Beans the Birthday Boy - February 16

Jude David turned three-years-old! I can't believe it! But, really, he's been acting like a three-year-old since he was eighteen months. He's always talked like a little grown-up and liked to hang with the older kids. But it's crazy that now he really is older!

I am absolutely crazy about little Jude. He is so much fun. He is the Kramer in our Seinfeld. He always keeps us laughing and it's so hard to ever get mad at him. He pretty much knows his way around his parents and ends up spending many late nights up with us watching our shows. On that note, I think that Jude has a sleep disorder or something. He seems to require very little sleep. He's up early in the morning and - even without a nap - stays up very late at night. Not great for when mom and dad need a little break, but he's so dang cute that it's hard to care too much.

He is really obsessed with Indiana Jones these days, or "Indy" as he calls him. He also loves the same stuff his brothers love like Bakugan, Power Rangers, Phineas & Ferb, etc. I like when his brothers are at school because then I can put on the little kid shows that I want him to like. Jude is a very good talker. His vocabulary knows no age limits and he is constantly saying words that I'm constantly wondering where he heard them.

He also is very protective of his brothers. Seems strange since he is one of the little ones, but he thinks he's pretty tough and won't let anyone take advantage of him. We were driving the other day, and Luke said that some kid is bothering him at recess. Jude yelled out, "I will get that guy and I will take off all his clothes and he will be naked." Two birds with one stone - protecting brothers and making a 'naked' joke.

Jude is a social guy and loves to play with friends. But, being the third, playdates are few and far between. But he also loves to just hang out with me, which I love. He is still super snuggly and I'm so glad. He loves when Luke gets home from school. They play so well together all day long. Jude also loves Tate and is always trying to wrestle the little guy. The feelings are mutual. Tate is always crawling after Jude and pulling himself up on couches and chairs to try and touch him.

Jude isn't a big fan of the nursery these days for some reason, but he'll still go. I think he'd rather just have his dad with him the whole time. Jude's appetite isn't great and he's a super picky eater. He mostly just likes bananas, mac 'n' cheese, cheese, and milk.

There's so many more things I wanted to say but can't remember. I'll just have to add things as I remember them. We love you, Jude! You are so much fun, so loving, and such a light in our family! Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Family Party
On the morning of Jude's birthday, I was still in Utah. So Dad and brothers made Jude breakfast in bed. Jude was so excited the whole day. I made it home and the whole day was all about Jude. We had his favorite - mac 'n' cheese - for dinner.

Then he opened his presents. He was so excited and got so many fun things, including some Indiana Jones stuff, a sword, and a spaceship and astronaut which he really wanted for some reason.

Then we sang him "Happy Birthday" and he blew out his candles on his cake. Jude is so excited when he gets to be the center of attention, so it was a wonderfully happy day for him. He also got to have a friends party, too. More on that to come.....

Jude's Birth, Jude's 1st Birthday and Party, and Jude's 2nd Birthday and Party

Kenny's Farewell - Feb 15

Me and my homeboy, Taters, got to fly back to Utah for a long weekend to attend my brother, Kenny's, mission farewell. Kenny is going to serve in the Cambodia Phnom Penh mission and we are so excited for him!

He will be the best missionary and is so ready to go. Kenny is a great Uncle to my boys, even little Tate. He's always holding Tate and helping me with my boys. We will miss him like crazy, but I am always so grateful to my brothers for being such stellar examples for my boys and serving missions. They make my job as a mother a little easier.

This was Tate's first time flying on an airplane and I was very nervous about it. Tate, as usual, did not disappoint! He was crying for a good portion of the flight and my armpits were a'itchin'. I would stand in the aisle and rock him back and forth, until the beverage cart forced me to sit. Thank goodness my 8-month-pregnant sister, Marcie, was on my same flight out to Utah or I don't know what I would've done.

L-R: Willie, Marcie, Kenny, Mindy, Robbie, Jamie, & Bill.

