Happy Thanksgiving

On this beautiful glorious Thanksgiving Day, this is what our house looks at this moment. I first noticed something was a little off as Kaden wasn't the first one up this morning and there was no jumping on beds this morning to wake Micah up. Then Kaden just laid on the couch while we were getting ready for breakfast and I asked if he felt sick, and he said his head and chest hurt. Temp 103. Hmmm. So then it was a couple of hours later that Ammon was being clingy (which is not abnormal) and he felt pretty warm while he was hugging me. So I took HIS temp and it was 102.8. So my exciting plans for making this an exciting and fun day, mightnot be how we were supposed to spend it. I should go and take a nap myself, in fact, before it's too late! Micah is sleeping, these two are sleeping, and Travis took Noah to the movies for his birthday. It seemed like the thing to do, since we can't all go and play as a family. Anyway, I will mention that I have been so grateful for every day of good health we have enjoyed so far in the past few months. And they are at that very pleasant and docile stage where it's almost nice and peaceful because of it....but I hope it passes quickly. I don't like to see my kids feeling yucky. Kaden started crying this morning, first saying "I want to go to school tomorrow!" He calmed down when I explained there WAS no school, then started crying because he was afraid he wasn't going to be able to enjoy this big Thanksgiving dinner he has been waiting for for so long. I told him he would feel more like eating by 6:00 tonight. I hope I was right...

This will be the first Thanksgiving we have had by ourselves for a very long time. We lived closer to family for a few years, and last year had just gotten here and were invited to Thanksgiving dinner with a few people from the squadron. We had planned to invited some people, but our ward is doing a "40 day fast" where at least one people sign up for a day from 6pm to 6pm and fast so that there is at least one person fasting from our ward for the full 40 days. We are praying for missionary work and for the gospel to touch people's lives. I guess with Travis being the ward mission leader, he thought it was only fair to sign up for Thanksgiving so no one else would have to =). He is such a good person. But anyway, that's why we decided to just have Thanksgiving by ourselves this year, and it turns out, it's a good thing, because we would have had to cancel with feverish children drooling on the couches...

So since today is Noah's EIGHTH birthday, I am especially grateful for him today. Eight years ago this little boy came into our lives and has been such a blessing every since. He was such a good baby, which is a good thing, because he was a difficult nurser, (or non nurser) and I fought with him on that for months while I pumped and gave him bottles and felt like a bad mom. His tongue was short and he had a "bifed uvula" (it's shaped like a W instead of a U), and he had reflux and spit up a lot, only it hardly ever came out his mouth, mostly just his nose. It scared people =). He also started choking pretty regularly, well, at least a couple of times a day, and that especially scared people, but we got so we would reassure them and calmed turned him upside down and pat his back. Then one day he started nursing, at like 5 months old, but I had already started to dry up and by 6 months had to wean to formula. At that point, he started to get constant ear infections. Constant. Now that I am remembering all of this, I am SOOO glad he was my first and I didn't know the different and didn't have other kids to demand my attention. He also had an incredibly soft skull and we could feel our fingers mold into it when he was first born. He ended up wearing a helmet to round out the back of his head for 2-3 months (I think from the time he was 7 months to 9 or 10 months. Anyway, that's not what I meant to start babbling about. I get so distracted.

This handsome boy has loved books since he was a tiny baby. I am pretty sure it was inborn and not anything I did. He taught himself to read during his rest times at the age of 4, and has such a unique way of thinking and figuring things out. He has always been very naturally obedient. That makes it hard for him when he seen other people not following rules or doing things the way he thinks they should be done. I guess I can only describe that as being a first child, too, where he has the desire to be the parent instead of the sibling much of the time. We are working on that. I am so proud of Noah and the young man he is becoming. There have been times I have stewed and worried about him, and seen myself in him in ways that I don't want him to be. He has a timid nature, but it was much stronger when he was 4 and 5 and I worried and cried and felt sad about it when he wouldn't talk to kids in preschool and exiled himself to the corner at birthday parties. But as I think about it now, he is actually pretty bold most of the time. Like the fact that he keeps hounding the Bishop to come to our house so that he can play his piano songs for him. And lots of other examples that help me to see more confidence and it makes me happy to see. He has a kind heart and a good sense of humor. He started piano lessons in September and it has been so fun to watch him catch on and learn so quickly. He is doing so great! We loved his teacher! Every night we read scriptures together and he plays with my hair while I read. I love those moments. He is a good helper when he wants to be. He is so excited to be baptized--I can't believe he can be this old already!