Braxton Update

It's been a while since I updated on what Braxton is up to these days. Today is a monumental day. We had our second #2 in the potty donation. We are trying to work on potty training, but I have to admit only with a 25% effort. I am not pushing it because I don't want to pressure him, but I do want to help him get there if he is ready so I am asking (when I remember) if he wants to go and allowing him to wear underwear when we are at home and he wants to wear them. Most of the time he still wants diapers, but I know we are making some progress even if it is slow.

The other development we have is his new understanding of free agency. This is one of those lessons I often wish he wasn't learning. He now has to pick out his own clothes and if he doesn't I have a HUGE fight on my hands. He likes to pick out things like breakfast, lunch, which toy to bring in the car, etc. Another thing that makes me laugh is he now knows better than I do which shoe belongs on which foot. So, yes, I do put his shoes on his feet but, no, I am not the one who decides which foot goes with which shoe. Because of this free agency thing I am doubtful I will be able to get him in a Halloween costume because those clothes are not ones he wants to pick. :)

A new emergent skill he has shown is lining things up. When asked to put his bikes in his room they are all lined up in a row. He even lines up his matchbox cars when he plays with them. In addition to this I don't know if I ever shared his need to see cars drive at "street" level. That means that rather than looking at the cars below him as he plays he has to lay on his side and watch the wheels touch the ground. It is the funniest thing.

Finally I will leave you with an adorable little story about him. Saturday I woke up feeling awful because of a cold and so I stayed in bed hoping to sleep a little more of it off. When Braxton woke up Kent got up with him and started making breakfast. I heard Kent tell him to leave me alone because I was sleeping (usually if Braxton is awake and I am not there is a little boy whining at me and pulling my covers off). A few minutes later I decided to wake up and come help Kent with breakfast. When Braxton saw me he said, "no mom!" He climbed off his chair, (he was helping Kent with breakfast) grabbed my hand, walked me into the bedroom and pointed to the bed. As if to say, "Mom, you are supposed to be sleeping." It was really cute. Even though some days are a struggle between his will and mine he is still a very fun little boy to have around!

P.S. I almost forgot. One of the fun things he does these days is sing. When we go for a run/walk he sits in his stroller and sings songs. He does the same thing when he's supposed to be napping. I really enjoy listening to his little songs even if I can't understand a word!

Why We SHOULD Define Marriage.

I received a few emails today that I would like to share with EVERYONE. Instead of emailing them each out individually I am putting them on here in hopes to help anyone who disagrees with me to understand why I along with many others feel this issue is so important. My thoughts and prayer are with those of you living through these difficult experiences!

Email #1 in circulation:

An institute teacher read the following letter in class. He pointed out that if gay rights people get what they want then we will lose our rights.

I don't know if you're aware of what's going on politically here in California right now but for the first time in my life I've seen the church take a stand on a political issue to the extent that we've had Ward gatherings for the past three weeks to physically canvas neighborhoods and make phone calls to registered voters, to educate them about the language and affects of Proposition 8. I guess I was kind of oblivious to the wider reaching affects that this could have on all church members but found this informative e-mail interesting and decided to forward it on to you. In a recent LDS Sacrament meeting in California, the focus was on Amendment 8 (the gay marriage issue), one of the speakers who was an LDS judge in the area, had statistics that were 'mind blowing'. For example, in Boston, MA (where gay marriages are now legal,) the Catholic Charities have closed their doors because the state has required them to allow adoptions to same sex couples, and they refused. They are a large and worth while charity with great power in the state and they were overruled.

A Methodist church has lost their tax exempt status because the minister refused to perform a marriage of a same sex couple (they were not of his congregation).

A physician who refused to do fertility treatments on a same sex couple because of religious reasons was sued, lost and the state is requiring him to treat everyone as equals. Our schools will be required to teach, starting in kindergarten, that marriages make up many different combinations. The consequences are horrible. Directly tied into ALL of this is our right to continue to go to the Temple. If Gay Marriage is supported by the government, then those who are same-sex married, who are 'LDS' and legally recognized as married by the government, can sue to be married in the temple. It is my opinion that the church will not bend on this issue, and our rights to go to the temple will be in jeopardy. AND goodbye to those religious tax-deductions, tithing, fast offerings, etc. We will lose our tax-exemption status if the government legally forces the church to support same-sex marriage. These effects are far-reaching! I hope no one is upset by this e-mail, I would not want to offend anyone, but I believe this issue is not a political issue at all, but a moral issue that affects all of society.

The Proclamation on the family clearly gives a warning voice on this matter. I pray that this issue on the ballots will over turn the gay marriages occurring right now in that state, and help prevent other states from adopting this stance. I believe that it is important to support and defend traditional marriage, home and family. Another friend says that her relatives in Sweden are even watching what goes on in California, friends in Canada are watching. The whole world is watching to see what happens.

