tonight

Oops, here is my post that I originally wrote that I thought got deleted..

Tonight as I was driving with Maddix in the car, I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Tears streamed down my face. I turned around, held Maddix's chunky thighs, and told him how much I love being his mom and how much I love spending time with him.
The other day I was telling Brig how much I love Maddix at this age. He laughed, only because we are in the process of potty training, and experiencing the "terrible twos" so not every moment in our house is exactly pleasent, but every day I feel that I grow so much. I learn patience or I learn the importance of meal time together. I learn that playing horses, legos, football, and baseball all day gives me the opportunity to bond with my boy. I learn more about my handsome little guy's personality and realize that what I do really does rub off on him and he really is learning by example. The other day Maddix and I were swimming in the pool and he walked over to the step, knelt down and began to pray. It went like this, "Heavenly Father, thank you body, thank you dada, thank you momma, keep momma safe, thank you happy, thank you swimming pool, thank you cereal, thank you prophet, thank you Jesus, Amen." He looked up at me with such a proud face and said, "Make Jesus happy." After the conference talk given that discussed the importance of teaching our children to understand, I have been trying really hard to explain why we pray, why we go to church, etc. I showed him a few examples in the Ensign where there were pictures of stories and I explained why the people were praying and how Heavenly Father helped them. Every time I teach him this, I can tell that he is really trying to understand. He looks at me with the cutest serious face ever and asks questions or repeats back what I say. It is so hard to teach a 2 year old, but they do absorb everything so I am really trying hard to be a good example.

This summer has been perfect. Yes potty training can be frustrating, but I love being home with Maddix. I love being there to watch him learn new things. I love our daily swims, our (almost) daily trips to Costco, our walks to the park to play football, baseball or golf. I love singing him songs before he goes down for his nap or to sleep at night. We sing the same three songs every night, "I love to see the temple", "I am a child of God", and "I hope they call me on a mission". I love watching his sweet tired eyes slowly close at he falls asleep. Some day's it isn't until that moment that I realize how precious and innocent he is. I love being a mom.

our week

Tonight I cried.

 It was a happy cry. 

I love this boy so much. 

I feel so blessed to be him momma.

This week we went swimming almost every day, made 3 Costco trips, 2 splash pad trips, 3 Walmart trips, read 10 books, watched too many movies, ate way too many otter pops, made cookies, built castles with legos, played trucks and horses, colored pictures, worked on potty training, went to McKay's high school graduation, fed the ducks at the Reparian Preserve, played football, baseball and golf at the park, got burned by the park slide, went to the Diamond Backs game, ate at Costa Vida, got a Lemon berry slush at sonic during happy hour, made a trip out to Chandler Mall, made up a new language with Maddix on the way there, watched the Vow (secretly cried during it), started reading "Heaven is Here" by the amazing Stephanie Nielson, and cuddled lots with my boys.

Life is good.

thought exfoliations

pretend that makes sense because it does to me.

right now i have millions of thoughts and i was going to make each one of them my fb status and then realized that I'd have millions of fb status’ in one night so here we go…

-maddix can say his name and its the cutest thing ever. sounds simple, but seriously you’d melt if you heard this little guy say, “Mannix Wheet”. Yes that's exactly how he says it. he tries to hard and i love it.

-today we paid off our car!!! yeeah-ah! we’ve been making big payments on it recently so that we don't have to go another year with a car payment each month. NO more car payments for us! feels amazing. that pretty much made my day.

-i lied. going to the temple made my day.. and then paying off the car came in a close 2nd :) even though i forgot brig's church shoes and his temple clothes (he met me there from work), we still managed to get to the temple. I love being able to walk into the temple and feel at peace. I love being able to sit and ponder for an hour or two and receive answers. I love the Spirit that I feel there and I know that it is truly the Lord’s house.

-P.S.- It pays off being a LeSueur. Thanks to LeSueur’s Tuxedos Brig had a snazzy pair of burgundy dress shoes to wear into the temple. They looked fantastic with his grey pants and blue tie, let me tell ya. Well at least better than his pumas.

-Costa Vida date without “Mannix” came in a very close 3rd.

-I might be regretting Costa Vida when I run my 9 miler in the morning

-Speaking of running, right about now I’m craving a Costco chocolate hand dipped ice cream bar covered in toasted almonds. 800 calories of yumminess in case you wanted the details..

-Or any ice cream would do…getting desperate i guess.

-Pinterest is my way of relaxing and letting my brain rest during studying breaks.

-My son is an angel when I'm not around, and a big stinker when i am around. Any advice would be much appreciated from any mothers who have had a 20 month old that throws very large temper tantrums when they don’t get to pick every single thing they eat and every place where they get to eat. HELPPPPP! My solution as of now is crib time when he throws fits. But lately I feel like I’m either at school, or putting maddix in his crib. I would love to have a happy home at least half of the time that I’m home :) In fact, I think I hear him crying…wait nope, it’s just engraved in my head.

