Chad:
Chad is the man. He is seriously the MAN! We love him so and count down the minutes til we can spend time with him on the weekends or after work! As a DAD, Chad is always trying to find new creative ways to make Saturdays special, it almost always starts with a special breakfast for all 4 of us and a project around the house that we can all pitch in on. The boys love to follow him around and know that he is always good for some popcorn and an afternoon out of the house. When mom is too tired to disipline with patience, he takes over and teaches lessons with kindness while covering up his laughter...i guess misbehavior is funnier for someone who only see's it on occassion. As a HUSBAND Chad is trying harder. I wish you could hear the satifaction and love in my voice as I say that. Chad's a perfect husband because he's trying, and truly, what more could I ask for. We're dating more regularly and I love the way he has shared his goals and self-improvement desires with me more freely. I'm grateful to have a relationship that grows so consistently and always upward! ON SUNDAYs Chad is busy as can be. He recently was call to be the 2nd counselor in the bishopric and he is so humbled and grateful to be working with bishop Hatch and Bro. Germaine. He's working really hard to learn everyones names and families and has me making cookies all week to drop at peoples doors as an ice breaker so he can get to know the members faster. He loves his weekly bishopric meets and is anxious to get over the nervous jitters of sitting on the stand. We're both grateful to be in a ward where we feel both needed and taken care of . AT WORK Chad is slaying! He loves what he does and is so blessed to be working with people that respect and appreciate him. He comes home with solutions to problems that aren't even his to deal with, simply because he loves to work hard and be apart of something great. He's expecting to be made an office engineer by July which will take him out of the field and into the office (just in time for summer too!) His schedule will be more predictable and he wont have sunglasses tans so thats very exciting news. He loves working on the sky train and I love that he carpools! CHAD IS an early to bed, early to rise kinda guy. He never turns down a trip to the theaters with his babe of a wife. He's working hard on communicating more and getting frustrated less. He's insanely patient with his chronically late and "artistic minded" wife. He is always thinking of new business ventures and is excellent at balancing his desire to improve with his happiness with where he's at. SO lucky to have this man of mine.
Liam:
Liams the big boy I've been praying for, the oldest sibling I've been training! As a SON, Liam is amazing me with his perceptive mind. He can relate stories to real life situations better than i can now as a 28 year old and he constantly refers back to our teaching moments and helps me stick to my word even when it isn't to his liking. He's struggling with one of our family "happiness promises" to "Obey and Obey Right Away". Liam always has a plan B to present in lue of my request and we're working on being satisfied with the day I have planned and having faith in my decisions for him. He's just sure his ideas are better sometimes... and in his defense, they often are, just not a feasible. He loves family home evening, preschool, going to the library and his cousins houses. He also loves playing puppy, pretend school and making play doh. He loves to tell exciting secrets and eating snacks every hours only to never eat his meals. As a BROTHER, Liam is always concerned about raising Matix, which is clearly not his responsibility but sometimes its endearing. He worries about him and loves to teach him everything. I've loved listening to Liam walk Matix through a blessing on the breakfast and when Matix had a ride in the ambulance and Liam and Chad had to follow in the car behind us, Liam cried with worry as the ambulance door closed, Chad had to hold him back as he cried "Matix needs me! Let me take care of him!" My mothers heart soared and broke simultaneously. Even as we reunited and rode in the elevator to the ped icu with the EMT's he looked up at them and said with anxiety in his voice " I hope my brother is going to be ok!". He really cares about him and often talks about how Gods sent him a "special Matix" and we couldn't agree more. they love bubble baths together and wrestle daily. they also fight daily, but mainly over who holds the popcorn bowl or which chair to sit in at lunch. Liam learned how to get Matix out of his crib which is a dream come true for them and a nightmare come true for me as now I have not one but two toddler crawling into my bed at 5:45 every morning. But it makes Liam feel more responsible and reminds him of how capable he is of good. As a LEARNER Liam is developing interests! He LOVES planets! He can tell you everything about Mars and loves being quizzed on the hot and cold planets, the gas planets, the difference between stars, planets and moons and how unique and special our earth is. He also loves reading and writing. His care-free picture drawings have become more detailed and include words now (or at least attempted words and jumbled letters). Liam is a problem solver and i love seeing his mind move when i give him two options and he comes back at me with 7 different options...I often question which one of us is in charge! He gets frustrated a little more easily than he used to as his opinions form and he wishes he could see all his plans unfold. He's learning how to calm down, accept his fate and NEGOTIATE! we're working on know what's negotiable and what we do because mama said so. (I've always hated that phrase but I'm trying to teach Liam the value of trusting his parents and its truely a lesson that God has to teach us all, we're praying he does and that we'll be parents proved trustworthy and Liam will learn how to have faith and trust as well. Some of my favorite liam sayings as of lately ....
