Dear Daughter,

You have been perfect since the moment you arrived almost a year ago.

I can't stop looking at you, amazed by your beauty and your spunky energy.

Anytime of day you are pretty content to just play,

as long as someone is near. You are my social butterfly.

When we are out and about you people watch.

You yell "hiya" to anyone that will make eye contact.

Since your first days you have been a great sleeper,

a great eater, a great baby sister and

have brought us more happiness than I could ever imagine.

There's no sense in imagining another child in our home

because you complete us and are darn near perfection.

Well, until recently.

Your daddy has always said that you look just like me.

I took that as a big compliment for me because you

are about the cutest thing I have ever seen in all my life.

But the problem is that your habits don't quite fit with mine.

You see, your mommy is OCD and she likes everything tidy.

You, on the other hand, prefer all clothes to be out of the drawers.

....all toys out of the bins.

....all food out of the bowl.

....all water out of the tub.

I was thinking we would be...

two peas in a pod

mommy and daughter

I could be the sister you never got.

But honey, we just can't get along if we can't see

eye to eye

on this one. Mommy likes everything to have a "home".

Just agree with me on this one. Maybe we can meet in the middle?

Just one shirt out at a time? Let's play with one toy?

Then when we're all done, let's put them away?

Okay?

I promise, it will make this journey go a lot smoother.

For you and I, we need to be best friends.

Forever.

Love always,

Mommy

Bunk Bed Boys

One day it hit me...

I want my office upstairs and my boys downstairs.

That night we attempted the boys sleeping in the basement.

It all ended with tears about James not listening to Henry during a fire,

and Henry having to see James be burned.

Even I was crying at the thought.

Well, time heals wounds and

the feeling of wanting them down there never left me.

I persisted and bribed,

"If you want bunkbeds, you have to sleep downstairs for a week".

That's all it took.

I picked bedding.

We purchased the paint....this, this, this and this.

Drove to SLC for cheap, sturdy bunkbeds from a warehouse.

Preston taped my dream design that I found on a scrapbook page layout.

Preston painted.

I kept shopping online for these and for that.

Preston built the bunkbeds and moved them in.

{the completed room from the doorway}

I continued shopping and hitting up my vinyl lady for letters & silhouettes.

Didn't they turn out so cute? I never thought I'd be able

to tell them apart by their profiles in this format so easily!

Henry loves to draw, color and hang up his artwork,

so I wanted to be sure to put a place for that in his room,

thus the hanging hook line and the corkboard.

I found lights to hang by their beds without wiring at Costco

and unfinished wooden book racks to paint at The Wood Connection

(since I didn't want to spend $100 on them from PBK).

One of the great perks about moving them downstairs

is the large closet. Plenty of room for clothes, dresser, hampers,

shoes and hooks for hanging things for 2 boys.

I'm a sucker for the Melissa & Doug toys,

so when a neighbor recommended the responsibility chart

I decided to go for the job chart and the calendar.

I'll report back on whether or not they give us success later.

I'm hoping that Henry, at least, can pick up on doing a few things

to help out around here and start to understand what "next week" means.

My only struggle with the completed room is Henry's red Anywhere Chair.

I can't decide if getting it in Navy or Chocolate Brown

is worth a new cover fee of $50.

I'm matchy-matchy and it's really starting to bug me

that it doesn't quite fit in with the color scheme.

What do you think?

It all came together swell and according to my vision.

They love it, sleep great and one day when they stink, I won't have to smell it

down in the dungeon. And if that job chart pays off they will be

cleaning up their own messes.

While at the doctor this week James was told he was

a great climber when he climbed up on the table all by himself.

He looked at the doctor and said, "I have bunkbeds."

Let's just hope climbing the bunkbeds doesn't get us

back to the doctor anytime soon!

Next up....Stella's girly room (without too much pink).

First Signs of Spring

Today it is raining.

Today it is above 40 degrees.

Today I put up my first Spring decoration.

Don't laugh.

