Andrea's Dreams of a Dream Light

This is post number 101, can you believe it?  I'm so proud of myself for keeping at least this much of a record of our lives.  All though it's not a typical journal, it's the only one I've got, so that's what keeps me posting. 

I'm sure any parent who has a child between the ages of two and, oh, ten, knows what a Dream Light is.  Andrea has been begging for one ever since she saw the commerical.  For those of you who don't know, the Dream Light is from the makers of Pillow Pets and projects stars on the ceiling in changing colors.  It also has a 20 minute timer for once your child falls asleep.  I'm a sucker when it comes to Andrea and of course, I wanted to give in.  I knew Ryan wouldn't be so eager when he saw the price, so we made her earn it. 

She's been in a major bout of the Terrible Threes lately and we were hoping to improve her obsession with the word "no".  She could earn her Dream Light but saying "Okay Mom" or "Okay Dad".  "Andrea, it's time for bed"... "Andrea, will you put those toys back in your room?"... "Andrea can you be quiet while Mom is on the phone?".  You get the idea, everytime she said "Okay" (and followed through) she got to color a square on her Dream Light chart. By the second week Ryan and I both commented what a difference we had seen in her.  It may be only temporary, but it was worth it!

Today she got her Dream Light and she was thrilled, she kept hugging me all day thanking me and once I even got "Thanks for making my Dream Light chart Mom".  Once Daddy came home from work he got all the same thanks, she really is a grateful girl and always has been. It was so fun to see the joy from her hard work paying off.

New Job, New Office

It's been too long since I've posted, but ever since I've started my new job the thought of typing even more than I have too isn't very appealing.  But I'm biting the bullet, even late at night, and hopefully the future me, years from now will thank me for the sacrifice.  .

The transition to my new job has been a little more difficult than I expected. I was thrilled when I passed my 5-week training period and was allowed to recieve my full workload, but I was a little overwhelmed.  I went from receiving one, 5-10 minute, file each day to receiving 40-60 minutes of audio each day.  Right now that works out to be 4-5 hours of work, but that should decrease as I improve my speed and get comfortable with all the rules. 

You may notice now I leave two spaces after each period, or always put a coma before now, but, or, so, yet, etc.  This is all thanks to my transcription work, and there are many other particulars I'm getting used to. 
One benefit of my new job is that we remodeled the office in our house. We've been meaning to for years and once I got this job we found a killer deal on a desk, so without really planning it, we spent one weekend about a month ago repainting and organizing.  Our office went from this...

 To this...

Yes, that's looking from the same doorway in both pictures, and granted, the first picture was a little messier than usual, but you get the idea.  It really has been so nice to come into a clean, professional looking area to get my work done. 
For those of you who have been ignored, or neglected, as I have started my new job, I do apologize.  I can see the longterm rewards of this job and know this is just a transitional period that I need to push through. Luckily, Ryan has been so supportive and never gives me any grief as he watches Andrea every night after work.  He's taken her to run errands with him, to work in the yard, I think it will be a great bonding experience for the two of them and once Andrea is in school this job will be perfect!

The End of An Era

Over 2 years ago I wrote a post about Bracken joining our lives when I took on daycare a couple of times each week. Well, next week will be the last week I (officially) provide daycare.

I have found another job working from home and I'm very excited about it. I will be doing transcription work, for mostly auto insurance interviews. I have begun the training process and I'm excited about the work. It gives me a lot of flexibility; each workload has a 29 hour deadline, so I can decide when I get to it.

I knew someday I would have to stop taking care of Bracken, and Leah his sister that joined him about a year ago, and when this opportunity came along I had to take it while I could. I knew with Andrea starting school or other activities I would need some more freedom than I did the days I was watching the kids.

It is kind of sad saying goodbye, I love how comfortable these kids have become with me and my house. They know our routine, they know the rules, and it's been fun watching them grow and be my adoptive kids, if only once or twice a week.

I'm not gonna lie, there were tough days... tantrums, teething, sickness, diaper blow-outs, hitting, screaming, things breaking. But there were also kissed boo-boos, hugs, baby kisses, being called 'mama', high-fives, laughs, and dancing.

