People, people, people

I don't have any pictures of todays highlighted person.  But here's a shout out to Letha and Garth
We met Letha and Garth while we were in Hawaii.  They were probably pushing 90, if not already there.  Letha was finishing her degree (one class at a time), and they lived in student housing.  Garth once told us the story of when he met Letha.  He explained that so many other "heros" were crowded around her trying to get her attention, but that he knew that she had to be his.  As he told the story, Letha blushed like it was just yesterday.  They had 7 children together, and were still madly in love 55 + years later. They were the cutest old couple that you have ever seen. 
Some old people act superior, or disappointed at young people's efforts in raising a family.  Letha was never this way.  She didn't expect you to have everything together, and always had a cute story about some blunder that she had with her children that somehow put your current struggle into perspective.  She starts every sentence with, "do you know..." For example, Letha taught me one of the greatest lessons.  She started out with the classic "do you know..."  Then she went on to explain that with 7 small children, a house to maintain, and a million other things to do, there often came time when scripture study and prayer were overlooked.  But she said that they learned that even if they found the time for one verse together their life was much happier.  She explained that at first she felt ashamed that if they didn't have a lot of time to commit, they would just skip it all together.  But in her wisdom she said that even if they read one word of scripture, that meant that her children her one word from God and wouldn't we want our children to have that blessing every day?
Letha and Garth you are shining examples of what a family should be.  Letha I hope you graduate.   And Garth, you are the hero that won Letha forever.

mY PeEps #2

Missy McGary... Formerly know as Missy Cook.

Missy makes our list for many reasons:
1- We've been friends since preschool. 
2- We share the same name.  No we aren't sisters. We always think it's odd when people ask us this after we tell them our names... like our mom loved the name so much that she chose it twice? . . . Never quite made sence to me, but it's shocking how many times people have asked that question.  It reminds me of that Dr. Seuss peom about the mom who had fifty sons and named them all Dave. That's Dr. Seuss people, not real life.
3- She will sing "Once There Was a Snowman", and "Popcorn Popping" as we ride our bikes down the neighborhood just so Milo will be a happy bike rider and I can get some exercise.
4- She understands the beauty of napping, swimming, otterpops, and crafting. just like me:)
5- She'll jump on any bandwagon with me... Hawaii...Harry Potter...Air gliding...Modge Podge...Fads are so much more fun when you have a fanatic friend with you.

All jokes aside, Missy is a true friend.  A seminary teacher once explained that a true friend will always build you up, never persuade you to sin, and will always give you the opportunity to be better.  Missy does all of these things, but what is even more awesome is that she has always been that way.  All the way from Grandma Beverly's pre-school to self centered high school, Miss has always been a true friend.  She's never been the one to get tied up in trash that gives you temporary attention.  She's just always been the rock.  I can't remember a time when Missy didn't include everyone, flaked out, or demanded that she get her own way.  She is a true friend who will be my friend forever.  

People

For the next thirty days I am going to change things up a bit.  Instead of the usual posts about my wonderful kids and husband, I am going to write about the random people in my life who make life just a little more sweet.  It seems like so many people have passed in and out of my life, and often I don’t feel like I gave proper credit to the impact that they had on me.  So, without further ado, highlighted person number one: Brother Banz.

Hometeachers are kind of a funny concept.  They come into your home once a month, sit on the uncomfortable sofas in the front room, small talk about who knows what, and always finish with, “well, is there anything that we can do for ya?”  I have never had a hometeacher who has visited more than three consecutive months.  And I have always felt like the visit is only made so that when the awkward phone call comes one a month to report your visit, they could say yep everything’s good.

Well our new hometeacher has blown away all of my preconceived notions.  He tried to have us over for dinner at his house for the first appointment, but we weren’t sure that we could commit to that long of a conversation about the weather and the up and coming Romney campaign, so we had him over to our house.  It was a pretty standard visit, except he seemed very genuine, and Chris and I were both impressed with he and his son. 

This has been a huge summer for us to say the least.  New house, new baby, illnesses, busy, busy!  We have tried to get our yard started, but it has been a rocky road.  Chris had to trench twice because the holes filled in when he had his appendix removed.  Instead of growing pretty flowers, we grew ten foot high weeds. It’s been a bit of a mess to say the least.

At the end of our first visit, Brother Banz didn’t ask the standard question.  Instead he offered to borrow a machine to come and help us with our yard.  I hate to admit it, but I didn’t really expect him to follow through.  But the next Saturday, there he was to help us out.  Milo loved riding on the tractor with him.  He also loved watching his son, who Milo thought was a “cool big boy”. They worked for several hours and said that they would come back some other time with a power rake to help level the ground.

