Christmas Posts!

Such a busy week!

Since getting married, Christmas has become the most stressful time of the year. Not the events leading up to it, but the 24th and 25th are super stressful because of how much family that we have. Coming from a family where we spent the whole day with one another, all of a sudden having four families to please was dropped on me. We've gotten into a pretty good system though that I have been pleased with, that doesn't completely overwhelm Liam. Christmas Eve Morning we have breakfast with Jon's mother, then that night we have the Christmas Eve party with the Mosher Family- usually at Grandma and Grandpa Mosher's house, but this year it was at Pam and Mike's house; then we go to Rod and Sheri's and open up our jammies. Jon, Liam and I went home after that and then put Liam to bed, then Christmas Morning, Liam slept in! It was a wonderful Christmas Present! We opened up our stockings and presents and then we went over to Rod and Sheri's house for Christmas Morning breakfast. Liam was showered with presents over there too, and he happily played and jumped around and ran as fast as he could. Then it was time to go over to my parents house, so we packed up the toys and presents and we went to my parents house. We opened up presents and then waited patiently for dinner to be prepared; Liam promptly went down for an almost 5 hour nap, the kid was really stimulated and finally crashed. We had our traditional roast beef with yorkshire pudding, and it was delicious! After dinner we talked and then Jon and I went to see Frozen while mum watched Liam. Jon and I really enjoyed the show and I am excited to see it again!
 
The new baby is doing really well! I had my appointment today with my new OB: Dr. Johnson. He is really nice, and I feel completely comfortable with him. I still miss Dr. Hall, but what can ya do? I am grateful that I was able to find someone that I feel will do as good of a job as Dr. Hall. He did an ultrasound today to check the baby's kidneys and thankfully, he said that they look really good! Also, my fluid is up! Prayers work wonders. Not a day goes by that I haven't prayed for the safety of this baby and for my fluid to be at a level that will help the baby grow healthily. I also had to do my gestational diabetes screening this morning. I dislike that glucose drink, that stuff is nasty! I chugged that sugary syrup down as fast as I could and promptly had to stop myself from vomiting it all up. Thank goodness this is my last baby, so that's the last time I'll have to drink that stuff. Then I drove to my appointment and got my blood drawn.

Liam had a bout of sickness over the weekend. The poor little kid was so sick! Saturday night his fever was so high that heat was just radiating off of his body. We decided to have him sleep in his diaper that night in hopes that he wouldn't overheat. Sunday Morning came and his head was still really hot, but his body had cooled off considerably. My poor baby, it's no fun having a sick child, but the only perk that we have was that he wanted to snuggle more. His teeth were hurting, because he has his bottom molars coming in, and his incisors. But later Sunday night, he was so much better and he was no longer running a fever at all. Liam has recently loved taking out his blocks and putting them back in to the box that they come in. He's become quite the happy helper! He also has learned how to use that smile of his to his advantage. Today, he came over and grabbed something that he wasn't supposed to and so Jon and I both said no at the same time- what does Liam do? Continue to do what he's doing, only smiling that cheesy smile of his. How can you get mad at that smile? You can't. And he knows that. And he loves the power.


intermission: Hey this is Jon, I just wanna say that my wife is an amazing women, and I love her very much. It brings me the utmost joy to be sitting here with here, binging on 24, that I ever thought was conceivable. Thanks sweety pie!! I love you, and back to Brittney....

Exhaustion at its Finest!

Well, I officially became the worst mother in the world on Tuesday! Liam had an older heater in his room, because his room is always cold. Usually, when he wakes up in the morning, I would turn off the heater and then we would go and eat breakfast. I shut the door so that he can't get in there while the heater cools off. After breakfast this day, I went into his room so that I could get his laundry basket so I could wash his clothes. He followed me in and everything happened so fast, but he managed to put his hand on the heater. I grabbed him as fast as I realized what just happened. I looked at his palm, where I thought the burn would be, and it was fine. I was so relieved! Until, I realized that it was not the palm of his hand that had been burnt, but his middle finger knuckle. I took him to the kitchen and ran his hand under water and prayed that it wouldn't be a horrible burn. Jon had gotten up by this point in time and I explained what had happened. Jon looked at his fingers and it didn't look too bad at first. So, I finished running his hand under the water and then patted his hand dry. Later, we were sitting in the living room as Liam was playing happily. He came over to us and I looked at his hand again, and to my horror, not only was his middle finger blistered, but part of his ring finger, the knuckle, and a tiny dot on his pointer finger. I just broke into tears. My baby had such a bad burn, and I felt like it was all my fault because I hadn't realized he'd come into the room with me. Jon went to the store and got an antiseptic/burn spray, and when he got home we sprayed that on Liam's burn. Then we wrapped his fingers in band-aids, and I cried some more. Miraculously, he's not been acting like he's in pain, or has been favouring his hand at all; it really is, as though it's not been affecting him. Small blessings, probably more for my sake than his. Wednesday he managed to break one of the blisters, and even then was still not crying from pain or anything from the burn. It's been almost a week and his burn looks much better, even though it still doesn't look great. Yeah... I've been beating myself up about this all week. We got rid of the heater that had been in his room and got a different heater that my mum had bought me, but was at her house, that is electric and doesn't have the ability to burn my baby.

Then, after Liam's nap on Wednesday, I walked in to quite the terrifying sight. Liam's leg was over his crib side and he was trying to push himself up so he could climb out. Jon and I decided that that was probably a sign that it was time to move him out of his crib into his bed. We took down his crib and moved it into the new baby's room, I vacuumed really quick before we moved his desk to where his crib was. And then, it was time for Liam's bedtime. That first night was rough... Liam was such a good sleeper in his crib, I guess I was hoping that it would be a breeze getting him to sleep in his bed. That first night, I put him in his bed and then left, and he followed me out into the living room. So, I put him back in his bed, and he again, followed me out into the living room. So then I finally stayed in his room with him and scratched his back, and tickled his arm, and caressed his face and played with his hair. It took three hours, but eventually he started dozing off enough that I could leave. But that was short lived, he woke up two and a half hours later, and I had to go back into his room so that I could calm him down again. Each night has gotten progressively easier, but it's still a difficult process. Tonight, I only had to stay with Liam for less than an hour before I left, he fussed for about twenty minutes and then he managed to fall asleep on his own. It amazes me how fast he's growing up! It was a year ago that he crawled for the first time, and now he is a busy 17 month old.

This month has been a bittersweet one, at the beginning of the month I had my doctors appointment with Dr. Hall, which then ended up with me going to the hospital to meet with the perinatal specialist. I was also told at that appointment that Dr. Hall was going to be retiring at the end of the month and that he wanted to see me one last time before he retired. So, I went to my last appointment with him on the 16th; I switched to a new doctor, was given my glucose drink for next time, and Dr. Hall gave me a hug before I left, and I made my next appointment. As soon as I got out into the parking lot, I started tearing up. Dr. Hall has set such a high standard of care and he was the reason why I didn't have to have a C-Section after such a long labor, he was so caring and he is the one I attribute credit to saving Liam's life when he was born, and keeping me calm during the whole process. I love that man and I am truly devastated that he is not going to be my delivery doctor. But, I am excited for him, for the new chapter of his life that he is entering now. Dr. Johnson, the new doctor, that I chose has equally good reviews and I've heard nothing but wonderful things about him; and upon my making my appointment with him with the receptionist told me that he was very good. So I am happy with my decision... even though it means not having Dr. Hall as my delivery doctor. That night, I did have a dream that I went into labor during a showing of Aladdin (remembering that Dr. Hall's granddaughter attends SJH and is in the drama department) and Dr. Hall got to deliver our new baby anyway. But, I highly doubt that'll happen because Aladdin opens weeks after my due date.

I feel like this month has whizzed on by. Christmas is in four days! How fun holidays are with our little one! I know that he is excited to open his presents! He's been eying the presents under the tree for quite some time now. Every day he'll bring me a present and every day we have to put it back under the tree. I am so excited for Christmas Morning and for him to open up his presents!

Nursery!

Well.... We did it, we sent our baby into Nursery! He loved every minute of it! He played with toys, colored a picture, and sat happily with one of his leaders during the lesson. 

I cannot believe my baby is growing up as fast as he is. I was beaming and close to bawling all day today. 

I love that our church has a special place for our small children! I love the leaders in there! Nursery is the best calling in the church in my opinion. I love it! 

