Slow Your Pace

Landon: 

Had Pioneer Day off. Thank you Utah! He woke up Saturday morning with terrible back pain and really hasn't been able to move since. He thinks its muscle spasms. We actually drove down to Provo so my brothers could give him a blessing. I love my brothers. 

Becca: 

I go from feeling like Mother Teresa to Mother Gothel almost every hour. As least I want to be like Mother Teresa right? Its like Harry Potter could have been in the Slytherin House but he didn't want that, he wanted to be in Griffyndor thats what made him different than you-know-who(Babe I made a Harry Potter reference. You proud?). If I sincerely do my best as a mom God is going to consecrate my efforts. Like my brother Gary said to me this week, "They are His children too. He is responsible for them too." 

Catch phases i've been using: 

This is not forever 

I did the best I could in that moment 

Plot Twist 

Peace be still

I had a few epiphanies this week. On my runs. Six Miles! Yes!! The first one is that I don't have to give up the things that are important to me. I just need to slow my pace. I can still grow and become better in this part of my life, I just need to slow my pace. For example, running. Running is so good for me but i'm NO WHERE NEAR where I was even at 39 weeks pregnant. But thats okay. I can run slow. Like Miley Cyrus says, "Its about the Climb". (Eye roll/fist pump at the same time with that reference). Another example is that eating healthy is important to us, but instead of meal planning every week with lots of new meals, I just made two weeks worth of meals that I will rotate for the next few months. My second epiphany was that I get a lot of my energy from self help books/conversations/podcasts/etc. One day i'll be a life coach, and/or counselor, and/or write my book on teen dating violence. One day. Slow my pace!

Jax: 

Lots of cousin time. I woke him up Tuesday night to go see the firework. Just me and him. It was cute! He got into the school we wanted him to get into last April. We think he'd really love it and its a fairly big inconvenience on the rest of us. So we just need to weigh the pros and cons.

Ty: 

adorable to out of control in 60 seconds. 

#This is not forever 

#I did the best I could in that moment 

#Plot Twist 

#Peace be still

Luke: 

The light of this house. Every week i'm more and more grateful he's here and he's Luke. He is sooooo smiley. Talks so much. Rolling to his side a lot. 

Hunter is amazing and we love her so much!!!! 

These girlys are having a sibling in a month. We don't know if its a boy or a girl, but look at what his/HER life might look like... #loved #noair :) 

The last time I cleaned up rotted potatoes was in my apartment my sophomore year, with my roommate Regan. She just broke up with her boyfriend, she didn't get into nursing school. And then we opened the cupboard and the smell of rooting potatoes filled the room. It kind of became this hilarious/heart breaking/crazy night all wrapped into one. I think we went and bought box dye and I dyed her hair. Little did I know that just one week later, Landon would be knocking on our door.... To take Regan out. Regan was amazing. And she did get into the nursing program the next year. She was always happy and positive and i'm grateful for her. I'm grateful for her and truthfully, she is a big reason I have Lando now ;). 

Cut 6 inches off my hair. I haven't had a haircut since March 2016 in Indiana.

The "WHATS TODAY?" on the mirror:
The 80/20 rule is often talked about in running. You are only suppose to run fast 20% of the time. The other 80% is really suppose to be slow and easy. When I had Luke, I kept saying to Landon "how in the WORLD am I going to do this with you gone so much." He said I needed to apply the 80/20 rule to my life. I only need to be going my fastest 20% of the time. That has really helped me. Some days are fast productive rock star days, some days are slow days with 6 hours of TV. And both are good and NEEDED for success and growth. ;). 

A Pretty Sweet Deal

This week felt like a month. And its weeks like this I am MOST grateful for this blog. Because even though it was long and depleating and exhausting, I have a enough pictures as evidence that it was also happy and productive and worth it. 

Lando: 

Worked 70 hours in 5 days and thankfully had the weekend to recoup. On Saturday he ran 5 miles, went to Jaxsons baseball game, got us lunch and took us to the park. While Luke slept the four of us had the whole play ground to ourselves. We spent the whole hour with the boys just doing exactly what they needed and wanted. It felt rejuvenating to be intentionally parenting TOGETHER. And we didnt even snap a picture, proof we were really with the boys. When he got home he crashed on the floor for an hour. Then he read Harry Potter with Jax, colored with Ty, took me on a date and ended the night cleaning the LDS Conference Center with his mom. #nailedit 

Becs: 

I've been listening to the podcast 3 in 30 and LOOOVVE it. (Thanks Natalie for the recommendation). I've been trying to focus on some things I do well as a mother instead of the many things I don't do particularly well like.... 

.... staying calm in frustrating situations..... ahem

..... limiting screen time.... ahem

... bathing Luke.... ahem

 .....playing pretend with Ty.... ahem

....coaching Jax through his emotions....ahem. 

Here are some things I think I do well

Developing routines and having traditions 

Providing my kids opportunities and experiences

Maintaining and organizing and tidying the world around them 

Recognizing and discerning personalities, abilities, and attributes in my boys

Documenting our families life 

What I loved about this particular podcast is that it also talked about how we need to celebrate the things other moms do well and not let that make us feel bad about ourselves. I could always be better at that. I'm actually really good at celebrating what other moms do well, because i'm surrounded by A LOT of cool mommas. But I could do better at not getting down on myself for the weaknesses I do have.