I'm not crafty.

I saw this idea here,

and thought it was adorable.

I made the trip to Hobby Lobby for supplies.

Put this thing together in less than 30 minutes.

The nest and eggs are too big for the birds.

I guess it represents how the 2 little birds (Preston and I)

are really controlled by our nest of 3 little eggs (Henry, James & Stella).

I guess I'll cherish this creation.

Afterall, I made it,

and that's quite remarkable in and of itself.

Now if we can just get sunshine and 60's

I'll rejoice in Spring!!!

It's not easy being GREEN!

We went GREEN this St. Patrick's Day,

but it wasn't easy.

The kids woke up to leprechaun loot...

Those silly little guys turned over our barstools

and left some golden chocolate coins.

We hear sometimes they pee green in your toilet...

maybe next year.

It was a Kindergarten day for Henry,

and they wear blue, red and white uniforms,

so we had to add a 4-leaf clover pin to his shirt.

He told me that most of the kids in school got in trouble

for having pinch parties, but he didn't do that.

I guess that's what happens when the rules say you can't wear green.

Way to be, Kid!

St. Patty's Day brought beautiful weather,

so the kids ventured outside for scooter rides.

Stella screamed inside the door for her brothers,

so I put her on the driveway in her Bumbo

and she lived it up...

Can you tell she loves them?

Look at her arms up in the air wanting them to come get her!

I spent the afternoon attempting green bread

(made possible by the beautiful weather and the kids being outside).

The fact that I attempted homemade bread is pretty amazing,

but green bread even more so.

Let's just say it was a day of miracles.

We had a "Green Eggs and Ham" reading,

scrounged up all of the green dishes in the house

and followed it up with Green food...

After dinner the kids played outside some more,

I cleaned up my green kitchen,

and Stella & Daddy retreated to her new room to

add some blue-ish green paint.

The windows were open,

and I overheard the boys and the neighbor kids

hunting for leprechauns...

"You just have to yell 'I HAVE GOLD' ".

"The leprechauns follow the moon. Which way is it facing?"

"They are so little and so fast".

It was a great GREEN day!

{the pot of gold}

{Pond St. Patty's Celebration: March 13, 2011}

I must admit I'm pretty lucky.

My dad got transferred from Kansas to Utah when I was 13.

I thought that was really unlucky as a teenager in 7th grade,

but come to find out, here in the lovely Deseret

is where I would meet my high school sweetheart,

find the gospel that made me feel whole,

marry that boy after dating for 3 years

and waiting for him for 2 more,

have a perfect baby boy after infertility for 2 years,

then a lucky lil redheaded boy,

and finally my angel girl

that completed our little eternal family.

I couldn't ask for more.

They are my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And so it begins...

I always wished for a cute little tomboy with a deep, raspy voice.

I got the "cute" but not so much the "little" or the "deep, raspy voice".

That scream is loud!

She just may be a princess.

A princess that loves her big brothers, at least.

Pony Up

I've lost all control of my daughter's hair.

We've tried letting it go & she looks homeless.

We've tried bows & she rips them off.

We've tried combing it & her Daddy says it's "boyish".

We've settled for a baby pony & curls.

I think it's pretty darn cute.

Extreme Makeover: Pond Edition

We are doing some serious switcheroos at our house.

The boys are moving downstairs into the old office.

Stella is moving into the boys' room upstairs.

The office is moving to Stella's old room.

We started this past weekend with painting the boys new room.

It shall be green, of course,

it's their favorite color.

I was the designer.

This guy was the project manager...

These boys were the inspiration.

We let them draw on the walls while we taped...

At one point they didn't want to paint over their masterpieces.

The designer and the manager vetoed that idea.

Most of the day I spend wrangling in this one

who wanted to get into everything...

We put James to work...

He did an awesome job!

I think he's going to be a little perfectionist.

He filled the whole 1/2 wall in with green

and had better technique than me!

Henry took a turn as a seatbelt for Stella...

All I can say is this is a lot of work.