The weekend was so much fun. I was mostly hanging out at my parents house just enjoying being with everyone. We played games every night but Valentine's. On Saturday, we got a babysitter for Tate and my parents, four of my siblings, and I all went to the temple together. It was so neat to be there with all of them. In only a couple of years T will join us and all six of the kids will have been through the temple! Amazing! I can't wait to experience that with my own children. (Let's start praying now that Tate will be worthy and not in jail.)

Kenny's farewell talk was beautiful, and I was blessed with a tender mercy of the Lord because Tate slept the entire talk so that I could listen. He was crying before and after, but slept during. Miracle.

My sweet little buzzkill.

It was so fun to be with my family this weekend. I missed Jakob and my boys, but it's fun to have a little getaway every once and awhile, too. I wish I took more pictures, but, ya know. Taters makes it difficult. My mom took a lot of great ones, but you'll have to request to be her Facebook friend if you want to see them. (She's not very generous with her requests, though, so good luck. ;))

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love Week - Day 2

I am not loving that I am only on Day 2 and it is already Thursday. Get'cha head in the game, Mindy.

I love going to the movies, but I especially love going to the movies by myself. I love going with people, too, so feel free to invite me any time. But I also love going to see a show all by myself. My favorite is during the week after a long, hard day. It feels like such an escape and I feel such calm and peace after a trip to the temple movie theatre. ;)

I especially like when there's a movie showing that I don't mind seeing over and over again. I saw 'Mamma Mia' four times by myself and 'Twilight' more. I am not embarrassed, ashamed, or uncomfortable to be by myself. But last week, while I was at the movies alone to see 'Bride Wars', I laughed out loud two times during the movie. And that was embarrassing. There's nothing wrong with going alone to the movies, but laughing out loud proved to appear and feel so, so sad.

My favorite is when I'm the only one in the theatre. Then I don't have to worry about laughing out loud. I also don't have to be so sneaky about taking my Snickers Blizzard out of my purse.

I love Snickers Blizzards. (But I am feeling a little guilty lately about sneaking them into the theatre. I'm on a moral kick lately.)

I love Caramels from See's Candy, and husbands who are thoughtful enough to buy them for their wives.

I love to hear my children sing. I am so lucky that all of them sing all day long. Even Taters sings in his moany, bellowy way. My absolute favorite is when we are in the car, listening to a little Jo-Bros, and all the boys are belting it out like rockstars. In that moment, looking in my rear view mirror, my heart feels like its going to explode and I could just die of happiness right there. I always hope that I get to relive those moments in heaven, because I can't video tape it while I'm driving and they'd probably stop singing if I tried.

I just tried for three hours to upload video of Jude singing. It's not working. I'll post it later if I can figure it out.

Love Week - Day 1

'Love Week' originated on my friend, Denae's, blog, but she encouraged everyone to try so I thought it would be fun! This week I'm going to highlight some of the things I love every day. Since I missed yesterday, I'm backtracking. Here's yesterday's:

I love Dave and Denae Harlow! I must pay tribute to our dear friends. Without Denae, there would be no Love Week and there would be no blog! It was after visiting them in the summer of '06 that she showed me her blog and I decided to try it out, too! The Harlows are the best and most fun people you will ever meet. And they are one-of-a-kind. Jakob and I try to be like the Harlows, but we will always just be an inferior imitation. :) They're so great, that Jake and I are constantly dreaming of moving to be wherever they are. We love you guys!

I love going to church. This is one of those "Last-Sunday-Was-Really-Awesome-So-Today-I-Really-Love-Church" loves. Church is always awesome, but I don't usually get to partake of it the way I did last Sunday. Lukey was sick (blessing in disguise) and so Jakob stayed home with him and Taters. I got to listen to every talk and attend every meeting. It was so uplifting and inspiring. It motivated me to be a better person and make this a better week. Most Sundays, the highlight is meeting up with all of my buddies in the Mother's Lounge (for nursing). So this Sunday was a treat. Church rocks.

