Mother's Day 2013

We were going to be in Kauai over the real Mother's Day, so the sunday prior we celebrated as a family, and I was properly spoiled.  We went to a 9am ward so we could head down to AF canyon for the afternoon and evening.  Being my daughter, Rowen slept through church... naturally.  (PERK to living with John's family, we could leave her in bed!)  The kids gave me cute cards and a bouquet each as well as 3 candy bars.  What can I say, they know the way to my heart.

We headed down to the canyon and hiked for a bit.  It was our first time taking Koda, and the first time that Rowen could participate in our favorite family activity!  They both loved every minute, Koda is like a true mountain dog and was in heaven. Rowen wished she could keep up with the boys and Koda's hiking and would yell at me to take her higher up the mountain.  She thought throwing rocks, playing in dirt and eating sticky smores was the best thing that ever happened to her.

It was probably my favorite Mother's Day yet.  I'm sure lucky.

 

 

December in a glance, Part One

We took a trip out as a family get the kids Christmas jammies at the first of the month. I don't think I ever thought I would be the mom who loved this kind of cheesy stuff...

We attended Christmas in the Village at Boston's preschool, where the kids saw Santa. Boston wanted a basketball and apparently Naomi did too.

We assembled our neighbor gifts and rode around the block in the van while the kids delivered them door-to-door. They loved it.

My parents came to town for Rowen's baby blessing. Our family and friends came out to support us and have brunch at our house afterwards. I love my babies blessing days. People taking the time to be there for you always makes me feel so richly blessed. Thank you everyone for coming.

John of course gave Rowen a beautiful blessing. He always does. The special thing about my third baby, is that I feel so much more mellow this time around. In the past I have always been so stressed out about days like this - what if she barfs on her dress, what if she barfs on my dress, what if she cries during the whole blessing, what if no one comes, what if I don't have enough food, what if what if what if???? Not this time. No stress, no worries, no concerns. I think it rubs off on her too, she is mellow and a go-with-the flow kind of baby. So in some ways while 3 is really kicking our butts, I also feel like as far as taking care of just the baby, I got this.

This is just the first half of the month!

A letter to my 2011 self.

In January: You sold your house. Congratulations. You will stress for months, maybe years to come about how much *&^% money you lost, but it's ok, you don't know it yet, but you get to build a home you are going to love! You move in with your in-laws. It's not too exciting, but you will love living stress/burden free. You don't realize how much weight home ownership has until you are homeless. It's sort of awesome. You are potty training Boston. It sucks. Big time. But don't worry - he does figure it out. Eventually. Oh, and you get pregnant this month - but you won't know this for a while.

In February: You are miserably sick. You have a cold that has lasted 6+ weeks. You get pink eye. Then you get pink eye again. You spend time house hunting with John and find your home builder and choose a lot in Pleasant Grove. You are excited about this house, and you think that the stress of it all is what's making you sick... turns out there is a far better explanation, but you have no idea that you are in for the surprise of your freakin' life.

In March: It was a rough month. You blogged once. You are sick and lame. You find out you are pregnant. It's the craziest night of your life - no lie. For days - maybe weeks, when nobody knows but you and John, every time you see each other you share a knowing smile. You are terrified and thrilled. Oh, and sick.

In April: You share the good news. You emerge from the first trimester coma. Your house is officially under construction and making good progress, so you start making weekly trips to visit it. You will start getting antsy to move out. Calm down... remember how much moving sucks.

In May: It's a busy month. You have your birthday and Mother's Day. You go to Vegas with John, Nick and Ang. Then you come home and go to Florida to go to Disney world. You never blogged about it. You will regret that. You are feeling pretty good these days, but not as good as your second trimester last time. It's sort of a bummer. Your house is seriously almost done and it's crazy. You can.not.wait. You find out you are having a healthy baby girl.

In June: You close on your new house. John is commuting now from PG to Centerville, so you are unpacking, while still potty training (seriously Boss, wtf), while pregnant - ALONE. It'sreally not fun and pure chaos, but you are so happy to be in your new house. John has no time to help on the inside, but somehow he manages to oversee the landscaping that seems to happen overnight. Hmmm, still wondering how that worked?? You also celebrate your 6th wedding anniversary this month, your best yet.

