goodbye, january

 Snow.  So much snow.  And I still think it is gorgeous.

Nicholas came down with croup two weeks ago, probably got it from Church, since we don't go ANYWHERE else lately.  So we've been homebodies, just the three of us here at home all day long, every day.  
We've had a few moments (or maybe more than a few) of cabin fever craziness,
but overall it's been kinda fun to hunker down and just be home.

Ellie is still really into Peek-a-boo.  Now she covers her eyes with her hands, palms out, and pulls them away and shouts "ahh!" 

Kent and I graduated to a king size bed. It was time.  The kids like to snuggle in the mornings.  And our giant room was kind of swallowing the little queen bed.  The new one came on Saturday, and for a while we had the queen mattress on the floor, the box springs, the queen bed frame, and our king bed, all set up individually in our bedroom and there was still room to walk around.  

Our room is huge I tell you.  Almost too big for me to know what to do with it.

Anyway, while we had the multiple levels of mattresses I decided to try and do a little valentine's photo shoot.

I got this gem:

"Valentine, I pick you!"

Just can't resist...

Our Walmart has beautiful flowers for $4 a bunch.  We are definitely liking the little bit of color to brighten up the January gray.

And that's my new painting on the wall...hung with masking tape.  

I need to get in and have it custom framed.  

 Kent's parents are here for a couple of nights. The kids are loving having them here, and they had a major game/book/cuddle/chocolate/dancing/singing fest together this morning.

And a picture of me, courtesy of Nicholas. We went up to Logan last weekend and I got my hair cut.  I loved growing it out, but it was time to go back to short.  

Thank you, January.  See you next year.

2013: live with purpose

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignByCalani

Focus. Nurture. Be here now. Progress.
I spent a long time trying to settle in on the perfect One Little Word for 2013.
In 2009 my word was Give. 2010 Peace. (skipped 2011)  2012 Choose.
And I shouldn't have been, but I always was a little surprised when things happened in my life that forced me to learn and live my One Little Word.  I felt guided to the words I picked, and I felt my life guided to the events that helped me improve in specific and direct ways. I felt the Lord working to help my accomplish my goals and help me grow.


This year,
I feel time passing.  My children are still so little, but each night I tuck them into bed and find myself wondering where time is going.

And I'm realizing that I have less time to waste doing good-but-not-best things.
I have a healthy body.  I have energy and a beautiful home and a happy family.
I can do more. I can focus and live with direction and purpose.  I can accomplish good things if I set my mind to it and work for it.

So that is what I am going to do in 2013.  I am going to live with purpose. I am going to set aside the distractions. I am going to get down on the floor and play with my children and talk to them and be here with them now, not letting the fluff and stuff of the world distract me. I am going to study the scriptures with purpose.
I am going to focus and work and beautify my home and strengthen my friendships and purposefully act and work and love and live.

reading

I'm doing my very best to teach my children the wonders of the written word.
And if they want to read while sitting in doll beds?
Well I'm not going to stop them.

and when she wakes up each morning

 She's rocking some super awesome bedhead.
She tries to get in the tub with her clothes still on.
She steals her brother's sippy cups.  First thing in the morning and all day long.  
She asks for food by pointing to her nose and saying "uh!"
She understands almost every single thing we say.
Yet she asks for everything and anything she wants just by pointing and saying "uh"
And then she says "teease!" (please) and "tadatdada" (thank-you)
She's decided that the rest of the English language is useless to her. Why say "up," "more," or even "Mom" when "teease?" has the same effect?

She shouts at herself in the mirror.
She snuggles upside-down between us in bed when we wake up, with her feet up on the pillow by our faces.
She is probably going to be left-handed.
She takes soup cans out of the pantry and carries them to the living room.
She likes to run circles around things.
She dances to the hymns at Church, and gives applause at the end of prayers and talks.

And when she wakes up each morning, she is light and joy and silliness and scrunched-nose giggles and squishy hugs and tongue clicking and sloppy kisses.

Love you, Ellie-girl

disneyland, the rest

Jonah, Ellie, and Sarah

We went to Disneyland over 3 weeks ago.  
I want to go back. 
My kids were oh so happy, so easygoing and well-behaved.
We were there with my family, just enjoying it all.
I was able to go on all the rides (hooray for visiting a theme park when I'm not pregnant this time!) 
and I love love love roller coasters.

The park was pretty crowded in the afternoons and evenings, 
most likely locals coming to see the Christmas decorations and shows, because the lines for the rides never were too long.  
We'd get there first thing in the morning and go on as many rides as we could before the crowds showed up.
We got drizzly rain in the mornings, but nothing too bad.  

Nicholas still talks about all the rides,
even the ones he was terrified of.

Just last weekend he said to my sister Sarah,
"I remember the ride where we went in the dark and all the people were singing Jingle Bells and 'Small world' and it was so fun!"
Sarah laughed because Nicholas spent the entire "It's a Small World" ride crying with his face buried in her lap.  "Yeah," she said, "That was a fun ride."
Nicholas looked at her in surprise. "Oh! Did you go on that ride too??"
Ha.

A few days ago Nicholas was begging us to take him back to Disneyland.  We reminded him about the LONG drive there.  He just said, "It's okay, I have snacks and surprises...let's go!"  

The decorations in the park were so awesome.  It was beautiful, and so Christmas-y.

Mid-afternoon crowds...by nighttime it was shoulder to shoulder. 
Kent and I tried to go see the fireworks the first night-we couldn't get a spot and they won't let you stop walking in the pathways so we ended up walking slowly in a big circle, trying to watch the fireworks.
Lesson learned.

