Homefront: The Nursery That Was

When I was first pregnant, I only had about 3 weeks to decorate the nursery.

We planned to move out of our tiny 410 square foot apartment when we were pregnant with our first. We didn't renew the contract and went looking for small 2 bedroom places that was within our meager student budget. The next weekend, WHAMO! Hurricane Katrina hit. Every complex we looked at had now been full of Katrina evacuees, and any open apartments rates were jacked up triple the amount to make up for their loss. Our apartment we were currently in had been rented, we were homeless.

I remember the day we moved into my in-laws upstairs bedroom with our dog. Everyone was at work or otherwise committed and my husband and I moved ourselves. Mostly him. I was fairly busy yacking over the stairwell from our second story floor into the bushes below as I attempted to carry the lightest of things. Awful day. Awful pregnancy. But mostly accommodating and loving in-laws.

We had found some nursery furniture at a garage sale and the crib was given to us for free by friends who had twins. In my nesting mode, I could not relax until it was painted, since I couldn't do anything else since all my possessions (including shoes) were in storage. The painting didn't happen until a few weeks before I gave birth, on the balcony of our 3 bedroom apartment, which we had just moved into. Love the bandana, honey! (we used to dress our dog up in those, so I only had girly ones back in the day.)

I was proud of my decorating skills given our limited space and budget (and the kid hadn't even been born yet!) Though to us, our new 800 square foot place was a mansion (little less now with a family of four + dog).

I loved the creme paint and the new brushed nickle hardware I put on the drawers. I loved the baskets and how organized and *cute* yet *manly* everything was, how I made everything coordinate. I even hand sewed ribbons to the quilt and curtains in order to tie in more turquoise and personalized accents. Well, it didn't take long for that to go to shambles. As our son graduated to a toddler bed when we welcomed our second child into the world, we literally nailed the mattress down to the frame and duct taped dumbells to the bed as our child would somehow with super human strength, lift the bed and have it vertically balanced against the wall.

The fancy boutique bedding and glider rocker chair I sold on ebay to start my etsy jewelry shop as I realized I better get it out of here before it was rendered destroyed.

About 2 months ago, I redid the bedroom. Oh, it was fabulous. Gorgeous, red, blue, lots of work went into it. I found lots of great goodwill and garage sale pieces and painted everything to match.

When the eldest child came home and saw it, he was sooo excited! He absolutely loved it! But, now, it is once again in shambles. The cute mobile has been destroyed (yes, it was on the ceiling, how he flew up there and destroyed it is beyond me!) The shelving and art has been demolished. The hand painted letters of his name have been knocked down (they were up high people) Maybe when I get the urge, I will attempt to redo it, but for now, it is ground zero.

Well, that's my story of the evolution of a room, and every time I see a fancy design nursery with open shelving. I laugh and think to myself, "just you wait you clueless and adorable, expecting first time parents".

Family Time: Jumping on the Bed Gets You Closer to God

This weekend I visited my local antique mall and brought my camera! I have over 200 amazing photos to share with you and will be posting the best of the best this week, so do come back! (click on photos for larger view)


Mommy: (blow drying hair)
3 yr old: (jumping on mommy's bed)
Mommy: (putting on make-up)
3 yr old: I love Jesus
Mommy: You do? How come?
3 yr old: He loves me. He lives up high! (pointing to the sky)
Mommy: He does?
3 year old: Yeah, but he lives on Earth, too.
Mommy: uh-huh
3 year old: I'm going to die someday
Mommy: (silence)
3 year old: But it's okay because Jesus loves me.
Mommy: He does. I love you too!
3 year old: You're silly mommy
Mommy: (continues putting on make-up)
3 year old: (screaming contest with little brother ensues)



I try not to ask leading questions so I can see where my son goes with these conversations. He really likes to talk about God and the wonders of the Earth. I hope it never stops.



