Gratitude

As a family tradition we have a "Back to School Feast" the night before school starts. We eat some yummy food and unveil our "family theme" for the year. At the end of the night, Russ places his hands on our sweet babies heads and gives them a blessing for the school year.

Jayda selected the menu: Swedish Pancakes (delish crepe style pancakes that are a complete pain in the butt to make, but super yummy) with strawberries and whipped cream, cinnamon and sugar, or nutella spread.

The blessings were sweet and lovely...as always. He prayed that Jayda would have strength to make good decisions, be a positive influence on those around her, and enjoy learning. He blessed Lilly that she would continue to grow and develop with no negative side effects from being 2 months premature, and that she and her sister would continue to love and appreciate each other. There is something so tender about seeing his big hands on their tiny heads. I love watching them look up at him with their big blue eyes so lovingly. It's a very sweet, spiritual, and tender moment in our life as an eternal family.

Our family theme for this school year is GRATITUDE. Our goal is to say something we are thankful for each day and really put our blessings into perspective. We have been blessed beyond measure and are going to be more diligent about striving to "live in thanksgiving daily" as a family unit and as individual children of God. Our family theme is based on a scripture from the Book of Mormon found in Alma 34:38 "That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."

Today, as I write this, I am most grateful for my kids, my husband, our jobs, living in this amazing country, our heater in our house, my fridge full of food, good health insurance (every one's healthy...I'm just glad we have it), the movie "Up" that the kids are watching right now giving me 5 minutes to write this post, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What are you most thankful for at this exact moment?

1st day of school...take 3

Jayda is back in preschool...for the third year.

She loves it.

She goes Monday - Friday from 9 - noon.

I wasn't sold on the idea of having her away from me for 5 straight mornings, but it has been great. She looks forward to going and it's allowed me to spend some 1-on-1 time with Lilly.

She's in the Turtle Class. Her teachers are Ms. Mickie and Ms. Kristie. The picture above in her classroom is of her sitting next to her "boyfriend" Christopher. That info will be in another post. Let's just say that Russ isn't taking it well.

I miss her face each day. I miss her giggles. I snuggled on her today when she got home from school and said "Oh Jayda I just miss you something fierce when you're at school. I think about you all day and just miss you so darn much!" She replies: "thanks mom. I just miss my dad."

I just adore my little turtle!

Innocence, Purity, & Virture

This post is written with a mixture of emotions. On one hand we are embarrassed to even announce what we have done. On the other hand, we are finally, after 18 months, at complete peace with our decision. So, here it goes:

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY, AND FINALLY, NAMED OUR DAUGHTER (no rush, right?)

yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking? Haven't you already named her...like, twice? Once when she was born and then again 6 months later when you changed it? Yes, you are correct. She was born as Sierra Bella. It wasn't right. We decided to change her name ever so slightly to Sierra Isabella-Mae. It still wasn't right. Sierra Isabella is one of the most beautiful names I've ever heard, but no matter how hard we tried...it just wasn't her. It wasn't right. We truly wanted it to be and tried hard to make it so, but it was just wrong no matter how many times we said it.

Can you imagine calling out to your child and feeling like it was wrong every single time you said her name? Feeling like the words stumbled on your tongue and never quite settled in your soul? Well, that's what we felt like for a year and a half. I called her Bella, Russ called her Izzy, and Jayda called her sissy because, let's face it, what the hell else was she supposed to call her?

It's been crappy. It's been frustrating. It's been embarrassing. I've cried some tears, said some prayers, and cursed at myself in the mirror. What lame parents we are. I'm sure many people think we are complete and total dramatic morons. I may have to agree with them on this specific point.

Well, finally-finally-finally-finally...we have named the sweet little spirit who joined our family 18 months ago and made our lives too sweet for words. Such an amazing little spirit sent from heaven deserves the perfect name. We truly believe that we've found it. We are at peace, we are happy, we are content. Our souls are settled and our minds have stopped spinning. And I will also say that once we started calling out this name...she responded immediately to it with no hesitation or pause as if to say "it's about freakin' time you idiots!"

We are excited to reintroduce you to:

Lilly Mae Roth

Lilly means Innocence, Purity, and Virtue. Mae is after my grandma that passed away the day we found out we were expecting our sweet baby. It's perfect. It's fitting. IT'S FINAL!

Papa and Grammy

My parents came to visit last month. It was fabulous. We took some little day trips, visited Nielsens' Frozen Custard a few times, and just enjoyed each others company.

My mom and I have been working on designing some childrens decor. We're starting on our own line of Vintage inspired art specifiically for children. It's gonna be pretty fantastic if I do say so myself! I will post about that at another time.

Since we kept my mom locked away in our basement creating the cool art pieces, my dad took over babysitting duty and watched the girls a lot (because I still had to work). Both of the girls are OBSESSED with their Papa and sure love him to pieces.

Jayda had "slumber parties" with Grammy in her bedroom. Jayda also got to go on several "Papa-Jayda Dates." He took her to get donuts several times, went to the movies to see Marmaduke, and he even took her to the pool for a swimming lesson! I have so many wonderful memories of my dad and I spending time together. When I was little we had Disneyland passes and just the two of us would go together. Those days are some of my favorite childhood memories. I love-love-love seeing him with my girls and watching them bond and create memories of their own. I know my kids will treasure their Papa and these times for the rest of their lives.

I don't have any current pictures to share (becuase I'm horrible at remembering to take photos), but here's an old one of Papa and Jayda. You can see their love affair started early!