The second day we were there was our 5th anniversary!
At the town hall in Disneyland they gave us a pin for our anniversary, and it was fun to have all the workers see the pin and tell us "Happy Anniversary!"
Kent even wore the pin...which just goes to prove that Disneyland really does bring out the kid in all of us. Either that or he loves me enough to humor me.

My parents took our kids back to the hotel that night and Kent and I got to go out to dinner (Cheesecake Factory) and then we went over to the park to watch the World of Color water show (super incredible).
It was really really cold, but we bundled up and had a wonderful time, just the two of us.

Some favorites from the trip:
Nicholas:  The hotels.  Seriously, this kid was more excited about sleeping in his "new beds!" than he was about going to the park.  In fact, the first morning we got him up to go to the park. We told him we were going to Disneyland and he laughed his delighted/excited/maniac laugh and said, "And then do we get to come back to the hotel?!?"

Kent: Tower of Terror.  His favorite ride by far.  Poor guy gets motion sickness so there were a lot of rides he couldn't go on.  But he uh, took one for the team and took Ellie back to the hotel every afternoon so she (and he) could take a nap.  Oh, and we discovered the joys of the Dole Whip, and we had to go back a few times so he could get one again.

Becca:  We rode the big roller coaster in California Adventure Park while it was raining.  My brother Josh and I sat on the very front row.  The rain was pelting our faces and burned like crazy.  It was the best roller coaster experience I've ever had.  And I'm not even kidding.

And because we never get together with my family without some awesome quotes, here's some from our Disneyland trip:

• "Oh, I thought you were getting carried away." Dad to me, Sarah, and my mom when we were simply sitting on the couch in the hotel talking.  You can bet we used that line all the time after.  "Just be careful you don't get too carried away!" etc.

• "NO, NOT MUTO!!"  Nicholas. We were heading towards the line to see Pluto...he didn't want to get anywhere near that costumed dog.

• "My foot is smooshed in a cupcake!" 

And we learned it is best to simply duck under the queue chain, not attempt to jump over it.

hello, january

New Year's Eve.  Nicholas stayed up so late--he was so tired that he actually fell off the toilet as we were getting him ready for bed.

And then he was up a few hours later throwing up, poor guy.  He was fine again the next morning, though, back to his happy silly self.  (I don't want to jinx it, but I think maybe, just maybe we're coming out of the crazy hard screaming tantrum stage with him? Shhh, don't say it out loud...)

My Grandma and Grandpa Shaw bought us tickets to go bowling as a family for Christmas. We all went on New Year's Eve.  Nicholas kept his fingers in his ears the whole time (loud music).
He tried to carry the ball with just his elbows.  You know, so he could keep his fingers in his ears.
And, he won.  
Final score:  Kent-89.  Becca-45 (I'm super awesome at bowling). Nicholas-109.
Gotta figure out how I can use those nifty ball ramps without looking too stupid... 

 Mountain goats.  Basically in our backyard.  They are out there on the golf course every day now, looking for grass to eat.  
Ellie loves to watch them, pointing and shouting.  
We also see deer, hawks, and a bald eagle every so often.

Guess who has learned how to run?  She is fast, strong, and into everything.  I pretty much just follow her around all day, attempting to keep her out of things and off of things and preventing her from breaking things.  

But she's hilarious. And unbelievably darling. 

She likes to get really close to me and "whisper" nonsense, telling me little secrets.  

I can't wait until she has actual words in those little secrets.

And the way she scrunches her nose and laughs when we correctly guess what it is she's asking for?  Ummm I just love her!

 I woke up yesterday feeling very, very sick.  I thought I was getting "the flu," but thankfully I'm feeling much better this morning.  
And who can feel sick very long when you get to look out at this view from your sickbed?

\

Kent took Nicholas to the store yesterday. Poor kid was dying to do something other than watch movies next to his sick mother.  Kent bought him his very first Nerf gun.  A monumental step in boyhood.

And this morning, Nicholas said,

"Mommy, I don't think I need the rest of my toys anymore.  I just like my new shooting gun."

 I'm still working on figuring out my "One Little Word" for 2013.  I'm close, but just don't feel like I've gotten exactly the right word yet.  

And now, Ellie is up and I need to get up and get these kids some lunch.

sunbeam

My little boy started Sunbeams class at Church on Sunday.  
In our Church, children go to nursery class from 18 months old until the January after they have turned 3.  
Nursery is mostly just playing, snacktime, a little bit of singing, and a very short simple lesson (teeny tiny attention spans).  
Sunbeams is the first class in Primary, where the children have a real Sunday School lesson and a singing time.  

Nicholas always had a hard time in Nursery--he often would just stand in the corner all by himself and watch.  
He didn't participate much, and we often had to sit in there with him so he wouldn't cry. 
It would take him months to get "used" to his Nursery class, and with all the moves we've done this last year, every time he'd finally get to where he was talking and playing in Nursery just a week or two before we'd have to move again.

We were pretty anxious about him going to Sunbeams,
considering he literally just got comfortable in his Nursery class in this ward
only three weeks ago.
But he did great in Sunbeams!  
I think he likes the structure, the schedule, the control. Nursery is often chaos, and Nicholas wasn't able to feel comfortable there. 
I feel pretty confident that my boy is going to thrive in Primary, and that makes my mama heart happy.

Going to Sunbeams is a big step. More for me than him, probably.
It was a big day--my little boy really is growing up.