multiply and replenish

This is not intended to offend anyone and is certainly not directed at anyone in particular at all. If you know me well, you know that I will share my opinions with any ear that will listen (or eye to read). I realize that there are certainly extenuating circumstances. This is just something that has been on my mind a lot lately.

God commanded us that we should multiply and replenish the earth. Families that have one or two children have not followed this commandment. They have only merely replenished themselves as children of our Heavenly Father. And I know I'm terrible at math, but only 3 kids in a family is not multiplication of yourselves. In 2004, the only info I could find on the size of an average household was 2.6 people worldwide. Only 2.6 people in the average household!! That's not even one child per couple. YIKES!

In this article in the April 2005 Ensign, it states (I copied and pasted):

Replenishing the Earth
After the Lord commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful, and multiply,” He commanded them to “replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). The Hebrew word translated as replenish means “to fill.” For many years we have heard warnings about overpopulation and the devastating effects it can cause. While some areas of the world are experiencing a negative impact from extreme population density, the world as a whole is actually moving in the opposite direction. Indeed, research indicates that by the year 2040 world population will peak and begin to decline. Probably a more relevant issue than population density is how we use the resources God has given us to support the population now and in the future. “For the earth is full,” He said, “and there is enough and to spare. … If any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:17–18). “The enemy of human happiness as well as the cause of poverty and starvation is not the birth of children,” said Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “It is the failure of people to do with the earth what God could teach them to do if only they would ask and then obey.”

Will and I got into a discussion last Sunday about this subject. We were in Sunday School and something was said about how Joseph and Emma Smith had 6 children by age 36 and how amazing that was. I said, probably louder than a little whisper (LOL), "psh, I'm 32 and I've got 5!" The girl in front of me turned and laughed and then asked, so are you done? I said no, and Will said only one more. I side glanced him and said, ya, he says only one more though I could probably have a few more, but he says no. (I always know exactly what to say to get him going. HA HA HA!!)

(she turned around and) Then he whispered to me, how do you think we can afford to have all these kids? I said, hon, it's not about being able to "afford" them. We have them and then the Lord will provide plenty for our needs as he always has. Then he says, No, I've always heard that you're not supposed to live outside your means. And I was like, yeah, that means not buying expensive stuff when you can't afford it, not, not having too many kids. Idk, it seems like that is a running "discussion" around here lately.

I will not have more kids than my husband says he feels comfortable with. Where I stand is that I've always heard that you just know when you are done. It's a definite feeling you get and I have not had that yet. I don't know that I won't get that "feeling" after the next one. It's just hard for me to imagine it since I haven't even come close to "feeling" done.

My house is already a zoo, I don't know what difference a couple more monkeys around here would make anyway!!! LOL

Thanks for reading my rant. I'm done now. =D

mom

Yesterday, my mom called in the morning and asked if she could come up. She doesn't need to ask, I love it when she comes up. She was here the WHOLE day!!! It was so much fun to have someone to talk to and hang out with all day. I also had Ellene's 2 youngest, Austin and Alyssa here, too. They were fantastically good and kept Asia and Tatum busy all day without a single fight!

We finished painting the nursery. She brought some of her toll painting detail brushes so I could touch up the little spots that bled through the tape. It is nearly complete. I am just waiting now for the second valance and VOILA! It will be complete! I am so happy with it. It is a little over-the-top with the bold colors, but I couldn't help myself.

Then last night she made burgers on the George that I just discovered I have in my cupboard (that's how many gadgets I have, I didn't even know I had the George!), while I picked Mariah up from Drama Club and ran to the store. Mariah and Brinlee love to come home from school and see grandma here. They've had a delicious double dose of grandma this week with Mary Lou spending the day with us on Monday.

Anyway, she left around 6 and even though she'd been here since about 10, I was still not ready to see her go. Come back soon Grandma!!! Thanks for a fun day.

Brinlee's New Do

About a week ago, I chopped it off and gave her bangs! She's been asking me to cut it "short" for months now. She says she likes it.

baby cereal

Roxelle got her first taste of baby cereal today. She was totally excited to have it, but didn't quite know what to do with it. She would get it into her mouth and then kind of just stare at me and let it dribble down her chin. She is so ready for food, though. She stares at us when we eat and tries to lunge for our plates and stuff. She'll get the hang of it!

sing and ice cream

Tatum insisted on wearing this hat to Asia's sing at Mini School and she refused to take it off when we got inside. Silly Girl! Anyway, I promised Asia that if she sang along with the other kids that I'd take her for BR ice cream, even though there is snow on the ground (started snowing this morning while getting ready for school and accumulated about 3/4 inch!). As you can see, she got her ice cream (which was free thanks to BR bucks given to us by grandma and aunt Monica)....YUM!

is it redundant?

I have yet another blog....click HERE if you have time to indulge my desire to create more things to keep up with than I have time for. LOL!

p.s. there are already several postings there, so it will be most advantageous to start at the bottom and work your way up, otherwise, it won't make much sense.

new bed

This was Roxelle's first night sleeping in her new crib. I bought her a couple of those sleep sac's and I LOVE it!!!! Wearable blankets? AWESOME! I will post complete nursery pictures later. I'm not finished touching up the paint and I haven't hung the curtains yet.

