Staying Home

I made the greatest decision of my life at the beginning of the month. After some thought and prayer, Bruce and I made the decision for me to quit my job and become a full time stay at home. It is one of those moments that I was absolutely terrified for. But it has been the best two weeks since I have been home. I get to spend all day with my baby and I get to have my nephew with me. My sister, Cheree, has been wonderful to let me watch her little one to help earn some extra money.

When I had told someone that I was quitting to be a mom, I was asked if that wasn't wasting my education. I honestly believe that my having an MBA is only an asset for my children. The more you educate a mother, the better it is for the children. The best job I could ever do is be a mom and I find myself feeling so blessed to have this opportunity. No matter how tight money is or how little our house will be (when we finally get one), it will be worth it to be there for my children. I want to be there when first steps are taken, when knees are skinned and need to be kissed better, and all of those special moments that I couldn't get if I was working.

Bruce is just finishing up his student teaching for the semester. He has been working so hard and I get to watch how he has developed into such a great teacher. I am so excited to see him in a class of his own. When April comes, he gets to work on his licensure and then on to finding a job. I am so grateful for him. He has worked so hard to finish this degree and he has such a love for education. If all of our teachers loved what they did as much as Bruce does, we would be in great shape. The truth of the matter is that I think most teachers choose to teach out of a love for kids. They couldn't possibly do it for the pay! Thank you for all of the teachers out there who devote so much time to doing lesson plans and grading papers and so many other menial tasks.

As part of that, I have gotten back into the habit of cooking dinner. I love cooking and I have had such fun finding new recipes and ways to use ingredients in my house. So, hopefully, this recipe will be as popular at your house as it was at mine. To be fair, the original recipe came from Paula Deen, but I did make some minor changes to fit with what I had in my fridge and because I hate fake cheese! So here it goes:

Stuffed Red Peppers
4 large red bell peppers
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 c cooked rice
1 c shredded cheese
1/2 c salsa
1/2 c sour cream
1 c. diced tomatoes.
1/2 c. chopped green onion tops
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 c hot water

Preheat oven to 350. Start by cutting the peppers in half lengthwise, leaving the stems intact and halving them also. Remove the seeds and ribs inside the peppers.

Using a hot skillet, saute the ground beef, pork, onion, garlic, 1 tsp bouillon, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Saute until onions become translucent. Drain the fat off. Add the rice, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, green onions, soy sauce, and salsa. Mix well and stuff the mixture into the peppers. In a small bowl, mix the hot water and the remaining bouillon. Pour this mixture into a shallow casserole dish large enough to hold all of the peppers. Place the stuffed peppers in the dish, cover with foil, and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Remove the foil and spoon the juice from bottom of the dish over the top of the peppers. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

These are so yummy! Now I just need to make dessert.

New Years Resolutions

I think every person in the world has uttered these words: "I'm going to be more patient." I honestly believe we are all trying to be more patient. For me, this is an area I have struggled with for years. Bruce laughs at me because I regularly say "I don't want to wait." I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning. Life seems to dish up a whole bunch of things that require patience. Patience until I can be a stay at home mom. Patience until Bruce graduates from college. Patience while my son is screaming because he's teething (yes, he is already teething. Yay for Walther genes!). I have made as my resolution something that may not be measurable but is something that I need to do to make me a better person. Part of this resolution is counting the blessings that I currently have instead of looking forward to what is to come. I want to enjoy the moments in life as they are happening. I have a wonderful husband and son and am so immensely blessed.

Our son really is teething. I have never heard of a five month old teething. But it happened today when I felt a little mouth chomp down on my arm. Everything in our house goes into his mouth. This makes a mom rethink where she sets a baby. It is fun to watch him, but his cranky little cry makes me smile too. These are all moments that I want to cherish. He will grow up and someday I will look at him and wish I could do the teething again rather than have him be a cranky teenager. I don't want to even think about that! He is such a sweet boy and it is a wonderful thing to watch his little arms reach for his Momma to fix everything. He reaches for Bruce too, but I would like to believe that secretly, I am the one who fixes everything. Which is really more to do with my wonderful mother-in-law sliding a container of orajel into the diaper bag. Yay!

Happy new year to all of my wonderful family and friends. I appreciate all you do to help my family and the strength you are in our lives. You are our greatest blessings!

Christmas Season

We have had such an amazing holiday season! It was a wonderful thing to have our first Christmas with our sweet baby boy. Bruce and I have been amazed to watch him grow and see how smart he is. Obviously, we believe he is a genius. It has been such a humbling experience to be his mother. I am so grateful for him.