In July: You are officially in your new home, dealing with all the stupid issues that come with new construction. You would rather forget this long, hot, husband-less month. Your kids will eat a lot of "pos-ca-pels". But, your parents and Landon do come for a fun visit, and you settle in Utah County life pretty comfortably. The neighbors are fantastic, the Alpine Loop becomes a weekly drive, and spending the 4th of July at Sundance becomes a new tradition. You buy and LOVE a new Honda Odyssey.

In August: You guys take a fun trip to California, and discover the best place on earth, Lahontan in Tahoe. It's a really fun trip, a last hoorah as a family of 5. You get put on bed rest when you get home. You spend a lot of time in bed or in your glider watching your kids play out front with their babysitter. You try to enjoy the chance to rest, seeing as how it's been a tough pregnancy, but it's hard. No one wants to lay flat for weeks on end.

In September: You get freedom from bed rest! It sends you into full blown crazy nesting mode, and you take on WAY too many projects to get done before the baby arrives. You hang wainscoting in the entry, dining room, and down the hall. You refinish a huge bunk bed. You paint stripes in Boston and Naomi's new combined room, you move the guest room office. You almost croak. Your ankles and calves swell to thrice their usual size. You get family/maternity photos taken by Jen Herem, and you love them. You also potty trained Naomi. Cake compared to Boston.

In October: You get in a car accident in the new van. It sucks, especially because it is 3 days before your scheduled C-Section. You give birth to the beautiful Rowen Faye. She is a heaven sent dream. It's all so wonderful you forget you swore this was your last pregnancy, and think you want to do it one more time. Your mom stays with you for 10 glorious days, while you recover (wonderfully, bytheway) you cry when the shuttle comes to take her to the airport. The first week on your own is pretty smooth sailing, but it's short lived. Shi* will hit the fan next month. But it's ok, you all survive.

In November: That sweet "baby high" isgreat while it lasts, but when it ends, you (and John) really hit a wall. You are both tired. The older kids are getting stir crazy now that it's cold, and Rowen is keeping you up at night. You get mastitis. By the end of the month, things will improve. You discover Rowen is a tummy sleeper, has acid reflux, and settle a little into a routine.

In December: Some things continue to get better - like Rowen's night time sleeping habits, while others get harder, like how to go anywhere or get anything done with all 3 kids. You do all your Christmas shopping online. You bless Rowen this month, and get a few date nights (with Rowen), but are happy to get out of the house and find some sitters in the neighborhood! Christmas is great, but John hates you for buying Naomi a kitchen that takes him hours to assemble Christmas eve night. You strike up controversy on facebook by posting anti-santa sentiments. The Grease Monkey and Gorilla Wash opened in Lehi. John is busier than ever, but at least he is close by. You look back on the year and can't believe how much life has changed in the last 12 months.

So Michele, it was quite a year. You did a lot, it flew by, you built a house and had a baby. It was a fantastic time in your life, it's even more obvious now that you are looking back at all of it. If you don't remember, one of your goals for the year was to slow down and enjoy your kids more. I don't think I would say you entirely succeeded, but given the circumstances, you didn't fail either. So let's shoot for that goal again in 2012. Your Christmas card from not one, but BOTH of your grandma's said that you would look back at this time and remember them as the "best days of your life". You know it's true, so slow down. Relish Rowen's infancy, laugh at Naomi's sass, appreciate Boston's stubborn independence. Do it in 2012. Make it the best year of your life.

P.S. You were kind of the worst blogger ever this year. Work on that too. And the worst at taking photos. Cell photo photo's won't cut it in 2012. Get on it.

Full of good intentions

I love the new year. It's coming at a perfect post-partum time for me this year. I'm feeling ready to take on some projects and get things back in order after letting pretty much everything slide for the last 3 months. Ok, more like the last 6 or 7, but let's pretend it's more like 3.

I have quite the list of resolutions this year. I'm feeling ambitious, but I have to aim high so that when I fall short, it's not a complete failure. And, most of my resolutions are broken down into fairly manageable schedules - so it should make it easier for me to try and stay on track. So I guess you could say the theme of 2012 for me is "a place for everything, and everything in it's place."

