Vacation to Savannah!

Last weekend (Labor day) we decided to take a much needed family vacation to Savannah! Ben's sister Brandee and her husband Eric live down there with their 5 kids and they always welcome us into our home. Lydia LOVES playing with her cousins so it was an easy sell all around.

We packed up the car and headed out on Friday around 11am. The car ride down was pretty uneventful. No potty accidents (pull-ups notwithstanding) and no meltdowns. It's only a 4-hour drive so it's very do-able.

We played it pretty low-key on Friday evening, chowing down on some Papa Murphy's pizza (their s'mores pizza? AMAZING!!!) and playing a game of Pirate's Cove. I did SO poorly on this game that I forced everyone into a rematch a couple of days later just for the chance to redeem myself. And not only did I redeem myself, I won ;)

Saturday was relaxing too. We grilled out and watched football and just let the kids play. The next day was church and so by Sunday afternoon I was itching to get out and do something!

Monday was Labor day and we drove into Savannah to check out Forsyth Park. They have a really pretty fountain there and a playground.

While we were there we also saw some ladies marching in support of VBAC and trying to spread information about this option for women. I thought this was pretty cool since there's still so much disinformation and bias against VBACs. After some playground time Clara started flipping out because she hadn't had a nap and so I put her in the stroller and got her to go to sleep. Such a sweet face. She slept for about 30 minutes while everyone else either played bocce ball or played on the playground some more. Apparently during this time Lydia also got clipped by a bicycle that was going past her. Someone called her name and she turned and SMACK. It's probably a good thing I wasn't there. She had a little cut on her face but other than that seemed unharmed.

Soon after that we left Savannah and headed back to Lydia's cousins house via an amazing Noodle House where we had some lunch. I wish I'd gotten a video of Lydia trying to eat with chopsticks. It was hilarious. I did get a picture though.

Tuesday we left the babies at home with Aunt Brandee and hit Tybee Island. It was the perfect day to go to the beach because there weren't very many other folks there. I just LOVE the feeling of beach towns with their houses all on stilts and their quaint beach decor ... Sigh ... It had been a while since I had been to the beach. It. Was. Heaven. I had forgotten how utterly relaxing it is to just float in the water and look up at the sky. It really gives you a sense of how very big this world is and how small you are ...

The waves were super gentle that day, although I wouldn't have minded some bigger waves. We also caught sight of some sharks dolphins. There were tons of them! They were just going along probably about 30 feet further out than where I was swimming. Actually it was hard to tell at first whether they were sharks or dolphins with our limited experience. But, given the motion of their swimming we could tell after a bit. We sure cleared the water fast though when we first saw them!

The two 3-year-olds, Lydia and her cousin Caroline had a blast playing in the sand. I thought Lydia would balk at getting all dirty (she hates sandboxes) but she actually got really into the whole digging and scooping thing. Good for her! Making a sandcastle took too much effort, but we did manage to partially bury Caroline and completely bury Ben :-) Don't ask me why burying Ben was less effort than building a sandcastle ... I don't have an answer to that one ...

After we left the beach, we had lunch at a small restaurant called "Social Club". I had a black bean burger and some sweet potato fries with a chopotle aioli which was out of this world delicious. The girls had mac n cheese and that disappeared in two shakes of a lamb's tail. They both asked for more but I was thinking, "another $7 for a cup of mac n cheese? Yeah, we've got snacks in the car. You're fine!"

On the way back from Tybee Island, we stopped at "All Things Chocolate and More" which is, predictably, a chocolate store! And ... it's pretty much our new favorite candy shop. EVERYTHING we bought and subsequently tried from that shop was delicious. I know, you're thinking "it's chocolate, how can it be bad?" But seriously, it was so good that this will definitely be a new tradition when we visit Richmond Hill in the future!