Honestly my kids are kind of lucky to have me. And even though I know they watch too much TV, I don't read to them enough, they have too much sugar, and they aren't parented by a perfectly calm patient mother, I still think they have a pretty sweet deal. 

My new favorite quote is "Success isn't the absence of failure, but going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm." Elder Robbins 

As you can tell, my brain is all over the place. I blame three adorable little boys. I'm constantly trying to engage my mind in ways that are helpful and meaningful to me and then apparently I write about them here or in my journal.  #theraputic. Be grateful I don't put ALL of my thoughts on the blog ;). 

Jax: 

He LOVED swim lessons with the fetzer family. Honestly he'd love doing anything with the Fetzers. He also filled his days with Sorry, Where's Waldo, soccer, baseball, cousins and THE PIANO. (Oh and lots of movies.) Jaxson loves to learn so much. And he is really good at learning. He also loves to compete AND he is also a perfectionist. So sometimes he gets soooo excited about learning something new (Skip-Bo) and he gets soooooo excited about playing that game (with anyone that will play with him) and then his dad tells him he's playing it wrong.... he kind of loses it. But don't worry, after about 5 minutes of tears and big strong passionate emotions, we googled and read the entire Phase 10 rule book. This kid follows the rules. At his baseball game a kid threw the ball over his head and it went into the street. Well actually it rolled right up against the curb. But Jaxson wouldn't go near that curb. Because we've taught him that when a ball rolls into the street to wait for an adult for help. (Don't worry the other 6 year old just ran up to the curb and grabbed the ball). He is definitely a letter of the law kind of guy. So because of this, when he does make a mistake, he kind of spins out of control. I've been trying really hard to point out the mistakes I make so that he see's that even his 29 year old mom makes mistakes and is still learning. For example, Hypothetically if on a random friday night when I lose my cool and throw Jaxson in the bathtub and the hair clippers in the garbage can, I apologize, say I made a mistake and i'm still learning how to be patient and calm, and then take the boys out for pizza and cookies. Hypothetically of course ;). 

Ty ty: 

I've noticed recently how much Ty loves Luke. He didn't really show Luke much attention at first, big change for a little dude. But now, any second he gets to be with him, he takes it. I've always felt that Ty would connect his siblings all together. Between his goofiness and his love for family and his sensitivity to emotions, he just going to be good at building a relationship with each on of his siblings. I was really impressed with how well Ty did in swim lessons. The first day he was fairly shy and verrrry determined to do the exact opposite of what they were asking him to do, but by day four he was jumping in and have a grand time. He even went down the big huge giant purple slide by himself. He was really nervous, but I asked if I could help set him down over the spraying water and I he let me and he flew like batmen. This little dude is definitely the spirit of the law kind of guy. And i'm learning more and more that honestly, some of my rules are dumb. And though I value obedience and respect and I plan on teaching Ty that. If its not dangerous, immoral or illegal.... its probably okay. I'm grateful to BOTH Ty and Jax for making me a better person. I want to be more like BOTH of them every day. 

Lukester: 

Mannnnn!!!!! I love nicknames so much, and still haven't found one for him. I'm working on it. Except not really. Someone give me some ideas. This happy child is so talkative lately. He is also needing naps in his crib/bassinet more than out and about. Boo! But yay at the same time. One more month of flexibility and then Jax will head to school and his sleeping routine will begin hard core. Luke eats his hands. His laugh sounds like he is in pain. He talks like crazy when he's laying on his back. Oh AND his NEW social security card came in the mail. Luke Gary Woolf. I swear. Boys names about did me in this time around. 

I LOVE THIS GIRL SOOOO MUCH!!!!

These two buddies. Love them. 

Landon(From BYUSA days) and Landon(From marriage). Good guys right here. 

MY heart could barely contain this moment. 

This picture makes me laugh so much. Whats Luke thinking right here?? 

He wanted a Tee to hit his ball on, so he made one. 

This woman is amazing. I have always walked away more uplifted and more motivated to be better and more positive after being with her. I was BEYOND thankful she visited us. She is incredibly strong and faithful and intelligent and hard working. I want to be more like her one day. Love you Adriana. Also my boys LOVE her boys. 

They've been working in our apartment so one day we went down to Nate & Sarah's for a few hours. I love them and the cousins have the best time together, I just didn't happen to snap a picture of them playing because me, Nate and Sarah were busy talking about life. They always make me feel so much better about myself. I love and admire them so much. 

Peaches, President Nelson, and a quiet house because Hunter came and took the boys to the park. We are going to miss Greta and i'm feeling extremely grateful I found Hunter as our new nannying!!! 

I assure you a three year old DID NOT grab this sound machine we've had for the last 6 years and throw it on the ground because he was really angry. It mush of just accidentally tipped over ;). 

I love how great Aunt Lacey is at playing with Jaxson. I also love just talking to her. She is another person that always makes me feel better about myself. She's also really good at just calming my crazy emotions down. She could probably solve all my problems if I was brave enough to open that can of worms ;). She is the BEST!!!! 

And then there is Mummy who loves all of us so much and is so understanding and the cutest grandma to her grandkids. Also, Jax got a new haircut that he picked out all by himself. #hardpart.