Gratitude & Blessings in July

Sat 31 *I am thankful to be home, clean, and somewhat rested from camping.
Fri 30 *I am thankful for a wonderful husband who is willing to do so much to make our camping experience a successful one.
Thur 29 *I am thankful the weather cleared up so that we were able to go enjoy on of the nicest evenings with friends of the whole summer. I didn't realize how great camping with friends really is.
Wed 28 *Today I am grateful I took the time to spend with my son and friends taking the kids swimming. I need to take time out for Braxton more often.
Tue 27 *I am thankful for a great friend who has a great attitude despite her great efforts to do a Discovery Toys Party for me.
Mon 26 *I am thankful I have been able to get so much done in getting my house back in order and in getting prepared for my friends Dt party.
Sun 25 *I am thankful for a relaxing evening with my family as well as a nice visit from friends from the ward who reminded me of the simplicities of being a parent.
Sat 24 *I am thankful for a fun filled day spent in my favorite Pioneer day spot. I couldn't ask for a better day in the sun with my family.
Fri 23 *I am thankful for the generosity shown by Kent's cousin when we had a flat tire. It's so nice to have family who desires to help & serve one another.
Thur 22 *I am so thankful for the delicious apricots that we were able to juice tonight. I am also thankful for a husband who is eager and willing to help with canning.
Wed 21 *I am thankful that I have been able to get all of the things I accomplished that I had hoped to accomplish.
Tue 20 *I am thankful I was able to spend time with Kent & Braxton this evening. I enjoy my time with them.
Mon 19 *I am thankful the baby is still well and healthy and that I have such a great midwife to answer all my questions. I am also thankful for a fun day at the splash pad with my cousins. It's good to take time to see family.
Sun 18 *I am thankful for wonderful friends who are willing to make an effort to remain friends even when they move away.
Sat 17 *I am thankful that I was able to go with Braxton out to dinner.
Fri 16 *I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who was willing to go help serve at a wedding in place of me even after a hard days work. He is a great blessing to me.
Thur 15 *We were blessed to enjoy fun and family tonight together at the Ute Stampede Rodeo. It is such a blessing to spend time with my little family.
Wed 14 *I'm thankful I was able to stay home tonight and get some bread made while helping out a neighbor.
Tue 13 *I am thankful Kent and I were able to take Braxton to the movie Toy Story 3.
Mon 12 *I am more than thankful the maintenance man showed up and fixed the swamp cooler.I am also thankful for maternity clothes that fit...especially since the shirts were a size small.
Sun 11 *I am thankful for the rain that cooled off my apartment just when I needed it because the swamp cooler isn't working.
Sat 10 *I'm thankful for my good friends who called me and invited me to dinner when I needed to be reminded that my Father in Heaven loves me and He is mindful of my circumstances.
Fri 9 *I am thankful for a wonderful evening at dinner with my old roommates from my first year of college. I've been so blessed with wonderful people in my life.
Thur 8 *I'm thankful that despite a rocky start to our date night I was able to have a very nice evening with my husband. We need to bless our marriage this way more often. I am also thankful my family is all in good health.
Wed 7 *I'm thankful for all the times Kent IS here to help out with Braxton.
Tue 6 *I am SO thankful for the small miracle that we were able to find camping spaces right next to each other for 21 of my family members who are attending my family reunion.
Mon 5 *I am thankful for the scriptures and all of the knowledge contained inside. I love to read them and feel the spirit they bring into my heart.
Sun 4 *I am thankful for the reminder that there have been many who gave up their life for my liberty. I hope I never forget to be grateful for their sacrifices.
Sat 3 *I am thankful for my neighbors who came with me to the parade this morning. It is so nice to have friend to celebrate with.
Fri 2 *I am thankful to have finally had time to get the house cleaned up & feel a little more civil.
Thur 1 *I am thankful I had a good evening doing Lacy's Discovery Toys party.

Check out the new post from April

http://robison-kunzfam.blogspot.com/2010/04/aprils-picture-review.html

The Acne isn't so Bad...

On Monday at my appointment with the midwife I asked for a prescription she had given me a sample of previously. It was for my pregnancy acne and it seemed to clear it up really well. Today I went to purchase the prescription and asked the pharmacist how much it would cost. When she told me it was $99 AFTER the insurance I decided my face was looking much better and I no longer needed any medicine.

Earth's Crowning Jewel

When I was asked before we found out the sex of this baby what I wanted I truthfully said I just want a healthy baby. The last week has brought a flood of feelings that have been surprising to me. For those of you who have read the Five Love Languages book my prime love language is Quality Time. For those of you who have not read it...read the book. This is a great love language as long at there is plenty of quality time to be had. In the case of life right now when Kent is working 2 jobs which last week had him working nearly 90 hours it has made me feel incredibly unloved and unappreciated.

