I got to look after my nephew and my friend's son this week, and I'll get to look after my nephew again tomorrow.  It's been a lot of fun.  Benjamin really seems to like having older kids to play with.  It's like having a big brother.  Sometimes he follows them around or plays with them.  He's been trying to talk a lot more.  My friend's son is only a year older than Benjamin, so they had a couple of conflicts with toys.  Benjamin used to not care if someone took a toy away from him; he'd just go get another.  Now he squeals at them and tries to grab it back.  He also copies what the older boys are doing and LOVES playing peekaboo with them.  My Peg Perego Skate stroller is wonderful!  I was able to take two kids to the park in it since I have the jumper seat.  I could still push it with one hand, and the boys were really good.  I did gain a new appreciation for what my other friend goes through every time she leaves the house.  She has daughters a year apart, so now having taken out boys a year apart, I can understand why things take so much longer.
It's amazing how much Benjamin grows and develops in just a month or two.  He walks everywhere now and doesn't fall over as often, he listens to me and usually obeys, and he's down to nursing only once a day!  He doesn't even ask for it unless he wakes up early in the morning.  My husband even put him to bed tonight!  Benjamin's really good with animals, too.  He goes up to them and pats them, and sometimes still opens his mouth for kisses, but not as much.
He's been teething lately; cutting all four molars at once.  Poor boy.  I couldn't tell because he got a fever, but didn't drool.  With the front teeth he drooled but didn't get a fever.  So I've been having to give him Tylenol for a few days to get his temperature down.  He's been more fussy, which is understandable considering the pain, but also more cuddly, which is nice.  He randomly comes up to me and hugs me, whereas usually he puts up with a hug for a second then wants to be on his way.
I haven't had Benjamin immunized except for the one at the hospital when he was born, and I'm thinking of starting at his next checkup.  He's a lot bigger now and I think he'll handle it OK.  I just need to figure out a good immunization schedule for him so that he's caught up by age four but won't have to get too many at once.
I really love being a "stay at home mother," but I really don't stay at home all day long and have all this time to clean and play with the baby and do projects and everything I thought I'd do back when I was working.  I should be called a- well- it's hard to describe.  I do clean- my house, and occasionally help others.  I play with my baby- and often other's too.  I do projects- when I feel like staying up late enough at night.  I still have a mess thought.  I've also been volunteering at an elementary school by be one day a week for 3 hrs.  So that's closer to what I used to do and get paid for, but now everything I do, I do for free.  I really do enjoy things more when I do it as service rather than feeling like I have to do it because I'm getting paid to.
I'm VERY blessed to have a husband who has a good job and can support us on his income alone.  It is definitely a learning experience though, especially since I did work at the beginning of our marriage, right up until Benjamin was born.  For me it seemed very natural, because my mother stayed at home us.  But for my husband, who was brought up by a mother who has always had some job or other, it's a lot more challenging.  I appreciate him being willing to support our family and be the provider in our home.
I feel strongly that if possible, I should stay at home with my children.  I would rather make do or do without than go back to work and leave them for someone else to take care of all day.  I want to raise my own children; being a mother is what I've wanted my whole life, and I love it.  Sure, it can be hard, but it's also fun and great to see children growing and becoming their own person right before your eyes.  I don't want to miss any of it.  That was the hardest part about going away to University; I missed seeing my siblings grow up.  Well, now I'm having children of my own, I'm determined not to miss a thing.  Of course, if something happened and it was absolutely necessary for me work I would, that's why choosing teaching as a profession was a smart choice for me.   Not only do I love teaching, but I can do quite a few things with it and have many options if I choose to pursue my education further.  Well, teaching Sunbeams is good enough for me right now.  I love preparing their lessons and activities, and getting to know them individually too.  Between playgroup, volunteering, Sunbeams, Visiting Teaching, and being a wife, mother, sister and daughter, I keep busy.  This is the life I chose, and it's a good life.  I'm happy with it.

I feel very blessed to have always known that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me.  The Plan of Salvation has always been a fact to me, even before I prayed about the gospel I knew it was true.  I've always known my family loves me.  I've always been comfortable with my physical body.  Seeing imperfections, of course, but overall liking myself.  I am so grateful that when issues have arisen, I have turned to the scriptures, the prophets and church leaders, to my patriarchal blessing, and ultimately to my Father in Heaven for comfort and guidance.  I know I'm not old and don't have a long life to look back upon, but I'm old enough to be grateful for the good choices I've made in my life and for where they've led me.  Other choices I've made have taught me areas in my life I need to work on.  As Dumbledore said in Harry Potter: "It does not do to dwell on the past...and forget to live."  I enjoy where my life has brought me thus far, even with it's challenges and struggles; that's what life's about.  I know my Father in Heaven is always there for me, no matter what I'm feeling or going through.  I can't even imagine life without the true and restored gospel.  How empty it would be.  No wonder people feel lost and don't know who they are.  I am glad that I know where I came from and where I want to go.  My goal: to be with my family for eternity.  That's my idea of happiness :)

