Snow Day

Yesterday marked our first snow of the season, kind of late, I know.  I take full responsibility for it, though. I prayed earnestly for the last couple of months that it wouldn't snow, that God would allow us to be moved into our new house before it snowed.  You see, Ryan's uncle mowed the brush at the end of the driveway out at the farm in early November.  It looked nice, but I was afraid that with it gone it wouldn't act as a deterrent for the snow to drift over the driveway.  It has happened before and my car has been stuck in it.  I could envision myself getting stuck and having to carry two little kids a 1/4 mile in the bitter cold to get to the house.  So, I prayed that God would keep the snow at bay and He did.  Whether it was truly because of my prayers or part of His bigger plan, I don't know, but we're moved out and safely in our new house no longer worried about getting stuck in the driveway.

The snow came and came and kept coming.  I think we probably have around eight inches.  Having gone to college in Minnesota I am quite aware of how small a number eight inches is.  Though it didn't seem that small when I was out shoveling the driveway yesterday.  I'm still paying for that today with some extremely sore muscles.

The kids enjoyed the view from inside in their cozy pajamas.   

Aric was pretty excited.

Kellyn has no idea what snow is and just watched through the windows as it fell.

After Daddy came home from work, Aric went outside with him.  Kellyn was still napping and missed the excursion outdoors.  I only took a couple of photos of Aric before my battery died and I went back inside.  I was still pretty cold from shoveling during nap time and just wanted to be in the warm house.



I'm not sure that we'll make it back outside to play in the snow today.  It's supposed to be a whole 12 degrees as the high.  A little too chilly for a little girl who refuses to keep her mittens on.  Maybe when it warms up a bit we'll make it back out to play in the snow.

Sidekick

Lately, Ryan has been pretty busy trying to get things done around the house.  He seems to have a little sidekick every time he tries to get something done.

A pretty cute sidekick:

Say Cheese

A couple of weeks ago the kids were given a plastic toy camera in a Happy Meal.  Ever since then pretending to take photos and "say cheese" have been common occurrences around here.  That means most of our photos will now have big, cheesy grins in them.

I think I'm okay with that.

Eight Years

Ryan and I met in high school during our Junior year.  His family had just moved into the area.  He intrigued me from the start but it was awhile before we started dating.  Then I broke up with him a couple of times.  By our senior year we had settled into a relationship and lived only a block away from each other.  After graduation he enlisted into the Army and I went to college.  That was difficult, but we loved each other and we both can be pretty stubborn.  We learned how to communicate through letters (actual written letters) and the occasional phone call with a phone card.  Not to date us, but those were the days before Skype and before everyone had a computer.

Four years later he had gotten out of the Army and moved to Kansas to go to college.  I graduated and moved to Kansas to end the long-distance part of our relationship.  We had to learn how to be around each other.  We knew how to communicate on the phone, how to communicate through letters, but we had to learn how to communicate in person again.  It wasn't easy but we decided we were in it for the long haul.  A year after I moved to Kansas we were engaged.

Eight years ago today we were married.

It hasn't been easy.  There have been days I wonder what I've done and have wanted to walk away, but I won't.  Ever.  He's the man I chose, the man I love, the one who knows all about me flaws and all.  We have been through so much together and have built a wonderful life together.

I'm so glad to have found him.  I'm so glad that I get to go through life with him.

Ryan,

Thank you for eight wonderful years and the many more to come.  Happy Anniversary!  I love you.

Always.

Regan

And in a lame moment.  Here are the lyrics to the first song we ever danced to.  They still hold true today.

George Strait- "I Cross My Heart

Our love is unconditional, we knew it from the start.

I see it in your eyes, you can feel it from my heart.

From here on after let's stay the way we are right now,
And share all the love and laughter
That a lifetime will allow.

 I cross my heart and promise to
Give all I've got to give to make all your dreams come true.
In all the world you'll never find a love as true as mine.

You will always be the miracle that makes my life complete,
And as long as there's a breath in me, I'll make yours just as sweet.
As we look into the future, it's as far as we can see,
So let's make each tomorrow be the best that it can be.

I cross my heart and promise to
Give all I've got to give to make all your dreams come true.
In all the world you'll never find a love as true as mine.

And if along the way we find a day it starts to storm,
You've got the promise of my love to keep you warm.
In all the world you'll never find a love as true as mine,
A love as true as mine.

The New Normal

I don't think I've reached it yet.  We're still unpacking, searching for that one item that we always seem to need and can never find, and trying to figure out what sort of schedule we should have.  I have one who needs more encouragement in the potty training department and another who is trying to transition from two naps a day to one.  Not to mention we're trying to get everyone to sleep in and not wake up at 5:30 every morning since there's no longer a need to wake up that early.

Me- I'm just trying to figure out this stay at home thing, which I am kind of too tired to deal with at the moment.  Maybe in another month when we've unpacked some more and I've had time to rest.  I've been going full-speed for so long I don't really know what it's like to stop and rest for a while.  Yesterday was my first true day of being a stay at home mom and I didn't stop to rest one bit.  Well, except for sitting down and playing with Aric and Kellyn for awhile.  Even when they were napping I was making phone calls and trying to get things done before Ryan came home from work.

