An Afternoon in Hartford

This is New England - everywhere you drive is trees, trees and more beautiful green trees!

Yes, that IS the state capital!

A look up at the center ceiling. Gorgeous and stunning.

This place looked and felt like a grand home or castle. Gorgeous!

We toured this beautiful capital with our own New England cousins! We all had a blast!

Here we are about to have some lunch in beautiful Bushnell Park!

Reunited cousins!!

This was just before we embarked on our carousel ride. Which I unfortunately got no pictures of because I was using both hands to steady an uncertain Bronwyn. And I didn't bring my bulky camera on the ride. But it was SO much fun!

Okay, so here's how it all went down.  By the way, these pictures are completely out of order of how things happened, but oh well. They are grouped accordingly. :)

 We got to Hartford around 12 pm. I was late. My sister-in-law Kamber and kiddos got there early and so were able to do a little preview run of the inside of the capital building. Once we found each other, we decided it was time for some lunch and we went to the little playground that Kamber and her kids had already scouted out for us. The kids had such a blast there. They had this neat little stream that ran through the entire playground with a faucet spout on one end and a little misty sprinkler area at the other end. It was perfect for such a nice sunny day. The kids had lunch and then ran and played and got nice and wet.

Aftyn was infatuated with the carousel from the first time she heard it playing and wanted so very badly to go and ride it. (She was probably still remembering her first carousel ride which had been in Central Park a few months before. They have such lovely old carousels out here! And they are all indoors.) So after the kids played, off to the carousel we went. Everyone enjoyed it except for Bronwyn who was very uncertain anytime the carousel would pick up speed. Kamber managed to catch a picture of her face during one of those moments luckily. I was mostly laughing my head off and doing my best to help her feel secure.

After that we went and toured the capital building that looked like a castle. It was gorgeous. The best part of the day was definitely getting to discover new places with family. Thanks for an awesome and unforgettable day Kamber and kids!

Oatmeal Drums

Poor Bronwyn. She is teething like crazy and normally walks around with two fingers in her mouth, constantly chewing on them. Evidently my shoelace works well also.

And this little ditty, by Aftyn.  Sorry it's sideways. :(

What a Difference a Semester Makes

First day of classes here!
Here's what I accomplished:

Washed the dishes after breakfast.
Kids dressed before 11 am!
2 loaves of bread made from scratch before noon
dentist appointment made
Peanut butter cookies made
Dinner made and ready by 5!
Upbeat attitude had all day long!!

What a difference it makes to be settled in our apartment, to have a support system in place here,
to know the ins and outs of the city we live in.
This semester already feels more stable and slower paced and happier than last.

Aftyn was keenly aware that Daddy was nowhere to be found today, except for maybe 15 minutes at dinner before he rushed off to class straight after getting home from work.
I tried to make her feel better by telling her that by her birthday Daddy would be all done with school!
She was SO excited! But she doesn't really understand the length of time that involves.

I also asked her tonight what she thought would be nicer to live in, an apartment or a house?
She very adamantly declared, "a house!".  So there you have the honest truth, a house is much preferred to our boxed in state of affairs over here aka our apartment.


It'll be interesting to see how I feel on the last day of this semester and the beginning of the next.

Our Friday, In Pictures

Northborough Splash Pad with Marina!

Boston, Ma Temple

I Don't Really Blame Her

Taken yesterday after dinner. Yes, that IS tomato soup on her upper lip! :)

A few posts ago, I mentioned how Aftyn and I were having a hard time together lately. She had seemed very defiant and unhappy with me, which would make any mom sad. I really felt that she missed her dad and was taking out her sadness over the whole situation on me.
To remedy it all I have been sending poor overworked Reed to his Tuesday night meetings at church with Aftyn and I immediately started seeing a different girl. (I think it actually makes Reed happier too because he misses the time he used to be able to spend with her. He comes home seeming a little more relaxed and happier than when he left.) A little over a week later, she is so much happier which in turn makes me happier. She is back to being her sweet little self with me. I have missed her happy little hugs. And her enthusiasm for life. 
 She has started waking up when Reed is getting ready for work, 4 and 5 am! As soon as Reed walks out of our bedroom door to go and get ready, there's Aftyn standing in the hallway. I can't positively say it but I think it's because she wants to see him. I don't blame her because if she didn't wake up that early she would be back to seeing as little of him as she was before.
The last couple of days I have been able to encourage her to go back to sleep and she sleeps in deliciously late and still goes to bed at her normal time.  At this point, if it makes her happy and it makes me happy, I'm going to allow it. Because right now anything that makes my life here at home a little easier is entirely encouraged.

This was taken 8 months ago as we got ready to move. She still looks like such a little girl here. She has grown up so much! I'm sad to see her babyness leaving her.

