Category Archives: Everyday

Dreamy Room

When we first moved into our townhouse rental here in ND, I was hesitant to decorate. I knew it was a temporary place for us and I really didn’t want to spend the time unpacking, putting up, taking down, and repacking all the pictures and decor. Well, after a few months I got tired of the empty walls and lack of pretty spaces so I put things up. I still had a box or two of decorations for Ava’s room tucked away under seemingly everything in her closet, and figured that since she and Hyrum would be sharing the bedroom, a nice neutral would be just fine (meaning totally plain.) Eventually I did get out a purple bedspread to add some color, but it was definitely lacking in the pretty department.

Well the past few months Ava has been asking A LOT to put things up in her room. I feel bad for putting it off so long, I just really don’t like hanging things on walls and planning it all out (especially if it’s only temporary.) I think too much about it. Anyway, the other day I put off my to-do list, dug through those boxes deep in her closet, and pulled out all of her room decor. She was beyond excited. She awed as we put each simple thing up. When it was all up and the bedspread changed (and it really wasn’t a whole lot, but made it look so much better) she kept saying, “I just can’t get over my room! It’s just so beautiful!” and smiles every time she walks into it.

It was totally worth it. Even I wish I had such a light and pretty room!

Ava got this little picture of Jesus from her sunbeam teacher at church last year. She loves it. When she first got it, she took it everywhere with her, and even set it up on our table at a restaurant 🙂
Everything up so high so it doesn’t get taken down by little hands…and it could use a headboard…but it’s improvement!

Anyway, one of the decorations is this hanging shell wind chime which makes subtle calming clinks when the fan is on.

Hyrum and I have started a new routine of cuddling before his nap to help him fall asleep (nap time’s been a struggle lately…), and while I laid there next to him today with those little clinks in the background, I dozed off myself. Completely unintentionally, my mind went to an open pasture with a big tree and a little brook, and I laid there against that tree with the breeze and the trickling water, watching the kids play and feeling so perfectly content. It was so perfect. I noticed that Hyrum was also seemingly so content in his sleep (and I could get up and get things done,) but I stayed there in my dreaming for a little while just soaking it in.

When I got up I thought about that sweet dream I had in those few short minutes and how easily that little chime and that fanned breeze took me to my happy place. I do hope that someday we can live in a place as lovely as that, or make it as lovely as that. It’s my great dream to live in an open space with big trees and water and places to rest and play with my little ones in the afternoons. I’d even be ok with all the bugs as long as there were butterflies and singing birds. It’ll be interesting to see where we end up. I may just be dreaming for a quite a while!

…And I think I may start sleeping in the kids’ room more often… 🙂 #mamanotes

A Prayer for Under the Bed

At bedtime we ate carrots and sat on my bed reading books; the kids fought over the flaps, listened to the stories, and eventually settled down into their own beds. I turned off the lights and propped myself on a pillow next to Ava. She was curled up on the pillow next to me, hardly budging when I asked her to scoot over a bit. “But I’m scared,” she said. I switched her spots so she was closer to the stream of light seeping out from the doorway. I started to tickle her back as I had done the past few nights, but she didn’t seem to settle. The babies kicked inside. I took Ava’s hand and placed it on my stomach, “Want to feel them move?” Her hand was tight and her body still curled.

“It’s ok Ava,” I said as I sat up and wrapped my arm around her. “I’m here with you.”

She told me that she was afraid of goblins under the bed.

We talked about how goblins aren’t real–that they’re just made up for stories. She seemed a little relieved but still wanted to look under the bed. I started to get up to look for a flashlight when she said, “Can we just say a prayer?”

I sat back against the pillow and wrapped my arms around her again as she sat up with her arms folded. She repeated each phrase I said as I prayed, giving thanks for our blessings and the day and the things we could do, and asking for comfort and reminders that we are being watched over.

“And please bless the twins that they will be healthy and strong, and help me to not be scared…” she added at the end. Her body seemed to relax.

After a few moments of quiet I asked her, “How do you feel?”

I waited for her to respond. She was quiet.

“Do you feel calm and peaceful?”

She nodded, but didn’t stir.

I told her that I felt it too, that we really were talking to the heavens, to our Heavenly Father, and that He was listening. I whispered to her that that peace comes from Him, from His Spirit that He gives to us because He can’t be right here with us.

I could feel her breathing slow and deepen. She went right to sleep in those next few minutes, sitting up in my arms, her own arms still folded. She was comforted by a simple prayer and the feeling of being loved and watched over by the God of us all. I felt a heavenly peace there with us in that room, answering the prayer of my four year old.

I know that He really is there and listening. He will always give us His peace when we come to Him.

Happy Birthday Bug

Dear Hyrum,

On your second birthday you woke up before the rest of us and laid down on the floor next to our bed, still gripping your little elephant on its matted trunk, as usual. I heard the quiet clicks of your binki clip as you walked, waking me just enough to see you fast asleep on the floor again. I scooped you up and tucked you into the covers between us. “Happy Birthday Bug,” I whispered as you tried your hardest to fall back asleep. “Happy birday,” you repeated, as you always do.