The Year Update on Postpartum Depression

As we are close to finishing out the year, I want to give an update on how life has been for me this year! It is with a smiling face and a happy heart that I can say that I have overcome the Postpartum Depression. I don't think I ever fully explained what had happened; I don't want to go too much into detail but basically, the birth control (an IUD) that I had chosen had caused my hormones to go completely out of whack. I dealt with the postpartum depression for about 8 months by the time that I had it taken out. The reason for me getting it taken out was not because of the emotional side-effects but because of the physical ones. I had developed extreme discomfort and would cramp so bad that I could barely function in daily activities, most days all I could handle was curling into the fetal position and crying.
Within the week of getting my IUD out, my cramping went away entirely, and within the month I felt so much lighter emotionally. Everything changed! My perspective on everything became better, especially on myself. For months, I had dealt with the thoughts and feelings that I was not worth much. I had dealt with the feelings that Liam and Jon's life would be better off without me; and that I was not important to my baby and husband. It was a really hard thing to go through life feeling like that for months on end. At the end of the month that I got my IUD taken out, I went to my doctor and he felt confident in taking me off of my anti-depressants.
The next couple months were still slightly hazy, because my body was recovering from having the anti-depressants in my system as well as phasing out the extra hormones that came from the IUD. But by May, I was feeling so much more like my old self! It was wonderful to not have to worry about whether or not I was going to wake up depressed, or if I was going to have those horrible feelings about myself. There were and are times where there are things that are said that push those horrible thoughts to the forefront of my mind, and I will have a down day. But those are few and far between, and I feel more confidant in talking to Jon about when these times happen and venting to him and allowing him to comfort and help me. This past year has been a crazy learning curve, and as much as I never want to go through postpartum depression again, I am glad that I had to endure the bad. It has made everything so much more sweet and made me realize that I really do have a divine destiny. My role as a mother and wife is of utmost importance and I would not give up this gift for anything.
Looking back on this year, I have learned so much, and I have grown spiritually and temporally.

Update on Liam:

• He has two speeds- asleep and running
• He is starting to make animal sounds- he does monkey, snake, owl and will click his tongue.
• He follows hand gestures pretty well. We do a routine where we will go "clap, clap, clap, UP!" and when we say up we make the touchdown sign. He also is getting good at blowing kisses, and he loves playing peek-a-boo.
• He loves to climb up and down stairs and open doors.
• He loves food. Any and all. Eating is one of his absolute favorite things to do. He loves PB&J sandwiches, tomato soup with toasted cheese sandwiches, ham, turkey, steak, eggs, sausage and basically any food that we are eating he will happily gobble down.
• He has several teeth now- after me fretting about him not having many teeth it was like we went from 0 to 10 almost 13 practically instantaneously.
• He knows how to use utensils- this came as a shock to us, we had gone to dinner to celebrate Jon getting a perfect score on his math test and we gave Liam a spoon and he started stabbing at the bread that we had given him, so we gave him a fork and he started using it! Shocking, but exciting at the same time.
• He knows what the potty is for- I am not pushing potty training, but the other day he was playing and he stopped and squatted and made that infamous face, and I told him that that was what his potty was for. So then the next thing I know he runs into the bathroom and sat on his toilet, diaper and pants still on and did his business. It's so funny to watch him figure things out. We'll see how things progress as far as toilet training. It's definitely a work in progress.
• He loves it when Jon chases him. He will squeal with delight and run down the hallway, then he will turn and chase us.
• He loves his movies, he is on a Mary Poppins and Ice Age kick right now. He has his own tv, and knows what buttons to push to turn on his movie.
• He is quite into dramatics. He is extremely good at being able to throw a tantrum when he doesn't get his way. 
• He takes after his dad and is very good at pushing boundaries. Which is very frustrating at times, because even after I have told him no he will continue to do whatever it is that I have just denied until I punish him. Some things he will stop immediately because he knows it is not worth it, but other things... when I put him in time out, he laughs at me.
• He loves Peppa Pig! We watch it on Youtube all the time!
• He loves to play the piano, he will jump up onto the piano bench and pound on the keys. He'll also sing for me too!
• He also LOVES the Christmas tree and the lights and decorations!

• He gets to go into nursery NEXT WEEK!!!! I cannot express just how excited I am for him to go into Nursery and to get little friends and to play with other kids! I honestly cannot believe just how fast time has gone by! My little baby is no longer a baby and he's definitely becoming Jon's and my little man!  

Low Fluid? What else is new?

I am feeling very blessed today.

On Wednesday, I had my anatomy scan to go through and check all of the baby's parts and make sure that it was developing the way it should be. We went through and saw that the baby had two kidneys, a four chamber heart, and two sides of the brain. As well as two arms and hands and two legs and feet. Everything was looking great for the growth of the baby... except one thing. My amniotic fluid was low. Now with Liam, I had this problem too; I guess my body just doesn't like to produce enough amniotic fluid. So, like with my pregnancy with Liam- I was sent up to McKay Dee Hospital to meet the perinatal specialist. I was diagnosed with oligohydramnios, or in common terms: low amniotic fluid. They didn't have an appointment open until yesterday morning at 10:30 am, and so they got me in as soon as they could. I was a little stressed out because my mother had jury duty and wouldn't be able to watch Liam, I thought Jon had work, and Sheri was busy til after 11 and I couldn't get a hold of anyone in my ward. I was telling Jon how stressed out I was becoming and he said that he didn't have work until much later in the day. I was so relieved! Now, all I had to worry about was bringing up my amniotic fluid. I read article after article online, which was probably both a bad and good thing because there were some people who had said that the mother needs to drink lots of water and stay hydrated- which I felt like I had been doing a pretty good job of, but I think I drank my whole body weight in water on Wednesday.
Thursday, I woke up and started to feel anxious all over again. I didn't want anything to be wrong with my baby. When I was pregnant with Liam, I had someone to go to the hospital with me so that I wouldn't be alone, this time I was all alone. Thankfully, I've done this before, so I knew more of what would happen. Knowledge is power. I made the drive up to McKay Dee and parked and then made my trek up to the fourth floor. So many memories flooded my mind as I walked to where the maternal fetal medicine section was. I passed where I was kept during recovery, and further down the hallway, I passed the window of the room that I labored in for 38 hours-part of me is wanting to request that same room when I give birth to this baby, and then I passed the doors of the NICU. I almost started crying as I thought of all the moments in there. I remembered making the trek to the NICU all by myself about a day after giving birth; I wanted to go see Liam, and Jon was asleep on the couch in our room, so I figured I could walk to the NICU by myself. What a stupid idea that was! I had lost so much blood during delivery and had been so weak from laboring and delivery that I really should have waited for Jon to wake up. I had to make several stops along the way, as the length to the NICU from my recovery room was a lot farther than I had originally assumed in my brain.
I got to maternal fetal medicine and checked in. I went back and they ran another ultrasound for me and checked the fluid levels. It was lower than normal and the baby's kidneys were holding on to extra fluid and so they were suspecting that there might be a blockage. I was scheduled for a follow up at 32 weeks to check levels again and the baby's kidneys to make sure that it has regulated itself. So, back to the hospital I go in February.... yay....
I am glad that everything, even though it isn't exactly what I would hope for, is ok. I'm glad that my baby is active and moving and that I can feel the movements! I am terrified and excited to be a mom of two. I am thankful that my life has gone in this direction, and I am so glad that I have my awesome husband by my side. He's pretty amazing!

Post Thanksgiving Post!

Wow, what a busy and fun week!!

