catching up

As a few have guessed, my blogging hiatus has been due to a happy development in our family. Baby L* no. 4 is due to join our family next June. We are so excited and very, very grateful.

Truth be told, after Eden I was content to be done having babies. The postpartum road can be so long and tricky. But we couldn't shake the feeling that our family wasn't complete. I remember shortly after bringing Eden home, I was loading the children in the car and physically looked over my shoulder to find who was missing. We started talking about pregnancy last year. First, we were going to wait until I ran the half marathon with my Sister in January. Then, I got to run the Phoenix Ragnar in February. THEN, we got invited to run the Wasatch Back Ragnar in June. Then, well, there weren't any more reasons to wait ( I stopped signing up for races ) and I just wanted to get the show on the road. Our pregnancies have all been preceded by a miscarriage, so it was with some trepidation that we awaited any changes.

At the beginning of October, Cori and I made our monthly visit to the Temple (pictured above, actually). I had the sweetest experience that night. A very strong and peaceful feeling came that we were doing the right thing at the right time and that everything would work out. I didn't need to be afraid - neither of becoming pregnant, nor of being a crazy person after the baby is born. Shortly after this Temple trip, the symptoms set in. Even after a positive test, we were cautiously optimistic. Finally, my doctor's appointment arrived. At the ultra sound, there were no strange, sad, or unexplainable discoveries - just a perfect little baby with a strong heart beat. So grateful.

So we are surviving the first trimester. I don't remember the other first trimesters being so debilitating. But I'm sure I don't have it any worse than anyone else. Cori has been a regular hero. Things have been super busy for him at work and he comes home every night and picks up my slack without complaint. I haven't been good for much outside of getting through the day's necessities. But I'm getting to the end of the worst of it (all my fingers and toes are crossed) and I'm slowly getting the rest of life back up to speed. The last six weeks have been full of other fun things too, a couple trips, a wedding, Thanksgiving in UT... I'm hoping to get caught up before Christmas. :)

halloween 2012

Oh, Halloween. We got to celebrate it in all the usual ways. Grant got to be Captain America at school for a day. We had a great time at our ward's trunk or treat.

Cori made a pretty fantastic Napolean Dynomite. And I fancied myself a bouquet of flowers so I could be best buddies with our little bumble bee.

Everyone looked forward to trick-or-treating. But for the second year in a row, Grace and Grant were happier handing out candy than going house to house to collect it. We ate pizza and ghoulish jello jigglers. The whole neighborhood was out, it was so much fun.

tuesdays and thursdays

It is Thursday again.

When Grant gets up in the morning, he is usually pretty quiet for a while (like until after breakfast). If he does say anything it is usually to ask what day it is. All days around here are spoken of with reference to that day's activity. Soccer practice day. Piano day. Family night day. Pizza movie night day. Gymnastics day. Family day (Saturday). Church day. School day. Grant loves school days.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, or stay at home days, not so much. About every 15 minutes he is at my side with his big brown eyes asking the same question: "What can I do Mom?" I give him the usual list of options - work book, art cabinet, playing outside, playing with toys, play dough, riding his scooter... he is happy to do any of it as long as I'm doing it with him. Grace would work solo on her little projects for hours at this age. Grant wants a buddy.

I'm working on being a better buddy. Look at that smile.

girls' choice

Last month we organized a Sadie Hawkins dance for the Priests and Laurels in our stake (16-18 year-olds). The whole thing was the brain child of the Stake Youth Committee. They were having a discussion about the difficulties of dating - how kids just hang out or 'go out' but don't date, what to do on a date, girls freak out and think a date means the beginning of a relationship, it is scary asking someone on a date - especially when people don't really date any more. It was mostly the boys presenting the problems, and the girls protesting that these things should not be a big deal.

So the challenge was extended for the girls to try being the ones to do the asking. Thus, a Sadie Hawkins dance. They rose wonderfully to the job, though not without difficulty. Reportedly, some of them were quite terrified to ask - and for all the reasons the boys had mentioned. The evening was certainly worth the trouble. We had a lot fun - dinner, dance instruction, a fun DJ, a photo booth, and some ice cream. And we feel the young men and young women came away with a better understanding of what dating could and should be at their ages, and hopefully how to make it a little bit easier on each other.

 (This is her dad, not her date... he helped set up and chaperone.)

seven

Gracie's birthday started like any other Wednesday: neat and ready for school, piano practice, breakfast...

 We let her tear into a few presents before heading to school.

Afterschool, she enjoyed an afternoon of playtime homework-free. Praise be to Mrs. T for this fun birthday gift. (Though the next morning, Grace was very concerned about the coupon and her spelling and phonogram pretests. We didn't know whether the coupon was for a free night or just one free assignment. So Grace did some studying and a worksheet - in a hurry.)

She chose to have her birthday dinner at The OG. Girlfriend loves this restaurant so much. She had her usual - pasta with garlic and butter, and we all shared a piece of cheesecake.

Cori took some pictures around the table...

