Post Explosion

Howdy!

I'm trying to be better about blogging on a more regular basis- mostly because I really think it's good for me to sit and write, stay in touch with family and friends, and meet new people- but this last week I (obviously) didn't do so well. So here's to another shot at being a better blogger.

A friend of mine wrote a post full of "mini-posts" not too long ago, and I'm going to copy her. So here are the things I've been wanting to talk about, each in it's own neat little nutshell:

My Beliefs

I've always been hesitant to write about my own personal beliefs on this blog, because I know many of my family members who are not of the same faith read it to know what's going on with my little family. I don't want them to feel overwhelmed by too much "church-talk" or to stop reading. But my beliefs form the core of who I am. They are a part of everything I do. And I admire others who write about the church and their beliefs openly, without fear of rejection or causing problems or debates (possibly my least favorite thing in the world) and with no shame, and I want to be more like them. So, my wonderful, amazing family, if you do not want to read about what I believe, you can skim/skip those posts. But please don't stop reading my blog, because I want you to be a part of my life, and since we're all spread out, this is an easy way to do that. And I'm also more than willing to talk about anything, anytime, if you have questions- even if it's "how can you believe in [insert topic here]??" as long as we do it without bad feelings or spite. ...K?

Whew! Had to get that out. 

This leads to my next mini-post:

General Conference 

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that there are still prophets on the earth today, as there were in Biblical times. And twice a year the prophet speaks to us in a worldwide conference that is broadcast over TV and internet. Six months ago for the last one, I was in the hospital after giving birth to Tommy, and didn't really catch a whole lot of it. This time I got to sit with my husband and watch (almost) all of it (babies require naps and diaper changes, you know), and it was great. Conference is always so uplifting! And yes, I'm going to talk about the biggest buzz too- new missionary ages! Wow! [Guys can now leave at age 18, rather than 19; and girls can leave at 19 rather than 21.] I think it's especially neat for girls, because- let's be honest- there's always been a stereotype that "girls only go on missions because they can't get married." First of all, how awful is that? We should never question anyone's reason for wanting to serve a mission. But now? Now I think that thought-process can be thrown out to the garbage for good. Girls can serve missions when they are 19. Now it's more obviously a choice to serve out of a true, sincere desire, and not just a "might as well, since I can't get hitched!" How cool is that? And just think of the massive influx of missionaries that will go out in the next year or so: all the 19-year-old guys and 21-year-old girls, PLUS all the 18-year-old guys AND 19 through 20-year-old girls. Good thing they've been expanding the MTC!

"A marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men...

For behold, the field is white already to harvest."

Tommy is Crawling

For those of you who saw my "Ahhh he's crawling! WithOUT the bellyflops!" post on Facebook, that was literally within seconds of it happening. Tommy has officially mastered the crawl. He was already getting into things before he was a master-crawler, but it's definitely gotten worse. And he's speedy! But with crawling also comes a new-found desire to get UP. Tommy pulls himself to his knees on any surface that he can reach. TV stand, coffee table, couch, mom and dad's legs, and most recently, the crib. Yep, we had to lower the mattress finally, because Tommy was hanging on (for dear life) to the edge of his crib at 3am, not knowing how to let himself down. Last night we discovered it didn't help much, because he still pulled himself up with the bars (instead of the top beam) anyway. Yeesh.

Nate was walking (or running, as his parents describe it) by 8 months. EIGHT MONTHS. If I have a walker in two months, I will eat my hat.

(Don't worry- I don't actually have any hats.)

Tommy is also teething, which he has been forever, but there's actually a little white tooth-tip poking through his lower gums, and it now hurts when he bites my face. Yes, you read that right. Tommy likes to bite-slash-latch-on to my chin when he gets close enough. Makes me feel a bit self-conscious about my chin! It's not that big/pointy, is it?? (That's actually how I discovered he had a tooth coming in.) He doesn't do this to Nate because he has a beard. Who wants to suck on a beard-face? Blech.

AND (I hesitate to say this "out loud" for fear I'll jinx myself) Tommy is napping! Easily! His first nap is sometimes still only 40 minutes, but that's ok. It tends to hover around an hour. I use that time to try and get a little workout in each morning. Then he takes another nap that's usually 2 hours-ish, and sometimes a 3rd mini-nap in the late afternoon. It's a pretty good little routine.

The best part?

He puts himself to sleep.

And he LIKES to put himself to sleep.

He used to fall asleep in my arms, but now when he's ready to sleep he gets super squirmy and fussy unless you put him down in his crib. Then he promptly wiggles around, gets comfy, and goes to sleep all by himself. This is so so so nice.

=)

Fall is Here! Psych.

[Speaking of Psych, does anyone else LOVE that show?]

So, I was going to write about how much I love Fall, and how pretty and wonderful it is, and THEN all of the sudden it was 28 degrees outside. What is the deal! Right when I was getting ready to enjoy Fall --I even made homemade personal-sized chicken pot pies JUST for Fall (thanks to April's inspiration- but I forgot to take pictures)-- it whipped around and turned into Winter.

"It's not usually 110 degrees all Summer in Kansas, I promise!"

I suspect you'll tell me it's also not usually 28 degrees in October?

Luckily the weather has come back around again for a little while (I hope) and it's been hovering around 50 at night. I can handle that. Let's just not rush into Winter too soon, ok?

Well, there's more I could talk about, but this turned out quite a bit longer than I expected.

Have a happy Monday!

[Sorry for the lack of pictures- I have a bunch I need to upload!]