Email #2 in circulation:

Dear family and friends,

I had a very disturbing experience yesterday that I would like to share with those of you that live outside of California (or outside of the San Francisco Bay Area). This weekend we have stake conference. Our stake conference always begins with a stake temple session on Friday or Thursday night. Early Friday morning I received a call from the second counselor in our bishopric to let me know that there would be numerous protesters outside the temple, and to remind everyone to stay calm and to drive carefully. The beautiful Oakland Temple is located right across the bay from San Francisco , very close to the city of Berkeley . Apparently the opposition to proposition 8, the amendment that seeks to make marriage in CA between a man and a woman again, has realized the deep involvement of the church and begun to protest right outside of the temple and harass temple patrons. The fastest way to get to the temple from our house is to take the 680 freeway, but the exit is a bit tricky. The off ramp is extremely short and straight uphill. You then make an almost blind left turn, an immediate right and another left into the parking lot. As we! approached the off ramp, I realized there would be trouble. There was a backup onto the freeway from cars stalled on the off ramp. As we moved forward inches at a time, we realized this was due to a large group of loud protesters who were standing on both sides of the street, yelling, screaming and waving signs. When we got to the top of the off ramp, ready to make our turn, one protester jumped out right in front of our car. It took my husband all his self control to carefully maneuver around him to the left and proceed to the temple. I tried not to listen to all they were shouting at us, but I was shaking as I got to the temple front door. Several of the sisters, especially the ones driving on their own, were crying (which made me snap out of it and go into RS President mode to comfort them). Later, as I was sitting in the perfect quiet of the chapel, I couldn't help but think of Lehi's dream, and the people who mocked the Saints from the big spacious building but ! 'we heeded them not.' It was a truly surreal experience, I'd ! never through that I would have to go through an angry crowd to get to the temple. As we left late at night, the protesters had dispersed, temple security (who all looked very large and Tongan) stood by the gates. I never saw a single police man. Please pray for those of us in California fighting for prop 8--it's getting kind of scary out here!

Susan

Email #3 in circulation:

This is an excellent video discussing a Massachusetts family's fight to help their own family remain morally clean in an increasingly immoral world.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1815820715?bctid=1822459319

My Success

This is a picture of me back in April at the zoo...

This is a picture of me two weeks ago in New Mexico.......Notice anything different???

20 lbs. less of me!

This post is to celebrate the physical work that has gone into making a happier, healthier, more beautiful (inside and out) Marlies! For those of you who haven't followed my private exercise/weight loss blog I have been working very hard since April to lose the weight I gained when I was newly married and from being pregnant with Braxton. So far I have accomplished 20 lbs. of weight loss, lost 5-6 inches off my waist, dropped from a size 16 to almost a size 10 and learned more than I could have ever imagined about myself.

I started out doing a light exercise called Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone. First it was the one mile walk. Then it was the two mile and three. When I was getting bored with that I moved on to Turbo Jam and did that for a few months. Finally the end of August I was able to purchase a very nice jogging stroller that has now been deamed the best investment ever. Currently I jog/walk three times a week. One day is my five mile run and the other two days are two to three miles. Yesterday I was able to pull my best time ever on the five miles. I was able to accomplish it in 55 minutes and 14 seconds. Considering I am a girl who would not run in PE class leaving me at the back of the pack I find that time amazing!

In addition to exercise I have modified my eating habits. I try not to bring in lots of sweets as they are my downfall. That doesn't mean I don't indulge myself every now and again it just means I don't make those foods a habit. I use more whole wheat products and try to drink more water. All in all I just try and make healthier choices when I put things in my mouth.

I need to give thanks to all of my inspirational friends and family. Many of you have cheered for me, encouraged me and supported me in this process and I know much of my success is due to the strength I drew from you. I want to thank all those who have inspired me in one way or another to do this. I would list you all, but I am afraid I would forget someone. Just know that all of you who have taught me ways to be healthier either through example or conversation have helped me in my weight loss process. Thank you!!!!

Life's Happenings.

I just had a few things I wanted to write about that have happened in the last week. First of all the week after we got back from New Mexico Kent must have felt that he'd spent too much time with me because we hardly saw each other. Monday night we went down to Gardner Village to enjoy the decorations (witches) for family night. Tuesday was scouts for him and I had a Relief Society social. Wednesday he flew out to Denver to pour 10 yards of concrete at the airport and then flew home the next morning. Within an hour or so of being home he took off down to Meadow to help Travis with cows (and in my opinion to "help" with others deer hunting). He didn't make it home until about 45 minutes before I had to be to work Saturday night.