I'm feeling out of control in the mess and chaos of it all.

Currently I have twin bunks disassembled in my basement living room

and 2 rooms worth of stuff (junk) smashed into my guest room.

But, we will get there. We will.

And it will all be worth it.

Updates to come...

{11 months}

This is my last "month" post.

My baby will be 1 in just 1 measly month.

AHHH!

I'll stop panicking and enjoy this sweet chubber baby

a little bit longer before she's walking and sassing back at me.

Stella is still a perfect angel.

Her only pitfall as of late is that she gets into EVERYTHING!

...toy bins, the dishwasher, book cases, clothes drawers...

We've named her the "dumper"...

mostly because she loves to dump out toy bins

and dump in her pants multiple times a day.

I've always said I will take a regular kid over a constipated one

anyday, but she's making me start to doubt.

Let's just say she does get into everything,

but she's never gotten into her diaper,

so here's to hoping we keep it that way!

Everything ends up in her mouth.

It could be food, a block, my fingers or the cart at the grocery store.

She likes all flavors.

Her favorite lately is string cheese

and chocolate milk (I only gave it to her once because

it scared me how fast she chugged it...it was an addiction waiting to happen).

I think she's still cutting teeth every week.

She's gained 2 new ones this month.

She's also been enjoying books a lot more.

I always start reading to my kids as wee little babies,

but she's taken awhile to show any interest.

Now she can fetch a book and will sit through

listening to it on my lap.

Her favorites are ones with mirrors.

Yes, she loves to look at herself...

I don't blame her, she's pretty darn cute.

Most importantly of all,

she's happy and healthy

and we love her to bits.

dough boys & the cookie thief

I was tired of the Wii and building forts and coloring,

so we opted for making chocolate chip cookies.

It's been my mission to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe that

doesn't give you a flat cookie with chocolate chip mounds.

I wanted thick and chewy.

A friend of mine guaranteed she had the recipe to do the job!

I called on Henry to help me put the ingredients in the mixer.

He whined, "But I don't want cookies, I want cookie dough".

Little did he know that it was a prerequisite.

Henry dumped the ingredients.

James ran the mixer.

They both sampled the dough...

We baked them up, in hopes of a chewy delight,

but to no avail, I made flat, crispy cookies AGAIN.

And I know the problem....ME!

Honestly, I can't make a normal chocolate chip cookie.

I've come to the realization it's not the recipe, but

it's that I have no skills.

No, I didn't melt the butter, it softened at room temperature.

No, I didn't overmix, just enough to blend the ingredients.

No, I didn't bake them too long, low and slow.

So after I got the cookies baked, Stella had awoke from her nap.

I was carrying her around the kitchen cleaning up,

and she grabbed for the cookies in the glass dish and

they all went crashing to the floor.

I let her have at it. She thought they were delicious!!!

I decided that I'm the only one that cares about chewy cookies.

My dough boys only want cookie dough,

and my baby girl will take thin and crispy any day.

So, I quit on cookies.

Anyone want to make me some?

Subway Art

Finally, March has arrived!

And as miraculous as it is, it was warm today!!!

I'm sure we will be teased a bit with the 50's,

and then the snow will return.

But for now, I'm in the Spring mood.

Thanks to a friend, I found this cute blog.

I fell in love with their Subway art

that you can download for free and print as you wish.

They did Christmas, then Valentine's and now...

I'm not much of a holiday decorator,

but I can switch out an 8x10 each month.

So, I went about making it my own.

I bought an 11x14 black frame at Target and

some simple circle damask scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby.

Then pieced the papers together to cover the mat in the frame.

Printed the downloaded subway art on metallic paper at mpix,

and tada...

It's simple, yet festive.

I'll take it.

Preston tried to get me to promise it would be

my ONE and ONLY holiday decoration for

every.single.holiday,

and then he would admit he loved it,

but I didn't fall for his shenanigans.

I'm hunting for a little leprechaun trinket

just to spite him.