This last week when Bracken came he was fully potty trained. I was so happy that I got to see that milestone, and how proud of himself he was. I've offered to tend in emergency situations, like when their new sitter is unavailable and I hope we'll have play dates. But it's been a fun couple of years to have Braken-Boo and Leah-Lou be our playmates!

Easter

The night before Easter Andrea and I left the eggs we had all dyed on the back porch so the Easter Bunny could hide them during the night.

Andrea woke up Sunday morning to find a note from the Easter Bunny on Mommy and Daddy's bedroom door. The note told her to look in the fridge. The fridge note told her to look on the front door. The front door note told her to look in the laundry room, and that note told her to look in the office. When she looked in the office chair she found her Easter basket.

In her basket the Easter bunny left a digital camera, a monkey nightgown, pez, chocolate bunnies, and some light up gummies.

We enjoyed some Easter Bunny pancakes, an idea I got of pinterest.

Then Andrea went outside to hunt for her eggs.

We both put on our coordinating Easter dresses and headed to church. This one was a special Sunday in more than one way, my Mom was visiting, and I was sustained as Primary President with Amy B and Michela F as my counselors. I am pretty terrified of my new calling. I love working in the Primary, but now I will have to delegate to adults, and I don't like conflicts, which I'm sure are inevitable. It was a pretty special moment though having my husband and brother in the circle to set me apart.

After chuch I started preparing for Easter dinner. I had invited all of our local family over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Luckily, my mother in law and sister in law helped with food, or I would have been very overwhelmed. We had the traditional Easter meal, Ham, potatoes, jello, and deviled eggs.
The kids really enjoyed the Easter egg hunt, it was pretty funny watching them run around in a big hurry, when there are only three kids there wasn't much reason to rush, but instinct kicks in I guess.

It was nice my Mom was able to visit. She had traveled to Phoenix with my brother Brent to attend her sister Colleen's funeral and then drove back with him to spend a few days with us. She also got sick along the way and ended up with Broncitis and an eye infection. So it wasn't as much fun for her as it could have been. This week Andrea has been sick too, but it's tough to say if she got it from Grandma or not, at least the doctor said it wasn't Broncitis.

I always regretting not getting a picture of Grandma when she visits, so at least I got one this time!

Cedar City

Taking trips to Cedar City during General Conference has recently become a tradition. It's a good weekend to go since we don't have any Sunday obligations. This time it worked out even better since Ryan's cousin would also be visiting from North Carolina. The last time we saw Stephanie and her family was at Andrea's blessing in 2009.

Friday night we arrived in Cedar City and Matt and Sara had a nice home cooked meal waiting for us. We had a pretty relaxing Friday night just watching the kids ride bikes in the driveway til it got dark. Meryn had outgrown her old bike with training wheels and passed it onto Andrea. Andrea did really well, but looked a little too grown up for me!

The kids all snuggled down for a movie after riding bikes.

Saturday we had a very fun-filled day starting with a visit to Discovery Park up on the hill of Cedar City, it was really windy (it was all over the state) but the kids didn't mind and it was still fairly warm. We got so many great pictures, this was the coolest park I've ever seen!

We were all a little worried Ryan would get stuck in the slide but he made it!

The three cousins

Andrea and Meryn put a show on for us at the ampitheatre

This one portrays the kids pretty well!

I love this one with Matt and Ryan in the back of the cop car.

After the park we went back to Matt and Sara's for lunch and then decided to walk down to Grandpa Ray's care center for a visit. Grandpa has been at the care center for about a week because of his heart and it's only a couple of blocks from Matt and Sara so since the weather was nice we thought it would be a good walk for all of us. Grandpa seemed in good spirits and loved us all visiting the girls even sang him a few songs which he loved.

This was the walk back from the care center, the girls needed a break.

 

By this time Saturday Gary and Linda had made the trip down, so the grown-ups took advantage of some free babysitting and headed out for a day together. Ryan wanted some photos of old buildings in the small towns dotting the southern part of the state and luckily Matt and Sara knew exactly what he was looking for. Here are a couple of the photos with some editing.