It seems like the older I get, the faster the Christmas season passes. When I was a little kid, it seemed like the longest month of my life. Santa coming seemed to be a lifetime away. As an adult, really understanding the meaning of the season, it seems to pass far too quickly. I am so grateful for the birth of a baby in Bethlehem that changed the world. As we have celebrated this holiday season, the thoughts that our little family has tried to remember have been of our Savior. It has made this holiday season so much more meaningful. Especially as I stare at my own bundle of joy and marvel at Mary's strength to deliver a baby in a stable and know that the obligation and blessing of raising the Savior of the world was hers.

I have also enjoyed making crafts this holiday season. I made our three little stockings and also got to make me adorable niece a dress for her birthday. It has been years since I have really had the opportunity to make fun things like this.

We hope that you have enjoyed your holiday season as much as we have!

Many Thanks

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year. It reminds me of how much I have been given and how much I am undeserving of it. The greatest blessings in my life are my two boys. I have found such joys in motherhood and being a wife. I look at my son and am amazed that someone this perfect came from me. It is overwhelming at times to realize that he is my responsibility, but I am so very grateful for him. He is giggling now on a regular basis. I love playing with him and hearing that cute little laugh. It makes my whole day. He is growing so fast and I'm so amazed to watch as he learns new things.

I have such a wonderful husband. I love him so much. He spoils me rotten and treats me like a queen. Which I've gotten used to. I take him for granted sometimes, but he is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Bruce has taken to being a dad like a pro. I watch him cuddle with G and am so happy! I love my little family so much and am so grateful for my many blessings. As we are now in the holiday season, I hope that our wonderful little family will start making some of our own traditions. Happy Holidays!

Itsy Bitsy Spider

So, G has a new favorite song. You guessed it. "Itsy Bitsy" is my song. I love the fact that he is finally getting big enough to smile and is just starting to giggle. It makes my day when he giggles when I start to do the song. I couldn't ask for a more loving, cuddly little boy. I think one of the best things about motherhood is to see my son happy. My job is to hopefully keep him that way. I love him so much! He has grown so much and I'm amazed at how much he can now eat in a day. When did that happen? He still isn't sleeping through the night, but I will take the four to five solid hours that we are getting right now. Especially when Bruce is such a wonderful dad and seems to get up with him far more than I do. The joys of being a really heavy sleeper! It's still hard to leave him to go to work, especially when Bruce has time off of school and gets to spend all day with our little monster. But I'm glad that he has a daddy who loves him so much!

Bruce and I finally got callings in our ward. I am now the CTR 4 teacher and Bruce is the Ward Athletic Director. I think both of us were surprised by them, but it will be a great growing opportunity. Yesterday was my first day in the class with them and I was surprised by how many of the primary songs I remembered. It's good to know that those songs stick with you, especially now when I can use them in our home with our child. Bruce is excited to work in the athletics program. They are trying to introduce new sports to play, like dodgeball. It should be a lot of fun. He will do so well with it.

Holding the G man

So, I have been home from work for two and a half hours and have yet to cuddle with my little G man. He has been sick the last couple of days with a horrible cold and when I picked him up from Grandma's house, he was asleep. I decided he needed the rest more than I needed to hold him. But now it's almost nine o'clock and I'm having withdrawals. Bedtime is approaching and he is just barely starting to stir. I want him to get hungry and scream and cry until mom takes him in her arms. Then suddenly, he should be perfectly content. Follow the plan, kid! Mama needs cuddle time!

Long Ago and Far Away...

Writing on the blog has seemed to be my last priority the last few months. Yet, so much has happened and Bruce and I have been so blessed. On July 27. 2010 our son was born. What a blessing he has been in our lives. After a rough start and a week in the hospital, he is as close to perfect as any mother could hope for.

Motherhood has been very different than I ever imagined. The sleepless nights were expected. But I never expected to feel this amount of love for our little man. It has opened a whole new world to me. What an awesome responsibility it is to be in charge of this boy! I have never wanted to be successful this much in my life. I have to raise him to be strong in the gospel and smart, capable, and independent. I am so grateful for the blessings of motherhood. I wish that the situation were slightly different and I could be a stay at home mom, but right now I need to continue working. I went back to work three weeks ago and the first day, I cried the entire time to the office. It seems like I don't get to cuddle with him or spend near enough time with him. Hopefully the day will soon come that I can be a full time mom.

Bruce has been such a wonderful Daddy. Lucky for me I have a husband who believes that we should share the night duty. Yay for me! He loves our little monkey so much and I am so proud of him. With school and work, he has been pulling long days and long nights with a sleepless baby. Hopefully that will change soon and we will all start to get some sleep soon.

I am so grateful for General Conference and all of the wonderful inspiration and advice that will help me to be a better mother and help us to be a stronger family. I hope that we can all enjoy the inspirational messages that will make our lives better!