In My Room

I took some of these pictures SO long ago, intending to do some sort of tutorial on a few of the projects I did for the girls' room in Michigan.  I put so much time and energy into this room--design and decorating don't come quickly to me.  It took my friend, Melody, literally seconds to give me some AWESOME ideas that solved problems I'd been stewing over for weeks.  Anyway, I told myself I had until the day Bennett was born, then that was it.  No matter what.  My desire to decorate died that day, as well as my drive to post on this blog, ha ha!  What happened?  Facebook, I think.  Now we are in our new house and the girls' room is just kind-of thrown together.  I really miss this place, their sweet room, so I went looking for these pictures today.  It was just a place I wanted to be.  So many good memories and funny conversations happened here.

I liked the look of two twin beds, but we never, ever used Abbey's.  There were many nights when I was pregnant that I'd fall asleep with BOTH of them, in that little twin bed, all night.  But they did love playing 'Jump from Bed to Bed'.  Clever title, I know.

 

It's funny to have their ages on these, Hayden turns SIX next month!

I got on a Sarah Jane kick and bought a bunch of prints one month.  I also grabbed this calendar--I hope my kids don't actually look at it to learn how to read dates because I keep using the same calendar year after year :)  Between that and their inherited time-telling issues, their teachers could have their work cut out.

In retrospect, arranging the bookshelves to look JUST like a ladder and putting interesting things at the top was not a great idea.  But it only took once...

This drawing was the first time Abbey ever drew our family.  I think I'll keep it framed forever.

Melody gave me the idea to make the bird nest for this light shade.  I literally feathered the nest.  I used bits and pieces from everywhere--some garden fencing from a recycle shop, ribbons from here and there, a painted strand of leaves and berries, twigs from our walks, etc.  I went online searching for a bird pattern (pre-Pinterest!) and found just the one I wanted.  But the website also had them attached to a branch mobile.  So if I'm going to make two for the nest, might as well make seven more for the mobile :)

This big mirror always makes me laugh.  We were driving around, checking out Ann Arbor when we first moved there, and I caught sight of this mirror as we went past a garage sale.  Justin told me to 'play it cool' as I got out of the car to check it out.  I think I offered $15 or $20 and the man said he wouldn't take anything less than $30 or something.  I started milling about looking at other things, and Justin independently walked up and started talking to the man about it.  The guy sold it AND the little mirror underneath for $10 to Justin.  I was still at the garage sale!  I don't know how, but Justin always gets what he wants.

Did you notice this little guy?  A few years ago, Hayden found a little blue elephant 'piggy bank' at a garage sale.  She loved it and carried it around like a stuffed animal.  But it wasn't stuffed, it was ceramic, and when it dropped on the garage floor, it shattered.  I wasn't there, but Justin said it was devastating.  Abbey was probably four or five at the time and suggested they should pray and she asked Heavenly Father to help us find Hayden a new one for Christmas.  So what do you do.  You get online and track one down.  Only, it's not going to cost the fifty cents you paid for the original one at the garage sale!  Answering that prayer was pricey.

And last.  These paintings.  Oh, these paintings.  I gave Melody an insane list of possible inspirations--none of which had anything to do with each other.  What she came up with was so incredibly perfect, so incredibly spot on.  It's where I imagine my girls go when they pretend together.  She is such a gifted artist and captured Abbey and Hayden's childhood so perfectly.  I have the best memories of laying in bed with them at night as they told each other stories about the girls in their paintings and called dibs on who was who.

Hayden's Imaginative Play

I miss having this girl around.  Last year, we had our afternoons alone together and she was constantly finding the funniest ways to keep herself busy.

Classic.  I love when they go outside looking like this, ha ha!  They have so much fun together.

I spy Jake!  We miss having the Berkemeiers down the street.  Hayden and Jake spent so many afternoons together, they were more like brother and sister.

Hayden doesn't have as much time to get completely lost in her pretend play now that she is in kindergarten.  But she still will find crazy ways to keep herself entertained (and NEVER asks for permission first!)

