Our Blog: Resurrected

I think the reason I've been a terrible blogger is that I feel like I must have a perfect post complete with witty dialogue, pictures of perfectly groomed and smiling children, and preferably some kind of craft tutorial to go with it. This became so overwhelming that I just gave up altogether. My life is never exciting or perfect enough to blog about. I started rethinking this recently for a couple of reasons.

Number one we will be moving soon and starting a whole new life for ourselves. I will miss dearly all the friends and family I love here in Utah. I'd like to give them an opportunity to see our family grow from far away, however mundane it may seem. Secondly, I have several friends and family members who have recently been going through some difficult times. This has first of all made my prayers longer as the list of people I know who need the Lord's help has grown, and secondly has made me oh so grateful for the beautifully mundane life that I have.

To get up every day, feed my snotty nosed and bed-headed children breakfast, change poopy diapers, and go to a job that is difficult and stressful... this is what life truly is all about. How devastated would I be if any of these things were to change? There is so much comfort and joy in the daily and thankless tasks we perform. They can be heaven on earth. So I'd like to resurrect my little family blog with the monotony and imperfections of our life.

Here it goes... A perfectly uneventful trip to the park. We stopped at McDonald's on our way there and got a happy meal with chicken nuggets and a large Diet Coke (for mama). As expected Evalyn ate 3 chicken nuggets and 95% of the fries.


For those of you who haven't seen Eva (we say Eva with a short E sound, like Emma but with v's, short for Evalyn) lately, she is just the most amazing little girl. She is a bright shining light in our house. The only time she is upset is when she's hungry. Yes, she inherited my appetite and propensity for grouchiness when hungry. The eating pictures are classic.


Lucy has no time for trivial things like eating. There is to much of the world to explore. We set up shop at the park and she immediately headed for the playground. Just a little pause for a pic.


After lunch Lucy got ahold of the camera and snapped a few pictures of her own. There were a few good ones in the mix. They actually had a more artistic eye than many of mine... go figure.




I was unfortunately unable to photo document the most exciting part of the outing. I'll spare you the details but it involved an interruption in potty training, use of the sink, soap and blow drier in the park bathroom, and many Clorox wipes on the playground equipment. 6 months ago I would have moaned, maybe cursed and cut the trip short, but today I just kept thinking the true misery would be if this life of mine that involved cleaning up poop in a public place were to suddenly disappear.

I'm glad we stayed too because otherwise the world would have missed Lucy's reenactment of a scene from "Tangled".



I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into our mundane life. And remember, if your life is too perfect, too organized, or too dramatic for your liking... please stop by our little blog and get a glimpse of our monotony.

First Haircut

Lucy needed a haircut

but I was hesitant

because her hair took so long to grow in.

Finally I decided it was time.

Her personality is so adorable

she needed a do to match.

So we went to a talented stylist

with lots of experience with kids.

She was so fast

and it turned out great.

Lucy loves her new haricut

She loves to look at it in the mirror

and exclaims... "Cute!"

I agree.

Yes I do have a new baby, and yes she is 4 months old

Hi friends. Another shamefully overdue post. I decided it's about time I came out of hiding and shared my amazing Evalyn with everyone. I was not prepared for the tidal wave of love I have for this little one right from the beginning. She is Amazing. I feel like Evalyn and I have a special bond. Lucy has been from the beginning a stalwart Daddy's girl, she has never hidden her preference. I love Lucy more than life itself but it's nice to have someone who ADORES you. When I walk into Evalyn's line of sight she gets this look on her face like all her dreams have come true. I feel the same about her.

Labor was difficult but short. I knew the moment Evalyn was born she was the happy peaceful type. She didn't even cry, just looked around and took everything in.


There are 2 things I never thought I'd get in a newborn. A calm temperament and HAIR.

Here's Lucy meeting Evalyn for the first time. Lucy has been a fantastic big sister. She is mostly indifferent (better than hostile), but is always so sweet to her baby sister. She is already trying to teach her about the world and does a pretty good job of sharing her toys and Mom and Dad.

A happy baby hanging out with Dad.

All the girls dressed for the BYU v. Utah football game. Here's a rare unpleasant look from Evalyn... Maybe she's a BYU fan.

Getting ready to go to a friends house. About 3 months old.

