to my baby...

BRADEN, one year ago i held you in my arms for the first time. i already knew you. i held you before that day, in my loving womb and in heaven before. how i longed throughout pregnancy to hold you and put your face to your already growing personality. braden i knew i loved you as i carried you, but nothing prepares a woman for the overwhelming feeling of over abundant joy and love that fills her heart upon seeing her newborn child. i felt that upon meeting you. braden when i saw you and held you, i truly fell in love with you. you have a large piece of my heart and it keeps growing everyday. you make me smile and laugh out loud for the fun that you are. you truly belong to our family and we have been greatly blessed by your love, laughs and silliness. your acheivements thus far are quite astonishing to say the least. only a WALZ boy could pull off the crowning acheivements as you have, in such a short time. braden, throughout this year i have loved you more and more everyday and i thank our heavenly father that he allowed you to come to me. i will never forget the sacrifices i i went through to bring you life. (nine and a half months pregnancy, sleepless nights, back pain, four days of early labor, three epidurals, three units of blood, and 16 hours of extreme labor.) they were very hard to go through, but never will i ever regret it or wish otherwise. you truly are the greatest gift to me in this life along with your loving siblings. may you never doubt my love for you, your heavenly father's love for you or your father's and family's love for you. i greatly await a lifetime of loving, fun, hillarious, off-balanced memories from you. i love you, my baby boy, BRADEN.

here are some videos of Braden and his determined and focused daily habits and accomplishments!!! my brilliant boy!

because if we teach them young....

ok, so last night i was feeling really sick and thought for a moment that i'd skip reading the scriptures for just this one night. as i was mentally weighing the decision out in my head, my oldest son reached for the book of mormon (the book we are studying) plops it in my lap and says "ready mom?" i hesitated nearly half a moment and replied "of course!"
We read in the book of Alma. As our routine goes, at the end of each chapter we discuss what the lesson is, or rather, why the prophets of old felt it needful for us to read it. Chapter 4 was about when the Nephites were growing prideful and felt they were better than the others. because of the pride in their hearts, they lost sight of the things of God and started to hunger for the things of the world. i asked my two boys, ages nine and ten,

"If someone offered you all the things in the world that you want right now, would you trade your testimony and membership in the church for it?"

the reply was instant.

"NO! NEVER!"

Collier shouted, followed by his younger brother Austin,

"Not on your life!"

Collier tells me then that he hopes he is never that foolish where he would trade his testimony or membership for anything that would only make him happy for a little while on earth!!

Now the truth of it is, that this little conversation was music to my ears. Will they ever falter? yes, probably at some point, but they will have had a strong rememberence of a foundation of their Savior, Jesus Christ to fall back on. And they are learning at such an early age that that is the safest foundation to build on and fall on.

Because if we teach them young, they will learn to build their own relationships with their Heavenly Father, they will love their Savior, Jesus Christ and they will stand tall and confident in a crumbling world where happiness is forgotten. but if we teach them young...they will know what true happiness is and how to get and make it last, and share it with others!!!

thank you boys for the reminder!!!