Tales of a Crafty Mama

random things on my mind today

 

I do still love to scrapbook. This last year it has just been a constant struggle to find the time/energy to do it. But now that Elliot is a little older and officially not sleeping in our room, I am rediscovering how much I love paper and glue. That coupled with the fact that I finally, finally have a friend to scrapbook with! My dear friend Courtney and I have been getting together every couple of weeks at a local coffeeshop and scrapbooking together. It is a super fun way to get to know each other better and have a little time away from the kids and create! I treasure our little dates so much. I made this card when we met last Friday night. (Sidenote: I used one of this sweet friend's yo-yo's- currently one of my favorite embellishments. You can buy them in her Etsy shop).

Thank you for all the encouragement regarding our (gulp) mouse situation. I have seriously never been so grossed out in my life. I know that almost every one deals with them at one time or another, but this was my first time and I was not a happy camper. It all started with the random stashes of rice we found on Saturday morning in Elliot's dresser drawer (yuck, yuck, yuck). Then on Saturday night we found the evidence of the big party the little stinkers had thrown while we had been in Montana in my pantry. Thank you, thank you to my sweet mother-in-law who spent hours cleaning up that disaster with me. After locating a couple of other spots they had been, I think we have somewhat "dealt" with the problem...hopefully. And thank goodness that even though there was evidence that they were in our room, they did not raid my patterned paper or fabric. Whew.

But the animals were not done with us! On Sunday night, Erik almost got attacked by a random Cockatiel in our front yard who had obviously escaped from some neighbors or something. Yesterday afternoon I arrived home to a baby pig huddled by our garage, from another neighbor we're assuming. Remember, we do live in the country...Then this morning, Erik opened the front door to see the biggest beetle I have ever seen- and I have traveled in both the Philippines and Mexico! It was seriously the size of one of our little mice...What the heck is going on around here lately!? Have I mentioned that I am totally not an animal person? This is crazy!

On a completely different note, my little Elliot has been really sick lately. He came down with it right before our vacation and it has continued for the last couple of weeks. He acts okay most of the time, but something in his body is not right because, well, he has to go to the bathroom a lot. I took him in to the doctor right after we got back from Montana and found out that he had lost a pound, which is not good because the boy does not have any weight to spare! The doctor gave me a dietary supplement to add to his food to pack on the calories. We went to see her again yesterday- he has put on 1/2 pound since Friday (putting him at a whopping 18 pounds), but he is still pooping a lot. They are doing some tests now to see what's up because 15 days is too long for just a normal virus. Tonight I noticed that he is getting some big molars, so part of me is wondering if maybe he had a virus at first, and now he is just reacting to teething. I don't know. I would appreciate your prayers though!  

I had a fun little late night date with Erik tonight. We went out after 9:00pm- so late!- to dinner and a drive through one of our favorite local neighborhoods, dreaming of living there someday when we can afford to buy a house. Can I just tell you how much I love hanging out with my man? Even when it is way past his bedtime and he chooses to drink diet Coke instead of beer in order to stay awake on our date, he is still my favorite person to be with.

I am currently obsessed with eating Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds for breakfast.

I missed playgroup this week because of Elliot's doctor's appointment, but can I just tell you how excited I was to hear that my friends sewed while the kids played? Seriously made me so happy.

My kids have been napping at the same time in the afternoon lately which means that I get lunch to myself and a short nap. Bliss. I have decided that if the opportunity to take a nap presents itself, I have to jump on it. A happy, rested mama is much more important than a spotless house.

Oh, my goodness! Did I forget to tell you that we got a new car? Well, actually it is a...minivan. Yes, I totally have a real mama car and I am not the least bit embarassed of it. I am actually quite in love with it.

Oh, geesh. Here I am again, staying up way too late. I better sign off. Hope you are all having a happy week!

we are...

