Projects...

New house. More room. Loving it all!

But there are still boxes to be unpacked/sorted :(

Lately my motivation has been that I want a crafting/decor-creating room, which will actually be in the guest bedroom. Of course, for now I will gladly share. But where are all the boxes right now? Bum, bum, bum....hiding in the guest bedroom. Darn.

To solidify my motivation I have determined that I will do NO creating/sewing/crafting 'till the boxes are all empty, or put in the proper place.

Here is my TO DO list before getting my "Creating Room" (that just fits me better than crafting room) all put together.

-Unpack boxes
-Sort through junk and add it to the growing pile of yard sale boxes.
-Have a yard sale
-Put up pictures and decorations (even if they're in temporary places)
-...And by now the dishes probably need to be done again, so we'll do that....THEN we can get a table for my sewing machine/creative work-table, and get going!!!

What's the first thing I'm gonna work on, or make once I've got my new space?? Well, here's the list so far:

-Make a new skirt that actually fits my large, pregnant bottom.
-New bed spread/duvet
-Clean the very large painting I salvaged from the trash (a real beauty of Paris)
-Make curtains
-Paint and glaze the little side table I got to put by the couch
-New throw pillows for the couch
-Possible window treatments

Then, I also have a folder of web-page bookmarks of lots of other stuff that I've seen around blogland that I want to make. Goodness...I better get unpacking. Wish me luck!

It's all good...

Lately I've been feeling increasingly sorry for myself.

This SPD (syphisys pubis disorder) has been getting pretty painful, especially as the baby gets bigger. When I go from sitting to standing it feels like someone somehow slips in a huge 10+ pound weight in the middle of my hips. I have a super hard time sleeping when every position causes pain. And then the thing that bothered me the most was that most of the young moms in our new ward go to the zoo every Tuesday and walk together with their kids. I've been invited 3 times and I've had to turn down every time 'cause I simply can't walk that much! I'd be laid up for a week if I tried. So I feel like I'm missing out on opportunities and relationships with our new ward ladies because of this SPD. Grr... :/

Poor me, poor me. Right?

Of course the babies make it all worth it. I still wanna have a lot of kids. So, maybe I was being a little down about this, of course always trying to stay positive, but still. Then I read THIS post at Trey and Lucy. Go on and read it, especially if you're a Mama or pregnant. It'll put things in a new light for you. Go on....read it! I'll wait.


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Yeah, talk about sacrifice! Props to Tanya for being a courageous Mama, willing to be so selfless that she goes through all that for her sweet babies. Tanya is a Superhero in my eyes! Her blog has inspired me before, but she has truly inspired me with her sacrifice and positive outlook in this extremely difficult situation she has to be in. Way to go girl, you're in my prayers. I hope this lets up soon.

Btw, if you've never been to her blog before take a good look around. She has amazing crafty ideas! So creative!

A new house!!!

We have officially moved!
We are now renting a home in North Mesa. It was the first one we saw when we were looking for a new place to live and didn't realize how totally amazing was 'till we saw some others that were seriously T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E! I even found bullet holes in the windows of one of the houses we went to see. That was an instant NO. When we realized that this house was so awesome, we called and someone had already put in an application :(
Then they called us the next day and said if we were still interested we could apply, since the first applicant was being flaky. We were approved the next week!

It has been a much smoother move than the last time we moved (and we had less stuff then and no baby girl), for 2 big reasons.
#1 - We have had 9 days to move as opposed to the 2 or 3 we had last time.
#2 - My incredible parents!!! Mom drove down 2 weeks ago and helped me get started packing, but really she did most of it. She's an amazing organizer and busy body, so she really helped me get motivated to get it done. Rowan and I went back to Utah with her for a fun filled week, then Dad brought us back home and has been here all week just helping us move stuff! I feel bad though that we never really got to go do something fun with them, and kept them busy the whole time. Still they were a HUGE help!
Dad just left today, and I'm sure Rowan is already bored with us since she's had so much family attention lately.

Despite moving I'm just grateful I've survived this week. For the last month or so I've been having intense allergies, so I'm sneezing and sniffling all the time. But when we got back from Utah I felt like it was much harder to breath and so a few nights ago around midnight I drove myself to the hospital and they gave me a breathing treatment. They said it was probably a respiratory infection and mild bronchitis. They also prescribed me a an inhaler. Phew, what a relief it was to breath! Well, to be honest I'm still working on it since I'm coughing a lot, but it's much better than it was before. That was an incredibly long night. I didn't get home 'till around 4 am. But I had an awesome encounter while at the hospital.

