by Ryan

I am too lazy to look it up, but I believe that there are statistics out there about  how long it takes for people to give up on their New Year’s Resolutions – and its not long!  Technically I never said that writing once a week on the blog was a “resolution” per se, but I guess it went without saying.  And here I am on the last day of January giving up on the whole write-once-a week-about-the-previous-week thing.  I still plan on writing here, and regularly (which to me means at least 4 times a month) but I can’t confine myself to a particular schedule.  It’s just not me.

So, here are a few pictures and highlights since my last post:

• Clint and I attended the 100 Years of Seminary broadcast with the youth of our Stake.  I loved listening to President Packer (even if he is getting harder to understand, bless his heart) and was reminded of my own love for seminary.  Plus, Clint’s students told him the day after in class that he had a young wife…which made me feel good.
• We went to the Bounz House today.  It is an indoor play area with a bunch of different blow up bounce toys for the kids to play with.  Ryan earned it because he got 100 stickers on his sticker chart (for being obedient, sharing, being polite, any good behavior we want to reward).  We had a great time with Grammie, Lindsay, Bethany and Mark.  (I will post pictures when I get them!)
• We watched two little girls yesterday (almost 2 and 4-months-old).  It was interesting to see how both of my kids reacted with a baby around.  I had prepped Ryan the night before that I was going to need his help and boy was he ever helpful!  He grabbed diapers for me, watched the baby while I ran in the other room for things, and even helped me feed her once.  I was impressed by what a big helper boy he was!  And then there was Jane.  Poor girl just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t put the blanket on the baby’s face or why she couldn’t rock her bouncy seat as hard as she wanted.  She was, however, extremely non-teritorial, which is not her norm, so that was nice.
• Jane continues to take her diaper off whenever and wherever.  Like today, in our neighbors backyard.  Or at night in her bed (WITH her onsie still on!) so I pick her up unaware and find myself covered in pee as well.  So…I am starting to sit her on the potty and just get used to sitting there, getting up and down, etc.  I just as still so not ready for potty training.  Sigh.
• Took some Banana Cupcakes with Brown Butter, Cinnamon, Cream Cheese Frosting over to Ryan and Jane’s Primary and Nursery teachers.  Those guys are all amazing!  Seriously so grateful for good men and women who come every Sunday ready to love and teach my children.  It amazes me the sweet testimony of my three-year-old.  He doesn’t ever say “I would like to bear my testimony…” but its in the little things.  Like today when we were reading from the Friend (an LDS magazine for children).  “Mom,” Ryan suddenly interrupted me, “Jesus hears me!”  We try and teach them here at home when the moments arise, we have Family Home Evening as regularly as possible, but I know he is learning so much also from his teachers at church and I love them for teaching him the truths of the gospel.  I want him to know that he can have peace and joy in his life – especially as he gets older and the world gets more and more complicated.  I pray that these simple truths he is learning now – that he is a child of God, that Jesus does hear him, that he can make good choices and that he is part of a family that can be together forever – will be the things he can hold onto when life gets harder and when he is out from under the my protecting Mama-wing.

"Brushing teeth" - more like eating the toothpaste!

on the potty

reading on the pot...start 'em young.

Ryan with one of his lego creations. He is VERY creative!

Sunday morning photo shoot.

"Dont touch your sister!" "Smile" "Put your dress down, Jane"

So, once a week is harder than it sounds.

I still don’t know how I want to do this.  It isn’t feeling as organic as I think it should.  I want to document the little things in our lives as well as the big, but sometimes it all feels too disjointed.  And frankly I am too distracted or tired most of the time to focus too long on trying to make it connect or make sense in any way.  Sorry.  (That was mostly meant for myself.)  I do wish my writing was better on this blog – something I know I am extremely capable of – I guess it just isn’t too high on my priority list.

