Thursday, March 24, 2011

Gramma Sue

Its weird how life is sometimes. One moment everything seems fine and wonderful and then the next thing you know something drastic happens. My sweet mother-in-law (Nathan's step mom) passed away unexpectedly early this morning from sepsis (she had the flu which turned into pneumonia and then sepsis-blood poisoning). We got the news that she was in the ICU yesterday morning/afternoon and that things didn't look good. We were all praying for a miracle to happen but unfortunately (for us left here on earth) Heavenly Father had a different plan for her. I'm glad that she isn't in pain or suffering anymore and that she gets to be reunited with her mom and dad (and puppies), but it's still hard. I've had family pass away before so this isn't new for me but for some reason I'm really having a hard time this time. Part of it is most likely because it was so unexpected and that she was young, but I think the main reason was we had a pretty close relationship. It is hard to loose someone you are close to. Sue not only was my mother-in-law but she was my friend. From the first time I met her she was nothing but sweet, caring, and very generous towards me. It was easy for me to love her. The thing I admired most about Sue was how thoughtful and caring she was. I swear every time I was out shopping with her she would find something that reminded her of someone and had to buy it and send/give it to them. She was always working on a craft project to give away to someone. Whenever we got gifts/packages you could always tell that she put a lot of thought into her gifts (often times it was themed).


Layne and Sue were always very generous to us. Some of the big things were flying Nate and I to California so Nate could be at his best friend's wedding. If it wasn't for them Nate wouldn't have been there because at the time we were poor college students and couldn't afford it. Layne and Sue also helped us buy our first car. Layne and Sue helped me move from Utah to Maryland. They packed up all our stuff in the back of their toy hauler and drove me all the way to Maryland and helped unpack. That was probably one of the best vacations I've ever had! They also helped us on our last leg moving from Maryland to California. And these are just a few of the many generous things they have done for us.


One of the perks of having Sue visit was often times she would end up doing a project to decorate my house (often time curtains or valances but she also did pillows and bench seats for the playroom). I must have learned something during all this because I actually tried my hand at making Blair's valences myself instead of waiting for Sue to do it for me.


One thing I wish I would have learned from Sue was quilting. It was something I was planning on learning from her but unfortunately never got around to.

I love you Sue! I know you are in a better place. Thanks for being such a wonderful mother-in-law, gramma, and friend. We will definitely miss you.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Finished projects for Blair's room

I finally finished a couple projects for Blair's bedroom. I definitely saved a lot of money by making my own decorations than if I was to buy them off the Internet. I first made heart shaped fleece decorative pillows. They didn't have these on the Internet but I thought they were cute and had to make them. They did have decorative pillows on the website for $18 each but I made mine for less than $3 each. I also made Blair's name out of wooden letters. On the website they wanted $20 for each letter! That would have been $100 for Blair's name. Granted they were hand painted but still. I thought about painting mine but took the easy way out and pod podged material on the wooden letters. Blair's whole name cost me less than $20.


This is what the website letters looked like. I think mine look similar enough. I really didn't like the bottom white so I"m glad I did my own.
I also made some valences for her window. The website wanted $17 for each valence (which I would have needed 2 for a total of $34). I was able to make both of mine for less than $10. Plus I like my valences better than theirs. We had to put a board in her window to hang the blinds so I think the loops on the website valences would have looked funny hanging in Blair's window.


The lighting isn't very good in the top pic so here is an up close look of the valences I made.



This is a picture of the websites valences. They are cute but like I said I don't think it would have looked good in her window.

I painted some picture frames to match the colors in her room. I still need to put some pictures in them. Hopefully I will get that project done soon. I already had the picture frames and paint so that project didn't cost me anything!
I also made a bulletin board for her room. I basically copied the one off the website only mine was a lot cheaper! They wanted $25 but I was able to make mine for less than $8. I already had the board from the bulletin board that was made for Easton's room so that definitely saved me some money.




I think I like the websites bulletin board a little more than mine but I'm still happy with the one I made.

Here's a couple far away pictures to see what her whole room looks like right now. Easton and Blair stole the pillows off the bed as I was taking pictures but you get the idea.



