Present

My father-in-law just posted this great article on Facebook. It's called, "How to Miss a Childhood." It basically talks about how this generation of parents has become so attached to their devices and electronics, that they are missing out on the precious moments of their children's lives. I've actually been thinking about these same things for a while, but it just put my thoughts (and more) in words I hadn't expressed. I feel like lately I spend so much time looking for contact with the "outside world" on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Blogs, etc. This happened to me after I had Owen as well. A new baby comes with a lot of time sitting and nursing, and being "stuck" at home. Sadly, this also equates to my phone being in my hand or at my side nearly 24/7. My friend, Shara, recently decided to do a FB fast. I teasingly made fun of her, but really had been thinking of doing the same thing. Prior to reading this article, I had considered it for different reasons:
- It feels like a waste of time
- I don't like feeling attached to checking statuses, comments, and likes
- I dislike the negativity (complaints, debates, harsh opinions against others)

But I kept telling myself that it was "important" to stay on to:
- Stay connected with long, lost friends and family members
- Make sure family has easy access to my blog
- Provide updates and pictures from our lives for family and friends
- Have up-to-date information of the world around me (I often find out major news happenings from posted articles, etc.)

And then I read this article. Which truly voiced the most important reason to leave it all behind. My children.

Yes, I have hours and hours with my kids every day being a stay-at-home-mom. Yes, I read books, play outside, do puzzles, smile and coo, make meals, wipe tears, rock and cradle, sing songs, chase, do piggy-back rides, snuggle, and love on my children every day. But in between all of that, I find myself distracted. Sadly, her words remind me of the moments when Owen says, "Put the phone down, Mommy!" or when my sweet Elsie looks up from eating to smile at me and it goes unnoticed. And lately, I've felt exhausted and overwhelmed. I don't have a lot of free time to get things done or have "me-time." (I am currently typing this as I nurse my baby and the toddler naps jumps in his crib.) And a lot of days honestly feel unfulfilled. But how much more fulfilled would my days be if they were wholly focused on uninterrupted, dedicated, attentive time? How much more fulfilled would I be? How much more fulfilled would my children be?

So it's time. I'm saying adieu to social network sites. I'm going to spend more time being present with my children, and less time being distracted by the computer/phone. I, of course, want to stay connected with people, and I know that won't happen for everyone. But if you want to reach me, I'll still have a phone and email (they just won't be checked as often) and I'm going to try to stay more up-to-date on my blog (our family history/journal that is much more worthy of my time).

I don't think this will be easy, nor do I think that all days will be blissful. However, I know that it will be an improvement to my and my family's lives. And that's all that really matters.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Well...at least tigers that is.

I saw a Groupon for the circus and decided to snag them because I knew Owen would love it. I was also excited, as I had never been to a circus before. We got there fairly early to make sure we had good seats, but really, I don't think we had to worry about that too much. The McKay events center at UVU is pretty small, and there were a lot of seat options when we got there. We actually ended up choosing seats that were back a bit so we'd have a good view of the areal shows.

I should mention that right after we arrived my camera battery died, so I had to use my iPhone to take all the pictures. Trying to take good pictures, in the dark, zoomed in from far away was not easy. So please excuse the quality.

The whole time I was there I kept thinking of Water for Elephants. Gratefully, they seemed to be rather humane and kind with their animals. But still makes you wonder about the life of a carnie! When we walked into the arena, they were doing pony, camel, and elephant rides. It was 10 bucks a pop for the elephant, but we figured, how often do you get the chance to ride an elephant?! I went on with Owen so he wouldn't be scared. Ok, ok...I went because I wanted to ride the elephant too! ;) It was hilarious though because before we went on, I asked Owen, "Do you want to ride the elephant?!" He said, "I want to ride the horsie!" Ha ha! The ride was pretty cool. It was a bumpy ride and you could feel the elephant's haunches move as it lumbered around. Very cool.

Getting on the elephant:

 Riding around:

Side note about the elephants: One of them relieved himself during intermission. A guy was cleaning it up and I was thinking what a miserable job that would be. A good two minutes later the smell from the urine had wafted through half of the arena to our seats and hit us like a ton of bricks. It was sick, and totally crazy to me that we could smell it so strongly from so far away. That is definitely not a job I would want!

Owen wanted to ride the camel too, but they wouldn't let adults ride, and I wasn't confident he wouldn't cry, so we passed.

Owen giving a funny face while chowing on popcorn (basically what amounted to his dinner) before the show:

The singing ringmaster with his dancing ladies:

After the ringmaster came out, the show started with the tigers. They really are beautiful animals. Owen was mesmerized with the act. And it was so cute to watch him throughout the show. He would put his popcorn down and clap enthusiastically. A few times he would even let out some loud whoops and squeals. It was darling.

