Design on a Dime

We're back! Something about coming back from a long trip and having a lot of photos to catalog makes me not want to blog. Too much to write! Instead of doing what I should, I'm going to procrastinate by showing you my latest project. If you've ever seen that show on HGTV called "Design on a Dime" you may be like me and think "$1000! I could do SO much more with that!" They build TV cabinets for $200 and I usually find myself thinking "I could totally get something nicer on craigslist for that amount of money." Anyways, for the next two weeks I plan to do a "design on a dime," emphasis being on the dime. I saw this bedroom featured recently on HGTV.com (can you tell I wish I had cable sometimes?) and I'm kind of in love with it. I love color, so it kind of took me by surprise, but I thought it would look great in our guest room. Seeing as how we will have guests in 2 weeks, I decided to go for it and try to get the majority of it done before they arrive. Crazy? Most certainly. I'll be lucky if I get even close, but this will be good motivation nonetheless. So here's the before picture. It kind of reminds me of those makeover pictures where they have the person in bad lighting, with no makeup, drooling- anything to make it look like they can go no where but up. Sure I could have put the luggage away, but considering what little time I have, I need to be able to make this room as ugly as possible so it will look like I've done a lot by the time 2 weeks are up.


And the dream room- I won't even come close, but this is the desired effect anyways.




Wish me luck!

The Storm Before the Calm

We are in the midst of a flurry of activity to try and wrap up the school semester and get ready to go out to Utah. We are all so excited to go and hope that we can avoid any sickness on this trip. Baby N is just wrapping up with her double ear infection, so hopefully we have filled our spring sickness quota. Mother's Day was a little sad this year. S and #1 went on the Father-Son campout and I had grand illusions of getting the whole house clean and relaxing the following day. Too bad baby N didn't get that memo. I guess it's ironic that on Mother's Day I discovered how much I depend on S to be able to get things done.

When the boys returned, neither one of them was very happy. They had a good time the first day, but by the second day #1 was bored with Dad and wanted a playmate. There were tons of kids running around and he wanted to join them, but since it was a stake activity he was a little apprehensive since he didn't know that many. Most were still enjoying their dads at this point anyways. #1 has been suffering a little bit since his best friend moved away and admittedly I have too.

On Sunday I found myself reflecting on where I am as a mother. #1 is getting to a point where I feel I need to be more aware and deliberate in my parenting style. The first two years of a child's life seem straight forward in that most answers seem readily available. Dirty diaper? Change it. Sleepy? Put them to bed. Hungry? Feed them. There are exceptions to that, but there is a simplicity in the earlier years. #1 is becoming increasingly more complicated and I find us in a battle of wills quite often. I'm grateful for his independence, but it is started to clash more and more with what needs to be done. S and I had a discussion that night about how it is difficult to give a child his or her agency while directing them to make the right decision at the same time. When I need #1 to do a medial task, like brushing his teeth, I struggle to know how I can avoid conflict, give agency, and yet keep my child's teeth from falling out from neglect. It's a difficult balance and one that I'm encountering more and more as he grows up. I find that when I let myself get upset with #1, the situation escalates pretty quickly.

While trying to find a gospel-based approach to my parenting predicament, I discovered one of my college textbooks (Strengthening Our Families- An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family) to be really helpful. I'm still reading, but I like the idea of how helping a child make righteous decisions cannot be accomplished through harsh means. I also liked how it points out how the scripture D&C 121:43-44 states "reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death". I don't know about you, but I don't feel the spirit very often when I am disciplining my child. I feel encouraged anyways and hope I can become more positive in my parenting. I'm learning just as much as #1 is, it seems. Speaking of positive things, #1 and baby N are starting to get along famously. I love how they are beginning to interact- truly heartwarming.

Love these guys...

The things we do for love

We've been sick. Really sick. It all started on Thursday night. I woke up in the middle of the night and told S I wasn't feeling so good. The next day I felt even worse and it kept progressing until Sunday when I thought I saw a little light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately by then the whole family was sick. It didn't help that S was trying to finish up a big project at school so he wasn't really around much to help. But I thought I could manage. What at first appeared to be a cold made a turn for the worse when Sunday night #1 got out of bed and told me he wasn't feeling good and wanted to watch a movie. We put one on and then a little while later he proceeded to cover his blanket with what he ate for dinner. There wasn't really a cause for alarm as this seems to be #1's reaction everytime he gets sick. His stomach is the first to react. By Tuesday it seemed we were all turning a corner and starting to get better. Since we hadn't left the house since Saturday I suggested to S that he take #1 grocery shopping. Bad idea.

