He gives and takes away.

Last week was bizarre. On Wednesday, February, 23, a beautiful new life entered this world while a beautiful older life left to be with Jesus. 

Reed Joseph Hargraves made his grand entrance into this world, kicking and screaming I might add, and was welcomed by his pretty mommy, Lynsey, proud daddy, Joe, and big brother, Dylan. They are a beautiful family. They didn't have the easiest time with the whole "begin your family thing" and I watched Lynsey deal with loss and pain with such grace. God really is faithful, and she is now the proud, crazy momma of two handsome boys. I could not be happier for them. Lynsey is such a great mom...and friend. She's real and I love her for it. She doesn't pretend to be anyone she isn't. I like that too. Congrats you all on your new addition, I can't wait to watch him grow up.

On the flip side, Mrs. Jan, a lady who has gone to my church since I've attended, passed away leaving a lot of us sad that we won't get to be around her classy, loving, calm spirit anymore on this earth. I led worship for a few years and Mrs. Jan was a part of the team for a good portion of the time I was involved. She always came in with a smile and with super cute shoes, I might add. I always told her when I turn 70, I hope to be as stylish and classy as she.  She passed away in her early 70's,  I believe...seems like we should have had a few more years with her. But God knows best.

David and I had to leave her funeral early on Saturday because the boys were tired, hungry, and still not feeling completely up to par. On the way home, I told David I was frustrated because I would have liked to have stayed for the whole thing.  I felt bad that I wasn't able to give her the respect of being there for the whole ceremony. Then, a thought crossed my mind. If miss Jan could have been there, sitting in one of the two front chairs in the foyer of the church (she sat there often), and she knew I needed to get those boys home, she was have said, "Oh Hunny, it's no problem. I'll be fine, take them home." She would have smiled a big smile and waved me on home. I felt released knowing she wouldn't have been the least bit offended. I want to be that kind of person. I want to put people at ease and make them feel comfortable. Thank you Mrs. Jan for being a lovely lady who loved Jesus and people. I'm sorry that cancer made you hurt. Mr. Al and the rest of her family, you are in our prayers.

When I thought about the day and how Reed's earthly life began while Mrs. Jan's ended, the song Blessed be Your name came to my mind. The song's bridge says, "You give and take away, You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, blessed be Your name." That pretty much sums up my feelings about the day. Thank you, Jesus, for both of these lives.

We Don't Brush.

Parker's first trip to the dentist was a year ago. However, it almost doesn't count because he went to his Aunt Sarah who is a fantastic dental hygienist. Also, at age two, they essentially do as much with the child's mouth as they can without getting a finger bitten off. No x-rays were taken and Parker left thinking we went to see Aunt Sarah blow up the green latex gloves. No biggie.

I decided he should go back again since it had been a year and we have had all sorts of little issues with his mouth. Nothing major, just a chipped front tooth from running on concrete, a torn upper frenum from busting his mouth a few times (this actually may have saved us from a small surgical procedure in a few years, thanks Parker), and a loose bottom tooth from hitting the floor gym at preschool. As is turns out, none of these things are an issue. Whew!

Parker loves to brush his teeth and does so twice a day. We always help afterward to complete the job. Apparently, brushing consistently in addition to a low-sugar diet paid off because he got a clean bill of oral health. Yay! Everything was great. Good thing, too. If there had been a cavity, they (being the dentist and hygienist) would have blamed me. Let me give you a quick summary of the conversation the DH (hygienist) had with Parker when we first arrived.

DH: Hi Parker, how are you today.

Parker: Good.

DH: I'm going to tickle your teeth with my special toothbrush...is that OK?

Parker: Giggle. Yeah.

DH: (Lots more kind, reassuring, child-level chatter about what she was going to do. She is really great child hygienist.) Parker, do you brush your teeth at home?

Parker: No. (While shaking his head side to side.)

Mommy: (In the background quietly shaking her head up and down.)

DH: Do you have any teeth that have been bothering you or causing you any pain?

Mommy: (Again shaking her head no, because Parker has NEVER mentioned any pain.)