Clint:

• Promoted to Senior Designer at work.  VERY, very busy.  Wakes up at 5am, gets ready for Seminary, teaches, comes home, (sometimes runs), goes to work, comes home, eats dinner, helps put kids to bed and then prepares his lesson for the next morning.  Sometimes he tells me that he hopes they call him back to this calling next year.  I do not feel the same way.
• Today we bought Zelda Skyward Sword  for him.  He has been wanting it for a long time and he finally gave into temptation and impetuousness (something that NEVER happens!) and I thought he deserved something fun for all the hard work he has been doing.  That is NOT our M.O., but it was fun for me to get him something totally frivolous exciting and its fun for him to be able to think about something other than work and Seminary.  He is playing it with Ryan as we speak.  Father son bonding time.  So many benefits. 

On a lazy day: Ryan playing his earned hour of video games and Jane watching while eating ice on the couch.

Ryan:

• Tells me every day what he wants to be for Halloween.  In the past few weeks we have gone from Luigi (and Jane would be Mario) to a fireman to Sonic.  Who, by the way, is real.  I accidentally told him otherwise – and was promptly reminded of the fragile feelings and uncertain grasp on reality that three-year-olds posses.  Sonic IS real, and so is Mario and Batman.
• The other day while cleaning out a closet I pulled out some fake flowers.  Ryan gave them to me and told me that he was going to marry me.  I am very okay with that.  When his Mrs. Right comes along I will happily give up the #1 Woman position in his heart, but until then I hope he loves me most.
• If he instigates (as opposed to being approached – which he does NOT like) he will gladly talk to anyone – and loudly.  He yells out loud in the store to random strangers asking them what they are doing and telling everyone to line up.  Its slightly embarrassing but I would rather that than a screaming fit.
• He also talks to animals.  I caught him the other day up in our Chinese Pistache talking to the dog next door.  I thought he was talking to me and when I asked him what he needed he said, “Nothing mom!  I’m just talking to the puppy!

Jane:

• Oh.my.goodness.  One word: Busy.  That girl never stops!  Actually, when its time to stop (i.e. nap or bedtime) she is very good, but in between….WOWZA!  Being a mother of young children if physically draining!
• She does silly things like:  Walk around the house in a onsie with socks on and one of her big brother’s shoes with a drum on her head. OR…try and put shoes on with her footie pajamas still on.  Hot pink footie pajamas and sparkly silver church shoes – that girl can make a mean fashion statement!
• She is talking a lot!
• She loves to be naked and if she can will take off her diaper if it is soiled.  Time for potty training?  PLEASE NO!  Mommy isn’t ready to tackle that quite  yet.

Natalie

• I got a new calling last week to serve in the Primary again!  I am thrilled to be back with the kids and will be serving as our ward Nursery Coordinator.  We have three nurseries right now which will be four nurseries in a few months as more kids come in.  I love Relief Society and the sisters, but even running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I felt the spirit stronger with those kids than quietly sitting in Sunday School and RS listening to a lesson.  Nothing can mimic the spirit of the children.  I missed it and cant wait to be there again tomorrow with the kids.
• This week my MIL came over and helped me paint a wall and little coffee table that I am converting into a bench.  The wall used to be a dark brown and now its a beautiful bright green.  The table was ugly and old and now is bright and yellow!  LOVE IT!  I still have more work to do in that room – finishing the bench with baskets and a foam top, re-upholstering chairs, doing pillows, and painting my entry dresser to name a few – but just those two changes really improve the feel of the room.  It is fresh and happy.  I giggle like a little girl every time I go in.  Its so beautiful.
• I also attempted canning chicken for the first time.  Also beautiful.  I now have 19 (well..18 cause I already used one!) pints of beautifully canned home chicken.  I really do love feeling domestic.  (And having canned chicken that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg!)

Unfinished yellow bench.

My fresh green wall - Grape Leaves by Behr. Should I do stripes??

Books we are reading and loving right now:

• Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin (Have to listen to the reading/singing of it!)  Because its all good…
• Emma by Jane Austen (for my book club this month)
• The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal (for fun and because I need more of it!)
• Linchpin by Seth Godin (Clint…because I bought it for him)

Shows we are watching and loving right now:

• Psych (me, for something totally brainless and pretty decent)
• The Office (new episodes but also started again from the beginning – Clint and I together ONLY!)
• Downton Abbey: Season 2 (because we are into British drama apparently – and most stuff on Masterpiece Theater…most, not all…)

And that is the end of this post because my hiccups just came back (probably my BIGGEST pet peeve ever!) and I have to go drink a glass of water upside down.

