March

Weather here in Utah can be unpredictable.  All winter long Jane wanted to make a snowman and a snow angel.  We only had two snowstorms this winter and the snow wasn't good packing snow to play with (really powdery).  

With nice warm weather to play in at the beginning of March we headed to the park to play!

We had a snowstorm a few days later that produced a good, but wet snow. Jane and I got our snow gear on and went outside to make a snow man and a snow angel.  I almost decided to wait until after lunch to go out, but we went out before and it was a good thing that we didn't wait!  The snow had melted only a few hours after it fell!  Can you see that there is no snow around the snowman in the top corner picture?  That was right after lunch!  

Our snowman was the only snow left in the neighborhood for a few days!  We watched him melt and it was neat to record how much it melted each day.  

Day 2

A few days later we were back at the park!  We went with my sister Denise and her daughter Hailey.  We discovered that the girls were wearing clothes with the same pattern!  (Jane's pants and Hailey's shirt) 

Seth has been off-track from school for the entire month of March.  We have been getting together with a family to do things.  We went on a tour to Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolate factory, went to the park, and visited a Lego exhibit at the mall. It has been great to have a family to hang out with during our long breaks!

Seth went swimming with a friend.  They were there for three hours!  I finished one book and nearly finished another book while 'watching' them swim!

March 21st was my 2nd annual Music Recital. I was really excited for it and I'm glad to have this tradition.  I decided to learn a rag time song because I love the music but I've always been intimidated by it.  It took me a while to get it down, but I got it figured out!  I remember learning a part and thinking to myself that I'd never be able to play that series of notes and keep the time right, but after practicing (over and over) it became so easy to do!  I think that working on things and remembering  how difficult it was at the beginning makes performing it really satisfying! 

Daniel has bee super busy with his jobs, but he made time to practice and learn a new song.  I am very proud of him for working on the cello and not being afraid to try things.  I really appreciate his attitude about learning to play the cello.  He knows that he has areas that he can improve in but is willing to showcase what he has learned so far.  He isn't embarrassed to play like a beginner- because he is a beginner!  

At the recital I talked about why I think that performing in a recital is important.  I think that being playing in front of other people helps you to identify where you are in your musical journey. I know that I can play my first recital piece from when I was 8 years old much better now than I did then.  I think that it is fantastic to look back at benchmarks like a recitals and know that I have made improvements in my talent!

I have been working on a house project and my wrists weren't happy with the action they were receiving between the project and the piano practicing.  My right wrist was really bad with tendinitis. Reluctantly, I let my project sit undone for yet another few weeks to let my wrists heal.  I still practiced the piano, but only a few minutes a day. Thankfully I had prepared my piece well in advance so I only had to play it through to keep it fresh. It was rather trying on me to be patient.  

After the recital I was on a high.  I felt great, I had a good performance, and I felt adventurous!

I decided to try making some fish.  I have only eaten salmon one time and that was a few years ago, so I bought some salmon and grilled it!  (One of the reasons I don't cook fish is because I can't handle the smell it leaves in the house. But I realized that if I grill it, the smell is outside!) The dinner was delicious and I'm proud of myself for trying it!  Much to Mark and Paul's dismay I am planning on incorporating more fish into our diets!

Jane had kindergarten orientation this month. She is really excited about going to school.  Perhaps I should have waited to tell her about the orientation until right before we needed to go. She was so excited that the day had arrived that she got ready in record time.  She was quite sad when I told her that we still had 6 hours before it was time to go!  After the orientation we went out for an ice cream cone to celebrate her willingness to be patient all day!

We decided to go out for dinner and Jane had to go put her fancy clothes on to go to the restaurant.  She put on a fancy jacket, a fancy scarf, a fancy necklace and her moon boots!  She loves to get dressed up! That scarf is one that I used when I was a little girl!

We had an Easter party at my parent's house.  The night before, Jane asked me if we could get her a new dress to wear to the party.  I had been looking at dresses at Costco but didn't get one because she didn't really need one.   However, the next morning we went and picked one out!  She was so thrilled to be buying a fancy dress!  We bought tights with pink flowers, a new headband with a flower on it and some new shoes.  She was on cloud nine!  She was dressed and ready to go to the party before anyone else! It was pretty fun shopping with Jane!