staying up all night talking about everything+ nothing (especially in the early, pre-children days) :: sparkling water :: planning trips to Europe :: holding hands ::  blessed parents of the two sweetest, cutest kids in the world :: road trips :: Nickel Creek concerts :: Sunday night phone calls, 9:30pm sharp :: soft kisses and warm hugs :: laughing until the tears come :: arguing (we are both firstborns, you know) + making up :: going to school together :: a camp romance :: passionate about Jesus :: photographers of our happy little life :: Bellingham :: inheirited cars + one new mini-van :: many prayers :: being ourselves with each other :: yummy dinners + a few not so great ones :: mission trips :: letting the goofiness shine :: best friends :: PF'98 :: silly dances :: Eskimo kisses ::  a million cherished memories :: each other's biggest fan :: long walks :: one morning person and one night owl :: trampolines :: Bob Marley and Big Mountain's Young Revolutionaries :: Italy :: book lovers :: REI members :: Starbucks Coffee Company :: growing up on a steady diet of Keith Green- our parents all became Christians in the '70s (we actually had two of his songs in our wedding- communion to Rushing Wind and recessional to You Put This Love in My Heart) :: movie nights :: Ballard :: grocery shopping :: Sunset Hill :: former YWAMers :: really bad apartments :: dream sharers and protectors :: random songs :: senior prom (I really do need to show you the pictures one of these days) :: love letters :: wanting a home of our own someday :: the Pumpkin :: inside jokes :: "our park" :: Thai food :: madly in love with each other :: living a perfectly delightful life ::

Happy 8th Anniversary, sweetie! I love you and am beyond blessed to be spending my life with you!

{The photo is my very favorite from our wedding day, June 24, 2000}

and a lovely weekend was had by all

This past weekend we celebrated three very special events in our little family: my husband Erik turned 30 on Saturday, Father's Day was on Sunday, and our sweet Elliot turned one on Monday! Needless to say, we've had a very busy week. The last day or so have just been spent recovering from all the festivities and catching our breath. A post for each one of my guys will be coming soon (it is not every day that two of my favorite people celebrate such important birthdays!) along with lots of pictures. I am still in major mama reflective mode- I can't believe it has already been a year since I looked like this and was meeting Elliot for the very first time.

seven years

This last Sunday (the 24th) Erik and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary (yes, June is a very busy month of celebrations for our little family!). Seven years. It has gone by so fast! And I know that the next seven will go by even faster now that we have kids.

Our celebration this year was pretty low-key, given that I was still in major recuperation mode, but we did manage to get out for a nice lunch with just our newest little munchkin- my mom stayed home with Audrey Bug. It was nice to have a little break together to talk about not only the last seven years, but the last seven days since becoming a family of four.

Erik took all of last week off from work and it was so nice having him at home all day every day. I was reminded countless times of why I am so blessed to be married to him and why I love him so much. He was an absolutely amazing support person during my labor; he instinctively knew when to give me space and when to be there to hold my hand. During my hospital stay he brought me Chai teas, ice-cream, fun magazines, french fries, and anything else my little heart desired without complaining even once. He never even flinched at things that I know would normally totally gross him out (i.e. all of the lovely body fluids that are present when you have a baby-yuck!), and basically was completely self-less throughout the whole giving birth experience.

Once we got home he went above and beyond the call of duty in the dad department. Seriously, I was so amazed by not only his patience, but his devotion to Audrey. I love how several times while I was still in the hospital he went home for a couple hours simply because he missed seeing his little girl. He spent time last week cuddling and getting to know Elliot, but the majority of his time and energy were spent showering Audrey with tons of love and attention. I love that he loves his kids so much!

The last seven years have not been perfect. But I can say with all honesty that the last seven years have been the happiest and most fulfilling of my life and I know it is because God blessed me with Erik; he is the perfect husband for me. There is no one who I love to laugh with more, run to with all of my secrets and joys and struggles, who encourages me in every possible way imaginable, who I have more fun with than anyone else, and who I would rather spend my life with than Erik.

Thanks for seven amazing years, sweetie. I love you!

:: A fun little recap of the last seven years ::

We have lived in...one married housing dorm apartment (while in Bible college), two regular apartments, one rental house, and two different cities.

Number of years we have spent in school... 5

How old we were when we got married... 22 (Erik) and 21 (me)

Places we have traveled to... Hawaii; Oaxaca, Mexico (for two months); a road-trip down the Oregon/California coast; Italy; and Germany.

Number of children... 2

Number of cars... 5- all given to us, I might add!

Can you think of any more I could add?

Things I wish that I had kept count of... number of frozen pizzas we ate while married and in school full-time; number of different ideas we have had of where to live, careers to have, where to travel to, or just general life plans; number of times we have said "I love you"; and number of hours we have laughed hysterically with each other.

P.S. A post about Elliot's birth story and more pictures of our sweet boy are coming soon!

happy birthday, my love

I am so blessed to be married to this amazing, wonderful guy. He is my best friend, the greatest dad, and just the most awesome person I know.

Happy Birthday, Erik! I love you!

the faces of the ones I love...

 

a long week and a happy weekend

So remember in my last post how I mentioned that Audrey was feeling better? I was wrong. Oh, so wrong. Audrey was sick almost all of last week and it was rough on all of us. Thankfully she did not have the flu so I did not have to deal with cleaning up yucky messes. She did however have an awful cough and runny nose that kept the whole family up most of the night several nights in a row. Her nightly routine became waking up around 2am and staying awake. Needless to say, by the end of the week Erik and I were exhausted.

