Our Fourth Child

So the other night when Joey and I were laying in bed he asked me if Luke had told me about "Griddle" I had not heard about him but Joey had heard quite a bit. I guess "Griddle" is our ghost and he is Luke's friend. Should we be a little nervous? I know that children have imaginary friends but how did he come up with a name like that? Well since I heard the news I have been asking Luke about him and here are some "Griddle" facts:

He has red hair.

He wanted to eat dinner with us the other night.

Last night he was not here because he went shopping.

The Easter Bunny was going to bring something for him for Easter.

He sleeps with Luke in his room.

He is a ghost.

So never a dull moment at the Childs home! Like I don't have my hands full with the three existing children now I have to take care of "Griddle".

His Hand in All Things

Well what a day we had yesterday. Joey taught his first Gospel Doctrine lesson and did amazing. He was so relaxed and well prepared. He delivered his lesson with a calm confidence that I was envious of. Yesterday I was called to be the second counselor in the Relief Society. Talk about feeling unprepared for a calling. I will be serving with Janet Scott and the Bishop's wife Serene so I know that they will help me a ton. Then last night we got a call from the Bishop asking us to speak this coming Sunday. Are you kidding me Heavenly Father? was the first thought. I was already feeling tremendously overwhelmed and know we have to prepare talks. Although I feel like this is all too much I feel calm in knowing that I am not alone in any of this. I know that Heavenly Father and my Savior will be with me every step of the way. I was given a little reminder of this constant companionship this morning. I was cleaning up the kitchen and I realized that one of my invisalign trays was missing from the counter. Not the best place to put them but in the midst of yesterday's crazy morning I had set them there. I searched drawers and even the trash and could not find them. I prayed to Heavenly Father that I would be able to find them. I called Joey and asked him about it and he told me of three other trash bags they might be in. I searched through the bags and was able to find them. I knelt immediately in the laundry room and thanked my Heavenly Father for helping me. It made me realize once again that He will help me if I just ask. Whether it be for something as small as finding my braces or something as great as taking on a new calling. He is there for me and I could not feel more comforted or grateful.

Easter outfits

Well the morning was crazy to say the least, but I wanted to quickly post pictures of their Easter clothes. I did not get a picture of them all together but one of them each separately. I feel terrible about this but I am having their pictures taken in a few weeks all together in these Easter outfits. So I will post more when they are available. Luke and Nash wore matching outfits, cute vests, white button down shirts and tan pants. Harlee wore a dress that was blue and green with a cute little white sweater. The colors of her dress matched the colors in the vests. I know that they will probably not want to match their whole lives so I am taking advantage of it while I can. What cute kids we have!

Easter Morning

I LOVE to see the excitement in the kids as they wake up on Easter Morning. We made it to 6:50 am and Luke was ready to go. First words out of his mouth "Did the Easter Bunny come?" So we woke up Harlee and all went down to the front room. He did come and he did not disappoint. Luke was so excited with his Spectacular Spiderman DVD, Spiderman book, Spiderman PJs (are you sensing a theme? Not hard to guess what he is into these days!). Harlee was excited about her Barbie DVD, girly pjs and Abbykadabby book. Nash could care less but he got a Baby Einstein DVD, two books, and new pjs. The two older kids also got bubble guns, bubble sticks, and tons of candy. They were so happy. I am glad that the Easter Bunny has come and gone and now we can focus on the true meaning of Easter.

I am so grateful for my Savior. For all that He has done for me. I am thankful for this day that I can reflect upon the opportunity He gave to me to live eternally with my family. I want nothing more than that. Happy Easter!

*Today Joey is teaching Gospel Doctrine for the first time. I know he will do amazing. Also, I am meeting with the Bishop at 10:30am before church. Could I be getting a new calling?

New sleeping habit

Our little guy has just started something new. He has been struggling a bit lately to go down for an afternoon nap. After a bit of crankiness, I placed him on the ottoman on his tummy and within a minute he was out. I have since done it two more times with the same effect. I know of the scariness of tummy sleeping so the ottoman is a great place. He is always in my sight and he really enjoys it. Whatever works is my motto! Here is a sweet picture of him enjoying his new spot!

Question of Day

Can we go on the trampoline? This is a question I hear about a million times from morning to night. Funny thing is that the tramp is not really set up that great right now. We have had so much wind up here and the tramp blew all the way across our yard losing a few of the support poles on its way. Joey secured it with rope to the stair rail and now it is right outside the back door. Missing a few poles it is quite slanted but secure enough for the kids to have a great time. The weather is starting to warm up and I am getting a taste of what the summer will bring. I love that it is a fun activity for the kids to do together and I cannot wait for it to be safe in the ground. We are suppose to have that done next week and I will feel even better about answering their "can we jump on the tramp" question with YES!! P.S Love the prom pose- Luke is going to be well practiced for those one a month Utah high school dances.