I wrote a post the night before Thanksgiving, and I am so glad I did because I feel like we haven't had time to take a break since then! All of my family-minus Paul and Andrea-were here for the holiday! It was a riot!
We had my oldest brother Carlos, his wife, Elise and four of their six children. Jacquie, Nate, Trevor and Christy. Liam had a blast with Christy, but I think Nate was his actual favorite of his cousins! When Nate was around, Liam followed him around like a little puppy dog- and Christy, who is 7, played so nicely with Liam and would talk to him like he actually understood what she was saying.
Then there was Stormy and Scot, and Richard and Janet. Then Timy and Meagan made it out with their four week old daughter, Nola. She was adorable! It was so good to finally meet her! I forgot how little new baby's are! When Jon and I were coming home one night, Jon mentioned how little Nola was and I reminded him that Liam was a pound smaller than she was, and he said, "how did I ever feel safe holding him?" I just laughed because when you have a toddler the size of Liam, seeing little baby's puts things in perspective! Although, looking at Nola, and looking at Meagan, you really wonder where the baby was hiding! Meagan looks fantastic for just giving birth a month ago!
Thanksgiving was a fun day! I was put in charge of cooking one of the turkeys for the family, and so I got up early on that morning so that I could dress the turkey and then put it in the oven. I was so afraid of not hearing my alarm, however, that I spent most of the night up and I wasn't really able to sleep. I got the turkey all ready and we headed over to my parents house. It was a fantastic meal, even though my mum was freaking out that we didn't have enough veggies for everyone, but there was plenty to go around and enough for leftovers! It was really fun to spend time with the family. Jon later had to go to work, and so Liam and I spent the rest of the day with my family. Liam had so much fun playing with Christy that I even let him stay up past his bedtime.
The next day was Friday, Jon had to work that day too, so he left for work in the morning and I was going to spend the day at home getting the house ready to put up Christmas. Liam and I moved the couches and cleaned up the random items that happen to find homes under couches. We vacuumed and then as I was moving my music, there was a spider that decided to make it's home among my sheets of music. When I saw the little devil, I did a basic jig and screamed getting away from it; Liam saw that as his opportunity to copy me and jumped up and down and screamed a couple times. After killing the spider, Liam and I danced some more to Christmas Music. After we had successfully moved the couches and adequately cleaned we went on a walk around the neighbourhood! We didn't do a very long walk because my belly was starting to get tired by this point in time. So we finished our walk and I had just put the stroller away when my dad called me and asked me to come over so that they could change the tires out in my van. So, that was perfect timing! I loaded Liam up into his carseat and we headed over to my parents house. Tim and Richard swapped out my tires while my dad was helping Carlos with stuff with the car that he and Elise had bought while out here. Tim and Richard came in and said that it was a good thing that they switched out tires because I had about a month or two left on them before I would have been in serious trouble! How grateful I am for family members who know how to perform car maintenance!!
Later that day we had our family Christmas Party! Something to know about my family: we throw awesome Christmas Parties! Timy is always the M.C. and we always do Let's Make A Deal themed parties. This year we had lots of bags that prizes were placed in, and the family was all seated while Timy was conducting, well, Liam, who had been watching 101 Dalmatians in the other room, strolled in and saw the bags. He grabbed one and started running off with it, so Tim had to stop him and offer him something else. Liam immediately dropped the bag and happily took what Tim offered him and ran back into his room to finish his movie. It was truly hilarious and I wish that I had been recording it!
Saturday was an extremely fun day! Jon didn't have work at all! So we got up and he brought up the Christmas Tree and we set that up, as well as our stockings that my mother made for us. We realized that our tree was a little bare last year and so we went to Big Lots and we got some lights and tinsel for the tree! We also bought Liam's presents and wrapped those upon arriving home and Liam taking a nap. We decorated our tree with lights (although they were deceptively too short to wrap around our whole tree...) and we put tinsel up and then I also put tinsel on the mantle where our stockings are. I vacuumed up the loose pines that had fallen off of our tree, and then we relaxed. Later that night we went to dinner with Jon's parents and little brothers. On our way there, I was a little concerned because every time I would brake there was a knocking noise that was coming from the passenger side tires. So after arriving to Rod and Sheri's I made a mental note of it, then we went to Costa Vida and it was still making that noise as I braked. I was starting to feel really uneasy about this knocking noise, and so after dinner whilst on our way back to Jon's parents the knocking was louder, so I had Jon call Sheri and tell them we were having issues as I called my parents to tell them about the problem. I got dad on the phone as I was heading down the road to their house and got to Syracuse Jr. High and dad told me to pull over and he'd be there in a minute. So we pulled into the parking lot, and soon enough my dad was there. He did a couple things first to the tires and then I asked if he would drive it back to their house so that he could hear the knocking. So I got in the car with my mom and dad got in my van and drove back to his house. We get there and I get out of my mom's car and Jon tells me that the noise didn't come when dad was driving. So I got in the car and dad and I went on a drive together. It only happened occasionally, but it wasn't consistent so dad told me to bring it on Monday and that he would look at it when it was light out.
We went back to the Mosher's house and had some ice cream while Liam played with Hayden and Connor. After finishing up our visit, we drove home and the knocking didn't happen again, but it's still a little unnerving to me. So I'm glad that dad will look at it tomorrow.

Overall, I feel as though it has been a very successful holiday/week! I am so thankful for all that Heavenly Father has blessed me with! I am so excited to start the Christmas Season! This will be Jon's and my fifth Christmas together. I was thinking about it today and realized that we've been together since 2009, right after Jon got home from his mission! It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but it has! This will be the fifth Christmas that we go on the hayride to see the Layton Lights, the second since having Liam! I am so glad that he and I have these traditions together. I wouldn't give them up for anything!

Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

As we have arrived to the eve of Thanksgiving I knew that I needed to make this post before we get into the actual Thanksgiving Day.
I am truly grateful for so many things in my life. As I look back on this past year I realise that I was not mentally well last Thanksgiving. I had been hiding in my shell of Postpartum Depression and hadn't wanted to admit that I really was struggling as I battled my own personal demons. I remember being unhappy with so many things going on in my life, but it was only fueled by my unhappiness with the fact that I knew that I was not ok. So many emotions start to stir while I am writing this, but the most prominent emotion is overwhelming gratitude. Gratitude for my Heavenly Father, my husband, my mother and so many others that really helped me along the path to becoming better. It makes me sad to think that I went so long without admitting I had a problem.
This year is so much different! Which makes me so incredibly happy! I feel so blessed to have overcome what has been my biggest trial in my life. There are days when I do still feel somewhat like I used to, but it's never to the extent or the degree of where I've been. There are times when someone will say something that pushes me to that edge again, and I feel completely inadequate all over; but the sadness never lasts long and I am able to pick myself up again.
I am grateful for the support that I have had this past year in overcoming the Postpartum Depression. I think, Jon gets annoyed with me sometimes, because I constantly ask him if I'm acting better. But I just want to know, and make sure that I really am better. Because, he's the one who has to live with me so I better make sure that he is happy with me! Jon is my biggest supporter and I am so blessed to have him be my eternal companion. He is such an amazing man, and I appreciate every single little thing that he does. He is doing so incredibly well in school and I could not be any more proud! He is the most wonderful, attentive husband, and he is such a phenomenal father. The light in Liam's eyes when Daddy comes home is the most wonderful sight, and seeing Jon scoop up Liam in his arms makes me fall in love with him all over again.
I am thankful for my parents and for all the support that they give to Jon and I! They never cease to remind Jon how proud they are of him for all that he is doing and working so hard to achieve. I know that because of Jon's and my rocky courtship they were a little wary when we got engaged, but my dad has told me so many times how proud he is of Jon and how glad it makes him to see how much Jon loves me.
I am so thankful to be having a healthy pregnancy! I am grateful that I am experiencing this all over again! I remember how much I loved being pregnant with Liam and even though this pregnancy didn't start out wonderful, now that we are in the downward spin of it and I can feel the kicks, it makes everything a little bit more bearable. I also feel like I'm able to bond now with the baby because I can feel his/her presence rather than just knowing I was pregnant.
Of course, I couldn't leave this little guy out: My Mr. Liam. How this little boy has changed my life for the better. Not a day goes by that I don't marvel at something else that he has learned to do or something funny that he does. He is the most busy, fun, and adorable little boy ever! I am so lucky to be his mom! I don't understand how anyone could not enjoy being a mom, because this is the best job I've ever had! It's hard and it's downright frustrating at times, but it is so rewarding to know that he is my little boy and that he knows that I am his momma! Jon was playing with him the other day and they were playing with an umbrella, well, Jon opened up the umbrella and that scared Liam. What did he do? He came and hid behind my leg! Because he knows that I will protect him! It made my heart melt when it hit me that he knows that he is safe with me.

Well, there is so much more that I have to be grateful for, but this about sums up the most important! I am excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow and excited that I can put up our Christmas tree on Friday! I know that Jon would have an absolute fit if I had put it up any sooner! When we start making actual money and Jon has a big boy job I am going to decorate with the Grinch theme for Christmas! I'm actually really excited!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Father and Son

I love the dynamic that these two have. I may be Liam's mom, which is the best job in the world, but there is just something so sweet and so perfect about the love between father and son!

The first picture was at the zoo in 2012, and the bottom one was taken this year in 2013.

That's all... just saw these and it made me tear up.

A post about Mr. Liam!

Liam is far too smart for his own good. He has been loving his new bedroom set! I think he really enjoys the freedom that he has in his room, yesterday I was cooking dinner and he was playing happily in his room. Then he discovered that he can shut the door and I won't come open it. It was really funny. I finally put the sheets and blankets on his bed, so his room is almost all the way done. The last change won't happen until after the new Mosher-ling makes their arrival and we need the crib for them. I love that Jon was able to get his bedroom set from his parents house, because along with it came his dinosaur blanket that Grandma Mosher made for Jon when he was young. I think it's so sweet to use things that mean a lot to us and were made for us.

Daddy and Mr. Liam!

Those teeth get me every time!! Love this little boy!