Easter 2013

Cool, cool.  It's almost easter weekend, two thousand and fourteen.  I've edited a ton of pictures and need to go through and add some commentary to a dozen posts.  Why do I do this???  We'll have to let the pictures do all the talking…mostly because I don't remember much now!

A family in our stake, the Duckworths, have an annual Easter Egg Hunt tradition that we luckily got the invite for this year.  They have a sweet spot of land and hundreds of eggs hidden for the searching.  

(Pictures from Easter Morning)

Ruthie Faye Pace

Ruthie's Story

Tuesday night, Justin and I were laying in bed, going over the possible scenarios for the coming week.   What was the best plan if I went into labor while the girls were at school, if it happened in the middle of the night, would Justin drive to me or would I meet him at the hospital, what made the most sense for Bennett, etc. etc.  He was giving me a lecture about not waiting around once I started into labor, to just call him right away so he could get his cases covered for the day.  My concern was that I wasn't sure if I would know!  On my fourth baby, I wouldn't know if I was in labor, ha ha!  But my water has always broken before, so it had been obvious.

Not five minutes later, I went to the kitchen and my water broke.  Justin was home, house was clean, kids were in bed, my awesome neighbor was there in five minutes, and I didn't ruin our brand-new mattress.  Things were off to a good start.

From there, it was smooth sailing.  Justin's partner did my epidural and it was perfect.  My last one was fine, but I got nervous at some point, my body reacted, and my blood pressure tanked.  I was expecting the same response this time, but he was super quick and my brain didn't have time to start going crazy.  In fact, that was the story of the night.  Everything just went faster than I could process.

We tried to get some sleep and wait things out.  Around 3:30, I couldn't sleep through it.  I wasn't in pain, necessarily, but it was like I could feel the contractions in my bones, they were so strong.  Then it was go time!  My doctor came in, nurses started warming up the baby bed, everyone was getting ready.  I was thinking back to Bennett's birth and how I pushed FOREVER when my doc said to go ahead and try a push.  I did the most half-hearted push because I was more concerned about figuring out where I wanted my arms, how high I wanted to sit, etc.  Basically, I was settling in for some work and making myself comfortable when they said, "And she's out."  I opened my eyes and said, "You have got to be kidding me!"  I didn't even try, it was crazy!  A big part of me was disappointed (which I know sounds ridiculous) but I thought, really?  The party's over already?!

Before I knew it, she was in my arms starting to nurse, the room was empty, and it was just the three of us.  Of course, the next few hours were a blur of excitement and exhaustion.  Mostly, I felt enormous gratitude and relief that I made it!  Four deliveries went perfectly, four babies came perfectly healthy.  And now we are all here.

The kids came later that afternoon and immediately set out to find if she was ticklish:

(Again, reading the digits on her hospital band.  Only this time, yes, that IS how much she cost!  I miss good insurance…)

Bennett has been the perfect mix of interest and aloofness.  He checks her out once or twice a day, holds onto her ears for a second, gives her a hug, then ignores her the rest of the day.  Perfect.

I've never been in a hurry to leave the hospital in the past.  I think I like the pampering.  But I was SO ready to leave the next morning.  Justin ended up going home with the kids and it was a lonely night watching way too much HGTV.  I got the impression from one nurse that I needed to keep Ruthie in my room, but they told me over and over not to fall asleep with her in my arms.  I hadn't slept much in 24+ hours and could not stay awake, but she was restless all night.  I felt overwhelmed and finally called the nursery--they didn't question it at all so I imagine it would have been no problem all along.  Justin works with these folks and they were already catering to me a bit, so I didn't want to be demanding in the least.  But I couldn't do another night like that alone and we needed more hands at home, albeit the exhausted, barely helpful hands I had to offer.  Luckily, physically, I felt fantastic! In fact, I went and ran errands myself that night.  And I felt I did better emotionally than I had in the past.  I only cried over reasonable things, like when I unpacked my hospital bag or when J asked if I wanted pancakes or french toast.

The girls are over the moon.  Hayden makes up songs for her, Abbey is on constant binkie duty in the car, and they both beeline it for her whenever they get home.  I love the look of pride that shows on their faces whenever they show her off to friends.  I hope they are as good to her as they are to each other.