MOM DAYS CAN BE LONG

Although my days are filled with playdates, mom dates, church meetings, story times, little adventures, soccer, time with Stephen, tumbling, swimming, and all those fun moments we enjoy and seamlessly pass by, my days are also filled with hours of dishes, eternal messes, helping little people, my worst enemy laundry, and meals meals and more meals. Because we live in a little town with no family around I think that I can feel extra lonely sometimes. And it is also winter right now so we are confined to the house a lot.  Stephen works long hours and I spend most of my time alone with the girls. On top of a lot of little people activities housework is just never ending and can get so monotonous and well boring. It is hard for me to find these tasks meaningful and at times when my day is filled with mostly housework tasks it can be downright depressing.

A couple months ago I discovered some amazing resources that have truly changed my mom life: podcasts and audio books. I just can't even explain what a difference they've made in my mom life. In case you don't know podcasts is an app on phones where you can listen to radio shows recorded by pretty much any organization or person about different topics. It's free you just subscribe to them. I've listened to stuff about the importance of teaching diversity and tolerance in the home, an interview about a mom who takes care of hospice babies, what it is like to live on a farm with children and the values they can learn, what training for a iron man race is like, different preschool options, how to make Christmas service centered, technology and the impact it has had on society especially children and other thought provoking segments. 

I follow three that I love: Eyeres on the Road, BYU Speeches, Power of Mom Radio, and Exceptional Moms. Power of Moms is amazing. I just can't say enough about it.

I listen to them while I make breakfast, while i fold laundry, clean the kitchen, while I workout, when I take the girls to the park, the list goes on. It almost feels like I have mentors and friends right there with me talking about things I am going through, sharing advice or just different ways to parent or live. I have found that listening to older mom's who are reaping the reward of years and years of hard work raising little ones, can energize me and fill me with purpose while doing the little things that can seem meaningless and boring but truly are shaping my kids. I also love how listening to these makes those tasks I dread sometimes ,be more enjoyable and go by so much quicker and seemingly effortless. Because lets be honest how much brain power does doing a load of dishes take? nada.

Now lets talk about audiobooks for a second. I mean seriously how have I gone through years without audible??? Audible isn't free but I think it is worth the monthly subscription. these are the moments were I am so so so grateful for technology. Anyone who knows me knows I have been a bookworm since 4th grade. Historical Ficition, Sci fi, Fantasy, Romances you name it I will read it.  Non ficition on the other hand has always been a goal of mine but I just can't seem to find the desire to lay down during nap time or at nights and think again. During those times honestly I just want to shut my brain off. I've read a handful of non fiction on my spare time over the years but not even close to how much I wish I did. But this last year I have learned something that might seem obvious but has been life changing to me: I am a non fiction audio learner. Listening just works so much better for me. Multi tasking while I listen also helps me focus.

Podcasts and Audiobooks help me feel less lonely and my brain feels like it is being used again. Besides remembering daniel the tiger songs, creating a paint masterpiece of a starfish, or building a sculpture of play dough of course. Anyways I've rambled long enough here are some of my favorite books I have listened to lately:

Mom Confessions

Throughout the day sometimes I find myself writing imaginary blog posts about mom confessions I have. Stuff that might be hard to share but I know I KNOW someone else is feeling or could learn from. I picture Isabella or Olivia one day as young moms with their own little ones at their feet "i want apple juice!" "why isn't it movie time?" "2 hours?! are you kidding me?! that is forever from now!" "mommy can you wipe my butt? i pooped" "mommy Oli just pooped" "mom i need you!" "mommy I'm hungry!" "mommy can we play cook cook?" "mommy your name is rainbow dash!" "mommy i need it now!" " mommy when is daddy going to be home? I miss him" and I imagine them as overwhelmed, tired, lonely and anxious as I feel sometime. Of course our days are filled with beautiful moments that make me teary eyed and thank my lucky stars for getting to be the mom of these amazing girls  but those moments are easily recorded and shared. It is those moments when you are at your wits end, when your patience is tried and you become a witch and the children seem like little monsters, those are the moments that we as moms tend to just push to the back corners of our memories never to be thought of, analyzed or heaven forbid recorded. But I have found in the last year some amazing brave moms who have put themselves out there in vulnerable ways and have at least to this one young mom in a small town in Missouri given a safe place to find comfort, advice and sometimes just strength that comes from realizing you are not alone. So to my girls Isabella, Olivia, any other little girl I might have some day, and any mom out there feeling like they are about to pull there hair out and jump out the window these are my mom confessions.

