Nature Vs. Nurture ...

How many times have you heard "it runs in the family"?  I have always understood that phrase to be hereditary in nature ... but besides hair and eye color -- and perhaps basic bone structure -- I wonder how much that is actually true.  I wonder if much of who we are is based upon HOW we were raised/trained and not necessarily how our DNA is structured.

For example -- my dad told us the story the other night that growing up he thought he was destined to get dentures at a very young age.  His mom got them by the time she was thirty -- and it was because she had "bad teeth".  To my young dad -- why take care of your teeth if in the end, you will loose them anyway.  Now, good news is -- my dad has all (or most at least) of his original adult teeth -- but the perception of what his future COULD be ... very well COULD have come true because of his mindset.

Going along with the teeth thing ... Joe "doesn't have GOOD teeth" ... I don't know if that was ever told to him, or if that was part of how he was raised, or the fact that he has had a (ahem) cavity or two has justified this.  Several years ago Joe was getting root canal after root canal.  Crown after crown.  He even has an implant.  Since, he has made it a point to take care of his teeth -- and has had NO NEW PROBLEMS!  All of his dental work in the last 5-7 years has been because of problems that he has had with his teeth in the past.  Poor kid barely got any sleep last night because an old root canal has gone bad ... Old problems.  His mindset has changed ....

Switching gears -- I have "Fautin Hips" .... sure -- we inherit body composition from our relatives.  But it shouldn't define who we are.  We shouldn't be satisfied with being overweight simply because it "runs in the family." ... heck -- I have a few cousins who should have "the Fautin hips" ... but are very very slender.  The "Fautin hips" shouldn't justify the 60+ lbs that I need to loose .... I know of people that have made it quite the point to stay in shape and eat right because they were told that would be big and there wasn't anything they could do about it.  It ran in the family.  If the day comes that someone says something like that to my little Elsie ... let's just say the mama claws will be coming out.

The point of all this rambling -- besides to document Joe's poor tooth -- is that we have to be careful of the words we speak to others.  Even if our DNA is stacked against us -- we all struggle with math -- we all have two left feet -- we are all "big girls" -- it is up to us to define who we are.  And don't be the person who breaks someone else down .... remember how your words effect those you love most.

01/06 - Already Noticing a Difference

I read on a news post today that January 6th is said to be most depressing day of the year -- I'm guessing this is only because of those people who make New Years resolutions and can't keep up with them by 6 days into the year.

Luckily for me, I didn't make any "New Years Resolutions" .... my quest for a happier, healthier, fuller life started about the week before !!  :)

Here are the goals our family has set to achieve in 2014.  Some are hard.  Some are a stretch.  Some are common sense.  All we need to work on!!

Joe Goals

Run a Marathon

Jen Goals

Run a Half Marathon

Spend time every day *exercising *Alone time *Spiritual study

Family Goals

Run/Walk 2014 miles

Stick to a written budget

Strive to be healthy in our diet

Read the Book of Mormon

So yes, we have every possible "resolution" you can think up -- but I think my little family was ready for a big life change.  We are doing good ... but can always be better!  And I need to focus on our accomplishments because it makes us have the desire to keep moving forward.  For example.  I've been eating healthy and exercising for a week now and in that time I have noticed a big difference!  I have lost 8 lbs (wahoo in a week!!).  I feel thirsty when I don't drink water (because I've been drinking water more, my body is better at telling me that I need it!), my body (even though I'm at my heaviest ... sigh) still remembers how to exercise!  I can't run as far as I used to -- but I'm not back at ground zero either!.  My heartburn has essentially gone away (suh-weet!) and I don't get as many headaches.  I have more energy.  I don't loose my temper as quickly.  I feel motivated.  Excited.  Empowered.  And ready to kick 68 more pounds to the curb!  

A Web Slinger in your Face

I have felt the urge over the last few weeks to start documenting my thoughts and little life again, so after a good fourteen months of inactivity -- here are the Bouchers again!

One tiny thing I have always loved is little tiny naked baby bums.  There is nothing better than bathing your newborn for the first time and getting them dried off and ready for their diaper and squooshing their little naked bum through the towel.  The best part is -- those naked bare bums are still so cute at 1 and 4 years old!  Jace and Elsie were taking a bath and as I put a towel over Elsie and grabbed her by the bum I started making up my own version of "I like big butts" song ....

I like naked buts and I cannot lie ......

Of course, I sang the entire verse and of course, my little four year old picked up on it right away!  He kept running in and showing me his (untoweled) naked butt and just laughing!  Joe, realizing this was going to be a future problem, changed the song to ...

I like Spidy butts and I cannot lie  ... and you get a web slinger in your face ...

I would like to say that three days later, Jace still requests the naked "butt song".