These wall hangings are from the website and I still have materials left over so I might try my hand at making these as well. We'll have to see though.

I still want to paint at least one wall in Blair's room but I still haven't decided yet what I want to do so for now all the walls are white.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Easton's piggy bank

Friday afternoon during Easton's quiet time I hear him playing with his piggy bank. I go to the playroom to see what he is doing and to take his bank away since I don't like coins around the house where Blair can get them.
Me: "Easton why do you have your bank?"
Easton: "Because I need to give Ms. Valerie and Ms. Laurie money." (preschool teachers)
Me: "Why do you need to give Ms. Valerie and Ms. Laurie money?"
Easton: "Because I need to give them money."
Me: "I don't think you need to give them money. Let's put your bank away so that Blair doesn't put any coins in her mouth."
Easton of course starts crying and throws a fit.

Fast forward to today...I finally remember that I need to give his preschool teachers $5 for Easton's up coming field trip (it's technically not due until Friday but since it was on my mind I figured I better pay it today). I hand Easton the money and tell him to give it to Ms. Valerie or Ms. Laurie. He walks into the door and excitedly hands Ms. Laurie the money and says, "I have $5 for the field trip!" Ms. Laurie starts laughing and then tells me a what happened on Monday.

Ms. Valerie and Ms. Laurie told the kids about the field trip and to remind their parents that they needed $5 for the field trip. Easton then told his teachers, "I got it covered, I have a piggy bank! But my mom said, no."

Haha, that explains everything! Such a funny kid. I can't believe that he wanted to pay with his own money. They would have been a little confused when he only showed up with about 25 cents.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Afternoon at the Park

Last Saturday we decided to take the kids to the park to play some sport activities. Easton mainly wanted to play football with dad. He had fun chasing and tackling Nathan. My favorite part of the day was when Easton kept saying, "push me down dad!" Nathan complied a couple of times and Easton just laughed, got up and tackled Nathan. It was pretty cute to watch the two of them play.


Chasing after daddy.


Right on his heels.


Going in for the tackle.

Stealing the football from dad.

Video of Easton and Nathan:





Blair wanted in on some of the action so she played catch with daddy.


Easton and Blair playing soccer while Nathan played handball.


Blair enjoying the swings at the park.




Okay random pregnancy pic...I generally like to take a belly pic every 4 weeks starting at 20 weeks but for some reason I kept forgetting/putting off week 24. Week 24 came and went and then week 25 came and went. I finally remembered to take a picture in week 26 (26 1/2 weeks). Hopefully I will do better with the rest of the pics. I got my 1 hour glucose testing done yesterday and thankfully I passed!


26 1/2 weeks

I'm currently 27 weeks along and feel huge already. I can't believe that I have 13 (probably more) weeks left. I'm guessing I will be about as big (maybe bigger) with this one as I was with Easton. I guess boys just do that to me. Aahhh! Luckily the pain on my lower right back/butt/leg seems to have gone away this week and I'm actually sleeping pretty good these days. I was so miserable for the last 2 weeks that I wasn't sure how anyone in our house was going to make it through the last trimester since I was already miserable in the second trimester. I just hope that things stay how they are right now. That is until the last couple weeks of pregnancy because well we all know those last couple are hard.

Happy 29th Birthday Handsome!

Nathan turned 29 on the 10th. We didn't do much for his birthday celebration since it was Thursday and he had to work but I think he still had a good birthday. He wanted steak for his birthday and we had talked about going to a steak house without the kids but I decided to make him a steak dinner instead (well, Nathan actually BBQ it on the grill but I did all the prep work). I didn't get any pics of his dinner which is sad since it took me a long time to make. It sure tasted really good though. I was definitely pleasantly surprised since everything I made was a new recipe. It always makes me nervous to try something new but everything seemed to turn out perfect. Marinated steak with seasoned home-style fries, asparagus, lime cilantro rice with pineapple (this was really good), and horn buttered rolls. For dessert I made salted caramel cupcakes. I was a little disappointed in the texture of the frosting but it still tasted good. The kids and I got him a wii fit. I'm pretty sure he liked his gift since he let the kids stay up an hour past their bedtime to try it out with him. Happy Birthday Handsome! Hope you had a good one! Enjoy your last year being 20 something!