-Okay, okay. We do have some good moments. And when we do, I shed a few tears because of how sweet my little man can be. He gives me kisses, and huge hugs around my neck. He loves me to hold him and dance around the house to music. He hits a baseball like no other 20 month old I know! He lets me tickle and wrestle him on the bed. He has the cutest/chunkiest little legs ever! His voice seriously melts my heart. He is such a good talker. He surprises me every day with a new word. He still takes awesome morning naps for me each day so that I can study. I don’t know many 20 month olds that still take 2 naps a day. One of my very favorite things is that he already loves the temple. Seriously though. We have two pictures of the temple in our house. Each morning he points to one of them and says something that sounds like “pemple”. Then he wants to touch it. And then he says “dada” and keeps saying “dada” until I tell him that "mommy and daddy got married in the temple”.  And then he gets a huge smile on his face. This little guy already knows how special the temple it. A few weeks ago we took him to walk around the temple and he did not want to leave. He cried the whole way home saying “pemple! pemple!”. I can’t complain. I love him to death and I thank my Heavenly Father each day that I have him! I absolutely love being a mom. Even though it can be pretty difficult sometimes, I wouldn't trade it for anything. The amount of happiness that he brings to me, not to mention the Spirit that he brings into our home, makes it so worth it. I’m so blessed!

-Brig has been having some good ideas of what kind of careers he might want to pursue. I used to be so worried about making sure its a job that will provide lots of money, but now I could care less (maybe a sign that I'm maturing a little? yay!) As long as we just have what we need, I really just want him to be happy and to love what he does!

-I love Dental Hygiene school. I am not just saying this. I really really love what I’m going to be doing. I’m sorry if I ever talk any of your heads off about school, but it’s only because I love it or because I want to vent to someone about how difficult it can be sometimes. But mostly because I love it :) I didn't say i love all the studying, because I don't. I just love what I’m learning and I love the feeling of working hard for something and seeing the results. We had midterms last week and thanks to my awesome husband and mom and sister in law Bethany (who watched him like 3 times in one week for me and she’s about to have a baby! she’s amazing), i rocked them! bragging moment- my lowest grade was an 87% and this was huge because i could've sworn that i failed one of them. okay, I'm done bragging because like I said, I couldn't have done it without my awesome fam and many many prayers. I was just very happy about it!! So that being said, yes, I’m still in the program. I love my class mates. They are all amazing people and great examples to me. I highly recommend the Dental Hygiene Program to anyone who loves meticulous work, being detailed, interacting with people, making things look clean and pretty, someone who wants to learn everything there is to know (and more) about teeth, working in a neat and clean environment, and doesn't mind blood and needles :)

Okay so some of these were more than small thoughts but I already feel so much better. If you made it through this, you are a trooper. Congrats :) And thanks for reading!

playing in the rain

pulling daddy’s hair

 

plugging his ears because baby addi (my friend rachel’s baby) was crying.

he’s never done this before so it was hilarious!

  

Rachel and I at clinic working on our typodants- Charlie and….mine doesn’t have a name yet. Suggestions would be much appreciated.

class of 2013! 

patience

lately i’ve been struggling with patience. for some reason jimmer and maddix know just how to push my buttons and by noon i’m done being dog owner. jimmer & maddix wake up at the same time. jimmer wants to play. maddix wants me to nurse him. jimmer doesnt want me to nurse maddix. jimmer jumps and bites us both. anyways..i know i only have one child but i still lose my patience. i am working on it..
luckily i have an amazing supportive husband who i can call and talk to and cry to when its real bad. he listens and listens and tells me to buy ice cream. he knows me too well. i am so grateful to have a husband that loves me unconditionally no matter what.
this past weekend we had the opportunity of listening to the prophets & apostles of our church speak to the world. i was so touched by several of the talks and have a lot i’m going to work on. i am so grateful to belong the only church that has a prophet on the earth today who receives revelation and guidance from the Lord for our entire church. one of my favorite talks from conference was elder richard g. scott’s. you can listen to his talk here. it is incredible! it even made me cry the second time i watched it. it talks about marriage and how sacred it is. it talks about the joy and happiness that you can receive from being married for time and all eternity and how to better your marriage by giving service to each other and loving each other unconditionally.
this is what else we’ve been up to.

sweet no one’s watching, i guess i’ll yank on the blinds now.

suns game

 

drinkin’ from the hose

i really do love being a mom. as impatient and frustrated as i get sometimes, i wouldnt change it for the world. being a mom is so rewarding and i love my family more than anything.

