SomebodyTurned 2 today!

On November 17th Maddie came over with presents and a mini cake for Ruger, thinking it was his birthday.  It was, however, the one year mark for when we adopted him so I think it was perfect timing!  So we celebrated anyways with her.

 Today, November 26, is his actual birthday.  For some reason I knew that I didn't want to have a birthday party with friends over.  I know that we did that with some of the other boys when they were his age but as the years have went on, we know that these birthday parties for babies are pretty much for the parents.  Honestly, the child could care less!  Plus, being invited to so many birthday parties (especially this time of year) can be so expensive.  So I thought I'd save my friends some money.  Ha!

 So I thought about it a lot.  What would Ruger want to do?  It is his birthday after all.  It turns out silly string really isn't his thing....  

 But there were no tears and we made up for it with everything else!  We got some pizza and breadsticks (Ruger is really liking bread right now) and went to a park.  We kicked around balls.

 The boys climbed.

 ALL the boys climbed!

We played on playground equipment and literally did what he led us to do.

It seriously felt like a perfect birthday.

 As we were heading home, we noticed some of the roads in Ogden closed.  I then remembered that there was a Christmas parade.  Normally, I really am not a fan of parades.  If they are in the summer, it's to hot.  Winter parades I don't mind as much because I like the cold but it is always so crowded and with little ones it just always makes me nervous.  But this was Ruger's birthday and he likes lights so we braved it.

It was certainly worth it for Daddy as he got to show the boys Rock Crawlers lit up in the streets, making their loud noises and showing off.

 And as you can see from the lack of coats, it really was a pleasant night.  We passed by a popcorn place and decided to splurge a little and what do you know?  We found birthday cake popcorn! 

  Afterwards, we came home and had some actual birthday cake.

And Daddy and Hyrum played with Ruger and his new toys from Uncle Chuck.  (We already opened up the mini trampoline that Grandma and Grandpa Thatcher sent and he will be wearing some of the things Nanny and Poppy got him tomorrow).

Something kinda funny that we realized tonight.  Last year, for Ruger's first birthday he got Thanksgiving.  So an amazing feast for his birthday.  This year he got a parade.  Hmmmm, what will next year provide?

Rashes and the Atonement

On Halloween night I ate way to much candy and so when I ended up having heartburn I figured it was because of that.  It was still weird to me though, because I don't deal with heartburn.  Sure I felt it a few times while pregnant but it was mild.  This was very uncomfortable though.  So much so that I not only felt that acid stuff coming up my throat but I also felt pressure on my chest.  This went on for a few days.  The heartburn, however was quickly forgotten as I broke out in a rash.  This itchy rash was all over my hands, arms, and legs.

It was frustrating me after a few days because, well, being itchy all the time is just frustrating!  I really thought it was the candy and so I cut out sugar.  But it wasn't making a difference.  In fact it was getting worse.  So eventually I went to the doctor.  He thought it was a bad case of eczema and gave me some oral steroids for it.  I always deal with eczema but I have never had it bad enough to have to take oral steroids.  

   

 I did notice a difference but by the time I finished the medicine it wasn't completely gone.  A few days went by and it came back but this time it was everywhere on my body except for the bottom of my feet and hands.  Luckily the only thing that creeped up on my face was this weird patch under my left eye.

At this point it had been past 2 weeks of having this rash and it finally dawned on me that it might be this pill I was taking before working out.  It coincided with this rash so I looked up the side effects and sure enough there were people on the internet complaining about heartburn and rash!  

So I went back to the doctor, showed him my new level of rash awesomeness, and told him about the CLA I was taking.  He thought I was probably right and gave me a prescription for more steroids.  He was surprised that I asked if I could please have a shot as well.  It's hard to explain how irritable one gets when they itch all the time.  I just wanted it gone.

As of now, I'm still on the steroids and I'm watching it slowly disappear.  The shot did wonders because even with my first round of steroids, the itching part never went away.  This time, it was significantly reduced by the next day after receiving the shot.

