Valentine's Day fun

The kids had lots of fun with Valentine's Day this year. Millie worked on her handmade cards for a while before the day. It was so cute. We did look at the boxes of valentines at the store and Millie didn't think they were pretty enough haha. So she made these beautiful cards with glitter glue hearts and a peppermint patty. Every card said pretty much the same thing. ("So they're equal, Mom.")

We had our preschool celebration the day before. Max and his friends had fun passing out valentines to each other and decorating/eating sugar cookies.

I took the leftover cookies to my visiting teaching sisters. For being semi-adamant about only making sugar cookies twice a year, I have a hard time not buying cute cookie cutters when I see them! The LOVE letters were new this year. Unfortunately, on our way to deliver them I had to brake harder than the cookies could handle. I had a couple of cookies fly around and get frosting in some strange places. Luckily I was able to deliver 2/3 plates.

Had a little moment I wanted to remember. When we got back from delivering cookies Gigi was there to see us! We were happy to see her but I was mortified that she saw the state of my house. It was atrocious. I looked around after she left and just felt so embarrassed! I started to angrily clean but then looked around again and had a different thought. Just that day, this messy room had been the place for preschool prep and staging, meal making, eating, cookie decorating, valentine making/drying, dancing, and playing. While I do want to be better about tidying as I go to keep things under control, I felt in that moment it was important to be thankful for a room and house that works to fill all these roles we need it to fill. We are so blessed.

These pics were from actual Valentine's Day. So thankful for these little loves, and of course Tyler!

Millie was so excited to come home and show us all her loot from the class party.

Hurricane Harvey part 2

So on Monday afternoon Tyler got a call from Poppy. He and Gigi had been at the stake center (which was being used as a shelter) and had talked to a family friend who had a big enough vehicle to come and get us. Would we be interested? Tyler wasn't sure right away but I said YES. We knew there was more rain coming and we had done everything we could to protect our house. I never felt like our lives were in danger, the thing that concerned me at that point was the kids and how all this might affect them. We had our air mattress ready to go as a raft and our sweet neighbors with a second story offered to let us stay there if the water got inside. I was so thankful for that. I just didn't want the kids to remember having to float or swim to our neighbor's house to be rescued! Sounded pretty traumatizing! So if there was an opportunity to get out before it came to that, I was all for it. 

Steven and Christian and Poppy made it to our house not too long later! We'd packed a few more things while we were waiting and were ready to go when they got there. Millie started to cry when we were loading up, which just broke my heart again. She was nervous to go out "in the storm" she said. I'm so glad she felt safe at home. Anyway, we got everyone in and were off! Here are our very own rescue heroes (as Max called them)!

It was a pretty sobering drive over to Gigi and Poppy's house. So many flooded neighborhoods and stranded cars. But we also saw so many people in big trucks and boats out helping others. That was inspiring.

The kids were so excited to have another sleepover! We hadn't had any tornado warnings in a while so we decided it was safe for everyone to sleep upstairs in beds.

The next couple of days were spent playing and waiting for it all to be over. I spent lots of time on my phone, checking in with everyone. It was pretty amazing how our ward was so in touch and making sure everyone was okay. We were also keeping our families updated and watching the news lots.

But of course the kids weren't up for that boring stuff all the time! Gigi and Poppy's house has a great long hallway upstairs that the kids loved to run (or crawl) up and down.

Harvey also loved having new cupboards to explore and empty.

Lots of games. We pulled out pretty much everything at one point or another!

And FINALLY, on Wednesday (I think? Honestly it was hard to know what day it was during all this craziness) we saw a glimpse of blue sky and sunshine. It may or may not have made me cry.

We walked over to the park and it was packed! So many people so happy to be out of their houses and safe, just like we were. Also, almost everyone was wearing rain boots. 

Sunshine!

We decided to stay one more night to give the roads time to clear all the way, since many were still underwater. Tyler and I snuck away and got to play tennis for a little while. Might seem like a strange thing to do right after a hurricane, but it felt so good to move our bodies and let off some steam that way.

