Taylors 1st baby tooth...

I knew there had to be a reason I felt like I needed to post an update on the Puppy!

After my post yesterday, I noticed she was missing a tooth.

Had it been pulled out in the rough game of tug of war with Morgan?

Was she growing up and losing her baby teeth already?

Sure enough after some searching on my hands and knees, I found this... her 1st baby tooth!

It was an exciting moment... usually you never find them, or you find them when they poke and stick into your bare foot... Ouch!! I had to call my Man at work and give him the good news!

I was fortunate to have Morgan's first baby tooth too!

So now I have quite a collection... sorry Rudy, there is always one poor child Mom doesn't get the memory book completed for.

My Man thinks this is really morbid and I am not sure why I have them, but I kept all of the teenagers teeth he traded in for money to the tooth fairy. I don't know, something about the whole excitement of having the tooth fairy come and steal these from your pillow in the middle of the night, sneaking around in your house in the dark... Can you imagine!!! (what were we thinking getting our young innocent son hooked into these crazy stories... all for the element of surprise moments).

So here you go... I told him, they could make them into a necklace for me on Mothers Day... he laughed and said "you would probably wear it"! It's true, I probably would.

I love family milestones, some are bigger than others... but they all come and go so quickly if we don't document them, or hold onto keepsakes from them. What will we leave in our jewelry boxes for our children to find and solidify we were crazy in love with them when we are gone?

tHe pUPpY...

It is hard to believe our little Taylor was just this small and sweet a couple of months ago...

She is growing up so fast...

She is very playful, but awkward most of the time falling over herself. But she has a greater sense of pride and confidence than our other pups did at this age.

She has bonded with Morgan so well, they are the bestest of friendsHer paws haven't stopped growing and they are getting insanely huge now!!!

She is still a cRaZY water dog... loves any form of it, in any way she can get it.

The teenager has been teaching it to her in Spanish... when he fills up her dish, he calls it "agua" over and over again... and now when you say it to her in Spanish, she gets all excited and jumps up and down. It's super cute.

I won't be afraid to take her into the water to swim because she has NO fear... but we are still working on her drinking manners. My entire kitchen floor gets a soaking everytime she takes a drink. She just can't seem to keep it all inside her mouth. You can catch a small glimpse in the video, but at least she kept her head over the dish here, usually she is running off with all the water falling onto the floor.

It's crazy, she is a mess, but I love her enough to mop up after her all day!

SPT ~ Self Portrait Tuesday ~ Pick me up...

SPT ~ Pick Me Up...

What do you do for a "pick me up"?

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This would be the $64 thousand dollar question for me this year!!

I have been in a desperate need of a pick me up, and usually can just cheer myself out of it. Not so far this year... it is lingering and lingering and really getting on my nerves now!

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I have heard and have had a few instances to observe myself that giving service to others is a great "pick me up"... it helps you get over yourself.

I am even struggling with this... if you can't help yourself, how do you help others?

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You can see I am having a hard time with the "getting over myself" part.

During these times, I really don't want to see, talk to or much less do something for or with someone else.... but I got outside of my box and went to a luncheon get together with some other visiting teachers. We invited those we visit teach and went together.

It was fun, and interesting to see how we had been linked together. Sometimes unless you have the job of structuring the names within this great program, you never really know who is linked to whom. And because I really believe God has a hand in the process, I find it really interesting to see the results.

It was a nice time, but surprisingly not necessarily the pick me up I needed.

And I am not getting any better at self portraits either, just a bunch of pictures of inside my nostrils... Ugggg!

I really despise blogging when I am "down and out"... I hate the thought of dragging anyone down with me. But I promised myself, I wouldn't quit, and will never give up on myself, so forgive my lack of cheerfulness and ability to look at the bright side right now... I promise I will get over it soon!!

I am like a drowning victim... and the more they flail around the more help they need, but when you dive in to save them, they pull you down with them. The good news is... I am a pretty good swimmer :)

The lesson ~ "Steadfast and Immovable"

I had to give a lesson ( should say I "got to" give a lesson) in another Ward Conference on Sunday to teach about this years Mutual Theme "Steadfast and Immovable, always abounding in good works" from Mosiah 5:15 in the Book of Mormon.

It is such a good thought and I had plenty of time to study and prepare, but I get soooo nervous talking in front of people, really really nervous. Plus I was teaching with one of the members from our Stake Presidency heap on the pressure. I was physically ill almost all weekend over it.

I thought it would be easier teaching youth from a different Ward, because they wouldn't know me or any of my short comings. But it was actually harder, because I didn't know them, and where I could pick on youth I knew and make them answer questions or read something for me, when you don't know them, they say NO way too easy!! And if you push them, you don't know which ones will break vs. which ones will break down. So I felt really really alone trying to teach.

I think if I could have ever gotten over myself enough, I could have taught the lesson just fine, but I was so full of fear and anxiety... I don't think my message was very clear.

If it didn't reach anyone else, at least it touched me, I learned so much preparing and praying about what to specifically teach the youth. I hope that counts for doing something good for me!

I think I can be a good teacher, and effective... (in other settings and in different ways) but the classroom setting is just not my thing! I hope I get over that some day... but I am afraid the only way... is to do MORE OF IT, and I really don't want to be praying for that!