The Issaquah Apartment

My Mother-in-law keeps asking to see our new apartment when we Facetime on Sundays.  Sundays are our messiest days so I promised her some pictures haha.  Here is our new apartment here in Issaquah. 

When you walk into our apartment you are standing right between the front room and the dining room.  This picture is if you look to your right...

And this picture is if you look to your left.

While I absolutely loved staying in the spacious and absolutely gorgeous home that we sitted for the last 18 months, there is something about being in your own space, no matter how small, where everything is your very own that just feels good... and cozy.

Here is standing in the front room by the plant.  It is a pretty good sized space!  We haven't felt crammed like I was worried we would after being in such a big space.  Eventually I think I want to do different pillow covers instead of the yellow because I want to do my living room in greys and blues, but for now since I don't have any wall decor the yellow works great.

I forgot to snap a picture of our porch but there is just a little square of concrete big enough for Elsy to ride her scooter around in circles and for Tommy pour all the dirt out of the plant pots.  There is also a fairly good sized storage room out there that is bursting at the seams but is holding everything.

And here is our little dining room.  Tommy's high chair fits perfect in the back corner.  Our table we got a while back also fits perfectly in the space.  I just can't understand why every apartment we go to seems to have carpet in the dining room.  Didn't the people know kids would live here?  or even just people EATING? Haha, oh well.  Its hard to get the vacuum under there, we put some plastic down (like you find in an office) in the corner so that's nice to sweep when Tommy eats.

And here is my kitchen that I really love.  I like the big bright window that I get to look out of while I do the dishes.  There are some pretty trees outside it that I like to look at.  

And here is another view looking back from the sink.

And then there is the master bedroom...

slash office haha.  Logan needed a work space so we turned a corner of our bedroom into a little office for him.  The plus side of sharing my bedroom with Logan's office is that he keeps his office way cleaner that he used to... the downside is it is still always a bit cluttered. ;)

So here is a panoramic of the room from over by the bookcase.

And our closet...  All of our closets are packed to the utmost brim.  I think those are the places that feel crammed in our house but I feel lucky that we have been able to fit it all in the closets.

And here is our master bathroom.

I forgot to take this picture earlier so I did it while the kids were napping, which is why its so yellow instead of full of natural light from the kids room.  That is the door to the guest/kids bathroom and then right next to it if you look close is the kids bedroom door.  And also, its a bad picture but in the corner you can't see, to the left of the giant ruler is the laundry room... which is just a door to a space with a stacked washer/dryer.

Here is the kids room! We actually re-arranged it a smidge after I took this picture due to a bad window incident with Tommy and Elsy's bed and the table being there.  Yikes!  (I'll tell you about that later) so now Elsy's bed is along the wall with the flower portrait and her bookshelf is where the window opens.

We are on the third floor and are pretty high up.  Just outside the kids window is a fairly busy street so we have all had to adjust to the road noise that is constant all day.

The girl side.

The boy side.  

Tommy's side doesn't have nearly as much going for it because I didn't think about it while at the other house.  I have a few wall ideas... however those will have to wait because I spent all my money on the couch. Hehe

These pictures turned out darker than I realized.  I wanted to show off the finished product of the dresser I did right before we moved but it just looks like a black box in this picture.  I'll have to post another later.

And lastly, the kids bathroom.

We really love it here and although it isn't somewhere we want to stay forever, I am really enjoying the cozy feel. :)

Easter and Conference

Aye yi yi.  I used to do so good posting every Sunday night but I have been slacking.  When this happens I don't want to write because I know it will take forever, so I keep waiting and more keeps piling to have to write about.



We went to the Playtorium in Factoria.  What a fun place!  We had actually gone to go to the Children's Museum that we have a membership to.  It turns out they aren't open on Mondays. :(  But we were there so we just went next door for some fun on the padded toys, trampolines, tunnels, and slides.

Tommy had a hard time keeping up with his sister but he had a ball.  

While we were there, though, three boys ganged up on Elsy and bullied her pretty bad.  They tried to knock her down on the tramp and chased her pelting her with balls.  I got her away from them when they started hitting her with some of the padded hanging toys.  She was pretty sad and shaken up about it.  On the drive home it was all she talked about and when we got home she just sat on the ground for a while.  I could tell she was really hurt by the whole experience.  One thing I was kind of upset about was that none of the moms of the boys seemed to do anything about it.  Maybe they didn't see, I don't know, but I decided I really want to do a good job of keeping an eye on my kids and stepping in if they are ever being unkind, and especially if they are being violent.

We talked about it but I tried to make it lighthearted because I realized that it wouldn't do her any good to keep thinking about it.  We read a Bernstein Bears book about bullying and then we decided to say a prayer.  We made sugar cookies together and she seemed to get back to her happy self after lunch.  I was surprised when, at bedtime, we talked about it again real quick.  Then I told her we should take cookies to people the next day and she asked if we could take some to the boys.  I thought that was so sweet of her.

Elsy and Logan building a tower together.

Lately every time I tell Elsy to smile for the camera she makes some cheesy weird smile.  Its hilarious and I love it... but I also wish she would just smile!