Tyler and Poppy tested out the drive again for us and picked up our van the next morning. We went home shortly after. We spent the day putting our house back together and being so thankful that we were safe and dry. I joined some other neighborhood ladies in making food for the people in the neighborhood who had flooded homes and for the people helping them clean up.

Millie's interpretation of our semi-dramatic rescue. 

Tyler's office was closed for the whole week and right after that he began his paternity leave, so he was able to help with cleanup for several days. It's pretty humbling to drive around and see sites like this and know that it could have so easily been us.

This was a pretty funny meme, but that is an actual building in our stake! Yikes! It'll be out of commission for about 2 months.

Kenny and Lindsay's previous home in Beaumont also got flooded, so Tyler went with my mom, Tim, and Sarah to clean it out one day. 

I laughed when I saw this e-mail below. Tyler and Kenny saw each other cleaning up after a flood in Louisiana one year ago on the same day! Not a tradition we'd like to keep up.

And that is the story of how Hurricane Harvey was for us. We learned a lot and were so inspired by the goodness we saw in so many. The whole country has really seemed to come together to help the people here who have lost so much. I've seen so many people doing fundraisers across the country, so many giving food and other donations, so many giving of their time and bodies to do manual labor, and so many giving money. I've felt a little frustrated at times that I can't give as much to this relief effort as I'd like to. I can't be out there helping people muck out homes when I've got little kids at home! But I'm finding my own ways to help, even though they're small. I'm trying to let that be enough for me and keep plugging away. And the people who have lost their homes are also so inspiring to me. Such positive attitudes and still wanting to help other people. That's what I want to remember from this whole thing. People are so good.

Screenshots

Sometimes I take screenshots of things that inspire me. Not really sure why I do that because I typically don't do anything with them, so I'd like to start. These are some things that have caught my attention lately.

I follow @simplyonpurpose on Instagram and have loved her parenting advice. She did a no-yell challenge recently and while I don't think I made it very far on that, I loved her focus on it and tools to help.

Above: she talked about focusing on the good things our children are doing instead of the negative. She also talked about ignoring "junk behaviors," or the things that are typical for their age and not harmful to anyone, but maybe just bothersome. Focusing on and praising the good (sometimes pointedly in front of a child doing the opposite) will fix the negative behaviors a lot of the time! Just something I wanted to remember.

And then I loved the quote in the middle of this:

Makes me want to master something seemingly impossible. Anyway, just some good thoughts I didn't want to slip away.

Enjoying some beautiful weather

After some really depressing weather the last few weeks, we had a few really beautiful days! I got some major spring fever. Millie helped me clean out the garage and we made room for our bikes and bike trailer.

Poor Millie fell down and scraped her knee pretty good. These princess bandaids usually do the trick, but she was pretty sad and limped around the rest of the day. She is still protecting it days later!

Max wore a hole through his jeans crawling around outside. The first of many, I'm sure!

Our trampoline usually looks more like a ball pit than a trampoline.

Charlee and Delilah were in town and we got to play with them at the park! It was such a beautiful day and fun afternoon.

First baseball cap. I had to take a picture quickly before he remembered it was on his head and pulled it off. Someday he'll like it!

I had a moment while filling up at the gas station the other day. I looked in the window and saw these two cute kids and just felt so blessed to be their mom!

"But what do you DO all day?"

Sometimes I feel like I have to defend myself for being a stay-at-home-mom. I'm one whose self-esteem is at least partially tied to how much I can get done in a given day, and there are 2 small people who determine exactly that. Some days when asked "what did y'all do today?" I have a hard time answering. Not because we don't do anything, but because what I do doesn't really seem significant sometimes. "Well, I fed and clothed everyone constantly and kept our house from drowning in diapers." You know what I mean? I know that there's deeper meaning and importance behind it than that, but I'm not always confident enough to say it like it is and not be afraid of judgment from others.