Parker: Yes. My back teeth. (Pointing inside his mouth)

DH: OK, well, we'll take a look at those.

Really Parker? That's fantastic. Way to make your mommy look nice and negligent. Lucky for me, your teeth were healthy and maybe granted me a little validation. Parker really did do great. He took all his x-rays, even the ones that gag you to death. He was a trooper.

The x-rays look promising. They promise that Parker's permanent bottom teeth are coming in extremely crooked and we will have to spend big bucks to straighten them out. I guess I'll be looking through Highlight magazines with him in a few years while waiting in the orthodontist office. The x-rays also promise he's going to have ginormous front upper teeth. Like T-Rex large. Poor Parker, those darn x-rays promised that he'll not escape that really awkward looking phase. Oh well, most of us went through it and have awesome pictures to show for it.

If anyone is wondering where Graham was during this whole experience, I'll ease your curiosity. My friend Annyssa, who referred me to Children's Dentistry, played with him in the waiting room until she had to help take the x-ray pictures. She then had him wrangled under one arm while snapping the film with the other. It was humorous. Thanks for you help, Nys! You rock.

Dental trip February, 2011....success.

random busi-ness

Wow. It's been more than two weeks since I've blogged. Ouch. I'm pretty sure that's a record since I began this lovely life script. Here's a quick description (and a few correlating photos) of my last few weeks. Hold tight. It's a slight whirlwind of randomness.

• I found cute chairs for my living room (pictures to come when I finish my living room...or at least get closer.)

• Graham fell down and bonked his head.

• I sewed a few pillows to brighten up my living room.

• Parker hit his head on the train table inducing a lump and bruise that would have everyone in Kanawha county wondering if I beat my child. No, really, you should see the looks I've gotten. Thanks Parker. (He's holding a football ice pack on his injury.)

• I reupholstered a bench in my living room...and managed to staple my hand. And yes, it hurts as bad as it sounds like it would, especially when you are using an industrial stapler. I had to pull the staple out of my hand muscle. Super fun. At least I like the outcome...of the bench, that is. (This wretched i-phone picture makes me crave a nice camera...one day.)

• Graham fell. 

• I made a few valentine shirts for friends and family.

• Graham slipped and fell.

• Our Family joined the YMCA in hopes of...well, I don't have super high hopes. Health is number one, right?

• I organized and hosted a Valentine party for my 3 year old's preschool class. All the teachers of preschool children deserve gold medals.

• Graham fell yet again.

• I made a few necklaces using material and gumballs. What? I saw it on a blog. I liked the necklaces but feel they lacked just a little something. I'll figure it out.

• David got sick.

• Parker got sick

• Graham got sick, really sick...and then fell. He got to sleep with me for 2 nights. He was struggling to breathe and I felt more comfortable with him close to me.

• I got a tooth excavated and packed with metal. I'm sorry if it's a bit dramatic, but it sounds more accurate than "got a filling."

• I went blonder, and am really enjoying something different for a change.

• Graham fell.

• I had a wonderful Valentine dinner with the best husband in the world.

• I enjoyed a birthday lunch with David and my wonderful WV family. Happy birthday, Babe, you truly are the best!

• Graham fell.

Ok, so there you have it. A lot of sewing, decorating, falling, and celebrating going on in my life. It's a complicated good life.

boyish pink

As much as I love to make things, I rarely make anything for my own children. Two reasons. One, it is more fun to give presents than to show off your own child, and two, I have boys. Dresses are the most fun thing to make, and I don't really like the way a lot of "homemade" boys clothes look. Despite these issues, I wanted to make my boys something to wear on Valentines Day. Applique is easy, but I have done it a million times and wanted to try something new. My friend Emily used embroidery floss to stitch around the applique for her little girl's Valentine Day outfit, so I thought I'd give it a try. Why not? I stole some design ideas off of Etsy and voila, my boys can now be festive. They aren't even close to flawless, but I like them anyway. Oh, and I was bored one night and couldn't sleep, so I made one for my precious nephew-by-friendship, Lincoln, while catching up on some DVR. I was a little worried about coming up with ways to make pink and red look masculine, but I think I pulled it off. Can't wait for love day with my three men. How blessed am I?