Up.

Side.

Down.

Not a lot of  pictures in this post.

There should be though.

There should be a picture of Ryan’s first day as a Sunbeam.  (Currently stuck on my camera.)

A picture of Ryan’s SECOND time going to the dentist and FIRST time doing it all by himself!  Proud mama moment!  He was so good.  When they came out and called his name he hopped up with a smile on his face and followed our sweet hygienist back.  Dr. Stanley said afterwards that he was amazing!  And that he has a few cavities.    At least now Ryan is more dedicated to letting us help him brush and floss his teeth!  (He does a really good job usually, but those back ones are hard to get at!)

A picture of my new hair!  Oh wait…I have one of those!

LOVING my new bangs!  Oh, and Ryan, not a bad photographer! 

A picture of Clint and I going out with his team from work for a nice dinner at Cafe Boa in Tempe.  His company met their revenue goal of $26 million for 2011, and Clint’s boss wanted to take us all out to celebrate.  It was a nice night with good company and great food.  (Although my dinner choice wasn’t the best…think seaweed pasta with squid in swamp sauce.  What WAS I thinking??!!)

Oh, and our vacuum died, and we bought a refurbished Dyson, which I am THRILLED about!  Its my new favorite toy!    Our carpets actually feel softer.  Crazy!

And since we never posted a family Christmas picture, and Clint insists…here is our little family from a few weeks ago.

Once a week.

Once a week I will write a post about our family.  Then, at the end of the year I will make a book as a sort of family journal.

I have thought about this before, but this time its for real.  If its on the blog you KNOW its happening!  (Well, the odds are greater anyway.)

The holidays were nice.  Not much to report on.  We have had the stomach flu (Thanksgiving), strep throat (Christmas/Anniversary) and have now moved onto some icky colds, so it made it hard to do much while Clint was off work, but we were able to enjoy family non-the-less and the spirit of the season was the same.

Some Christmas highlights:

• Almost nightly trips to see the Loop of Lights in our neighborhood.  The crowing event being the house at the end that plays to music on the radio and has nightly visits from Santa, the Grinch, Frosty, and some elves.
• Christmas book advent.  One Christmas book every night from Dec 1st through Christmas Eve. We found some new favorites this year!
• A Polar Express Party for the kids and their friends.

With the approach of the new year, I have been thinking a lot about just life in general.  Not necessarily setting “resolutions” per se, but just pondering what I want for my life and for my family and if there are things I should be doing to help me achieve all I desire for myself, my marriage, and my sweet children.  Inspired by Stephanie Nielsen of NieNie Dialogues, I decided that I wanted to have a family theme for the year to help us all work towards our goals together.  Eventually I want to make it more fun – do a big, fun, sit down dinner together, decorate, have gifts for the children, etc. but for our first year we kept it small.  We did all do dinner together, and I even made dessert, and then we just introduced our theme as part of Family Home Evening.

Acts 26:18

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from

the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins,

and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

Motto:

LIVE IN THE LIGHT!

We did a lesson with a flashlight and turned off all the lights.  We talked to the kids about light and dark and what things we do that are either light or dark.  (They are 3 and 1, so it was super brief!)  Ryan even chose “Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam” as our opening song, which fit in perfectly with the theme!  Especially the part about “shin[ing] for Him each day.”

And on that note…

Ryan is officially a Sunbeam!  I found out later that he cried most of Sharing Time, but he told me that he liked it and had fun, so I think we will be good.  The best part was when we got home and Clint and I were asking him what he did and how he liked it and he told me, very concerned, “But I didn’t open my scriptures!”  He got a new Bible, plus a scripture case to carry his Bible and Book of Mormon as a gift from mom and dad for graduating from Nursery and going to Sunbeams.  And by golly, he wanted to use it! 

So far, three days in, its shaping up to be a great year! 

