These are what we use to burp Byron with.....

Thanks to my sister-in-laws Kelly and Cristin, now he is burped in style. The brown and blue turquoise and blue combinations are so pleasing to me. Cristin did the embroidery

and she also made this....

Not a good picture, it says Byron and then his birthdate, it's so warm and snuggly!
So many people have been so good to us! Thanks Janes family for the cute clothes (especially Alicia for picking them out.... Byron's coolest outfits), and thanks to my mother-in-law for sending a huge package full of darling outfits! My parents have been so good to Miriam, they bought her a bunch of baby stuff for her Build-A-Bears, and my mom is working on a quilt. Sarah, Miriam LOVES the dress you sent, it has been added to the two dresses she rotates wearing. It's nice to have a third option:)


On to my She Photograph's Tuesday challenge...What's your favorite color?
I always answered "blue...all shades of blue" to this question but with this challenge I wondered if blue really WAS my favorite, or if I always say that because I have received, and now Miriam gets lots of attention for our blue eyes. I tend to wear blue a lot, but again, I wondered if I really like it, or if I like what it does to my eyes (which then gets me compliments, am I a compliment seeker??).

So, I took a quick tour of my house to find what colors jumped out and made me smile. I would have gone outside too...but it rained today. Here is what I found.

I love the colors in this globe.

This is the view from my nursing spot. From this one spot, you can see all the colors used downstairs. Before getting this challenge (while feeding 12 + times a day) I had decided that I love the colors we choose for our house (thank heavens...it was a lot of work). If you can't tell, the living room is blue, the kitchen green, and the halls are grey.

Miriam was wearing this dress today even though it's 2 sizes too small (picked out by the fashionista Alicia). I LOVE the colors together.

All the pictures I have included do have blue in them, but also green, and some added color for warmth like brown, or orange. I guess I will continue to say blue is my favorite color but honestly I think it's all about color combinations with me.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!
My mom is wonderful...she actually just left my house an hour ago after taking Miriam out for the evening so I could nap and get some stuff done. Very nice!

"A mother is a woman who shows you the light when you just see the dark"
- Grimaldos Robin

My mom is always thinking of our family. She is not one to smother you with hugs and kisses (except for toddler aged grandchildren...she loves that age). However, if you even mention being interested in something, or want to accomplish something she is right there helping in any way she can. Almost everything I have accomplished in my life has been done with my mom right there by my side, encouraging in every way. Sometime I will have to blog in detail about my rough chunky adolescent years just to give some ideas to other mothers dealing with girls that age because she single handedly pulled me through those years with my self esteem intact.

"Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries"
-T. DeWitt Talmage

Unfortunately, this is completely the case for me. My mom has always been the first person I want to talk to when I have been hurt, embarrassed, or feel just plan awful. I remember on my mission I had a BAD case of the flu, I saw the phone and so dearly wanted to call my mom. I just wanted to tell her I was sick and hang up...just let her know, how silly is that? I think all my brothers and sisters are the same so my mom deals with lots of hurts and worries!

My mom was a fun mom, and is a fun Grandma. She is always thinking of what will entertain the Grandkids at family gatherings. Get muddy, splash in puddles, finger paint with your pudding...my mom is all for it! In fact, for her birthday this year she wanted to celebrate with the grandkids, whether or not the adults came was optional.

We love you mom! I hope you have a great day!!

Update

This is probably my last Sunday staying at home while Darin takes Miriam to church, so I thought I would take advantage of the free time for an update. Here he is! Our "Bub" "Bubbers" "Bubba-Q" "Beastie Boy". I love the name Byron, it's solid and masculine but I think everyone is having a hard time calling a baby by such an adult name...especially my Father-in-law whom he is named after! Lawrence isn't much better, and this little guy is just not a "Larry". So, Bub at 2 weeks is very mellow, not to be confused with sleepy, just mellow. He has long stretches of what I call happy awake time before he drifts off to sleep. Unless of course I eat too many brownies and then we hear the wrath of Bub (from both ends).