Fried Green Tomatoes

After we put Clara in bed that night, Ben and I left Lydia with her Aunt and cousins we went into downtown Savannah to have dinner at "Huey's on the River". We sat right next to the window with a view of the river and it was beautiful. I tried Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time and we bought some beignets to go. Huey's is famous for their beignets and I can totally see why although truthfully I'm weird because I like them better room temperature as opposed to warm. On the walk back to the car we were awed by a lightning show that was going on downriver. It was crazy cool. I tried taking a video of it but my phone kept getting confused and going in and out of focus because I was trying to take the video in the dark.

Tuesday was our last full day on vacation as Wednesday we packed up, hit a NY style deli for lunch and headed home. The trip back was even more smooth than the trip down--we only had to stop one time for a potty break.

We really had a wonderful time. We don't go on vacation very often but I think we all really needed some time away from home and this really gave us that. We are so grateful to Brandee and Eric for hosting us so splendidly. We will definitely be going back, sooner rather than later!

Catching up ...

Ack! I'm officially a blog truant. I can't believe that I've let myself lapse into the very very occasional update. Keeping a record of my life is very important to me. I've had a journal of some type since I was 9 years old and I'm not going to quit now! In very many ways, my blog is my journal, albeit a very public journal. So here goes ... Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen and get ready for a very fast recap of the last few months!

Firstly, I'll say that I can't BELIEVE how fast my little girls are growing. Clara is 6 1/2 months and she is thiiiiiiiiiis close to crawling. She wants it sooo bad and I think it won't be but another couple of weeks and I won't be able to put her in one place and expect her to stay put. *Sigh* She absolutely idolizes her big sister and Lydia is really loving, most of the time. Lydia has also finally gotten used to having someone else steal mommy's attention from time to time. THAT was quite the adjustment, let me tell you. She still exhibits classic jealous behavior from time to time, i.e. stating that she wanted a toy (which she's been completely ignoring) the minute I offer it to baby sister. And she has this tendency to "burp" Clara whenever she gets the notion to whack her on the back so I have to watch her closely. But sometimes when I'm just about to get after Lydia for doing something she oughtn't, I hear Clara just laughing and giggling so it must not be bothering her that much.

Clara is on a really great schedule now, sleeping 12 hours continuously at night and napping twice during the day. As difficult a little sleeper as she was at the beginning, she's settled down, rather, been forced coaxed (because I was fed up) into a really great routine. Now, if only I could get to bed before 1am I'd be getting some really great sleep! Except that my sweet little Lydia has started waking up before 7am, presumably because there's too many things to do and she has no time for sleep. And here I was thinking that she was going to be my night owl. Well, actually she is. Most nights she doesn't get to sleep before 9 or 10, even though I try to have her in bed by 8:30 (for the sake of my sanity). But, she still naps in the afternoon which is my saving grace right now ... uhm ... because of my 1am bedtime? That means that the girls take tandem naps! I know, I'm so spoiled. I wasn't trying to pretend otherwise! I suppose this can only last so long so I'll take advantage of it while I can.

Lydia ... well, let's just say I wasn't sure I was going to survive the "trying threes". But, she's gotten a lot better over the last couple of months. I've tried really hard to give her some mommy and me time, and specifically what's worked really well is changing up the bedtime routine so that for at least 5-10 minutes right after prayers and right before she goes to sleep, we snuggle in her bed and tell each other stories. She always asks me to tell her stories about "when we made banana cake," or, "when we went to Aldi," so it's not like they are anything special, but they are stories about her and I think that's why she likes them so much. Anyway, bedtime has become a very sweet and special time for both me and her and I noticed a pretty big change in her behavior once I started this bedtime routine. For that matter I've noticed a pretty big change in my own sanity and I find myself getting less frustrated with my daughter all because of this one simple routine. It's been a mini miracle.

Well, speaking of bedtime routine, I'm going to have to cut this a little short. Ben is starting seminary tomorrow and the 1am bedtime simply will not do any longer for either of us.

But peas taste so much better with toes!