Again I didn’t really expect them to follow through.  I was so grateful that they had come once to help us.  They did so much work on the first day, our yard finally didn’t look like a death trap. 
The very next Saturday Brother Banz was out front with his two boys ready to help us again.  They raked out our yard and helped us prep for planting.  I was blown away.
Sometimes you feel like “thank you,” just isn’t enough.  He and his boys did us a wonderful service.  But what’s more than that, they taught me what it is to be a good neighbor and friend.  They saw a need, followed through, and did so with no personal gain.  I’m sure that there was a million other things they could have been doing on their one day off.  But they acted like this was the only place that they wanted to be.  

Blessed

We blessed our sweet baby girl today.

It was amazing.

She is amazing.

She may have pooped on her blessing dress as soon as we got home,

but she didn't make a peep during the prayer and the guys

all said that she smiled through the whole thing.

 After I had Milo, I thought that my life was complete.  I had a wonderful husband and a super sweet little boy.  I had been given enough happiness to last me for a lifetime. And then Heavenly Father showed me what being blessed truly meant. He sent Taya. I had it all, plus her.  

After being hit by a truck when I was eleven, I wondered why I had to endure such physical pain.  I easily could have died, but I didn't.  Through all of the surgeries, doctors, and therapy I wondered why.  Why did Heavenly Father allow such a terrible accident to happen?  Why was I spared to live in a mangled body.

Now I know why.
One minute with Taya and none of that matters.
One of her cheesy smiles makes all of the pain make sense.
If I would have missed the opportunity to be her mother, I would have missed everything.
She is beyond words.
I get to be her mother forever and I will cherish her for every minute that I get.

Milo's Shends (friends)

The other day I asked Milo who his friends are.  This is how he replied.
 First he named the cousins: Sharker (Ryker), Uhyaya (Aliyah), Uhyayaya (Melia).



Next came Pax.  Pax is one of our new neighbors, and Milo loves to have playdates.  His mom is really fun too, which means I like to have playdates.  We took the boys to a splashpad and giant playground the other day.  Both boys wanted nothing to do with the splashpad.  They played for a couple of minutes on the playground... But the day was not a complete loss.  They loved the m&m vending machine that was at the park.  They also loved the disgusting/dirty puddle in the middle of the bowery (not to the mom's liking).

Then came Daddy.  These two goofballs have so much fun together. They live in their own little world.  They love to make bubble beards, wind surf on a skateboard using a sheet as a parachute, chase ducks at the park, poke slugs and stinkbugs with a stick, swim in the big pool, kiddie pool, ditches and ponds. Every day when Chris leaves for work Milo will say, "Daddy at work?"  I say, "yes, but he'll come back because he loves Milo."  The other day I made the mistake of saying, "Yes, but he'll come back because he loves us."  Milo yells out, "Loves Milo!" and points to his chest.  That little stinker makes me laugh!

And last but not least, he names his tractors.  We look for tractors everywhere that we go.  We even watch tractor documentaries from the library. When I put him down for nap the other day, I told him to say, "love you Taya." He did.  Then I told him to say, "love you mama."  Instead he comes out with, "love you daddy."  I repeated myself and said, "say love you mama."  He says, "Love you excavators."  I have told this story to a few people and any time he hears me tell it, he laughs.  He thinks he is hillarious... I think he is too. 

I went all out in Taya’s room. 

 We refinished my old crib and dresser. I made the bedding. 

We found this at a yard sale for 10 bucks and recovered it.

 I love how her room turned out… only problem is, she doesn’t even sleep in there.

Now- don’t judge me for the next part.

She is the loudest grunter while she sleeps.  It was keeping Milo up at night… The only problem is, she was keeping me and Chris up at night too.  It seriously is unbelievably loud.  So my solution was to move her into our closet.  


 Yes that’s her basinet right between the belt rack and the shoes.  I had to move the laundry hamper to make her fit.  I feel guilty putting her in there some times, but the whole house is now sleeping better. She can grunt away, and I can still hear her if she cries.   So for now everyone is happy, and we’ve got a really cute nursery for Milo to put his trucks to sleep in.  

And Then There Were Two

Every baby is a miracle. 

When it’s your own baby, that statement is magnified by a thousand.