Logan, as always, is quite busy but he has been making time for the kids and I.  Just tonight the kids were racing back and forth on the couches and he was wrestling them and making them laugh so hard.

My kids love reading books.  Tommy will often come find me holding a book.  He will proceed to make his little grunts and hold it out to me... he wants me to sit down and he will plop right on my lap and wait for me to read to him.  We found a great library in Sammamish to go to.  Elsy always wants to watch Curious George videos on the computers there.  I let her while I pick out "Car Books" - we get a handful of board books every time to keep in the car for the kids to read while we drive places.  Then I get her off and she gets to pick three bed time books we read to her before naps and bedtime.

Since it was Easter we decided we needed to dye eggs.  I haven't dyed eggs in forever and I realized I had sadly never, in my memory, made hard boiled eggs.  I found out that you need to be careful or they will crack and cook in the boiling water haha!!

Logan put a towel down to protect our new table and Elsy had a blast.  All the colors were mixed by the end but she was happy.

Tommy ate hard boiled eggs for breakfast for the next several days but Elsy couldn't stand them... although she did enjoy peeling them.

Here is another of her silly faces.

This is Logan doing scriptures with the kids.  Every night before family prayers we either watch a Bible Video, tell the story that accompanies a picture from the Gospel Art Book, read a few verses from the Book of Mormon, quote an Article of Faith, or read a few paragraphs from the Illustrated Book of Mormon Stories (we just got this one on Easter morning).

At our new apartment complex they have a kids play room in the exercise area.  Its hardly adequate and therefore my children are playing in the water from the water jugs, trying to climb on other peoples treadmills, etc.  So I decided to put them in one of the bigger lockers to contain them with Daniel Tiger on the iPad.  It works... a little.

I have been trying to take better care of my body so I try and go to the gym three times a week for cardio and then I do strength training twice from home.  I have been cutting my portions and trying to make healthier eating choices.  It is definitely a journey, one that I often go backwards on, but I definitely feel like I am making progress.

I also started a new crochet project, one that I am really excited about.  I found the pattern a long time ago and have always loved it but kept putting it off because it is like 120 granny squares and quite the project.  But I decided it would be worth it so I have begun the many square project.  Logan and I have bee watching Person of Interest on Netflix every night after we put the kids to bed.  I have been crocheting a little while watching and it helps me feel more productive with my evening than just sitting and watching a show.  

Happy Easter!  At our house, the Easter Bunny comes on Saturday morning. Elsy got a stuffed cat (in hopes that she would become the 'master' instead of the 'cat' haha) and Tommy got some stacking cups.  Logan and I got nothing in our baskets... he got a TV and I got a new couch this last month so we figured we could do without. ;)

The kids had so much fun running around getting eggs.  I just love it!  We had a little golden egg that was empty and we had Elsy cash it in for a little cut out of Jesus and the tomb that we used to tell the story of the resurrection.  We talked a lot about it that week and Elsy has it all down now.  Sometimes she still will randomly say to me, "I'm sad when Jesus died, but I'm happy that he was rezarected!"  Her testimony is just blossoming and she just laps up anything to do with the gospel.

Later that morning we went to Pine Lake park for our ward Easter egg hunt and a hot dog lunch.

The next day was the real Easter.  Logan let me sleep in because I still have been having rough nights with the kids.  Before I got out of bed I thought to myself how we didn't have anything to do special for the real Easter (besides the fact that I had gotten the Illustrated Book of Mormon Stories book that I had set out the night before and two little Jesus puzzles to keep in the church quiet bag).  My family always had Easter eggs on the regular Easter day and I thought.. we still grew up with testimonies and knowing what Easter was really about!  But as I came out Logan had a little morning devotional all prepared.  It was really special and made all my sad feelings go away.

And of course, the kiddos got Easter outfits!

I did end up getting cute pictures of them, but it sure was hard.  I may have grumped at them a bit to try and get them to hold still and smile.

Oh my gosh, though I could not stop looking at Tommy in his little suspenders!  Since church is at 1pm I spend most of Sacrament meeting walking the halls trying to get him to fall asleep and then transfer him to the umbrella stroller.  This day I just held him instead.  Sometimes I just can't get enough of my babes.

These two have become quite the pair.  Every night before bed, while they are having snacks, they run the entire length of the apartment back and forth screaming and laughing.  And when I rock them and sing before bed, on the rare chance I let them both on my lap at the same time they just giggle and laugh and dig their heads into each other... makes quite the wrestling match for me.  We have taught Elsy to say "Mom I need help!" instead of resorting to violence with Tommy when he takes something from her or is bothering her.  It has taken a while but the last two days she really has gotten it down and I am really proud of her.

Last week my couches arrived!  Yippy!!  I have been wanting to get rid of the green beasts for quite a while.  Logan and I finally decided to make the plunge and upgrade our living room.  I was and still am so excite and happy about them!  Instead of paying the delivery fee Logan rented a truck and moved them with Cameron.

The kids seemed to catch the excitement in the air as Logan unwrapped them all and got them all arranged... and yeah thats Tom with a pair of scissors... blah.