We had Evalyn's blessing in Basin City and it was very special. My mom made her dress, I knitted her shoes and our adorable cousin Christianne made her headband.

Evalyn is a thumb sucker. Chris doesn't like it but I think it's adorable... plus she's so cute I pretty much let her have whatever she wants. In fact right before she was born, we did a quick ultrasound and she was sucking her thumb even then!

Modeling the hat Mama made.

Lucy and Evalyn together. These pictures are rare because Lucy's so active. I just love my gorgeous girls!!

Fast asleep and bundled up. Evalyn loves the car, it's a good thing too because it seems we're always on the go.

Finally, sweet Evalyn about an hour ago, playing happily in her excersaucer. No words can describe how blessed I feel to have the family I have. Especially my new sweet Evalyn.

My Lucy

I have a ton of stuff going on in my life right now and many things to look forward to but it seems like my thoughts are all directed toward one thing... Lucy. I'm contemplating the bittersweet transition of bringing a sibling into her life and how that will affect her and I'm thinking about how I can be a better mom to her and try to lead her strong, defiant personality in the right direction.

Lucy is the joy of my life. I can't wait for her to wake up in the morning, and then I immediately begin counting the minutes till naptime. I can't help but share her frustrations when she's throwing a tantrum in the Target parking lot because she doesn't understand why she can't just run around. In some ways I can relate. I'm sure I act much the same way when God gives me challenges I just don't understand... Of course He sees the wisdom in my trials but all I want is to throw a tantrum. I guess that's what parenting is all about... maybe it teaches us a little more about the nature of God and what He is trying to do for us.

I hope when Lucy is grown she can look back at me as her mother with forgiveness and understanding. I don't always know the best way to help her or the right thing to do but I love her always, I will be right there when she falls and I will forgive her for anything.

Heartbroken

I am just so sad this week about the loss of a little girl I took care of in the NICU. Heartbreak is, unfortunately, a hazard of my job and mostly I have ways of dealing with it but this week was almost too much. The tragedy is that this is the second little girl this family has lost. This sweet baby girl joined her sister in heaven on Friday after bringing so much happiness to her parents and everyone who knew her. I became close with her parents because we have so much in common, her dad is even from Zillah, a small town in eastern Washington near where I grew up.
This young family had 2 beautiful little girls and now they have to go home to an empty house, I can't fathom their pain. It's been hard for me to comprehend how something so terrable could happen. I don't know what else to say... I'm just so sad.

A Cereal Box was the Answer

This week was a little crafting and a whole lot of Lucy! First I wanted to share a discovery I made when putting together a few of those fancy burp cloths with the left-overs from my car seat cover quilt. I think those things are so stinkin' cute but I was dreading the ironing. I hate measuring with that slidy ruler thing and trying to get all the edges even. But... I found this tutorial on-line that changed everything! Here's the gist of it...


A Cereal Box. Brilliant right? I made all these...

.. in about 1 and 1/2 nap times.

I also knitted a baby hat this week but my tension was a little off so the shape wasn't quite what I wanted. But, if anyone knows a particularly cone-headed baby who is in need of a warm pink hat, please let me know.

Lucy and I had tons of fun this week. We were constantly on the go visiting people and doing cool things. We have this "farm" (I use the term loosely since I grew up on an actual farm and it is nothing like this little park/petting zoo in the middle of the suburbs where you can take a 3rd grade class on a field trip) near our house that we like to visit. You can feed the ducks, smell real manure, and practice making animal sounds to all the cows, pigs and horses you meet.

Here's LuLu feeding the ducks.





And eating a stale tortilla I brought to feed the animals.

... Good times.

Lucy is starting to learn to smile for the Camera, and I got this cute picture of a pasta filled smile at the Olive Garden later in the week.

More adorableness running around in a friend's backyard. (Our yard isn't nearly this nice)


And of course mowing the lawn.

What a great little girl. She is in such a cute phase and is really easy to just enjoy. She is learning something new everyday and I love her so much!! Well, have a good week my friends! Love, Tam

PS..... Ok, So I may or may not have stood in line this week in the juniors section of Nordstrom with 3 other grown women to get free tickets to an upcoming movie about teenage vampires..... and...... I may or may not have bought a t-shirt for the event that says "Jacob" across the back...... gotta-go-bye!