Well, I was thinking the other day about this whole thing.  It's almost been a month now of dealing with it.  I've tried my hardest not to let it get to me but wasn't always successful.  Obviously trying to fix it on my own (many lavender bath to soothe the itching, bandaging up the tips of my fingers because they eventually got so bad that they just cracked open and bled, ointments, and pretty much anything you can think of) wasn't working.  I finally "gave in" and went to the doctor who gave me medicine to help heal me.  But unfortunately, I went back to taking those pills unknowingly,  making it worse. 

Isn't sin like this?

Sometimes we do things that we think are ok.  We don't really think hard about it.  It just sounds like a good idea.  Not really thinking there would be consequences.  

Sometimes sin is like that.  Maybe we aren't close enough to the Spirit because of things we are or are not doing in our lives.  It's hard to hear the Spirit try to direct us in a certain way if we aren't really paying attention.  Sometimes sin can come in forms that we didn't necessarily realize we were heading toward.  But we do recognize that something is wrong in our lives.  It just doesn't feel right.  And before we know it, we are hurting.  And we just want it to stop.

So we seek out a healer.  Physically or Spiritually we turn to something or someone that will ease the pain. 

Just before going to the doctor, the second time, I received a Priesthood blessing.  The most important thing to me that I was told was that I would learn from this and would be compassionate to others dealing with similar things.  That night is when I realized the timing of the CLA pill I was taking.  A few days later is when I was able to realize, in a new way, just how important the Atonement truly is.

So I want to bear my testimony that I believe Jesus Christ is a healer.  He heals our wounds.  He and the Father want us to be close enough to the Spirit so that we can have happy lives!  Listening and doing as the Spirit directs can truly lead to joy. 

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you" (John 14:27)

My Hyrum

Hyrum is obviously cute.  Just look at that face!

And I've spoken of his tender heart many times.  This heart of his isn't just good on Sundays after church.  He amazes me (like this pumpkin that he carved a CTR in, for halloween) with his ability to want to be good just about all the time.  

I want to share a few experiences so that I don't forget in the future.  

A few weeks ago his class in 4th grade was encouraged to bring books to school on a specific day.  On this day, they would be spending hours reading.  Do you know which book he decided to bring?  His Bible and only his Bible!  When I told him that I was impressed that he would choose to bring his Bible his response was, "I just want to be blessed."  

Ruger gets real excited when his brother's come home from school.  All the boys are so good to him in giving him attention when they get home.  There is no way that this child couldn't feel loved, thats for sure!  But something that Hyrum lets Ruger do always makes me smile.  Almost the second Hyrum walks through the door, Ruger takes Hyrum's shirt (or jacket, if that is what he is wearing), grabs it and drags Hyrum to Ruger's room.  Ruger is ready to play with Hyrum!  And Hyrum lets him do it every time.  Instead of getting on electronics, like I'm sure Hyrum would really like to be doing, he lets his little brother drag him into his room full of toddler toys.

Hyrum is sensitive to my emotions and can often tell when I am stressed.  When he notices it, sometimes he will ask me about it.  Sometimes he will just start tickling my back.  And sometimes he will just ask me if I'm hot.  Hahahahaha!  Because he knows that if I'm hot, I don't want to be touched.

Our Primary Program is next week.  Our Primary President asked each child about a certain subject.  Hyrum's class was asked about the temple and which one was their favorite.  This is what he said, "My name is Hyrum and we go to the temple to welcome Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost to Earth.  We can prepare to be in Christ's house by helping others and not saying bad words.  I like the Ogden Temple because I got to go through it and be sealed to my baby brother."  These were his words.  How wise this little 9 year old is in essentially saying that we are ushering Christ's return by going to the temple.  And I love how he spoke of the Holy Ghost too.  To often I fear that I don't give enough credit to that great being.  The Holy Ghost.

