Corbin: 6th Birthday

Our baby is 6 today. It’s incredibly bittersweet. It has been so fun to watch him grow and develop such a fun, imaginative personality. He’s our little negotiator who wears us out. He has a million and one ideas each day. Corbin wants you to be happy and is concerned if you are sad. He can be bossy, but I think with developing that trait into a positive one, he’d make a great leader. Everyone he comes in contact with thinks he is just adorable and delight to be around. 

Corbin makes us laugh everyday. He surprises us with his answers during scripture reading. His prayers are becoming more thoughtful and sincere. 

His reading skills are coming along great. He loves to learn. He’s a fast worker when it comes to school. Sometimes a little too fast. Haha! When it comes to technology, the boy has me beat. I’m an 80 year old Amish woman when it comes to technology. (Adams words). 

Corbin, keep being you. Keep surprising us. Keep growing into the little fun, punk you are. 

FAVORITES:

Color: pink

Food: Mac n cheese

Animal: giraffes

Toy: turbo

Book:Shtinky Christmas

Movie: Frozen 2

Family Activity: playing card games

Holiday: Christmas

Song: Trigger Warning - Sunshine Skater Kids

Outside Activity: Build a Snowman & throwing snowballs 

Alister: 7th Birthday

Alister is our little analyst. He loves to figure out how things work. He is a little engineer. We took the boys on a carousel a while back and Adam asked him if he was having fun. He said "Yes!" enthusiastically, "I figured out how we go up and down." looking up at the top watching the mechanism control the horse. So yes, his fun is different than mine or Corbin's. However, Adam likes to know how everything works as well. They are truly similar in many ways. 

Alister is loving yet selective on whom he interacts with. He enjoys making you laugh and making funny faces. Everyone who comes to know him absolutely adores him and his quiet, yet fun energy. 

We get compliments all the time at church on how well behaved he is in class. That he sits and listens and answers questions. That he has some very thoughtful answers. When religion and faith are a huge part of your life, that is one of the best compliments you can receive. 

Alister may have taken his time to learn to crawl, walk and talk (which was hard at the time, but now I'm completely fine with him taking his time) - but he is truly smart and wise for his age. He blows me away at times at what he thinks about and what he spends his time doing. Like any normal boy, he enjoys cars, superheroes and playing outside. But, the activities he spends most of his time on our building legos (and anything else that can be built) and doing puzzles. Alister his incredible with puzzles. It is one of his all time favorite activities to do. He will patiently sit for an hour or more working on a puzzle - or multiple. 

He is genuine in himself. He is a thinker. Always has been. Even as a baby, you could just see the gears quietly turning in his head. He is an awesome big brother. He is an amazing son. He loves his family. He loves Jesus and church.

Recently, he told me "I love being me." Some of the best words a parent could ever hear.

We love you being you, too, Alister.

FAVORITES:

Color: Blue

Food: Sandwiches

Animal: Cats

Toy: Legos

Book: Dinosaur Finding Book

Movie: Star Wars

Family Activity: Boondocks

Holiday: Christmas

Song: Star Wars Imperial March

Outside Activity: Picnics

















 

Mental Health: Kindness

My mental health posts get the most attraction, that is for sure. I'm glad! I want to help others through what I have learned. Not only is writing about my experiences and lessons I've learned healing for myself, but if I can touch just one heart and soul though my words, well... Even Better.

Today, I wanted to share an experience I had with my own depressive emotions and an important friend and their depression.

There I was, laying on the couch, still in my pajamas. I was feeling so tired (thanks daylight savings time) and distant from everything. I had no motivation. All I really wanted was to go back to sleep. Then, I decided to check Instagram. There it was. They answer to my own depression. They key to get me going for the day. A post from my dear friend. They admitted to having felt depressed all weekend and asked for any coping skills and tips from others that may struggle with these severe emotions. I immediately jumped into action. I sent a direct message to my friend first saying how sorry I was they had gone through depression over the weekend. Then I shared some coping skills I've used in the past and some I still use currently. Because everyone is different and there is no one trick wonder. If there were, there would be a lot less depression in the world. They gave a brief "Thank you".

It then hit me. 

"Corrinne! Get off your couch and get your act together!" 

I did just that! I literally rolled quickly rolled off the couch and sprung into action. I washed my face, finally ate breakfast and got dressed. These simple acts that can seem and feel so difficult and impossible at times in the midst of depression helped boost my mood completely.

Now, it's as if I those depressive emotions didn't even exist this morning.

As I have thought about this experience more through out my day, I realized something. Something so crucial yet so important. The action that really helped to boost my mood was the first action.

SERVICE. 