While Kent was gone I had a really hard time. First of all I miss him A LOT when he is gone. I am not one of those strong independent women who gets along just fine without her husband (for this reason I will not do well divorced so dangit all I just have to put up with the guy). Another difficulty comes in the fact that Braxton wanted to find his voice in making his own choices and and showing me that the 2-year-old Braxton can do what he wants to do independent of what mom wants him to do. ie: playing with toys instead of getting ready to go, watching tv instead of getting clothes on, wanting to put on different clothes instead of the ones mom picked. We both struggled. The final reason things were hard is because I feel I am already fighting my seasonal depression as we go into winter. This is something I have hoped would kind of go away with exercising and eating right, but it seems that maybe I may need more help. I am going to monitor it and see how it goes because I would really like to be able to get through the winters without being medicated, but if it is necessary I am not opposed to using it either.

Saturday I had the primary party I was helping with and had to take Braxton with me. I was very grateful that we didn't have a huge blow up again since I had to be there. We had a great activity planned. We had Christmas decorations to make as well as doughnut hole spiders to make. Other activities involved musical chairs and we did a relay race wearing "The Armour of God." All in all it turned out well, that is except for the trauma. Our decorations were glass balls that we had the children fill with different colored sand and placed a thumbnail photo of them in it. It had never occurred in our planning that small holes are always calling to children's fingers. We had three children get fingers stuck inside and had to have the firemen next door come and help us bust the glass off their fingers. I just had to laugh when the one fireman kept saying, "buds don't stick your fingers in things." We'll now better about that one next activity.

Last night was the highlight to all the torture. Kent and I decided to take Braxton and go for a drive in the mountains. We wanted to see if there was any more color on the trees. During our drive Braxton feel asleep so we decided to do a little exploring. We took East canyon and drove and drove and drove. We drove until we finally came to the thriving metropolis of Henefer, Ut. (look it up). When we ended up on I-84 and found our way to Morgan in Ogden canyon we had a good laugh. We did get a couple of good pictures of a natural landmark called the Devil's slide. I thought that was an amazing landmark. The thing that made me laugh the most was when I had told Braxton we had driven in three counties I didn't know we would be adding two more to the trip...and I thought we were going for a nice quiet drive up the canyon and back. Ha ha ha.

I know you are thinking, "that's natural?" but believe me...it is.

My boys just before bed. A night out was good for all our souls!

Tag, tag, tag....

I was tagged by THREE people (are you all conspiring against me or what?) So I am starting with Janessa's tag.
1. Where is your cell phone? Good question. Normally in the pocket of my purse, but who knows.
2. Where is your significant other? Another good question. Wherever he is I am sure it's dirty.
3. Your hair color? Dark brown
4. Your mother? Consistent
5. Your father? Handy
6. Your favorite thing? Family Night
7. Your dream last night? Trying to get Kent's attention
8. Your dream/goal? To loose 20 more lbs.
9. The room you're in? A little warm and messy
10. Your hobby? Seems these days all my free time is used cleaning something.
11. Your fear? lol. Hair
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Definately NOT still in this apartment!
13. Where were you last night? In Morgan. lol
14. What you're not? Quiet
15. One of your wish-list items? A house with new couches.
16. Where you grew up? Orem/Corvallis
17. The last thing you did? Folded clothes
18. What are you wearing? Clothes
19. Your TV? Is quiet
20. Your pet? Is a black horse
21. Your computer? Takes up far too much of my time. (my fault)
22. Your mood? Fine
23. Missing someone? Most of the time it's Kent
24. Your car? Is now clean
25. Something you're not wearing? A back brace, but I feel like I need one. It's sore.
26. Favorite store? Macey's grocery store
27. Your summer? Was fun
28. Love someone? I do
29. Your favorite color? Yellow or Orange
30. When is the last time you laughed? Last night
31. Last time you cried? Don't remember

So Tracy and Carrie both tagged me with the quirks blog (which I already wrote), but as I read their blogs I remember thinking, 'oh yeah that's how I am too.' So here are the thought off their blogs that I can relate to.

1. I have to check the door (which is usually locked day or night) about 2-3 times a night to make sure that its locked before I can get in bed and actually get to sleep. It's not uncommon for me to get in bed and then get up again 1 minute later just to double check again!

2. I hate left turn lights that are 2 lanes. I always worry that the person in the other lane is going to side swipe me.

3. I'm either super clean or I'm super not. When I'm not, the house can be a mess and I really don't notice and it doesn't bother me. But if I've worked hard to get it clean, I am super anal about it staying that way ("You're not thinking of using that toilet are you?" or "You want to cook in THIS kitchen?").

4. Going along with the above, when I am cleaning, I tend to think I need to do it all (organize and deep clean). If I don't have the time, which I don't most of the time, the I don't want to do it at all. Or I'll work for like 5 hours to get my bed room super clean and organized, and the rest of the house is left neglected.