Then on Sunday, we were already running a bit late for church, and Liam hadn't really made much noise and so I figured that we could just hurry and get him up and head out to church once we finished getting ready. Well... the time came and I finally went into his room to wake him up and get him dressed and ready for church. The only thing I saw first was his hand, and it was black, then I noticed that he had a sharpie in his other hand and that, that hand too, was black. The realisation had hit about where the black marks had come from and so I quickly asked for him to hand me the sharpie. He handed it over and I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal because I could just wipe off most of his hands and then we could still make it to church. Then my eyes wandered down, and realised that there was much more that this little boy had coloured. Half of his leg from knee up was covered with black. At this point in time, I just laughed because what else is a 16 month old going to do with a sharpie? Thankfully, he hadn't coloured on the wall, that would not have been fun to clean up as he is now on the painted side of his room versus the carpeted side, I called Jon in to show him what his son had done and we had a good laugh. Then he noticed that his pillow and blanket had also been used as canvases.

He was quite pleased with himself! I hurried and looked up "what takes sharpie off of skin" and nail polish remover was the first thing that popped up, so I went and got my cotton balls and bottle of nail polish remover. Jon held on to him while I went to work, about two scrubs with a cotton ball was about all the cotton ball could handle, so I went through quite a few pieces of cotton. Liam sat still through most of it, which knowing him is not always the case, I had finally managed to fade it as much as I could and then I went and started the tub running so he could take a bath. He happily splashed in the water and then I got him out once his playing had started to subside and he started splashing water outside of the tub. I got him all dried off and then we went into his room to put on some clothes, after putting new clothes on him he started playing in his room. Since Jon and I had missed half of sacrament we decided to just hang out until it was time to go to classes, so he sat in Liam's rocking chair and I sat down on his new bed and we were throwing a ball back and forth to each other while Liam played. Liam found the cotton balls and brought the bag to me, I took one out and handed it to him and he proceeded to try and wipe his leg with the cotton ball. It was pretty cute to see him trying to do what I had been doing earlier. So I praised him and told him that he was very smart and that is what we were doing.

Another thing that anyone who knows Liam can attest to, is that this little boy doesn't sit still. Ever. He is always going and exploring and being curious and getting into absolutely everything! The other day, he came and sat down next to my mum and I on the couch, and he rested up against her, so naturally she started rubbing his belly. He decided that he really liked that, and kept trying to find a new comfortable position so that she could rub his belly.

Look how calm this kid is right now??

Then, as he was moving around, my mum positioned him so that she could scratch his back. At first, because he was really enjoying his belly being rubbed, he fought it- and then you could see in his little face, his realisation that back scratching is really nice too! So he happily laid down and allowed her to keep scratching his back. He then fell asleep! I love it when he sleeps! He just looks so peaceful!

And he's out. We were trying so hard to choke back laughter because of how much he was enjoying it.

Needless to say, I love our little boy! He brings so much happiness to all of us, and he always manages to make us laugh. He is so creative and loves to explore all around him! He is such a sweet kid who makes my whole day brighter! I love being his mommy, and I know that he is going to make such a fantastic big brother to his new little sibling!

The never written post about Pirates of Penzance

Have you ever had an experience that was just completely awful that you just couldn't really talk publicly about for awhile? Well... that was this past summer for me. I really wanted to do a show, and so Jon and I found a cute little theatre that was close to us that was holding auditions for a show called Pirates of Penzance. I've heard of the show, but I'd never seen it nor been in it; Jon and I thought it might be fun to do together and so we got auditions ready and auditioned. I had read through the show briefly before auditioning so I knew the characters and whatnot, and I was so sure that I would be cast as one of the sisters. Imagine my surprise when I was double cast as Mabel, the lead. I was pretty excited, but that excitement was short lived. As Jon and I started the rehearsal process we quickly learned that this was not like any show we had ever been in. There was absolutely no discipline whatsoever and our directors seemed to not really know what they were doing. People seemed to come and go as they please and as we got into music rehearsals we were only taught the melody which I found completely ridiculous because I've been able to teach harmonies to choirs in an hour, but they said that we didn't have enough time to learn all of the harmonies because we only had a month to do rehearsals, but considering that we were called to rehearsals for a good three to four hours every night it seems stupid and lazy on the directors parts to not do their job of teaching us, so I took it on myself to learn the alto line since that seemed that that was going to be our only harmony in the show. Our directors decided that their idea of doing things for this show was to make it as "janky" as possible. So they would make inside jokes about everything. They had cross dressers for the pirates and the daughters which was a stupid idea, they decided that it would be funny to make our set out of cardboard, and make it look as ugly as they possibly could. We had no blocking or direction at all except to make it "as janky" and "as funny" as we possible could. The lead male was the brother of one of the directors and a junior in high school who couldn't make it to half of the rehearsals so not only did the other Mabel and I have to learn all of our parts without him when he finally did grace us with his presence we each only had a short time to actually work with him. It really was run horribly.
The pirates were made up of mostly young men (14 year olds) who didn't know how to control their impulses and said ridiculously stupid things and made idiotic comments most of the time. And the sisters were compiled of two girls that we became pretty good friends with and two girls who were very much adults (one was 20 and the other was 23) who did not like the rest of us, and who found enjoyment out of sitting on the laps of the 14 year olds and taking 'cutsie' pictures and getting attention from these boys who were much younger than them. It was extremely creepy to see grown women acting like school girls with these young boys. These girls couldn't stand a friend of Jon's and mine, and later we found out that they were telling everyone that we would bully them and were just so mean to them which never happened from my perspective because they wouldn't even look at us, nor talk to us. So I don't understand how we could have bullied them when they gave us the cold shoulder for all of the rehearsal process and performances.
Considering that our set was made out of cardboard (very horribly I might add, but apparently that was the "vision" that our directors were going for) and we were not disciplined whatsoever, and our music was horrible, and we had no direction at all. I was very embarrassed to be part of this show. Never before have I been so ashamed of a show that I've been a part of. Pirates of Penzance is actually quite a funny show, if you understand that type of humour. It's dry and extremely witty, but our directors changed so much to add in their own inside jokes and took out a lot of the smart humor. It's a funny show, but they degraded it and dumbed it down so much that it was not even funny anymore. It was just incredibly stupid. But of course half of our cast had not ever been a part of a truly well run production and so they thought that our directors were doing a fantastic job, and I feel so blessed to have worked with directors who actually know what they are doing and talking about, because you have to have the bad to truly appreciate the good.
Notes for rehearsals were also a complete joke, they consisted of nothing that we needed to actually work on, even though those of us who have really been in shows could see all of the blatant mistakes and wrongdoings going on with the whole show. What notes mostly entailed was how "amazing" we were and how our directors "nearly had a heart attack and died because it was so funny" and there was nothing that was actually note worthy, and yet, they managed to drag notes out for about an hour to two hours bragging about all of the things that they had done in previous shows and joking around with the brown nosing male lead who had a very creepy relationship with our director (not his brother) even though he claimed to have a girlfriend. It got to the point that Jon and I would just leave during the notes sessions, because they would just blather on for hours, and we had Liam with a babysitter at our house, so there was no way that we were willing to stay to listen to their idiotic statements about how amazing they were and just boasting themselves up til midnight or later. So it got to the point where Jon and I would leave after rehearsal because there was absolutely nothing that was worth staying for.
 Our directors said at the very last rehearsal we had that they "turned the show over to us and they were no longer a part of it" So when Jon and I walked in the day that we were going to be opening our Major General handed Jon a can of spray paint and told him to go and add colour to what was supposedly a fountain. The group of us (which was a little more than half) that were not pleased with what was going on decided that since our directors had chosen not to be a part of the show that we would take matters into our own hands and so we banded together and Jon built a completely new set, and I painted it. It was definitely not our best work at all and had we had more than a couple days to build something it would have been much better, but we did as best we could in the time allotted. Of course, when the rest of the cast showed up the few who still believed that our directors did a fantastic job were not happy that we had taken liberties to change the set. That's when the coldness became even more icy, but honestly I didn't care. I'd have done it again. It's not fair for directors to make it so that their cast cannot be proud of the show that they are going to put on. I'm sorry, but when the main adjective used to describe a show is "janky" it's not going to be a good show or even a show that is going to deserve any kind of effort. I didn't give my all for any part of the show, and that kills me! Because I know that I didn't perform to my best ability and that makes me mad, to this day.
I definitely know that I am grateful for Alyn and for the way that she has taught me and how she is mentoring me right now! I learn more from her in one rehearsal than I did in the entirety of that show. This isn't even all of what went down with the show, but it's far too much to put into one blog post. I just know that I am past the point of being completely angry about it and so I needed to write down the experiences. Because even though it was the absolute worst show I've ever been a part of, I do need to be grateful that I had the experience so that I can truly appreciate all of the good shows I'll do in the future!

November Update!