Jane and her Aunt Wendy

Gathering Leaves

Quilt Front

I just finished making a quilt for my dear friend Madeleine.  This quilt has been on my "one of these days" list for a long time and I'm so happy to have made it!  This quilt was made as a way to say thank you to Madeleine for a service that she rendered to me in November of 2011.  I have always felt that words were inadequate to express my appreciation for what she did for me, so I used the love and tears that went into creating this quilt as my way to more adequately say thank you.  

What did she do 13 years ago?  Well, I'll tell you- it is something that is hard for me to write about, but it is important to be told- I will not be editing this for fear of wanting to take things out, so this will be posted in raw form. 

  In short, Madeleine saved my life.  

I'm not being overly dramatic when I say this.  What she did saved my life even though she was unaware of its impact at the time. 

In October of 2014 we moved into a rental house across the street from Madeleine.  Paul was 2 months old and Mark was 17 months old.  I was experiencing severe postpartum depression and didn't quite know how to deal with the stress of life at that time.  I would spend a lot of time staring out of the window in the living room or the kitchen.  I'd sit there for long spells throughout the day.  Daniel was working from home so he did help a lot, but he was really busy with work (60-80 hour weeks). We honestly didn't know what to do about my depression.  I didn't experience it to this degree after Mark was born, and  I think that we just hoped that it would go away soon. But it didn't.  

  One morning in late November or possibly early December I had been staring out of the window in the living room for a long time.  I just felt broken. I was in a bad spot physically, emotionally, and mentally. I had recently stopped breastfeeding because I was getting so angry at Paul every time he needed to eat.  With Mark I didn't love breastfeeding, but I was never upset at him for needing me.  I had to put the knives in a cupboard instead of on the counter top because I was having terrible thoughts every time I saw the knives. Something was way off for me.  

While I was sitting on the couch, just zoning, I decided that I wanted to die.  This was the day that I was going to end this crappy life that I was living. I felt that my family didn't need me if I was going to be so unhappy and such a burden to them. My biggest hangup was trying to decide if I wanted to take the time to write a letter to Daniel and my two boys, or just disappear from their lives.  

Paul was sleeping and Mark was playing with his toys in the room with me, and Daniel was in the basement working so my plan was to put Mark in bed and go into the garage start the van and to kill myself by carbon monoxide poisoning.  At that moment, I saw Madeleine go into her front yard and start to rake the leaves. There was a snow storm coming in and since her daughter didn't get the leaves off before she went to school, she decided to rake them off before they got trapped below the snow.

In the middle of all of this grief that I had, I sat and watched her rake leaves for a few minutes.  Then I had a very strong feeling, almost as if it were a voice speaking to me, telling me to go rake leaves. I knew right then that I needed to go put my coat on, put Mark's coat on, go into the garage to get the rake and help Madeleine rake the leaves.  

So, that is exactly what I did.

I didn't open up to Madeleine how I had been feeling (I did tell her about this day many years later) I just worked by her side and had a great time with her.  She appreciated the help and I desperately needed the distraction.  She was my angel here on earth giving me the help when I needed it.  We formed a great friendship. Both of us have moved several times since living across the street from each other,  and we have made it a point to get together.  We only live a few minutes away from each other right now and I love being so close to her!

I finally did go to see a family doctor about my depression in January.  He told me that "being a mother is hard work so you'll just need to get over yourself."  His words, not mine.  I didn't get the real help that I needed until that following September with my OB/GYN, I didn't know that I should have gone to her to start out with. It took a few years of medication to undo the damage that had been done (I was experiencing panic attacks on top of the depression at that point). Thankfully I was able to move past that dark time of my life. 

Because Madeleine and I both share a love of quilting and autumn leaves, I felt that a quilt with leaves scattered on it was a great way to say what I just can't seem to say with words.  She took me on a drive through Alpine Loop to see the fall leaves for my birthday this year and that is when I decided that I needed to make this quilt that has been living in my head a reality. 

I titled this one "Gathering Leaves"

I made the striped patterns and cut them to make the leaves.  The center square is white to signify the impending snow storm.  It finished at 53"x74".  Machine pieced and quilted by yours truly. 

Our trip to see the leaves

On the drive I took a picture of this grove of trees
 (Birch and Quaking Aspen are two of my favorite trees)
When I looked through the photos I noticed that the tree on the bottom left had letters on it
(a practice that I heartily do not condone, by the way)

M+S
it is perfect! 

