Moment in Time

Our world right now (current happenings)!
Colt is going to move offices again - it will be a step up from the office he is in now. Currently he is in a very professional office, but it is on the 2nd floor with really high rent. This one he is going to remodel - like major project! and make it his own layout and what he wants. He'll share the space with 2 accountants. It will also be very professional, in the same parking lot as a grocery store and other stores, and considerably less rent, so we're getting ready to tear out most of the walls that are there and add our own!

Speaking of walls: When we were in Home Depot picking out stuff for the office, River noticed wall stencils and says "Ohhh, Mom, What are These?" I explained that they go on your wall. "Mom, she asks, can I have a Princess room?" So below is our princess room for River and Silver:

The top is light pink, the bottom is a darker pink. To make the blue stars, I mixed the paint by hand, so the effect is some are lighter and some are darker. Then I went back over and painted sparkles (the glue with sparkles in it) over the top of the stars, so they actually twinkle.

We will put up vinyl lettering on the wall that says "Princess, Daughter of a Heavenly King" I also have some sparkly butterflies to put on the wall too - more pictures to follow of the completed room!

River LOVES to help!

The roller is just River's size!

Great Memories!

Here is our current snapshot:

River:

29 lbs and 38 inches tall. We've started marking her height on the door jam outside her bedroom door, in the last 4 months, she's grown a whole inch!

*River LOVES reading!! She reads and reads. Sometimes she memorizes the book, and reads it to herself pretty much word for word. Other times she makes up stories to go along with the pictures. She loves bringing me a stack of books and reading them. The library has a story hour every week that she just loves!

River also follows a story or movie really well. Colt tells her made-up stories in the evening. She then will recap the story for me and remembers the details really well. She can also do this with movies!
River LOVES to dance! She loves music with a beat and turned up! We have dancing times regularly.

River loves fixing owies. She enjoys being the nurse and making it all better. She enjoys putting band aids and cream on anything that might cause any type of pain. She is very sympathetic to people in pain, or if she thinks it might hurt you, her face screws up and she says "oooohhhh, does that owie hurt?" She also says "I'll make it all better"
River loves candy, popsicles, hot dogs and eggs.
River loves helping and being part of things....Mom can I do it too?
River enjoys cleaning things - wiping things off with wipes or her special squeegee and water for the sliding glass door.
River and Silver love family walks. If it's just me walking them, I put them both in the big stroller and Silver sits on River's lap. If Colt goes too, then he takes one stroller and I take the other. They really enjoy being outside.

Silver: 17 1/2 lbs
The differences between our two babies:
*Silver has a darker complexion than River - River is really lite and burns quite easily. Silver is quite a bit darker.

*When River was a baby she would always cross her ankles - especially in the car seat.

Classic River Ankles (about 1 year)

*River never took a bottle, she went straight to a sippy at around 12 months. She only nursed and never took formula. She also would only eat around 2 - 3 bites at a sitting - not much has changed there - we believe she grows on photosynthesis!

*Silver on the other hand is Totally in to food! The day of my surgery and the next day she had to have formula, after that she didn't want to nurse very much any more. She enjoyed just looking around and being part of everything with her bottle. She also LOVES food! The other day I gave her 5 or 6 bowls of food and 3 bottles - she loves eating!!

*River scooted on her bum everywhere she went and only got around to crawling about 2 days before she walked.

*Silver is 7 months old and is crawling!! She loves being part of everything.

*River was contented to sit in mom's lap and observe. Silver can't wait to get going and be into everything.

*River rarely put things into her mouth.

*Silver explores her world by putting everything into her mouth.

*River cried a lot and was very sensitive with her feelings

*Silver is much more calm most times, but she does have a temper!! If she gets mad, she'll scream and scream, especially with a sitter. I've only left her with a sitter a handful of times and about half of those times she's just screamed until she fell asleep exhausted a while later.

*River only took a nuk at nap and bed times, and at 6 months, she decided she didn't want any more of that! It was very nice that we didn't have to wean her from the pacifier :)

*Silver LOVES her nuk! She packs it around with her, and when she wakes up, she'll look for it, put it back in her mouth and check out again contented. One time she didn't have it when I was visiting family, she cried and cried for quite a while, once she gets upset, she has a hard time calming herself down. She is good about going down for bed without being asleep, I can put her down and she'll play for a bit before checking out.

Silver loves being outside - she enjoys being out and watching everything.

Colt:

Colt pulls late hours in the office most days. He works really hard for our family and does his best to build his business.

