weekend crafts!

Some people party it up on the weekends. I, however, use my free time to make crafts. With Jonathan home Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I can get oh so much done.

Actually, the truth is that I hardly craft at all these days. There's just too many other things to do. But there were some little projects that I wanted to get done, so I made time in between naps :]

butterfly mobile & "memorial"

Remember that darling butterfly mobile that I made for Charlotte? Well, our little "destructo" as we like to call him tore it to many tiny pieces.  It was un-fixable, so after holding a severe grudge for about a week I decided to make new and BETTER one. With the first one, I just used scraps of paper that I already had. So the one advantage of a re-do was being able to pick out new paper!

 

 I hung it really high where Talmage couldn't reach. Unless he grows a foot overnight I think it's safe!

 I made the new mobile weeks ago, but this weekend I finally got around to the "butterfly memorial" honoring those dear paper butterflies that survived from the mobile #1. I know, I know...call it sentimental or whatever, but I just couldn't throw them away :/

good behavior chart

Oh the power of positive reinforcement. I learned about it in my childhood development classes, but never imagined it could make so much of a difference. Talmage has caught on real quick how to get rewarded with stickers...hope it lasts!
When the chart is completely full (10 stickers for each row) he'll get something extra cool :]

glass bead earrings
I fell in love when I saw these aqua beads and had to go home right away to make jewelery with them :]

and of course some new bows for this little cutie.

Happy crafting, everyone!

miss 3 months!

She is growing so fast and getting chunkier by the day. She loves to coo and gurgle and laughs when we tickle her. She thinks its funny when we say "AH BOO!" Talmage gets a hoot out of watching her facial expressions. She has the most kissable pouty lips! She gets excited and smiley when she sees her bottle, but not as smiley as when her daddy comes home and snuggles her till bedtime. We love her a whole lot and feel very blessed to have such a sweet little angel in our lives! 

Happy 3 months, Charly girl!

I may be slightly obsessed with taking pictures of my kids...

But could they be any cuter? Seriously.

weekend of champions

What a busy and happy weekend!

Friday Jonathan took THE test. The BIG one. He took off early in the morning, drove to Portland, and was back by 10:30! And....HE PASSED! Woohoo :) big relief for all of us. I am so glad that his studying paid off- he's my hero!
For the rest of the day, Jonathan was downtown for a TR Conference and I stayed at home enjoying the kiddos.

Saturday was hubby's 25th birthday! It was probably the most gorgeous day we've seen since we've been here, so we took a trip to Silver Falls State Park- just half an hour away. The falls are in a rainforest, and to see all of them you hike like 8 miles up and down fairly steep trails. So....we just saw one, but I think it was one of the bigger ones.

The best part was walking behind the waterfall. It was really stunning...and very wet :]

Jonathan on the bridge with Talmage

Me, & Charlotte in the stroller 

South Falls

Getting there and back was quite a hike...let's just say my legs were feeling it later that day...I haven't done so much physical activity since being pregnant one year ago! Pushing the stroller was the hardest part but once again it did not disappoint on the bumpy trails :)

After our hike, we had a picnic lunch on the water's edge and let Talmage frolick around.

 Charlotte and I just watched and soaked up the sun rays.

That night we celebrated Jonathan's birthday dinner at Roadhouse Grill (I haven't eaten there since I lived in Louisiana-it's been too long!)

Our silly little miss likes to pull up her dress and chew on it. She does it every time I put her in a dress. She must like to show off her bellybutton!

There was a balloon guy there making balloons for the kids. Talmage got a balloon Elmo and birthday boy got ram horns. HA HA.

 We ended the night with "tubbys" for the kids, some hearty chocolate cake, and our own rendition of the birthday song.

Sunday- today- is Mother's Day. I feel very thankful for all the good women in my life that exemplify the qualities of a mother. I am also grateful for what motherhood has taught me, and what I have to look forward to! More smiles like these I hope ;]

the truth

I was talking to one of my best friends on the phone the other day, and she told me that the reason she stopped blogging was because she got tired of reading people's "pretend" blogs. You know...where they pretend that everything in their life is perfect and that they are perfect and their blog was basically just a grounds for bragging. I could definitely see her point, because it annoys me too. But then I got to thinking...do people think my blog is like that?

