You be Tiger Lily, I'll be Michael

I've had very few nicknames in my life, but i just got my favorite: Tiger Lily. Eirik watched Peter Pan last week and suddenly we're playing following the leader every day and chasing crocodiles and running from Captain Hook all the time. And I hear this constantly, "Come right back Tiger Lily, Come here Tiger Lily... Now you all ready Tiger Lily." I'm pretty fond of the new name. I've never been a princess before.. so thanks Eirik.

This great drawing is by this character designer from her blog. Great work Sarah.

On Mothering

check this out

Link Love

I just have to give Tasheena some link love..
You have to see this video!

A Season of Love

I love Valentine's Day.
#1 It breaks of the dreadful winter.
#2 It gives me something to decorate for
#3 I can insist that Paul take me dancing.. the one time this happens a year
#4 I really look forward to the surprises that Paul comes up with.
Our valentine's tree- When I pulled out this pink plant this year Eirik said, "A beautiful plant!" That's the first time he's used the word beautiful and from a two year old it made me laugh. Do I say things are beautiful that often?? (uh... I'm sure I do)


Katherine's Sugar cookies are one of my favorite things to make. Maybe because frosting them is sort of like painting! Fun and delicious!

Happy Valentine's day everyone!!
We love you

First Smile

We're finally getting some incredibly cute smiles from little Jbird.
He is such an angel baby! Have I said that yet? He is so good!
May I apologize again for our ridiculous camera that is totally inept at taking pictures of moving objects. This is unfortunately the best picture I have been able to get of his great grins..

Mothering a toddler...

I know a better woman would never think about putting her kid in a closet for a while when the whining never stops, but I am not that woman. This last week almost got the better of me, but I have a great husband who is totally here for our family, and I called my sister in law who gave me some much needed encouragement and from their help I was able to make a plan that is working for us.
Eirik is spirited, or so the "Baby Whisperer for Toddlers" says. That means he needs a LOT of stimulation and if I don't stay one step ahead of him, he will trample me to the dust, and that is what has been happening .. so I've been implementing these new ideas the past few days, and we are having a great time. Those of you who already have had toddlers, these are probably old news ideas to you... but to me they have been lifesavers.

*we hung a calendar in his room with pictures of things we do on the days. We count down to holidays and his birthday every day.
*I made this awesome schedule chart that is really helping us. He needs structure, but I need it more.
Obviously, this is a "flexible" schedule and we don't adhere to it exactly.
*we have planned a once a week play dates with two of his friends that we can put on the calendar as something to look forward to since he loves to have friends over, (or maybe I love to have less attention on me for a minute.)
*I have started giving him more responsibilities, like sweeping with his broom, clearing his plate, setting the table, helping me load the dishwasher, reading Joren books and making Joren smile. He loves this!
*we started quiet time in his room for 5 minutes a day (which I will slowly make longer and longer). He cries the whole time now, but he'll get the hang of it.. hopefully!
*We set the timer for play time for 30 minutes here, and 30 minutes there so I don't get bored and stop playing and so that I can tell him, it's not play time right now...I'll set the timer when it's playtime." This way I'm able to direct some of his demands better! Phew~
*We started 10 minutes of exercise time where we can't stop moving.. run in place, gallop, somersaults, stretches jumping, follow the leader, do as I'm doing, If you're happy and you know it... etc. This was a great idea!
The schedule really helps with TV too since I hate saying "no TV right now" all day long. If he has set TV time, he knows when he can watch and when he can't and I do too and we can keep it to a minimum. :)
*I've also started making a better point of teaching him how to think through problems. I ask him, "how can you help yourself with this problem?" and then I walk him through it. This helps a lot too. He's fond of saying, "I'm frustrated!" It's really cute actually and he's starting to problem solve instead of just scream about it.
*Choices. I've learned more about choices I can offer. Instead of saying, "you don't have a choice, you have to put on your diaper." instead, I can say, "you can lay there or here to put on your diaper." He still has a choice that way.
*"The One Minute Mother" is a great book. I am going to start on the goal setting ideas from this book with Eirik when he's just a bit older.

To those of you who actually read through this whole post.. wow.. thanks. :)

How much food coloring does it take?

Eirik got to hang out in the kitchen sink this week while I cooked dinner. As he was playing I got this crazy thought.... how much food coloring would it take to turn Eirik's skin a different color? At first I smiled to myself and thought how silly that was. But I just kept wondering and I decided that if he turned colors from the waist down, no one would know if I kept him dressed all the time (except Paul of course) so I put in about 8 drops of red. Cool! Eirik thought so too... but his skin did not change, he was just sitting in a pink bath, so I tried blue.... 8 drops... nothing, just purple water.. 8 more drops.... more purple.... a few more drops... and well... at this point, my better judgement set in and I decided I would love my son even if he were a smurf, but I better not push my luck.