Well, with a new baby coming that means that we have to rearrange our house to welcome our newest little addition! We have three bedrooms upstairs in our house, one is the Master Bedroom, then the room at the end of the hall is Mr. Liam's room and the third room had been an office/playroom for Jon and Liam. We needed to move the office downstairs so that the third room upstairs could be the new baby's nursery. Knowing that the new baby will be with us in our room for at least the first three months made me start thinking about Liam's age and whether or not he'd be ready for a toddler bed by the time that the new baby needed his crib. So then the search for affordable big boy bedroom sets began; and that was quite daunting! Then, Jon's dad called him up one day and asked if we wanted Jon's old bedroom set! What a strike of luck!! We said that we would happily take it and that took quite a load of pricey burden off of our shoulders! We went and got that this weekend and it was really awesome because Liam has a bed, a desk, and a dresser! We set it up (I say we but I really mean Jon) and Liam had fun bouncing on his new bed. We took his changing table out of his room and have been using the bed as the changing table. It's been nice, we've been toddler-ising Liam's room to make it friendly for him (again, I say we, but it was really Jon. I sat and cleaned out the closet while Jon did the heavy stuff).
Being 19 weeks pregnant this week I realise that I am tired... a lot... I had forgotten just how tired a body gets when growing a child. It doesn't help that I am still a mom to a very busy 16 month old! Liam shocked me this Sunday though, in a good way. Jon was finishing setting up Liam's new bed and so I had taken in Liam's pajama's and a diaper into the bathroom so that I could just change him in there after his bath. Well, he played happily in the water, and then when he was done, I took him out of the bathtub and dried him off so I could put his diaper on him. Well... he stood up as soon as I was done drying him and he went over to his potty and he lifted the lid, sat down and proceeded to use it! I was both shocked and elated that he chose to go potty all by himself with no word from me. After he was done he got up and came and sat down on the towel and let me put his diaper on. What a wonderful moment for me as a mom! I've noticed this about Liam, when he doesn't know how to do something he won't do it, I'll use the stairs for this. Until Liam knew how to climb down the stairs and up the stairs he wouldn't go near them. I never had to worry about him falling down the stairs because he just didn't have any interest in them until he knew exactly what to do. And so now, I still don't have to worry about him and the stairs because he knows how to go down and up them. We never had to put the gate up so he wouldn't go down them. I'm seeing a pattern with him, he's very intuitive and he's extremely smart, he won't do something or even attempt until he knows that he really does know how to do it. That's with the potty. I haven't pushed potty training because I don't want him to hate the toilet, but I bought the toilet so that we could have it in the bathroom so that he would be able to see it and not be scared of it when the time actually comes to fully train. Same with the new bed. I want it in his room so that when all of a sudden it's time for his crib to be moved out, he recognises the bed because it's been there for so long. My method is obviously working for him, so I'm content.

Exciting news this week!!! My sister in law Meagan had her and Timy's baby! Her name is Nola Irene and she was 8 pounds and 20 inches long. I am so happy for her and my brother! It's kind of weird to see him as a dad, but I love seeing the pictures of them with their new baby! It really is wonderful to watch others experience the amazing outpouring of love that comes with having a child! I know that I didn't truly understand love until I had my sweet little Liam! I also love the fact that Liam and Nola are only  a year and some months apart and then my newest baby will be about six months younger than Nola! They are going to have cousins to play with!! The only downside is that they won't be able to play with one another until the holidays when Tim, Meagan and Nola come out for as they live in Texas. But for them to have cousins close in age is something I am thrilled about!

Baby Number 2 Update!
Well, I have had so many family members ask what the sex of our child is. At first I didn't want to find out, because I thought it would be really sweet to find out the day that he/she was born. I get to experience everything first with this baby and I just figured it would be sweet to have Jon be able to tell me in the delivery room if we had welcomed a boy or girl into our family. But Jon really doesn't want to wait, so we won't wait. At my 18 week appointment last week Jon rushed down to be present, because Dr. Hall would do an ultrasound. Well, we go in and he puts the jelly stuff on my belly and then starts looking at the baby. What a difference a month can make!! I love seeing our little one grow! Well, he measured the baby's head and leg and then went to see if he could determine the sex, and, no joke, my belly button was in the way, so there was this HUGE shadow where we needed to look. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, I just laughed! Liam was rather difficult too for a long time and so I shouldn't have thought that this child would be any different. Jon was quite disappointed, but I was actually quite humoured by the fact that we couldn't see because of my belly button. The baby's legs were wide open and had it been in a different location we would have been able to tell, but because of where it was we couldn't. My anatomy scan will be December 4th so we will be able to find out if it's a girl or a boy.
I am able to feel this little one kick! It's amazing! I didn't feel Liam til I was about 21ish weeks, so the fact that I've been able to feel this one so early is fascinating to me! I love laying down and feeling the tiny kicks. This morning I put Liam's hand where the kicks were and I don't think he liked it very much as he pulled his hand away pretty fast.
Overall, this pregnancy is going by so fast, and I feel like I'm missing half of it! I am 19 weeks today and I'm really almost half way done! Time seems to be flying by and the only thing that I am noticing lately is the fact that my belly is getting bigger, and I'm getting more and more tired! The simplest of things gets me winded nowadays. It's rather frustrating. Also, bending over is becoming slightly more difficult... I was at the school the other day putting tape down onto the floor so the kids would know not to cross it before going onstage and it was hard! My body didn't like it!

Well, that's really about all for right now. Alyn's and my show opens on Thursday! We are really excited! the kids have worked so hard and I know that I am really proud of them. There's still much for them to learn but they've come a long way! 

Doctors appointments and the like!

This week I had a doctors appointment. I love morning appointments and so mine was scheduled for 9:45 am. Jon left for school that morning and then I figured that Liam would wake me up as he is usually up by 8:00; of course the day that we have plans he decides to sleep in. I awoke with a start at about 8:20 and hurried and got dressed and then went into Liam's room to wake him up. He was quite grumpy at being awakened but didn't fight too hard. I got him changed and dressed and we got in the car so that I could drop him off at my mom's house before going to the doctor. After dropping him off I went to Tanner Clinic so I could have my appointment with Dr. Hall. What a sight for sore eyes! I love this man! He is such a wonderful doctor and I fully give him the credit at saving Liam's life during his first couple of hours, if it weren't for him I'm sure the delivery would have ended very differently without his quick actions. He took me into the other room and I was able to have another ultrasound done. And there was my newest baby, still wriggling away. Dr. Hall did some measurements and we determined that my due date is still the same. I am in the second trimester now, which baffles me because I remember with Liam it felt like that took forever! But I will be 15 weeks this coming week. This pregnancy feels like it is zooming by. My morning sickness isn't as bad anymore, but it's still not wonderful. Today, I felt like throwing up all day long. I did have plans to do some work in the house but it didn't pan out because every time I was standing up I was fighting the urge to vomit. Thankfully, Liam was pretty good today and watched his movies and played happily by himself for most of the day.
Then the next day after my doctor appointment, Liam had his 15 month checkup. Good news: his weight is up! His doctor seemed a little concerned because his weight took a dip at his last appointment (12 month) but I honestly think it was because it was right before his growth spurt. But he is at a good weight for his height. Dr. Silas seemed really pleased with all the milestones that Liam is hitting, many of which he said was quite early for his age. I had said that I was a little concerned because even though I know he can say some words he stays pretty quiet and won't really say a lot of words, but he'll babble and he will follow instructions like, "go find Daddy/Mommy", "let's go to your room" those type of things. And so Dr. Silas put my mind at ease and told me that he's busy learning and that as long as he says words and will follow instructions he's not worried. Then when he was done with his examination the nurses came in and it was that time again: the time where I had to sit him on my lap and hold his arms down so that he could get his shots. That really is the worst thing, holding your baby down while people inflict pain. No matter how necessary the pain is, it's still hard to hear your baby cry out from it.

Well, with it being October now, I have started making some crafts for Halloween! I made a cute 'Happy Halloween' sign that my dad is going to gloss to make it shiny and be able to weather the elements, and then I am wanting to make another thing for outside so that it's like those road signs that say cute Halloween sounding places. Then I found a cute saying that read, "A Witch and her little Monsters live here with one handsome Devil" that I'm going to make... maybe not this year, but for next year. I'm excited! I've never really been a fan of Halloween but holidays are much more fun when you have a little one! We are going to go to Syracuse City's Pumpkin Walk that they do every year and then go to the Clearfield City's Boo-nanza! Then our ward is doing a Halloween Carnival on the 30th and then the trunk or treat on Halloween. I'm just hoping that I am feeling up to doing all of this and that my stupid morning sickness won't interfere with our plans!

Jon is doing really well in school. He finished his Informations System Technology class that was online and so that class is completely out of the way! Then this week he got 99/100 on his pre-calc test! How exciting is that?? Jon was really excited that he nearly aced his test. And I could not be any more proud! Jon is such a good father and an amazing husband, I love being his wife and I love that I get to call him mine. He has flourished these past couple years and he has grown so much just in the time that I've known him. I love him so much and I am so grateful that he is mine forever! The other morning I woke up and he'd left a note on his pillow telling me how much he loved me. He is just so sweet and so thoughtful and caring. And he is such a good daddy to our Mr. Liam, Words cannot adequately explain the light that comes into our sons eyes whenever Jon comes home after being gone all day. It's like nothing else matters to our little boy and all he wants is to be with his daddy. I love the relationship that these two have already, as small as Liam is, he knows that Jon is his dad and that he would do anything to protect him. So grateful to have my wonderful love in my life. 