Quilt Back

Label detail

Out of the wash with it's crinkly goodness

I am very grateful to Madeleine for being a wonderful person.  I always feel so lucky that she includes me as one of her friends.  During a dark time of my life I was blessed to find a friend who has continuously added joy and light to my life.  Whenever I spend time with her I come away a better person. Spending time with her in the mountains seriously rejuvenates my soul and re-energizes my life. I smiled all day after going on the canyon drive with her!  

I will forever be grateful to Madeleine for gathering leaves on that cold autumn morning. 

Life truly is wonderful.



From the scraps of the quilt I made a little quilt for me. It is inspired by a quilt made titled "Bright Birch" by Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts.   I think of Madeleine every time I use it!

quilt front
Pick Up Sticks

quilt back

Seth Abraham Taylor

 

 

On November 15, 2004, we welcomed another little boy into the family.  When we were thinking of names this time around we realized that we had a bit of a pattern going on, with one syllable and four letters.  We didn't realized until after we picked the name Seth that the boy's names are in alphabetical order according to birth order.  I often joke that if we had named Paul first and Mark second, that we would have PMS instead of MPS! 

We decided on Seth's name because we liked it and since the third son of Adam and Eve (that we know about ) was named Seth, and this was our third son, it fit.  The middle name of Abraham stands for Abraham Lincoln.  I read a lot of books while I was pregnant and I became fascinated with the history of Abraham Lincoln.  I read as many books as the library had available to me about him.  What stood out to me about Abraham Lincoln was his attitude of fairness, his work ethic and his integrity.  I hoped that my son would have these characteristics, so it felt natural to use the name Abraham.  So far Seth isn't taking after the physical attributes of Abraham Lincoln though- we don't typically use the word 'tall' when talking about Seth! (There is hope for him that he will be tall, but it is likely that he has the 'Kresser' genes from me!)
 


The first two months of Seth's life were hard for us.  He was up and crying every 3 hours around the clock.  Around 4 weeks old, he developed a rash on his head and body that concerned me, so I took him into the doctor and we discovered that he was allergic to milk.  I was breastfeeding exclusively, so I tried to eliminate milk from my diet, but it proved to be too difficult for me at the time, so we switched him to formula.  Even on the formula he was up and crying every 3 hours.  He was in pain.  The doctor switched him to another formula that was a hypoallergenic formula (free of the dairy and soy that were giving him problems- expensive stuff, but so worth it!). The first feeding of that formula finally let his body relax and he started to sleep through the night. His body finally outgrew the sensitivity to the proteins and he doesn't have any problems with foods now.


Seth is the kind of person who everyone wants to be friends with. He is loyal, creative, a problem solver and thoughtful.  All of his teachers have adored him- you just have to, though, he is such a cute kid!  I love to look through the pictures of him because they are all so cute!  I really have a hard time picking out my favorites. He was just such a happy little kid.  He had the chubbiest checks, the most adorable smile and the cutest little walk I have ever seen.

When Seth was 10 months old, we moved to Georgia for one year. He melted everyone's heart in the neighborhood. Several of the kids would come over just to touch his hair (they were African-American and their baby's hair wasn't nearly as soft and fluffy as Seth's!)  I was playing the piano at church, and I had several ladies practically fight over who got to hold him while I played! I wasn't alone in thinking that he was adorable!  He was always happy to go to anyone.

Sadly, we don't have many pictures of him from about 10 months to 14 months because our computer crashed and we lost all of the pictures that I hadn't backed up.  We lost the pictures of his first birthday and some fun Christmas pictures. Thankfully I had his pictures taken professionally for his birthday, so I had a physical copy of that milestone!

Seth used a pacifier until he was 18 months old.  He didn't suck on it though- he would suck on his finger and use the smooth part of the plastic to rub on his lips!  I wanted to get rid of the pacifier, but wasn't sure how to do it.  Mark came home from school one day with a little red silicon bracelet that said "Drug Free" on it.  Seth adopted it and used that in place of the pacifier!  He also had a little plastic caterpillar that he carried around for a long time, too.  He used that bracelet until he was about 5 years old.  He stopped using it a while after he stopped sucking his finger. 


Here he is with his red bracelet and his blue caterpillar.  He had them with him all of the time!