Poll:
who thinks I should have kept going?
Who dares me to do it again?

A morning with a toddler

After I made it through yesterday morning I called my mom to get a listening ear and she encouraged me to write down my experience for future laughs. So here it is...

Joren didn't sleep well so I was up much of the night. Eirik woke up at 6:30. I went a got him a milk and insisted that he go back to bed for at least an hour since he is always WAY too tired when he gets up then. I sat by his bed until he was asleep to avoid the inevitable "process" of putting him back in his bed a gazillion times. Then I went back to my comfy bed for a few more Z's. 10 minutes later, there was Eirik screaming "Come on mommady, downsteeees. Wake up MOmmady." I knew my night was over but stayed in bed in a groggy state of stupor until Eirik turned on the radio on the alarm clock and turned up the volume all the way so I would have to stop ignoring him so that it wouldn't wake Joren up! So we got up and our day ensued. Grumpy, whiney Eirik could not be consoled and moved from activity to activity at breakneck speed crying in between each. As usual he refused to eat any breakfast so I threw it away. As I tried to put on some make up he found the sunscreen under the counter and squirted it all over. I put him on the counter so I could watch him better and he got soap all over his jeans. As we were washing his hands he "threw" himself in the sink and got soaked. So we changed his clothes for the first time 40 minutes after our day began. We were preparing to go to story hour at the library. Eirik insisted on wearing his church shoes instead of his snow boots. I put them on and his coat and he was out the door before I could stop him. Did he go and nicely wait by the car? or did he go straight to the biggest mud puddle and sit in it? B- he sat in the mud.
At this point, the baby got to wait in the car while I pulled off his mud soaked clothes and in the process got myself covered in mud head to toe. The idea of going to the library was sounding less and less appealing minute my minute, but we persevered. I finally got everything loaded and we backed out to discover that the brakes were not working in the car. I pulled back into our space and sat there thinking.... what are we going to do to fill up this never ending day?? I called Erin to tell her we would not be at the library and she suggested a walk in the stroller to her house to use her car. What a good friend. Well, the walk was just what we needed. It was 40 degrees, but no wind and Eirik and I had not had any good exercise for a couple of weeks. Up and down the stairs does not count. When I got everyone loaded in the double stroller and realized that there really was no wind and 40 degrees is not that bad with no wind, we decided to go to the park instead of the library. So I pushed and ran as much of the way as I could and then we went sliding on the rain soaked slides and got soaked and ran home. When Eirik started screaming because his mittens were soaked and he was freezing was when I called my mom.

I don't know about you guys but being cooped up inside all of Jan and Feb has always been hard for me, especially the past few years when I haven't gone to work everyday. Eirik is the same way so getting out, even in the drizzely cold was just what we both needed. We came home and drew pictures of palm trees and hammocks on beaches. We're making big plans for Mr. Sunshine when he comes back around.

Be this guy!

You may all think this is very cute, but you haven't heard it 500 times a day for the last 2 months straight! Fortunately this video doesn't illustrate the ensuing tantrum that inevitably follows my refusals.
You try being a horse or a pig or He-man all day long to appease your toddler. I don't think I can snort like a pig one more time and retain any of my adult humanity!

Design Star here I come!

So my awesome cousin Juliana wrote an article about me and the design of our nursery that is featured in a new Utah based Parenting magazine.
Thanks Juliana, you totally rock!

Chunky Monkey Please

Since so many of you enjoyed the picture I posted of my better half when he was a "wee" one, I decided to delight my readers with a few more pictures I found today.
I'm glad my man has such a strong dose of core confidence so that we can laugh together at this fabulous bit of nature. You're adorable baby.

Detroit Car show

So, if we lived in Paris, we would go see art and architecture, but since we live near Detroit, we get to see cars! It was as cool as a broadway show in New York or The Grand Canyon.. just different...
We loved the concept cars and tried out all the 7 seaters as we plan for a few years down the road when we get to buy a nice practical used car with plenty of room for car seats. Believe it or not, our two favorites were the Kia Borrego and the Buick Enclave. (pictures in that order)

Not a dream car, but a great family car and it comes in my favorite car color.. russet (although I don't think they call it that).

The best part about it was that Paul got to feel smart teaching me all about cars, like which car company bought out who, when and who owns what now and where they're all from. I also learned all about engine sizes and how to compare horse power and understand their names.
Here were some of our favorite concept cars...

New Year's

We celebrated New Year's at our house with Pat, Steve, Jeanette and her baby Jake!.



We loved having Jake here. Eirik loved having a playmate live here for a few days! (so did I! Can I rent a playmate for Eirik somewhere??) Wait.. I just need the one I gave birth to to grow up .. Quick!