Thankfully, we had already planned for this last weekend to be a weekend away, just the two of us; what perfect timing! We had originally planned to drop Audrey off at my mom and step-dad's on Friday night, but with her being sick all week (and some other random things, mainly car trouble), we decided to stay the night with her there and leave in the morning.

I was so nervous about leaving Audrey- not just because she had been sick, but because it was the first time ever that she was going to be away from me overnight. I completely trusted my mom and step-dad, but you know how it is. The first child, the first time away from them. It can be scary! But I definitely think that I needed the break big time because aside from the goodbye, I was totally at ease the entire time we were gone. Of course I missed her, but I was also very, very happy and content to be away from her for a little while! And she had so much fun hanging out with her Oma and Opa, getting to know them better.

My mom and step-dad live in Olympia, so we decided to visit Portland for the night- it is only about an hour and a half away. We had never really explored Portland, so it was really cool to be able to see the city at our own pace, not worrying about pushing a stroller or a toddler getting bored (although my pregnant pace was probably a little bit slower than Erik would have liked!). We had such a lovely time though, just being together. We laughed at ourselves because after eating dinner on Saturday night, we crashed early at our hotel. We were just so tired. It was so so wonderful to have a full night of uninterrupted sleep and to be able to sleep in!

We stayed at a super fun, cute place too- the Kennedy School, an old elementary school that was converted into a hotel/restaurant/brewery.

This is what Kennedy School looks like from the outside: (it was a very dreary day!)

And here is a picture of the hallway in front of our room:

I love photography, but I was not really in a picture taking mood this weekend, so aside from these, I don't really have much in the way of photos to share. Sometimes the scrapbooker/sentimentalist in me regrets times that I feel that way, but it is also really nice sometimes to just fully experience the moment, not worrying about capturing it on film.

But here are a few of the weekend's highlights:

a fun roadtrip :: spending time with my mom, step-dad, and brother :: getting new down pillows from my brother! :: eating Swedish fish :: seeing Audrey so happy with her grandparents :: visiting Powell's bookstore- oh, how we love books! :: walking lazily around downtown Portland with my man :: wandering happily through Anthropologie- I can never really afford to buy much from there but I am so in love with all their beautiful displays ::  a really yummy chocolate milkshake :: going to bed early :: sleeping in :: pancakes for breakfast :: Whole Foods :: a short but sweet visit with my Dad :: hugging my sweet little girl :: long talks with my love in the car...

We will definitely not be waiting eighteen months before we have a weekend away again!

P.S. And thanks again, Mom and Rick for taking care of our sweet munchkin for us!

you are my i love you

I took this picture of a potato chip last month. My husband thought that I was crazy, but I told him that my blog readers would understand the simple beauty in something like finding a heart shape in your potato chip...you do, right? And besides, doesn't it make a great Valentine's Day picture?

The other day while blog-hopping I ran across a really beautiful essay/poem about being a parent that I thought would be perfect to share today because my sweet Audrey is one of my very favorite Valentines! (well, tied of course with Erik and her soon-to-be little brother!) Then, at Barnes and Noble yesterday, I realized that the essay/poem is actually a book, You Are My I Love You by Mary Ann K. Lusimano; it is now definitely on my list of must-buy books for my kids (I love saying "my kids"!). However, I would still like to share a little bit of her writing with you today because it is so beautiful and inspiring:

"I am your parent, you are my child. I am your quiet place, you are my wild. I am your calm face, you are my giggle. I am your wait, you are my wiggle. I am your finish line, you are my race. I am your praying hands, you are my saving grace. I am your lullaby, you are my peekabo. I am your goodnight kiss, you are my I love you." -Mary Ann K. Lusimano

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope yours was a happy one!

P.S. Erik just walked in and saw the potato chip picture on the screen and said, "You did not just post that!" Friends, can you tell him how lovely it is? I cannot be the only one who thinks so...

small joys friday

So, it has been awhile since I posted "Small Joys". Certainly not because I haven't had my fair share of joys the last few weeks. It just seems like every Friday lately I have been insanely busy! I have had an ongoing list of joys to share in my head, let's see if I can remember all of them...

