August

Right after we got home from Tahoe, Papa Ray came into town! It was just a super short visit (about 36 hours) but we packed in a lot of stuff in such a small amount of time! We picked him up from the airport and took his straight to the Discovery Museum so he could see where the boys play and see them in their element. Then he treated us to dinner (at Settebello in Farmington Station, basically our favorite place) and then took us to ice cream after (since the boys ate basically no dinner).  Sunday he came to church with us, got to witness Hudson's meltdown over going to nursery (this is a new thing) and went to Sunbeams with Chase. We had a relaxing Sunday with him and then Ben dropped him off at the airport first thing Monday morning. It was a fun visit!

Somehow, I've converted Ben (a little bit) to my love of hiking. I had a rough day one Monday and Ben suggested (I'm sure mostly to help me feel a little better) that we go on a hike for Family Home Evening that night. Ever since Tahoe Chase had been asking to go hiking, so we packed up the kids and headed for the mountains! We are so lucky that the mountains are five minutes away. We chose a pretty easy trail and the kids did great! Chase did about 4x as much hiking as the rest of us, because he opted to run the trail, coming back for us about every 25 feet before running out again. Hudson did about half the hiking we did and kind of preferred his spot on Mom or Dad's shoulders. It was such a lovely evening with our boys! We all oohed and awed and the beauties of nature, stopped to admire wild flowers, wonder at cactus, and enjoy the view of the valley. Chase did trip and fall and got kind of scraped up, but other than that we return rejuvenated and happy-tired. It was so fun that we were back up there that weekend to enjoy another evening in the mountains. The boys are great hikers! I'm so excited about making this a frequent family outing. 

 I've been feeling a little anxious that these summer nights are coming to an end all too soon! Saturday night BBQ/swimming/fire with smores up at my parents house is one of my very favorite summer traditions. One night we invited our dear friends the Newbolds up to join with us and it was a blast! Chase loves playing with Will and Matt so much. They had a blast playing in the yard and pool. It was another perfect summer evening.

At one point my mom came into the backyard to inform us that about 7 police cars had just entered their street (it's a dead end street). Apparently someone had stolen a car, gotten out and escaped on foot and was seen fleeing into our neighbors yard! The police and K9 units were out in full force looking for them. I look around, mostly at Hudson who at this point was out of the pool and just bopping around the backyard and thought to myself "We have an open pool, an open flame fire going, and an escaped criminal- could we have more hazards in one place right now!" I'm happy to say that everyone still had a great time, and no one got hurt!

This was on Sunday before church

And then things got a little crazy. The last week in August was a doozy for us! We had a really great Sunday on the 23rd- family dinner at my parents house with almost everyone there, played with the boys in the front yard a little that night enjoying the cooler evening air. Church that day had been great and I was feeling spiritually and emotionally renewed and just so ready to really tackle the week. Embrace Motherhood. You know, just basically ready to be awesome. Then at 1:00 am on Monday we awake toHudson screaming- he'd thrown up all over his bed/carpet/himself. So Ben and I jump into action. We have a pretty solid routine in this type of situation where one of us takes the kid and cleans him up/calms him/comforts and the other starts cleaning the carpet, bedding and clothes. We finally get him settled back in bed and before we can even drift back to sleep, it happens again. And again. All night long. And continued all day long. So much laundry. Scrubbing the carpet. And completely exhausted from being up all night. (Although Hudson was so sweet and cuddly that it kind of made up for all the other stuff).

That evening Hudson rallied a little. So we let him go downstairs to play. Several minutes later Chase informs us that Hudson is in some type of trouble. I go down to inspect and find that somehow Hudson found a small bottle of touch up paint for our car and has painted the doors, walls and carpets with it! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Luckily Ben got most of it out of the carpet using paint thinner, and we'll have to repaint the doors and walls later. I'd already done about 5 loads of laundry that day, but had plenty waiting to go in (you know, the stuff covered in puke that just kept piling up) so I throw the rags from the clean up in with those not even thinking about it. Everything in the entire load came out smelling of paint thinner! (I rewashed that load 5 times, once with vinegar and once with vanilla and it finally came out smelling new!) I was just. so. done. Of course, this day was followed with another day more vomiting and sleepless nights and a tired/tempermental/tantrum prone Hudson who was starving and sick. It was just rough all around.