Colt just drew out for the bow hunt this year, he is SO excited to go hunting!

Colt is becoming a manager now in the company and working at recruiting/hiring new agents. He travels quite a bit now to Salt Lake and Vegas.

Karin:

I do newsletters for 3 different insurance agencies and 1 for the whole Western Region. It's nice to have some extra money, and nice to be recognized for a professional product. (But I have to tell myself, their praise is not more important than a "Thank you mommy" from my 3 year old.) I do the newsletters mostly when the girls are asleep - so it's most of my free time with 2 hands. * Sigh * to do something is to trade off doing something else.

My days are filled with playing with the girls (we love to go swimming and to the park) and cleaning, laundry and cooking.

It seems like no matter how much I do, the house is most often a wreck. It's a rollercoaster ride with trying to get it clean and being frustrated because it's not. It is one of my major struggles, especially now having two helpers and most often not two hands. I have talked with others that are also struggling and overwhelmed about housework.

I have to remind myself that we take one day at a time and do the best we can. I can have the house completely cleaned and visitor-ready for Sunday dinner and have it wrecked a couple of days later. I am convinced that I could keep a clean spotless house if that was all that I ever did, moping the floors 5 times a day, but I choose to spend time with my girls.

Well, if you were to stop by our home tonight, this is what you would find: (These pictures are to help those of you out there who also struggle with keeping a clean house realize that you are not alone - especially with small kids!) For those of you who don't struggle with this, it is your talent and definitely an amazing ability!

Posting these pictures is motivation to have it orderly I'll tell you what!

I do enjoy it when it is clean so much better! I love the spirit that is here when it is picked up. I'll share picked-up pictures when it's under control. I thought that it would be a simple thing to keep the house clean when I became a stay-at-home mom. hhhhmmm, not exactly.
But, you know, if you stopped by my house tonight, I'd welcome you in and be glad for the visit without stressing about the house.

I remember growing up in a very clean home....but at what cost???
Now, don't get me wrong....there is definitely room for improvement here! But I choose to enjoy the journey, and part of that journey is to realize that this time of my life is dang busy with small kids, Young Women activities, Finances for the business, Newsletters, and playing with my girls.

We have to realize that there is an opportunity cost in everything you do (Colt would be proud - see economics really do have a part in everyday life :) Everything has a cost (money, time, energy) and we have limited resources, especially with time. Not everything is going to fit into my day. By choosing one thing (cleaning, YW, dinner prep) sometimes another by default is squeezed out.

I do want an orderly home and this is very important to Colt. I am improving and I feel more productive and happy in a clean space where the spirit can dwell.

I notice that I feel better and act better in a clean home. I'd like to have mine be more orderly. When it is cleaned up, it's easier to keep it that way than always be fighting the piles.

I found a website a while ago that is fabulous: flylady.net

These are some of my housecleaning tips (As seen above, I obviously need to believe in them a little more)

Less is more: Part of the reason I have clutter is I have too much stuff!

Start with one area: Bathroom, Kitchen, Bedroom, etc. I tend to work on everything together and then feel like nothing really gets accomplished.

You can do anything for 15 minutes, set the timer for 15 minutes, and it's amazing what you can get done in that time.

Pick up what you pull out - This is a huge thing I need to work on, only get out as much as I can put back away in a timely manner.

Zero Tolerance - I find that if I have something out or something messy, it's not a big deal to add a little to it, and then it gets out of control! We call them fires - if there is a little, it will multiply quickly. My best method is to have nothing on the desk, nothing on the table, nothing on the counter, etc.

We have different seasons in our lives : The season of small kids will go all too quickly, are we taking the time to enjoy it. The season of empty nester should be much easier to keep the house clean - are we comparing ourselves to those people in that season of their life?

I also think it's easy to keep an area clean that you enjoy being in. Make it your own (River's Princess Walls - I enjoy the area so much, the room is cleaned up every day. Surround yourself with things that make you smile.

This is one of my most favorite things in our home: Our wedding picture is by the sliding glass back door. You can see it from sitting at the computer or on the couch. It's a very nice thing to have in our home.

Pictures in the home are powerful! They tell so much about what is important to you and make a lasting impact on your children.

My things just for me: This blog, Water Aerobics and violin/piano. These are my rewards - if the house isn't clean, I can't go swimming, believe me, it's a great motivator!

Colt and I were talking about the joys of having kids. They make us laugh every day! They are such a joy to be around!

We're enjoying the journey!