I love Jude's big eyes. I don't know where he got 'em, but I'm glad he did.

I love driving on dry roads, as opposed to snowy, icy ones.

I love my mattress. I don't get to spend as much time with it as I'd like.

Because I Should

I know I should post a blog. I haven't been great about posting, and I feel like I should probably post one today. But I don't really have a specific purpose to this post. I guess I'll just empty my head a little bit.

*January is such a hard month for me. It always is. It just weighs on my mood, energy, and motivation. I'm never great about posting in January and......what? It's February? Doesn't February just feel like January #2? For me it does. Maybe that's why they threw Valentine's day in there to try and break up the dreary months.

*For over a week now my heart has been overflowing with gratitude for a certain group of people. These people are the ones who flash their headlights at you as you pass them to let you know that there is a cop up ahead. Who are these angels? What motivates them to perform such a selfless act of service as this? This little gesture could save me a significant amount of money as well as the burden of traffic school. These people give me hope in humanity. It makes me feel like we're all on the same team, just helping each other to get through it all.

(Is the gesture of warning oncoming traffic about a cop illegal? I understand there may be a moral conflict in warning people who are speeding about a cop. But I stand by my above glorification of the action.)

*Jakob and I are going to celebrate 10 years of marriage this June. I've been thinking a lot about 10 years being married. It is wonderful and exciting....but isn't marriage hard? I know it's super taboo to blog about the tough side of marriage, and Jakob and I are actually super in love right now (Hi, Honey!), but, for me, marriage is a constant endeavor of trying to make things better than they are. And I just can't believe that after 10 years together there is still so much to work on. And that after 50 years together we'll still be working. I know that's how it's supposed to be. There have been a few times where marriage was smooth sailing, but those were usually times we were being tried in other arenas. Wah-wah.

*Did you guys know that Jakob gives me back massages at least 2-3 times a week? I just can't believe how lucky I am sometimes.

*I have a really hard time falling asleep at night. It has been like this for awhile. Every time my head hits the pillow, my mind starts racing. Sometimes I can't fall asleep for hours, even though I know I am very tired. I'm guessing maybe one reason for this is that I'm rarely alone with my thoughts all day, so there's no holding them back in the silence of my bedroom at night. Sometimes I try to hold very still and force all my thoughts on my breathing in and out. It rarely works.

*I am very good at identifying my feelings. For example, I know that I don't like to call babysitters because if they can't do it, I take the rejection very personally and it hurts my feelings. I also know that I don't like to drive because I am constantly trying to be the perfect driver and not make any mistakes because I don't want anyone to be mad at me and this is extremely exhausting.

For the most part, I know why I feel the way I do. But I cannot figure out why I don't like Facebook. But I really, really don't like Facebook. And I don't know why!

Believe me, I've tried to sort it out. I've heard it referred to multiple times as 'The Poor Man's Blog' or 'The Lazy Man's Blog'. I believe that's true. But that's not why I hate it. I know that I find it to be super juvenile and it reminds me of middle and high school. I sense competitiveness and judgment. "Will you be my friend?" But, this doesn't bother anyone else but me. And EVERYONE is on Facebook, not just immature people. I have no idea why it bothers me. I did spend over an hour on Facebook under Christina's account while she was here and found it very addictive. But I felt like a dirty spy afterwards. I just don't like Facebook.

To end this post on a high note, I'm going to borrow two posts from my friends' blogs that were awesome and uplifting for me. The first is a quote that Jill posted on her blog:

“You are here on earth for a divine purpose. It is not to be endlessly entertained or to be constantly in full pursuit of pleasure. The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you”.
~Elder Richard G Scott

And here is a video that a different Jill posted on her blog that was very inspiring:

That's it for me!

Tate is 8 (months)! (February 2nd)

Tater boy is 8 months old! He is so, so, so super fun these days. I wish I could remember and document all of the cutest things he does, but last night it took me nearly two minutes to come up with the word "funded", so chances of me remembering anything are very slim.

