From the Mouth of My Babe

Brotherly love on the carousel at the Railroad Park.

Part girl, part monkey.

Just waking up from his afternoon nap.

Scented Markers. The best conference idea I've ever had. It actually occupied the kiddos for almost an entire session. That's a record for us., and a new tradition. 

Tonight at dinner Davis gave me a compliment (I think?) about my cooking: "Mom! Fanks for dinner! I weally fought it was going to be disgusting, but it turned out to be dewicious."

Some Conference Thoughts and a Few Pictures

Every once in awhile I like to reminisce by going through old posts on this little blog of ours. Looking back on some of the things about our life that I've recorded always makes me happy and grateful for my life. It's something that I really want to keep up on because I know it will be more meaningful as the years pass by and my memories of these times start to fade. Plus, my kids LOVE go back and reminisce with me, which is really fun and reminds me that to me it's worth the time and effort it takes to write these memories down. So here are a few snapshots and thoughts of our current life. 

If Nathan isn't on my hip, he can often be found right here, at my feet, pleading to be held. My biceps are getting stronger and stronger everyday while upholding these 27 lbs of chub. 

He loves a good post-nap snuggle. With three older siblings that also need attention, moments like this don't happen as frequently as we would like. 

The Gilbert Temple at sunrise. I completely underestimated how much I would love being so so close to a temple. We lived for 7 years being a 2+ hour drive and now we are literally minutes. I love it. The kids love to point it out as we are driving around town. 

Davis and his puffer fish mask. This guy is my constant sidekick during the day and I must confess that I spoil him more that I ever did with his older siblings. He is a master negotiator and will try to sweet talk his way into getting what he wants. It usually works. 

This girl! I am so thankful for her. She and I have to stick together, being in a house full of boys and all. Her happy disposition brings so much fun into our family. 

This kid and his selfies. He is growing up so fast. I spend more time worrying about whether or not I'm raising him right than all the other kids combined. 

Ah, Nater, our anguished toddler. This is his signature angry face. He wears it a lot lately and can change moods at record speed.  

General Conference this past weekend was stellar. As per usual, Elder Holland's message was one of the most memorable for me. I particularly loved how he said "we obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God who compassionately responds. But we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us." Such powerful words and so much to think about. I also really liked Elder Jorg Klebingat's talk. Did he lay down the law or what? I appreciate straightforward messages like his. This morning I listened to President Uchtdorf's message from the Priesthood session and I was blown away---quite possibly one of my favorite conference talks of all time. His comparing Christ's apostles at the last supper to us as Christ's disciples is so powerful. So much food for thought to ponder for the next six months. I am so thankful for living prophets to help us navigate this life.

From the Mouth of My Babe

Taken on a grey afternoon last week.

This morning I was reading this story to my kids during breakfast about a family who took time each Christmas morning to count all their blessings. They counted all their farm animals, each piece of their harvest, and so on. Maddie stopped me mid-story and asked, "What happens when they go to the temple?" Confused at her question, I asked her what she meant. "Well, someone once told me that when you go to the temple, you receive so many blessings that it's impossible to count them all. What will the family do then?"

From the Mouth of My Babe

Photo taken Aug. 2014 by Becky Payne. He has since acquired an even more toothless grin!

Me: "Davis, this afternoon we are going to the chapel to practice for the primary program. After the practice, they are going to feed you dinner at the church."
Davis: "You mean all I get to eat for dinner is bread and water?!?!"

*Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the comments, phone calls, text messages, and love after Davis' accident. We are all doing much better, Davis neck shows almost no sign of his accident, and all the blind cords are safety-pinned high and out of reach. Love to you all!!

Davis' Accident

Photo taken Aug. 2014 by Becky Payne.

Yesterday we had a near-death experience with Davis. And I don't mean that figuratively. He literally almost died due to a crazy accident. As you might imagine, it was the scariest moment of my life and one that I have replayed over and over in my mind a thousand times since it took place yesterday morning. I'm sharing it in hopes that you will educate your kids a little bit better than I did so that something similar never happens in your home. 

Yesterday morning after walking Isaac and Maddie to school, Davis and I were talking about our day. I told him that some new friends were going to come over to play. Thrilled with the idea, he said he was going to get the step stool so he could watch out the window for them to come. I told them that sounded like a great idea and that I would meet him in the living room after I used the bathroom. It's hard to say exactly how much time passed while I was using the bathroom, but my best guess is somewhere between 60 seconds and two minutes passed before I walked into the living room to see if I could help Davis open the blinds. I asked him a couple of questions as I was walking toward him, when I suddenly glanced down to see that he wasn't standing on the step stool--he had wrapped the blinds cord around his neck and was suspended in the air, hanging completely still and unresponsive, his back toward me. 

The next few seconds are kind of a blur, but I quickly unwrapped the cord from around his neck (which, by the way, are safety blinds---not the old-school loop kind that used to be so dangerous. He can't reach them from the ground but while standing on the stool they were easily accessible. He tied them just tight enough and in the exact spot to be deadly). Almost immediately his head fell back toward my shoulder and he opened his eyes and took a breath. 

The next few minutes were filled with tears, prayers, phone calls, and gratitude as we realized that our Davis was going to be ok. Below is a video that Ryan took this morning, about 24 hours after the incident. You can see the rope burn all the way around his neck. 

It has been a little bit hard for my 4-year-old to articulate exactly what happened, but from what he has told me (and the nature of the cord burn on his neck), he climbed up on the step stool, wrapped the cord completely around his neck one time, and while doing so, lost his balance and slipped off the step. The cord was placed just so around his neck that it choked him. He doesn't remember anything after that until he regained consciousness in my arms. I will never forget when he prayed that afternoon and said, "Thank you, Heavenly Father, for protecting me during my accident." 

Please talk to your children about the dangers of putting things like this around their necks. And make sure that the cords aren't accessible to them if at all possible. 

I am overwhelmed with emotion every time I think about how this story could have had a very different ending. Ryan and I feel very grateful to our Heavenly Father that we get to have Davis with us. I know angels were watching over him and I hope and pray I can use this experience to make me a more compassionate and loving person and mother.