My photo
Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States
My name is Lauren, and I live in the bubble. I am wife to Marshall, the biggest BYU fan in the world; and mother to Carly, our big girl, and Wes, our wild man, and Calvin, our new addition. I graduated BYU with a degree in Social Work, and I went forth to serve at LDS Family Services. I like scrapbooking and going out to eat at nice restaurants. I am fascinated by new cleaning products at the grocery store, so I have to shop in wide circles around the perimeter to avoid the temptation to buy. I love chocolate.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Constancy

Marshall and I have lived in 5 apartments during our marriage. It doesn't feel like we have moved that frequently, though I'm sure it has felt frequent for Russ and Star, our expert moving help! Some people take moving, or a change in seasons, as opportunities to change the decor or layout of their home. But I guess I am a creature of habit, because there are some things that you will find the same in my home, regardless of time of year, or different address.

1. Christ/lilies arrangement
I received this vase as a wedding present from my former 5th grade teacher, and absolutely love it!

I also love flowers.

One time Marshall bought me a bundle of beautiful lilies before a date. They were gorgeous! So I set them out in this vase, just like this, and we left to our dinner. When we returned home, our cat (the legend himself, Vegas) had knocked over my vase and eaten the heads off of all of my flowers. I was so distraught! I believe I may have even said something along the lines of Vegas being pure evil because flower represent all that is good, and he ate them! Satan incarnate! Well once Marshall had let me cry, and then calmed me down, he went out and bought me a couple fake lilies, so that man and beast could cohabitate in peace. Now, every once in a while, he comes home with another fake lily to put in my vase. It's a cute little reminder that he loves me, even long after Vegas has passed on.

These frames are among my first purchases and projects as a married woman. I wanted to have a framed picture of Christ, and of the Family Proclamation and The Living Christ arranged together somewhere in my home. But I couldn't find the documents in 5x7, which I wanted so that I could mat them into 8x10 frames. So I took them to Kinkos and shrunk them down, and I love how they turned out.

In every apartment, I have had these frames hung together, and I have put the lilies in the vase under them. Something about lilies and Christ just go hand in hand together, in my opinion.

2. Spicy candles
I refuse to believe it is not fall all year long. Fall is my favorite season, and I love the warmth of the colors and smells. So I burn this scent all year long. You will find one of these candles somewhere in my home on any given day, even if it is the 4th of July.

Along those same lines:

3. Fall flowers I love the warmth of oranges and browns. Not Marshall's favorite, but he dictates the rest of the home's color scheme, so when it comes to my orange flowers, he doesn't get a say. For the most part (okay, entirety), our home is decorated with navy blue as the main accent color. Blue throw blankets, blue curtains, blue bath accessories. This comes back to Marshall's love of BYU. Also due to Marshall's college football preferences, you will never find red in our home. Ever.

4. Photo calendar
I do a photo calendar each Christmas of the grandkids for our extended families, and so the only calendar you will find in my home will feature the cutest kids you have ever seen.

5. Photography
90 percent of the artwork on our walls is comprised of photos of our family. Probably more than 90 percent. We also have a couple other sentimental pieces, such as the framed crochet my mother made of our family name and wedding date, and the caricature we had drawn by a cartoonist at our engagement dinner. But for the most part, every available piece of real estate on our walls is home to various photos of ourselves. We're just vain like that.

6. Baskets
I have baskets throughout my home to hold, contain, and hide everything. Need somewhere to put something? I probably have a basket for that. Baskets hold books, hair accessories, paper plates, bottles and sippy cups, hand soap and washcloths, magazines, medicine, toys... even shoes. I have a large basket in the front entryway that invites all to throw their shoes inside, because shoes all over the ground are ugly and a tripping hazard, but I would really prefer not to vacuum everyday.

I think I inherited my love of baskets from my mother. It's all her fault. Her and her longaberger habit. My mom owns far more baskets than me, but at least mine are all functional. I haven't gotten to the point yet of buying baskets just for decoration. Though I may be well on my way...

