Vessel loves playing with Mike's phone because you can toy with the pictures and "make them crazy" as Vessel says. Here's a couple examples of Vessel's skills.
And here's a picture of our table when we went out to eat. Nice shot, Ves.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sidewalk Art
While on our walk, the sidewalk was covered in leaf prints. Lots of leaves must've fallen on the wet concrete when they poured it. I thought it was amazingly beautiful.
Tiny Spaces
So, right now I'm sitting here with a pile of henna on my hair covered in a shower cap. I haven't done henna on my hair for a few years and I forgot what a freaking pain it is, not to mention how messy it can be. Part of it could be that I was just in a hurry though. In my haste, I didn't follow the directions verbatim, either, so let's hope this turns out. Anyway, since I've got some time to kill before this little concoction on my head is done, I thought I'd write a post.
It's been exactly a month since we moved from our house into our little 2 bedroom apartment. Transitioning from a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a yard to a tiny apartment like this hasn't been that hard at all, believe it or not. At first it was... I mean, I miss our deck with the fire pit and our yard, and the space in our house. But being here has forced us to live simply. I guess what I mean by that is we came to realize that things are just things. A few items got broken during the move and, well, it was a great way to make us see that "things" shouldn't rule our lives. Here today, gone tomorrow, so don't get attached to things now, as Maude would say. We also had to part with several "luxuries" we were used to in our old house because we just don't have the room anymore. We stored pretty much everything we owned, except of course, the basics. Since all my "projects," (i.e. scrapbooking, knitting, sewing) are packed away for the summer I have actually been doing other things like...reading. Yeah, I've read 3 books this summer. Okay, they weren't big books, but books none-the-less. I have also planted a mini garden on the balcony of our apartment and some things are starting to sprout. My first real attempt at growing stuff and I might just be successful! Let's cross our fingers.
Since we live in a tiny space, I find it much easier to keep it clean because there are not as many rooms to deal with. Also, since the place is not technically "ours" I am much more lax about the kids playing with messy things like markers, play-doh and bubbles and I really don't care if Vessel drinks juice in the living room. :) There are some cons to living in an apartment again, however. For instance, I forgot how noisy an apartment complex can be. Hearing people and their TVs and their cars coming in and out of the parking lot is not something I am used to since our house was always so quiet. Also, we live right by the hospital so pretty much every day I hear sirens or the life flight helicopter. Actually a couple days ago at 5am that chopper sounded like it went right by our bedroom window.... because it did! And soon followed the sirens from the ambulances that were on their way to the hospital as well. I wasn't exactly happy to wake up to that. I haven't been sleeping all that great since we moved here. It could be the noise or the lights that seep in through the windows whether or not the blinds are closed. Or maybe it's pregnancy. Hmmm...
Other things that aren't the best about living in an apartment (or this one, anyway) is not having our own washer and dryer. Our old apartment before moving to Montana had washer and dryer hook-ups so it was wonderful. But now we have to pay to wash our laundry and haul it up and down the stairs. Oh, those blasted stairs. 3 floors up is not ideal when you have a baby in a car seat, groceries, and/or a stroller (and if I'm really unfortunate, a stubborn 4 year old who insists he's too tired to walk up the stairs by himself and that I MUST carry him.) That's probably all the cons I can think of at this point. Nothing that is unbearable, just inconvenient. Oh, I suppose there is one other thing: The smell. You know how people have their own smell? Well, every time I walk into the apartment after being outside I just think, "This is not our smell. This is not our home." It smells like whoever lived here before us, and whoever lived here before them. All these different smells just mingled together. It's kinda funky. But I guess you get used to it. :)
Okay, so enough about the apartment. In other news, my youngest is about a week away from turning 1. This past year went by like a flash. Jacob and I have a very strong connection. I'm not picking favorites here, because I love both my kids so much. But Jacob and I have a different kind of bond than Vessel and I do. It's interesting how diverse kids can be from each other. Already I can see major differences in my kids' personalities.