My baby is walking so much more!  He turned 1 a couple of weeks ago, and last week decided to start walking on his own.  Before that I kept trying to encourage him, but it took a lot of work.  Now he can even walk from one room to another.  He looks so funny holding his arms out and walking so stiffly, but he has this big, pleased smile on his face, it's so cute.  Now I really need to tidy things up so there is more room for him to walk without tripping.  Some of the mess is of his own making, of course, but there's more I could put away, or out of his way.  Like his baby bouncer.  Now he thinks it's a trampoline.  He climbs in, then uses the couch to help him stand up and jump.  He is delighted with himself for figuring out this new form of entertainment.  I'm afraid if he gets much heavier, he might break the bouncer though.  I want it to last through a few more children if it can.
I finally finished reading Breaking Dawn to my husband last night.  Next up: The Hunger Games.  He liked the movie, and actually asked me to read it to him.  Usually I have to beg and he lets me just to make me happy.  He did end up liking the Harry Potter series, but didn't like the Twilight Saga as much.  He also lost interest in the Ender's Game series after a few books.  Maybe we'll go back to that one at some point.  It's nice to share the books I like with my husband, so we have a common knowledge base to draw on.  Since he only reads non-fiction, and I love reading to people (I was born to be a teacher, I know), this works out wonderfully for us.  It's harder now the baby's older; he wants our attention, not just to be held like before.  So we only have car trips and when he's asleep to read.  It's become more challenging, but who knows; as our family grows, maybe it'll become a tradition to read novels on car trips.  That sounds like a nice idea (hopefully putting it into practice works).

Normally, my baby is a fantastic sleeper. I love it. Last night, however, he woke up at 2am. I wasn't very coherent, so my husband got up to him. After failing to get the baby to sleep, he brought him in to me. He slept with me for a little while, then woke up and started crawling around. I asked my husband to get him some milk in his green sippy cup in the nappie bag. He took the baby out and got him a drink, but in the wrong cup. So the baby drank a little but wouldn't go back to sleep. I had a dream he was screaming for 4 hours. Then I woke up, fed him from the right cup, sung him primary songs, and put him to bed; time: 4am. There he stayed until almost noon! That made me happy. It made up for keeping us up last night. I am very grateful for the extra sleep and for a husband who tries so hard to help out with the baby and get up with him in the night. I love my little family!

My brother came over and helped out this evening while the baby took a super long nap. We packed 7 bags full of leaves! and filled a box with sticks! There's still a ton more work to do, but that helped a lot! Sometimes when I have no motivation, having someone come over helps. Like the other day, but this time I didn't have to do the work alone. I took my brother and son out for DQ after all that yard work, and we ate it at the park. It was really nice, especially after being cooped up inside the last few days because of rain. Outside time makes a huge difference in my attitude and motivation. Maybe that explains why some kids have bad attitudes or don't do as well in school as they could. We keep them locked indoors too much. When I was little I was outdoors a lot. And school was only 9-3. My baby loves being outside too. He cries when it's time to come in. I want to cultivate a love for the outdoors in all the children I'll have.

My husband is so wonderful! Yesterday he put up pictures for me and helped with dinner. Today he took our son with him to run errands, and came back with a bar of chocolate for me! Oh, how I love him.

I was feeling kind of lost this evening, not knowing what to do (there are so many things to do; but motivating myself to do them is another story). My friend and former colleague called to see if she could come over, so I tidied the living room and helped her with an assignment. I feel better now. I fed my grumpy baby and put him to bed. Time to relax... or get more cleaning done. We'll see.

I was listening to The Mormon Channel on my computer last night while doing dishes, and on Everything Creative they discussed blogs, and I felt that I should create one. I've loved writing in my journal since I was 15, and am quite partial to pencil and paper. I'll see how it goes typing instead.

One neat experience I had yesterday was that I helped my sister out with a Young Single Adult Family Home Evening lesson. I read President Thomas S. Monson's Meeting Your Goliath and instantly thought of and created a lesson to go with it. I had shown Mum, and she said to leave the materials at her house so I could teach it another time. I went over yesterday, and my sister had forgotten to assign someone the lesson, so I suggested she use the lesson I created. She was grateful, read the book on my kindle (which I had, thankfully, charged and brought with me), and was able to give the lesson last night. I hope it went well. I think someone in her group really needed to hear that message for Heavenly Father to put all the circumstances together for my sister to teach it. I wasn't even going to go over to my parent's house, but someone asked if I wanted to visit this couple that moved in by my parents, so I went to my parent's house and was there when my sister was looking for a lesson. I love being an instrument in the Lord's hands and hope I can be often!