I adapted this 52 weeks of home organization projects to work for me and my home. I changed some of the projects, changed some of the order in which to do them, and printed a copy of my schedule. I'm taping it inside my cupboard in the kitchen, next to...

This cleaning schedule, also adapted to fit my home and lifestyle. Different days of the week worked better for me - so I changed a few things, but I think this type of daily system will work better for me than trying to clean my whole house in one day. That has not happened once since we moved to this house.

I'm planning to try the "Picture A Day" method. I mentioned how poor Rowen has fewer photos taken of her than my other children at this age, by a long shot, so this is my attempt to change that. I also got Photoshop Cs5 for Christmas this year, so if I take my camera out more, I'll take more photos, and thus put my software to good use. It's all part of a much bigger goal of mine to be a better photographer. Not a professional, just good. I am going to work on just taking pictures of my life. The way it is.

So cheers to a wonderful 2011, crossing my fingers for a 2012 that can even compare.

December - Part Two - Christmas 2012

We bundled up our babe a lot this month to be out and about. Thank heavens for online shopping though, Amazon.com delivered all our Christmas gifts this month.

Boston had a Polar Express Christmas party at school. He got to wear his cute Christmas jammies and came home with his bell and train ticket. He also came home with a cookbook of recipes from his classmates. How melt-your-heart cute it this?

The Grease Monkey and Gorilla Wash in Lehi opened, finally. John has been working so unbelievably hard on this, so to have it come to fruition was exciting. It's impressive, if you haven't been yet, you really should check it out. John gave out free car washes for 2 days to get some traffic through and let people know we were open. He washed 1700 cars in those 2 days. We are hopeful the store will take off quickly!

Speaking of cute, Rowen started giving out the big smiles this month, just in time for Christmas.

And then there was Christmas. It was our first time staying home. It was lovely. Waking up in our own bed, setting up gifts and everything in our own house the night before, all the presents under our tree, and breakfast together. Our Sacrament meeting was beautiful too. I made breakfast the night before. We woke up, the kids saw their bigger unwrapped gift, we ate breakfast and went to church. After church we opened all the gifts under the tree and the kids played all day. John and I took turns napping and it was a beautiful day.

Thankful

I'm thankful for my neighbors. My fireplace that is always lit. My 2 older children who are getting good at fending for themselves. My baby that is giving me long stretches of sleep at night. A husband that makes me breakfast, works hard all day, comes home and makes dinner, and never complains about the mess and dirty laundry. A steady paycheck. I'm thankful to have my van back from the auto shop. For kids who will sleep in the car. Diet coke. Ibuprofen. C-Sections. I'm thankful for antibiotics and modern medicine. For Country music - in the kitchen - with my family while we all sing along. For parents who come to visit us. And do our laundry and our dishes. For amazon.com for providing 99% of my Christmas shopping, with free shipping to boot. Kettle corn. Slippers. My glider. For long phone conversations with my sisters. Unlimited minutes and free long distance. The easiest calling in the ward. Date night. Rowen's smiles. Rowen's coo's. Rowen's everything. Fall/Winter weather. Boots and sweaters. Hot baths. Naomi's singing. Naomi's "dance moves". Homemade rolls. Pinterest. Boston's love of school and his letters and nursery rhymes. Boston's "Pledge of Allegiance". The way he say "indibisible". The way Naomi says "bix" instead of "fix". That the baby weight came off without effort, even if I will never wear a swim suit again. For nursing. For a great pediatrician. Our cul-de-sac. The loft playroom. For beautiful photos. For feeling overwhelmed, but in the best way possible. And being happy. I'm really thankful that I'm happy.

Finally Fall

I felt (surprisingly, shockingly) up for some outings 2 weeks after Rowen's birth. Have I already told you how amazing C-Sections are?? Anyway, we took the kids to Cornbelly's and Thankgiving Point and out to pick pumpkins. The kids were loving all the fall festivities and could.not.wait for Halloween.

A New Tradition!

One thing we are loving about living in Utah county, is the proximity to the mountains - Alpine Loop, American Fork Canyon, Sundance etc. We spent The 4th of July at Sundance and that is where you will find us every year from here on out.