Tada!  I am totally loving them.  I think I might eventually get different pillow covers because I want to do my living room in greys and blues but for now, since my living room doesn't have any blues yet, the yellow works great.  A nice sunshiney touch. :)

Logan's uncle Hiatt came to visit us for Family Night.  He was in town for work and brought us some ice cream.  Elsy talked his ear of and he was a good sport to read her Frog and Toad.  We hadn't seen him in a very long time so it was a lot of fun to catch up.

The other day I heard Elsy and Tommy laughing in my room.  Elsy shouted to me, "Mommy!!  We are friends, Mommy!"  I am so glad they are getting to be such good friends.  However, Elsy has also labeled Tommy as "Not nice and not reverent."  She is pretty spot on since he loves bugging her just to see her react and and usually screams through every mealtime prayer because he is hungry and can't figure out why we are always delaying the meal.

Elsy continues to surprise me with how many lyrics she knows to songs.  She is always singing and never wants me to help with the words if she misses a few.  She also never wants help with her prayers.  She usually says something along the lines of, "Heavenly Father, thank thee for dis day, thank thee for my warm bed, thank thee for my mommy and my daddy and for Tommy, and my mommy and daddy, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."  So to broaden her focus I try to slip in some new ideas... she will reach over and cover my mouth and say, "No I'm say it myself!" but then she says what I just told her to say.  So... ;)

Logan found this cooking app that the kids love... and he loves too.  Haha, they are so funny playing it together.  Here they are on his lap.

I realized I somehow had the remote to the TV at the Hilton's house as well as their garage door opener, and we had a book to return to the Trussel's so we spent a wonderful morning up in Redmond.  We had only been gone a little over a month but it had become so green up there.  I was instantly sad the moment I started driving down Avondale road.  I have been really loving Issaquah, it is so beautiful here with the mountains, the forests so close by, and the crisp air... but the instant we drove into Redmond I wished we had never left. :(

After running our errands we went to our favorite park, Ferrel McWherter.  The weather was amazing and all the animals were out and about.

I sent Logan a lot of pictures and he was so sad he couldn't be there because he was at work.  

Later that day we got invited by some of the girls in our ward to the beach on Lake Washington.  It was the first nice day in a while and I didn't think we would be getting wet but apparently I was wrong.  I was ill prepared but decided to just run with it.  

The kids were sopping wet by the end and quite muddy but we all had a blast so it was worth it.  I have felt so welcome in our new ward with the other girls.  They are always inviting us on outings, to playgroups, and over for breakfasts or dinners.  It has been so helpful in our transition here because our ward in Redmond was so amazing and I think I really needed some good friends here.  We have been blessed!

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get Tommy to stop eating the sand.  The next day he had a pretty gritty diaper but he didn't get sick so I figured it was fine.

By the end my children were more naked than not haha.  Oh well.  I decided I can no longer judge when I go to the park. ;P

We also were able to watch General Conference a few weeks ago.  Every Saturday morning session we have some of our friends over for a potluck breakfast.  

It is fun having our friends over for something that is so important to our family. 

The kids actually did pretty good this time around.  We drew shapes and Elsy would color them in.

Tommy would stand in front of the TV and lead the music.

In between sessions (both on Sunday and on Saturday) we went to the dock on Yellow Lake and ate a picnic lunch in the sunshine.

What beautiful weather we have been having!  After thinking we were going to drown and maybe have to build an ark in order to survive the weather finally pulled through.  I am starting to like it here again, I sure do loath the rain.

The kids slept through the afternoon sessions and it was nice to get to cuddle with Logan on our new couch and listen.

The kids woke up for the last little bit and were cuddly too so we just enjoyed a big ole cuddle fest.

Logan let Elsy do his hair with barrettes.

During the last session Elsy woke up and was laying on my lap.  I snapped a photo because I just looked at her and thought she looked so old.  If I changed my perspective I could almost imagine her as a teenager laying there.  It made me feel so sad to think someday she won't be tiny anymore. 

I have been trying so hard to love each little moment recently.  So often I am stuck just going through the motions... getting on pajamas, giving baths, making food, reading books, singing songs, and rocking to bed.  I have caught myself many-a-time trying to rush through the bedtime routine, or any of our routines, in order to get to my own free time.  I have been gaining a stronger and stronger love for my children these last few weeks as I tell myself to live for those little moments instead of live for my time off.  I will still spend the same amount of time singing and rocking, but now I am enjoying it so much more.  It is amazing.  I know I will never be more adored by my children than I am now while they are young and I need to do a better job of adoring them back.  My heart could burst with how much love I have for them.  And for Logan, too.  It has been wonderful setting the goal to show him specific love each day.  That was one of my conference goals, to show him each day the love I have for him.  I still am not perfect and sometimes I forget.  But just a little back rub or a good conversation or a funny text help a lot, especially when we are both so busy with kids and work.

Yikes I am still two weeks behind but I will make it eventually.  Hopefully you are enjoying as wonderful of weather as we are!  Tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest yet!  Yay!!