This month has been... pretty rough. Haha And I haven't been keeping up with my posts so here are some pictures of our crazy month.
A photo I sent to my sisters warning them of what happens when you have children... and may be how I have felt this month.
Our kids spent a couple weeks having a rough transition into our new home. And then once they adjusted they got colds. Last time I wrote I had three goals (to be fully unpacked, have the kids sleeping through the night, and go to visit my family that weekend). None of my goals happened when I wanted. Although we did end up finally going to see my family last weekend and we only have one box that needs to be taken to Value Village, I have yet to get my kids to sleep through the night. Ugh.
Besides that it has been raining here like nobody's business and we all know I don't really like that. There have been torrential downpours and hail and power outages (although we have kept our power thankfully). One night after a terrible rain storm we heard water just pouring from the gutter. Logan climbed up and there was some vegetation growing in our gutters haha. The next day the fix it guy at the apartment had a fun time while my kids watched him clean them out. He was a nice guy and the kids followed him all around. Except Elsy came and told me something smelled funny... while he was still there. (Forehead slap). Love kids with no filters.
Logan's parents sent us some welcome flowers to brighten our new home. They were so beautiful! While I am still so sad about leaving Redmond, we have begun to make some new friends in our ward. People have invited us over for dinner and lunch dates and even play groups at the community center. We are feeling more and more at home here in Issaquah.
One day my kids were having a great time playing with everything but toys.
Soup cans, toothbrushes, and boxes... why do we even bother buying toys?
I spent two days felling super duper nauseous and sick. I think I had a stomach bug. Ugh it was the worst. It is hard being a mom when you are sick because your kids still need to be taken care of. Tommy seemed to get the same bug as me and Elsy had it for a morning. I was so grateful for Logan for coming and taking care of the kids when he would get home so I could just lay on the bed looking out the window. Bleh!
We love parks and walks and have already started discovering the parks in our new area. Elsy was so proud of herself for being able to climb this rock wall all by herself. She is getting so big! Logan was nervous to let her climb at first but then he said, "I shouldn't tell her she can't do things I should let her try and learn for herself." She did learn and it was fun to see her confidence grow. :)
We went back to our old ward for an activity, the ward's annual Taste of Redmond. It is a food competition and everything tasted splendid. We ate soooooooo much! But even better we got to see all our friends that we have been missing so bad.
Late church has also been taking it's toll on us. We get home around 4:30 and Elsy goes straight to the couch for a nap before dinner... all on her own. I don't tell her to! She is exhausted. While at church I spend most of Sacrament meeting trying to get Tommy to fall asleep by walking the halls and then he wakes up halfway through Sunday School. Its quite a workout. Today while I was rocking him in the mother's lounge I thought to myself, "Why do we even come! I hardly get anything out of this!" But I thought of Elsy and how important it is for her to be at church. And Logan was in his meetings too, at that time. As long as we are trying to be in places that invite the Spirit of the Lord then I know we will be blessed, I have seen it. And I am so grateful for the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy, lately. I have found that Sundays are the day's I have felt the most happy the last couple weeks.
I sure love this little boy. He has been getting into a lot of mischief lately.
Out shopping for swimming suits so we could go to the hot tub in our complex.
I consoled myself because this was in Ezekiel... who ever reads in that book? Haha
Tommy got into the flower pots on the porch. He also enjoys drinking the rain water out of the back of Elsy's trike basket. Whatever, he probably has a better immune system now.
Tommy has discovered the art of teasing and loves to make his sister scream. Just tonight she had on my large brimmed sun hat and he followed her around grabbing both sides and pulling it down over her face. She would scream and cry and he would laugh.
Logan got himself a house warming gift. Whatever, I said. But it is a little wider than the entertainment center so it looks a little funny. He screwed it down so the kids wouldn't knock it off and it already has fingerprints all over it. I caught Tommy smacking it with a stick the other day. It seems to be holding up well. ;)
I couldn't love these two more! But they are also driving me a little crazy. The first few weeks we were here I feel like I said to myself "I can't do this anymore!" more than I have since I had Tommy. Tommy was so clingy and sad for those first three weeks and Elsy was up all night every night. But nothing they do could make me not love them and want to kiss those little cheeks.
So here was the problem. When we first moved in Tommy would cry in the night and wake up Elsy because he wasn't used to the new house. So I would let Elsy sleep in her sleeping bag on the floor next to the bed when he cried. Well Tommy got used to the new house and Elsy got used to sleeping next to my bed.
She began coming in with a million excuses, and I mean a million because she had a new one every time she got out and she got out a million times. We tried a bedroom pass, putting her into her bed without saying anything, rocking, singing, spanking, being kind, getting angry, everything.
Finally Logan tied down all the corners of her blankets, except one, to her bed so she wouldn't cry about not being able to put her blankets on by herself. Here she is after making her bed for the first time by herself. She is so proud. Now we can tell her to get into bed without us having to get out of ours. We also have her go to the bathroom the first time she gets out now so she doesn't have that as an excuse.
Then Logan decided every time she comes out we take her teddy bear away. It sounded quite harsh to me but after a few more nights I was ready for it. We let her get out of bed once and then we gave her a warning if she got out again we would take away her teddy. After two minutes we would give it back if she stayed in her bed. If she got out again we would take another animal (she sleeps with many). On the first night I had her teddy, tiger, pillow, and three blankets. I felt so bad with her laying on a bare bed crying but she finally stayed on her bed (okay I cheated it was only one minute) but she got everything back. Ever since that night we have only had to take away the teddy once or twice but nothing else.
