"It" happens...

My friend Jamie just wrote this adorable post about her girls and when "it" happens, it made me cry and I have to follow suit so that I can remember what I remember now.  So "it" is what happens to your sweet little baby.  You know, when they are in their "teen" months and you look at them and see a toddler in the place of your once was baby.  I can't believe how reading my friend's post made this memory jump back to the front of my mind. 

Jenna was about 15 months or so.  She'd fallen asleep early so I decided I'd just sneak into her room before I went to bed and give her some milk so that she wouldn't wake up early, starving.  I crept in as quietly as I could and picked her up from her crib.  She stirred, and I woke her just enough so that she would actually drink her milk from her sippy.  Jenna sipped with her eyes closed and I just held her, rocking her gently.  I felt tears come to my eyes as I looked at my baby, my firstborn.  What a big girl she was!  How did this happen?! How had my baby become this little girl who loves to run around and get into mischief?  I was about 5 months pregnant with Lucy when this happened. I cried as I realized that this little girl would be the big sister to all of my children even though she was my baby.  

Jamie wrote something that I think just sums it up perfectly:

 "I cried little tears and hugged her close to my body, memorizing her smell, her little face, and how her toddler body fit so perfectly in my lap, with her head laying on my chest, cradled in my arms. I remembered holding her so, rocking her to sleep just a year ago. She fit perfectly in my lap, with her head on my chest, cradled in my arms. It was then that the lump in my throat went away and the tears stopped, a calm warmth filled my soul and I felt a peaceful feeling, a small whispering that reminded me: she is mine forever. The power of the temple made that possible. I knew right then and will never forget, that each of my babies, no matter how big they are or how much they grow up, will always fit perfectly in my lap, with their head on my chest, cradled in my arms.

Its what being a mother means. And it never changes."

As I look at Jenna, all I can think is how right Jamie is.

                                                 

The only redone/complete spaces in our house...

You know how when you move into a new place you just want to make it your own? Yeah, I had those ambitions.  But it takes soo much work!  And ya know what?  I would be willing to do the work even.  The true problem?  It also costs lots of money.  If I had lots of money, this stuff would be a breeze.  But I don't.  So one room at a time, slowly but surely, we are making this house our own.  I started with the downstairs bathroom.  It's kind of a weird room, since it is also the laundry room.  The toilet sits in it's own funny little nook... 

...and the sink is kinda close to the shower...

... and when they painted the bathroom beige, they decided to not do behind the washer and dryer.  BUT, our washer and dryer show part of that!

This is what it looks like from the doorway.  It's not a true before, because as you can see, I already had painted the back wall by the sink.  But check out that funkiness above the dryer.  Weird, eh?  It was the primary reason I wanted to paint.

So, how did I decide on blue? Easy, we already had it.  Yes, we lugged it all the way from Nevada.  I had better stinkin' use it already... Anyways, I added some much needed touches and... voila! Our now decent looking downstairs bathroom. Sorry for the picture, all the mirrors bounce the light like crazy!

The weird window ledge stops me from putting up a normal mirror in front of the sink, but hello, who doesn't have a mirror in front of their sink?!!  There are mirrored doors opposite the washer and dryer, but what if we have a guest over and he's shaving?  They won't want to have to keep going back and forth to rinse their razor and then go back over to the mirror! Yes, a mirror above the sink is a necessity.  As is something to dry your hands on, so a towel ring went in as well. 

I used curtains we already had (they're from Wal-Mart) but they were way to big, so I cut and sewed them to the right size.  I wanted something cute to hold them in place.  I'm cheap and I had twine. I think it's kinda cute, don't you?  Oh yeah, and it's actually hung on a shower curtain rod.  I picked up a couple of Target shelves for the wall behind the toilet, found a way cute vase for .50 at DI, insert fake flowers and I really like it.  The picture frame was black, but I spray painted it white (it looks right)  and the picture is actually from an old Hawaii calendar.  The shelves are actually set closer to one wall than the other, to help balance that the toilet isn't centered in it's nook.  Why isn't it?  I have no idea... I'll have you know, that I only spent $43.50 in this room.  $30 of it was that mirror that is a NECESSITY.  But overall, I think it looks much better. 