He got his first haircut when he was about 18 months old. When we were in Georgia, the back of his head was covered in beautiful little curls.  When we moved back to Utah (we were in Georgia for under a year) his hair didn't curl as much without the humidity, so he looked like he had a mullet.  When we went swimming, his hair went part way down his back in one big piece, so it looked like he had a rats tail- way past time for a hair cut!  He was a champ for his haircut.

He has some gorgeous eyelashes!  I love how dark they are and that they frame his brilliant blue eyes so perfectly.  He is such a good looking kid!

Even though he is only nine years old right now, he exhibits several personality traits that he has had his entire life.  The main one is his determination.  Some people might read it as stubborn, but stubborn connotes a negative vibe and what he displays isn't negative- in fact it may prove to be a very positive thing for him as he gets older.  Once Seth has made up his mind that he isn't going to do something for whatever reason (fear, doesn't feel good about it, just doesn't want to, etc.) there isn't anything we can do to change his mind. 

When we went indoor skydiving a few years ago, Seth was set to participate.  Once he got there, he didn't want to do it- it was too high for him and he wanted out.  We did our best to convince him to just try it- we even bribed him- to no avail.  He was happy to sit it out with me and Jane and just watch.  He has had friends try to convince him to do things (and sometimes they aren't even bad things) and he won't budge. So far this hasn't hurt him, and I realize that it might hold him back from trying new things sometimes, but he is still adventurous enough that I'm not worried about him standing his ground for what he believes in.

He is a trouper when things are hard.  Last year we went on a hike that was a lot harder than we anticipated.  He was very tired and ready to be done, but we still had a long ways to go to get back. We took a little break, found him a walking stick and he stuck with me and my friend while he worked through the exhaustion.  He was a delight to  have with us and even though he was tired, he didn't complain past the first time that he told me he was ready to be done. 

Seth is growing up.  He is at the difficult age where he isn't a little kid anymore, but isn't quite a teenager yet either.  Stuck in that area of wanting the comforts of being treated like a little kid but wanting the freedoms of a teenager.  He doesn't want to be tucked in at night with a song or a story anymore- it's been a long time since we did that. But he still wants some attention, so we rub his legs most nights and I think that he enjoys listening in on us telling stories and singing songs with Jane in the bedroom next to his! 

Seth is a wonderful big brother to Jane.  I have told him many times that he needs to be great friends with her because when Mark and Paul move out of the house, it will just be the two of them left here together.  I want her to have someone to look up to and to love her.  Their relationship is sweet and he is very tender with her.

If I had to use two words to describe Seth, they would be gentle and genuine.  He has a gentle soul and his demeanor is gentle.  He enjoys being rough and silly at times, but that isn't how he is normally.  He does things from the heart and naturally tries to be good and kind, that is why I picked the word genuine.  His behavior is honest and I appreciate that.  I really love being with Seth. I'm excited to see how he grows and changes over the next few years.  Before I know it he will be taller than me!  It is an honor to be Seth's mom- I am one lucky momma!

Paul Melchizedek Taylor

Paul was born at 10;30 on August 11, 2001.  Because I had just had a baby 15 months before, I didn't obsess over baby and pregnancy books and like I did before. I felt more at ease about having a baby this time around. Paul was an easy baby.  He was really patient with all of us.  He was a beautiful baby who had the most endearing toothless smile. 

When Daniel and i were driving to the doctor to have the ultra sound done and find out the gender, we talked about names.  I remember sitting at the traffic light at 6400 south and State street when we talked about the name Paul.  Daniel had a good friend and roommate named Paul (Freeman) and the name just clicked.  We both liked it and it felt good (and it followed all of our rules!) 
His middle name was originally Cassel after my paternal grandfather, but we changed it after about 2 weeks to Melchizedek. Emotionally I really struggled after Paul was born. I had post partum depression and it was a difficult spell. One night I was really having a rough night, Paul was even having a rough night, so Daniel had to step in to calm both of us down. He said a prayer for us and when he went to talk about Paul he felt strongly moved to change his middle name.  We had talked about using Melchizedek as a first name briefly (but it got axed because it didn't follow any of the rules!) so I wasn't overly surprised at the name.  It was a bit of a shock for both of us and we didn't even talk about it until a few days later, but we felt that it was the right name for him. It took me a few tries to spell it right and now I've got it down pat!