I love my tender Hyrum.  I love how close to the Spirit he is on a daily bases.  I love that he is teaching me to think of others before myself.

I'm truly grateful that Heavenly Father sent Hyrum David Adams to me.

Update 11/25/2016:

The other day I was in my bedroom reading the Ensign when Hyrum came in and asked what I was reading.  I told him it was an article about preparing for Christ's return.  He said to me, "I wonder if Jesus is going to have a surprised look on His face when He comes back because of all the temples and churches that are here now?"  Besides that just being cute and sensitive of him, it was also interesting to me.  It was interesting because I had just finished the paragraph that talked about preparing us to receive Jesus Christ by going to the temple.
"Preparing A Place For The Lord by Bishop Gerald Causse"

Halloween 2016

This year our family really laid low on the social gatherings for Halloween.  It truly is so hard to do things, outside our house, with Ruger.  Doing things with any toddler adds "excitement" but Ruger brings things to a whole new level.  I'm truly so grateful for David and that we are raising Ruger together.  I may have Ruger by myself during the day but David always runs after him when he is home.  I don't know how single parents do it.  I really don't.  And I especially don't know how they do it with a very, very active child.

So yeah, we just went to our ward/church trunk or treat and then walking around house to house on Halloween night.  We had invites to community and business activities but seriously....no thank you.  I'm sure we'll get back in the habit when Ruger gets bigger and is a little less likely to run off with a stranger, walk into traffic, or nose dive into the pavement.  

Ruger was a Daddy monkey.  Levi was, well, he was Levi.  He just wanted to wear as much "Levi's" product as possible.  So we went with Levi's shoes, pants, and shirt.  Brigham was a banana.  Which was hilarious because when he was a toddler he used to say, "I wanna banana, I wanna banana, I wanna banana!" over and over again, as fast as he possibly could.  Hyrum was Pikachu which turned out adorable because his cousin Spencer, in Oklahoma, was one as well.  And it was the exact same pajamas costume too!

Here we have Baby Monkey, Daddy Monkey, and Grandpa Monkey!

Ruger's babysitter and girlfriend ;) Maddie, gave Ruger this monkey a month or so ago.  When she brought it over to him, she had it around her neck like this picture (it has velcro on it's hands).  Ruger is incredibly smart.  And I'm telling you, it's not just the mommy in me saying this.  He knows exactly what we are talking about almost all the time.  And he catches on fast.  All it took was for him to see his Maddie (or "Ah Ma" as he says it) wearing the monkey like this and he immediately believed that is how you always use it. 

So I build his costume around his personality, me always saying that his Dad is a monkey, Maddie's gift and then Brigham wanting to be a banana.  Wa-lah!

Ruger was super cute when we put on his costume.  He didn't care too much for it and really didn't like us to put the hat part on.  But then I brought out the monkey and put it around his neck and told him that we were going to see Maddie that night at the trunk or treat, he immediately stopped pulling at this hat.  Sad thing, though, is that when got to the trunk or treat and she wasn't there :(

I found a shirt with a girl and 4 monkeys on it...so that was my costume.  If it only would have had a Daddy Monkey on it, my costume would have been complete!

These pumpkins were what was left over from Hyrum's garden this year.  It worked out perfectly with 6 left.  As I was setting up our van for the trunk or treat Brigham said that the blanket behind the pumpkins looked like there was a body under it.  Fitting, I guess :)

Something to add to the significance of Ruger's costume is that while he was running around at the trunk or treat, Brother Bitter said that he looked like a little spider monkey.  I just laughed and told him that it was funny that he said that because during the summer was when I first called Ruger a spider monkey.  David was gone night and day during the weekdays all during the summer for work.  He came home on the weekends and Ruger would not leave his side.  Especially during the first day home.  When David would have Ruger on his hip and would need to put him down, Ruger would wrap his legs around David's waist as tight as he possibly could and hang on for dear life with his arms.  David would bend over and let go of Ruger but Ruger refused to let go.  It was so adorable!