While there I met Barbara. We sat next to each other in the waiting room and ended up a partition away from each other when we were taken back to talk with the doctor. Since we were waiting...and waiting...and waiting for so long we started chatting. We talked about random things at first: my due date, baby names...but then it turned into a conversation about the family. Not mine or hers, just the family in general. I was pretty sure she was not of my faith, and since those of my faith are usually the only ones that share my beliefs and fervor for protecting the sanctity of the family, I was given a renewed hope in society from meeting her and seeing her positive outlook and support for THE FAMILY.

So with being 22 weeks pregnant, the SPD making it hard to walk, and the allergies, and the bronchitis, and the crazy toddler, while moving everything....I'm pleased to say I've made it successfully to the end of the week, and today has been a great day of rest! There's still cleaning to do at the apartment and all the unpacking, so wish me luck! I keep being told that I need to ask people to come help me, but I must have a pride issue or something 'cause I hate asking people for help and worrying that I'll be an inconvenience. So we'll see how it goes this week.

Thanks again Mom and Dad! You're the best!
And to everyone that helped us move, thank you too :)

~Crystal

A Good Sabbath

Yesterday was a good Sunday :)

There were excellent talks in Sacrament Meeting at Church, about fellowship and reaching out, that really touched my heart.

Rowan was invited to nursery (even though she still has about a month to go in). So Ben and I accompanied and loved being there, especially at snack time *wink, wink*

Then Ben made delicious juicy pork chops for dinner, with onion and mushroom toppin's. I love that man!

And later on Rowan helped me make cookies for the first time ever! And she did great :D
She didn't even eat any of the cookie dough 'till after we were pretty much done putting them on the cookie sheet. But she got mad when I put them in the oven 'cause I think she still wanted to play with them, haha.

All in all, a great Sabbath with love, family and the Spirit of the Lord :)

The Frumpness

 
Me as a 14 year old:
"I'm so never gonna be like those frumpy Mom's. Don't they know you can wear cute clothes for cheap?"

Me now:
"I'm a frumpy Mom."

Big News: I have found the source/sources of much frumpiness!

I used to think that frumpy-looking Mom's just didn't care enough about their looks, or clothes or something. Now I know better.
As most of you can attest, I always had a flare for style. Not necessarily trendy styles, but my own variety of styles. I LOVE TO SHOP!!! It was almost an addiction for me to buy clothes at a bargain. Then came the credit card debt, which I then vowed I would never do again. Now I am proud to say I have only 1 credit card to be used in emergencies.
But now I don't work, I'm a stay at home Mom with a husband that goes to school and works so that we can pay the bills. ***By the way, he is awesome! I love him!*** Not really much left over for clothes when everything seems to go to rent and groceries. We like to eat.
But wait, didn't I once say that I could buy cute clothes cheap? Oh yes, that is true. I sure could do that...but there are a couple things in my way. I am sure these are the causes of many a frumpy lady:
1. Yes, I could've gone to Plato's Closet (it's like an exchange store) and buy lots of cute stylish clothes, but not now. Once upon a time I was such a cute little size Medium (in juniors) that I could wear a lot and look good. Now I'm a Large in ladies (or maternity, currently) and since that is the average size for women there's not a lot on the rack because everyone has already bought the cute stuff. But there is some stuff and I should at least try and go buy some, right? Maybe I could, but... (see reason number 2)
2. Feeling guilty buying myself things when we barely have money to get the bills paid. I think this is the biggest factor. Most young families start out poor students or something similar. Then come the beautiful babies; the bigger hips; the not as stylish clothes to fit the bigger hips/tummy; no time to do your hair 'cause you're just so tired you'd rather sleep than get up early...= a frump.

You may think I'm complaining. It's hard to tell the tone of voice while reading text. Let me clarify, I am NOT complaining. I LOVE MY LIFE!!! This is more like an event formula I've discovered. Maybe even an "If/then" situation. Even as things have gotten harder and harder, I have been blessed to be able to find all the blessings I've been given even through these rough patches. I know this time is preparing me to be a better person for when my children are bigger and will really be watching me.