Miriam has had a few fits and tantrums, letting us know that this has been an adjustment for her. She has kind of been dethroned, or at least had to scoot over and make room for Bub. It has taken her a few days to fall in love with her little brother but recently she has been very sweet and protective of him. So many people have given her gifts and come to visit her specifically (Erik and Kelly, Sarah and the kids) I think it has helped. I did make a major mom mistake the other day. I threw her special "Bear Blankie" on top of Bub while the door was open because it was the closest thing I could find. Miriam marched up to me and said "Mom, that is MY blanket....that is NEVER okay". Can you see what we are dealing with here?? Those words came out of a 3 year old.

On to some good mail!

Hannah saved me a trip to Target with 2 kids by sending me her left over newborn diapers. I was able to put off my shopping until Bub could be left at home. She also sent the little layette he is wearing in the first picture...so thoughtful!! Especially since she is a new mom too!

Jill..ever thoughtful and kind sent me her Baby Bjorn because I had mentioned wanting one. This is a lifesaver because I am a "party mom". It is VERY difficult for me to spend an entire day at home, I try to plan one fun outing a day. We will see how this works with two....I am not quite sure how to do it yet.

Cristin and Lisa, two of my sister-in-laws had this nursing bracelet sent from Charmed Designs. I LOVE it. I wondered if I would just wear it and not use it to keep track of nursing but it is actually very helpful, and so far I haven't taken it off! Thank you!!

The "Ferocious Beast" is Here

This will be a picture post because I am way too tired to compose anything else.

Post-epidural bliss!

The important info:
Name: Byron Lawrence
Weight: 8 pounds 3 ounces
Length: 21 inches

Father and Son

Lisa, Cristin and families -- Thanks so much for the beautiful flowers.

Miriam disturbed by his scaly, peeling feet.

Mommy, Miriam and Byron. Miriam looking like she might actually like her new brother. . . just a smidge.

Miriam with her new big sister gift -- a baby Polly doll and stroller.

Thanks Grandma for having a fun sleepover with Miriam.

A visit from the Baby Whisperer. G'ma is known for her baby skills.

Baby Byron and G'pa Byron.
Thanks G'ma and G'pa for the visit, baby-sitting and lunch (and, of course, the chocolate pudding for Miriam).

Grandpa (Lawrence Arthur), Baby Byron Lawrence and Big Sister Miriam with a CRAZY face.

Miriam and Cousin Josh

Cousin Claire
Erik and Kelly, thanks for the visit and cute gifts.
Dad, thanks for the visit and the fun pizza party.
Tonight Regan and Vanessa dropped in for a visit too...thanks for the cute outfits!

Happy Birthday Darin, Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Today is Darin's birthday!! Lisa, here is the "Fat Boy" cake, each candle represents 10 years. We do enjoy Fat Boy's around here (Since most women do the shopping, Darin and I decided that these treats wouldn't get purchased near as often if they were called "Fat Girls") Like many adult birthdays, I am afraid this day was more like a normal day than not. In anticipation of the baby coming we didn't plan much, Darin didn't take the day off, we didn't go anywhere. I did my very best to give him a little boy for his birthday but it is just not happening (I even did my belly dancing workout today!). We did have a fun dinner, nice FHE, and some family giggle time before bed, really, can you ask for a better birthday?? Well, okay maybe fun gifts would be nice (he got 2 polo shirts and a pocket knife, nothing unexpected). Sorry sweetheart, next year I promise to do better!

Mother's Day was nice. Saturday I got my pedicure and manicure. VERY nice, especially the pedi. Even though Darin was encouraging me to go I don't think I would have actually gone if my friend Fiona hadn't set the appointments and told me she was picking me up. Thanks again Fi!

Miriam wanted her own manicure and pedicure when I returned home.