***

Here's for another funny Jace story.  We have been refinishing our house to sell and it's practically all ready to go.  There is one bathroom that has a toilet paper holder and one that doesn't, so my sweet BOY has dubbed these two bathrooms the "pee" bathroom and the "poop" bathroom, (since he doesn't need paper for the one ... function ... ... he even gets angry at Joe for going pee in the "wrong bathroom" ... oh gosh!

3 Little Monkeys

Videos like this will be priceless one day!  He has the cutest little voice!  

2 months come and gone!

It's amazing how time just flies -- and how hard it is to document day to day things when your time is not your own!  By the time the kids go to bed, all I want to do is brainless activity ... and therefore it has been two months since my last post!  We have been busy and Elsie has grown SO MUCH!  At her last doctor's appointment, she weighed 14lbs 1 oz, was 25.2 in long and in the 85th percentile for her head!  She is growing -- but has let the other babies catch up to her a bit as her weight was only in the 60th percentile.

This month Elsie has had a bit of trouble with her "pipes" ... all of the sudden she stopped eating good -- going from 5 oz a serving down to maybe 2 ... and woke up several times a night.  After fighting with her for the ump-teenth time ... I called and got an appointment with her doctor.  They said she was backed up and gave her a laxative.  Since then, she has been golden and is now eating 6 oz a feeding, roughly 5 times a day.  

Elsie is a great member of our family.  She loves to interact with her favorite big brother, Jace, and he loves to play with her.  She is so patient with his "brotherly love" ... sometimes playing a little too rough.  The other night in the car we heard Jace saying:  "Elsie say AAAAH ... Elsie say AAAAH .... She smiled at me mom! ... Elsie say AAAAAAH ......... "  It was awesome.  She still hates tummy time, and will only tolerate it for a few minutes.  She can hold her head up and she has rolled over several times, so we aren't concerned.  

Our little princess has never been a quiet one.  Joe and I decided the other night she is just as "good" of a baby as Jace was -- very mellow and pleasant ... but she makes her uncomforts known as soon as they arise.  She does not whine -- but bellows -- when she is unhappy!

Here is a little of what we have been doing in the last two months!

  

 Getting ready for the 4th of July Parade in Murry

 Mom and Els at the parade.  It was HOT!  Luckily her big hat covered her entire top half and we only had to worry about the sun on her bottome.

 Photo shoot with Elsie.  She is a BEAUTIFUL baby -- She freely gives her smiles often -- especially happy when she wakes up from her nap.

 It amazes me the bond these two share.  

 This is our second hike of the season.  We went up to see Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove.  It was beautiful!

 I have brown eyes, as do most of my family.  Two of my brothers have gray eyes.  With Joe having blue -- the color of my kids eyes fully depend on what 2nd gene I have -- is it recessive or dominant.  Baby Elsie has bright BLUE eyes!  I couldn't be more excited :)  So I guess about 1/2 of my kids will have blue eyes too.

 Elsie after bath time sporting Aunt Penny's bath towel that fits her perfectly.

 Jace looks so big in this picture!

 We tried rice cereal for the first time on July 30th.  Elsie is a "happy spitter"  Because she is growing and is happy when she constantly spits up -- there really isn't anything that can be done for her spitting.  We were hoping that introducing cereal a bit early would help ease her tummy.  She's not a huge fan of eating from a spoon yet -- but we'll get there.  I am looking forward to making my own baby food again.

 I don't know how it's possible, but one spoonful will go in and three will come out.  

 Here is Elsie at about 4 months.

Called to Serve

Ian, 3rd brother in the family, received his mission call last night.  I have never been in the room when someone opened their call and it was quite special.  Ian is the first in our family to go -- and I couldn't be more proud of him.

 (this is how big Jace is the day he got his call!)

 He started to get a little choked up as he read his call!  It was very tender ... and of course, I was "misty" too!!

(This is how big Elsie is the day he received his call!)

P.S. Ian had to lose roughly 45 lbs or so (if I'm right ... it was at least that much!) to get his call -- and I think he's looking pretty darn good!!

Her First Special Dress

Sunday was Elsie's baby blessing.  It started with finding the perfect dress -- so the four of us headed down to White Elegance to pick it out.  Now this dress is the first of three major special dresses she will have in her life, and there were a lot of pretty dresses to choose from ... but I fell in love with this one!  My favorite part about it is the flowing outer layer of the dress (which is tough to see in this picture) ... I knew she'd look like an angel in it!  

I then started on her hair bow -- It was the first bow that I've really made for her!  I found some inspiration from a bow shop online, and went to town.  I love how it turned out!  It's big and frilly, but perfect at the same time.   