-"I could really use a friend over here"
-"I can swim without floaties when I'm a bigger 4" (He's a little afraid to start swim lessons next week)
-"i want to put my picture on an ofrenda so i can cross over the bridge and visit my family!"
(He often talks about death and mortality. Its a hot topic over here as we try to preserve the sancitity of life surrounded by a world that doesn't value any of it so I'm learning how to approach his questions an comments more tactfully. Coco has helped!)
-He calls people humans all the time like, "Mom that human waved at me!" or "Awe mama, look at that little human and her cute bow" I want to correct him but he's not wrong!
Matix:
Matix has given us a run for our money...literally, its been an
expensive year so far with two hospital visits in 6 months, 5 doctors
visits and a trip in an ambulance. His poor little ears keep getting
infected and its causing him all sorts of problems, but never fear,
mommas here to defend him and be the squeakiest wheel there ever was
until a doctor helps him and his poor little ears. He remains happy and
naive to the fact that he's been ill every other week for 6 months and
we're so proud of him! He snuggles constantly and loves any time we take
a moment to sing songs with him and tickle him. He LOVES quality time
and can be found taking people by the finger and dragging them all over
the house, just to be with them. As a SON, he's a big ole mamas boy
lately, mainly because I'm the one comforting him after all the doctors
poking and prodding and dad does his best to keep up with all the loving
and snuggling that goes on during the day. He has learned how un-fun
time out can be and it has proven to be an effective way of persuasion.
He does a lot of yelling and hitting and we are all frustrated with our
inability to communicate well with him. He's got the vowels down but the
consonants are tough and i'm finding myself appreciating them more and
more as i realize how useless words would be without them. He has also
learned how to make us laugh with his eyebrows and impressions of Buzz
Lightyear. He is a master at lip singing and we love laughing at each
other singing in the rear view mirror. As a BROTHER he is a mini-Liam.
they do eveything together and Matix can be founding doing exactly what
Liam is doing 2 seconds after he does it. our nursery at church is a ZOO
to put it nicely. There are FAR too many children (I'm sure there is a
fire code violation) and they ALL have strong personalities so we often
get pulled out of our meeting with a exhausted-looking nursery leader
handing us Matix...no words...just giving him to us...almost as if its a
surrender. I often end up leading primary music time with one arm and
holding Matix with the other. Liam LOVES having Matix in primary with
him and I'm so excited for them to be together in a few years. Matix
desperately wants a baby in our family and I look forward to him being a
big brother in the future. As a LEARNER Matix has made great strides in
communicating, in spite of the frustrations ive expressed! Having
double ear infections has not helped his language development but he is
trying so hard and really surprising us with his effort and new words.
