Day to Day Happenings

Sometimes you can't win for trying...  It always seems to be a fight to get the kids to listen to scriptures every day. We are reading scriptures from the Book of Mormon Stories for kids that has the pictures and is very condensed. We read one story every morning. IF Teagan actually listens, he always has lots of questions and finds it very interesting... but it's always hard to just get them in a room with us at that time. It's like everyone runs away into another room when Jeremy pulls the book out. Why is that?

Then after we read scriptures, we have family prayer before Jeremy leaves for work. Then Teagan either wants to say the prayer EVERY time or votes that daddy has to say the prayer. Well, Tate has started learning to say prayers all by himself now and then it became a fight on who got to say the prayer... All of it is such a nice way to invite the Spirit for the day {sarcasm}.

However, today Tate and Teagan worked their problem out with out our help and I was proud that Teagan said he gets to say the prayer tomorrow if Tate said it today and Tate agreed. I've been really trying to get Teagan to start problem solving his own problems instead of running to me or Jeremy every time. So, I was very proud to see him doing that.

Tate's prayer was so cute. He said:
    Heavenly Father
    Bless the day
    Thank you for my IPad....
And then he looked up at us to see what else he was supposed to say. It made us chuckle. Plus he has the cutest little voice!

Teagan has grown up so much lately. His potty training is going really well. We have minimal accidents now and I find they are almost always when he's watching TV because he's just not paying attention. He is getting taller and starting to look more and more like a little boy instead of a toddler. He is such a smart, smart kid. He is very cunning and smart with his words. BUT, sometimes I feel like I already have a 3 year old teenager because of the back talk. Yesterday he got grounded from his privileges for the first time  for the day (no tv, no treats, no ipad, no fun stuff). He has gotten super demanding and bossy which is quite literally in his nature which makes it hard for us to find compromise all of the time. Teagan never takes "NO" for an answer. He will always lobby and negotiate his case to get what he wants. The good side of that is if we can direct him well, then he will be very successful in life.

Yesterday while he was mad at me for grounding him he was telling me all day how mad he was at me at that he was going to build a net that I couldn't get out of and had to stay in forever. Jeremy called from work and talked to him. Teagan thought Jeremy was going to save him from me... when he didn't, he told me that he was going to be mad at daddy when he got home and build a net to catch him in forever too.  (lol)  Then he seemed to be OK after a couple of hours and it was all done. He told me he is going to be good today and wants to have a good day! Yipee!

Can't you just see that plotting look in his eye.

Tate is also astoundingly smart. He is such a cheeky, sneaky little boy. He loves to pull food and treats out of the cupboard and fridge. Instead of coming and telling anyone about it, he runs and hides under a table or chair while he eats it so that no one will take it away. The food of choice usually has 'chocolate' involved = messy. He will proceed to smash a lot of it on the floor while he is at it. (ugh) He does this most of the time while I am nursing because I am most vulnerable during that time (which he is smart enough to know). Unlike his big brother, Tate is not as organized or clean. Teagan never made the food messes that Tate did. Teagan never played in the toilet like Tate. Teagan never really put gross stuff in his mouth all the time like Tate does either.

Tate also has a fiery little temper and a "mad" face that makes me laugh, but I try to remember to take him seriously because it's hard when he is so cute. I think part of the reason he has been so 'mad' lately is because he refuses to take his day time naps anymore, but I know he really needs them still. Instead it just makes him mad and grumpy for the last part of the day. BUT, on the flip side Tate is also hilarious and funny. He can make anyone laugh because of his bubbly personality.

Tate & Hisa

Steffan is my little doll baby. I melt whenever this little boy smiles. He has four little teeth popping through and it is funny when he smiles with all of these different lengths of teeth. The teething process has been a BEAR. He is normally very happy and smiley all the time, but lately he has been very needy and grumpy. Plus he doesn't want anyone but me and it makes it hard in the day when no one else can hold him. He was sleeping through the night for a long while, but since his teeth started popping through and his stomach problems (below), he has been waking up one to two times a night (sigh).

He is going to be ONE next month. I can't believe it! He was only 6 weeks old when we moved here, so it makes the time fly by. He has started crawling this last few weeks. He is still trying very hard to go forward, but usually pushes himself back into a corner or gets forked on a table or chair leg. He has a very sensitive tummy right now making it very hard for him to eat solids. It makes me feel bad because he wants to eat solids so badly but we can't give him very much. It causes him to back up for WEEKS and then he gets infected and cries and cries when he poops. It breaks my heart. We took him to the doctor not long ago and he has been taking some medicine called Coloxyl, 3x/day, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything for him. I don't know what we are going to do. It makes me feel so bad for him. He has to nurse almost full time still, which I love (and never thought I'd say that), but was kind of looking forward to stopping at the 1 year mark. I guess we'll see. I wish I knew the boys stats (height, weight, etc) but they don't really do those kinds of well check ups here and give you a nice little print out to tell you what percentile they are in with the rest of the nation. You really only take them in for their shots. Last time we went to the doctor we were there for the longest 3 hours of my life (by myself with the boys) and Steffan was the only one that got shots. They weighed and measured the boys, but I expected them to give me a print out so I didn't write it down when she told me. Plus it was all in Kilograms and Centimeters, so the information didn't 'translate' to stick in my brain.

Steffan's cute little smile with his 1/2 teeth. :) He has that little fake smile just like Tate when you ask Tate to smile.

  

Jeremy has been seeing a doctor for some major stomach issues he is having. He is having bad reflux and I think the acid is have a negative effect on his throat and can't think of the word for the tube you swallow all your food down (smart description eh). He throws up a lot and the doctors are trying to figure out what is going on right now. Keep him in your prayers, it's been really hard on him physically actually. Other than that, he is still just working away. His buddy Bodra that he works with and that we hang out with often is moving back to New Zealand in a couple of weeks. We are really sad to see them go, but have been trying to spend time with them before they make the trek back. I would love it if we could go and see them before we go. We will see...

As for me, I am loving photography right now. I am surprised how much I fell in love with it. Having an awesome camera made all the difference in the world! Thanks for helping us get the camera dad (it is so much cheaper to get it in the US than here in Australia). It started as a fun hobby, and still is. I've had a lot of people ask me to start taking pictures for them, so I am trying to learn all of the technical side of things and hope something can come out of it in terms of a part time job. I would LOVE doing that. I love how pictures make everyone happy and excited. I have another family photo shoot this weekend in the city and am really looking forward to doing it. I'm learning so much about photography that I never had any idea about. Stay posted on my photo blog. Hopefully you will be able to see improvements in the quality as I continue to take more pictures of people.

The big question we get asked from everyone is, "Are you staying?" Jeremy's obligation to his contract ends in mid-January. We have gone back and forth about staying here or going home. We love the people here are growing to really love Australia. When we thought about coming home, it made us sad to think about leaving here because who knows when we'd ever come back. We have been VERY prayerful about our decision because it is too big of a decision to make back and forth to different countries. It is really hard on everyone and we are JUST starting to settle into life here. Things always change with us as we weigh the options. There are so many things to consider! I think we have come to our final decision to stay at LEAST another year and we will have to come to the same decision time again next year. If we can swing it, we would love to come home and visit sometime next year, but spending $7,000 to visit Orem, Utah doesn't sound too exciting, so stay tuned.

Visitors, Visitors, Visitors! Joey will be our first visitor next month for a week. And my sister, Kiley, will be staying with us for a month in December through January. I can hardly wait! So, if any of your are still planning on coming, you still have at least one more year to make the trek here.