I don't want to exhaust myself in my new "job position" and, yet, I have no idea where the balance point is.  On one hand I think that I should have a clean house, laundry folded and put away and dinner well on its way when Ryan comes home at the end of the day. Isn't that part of my job description after all?  On the other hand, I realize that's not quite realistic.  By 9:30 yesterday morning I was already wearing my third pair of jeans for the day.  I have two kids, two very young kids and things happen.  Days never go according to plan and those two little ones are notorious for emptying toy bins in an incredibly short amount of time.  Besides their well-being, security and happiness are a large part of my reason for staying home.  They don't notice if the house is spotless or if dinner is perfect and they deserve a mom who gives them her time and attention.

I guess, I don't know what the new normal will be.  I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go.  For now, I guess I'll get back to work and prep dinner while I wait for the fence guy to call me back and the Sears guy to show up and fix my dishwasher.

In Progress, Part 4

Now that we're done with the painting for awhile, at least, and most of our things are moved in we have begun to unpack.  Things are getting put away.  Things are getting hung on the walls and it's starting to feel like a home.  Our home.

Kellyn's room:

She's always kind of had a castoff theme.  Originally, when she was born, she was supposed to share a room with Aric.  All of her bedding went along with his theme.  Later when she was moved into her own room, I didn't really have any sort of direction for her.  In this house, I knew I wanted to paint her room purple.  I don't know why, I just wanted to.  I matched the curtains with the trim on the Hawaiian Noah's Ark quilt that is draped over her crib.  That was given to her by my parents and is becoming a well-loved, well-used item.  The other quilt hanging on the wall, also helps to tie all of colors together.  That quilt was made by Ryan's grandmother.  She did a lot of paper piecing and made that quilt out of all of her paper piecing samples.  It's very eclectic but really works together.  The butterfly mobile and wall hooks were left by the previous owners and we decided to use them.  We still have more to do, but I like the way her room is coming together.

Aric's room:

Aric's colors were picked to go with his truck and car bedding. Thankfully it all worked out because after all of the colors were picked out, we bought him a bigger bed and had to buy new bedding.  Thank goodness Target sticks with similar themes.  I don't have much to hang on Aric's walls yet, but I've decided not to be in a big hurry about it.  Everything that I had previously for his walls is all related to his baby theme and not suitable for the bedroom of a growing toddler.  I do have the letters for the kid's names to hang on the wall, however, they need to be painted different colors.  I'll have to wait until Spring before I can repaint them.

Kellyn has become quite proficient at climbing up the stairs.  Climbing down the stairs is another story.  She's quite timid about it and prefers to wait until someone will carry her down them.

The kitchen:

The kitchen and living room colors are based around the rug underneath our table.  I realize the color of the kitchen is quite a bit darker than most people prefer, but I really like it.  It coordinates well with the rug and the green accents in our living room.  At our last residence I hated the color of green in the kitchen.  I even made Ryan help me paint the "green kitchen green" and I hated the new color.  While this color would not have worked well in our other place, it works perfectly here and makes me happy.



We still have much more to do and I'm looking forward to every moment of it. 

Small Things to be Thankful for

-Today I returned Aric's crib, purchased almost three years ago, to Target and received a full refund in store credit.  I'm not complaining one bit.  Aric is done with his crib, moved on to his big boy bed, and we were going to take his crib to the dump on Monday because the crib was recalled.  At least we were until I did some online research and discovered that his crib was recalled because it's a drop-side crib and because it has metal mattress supports.  We truly feel this was God's little gift to us since we were so close to throwing it out.

-Instead of working 80 hours over the last two weeks of December, I worked 28 hours, used up some leave time and took some leave without pay.  I was incredibly stressed trying to get the new house painted, the old house packed, still work and be a wife and mother.  I was failing miserably in all areas.  I talked with my superiors at work about my situation.  I didn't want to just quit and leave them in a bind and leave on a bad note, but I felt that I wasn't truly needed for most of the time I was scheduled to work.  I approached them about the situation and they made arrangements for me to work the three days that I was truly needed and have the rest of the time off.  It worked out perfectly since the kids were still in daycare for those last two weeks and it freed me up to accomplish much.

-We were offered the use of a horse trailer from some dear friends.  It has saved us so much and I'm not talking in just a monetary sense.  We have been able to load it and haul it when it was most convenient to us instead of renting a truck, moving everything in one hurried day and then dealing with trying to return the truck.  When we were first discussing moving we never dreamed that we would be lent a trailer, it has truly been a blessing to us.

-The week before Christmas my aunt called and asked if she could come down and help us for a few days this past week.  She was so much help.  She helped me pack and move all of our breakables and then unpack them when we got to the new house.  When I had to go to work for a day she watched the kids all day, even allowing Ryan and I to catch a quick bite to eat on a spontaneous date.

-My husband surprised me with this for Christmas:

Aric's picture frame was given to me by my mother in law when Aric was born.  I put the big baby picture in but never finished the frame.  I attempted to, but it was just too time consuming to sort through the pictures, pick one out for every month of his first year, have them printed in the correct size and then arrange them in the frame. Ryan did all of that and even purchased another frame for Kellyn.  I was definitely surprised!

-Finally, the last small thing to be thankful for, God has truly provided for us and blessed us financially.  I am starting off this new year employed as a stay at home mom.  I am excited to finally stay home with our children.  It's a whole new journey that I am about to embark on this year.  I'll keep you posted along the way as I'm sure it will be rather interesting to experience.