Up close pic of salted caramel cupcake.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Kids Gone Wild

We took the kids to a bounce house play place last night for our FHE activity. Easton and Blair seemed to have a lot of fun. I think Easton would have had more fun if there were more kids to play with, but he still had fun with Dad and Blair.




First stop was the toddler area:


Blair really liked this rocking elephant.

Easton even had fun in this area.


Blair checking out the slide.

Easton going down the slide.


Next stop: All the bouncy houses.


Huge slide off to the left and train station.


Easton and Dad sliding together.
I'm not sure what Nathan is doing in this picture but I still like the picture.

Easton posing at the bottom of the slide for me.

I'm kind of sad because all of my videos are really dark and hard to see. They are a little dark on my camera when I view them on there but I can still see them pretty well.

Video of Easton sliding:


Video of Blair sliding:


Video of Nathan and Blair sliding down together:




Video of Easton in the train station playhouse:




Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.


Dora bounce house and blow up basketball hoops.


In the Dora bounce house.


Easton and Dad playing monsters.


Video of Nate playing basketball:



Nathan and I had a basketball competition. We tied the first game and I won by one the second game.

Kids

I think it is interesting that a couple of my friends recently have blogged about the frustrations they have been having recently with motherhood. I feel for them because most of my days recently have been filled with those same frustrations (hence the reason I haven't blogged much about my kids recently). I don't know why but for some reason I don't generally write about the "bad" times on my blog. It's not that I want others to think that I have a perfect life because well we all know that no one has a perfect life (remember my last zoo outing?) Well, I've had a three year old scream at the top of his lungs at me almost everyday several times a day since then and his sister is starting to pick up on it now. It's great...Anyways, I guess I mainly like to focus on the good (with a little of the bad-to keep it real) because that is what makes me happy and that is what I want to remember when I get old and gray. I don't know about others but when I focus and dwell on the bad I feel down and depressed and sometimes angry and it can be hard to get out of that trap. I hate feeling that way and I find the only way to get out of those moments are to look for the good (often times that is easier said than done). Well, this last month has been really hard, especially with Nathan working long hours (on average 13 hours a day 6 times a week) so the last couple of days I have been trying to find the positive things my kids are doing.

Easton:
I gave a lesson on the Holy Ghost a few weeks ago during FHE and I'm wondering if he got a lesson on it at church a while ago too because recently he will come up to you and say, "I want to tell you the spirit." This means he will whisper something in your ear. I love moments like this where you know he is learning/paying attention to some things you are trying to teach.

Easton is such a smart kid. He seems to pick things up quickly and remembers them well. He gets this from his dad. I'm not sure if I wrote about this or not but last month in sacrament meeting all the primary kids got up and sang a song. Easton knew almost the entire song (3 verses) and it was a song that I have never heard before (I guess they got it out of the friend) so he had only heard and practiced it at church a few times. I was amazed and so was a couple of people from our ward. We have been working on the articles of faith with Easton (one a month) and I swear he pretty much has them memorized within the first week of learning them. Yesterday my visiting teacher asked me if I work with Easton with the primary songs because he picks them up so quickly. I told her we've been working on the articles of faith but most of the time he won't tell me what he sings in primary. He often tells me that he can't remember but I've noticed that he is just being stubborn. If I keep asking him he'll eventually give me hints as to what he sang.

Easton is really into telling stories recently. It is pretty funny and cute to hear the things he comes up with. He has quite the imagination. Most of the stories have to do with animals eating or killing each other which is a little weird (maybe it's a boy thing) but when an ostrich eats a crocodile, it's a little funny. Along with telling stories, Easton has to make sure that you are paying attention so I swear almost every other word that comes out of his mouth is your name. It can get a little annoying when it's you but anytime he does it to Nathan it just makes me laugh.

I have no idea where Easton got this but most of the time when he answers yes to something it is hardly ever a yes. It is generally, "ya, ya!" It reminds me of that boy off of Sandlot.

