Blessed

Well, I asked for it right? You are looking at the new achievement days leader! I'm very excited about this calling. Brother Albert was the perfect person to extend the calling to me, having twins himself who just turned 8. He began by telling me how they decide on certain people for certain callings. They all pray separately and meet together and almost always have the exact name. That is pretty amazing. And he said that he and the bishop and the 2nd counselor all came back with my name for achievement day leader. Brother Albert told the others I couldn't possibly accept a calling with 5 month old twins. He said he defended me seeing as moms of twins are so near and dear to his heart. And ultimately Bishop left the decision up to him. So there I was sitting across from a very hesitant 1st counselor being asked to serve in the primary. He added, "but only if you want to and only if you feel like you can handle it" haha. I smiled and without hesitation I accepted the call to serve. I began to tell him how I had been feeling ready to get more involved after being inspired by conference. I thanked him for trusting me with the responsibility and for allowing me to prove myself. I also thanked him for coming to my defense:) How incredible it is to see the power of prayer and the powerful feelings of the spirit at work! The church is true, revelation is real and God is aware of each of us individually! I'm happy to report that I made it through all 3 hours of church this week. Without Stephen who was at the fire station. It was great actually and no one cried. After setting the goal I had a feeling that I needed to get the babies to self soothe. Which means no yoga ball! I put it in the office and tried not to rely on its magical powers of putting babies to sleep. I would lay them down for naps and bed time and let them cry a little. I was amazed how quickly it worked! By the third day they barely even made a peep when I laid them down. No ball. No swing. So when that third hour of church came and they were ready for naps I simply put them in their car seats and put the cover down and by the end of the opening song they were out and slept through relief society. I'm so glad I listened to that feeling and was able to do this! It is something so small to most but to me it is quite the victory! You dont realize how fortunate we are to attend our meetings each sunday till you cant. I'm thankful my Heavenly Father is aware of my family and our needs. I will leave you with this quote given during the lesson in releuf society, "Only God can make a mess into a message, a test into a testimony, a trial into a triumph and a victim into a victory!"

Intro to solids

I got teary eyed as I looked at my sweet lil munchkins all grown up sitting in their high chairs about to have their first spoon fed experience! At their last appointment my Doc told me I could start them on solids. At 4 months. I asked if I had to, he said no and I concluded I wasn't ready for them to be that old yet. I decided 6 months was the magic number. Because mom knows best right? Even up till yesterday I felt this way. But alas, I started reading up on intro to solids. As soon as I read that they will start sleeping 10-12 hours I was sold. And I set up their chairs immediately! Haha but in all seriousness it talked about how to know when your babe is ready and they had every single sign so I figured I couldn't hold them back just cause I wanted to keep them infants. Ha! I was so proud. They finished the whole serving. Immediately Charlee spit it right back at me and made a disgusted face. It took about 4 re-spoons to get one bite mostly down haha it was hilariously darling. Bear was in love. Another way to eat? Get MORE food? Yes he was all over it. Barely spilled a drop. He kept grabbing the spoon wanting to feed himself, so i gave him a spoon to distract him. Didn't work he's too smart. He wanted the spoon with the food! We played around with it for a little bit then they were ready to quit messing around and get to business so I breast fed them and then they finished off the bowl. It was exciting. So proud:)

Time for action

"There will always be things to complain about—things that don’t seem to go quite right. You can spend your days feeling sad, alone, misunderstood, or unwanted. But that isn’t the journey you had hoped for, and it’s not the journey Heavenly Father sent you to take. Remember, you are truly a daughter of God! With this in mind, I invite you to walk confidently and joyfully. Yes, the road has bumps and detours and even some hazards. But don’t focus on them. Look for the happiness your Father in Heaven has prepared for you in every step of your journey. Happiness is the destination, but it’s also the path. “Peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” is what He promises (D&C 59:23). That is why He commands us to “be of good cheer” (D&C 78:18; see also John 16:33; 3 Nephi 1:13). As you joyfully use the map your loving Father has provided for your journey, you will rise to your supernal potential. You will grow into the daughter of God you hoped you would become." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf Quitting my Job was a hard yet incredibly liberating experience. It had been a long time comin, if I hadn't gotten pregnant I would have only lasted a few more months anyway. It was a much needed break. I felt as though I had been moving in fast forward at 80 miles an hour for too long and while pregnant I didn't do much. I sat, I walked, I laid down, we took a few trips, I ate, ran errands, kept my home clean and sat. Which probably was a really great thing since I was able to carry the twins full term. I had so many hopes for that time off. But ultimately I had zero motivation. And I let myself have that time of laziness because I knew I would be running at 100 miles an hour for the next several years having twins. Of course I have had times where I have let myself complain about things and feel sad or misunderstood...I'm human! But like President Uchtdorf said THAT IS NOT THE JOURNEY I HAD HOPED FOR! NOT THE JOURNEY HEAVENLY FATHER SENT ME TO TAKE! Well, the excuses have run out. I have come to hate making excuses and hearing them as well. Others say I have two built in excuses but I have decided to rise above that. Instead of people giving me the benefit of the doubt because I have two babies I want people to say "wow, if she can do it so can I" I want to be somebody that others can look up to for motivation. I want to serve others. I want to be involved. I want to expand my knowledge and be better than I am. Too often I find myself wasting half my day. Granted holding my babies isn't exactly wasting......but I do feel like I can hold them and do things. My ward is doing a Humanitarian meeting tomorrow where we help make and gather things to take to the shelter and donate to schools. I'm going to try to go. If the babies are fussy, I'm sure others will be willing to hold them so I can do my part. Or we will come home. But I need to take action and make some changes in myself. Its been a good weekend of reflection and I feel like I see the person I want to be and all the things that stand between the person I am and that person I want to be and I'm trying to cross them off the list so I can come closer to that person. Conference weekend is always so great for personal reflection. A few of my favorites were obviously President Uchtdorfs words and the general young womans meeting. Personal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness By Elder Quentin L. Cook; Elder Bednar's talk on being chaste, he is always spot on. And my absolute fav was Elder Holland. He always says it best and with such conviction. I LOVE HEARING THE COUNCIL WE RECEIVE FROM GOD. I feel ungrateful if I don't apply those lessons to my life. This Sunday I GET to take the babies to church by myself since Stephen is at the Fire station. I AM GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH ALL THREE HOURS OF CHURCH FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THEY WERE BORN, EVEN IF IT KILLS ME AND ALL THREE OF US ARE CRYING BY THE END. I am going to lean on my ward members pretttty hard this week. I am going to accept the help that many have offered and we are going to do it. I have been making excuses for myself. Making it to sacrament meeting is good, but I can do better. I can do more. I CAN DO HARD THINGS. I'm so grateful for the JUMP START conference always brings for me and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! And now here are some pictures of the babes, because lets face it thats all you want to see anyway, right?:)