The only thing that made Hudson feel better was baths! So he had about 12 a day for those two days. And I knew he was completely exhausted when he fell asleep in my arms watching TV on the second day of the flu. We stayed home for three full days and by the end of the third day I was just so done. I was exhausted and frustrated and feeling so cooped up and overwhelmed. Ben brought home these pretty flowers for me somewhere in the middle of the flu adventure and I would just look at their beautiful, bright, happy colors on my windowsill and remind myself again to be positive. Needless to say, we are all so glad that we are done with the sickness (for now at least!). 

Chaser definitely felt cooped up and his behavior was reflecting that. I was so glad that Hudson got better by the end of the week and we sure got out of the house a lot those days! We went to the park (Wednesday night), a playdate at Matt's (Thursday), and then to the discovery museum with his pal Paisley (Friday)! Chase and Pais are just the cutest little kindred spirits and he's missed her so much since we moved! It's crazy because we actually live about as far away from her as we did before, but since we aren't in the same ward we just don't see them as much. These two running around holding hands seriously melted my heart. 

 Oh and just general Hudson craziness. This two year old is intense. Intense cuteness, intense tantrums, intense naughtiness, intense napping, he just does it all at 100%. This month he's had the most terrible tantrums about the most ridiculous things (I made his toast incorrectly- which I still don't even know what that means, it's toast!- he wanted the cookie Papa gave Chase instead of the (identical) cookie Papa was offering him- the blue spoon was dirty so he couldn't use it- just generally things like that). He also gets into so much trouble so quickly! One morning I was showering and I could hear the boys squealing downstairs in the kitchen. As I go to investigate I see Chase immediately split out of the kitchen- always playing the innocent party. And there is Hudson left alone on the kitchen floor, with a paper plate full of chocolate chips, shoveling them into his little mouth as fast as he can! Those chocolate chips were on the top shelf of the child-locked pantry!

Out of the Mouth of Chase

"Mom did you know that when it is visible that Venus is the brightest planet in the night sky?" (Thank you Space Racers!) (Also, I did not know that)

A few days later he said, "Mom did you know that seahorses are the only animals where the men has the babies! And they change color like chameleons but not as well as them."

Ben was sitting on this tiny chair Chase has that is really low to the ground while he was tiling the bathroom. Chase came in and declared he needed the chair. Ben explained he was using it right then and Chase could have it back later. Chase replied with, "But it's just the right size for my little bum!"

When I was in heaven before I came to earth, I just told Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ a lot of jokes. They thought I was so funny.

I had a migraine last week and Chase came in right before bed and handed me a few books and said, "Here mom, you can just read these to yourself to help you sleep. And then sing yourself two songs. And here is my puppy that you can cuddle with. [then he gives me a cute kiss on my forehead] And remember mom, when you're sick, rest is best, rest is BEST!" (singing that last part, thank you Daniel Tiger!)

He tripped and hurt his knee. An hour later he was walking up the stairs slowly and I could hear him saying under his breath "easy does it!" with each step!

During swimming lessons I told each boy they could pick which stroke they wanted to do across the pool. Chase said he didn't want to do any of the ones I taught him. He was going to do the "chick-fil-A stroke". I'm still not sure what that would look like.

While in Lake Tahoe one night Nora soaked through her diaper- which necessitated a middle of the night diaper/outfit/sheets change. The next morning Chase explained to Will what wetting the bed feels like from the perspective of the wetter: You wake up and you are wet so you just cry and cry. And then your mom come in and gives you a hug and puts you in dry jammies. And then you go back to sleep in a bed on the floor."

I was teaching swim lessons to some neighbor kids and Chase came out and addressed them:
Hey guys! Remember, you are supposed to listen to my mom!

I couldn't find him one day and finally found him, with the ipad, under my bed. Sometimes you just need a little peace and quiet!

Out of the Mouth of Hudson

He got up from the dinner table and said, "I just be right back okay! I'm going to go make a clock."

He packed up a backpack and turned to me and said, "Bye Mom! I going to work! I am going to go work on my boat."

He was referring to the show Mickey Mouse Club House as Mickey Mouse Sams Club.

Ben put Hudson on his shoulders to try to get to church a little faster. We hadn't done this with Hudson much, who got very nervous about the whole thing. He kept saying in his husky little voice "Daddy! That's not safe Dad! I scary!"

He told us the whole story about the time Nana and Papa took him to Chick Fil-A:
"Grilled! Chicken! Nuggets! I eat them at Chick Fil-A. And Papa has diet coke. And Nana has water. And I have chocate milk! And Nana gave me an ice cream cone with ice cream in it! And she used her napkin to clean it up."
Apparently during said visit when Nana asked if he wanted an ice cream cone he asked "with ice cream in it?" and claimed that I frequently give him ice cream cones without ice cream in them.

