Spiritual Weight-Lifting

Hello again. This post is going to be a bit different. Yesterday I was reading in my scriptures and had some thoughts that I was wanting to share. Hopefully I will not come across as overbearing and you will be able to bear with me while I stumble on in my words. In Alma 62:41 it says, "But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility."

Right after reading this I noticed that it said some people had become hardened because of their afflictions while others were softened and humbled. I had the thought that it is not whether or not I have afflictions in my life that make me happy or sad or weak or strong, it is my attitude.  What am I going to do with the trials that pass my way?

I remembered back to when I was in my weights class in high school and thought of what I had learned there. I determined that afflictions can be compared to weight-lifting. What am I going to do with those weights? I can do one of two things: I can a) lift the weights improperly and drop it on my foot, causing harm and a great deal of pain to my body, or b) lift the weights properly and use them to strengthen my body. No matter what I choose, the choice is mine. I will never be forced one way or another; but in the end, I cannot grow stronger without them. The same can be said of afflictions. I have two choices: I can use those afflictions improperly by having a negative attitude, which will only hurt me, or I can use those afflictions to my advantage and grow stronger and wiser. Either way, the choice will always be mine, and I cannot grow stronger without them. It is as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in his April 2010 talk entitled, "Your Happily Ever After,":

"The scriptures tell us there must be opposition in all things, for without it we could not discern the sweet from the bitter....In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy."

(You can read Elder Uchtdorf's entire talk here.)

Let me add more to my weight-lifting analogy. Assume that I decide to use the weights properly; I make the choice to use them to make me stronger. I start the grueling process of lifting, pushing and pulling those weights day after day after day. At first, it is difficult and painful. But as I press forward, it gradually becomes easier to bear and the pain eases. After a while it is no longer as difficult and I have grown stronger as a result. However, if I want to continue to progress, I must choose heavier weights and start the whole process over again. As the weight that I lift gets heavier and harder to bear, the need for a "spotter" may become necessary. In weight lifting, a "spotter" is a person who stands by while you weight-lift, ready to catch the weights should you get tired and struggle to lift them, thereby preventing the weights from dropping and falling on you, which would cause severe injury. 

Applying this analogy again to the spiritual side of things, afflictions are especially difficult to bear in the beginning and it can seem a long and overbearing burden I have been asked to carry. But if I press forward in faith, the burden will become easier to bear and I will be strengthened spiritually. Granted, it is my opinion that perhaps as I overcome one trial I may be given another, even more difficult trial, but with faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, who is my "spotter," I can lift those burdens that seem impossible on my own.

Hopefully I will not wait until the weight is too difficult to carry before I turn to Christ. In weight-lifting it would only make sense to choose a spotter who has lifted the same weight as you and greater, so they can help you lift yours when it becomes too difficult to do on your own. Christ, who is my "spotter," has carried my burden, and other burdens much heavier than my own. He has carried the greatest burden of all, that is to take upon Him mine and everyone else's sins and burdens and die for all of God's children, enabling me to return to live with my Heavenly Father, if I will but choose to follow Him. But even if I do wait to ask for help, it is NEVER too late to turn to Him!

"...for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."

-Alma 36:3.

Long Time No See!

Hey! Long time no see! The past year got away from me and has been rather chaotic. But to summarize our life over the past year in a few short sentences, since I last wrote Luke was finally able to get a job in mid-February of this year at a factory called Freshway Foods. His job was to chop vegetables and bag them. Fun fun! He was working "second shift" but because they were so short on workers it was really second and third shift that he was required to work. So from 4:30 p.m. to at least 2:30 a.m. and very often it was more like 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.  But luckily after a little over a month at that job he was blessed with a recruiting job at Russ Hadick & Associates in Dayton. He searches for people to fill engineering jobs at various different companies. He has been working there since the beginning of April and he loves it! Much better than chopping onions! 

