BFF getting MARRIED!

My dear friend Jenna has officially announced her engagement! She and Barnaba will be getting married in October ! My heart is full of joy for them both...what a wonderful, exciting time.

Believe me if there was ever a reason to get on a plane to Italy...

Tristans Room

WOW what a week! LA for 4 days-Fun. Home to a tired hubby that held the fort while I was away, kids that I missed terribly, migraines that hit the moment I got off the plane for a full 48 hours, and an Ikea trip or two.

As we have mentioned in several posts before Tristans sleeping habits are quite lacking. He as usual will sleep about 8-9 hours a night. Perhaps that is normal, but I prefer Elijiahs sleeping habits of 10-12. Plus now that Tristan is going the full night without waking, the NEW torture is him coming into bed with us. Be that at 11pm, 2am or 5am. After a while it was harder to get up and move him back so we got into some bad sleeping habits.

WELL- here is our attempt at bribery. A new BIG BOY BED! Elijiah has the bed that is used for guests, and we figured if we ever needed to kick Elijiah out of his room he could bunk with Tristan or whatever. IKEA was our choice. We knew there are much cooler 1500.00$ versions of the modern bunk bed that I prefer- however lets be honest...a bunk bed? Not the most cool thing to decorate or furnish a kids room anyway. We figure this will last him a good 5 or so years and we can re-design or decorate his room when he actually CARES about it.

So for now...the bed is up- we plan on painting it next(brick red, or orange?) but for the time being we are hoping the "new big boy bed" will be incentive for him to actually sleep in it.

Bad Daddy...

After terribly frightening and sobering events, we can laugh if they didn't end tragically. Tristan's little rollover accident caused by a moron of a father that temporarily forgot some of the most basic laws of physics and centrifugal force is one such event. I made this funny little image that is reminiscent of the wreck and Amber and I laugh but I can still call up the EXACT way I felt as the trailer lost footing and can hear it bong, crack, crash on the pavement. Sorry little bud...

Comfort

Last week with Elijiahs nightmares he suggested a pillow- a comfort pillow that perhaps he could have special for when he gets scared or something- kind of like a stuffed animal but more grown up than that :)

I asked my mom if she could make something quick and she did. The other day when Elijiah was over there she presented said pillow to him. She told him that she thought of the circles like she did of the Heavens, the stars and the planets. More around Heavenly Father and as a reminder of the great universe. Elijiah liked this idea. Mom also said that it could be his prayer pillow as well..a reminder to say his prayers at night and if he wanted to he could kneel on it. When I called Elijiah up( hes at his dads for a few days) he was very happy. Said that it had been a few days since he had his nightmares and was glad for the pillow.

Thanks MOM!

Weekend events/updates

Where do I begin? I have debated if I should retell the following- going as far as posting this and then unposting, and ultimately deciding that Id like to remember the events( sorry to both Jonathan and Elijiah) so up goes the post again..
First off- bike ride. Tristan has been at the mercy of us and while diligent parents, I think we tend to walk the path of parenthood with less worry than with a first child( sorry but true). We bought a very nice double jogger/bike stroller a few weeks ago and Jonathan and I took it out for a spin with Tristan riding very comfortably and really enjoyed the ride I must say. The day was such a success, that I was excited when Elijiah returned so we could do the same thing but all of us together. Saturday afternoon we loaded the family and took the trip to daybreak where we could take a leisurely ride around the lake. All was well. Jonathan did take the lead and stayed there while Elijiah and I rode slowly behind and enjoyed checking out the ducks and taking our time. Nearing the end, I was in the middle of both Jonathan and Elijiah and stopped on the top of a paved area where Jonathan was doing circles up and down the embankment. He was doing large loops and at the end gaining some speed. He took the corner and needless to say Tristan in the bike stroller did a 360 ( roll over) and then some- landing sideways. As I was watching this accident unfold in slow motion, I was surprised how calm I was. I remember thinking to myself- hmm Tristan is dead. There is no way he could have not hit his head on the pavement or broken something during the crash. Jonathan was obviously shaken up as we both hurried to the stroller and unzipped the top to get Tristan out. As expected, Tristan was crying but luckily with only a scrape on his elbow. Im sure we appeared slightly unperturbed to the other observers around, as we checked T out, gave him a hug, and got situated. Tristan was quite mad at Jonathan however - he kept a firm grip on me and kept reaching out to hit Jonathan whenever he attempted to comfort him! Never one for over indulgence or hysterics we finished up the bike ride and decided Tristan deserved some ice cream for his bravery. Both Jonathan and I said that it was totally unsuspected that the engineering on that bike stroller would succumb to a roll over- we definitely think there should be a printed warning on that thing!( Parents beware….turning at speeds other than coasting, can result in a roll over!) -side note to Jonathan- we are now even :)

