2 month check up, Stake Conference, and other shenanigans

So first off, Romney had his two month check up today! He weighed 11 lbs 6 oz and he's a perfectly healthy baby. I'm so thrilled to see that he's gaining weight. He's had a bit of cradle cap and a clogged tear duct, but otherwise, he's pretty happy...except when he's getting his vaccines. I nearly cried myself. I can give shots to other people just fine and I'm a champ at getting them myself, but when it comes to my own children, it really tugs at my heart to see them in any sort of pain. I know it's for the best, but my poor little baby! Last night I let him taste some popcorn (just a taste, no judging!), and he pulled his lips back and kept smacking them. Now he's learned how to smack his lips and keeps doing it. Watching a baby learn even the smallest facial skills is so much fun! I could literally watch him all day. He is really starting to use his voice now and be interested in his hands and toys. On our drive to the doctor I kept hearing him talk in the back and I could tell he was staring at his little jingle giraffe toy that hangs on his seat. It was so fun to hear him! He continued being fascinated by the toy in the doctor's office and actually hit it with his hand to mine and his surprise. He's also got impressively strong head and neck muscles. I'll put him on my shoulder and I swear I should be wearing a face mask because he will totally whack me in the face with his noggin with the force of his movements. He can also hold his head up for over three minutes. I'm raising a super baby!

This is him before the shots. He also has a hemangioma, AKA a stork bite, but isn't he cute?! It's no wonder that there are less pictures of just your second child though, because it isn't worth the fight with your older child to leave them out of the picture haha! Olivia always wants to be in pictures with Romney. She loves cuddling up next to him and hugging him and playing with him. She's as enamored as we are.

Olivia has been really excited about going on a camping trip with Jordan. For Christmas I helped her pick out a fishing pole for her dad and I got her one too because I knew they were going to go camping. Jordan helped her string her pole and taught her how to cast. I wish I had that picture to post on here, but I'll make sure to put it on the next post. She's pretty good at casting! Jordan and I have felt like she needs some special one-on-one time. While she has been an amazing big sister to Romney and is so filled with love, she's also become extremely sensitive and we've had a hard time dealing with her emotions. She's been having tantrums about the smallest things. Anytime she bursts into tears over something small, we now tell her to stop and FREEZE, and then have her count to ten. I found this advice online and it has really helps her to collect herself so we can discuss calmly what the problem is and how to take care of it and how to control her emotions. I hope this little tool keeps helping.
Olivia is also very creative. She colors all the time, writes her name and is constantly wanting to send cards to people. She has recently learned to write "ROMM, MOM, DAD, LOVE" and probably a whole bunch of other words that I had no idea she could write. It makes me happy that she is learning so much at school, because I know I haven't worked that hard on writing with her. Thanks Miss Keisha!!! I'm sure she does learn a lot at school, but Olivia is also very motivated on her own to practice writing. Miss Keisha sent a homework packet home for the holiday and Olivia loved working on it. I hope her desire to learn and to work hard never leaves! You'll go far kid!

I also wanted to mention some things I learned from Stake Conference. I am ashamed to admit that I don't remember the last time I went to Stake Conference. It's a special two hour church meeting comprising of an adult session on Saturday and a Sunday session in the morning. A "stake" is a larger region that is comprised of "wards", which are smaller regions. On a normal Sunday, I would go to the ward assigned to me based off of where I live. During stake conference all of the wards gather together to hear from the Stake President and other leaders to hear about special topics. I'm sure a lot of parents can attest to how hard it is to take your kids to a two hour church meeting where they have to sit there the whole time. This year Jordan and I decided that I would go to the evening adult session and Jordan would go to the Sunday morning session so we didn't have to take the kids. We both wrote down what was talked about and reported back to each other. The three things that stood out to me the most were: Temple work, Strengthening and protecting the family by using the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Keeping the Sabbath Day holy. 

I guess Jordan and I have a lot to improve on this new year because we've now resolved to go to the temple once a month either together or separate. It's hard getting to the temple, but we will make it work. 

Strengthening my family has been something I've been contemplating for some time now. I was told by the Stake President during his talk, that if we want to protect ourselves from evil, we need to attend the temple. I was also reminded of the importance of scripture study and family prayer. This year we have been reading the Book of Mormon together as a family and I CANNOT believe how much Olivia understands from our reading. We do have to explain some words to her, but when we ask her what's going on in the story, she's almost always on point. Last night during our scripture study, she said, "If we read the scriptures, we will feel good in our hearts." I could tell the spirit of the Holy Ghost was testifying to her. Out of the mouths of babes. I have no doubt that the children sent to the world during this time are ten times stronger than my own generation. 

Keeping the Sabbath day holy isn't something I've always been good at. I know I could be doing more, so yesterday I made a list of all the things I could be doing to make Sunday more special and I really tried to do them. It wasn't even hard. Occasionally I'd find myself distracted by Facebook, but as I sat doing genealogy, scripture study, reading the Ensign, and watching an uplifting movie, the time flew by and I really feel ready to tackle this week. I feel as if I've got some secret power inside of me ready to be unleashed at the slightest trouble. I wonder why I've been depriving myself of this feeling for so long. 

As you can read for yourself, Stake Conference really helped me to pick out what I most need to work on and I'm grateful that I went and was strengthened and uplifted. As the visiting member of the Seventy said quoting King Benjamin in Mosiah 4:10 "If ye believe all these things see that ye do them." I have done the "believing" part, but I have not been completely doing the "doing" part. I cannot claim to have a testimony of this gospel, if I am not doing the things it tells me to do. 

I did not mean for this post to become so hefty. I have been so enjoying the time I've had with Jordan off and I am dreading him going back to school and work next week. I have been so blessed to have him around for so long after Romney was born. I can't believe how well that all worked out with our schedules. I started working out again today after getting over my cold. I'm fulfilling one of my New Year's Resolutions by doing a workout challenge. I went on a long walk around the zoo with a friend, and I'm looking forward to enjoying my evening with Romney, watching a chick flick and eating some Pho vermicelli while Olivia and Jordan are off camping. It's nice to have a night in all to myself, especially with such a low-maintenance, and might I add, ADORABLE companion! This week we plan on going to Kemah boardwalk for some family fun! There is so much to look forward to and I can't wait!