This is right after a tiger jumped through the ring of fire:

Some other acts we saw...
Trapeze artists:

Contortionist:

Animal trainer:

Aerial something or others:

Tightrope performers:

BMX bike trickster:

We also saw clowns (so lame), magic acts, motorcyclist, jugglers, and some cool tricks done on skates on top of this small table.
This was during the intermission. It was a looooong intermission (about 30 minutes).

We left shortly after the second act started. The show started almost 30 minutes late (with an original 7:30 PM start time) and after the long intermission, we knew we wouldn't get out of there until close to 11 PM. Owen was actually doing just fine and was really interested in it all and sad when we dragged him away. But to be honest, Miles and I were exhausted, and I was mostly concerned about Elsie. The music was SO loud and she was acting kind of flustered. She wouldn't fall asleep and I think she was pretty overstimulated. So we bailed. I was kind of sad about it because there was supposed to be a bear act as well. If Elsie hadn't been there I think we would have stuck it out. Either way, it was still a lot of fun and I'm glad we went. The next day Owen kept talking about the circus and riding the elephant. He kept asking if we could go back, and I had to remind him that the circus had left and moved on to another town. I think he had a good time.

Heavy Heart

As I read about the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Connecticut, my heart hurt and tears came quickly. I felt completely dumbfounded as to why this would happen. Any time I hear of shootings, attacks, or natural disasters where lives are lost, it makes me sad. But the thought of these sweet, innocent, angels being taken from this life so soon and so viciously makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. Having children of my own only compounds the feeling. A friend of mine posted these lyrics from I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day after hearing about the shooting:

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

I thought how poignant and true it felt. Such a tragedy. And to happen right before Christmas. Then I began to think about it some more. Yes - there is SO much evil in this world. Yes - HATE is strong. But...there IS good. And all the lyrics apply.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day,
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.


And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

I can only pray that the victims, their families, friends and loved ones can find peace in the depths of this sorrow. Which brings me to a project I worked on, in hopes of bringing some piece of happiness to their lives.
A friend of mine posted on Facebook that her sister-in-law was doing a project to gather (I think) 600 quilts for the children who were in attendance and would be returning to school after the holidays. She stated that quilts always gave her comfort and made her feel safe and warm. She wanted to impart some of those feelings to these poor children who had lost siblings, friends, classmates, and teachers. I decided I wanted to participate and asked Margaret if she wanted to be involved and work with me on it while we were in AZ for Christmas. She said yes and we committed to doing six.

Unfortunately, illnesses, needy children, and a busy holiday schedule kept us busy and we didn't start until just a few days before Miles and I were scheduled to leave. With a lot of hard work and sore fingers, we were able to tie them all.

I liked the crazy zig-zag pattern going on. Also, this was my first time tying quilts, so Margaret taught me a lot about it and how to be "most efficient" while doing it well. I learned from a self-proclaimed "quilting snob."

Even Mark jumped in and helped us out. It was greatly appreciated!

And this was frequently where Elsie could be found while we worked away at our project.

Miles and I left AZ with a huge extra suitcase filled with the six tied, unbound, quilts. We got home late on Monday night and Tuesday I called my mom to ask her some tips on finishing (binding) the quilts. At this point I had two days to reach my deadline. When I told my mom, she immediately told me that there was no way I would get them done alone and I needed to ask for help. After a lot of tears and swallowing my pride, I called numerous people in search of some last minute, desperately needed, helping hands. Sadly, even with all my calls, I was left empty-handed (and discouraged by some negative remarks from a church leader who scolded me for waiting and "putting the burden on other people").

Just when I got off the phone after another dead end, a voicemail came through. A woman said she had received a call from my mom and heard I needed help and wanted to help me out. I called her back and she said that she is friends with my mom's friend, Syd Crockett, and would be happy to take my quilts to finish. I asked her how many she wanted and she said, "I'll do them all." WHAT?! This angel of a woman said, "My children are teenagers and my husband is in the bishopric, so they're gone a lot. It will give me something to do." Yeah...I'm so sure she has nothing going on in her day. She also said she would come pick them up from me (she lives in Orem) so I wouldn't have to pack up the kids to bring them to her. AMAZING.

I immediately called my mom and thanked her profusely for SAVING me all the way from CA. This angel (her name is Kathy Russell) not only finished them all, but did it a whole day sooner than we needed (we found out we actually had an extra day or two to work on them). She did a beautiful job of finishing them (FAR better than I would have done). I could not thank her enough. I know she'll receive blessings from heaven for helping me in my time of need, as well as helping to do this service for these sweet children.

Here are the finished products: 

I'm anxious to hear how they were received. I hope that they do bring at least one small piece of warmth, love, and comfort to their precious souls.