Ready or Not... Here we go!!

Well. We have a pretty big announcement in the Mosher home! 

Baby #2 is due April 2014! 

That's right! We are adding another Mosher-ling to our little family!

When they say that no two pregnancies are alike, boy they were not kidding! Liam's pregnancy was SOOO easy. I was rarely sick, I had few side effects, I didn't show til I was about 30 weeks, his was a complete breeze. Which is why I didn't think that I would have a problem when Jon and I got pregnant again. Boy was I wrong. I think from the moment of conception I was sick. I have been nauseous at anything and everything. Even thinking about food makes me sick. For awhile I couldn't even see food on the commercials because it would make me sick. This pregnancy has definitely not been fun so far. Then to top it off I have a busy 14 month old that can run and make a mess of everything. Pregnancy is so different when I can't just take a nap when I want to like I could with Liam.

We had a little bit of a problem with our OB because he was in an accident and got hurt pretty bad and so I had to switch to a new OB for the first appointment which got pushed back because he had an influx of new patients while Dr. Hall was out of the office. But we got to our first appointment and Jon was even able to make it inbetween work and school! They did the ultra sound and there was our new baby! It was wiggling like a fish out of water and I'm attributing that to my morning sickness. Not going to lie though, it looked a little like a praying mantis... but a cute praying mantis!

Thinking about adding a new member to the family is a little daunting at times because it hasn't completely sunk in yet to me. I attribute that to me being so busy taking care of Liam, but there are days when I don't even think about the fact that I'm carrying another one of God's children. But then when I do really ponder it, it makes me completely overwhelmed at the fact that He trusts us enough to bring another child into our family. I guess we are doing a good job with Liam!


Liam is growing and growing and making us laugh everyday! This kid brings so much joy into our lives and watching him learn, grow and explore everyday is wonderful!! Lately he has decided that the laundry basket is the perfect place for my shoes. So all of my shoes have somehow ended up in the laundry basket. He also really enjoys making piles and then moving whatever is in the pile to a new pile, he can entertain himself for quite awhile doing this. I also gave up the battle for the third drawer in my kitchen. All of my measuring cups have gone missing (in the laundry basket with the shoes) and so I just put some of his toys in the drawer and it is now his drawer. Pick your battles right? He's a really fun little boy and he is going to be an amazing big brother to his new little sister or brother. Coming from a family where I was the youngest by a LONG time I'm really excited that he's going to have a brother or sister that is going to be close to his age. Someone that he can play with and be best friends with. I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a mom of two, but like the title: Ready or Not- here we go!

Short and Sweet

Today has been a very long day! I think Liam is going through "terrible two's" early... Oh boy.... Heaven help me! This morning he woke up at 8:00... by 8:15 he was getting put back into bed because he threw two huge tantrums IN FIFTEEN MINUTES! How does that even happen? So I took him into his room and rocked him and told him that he needed to take an early nap and that when he woke up hopefully the day would be better. One of his tantrums was because he had opened his drawer up in the kitchen and couldn't reach what he wanted, so I tried to maneuver him around the drawer so that his arm could reach and he immediately threw his head back and started to basically convulse by kicking his legs and thrashing his arms about. And he has gotten into this habit of hitting me when I tell him no. So that's been a huge hurdle to try to leap over, he doesn't care about time outs, in fact he laughed at it when I first did it. Obviously a spanking isn't going to teach the lesson of "don't hit", so I'm at a loss. The only thing that really seems to make him calm down is putting him in his room, but I don't want him to associate him going to bed as he got in trouble. So that's out of the question. If any moms out there want to tell me their secrets, I'm more than willing to take them. Lately, we've been going into his room and rocking in the chair. That also seems to calm him down. Being a mom is seriously one of the hardest jobs there is! Although, I do have to rave on him! The other day he said, "love you" and gave me a kiss completely unwarranted! My heart could have melted. It's days like that, that make days like, these bearable!

September! Britt's thoughts at 3 in the morning...

Don't you hate when you wake up at three in the morning to pee and then you can't get back to sleep? That's the story here right now... So I figured I would blog on this newly September month whilst I drink my Sleepy Time tea in hopes of lulling myself back to sleep.

September is always a special month for me because this is the month that I met Jon for the first time. I had heard about him from friends while he was on his mission, but I never really thought much of it. When he came home he added me as a friend on Facebook and then we ended up chatting over the chat option on there. He and another one of our friends was at his house at that moment and he asked if I wanted to come over. So I did. I remember driving there and having the thought come into my mind, "What am I doing? I don't know this person... and here I am going over to their house..." but boy am I glad that I did now because it turned out to be the absolute best decision in my life. It was four years ago this month that I met my eternal companion for the first time and how grateful I am, that when he asked me to go over I didn't stop myself.

Every time I would even mention a new boys name, my mother would ask me if she could get excited and every single time it was a chuckle and then me saying, "oh no, mum... don't get excited". After meeting Jon that first night, we spent hours talking and getting to know one another and when I talked to my mum the next morning I told her that she could get excited.

So here we are! Four years after meeting and married for two and a half years. The years seemed to have flown by, and yet we've managed to do so much. We have gotten Jon through one degree, a year and half and he'll have his Bachelors and a year after that he'll have his Masters. We've brought a child into the world and we wouldn't give him up for anything. He is the light of our lives and we love him so much! We have battled my Postpartum Depression together and even though things were really rough we stayed strong because of, for and with each other and it's made our marriage that much stronger; we have been each others super hero and sidekicks all in one.

I am so proud of my hard working husband. He really is such a blessing in my life and such a huge example of perseverance. How grateful I am for the Gospel and the peace that it brings into my life and for the light that it shines on all of my doubts. I feel as though my motto lately has been: Life Comes at you Fast; and it really does, it's just up to us to roll with it and to let it mold us. It's amazing to see God's hand in all that we do and to see all the blessings that he's given us to get us where we are today. I love that in the midst of adversity and trials He is constantly there and He carries us through our hardest moments even when it feels we are alone. We are never alone.

I'm starting to get dozy now. Which is good right? As it's 4:13 am. I have 9:00 am church... that's going to be fun. Thankfully I just play the piano and don't have to do anything that's actually hard.

Here's some pictures!!

Jon and I had a picnic in my parents basement!

Right after we got Jon's car from Transwest. My daddy fixed it up for him!

Right after we got in a car accident in Oct of 2010. You can see my hospital wristband still on my wrist.

We took a trip to Levan Utah, and then went around to the Manti Temple!

A Small Update

I cannot tell you how many times I have started a post but then haven't finished it. I guess there really isn't much to tell. Life keeps going whether we are ready or not. It feels as though this summer went by so incredibly fast! But no matter what, God blesses us. I'm tearing up as I write about this. In my Personal Progress the last thing I did before the summer was about tithing, and to pay tithing consecutively for three months. It came at such a poignant time because Jon's job ended for the summer and he didn't have another one lined up yet. I was still teaching piano and voice for the summer and so that was our only income, but I knew that if I was still paying tithing we would be blessed. All I could do was go on faith. Jon had several interviews, and even second interviews, but none of them ever panned out. It was really frustrating and toward the end of the summer we were starting to get a little worried. Thankfully, some things came into play and all within a week, Jon managed to do some hard work for my dad that he paid him for and Jon got a job, AND school started and so financial aid came in! I find it really interesting that my experience was for three months and it was almost exactly three months before everything seemed to work out. How grateful I am for this gospel and for the peace that it brings.

Now, Jon's new job! He is working in the call center for a company called AvantGaurd, which is a security system for medical, fire and burglar alarms. Basically when the alarm goes off Jon is the person on the other end dispatching help. It came at such a wonderful time, and we were so grateful for him to have found a job that is close to Weber that will work with his school schedule. It's about a mile away from Weber State and so he will drive to work and then he's been riding his bike to school. I'm a little nervous, just because winter is coming soon and so I'm praying that he is safe everyday.

Liam and I have been having quite a fun time everyday, waking up and getting to be his mom is the greatest blessing anyone could ask for. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be his mother. He is such a sweet little boy. If not a bit of a prankster... the other day, we were eating breakfast and he started making this choking noise, and so I jumped up and hurried to help him and what does the little stinker do? Starts laughing! Yes, my little jokester of a child thought that it was funny. So I sat down and a couple minutes later he started doing it again! It's not like I can't not help him! So I jumped up again and he again giggled. Yesterday we went over to my parents house and Liam, Rachel and I swam in their pool. Liam is learning to love the pool! We were having such a fun time yesterday! The water was really nice, It's sad that the summer is coming to an end. But fall is wonderful too! I love seeing all of the leaves change and stepping on crinkly leaves.