A service station in Kanarra

An old barn in Toquerville (I think)

Then we headed to a ghost town outside of Rockville called Grafton. This was where the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed but before that it was an actual town for cotton farmers. They have started a restoration process but I enjoyed walking through the unrestored buildings best. Warning, photo overload ahead:

This was the scary bridge you cross to get to Grafton. On our way there someone was filming some runners on the bridge, but the boys got some photos on the return trip.

This was the old school house which had been restored, so you could only look in the window.

This home was right next to the school and was also locked.

This house was across the way from the previous house, and we walked through this one.

Down the road a bit was this house, and in my opinion, the neatest one. It was quite large, and even had an open cellar.

An old barn next to the last house, it even had an old wagon still locked inside.

It was really fun to see the brothers bond through photography. Sara and I were often left in the car while the boys hopped out to take pictures of something they spotted. After our small towns adventure we stopped in St. George for dinner and then headed back to Cedar.

Sunday morning was pretty relaxing until it came time for Grandpa's birthday party and Easter Egg hunt. Grandpa got a field trip from the care center and the rest of Linda's side of the family came over. Matt and Sara took a tally and 24 people total were at their house. The original plan was to have the egg hunt outside but the weather didn't cooperate.



Andrea hugging her Grandpa Ray, I always regretted not getting more pictures of her with Grandma Helen, so I'm glad she is so friendly with her great Grandpa!

Another fun trip to Cedar! Can't wait for the next one, Ryan says summer but I'm thinking next General Conference :)

Mommy Paychecks

A little while ago on Facebook an old High School friend posted this "Carson came home from school after being roughed up in a kindergarten collision. I set him up with some Netflix, Tylenol, an ice pack, Lucky Charms, and a blankie. While he eats his cereal he says quietly, "Mom. Thanks for taking such good care of me." That my friends, Is a Mommy Paycheck!"

This post inspired me to blog more about the "Mommy Paychecks" I receive, so that I'll always remember them. Last night I had my first worth blogging about:

It was an unusual night for Andrea, as in it's been months since I've had to fight with her to sleep all night. She woke up for a potty break around 2:30, and went back to bed. Half an hour later she came back in our room saying she had a dream about a guy who touched her on the arm. After that she didn't want to sleep in her bed, and I could sympathize after having a bad dream. Her and I laid on the couches for about an hour, neither one of us fell asleep, then she decided she wanted to go back to bed again. An hour later I was still awake and thought maybe changing locations would help. I quietly snuck back into Andrea room and climbed in bed with her. She was asleep again at that point but rolled over and said "Mommy are you going to sleep with me? Can I give you a hug?". And that, my friends, is a Mommy paycheck!

Changing and Re-arranging

You should all realize by now that I get restless if the decor in my house stays the same for too long. Well it's been 7 years since we painted our bedroom, and one day I got the itch. Something else you should realize about me, is that once I get something in my head, I can't get things done soon enough! Whether it's buying a car, cutting my hair, or painting a room. So before Ryan new what was happening I was looking at swatches and taking the room apart.
I decided on a pale blue, and I LOVE IT! I actually completed it a few months ago, but after getting some new bedding for Christmas, the room is finally complete.

Here is the bedroom before

And now

I also painted the art on the wall, and let Andrea join in on the fun too. She didn't want her painting in her room, she wanted in Mommy and Daddy's room, like mine, so you can see, it is now proudly displayed above my nightstand.

This week we also re-arranged Andrea's room. I was started to feel bad that this big 3 year old girl was still squeezing into a toddler bed. So Ryan and I were debating whether to buy a new twin bed, or use the full size mattress and frame we've been storing downstairs. Turns out her crib turns into a full size headboard, problem solved!

Andrea and I picked out some bedding online.. can't tell you how happy I am that she didn't pick Dora or Princess. The design she picked actually matches really well with her ceiling fan and the stencil I did on the wall years ago.

I'm still trying to figure out where to put the rest of the stuff in her room now. She loves her new big bed, she couldn't wait to go to sleep the first night, and has sleep the whole night through every night since. Part of me wonders if the extra effort for her to get out of the bed convinces her to hold her bathroom breaks til morning, but no accidents so far, so no complaints from me!