Next week I'll get my 20 week ultrasound and find out the gender of this baby I'm carrying. I won't lie, I'd be pretty excited to get a girl. But if Mike is right that he only makes men, then I guess I'll be happy with a boy too. I've got 2 great boys already, why not add another to the mix? I'm not really looking forward to moving again when I'm 8 months pregnant. It will be a hassle for sure. Plus, when we get to Oregon, I'm gonna have to find a new doctor right away. I don't think I'll have time to "hunt" around for the best one. I might not get to be choosy. I guess I won't worry my pretty little head off about that now, though. That's still like 3 months away.
I guess the other news is that we own a motorcycle AGAIN. I knew Mike's itch to get another motorcycle would never completely be eradicated. All it took was for him to ride a friend's little motor bike a couple blocks and he was hooked again. It's different than our old motorcycle. This new one is more of a sport bike. Yesterday it was brought over from Missoula and Mike took it to work today. Which means I have a car again! Yahooo! Although, I have to wait several hours for this henna to stain my hair so it's not like I have plans to go anywhere anyway. Psh. I'm just happy to not be stranded anymore and the boys and I can go do what we please.
Since I promised Vessel a quick game of GO-FISH before nap-time I better wrap this up. Just wanted to write a brief update. I'm pretty much horrible at updating my blog these days. So I don't blame you all for totally neglecting me... :)
It's been exactly a month since we moved from our house into our little 2 bedroom apartment. Transitioning from a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a yard to a tiny apartment like this hasn't been that hard at all, believe it or not. At first it was... I mean, I miss our deck with the fire pit and our yard, and the space in our house. But being here has forced us to live simply. I guess what I mean by that is we came to realize that things are just things. A few items got broken during the move and, well, it was a great way to make us see that "things" shouldn't rule our lives. Here today, gone tomorrow, so don't get attached to things now, as Maude would say. We also had to part with several "luxuries" we were used to in our old house because we just don't have the room anymore. We stored pretty much everything we owned, except of course, the basics. Since all my "projects," (i.e. scrapbooking, knitting, sewing) are packed away for the summer I have actually been doing other things like...reading. Yeah, I've read 3 books this summer. Okay, they weren't big books, but books none-the-less. I have also planted a mini garden on the balcony of our apartment and some things are starting to sprout. My first real attempt at growing stuff and I might just be successful! Let's cross our fingers.
Since we live in a tiny space, I find it much easier to keep it clean because there are not as many rooms to deal with. Also, since the place is not technically "ours" I am much more lax about the kids playing with messy things like markers, play-doh and bubbles and I really don't care if Vessel drinks juice in the living room. :) There are some cons to living in an apartment again, however. For instance, I forgot how noisy an apartment complex can be. Hearing people and their TVs and their cars coming in and out of the parking lot is not something I am used to since our house was always so quiet. Also, we live right by the hospital so pretty much every day I hear sirens or the life flight helicopter. Actually a couple days ago at 5am that chopper sounded like it went right by our bedroom window.... because it did! And soon followed the sirens from the ambulances that were on their way to the hospital as well. I wasn't exactly happy to wake up to that. I haven't been sleeping all that great since we moved here. It could be the noise or the lights that seep in through the windows whether or not the blinds are closed. Or maybe it's pregnancy. Hmmm...
Other things that aren't the best about living in an apartment (or this one, anyway) is not having our own washer and dryer. Our old apartment before moving to Montana had washer and dryer hook-ups so it was wonderful. But now we have to pay to wash our laundry and haul it up and down the stairs. Oh, those blasted stairs. 3 floors up is not ideal when you have a baby in a car seat, groceries, and/or a stroller (and if I'm really unfortunate, a stubborn 4 year old who insists he's too tired to walk up the stairs by himself and that I MUST carry him.) That's probably all the cons I can think of at this point. Nothing that is unbearable, just inconvenient. Oh, I suppose there is one other thing: The smell. You know how people have their own smell? Well, every time I walk into the apartment after being outside I just think, "This is not our smell. This is not our home." It smells like whoever lived here before us, and whoever lived here before them. All these different smells just mingled together. It's kinda funky. But I guess you get used to it. :)
Okay, so enough about the apartment. In other news, my youngest is about a week away from turning 1. This past year went by like a flash. Jacob and I have a very strong connection. I'm not picking favorites here, because I love both my kids so much. But Jacob and I have a different kind of bond than Vessel and I do. It's interesting how diverse kids can be from each other. Already I can see major differences in my kids' personalities.
