Putting us to Work

Our ward that we moved into when we came out here has been so good to us!  I have raved about them plenty and they really have been great!  As time went on we were getting nervous because we hadn't been called to do anything and we were hoping they weren't planning anything too huge for us.

Finally, David got a calling and now teaches once a month in the Elder's Quorum.  Not bad at all!  We both had visiting teaching and home teaching responsibilities as well, but I still didn't have a calling.  I was very suspicious especially when people announce they were moving or things like that.  I don't mind having a calling, but I just wanted to know what they had in mind.

Finally this last week they asked me in to chat and I was excited to hear that they wanted me in Young Women's as a teacher.  I am really excited about it and the girls in there are great, I've heard.  The leaders are fun too and I am excited to work with them.  It makes me feel really old being in there since I am the leader now.  I still remember the Young Women's theme and I feel like I was just there myself.  I am excited for it!

I have been staying in Nursery the whole time with Katelyn and she is on her own now that I am teaching.  She did okay last Sunday, but was still the cry baby in there during transitions or when she didn't get to keep playing with the babies.  She'll get the hang of it.

I gave my talk on Easter and it went really well.  I had read so many talks on the Resurrection and had so much prepared that I didn't have much to be nervous about.  I was still nervous about the large group setting, but it went really well.  Funny story...well it is funnier now than at the time...but I purposely left my make up bag in the car on Saturday night and David ran a last minute errand to the grocery store and brought my make up bag in with the groceries.  The next morning on our way to church we were about half way there (it takes about 30 minutes) when I went to do my make up and I couldn't find it.  We would be late if we went back home to get it and so I whined about it and how I looked like I just woke up without make up.  David said all the right things a husband should say, but I was still irritated he wasn't thinking on the same page as me.  I was about to stand in front of the whole ward and I wanted to look my best!  I don't wear much make up, but enough to where it is noticeable!  I think I was more nervous about not wearing make up in front of everyone than if I was prepared and ready to say the things I felt the ward needed to hear on Easter.  In the end, of course nobody said anything about my make up and if they did say something it was to thank me for the talk.  But is was a big deal at the time!

I was asked to fill in for a sunday school lesson for the 12-13 year old boys and girls and after giving my talk, the lesson with 5 people was a breeze!  And they didn't care that I didn't have make up on either :)

This last Sunday was David's turn for a talk and a lesson.  They just happened to fall on the same day for him as well.  He talked on "Getting through Trials with Faith" and he definitely had experience with this topic.  He shared this of his youth in his talk and had everyone in awe not realizing he had this background. 

"When I was 8 years old my parents got divorced I lived with my mother along with one older brother and my two sisters. My mother extremely upset with my dad and maintains that anger even today. My oldest brother was in and out of jail during his teen years and eventually was court ordered to complete his GED. My other brother went to jail when he was 16ish through his 18^th birthday. I was also told not to return home when I was 16 after having an argument with my mom.  I remember attending youth conference that summer and my testimony was taking its first strides at that moment in my life. I often thought why is this happening to me?  I was improving as a human being: I no longer cussed, I stopped watching R-rated movies and in general a much more pleasant person to be around in our home. After work that day one of my young men’s leaders picked me up from work and told me that I was going to go home with him. I was effectively adopted by the ward through the end of high school. I lived normally on couches, and my possessions were normally stored in spare closest. Through that time I realized how blessed I was to live these people’s homes. I learned how different families’ operated and develop a testimony of the Book of Mormon and its truth. I also learned how to live with practically no possessions other than my clothes. When I graduated from high school I was asked to find a place of my own. Which I did, I knew by my older sister’s example and the example of those around me the need to attend college. I knew college would be expensive and was worried that I wouldn’t be able to afford it, so I ask a couple of friends if I could stay with them, and most friends allowed me to for a time and when my welcome wore out I would at time live in my car with all my possession in the trunk, I showered at the college I attended and wash my close at laundry mats. My brother eventually allowed me to live on his couch for most of my second year of college. He was often smoking or drinking, but he knew that was not the life style I lived and he did not involve me in these outings. I went to school for two years at my local college before leaving Texas to attend BYU-Idaho. I had never been more than four hours away from home and was nervous and excited. I graduated from college, got married in the temple, had a baby, then moved to Baltimore and that brings us up to today."

He used some of Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk, "Come What May, and Love it" 

"Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others.

Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief. We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others."

"The way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life."

It was such a sweet talk and people from the ward were very proud of what a good man he has become and kept mentioning that they never would have guessed that such a man as nice and calm as David would have had the trials he did...and also congratulated him on being so faithful to turn out the way he did.  David knows that there are plenty of people out there that have much harder trials than his and didn't want to offend people.  He did a nice job with it and knows that if he didn't have the church with leaders and his sister to guide him and literally take him into their homes then he probably didn't have a good chance of turning out as well as he did.  I am definitely grateful for those people he had to help him and show him what his family can be like someday.

Early in the year I made a goal for myself hoping that I would be more consistent in reading the scriptures.  I want to read the entire scriptures.  I was hoping to do it in a year, but I also don't want to rush through it just to get it done, so I think in two years I will have it completed.  I want to get something more out of it than just finishing it to say that I did it in however much time.  But, I want to finish it! I have been more consistent, but it still hasn't become easy and routine.  I have never enjoyed reading and I hardly spend any time reading for fun unless it is reading with Katelyn or the occasional children's novel like Charlotte's Web or The Phantom Tollbooth.  I still forget and get in and out of grooves, but overall it is going well, much better than before.

I know that in seeing my parents read them helped me to know of their importance and I loved reading my dad's conversion book story and the role that the Bible played in it.  I know that all of the scriptures are important, but I think I have shied away from the Bible (mostly the Old Testament and the end of the New Testament) because I knew I would get confused or lost in the reading.  I am going for the whole thing and someday I will finish it all.

I have been diving in to all things teaching and Young Women's and have been refreshing myself with the Personal Progress, For Strength of Youth, and Teaching, No Greater Call.  When I was set apart, my bishop mentioned that I need to be sure to keep my priorities in line and not get too caught up with Young Women's and forget about my family....Something that caught my attention. I don't teach for a couple more weeks, but this new calling is exciting and am excited to have this new challenge.  That's what we've been up to at church and what we will be up to.

Another Year

David asked for a very low key birthday this year.  His birthday is at a terrible time of year for him since he is an accountant.  He doesn't do taxes, but even with his auditing, it seems he will still be in busy season mode for his birthday each year.   And even in college, finals week was always during his birthday, poor guy!  He chose the wrong career if he ever wanted to celebrate his birthday :)

David has a wish list that he updates here and there which is handy for gift ideas for him.  When I went to see what he had added recently to get him something for his birthday, I noticed he added a lot of educational stuff for Katelyn.  He really wanted me to get these learning videos and I just couldn't do it.  I thought his birthday was supposed to be about fun things for him!  And I have teased him a bit lately about it because some of the books and videos he has on his wish list are geometry, calculus, biology, grammar, astronomy, and a few others that are WAY down the road in Katelyn's education.  They weren't on the urgent list, but I still had to tease him about those. 

Here's what he got...wrapped with Katelyn's help.  She is quite the artist lately and helped me color the wrapping paper...she is also getting fluent coloring on walls and in her favorite books :( which makes me sad, but we are trying to emphasize that only paper from mom and dad are okay to write on.  She enjoys helping to clean it off too much so we aren't sure how to get the point across other than just keeping the crayons and markers out of reach unless we are around to supervise. 

 David really wanted an upgrade on our simple iron and loves it.  He must be an old guy now if he is thrilled with a new iron for his birthday.

He was a little bummed about the book I got him.  I took a motivational management class in college that spent the whole semester going over various methods to discipline and motivate children in the classroom and also at home.  Of all the styles we brushed over that semester, the one that really stood out to me was the Love and Logic philosophy by Jim Fay and Foster Cline.  I had mentioned bits and pieces here and there to David and he read up on the basics of it and then added the book to his amazon wishlist thinking that I would like it.  I saw it on there and of course I liked it, but I thought that was his wishlist so I grabbed a copy of it thinking we both wanted it!  He teased me back since I made such a big deal about not getting him things for Katelyn for his birthday, but instead I got something for myself for his birthday...I promise it wasn't on purpose...whoops!

 He requested an all chocolate cake and to no surprise, cookies 'n cream ice cream.  Katelyn and I decorated with Easter candies...sixlets and Hershey kisses.  The candle came from our emergency kit because I usually save candles from birthday to birthday, but must have tossed them from the last one or in the move so that was all we had.  Katelyn had a bit of practice blowing out David's candle.