A few weekends ago I was at a baby shower and someone (who is not a mother yet but plans to be a SAHM too) asked me what I do all day. But it came out like this: "So, I know you take care of your kids and stuff, but... like, what do you DO all day?" I don't even remember what I said. I tried not to get defensive. But it got me thinking... what DO I actually do? So I wrote it all down one day, almost down to the minute. It was a fun exercise! Nice to see where the minutes actually go. The day turned out to be really really busy, but really good too.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

5:47 - wake up to my alarm and get ready for my run

6:00 - meet Sharon outside and run!

6:40 - arrive home. This was a little earlier than usual, so I got to stretch and read my scriptures before the kids woke up

6:55 - Max wakes up and I nurse him and e-mail some pictures from Tyler's phone to myself

7:00 - Tyler leaves for work. I finish nursing Max and play with Max on the floor

7:15 - I jump in the shower and get ready for the day while Max plays in his bouncer seat

7:45 - I get Millie from her room (not sure why she slept in so long!), change Max's diaper, and get Millie breakfast

8:00 - I put Max down for a nap, eat breakfast

8:20 - Tyler calls and I make the bed and tidy our room while talking to him

8:35 - Max wakes up, I get Millie and Max dressed and do Millie's hair

8:50 - I feed Max and load both kids in the car

9:10 - We leave the house, I call Mom while we drive

9:25 - We arrive at the library, go to story time, return our books, and get new ones

10:18 - We leave the library and head home

10:30 - Get home and realize that Max has fallen asleep in the car. Instead of getting both kids out of the car, I just leave it running and grab my grocery list and a snack for Millie from inside. We head to the grocery store
10:55 - finally arrive at the store. We were stuck waiting for a train. It was actually nice because I wanted Max to sleep!
11:35 - drive home, unload and put away groceries, feed Max
12:00 - Get Millie lunch, make and print an agenda for my (last, sadly) YW Presidency meeting, and frantically clean the house
1:00 - put Millie down for a nap (2 books, 2 songs)
1:15 - put Max down for a nap
1:30 - a delivery man rings the doorbell and I silently pray that Max won't wake up. My ottoman foam came! Happiness
1:35 - Everyone comes over for our meeting. Max wakes up during it and Millie is singing in her room the whole time
3:00 - Meeting ends. I get Millie from her room, change Max's diaper and feed him, get Millie a snack
3:20 - I call Nana about some forms I had received in the mail that she apparently knew about, then ended up doing some research and calling the Harris County Appraisal District about a homestead exemption, then e-mailed my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe to a friend
4:00 - We went to Sharon's and the kids bounced on the trampoline for a bit
5:00 - Grabbed the mail and went home, the Schiller kids came over to play for a little while
5:25 - Made dinner for and fed 5 hungry kiddos
6:20 - The Schillers left and I fed Max
6:40 - I ate dinner myself and cleaned the kitchen a little bit while waiting for Tyler to come home
7:05 - Left for a YW activity. Better late than never
8:20 - I arrive home and we have scriptures, I feed Max, sing to Millie, and put Max to bed
9:15 - I fill out a few tax forms while watching "Guess Who" with Tyler and fall asleep towards the end of the movie.

It would be interesting to do this on a less busy day to see what I fill my time with when it's not dictated for me, but I was happy to see that my day wasn't a waste! I feel so blessed to be able to stay at home with our kids and do, well, whatever it is that I do.

Refining my mother heart

There have been many days where I have felt very stretched lately. More than usual. I have many moments where I feel at a crossroad; I can choose to react with anger and frustration or with patience and love. I wish I could say I always am patient and loving. 