Paul started sleeping through the night by age 3 months.  He was such a big baby that he didn't fit in the bassinet by 2 months old. We had to move Mark out of the crib and into the big bed a lot earlier than i though we would!  Daniel's brother, David, lived with us for about a year right after he came home from his mission, so we bought two beds- one for Mark, and one for David that would be Paul's when he was out of the crib.  An interesting little note about our family is that I was pregnant with Mark when David left on his mission and I had just had Paul when he got back!

Whenever I think about Paul as a baby, I see this beautiful blue eyed cherub of a face with an enormous smile. He was a calm baby and that has carried over to his personality now.  He really likes rules. He likes to have things defined for him and know what is expected of him.  He is a compassionate soul.

Paul's head was big. It was at the top of the charts for circumference. He had several shirts that just wouldn't go over his head.  He finally evened out with his proportions. He might have had a large head, but he wasn't big headed in the sense of being overly confident.  The name Paul means "Humble" and that really describes him.  He has confidence, but not too much.  He likes rules, order and justice.  He really likes for everyone to be treated equally (except for when there is only one brownie left, he is willing to sacrifice for all of us and eat it so that we don't have to!)

Paul has a big sweet tooth.  He loves sugar.  One of his favorite meals to make is pancakes with maple syrup.  He learned how to make the pancakes and then learned to make the homemade maple syrup over the last few years.  He will have pancakes for breakfast three or four times a week!  He comes about this honestly, though, because I really like pancakes and I make them almost as often as he does! He isn't overly adventurous with foods.  He doesn't like sauces (unless they are syrup) or spicy foods.  He used to put a lot in his mouth and then gag on the food so that he had to go spit it out.  Thankfully he outgrew that!

Paul has always done well in school. Many of his teachers have told me that they use Paul as their 'pacer car' in the class.  When they notice that Paul isn't understanding the concept or is acting bored or is having problems, then they figure that the rest of the class is needing things to be done differently as well. 

Even though Paul is a calm kid, he is an emotional being as well.  He shows a lot of his emotions on his face, so we see him grimace when he doesn't like something.  Sometimes he is unaware of how expressive his face is and doesn't understand why we think that he is upset. He is a lot like his mother and requires nightly beauty sleep.  The beauty is for attitude, not looks.  If he gets enough sleep he is very cordial and easy going, but when he is lacking in sleep, he really struggles to be calm, patient and kind.  The apple didn't fall far from the tree there!  Sigh. 

Paul likes to have a good amount of down time.  He doesn't like to be super busy and requires time away from people to relax.  It is a classic introverted personality characteristic and we try our best to respect his needs.  He doesn't like loud noises or chaos. He does several things when he is spending time alone. He likes to read books.  If he isn't reading, he likes to draw cartoons.  He has put together comic strips with characters such as Pretzel Man and Ninja Man.  They are very clever and fun to read.  He is impatient with his artwork. He said that he knows that the comics don't look professional so he doesn't want to keep doing them.  Hopefully he can break through this roadblock and keep working on building his skills.  If he isn't drawing,  If he wants to be outside but alone, he likes to jump on the trampoline.  He will spend a good 30 minutes to an hour every day jumping when the weather allows it.  He has been known to shovel snow off of the trampoline in the winter, so as long as it isn't raining, actively snowing or below 20 degrees, he will jump on the trampoline. 

He loves to spend time in the mountains. He said that he could just sit in a spot for hours and watch the sun move, the leaves sway in the breeze and the water as it moves down the stream.  Even when things don't go smoothly with our outdoor adventures, he has been a good trouper.

Paul is very artistic. He enjoys learning new crafts. He loom knitted a hat, makes key chains out of pony beads, paints miniature figurines for board games, paints on canvas, doodles on schoolwork, makes sculptures out of books, rearranges his bedroom, makes little booklets out of his comics.  He enjoys writing stories and drawing maps. Many times he has left a message for me on my bathroom counter out of Q-tips.  I love that!    I love to see his creative mind at work! 

He is doing really well in middle school. He is involved in the Science Olympiad (and placed 2nd in the rocks and minerals competition) and participates in a lunch time reading group. He does seem to be intimidated by authority (stemming mainly from a terrible 1st grade teacher and partially from a few controlling parents) so that is something that he will be working on overcoming as he gets older.  Daniel was intimidated by authority, so he understands now how it held him back in many areas in his life. It is really hard to see your own child struggle with the same thing that you struggled with.  When you see something in your child that reminds you of yourself it can be humbling (and you can often feel more love for your own parents for putting up with you!)