I know David completely cheated, but Katelyn is getting there!

She absolutely loves 'cha-ca' and we have to hide it all away when we want her to eat real food.  Ice cream and other sweets are okay, but chocolate wins her over instantly every time.  I sometimes stash some away in a secret pocket in my purse for "emergencies" and it has never failed!

Katelyn liked the cupcake but couldn't keep her hands clean enough while she ate.  She can't stand her hands getting dirty and if we don't have a napkin or rag nearby while she eats then she will shake her hands furiously until she flings it off.  Her face is fine as long as there isn't anything huge hanging off.  She cleans off her lips with her teeth after every bite though.  She hasn't figured out the power of her tounge yet :)

We played some card games that night and David got a free sandwich from Firehouse Subs for his birthday dinner and he was a happy camper!  We had a fun date that weekend with a group of friends doing the Amazing Race.  We were hoping for some birthday luck, but we came in tied for last.  We had fun and still loved each other by the end of it so David was happy. 

A lot, but not that much

This was written up awhile back but never posted.  I think I am ready to get caught up on our happenings.


The last few weeks have been full, but not at the same time.  Here's our family update...
-David- He has been loving his new job.  He often comes home (even on the long 12 hour days) and is so thrilled that he has the job he does and that he no longer works at the last job.  The work he is doing is fun for him, the people he works with are much better and much more of a variety, he is getting paid more, he gets to bring his family on work trips, and his future career (in this company or not) is so much more what he has been wanting and hoping for and looks much more promising.  It is still work and he would rather be home and get to do whatever he liked everyday, but since he needs to work, he likes what he has.  He has some days that are long hours and 90% of the weeknights have been in company paid hotels (which is a good and bad thing...good because we aren't paying for the hotels, and bad because it is nice to be home as a family)  We have seriously considered moving the majority of our stuff into a storage unit and JUST living out of hotels.  Parts of this idea is nice (not paying rent and utilities) and just paying for two or three nights a week if we don't have free nights saved up (David gets free nights for every so many nights he stays in hotels).  It would be interesting, but I am not entirely opposed to it.  Anyways...David loves his job and is working hard to do well.  He hasn't had time for table tennis (calling ping pong is not official enough for him) because he wants to spend as much time as he can with his cute girls.  He is getting worked up with Katelyn's new talking skills and loves it.  He is getting very excited for her learning and education and I have had to slow him down and stop him from spending every penny he makes on preschool materials and learning stuff.  I am thinking we need to have more kids soon, so Katelyn doesn't get overwhelmed  too soon and then MAYBE David will spread out his focus and excitement on the other kids.  He is not worried that she is behind, but is more excited for her to be the best.  He is very eager and I appreciate it, but I am trying to get him to focus on things that a 2 year old should be learning rather than a 4 year old.
A little story...David was gone at work and I had a sore muscle in my back that was bothering me as I did regular things.  I attempted to show Katelyn how to massage my back with no success.  I told David about it and the first thing he  thought and said was, "At least you tried to teach her a marketable skill!"  He gets excited when Katelyn is learning things that can make money someday...just the entrepreneur in him.  He still isn't sure whether he would rather have Katelyn excel in academics, sports, a business, or something else.  I keep telling him there is plenty of time for all of that stuff down the road, but he doesn't want to waste this time now and doesn't want to miss the opportunity.  Silly dad.  He knows it is all a little silly, but part of him is completely serious too :)  I am glad he is passionate about Katelyn being successful someday.