The next thing that happened over the weekend was a real learning experience for Elijiah. He came to me Sunday afternoon in tears. He mentioned that he had a nightmare the night before(which he came to our room to sleep) and had just remembered what it was about. He was very upset- crying and having difficulty expressing fully everything that he was thinking about. I wont go into details about the dream, but suffice it to say, it was an opportunity to talk to Elijiah about the Teachings of our Church and what we believe. He was curious about the pre-existence, what happens after we die, why the plan of salvation is important, and overall how to keep from thinking bad, evil thoughts. We spent a lot of time talking about controlling ones mind- helping to redirect thoughts if bad/negative thoughts continue( praying, singing primary songs, happy memories etc) all coping tactics to help him if and when things came up again. However all through the evening, he could be found in tears, unable to stop thinking of the scary things he had in his mind. Over dinner, he asked to say the prayer. He very humbly asked for help to not think of the bad things and got emotional about what he was saying. At the end he came up to me and gave me a hug and said he felt the spirit during his prayer. Later that evening we said a family prayer with special emphasis on Elijiah. That he would sleep well, be comforted etc. This morning he woke up and said that Heavenly Father had heard and answered his prayers as he didn’t have nightmares that night.
This is incredibly important to me. Here was a simple request from a child, and Elijiah felt something when he prayed, recognized it, and acknowledged it- is a reminder to me that no problem is too small for our loving Father in Heaven to help. I hope that as Elijiah continues to deal with the challenges that will inevitably come in life- he will remember this experience and can build upon the knowledge that he is loved by God and He can hear and answer his prayers.

*Now one final and totally unrelated thought- is this. I look around our home and love it. However there is SO much to be done! I want to continue in decorating, changing out pieces, painting ...that it overwhelming to me! Thus we have come to a stand still because I realize that while there are some with incredible talents to transform rooms for a 100$..I am not that person! Every room in the house I have a vision for and it annoys me to no end not to have that come to fruition! Jonathan has said to me more than once- if I want to do it- do it! But Im always held back by the end goal of saving as much money as we can in this definitive time period before I stop working.( hope hope) and quite honestly that is my ultimate goal. However as an example here are some wall paper prints that Ive had my eye on and oogle almost daily!( all images are from Studio Nommo, except for the last image of the birdcages- that one is from Anthropologie)
A bathroom perhaps?

My absolute favorite- the clothes line- seriously wishing to do my laundry room in this

Perhaps for an office or kids play room?

Love this !

Again these could be for a kids/play room?

And the beloved birdcage wallpaper..not sure where it would be best suited, but I LOVE it!

poisonedtulip

Dear Poisonedtulip:

I just wanted you to know that I have attempted many times to comment on your blog with no success. I dont know if its the formatting or what- but Ive tried on several occassions to send you good wishes, and let you know I have read your blog and hope that you are well.

Not sure if you check out our blog much or at all -to get this message- but I hope you do. This is a shout out to you and my best attempt to sending good thoughts your way! :)

amber

4th recap

We had a fabulous long weekend. Just a couple snap shots of our Saturday afternoon festivities.
Elijiah is still out of town and I am missing him like crazy.
We had lots of fun- drives in the mountains, runs, bike rides, reading, eating, family...all the stuff that makes life good....
for me.