You sit on my changing table cat and I will get you

Wearing Uncle Matthew's fancy hat

Playing in the pool--this lasted all of about 5 seconds

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

"If I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"--Isaac Newton.

David N. Owens (7/22/1950-6/11/2013)

I want to write this post now, before my experiences surrounding my father's death fade any more from my mind. I was blessed to be home when my father passed, in fact, all of us siblings were. My dad had taken a turn for the worse and my mom flew us all home for the weekend to say goodbye to him. At the time, we didn't realize that the 4 days we had intended to stay would turn into 8 and that we would be there for his funeral. Sometimes Heavenly Father works things out for the best, and this was one of those cases.

The last 8 months of my father's life were very difficult for him, my mother, and my nurse-sister who was constantly having to stage medical interventions. After a 7-year battle with prostate cancer, the end came slowly and quickly, all at the same time. I say slowly, because we all watched helplessly as my dad fought endlessly increasing pain, broken hips, cancerous bone lesions, skull lesions, and infections. Nothing the doctors tried seemed to make him any better at all. Nothing eased his pain and suffering for more than a few weeks. From the time I was up there in April until right before his death he went from chatting about engineering problems with my brother and being able to hold his baby granddaughter to not being able to lift his arms or even say very many words. He didn't even answer the phone for several weeks before his death. It was painful to watch his body grow weak; to watch him become a shadow of the person he once was.

The day he died, my older brother Jonathan and I were headed back up to the airport to leave to return to Atlanta. We were almost there when we got a phone call from my mom saying that my dad had become unresponsive. Upon arrival at the airport and after some consideration we cancelled our flights and returned to the NYS Veterans' Home where my dad had been moved only 5 days before. By the time we got there, he had already passed. My sister Samantha and my brother Matthew had arrived there just a few minutes before us. My brother Jacob, my mom, and a family friend had been there when my dad took his final breath and Jacob had closed my dad's eyes. Someone from the Veterans' Home had brought in a music player hooked up to the LDS Hymns of Worship channel on Pandora. For three hours we sat with my my dad's body, listening to the beautiful calming music of our faith. I held my dad's hand, and slipped my fingers between his arm and the side of his body to feel the warmth that lingered there. I combed his hair with my fingers and told him that I loved him. It was a beautiful experience, and nothing like what I had imagined it would be. I expected to feel immense grief and sadness, but what I felt instead was relief. I later realized that this was because I had already been grieving for months--feeling sorrow for his pain and dreading his death. I almost had nothing left to mourn. I was grateful that, despite the hole that will forever exist in my heart, he was no longer suffering. I wouldn't wish him back here for one more day if he had to suffer like that. 

The same family friend that was present when my dad passed gave a beautiful eulogy at the funeral. My dad was such a great man. He was one of the kindest most patient men you would ever meet. I remember walking with him one day down a road where there was a big empty plot of land, and he shared with me how he wished he could buy that piece of land and build a home for all the women and children of the world that had no one to take care of them. That was just how my dad was. He would stop to help anyone on the side of the road whose car was broken down. His favorite assignment in church was to serve in the nursery because he loved all little children with such a tenderness that I have never seen equaled in another individual. He chose his words very carefully, and showered his children with affection. He was a great father and I wish all children could have had a father like mine. At the end of the eulogy, my father's friend shared that after considering my dad's life, he was no longer personally concerned with living a "long" life, but rather he wanted to live a "good" life. I appreciated that sentiment so much as I think my dad really tried to be the best person he could be and do as much good as possible.

As I consider my father's legacy, I too want to live a "good" life. I want to be good, kind, and patient because that is what my father, through his example, taught me to be. I want to help others and love children with a compassion second only to Jesus Christ. Thinking about all I have learned from my dad, I am reminded of Isaac Newton's famous quote about being able to see further by virtue of "standing on the shoulders of giants". To me, my dad was one of these "giants" and I can only hope that one day I can be good enough to stand on his shoulders.

I love you, dad.

Till we meet again ...