Well, that's really all about that we have as far as updates. Life comes fast but we are trying to stay on top of it.

Angels Among Us

Little people who endure so much and manage to keep a smile on their face are the angels among us. I have been following a blog about the grandson of a family close to mine. His name is Luke and he was diagnosed with leukemia when he was just six months old. He is now a little over a year old. He went through so much and endured pain, nausea, chemotherapy, anti-rejection drugs, more medicine than I could possible imagine and a bone marrow transplant. While following his moms blog there was only one period of time where this little boy wasn't smiling in every picture. When they got the results after his 100 days after his bone marrow transplant the doctors were sorry to tell them that the leukemia had invaded 40% of his marrow and that it was coming back with a passion. They suggested stopping treatment as they could only give maybe a 10% chance of the treatment working. So this family packed up and went on their first roadtrip with their youngest child in tow. He was able to feel the wind for the first time and they had a wonderful time, looking through pictures and reading her words makes me cry everytime. His battle isn't over yet as his blood counts keep going up, something that everyone who has followed his story is overjoyed at hearing as we all keep praying for a miracle for this little boy.

Then transfer over to Liam, who is teething right now. His diarrhea is so bad and so acidic that it is literally burning the skin on his little bum. The past week has been really hard for me, as I've watched his bum go from irritated to chafed to bleeding yesterday. All I had was desitin and it wasn't working anymore, so I finally broke down and took him to the doctor yesterday. The doctor prescribed a stronger ointment to help heal the skin that has already been damaged. But it's been hard having to wipe his bum to make sure I get all of the poop. Lately after wiping all the poop away, I'll get a warm washcloth and just rest it on his bum. He will scream at the initial touch but then I guess it's relieving because he will calm down just a bit... This morning was particularly hard because he woke up at 3 am just screaming, and so I got up to go to him and shortly after Jon followed, because changes are a two man job right now; Liam will squirm because it hurts and so one of us has to hold him down while the other does the dirty work. After we had finished getting him cleaned up, I put more ointment on his bum and then Jon held him while I went to make a bottle. Liam allowed himself to be held and rocked, which is an indicator of how much he needed it, and I came back to give the bottle to Jon and just watched them for a bit. It's so comforting to me to know that I have a wonderful husband who is willing to wake up at three in the morning just to help me, and to rock our baby to sleep. This is really the first time that I've been woken up this early in the morning to take care of Liam. He is usually so good and will sleep through the night, even when he was a baby. When he was first born he would wake up at six to be nursed and then sleep until 10. He slept through the night and I rarely had to wake up earlier. That's also an indicator of how this is affecting him. My poor baby... but when he isn't having to poop or be cleaned up he still smiles, and waves, and is as happy as can be. He is such a huge example to me of what The Saviour was talking about when he said we need to be Childlike. Even though we may be going through hard things we need to constantly be smiling and happy and show no malice towards others. If anything make sure that we are willing to call out for help and accept it when it's needed and offered.

I know it's been awhile since I've updated. We've been here, there and everywhere it seems and I feel as though we haven't had a moment to actually breathe. But life has slowed down for the month. At least until school starts for Jon, then everything will be hectic again!

Liam is going to be 13 months old on Saturday! Today was really sweet, Jon walked into the kitchen as I was feeding Liam his breakfast and Liam said, "Hi, daddy" then waved to Jon. Melted my heart!! He is so precious. He can now climb down the stairs with help but he likes to do the first step on his own. He loves playing outside in the dirt and grass and picking up sticks and running away from mommy. And he is as curious as ever and he will get into everything and anything that he can. He also discovered that there is space between the wall and the pew at church and so before I knew it he was half way up the chapel before I could catch him. He's really fast and very intuitive. He doesn't need to do something to learn, he can just look and deduce it himself. Such a funny little boy! He also went potty for the first time in the big boy potty today. I figured it would be easier then him having diarrhea in his pants and smearing all over his bum and hurting it. So he went potty in the big boy potty and it cheered for him! My baby is growing up!

Birthday Post!

I haven't blogged in such a long time, I'm not quite sure exactly where to start...


July 3, 2013 was my baby's birthday!! Liam is a whole year old now and he has the cutest little teeth. He was holding on to his infancy when he just had his bottom teeth but he transformed into a toddler when those top teeth came through. He is so wiggly and so curious about the world and he gets in to everything! Basic Toddler. He was such a content baby and would be chill with anything we had to do, but lately he's turned into a whirlwind of emotions. This kid can be happy as can be and then all of a sudden start throwing a huge tantrum. He knows that in church if he makes enough noise Jon will take him out into the foyer. Last week at church he started screaming and as soon as Jon stood up to take him out he immediately started smiling because he knew that he didn't have to sit still. He's a funny kid. For his birthday we went to The Living Planet Aquarium. It was such a fun time, Liam loved watching the shark tank with the sharks and the giant turtle! He also really enjoyed the penguins and he thought those were adorable!! I was bummed because when we went the otters were all sleeping and as cute as they were asleep I wanted to see them playing! But it's all good, I'm sure that won't be our last trip to the aquarium. We really did have a fun day for Liam's birthday. Still crazy to think that my baby is now one year old! This year has flown by!

On the Saturday after Liam's birthday we had a birthday party for the Mosher side! It was so much fun! We had hamburgers and hotdogs that were expertly cooked by my sweetheart! And we had a bunch of salads brought by my new family. And we had such a fun time! And Liam was showered with presents, he was a little over stimulated, we got home with the presents and I could tell he was just overloaded with presents, he didn't know what to play with and he got really fussy!

Then the 12th was Jon's birthday!! My honey turned 25 years old! We had a pretty chill day, Scot came over and helped us by mowing the lawn, and we got our air conditioner fixed and then Jon got a new phone. It was a pretty fun day.

Overall things are going really well! Life is good! Liam is such a joy in our lives, he really is such a good boy. I just can't believe that he's growing up so fast!

I'm Alone in my Home....

I am alone in my house... well sort of. Liam is asleep in his room while Jon went to a movie with Matt... so it's just me. And this is weird. I always think it's weird when I go do things by myself, since I've been married I don't have to worry about being alone. Being alone is weird...

Well, where to begin?
Liam's first birthday is next week! How did this year go by so fast?! I keep wondering that and I wonder what fabulous things can happen in this next year.

Things that Liam now does:

• Liam has four teeth! And we had our first dentist appointment! It went great for him, but not for me. I have a cavity. Stupid little bugger. I've been flossing and brushing, but it was an old filling that started breaking down. So I get to go get that filled. Liam LOVES brushing his teeth! It's pretty cute to see him with his little toothbrush!
• Liam walks/runs. It's pretty funny to watch this little tiny human try to run with all his might. Sometimes he runs pretty fast and other times it's just a fast walk.
• His gibber jabber has turned more and more into actual words! This one is pretty cute! He knows how to say, "hey baby", "amen", and Jon's and my favourite, "I got it!". 
• Liam loves chicken!! I will get those rotisserie chickens from Sam's Club and shred it for my salads, and Liam gobbles up pieces of chicken like there isn't ever going to be any more!
• Liam loves to go on walks. The other day, he was freaking out in his stroller and so I let him out and he walked part of the way with me. Then he decided he was done and just sat down in the middle of the sidewalk. It was pretty cute

The veil is very thin for these little people. The other day while Jon and I were at the show, my parents were watching little boy. When I went to pick him up after the show my father told me what happened with tears in his eyes: Liam had pulled out a picture of Jesus Christ that my mother had and he put it on the ground, he then knelt down and kissed him twice. My daddy said that it was the most tender, sweetest thing that he has ever seen. Later when we pulled out the picture again, Liam got this big smile on his face and I asked him, "Liam, is that Jesus?" and Liam said, "yes, Jesus". Writing it down makes me cry. If that isn't assurance that there is a God, I don't know what is. I am so thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have. It makes me smile to think that Liam chose us to come down to, to be a part of our eternal family.

There is probably more... like how we got rid of the giant trees in front of our house and are going to be repainting the outside. Or how I almost died at the branches of the overgrown apple tree in my quest to prune it to make it look like a tree and not a bush... or how I made these FANTASTIC cinnamon rolls the other day... mmmmm..... those will be for another day!

Birthday/Lagoon/Recipes!

June has been going by way too fast!

