Ehlana's Big Girl Bed

It was time for Ehlana to graduate from her toddler bed to a twin bed. I have been looking online and pricing things out for a while and then I got an email that someone at church had a twin bed and mattress set they wanted to give away. I thought even if I didn't like the bed at least I can use the mattress set and just donate the headboard. It turned out to be perfect. (After a couple coats of paint of course.) My mom is going to make a quilt for her but for now I used some bedding I already had. When her quilt is done then I want to get some bold fabric and change her window treatments and recover her toy box. I also need some more decor for the wall beside her bed but I haven't decided what yet. Ehlana is thrilled with her bed! And I am very lucky that this free bed turned out to be perfect for her!

Confessions of a Stay-At-Home-Mom

Do you ever wonder what a stay-at-home-mom does all day? Well, have you ever been a manager at work? Have you ever had an employee that didn't listen to you and you had to reteach them the same task over and over again? Have you ever asked them to do something and then had to redo it yourself? Well, that's pretty much what I do. Except I don't have employees, I have 3 children. And I teach them basic skills like how to walk, how to use a fork, how to use the toilet, how to put away their clothes, how to ask for something without screaming etc. I teach them something and then we practice it again and again and again until they can do it on their own. Oh, and I also do all the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, and laundry for 5 people. But, all the organizing, bathroom scrubbing, organic cooking, carpool driving, yada yada homemaking stuff is really about teaching my children how to become productive, socialized human beings. I love my job. I love days like today when I just stay at home and organize closets and help Jakob clean up his blocks and paint a head board for Ehlana's room. I actually like to clean. But, life as a mom isn't always easy and I certainly don't do everything right. And that can lead to guilt. I recently watched a TV show about "mommy confessions" I have to say I have been guilty of most of the them. Here are some of the things other mom's confessed to doing:

1. Forgetting to buckle their child's car seat
(One day when Jaxson was a toddler and Ehlana a newborn I was driving and as I came to a stop light Jaxson fell out of his car seat. Yup, I had totally forgot to buckle him. I freaked out as I pulled over.)

2. Throwing away birthday party invitations and not telling your kids about them
(My kids have come home excitedly holding a birthday invitation and if I don't know the kid or their family it usually goes in the trash and when they ask about it later I make up some excuse. I also have not put parties on my calendar and then completely forgot about them. Oops.)

3. Staying at home all day in your pajamas
(Is this really a confession? My kids love staying in their pajamas all day. One time I had a woman from church bring us dinner and my kids were in their pajamas. She said, "Oh no, are they sick?" Ummm, no. I'm just lazy today.)

4. Using diapers for yourself in an emergency
(It's true. I have heard two women confess this! I have not had to pee in a diaper myself, but I would if I had to!)

5. My personal confession.... Jaxson has a bed wetting problem and so there are mornings when he tells me he wet the bed and then in the craziness of the day I forget about it. That is until I am going to bed and there's nothing I can do about it at that point so he sleeps in a pee bed. It's disgusting I know. I'll put another dollar in his therapy jar.

A woman named Samantha Kemp wrote an article entitled 10 Things I am No Longer Ashamed to Admit (About Being a Mom) she said:

Motherhood is fraught with judgment: from friends, family, and most of all, ourselves. Moms–especially new ones–see every scraped knee as evidence we’re not living up to the title of “mother.” I have four kids, so I’m a parenting veteran of sorts, and I have a dirty little secret to share with all the parents trying to get it right.

Ready? Here it is: There is no “right.”

Being a mom is hard work. Parenting is hard work. Last night Steve and I stayed up late talking about a behavior issue with one of our children. We still don't really know what to do about it. But, we are trying. And praying to our Heavenly Father to help us know what to do.  There are so many little things that can bring us guilt, but really they don't matter. I pray that I can focus on the things that matter most and not be ashamed to admit the things I don't do as well as others. 

Look Who's Talking

Jakob has grown up so much this summer. He is almost 18 months old. Wow, it's gone by fast! His vocabulary has especially grown. He loves to copy what we say and yell commands to Jaxson and Ehlana. Some of his cutest sayings are:
"Bess You!" Whenever he sneezes
When you call for him he says, "What?!"
He counts, "Un, Tuu, Hee, Go!" (I know, I know my 1 year old is a genius because he can count to Hee.)
When he has anything that resembles a phone he holds it to his ear and says. "Hewoo? Yah, ok, bye."
When someone is leaving he says, "Bye! I uv ooo!
I finally got it on video. He doesn't always perform on demand but he's become quite the little parrot. (Especially when the kids are yelling NO! or STOP IT! at eachother.)