Shortly after he got the job we moved into a house that Luke's parents are renting out. However that did not last long because of two reasons: 1) There were several problems with the house as a result of previous bad tenants, and 2) Luke's drive to and from work is just too long. It takes him about an hour and a half just to drive home from work! Traffic is horrible....as well as gas prices. So last Saturday we moved out of the rental and back in with Luke's parents while we wait for our townhouse down in Centerville to become available. We will be moving there September 20. 

The other big event that has happened this year is that in May we lost our car. On this special day, Luke was driving home from work in a really bad rainstorm. It rained so much that one of the cities through which Luke had to drive got 4 1/2 inches of rain in 30 minutes, causing flash flooding in the streets and parking lots. It was in this particular city that Luke happened to be driving through right when the flooding was at its worst. As he got farther into the city, the streets got worse, so looking over at a nearby store parking lot, he saw other cars that were out of danger and decided to pull in there for a while to wait off the worst of the storm. He drove into the parking lot, saw a parked car that was sitting in only about three inches of water and tried to pull into the spot next to said car. Well, as he pulled in into the parking spot, he realized too late that it wasn't a "spot" after all, but a big hole! As you can guess, the car immediately was partially submerged in about 4-5 feet of water. So Luke forced the door open, and simultaneously letting all the water into the car and ruining the interior. He and a friendly stranger who saw he needed help tried to push the car out of the water, but to no avail. He ended having to call his dad to come and pick him up and bring him home, but when his dad arrived, the streets were so flooded that he couldn't drive out to where Luke was and so Luke had to wade out to meet him. Needless to say, by the time he finally got home, it had been a rough day. In case you're wondering, the car was totaled.  But we like to look at it as a blessing in disguise because we were needing a bigger vehicle anyway but weren't sure how we were going to get one, so this gave us the opportunity and excuse we needed, plus it cut our car payment in half. Happy day! 

As far as kid updates are concerned, there isn't a whole lot to report that's new. Brian turned 4 in March. We decided to keep him out of school for another year because of the moving situation so we will see what the next school year holds for him. Alli turned 2 in February and is a character. She is always goofing off and keeping me on my toes! We are currently working on potty-training her. Rosalie turned 1 in June, says a few words, has 4 teeth, crawls around in super-fast mode at all times, and is trying to stand and walk on her own. She is ALWAYS happy! 

So that is the basic update with my family over the past year. I must through a shout-out thank-you to everyone who has given us so much help, support, and kindness over the past year---really more like three years---we never would have made it without all of you! Thank you! Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon. My camera is currently not working and I have not yet figured out how to move the pictures from my phone to the computer using itunes or icloud or whatever it is that does that (I am not always the most technologically-savvy person you will ever meet). I'll figure something out though! :)

A New Post

Once again it's time for an update! There haven't been a whole lot of new and exciting happenings since I last wrote but I will tell you the little bit that has been going on. To start off, around two weeks ago we had Rose weighed and at the time she was 9 lbs. 4 oz. so she's doing great! She loves to eat. As a matter of fact, lately I can't seem to get her to fill up, or if I do, then she's hungry again in an hour and a half! (I think I should just have a feeding tube installed. Thoughts?) She is also starting to give a few hints of a smile here and there and it is very cute! I love babies! She is so cute when she is awake because she is very alert. Her eyes will open as wide as possible (especially when she's in a dark room) and she'll just look around. She also loves to be spoken to. As long as you talk to her, she will settle right down and just stare at you and listen, and sometimes she'll give you a little smile. She is a very precious, and special little girl.

So that's what's up with Rose. Now for Brian. A couple of weeks ago we decided to attempt potty training with Brian. Why haven't we started before now you ask? Well, I wanted to give him more time and wait until he was really ready. I thought that time was two weeks ago. We tried for one day. I got out his "big boy underwear," showed him his little seat that would sit on the toilet, watched a couple of potty videos for kids that I found on YouTube, and explained how going to the potty worked and did my best to explain to him what to do if he felt he needed to go. But alas! He didn't make it to the toilet on time once that day. He wouldn't tell us if he needed to go or not.  I'm not sure if he even knew when he needed to go. I suspect not. I just don't think it was totally clicking with him. So we decided to wait for a month or so and maybe try again then. And this next time, I'm going to try to be a little more prepared.  I want to use sticker charts, little pieces of candy for mini rewards, and a toy that he will pick out as a big reward. So hopefully the second time will work better. Other than that, not a whole lot is new with Brian.