<3

this little guy melts my heart every time he smiles

you don’t wanna mess with him when he’s got this look on his face!

doesn’t he look so old in this picture? this is what i imagine him looking like when he’s older.

super handsome.

look out ladies! here comes the handsome, tan…chubby…lifeguard!

one whole year!

happy first birthday to the most adorable little guy, and the sweetest son ever.

maddix is….giving cheesy smiles, laughing hysterically, dancing to music, giving kisses, taking steps, still nursing, eating lots, throwing food, loving to be outside, saying mamma, dadda, babba, nana, ba {ball}, teez {he says this when i tell him to say cheese for the camera}, and making us happier than ever.

stats: height- 30 in {60%}, weight- 20 lbs 5 oz {25%}

5 days old 1 month   2 months 3 months

4 months5 months6 months7 months    8 months 9 months 10 months 11 months1 year

its gone way too fast.

it has been such an incredible year watching you grow, learn, and be your cute self. you have such an awesome personality. maddix, thanks for being the cutest, sweetest, most adorable son we could ever ask for. we love you to pieces!

love, mom & dad.

This is

bliss

i love being a mommy. i wouldn’t change where i am in life for anything. i sometimes feel overwhelmed, stressed for no reason, emotional, inadequate & whatever other crazy feelings that us girls feel. then when i get over myself, i think about how i have every reason in the world to be happy. lately i’ve been getting so emotional every time i look maddix in the eyes and he smiles at me so big. i love that little guy so much. he brings the spirit so strong into our home. i realized that i need to enjoy every single minute i have with him. he’s growing way too fast. it is so obvious how much brigham loves maddix. the other week my mom watched maddix while we went and saw a movie. i was in heaven. we had so much fun together. it was good for us. it takes a real man to go see a cheesy movie like that with his wife {the last song}. anyways, during the movie, brigham was missing maddix like crazy. he loves being with his little boy. the other night we were trying to get maddix to sleep in his crib finally. brigham was missing maddix too much so we ended up putting him back in our room for the night. it was precious. however, he will be back in his crib tonight. sorry brig!

so. my new nickname, thanks to brigham, is flavor of the week, i am constantly thinking of something new each week that i want to do or buy or learn. recently it’s been wanting to teach piano, buy a guitar & get better at it, take up running as a hobby , make headbands, eat healthier, and start back up with school. ever since i’ve become a stay at home mom, i have become determined. i want to be well rounded {you know what i mean} & get better at the talents that i already have. i WILL teach piano lessons. i WILL get better at guitar. i WILL start running more {i have to, i already signed up for a 1/2 marathon! so no getting out of that one}. i WILL eat healthier {not sure what my plan of attack will be since no sweets during the week wasn’t working for us. we used every excuse we could possible think of to “cheat”. my personal favorite was the playoffs. we had to have pasookies during playoffs. it was a must. well for me it was.} and i WILL start back up with school {most likely online & night classes}. anyone know of anyone selling a piano for cheap? or better yet, giving one away? :) how about a guitar? i’m all about used, cheap stuff. now i just need to face the fact that sleeping in is overrated, so that i can wake up at 5 to go running {the only time possible for me to get out & run due to brig’s work schedule & the scorching heat}. to any of you who didnt know, i have decided to go a different route with school. for several beyond several reasons. even though i’m not doing hygiene anymore, i am still determined to get a degree. now i just need to decide what to get my degree in…help please. things that interest me include anything that involves nutrition or health or pyschology{no to biology, math, english, or astrology. thanks tho.}

back to why i love life. i am a healthy girl. {let me rephrase that}. my body is healthy. i might not always eat the healthiest, but luckily my body performs the functions that it needs to! i have a roof over my head. i have a husband that loves me more than anything & treats me like a princess & is a worthy priesthood holder. i have a baby boy who is more adorable than ever. he always makes us smile. i have wonderful family & friends. i have the gospel in my life & a strong testimony. i am going to try to please my Heavenly Father every day by trying to be grateful for what i have. im not a fan of the side of me that complains. its so not attractive. ive come to realize that the heros in my life & those i look up to are always ones that are so happy even when life is rough. they find the good in the bad. the most attractive people to me are the happy ones. my husband is such an example of this. when he’s at home, he is the happiest. he loves being with his family.

am i rambling? sorry, this was much needed. thanks to those who listened.

now on to the fun stuff. my recent captures of life :)

      

p.s. i almost forgot. swimming season is here! we went swimming in our pool on saturday for the first time {the 1st time meaning longer than 2 minutes}. so fun. & it felt perfect. word of advice. if you’re going to play “toothpick”, use a “toothpick” not a bobby pin. just saying.

p.s.s. this weekend i found out that my husband knows every single primary song. impressive.

p.s.s.s. do i blog too much about my baby & husband? brig said that the readers might be getting sick of the same posts over & over. sorry guys, it’s my life!

thats all for now. promise.