Taya Kimiko Manning was born on May 31^st at 10:52 a.m.
She is gorgeous and wonderful and everything that makes this world right.  We are crazy about her.

I tried and tried to go into labor on my own.  I walked and walked and ran stairs and bounced on a yoga ball and snuck onto our neighbor’s trampoline in the middle of the night.  I felt SO ready to have her here, but other than exhausting  myself, nothing happened. 

So finally my Dr. agreed to induce me.  I drove myself to the hospital early on Thursday morning.  It was the weirdest feeling; knowing that my baby would go from a wonderful idea, to a screaming reality in such a short time.  I got checked in and set up a little after 8.  Chris took Milo to my sister’s house, and then met me at the hospital.  By the time he got to our room, I had been hooked up for about fifteen minutes.  He bounced around the room and started to unpack his suitcase.  Then he decided to change clothes. He was so relaxed and excited.  I didn’t want to sound like a baby, but as he was doing all of these things, I was in some real pain.

 When I checked in, I told them that I would like to try to have this baby naturally, but there I was, twenty minutes into it, and I wanted an epidural…BAD! I wonder how many women come in saying that they are going to go natural… I bet the nurses laugh in their heads every time that they hear that. I gave in, pushed the call button, and told her that I would like the good drugs stat.  She had to have thought I was such a spaz.  Then she checked me and looked surprised.  “You’re an 8+.  You need to decide right now what you want to do.  If you get the epidural, it will slow things down and give us some time.  If not, then I need to call the doctor right now or else I am going to be catching this baby.”  I had about ten seconds to decide.  I just kept saying, “That was so fast.  Wasn’t that fast?” I had ten months to sit and stew over this delivery and then after twenty minutes they were telling me it was go time.  Yes it was fast, but you would have thought that I would have been completely prepared. I wasn’t.  Finally I said, “Call the doctor, and tell him that he better hurry.” 

By the time that the doctor got there, I was VERY ready to push.  I made Chris fan me (but not during severe pain moments).  Give me ice chips (but not too big or too small of ones).  Give positive encouragement (but not say anything stupid or get in my space bubble).  I was super nice to the nurses, but Chris and the Dr. definitely heard exactly what was on my mind.  I like full out yelled at the Dr. (several times).  I told him I had to pee, but he didn’t take me seriously… so I peed on him, while yelling at him… The nurses enjoyed it. 

Having a baby naturally is like running a marathon.  Except instead of going home with a T-shirt, you go home with a baby.  It is the biggest natural high you can find.  Yes, it hurts like crazy, but somehow in the end it is all worth it.

When I had Milo, the room was packed.  There were two, ten person teams.  One set for me, and one set for Milo.  When I had Taya, it was one nurse for me, one for Taya, Chris, and the Dr.  Everything was so normal and calm.  It was nice, to say the least. 

Taya was beautiful from the first moment that I saw her.  I didn’t know that a newborn could look like she just got off of a ten day cruise, but she did.  Her skin is beautifully smooth and tan.  Her hair is super dark and really long on the sides and back.  Even her head is nicely shaped for a newborn. 

Every man knows that he is going to be crazy about his boys, but I think that Chris was very nervous about having a girl.  He just kept making comments about how he wouldn’t do “those leg things” (tights).  But when Chris first saw Taya, I knew that he was in love all over again.  It was written all over his face, and I could see him fill with pride as they handed her to him.

Within twenty minutes, everything was cleaned up and Chris, Taya, and I were alone in our quiet room in the hospital.  It was crazy.  I kept thinking that someone needed to come and check blood pressure, or temperatures, or something, but I guess when mom and baby are healthy, it really is that easy.

We were so blessed to have our family so close.  So many people came to visit in the short 24 hrs. that we were in the hospital. It was fun to share this wonderful new blessing with them.

Note me eating in the background.  .  . I didn’t even miss a meal J.

When I found out that I was pregnant with Taya, we were very nervous.  The doctor’s told me that I had a 33% chance of getting the same thing that I had with Milo, and the death rate with that disorder in the level that I had it is 20%.  It also comes with a 10% death rate for the baby.  Those are crazy scary odds.  Odds that I never could have accepted risking.  Luckily it wasn’t up to me, and Heavenly Father blessed us with Taya.  Everything about the pregnancy and delivery was textbook and normal.  We know that we were protected and blessed during this time.  Taya was meant to be with us and we are so grateful for her.

Our family is one bigger now, and I’m sure that it will come with its’ challenges, but for now we feel like we won the lottery.