Next week I'll get my 20 week ultrasound and find out the gender of this baby I'm carrying. I won't lie, I'd be pretty excited to get a girl. But if Mike is right that he only makes men, then I guess I'll be happy with a boy too. I've got 2 great boys already, why not add another to the mix? I'm not really looking forward to moving again when I'm 8 months pregnant. It will be a hassle for sure. Plus, when we get to Oregon, I'm gonna have to find a new doctor right away. I don't think I'll have time to "hunt" around for the best one. I might not get to be choosy. I guess I won't worry my pretty little head off about that now, though. That's still like 3 months away.
I guess the other news is that we own a motorcycle AGAIN. I knew Mike's itch to get another motorcycle would never completely be eradicated. All it took was for him to ride a friend's little motor bike a couple blocks and he was hooked again. It's different than our old motorcycle. This new one is more of a sport bike. Yesterday it was brought over from Missoula and Mike took it to work today. Which means I have a car again! Yahooo! Although, I have to wait several hours for this henna to stain my hair so it's not like I have plans to go anywhere anyway. Psh. I'm just happy to not be stranded anymore and the boys and I can go do what we please.
Since I promised Vessel a quick game of GO-FISH before nap-time I better wrap this up. Just wanted to write a brief update. I'm pretty much horrible at updating my blog these days. So I don't blame you all for totally neglecting me... :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Kids and Stuff
I realized Mike and I had all these pictures on our cellphones so I thought I would post them. Some of these go back a few months.
I thought this picture of Mike holding his sleeping baby was SO precious.
I thought this picture of Mike holding his sleeping baby was SO precious.
Jacob DOES NOT like the swings.
Vessel getting extra help with his martial arts.
I think Vessel took this picture of his little brother while in the car.
Always happy.
Always eating.
A little blurry, but I still love the smile on this kid.
Jacob with his nylon stocking do-rag.
Playing in the boxes before our big move.
Vessel showing off the tats he drew all over his arm.
The Lego duplo tower Mike and Vessel built.
More eating.
Monday, June 13, 2011
A Tear Jerker
LUCK - NYC Wedding Proposal from Aria Melody DJ on Vimeo.
I got this video link from my friend Kenna. It was truly adorable!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Spring Catch-Up
He's a big fan of graham crackers.
OMG, I love this picture so much.
He loves to eat.
This face is priceless.
So happy he can give himself a bottle.
He loves this hat. Whenever I put it on him he happily wears it all day. Vessel always pulled his hats off.
Mike with our two cute boys at Russel Park.
There's nothing greater than seeing your kids smile.
It's official, Jacob hates the swings. Even when one of us is holding him.
I told Mike to act happy so that maybe Jacob would act happy too...but to no avail.
He liked the ladybug toy though...
I love Vessel's dimple.
Close up!
One of the first warm days of the year (this was a few weeks ago.) I introduced Jacob to grass and he HATED it. So he just stayed on his little blanket the whole time.
Blinded by the light!
Snot and drool really compliment this photo.
Sampling the wood chips.
Kind of looks like he's smoking a joint....not that I would know what that was like....
Vessel loves the swings. And he loves "comfy" pants. He would wear this Puma sweat suit everyday if he could.
The boys had a blast playing on the boxes I collected for moving.
Sweet smile.
Naked boys.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Story
Most of you know we are moving. And for those of you who don't know, here are the deets.
Last summer after Jacob was born, Mike got the idea that we should put our house on the market and buy an investment property (like a 4-plex or small apartment complex) and live in one of the units. That way we would be able to have other tenants pay our mortgage and we could save some money and make some extra money outside of Mike's regular income. We figured we would be around Great Falls for the next few years. So in September we listed our house and looked around Great Falls for various real estate possibilities. We had several people look at our house in the beginning, but as the weather got colder and winter began approaching, people stopped showing an interest. All winter we had no calls on the house. It wasn't frustrating for me, necessarily. I had faith that it would all work out in the Lord's time and I didn't feel rushed to sell it immediately.