Later that day we bought flowers for our tiny flower space. Flowers make me so happy, but I have no idea what I am doing, I hope they survive.

Our rose bush in the front yard just burst out with tons of roses. I love these little pink beauties, but they are work. I thought I pruned it pretty well a few months ago but the bush is taking over the porch again.
This is a sweet picture of Miriam looking at an Iris bud. What makes it so sweet is the sad story that goes along with my Irises. I planted them a year ago never expecting them to grow and have been so excited that there were going to be flowers this year. I walked outside one evening and Miriam had severed ever single bloom and had them laying along the cement in a row. I was SO upset. When I went to talk to her about it I just started crying and Darin had to step in. Miriam does this thing where she tries to make you laugh when she is in trouble or if she is embarrassed. As an adult, you want her to get the message that what she did was wrong, but you never quite know when she actually does feel awful about something because she is trying to sing songs and use humor to diffuse the situation (just like her mother, imagine that). Anyway, I took it too far and she ended up laugh/crying and then full on fit crying. She has apologized about the flowers over and over since then saying things like "I am so sad about never knowing what color your flowers were going to be". It made me want to cry all over again every time she apologized and I would say over and over "I love you more than any flower". So, on to the miracle...two blooms survived the massacre and we will get to see them bloom soon!!! No more guilt for me or Miriam!!

No Baby Yet/ NEW CARPET!

NOT my belly, but I do have that line and inverted button.

I am starting to get those check-up calls, where friends are calling just to see if the baby has come and if I don't return the call immediately some anticipation starts to build. So I am keeping on top of my return calls and thought I should post again so extended family doesn't start to wonder:) I saw the Doctor last Wednesday and he said there had been "some progress" but nothing to indicate the baby would come sooner rather than later. He said with your second baby you never know, could be tomorrow, could be 10 days (WHAT?) from now, BUT I have a "very pretty belly" so that was something to be happy about. I actually feel fairly good at this point, better than I did 2 weeks ago which is both good and frustrating. Frustrating because I get this feeling the baby is happy, and my body is use to him so there is no reason to progress to the next stage. At least with pain you know something is going on, I feel a bit stagnate. I have to keep reminding myself that my due date is not for another week and it's SO common to go over. I went over 4 days with Miriam...but with Miriam I went over 4 days and she was still only 6 lbs something oz. this little guy is between 7-8 lbs. I hope I don't go too far over!!



Two weekends ago (when I was feeling SO awful!) we finally got our new carpet!! We bought our townhouse a year and a half ago as a "cosmetic fixer-upper". It was the only way we could afford to buy in the area we wanted to live it. We made sure the house was working in all major areas (plumbing, electric, foundation, that kind of stuff) and decided we would do our own improvements. I think we made a good decision, but it has been more work than I ever dreamed it would be. I don't think Darin and I are the best home improvement team, but man have we learned SO MUCH in the last year! I should clarify that last statement, we are good at doing home improvements, especially Darin since he is a quick learner, it's just hard for us to completely finish a project. It's been a ton of work for us, and a ton of work for our parents who have come to help teach us, and help us with the improvements. We have textured and painted every wall in the house, painted all ceilings, trim and doors white (with help from my parents and Darin's dad). Changed all yellow light switches to flat white ones, are currently replacing gold light fixtures and bathroom fixtures with new ones, and have now finally replaced the cat pee carpet upstairs. We still need to fix the fence, the garage door, redo flooring downstairs (Bamboo? Slate/Bamboo?), and figure out window treatments. I think that will have to do because if it takes us as long to do those improvements as the ones we have done we will be ready to move at that point.

Kids room: white trim, new outlet, and the carpet!

