew up in. My parents taught me how to live so that I can return to Heavenly Father. They taught me how to reach out to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They showed me how a family ought to be. A lot of the happiness I find in my own family comes from the examples I observed from my parents. I also know that Jon Mark was raised by wonderful examples. Mom and Dad McAvoy are amazing people. I am grateful for the way that they raised their children.

Heavenly Father's plan is to unite His children with Him. It is one of love. We need to reach out and share his plan with others.

 

Mom Song

Post-pregnancy symptoms are fickle. One minute I am burning hot, the next minute I am freezing. Postpartum emotions are the same way. I wish I could tell my brain to make up it's mind, but even that seems a little ridiculous.

My heart feels really tender today. There's no reason in particular. Just lots of emotions, sometimes happening in almost the same time frame. One moment, I am stroking my baby's face and thinking tenderly to myself, "this is the last I will hold my own newborn" and the thought brings tears to my eyes. Then, he wakes up, and he is fussy. That's when the same phrase enters my mind again, except this time it carries a completely different emotion--relief.  Back and forth, back and forth.

Today, we are back into a routine and I feel like I am some sort of woman warrior. I managed to get very little sleep. I think I paced the halls with a sway in my step more than I laid down. It was all in an effort to help release a little one's gas bubbles. Then, I woke up and managed to feed everyone breakfast and send one boy and one man out the door with lunches in hand--and on time, I might add. I chased a toddler around the house who is stuffed one piece of gum after another into her mouth while smiling at me because she knew she was being quite naughty. I straightened up and helped my middle children get ready for the day. I went grocery shopping (light grocery shopping). I made lunches and sent another out the door. Two kids are finally down for naps, one is watching TV, and the house is once again quiet. I did all of that while holding a baby in one arm who is sometimes nursing as I move about the house.  So, yeah, today I feel like a woman warrior. Who can do all of that and come out on top?! Oh, yeah, that's me. I can. 2 1/2 weeks postpartum, and I am hanging in there. Mom guilt still comes. I do my best, but I recognize where I fall short. I push those thoughts out of my mind. But, I don't know if mom guilt ever really goes away.

Growing up, I always knew that becoming a wife and a mother was all I ever really wanted. I wanted to marry a man who would support my desires to stay home with our children. To stay home meant that we sometimes went without. But, I don't feel like we have ever been poor. It was a priority to Jon Mark and myself that I stayed home, and we made it happen. I am so glad. I love feeling needed and wanted. I love that I will be there when each of my children take their first steps, or show their first smiles. And, I love knowing that I will be there for all of the other little milestones they will experience.

Today I heard this song. In the words of Luke, it touched my "blue heart" and made me all sorts of sappy. To my own mother, and my mother in-law, thanks for being "mom". This song is a conversation between a child about to go down to earth and God.

                                                                            "Mom"

A little baby told God, "Hey, I'm kinda scared
Don't really know if I want to go down there
From here it looks like a little blue ball
That's a great big place and I'm so small"

"Why can't I just stay here with you
Did I make you mad, don't you want me to?"
God said, "Oh, child, of course I do
But there's somebody special waiting for you"

[Chorus:]
So, hush now baby don't you cry
'Cause there's someone down there waiting
Whose only goal in fife
Is makin' sure you're always gonna be alright
A loving angel, tender, tough and strong
It's almost time to go and meet your mom

You'll never have a better friend
Or a warmer touch to tuck you in
She'll kiss your bruises, your bumps and scrapes
And anytime you hurt, her heart's gonna break

[Chorus]

Now, when she's talking to you
Make sure you listen close
'Cause she's gonna teach you everything
You'll ever need to know
Like how to mind your manners
To love and laugh and dream
And she'll put you on the path
That'll bring you back to Me

So, hush now little baby don't you cry
'Cause there's someone down there waiting
Whose only goal in life
Is making sure you're always gonna be alright
A loving angel, tender, tough and strong
Come on child
It's time to meet your mom

Indoor Five Hundred

Jon Mark has been playing indoor 500 with the kids a lot recently.  They love this game and don't even realize that they are practicing their hand-eye coordination skills and catching skills.  They just think they are having fun.