I know this letter has been around for a while, but I read it and it was a reminder that we should never underestimate our children. We should teach them that it is okay to not always agree, and to question authority at times lest something like this awful thing happens to them (video here, but don't watch if you upset easily. For a rundown sparring the details, in the video, the abused young girl says she did was she was told by the abuser because her parents taught her to never question what an adult told her to do).



Some day our precious little ones will grow up and may possibly rebel or go through other hardships and make our hearts ache, but that doesn't mean we can't open up our arms to them in those rough times. We have to remember, that if we do our part, they have to be trusted to eventually make their own decisions. I believe, that at a young age, a child can be led by the Spirit, as they are closer to the veil than we are. But as we age and we harden and the world bears down upon our children, we as parents and adults in general have to help guide our young. As the Prophet Joseph Smith once said, “I teach them {the children} correct principles, and they govern themselves." I love this talk, "Teaching Children to Govern Themselves" on the subject.



That has always been my goal, and just as long as my children know that I love them and want what is best for them, everything will be alright in the end if we keep our family strong. What is your goal when fostering your children up in this world?



Look at all of these Mormon related coloring pages and these non-denominational Christian pages I found for little ones. Great to keep them occupied in church instead of coloring in a Disney or dinosaur book!

Fly Free

City Wings Headband by LA Native

One of my favorite child rearing bloggers is Zach Aboard. During a particularly stressful child rearing day (nay, week), I came across her post Enjoy the Ride. I love how she has photos of her son in a swing woven throughout the words, so fitting. My dad use to say all of the time to Enjoy Life! He had phrases with various words and used them as acronyms for his wise owl advice. One of his most famous acronyms was FLY FREE. I will have to find the detail of this one and post it sometime.



Child Costumes

Here are her words:

Everyone has sleepless nights. Everyone endures tantrums. Everyone has moments when they need the mute button on their kids. Everyone wonders if they are doing the right thing. Everyone has days when they are at the end of their rope.

But I always tell myself to remember -- he's just a little boy with a whirling twirling mind and a body bursting with energy and he's still learning this whole "how to be a person" routine.

My job is not to order or ask or expect or demand or direct. My job is to teach and guide and explain, and explain again, and then to do some more explaining and forgive and forget and hug and humor and hand hold. And most of all to listen and learn. That's right, we the parents need to listen and learn. I try to remember that it's my job to learn how to communicate with him, not his job to take orders from me.

It differs from kid to kid, mama to mama. It's just takes some patience to find your path.

Through the ups and downs, I try to remember to hold on, and enjoy the ride.

Dreaming by Ben.Doo.Dat



I took Cindy's parenting inspirational advice and framed it in a free scrapbooking page from Smile Box, so I can print it out and hang it up. They have everything you need to make online scrapbooks, even adding music, video and moving graphics (but I think you need to upgrade to a paid account to save them):



Wouldn't it look pretty to have an inspiration wall like this? You could add your own inspiration words or family photos, perhaps in a sepia tone to the pages you pick for a soft and lovely accent wall, maybe even as a headboard accent piece. Tutorial found HERE from Thrifty Decor Chick:

Ooooo, Art and Fabric Fun!

So, I was talking to a neat seller, Art by Rosemary, about a month ago and told her I would do a blog feature, but that thread got buried and I could never find it again. Well, she popped in the forums today searching for new sellers with no sales, so that she could purchase from them (awe, so sweet) and I recognized her shop as the one I had been searching for. I would so plaster my home with her artwork, if it wasn't pink taupe and sage (shudders) and only had one wall that is large enough for a painting! She has gorgeous contempory, abstract art in lovely rich, bold colors. While looking through her thread, I found this shop, Kale, also with 0 sales. I don't think that is going to last long, because she has the most wondrously cute fabric creations, go check them out! Even a fabric charm, how sweet is that?!