As the months passed, things started to change. There was more talk about Mike being moved to Portland for work. But the time frame was never really discussed. For all we knew, it could've been a couple years from then, or it could've been a few months. Nothing seemed certain. And in the field that Mike is in (finance) he is constantly up to date with the latest news concerning the stock market, the economy, the housing market, etc. All the stuff he had been reading about lately from all the financial gurus who predict stock market trends and housing trends were saying things were going to get real bad again real soon. So spring came and we thought, we need to sell our house a.s.a.p. in case things hit rock bottom again and we aren't able to get out of our house when we need to (because at that point, we didn't know when we'd need to since everything was so up in the air.) We made some necessary repairs on the house and put some fresh paint on the walls. Eventually, with the change in the seasons we started to get more calls on the house. And before we knew it, we got an offer and we took it. This was April 14th. The closing date was set for May 16th, only a month to find a new place to live, find a storage unit, pack, and move. And the process began...
We started looking for a place to rent, but guess what? There aren't a lot of options here. Most of the rentals in this town are dumps. And those that aren't, are more expensive than our mortgage for a much smaller amount of space. But, again, I had faith it would work out. Of course I was stressed though. And nervous about what was going to happen. We didn't know if we should be looking for a place with a year lease or something less. We had no idea how long it would be before we moved to Portland. So it was hard to know where the right place to live was going to be. But I can attest that prayer really works. I know Heavenly Father answered my prayers, even during a time when I felt like I didn't deserve to be listened to. Within a day or two, Mike's head boss in Portland called him to do his bi-annual evaluation over the phone, and he told Mike he wanted us to move to Portland in September. Bingo, now at least the uncertainty of "when" had been resolved. That helped us narrow things down a bit, because we knew that we had a find a place that we could rent month to month. I ended up talking to an old friend who lived here who was in the same boat as us and she gave me a few numbers to call. I ended up getting a hold of an apartment manager that happened to be a member of our church and she said she had an opening in the complex she and her husband managed. Right then I went to look at the apartment and we took it! It's only a two bedroom, but we can make it work until we move in September. At least it's not a dump, and it's sooooo cheap it blows my mind. We rented a storage unit and will be storing pretty much everything we own and only taking the necessities to the new apartment (beds, table, computer, couch, dishes...) I don't even plan on hanging up pictures or decorating the place.
We were kind of cutting it close with the closing date so soon, but it all worked out. I just needed to trust the Lord. And as usual, everything fell into place. I just think about how impeccable the timing was for everything. Mike wanting to put the house on the market when he did (even though it was for a different reason, he still felt inspired to do it.), being able to sell our house before the housing market dropped again, being able to find a nice, affordable rental so soon, etc. etc. I could go on and on. I have seen the Lord's hand our lives as he's directed and guided us in our choices and in this whole process. And even though life for me (for several reasons) has been a struggle these past couple of months, I can't deny my blessings from a loving Heavenly Father who knows my needs and understands me personally.
Anyway, now we are just a week away from when we need to be out of here and I feel like I have so much to do. I just hope my body and mind cooperates and lets me get something accomplished this week. It's been a battle to get everything done that I need to with being incessantly tired and sick . My poor kids probably feel neglected as well. I will be happy when this move is over and I can just try to have a carefree summer before we move to P-town.
Last summer after Jacob was born, Mike got the idea that we should put our house on the market and buy an investment property (like a 4-plex or small apartment complex) and live in one of the units. That way we would be able to have other tenants pay our mortgage and we could save some money and make some extra money outside of Mike's regular income. We figured we would be around Great Falls for the next few years. So in September we listed our house and looked around Great Falls for various real estate possibilities. We had several people look at our house in the beginning, but as the weather got colder and winter began approaching, people stopped showing an interest. All winter we had no calls on the house. It wasn't frustrating for me, necessarily. I had faith that it would all work out in the Lord's time and I didn't feel rushed to sell it immediately.