Hudson was inside a built-in storage chest in our basement and Chase was sitting on top of it (blocking Hudson's exit). Hudson was calmly calling out "Chase-eh (how he says Chaser)! I can't see! I'm in the cave!"

I'm going to go play jack-in-the-box! (Meaning, go play in the card board boxes in the basement.)

While walking to church:
Hudson: I'm big.
Ben: Yeah you are big! How big are you?
Hudson: 24
Ben: Oh yeah?
Hudson: Yeah, 24 big.

Me: How's my cute baby?
Hudson: I not a baby! Nora's the cutest baby! I'm big now! I'm big like daddy!

After taking a grilling tool out of his hands for the tenth time-
Me: Hudson, Nana said NO.
Hudson: Nana said no. I say yes.

While in the pool holding on to a raft:
It's okay raft! I gotcha! It's okay raft! I gotcha!
(He did this repeatedly throughout the day- reassuring inanimate objects that they were okay. I must say this to him)

He didn't want to leave my parents house one night after swimming and a BBQ. From his little carseat in his tiny, sad, tired voice he said, "I no want to go Nana! I want to sleep at your house! I want to sleep with you....I want to go to Tahoe! (repeated 12 times)....I want to go to Chick-Fila....I want to sleep with you!" We put him right to bed when we got home and he went right to sleep.

He started telling jokes all of a sudden. They all went something like this:
"Knock-Knock! Who's there? A crocodile! Why did the crocodile cross the road? Because it was his birthday!" (And then laugh at himself. I was cracking up at him saying all the lines, his combo of knock-knock jokes and crossing the road jokes, and his punchline was ALWAYS "because it was his birthday!")

Summer Little Things

Here's a few little things that have happened this summer that seem like they should be documented and remembered! They aren't really in order though. Starting with Chase's date with Heidi. A week before Heidi came she told me she wanted some one on one time with Chase. He was thrilled. He loves his aunt. And he loves any time he gets to have someone's undivided attention. So they planned a little date to go to lunch at Chick-fil-a (they included Hudson and me on that part) and then on to see Inside Out. During the planning stages Heidi said to Chase that he could get orange soda at the theater to which he responded "And don't forget the popcorn!" So of course he got both. Also just before the movie started he was dancing all over and when Heidi asked him if he needed to use the bathroom he responded with "No, I'm just really excited!" Apparently he talked to her (kind of loudly) all the way through the movie and sat on her lap during most of it. When he came home he said, "Guess what mom! I thought the movie was going to be long. And it was!" Oh, also after she'd already bought him popcorn (which he didn't eat) and soda he saw that they had Oreos and really wanted those too, so of course she bought them for him. It was pretty much the highlight of his summer!

 The boys have been really in to having "sleepovers" in each others room. Of the probably 15 times they've tried, they have never actually fallen asleep and sometime between 10:00-11:00 pm Ben and I pull the plug and put them both in their own rooms (usually in tears- sad that their fun is over- and then they are both asleep in 3 minutes). Ben and I let them keep trying because it's amazing how well they get along when they are supposed to be sleeping! We love hearing the giggling and bonding going on in their rooms!

 One day I made playdough for the boys. I wanted them to have different colors, but knew it would end up getting mixed together, so I made colors that would mix nicely- yellow, green and blue. As you can guess, it's all green now. The boys had a great time with it, I need to remember to pull it out more!

 The 24th of July was super fun. We had a pretty chill day, but did venture out to Bowmans for their kids activities. They had a bounce house (which the boys LOVED) and then they got to decorate cookies shaped like Utah. Later we ended up at my parents house with Will, Kate and Nora and the Franks for swimming and a yummy dinner. Afterwards we came home and watched Big Hero 6 as a family and then went outside for fireworks! We watched the huge explode-in-the-sky ones many neighbors were setting off and also let the boys go at it with sparklers.

 Our church is just down the street and we utilize it's parking lot for biking/scootering/running around many nights. We have to wear these kids out for bed somehow!

 Hudson seems to think that the purpose of holding someone's hand is for the benefit of the hand- hence he frequently tells me he'll just put his hands in his pockets instead. It's a little frustrating and a little adorable. This boy has a mind of his own! (He also frequently tells me that he'll hold his own hand- and then clasps his hands in front of him).

It's been a good summer!

Lake Tahoe

We just got back from an amazing, fun-filled family vacation to Lake Tahoe. We did not want to leave- it was such a great time. We hadn't all been together since Christmas and it was wonderful to spend time together as a family. We haven't done a trip all together in several years- and since then we've added Chase, Katie, Hudson and Nora to the family! 