He has learned some of the big stuff, like how good it feels when we
share, how to whisper in Sacrament meeting (we'll working on teaching
big brother that one) and how to pray. We don't understand his prayers
but he gives them and enjoys blessing the food with brothers help. He
has also learned what quiet time means and loves to look at books and
babble about what the words must say. I love watching him play with
Legos, put batteries in and out of the remote and make "Woody Hats" out
of play-doh. He loves to know how things work and to create. We love
when Matix Says...-Wooby and Buuh (Woody and Buzz)
-Bubble Bath (Which he requests every morning)
-puppy and baby
-popico (popsicle)
-popown (popcorn)
-bwubuh (Brother)
-happy (Which he says clear as day whenever the emotion fills him up)
Gosh its weird to write about yourself but I want to remember this season of life and the struggles and triumphs of this time we have in San Tan Valley.As a MOM I'm learning so much from my boys and their inquisitive questions and challenging phases. I'm learning that toddlers are a whole other ball field. Liam makes me question who is in charge all the time and I'm realizing that if i'm not working every single day at establishing boundaries and creating opportunities for learning...then i'm not doing enough. I feel like the world always pushes the phrase "you are enough" at me like i'm supposed to just be happy with what I am and what I offer to my kids but something inside me tells me in a much louder voice that my boys deserve more, they deserve a better version of me and I know I can be better. Don't get me wrong, I know who I am and I'm happy, but I have a motivated vision of who I can become (and who I must become). Its the means to an end that I'm battling with, but i'll get there and rest assured my kids will have the mother they deserve, infact i think they're creating that mother in me. As a WIFE I'm trying harder too! I've always accepted and loved Chad and I's differences and loved the way they compliment each other but lately I've felt a sense of urgency and need to be more fully immersed in his opinions and differing points of view. Our differences have always made our relationship special but I have found a need to be more unified than we are and it takes sacrifice from us both so it's something im really working on to be a more unified companionship for us and for our kids. Its been far too long since our last couples get away and I'm hoping we can plow through our medical bills so a trip like that can be put back on the table. Chad and I love traveling together more than anything so it's something we both dream about constantly. I love planning fun dates for Chad and surprising him...Chad hates surprises so the suprise part is for me and the date I plan is for him :) ON SUNDAYS I'm finding my place among my peers again..the 5 year olds i mean. Being back in primary is still bitter sweet. I ache for my sisterhood and find myself texting the RS president all to often asking if i could have a small RS calling to keep my connected or if i can go on visits still but we both know my hands are full and I need to focus on my load. Teach the kids music is one of the best parts of my whole week and i can tell this ward needs a music leader to make some changes and establish some traditions so I'm excited for the work ahead and love the kids so much already. Doing sacrament meeting alone was one of the better changes from Chads callings. It forced me to kick myself into gear and get out the door early. I want my kids to sit in the 2nd row each week and see their daddy smiling at them from the stand the way my dad always did. We've never been to church on time so consecutively as we have the last few months and our ward is so helpful and patient with our loud whisperers.
JUST ME, I had a crazy first 1/2 of 2018....we all did. A funural, a birth, a wedding, a couple of surgeries and hospital stays and all of our birthdays and anniversaries too. I was surprised when I found some skin cancer on my cheek in March and in May I had Mohs Surgery to extract it. It ended up being a lot more dramatic than I had anticipated and while I'm up and about and grateful to have healed quickly and without infection or complications, I'm still getting used to the changes I've made to take better care of my scar and my skin. The surgery took 8 hours and was full of emotional intermission of waiting and renumbing with dozens of shots in the face every hour. It was more than enough trauma to make me lather my face and body with sun screen every morning. I'm experienceing a lot of anxiety living in AZ in the summer, being constantly exposed to the deadly AZ sun and trying to give my kids a good summer of swimming and playing, but everytime I walk out the door the anxiety weighs down on me and I have to remind myself that sunblock and shade are my only lines of defense. I've started working more anti-angeogenic foods into our diets and cutting out cancer-feeding sugars but I know that the likelyhood of me having more cancer is pretty high so I'm praying for peace of mind and I'm working hard on my prevention efforts.
On a higher note, we are getting excited for our Disneyland trip in on August. The boys are brushing up on all their disney characters and Liam is even saving his money for "Disney stuff". We dont have too many fun trips because we're paying off medical bills and any extra money we get, we throw it at our DIY projects around the house. I'm planting a small garden on the side yard to test out my thumb and see if it has any potential for being green. Truely I just love squash and tomatoes and I'm hoping if Chad and the boys can watch them grow they'l be more inclined to eat them.
I hope to post more this year to keep up with all ou Merrell Family History. This year still holds great promise for us!
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