20 Days Later

Sprinklers are finally working.  I will never take a good sprinkling system for granted again!

Now for the cleanup, and the fun part -

planting.

Because that's the kind of mom I am

I called my sister at 4:30 in the afternoon and said "Let's have a party."

We had ice cream cake (cookies & cream) with crushed mint malt balls, stenciled in the form of a tractor. (It was another twist on a Pinterest idea.)  I put tea candles on top of the Oreos for him to blow out.

Quick and easy.

Sometimes I still forget that I am Santa and the Easter Bunny, and I am the one who has to make the parties happen here.

(Did I tell you about the time I didn't buy candy for our Christmas stockings?  Like EVERY YEAR?)

The Best Two Years

Dear William,

Today's your birthday.  It's strange to think that two years ago I hadn't even met you yet.  So much has happened since then!

This picture, to me, captures you entirely.  You are a bundle of energy.  Sometimes people watch you for a while and then ask me, "Does he ever slow down?"  or "Is he always like this?" And I just smile and let them feel sorry for me.  You keep me running and jumping and catching and kissing owies ... and always, always cleaning up after you.

You are one smart cookie.  You know all your colors and shapes and animals and body parts, you sing lots of songs, and you spell my name "M-O-M-O."  You also count to ten in THREE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES - which we didn't even know until you whipped out the Spanish.  (Thanks, Dora!)
We just never know what is going to come out of your mouth, you little parrot.
Sometimes you get very frustrated when you can't do something that you think you should be able to.  We call this your OCD.  I have to calm you down and make you ask for help, so you know that you don't have to do it alone.

You are a boy, through and through, and I'm reminded of this every single day.  Every hanger becomes a gun in your hands.  You spot tractors and buses and "HUGE TRUCKS!" and rocks that I don't even see.  During the school year, we watch the school buses drive by our house every morning and afternoon.

You talk a mile a minute, except when we're on Skype and we want you to talk.  You're bursting with personality, and we love it.  Ward members still come tell me just how much they love you.  My favorite things you say are "Silly mommy!" and "Wummy!" (Yummy!).  I also love how you yell "Yah! Yah! Yah! Yahhhhh!" when you get excited about anything.

Your baby sister adores you.  You love her too and you're a good big brother most of the time - I just have to watch and make sure you don't smother her with all your blankets and toys.
You are teaching us every day, and we love you more than you know.  Thanks for the best two years of parenthood we've ever had.

Love,
Mom

Liam

over the weekend

Still much more to do.

Time for a new post

I'm sick of looking at the old one.

Emily, here's a picture for you:

Let's pretend we took this on Mother's Day

And here's an update.

Thursday we went to Salt Lake to see my dear Brittanie get married.  It was a beautiful sealing, my favorite ever besides my own.  I think there were at least ten people crying by the end.  And Brit looked lovely, and I am so so happy for her I almost cried myself.
The day was also fabulous because we had no kids.   We ate at Siegfried's, strolled around City Creek and walked through Tiffany & Co., H&M, and Swarovski. I felt like I was back in Vienna on Kärntnerstrasse.  (Only this time I actually have money.)

Friday Slice and his brother trenched our yard for sprinklers.  We ran into some difficulties, as you can always expect to with house projects.  But the project is well underway and should be finished by Wednesday - then we just have to get our grass growing again.
Our house is the greatest source of discussion these days, since we aren't planning to be here for too much longer.  We refinanced a few weeks ago (hooray!) and gained $5000 on the appraisal - I know, this doesn't mean much - but our game plan really depends on long-term decisions, i.e., if we will sell it or try to rent it out when we move.  How much money should we put into it?   What are our top priorities?  How much longer do we stay?
Hard to know.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, which means my Liam is turning two this week.  I don't have anything planned yet.  Hey, at least I already have his presents.

sometimes

I was telling Slice last night that I don't know if I need a kick in the pants or a week in bed.  Or a higher dose of Synthroid.  Maybe a combination of all three?

I've got a to-do list a mile long (not to mention 10 lbs. more than a year ago!), two babies and a house to take care of, and sometimes I don't feel like doing any of it.  Sometimes I don't even want to walk out my front door.  I call it lazy, but actually it scares me a little when I get to that point. 

There have been two specific "worst" times the laziness has happened before: when I had strep for six months and right before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.  Every time, though, I wonder if everyone feels like I do and they just deal with it.  You know, working moms who train for marathons on no sleep and take meals to needy families while homeschooling?  Young fathers who do school and work, both full-time, while filling demanding callings and doing home improvement projects?

Is everyone tired all the time but they do stuff anyway?  Do they want to do the things they do?  Do I have a mental illness?  

Am I making excuses?

Seriously.

Sprinklers

We need new sprinklers.

Our existing system is messed up (as in, previous owners must have paid their teenage nephew to put in the cheapest system possible)  (drip systems all over the place!), and it would be more work to fix it than to put in a whole new one.

But the two quotes we got from local businesses came back around $6000.

SO.

I spent a day taking measurements and drawing up a map of our yard, so we can put new sprinklers in ourselves.  Fun fact of the day: Our house is only 26 feet by 35 feet!  How about that!  Just in case you were starting to get jealous.

We sent in the map to get a sprinkler plan.  Then we started thinking about the massive trees that are taking up space in our yard.  The ones that have been mangled by bad tree-trimming and 50 years of who-knows-what.  The ones that drop hundreds of small sticks a week onto the lawn, and millions of samaras a year onto the neighbors' lawns.  The ones that hardly put out any leaves anymore.

And if the trees are coming out, they should probably come out before the sprinklers go in, so we called for a tree removal quote.  It came back around $3000.

..... Anyone want to start a landscaping business?  I feel like there's money to be made.

M-Day Round 2

Oh hey.  It's been a while.  We've been pretty busy.

I survived Mother's Day this year, maybe even enjoyed it, because I'm in such a better place than I was a year ago.
For starters, last year we were unemployed homeowners with an 11-month-old and a new pregnancy (which was still a secret).  I was scared and tired and stressed and angry.

This year I was comfortable.  Comfortable with my mothering, comfortable with the decisions that Slice and I have made.  Comfortable in our finances, in our house and ward and family.  Comfortable in my own skin.


Plus, Slice got up with the babies and let me sleep in.

And MG ate the leaves off of my roses.

Cheese

The video is from six months ago, when Liam was still an only child ....

he has other shirts, I promise.