If you were to pick Paul's "love language" it definitely would not be 'touch'.  He was cuddly as a baby, but as he got older, he didn't like to hug or be held a lot.  He gives what we call "cheerleader" hugs to us.  I understand his need for space, so I try to respect it.  He still gets pats on the back and a tussle of the hair from me on occasion and I really try to use the love languages that he responds best to- words of affirmation and service.

Paul is an incredible big brother to Jane. When we announced that we were pregnant with Jane, but before we knew if we were having a boy or a girl, we asked the boys what gender they were hoping for. Mark and Seth wanted a girl and Paul wanted a boy. When asked why he said "well, I'm going to pick on th kid and  I can't pick on a girl!" He really doesn't pick on Jane. He is so good at taking care of her. He will get her breakfast, help her wash her hands,  distract her to calm her down, and will play along with her story lines. The other day Jane was sick.  She fell asleep while watching a movie on the couch.  He covered her with a blanket, turned off the movie, put up a sign for us to be quiet because Jane was asleep, and made a little get well soon card for her.  It was such a tender thing to witness. I love to watch them interact together.  He will be a wonderful dad one day.  He is a lot like his dad in this way- very patient and loving with little kids. 
 

Paul has amazing eyelashes.  I tell him all of the time that his wife will thank his parents for giving him such beautiful, thick, curly eyelashes (he got them from his dad, not from me though). It wasn't until a few years ago when he grew his hair out longer that we realized that he had curly hair. It is a very nice curl, not too tight, not too straight.  His main complaint about wearing it curly is that people touch it- I have to admit that I have had to resist the urge to touch it, so I understand the draw!  One of these days he will truly appreciate these golden locks!

He is growing up to be such a handsome young man (but I'm hard pressed to get a serious picture of him lately!) Sometimes it scares me when I look at him and I can see how he will look as an adult.  For years I could only see the little cherub toddler, but now I am seeing the man.  He is officially taller than me and is sporting a barely there but ever so important fuzzy mustache! Paul has a great future ahead of him.  He is willing to work hard at things and is willing to learn new things.  He is such a fun person to be around. I am excited to see him interact with girls and see what clever things he does for them. He has always been good about opening doors for me, so I know that he will be a perfect gentleman!  I love being his mom!

Mark Orion Taylor

Mark Orion Taylor

 

When we first found out that I was pregnant, we immediately figured out a girls name and really struggled to come up with a boys name. Daniel was working with two men through his church calling named Mark (Orrulian and Wolf) whom we both admired.  I also grew up with a guy named Mark and I really respected him.  Since it fit all of our criteria, we decided on the name Mark.

 

Mark's middle name is Orion.  It is indirectly named after Daniel's best friend growing up, Jonathan Merrell. Daniel and Jonathan were roommates at BYU.  Their first September there, Jonathan went back to Vernal to take a friend to the Homecoming dance.  They went rock climbing during an activity where he fell and hurt his head.  He died the next day due to the injuries.  Daniel found himself alone for the first time in his life (when you grow up in a large family like his, being alone is a rare thing!) He worked on campus during an early morning shift and when he was walking outside he would look up into the sky and see the constellation Orion and he started 'talking' to him as his way of processing the grief of losing Jonathan.  Because of this, Daniel has an attachment to Orion. We thought that using Orion as a middle name would be a great tribute to Jonathan and to Daniel's healing process. 

 

He was a very good baby. He was sleeping through the night by 3 months. Because he was my first child, I was worried about him being used to complete silence when sleeping and I didn't want that, so I would do the vacuuming when he was sleeping and didn't focus on keeping absolutely quiet when he napped. In the apartment we were living in they came to do a smoke detector test and he was asleep right below the detector. The manager was worried about setting it off, but I told her to go ahead and he didn't even flinch when it went off!

 

Even though he was a good sleeper as a baby, he wasn't a good sleeper as a toddler. Naptimes were necessary, but difficult. Bedtime was frustrating. I know now that we should have done things differently, but we got things figured out. Like Daniel, Mark is a night owl and does not require a lot of sleep to function well.