As the months passed, things started to change. There was more talk about Mike being moved to Portland for work. But the time frame was never really discussed. For all we knew, it could've been a couple years from then, or it could've been a few months. Nothing seemed certain. And in the field that Mike is in (finance) he is constantly up to date with the latest news concerning the stock market, the economy, the housing market, etc. All the stuff he had been reading about lately from all the financial gurus who predict stock market trends and housing trends were saying things were going to get real bad again real soon. So spring came and we thought, we need to sell our house a.s.a.p. in case things hit rock bottom again and we aren't able to get out of our house when we need to (because at that point, we didn't know when we'd need to since everything was so up in the air.) We made some necessary repairs on the house and put some fresh paint on the walls. Eventually, with the change in the seasons we started to get more calls on the house. And before we knew it, we got an offer and we took it. This was April 14th. The closing date was set for May 16th, only a month to find a new place to live, find a storage unit, pack, and move. And the process began...
We started looking for a place to rent, but guess what? There aren't a lot of options here. Most of the rentals in this town are dumps. And those that aren't, are more expensive than our mortgage for a much smaller amount of space. But, again, I had faith it would work out. Of course I was stressed though. And nervous about what was going to happen. We didn't know if we should be looking for a place with a year lease or something less. We had no idea how long it would be before we moved to Portland. So it was hard to know where the right place to live was going to be. But I can attest that prayer really works. I know Heavenly Father answered my prayers, even during a time when I felt like I didn't deserve to be listened to. Within a day or two, Mike's head boss in Portland called him to do his bi-annual evaluation over the phone, and he told Mike he wanted us to move to Portland in September. Bingo, now at least the uncertainty of "when" had been resolved. That helped us narrow things down a bit, because we knew that we had a find a place that we could rent month to month. I ended up talking to an old friend who lived here who was in the same boat as us and she gave me a few numbers to call. I ended up getting a hold of an apartment manager that happened to be a member of our church and she said she had an opening in the complex she and her husband managed. Right then I went to look at the apartment and we took it! It's only a two bedroom, but we can make it work until we move in September. At least it's not a dump, and it's sooooo cheap it blows my mind. We rented a storage unit and will be storing pretty much everything we own and only taking the necessities to the new apartment (beds, table, computer, couch, dishes...) I don't even plan on hanging up pictures or decorating the place.
We were kind of cutting it close with the closing date so soon, but it all worked out. I just needed to trust the Lord. And as usual, everything fell into place. I just think about how impeccable the timing was for everything. Mike wanting to put the house on the market when he did (even though it was for a different reason, he still felt inspired to do it.), being able to sell our house before the housing market dropped again, being able to find a nice, affordable rental so soon, etc. etc. I could go on and on. I have seen the Lord's hand our lives as he's directed and guided us in our choices and in this whole process. And even though life for me (for several reasons) has been a struggle these past couple of months, I can't deny my blessings from a loving Heavenly Father who knows my needs and understands me personally.
Anyway, now we are just a week away from when we need to be out of here and I feel like I have so much to do. I just hope my body and mind cooperates and lets me get something accomplished this week. It's been a battle to get everything done that I need to with being incessantly tired and sick . My poor kids probably feel neglected as well. I will be happy when this move is over and I can just try to have a carefree summer before we move to P-town.
Screw you, Mother's Day
Today at church the women received flowers for Mother's Day. I was given an orange flower. Not that it should be significant in any way. But orange was my mom's favorite color, so obviously I thought about her and missed her more after they put it in my hands.
In other news. It's been a pretty hard couple weeks for me. So many things I haven't had time to talk about. I've basically fallen into a dark hole. It's a combination of events and thoughts that have sort of pushed me to the edge.
I actually wrote this awhile ago in my journal, but it seemed fitting being mother's day and all:
"Pregnancy and my body just don't seem to get along. Being pregnant is one of the hardest things to endure (at least for me.) Don't get me wrong, I love my kids to DEATH. But pregnancy is a less than desirable experience. Of course there are awesome parts, like feeling the baby move or seeing the baby on the ultrasound. But I don't like not feeling in control of my body. Like my body is not my own anymore. Being sick, throwing up, having no energy, & being an emotional wreck isn't on my list of "fun" things. I am so tired of feeling sick everyday. Pregnancy wipes me out. I wish husbands (or men in general) understood what it was like. Mike is very supportive, but a part of me wonders if he thinks pregnancy is just an excuse for me to be totally lazy. I curse those women who feel absolutely amazing during pregnancy, because I certainly don't. It's one of the worst feelings. Most nights after we put the kids to bed, I crash into my own bed still wearing my clothes and practically fall into a coma until 3 or 4 in the morning when I have to pee so bad I am forced to get up. At that point I realize my mouth feels like something died in it because I didn't brush my teeth before falling asleep. And it sucks because many things have fallen by the wayside, like scripture study and night time prayer. Night time is when I feel the worst. That's when the nausea and exhaustion hit the hardest. On top if that I have so much packing and preparing to do, but everyday I feel so tired. It's hard not to feel like a failure. I'm lucky if I even take a shower or put on clothes other than sweat bottoms. I rarely fix my hair or put on make-up anymore. I feel so slobby. And unattractive. It's a real downer to my self esteem which only adds to the horrible feeling I have already. In fact, I cried the other night because I am just so tired of feeling this way. I'm in my second trimester now, so I thought I might be feeling better. But nope. At any rate, I am looking forward to some kind of relief."