These feelings of a low love tank have brought some very down feelings and those feelings have been compounded by the prospect of having a boy. Basically the feelings that have flooded my mind have been concern that I am going to be stuck in a house full of males who enjoy doing manly things and who aren't too concerned with taking care of the mom. I have tried to tell myself how foolish this thinking is and change my direction of thinking, but those thoughts just kept overwhelming me and making me more and more concerned about the idea.

Kent and Braxton went down south this weekend to help Travis with cows and I decided that I was going to shower myself with my own quality time. For the most part it worked on Friday. Then Saturday came and all these built up feelings came crashing down on me. I'm sure it was a combination of hormones, not enough sleep, and my circumstances, but these feelings were real none the less. Saturday morning I walked up to the park to walk around the track and these concerns overcame me. As I had conference piped into my ear all I could see was boys and dads playing baseball and all I could hear were the discouraging thoughts inside my head. I walked the track choking back tears and wishing I could walk longer, but I couldn't handle being around so many happy people as I struggled to control my thoughts and emotions.

I had planned to attend the temple that day so I went home and prepared to go. I went and did my temple session which was nice and then stayed in the celestial room for a few moments to read scriptures & pray. It was all very nice, but it didn't cure my mind and that discouraged me more. Kent and Braxton decided to stay in Meadow that afternoon and go boating with Travis which only fed into my negative mind set even more. I felt as though I was drowning and yet no one would throw me a life preserver. The swamp conditioner seemed to be broken so I struggled even to sleep my problems away.

Then a light at the end of the tunnel came upon awakening this morning. I turned on the radio to Sunday music and the first song I heard was Oh My Father. The third verse has a phrase that says, "in the heavens are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare. Truth is reason, truth eternal, tells me I've a mother there." As those words were sung I realized that I have a Heavenly Mother who my Heavenly Father holds so sacred that he don't not share much about her with the world for fear of how they will defain her name.

If my Father holds my Mother with such respect what does that say about me as the mother of this family? How much does my Father in Heaven love me a daughter who was created in the image of my Heavenly Mother? In addition to those thoughts the spirit reminded me how much my boys owe me for bringing them into this world. If not for me and the sacrifices I make this family could not exist. There would be no children and Kent would not be a father or a husband. As these thoughts replaced the previous ones I was reminded of the last time I was in the temple and I was taught that the earth was not complete until Eve was created. In fact the Lord called her His crowning jewel of all the creations. All of these thoughts reminded me that the Lord loves me whether I am a mother of boys or a mother of girls or a mother of both.

There may come times in this family of boys that I am neglected. There may be just as many times I am neglected if I were the mother of girls, but I don't need to fear for the Lord loves me and he will help me in my tasks. I was brought to this earth for a reason and I am Kent's wife for a reason. I am the mother of two boys because I am supposed to be. I am the woman who was chosen to lead and guide and nurture this family. The Lord has entrusted me with this calling and He will not leave me. In the end if I find I am neglected I know that the Lord can make up for the shortcomings and imperfections of my family. As long as I look to the Lord for my help and my strength I have no need to fear.

Baby Boy Robison #2

Thought I'd share the pictures of my littlest boy...and in case you aren't convinced they really got it right this time I'm sure the last picture makes it nice and clear.

25 Things About Braxton at Age 4

Last night I got thinking that due to the business of the time surrounding Braxton's birthday I never took the chance to write anything about him, and I'd still like to take the time to do that. In honor of my favorite 4-year-old I am going to write 25 things about him.
1. At his 4 year appointment his weight was in the 50% percentile and his height was in the 75%. Dr. Bean tells me that puts him at being about 6 feet tall.

2. He has a friend Hunter who is 7-years-old and Braxton adores him. In fact I'd dare say he is border line obsessed with the kid. We always hear about his friend Hunter this and his friend Hunter that. The cool part is that Hunter thinks Braxton is pretty cool too.

3. Braxton LOVES to play in the dirt and has ever since he was just old enough to crawl. He loves dirt, sand, and earth of any kind.

4. Braxton also loves to play with trucks. Especially semi trucks and construction equipment (the dirt thing again here).

5. In addition to Braxton's love of trucks he also loves almost any mode of transportation. He loves planes, race cars, helicopters, trains, & motorcycles. His latest infatuation has been emergency vehicles.

6. He is quite particular about what he wears. Since about 2 years of age I have struggled to get him to wear things that he does not like. Most often I don't worry about it because it's not worth the fight to me.