We drove, which is a long drive, but it went surprisingly well. My parents took Chase with them (they left a day earlier than us) so we had Hudson and Heidi in our car. I expected Hudson to be super hard on the long trip, but he was surprisingly delightful the whole way! We kept marveling at how great he was being and how easy the trip was- then literally ONE MINUTE away from our hotel he threw up. Everywhere. It was disgusting. We spoke a little too soon. Overall, it still went extremely well. Hudson restored my faith in him, which was completely dashed on our trip to Virginia last winter (in his defense, he had the flu and an ear infection which we found out later). The drive back home with both boys was seriously smooth sailing (albeit long) thanks to dramamine. 

Our first day we were all together we spent at the lake. Lake Tahoe is one of the prettiest places I've ever been. The smell of pine trees while sitting on the beach is just unparalleled. 

 The boys loved playing in the sand and recruiting anyone they could to build sand castles with them.

 The water is cold- Hudson did eventually warm up to the idea and put his toes in but it took awhile. Only my mom and Heidi were brave enough to swim all the way out!

 One day we all headed up to Virginia City- an old mining town in the area. It's cute and charming and mostly we went because they have a real life old train you can ride (as Chase describes it, a chugga-chugga-choo-choo train, not a ding-ding-ding train -which is frontrunner). Besides the train ride we enjoyed lunch together in which I let Hudson just order ice cream and nothing else because he was ornery and that's what he wanted. The boys loved having so many people around- I just always told them to pick someone's hand to hold- and they loved all the options. Everyone is so sweet to the boys, I know they feel so loved. And we all loved doting on sweet Nora, as Hudson told me "I'm not a baby. No-wa is the cutest baby. I'm big now!"

 Our last day there we went out with just our little family to the lake. We played in the sand for a little while and then rented a kayak and took the boys out on the lake for a bit. Hudson serenaded us with his version of Row, Row, Row your boat (Row, Row, Row your boat, gently in the WATER! Merrily- life's a dream!) over and over again. Chase ran wind sprints on the beach for awhile and we just enjoyed being in nature!

The boys didn't get their normal naps while we were there, but almost every time we got in the car they fell right asleep. They played so hard! 

We cooked in our condos each night for dinner which was really fun and relaxed. Most nights we played games or watched a movie. We had the best laughs in our Trivial Pursuit boys against girls match-up (the boys won by a narrow margin the first night, the girls blew them away the next night). We had a family council one night to talk about the needs of our family with our new dynamic (added in-laws and babies and people moving away) and to decide on a new family motto. Nate has been telling people for years that our family motto is "Suck it up and eat it." My dad thought we ought to change that and make it official. We toyed around with "We don't do drama" (because we don't) and "citius altius fortius" (the Olympic theme) but eventually landed on "Believe the best and forgive the rest." (Which technically is kind of our recipe to having a close, loving, drama-free family). 

We had an amazing time and feel so lucky to be part of such an amazing family! I feel sad that our fun trip is over, but so glad that we got time together to create new memories. Thank you mom and dad for making this trip possible!

Before and After

 I'm finally ready to post before and after pictures on the blog! This post has a million pictures, but this was such a huge step for us and huge undertaking, that I really want to document how everything changed. I have to say, we love this house. Really love it. We are so happy here and happy with the way everything turned out. We put our whole heart and soul into this house. It was all worth it!

Living Room Before

 Living Room After

All we did to this room was paint the walls, but it made a huge difference. I love how the color brightens everything up!

Stairs Before

 Stairs After

This was tons of work. Ben fixed the damaged dry wall under and around the stairs. He also repaired the damaged steps. My dad built the railing for us, which is now one of my favorite parts of the house. I painted and stained the railing and trim. Then we had carpet installed. 

Kitchen Before

 Kitchen After

We had the cabinets painted and then we installed new hardware. We had new counters and sink installed. And then we cleaned and cleaned and added appliances. We love the kitchen, it is very functional (although a little short on counter space). I love the open cabinetry for my dishes and the window over the sink.

Dining Area Before

 Dining Area After

This was the wall we knocked out. It was kind of a pain to do, but I am so glad we did it. It opens up the whole house and allows me to keep an eye on the kids better. People that come over always mention how much they love it and how it makes our home look more custom. And after the fact, Ben now admits it is his favorite project he did on the house. 