What do you do all day?

4 month Dr. visit

Roxelle had her 4 month well check with Dr. Fuchs today. She weighed in at a healthy 12 lbs 13 oz and is 23 3/4 inches long. She is our little chubba bubba! Here's some pics of the visit. Don't be scared of Dr. Fuchs, he really is a good dr! LOL

Twilight

I finally saw Twilight. I actually really loved it! There have been a lot of mixed reviews and there wasn't too much that I didn't like. The acting was slightly cheesy. I couldn't tell if Kristen Stewart (Bella) was a bad actress or just trying to make Bella seem nervous all the time (i.e. constant eye blinking...). My favorite character likeness was Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen). I actually thought all the actors they picked for the Cullens were pretty right on, except that I always pictured Carlisle with dark hair. When I first started wathcing trailers and clips about the movie about 6 months ago, I did not like who they got for Jacob AT ALL, but he was just ok when I saw the movie. I pictured someone more rugged and cut, still young looking, but not baby-ish. The trio was pretty good, too, except that I pictured Victoria much more wild looking, especially her hair. It needed to be WAY more orange-y and fiery. I'm not sure how I feel about Robert Pattinson (Edward)..... I guess he's alright. I wish they'd have allowed him to use his natural English accent. I guess I pictured him to be absolutely, perfectly angelic and more clean cut. He would have looked more "stone-like" if his face were more cleanly shaven and they would have used better quality stage make-up. He always seemed to have this slight 5 o'clock shadow thing going on. If the rumors about him being replaced are true, I won't cry. I mean, come on, how many times have they changed James Bond???

I spent the night at my moms on Sunday night since the girls didn't have school for MLK day. Chelsea and I were lamenting about how we didn't get to see Twilight in the theatre, so I hopped online to see if it was playing anywhere and it's playing here in Vancouver, so we decided to try and see it Wednesday, but then Jay said we should just go see it now, so we did. We convinced my mom to come (she's read the books, but didn't really care to see the movie). We missed the 1st 15 minutes. We got lost looking for the theatre in Tigard that we found online at and then Chelsea started to feel sick (prego hormones) so we made a quick stop at Subway for her to grab a sandwich to take in. I think we all really enjoyed it. Mom ended up treating us to the movie, too! Thanks mom!!

When I got home, I couldn't stand that I missed the first part, so I looked up a boot leg online and watched the part we missed. I can't wait to see it again and I'm going to read the books again!

THANK YOU!!!

All of your prayers and ours were heard and answered.

Last night, not even 2 minutes after I rose from my own knees and got ready to get into bed, Will's cell phone rang and it was the hospital asking him if he could take a full 12 hour shift today.

I already have a strong testimony of the power of prayer, but it has been strengthened 10 fold. We are humbled by such an immediate answer to prayer. We know that Heavenly Father holds blessings for all us and is willing to give through living righteously. Thank you for your faithfulness and prayers!

MDO'd w/no PTO

Last week, Will learned that Providence Health is cutting back jobs and hours company wide. He said that they are putting a freeze on all hiring and laying off any unnecessary positions (i.e. administrative, techs, etc.) His specific job is, thankfully, not in jeopardy, but they have asked that each person to take a heavier patient load. They normally have 3 maybe 4 patients on a shift and if it gets busier they call someone in. He said they have been asked to take as many as 5 patients in one shift.

I guess Providence admin is trying to project how much free health care they will have to give away this year, due to the economy, and that is why they are cutting back.

Anyway, this past Sunday, Will got "MDO'd" (Mandatory Day Off). I guess for most of his co-workers, it's not really a problem because they can use their PTO (Paid Time Off). Will doesn't have any yet.

He did find out yesterday that he is eligible for Providence "Share Care", which means he can be called in to work at any Providence facility in the area. They called today and asked him to come into the Portland Hospital for several hours. That will help make up for a small bit of the 12 he's missing this week so far.

We are praying that he will be able to maintain his regular hours in the weeks to come. We really need OT to help us out, too, but we can get by without it. Any extra prayers you can send our way would be greatly appreciated!!

mopping

I am not a huge fan of mopping. Admittedly, we have lived here since Oct. 19 and I mopped today for the 2nd (that's right TWO times) since we've lived here. LOL

At first, the problem was that I didn't even own a mop. I generally keep spills and sticky spots wiped up with my handy clorox/lysol wipes. The first time I "mopped" was about a month ago. I had totally braced myself for how disgustingly dirty the water would be and surprisingly, it was hardly even dingy.

When we lived in HI, we had tile floors (I HATE HATE HATE tile). I would deep mop once a week and super deep mop once a month, including sweeping, vacuuming, going over it with a dust mop to pick up left over hair, wet swiffering and then about every 6 months I would go one step further and hand wipe each tile with clorox wipes after. The floor was always so FILTHY there. Even the hand wipes would still come out dingy even after all the effort.