This is us after a particularly rough night. She always wakes up so happy even if she cried all night. I don't wake up so happy...
We had an absolutely terrible night this week that ended in Tom and Elsy crying in their room waking each other up back and forth for hours and me melting down in my own tears. Logan is always there when we need him though, even when I don't think I need help. I think I don't want his help because I feel like it is my job to get the kids to sleep but he helped me see it is okay for him to help now and then when I need it.
Elsy finally earned her "Daddy horse" for her mommy and baby horse because she stayed in bed all night without getting out (she still woke up and called for me but she stayed in bed all night so she earned it). Since that night she has gotten out of bed once or twice each night but still.. I take those over two hour crying sessions any day. She named it "Roda". The mommy horse is named "Flower" and the baby is "Rose". I love how proud she is in this picture.
Even though we were up half the night for weeks with each other, she somehow maintained a good attitude during the day (even when I didn't). She loves to do the "Pokey pokey pokey" (the Hokey Pokey) and is such a funny dancer. Tommy has also become a pretty hilarious dancer too. He holds his arms behind him and walks in little circles. Elsy is such a good helper setting the table and likes to sing "When we're helping we're happy".
At Story Time at our new library.
My aunt Kaylene invited us to her house in Renton and we had so much fun getting to chat. The kids loved her toys and trampoline. It is so nice to have some family close by!
Both of my kids started growing recently and we have had to buy a lot of new shoes and clothes recently. Elsy was hilarious as we tried on church shoes. She really wanted these sparkling Elsa shoes but they don't match any of her church dresses so I told her we weren't going to get them but we could take a picture to remember them. She jumped up and struck a pose. She is so darling and loves to talk to strangers. We had a talk about this this morning. I don't want to kill her kind spirit of talking and brightening other people's day, but I also want her to be safe.
Last weekend we went to see my family in Tri-Cities. We had fun playing the Wii and going to Hobby Lobby. I love Hobby Lobby.
We also went to the new Country Mercantile. That is my mom and Elsy way up there at the top. I love all the food there. Lots of candies, salsas, breads and spreads to taste test. No need for lunch that day! :)
I think going on a trip was just what the kids needed. They had so much fun, but what I really loved was when we came back. They ran around the apartment giggling and laughing hysterically. Tommy was so happy to be home! I think going away from our new home was what helped him realize he liked it in our new home. ;)
Bath buddies!
We went to play group at the community center. This little boy pulled Elsy around for such a long time.
After a long and hard week, we ended on a good note. Friday was Grandpa Day! so we went out to ice cream at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Parlor. Grandpa Day is our family holiday, the anniversary of the day Logan and I met. We call it Grandpa Day because there was a particular day, before Logan and I were dating but we were still crushing on each other, that Logan sprained his ankle. The day after he sprained it he and I hung out all day doing random things all over town but he limped around like a grandpa. We went out to lunch at the Pita Pit and threw water balloons at people at the park from far away with Logan's David Sling (don't worry there was a huge water fight going on). We called it Grandpa Day back then, and ended up starting our dating relationship a little bit later. Since we had so much fun that day we wanted to have an annual Grandpa Day but since we didn't know the exact date we had that day outing, we assigned it to the day we first met. Anyway, now on that day, March 18th, we try and do something fun and random. In the past we have gone to see the Tulip Festival and another time we explored the Bellevue Botanical Gardens for a day. This one was a lot more low key, but was still perfect.
I have been craving ice cream lately and when Elsy said she wanted to go to ice cream for Grandpa Day we decided that was the perfect thing.
Elsy fed Tommy across the table until he climbed on top and tried to play with the light so we put him in a high chair.
This last week Logan has taken a break from his startup to do an online course on DaVinci Resolve. He worked and worked this week and finished it. I am so proud of his diligence and work ethic. He somehow makes time for work at Construx, his side business, and our family. We never feel neglected even though he works so hard. He must be doing it right.
I have a new project I am excited to start this week! I am making Elsy a blanket now that I am done with Tommy's. I never made her one so I thought I might.
We discovered a little basketball court here in our complex... perfect for riding a bike and running around.
Tommy does this totally cute thing where when you ask him a question and he wants to say "yes" he says "mm hmm" in the softest, sweetest way. I have no clue where or how he learned it but I hope it never stops.
This morning Elsy said she wanted to dance in her wedding dress to the primary music we were playing. It just so happened that this is her dancing to "I Love to See the Temple".
We have been talking a lot about Jesus and Easter. I was worried she wouldn't be able to comprehend it but she has, in her own innocent way. She carries around the Gospel Art book and always opens to the picture of Christ on the cross and points out the bad guys and says Jesus died. Then she turns the page to a picture of Christ standing outside the tomb with Mary and says he came back to life. "He's rez-a-reckt-ed!" She has told me a few times randomly that she is sad when Jesus died but happy when he came back to life. That must mean she has been thinking about it. She started noticing words like 'tomb' and 'resurrected' in Sacrament Meeting today. I am glad she is learning. The reason I want her to learn about the Atonement and Jesus Christ is because it is what I have tried to live my life all about. I know it makes me happy. It has changed my life, and I want it to shape and change hers too. Elsy has started saying her prayers all on her own at night. I love her innocence and simple belief. I am grateful she is learning to love the Savior at such a young age. She is such a good example of trust. If I could trust God as much as she does, I think I would be set. I will try to follow her example.