So that is our home in a nutshell... a glimpse and tour of what remains the same in our apartments despite year, address, or season.


*Oh, also, for some reason google reader didn't pick up yesterday's post. So if you didn't see it, I posted about Wes at 6 months. Be sure to stop by the blog and check out that post too!*

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

6 months

Wes is now 6 months old.

At his 6 month appointment with the pediatrician, his stats were as follows:

Weight: 16lbs 1oz - 23rd percentile
Height: 27 inches - 70th percentile
Head circumference: 16.9 inches - 20th percentile
Diapers: 3, though we are cheap and are finishing out those size 2's before we buy more!
Clothing: 3-6 fits in Carters, and he is moving on up into 6-9 in many other brands.

What has changed in the last month?

- Wes now rocks on hands and knees. This is a very new development and he has only done it a few times. He spent most of the month doing the 'superman' on his belly while yelling at the target of his desire, hoping he'd somehow move forward magically.
- He sits up unassisted for short amounts of time (less than 30 seconds before he has collapsed or fallen over)
- He is getting about 1/3 breastmilk, 2/3 formula. I hope I can continue longer, if possible.
- He is sleeping through the night wonderfully. He doesn't wake up at night at all anymore, and generally sleeps from 10pm to 8 or 9am.
- In the last week, he has decided to break out of his swaddle. He has been turning over onto his belly consistently at night, so we have begun putting him down on his belly now that he can roll and has full control of his head, and SIDS is not as much of a risk anymore.
- He found his feet this month, and has had endless fun playing with his toes.
- He is now eating solids everyday, though he still isn't a fan of baby cereal. We have tried squash and sweet potato so far, and we are going to try out peas tomorrow. (This has been a fun new hobby for me, as I have been learning how to make homemade baby food!) He also now had gotten the hang of eating, and opens up real wide most bites. He is a much cleaner eater than Carly was, which is a pleasant surprise!

- He is turning into a little "mama's boy," which is another stark difference between him and Carly. She never really had any sort of stranger danger or separation anxiety. Wes will inevitably cry if I leave his line of sight, and give me huge smiles when I come back.
- Wes took his first trip to California, had his first Christmas, visited the beach for the first time, and met Auntie Emily! He had a lot of fun adventures in the last month, and is such a fun kid!

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Eating my words

Remember last fall when I said how "awesome" it would be if all of my couples got babies all at once? Yeah, so, it happened. And now I kinda regret tempting the fates.

Okay, not really. Because I can't be anything but extremely happy for all of these wonderful people whose lives I have been a brief part of. But MY GOODNESS, I am tired. I can't really put into words how overwhelming it has been to do 10 placements and 2 relinquishments in less than 6 months. (A placement is when my client is the adoptive couple; a relinquishment is when my client is the birth mother who is placing her child). I have done 4 of those placements, and 1 of those relinquishments in the last 2 weeks. (2 of those placements while driving to California, relying on my awesome coworkers to step up and help with the in-person parts.)

To give you an idea of why I am complaining, in 2008 I did like 6 or 7 placements ALL YEAR.

EX. HAUST. ED.

So if I have been dodging your phone calls, and playing way too much farmville- it is because I have been too busy to answer the phone, and too overwhelmed typing casenotes and reverting to old collegiate strategies of facebook induced procrastination.

Now that all of those babies are placed, I have to meet with each family a set number of times to supervise the placement before they can finalize. I know each family, and remember their unique placement. But that is a LOT of babies. So I honestly can't really keep all the names straight, as horrible as it sounds. So I have my little trick when I blank on the name of saying "Oh he's so cute! Remind me how you spell the name for my notes." This has backfired lately as the couple looks at me and says flatly "J-A-C-K." Um, yeah, that would be how you spell that name. lol. So really, don't feel bad that I'm absent lately. Everyone is getting it.

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Speaking of awesome- that is Carly's newest word. Everything is "Oh! Awesome!" The first time she popped out that phrase, I believe, was Christmas morning while opening the plethora of presents. I need to get it on video, because awesome on a 2-year-old really is awesome!

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