Alli's turn. Since Rose was born, things have been a little hectic. Who am I kidding? Things have been a lot hectic! I am currently trying to get our lives back in at least a little order, but up until this point there has been a lot of TV watching for Brian and Alli, which included several of the educational kid's shows on PBS. The four main shows they watch is Dinosaur Train (very cute show by the way), Super Why, Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. All of these shows are educational and two of them teach letters and numbers. Between watching these shows and just listening to me teach Brian during his schooling time, Alli has learned to count to ten (almost-she gets a little tongue tied when she hits 7, but then keeps going afterward) and has also learned several of the letters in the alphabet. It's always fun when she's in the room and hears you counting because she will join in with you; and sometimes I'll sing the Alphabet Song with her and if I say a certain letter, she will sing the next letter that comes after it. So that is very fun and exciting. Something that is not so fun but still exciting is that she has another tooth coming in. It is her bottom left molar. After this one finishes breaking through, she will have all four of her back molars, making that a total of ten teeth for her. But the process in getting her teeth is not fun. The last couple of days she has been so ornery! She is either getting into EVERYTHING when she's not mad, or else she's crying and screaming and throwing tantrums. I'll be glad when this is over. :-)  

On a separate note, I'm hoping I'll be able to potty train Alli pretty soon. Right now she'll tell me when she's poopy and often times she'll tell me even before she's gone. I was pretty impressed and so I'm going to give her a little more time but I'm hoping that it won't be too much longer until the potty training process starts with her. We'll see.

So that's all the kids. As far as Luke is concerned, he went to the dentist the other day. They found a small cavity, so that will be taken care of on the 20th of this month and then they will be removing his one wisdom tooth on the 24th. He's really not looking forward to that. I can't say that I blame him. On a happier subject, Luke got a phone call from someone who works with an insurance company called New York Life. They did a phone interview right there with him on the spot and they want to do a face-to-face interview tomorrow morning at ten. It would be amazing if he got the job because it is a well-paid salary plus commission, as well as good benefits. So wish us luck with that! I hope all goes well. We would LOVE for him to get a good job!

And last but not least,......................me. Not much going on here. I'm a list kind of girl, so I have been making lists and schedules. I made a chore chart, a schedule/list of things I want to do with the kids each day, and a Family Summer Bucket List (I got the bucket list idea off of Pinterest).

Here is our Family Summer Bucket List (that will probably carry on through the fall):

Family Summer Bucket List

Go to the zoo

Fly a kite

Go to the Brukner Nature Center (available here in Ohio)

Go to the lake house (a couple in our ward owns a lake house and offered to let us stay there for a few days)

Go camping

Go to the Wright Airforce Museum

Go to the aquarium

Have a water balloon fight

Do a treasure hunt with the kids

Go on a picnic

Teach the kids baseball and/or soccer

Go on a hike

Make cards for family members

Make and decorate sugar cookies

Play dress up

Make homemade play-do: sculpt and bake figurines

Go to the fair

Play frisbee

Have an ice cream party with lots of toppings to decorate with

Go to the beach

Do a family car wash

Go to Kirtland

Camp out in the backyard

Make homemade ice cream in a baggie

Go on a walk and feed the ducks

And that is what I have so far. Any other suggestions would be welcomed!

Last week several of the Relief Society ladies threw a baby shower for me. It was fun getting to know them a little better. I was given several diapers and wipes, an outfit for Rose, a little "mommy time" kit that has lotion, makeup and pedicure supplies in it, and also a double seater stroller! I really like it. It's by Graco and has 12 different seating positions. It's really nice!