Parker's Singing Debut

I know that I've already posted something today, but hang on, I'm getting a little wild. There is just something that I feel you cannot wait another minute to see. It's that great. Yeah. Your life will be more full after watching it. Ok, now I'm just getting cocky. I'll stop rambling and tell you.

Since Parker was around 20 months old, we realized that he had an uncanny ability to memorize things. No, I'm not claiming my kid is a genius, I'm just saying he is pretty darn good at storing information. I like to believe he has many higher order thinking skills, but this talent is quite obvious. We have read to Parker since he was born. We noticed at 18-20 months when he first started talking, he would memorize children's books. I'll never forget the fist time we experienced his little memorizing skill. I was reading him one of Sandra Boynton's rhyming books and stopped a minute because something else had caught my attention. Parker then proceeded to finish the book. Not just one page, the whole book. I couldn't believe it. I started pulling out every book on his shelf to see which ones he knew. David and I sat in his bedroom that night amazed. We even busted out songs that we had sung to him since birth to see if he knew them. He did. Many of them. Crazy stuff. (For those of you who have genius children...don't role your eyes..we really were amazed.)

I've said all that to say this. After realizing that he liked to memorize and learn, I thought I'd teach him the 50 states. Why? I don't know. Lol. Really, I just pictured a 2 year old singing it and thought it would be cute. I was totally right. He was soooo cute. I just taught him a few each week and we'd sing the song I learned as a kid while driving in the car. Think I'm weird yet? I never posted it when he was two because it was hard to understand some of the states, but now most of them are pretty clear, though Indiana is still Indy-nana. Enjoy!

big (baby) boy bed

I don't know why, but it seems like moving my babies from their crib to a toddler bed grows them up so quick. It felt so weird the other day when I was taking the crib down. I just kept thinking, "I can't believe Baby Graham is 17 months old." I seems like just yesterday we moved into this house and Parker went to a toddler bed. He was 20 months old when we made the move...and now Graham is almost that age!!!! Back up a little bit. Why was I putting Graham in a toddler bed?

I decided the other day that I wanted to switch the boys rooms around because they were sleeping in the bigger room and playing in the little room. It seemed backwards. I'm not very patient, and when I get an idea, I want to run with it. However, I didn't want to move the big bulky crib into the little room, which meant it was time for Graham to grow up. Ok, I'm just joking. A little.

I've never been a "gradual" person. When something needs to happen, I like to just get it over with. Don't get me wrong, I don't always think cold turkey is the way to go, and I've at times paid for my haste, but it works the best for me and my personality. The whole toddler bed experience is not an exception. When Parker was 20 months old, we moved into out current home from David's parent's house where we had been living for 6 months. When we switched, I decided that we might as well switch his bed since the new house would be out of the norm anyway. We needed the crib soon since baby Graham was about to make his grand entry into the world and it seemed cruel to get Parker comfortable in the new house for a month and then do the old switch-a-roo. So, I opted to leave the crib at his parents even after the move, so that I wouldn't chicken out or give in during a weak moment. Parker did well, but we did have a few occurrences where he stood at the door and cried and then proceeded to lay down in front of the door to fall asleep. He slept under the toddler bed once and fell out a couple of times. Besides some of the small drama, it was a successful and pretty quick switch.

Here's one of Parker's first few nap times with his new bed. Apparently the floor was more comfortable.

Now it's Grahams turn to become a man. A very little 2 ft 6 in man. I bought another toddler bed for $59.99 and in one week, I had it and built it. In the mean time, I started putting Graham in Parker's bed for nap time. I thought if he could learn to stay in bed for nap time, then night-time should be a breeze. I was pretty much right. After going in 15 billion times to lay him back down and scold him for getting up, he would finally fall asleep. Sometimes he didn't fight it too bad, and then other times, I'd walk in and he had every book in bed with him along with 52 stuffed animals. Grrr. These moments are why I took the crib down, because if it had been an easy option, his butt would have been in it.