Official Titles For Mothers

I was looking at the business card of one of Reed's co-workers last week when I happened to notice the BNA and MBA as part of her official accreditations.
I commented to Reed how exciting it would be when he too could have two degrees represented behind his name on a business card.

But just now, I happened to think how mothering is hard work. Potty training kids deserves bigger rewards than just to say "so and so is now out of diapers. yay!".  Getting babies to finally sleep through the night is quite the accomplishment for the sleep deprived mommy. Nursing for any significant amount of time, weaning kids from binkies and getting your kids to learn to like veggies all qualify any mother sainthood.
I'm proposing we mothers start the trend of awarding ourselves accreditation, and others will quickly follow. We need to start giving ourselves the credit we deserve. And so, I'll be the first.

                                 Alysa _______  PTP, BW, CIO, NF, MFN, PK, HP

Potty Training Pro

Binky Weaner

Crying It Outer

Nursing Forever

Master Food Negotiator

Peace Keeper

Hairdo-er Professional

I think the list would get a little too long. 

Maybe if we could find one word to encompass it all?

How about just this.

    Alysa ______, MoM

Master of Mothering

Catchy.

Cute Bronwyn Video

Go Here

Just a Part of Laundry Day

**This is bathroom related. If you have a queasy stomach or are sensitive to gross stories at the moment, you may want to skip this post! **

Have I got a humorous/slightly gross story for you all today!

I discovered a few months back that right next to our basement laundry facilities was a private locked bathroom. I thought nothing of it at the time, just found it funny that the people who work at the business that is on the first floor have to walk to the basement to use the bathroom.

One rather unfortunate Friday morning, I discovered something I wished I didn't have to know.

The bathroom and the laundry room share a vent.

What does that matter? you might ask yourself.

Well, see, when someone has eaten something rather unfortunate or unforgiving and goes to the bathroom to feel better, the rather unfortunate person doing laundry in the humid and warm laundry room also is unfortunate enough to have to smell it. Coming straight from the bathroom.

It is THE most disgusting and revolting  experience, as you might imagine.

I have had the misfortune of this happening on 3 separate occasions, and each time I wonder if the people using the bathroom are aware of this issue.  I also imagine how much MORE nauseated I would feel if I were in the early stages of pregnancy, yet another reason for that to be put off for awhile.

Another thing you might not think about is, what do you do if you finish your laundry at the same time the bathroom person finishes? How tempting would it be to say, "Not feeling so well, huh?  What HAVE you been eating?!".  (I kill me. I am laughing so hard right now. Maybe it's one of those things that you have to be there for.)

I just had to get this written and out there for posterity, because it really is that disgusting.

Truth Be Told

This week, for some reason, has proven to be a hard week.

Aftyn particularly has been having a hard week, and on more than one occasion I have felt like tossing my hands in the air with no idea how to handle the situation I am in.

Yes she is 3 and that could be the problem. Yes Daddy's work schedule and church calling schedule are all over the place with no regularity yet and so not seeing her Dad a whole lot could also be part of the problem. And yes Mommy is having a hard time lately as well which could be a good reason why our intuitive little girly could be struggling.

Either way, last night I finally admitted to some real truths. That Aftyn may be feeling also.

Sometimes I hate where we live. Albeit a beautiful old brick building, I miss having safe outside space to play in. With grass. And I miss carpet to roll and play on. Hardwood is not very forgiving.

This brown stuff doesn't really qualify as carpet. It's industrial carpet. Not fluffy, not soft, not something you'd normally want to sleep on unless you too were 15 months old and goofy.

Sometimes I miss our old neighborhood. With grass.
And the big beautiful barn view behind our old house.

I miss neighbors who grow vegetables in their garden and want to share.

I miss my back patio.

I miss my husband coming home at regular hours during the day, enabling our family and me to enjoy his company .

I miss family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. (I was thinking Aftyn's cousins, who are also my nieces and nephews. So yes, I miss them too. :) )

I miss date nights. And sprinklers to run through. And bike rides.

Safe neighborhoods to run in. And go for walks in.

Not unlike the pioneers who suffered untold hardships so they could come west, they put their comforts on hold for months in the name of fulfilling their dreams.

That's me.

What do you know, I CAN be a modern day pioneer.  :)

This sounds like a pity me post. It's not.

We all go through times in our life where we go without.
And then later when everything is back to the way it used to be, it can be easy to forget how hard things got.
Except when things get hard, that's when we show our true colors.

How hard we really can work, working at trying to survive and thrive.

It's when we practice the most faith in God. It would seem.

We ARE surviving, we're even trying hard to thrive. And we will make it.

"Like an awkward dancer, on a crowded floor, I'll learn to dance once more".

Someday.

Bronwynnie!

Oh the cheesiness. A fake smile at 15 months. She's starting early.