That act of kindness towards someone so important to me.  Knowing I helped someone in need of comfort. It was this that truly lifted my spirit, heart and mind.

I believe that this is my #1 tip to cope with those heavy, severe emotions. Spring into action! You never know who's saving grace you may be that day.

Mosiah 18:9 "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn: yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places..."

I will choose to stand with those in need of comfort. The depressed. The anxious. The mourning. And any who The Lord needs me to stand with in time of need. Because no one should have to go through this life alone.

The Holidays

Winter is here and so is the new year. Another year come and gone. The holiday bustle is finally over. I thought I would share a glimpse into our holidays and more importantly, pictures. Let's be real, that's what you really want to see, right?



HALLOWEEN

Growing up, I use to LOVE Halloween. The spookiness, grimness and dressing up. But, as I've gotten older and have kids of my own, I love and hate it at the same time. It's fun to see the boys dress (and I still do dress up). But I hate the candy aspect. I want to throw that part out the window. Why? Just why? What justifies getting a ton of free candy and eating until we are sick? I don't understand and I'd rather find a new tradition.



















THANKSGIVING

We had Kathy (Adam's mother) and Natalie (my sister) over for Thanksgiving dinner. I cooked the turkey, which was really moist and delicious. But, I don't want to go through all that work anymore. From now on, I'm just going to buy turkey breasts and call that good. Then, the rest of my family came over and brought pies. My favorite part of the Thanksgiving season though, was the Thankful Tree we did this year. I made a chain for each of us. Each day, we took off a chain, wrote something we were grateful for, cut it into a leaf and taped it on our tree. We all loved it. It was kind of a shame to take it down. A tradition to keep going for sure.








CHRISTMAS

We spent Christmas morning at our house. Plus, we started a new tradition. Adam and I went into the boys room, and before we even went out for gifts, we knelt down in prayer. We prayed for the gratitude of the birth of our Savior and that we may be grateful for all that we were about to receive. It really set the mood and it was one of my favorite parts of the day. We later went to my parents house and opened some gifts there. It was then a very relaxed day and just hanging out. Then we decided to go see the new Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse. Which was awesome. We all loved it. I love Christmas. I love my family.







NEW YEAR

Did we stay up until midnight? Of course... not. It is extremely rare for us to do late nights. But, we did buy pizza, breadsticks and cookie dough from Papa Murphy's and watch a movie with the boys. Which was fun and they enjoyed eating on the floor. They still went to bed on time and so did we. And guess what? The new year still came. We are perfectly content with not staying up late and upsetting our bodies and minds just to ring in the new year.

There you go. Our Holidays. 

Corbin: 5 Years Old

I’m so late in putting this up. Corbin turned 5 on January 8th. 

Our baby boy is five years old. Wow... Wow! A lot has happened in his short life time. He has already lived in 4 different states. Indiana, Florida, Utah (for a few months), Idaho and back to Utah.

I've wanted to write blogs for both our boys each birthday since they were born. I know I haven't been great at it, but I hope to change that from here on out.

Corbin is our little Irish red head. We get asked a lot if they are brothers. Really? For one, that's not even your business. But, yes they are, thank you. And yes, they even have the same Dad. Yes, I have been asked that before. People are entertaining.

Corbin has a strong mind. When he wants something, he is pretty determined to get it someway. Usually, he tries negotiation. Yeah, he is his Dads son alright. Adam and Corbin are very similar in personality. They both love fun. If it's not fun, they don't really want to do it. But when something does peak their interest, they want to jump in head first. They both love people and love to interact with them. However, they are selective with whom they interact with and how they spend that energy.

Corbin is also sensitive. In his own way. He can usually tell when I'm feeling really sad. He will hug me and tell "Mom, I'm going to take care of you." Which usually means giving me a blanket and stuffed animal to hug. He will kiss my cheek and stroke my face.

He loves to get you to laugh. He makes lots of funny faces and has a very contagious laugh. A smile that brightens your day.

Corbin can also be pretty impatient at times. When he cries, it tends to be pretty vocal and loud. He can be bossy. But, that's all fine. He is full of ideas and knows what he wants. Perhaps a leader in the making.

Some of the things I'm most proud of though, is his willingness to pray. When its prayer time, he almost always wants to say it. His growing love for Jesus makes my heart burst. The questions he asks during scripture reading. Saying "I love you" a dozen times a day.

Corbin is exhausting. But, we love him so much and are proud of this little boy he is growing into.

FAVORITES:

Color: Orange

Food: Macaroni & Cheese

Animal: Giraffe

Toy: Scooter

Book: Spooky Seek and Find

Movie: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Family Activity: Going to the Park (Dinosaur Park)

Holiday: Christmas

Song: Pancake Manor

Outside Activity: Hiking