Millie loves to have chocolate milk with her breakfast in the morning. A few weeks ago I made her a cup and put it on the table with a straw. Within a few minutes I heard it splash everywhere, and was instantly mad. It was 7am and it was already "one of those days" for me - the night before had been rough with Max, and I was near tears sending Tyler off to work, just feeling unable to do it on my own for some reason. Millie had just added fuel to my fire and I felt ready to blow. I turned to look at her, already growling. Or something. Some angry noise. I'll never forget the look on her face as she looked up at me. She was shocked, cold, wet, and waiting for (probably scared of) my reaction. I knew that how I treated her in this situation would set the tone for the rest of the day. I tried to remember that she is 2 years old, meaning that spills are just part of the deal. And she probably didn't do it on purpose. So I asked her if she was okay, wiped her off, and got her a new glass of chocolate milk. In a sippy cup, this time - I'm no dummy. She was so relieved that I wasn't angry, and the rest of our day was good once I mopped the floor and shook off my bad attitude.

Contrast that with the other day... it had been a really busy day. The kind where you're only at home long enough to grab more diapers or snacks or something before running off to the next thing - the house was a disaster, the kids were off their normal schedule, Max was refusing to nurse all day, and I had a sore throat and could feel a cold coming on. We had been shopping for curtain/ottoman fabric (yay!) with my mom earlier that day and Millie got Monka to buy her some bubbles that were in the clearance section of JoAnn's. I told her over and over (and over) that they were only to be opened and played with outside. In fact, I never even broke the seal because I knew it'd be too much of a temptation for her. But I sat down to (attempt to) feed Max and saw the little bottle of bubbles on the floor, seal open somehow, and now empty, its contents on our rug. I lost it! I yelled and told her how frustrated I was that she had opened it when I told her it was only to be opened outside. I yelled to the point where she walked over to pick it up with her hands over her face, avoiding eye contact. I mean, really. Even though she had disobeyed, it didn't warrant that severe of a reaction. The rug was fine (truth be told, that soapy water probably did more good than harm)! Luckily, children forgive easily.

When I think about these (and many many many) other times where I can practice kindness and love, a quote pops into my head. I looked and tried to find it - I thought it was from Elder Holland, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. Anyway, something to this effect: our homes and our families are our own personal laboratories to test and practice Christlike traits! It's the perfect setting, because there are the most opportunities to make that choice at home, and obviously we have family at home. Family that we want to be with eternally. When I remember that, the choice is clear to me: I want to do and be better.

A February goal

So I made a goal this month to not complain. I just felt like I'd been very negative, always complaining to Tyler especially. "Ain't nobody got time for that!" I spent the first few weeks of this month just being quiet. If you can't say something nice and all that. Inside my mind I kept grumbling and laughing at myself for setting this goal for this month. February is never my favorite month- why is it the shortest but always feels the longest? Tyler's hours have been looooong, I am very pregnant (and all that comes with that), and we have had an unusually cold winter. At least that's how it has felt to me.

But finally the other night I had a little breakthrough. I was writing in my journal and was super-tempted to just vent... no one else would ever know I had complained but maybe I would feel so much better! As I went to write, I suddenly couldn't think of the negative things because my mind was flooded with all of the good things that have happened this month. So I wrote that instead. And you know what? We are so blessed. 

I may be uncomfortable and experiencing all the classic end-of-pregnancy stuff, but baby boy and I are both healthy! And Millie is really self-entertaining when I randomly fall asleep on the couch while reading her books. And, I only have a few weeks left! This will all be a distant memory then. {But please don't let me forget too soon} Plus, as Aunt Sheila reminded me, there is a purpose to the miserable end of pregnancy. Heavenly Father lets it get really bad so you'll do whatever it takes to get that baby out! That made me laugh when she said it but really, I think it's true.

Despite having a colder-than-normal winter, we're coming out of it, and it is glorious. Millie has worn herself out at the park or in the backyard almost every morning and she has been a wonderful napper the last week or so. Which means, I get to nap too! What an awesome chain reaction.

Tyler is still working a lot. In fact, he's working as I type this, at 9:15 on a Friday night. He has worked almost literally nonstop for the last month. But he said to me on the phone the other day how thankful he is for these times, in part because he appreciates normal life so much more than he would otherwise. Yes it's hard, but we're all better for it in the end. {ps I personally love his commute right now- 30+ minutes each way per day that he's not working! Our phone calls are my lifeline.} He is a rockstar and I'm so thankful for him and his strength.