Even Hannah caught a few throws.  

Caleb isn't sure about all of the noise.  He's growing so fast!

Right after this was taken, Hannah fell off the back of the slide, but she took it like a champ.

And... More Pictures of Caleb

Just Some More Pictures

Kids seeing Caleb

The kids came with my parents to see Caleb.  The three older ones loved him, Hannah wasn't too sure.  Hannah didn't like me one bit.  The first time she saw me, she cried and wouldn't come near me.  She would give me these sideways looks that told me she was unsure about how she felt about everything going on. I thought that she would respond better to me if I got dressed and put on a little make-up and tried to move around the room a little the next time she saw me.  She still didn't want anything to do with me.  I even tried to bribe her with candy.

I am typing this about two weeks later and things have kind of gotten back to normal.  Hannah still has some outbursts, but she is doing better.  The kids have started school and returned home.  They were at my parents house for two weeks having a great time.  My mom had something fun planned for every day of the week and then they earned a trip to Bisbee and Kartchner Caverns.  They loved this.  Hannah stayed behind.  

I have been so fortunate.  Everyone has done so much to help me out.  I really felt loved by everyone of my family members.  Jon Mark was a great help as well.  He changed so many diapers and cleaned up after the kids on the weekends.  He has been so supportive to me. 

First Pictures Part 2

These were taken in the recovery room.  Jon Mark took video and pictures so that I would remember it this time.

I LOVE kangaroo care.

First Pictures of Caleb

Caleb's Birth Story

We arrived to the hospital on March 6, 2015 at 10:30 am.  We waited around forever because there was an emergency and so my time slot was moved back.  The woman who had the emergency went into labor very early, I guess (Jon Mark overheard her husband in the recovery room).  Her baby was okay.  Anyway, we waited and I tried to stay calm.  I didn't want to be slipped the forgetting potion that they give to mothers who appear to be very anxious.  I was given that last time and could remember everything except for holding Hannah in the recovery room.  That part has left my memory for good.  I didn't want that again.

When they finally wheeled me back, I was given a spinal without Jon Mark present, they don't let the husbands see this portion.  Then, they got to work.  There were a lot of staff in the operating room.  I thought that there was no way that they would have started cutting me open because Jon Mark wasn't called back into the operating room yet.  So, I glanced up and caught the reflection in the chrome of them performing surgery.  I could see it as though I was looking in a mirror.  It was about that time when my doctor asked if anybody had told my husband to come back in.  So they paused and got Jon Mark.  He was in there not too long before they pulled little Caleb out.

Caleb was so tiny to me.  Weighing only 7 lbs 14 oz, he was my smallest baby.  I said so, and the nurse said, "well, I wouldn't say he is exactly tiny." I guess 7.14 is still pretty average.  

I started to feel a lot of pressure in my sternum, so the doctor gave me some medicine that made the room spin, and I really wanted to fall asleep.  I just closed my eyes long enough for them to stitch me up (I glanced upward and saw me completely open in the abdomen because I thought that they had already stitched me up because Jon Mark was no longer with me--he had taken the baby to the recovery room).  I went into the recovery room and enjoyed some skin to skin contact with my baby, something I absolutely love, and nursed him.  He was a great nurser from the beginning.  I never got sore or really engorged (except for one time on the day that he got circumcised because he slept through his feedings).  Feeding him is so easy.  

I think everyone who sees Caleb will agree that he looks so much like Luke.  Jon Mark and I keep calling him Luke on accident.  

In keeping with tradition, here is Caleb's birth song (a short little ditty to the tune of Scripture Power):

Caleb Jon, is my other boy.

Caleb Jon, brings me so much joy.

Caleb Jon, everyday I need,

My Caleb Jon McAvoy with me!