Halloween was fun this year!  It was the first time we actually took our kids out to trick or treat in the neighborhood.  BIG HIT!    Even Jane, at 17 months old, knew exactly what to do!  Listening to her try and say “trick or treat” and “thank you” was the best!  That and her fascination with the decorations…especially the ones that moved or made sounds.    The only part of Halloween I will be glad to be done with is all the candy!  Our trunk or treat was on the 22nd, so we have been munching on candy for weeks now!  It needs to be GONE!

Other than Halloween, we have some pics of the kids playing outside.  October, as in other places, means cooler weather, which for us means below 100, but still water play weather.  (Swimming is too cold, but playing in the hose or sprinklers is still a definite possibility right now as we are still in the mid to high 90′s most days.)  The first picture is of the kids playing the mud and the second of a “robot” Ryan made one day.  “Hey, I know what I can do today!”  He told me…sounding very Phineas and Ferb-ish.  “I will build a robot!”  And he proceeded to take everything he could find outside and make his robot.  Everything in the picture is an important part – cup, sandal and all!

Some of my girlfriends out here do this boutique every year.  It’s just up the street from me and super fun!  I like going and crossing a few things off of my Christmas list!  Go check out their website to see a few of the vendors this year!  Pecan Creek Boutique!

Oh, my good friend, Kendra, is selling her nursing covers, burp cloths, receiving blankets and other baby related items this year.  I have been doing the photography for her stuff and I have to say it looks awesome!  (Her stuff is really nice!)  Eventually her site, www.prettynprecious.com will be up and running, but for now you can check her out at the Boutique!

This is a catch-up post.

We have been busy.

Family News:

• Clint was called to teach Early Morning Seminary for our stake, and I was released as our Ward Primary President and called to lead the music in Relief Society.  Changes!    Its a good thing and a new thing and we are both happy! (I have time to blog again!  And do a host of other things I have been missing!)
• I discovered Pinterest – my new addiction!

Ryan News:

• He loves to build things on his own with Legos.  Like towers and houses and cars and planes.  Its fun!
• He is 100% potty trained!  Yay!  We still have the occasional lazy accident, but that is a whole other story!
• He is getting better at knowing his letters and numbers and we are starting to work more on those things.
• We signed him up for a gymnastics class starting in September.  Exciting!
• Back in July sometime we were at a friends house swimming when I looked over and saw him under the water.  I never heard him or saw him go under and we were blessed that I looked over when I did and my friend, Pilar, was able to get to him in time.  Nothing so scary!  He now wears a life vest while swimming! (In addition to all the normal precautions!)

Jane News:

• She is walking like a pro and even has gotten it down so good she can run from me now!  Laughing of course all the time!
• She is still as feisty as ever but is also getting more cuddly and happy.  Its fun to hear her playing with Ryan and both of them laughing at each other.  Nothing better!
• The other night she got my curling iron cord and pulled it on top of her, burning her arm in two places.  SO SAD!  I felt awful, but she did really well with it and it healing well.  The pic of her arm below was taken about 4 or 5 days after it happened.

Now that I have some more free time and brain space, I am hoping to start doing some things with my love of literature and writing again.  I am wanting to try starting a book club, I am going to be teaching my friend’s girls (who are home-schooled) poetry a few times a month, and I am looking forward to writing more myself.  While I loved my calling and the children and the women I worked with, and will miss many things about my calling, I am so grateful to be done and happy to take a back seat for a while and support Clint in his new calling.  He is basically is either working or planning lessons all day, but it is where he is supposed to be right now and I know it will bless our lives and his life greatly.

And now, PICTURES!

HOT car! Poor kiddos!

Canning Tomatoes!

Finger Paint Fun

Cute boy with homemade cape

Ryan's robot

Trouble. Jane looked the same!

Boo Boo Face - We get to see it a lot.

Cassi - Maternity Shoot

Double Double! Twin Boys!

Happy girl swimming

cool sunglasses

fun at the grocery store!

hair cut - my good friend Kendra is GREAT and Ryan does really well...even if he doesn't enjoy it!

how Ryan "cleans" his room!

owie!

modeling

my beautiful girl

I had fun making this logo for a friend. She’s going to be opening up an Etsy shop soon to sell her jewelry.