7. Even though it is summer Braxton usually prefers to wear pants over shorts. His favorite pants are his wranglers that are hand me downs from his cousins Kade and Carl. I often encourage him to wear shorts and it usually gets me no where.

8. Even though Braxton doesn't like to wear shorts he still likes his feet to be cool so he fights me when I tell him if he's going to ride his new bike then he's got to wear good shoes not his sandals (of course the sandals did come from Hunter so that may be why he likes them so much...who knows).

9. Currently Braxton is in a Buzz Lightyear phase. He loves the character and often finds him in the stores and points him out to me. He'll pull his arms into his body and then shoot them straight out to the side and pretends to fly as he says, "I'm Duzz." In fact the other day he used a rolled up poster (mostly white) as his wings. I thought that was also clever.

10. He doesn't like potatoes. He will only eat them in the form of a french fry and even then he doesn't eat that many.

11. He's not a huge fan of eating. Most often when I tell him to eat he tells me he doesn't want to eat and then we have a fight on our hands.

12. He's a pretty good water drinker. He will ask for water often and usually asks for a drink if he sees Kent or I drinking water.

13. Braxton enjoys pretending to be a cowboy. He has a very cute hat he loves to wear that used to belong to his dad, but is totally deformed now because all his handling. He also likes to put a bandanna over his mouth and grab his gun to go "kick" things.

14. He seems to use the word "kick" for any action of violence. If he shoots you, hits you, or kicks you he will tell you, "I'm gonna kick you." If it's to someone else he'll tell you, "I'm gonna kick he."

15. Braxton has a speech delay which he has been able to get help through the school district for, but despite the fact that most people don't understand him he has always wanted to talk. It doesn't matter if you are young or old he will jabber your ear off. He has actually been quite a chatterbox for a couple of years now.

16. Braxton likes to blame others. For example when he doesn't want to do something like go to the store he tells me, "My dad say he doesn't want me to go to the store." I thought it was just a my dad thing until yesterday Kent told me Braxton didn't want to go on the boat when I wasn't there and he told Kent, "My mom say I don't like to go on the boat."

17. Braxton is starting to have a little empathy for us. One day not too long ago on a walk I bent down and pet a puppy who was being walked by a lady ahead of us. As soon as I pet him he listened to his owner and ran back to her. When we passed the dog again I went to pet him and before I reached him he ran back. Braxton said to me very sincerely, "Sorry mom, he not like you." I have noticed lately that sorry is a huge part of his vocabulary. If I ask where something is Braxton will say, "It's gone. Sorry Mom."

18. Braxton loves to see the UPS guy because I think he believes that "the box guy" (as he calls him) is kind of like the year round Santa with him delivering toys to me. He comes yelling at me, "Mom! It's the box guy!" One time the UPS guy told him he can do more than deliver boxes so we asked him his name. Now he is "the box guy...Ben."

19. One of Braxton's friends brings plastic scissors to church and since we sit on the bench behind them they sometimes share toys. Ever since Braxton started to borrow the scissors I decided I needed to buy him his own scissors to practice cutting with. Now whenever a box comes Braxton runs and grabs his scissors so he can open the box. He's also very excited these days to cut the tags off of items we purchase.

20. Braxton loves "his friend Jasper" who is his Uncle Gordon's horse we are boarding this summer. He really enjoys being out to the horses and he loves to help his dad with any work that needs to get done. He's actually a pretty good worker too.

21. Like most boys Braxton enjoys wrestling his dad when he's home. Kent will often lay on the floor to watch TV and as soon as he does Braxton sees him as free game for jumping on and wrestling.

22. These days Braxton has really been interested in reading books. He will get books out and look at them and if I offer to read them to him he will jump at the chance. One of his favorite books is a book about Curious George taking a trip in a rocket ship. Ever since he's read that book he has loved rockets.

23. For his birthday he got a new 12" bike and he really enjoys it. He dashes around on his bike all over the place and it appears that it is a great freedom for him. He also enjoys riding his scooter and has been very skilled for a while now in riding it.

24. He loves his cousin Kesler & grandma & grandpa. He likes to talk about them often. We have a picture of Kesler on the fridge and he'll often point to it and tell me, "Mom it's my friend Kesler." There is nothing better than watching a child take to their extended family.

25. Braxton seems to have a pretty good sense of direction as well as knowing where people live. He can easily identify his friends homes as we drive past and just the other day we passed by the street his cousin Aaron lives on and he told me, "Mom it's Aaron's house."

I am so thankful for the wonderful blessing it is to be Braxton's mom and I pray that he too will always be thankful to have me for a mom.