Birthday Present!

It arrived! My 50 mm lens! Thanks to mom and dad, Colleen and Curtis, and Grandpa and Anne Crane! They sent the money that got put in my bank to pay off the credit card that purchased the lens! I really was very purposeful with the money and spent it on just what I wanted!  So THANK YOU! I was hoping that by putting that lens on the camera I would come out with perfect pictures.  Well, the subjects were perfectly challenging, and I get to keep them and the camera, so one day I will get a perfect picture! I am confident that with Liz's help, I will be able to take pictures 100% better than I currently do, and maybe 10% as good as her!

Subject #1: Malia and the MAC power cord

 Subject #2: Addison sleeping soundly on the bobby pillow. I didn't want to disturb her to clean her boogers :)

Subject #3: Bedtime routine is a matter of subject
I recently came to the realization that we have a bedtime routine. I realized this when I was making plans with one of my friends that has one child- who also has a routine, much like ours when we only had Corban, however, it is more molded around the child.  Our current routine created itself out of necessity, making it possible to keep the kids alive. Don't get me wrong, I am being serious. By this time of day, having made it through dinner is a miracle, you can't expect much more than a miracle getting them to bed alive.

It starts out with putting the baby down on the ground so I have both hands available. Never fail, she works her way under the bed. She is probably doing this to stay clear of the craziness that is about to ensue.

The two munchkins have already started running about. They like to run out of the room because they love to hear me yell. I know this because they do it all day long, make me yell, that is. So I use my two hands to grab one, pin 'em down to put on a diaper, release and grab the other.  This is when the Diaper Dance music begins (Dance and Music come from "Baby Signing Time"). I wish we had it on CD...but mom's attempt at beat box and lyrics suffice.  This is seriously adorable and we can't get enough. (my abilities with photography definitely didn't catch it this evening, so this is all you get: two bare bodies in diapers)

Malia even likes "baby doll" to participate. Man, does that baby got some moves (difficult to catch on camera)!

Because we can't get enough, we created the Jammie Jams. If you like Diaper Dance, then you are SURE to like Jammie-Jams! (same thing, just in in pjs)

Addison, still enjoying her under-the-bed-cover. She really got that rattle going tonight!

Dance and music are followed by "Mint and toothbrush". They are both SOOOOO much better at allowing brushing of their teeth.

Followed by pulling out toys they never want to play with until bedtime. I think they are just a decoy. Daddy is being doctored by Corban.

He had to have his haircut before operating.

Nurse Malia is providing pain meds while daddy catches up on some light reading.

After reading 3 verses of scriptures (1 per child), which doesn't sound like a lot but we haven't had a night that it hasn't felt like a lot, comes prayers.  Corban is usually very cooperative, in fact, he now will even keep is eyes closed most prayers. He likes to pray for things he wants by saying "ank ee for birds game", though we didn't get that tonight.  Malia sometimes will insist that she pray as well, which is a light whisper of gibberish.
Corban then requests "moms wants rubs", which he is right, I do want rubs. However, this really means that I WANT to give Corban rubs...he is also right about that! So after settling Malia and Addison, I will come back to this, or if Jared is around we get right on it. With Veggietales playing in the background he will usually tell me some funny things that happened during the day, or about what happens in birds games or some other video game that comes to his mind. Once rubs are over and I am saying my "good night"s and "love you"s, he puts in the requests of "pink light" and "drink of water" (which is the tinniest sip ever).
When putting Malia to bed she likes to have "baby doll" in with her, tucked in by her just like her, and it gets kisses as well.  She also now requests water, which started because of me giving her a Camelbak water bottle one night and she wouldn't give it back. She cradles it like one would a stuffed animal or doll. Once you close her door you hear her chattering and playing with whatever we left for her to play with in her crib.
Addison is also getting easier, with her bedtime being just about the same as Corban and Malia, which is why I have 2 posts on the blog within 1 weeks time.  If I don't fall asleep with her or Corban, then I sometimes allow myself to zone out on the computer- all the other times I try to get some part of the house back in order.

The main point of this post was a "Happy Birthday" to me. It has been in just this last week or two that I have been able to stop and FEEL the beauty of my life. I know I am not the first to have 3 under 3, and I am definitely not the one to look to as an example of "how to". They are actually the least of my problems, and are every part of my blessings! As I have looked back I realize it used to be that I dreaded bedtime, like I said, but now I really look forward to the routine. Partly because it ends with me getting a moment to myself, but mostly because I LOVE seeing the baby steps of growth among the "same old, same old". I guess this growth is in me as much as it is in them! There have been many nights recently that I do just cuddle up with Corban and fall asleep thinking about how just three years ago I was rubbing his nose to get him to close his eyes, or nursing him to sleep, or singing "I love to See the Temple" and thinking of the day when those words would make sense to him, or a million other reminiscent thoughts. I want to go back just as much as I want to go forward and I am trying to make it equally as much as I want to live in the present.
The best advice I have received came from Elder Boyd K Packer's talk in General Conference two weeks ago. Interestingly enough, I applied the principles he was speaking of to take from his talk what I needed most at the time. The advice: Forgive. How I am mostly applying it is forgiving myself and giving myself a new chance each day, or hour, or minute as needed. The principle of repentence and forgiveness has taken on a new light in my life and will be my subject of study for the next while.

Yikes! That got quite personal. I have never really been good at only giving the pretty side to life anyway. So there you go, I am more real than you thought AND I am 32! Here's to another year of learning and growth!