If Hyrum could hold a camera, he'd take great selfies.

That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.

When you have a newborn, a paradigm shift occurs. I have new thoughts about love, and sacrifice, and I have new ideas about what’s romantic.

It was the middle of the night, and Hyrum was crying. I was feeling exhausted. When I’m tired my mind begins playing tricks on me, probably to help me get more sleep. I’ll hear the baby crying, and then in my dream I’ll be nursing him or holding him. I am often confused as to why he’s still crying until I wake up. It was one of those nights. After hearing the baby cry I said, “Uh! I just fed him,” to which Joseph replied, “No you didn't, its been hours.”

I got up and groggily fed my baby. After Hyrum was finished eating he was still fussy and having trouble getting to sleep, and I was at my wits end. At about 3 am I walked into our bedroom with my crying baby and handed him to Joseph. I climbed into bed as Joseph climbed out. I expected to be awake again in 2 hours, but I woke up the next morning at 7:30 am feeling surprisingly rested. As I opened my bedroom door, I was met by the most beautiful sight. A pair of darling boys. Behind his glasses my husband’s brown eyes were soft and sleepy. In his arms, was my sweet baby boy smiling to greet the morning. Joseph whispered, “Hey, Mama.” I hugged them both. I think that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.

Nutrition...Cub Scout Style

Having a male baby has given me the chance to think about the joys of little boys. I love their confidence and their little swagger. I love their energy and bravery.  I love their big hearts. I also love their ingenuity and sense of humor.

When we were newly married, Joseph and I had the chance to serve as Webelos leaders. Webelos are the 10 year old cub scouts. The boys we worked with were awesome.

One week our lesson was about nutrition. Since I had aced my basic college nutrition class and worked as a teaching assistant for another nutrition class, I was fairly confident in my ability to teach these scouts. I prepared my lesson to the nines and planned to include a discussion on essential vitamins & minerals, foods where they are found, diseases that are associated with deficiencies, and the number of servings of each food group that are needed for a healthy diet.

My lesson plans changed once I began teaching. We spent most of the time categorizing foods into food groups for the Webelos’ weeklong meal plan which was one of the requirements for their merit badge. It was suppose to include healthy foods choices with all the food groups present and accounted for each day, and we needed to learn the basics. Hamburger belongs in the meat group, not the vegetable group. French fries don’t really count as a healthy vegetable either…alright fine, we’ll count ‘em.

About halfway through my lesson I could tell I was losing the boys. We needed to get some wiggles out and refocus our attention. Thinking quickly, I told the boys we would take a break and play Healthy Food Pictionary. Essentially it was an excuse to draw on the white board, because you and I both know that’s the best, but I did request that the drawings be of healthy foods. After a few rounds, one sweet boy decided he was done with the ordinary and he took Healthy Food Pictionary to the next level. His drawing looked something like this.

Not sure if alien abduction is necessary for a healthy diet

Its beef. Genius! Cub scout are darling.

My husband as a cute lil' scout.