179th General Conference

This weekend we had the opportunity to listen to General Conference. I just love to hear the words of our church leaders. I always finish feeling ready to do and be better. This session they focused a lot on choosing to be happy. With all that is going on with the economy I found this to be a very interesting and much needed topic. One of my favorite talks was given by our prophet President Thomas S Monson. He spoke on being happy even when facing trials. He told a story about a mother who had lost her husband and through her journey lost each one of her four kids. Still when she made it to her destination, she was happy and grateful. Talk about faith in the eternal plan. At one point after losing her last child, she felt inspired to get on her knees. She was ready to give up and was reminded of the bigger picture. If she held strong and did what was right, she would be able to raise her children in the eternities. This helped her to change her attitude and focus on the eternal perspective. What great advice. Another major topic was on not judging people or their situations. This was also something that I needed to hear. Another talk I loved was on change. For anyone that knows me, change does not come to easily. This helped me to realize that change is necessary for our growth and development during our test here on earth. Another talk I loved focused on the fact that we are never alone. We have a Savior who has been through the loneliness so that we don't have to go through it. We can lean on him in difficult times. Such great messages that just help to strengthen my testimony. I am so grateful for the Gospel. I so thankful that I have this knowledge to teach our children and help them return to Heavenly Father. I know that President Monson is a true prophet and I appreciate his counsel. I love my Savior and I am so grateful for what He has done for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this conference and look forward to hearing more in 6 months.

Nash's Special Day

Yesterday we were able to have Nash's blessing in our home. It was such a great experience and there was such a great feeling in our home. We appreciated everyone who was able to come. Joey's whole family came, minus KC who is living in Oregon. My whole family was able to make it except for Tara's family who is also in Oregon and Cory who is serving his mission in California. We missed them! Bishop Bean attended and it was great to have him here. Joey administered such a special blessing. The spirit was so strong and it was very evident that every word was coming straight from Heavenly Father. He started the blessing by saying that everyone in the room loved Nash and would be there for him if ever he needed anything. He then said that Nash was sent here at this time for a special purpose. This is something that was repeated again at the end of the blessing- What a great opportunity Joey and I have to be his parents. He mentioned how Nash should look to his mom for guidance and example. He said that Luke and Harlee were so excited to have him in the family and that we were humbled to be his parents. He talked about building a strong relationship with his Savior and to look to Him and his Heavenly Father in any time of need. That they would be there for him. He also talked about striving to get to the temple to make special covenants and one day be married to his wife. It was such a beautiful and touching blessing. I was honored to be there to witness it. I am truly grateful for Joey's obedience and willingness to bless our children. This sacred experience is one I will never forget. After the blessing everyone stayed and we had a nice dinner. I bought a bunch of Papa Murphy's pizzas on Saturday which was a perfect idea. It was low maintenance just like our little guy. We love Nash so much and are truly blessed to have him in our family.

LUCKY

I just wanted to take a moment to say how grateful I am for Joey. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing he is in my life. Yesterday we had Nash's blessing and it was wonderful. I am so thankful that Joey is worthy to hold the priesthood and administer those special blessings. He is so in tune with Heavenly Father and the Spirit was so strong. I love how tender-hearted Joey is. When it comes to his family and his testimony he cannot speak without emotion- I love that about him. Joey is so kind and always looking for ways to help people. He goes out of his way to make sure people are taken care of and he thinks of himself last. I am just so lucky to be married to him. He always helps me in any way he can and I truly feel like we are a team. We are blessed with three special children and they are blessed with the best father. Thank you Joey for being the best companion I could have asked for. You are more than I deserve. I love you and know that we will have the greatest eternity together!

Our Friend Jack

The day finally arrived and it was all pending on Luke getting his "take home treat" from Miss Mikki. Luke knew that if he got his treat which means he was good all day, then we would go get McDonalds happy meals, have a picnic and watch the much anticipated "Yo Gabba Gabba" featuring Jack Black. They have been showing the preview for this show for weeks and the kids could not wait. I was actually excited also because Jack Black is always so funny. So Luke showed up at home with treat in hand and we were ready to go. I guess he was telling his friends in carpool that he was going to watch Yo Gabba Gabba with Jack Black and Jack Black was so funny. We quickly drove to get lunch and then home to prepare the picnic. We all sat down and watched the funny show. Afterwards, Luke and Harlee wanted to show me their funny dance moves that they watched Jack Black do. It was a really fun afternoon and I was so proud that Luke earned it. Way to go Luke- we all thank you for a fun time.

Cute kids turn into sleeping nightmares!

Well we know we did it all wrong with Luke when it comes to sleeping. We were so worried about him and so he always slept in between us. We try to motivate him with prizes for staying in his own bed but the days are few and far between that he stays there all night. When we moved to our new house we moved him from the bed to the floor. So everyday we wake up to our cute little man in his bed on the floor. So learning from our mistakes, we swore we would not let the others in our bed. Harlee for the most part is really good. She stays in her bed all night. But she is suffering with a bad ear infection and cried to sleep with us last night. Since she cried to her Dad, who is a pushover when it comes to her, she succeeded. For some reason, Nash was struggling last night. He was up at 1am and again around 4:30am. Finally I brought him in bed with us. So much for the no kids in the bed rule. So last night we had Harlee and Nash in our bed and Luke on the floor. Needless to say- not the best night of sleep. It is hard to be upset when they are all so cute but I think the sleeping arrangements need to be revamped. What I would not give to have our bed to ourselves and greet the kids each morning in their own rooms. We can DREAM huh?

*I am hoping that by writing this post I will look back and laugh realizing this sleeping nightmare is just a memory.