Tender Mercies in each Day

 Getting down and dirty with finger painting-Katie really gets into things like this!

 Tavin showing off his messy hands during our art project

 Livy pulled herself up to the window to look out-she LOVES outside-I can't wait till spring so we can go out and play more. Whenever we go out-she laughs with joy to be in the sun.

 Livy has also befriend our furry friend tuff and often joins him for his meals:)

 Our valentine's day project was to put read lipstick on and give livy kisses all over to take pictures to send out-Katie and Tavin did a great job helping! And Liv laughed as we tickled her with our kisses. I was able to get a few good pictures thanks to the lolly pop!

 Our LOVE baby!

 Hope you all had a fun LOVE day! And made sure to tell those you most care about how much you love them!

 Yummy and slobbery with lots of red gooey drool!

Heart attacking Grandma and Grandpa's Bedroom door as a valentine's day surprise~

Sometimes life has a way of throwing you curve balls that you aren't quite sure how to handle and the past month has been one of those tricky unexpected curve balls for me. There is always something to learn from each trial in life and this trial has taught me A LOT! but two things that have stuck out to me: "You can't keep licking your open wound and expect it to heal!"-as I try to leave the past behind and find some way to move on-I am ever aware of the little tender mercies of the Lord in each day! These tender mercies OFTEN come in the form of my three sweet little children. Through their words and actions-I know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and is aware of my pains and sufferings. He has sent them to me to bless my life daily-they complete there job -and happily too!

At Karate yesterday (Tavin was testing to get his yellow belt advancement with his cousin Ethan) my mom suggested to Tavin that he say a little prayer to himself that Heavenly Father would help him to remember the things he had learned during his test. She turned around to go find a seat and when she sat down, she noticed that everyone else was lining up to get started-where was Tavin? Don't worry, he took my mom very literally and was kneeling in the middle of the floor talking to his Heavenly Father. This one little act-made my heart fill with overwhelming joy and my eyes well up in tears of awe. He and Ethan both passed their test with flying colors by the way:)

Katie quietly and very efficiently unloads the dishwasher like mommy has shown her-but this time all by herself. After she is finished putting the silverware back in the drawer and all the dishes on top of the counter, she comes over and announces-"Mommy I did it! I did it for you!" 

During a tea party Katie opened her little hand and stated-my soft little mouse dad pet him:) She demonstrated by pretending to stroke the invisible creature in her out stretched hand-Dan pet him too with a grin on his face and then she invited him to the tea party:)! 

When Driving the kids in the car one day on our way to do some errands around town, I heard Katie say to Tavin, "BROTHER HANDS UP! HERE WE GO!"  I glance in the mirror to see what they were up to-and find they have their hands raised above there heads as if they are going down a big hill on a roller coaster ride:) When we drive down the hill, both start to squeal! "Where did you learn that!?" I asked smiling.  "No one taught us mom, we made it up on our own! Hands up mom!"

Livy, I can say that one name and it is everything joyous, pure, and innocent. From the time she wakes in the morning to the time I lay her in her bed at night, she changes my world. She is now crawling-started the day she turned 9 months old exactly, she can pull herself up on things, when she wants Dan or me to pick her up, she bonks her head against our leg:), we have started to introduce baby food and solids-slowly weaning her off breastfeeding....speaking of breastfeeding, she has 3 teeth now-and one coming in and she has started to bite me every so often while breastfeeding-Dan and I tell her "No" sternly when she does, the other night-when this very event occurred, I had to cover my mouth so she wouldn't see me laughing because she has figured out how to shake her head back and forth when she hears the word "no":)

 She also has made up her own wiggly dance when Dan sings to her or when we play her leap frog dog-that sings different nursery rhymes. It is quite the belly dance! I love to watch her in church-whenever a hymn is sung in relief society or in sacrament, she is doing that wiggly dance!

 She can say both mom-mom and da da. And has acquired the habit of sucking on a blanky like her sister-unfortunately.....but instead of a blanky she has adopted my dark purple robe! She loves it when we take her with us to chase her brother and sister around the house and she is filled with giggles and squeals. And she LOVES bath time-she is often the last one in the tub because the others get out before her. 

If I die without accomplishing anything but bringing these beautiful children into the world and Loving them like crazy-it will be enough for me!