I know this is all about complaining. I'm sure I'll get flack for that. Some woman can't even have babies. And isn't motherhood wonderful! Motherhood is a divine calling! It is a precious gift to bring children into the world and raise those children. (At least that's what was pounded into my brain at church today.) Most days I believe that. But when I feel like roadkill everyday, or like my brain is only half functioning, or the kids are cranky or disobedient, it's hard to have such a positive outlook. And when Mother's Day rolls around, I get a little bitter because it's just a reminder to me that I don't have a mother. It's also a reminder of all the ways I feel like I'm failing as a mom. I should feel happy, right? (yay, a day just for me!) But I just feel like nobody understands. "This too shall pass..."
In other news. It's been a pretty hard couple weeks for me. So many things I haven't had time to talk about. I've basically fallen into a dark hole. It's a combination of events and thoughts that have sort of pushed me to the edge.
I actually wrote this awhile ago in my journal, but it seemed fitting being mother's day and all:
"Pregnancy and my body just don't seem to get along. Being pregnant is one of the hardest things to endure (at least for me.) Don't get me wrong, I love my kids to DEATH. But pregnancy is a less than desirable experience. Of course there are awesome parts, like feeling the baby move or seeing the baby on the ultrasound. But I don't like not feeling in control of my body. Like my body is not my own anymore. Being sick, throwing up, having no energy, & being an emotional wreck isn't on my list of "fun" things. I am so tired of feeling sick everyday. Pregnancy wipes me out. I wish husbands (or men in general) understood what it was like. Mike is very supportive, but a part of me wonders if he thinks pregnancy is just an excuse for me to be totally lazy. I curse those women who feel absolutely amazing during pregnancy, because I certainly don't. It's one of the worst feelings. Most nights after we put the kids to bed, I crash into my own bed still wearing my clothes and practically fall into a coma until 3 or 4 in the morning when I have to pee so bad I am forced to get up. At that point I realize my mouth feels like something died in it because I didn't brush my teeth before falling asleep. And it sucks because many things have fallen by the wayside, like scripture study and night time prayer. Night time is when I feel the worst. That's when the nausea and exhaustion hit the hardest. On top if that I have so much packing and preparing to do, but everyday I feel so tired. It's hard not to feel like a failure. I'm lucky if I even take a shower or put on clothes other than sweat bottoms. I rarely fix my hair or put on make-up anymore. I feel so slobby. And unattractive. It's a real downer to my self esteem which only adds to the horrible feeling I have already. In fact, I cried the other night because I am just so tired of feeling this way. I'm in my second trimester now, so I thought I might be feeling better. But nope. At any rate, I am looking forward to some kind of relief."
I know this is all about complaining. I'm sure I'll get flack for that. Some woman can't even have babies. And isn't motherhood wonderful! Motherhood is a divine calling! It is a precious gift to bring children into the world and raise those children. (At least that's what was pounded into my brain at church today.) Most days I believe that. But when I feel like roadkill everyday, or like my brain is only half functioning, or the kids are cranky or disobedient, it's hard to have such a positive outlook. And when Mother's Day rolls around, I get a little bitter because it's just a reminder to me that I don't have a mother. It's also a reminder of all the ways I feel like I'm failing as a mom. I should feel happy, right? (yay, a day just for me!) But I just feel like nobody understands. "This too shall pass..."
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