Celebrating {part 1}

She is two now. For the first time since becoming parents we have a 2 year old and no new babies in sight, so we can fully appreciate and notice this age. She is a handful, always wanting to do everything herself, and I mean EVERYTHING. She is quite independent, that one. Which often results in tears. Either our tears of joy and frustration, or hers, because she can't manage to do her own carseat buckles, and we are not willing to wait for another 10 minutes in a hot car. She's also our earliest child to potty learn. Comes with being independent, I guess. Oh, and having 3 older siblings definitely shows. She can stand up for herself and knows how to get what she wants. She loves books, just like her sisters and brother, and often brings the same 10-book stack to you whenever you try to sit down on the couch and relax. She is fun, charming, bossy, rough, bunny-loving 2 year old now. And Joy is her middle name.

(our last minute unofficial birthday celebration at the park. Ivy is a total puppy-hog)

02/07/2011

We had a lazy Sunday last week. With 3/4 of our kids being away from home, we simply went to church, relaxed, took a 4 hour nap (honest) and then decided it might be a good idea to hop into the car and go to the Temple Square. Our walk was so uneventful, it would simply sound like a boring story if I tried to describe it. The only way I could spice it up would be to write about all the things that didn't happen, but could've, if we brought the whole 'circus crew' with us.

02/07/2011

Last week we went on a kids-free vacation. Well, almost. We did keep Ivy with us (she's still nursing, you know) and we only had the weekend to ourselves so we didn't drive very far. But it sure felt like a vacation, with only one little person to worry about (ok, I admit I still worry about the small ones that are not with me at the moment, but that's different). It's amazing how much time we spend every day on getting 4 kids out of the house, in and out of the car, negotiating, trying to keep them all moving in the same direction, etc. When you only have to do it with one baby, you all of the sudden end up with so much time on your hands, that you wonder if you somehow managed to stretch it and pack 30-ish hours into one day. I wish I knew this back when we only had 1 baby, and I felt like I could never ever possibly get any busier...

We spent all Saturday driving to places, hiking, doing some fun shopping. We decided to explore the Alpine Loop this time, and settled on hiking to Stewart Falls. All those websites with hiking trail reviews weren't kidding when saying it was a popular hike, especially on holidays and weekends. We still enjoyed it immensely, even though I prefer feeling less 'crowded' when hiking. The views were breathtaking, Mt. Timpanogos didn't disappoint, and the falls weren't so bad either. Ivy was a champ, and was quite content as long as we kept supplying her with chunks of Larabar...

there's an impressive amount of aspens in this canyon, definitely a must-see in the autumn




there was a lot of cold spraying from the falls, hence the lovely effect of the sunlight hitting the water droplets on the lens


and did I mention there was a LOT of snow on the ground down by the falls? I was not prepared for that, and was slipping all over the place in my 'shoes'. I think this is the dirtiest feet I've had since I was kid. Sunblock and dusty trail will do this to you


we did find a perfect spot on the rocks for a nursing break (don't let my pasty white knees distract you from the spectacular overlook)

can't complete this story without a cute baby photo, right? And yes, it's an Ikea towel on her head. Thank goodness we picked up a bunch of those on the way to the canyon. I'll also shamelessly say thank goodness for creative thinking on my behalf when we realized we didn't bring a hat for Ivy's fuzzy q-tip of a head. I am sure she appreciated it, even if she doesn't know it

By the end of the day, when we finally got home, we felt like we'd been gone for 3 days. And it was a good feeling, even if we still had piles of half-folded laundry all over the floor...

Celebrating Life and Love

She turned 1 and We turned 9.

We didn't throw a fancy birthday party (anyone who knows me, also knows that's I'm the last person to do it. I did manage to throw together a gluten-free rhubarb cobbler, if that counts). We just did our best to smile, laugh, and provide unlimited amounts of love for the little person who didn't even suspect she just turned one. I stayed up late enough to be awake during the exact time when Ivy entered this world, read her birth story and shed a few tears of joy. Joy is her middle name, and she's living up to it every single day, even when she spends a good deal of her time clinging to my leg and wiping her nose on my freshly laundered clothes.

from this:

to this:

Anya was sharing her imaginary cookie, Ivy enjoyed every single bite of it

Then, just 3 days later, Mark and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. NINE years. Really? We are one of THOSE couples who've been married, for like, forever and now has a house full of kids? I used to think families like ours looked so 'grown-up', and now we are one of those families, and I still don't feel like 'them'. It's been a fun ride so far, with it's ups and downs, but in the end, absolutely worth it. We've been growing together, laughing together, discovering who we are in our daily lives. It's hard work, and I am constantly filled with gratitude knowing that I get to do it all with Mark, my friend, love and eternal companion.

We've been enjoying hiking all these years, before we got married, after, and even while having little babies in our midst. So it was only natural that we decided to go on a hike/trail run for our anniversary date. It was raining. In other words, it was perfect.

Sunday afternoon

I often admire those bloggers who can take photos, edit them and write a post all on the same day, often before noon. Or even better, before I even drag myself out of the bed and get to the computer in the morning. I've done that a few times myself (not in the morning though, unless it was 4 a.m. and I was just going to bed), often at the expense of ignoring sword fights and numerous mini-Armageddons happening while I was hard at work trying to finish just one paragraph, getting interrupted more times than the amount of comas and periods combined in my measly 'quick' post. So keeping that in mind, writing about our Sunday afternoon is perfectly normal for a Wednesday post in my book.

Windy weather and sickness aside (Maya's finally over her 10-day long ear infection - yay! but may be coming down with chickenpox - boo), March always makes me all giddy inside. Unlike my fellow U.S. citizens, who follow the 'slow' solar calendar when it comes to season changes, my spring comes on March 1st, just as it did my whole life. Whether it's still snowing or raining outside, I can smell spring in the air. And it fills me with joy. Going from cold dreary winter into awakening spring gets me in the mood for doing crazy things like cleaning out our mini-van that hadn't been cleaned in months. And I pretty much feel like bursting into a loud sound while walking down the street or stepping out into the backyard. I probably shouldn't do it though, our neighbour's dog likes to howl when he hears sirens outside.

But what about our Sunday afternoon? Well, not much really, just a lovely spring-y afternoon, warm sunshine outside, baby girl sleeping under a recently unpacked baby blanket made by a dear 100-year old friend who passed away a couple of years ago. Then some quiet nursing and snuggling time after Ivy's restful nap... Except that this time, the beauty of these simple moments was almost overwhelming. So I asked Mark to grab the camera and snap a few shots, while those moments lasted. Because those moments are the ones we want to remember years from now, even if our typical Sundays are filed with every day chaos...