Easton now refers to Blair as sister. "Sister, come play with me." "Sister, can you share with me?" I'm not sure where he picked this up but I'm wondering if he got it from watching the Bernstein bears a couple times last month.

I keeping kicking myself because I keep forgetting all the funny things that Easton has been saying recently. Being pregnant must do this to me. If I don't write it down right when it happens I completely forget what it was. These aren't the best quotes from Easton but they still got a laugh out of me.

"Can I have a different soda? One that doesn't have any bubbles?"

I overheard Easton talking to Nathan.
Easton: "Do you know what a pirate cat says Dad?"
Nathan: "No, what?"
Easton: "meowwww argh!"
Yes, I admit that makes sense and it probably isn't that funny, but it was so random that I couldn't stop laughing. Who talks about pirate cats?


The picture above of Easton is after he threw a huge fit for about a half hour because he didn't want to leave the park. We walked home with him screaming at me the whole way and then continued until Blair gave him his freshly washed blanket and he finally gave up and feel asleep next to the door. Okay, not the most positive thing but he did take a nap and those don't happen very often these days so in a way it became a positive thing.

Blair:
Blair is really starting to take off with her words. It is cute to finally hear her talk (even though Easton tells me that she can't talk). With the good comes the bad and she is often heard bossing someone around. During these times though you really can't understand what she is saying. I think it's because she has so much to say and can't figure out how to say it fast enough. It makes me laugh most of the time when she does it to Easton. I try really hard not to laugh (keep it in or turn my head so she can't see me smiling) because I know I shouldn't encourage this behavior but sometimes it is just too funny. I think her vocabulary is really starting to take off because she is finally starting to like to read books and will sit long enough to read very short books.

Blair LOVES nursery. Right now she is the only girl with about five boys and I'm told often that she is very motherly to all the boys. I take this as her being bossy but they assure me that she makes sure that they are where they are supposed to be and doing what they should be doing. The nursery leaders say that she loves singing time and knows all the words and actions to all the songs. They love watching her get into the songs. Lots of people comment on how much they love watching Blair in sacrament meeting during the songs because she will just belt out in song and loves to lead along with the chorister. It is cute but a little embarrassing because she is just so loud! Sometimes I swear Easton and Blair have a competition with each other who can sing louder (which can be embarrassing because neither of them know the words!)

Blair refers to herself as "Bair, Bear" now. It makes me smile every time she says it. It is just so dang cute!

Blair is finally coming around and using her manners. She's pretty good at saying please (meese) and thank you (dank do) which is always exciting but what I'm really excited about is recently when she asks for things she is saying it nice and polite. Before she would just come up to me and scream and demand something over and over until she got it. It would drive me nuts. She had no patience what so ever. I've been working with her but the best I could get from her was a scream and demand over and over followed by a sweet little "meese" after. I thought this was the best we were going to get from her but surprisingly the last couple of days she has come up to me in her sweet soft voice and said, "Wawa, meese."

I love hearing Blair say words that end with K (milk or snack) because she drags the K sound and it sounds like she is gargling or in a weird way speaking German. It is just funny to hear.


I've been having fun with Blair's hair recently. It is finally getting long enough to do some fun things to it and she is actually sitting still long enough for me to experiment. Just a couple of pics of the last two hair styles I've done.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Beginning of Blair's room...

I finally got Blair's new bedding in the mail today! It cost a little more than I wanted to pay but I couldn't find anything in local stores that I liked. All I could find was Disney themed (princess and Tinkerbell) bedding-which I didn't want. I'm thinking of doing a day bed look for her room but I haven't officially decided yet. I'm still playing around but it came about an hour before her nap so I didn't have much time to play. Hopefully I can find the same kind of material (micro-suede) at the craft store since i have a few projects I would like to try my hands at (valances, bulletin board, letters for her name, etc). I could have ordered all those things but I figured I could make them a lot cheaper-we shall see... I also need to figure out what to do about paint. Easton came home from preschool and told me I had to paint Blair's room right now. Such a funny kid. I'm sure it will take a while to complete her room but I'm excited to get started.




Blair loves her new bedding.