Lydia Turns Three!

My little girl turned THREE last month. I can't believe it. Where does the time go? People keep telling me that before I know it my kids will become teenagers and you know what, I think I'm starting to believe them. We had a couple of different birthday celebrations, one on her actual birthday with us and her aunt and cousins, then another one on the following Saturday with a couple of friends. Lydia just doesn't do big parties so we kept it to just a few families in our ward. I made a Cinderella cake for that party and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I bought a cake pick for the top and I was right to be worried about getting the frosting colors to match with the cake pick. They didn't. But, I think they coordinated well enough. I actually attempted fondant for the first time, marshmallow fondant. It was pretty easy, if a little messy, and it was fun to make the textured skirt with the fondant as opposed to trying to do it with buttercream.

Trip to New York

Now that we've sorted out bedtimes (HALLELUJAH!!) I'm finding that I have a bit more time in the evenings. This is wonderful because instead of putting kids to bed, finishing the dishes and then sending myself to bed, I'm finding that I have some time to do the things that I want after the kids go to bed.

Back at the beginning of April, we took a trip up to New York to visit my family. To put it bluntly, my dad is dying of cancer. Since January he's been living mostly in the hospital, and currently he is in a nursing home attempting rehab but as he is not making progress, it's unlikely he will be able to stay there for much longer--at least as a rehab patient. If you've never watched someone who is sick deteriorate over a period of time--it's horrible. I was shocked when I saw my dad in April, and it had only been 6 months since I had seen him. Now I think it's unlikely he will even survive another 6 months. I guess the benefit is that I've had some time to deal with this fact, although, I don't know if you can ever really be prepared to lose a parent. Thank goodness for my faith in the Atonement, the Priesthood, and Temples.

The trip was long (15 hours) and I was really nervous about driving with the kids, so we decided to leave in the early afternoon and drive all night. Clara had trouble during the daytime driving, and Lydia couldn't really sleep in her carseat so she had trouble at night. But we made it, in one piece, and it really wasn't that bad. When we have to do it again, that's probably how we'll go.

Here's a few photo collages that I made of our trip:

Grandpa meeting Clara for the first time:

We also stopped in and saw my Grandma (dad's mom) at the nursing home where she lives. My cousin's wife and their little girl were there too and it was so fun getting to see them! Then we stopped by Friendly's Restaurant on the way home. Friendly's was always such a treat growing up and the best part is the ice cream! Lydia enjoyed her monster sundae.

One of the days we were up there, we took a day trip to Palmyra which is the site of the restoration of our church. We really enjoyed walking around the visitor's centers, and especially through the Sacred Grove. It was a beautiful day. We also got to walk around the temple which was extra special because Ben and I were married there almost 5 years ago. We will celebrate our anniversary in July. Crazy!

We also spent some time just hanging out. Uncle Matthew really enjoyed holding Clara and Uncle Jacob even got in on the kid action, showing Lydia how to work the marble track :) We also spent a pleasant hour or so at the park where my mom showed Lydia the ins and outs of the sandbox. Lydia was sure hesitant to climb in because she didn't want to get dirty. She's funny like that.

Sooner that we would have liked, it was time to head home. Once again we left early afternoon and decided that we would make a stop at Hershey and take their free chocolate tour. It was a nice break, it was free, AND they gave you a free mini Hershey bar after the tour. Lydia loved riding around and seeing how they make chocolate. Yum! We also drove through some CRAZY fog. There were times that I couldn't even see the car in front of me and I couldn't help but think "I am going 65 miles an hour and if anything jumps out in front of me I will never stop in time!" Talk about travelling by faith ...

We arrived home around 9am the next morning and everyone was sleep deprived enough that we threw the kids in bed and everyone slept until noon!

I'm so glad we were able to make the trip. I don't know if my dad will get to see my children again in this life. One of the hardest things about losing my dad is thinking about my kids never really knowing my him. I've always wanted my kids to know their grandparents. But, we're extremely blessed to have Ben's parents so close and so involved with our children. I am definitely grateful for that. Truly nothing is more important than family.