5. Hmmm ... I like to talk, a lot. When I'm excited about something, I want to tell someone. When I'm confused I want to talk to someone so I can figure it out. When I'm sad, I want to talk to someone even if it means I might (might, who are we kidding?) cry a bit. When I'm angry, I want to vent to someone. When the kids disobey, I talk (okay, lecture) to them.

6. When it comes to ordering at restaurants it seems that no matter what I order Kent's food almost always looks better than my own. Sometimes I convince him to trade plates because his just looks SO much better. When I can't get him to trade I will at least get him to share some of this with me.

I tag anyone who reads this who thinks it would be fun to do.

The Sad Side of Ballooning

I just recieved an email from my dad that a balloon pilot was killed when his balloon was caught up in powerlines. The other balloonist was critically injured. If you are interested in seing the news story click here. It's unfortunate that such a beautiful sight could be so dangerous at times.

New Mexico Family Vacation

Saturday morning we went down to Intel and caught the park and ride to the balloon field. We left at about 5:30 am and it was already packed by the time we got down there. We took quite a few pictures, but I thought I would spare you and just choose the best ones...

While at the balloon fiesta we saw the Darth Vader balloon and made our way over to it. The balloon was surrounded by Star Wars characters in costume. I really wanted a picture of us with the sandperson and when Braxton saw him he freaked. It was a scary costume, but when Braxton reacted the way he did all I could do was laugh. If I was 2 I would be scared too. The actor lifted his mask to show Braxton he was ok. I think he did it because Braxton made him feel really bad.

Late that morning we came back to grandma and grandpa's to watch conference. We saw some and because of the early wake up slept through much more of it. What we did see we really enjoyed. Thank goodness for the internet so I can go back and see what I missed. Sunday was a fun day too. We got up and headed North to Los Alamos to see Julie and visit Bandelier State Park. It is what is left of where the Indians used to dwell in the rocks many years ago. It was really fun. The best part was going up ALL the ladders into the ceremonial caves. On the way home we took the back way through the mountains and saw some nice country. Along the way we saw deer (one with antlers) and a wolf as well. I even had my dad stop to take my family pictures where there was nice foliage. I did catch some of those conference talks a couple of days later.

Monday was the trip to the ice cave and fire land. It's called that because about 10,000 years ago a volcano erupted. Part of the lava formation created the perfect atmosphere in a cave for ice to form. It was kind of cool. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as exciting as I had hoped, but made for an interesting field trip.

We are finally to the end of this super long post. There were so many pictures to go through it took ALL day. It may seem you've seen them all, but this is the condensed version. Tuesday the last day we were there we got out in the morning a did a little balloon chasing as they started to land around the area where my parents live. That afternoon we went souvenir shopping in Old Town Albuquerque. Finally there are a few pictures from our drive home.

So after all the work to bring you this post picture trail (the web slide shows) ran out of free space so I had to switch to photo bucket. I don't know if it will work since it seems to have trouble loading. It looks like if you click on 'view all images' it will work...that is if you are still patient enough to be looking. It was a very fun trip and there are A LOT of pictures. I hope you do enjoy some of it.

Blogging in Progress...

I am currently working on a fantastic blog from our trip to New Mexico to see my parents. It will be totally worth coming back to look at when I get it done. We went so many places and saw so many things and took so many pictures that it is hard to get them all on slide show presentations. I will try and get it done tomorrow, but it is late tonight and I am tired. I will give you the quick run down of what you will be seeing when this is done.

Saturday- Albuquerque Balloon fiesta
Sunday- Bandelier State Park with Julie and family
Monday- Fire and Ice cave
Tuesday- Balloons setting down around my parents area

There are a few other pictures here and there, but I tried to get a lot of fun pictures of all of us to look back on with fond memories. Remember to check back...

...can you feel your excitement building?





I can!

Cousin love/hate Relationships

(can you tell this is an old pic. my little boy used to be a baby)

Try to picture my little Braxton and my nephew Aaron fighting over every toy possible. That is just their relationship oft times. Well apparently it is a love/hate relationship. After I went to Cheryl's house Erik called and wanted Cheryl to come pick him up and we'd all go out to lunch (unfortunately there was some miscommunication so we missed out on lunch together). Since I live right next to Erik's office I decided I'd drive separate of Cheryl. I put Braxton in his car seat but it appeared he wanted to go with Aaron and Cheryl in the van. I contemplated asking Cheryl if she wanted both of them and thought about switching car seats and decided against the idea. As we started pulling out behind them onto the road Braxton started screaming excitedly for Aaron. In fact he got even more excited when other cars got between us and they would pull away and we wouldn't. I swear it sounded like he was telling me to hurry, but I KNOW that he was yelling for Aaron. The best part was when I looked back at him he was using his hand to motion Aaron to come back. I had to call Chery so she could hear the excitement. It was too cute for words!