We were so blessed to have Pat and Steve visit us. They not only are great examples of a married couple and of great parents, they are also full of good advise, unconditional love and great wisdom. They did more than I would have ever asked of taking care of the boys to give Paul and I a break. They also looked around our house and found all kinds of ways that they could bless our lives.
new blankets,
changed lightbulbs
ice scrapers
a new lock for our front door that Eirik can't open
important car repairs
a little set of table and chairs for E
a hobbie horse and tons of plastic animals
and much more.
They have a way of spoiling us that makes me want to turn around and be just as generous to other people around me. They are great examples of our Heavenly Fathers unconditional love. They knew of many of our needs before even we did, just as our Heavenly Father does. We are blessed.

Joren's first Christmas... and beyond

I'm so easily distracted. Each time I come to the computer with a few moments to spare I get out my list of things I'd love to blog about and then inadvertently get sucked into someone else's blog before I write a word. I love my friends blogs! How fun it is to get a peak into your lives! I would feel ashamed to not share mine back.

First. We had a photo shoot of our family with our little Joren. Some of the pictures are posted on our great photographers blog. We are deciding which ones we are going to buy. Um.. we want all of them. :)
In these pictures our little Joren is so tiny- like this one where he's lying in a serving tray in the sun.
He was only 6lbs 2oz when born and I have already , in just 7 weeks put away all of his newborn clothes, adjusted the carseat to the next size and moved him to #3 diapers... yes you heard it #3 diapers! I have extras of all the previous sizes to store away for baby 3. The funniest part of this is that Eirik just grew out of 3's about 4 months ago so I still have extra 3's! Joren is chunky and SO cute.
This is a close up on his shirt that totally makes me happy since it was his dad's shirt when he was one. I don't know how Paul fit into it at 1 since this is what he looked like at 3 months. :)
(I never get tired of showing off this picture!)
It even says Paul on the back in this great light orange velvet print. I love it! Paul's mom passed this on to us for Christmas. How cool is that that she saved it all this time!
Speaking of Christmas....
I know it's a little late, but for the sake of record keeping..
We spent our Christmas this year at Zach and Arinn's house with their three kids. Since both of our families couldn't afford to fly home, Paul's parents and his sister Jeanette came to us! We had a great time! Since we got married I have failed miserably at buying Paul Christmas presents, but this year finally I bit the bullet, stopped being so stinking stingy and got him some things he wanted. And of course he spoiled me as usual. We had so much fun with little E letting him open presents. He is still little enough that he was just all eyes. He loved watching his older cousins tear into their gifts! I think his favorite gift was this My little Pony that we bought to give to his cousin, but he fell in love with it so much when we were wrapping it that I ended up giving it to him. He carries it with him everywhere. (sorry Eirik, I know that info will work against you in the future... ha ha ha,,, said with a sinister laugh)
Our Christmas festivities were mostly marked by excellent food. Our hosts really know how to eat well. (I should have taken pictures! Duh!)
Their Christmas eve tradition is to cook up a ton of really fresh big shrimp with a lot of spice and butter sauce. Yum! They told us to use "Old Bay Seasoning" and steam the shrimp according to the directions on the back of the Old Bay bottle. They said just don't overcook the shrimp. We are definitely going to pick up this tradition!
They also made a salad of baby greens, candied pecans, dried cranberries, green apple slices, avocado thin sliced red onions and a vinaigrette dressing that we loved. The following ingredients are all added in quantities that are guessed at. Arinn said we should adjust according to our taste.. as if we are all as good at cooking as she is. :)

Vinaigrette Dressing:
2-3 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper 1/2 tsp and add to that to taste
1 T sugar (or more)
1 T mustard (or less)
1 T lemon juice (or less)
Balsamic vinegar (more vinegar that oil)
1/2 c olive oil

And of course we did the nativity. Eirik took his part as Joseph so seriously. It was adorable to watch. The singing was "divine" and luckily Paul didn't get hurt too bad this year playing the donkey. Only a few bruises.

For Christmas morning my family always made fresh squeezed orange juice and fruit pizza. This is one tradition I love to keep going. Next year I'll make sure I have a round pan so that the fruit is all arranged in spirals. I'ts much prettier that way. I also decided that I am going to use the white chocolate mouse from Katherine's strawberry tart recipe for the layer under the fruit and over the cookie dough crust. Is this a breakfast or a desert you may ask. Well it's Christmas breakfast so why does it matter!?
Mousse ingredients:
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker's), chopped
1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions for mousse:
Combine white chocolate and 1/4 cup whipping cream in large metal bowl.
Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl
to touch water) and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove
bowl from over water; cool chocolate mixture until lukewarm, about 15
minutes.
Beat remaining 1 cup whipping cream and vanilla in large bowl until
peaks form. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with cream of
tartar in medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into
chocolate mixture, then fold in whipped cream. Transfer mixture to
cooled crust; smooth top. Chill overnight.

