Grayson

My friend Shannon picked me to tell five things about my son Grayson. She was picked to tell five things about her Andre. As I was reading her awesome post about her son, that I got to know better while reading, I hoped that she would pick Grayson because I wanted to do that also. I think she also picked me because I recently had a total fit to her about how I was struggling with Grayson and his three year oldness.....So meet my son Grayson and just see if it doesn't make you wish that you had a beautiful Haitian baby living at your house!
1. He LOVES food. There is joy in eating for him (not so much the sad, break your heart kind of love that he had when he came home because he was starving), but joy. He moans while eating and licks his lips even if it's salad. His first words each morning are "I hungy" and he repeats them about a 1000 time a day!
2. He adores his brother Jamen and does and says EVERYTHING Jamen tells him to. Fortunately Jamen is an awesome example to him and always treats him with respect. In fact he is Grayson's little defender if someone else (Isaac) is picking on him. If he wakes up after Jamen leaves he always asks after the food thing, "Where's Mamen?" I love to see these two together they are the best of pals.
3. He loves Dora the Explorer. We actually only have one video of that but he watches it all of the time. He loves to answer when Dora asks questions and screams the answers at the TV with all of his heart. It is so cute! Then he laughs at himself because he often cracks himself right up.
4. He loves people to think he is funny. Tonight he was telling jokes that went like this
Grayson: Knock Knock
Piper: Who's there?
Grayson: Monkey
Piper: Monkey who?
Grayson: Monkey wants a banana!
He then waits for us to give a little laugh and then laughs hysterically!
5. He loves all that is little boy. He loves trampolines, sandboxes, parks, bikes and water. He does however hate dogs, especially ours.
6. Sorry I have one more. I have been really upset at the way I have handled this little guy of mine the last little while. In the last two days I have tried to really see him as the son of God that he is and I am sad to say I really didn't have to look all that hard to see how special and amazing he is. So, to my son, you are my miracle from Heaven. I loved you even before the first day I met you in your three sizes to big hiking boots on the wrong feet, your tiny little sick body smaller than the boots. I loved you the two weeks I spent with you in a hotel room, you asleep in my suitcase next to me, the heart wrenching goodbye that came to soon. I loved you during the surgeries and the medical help you needed me for. I loved you when you learned to walk at 22 months old and we were so proud of our little trooper. I loved you when you started to figure out speech and started with mom. I have loved you since before the world was when I hugged you and you hugged me and we promised each other we would find one another. I loved you then and I love you now. Please forgive me son for my impatience as a mother. I am trying and with your sweet spirit I think I can become the kind of mom you need me to be. So the number 6 thing about my son is he is a miracle and he is all mine!

Random Thoughts of No Signifigance

May I begin by saying this giraffe has nothing to do with anything...I just think there should be a picture and this is cute...I imagine the title of this blog has led most of you not to read it...That's OK I will admit it's certainly not going to change any lives. But, in an effort to keep up I will babble on until someone breaks something or needs a fight solved-should be about 13 seconds from now. My friend Alleen wrote 10 things about herself on her blog and I loved that, especially since we don't really keep up so it was all new to me...I think I will do that too...
10-I love the book movie and music Pride & Prejudice. I basically figured out a sneaky way to get my son to choose Mrs. Darcy for his piano recital just so I could listen to him play it a lot...I wish that we still spoke that way and I have told my husband that someday he will say "you have bewitched me body and soul and I love, I love you..." and I won't laugh...
9-There are 6 screaming kids in my house right now because I wouldn't let them get the art stuff out because they were fighting over it and Jamen is yelling, "you hate me mom, you never let me do fun stuff..."
8-I went to the symphony with Kyle on Tuesday and was blown away by the amazing kid I was with (the 14 year old piano prodigy was also wicked awesome)
7-I teach Sunday school to the 16-18 year olds of my ward. It is my favorite calling I have ever had and I am honored to teach these people
6-I am reading a handful of books at the moment: The Book Of Nurturing, Hearing the Voice of the Lord and Gandhi
5-If I could be somewhere else today I wish I was in Haiti with massive truckloads of food to pass out and money coming out my ears to do some good with
4-I am so busy right now (obviously I am using my time well at the moment) that I told my friend today the nervous breakdown was just around the corner....scouts, track, piano recital, violin recital, kindergarten program, pre-school graduation, t-ball, field trips and a handful of other things have taken over our lives and I don't want to do any of it anymore!
3-Last week our doctors finally figured out that Grayson has asthma-we have just been calling it the Haiti hack for 2 years since no one could ever tell us what was wrong. Completely drugged he is doing so much better!
2-We put our house up for sale about a week ago so that we can build, probably in Monroe. This is not big news, but since we put it up a lot and never go through with it I still haven't told my best friend who I talk to everyday because I feel like an idiot since we have gone back and forth on it for 8 years! In fact I kind of hope she never finds out because I still expect us to change our minds!
1-I honestly can't think of anything to put right here, it seems like since it is number one it should be relatively important, but I've got nothing...the thoughts that ran through my head are-when I fold laundry I sing the theme song from "The Neverending Story" because let's face it there is no end to laundry. I love junk food and am reminding myself that I don't eat that stuff because I want to eat that stuff. I am edgy because I couldn't fit in a run today and fancy myself addicted to running. I feel like I never see my husband and I keep imagining romantic kissy scenes with him and me on a beach somewhere in my head. My niece Addison delights me so much she makes me wish I had a daughter. And the thought most dominant in my head today, "how many more hours until bedtime?"

What I Believe

I have been composing this blog for days in my head. It's funny how you do that...In the past I'd try to be witty and interesting...This isn't one of those...I was able to attend one day of Women's Conference last week and I was thrilled to be able to hear Sherri Dew speak. Usually she is witty and interesting times ten....I loved that this time she was not. She basically stood up and said I have something to say, I will get right to the point, and she did. I learned much from this talk and in actuality felt a need to change several things in my life that I didn't even realize were wrong (sneaky Satan). That's another story, but she also made it clear that we should be sharing our testimonies and stop sneaking under the radar about where we stand.
So most of you that read my blog already know what the Latter Day Saints stand for, but do you know that I am with them 100%, or at least strive to be. I know that I am blessed to have been mostly raised in this church. My mom was baptized when I was 9 shortly after me and we have been an active part of the gospel since. I am proud of my mother for doing what she knew was right even though I know it wasn't easy. I am grateful for living prophets. This is so odd for the world to understand, but it makes perfect since to me. Why would a God who loves us, and he does, only give prophetic council to people of old? How fortunate we are that we have President Monson to guide us and help us to raise our families in this scary world.
I am thrilled and happy to have the scriptures as the hard copy of the word of God. Though I know I take them for granted I have many copies of it in my home and can pick it up and find out what the God I love so much thinks about things. I know that when I take even a few minutes to read before I start the day that magically I don't feel angry or as impatient. I also tend to see all of my blessings instead of falling into the 'poor me' trap that can happen to often.
I love my Savior. Everything I believe leads back to him, he is the foundation of my faith. I am so grateful for the Atonement. How could I get through the day without the knowledge that the price has been paid for my MANY sins and that if I do what I need to I can return to Him?
There is so much more....the gospel includes so much, brings me such joy and when I am living it like I should all is well. So my friends, you probably didn't need to hear this, but I needed to say it and I hope that I will be brave enough to be willing to share it whenever the Lord prompts me to in the future....