Talking with Isabella

bella: "Mom how old is Jesus?"
me: He is pretty old
bella: "Oh he must be like six or seven years old!"

I'm in the bathroom with the door locked for privacy from little monsters
bella bangs on the door: "You have to be kidding me! you locked the door! I have to poop too!

Recent Prayer:
"Heavenly father please bless all the little children in the world that they can have pizza, actually pepperoni pizza, blankets, and that they can watch Octonauts. help me to be brave and strong. Amen!"

I'm scolding her for hitting Olivia this morning because she destroyed her road of blocks
"well mom i don't have time to talk to you because....well i have to go to a party... so bye!"
runs off

"this is boring I don't like slow music I want fast music!"

"have you seen Lego Batman? it is so funny! There is this part when Robin throws his pants at Batman and says it's better!"

HI

Lately I have been feeling like I have so many thoughts and mixed feelings of all sorts that I need to let out. I keep thinking of this little space in the internet I created a long time ago and how maybe here is were I should let all those thoughts out. Boring mom stuff don't get excited if anything just for the benefit of me spilling my brains out while the girls nap. I've been meaning to do it for weeks but is so so hard to give up glorious sacred nap time to write. Nap time is when i am allowed to lay down, turn my brain off and just RELAX. But there is a small clear voice that keeps whispering in my ear to write and record these sweet simple moments we are living right now. So small clear voice I'm back.

OLIVIA'S FIRST MONTH

Ok so Olivia. Lets start with a story. First of all you need to understand that Isabella came into the world announcing her presence very loudly and made demands frequently ALL NIGHT LONG. So when Olivia slept peacefully through most of the night at the hospital and barely made a squeak once in a while to ask for food, we were worried. Well let me rephrase. I was exhausted and just grateful, Stephen was worried. At like 3am he finally decided she was deaf and of course needed to prove it right then and there. So he would bang a cup against the metal desk next to him every so often to see if she would react. It's 3am, I just had a baby. So I very nicely told him that if he banged anything again I was going to kick him out of the room and he would sleep in the hallway. If she was deaf there was nothing we could do about it at 3am. Next day the doctor came. And fortunately we found out she wasn't deaf, just very mellow.
Well Olivia has kept up her mellow reputation from day one. Seriously this little girl is chill. She rarely cries and when she does, it sounds like a little puppy in pain. Instead of crying most of the time she groans. We call her our little dinosaur.
I feel like Olivia has a look of her own. She is not quite me or quite Stephen, just has an air of both of us. Sometimes though she looks just like her uncle Adam to me. Those Wells genes seriously! And then there's her wild hair. We also call her our little porcupine. Her mane cannot be tamed. It has a life of its own. Especially after we give her a bath. It just goes Poof! and that's that. She reminds me of Doc from Back to the Future haha. But I love it! It gives her spunk and I find it adorable. She loves it when you rub it softly backwards.
Olivia has been such a testimony to me that Heavenly Father is aware of each one of us and our limits and circumstances. Before having Olivia, We were really nervous of having another kid. We felt burned out and could barely keep up with our overbooked life. We just had a lot going on this past year. Some nights
I would go to bed and think "how in the world am I going to take care of another child?" But little Olivia came and has pretty much taken care of herself. Her spirit is so gentle and calm and just being around her slows me down and helps me breathe.
I have also learned that newborns are a lot stronger than we think. New parents, don't worry if Olivia can survive her crazy sister then your baby can survive anything. Don't get me wrong Isabella ADORES Olivia. Their relationship is soooo cute. But Isabella is a very active wild typical 2 year old and can sometimes get too excited with her jumping, dancing, running, kicking.... Like my grandma says "ay amores que matan". We are working on it...Isabella does do some adorable things though. Instead of being bored by the baby, she pretends Olivia does all this cool things. Since babies have their hands in a fist all of the time, she will pretend Olivia is giving her a fist pump and is so proud of it. She says stuff like "hermana beso me! or hermana tickles me!" Anyways those two are going to be quite the duo. Isabella just wants Olivia to hurry up and grow up so they can take over the world.