Speaking of the kids room, and window treatments I need some advice/help. The kids room has 2 large East facing windows that get direct sun as soon as it pops over the mountain, which is now around 6:00 am. Miriam is a little sunflower so when the light comes in she hops out of bed wide awake. I have seen that solar blocking material at Jo-Anns and in the Pottery Barn kids catalog. Has anyone used either? Does it work? Does anything else work to keep a room dark? I will put up curtains but I think yellow would be the best color fit for both the boy quilt and the girl quilt in the room, I don't think yellow will keep lots of sun out.

The power of postitive thought

My Dad has this knack for getting what he wants. It's like he does that "The Secret" vision thing Oprah talked about (and Carol Tuttle) where you think of something you want and then you get it. I know part of my Dad's ability to get what he wants is that he is married to my Mom. There is not a more supportive, and self sacrificing person on this planet. If he were married to someone else I don't know if all the positive thought process in the world would allow him to get some of the things he thinks of or dreams up. Even so, it's kind of amazing. Here is the latest example: last summer my Dad says to me "It would sure be nice if we could get a horse for the grandkids to ride". Here we are in May, and my dad knows someone who has a kid friendly ponny, doesn't want to keep it but wants to give it to a good home. He GIVES the horse to my dad for FREE. Introducing BLUE BOY! Of course, now they have to figure out how to feed it, have to train it, keep it healthy and all that. I guess with every dream that comes true there is a cost involved.

Madison LOVES horses and she is the only one old enough to ride it at this point. She is going to take horse ridding lessons and hopefully will have the pony ready for the other kids to ride sometime this year or next. I think eventually she would like to ride him in parades and to do 4-H stuff with. Madison looks good so far! Miriam really wanted to ride this weekend but none of us were confident that Blue Boy was ready for a toddler.

Miriam and Marcus watching Madison ride. Why does Marcus have swim goggles on?? He is a super hero of course!! These two were so funny, Miriam pretended that her limbs kept getting glued together and Marcus would come to the rescue. Another time I heard Miriam calling Marcus her "poor sick China boy"(China, because we had been looking at the globe earlier and found China) and Marcus was hamming it up with sneezing and coughing.
A baby goat was born the night before we were at the farm and it was SO cute watching the little guy learn to walk. It was like Bambi (how city am I to compare real farm life to a Disney movie), Miriam named the baby goat "Carla".

Just had to put this picture in. Miriam LOVES to have Madison dress her up. This was the costume last weekend and it cracked me up!!

Encore Dance

Since nothing is happening on the baby front I was able to go see Julia's first Encore Dance recital...Hooray!! My wonderful, selfless Mom came to drive me down, no one thought I should be driving myself through the canyon this far along (although the check up right before I left indicated no reason to worry about the baby coming even a day earlier than my due date (May 16th)...sigh). The recital was SO GREAT! The dances were darling, the costumes were modest and cute, the dance routines flowed quickly with good transitions...the lighting, the sound, everything went well. Julia came out and did a few solo counts in one of dance numbers and you should have seen her fly! She is like...3 months pregnant leaping in the air and doing these spins AMAZING. Julia was professional, and upbeat with the parents and the dancers, I am so dang proud of her! So, here are a slew of pictures for everyone to enjoy!!

Our Mom and Julia's MIL at the $ table

Pictures of the Jr. Elite and Elite dance companies.

Ali in her "Pineapple Princess" costume. SO CUTE. Ali was also in a "Walking on Sunshine" number that I wish I would have gotten a picture of!

Mom and Miriam, I knew Miriam was going to be drooling over all the costumes so we dressed her up. She could hardly sit still she SO wanted to be on stage with the other girls. It's her dream to take dance from Aunt Julia.

Madison in her "Work" costume. Such a cute dance, they were dressed as mechanics and danced with wrenches (wooden ones painted silver). Madison did a solo back walk-over in the dance and also some kind of leg thing, where she held her leg to her side.

Marcus, Ella (Julia's niece from her husband's side), Miriam and Madison with Julia who is smiling despite utter exhaustion after the recital was over.

Miriam and her hero Aunt Julia.