So, to my surprise again today, the water didn't even start to turn dingy until I got to the dining area under the table. The dirtiest part of the whole floor was under the kids table in the corner. NASTY CHILDREN! ugh

Wai'i

Asia has been asking me a lot of random questions lately. Last week I was in the laundry room sorting laundry and she was standing in the doorway twittering around and humming to herself. All of a sudden she says, almost in a rhetorical kind of way,

"I wonda who use a live here".

"What do you mean, Asia?"

"Who did?"

"I don't know who did, but you know what? Mommy thinks about that pretty often, too."

She giggles "I see'd dem outside tomorrow"

"You saw 'who', honey?"

"Dem. In da car on da street outside. Da blue car."

"Huh? You saw the people who used to live here?"

"uh-huh, getting into dey car."

"oh...Did they talk to you?"

"Nope, I just see'd dem"

"Oh, ok."

Then a few days ago she was sitting in the office chair we have in the corner of the dining room and she says "I wanna go to da ocean". And then just a few minutes ago she says;

"Mom...member at da chuch in Wai'i?"

"Yeah, the church in Hawai'i?"

"When I went to nurshey dere and dey had da bubbles"

"Yeah, with Sister Bryce. They had a bubble machine, huh?"

"Yip!........Mom?"

"Yeah"

"When we going go back to Wai'i"

(smiling) "Maybe we'll visit there sometime soon"

"Ok, can we go to the park now?"

Ever since she started preschool she has been telling stories and sharing her memory a lot more often. I don't know if it's things that are triggering her memory or her subconscious visits her in her dreams and when she wakes up she remembers them more vividly, but she has been cracking me up lately with her little "conversations".

December

I think December is now complete. Click on it to catch up!

She did it again!

I know what you all are thinking and it's true, I admit that I am crazy! But Roxelle went poops on the potty again a few minutes ago! No, I didn't take pics this time. LOL She has been seeming like she needed to go all day, but hasn't, so I put her on the seat and she started pushing immediately like she knew exactly what she was doing (I know she doesn't, but it seemed like it!). This time she was talking and cooing the whole time I held her on there and then did her thing and looked at me and sighed. I was laughing all to myself because she and I are the only ones here right now. Will took Tatum and Asia to the park and the others are at school.

Busy Day

We had a lot going on today. First, I've been meaning to get pictures of Roxelle sucking on her tiny little fingers. I just love it! She puts herself right to sleep and calms herself in the car. It's AWESOME!

This evening, Mariah, Brinlee and Asia all started gymnastics at The Kids Club in Salmon Creek. They were beyond excited. Brinlee was in Asia's class today so they could figure out if Brin could do the basics. The coach said she is ready to move on, so next week she'll be in Mariah's class.

All 3 girls did surprisingly well. I totally didn't think Asia was going to do it, but she hopped right in there and loved it. I think it helped that Brinlee was there with her. Mariah wanted me to mention that she did "super extra good on the back rolls".

WARNING! TMI alert!!
Just before putting Roxelle to bed, I was playing with her and she kept trying to poop. She hasn't had a dirty diaper for 2 days now and she's been passing gas and trying to go all day. So I decided to put her on the potty seat and within about a minute she pooped! Poor thing was pushing so hard that she spit up and it came out her nose. We got video.. she's gonna hate us when she's older, but here it is!! LOL

ATTENTION all HUSBANDS!!!

My cousin's husband gave her possibly the best gift for Christmas. He gave her 3 gift cards for pedis and manis and one to the Olive Garden so that his wife and 2 of her friends could have a girls night out, PLUS....he offered to watch ALL (that's ALL) the kids!

Hey...psst, WILL........

~AHEM~

....

I have been feeling very nostalgic today. I can't figure out why. I have finally taken some me time even though Will is working today, to sit and catch up with all my friends blogs. I haven't done that for months and I really miss you guys! I almost feel emotional thinking of each of you. I know I have been slightly absent from blogging for the last couple of months, but my only resolution is to be more diligent.

I just want to say thanks for being my friend. You all mean so much to me and each of you that has touched my life so deeply make up all the little bits and pieces of who I am.

blessing day

We had Roxelle's blessing today. It was beautiful. Will did a great job and she didn't make a single peep! Thanks so much everyone for coming and making this an even more special day. Enjoy the slide!

New Year, Another Christmas??

We were finally able to get together with Mary Lou and Will's family today. We met up with everyone over at Uncle Ken and Aunt Trilby's here in Vancouver. We got to see Will's cousin KC (Trilby's son) and his wife Chie and their 2 daughers Namika and Saieko visiting from Guam. It was a really fun visit. Trilby asked everyone to tell something about themselves so that we could get to know one another better.



After we left there, we went to dinner at Hometown Buffet and then came back to our house so that the girls could open their gifts from Grandma "E". It was a complete success. They absolutely loved the jammies she got them and she also gave them the requested, but not received, Peek-a-Boo Petite dolls. They were elated!!

New Years Eve

We spent New Years at my moms with all the fam! It was so much fun. We played board games and the Wii and let the kids just hang and do whatever. It was totally cruise. I loved this New Years Eve!