The last step was to get a mommy and baby bracelet made.  I saw them at White Elegance and I WANTED ONE!  BUT ... I couldn't pay $35 for two bracelets!  When relaying my wishes to my sweet friend, she offered to make one for me!  I was ecstatic -- and loved loved how they turned out!  Look at that little picture -- isn't she just simply perfect?  Oh I love that face!

Finally, it's the morning of the blessing.  There is just a neat spirit in your home when someone is celebrating a special day and this was my Elsie's special day.  We waited until the last minute to get her dressed, quickly snapped some photos of her on our couch -- and were off to church!  There were three babies being blessed that day ... so we knew we had to be early.  We had so many family members there to support us, and I am so grateful for all of them ... 35 people were there to support our family.

During the meeting, Joe got up to bear his testimony.  It's not something that he does frequently -- surprisingly enough, I think he's shy!  I am grateful for his priesthood and his love of the gospel.  When he sat down, Jace asked if he had fun.  Personally, FUN is not how I describe getting in front of 400 ish people ... but I gave it a go anyway.  

I bore testimony of the plan of salvation.  I am so grateful for the knowledge that we lived before we were born.  I am sure that all of my other babies were there rooting their big sister on!  I'm grateful for the opportunity that God has given us to return to live with our family again some day.  There has been many members of my family that have passed so young -- I would not know what to do if I thought that death was the end.  I have felt the presence of my sweet mom so close lately as there has been many BIG changes in the Stohel household.  With Elsie being born and being named after 2 of her fantastic grandmothers ... I know that they are especially watching out for her too.

After sacrament meeting we headed on over to my parent's house and had a nice yummy lunch.  It was a perfect day!

It's Done!

Today was the last day of my professional career.  I get to graduate and do something way way better -- stay home with my beautiful kiddos.  I'll blog about my thoughts about Bingham and my experience there .... but for now can I hear a ...........

WHOOP WHOOP!!

2 Months ... WHAT?

I can't believe that Elsie has been a part of our lives for two whole months now!  It is ridiculous how fast time has gone.  Again, it feels like she has been here forever, yet it has gone so fast.  At about 6 weeks, she started sleeping from 10 pm until 6 am -- giving her mom and dad a much needed break in the sleep department!  Elsie loves to look around and watch what is going on around her, especially if her big brother is around.  She is becoming much more vocal cooing at whomever will listen to her.  

Since our last milestone post, I have had to go back to work and leave Jace and Els with a family friend.  Thank goodness school is over in 6 school days!  PHEW!  My favorite part of the day is when I get to pick up my little kiddos and I get one of those wide mouth uncontrolled grins -- when her eyes light up when she hears my voice.  It makes me secretly happy that sometimes I'm the only one that can calm her down -- that we have that special bond.  And even though it's looked upon as a "no no ... "  I enjoy snuggling in the middle of the night when she doesn't want to sleep alone.

We haven't had the chance to take many pictures and to do many fun things -- being a working mom of two is BUSY!  But here are some of the things we have done this last month: 

Elsie snuggling up with Grandma at Aunt Steph's and Uncle Trevor's wedding dinner.  (Please ignore my dad's face here!!  What does that look mean?)

 Chilling out with Dad at the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.  We went there in between the wedding and the reception.

 Ok ... PRETTY GIRL!!

 Can you tell that Jace is LOVING the museum?

 Jace often asks if he can snuggle with Elsie in the morning.  These two are awesome friends already!  As soon as he snuggled up he asked Joe to get the camera!  We're sure to have PLENTY of snap shots of these two snuggling.

 Elsie started playing with the rattles on her little chair.  It took awhile for us to realize that is what she was doing -- she has only done it once, I can't wait for her to do it again!

2 months old

A friend of mine took pictures of her little boy with the same stuffed animal as her baby got older -- to help see the growth that her baby was making.  I thought it was an awesome idea, so plan on seeing this little purple horse hanging around!  :)

Cousin Greyson

In the last year there has been a baby race to see which of the two Boucher babies would make their debut first.  Niki, David's wife (Bro #2) was surprised to learn that she was expecting another baby -- her only "baby" being 17 years old.  She has had many complications, and they didn't expect that Greyson would be able to stay in any longer than 32 weeks.  He didn't have much room to grow and he was very carefully monitored.  He was a good little boy though and waited to make his grand entrance until he was just over 36 weeks along.  Elsie was born on March 23rd and Greyson on April 12th.  When he was born, he weighed a whopping 5 lbs 2 oz.  We have been trying for a few weeks to get these two together -- because not only did we want to meet this little miracle, we wanted to see if our little girl looks like she weighs TWICE as much as her little cousin.

She does!

Jace doesn't have a cousin very close in age to him -- and Elsie is lucky to have TWO!  I can't wait to make multiple trips up to visit Dave, Niki, and her family -- and I hope that these two little babies grow close to each other!!!

 They were holding hands!