Grandma made us eggs for breakfast, fresh from the chickens you love to see in their yard. It was your cousin’s wedding day, and we had lots of errands to run and places to be. You were so patient sitting there in the backseat with your sister, falling asleep for a time, then playing with the little train you got for Christmas. At the temple I was busy taking family pictures while Daddy carried you around in your sweater and socks because we couldn’t find your shoes in the car. You just loved being out there and you loved being with him.

Then it was off to the restaurant to get food with family, and while we were eating you stood up in your high chair and pulled a candy bin from the shelf next to us. You just sat there with it for a while before we even noticed! You LOVE sweets, but you were a good sport when you had to put them back. You had plenty of them at the reception though. You sat under the table with your cousin playing with spoons and eating cookies. Then you were running around with your sister and your cousins, only stopping long enough for me to change you into your dragon pajamas at the end of the night.

Oh how I love you Hyrum. These days I can’t seem to soak up enough of you–your laughter, your quirks, your hugs. I love playing with you and watching you play. You are so sweet and so fun.

 

It is a few days after your birthday and our first day home from the trip.  Ava was so excited to celebrate your birthday today—to eat cake with you and give you your gift and make it special for you. She really loves you too.

Dad was also excited.  He drove you and Ava through a blizzard to the neighboring town to get you a special ice cream cake so we could sing to you and eat cake with you. (He may have been the most excited about that cake 😉 You love having him home, and he loves being home with you. Whenever you see him you run into his arms saying, “Daddy home! Daddy home.” Today he made a fort with you and Ava downstairs and helped you set up the train set that we got for your present. You really love trains, and it’s the cutest thing the way you say choo choo.

We love you dear Hyrum. We love you so much. We are blessed every day to have you with us!

Happy Birthday little bug!

New Year’s and Nerf Guns

“And thank you that we could stay in Utah longer than seven days, and please bless the twins that they will grow healthy and strong, and bless all the people of the world and bless Daddy’s eye and mommy’s lip that they will get better…” (Ava’s bedtime prayer tonight)

We drove home from our trip to Utah today. We pulled up to snow drifts up to our waist, a walkway shoveled by our kind neighbor, and a warm house that didn’t stink (no hidden diapers or smeltering garbages! 🙌) Jake hauled everything in from the car while Ava and I started unpacking inside. We cooked up some food from the freezer, snacked on Christmas truffles, and unwrapped the package of 200 nerf bullets that Jake ordered from China over a month ago (we just got the package.) And since we realized after ordering that they wouldn’t arrive by Christmas, Jake ordered another 200 from Amazon so we could all play with the four nerf guns we got on Christmas morning. 😂
So, we piled the new 200 with the other 200, strapped on whatever glasses we could find, piled up the suitcases and laundry baskets, and teamed up to shoot at each other.

I soon learned that those little foam bullets pack a punch!! I told Jake we should’ve just gotten those little guns that shoot soft, colorful rings but we settled on these eye poking, lip numbing, red mark-making foam bullets and had so much fun regardless. (After Hyrum shot Jake in the eye and he lost his peripheral vision for a while [somehow it got him WITH his glasses on] we decided shooting targets at the laundry basket would be a better way to end the night. 😬👍) It’s good to be home.

Cheers to a happy new year!
#mamanotes #welcome2017

Update: I ordered safety goggles! It was funny because when I was browsing on Amazon for some, many of the items in the “frequently bought with” section were nerf guns and nerf ammo. Haha! Why didn’t I see any safety goggles on there when we ordered our nerf guns!?

Well, we have them now. 🙂

The kids really like them, except Hyrum’s pinch his cheeks in half and cover over half his face so he doesn’t like to keep them on long. Totally ok, I don’t last long in nerf gun battles anyway.

You can fly

The other day I put Disney songs on Pandora for the kids to dance to and the “You Can Fly” song came on.  They’d never seen the movie so I told them what it was about and they spread their arms, racing around the room (and jumping off the couches.) Ever since, Ava has wanted to see what it was all about.  So, the other night we all went downstairs and watched Peter Pan.

When I brought down popcorn, the kids were so excited.  It’s funny how they can get excited about the smallest things.  They both squealed, “Popcorn! Yay! Popcorn!” Hyrum giggled and “hmmed” with the most satisfying grins while he stared at the popcorn and crammed handfuls into his mouth. Later he picked out orange after orange to have us peel for him (eating all of them in no time). When we told him no more, he went off and peeled them himself.

We turned on the kids’ Christmas tree and tucked them in bed, hoping they would settle and fall asleep in the same room (totally hit and miss with this).  In her bedtime prayer, Ava   mentioned, “…and please bless Hyrum that he can fall asleep and not refuse his naps, and please help him to not refuse new food, and please bless me to try new foods…and thank you for our warm house and helping us drive safely…”   I just love her prayers.

Later when Hyrum got out of bed (for the fifth time) and came downstairs, he picked up two little oranges and held them right up to his nose, just smiling at them. Jake and I just laugh, it is so fun watching them.

#mamanotes