Update: After one week, Graham is doing well. It still takes him longer to settle down and go to sleep because he's aware of his lessened boundaries and subsequent new freedom. Once he goes to sleep, he does well in terms of staying asleep. Staying in the same position with head at the northern end of the bed, not so much. I took a picture of him every night for a week to document our little toddler bed adventure. Precious.

Night 1: Look how nice and peaceful.

 Night 2: Apparently he's a rough sleeper. He threw his pillow out on the floor and fell asleep upside down.

Night 3: Ah. That's better.

 Night 4: This is why I call him Sweet Face.

 Night 5: He refuses to stay under the covers.

 Night 6: Ditching the pillow. And yes, he went to sleep with socks on.

 Night 7: Much improvement. This night I didn't even have to go in to put him back in bed.

 I'd have to say that our total toddler bed experience with Graham has been good. Nap times are definitely tricky. Yesterday,  he figured out how to empty all is drawers quietly. In fact, he was so quiet, I thought he had been asleep for an hour. When I went in to check on him,I found him smiling while sitting on top of a pile of his pajama drawer. Nice. I've had to blockade his drawers for every nap since. Good times. Other that those shenanigans, he's a peach and has totally cooperated.

Good job, Graham!

Indecisive.

I feel like I am a pretty opinionated, decisive person....until it comes to decorating my living room. I've done all the other rooms in my house without too much hesitation, but I freeze with confusion and hesitation when walking into my empty living room. I'm not sure if my issues stem from the fact that I'm in this room the most, or that I have couches that I don't want but can't change. Or maybe I realize that I have to find "real" art and quality curtains to make it look nice, not cheap. Whatever my problem, I'm bound and determined to conquer my living room.

I have an extremely neutral palate to work with. My walls are a light beige, my couches are dark brown, my rug is cream and tan (are you yawning yet?), and my shelves along with every other piece of wood is a close relative to white. Last month, while feeling annoyed by the weird bronze color of the fireplace, I painted the whole front of the mantle and brick white. It's incredible plain and screaming, like the rest of the room, for color. I know that I will have teal-ish blue in the room because it's in the dining room next door. The rooms are closely adjoining and I need them to flow well into one another. I also really love yellow and red. Trust me, this room is sooooo plain, it needs bold colors.

Here are some of my problems. I need curtains. I really feel like this room could handle bold, patterned curtains, since I no longer have a crazy rug to contend with. However, I'm scared to use printed curtains in fear that I won't like them after a year and because they will set limits on the other fabrics and prints I bring into the room. But then I wonder if I simply do solid colored curtains, pillows and art won't be enough to give the room enough interest and action going on. I feel like somewhere in a living room there has to be a bold print, whether on the curtains or in a rug. I'm probably wrong.

I also need a few pieces of key furniture.  I'm lacking a stand to go under my mounted tv.  I love the antique look (who doesn't right now?) and I love painted wood. I have hard wood floors throughout my house and I'm not a big fan of mixing too many wood tones. Whatever I buy, I'll probably paint it. I just need to find something! I've looked and looked, but can't seem to find what I want. Then, I also need two sitting chairs for in front of my big window. Do you see why I feel intimidated to conquer this project?

Here are a few pictures I'm using to guide/inspire me. Maybe they're just stuff I saw and liked. Who knows?

This first picture was from YHL's website this week. Sometimes I love what they do and other times their taste is a little too modern for me. I've kind of figured out that I lean towards more traditional stuff. Either way, I loved this pictured living space. It has the blues and reds I want.

 

I don't know why I like this, I just do.

 

I really like what I can see of these curtains plus they were working with tan walls like I am. The elements in this room are little graphic for me, but I still think it's pretty.

 I love this space, Not so fond of the couch and I think it could use a little more red. I love the chairs.

Ok, so I just figured out that this blog really was for me. I needed to collect my thoughts and writing them down helped me accomplish that task. Really, if you have any advice or ideas, please do share!