The Holidays Are OVER!

I usually think January can kind of be a depressing time, the holidays are over, and winter has set in.  This January has been completely cold and the smog has been irritating  and Jake started school again two weeks ago.  2013 has just begun and I'm already stressing out about being cooped up with the kids all day.  Max is having a hard time with not going outside, because of the cold and the pollution, so he's been acting up a lot! Max's way of getting attention is by acting out physically, hitting me and Dexter has become one of his favorite past times, but yet he never gets away with it so I don't understand the interest in doing it.  

I can continue to count all the things I'm not looking forward to this month, but every new year sometimes forces you to act a little better and try a little harder to be happy.  So I'm going to count my blessings, starting with health.  Max got a really bad cold last week.  He is fairly easy to handle when he is sick, but he is prone to getting an ear infection, and since he turned 2 he hastes taking medicine, so it's never fun to force him to take his antibiotics.  I was worried he had an ear infection on New Years day.  We switched insurances for Max and his new medical card hadn't arrived and I was worried that we didn't send the right paper work in which means his insurance would be on hold.  I told Jake that we probably wouldn't be able to take him to the doctor if he got worse for a few days until the insurance was all cleared up, so I asked him to give him a Father's blessing.  Max hadn't received one since he was sick in the NICU at birth. He was kind of confused but I'm grateful that Jake was able to do so.  Max was better the next day and we didn't have to take him to the doctor, and the insurance information was cleared up by January 3rd and I eventually received their medical cards.  Then  Dex got sick and I had to take him to the pediatrician that Friday.  I hate seeing him sick cause for a 5 month old there's not much we can do for him, The doc said that he is on the verge of having RSV, but that we should keep cleaning out his nose and trying to keep everything clear, but luckily tonight I believe he is starting to feel better.  So we are totally blessed for the ability to overcome these colds that have sneaked their way into our home.  

Our stake gave us a challenge today to read the entire Book of Mormon by may 30th.  I leaned over and told Jake that we don't have to rush since we are already half way through.  (Max and I started reading it last semester while Jake was at class and after Dexter had gone to bed).  but Jake said we should probably try to read it independently.  I was shocked to hear him suggest such a goal.  Jake hardly ever has the time or motivation to do anything privately like that.  But we will see how things go.  

Hopefully this year is off to a good foot.  I'm trying to be more positive, especially with Max, he knows how to push my buttons.  But I need to be patient with him.  He started Primary today, and has been having a really rough time with it.  I feel like if I didn't have a primary calling then he might be okay if I wasn't in the room but I think it's promoting his poor behavior while we are there.