No time for blogging ...

If you're wondering why I haven't been blogging much lately, it's not just the blogging. I also haven't been doing any exercising, reading, sewing, crafting or hobbying in general.

My life right now is: watching dishes pile up in my sink, picking up clutter, nagging my stubborn 3-year-old then waiting while she continues to dig in her heels, teaching manners, cooking dinner, bathing children, putting them down for naps, picking up more clutter, Me: Primary President, Ben: Early Morning Seminary Teacher (THREE MORE WEEKS!!!), saving the cat from too much "loving", answering ENDLESS questions from the 3-year-old, nursing the baby, setting food in front of the 3-year-old, watching the 3-year old dance around instead of sitting down to eat, trying to get caught up on my 12-week Book of Mormon reading challenge, two straight hours of rocking rocking rocking and patting the baby who's having a hard time getting to sleep  ...

... but then there's also: snuggling with my sweet Clara, lots of baby giggles, reading books to Lydia, making the Princess figurines "talk" for her, taking walks, hearing "I love you so much mama" from sweet little girl lips, the smell of a freshly bathed Clara, laughing and dancing with Lydia, listening to her say her prayers, loving (nearly) every minute of it.

Being a mother is simultaneously the most exhausting and most rewarding thing I've ever done. But they say the most rewarding things in life usually require the most work.

Which reminds me ...

It's time to wake Lydia up from her nap ... and go make dinner :)

Easter 2013

Having children just makes holidays so much more fun. This year for Easter we ...

decorated eggs with Lydia ...

went on an Easter Egg hunt with friends ...

had a visit from the Easter Bunny ...

and sported bright new dresses to church!

A couple of weeks ago we dedicated our Family Home Evening to talking about the true meaning of Easter and the Resurrection of our Savior. In an effort to stay focused on the true meaning of Easter while enjoying the more secular traditions, we frequently reminded Lydia that even though we were having fun with all these things, the real reason we celebrate Easter is because of Jesus. I guess we did a pretty good job of teaching her because as we were getting ready to leave the Easter Egg Hunt/Party yesterday, she looked at me and very seriously said, "Jesus didn't come, Mom." Oh that sweet girl. She melts my heart all to pieces.

A Family of Four

Sooooo ... blogging has been the absolute last thing on my to-do list lately. It's sitting right in front of "clean my house", so maybe tomorrow I can actually make a dent in that particular area ...

I've heard all sorts of opinions on which is most difficult: going from 1 kid to 2, or from 2 kids to 3. For me, so far, going from 1 to 2 has been quite an adjustment! Of course, it hasn't helped that since Clara was born (7 1/2 weeks ago) until now, we haven't gone more than 2 days without someone in the house being sick. Another factor is that Clara is taking a long time to adjusting to sleeping at nighttime. Lydia was sleeping through the night at 2 weeks. (I know, right??) Clara ... not so much.  Add in Ben teaching seminary and I am one tired momma.  But I'm getting used to having less sleep and Clara is finally getting onto a schedule and starting to sleep longer stretches at night ... sometimes.  If only I could get her to go back to sleep quickly once she is done eating. Sometimes she's up for an hour or more, although that has become less frequent as well. We've had to set up a baby swing in our already crowded bedroom so if she fusses for longer than a few minutes I just put her in the swing instead of her bed. That keeps her calm until she goes back to sleep and allows me to go back to sleep sooner. So, we're finding ways to manage our difficult little sleeper!

Lydia is adjusting well also. She had a couple of whiny days where I could tell she was a little jealous of all the attention that Clara was getting but she's completely over that now. Instead she is my biggest helper. One of the most incredible things is when she anticipates what I might need or comes up with ways to help on her own and just does it. She is getting so mature. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 next month.

Pictures for Grandma

A few of Clara's first pictures, per request by Grandma :)