I also just want to mention that we have been so well taken care of by everyone around us. My family was sweet to let Millie and I come stay with them for almost a week. Tyler's parents have let us come over so much too, and kept us busy on the days when it's hardest for me to have Tyler gone. Everyone in our ward has been really sweet, checking on us and asking what we need. Someone in the ward that we hardly know brought Tyler the sacrament last week after he had a feeling that we needed something. Our home teachers have been so helpful also. There's just no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father knows us and what we need, and we have been so blessed by people who followed the Spirit.

So even though this goal made me laugh at first, it's turned out to be a good thing! Funny how that happens.

Christmas 2013

We were pretty jazzed about not traveling this Christmas. As fun as it is to get away, it's also really nice to be in your own area! Though we still packed bags and stayed at Gigi and Poppy's house instead of our own, it felt different knowing that we were only 10-ish minutes away from our own house if we needed anything.

Christmas Eve Millie woke up pretty cranky. The poor girl has been rocked by our crazy weather the last little while (80 one day, 40 the next, back and forth) and she had been coughing for a couple of days already. We laid low in the morning, finished the puzzle, and tried to get her feeling as well as she could be. We met up with Poppy, Heidi, and James at Poppy's office and then we were off to Grammy's! She served us (all of her kids and grandkids) a yummy lunch and we played fun games- 4 on a couch, Left Right Center, and Picture. Grammy made us laugh with her green light-up wig she threw on at the end of the day. We had a great time with everyone!

Once we got home, we put on our Christmas jammies (which Millie was super-excited about, since she is obsessed with this video).

Not sure why...

Millie loves Uncle James

The boys

The girls

We snacked on yummy treats, read the account of Christ's birth, and watched "Joy to the World" before putting Millie to bed. After that we ate some more, played games (Qwirkle and Tenzi), and watched Person of Interest. It was so fun laying out Santa's presents before going to bed- the boys brought in the play kitchen Gigi and Poppy got for Millie and I wanted to go wake her up right then!

They had the pleasure of assembling that beast

Since Millie still wasn't 100%, I did not want to wake her up early on Christmas morning. Instead we enjoyed breakfast casserole and orange rolls before she got up! When we brought her down around 7:30 she gasped and pointed to her new play kitchen- it was all about the kitchen from then on. It was so fun to watch her be so excited! We opened presents and felt pretty spoiled/blessed.

I asked for a smile and got this instead

The plan was to talk with Uncle Tim at 8, but due to technical difficulties it happened at 10:15ish. Then we got to see Uncle Andrew at 11! We loved seeing our missionary brothers so happy and doing the Lord's work. Technology is pretty wonderful sometimes.

Nana and Gigi made a yummy lunch for us and we feasted pretty hardcore! Heidi and James went to see James's family after that and I put Millie down for a nap. We played Tenzi with Grammy, Nana, and Botz, and watched some more episodes of Person of Interest. Meaning, I slept through some more episodes of Person of Interest.

In the evening we packed up and took all our stuff back to our house, including the play kitchen. Millie kept shouting "Hooray!" and "Oh yes!" as Tyler and Kurt loaded it up and brought it inside. She put all her dishes in it and immediately started making us some "soup." 

Reading "Fancy Nancy" which she calls "Antsy antsy antsy"

Tyler and Kurt grabbed some dinner and a movie from redbox ("Now You See Me") and we stayed in for the night! A perfect way to end a wonderful Christmas.

As I was singing to Millie before her nap, she requested "Families Can Be Together Forever," one of her favorites. I looked up and saw a picture of Christ on the wall as I sang to her and it just hit me all over again how thankful I am that a little baby was born in Bethlehem all those years ago. His life, Gospel, and sacrifice made it possible for me to be with my little family forever! Merry Christmas.