My other space isn't a room at all.  No, it's my beloved craft closet.  Dan gets the garage, so I can at least have a closet, right?  I worked hard to organize this space.  Dan let me buy a microwave cart for $20 from the classifieds on ksl.com (kind of like craigslist) and it holds my sewing machine and surger perfectly.  When I need to get behind it, it rolls out easily.  Yay for organization!

It's nice to look at things you accomplish.  Too bad I turn around to look at the rest of the house and can only sigh...  One room at a time.  Next up, the office nook!

Some Fun (and not so fun) things this last month

So much has gone on this July! This has been our first summer away from our families, but I think we have really grown closer as we have had to think up fun things to do with the girls.  This post is pretty much to catch me up to current, since I feel like I have been behind for FOREVER and slowly posting is just keeping me the same distance behind. 

This July we've had fun....

...playing at the pool...

...eating- a lot...

...playing in the backyard...

...going to Farmer's Market (yes, you see right. This guy brings his piano by BIKE to play at the market. awesome. Sheer awesomeness.)...

...LOTS of going to the Children's Discovery Museum...

...playing in the fountains at the Gateway Mall...

...riding our bikes...

...and sharing lollipops...

...going to Temple Square...

...visiting with Uncle Herbie and riding the escalators...

...and visiting with Grandma Smith and Auntie Abbie

...and just plain looking good.

The not so fun?  Just one really.  Jenna found the diaper rash cream during her naptime. Kinda cute and yeah, kinda funny, but sooo not fun. Taking a picture actually helped me keep my cool.

forgotten camera part 3- Lucy's birthday and 4th of July

Happy birthday Lucy! Lucy's first birthday was July 6th.  We were lucky enough to have lots of family in town the weekend before her birthday.  Lucy is such a great little girl, and we love her so much! No walking yet, but boy, that girl can crawl! I'll have to post a video of how quick this little one is.  Anyways, she enjoyed a spaghetti dinner that she fed to herself...

That's her plate, but isn't it cute? She was a little piggy that night.

She ended the night with cake. Lucy didn't enjoy the cake and ice cream nearly as much as Jenna did on her first birthday.  Lu actually hated the cold ice cream and we took her to the bathtub crying and screaming. :(  If you want to see us singing happy birthday and Lu eating her cake, it's at the bottom of this post.

We also got to enjoy fireworks for Lucy's birthday party, because we had it the day before the 4th.  Here are some pictures of all her cousins that got to come celebrate with her.  Sorry some of them are blurry!

forgotten camera- part 2- family reunion

We had a great family reunion with Dan's Smith relatives.  We went up to beautiful Bear Lake.

We had fun playing in the sand at the beach.  Lucy had a little too much fun I think.  She ate tons of sand!

And we had a fun time with cousins at the Paris Ice Caves.  Jenna and Ellie sure do love each other... or Ellie really likes to put Jenna in headlocks, I'm not quite sure yet... :)

This is cute little Brooklyn, Dan's cousin's son.  He is so funny.  He asked what our baby's name was and when I told him Lucy, he perked up and goes, "Lucy?!! I love... that name!"  I thought he was going to say I love Lucy, but it's not often that you get a 3 year old telling you he approves of your name choice. 

This is how we cound Jenna one morning, with her head under the bed.  Maybe she fell asleep while looking for monsters.

This last one has nothing to do with the reunion, Jenna and Lucy just really like riding in the carts at Lowe's (of course, we've become frequent shoppers there since we bought a house!)

Back to the reunion, we had a great time with everyone, we even met some new family.  I feel like every time I go to a family event with Dan, I meet someone new that I'm related to.  We really loved the family time and hope we can do it again soon!