The next Saturday, she decided to take a deal like Grant did for his birthday (Though at first I felt like I was copping out on their birthday celebrations, I have come to conclude that this is possibly one of my more brilliant ideas). In lieu of a party, she chose two friends with whom to share an 'experience'. Despite many other suggestions from yours truly, the chosen venue was Chuck E Cheese. These girls were so excited. We got a pizza that was half cheese, half hawaiian and no less than 90 tokens. The girls tried every game they wanted to, and then worked feverishly to collect tickets until the tokens were gone. Prize selections were then made and everyone went home happy. Especially this little big girl.

On the morning of her birthday, I asked her if it felt different being seven. She gave me a 'Mom, seriously. You don't already know this?' kind of look and said with great sincerity, "Yes. I definitely feel one year older." This has been a great year for her so far. She adores school. Her chosen extra curricular this school year is gymnastics. We are almost through her second 6 week session and she still looks forward to every Thursday when she gets to go again. And she is anxious to show anyone who will stand still long enough how she can almost go all the way down in her middle splits... It is good to be Grace!

the backsplash

So, we've been living with it for over a month now, and I don't think it was a ginormous mistake. This was the fear that had paralyzed me for months. I wanted to put a backsplash into the kitchen, but was terrified that I would make a huge mistake in material or installation. Finally, back in August, I got the nerve up and took the dive. Cori and I went back and forth for months about what we wanted. Throw in the extra consideration that we will eventually be selling this house, and I was in agony. In the end I played it safe, pretty traditional. Again, just wanted to stay in theme with the other super traditional finishings around the house that we don't intend changing. My dream kitchen would have creamy white cabinets and a sparkling glass backsplash with a light contrasting color on the countertops. Everything in our kitchen now is very dark and rich. So we kept the wall colors light and wanted the backsplash to follow suit. It doesn't have a huge impact, but I was intentionally staying away from a bold statement. It is definitely an improvement from the before:

Using the tile saw ended up being no big deal which is good because there was a lot of cutting to do.

My favorite part of this project is the tiled-in window pane. I couldn't get a great picture of it with this camera - shooting into the light and all. But the window sill just makes me so happy.

I nearly had a full blown panic attack when we started drilling into the cabinets to install this hardware. Definitely letting Cori fly solo on that job the next time. All in all, it was a great project to take on. My self confidence in these kind of DIY projects has climbed significantly. We don't plan on doing any more projects in this house, but I'm stock piling ideas for a future dream home.

a long weekend

Grace had a four-day weekend that started with last Friday off school. Grant still had preschool in the afternoon. And Cori worked from home that day. The kids and I took it easy in the morning, toys and halloween cartoons. Grace and I painted toe nails. We did a little cleaning. After lunch, Grant went to school, Eden went down for her nap, and Grace and I spent the afternoon out.

(One of the perks of living in the land of eternal sun - summer clothing liquidation central. I got an additional 40% of that price too.)

Cori and I went to dinner with friends that night. It was one of the best Fridays I'd had in quite some time.

Saturday and Sunday brought General Conference. Usually, this is the weekend we make our Fall getaway. But I was glad to be at home, focussed on these messages. Lately, my heart has been so full of concern and questions. I know of so many good people doing the right things who have been faced with huge trials. I think of friends struggling through stretches of unemployment, even going back to school and changing careers in search of more opportunity. I think of our Papa Ray and Grammie Sandy well into year two of fighting Ray's thyroid cancer. I think of my amazing mom who has patiently dealt with all kinds of pain for so long. I think of my sweet friend, mother of three, who was just diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. Why does the rain fall so heavily on some while the rest of us stand freely in the sunshine?

There are so many possible answers to that question. The Relief Society broadcast and the messages from our Prophet and Church leaders left me completely reassured that the Lord is in charge. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness and peace regardless of the size of our trials. Our Savior knows us, what we are and what we are meant to become. Life will never be fair, by the world's standards anyway. But fair is not the point. Becoming like Him is the point. My testimony of this has been further strengthened by the examples of these very people I mentioned who are facing their troubles with grace and an open heart.

Grace and Grant were great during the conference sessions. They stayed busy with reverent activities and with the cute conference packets Grammie Sandy sent. Saturday afternoon found us in the back doing a little yard work. Ah, just like my conference weekends of yore. Grace and I made a big batch of pesto. And we enjoyed spending those two days together without anywhere else to go.

We also put up some outside decorations. I've mentioned before that Halloween is to our neighborhood what Christmas is to normal people as far as outdoor decor is concerned. We are slowly building our stock of spiders and webs. One of my favorite things in the month of October is watching the kids play the 'This is Halloween' song on Just Dance 3.

On Monday, Cori went back to work. The children and I decided to spend the first half of the day at the zoo. We loaded up scooters and bikes, donned swimsuits and sunscreen, and packed a picnic lunch. We got to the zoo and learned that bikes and scooters were no longer allowed :( and that Yakulla Caverns, the favorite splash pad, was being serviced. Grant was very unamused with the whole situation. But we managed to be happy walking and talking with the animals (at a zoo! go figure). I took the kids into the petting zoo area, which I normally avoid at all costs, as compensation.

We spent the afternoon relaxing. It was so nice having Gracie home. She is such a super big sister. That night was Grant's first soccer practice of the season (no camera! bummer!) and we went to bed good and ready for real life to commence again.