So here I am declaring, in all truth, that our life is NOT perfect. We have lots of trials and sometimes I completely lose my cool about it all. I know life isn't perfect for anyone, despite how they make it out to be. Just to prove my point, here are some things that really bite :)

1. Having two kids is HARD. really, really hard.
2. We currently have no income.
3. Our apartment is not a house. I want a house.
4. We have one car, so I never get to take myself or the kids anywhere.
5. I weigh more right now than I ever have in my whole life.

Of course that's not all of it, but you get the picture (hopefully). Now let me turn the tables a bit.

Even though there are both good and bad things that go on, I see it like this. If I focus on the good things and write about those, I will be happier. Sometimes I do use this blog to rant, and it makes me feel great! But most the time, this is my happy journal that records how our family has been blessed. Someday I want to get it published, so our kids can see all the fun things we did together. I don't want them thinking that I was sour all the time, and that is why I don't write EVERYTHING on here.

Jonathan tells me that the mental patients at the hospital where he works keep optimism journals to feel good about themselves. I think that's what this is for me, because I need more optimism in my life. I need to remember what I am grateful for. I don't pretend, I just leave some of the less-optimistic stuff out.

So in the spirit of optimism, here are my sweet children whom I love VERY much! They make the bad stuff not so bad, and the good stuff sweeter.

I am not perfect, but I'm happy...

and that's the truth :)

ribbon is cheap...

and so the era of bows begins!

family update

Jonathan:
Takes his NCTRC Exam in Portland next week, which is a huge deal. It basically qualifies him to own his job title of "Recreation Therapist" and gets him in a lot of doors for employment. And we paid a lot of money for it. So...we're really hoping he passes! In the meantime he spends lots of time studying and doing homework for his internship and online class.

He loves his internship at the State Hospital, and gets to do fun stuff like basketball, yoga, and general fitness classes during work hours with the patients. And his supervisor lets him study on the clock, too! And he gets free lunch. Lucky sucker :p

And I love that he only works 4 days out of the week. We have 3 day weekends every weekend!

Talmage:

This boy has SO MUCH ENERGY these days. I think he gets stir-crazy, because every day he finds a new way to drive me nuts. He's already ripped Charlotte's mobile to pieces (I'm in the process of making another one), torn many pages out of his books, peeled the labeling stickers off his toy buckets, ransacked the clean diapers on numerous occasions, pulled out each baby wipe from its case, stood in the shower and turned it on after getting dressed, kicked off a brand new shoe in the mall and lost it, woken up his sister and jumped on/sat on/hit/squeezed her, given himself a peanut butter/honey/cheese/spaghetti sauce/mashed potato bath during lunch, and raided his diaper genie. I am practicing patience. It's still a work in progress.

On the up side, he LOVES the nursery at church. There are lots of kids in our new ward. On Sunday J and I actually subbed for the senior Primary class. I won't go into the details of that, but if they end up calling us as Primary teachers it will be INTERESTING to say the least :)

Charlotte:

*holds a rattle and shakes it.
*has been able to roll from tummy to back for the last few weeks now. I was astounded at how fast she learned it...it took our chubby Talmage an eternity to roll.
*loves it when we goggle at her, hates it when we divert our attention elsewhere.
*wears 0-3 and 3 month size clothes.
*still eats every 2-3 hours. my boobs are suffering. 
*is able to sleep through the night, but choose to wake up 1-2 times to eat.
*sleeps in her pack and play at night and occasionally in our bed when I'm really tired
*opens her eyes wide for the camera.
*takes 3-4 long naps during the day.
*takes a lot of interest in her brother, especially when he plays with his toys or dances.
*turns her head to the t.v. when its on...uh-oh...
*should be a model for Carter's baby clothes :]

And me...well there's not much to say...my life consists of housekeeping of child rearing :] I know it sounds typical, but it is the most interesting, unpredictable, and rewarding job I've ever had!