Happy Birthday! You're mom is not Betty Crocker!

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Happy Father’s Day! I hope you all had the equivalent of waffles, sausage, and lots of hugs. Yesterday I went to a sealing session and thought about all the blessings we have as families and how it all starts with one couple dedicating their lives to the Lord. As I watched and listened, looking in the mirrors, I felt overwhelmed by all the people who have made it possible for us to have the life that we do. I begin to appreciate how much you do and have done now that Wesley is a father. I see the sacrifices of time and body and energy—and I just didn’t realize it all then. Thank you for loving our moms, working for our protection physically and spiritually, teaching us the gospel, and believing in our potential. I’ve never had a difficult time believing that Heavenly Father loves me because I always knew that my dad loved me—no matter how stupid I was. So often, personal revelation has come to me because of the tender counsel of our parents. Thank you!

As a side note, I learned that in a live sealing the kiss is part of the ordinance. Cool!

Speaking of fathers, we’re training a bunch of fathers-to-be and turning our house into a mini MTC. On Wednesday the boys went to a park (with three slides!)  while I went to the ultrasound for Joule. When the ultrasound began, his little spine curled against the screen image. Then he flipped right over: I didn’t need a technician to tell me he is a boy! I admit some relief. I’m just not emotionally prepared for our girl. Lincoln repeated, “BABYBABYBABY!” and both he and Levi loved the alien pictures. Levi told us all along that Joule is a boy. Levi wants him to “come out soon. In Tex” and can’t wait to feel him move more. I fell asleep reading Levi a story this week; Levi cuddled up and rubbed my tummy and talked to the baby. After about 15 minutes, he kissed my cheek and said, “Wake up, Mama! Baby Joule asleep!”

The doctor says that Joule looks practically perfect, but he measures small. To ensure that he’s growing at a consistent rate, we’ll have another ultrasound in August. During the last few weeks he’s grown, but not enough (probably due, in part, to my issues with food). I’ve been praying to be able to stop being whiny and selfish and just eat more. The pain I’ve had for the last few weeks increased after I began these prayers. It finally hit me yesterday that my prayers are being answered! My body stretches out to make room for his weight. So, every time I groan now I think about how blessed I am and how God listens to our petitions.

Levi turned three on Monday! WOW! Our oldest little dude, so “big, big, BIG!” When he woke up, he stretched, “I three now!” (which changed throughout the week to “I still three!”). He ran to the table. Disappointed. He looked for the cake and candles so we could “make fire” rather than presents. Yes, we have boys. We blew up balloons, opened gifts, and he chose corn dogs for dinner (to Wesley’s delight). We celebrated by going to a new park and eating lunch there. Kids crowded the playground; Levi and Lincoln mostly stared in awe as they ran around and yelled. Levi helped me build his fire truck birthday cake. The frosting failed in color and texture, the cake fell apart—but it tasted okay! We wrote his name and the number three on it. Levi spells his name very well. He loves seeing it. He loves labeling with it. “L-E-V-I! Mister Joe Levi!” Levi loved it. He brought his toy fire truck to it, “Match!” then told me how a fire truck came to our house last week and matched his cake. He opened the fridge door then danced out his joy in front of the cake. So, I guess we’ll call my ugly attempt a success. We sang happy birthday all day (week). Levi sings along proudly. I love that. Thank you for calls, texts, and gifts. He’s been elated about it all.

The next evening we celebrated at the community center swimming pool. They have a kiddie pool section that ranges from one to three feet deep, a slide shaped like a frog (you slip down his tongue), spraying pipes, bubbling pipes, splashy stuff. They loved it. We stayed until Lincoln’s lips turned blue. He takes after my thermometer. Neither wanted to leave.

We gave Levi “Rory’s Story Cubes” for his birthday. Basically, it’s a game of 9 dice with different images on each. You can take a variety of rules. In essence, roll the dice, tell a story. So far, a big hit.

The boys keep us chuckling. They discovered the eye drops next to the saline solution. Both love the saline solution and apply it to themselves. Levi’s eyes have reacted to the smoke in the area, so he stared at the ceiling and experienced the wonder. After he moved, Lincoln sidled up to his place and stared at the ceiling. I put the lid on and pretended to give drops. This has become a daily tradition. Despite differences and squabbles, they’re friends. When Lincoln woke up today, Levi ran in to say, “Hey, Buddy!” to which Lincoln snorted and grinned. I call the boys, “mister” and “sir” (who knows where or why…) Levi now beckons to “Mister Linc” and “Mister Peter”—he even slurred a “Mister Dad” the other day.

We traced Levi on easel paper (in hopes of making Father’s Day cards…). When we finished, Lincoln plopped on the paper and lay completely still until we finished tracing him. Levi trained Lincoln to put the clean utensils away. Lincoln takes this chore very seriously—to the point that I can’t load the dishwasher because he starts putting everything away! On Tuesday, Lincoln ran to the bathroom, “Poop!” Levi squealed his encouragement. I held Lincoln on the seat for his first really big victory. I don’t know which boy was prouder. Levi will make potty training (whenever it happens) a lot easier.

Lincoln teases. He played with Levi’s dice. At clean up time, he held four. He gave me three, one by one. He reached out to give me the fourth, then pulled back. He unraveled over the hilarity of this. Every time Levi lines toys or piles books, Lincoln is sure to slip in and take one. We often hear screaming: “He touched my pile!” followed by Lincoln’s response: “Touch! Touch!”

While still bashful, Levi asserts himself strongly now. I had to work during Lincoln’s nap since I’m rewriting my class from square one. Levi ran to the balcony. The next thing I know he’s yelling, “HEY! HEY! HEY!” into the void. Pause, then someone below, “Hey, what?” Levi loved it. I entertained flashing images of my father warning us to be silent in hotels because there were people above, below, and around us and we needed to respect them and their privacy. Still, I laughed.

Wes and I have been chugging away in between. Each of our evenings has a specific work task to be done. I’m taking Grandma Wright’s advice and believing that when you can’t do something on your own, give it to the Lord and He’ll show you the way. In the meantime, we love life. We “hiked” one of the nearby mountains yesterday—“What are men compared to rocks, and trees, and mountains?”—the boys climbed rocks, stirred dirt, picked grass, and ran. Later we found sunglasses for them at the thrift store. We’re pretty cool riders.

Okay! Enough of this. We love you!

One girl and a whole lot of cute guys