I had my birthday a week ago! It was so much fun! We got up and we all went to Jensen Nature Park to feed the ducks. It was pretty fun! Then we went over to my mothers house because I had mail for her, and she kept the baby for a nap and sent Jon and I to Olive Garden for lunch. It was so good, I even had a dessert! Then we went and picked up little boy and Timy helped Jon with some school stuff, and then we went home and I got a nap; which was wonderful! Then Jon's mum had stopped by so we chatted with her and then we went to Bowmans and got these "dinner plate" sized doughnuts while Jon mocked me the whole time. We also got some toddler toothpaste because Liam's teeth are starting to come in, so I'm trying to make sure that we do well in training him to brush his teeth. Afterwhich we got some ice cream from Baskin Robbins and we watched Star Trek together when the baby fell asleep. It was pretty uneventful, but it was so much fun to be with my little family.

Liam feeding the ducks! It was so funny because we gave him bread that was really old to throw to them, and he tried to eat it. So we had to take that away pretty fast. But we got some cute pictures!

Speaking of Liam's teeth coming in; it was time for my six month checkup and so when I called to make the appointment I made a mini appointment for Liam for them to just check and make sure everything is good. Liam loves brushing his teeth, but I'm pretty sure it's because his toothpaste tastes yummy. He has four good little chompers and he sure uses them! Tonight after dinner, he was taking little bites of his mini Nilla Wafers, it was the cutest thing ever! 

Yesterday, Jon and I went to Lagoon, I haven't been since I was fifteen when Jaron and I both had season passes and we went pretty much everyday! So on the drive there I felt like a giddy little school girl.... that feeling soon passed as I realized that I am not quite that young anymore. Jon and I went on The Terror Ride first as per tradition from Jaron's and my days at Lagoon, and then we went on almost every ride after that! It was so much fun, and I had a blast!

I feel like a slacker, I haven't worked on Personal Progress at all this week, but I've been busy. But I have made dinner every other night! And that has been quite yummy. The recipes I've made this past week have been:

Chili
1lb hamburger
2 cans red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can white beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can tomato soup
1 can Italian Style diced tomatoes
Salt/Pepper
Minced Onions
Garlic Salt
Chili Seasoning

Brown the hamburger with salt and pepper and onions, drain. Mix in the beans, tomato soup and tomatoes. Let simmer, stirring occasionally.


Mosher Noodles
1 Box of any type of Pasta
1 can Marinara Sauce (any type)
1 jar Alfredo Sauce
1 pkg of Mozzarella Cheese

Make noodles according to package. In a 13x9 pan put a small layer of marinara, put half of the noodles on top then drizzle marinara and alfredo sauce and add a layer of cheese. Put the rest of the noodles on top of that then finish the marinara and alfredo sauce and add another layer of cheese. Cover and bake for 30 minutes on 375 degrees. Serve with French Bread!


Macaroni and Cheese
1pkg any type of pasta
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c parmesan cheese

Cook pasta and then drain. While doing that make the rue with your butter and flour over medium heat until the mixture is bubbly, add the milk and then wait for it to thicken (this takes awhile, so don't be concerned). Then add the cheese and it'll thicken up. Once it has pour it over the pasta and stir to get it covered, then transfer the pasta to an 8x8 greased baking dish. Pour bread crumbs/parmesan cheese over the top and bake for 20-30 minutes in 350 degrees.


Tater Tot Casserole
1 bag frozen tater tots
1 lb hamburger
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 pkg of cheddar cheese
Minced Onions
Salt/Pepper

Brown hamburger with salt/pepper and onions for flavor, drain. Boil frozen green beans and drain. Put tater tots in 13x9 pan and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes while mixing everything. Mix together the hamburger, green beans, and cream of chicken soup together on medium heat. Spread over tater tots and put cheese on top. Bake at 400 degrees for an additional 10 minutes.

So those are the recipes I've done this week. And they have turned out pretty good. Also, I don't follow recipes very well. I get the main idea and then I just make stuff up, I add things in that I think will taste good. So if you make something, don't be afraid to add things in. But I'm also lucky because Jon is so not picky!

Anyway, that's about it for now! Life is good. We are having a blast!!

Individual Worth!

Ok, so I am keeping up with my Personal Progress. I finished Faith, and I am currently working on my Faith Value Project. I have decided that I am going to make an arrangement of Hymn No. 185 "Reverently and Meekly Now". This hymn is my favourite because it is the only Sacrament Hymn that is sung in first person from the Saviour. When you realize that and you go and read it I guarantee you will cry. That hymn has become so powerful to me, and it really is my favourite one.

I was starting on my next section and realized today when I finished it up that I skipped two pages on accident. So I'm going out of order, I felt silly, but then I wondered if it was actually meant to be. Many of you who read my blog know about my fight with my Postpartum Depression. It enveloped my whole soul (you can read about that here and then here) and it was the worst time of my life. Those of you who have experienced any kind of depression know how it makes you think the absolute worst about yourself. I know that there were many days that I just felt completely worthless. Even though I'm not really depressed anymore I still have those days where I just feel like I am a failure and I just have to go in the bathroom and cry for a minute- I don't count this as being depressed though, it's just called life. This value has been wonderful for me to have worked on these past couple of weeks. One of the experiences was about our Patriarchal Blessings, and I have to admit I was crying as I was doing my journal entry for this one. My Patriarchal Blessing is very special to me, and I love reading it especially if I haven't for awhile and I can see how all the blessings are just coming to pass every single day! There is something very cool about my Patriarchal Blessing, you see the signature at the top of my Blessing is the same signature that is on Jon's and my marriage license. I was 13 years old when I went with my parents to Patriarch Adams home, I was so young and so inexperienced in this world, and the blessings that I was given and the words that were spoken in his blessing prayer was very daunting to a young girl like me. Even now, I will read the words and be overwhelmed almost. I don't know how it came about but one day I was at my future in-laws home and I was talking to Jon's step mom and Sheri mentioned how the patriarch of my stake was now a temple sealer in the temple Jon and I chose to get married in. So I called up Patriarch Adams and I told him that he had given me my blessing, and then I asked him if he would be willing to perform the sealing. He said that he would be honored and so when I called the Ogden Temple I requested for him to be our sealer.
The other thing that I will talk about Individual Worth is that everyone is given gifts and talents from our Heavenly Father. Something a friend of mine said once that made perfect sense was that you cannot give a gift that you do not have. So the fact that Heavenly Father has blessed us with so much means that He himself must possess these gifts. With that being said, I'm pretty sure that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ make the perfect duet! I just imagine them with amazing voices! Cause- everything has to do with music in my world. Anyway, I digress... in the experience about talents and abilities/Gifts from God I was told to get a list of qualities that I have been blessed with from someone I know. So, of course, I go to my husband. I texted him at work and asked him to make a list of the qualities that I have been given and this was the list he sent back to me within five minutes:

Top ten qualities that my sweetheart Brittney Ann has been blessed with!

1. Her awesome disposition (you radiate awesomeness)!

2. Her innate ability to connect with others, and make friends!

3. Her ability to see good in those around her!

4. Her talents (scrapbooking, music, singing, and homemaking)!

5. Her ability to make others feel good about themselves!

6. Her optimistic attitude about everything!

7. Her ability to produce amazing offspring!

8. Her tendency to make her husband to smile and laugh everyday

9. Her awesome culinary skills!

10. She’s cute, funny, and talented, she was obviously made for me (:

I opened it and just started crying. How grateful I am to have such a wonderful husband who loves me so unconditionally. I am so in love with him! He also has started doing this cute thing where he will email me every morning with one reason he loves me. It has definitely been a blessing because when I'm feeling down I look at my emails and am just reminded of how blessed I am to have such a wonderful man by my side.

Updates from The Mosher Home!

• Liam is officially walking! He doesn't do it all the time because he knows that crawling will get him wherever faster, but he will walk. It's actually super cute to watch him wobble unassisted. 
• I may have a little drummer on my hands. Liam loves to drum on things using his hands, spoons, anything. He loves rhythm and loves to bob up and down to music.
• Liam's top teeth have officially popped through!! He now has four teeth! Gone is his little gummy smile! He loves to use his toothbrush that Grandma Sheri got him for Christmas and he is learning that we brush our teeth everyday- next stop DENTIST! YIKES! 
• Liam knows how to turn on his tv and push play to watch his movies. He also will stop the movie if he's bored with it.
• Liam LOVES food! He will eat anything and everything.
• Liam has learned how to throw tantrums. It's really quite amusing, although I can't laugh til later about it because I can't show him a reaction. But the other day I took something away from him and he screamed/babbled at me, then charged into my shins, and then when that didn't work he threw himself on the floor face first, kicked his legs, and cried. It took all of my will power to not laugh hysterically. 
• He has now seen his 3rd musical: Rachel and Matt couldn't watch him for one of our rehearsals and so I just took him with me since it wasn't my cast and he watched our rehearsal happily.
• Jon and I are in Pirates of Penzance opening this Friday May 31, (I don't perform til the June 1st matinee showing)