9 MONTHS

ZIONS NATIONAL PARK

PEYTON TURNED 9 MONTHS ON FEBRUARY 13TH!!!

STATS:

WEIGHT: 16 LBS 11 OUNCES~ 3RD PERCENTILE

HEIGHT: 28 3/4 INCHES~ 70 PERCENTILE

HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE:17.9 INCHES~ 56 PERCENTILE

I know what you are probably thinking....holy cow 3rd percentile!! Yep, we have one slender little dude. When entering into our visit the nurse says "Whoa, he weighs as much as my 6 month old!" In my mind I was like...hmmm...thanks. Peyton is categorized as a high-risk baby. He's 16 lbs but with his height he should be at 21 lbs. After going over his feeding schedule with our doctor he did not seem worried at all. We just need to try to beef him up a bit! He said to us just because he's slender does not mean he's unhealthy...so that put me more at ease. A coorelation between mission and having a baby is~ don't stress about the numbers! So true!! A couple of new things to us, St. George tap water doesn't contain fluoride like up North. So we have to start giving him fluoride drops every day. As for as his eating, we need to introduce him to meats. And power pack his bottles. And as for as movement skills, next step is for him to begin crawling. He's been sitting independently for six weeks now. As for everything else, he's hitting every growth milestone that he needs to. It's crazy how pregnancy goes by so slow but when they are out of your tummy it goes by so fast!!We love him to pieces!

Oprah

I was watching the episode the other day where Oprah had on the children of the mother who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart and Oprah was talking to the children about their opinions of their mother with this situation and their was a comment made by Oprah that really hit me it was:

"BEING A MOTHER SHOULD BE THE HARDEST THING TO DO, WHEN DONE WELL"

I then began thinking about this statement. That when doing a good job as a mom, it should be the hardest thing to do. I then asked myself: Do I really feel being a mom is a hard thing? As I pondered about this question and came to this answer that- Yes, I feel it's complicated here and there but given the fact that Peyton is not crawling or walking yet and is very easily entertained for hours sitting on a blanket with a bunch of toys surrounding him...(I guess I must have a very easy going baby) And also have a husband that is here the majority of the day and ALWAYS switches off with me doing feedings, diaper changes...and what not and who always checks to make sure I'm not overwhelmed. I came to find out that- As for right now in my life I don't feel it's the hardest thing to do. Maybe I will feel later that being a mom is the hardest thing to do...when I'm pregnant again or sick....or when peyton is running everywhere...this statement can also change due to what season you are at in your life. Maybe it's because I have been through much harder things in my life? (school, mission, callings) But when answering to the statement No...not right now...I then feel like I am not doing the best I can....since the statement says....WHEN DONE WELL.....motherhood should be a hard task. Although I do feel it's hard but so far not the hardest thing I've done. Nevertheless, this is Oprah here...it's not doctrine, but an interesting concept to think about. So I wanted to get your thoughts on this statement and what it means to you and how you personally interpret it.

Then & Now

We decided to do a grapevine:)

Want to know your thoughts....

Ok...so recently I have been thinking A LOT about different opinions people in the church have on different topics. A lot of interesting points of view that don't make a lot of sense to me. My mother in law and I were talking about all of this late last night...

So i was sitting in Sunday school and the teacher was talking about how we need to instill qualities in our young men..that of finishing college and being a returned missionary. He talked about how his wife and him knew that if they tried to instill those qualities in their young boys then their young girls would find boys to marry who also had those qualities. So my immediate thought to this was: Why in the heck aren't these qualities being instilled in girls too? Now, I am one who did finish college and went on a mission....but seriously though why is it just the boys that these qualities are being so stressed upon. Finishing school and going on a mission can only better anyone. I understand that girls should not feel obligated to go, but i also think boys shouldn't feel this obligation to. From personal experience, if you aren't feeling the urge to go yourself, you will waste the Lord's time. It's a personal choice. But why aren't these qualities being instilled regarding both sex?

I have a very very hard time when in the church others look upon women as ok...stay at home and have kid after kid after kid...and if you need to work, fine. But you shouldn't be forced out into the work place. I DO NOT agree with that idea at all. I understand in the proclamation it reads....mothers are to nurture...So I got married at what....23 and felt like I was doing something wrong by not having had gotten married earlier and now...I feel married couples go through the stress of making sure they have babies right off the bat. For example my MIL, they were married for 3 years and she told me people constantly harassed them on "when are you going to have kids....?" And it's like goodness gracious! Just let us recently married people alone and leave it up to us!! So a lot of you reading this know I did have a honeymoon baby...wasn't exactly planned...but k so peyton is now 8 months old...and I ALREADY have this stress of "Well, brooke since you are staying at home right now...."you might as well start again...." YOU MIGHT AS WELL.....what the? I don't want to have more kids on the basis of "you might as well" I have a very hard time with these different stigmas so so many mormon parents have....on to the next one...

K. so my brother has a friend...who is a convert. Just got baptized a year ago. You know he lived the rough edge of life and he has been dating this girl rather seriously for awhile now and he proposed, she said yes. But her parents refuse to let her marry him. And why is the question? You guessed it...convert, has tattoos...and you guessed it! Not an RM. What the? Oh my goodness it just makes me want to kick box someone....you can not put that on the poor boy. He is a convert for crying out loud!!! I saw this time and time again on my mission where these young boys get baptized and fall away because there is so much pressure for them to go on a mission and they feel so badly if they can't go... For instance, this boy amazing amazing guy....is a convert, he couldn't go on a mission due to severe debt on his car...and he fell for this super cute lds girl and dun dun dun...parents would not allow her to date him because why? Convert and not an RM. All these issues just make me so so mad.

But overall, the moral of all of this is the people in the church are not perfect but the church is. And that everyone is titled to their own opinion and own way of life. I just feel that these stigmas are becoming a habit in more and more people. And it just really makes me sad:(