Here are some other pictures from the last couple of days:

Alli loves to help take care of Rose. She's always talking about "the baby" and whenever I pull out a bottle she comes over to help feed her. But seeing as how she likes to walk away with the bottle, I have to remind her to keep the bottle in Rose's mouth. :-)

This is a cool "tower" Brian built with Daddy's legos!

And another one.

Yesterday was Deb's birthday so the kids had cake after their snack this morning. This is Brian's cake face. He's a fairly clean cake eater. Waste not, want not!

And here is Alli's cake face. Not so clean. :-)



And here are a couple of videos of Alli. One is the long awaited one of her walking and the other is just of her being cute. 

“There is nothing that we are enduring that Jesus does not understand, and He waits for us to go to our Heavenly Father in prayer. I testify that if we will be obedient and if we are diligent, our prayers will be answered, our problems will diminish, our fears will dissipate, light will come upon us, the darkness of despair will be dispersed, and we will be close to the Lord and feel of His love and of the comfort of the Holy Ghost.” ---Elder Robert D. Hales

Hello again and oh my goodness! It has been a very busy month since I last posted! Lots to catch up on!

To begin with, the main exciting news is that I had my baby! Woohoo! 

Rosalie Lynette Osborne was born on Monday, June 24, 2013 at 12:29 p.m. Eastern time. Two weeks early! Needless to say we were not prepared in the least! She weighed 6 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. Because I had tested Strep B positive and they were only able to get in one dose of the antibiotics instead of the needed two before she was born, they kept us at the hospital for two days just to monitor her and make sure she was alright. For a little while her temperature was slightly low (in the 97 degree range) but it went back up to where it needed to be. Her pediatrician was also slightly concerned because she had lost 9% of her birth weight which was getting too close to their limit, 10%, so she told me to offer a supplement. But for the most part everything looked good and normal so we were discharged two days later on Wednesday, June 26.

The next couple of days were rather frustrating for me. I am nursing her and was told to feed her every 2-3 hours. But in the two days following our discharge from the hospital, it was a battle for me to wake her up and keep her awake in order to feed her.  It was almost impossible at times. Luke and I would try everything and nothing worked. 

On Friday the 28th, we ("we" meaning my mother-in-law and I along with the kids-Luke had a mandatory meeting to go to and therefore couldn't go) took Rosalie to the doctor for a follow-up appointment. They did all the routine checks which included a weigh-in and temperature check. She weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz. but when they got to her temperature she was too low. They took her temperature over and over again, hoping their thermometer just wasn't registering accurately, but the highest reading they could get on her was 95.3 degrees. So they sent us down to the emergency room. 

Thus started a new adventure, if you could call it that. Once in the ER, Deb, my mother-in-law, sat in the waiting room with the kids while I went with Rosalie into the patients' room in back. There they took her temperature once again, and although they didn't tell me what the reading was, I caught a glimpse and could have sworn that it said 94.1, but I'm not sure. They immediately brought in two large, almost hot blankets and bundled her up in them to try and get her warm while we waited for the doctor. Several minutes passed, as there was only one doctor on call and several new patients were being admitted in. Finally after maybe 30 minutes, the doctor came in and informed me as to what they were going to do. They needed to run a series of tests, so they were going to do some blood work on her, along with some x-rays and a lumbar puncture. (For those of you who are like me and do not know what a lumbar puncture is, they insert a needle into the lower back to draw out some fluid from around the brain. The fluid is then sent to a lab where they culture it and check for possible infections around the brain.) So the tests began. It was difficult to watch as they drew her blood. The first attempt in her arm didn't work since her vein went dry so they had to try again in her hand. They then hooked up an IV in her hand. Throughout all this my poor little Rosalie was screaming in pain. I wanted to hold her so badly but couldn't. X-rays were done next and then the doctor came back in to do the lumbar puncture, during which time I left the room as per the doctor's recommendations. While the procedure is not as bad as it sounds and is essentially the same as doing blood work, it is still hard for parents who are not accustomed to it to watch. 