On a side note, last night we cleaned like crazy, it looked so nice in here! I figured, well, if all of my crafting/jewelry items are far far out of reach, maybe today will be better (of course any production for me then is kaput)? Well, not exactly. This just made it even funner for my toddler to destroy furniture again. Did I ever tell you that I have to wrap bungee cords around my table legs so he won't break them apart? Well, I haven't been able to find those, so today I have been picking up chairs all day long. And couch cushions. He destroys the couches all day long, every day, in less than 10 seconds flat. Oh, my aching back, I feel like I have aged about 10 years this week alone, and I am serious when I say that I am in search of a good back brace.



Aaaaand, I got a new calling in church, nursery, yay! So, I struggle all week long with my son, then I struggle with him during church so I can attempt to hear the talks being given, and now, instead of dropping him off in nursery so I can have 2 hours of peace to hear lessons, I get to go and struggle with him and 18 other kids for 2 hours. I definatly feel like God is trying to teach me a lesson at this point, punishment maybe for my lack of creativity of parenting? When I stood up to be sustained at church for the calling, I tried SO HARD to smile, but my husband said it looked like I was sucking on sour lemons and about to cry at the same time. During nursery, he was pretty much the only one who disobeyed and threw tantrums. Great, I am the mom of THAT kid. The one that other moms probably look at like, "Oh, she must be a terrible parent, can't even keep her own kid under control." Every week the nursery leader is like "Oh, we had to put him in time-out again." Yet, when I tell them "sorry, I know he can be difficult" people always respond back, "Oh no, he isn't difficult! He's just a boy, that is how they are, he is an excellent kid." Oh yeah? Then how come none of the other kids get put in time out? Why is he the only one who is acting nutso and screams and destroys everything in his path like a hurricane.

wood sign by Morning Star Design

Did you know that his wooden bed frame is DUCK TAPED to a BARBELL, because he kept flipping it over and destroying it? His mattress is actually NAILED down to his bedframe, because he has shredded it as well? His furniture is in our verry cramped little room because he tears it apart and climbs it? His brother can't even sleep in his own crib, for fear the he will climb in and smother him? Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOOOVE my kid and my baby, my toddler is a complete angel when he wants to be (about 50% of the time) and he is so stinking smart, and adorable. I am just exhausted and tired during the other 50% of the time.

motherhood shirt by Juror2

So, I outed myself on Etsy about having bouts of regrets of parenthood, and most women were pretty understanding about having similar feelings at times. They gave me a lot of support and great ideas to keep him somewhat occupied that I will be trying this week. A lot of things I can't do, like take him to the park/library... because for one, carrying 2 children up and down 3 flights of stairs is very difficult for me to do, so I only leave our home when necesary, and because he is a runner. He takes off and runs away, fast, and I can't chase him while pushing a stroller or holding my baby, so those types of things are out (yes, I have tried a harness/leash, but he throws tantrums even worse so I end up dragging him, and then, he just takes it off anyways). So ladies, if you want to know why I don't do play dates, or get togethers at parks and such, here is the honest truth.



Now, I have a whole week to recuperate and try this nursery thing again, as I know, I will probably learn something valuable in there, and I am thankful to be able to teach the sweet little ones! So, in the meantime, think I will just move into this little fairy cottage and eat potatoes and Indian food and chocolate, and dance around in tutus and rhinestones (yes, it is a real house, I found it on Strawberry Anarchy’s blog).

Messes

I am sitting on the couch taking care of the baby, my 2 year old sitting next to me. Of course, he and our dog are playing a bit of tug o war, she's barking like mad and he's in a giggling frenzy.

All of a sudden, he starts screaming, I look over and bright red blood is everywhere! I put the baby down, thinking, "Oh my gosh, did he get bitten?" I rush him to the bathroom and search wildly for scratches, bite marks, anything...

He is amused by the blood in the mirror and starts to stare at in admiration and wonder, a little smile across his face. I realize this was just a very random and harmless nosebleed.

Interesting how something so small, can be so scary.