This sweet girl is turning ONE YEARS OLD in eight days! I seriously cannot believe it. Someone told me a great quote the other day about being a mother: "They are the slowest days of your life and the fastest years." So true. (P.S. This picture is from when she was two months old)

Of course, with a birthday comes a birthday party which I am having lots of fun planning. As soon as I get new batteries for my camera, I will share a picture of the invitations that I made. Is it wrong to say that I absolutely love how they turned out?

We got to spend last weekend with Erik's family. They were all over from eastern Washington and we were kept very busy celebrating a graduation, having BBQs, attending a wedding, and celebrating Audrey's birthday a little early since most of them will not be able to make it next week. Erik's sister, Kelsey, stayed at our house Friday and Saturday nights, which was a special treat because we do not get to see her very often.

Audrey is getting so close to walking on her own! She is getting more and more confident and not holding onto our fingers as tightly. She has even taken a few steps...

"He must become greater, I must become less." This verse from the book of John has been on my heart a lot the last couple of weeks.

The way one of Audrey's little friends says "Audrey". It comes out sounding more like "Owie" and it is the cutest thing ever.

This stuff is so awesome. Every time I run Audrey's bath with it, it makes me want to take a bath too. It smells so incredible and is super relaxing. I was first introduced to California Baby products when a sweet friend sent Audrey a package when she was first born that included this and this. Love their stuff.

God has been teaching me some awesome stuff lately about simplifying my life. I have been reading two books on simplicity. The first one is called "The Simple Living Guide" by Janet Luhrs and it is kind of like a bible on the art of simplicity. The second one is called "Pure Style Living" by Jane Cumberbatch and it is filled with beautiful photographs and inspiration on finding beauty in simplicity. I read about them on another blog and then was so excited when I  found them at my local library. They are both super inspiring and are really changing some of my perspectives on how I live my life. They are teaching me to live more intentionally. To be more mindful about everything from how I spend my time, to how I decorate my house, to what kind of family traditions I want to have. I will blog more about this later...

Audrey and I got to spend this morning with a dear friend of mine and her darling son. Heather is not only an awesome friend, but she was also my doula during my labor with Audrey. I could not have picked a better person to be Erik and my support during that time. Saying she was incredible does not do her justice. Even though she only lives about five minutes away, we do not get to see her or her sweet family very often. It was so nice to be able to spend time with them today!

LOST  Season 2 is finally out on DVD!

Audrey is obessed with giving her friends and cousins hugs. I really love how affectionate she is, how open she is with showing love to those she cares about.

MOPS starts in about a week and a half. I am going to be leading a table of mamas this year and I am so excited! One of the things I love the most about MOPS is the way that it connects mothers with each other; I feel blessed to be able to be a part of that. I am really looking forward to finding fun ways that I can make the women at my table feel treasured and loved.

Erik and I get to go on a date tomorrow night! We have not had a date since our anniversary and we so need one. We will be having many more in the future though because a few friends and I just started a baby-sitting co-op. All of our kids are close in age and in exchange for watching five toddlers for three hours one Saturday a month, each of us gets three date nights a month! It sounds heavenly.

Well, I could go on and on. But Erik is threatening to watch LOST without me...

Happy Weekend everyone!

::For more "Small Joy's", visit here!::

small joys friday

Confession. I have been putting off writing this all day. Audrey Bug and I came down with the flu yesterday, so currently I am finding very little to be joyful about. However, I know there are a few things that have brought me joy this week. Here they are...

This beautiful bouquet of flowers I got at the Farmer's Market last weekend. I saw them and knew that they would look perfect in one of my blue antique mason jars. The flowers have lasted all week and every time I see them on my counter, they make me smile.

Fresh picked raspberries and blueberries.

Playing with Audrey in her kiddie pool. The girl loves the water! She played in her pool contently for almost an hour yesterday, then when we came inside, she headed straight for the bathroom because she wanted to take a bath!

Rereading the book The Secret Life of Bees. I read this a couple of years ago when it first came out and loved it, so I decided to read it again. Just finished it yesterday and I am still in love. Now I'm trying out the author's latest book The Mermaid Chair.

My sweet husband. When he got home from a long day's work last night, he went out and got me dinner because I was feeling so sick- even though what I picked (burgers, fries, and a shake) didn't sound good to him.

And the highlight of the week...Audrey girl has slept through the night in her crib the last three nights! And she has been sleeping naps in there as well! Last night I thought that she would want to sleep with us because she was feeling so sick, but after nursing her without her falling asleep, I laid her down in her room and she went right to sleep. I am in shock that this is actually working! Hopefully it lasts...

In closing, I leave you with this picture. This is actually how Erik and I found Audrey sleeping the other night. And no, I don't teach her yoga in my spare time.

What small things have been bringing you joy this last week?