Jakob and I agree that Tate looks the most like Luke to us as a baby. He has Luke's underbite, nose, and droopy cheeks. He just gets cuter every single day. He's eating more baby food now, but he is my first baby to struggle with constipation, so we mostly just keep to oatmeal, sweet potatoes, squash, and prunes to help with that. His breath is the sweetest smelling aroma I have ever smelt. I will hold him for a very long time just inhaling his breath.

He is almost crawling, but mostly just getting up in the crawling position and scooting himself backwards, which frustrates him very much. I remember posting about how Jude would hoist himself up into a tent position when he was this age and we would all cheer for him. Jude was so proud. Tate does the same thing, but when we cheer for him, he just gets very frustrated and starts to whine. Tate sees no accomplishment in getting up into position. He wants to move forward already! Such different, fun personalities.

Tate talks a lot lately. His speaking is so loud and bellowy that we usually make frequent exits in and out of church classes. He still loves his brothers and loves to be where they are. When he wakes up from naps, he is immediately whipping his head around in constant search of his brothers. Speaking of naps, I don't think I've ever mentioned how I put Tate to sleep. Every time I put Tate down to sleep - for a nap or for bedtime - he begins to cry. But then I pull up his blanky, he grabs it and snuggles his head underneath, rolls onto his side, and goes to bed. He cries not because he doesn't want to sleep, but because he needs his blanky. None of my kids have ever been attached to their blankies, so this is kind of fun.

He's much more easy going these days. He likes to play with toys, but mostly likes to be walked around so he doesn't miss out on any action. He's still got his two little teefers and is constantly drooling those other teeth out. His sleep schedule was super horrible in Utah, so right when we got home I had him cry it out at night. He was finally sleeping through the night for like a week, and then he got sick. He'd wake up and I couldn't let him cry it out when he couldn't even breath out of his nose. So that was over. For a few days he slept through the night on his own, but that is now over as well. Oh, well.

Jude's 8 month post

The Billings

Last week, my incredible friend, Christina, her husband, Dave, and their adorable baby, Theodore came for a visit. It was awesome. Christina and I don't get to talk a ton, so it was a non-stop conversation from the moment we saw each other to the moment they left.

I met Christina when I moved to Naperville, IL at the beginning of 7th grade. We were fast friends and laughed our way through middle school. High School was a tough transition, but we got each other through our depressing times. We sang on New Impressions together until Christina moved to Salt Lake in the middle of our Freshman year. She met her husband there, so it's good that she moved. But one of the things we discussed is how much better MY high school experience would've been if she had stayed. Selfish, selfish girl. (And I'm referring to Christina for moving away and leaving me. :))

(Can you guess which sweater is my favorite this winter?????)

We went to the mall and went out to eat, but other than that it was just hanging out and catching up. We did play Mah Jong one night, and we were there to witness the Billings' first Pizookie experience. Ahhhhh. Also, Christina saw my wallet and purse and was disgusted. She spent a good 1/2 hour organizing it for me. Then I revealed to her my "filing" system for all of my old receipts. 6-7 freezer bags full of old receipts stuffed in a drawer. She spent hours going through them with me. Is that a good friend, or what?????? Their visit was relaxing, comfortable, and like no time had passed at all. I love having friends like that.

Luke and Jude playing on giant plastic food at the mall play place.

Here's her baby, Theo, and his BFF Taters. Theo is getting back at Tate for the hair pulling incident last month. Theo, is the most adorable baby I have ever seen. I love my boys and think they are the cutest. But, objectively speaking, Theo is the cutest and could win contests.

(If I ever find the person who taught my boys 'bunny ears'......)

My boys were in love with Theo and spent a lot of time holding him, talking to him, and making him laugh. Kobe said that if Theo doesn't have any brothers, he could be their brother. So cute!

Thank you so much for your visit, guys! It was so much fun and I miss you all already!