If You Were Sitting Next To Me On My Couch, What Would I Say?

It has been way too long since I really and truly updated this blog. I had a hard time coming back from Indiana. I missed my parents and coming home to Massachusetts felt good but there were still so many things to miss.
I finally feel like I have my feet back on the ground. From moving here 7 months ago. (Can you believe it has been 7 months? Yeah? Me too.  :) ) Like I know who I am again in this new land that is now my home and I realize how much I like who I am and how happy I am doing the kinds of things I've always enjoyed. I know that may sound immature? young?  Whatever. I had lived only 2 places in my life before this and one of those places I was too young to really remember what that felt like. It's different to move somewhere new, thinking that maybe the person I was back in Idaho wasn't really me and how I could try on some different stuff to see how it fit me. The fundaments of me didn't change. And maybe I needed to figure out what my fundamental characteristics were, for myself. For my family. And I'm feeling much better now.
On to more fun things!  My girls make me laugh so much.
     Aftyn is becoming such an emotional girl! Maybe I just never noticed it as much as I have recently but she can certainly cry a lot especially when she's sick or hasn't had enough sleep or is especially hungry! She astounds me more and more each day with the responsibilities she can handle. It is now her special job to go and get Bronwyn after her nap and tell her "good morning" and get her out of bed. Bronwyn sometimes responds by crying and sometimes she has nothing but smiles for Aftyn. Aftyn likes to be the helper and to do such big girl stuff.  She has also mastered picking up Bronwyn under the arms but Bronwyn is still a little heavy for her to pick up more than a few inches off of the ground. Bronwyn makes me laugh as I have noticed the last few times Aftyn has lifted her, Bronwyn says "up!". I can't tell if she's just giving us a play by play or being bossy. Aftyn has also more and more consistently been eating ALL her dinner! Yay! All the more surprising that more often than not, she is eating things she doesn't really care for but still manages to eat what we've given her. I am so glad to see that her pickyness really is starting to wear off. I think 3 is a fun age for Aftyn. She loves to sit and look at books. She loves to sit and study the pictures and then asks me questions about the pictures or asks me to read it to her. She is getting to know so many things. While we were recently waiting for a VERY long time, she learned the whole rhyme for "one, two buckle my shoe" but once I got to "nine, ten a big fat hen" she INSISTED that hen was actually pen. No matter how many times I tried to tell her that it's hen like a chicken. Oh well. At least she knows that hen and pen rhyme.
         Bronwyn is such a character. One of the games I love that she and Aftyn play is when Aftyn starts laughing maniacally and then Bronwyn just giggles and giggles. I love to hear the two of them just giggling and giggling together. It's so sweet. Bronwyn adores her Aftyn. Bronwyn decided yesterday that it was okay for her to get up and walk around after being put down in her big girl bed. She also began to understand the words "back to bed" rather quickly as well. Whenever I would say them, she would just start to cry and lay there in her bed and cry at me. Poor little thing. It doesn't help that she is starting to get 3 SETS of teeth on the top of her mouth. Yes, that would be 6 teeth. And they all seem to be coming at the same exact time.  Bronwyn goes through periods of time when we think she is doing so good with her words and then for a few weeks where we wonder why she's not talking as much. Today she said these words clearly: milk, yes.  She always repeats what you say to her and sometimes it comes out clearly and other times it is completely garbled. Which is completely and totally normal for this age. But she still astounds us when she does things on her own such as: she nods her head on her own all the time for yes, she walks to the fridge saying her own word for milk, "more more" on her own for food if she wants some and if she wants more of it, she says "bwwb" with her finger in her mouth for when she wants to brush her teeth. Tonight she even stuck out her tongue on command so I could brush it! She likes to have her hair done, especially if Aftyn just had hers done. She plops herself down in my lap immediately after I finish Aftyn whether I've already done her hair or not. She is getting much better at not pulling bows out of her hair now that I've been putting them in more often. She knows where her diaper is and when we occasionally put Aftyn's panties on her over her diaper and then we ask her where her panties are, she pats them with a big grin on her face! Oh my goodness she is so funny!  The best parts of when we laugh at Bronwyn is when Aftyn is laughing too because she thinks she is so funny.

I love my kids. They make my life happy. As does my sweet, hardworking and loving husband.

Reed is gearing up for school in about 2 weeks. I feel much more prepared for this semester since this time I know what to expect from him and from myself and how to deal with all of that. The girls and I are trying to plan a full and fun weekly schedule so that we're not stuck with nothing to do as often as we did last semester. That's what makes life hard for the kids and me is when we have nothing fun to look forward to, especially since that fun thing normally would be daddy. So hopefully that means more regular postings with pictures of all our fun excursions! And I am also planning on getting new pictures on here and hopefully a few videos of my girls because they are growing up too fast and too much of it is going undocumented!