Family Room Before

Family Room After

The main things we did here were to take the cabinets down off the wall, repaint and carpet. We still need blinds for these rooms, (the one set that was left is broken and doesn't open well). We love this room, we spend tons of time here. With the new colors and fresh coat of paint, all the moldings the previous owner put up look beautiful. I fell in love with this color after seeing it on a design blog years ago and always wanted a room this color. As we were picking paint colors I knew that for now I wanted the whole house a neutral color (all the many colors from the previous owners were so dark and overwhelming to me), but I wanted this one room this color of blue and I absolutely love it. Later I decided to do Chase's room the same color. 

 Playroom Before 

 Playroom After

The playroom has a closet and can be a bedroom one day. We have two "bedrooms" in the basement, although obviously we don't use either for that right now. All we did here was patch the walls (like crazy) and paint. The color is actually much lighter than the original color, but the lighting in the basement isn't the greatest. And then we replaced the carpet. I love having a room just for their toys! I clean it about once a month so I can vacuum and other than that it's a general mess and the boys are happy!

Other Basement Bedroom Before

 Basement Bedroom After

Besides paint and carpet we added tile by the sliding glass doors. We also had to repair damaged dry wall and baseboards in here. We really have nothing but these extra cabinets in here right now, but someday we will probably make this room into an office or guest bedroom. (If anyone wants to come visit we will blow up an air mattress for you in this room!)

 Basement Family Room Before

 After

This is our second family room. It adds so much space in this house- someday we'll be so glad we have it! All we did in here was paint and carpet. The kids call this the "space ship room" and play "jack in the box" in those white built ins.

Master Before

 Master After

I love my bedroom so much! The previous owners added all this gorgeous trim, moldings and baseboards, but it was all so dirty and gross. With a new coat of paint it feels so light and airy and kind of luxurious! We had to replace that huge window and it is one of my favorite parts of the house! The view from this window is a huge marsh the borders our backyard. It is dedicated wetlands and can never be built on. It is so pretty and green. I love folding laundry on my bed and having this beautiful view! I bought new bedding when we moved in and I still want to add a headboard and some lamps on the bedside tables, but for now the room is "finished". 

Master Before

Master After

This bathroom was a beast to finish. We decided to tear out the existing shower (which was tiny and completely covered in mold) and tub (which took up tons of space, and the actual tub was small and shallow). Then we decided to build this walk-out shower. Ben built the wall and put the right kind of backer board up (the previous dry wall wasn't the right kind which was no doubt contributing to the mold problem). We hired someone to help pour the shower pan (to get the slopes right) and then Ben and Blair tiled the floor. Then we moved in- it was nowhere near functional. For the next several weeks Ben and I worked on tiling the walls (it. took. forever.) Then we repainted, installed window sills, installed new baseboard, towel hooks/toilet paper holder/mirror. We had a plumber come and install the actual shower head, since the existing one was very short for Ben. He came up with the solution of doing this bar and it works well. We have to keep laughing about all the little things about this bathroom that are imperfect- which is what happens I guess when you do it all yourself. But hiring it out would have cost us thousands and thousands of dollars, so I guess you get what you pay for. Even though it isn't perfect, I really do love the way it turned out, and now I can look back at all those hours after the kids were in bed that we spent tiling with fond-ish memories. We also had lots of help from my dad, Will and a few friends- so many people helped make this place possible!

Kids Bath Before

Kids Bath After

 Chase's bedroom Before

 Chase's Bedroom After

Paint and carpet did wonders for this room. I have never really decorated a room for Chase. All his furniture and bedding are hand-me-downs, I wanted to do something to make it really feel like his space with spending much. I decided to do the gallery wall. Most of what is there we already had on hand. I ordered two prints off etsy and painted the frames, added the capitol C and Chase was thrilled with the final product. I think it captures him really well. My mom found the transportation canvas/height measurement tracker on sale and bought it for him, it looks perfect in his room. We also added blinds in here (no blinds came with the house). 

Hudson's Room Before

Hudson's Room After

Obviously the bright pink walls had to go. And the wood flooring looks kind of nice in the picture, but in reality it was kind of beat up, and I really didn't want wood in the baby's room. So Ben painstakingly pulled the flooring up and we painted in here. We also hung blinds. His room is a little smaller than Chase's, so it's a tighter fit, but it works great for him.

So that's our new place! I didn't put up pictures of the basement bathroom, main floor bathroom or the laundry room, mostly because we didn't do that much to them besides paint and they just aren't that interesting, but they are there! We love this house. So many people helped us pull this off and we are so grateful for all the help! And now living here every single day I think about how happy I am that it all came together and we get to live here now! I hope we stay for a long time.