#1 started to complain to S that he wasn't feeling good. By the time they got home, #1's eye was swollen and goopy. Pink eye. I should say that we were kind of expecting this. We helped some friends move over the weekend and one of their kids had pink eye, croup, and a double ear infection. I was hoping that our good deed would somehow absolve us from getting ill, but apparently not. By then it was 6:45pm and the convenient care clinic closed at 8pm (how is that convenient?!). S still had to go to get a temple recommend interview and have some friends take his experiment for that big project he has been working on. So S took baby N with him to his appointments and I rushed to get ready to take #1 to the doctor. We didn't even have time to put groceries away. On the way to the doctor, #1 kept whimpering, but I didn't think much of it. He never has had a high level of pain tolerance. By the time we got to the clinic and I had stopped the car, he was hollering and wouldn't even step out. I picked him up and proceeded to carry him to the clinic. Big mistake. Never carry a sick child- don't do it. Make them crawl if you have to. #1 proceeded to throw up all over me the moment I picked him up. I was literally soaked in vomit. A kind woman who was passing by offered me two napkins from her car. I guess she didn't see the quantity of mess we were dealing with, but it was a nice gesture all the same. I was able to scrape off the major chunks at least.

So there I stood outside of the clinic with my child who was still vomiting. The clinic closed in 30 minutes. I didn't feel like I had a choice, so we went in, smelly and soaked. The receptionist who apparently didn't witness the typhoon we experienced outside seemed perplexed when I asked her for a garbage can. When she pointed to one that was twice the size of #1, I mentioned that this was so he could throw up into it. Her eyes widened and she ran back to the doctors' offices emerging with something the size of a petri dish. I guess she thought he had emptied out most of his stomach judging by my clothing. #1 was beyond consoling at this point and the entire waiting room was staring at us. One little boy in particular could not take his eyes off of #1. He kept whispering "sick, sick, SICK!" while #1 just watched him with the saddest look on his face. I really had to restrain myself from giving that kid additional reasons to see the doctor. We eventually got in and I was able to clean myself and #1 a little bit more in the examining room. The diagnosis- Pink eye and a double ear infection. #1 has never had an ear infection before so I was a little surprised, but he had been complaining that his throat hurt earlier.

We left the office and proceeded to Walgreens to pick up his prescription ($50?!?). As we waited, #1 tested the limits of his petri dish and then promptly fell asleep on the way home. I carried him in (guess I didn't learn my lesson after all), gave him a bath and put him in bed. Then I changed out of my clothes and put groceries away while I waited for S to come home. What a night! I would take a picture of my house to go along with this post, but I'm too embarrassed. I really feel like I live in a war zone right now. The worse part is I'm just waiting for baby N to get it too. Mom, I need you!!

You Spin Me Right Round...

I don't understand toddler logic.

#1 whining: "I don't know what candy I want so you get me a candy that I want!!"

My suggestion that perhaps he should have no candy didn't fly either. Go figure.

Baby N isn't much better. She's recently learned to roll over from her back to her tummy, but can't figure out how to roll back. She no longer is content to watch the world pass her by, but gets extremely frustrated at her inability to take action. I guess it's for the best because she hardly fits into her chair anymore (fitting into 9-12 month clothing now). #1 did the same when he was her age. Apparently I need to teach my kids to just be happy. I'll let you know how that goes...

Milestones

We finally got baby N laughing. She's does it a lot, and has been doing it for a while now, but stops once the camera comes out.



Here's some pictures that we will call "our Easter Best" since we didn't take pictures on Easter.


Okay, I know this is gross, but seriously this happens on a regular basis when I try to take pictures. Spew Monster.



#1 has mastered the bike (or trike). He's getting too big for this one, so I'll be on the lookout for an upgrade this summer.

Easter

This Easter was a little more relaxed than in years past. Luckily the Primary put on an Easter egg hunt, so i didn't have to go through the time and effort of putting on our own. I had good intentions of going to the dollar store in the morning prior to going to the Primary activity, but baby N was a bit of a beast during the night, so we slept in. As a result #1 hunted for eggs with his Halloween bucket- poor thing. He didn't care and honestly I didn't either, but I couldn't help but feel a little bit like white trash showing up with a green ghost bucket.


I kept wishing he would turn his bucket for the pictures to hide the "trick or treat", but it always was there, front and center, to remind me that I'm a negligent mother.

He got a load full!!

Baby N opted to enjoy the festivities from the stroller- it was COLD!


We also dyed eggs with our good friends for the first time. Egg painting hasn't been much of a priority in the past since the smell of hard-boiled eggs makes me want to throw up, but luckily this year I was able to withstand the nausea for the sake of holiday traditions. #1's friends happily enjoyed eating their eggs after dying them, but #1 passed on eating his creations. I guess I'm passing on my food aversions to him.

Hard-boiled eggs are gross

Gross, gross, gross

Yep, they're definitely gross





It's like becoming blood brothers- egg dye brothers!

Stained hands are a nice bonus.


Just chilling with her toys. Such a good baby!