 

Mark has shown from a very young age that he is a smart kid.  He picked up on patterns and shapes very quickly.  He only had to ride his bike down the stairs once before figuring out that he wasn't going to do that again!  A lot of things come rather naturally to Mark.  He just seems to understand things quite readily. He does get rather impatient with things that require practice though.  I noticed this when he was first learning how to walk.  As my first child, I had expectations of sitting on the floor across from Daniel and having Mark toddle back and forth between us as he learned how to walk.  Mark did not provide that event for us ever!  He would scoot along the furniture and then one day he just started to walk.  He was 14 months old when he walked unassisted. The main reason that I remember how old he was is because I was 8 months pregnant with Paul at that point and I was relieved to not have to carry him anymore!

Mark meets Paul for the first time

 

He still doesn't like to practice things, so learning to play the piano has been a struggle for him.  He is learning that just having the knowledge of something isn't enough- you still have to work for a lot of things once you understand them and the only way that muscle memory can develop is through practice. I'm proud of him for sticking with piano lessons even though it is uncomfortable.

 

He does have one thing that he is willing to practice and that it Tae Kwon Do. Mark has been involved in Tae Kwon Do for the past few years.  He doesn't give us problems about going to practices and has had a great attitude with the school.  He is lined up to earn his black belt by the end of this year.  He likes that he is getting stronger.  I like that he is working toward a goal and having  a great time doing it.  He and Daniel are taking classes together and they really like working together. 

 

Even though Mark gets bored easily in school, he enjoys learning things.  He has been part of the Science Olympiad team for the last two years. That club meets after school twice a week and he likes it!  It is great to see him push himself and get involved in things that he enjoys.

 

Mark has a very tender heart.  Sometimes I forget that he does because he doesn't exhibit his tender side to his brothers much and since most of the interactions I see him in are with his brothers, I think that he isn't compassionate.  Mark has always like to give hugs. After Paul was born I went through a very dark episode of postpartum depression. I would sit on the couch and try to keep things together.  Mark would come and sit on my lap and give me a big hug and then ask if I felt better. 

 

 

He hasn't struggled with having friends. He gets along pretty well with everyone, especially adults.  I remember visiting him in kindergarten and the class was walking down the hallway.  He had a girl on either side of him and they were all holding hands!  He has admired most of his teachers. In elementary school several of his teachers mentioned that they like that he understands some of their jokes that the rest of the class didn't get. 

There is a group of boys who hang out at our house quite often.  Mark is the leader of the group.  When they play Dungeons and Dragons (pen and paper version), he is the Dungeon Master and relishes that role!  Mark is very creative, so it is fun to listen to the story lines that he comes up with.  They are great group of kids and I'm glad that he has good friends to hang out with.  Mark is very clever and he has a great sense of humor. He appreciates corny jokes, which is good because those are the only ones I know! 

 

He loves to read- and he reads fast.  In the 3rd grade he tested at a 12th grade reading level.  He had a standing invitation at the library each morning to return the book he checked out the day before and get a new book.  Most kids only went to the library one time a week.  He just devours books.  Getting him an electronic reader (Kindle) was a great gift for him (okay, he earned half of the money by getting good grades, which for some strange reason was a huge struggle for him in middle school).  He has a huge library of free books and I haven't had to take him to the library for a long time (no lost books or late fees is a huge bonus!) 

 As Mark is getting older I have enjoyed getting to know him better.  I appreciate that he is willing to talk to me and Daniel about girls and about life.  I love going on hikes with him because he is very concerned about me and my safety and takes good care of me.  He will hold my hand to help me get onto a rock, or help me over a stream of water, he'll make sure that I'm doing okay, and he will show me the best route or warn me of a loose or slippery rock.  He jokes that he has to take care of me because I am his ride home, but I know that he is taking care of me because he is nice.  I look forward to seeing him interact with girls and date them and take good care of them, too! 

We are both learning together how to be our best selves.  I've never been a parent of a teenager before and he has never been a teenager before so we sometimes have to take things a day at a time to figure out what works for us and what doesn't.  It is difficult to let him take more responsibility for his life, but I know that it is a really important step toward becoming an independent adult, so I'm willing to work with him to teach him what he needs to do. 

He is growing up before my eyes and I still am in shock that he isn't a little kid anymore.  He grew 4 inches and gained 20 pounds in one year and it has taken my brain a while to catch up to looking at this tall boy with a feathery mustache and realize that he is my Mark.  I am so glad that I get the opportunity to be Mark's mom!