...all before 9:30 A.M.

I woke up to William groaning at 6:30 A.M. He immediately started dry heaving in his bed. I quickly ran to him just in time to see his stomach acid on the sheets. We ran to the bathroom where he continued throwing up. James lovingly tucked him in our bed and headed off to work. As I lay in bed with him, he asked if I could say a prayer so that he could feel better. His arms were already folded, so I took his little body in mine and offered a prayer on his behalf. We lay there again in silence, and after about 10 minutes William started crying. "Mom, it's not working." He hurried to the bathroom to throw up again. Sometimes I think his faith is stronger than mine...and I didn't want it to be crushed.
Here is William lying in bed with a cold washcloth. A trick my mom passed down to me. William always asks for this when his head hurt...just as I did.





By this point, Scout had woken up and joined us in bed. As she crawled all over William, he protested. "Mom, I don't like Scout crawling on me."



And of course, like expected, as I went downstairs to fetch some Gatorade, Jake was found in his Spidey suit, sitting on the couch, with two plates of frosted sugar cookies left over from Family Home Evening.
It was going to be a very good day.

SAFE

Last night it hit me. The Prophet has reapeatedly told us to make our home a safe shelter from the storms of life. Last night I realized that not only can I provide a safe shelter for my children, but they in fact, can provide a shelter for me.
The lights were out and I began singing our Jesus songs. Jake abruptly jumped from his bed, descended the stairs and said, "I have to go find Linus." Leaving Will and I behind, I quickly jumped on the oppurtunity to crawl into bed with my Bugaboo. His look of satisfaction was overwhelming and I lay there in his bed holding him. He quickly drifted off to sleep as I noticed his breathing getting deeper. Jake re-entered the room with his trusted blankey and hopped into his bed. I quietly got up and moved over to his bedside. I whispered in his ear, "can I lay down with you?" His smile answered my request. I again cuddled up with one of my precious children and pulled the covers over our bodies. Jake, like his brother, drifted off into sleep. That's when I reaized it.
SAFE. Those were the words that came directly to my mind. I am lying here in the arms of a three year old, and I feel...completely...safe. How could this be? Jake could never protect me from an intruder, he drives me crazy most of the day, and yet, for a few minutes, my home for me, is a safe haven from the world.
I have never even thought that for one moment, I could be a safe haven for my parents. Perhaps I am not. However, in my home, my children, whether it seems likely or not, provide me wilth a feeling of safety that nothing else can.
It makes complete sense.
I will never forget the great anxiety that accompanied my every thought for months following the birth of my second child. The days were horrible, long and scary. My heart rate was way above normal range and I couldn't seem to make it slow down. Except for William's bedtime.
Each and every night, I waited impatiently for William to go to sleep. As he would crawl into his bed each night, I was close behind. Each night, I climbed under his covers with him, held him in my arms, and felt his little heart beating. As I felt his heart beat slow, and his breaths deepen, my heart followed his. My heart would slow down and for the first time that day, I felt calm. It was heaven. It was SAFE.
I never thought of saftey being found in 8-40 pound packages. I would usually think of hammers, my big, strong husband, or weapons. But in our home, my greatest security is found in the arms of three little people.

TAGGED

I am so excited. I was tagged a couple weeks ago by my sister-in-law. My First tag. I always felt bad that nobody ever TAGGED me. I mean, it really is the who-all, be-all in the world of blogging. After all, what is the purpose of blogging if nobody is going to tag me? I hope you sense my sarcasm, but I am excited nonetheless.

3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current obsessions/Collections, and 3 Surprising, random facts.

3 Joys

1. Lying down on my bed after putting my kids down to sleep. I re-cap the events of the day, listen to the sound of deep breathing coming from their rooms and I think to myself. "I did it. I made it through another day." There is nothing greater than waking up to my children in the morning...except putting them down in the evening.
2. My husband's smile.
He always knows when I need it and is never afraid to share his joy with me.
3. Knowing that I will be with my family forever.
What could possibly bring greater joy than that?


3 Fears
1. My children running in the street.
They are so much faster than me and have such shorter legs. It is tempting to start running more just so I can keep up with them.
2. Something terrible happening and we don't have very good food storage. (I know...I am working on it)
3. Not being able to take care of my kids.
I love my three different little personalities that fill my every days and it makes me feel empty just to think about not being able to spend every possible moment with them.