I went out to the waiting room where Deb and the kids had been patiently waiting for the past hour and a half or so. I helped her load Brian and Alli into the car so she could take them back home since we did not know how much longer I was going to be there. Ten minutes later found me back in the room with Rosalie, swaddled up in fresh hot blankets and asleep. The doctor then informed me that the procedure had gone well and everything had been sent down to the lab. He then went on to explain that while the results from the blood work and x-rays had returned negative results, it was going to take up to 48 hours to hear back about the results from the lumbar puncture. During this time she would have to be on antibiotics as a precautionary measure, in case if she did have an infection. This meant that she would have to stay at the hospital in the meantime. But since they were not equipped for taking care of infants her size, they needed to send her to Children's Medical Center in Dayton. So they called for an ambulance to transport her. It was going to be a long wait though, as they had another infant they needed to take care of first. So for the next hour and a half I sat with her while she lay under a heat lamp to get her temperature back up. The blankets had not worked. There was one point where the nurse actually was wondering if her thermometer was not working correctly because Rose's temperature was still so low even after being wrapped up so warmly for so long.  

During this time I called Luke and updated him on the events of the morning. He was able to come over and join me just as the medical workers from Children's arrived to transport Rosalie. We followed them to the hospital and spent the rest of the day sitting with Rosalie in the NICU.

While in the NICU she was given this adorable hat that someone had crocheted and donated (along with several other hats and booties) to the hospital.

 For the next 5 days I spent the majority of my time at Rosalie's bedside in the NICU while she lay under a heat lamp hooked up to antibiotics. The results from the lumbar puncture came back negative, so she had no infections, but she still needed to be monitored to make sure she could maintain her temperature on her own. Also, since she had been born 1 week ago, she had lost one pound. Because of this significant weight loss, she also had to be monitored until she started gaining weight again. This was a difficult time. It is not easy seeing your daughter hooked up to all those needles and wires, and it is even more difficult when you have to go home and you don't get to bring your daughter home with you. But I am VERY grateful for the doctors and nurses who took such good care of her, and especially for her original doctor who discovered a problem in the first place. I don't know what would have happened had she gone much longer without us knowing there was anything wrong. Things could have been much worse. I am also grateful for priesthood blessings. I asked Luke and Bruce to give her a priesthood blessing while she was in the NICU. It is a great comfort to know that the Lord is watching over us and that Luke is worthy to hold the priesthood and is able to give blessings when needed. The Lord has definitely shown His hand in our lives more than once.

Rose was finally discharged on Wednesday (?) after having shown that she could again maintain her temperature and was gaining weight. It was so good to bring her home! Since then she has been eating well and stayed nice and warm and cozy. :)  We took her in for her two week check up about a week ago and everything looked great! No problems and she weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. She is gaining weight like a pro!  

Here are a few pictures I took of her just yesterday:

She is my first child to take a binkie and actually like it!

This video was taken right before she ate so she's not the absolute happiest.

    

Catch Up

Hello again!  I thought now would be a good time to catch you up on what we've been up to in the past week and a half since I last posted.  Tuesday I went in for another doctor's appointment.  I am currently dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced.  The baby is head down.  The doctor recommended that I get a stress test done to make sure the baby is okay.  The reason for this is because there are times when I do not feel the baby moving as much.  So we got the stress test scheduled for Friday morning at 11:00.  So we will see what the news is then.

Other than the doctor's appointment, not a whole lot has been going on, so I thought I'd let you know what I've been doing with Brian.  I took a lot of pictures and there might be a lot of explaining, making this a longer post so please bear with me.  

About three weeks ago I started doing pre-school with Brian here at home.  It only lasts an hour or two but I (usually) have his attention the entire time and he loves it!  There have even been a couple of times that he will ask if he can "do school" around seven o'clock at night!  He's a very quick learner and catches on real fast.  It's fun to see him learn and grow.  So all together I have been quite pleased.