CHRISTMAS 2015

 We had such a wonderful Christmas. This year has been an overbooked, overstressful, over everything pretty much haha so Christmas was such a wonderful time to relax and just breathe. Having my mom here has been such a help. She made the girls matching Christmas nightgowns. Bella was so excited to have the same dress as her hermana. We made cookies for the tree (a tradition we did when we were kids), watched Elf, made gingerbreadhouses, and all the other fun Christmas stuff. Isabella is so old she understands so so much more than last year. She would run around the house singing "Santa Claus is coming to town!" She also would smile so big and say "Mewy Christmas!"

I pondered alot how to center Christmas around Christ with all the hoopla of gifts,movies, and activities. I am so into ginerbread houses, Santa Clause, all the cool movies, stockings, lots and lots of good food, family and gifts. They make Christmas so much fun, But I felt gentle reminders all month to make sure to focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas: Christ. As Christmas approached I felt prompted that our family should dedicate Christmas Eve (so the 24th) as a day to ponder on the birth of our Savior and give him gifts through our actions that day. Then on the 25th we could open presents eat a lot and just let the kids enjoy the stuff they got and watch movies. I wasn't sure how we were going to make this work but when I woke up on the 24th the plan was clear as day. All morning we made tons of cookies packed them up in cute packages and wrote some cards. Stephen and Isabella put their elf hats on and we headed off to the homes of the people we visit teach and home teach (we have alot of families we visit, I have 4, stephen 2) and one of Isabella's best friends, Kali. We put Christmas music on as we drove and talked. Isabella kept saying "another casa! another casa!" and proudly delivered all the cookies. We had a particular special experience in one home. Two single moms live together and I visit teach one of them. One of the little boys fractured his foot and the doctors said it would have to wait to heal. He was in alot of pain. Stephen was able to give him a blessing since they have no priesthood holders in the home. I felt the spirit so strongly as we left. As we drove back home I realized that one of the biggest gifts I can give my children is the gift of giving to others.

Christmas morning was a blast. Santa Clause came at 2 in the morning ate his cookies and left the girls some awesome legos. Stephen and I have decided we don't want to buy a bunch of gifts for our kids, we would rather keep it simple. BUT we have no problem with grandparents spoiling them soooo the girls still had a TON of presents. That's what happens when there are barely any kids in each family. Olivia was just happy to watch her big sis play.

Now we have to wait a whole year for Christmas to come again! It is most definitely the most wonderful time of the year.

OLIVIA'S BABY SHOWER

My friends Kate and Michele from church threw me an awesome baby shower for Olivia. We had tons of fun. I love baby showers. They are like birthdays but on steroids cause you get so many gifts AND mine are filled with adorable little girl stuff. Olivia is one lucky lady everyone was so generous and gave her some fun stuff.  My favorite part of the baby shower was of course the food (I was  8 months pregnant so food was all I thought about haha). Michele made copy cat waffles from Awful Waffle in Utah. She had cookie butter (why oh why is that so good?!!!) nutella, strawberries and whip cream. I had my share and some more...My friend Marisol took some awesome pictures:

^^

Isabella tried cotton candy for the first time. She DID NOT like it but I was more than happy to eat it:)