At 16 months old Jakob weighed 23 lbs and was in the 30% for height and weight. His favorite thing to do is eat. No one eats alone when Jakob is around. I can't do dishes or cook anything without him at my feet yelling, "BITE! Please! Mommy!" He will eat just about anything.  If he doesn't want to eat something I take a bite of it with a fork and then hand him the fork and he goes to town. His favorite food is fruit. He prefers it over anything else. He also loves that I have a garden outside and will steal tomatoes and beans when he can. The other day he picked himself a giant tomato that wasn't quite ripe and ate it like an apple. Yup, he LOVES to eat!

 Sometimes I wish I could freeze time because he's at such a fun stage. He's a climbing, running, fun loving, crazy haired, messy faced, little boy. And we love him to pieces.

Brothers

Back to Preschool

Ehlana had her first day of her second year of preschool. She was REALLY excited to go back and see her friends. She loves to play playdough, paint, sing, and play at the playground. She has grown up so much this summer. We love this little lady! 

Camping-ish

On Labor Day weekend we crashed the campsite of our dear friends, the Morgans. I was supposed to reserve our campsite at Mt Rainier months in advance but my procrastination got the best of me and a month before Labor Day everything was full. So we decided to meet them for a day-trip of camping. Which isn't really camping at all except you get dirty, cook everything on a fire, and only have disgusting public restrooms to use.

We have been friends with Kyle and Diane for almost 10 years. Diane and I met while working at Stan's Diner in Provo, UT. I hadn't met Steve yet and Diane's future husband was serving a mission in Taiwan. Her and I became instant friends along with our two other best friends, Eleanor and Mala. The four of us were all married within a year of each other and became married college students. Soon after all of us girls quit working at Stan's Diner and moved on to bigger and better things. The four of us couples were inseparable those few years at BYU. It was the best.  

The Girls

Mala, Eleanor, Me, and Diane. 

(I'm sorry I had to do this to you, Mala! It was the only picture I had of us all together.) 

The Boys

Steve, Kyle, Greg, and Kuni 

I told you we had the best times together!

Soon after Eleanor and Mala had beautiful baby boys. We were all very smitten with them. 

As it happens, most of us moved to other parts of the country and our lives have become busier. We don't see each other very often. But, Kyle and Diane have been the glue that holds us together and when they invited us to meet up with them we were very excited. It had been two years since we had last seen them and two and a half years since we stayed at their house and our kids had really played together. But, as it is with all great friends time and distance don't matter.  

Asher and Ehlana 

Jaxson, Asher, Ehlana and Evan

The twins are 2 years old 

 Jed-5 and Jaxson-6

Ehlana, Lyla, and Jed 

 Ehlana and Lyla are just 2 weeks apart 

Jakob loved playing in the dirt (and eating of course)

The men making the fire

We also went on a hike at Mt Rainier. It was challenging with all the kids and Jakob in a stroller but we made it all the way!

The kids were pretty tired. Ehlana complained a lot and poor Lyla had shoes that were hurting her feet.

Jaxson however was in his element. He ran ahead of us the whole time and wasn't tired at all. Crazy kid.

We had a great day. The weather was perfect, the kids loved being together, and Steve and I got to spend the day with our wonderful friends. Hopefully it won't be two years before we spend time together again!

Back to School 2012

Today Jaxson had his first day of first grade. It was wonderful. I think he liked it, too. A few days ago we had some friends over for a back to school fashion show and play date. The kids had a lot of fun walking the runway and posing in their new school clothes.

Ehlana

Kaden

Addie

Lea

Anna Kate

Zoe

Kennedi

Jaxson

Adria

This morning we woke up bright and early and I made rainbow waffles and blueberry smoothies for breakfast.

I am one of those people who loves pictures of kids lunch boxes. So here's Jaxson's FIRST school lunch EVER!
Whole wheat banana bread muffins with honey butter, (recipe here) hard boiled eggs, and fruit leather.

Standard back to school photo.

And then he got silly.

And then it was time to go. Instead of having a back to school night this year our school encouraged the parents to come to class with their child for the first hour of school today. I got to help Jaxson find his place in line, meet his teacher, and get settled at his desk. He came home off the bus happy but was pretty cranky when it came to answering my questions about how his day was. He had a slight melt down within 10 minutes of walking in the door. I think having a full day of school will be a little adjustment. But, he said he loves having two recesses and he later told me more about his friends and said his teacher is nice. I'd like to take a moment and thank her for entertaining my child for 7 hours today. It was lovely.