Plus, the Lord is helping me to know what is really important. Going to the mall once a week? Or learning to be frugal, and spending more time being with my family? It's helping me to put importance on the kind of spiritual home I wanna have, instead of the splendor of my clothes.
I still like to look nice, what woman doesn't? This isn't an excuse for looking homeless, just not "as" cute all the time.

So, to the women I used to judge:
I'm sorry. I hastily put importance on your presentation of appearance, when I should've been admiring you for the beautiful spirits you kept close watch over; the long hours you put in your kitchen providing love and home cooked meals; the spirituality you taught that warmed your home and the hearts in it. You knew you were putting importance on the right things of life: Your family.
Now I'm trying to be just like you :)

~Crystal

Strange things are happening...

Something strange has been going on.

I'm craving a lot of these (especially cut into triangles).

Lately my body's been sore and tired.

I'm clumsy and forgetful...extra forgetful! And I keep losing things.

Watching Disney movies and Minute to Win It seems to make me cry every time. 

Also, smelling things like this make me want to pull out a doggie-bag.

So, I went to get things checked out and surprise!

We're expecting!!! 

I'm about 13 weeks along now.

Due around July 16th, which is Ben's brother Bremen's birthday :)

We're so excited for Rowan to have a little sibling, and for another baby of our own!

Ready or not, here I come....found you!

I feel like I've been playing "hide-and-seek" with blogging for a while now. It's been...phew, too long! I kept thinking that if I wrote on my blog that'd mean that I would have to read up on all the blogs I follow, and that would be THOUSANDS of new posts. Not gonna happen. I think I'll just go see what a few people have been up to and keep it simple. K, blogger, you found me, and I'm back ;)

SO, what have we been up to for the last month or two? Well the big news is that we now have a 1 year old child in the house. Yep, Rowan had a birthday! First here's some of her one-year pictures we had taken by our friend Leigh Root. If you need a good photographer give her a call, she's amazing and affordable too :)

And here's some of her birthday pictures. We didn't really take any good pictures, sorry. We were just too busy enjoying the moment. AND we forgot to take pictures of Dad, Mom and Tiffani. They were so incredibly awesome to come out and celebrate with us. Love you!

Rowan's first birthday cake! I'm pretty proud of how it turned out :)

I made her 'smash' cake too. Perfect size for her.

 At first she just took a crumb at a time (such a lady ;) 

Later she started taking chunks.

That's my happy birthday girl!

On the left she's getting washed off after all the cake. 

On the right is the next day (her actual birthday) unwrapping presents! She was good at it.

Other than that, there's not much happening with us. Ben started school, and is working. I'm a stay-at-home Mama that's just wondering why no one warned me about the Terrible One's? Or maybe Rowan's one of those kids that likes to act older than her age and we just shot straight to the Terrible Two's? Who knows. But she's still a lot of fun.

Just so that I can remember these things later I'm gonna list some of her traits and skills she has right now:

• Rowan talks A LOT! But we have no idea what she's saying. She talks with all sorts of intonations, and sometimes I think she believes that she's really talking with me, but I usually just say "Yeah, really?"
• On her actual birthday (Sept. 5) Rowan stood up and stayed standing on her own for the first time without anything to balance her.
• Maybe a week or two before her birthday she started walking/running/leaping from Ben to me and back.
• Just today she started to walk across the room with no viewable objective in sight, just walking to walk. She went pretty far, steadied herself, then walked a little more and fell over. (she might've just sat down on purpose)
• She does the sign language sign for "more," and she shakes her head for "no."
• She also understands sign language for "changing diaper" and the international sign for "no" wagging my finger ;)
• She understands quite a bit of Spanish too. Words like, 'quieres', 'mas', 'besito', 'vente'.
• She crawls on anything she can.
• She will thoroughly examine something new by flipping it over and over, and checking it all out before it goes in her mouth. 
• She currently has a taste for wood and cardboard. Which we're trying to discourage.
• She's not very picky. She'll taste anything and usually eat it. Especially if we're eating it then she really wants some. 
• She loves the water.
• She loves dirt. Water is much better after the dirt ;)
• When music plays on some of her toys she'll try to hum with it. So cute!
• She likes to get into trouble too.
• She's very sociable. She LOVES playing with other children. The other day she was playing with the neighbor boy (that's her age) and he was walk/running around our apartment and she was chasing him while 'monkey crawling'. They were both laughing a lot, it was so precious. :)
• She's a Daddy's girl. She gets so excited and squeals when Daddy comes home, and always wants him to hold her and feed her. :)

Love that girl!