Good thing you have to make this in advance because no one wants to cook this much on Christmas morning.

We also usually have an egg and barbeque pizza for breakfast with the fruit pizza. Zach suggested that next year we make it like an egg calzone with lots of herbs and cheese inside the crescent roll pastry covering. I think I love it. I'll have to start experimenting with this great idea. Thanks Zach.

I thought Joren's tiny feet were especially cute in these tiniest Christmas socks. I should have put a quarter next to them.... just believe me... tiny ok.

We loved having Christmas with Paul's family, but I also missed mine. My brother left on a mission to New York in early December and we are so proud of him. isn't my family so cute?!
I think Davy is trying to look like Shaggy here... he's still pretty good looking, even if no one will hire him. :) (Oh, Daniel is on his tippy toes... don't be fooled. ... Dan, you're on your mission and can't read this to defend yourself anyway.. ha ha )

This is my gorgeous sister and her beautiful family. I miss you guys!!! Joren's hair is going to be this same copper color of his cousins. Those red hair genes are pretty strong dad. So far you've passed them on to 3 of the 4 grandkids!
I'm so excited to go home to see these great people at the end of Feb! Yay!

A New Year is Here ..

My friend Emily just posted that she has decided to make a blog specifically for her son and my friend Merillee has a great blog written through the eyes of her 2 year old. It's so cute. I've been thinking of doing it too. I've noticed that all of my posts of late have been all about my boys and I don't think I've written anything about me in a while, or about my husband either come to think of it... so you can expect a bit of a change in my next few entries. So.. it would be nice, but it's too much work so I've decided to use my labels a lot better and I'll keep doing my monthly updates about my boys and just make them separate posts. That way if the nitty gritty details about each tiny development can be easily skipped if it's just a little too much (as I imagine it can be for anyone other than the mother (me).)

I'm way into list making and crossing off lists.

I have this yearly goal setting extravaganza down to a science. But this year it's already the 15th and guess what??
No List!!

Am I starting to chill out in my old age? (almost 31!!!)

No, it's probably not that? (unfortunately) (sorry Paul)
Do I feel like I have already perfected myself and there is nothing left to do??

... no, I can't even take that joke any further. :)

Am I lazy?

No.. not really.

I guess I have been waiting for the right inspiration. I've come to realize that goals are all about lifestyle changes and well, I can only really think of one that I am prepared to tackle right now. Getting to the change means a lot of talk in between. Here goes:

I had my life mapped out in perfect detail up until the point when I got married. I had career goals, monetary goals, lifestyle goals, and always hit my goals. Then I got married and Paul decided to do med school and then everything about where we live, how much money we have or don't have became all wrapped up in this one big goal that I have very little control over. Up until now Paul knew that he wanted to be a doctor, but had no idea what kind. This wide open ended future has been really hard for me to get a grasp on. Paul has to turn in his schedule for his elective rotations for the next year this week so the past week or two has been pretty stressful trying to decide so many big things. Paul was talking to a lady at his work about these decisions and she said, "you just need to have more faith in God!" Her statement really struck me. The reminder coming from someone outside my faith seemed like even more of a reprimand. I realized that I have been living in a state of stress and fear rather than a state of hope, faith and optimism. Being optimistic is a choice and I have not been making the right choice about it all the time.
I remember distinctly the day when I realized that someday I would have a husband, we would be partners and I wouldn't always have to do it alone. This week I was reminded that Paul and I don't have to do this alone. Luckily we are in it together with a merciful, loving God that loves us in a way that we don't deserve, that we haven't earned and he wants to give us what we need even when we don't have a clue what it is. I have not been exercising my faith. My burdens have been heavy because I have not believed that God is watching our little plight.
My poor husband has had to live with me for so long being super stingy and thrifty as if we are always going to be dirt poor. I am so conservative by nature and being married to someone much more liberal is often challenging, but I've realized that part of my stingy side comes from a lack of faith. Doesn't He say that He "giveth liberally and upbraideth not"? Doesn't He say that the lilies of the fields are arrayed in majesty, why are we worried about ourselves?
I took some time and listed in my journal many of my fears or concerns that sort of shape my thinking and it helped me realize how negative I have been in my thinking rather than seeing the bright side of things. It's so ingrained that I think it's going to be a chore to reprogram and truly change my thinking. . . so that's my goal for the year.
True/ core deep optimism fueled by honest faith.
I can use all the suggestions you all have.

I'd like to end with a quote I am stealing from my dear friend Michelle's blog:

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
~T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"