So what do I do?  I have four books that I work from with him.

This first book that I use is basically a teacher's guide that has a daily lesson (one lesson per day for eleven weeks) for your child which includes a mental activity and a physical activity, both of which are pretty basic.  It teaches good basic skills, such as learning how to cut with scissors, how to pick out your clothes for the next day, how to hold a pencil properly, etc.; it also introduces children to their colors and counting, as well as practicing their coordination (i.e., standing on one foot, walking heel-to-toe in a straight line, etc.).  I LOVE THIS BOOK.  It is an excellent pre-school guide and is a lifesaver!

The other three books I use are just cheap learning books that came from the Dollar Tree. (You can find some really good stuff at Dollar Tree!)  Brian always gets extra excited when it's time to work out of these books.

  I really like this last book because it is a dry-erase book.  So I can re-use it again and again!


After we finish working out of each book, I include a fun activity of some sort.  Here are a few things that I have done with him recently:

We made a pasta bracelet.  I asked Brian to count the individual pasta pieces as he strung them onto the string.  (He loves wearing this by the way.)

Practice drawing/tracing lines.

Practice sorting different objects into different categories.  Here he sorted pasta noodles, pennies and crayons.

This is an activity where I drew four different types of weather, then I cut out several different articles of clothing.  What Brian is supposed to do is decide what articles of clothing can be worn in each type of weather and match them (i.e., you wear a coat in the snow so he would  put the picture of the coat next to the picture of snowy weather.).

Brian learned how to cut with scissors.  He had a great time!  He kept asking to  use scissors  for several days afterward.

We made a puzzle out of the cover of a cereal box.  Brian liked it a lot more than I expected!

We played with Play-Do.  Alli didn't quite know what to do with it at first but she caught on.  :) 

A few other things that I have done with them that I wasn't able to get pictures of is:

• Nature Scavenger Hunt
• "Adopt a Tree"- Brian learned a little about trees.  I took him outside and let him pick a tree. He drew a picture of the tree, learned how to describe it, did leaf and bark rubbings, and watered it. I also took a picture of him next to the tree.
  
• Learn the alphabet in sign language.
• Make paper airplanes
• Puzzles

Birthday Shopping

Luke went birthday shopping today.  He got some great deals on a couple of dress shirts and a pair of True Religion jeans.

I also found a super cute pair of shoes for our future baby girl. :)

Doctors and Fish

I was finally able to go to the OBGYN today.  What a relief!  They gave me the glucose drink.  So I get to do that lovely test tomorrow morning.  But other than that, everything is fine and great.  I am 34 weeks and 5 days.  It's hard to believe that I only have a month left!  I'm getting more and more excited to welcome our new little girl into the world!
We stopped by the store afterwards to pick up some food for lunch.  The kids got to ride in one of the car carts.

They loved it!  

Later after dinner, we took the kids out to the pond on Luke's parent's property to feed the fish bread and also to practice going "fishing" (it's a catch and release type of deal).  This is one of Brian's (and daddy's) favorite things to do.  He is definitely and outdoors boy!

The pond has several different kinds of fish and other pond life.  There are Blue Gill, Bass, Carp, Catfish, frogs and toads, and even a Snapping Turtle!  Luke accidentally caught the turtle on his line once.  He was fishing and the turtle decided to take the bait instead of the fish!  But no worries - the turtle was released and is alive and well :)

There is a duck couple who have hung around on the property for quite a while now.  Geese also fly in  to swim in the pond every now and then.  It's neat to see the birds come in.  Once in a while we even get a Heron that will fly in to catch a fish out of the pond.  It's a lot of fun!

Brian loves to go fishing!  Luke will cast the line out and then let him reel it back in.  He enjoys it  so much!

A daddy-son moment :)

Alli was loving the outdoors tonight as well!