3 Goals
1. I have always wanted to write a book.
Probably about Parenting. Does anybody want a copy? I do want to write a book but I have a feeling that a book about parenting from me probably wouldn't be a best-seller.
2. I want to get to a point where I don't always feel like I am running behind.
explanation: I want to keep up with the house cleaning. I want a clean house. Is that too much to ask?
3. Stay on a budget. No explanation needed.


3 Current Obsessions
1. I really like the book, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
2. Trying to burn more calories than I consume.
3. Picking out my daughter's outfit for the day.
It just makes me happy. Not the eternal kind I know, but fun nonetheless.


3 Random, Surprising Facts
1. I limit myself to only 1 Coke a day.
2. I am in bed no later than 9:30 at night. Last night it was 8:00.
3. I am in love with my Toyota Sienna mini-van. It's my fourth child.

Oh , yeah. And I tag...everybody who has never been tagged before.

The Three Amigos

I just thought it would be fun to write a little something about each of our kids during this stage of life so that I can remember their little personalities.

When Uncle Derek was here, William had an extrme amount of energy. One day I was scolding William for wrestling his brother way too much. William's reply, "mom, I can't stop. My body is addicted to wresting."
Today when William and Josh were ganging up on Jakey, I got angry at William and gave him the lecture of how we always stick up for our brother no matter what anyone else says. William was laughing at potty talk and they were making up mean things to do to Jake. When we got in the car, I asked him why. His response, "Mom, my brain tells me that those things are funny and I can't stop laughing." It is fun to watch this little guy get so creative in explaining his behaviors. I figure, hey...at least he's honest.



Jake is...Spiderman. He literally wears his Spider suit every single day. I figure that there is so much pressure on kids today that spider-suits should be the least of our worries. Life is too short and kids don't stay kids long enough. Jake is at the heart of our family. When life seems to be falling apart...he is either the cause...or even more-so, the glue that will pull us together. He is pretty even temprered when things get tense and he always has a way of dilluting a frustrating situation. He is constantly making me laugh and when I look at him...for some reason, I just can't help but smile. There is something about him that just makes me happy.





Naomi has been thrown into a tornado. Tornado Ford. I will never forget when she was just two months old and I was holding her on my lap. She was looking up to the picture of Jesus on our wall. Out of nowhere, she just started crying. I stood up, calmed her down, and tried again. "Do you see Jesus?" I asked. She looked up and again, crying ensued. I felt tears come to my eyes too. I looked at her and said, "Yeah, sometimes I want to go back to Him too." Suffice it to say, she has made a great transtition into our family and we couldn't be happier with her little giggles and grins. We definitely needed a "calming influence." She delivered!

Our Baby Girl

Ever since we started having children, James has always wanted a "Daddy's Little Girl." It looks like he got one.

I was at the park the other day pushing Naomi on the swing. A little girl came up to me and said, "you look like a boy." I said, "oh, well...I'm a girl." Her friend chimed in and said, "I think she's a girl." The first girl said, "yeah, but she looks like a boy." Then she went on to say, "Is that your little girl?" I replied, "yeah." "Oh," she said. "Well she looks like a cheeto." There you have it.

A boy and a Cheeto.

Visitors from Detroit

Dave and Kristine came up to visit us from Michigan! It was hilarious because I felt as if I was breaking up a fight every three minutes. However, just about an hour ago they hopped in their car to leave after three days of playing/fighting. William volunteered to say the prayer. "Dear Heavenly Father...please help Joshey not to leave. I love you. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Dave and I just looked at each other and laugged. Seriously, just before the prayer...they were screaming at each other. I wish we as adults could love each other so endlessly!

Jake, Naomi, Ty and Maddie. These guys were actually all pretty good. It was the older two that really struggled.

Naomi and Ty. Two months apart and Best Friends.


Spiderman coats with fur. Isn't that an oxymoron? Seriously, would life not have been complete without this absolute neccesity to their wardrobe?

Bedtime snack. A glass of milk and a bag of Dorito's. We are all about health foods at the Ford house.

Oh, yeah. And bathtime. The two little one's just couldn't fit. Maybe next house we will upgrade on the tub.

I Love This Picture

I am in Love with this picture. Why? As James pointed out to me, it illustrates all of our personalities.

First of all:

James and I are just excited to be together. I think it has been...uh...uh, 5 years.

Poor Naomi is just thinking to herself, "how in the heck did I get into this mess?"

Jakey...oh, Jakey. Squished in the middle...just trying to breathe. It's as if he is saying, "don't worry about me, I'm used to it."

William has no idea of what is going on around him. He is probably caught somewhere between reality and imagination. We are not quite sure he is even aware that a picture is being taken.