-Katelyn- She is really figuring out this talking thing.  It is so fun and sometimes frustrating.  I love that she is picking up on things and that she is so willing to try to say new words, but sometimes I think we confuse her or she forgets stuff.  Lately, she says no for everything even when sometimes she means yes. I can almost always tell the difference and know when she means no, but she physically knows how to say yes but still always says no.  Did I confuse you?  Some things I know she knows what they are and I know she can say them, but doesn't.  Or she will say she wants something specific like a cracker, and then when I get that for her she doesn't want it.  She is figuring out this whole talking with her voice thing and we are hoping we aren't confusing her, but it is fun to see her pick up on this whole process.  We are all figuring this baby talking thing out and enjoying most of it along the way.
Katelyn turned 18 months and it was her turn to head into nursery at church.  I had gone with her for a couple weeks before hoping that it would ease the transition, but I think it might have made it worse.  Either that or she has hit a peak with separation anxiety right now.  She gets so sad and starts sobbing once she realizes I have left the room.  She loves it when I am there and I have been staying in there with her hoping that eventually she will be okay when I leave.  I was excited that maybe I would be able to listen to a Sunday School lesson AND a Relief Society lesson all in one week.  But not so fast.  David isn't a fan of nursery mostly because he is having his own separation issues :)  He loves spending time with Katelyn and wants to hang out with her the whole time.  I am the mean one and I make him go to class and I go to Katelyn's nursery class with her.  I can't leave her in there when she cries so hard, but maybe she cries because she knows that I will come back...maybe?  I have no idea, but I know she is a smart girl, so maybe she is fooling us all.  She has a hard time with people leaving, especially Mom and Dad, but it is kind of funny that she has a hard time and gets upset and sometimes cries when friends leave our house or when Dad leaves for work, or when she is being baby-sat and one of the adults leaves to take out the garbage. I am guessing that since she is always with me every day she is just used to having me around, but her attachment to everyone else, I don't know.  I have heard that the next kids won't be as attached because they don't get that one-on-one attention all day, every day.  I am hoping this is just a phase and that she can learn to adjust when people come and go.     We'll see.

-And me- I have been following David to his audits and keeping busy.  Katelyn and I go out and find stuff to do during the day and since we have been close to DC, we have seen I think all of the kid friendly things they have there.  We were also able to be in DC for the beautiful cherry blossoms.  The weather has been amazing and so we have taken our time as we walk in and out and around the fun DC monuments and museums and the zoo too.
I have also brought along some crafty things and have been enjoying making things for our family...some things to decorate our apartment, some fun homemade toys for Katelyn, some gifts, and fun little things to keep Katelyn busy so we don't get assigned preschool homework from David ;)
I have been struggling to find a balance between our "vacations" with hotel living and then adjusting back home on the weekends and then to pack up again for another week in the hotel.  I feel like it is hard to keep routines and have consistency.  I have been trying to get and stay in the habit of taking care of myself by reading scriptures, exercising, making sure I eat three meals a day (I am still surprised how many meals pass by and I don't even realize it..lunch sneaks by so often or ends up being peanut butter M&M's), taking my prenatal vitamins (I have learned that you are supposed to be taking these if you are planning on getting pregnant soon, if you are pregnant, or if you are nursing!  I will be taking prenatal vitamins for forever!) cleaning and tidying up the house (or hotel) each day, and catering to my family's needs, but haven't figured it all out yet.
The idea of having more kids seemed like no big deal.  When I had Katelyn, my perspective on having more kids changed.  I still want more, but popping a baby out isn't all that easy on the body, and then I will have to take care of it in addition to Katelyn.  I want to keep a little bit of my sanity as my family grows up and as I parent them, I am hoping that I can do so with love and not go crazy.  So the thought of more kids has been daunting to say the least and I don't think I will ever be ready, but I want to be ready.  Unless I never know that I am pregnant (how in the world do people not know?!) but lately I have been having twitching muscles not anywhere near my belly (like my legs, eyes, shoulders) that come close to the feeling of the first baby kicks making me think "could I really?", but then I have to remind myself that babies don't grow in my legs and eyes and shoulders :)  So for all of you who are wondering when the next baby Rudd will be on its way, when the time comes, you will know.  We know we are a ticking time bomb for the "every two years apart" kids, but no announcement today.  Which means it will be more than two years apart and we are completely fine with that.  We are wrapping our heads around the idea of having more kids, but this no big deal thing really is a big deal!  And that isn't even considering the fact that we could have twins one day...yikes! (my mom is a twin and rumor has it that it skips generations or something like that...I can't imagine keeping my sanity with twins)
I have a talk to give this Sunday and I was overwhelmed by it.  I am speaking on Easter and I feel like more people come for Easter Sunday and bring friends and family for the occasion so I feel like this talk better have something good to it to make it worth everyone's time.  I hope I don't disappoint, but having read a bunch of talks on Christ's Resurrection (my topic) I don't know how this talk couldn't have the Spirit.  As long as I don't cry the whole way through because I come from a family of cry babies (I mean spiritual people, right Dad?), I think it will be fine :)  That is what I am telling myself anyways.