Year in Review

Here is a quick overview of our family's 2012:

January: Completed an IVF cycle that was miraculously covered 100% by our insurance (minus the deductible) in hopes of getting pregnant
February: Flew to CA to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary; Celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary starting with an ultrasound to hear our baby's heartbeat and an overnight stay at a B&B in SLC
March: Owen got his first haircut; Enjoyed the warming weather with trips to the park and duck ponds
April: Owen and I flew to Minnesota to visit my college roommate, Shara and her family, and my brother, Keven and his family; Found out we were expecting a little girl; Owen turned two
May: I went to San Diego for a girl's weekend getaway with some college friends; I was put on bedrest due to placenta previa
June: I was taken off bedrest (yay!); We had a mini Van de Wetering family reunion in SLC (minus Keven and family, who were greatly missed)
July: Went to Blanding, UT for a Wright family reunion over the 4th of July; Miles started working 80+ hours/week to accommodate his side work
August: Lots of summer fun before the baby arrived with trips to Thanksgiving Point, the park, 7 peaks, and the pool; Had a baby shower thrown by my sister; Miles and I went on a "babymoon" to the Zermatt Resort in Midway
September: Went to the zoo; Spent a lot of time with Miles' parents who were in town; Prepared for the baby and were surprised by Elsie's arrival 10 days early on the last day of the month
October: My Mom came to stay for three weeks to help out with Elsie and Owen; Elsie's baby blessing
November: Still adjusting to life with two; Spent Thanksgiving day/weekend with Kerry and family, and Kim and Austin who flew out to meet Elsie; Enjoyed some extra help around the house while Miles's sister, Megan, stayed with us for a week
December: Celebrated Christmas by decorating a gingerbread house, a visit to Santa, looking at Christmas lights, and an extended trip to AZ to be with the Wright family

It's been a busy, fun, blessed year. We can't wait to see what 2013 holds for us!

3 mo

Elsie is already 3 months old! A quarter of this year has quickly swept by. Sheesh.

Currently, she is sleeping anywhere from 5-9 hours. Yeah...it's pretty variable and I never know what to expect. We had a couple bad nights of her waking every 3 or 4 hours. I think she might have been going through a growth spurt. During the day she's also variable with sleep and will sometimes take 15 min naps up to 2 hour naps. She's in a pretty good flow of eat, play, sleep, but will sometimes inevitably fall asleep when she's eating.

She's still a marathon eater and will eat about 45 min - an hour. She also eats about every 2-3 hours. So I usually only get an hour or so break before we are at it again. Oh, and she poops All.The.Time. I can't remember how Owen was in that regard, but I swear she goes through 15 diapers a day.

We were able to get approved for the dissolvable tablets for her reflux. It's much nicer to give her that rather than do the capsules trying to get all the beads in her mouth and feed her formula to swallow them down. She still gags some, but if I stick it in the side of her mouth she does much better. The medication seems to be working well. She sleeps good and her spit up is far less than when she is off her medication. I know because there have been a couple days when I forgot to give it to her and her spit up and discomfort is noticeably worse.

Over Christmas she had a few crying (screaming) episodes that would happen in the evening for no more than about 10 min. She was completely inconsolable and didn't want to eat either. They usually came out of the blue when moments before she had been happy in someone's arms. I don't know what caused them. I wondered if it was either the chocolate and/or spicy food I ate. So I went off chocolate and I'll have to try eating it again to see if it causes any problems.

However, since then she is a much happier and docile baby. She's so sweet and is quick to give a smile or coo when someone shows interest in her.

She seems to like sleeping flat now too. (Also a sign the medication is working.) I think maybe she was waking up from squirming partially off her bouncy chair at night. So I started laying her flat on the bed (Miles slept on an air mattress in AZ for a bit so we could have more space to sleep, but mostly so he could sleep without being disturbed) and she does great. I'm really glad because I was worried she might get used to sleeping at an incline and with the chair's vibrations.

She loves to suck on her fists and fingers. She has even fallen asleep while sucking on them. I think it's so cute. Of course, if it turns to thumb sucking - that only stays cute for so long.

The many faces of Elsie.

I loved this little series of silly faces she was giving me.

Have I mentioned it's so much fun dressing a girl?!

Our little "scar-face." I can't remember now how she got this. It was almost equal parts cute and sad to see it on her face every day.

I can't stand how cute and sweet and precious she is when she is asleep. I love the faces she makes, and her soft lips. The one in the middle is her doing a sleepy-startle when I laid her down for a nap. There's nothing quite like a sleeping baby...

Sweet babe on Christmas morn.

I think Elsie's skin must be much more sensitive than Owen's. She has had some pretty awful diaper rash, especially this past month. I've tried everything and it has taken forever for it to go away. I can't even remember Owen getting diaper rash. Maybe once...maybe. I guess it goes along with being a girl...sometimes being beautiful is painful. :(

I'm pretty sure this little pumpkin is going to get away with almost anything she wants.... We're doomed.

Christmas Card 2012

Another year has quickly flown by and yet again, we have been immensely blessed.

Miles has been working very hard to grow his personal business by building up his clientele and putting in extra hours before and after his day job. He's hoping to one day be able to solely work for himself and is getting closer to making that dream come true. In his free time, he also works very hard to grow his beard, and shaves as little as possible throughout the year. He currently has a formidable “Christmas Beard” growing, which can be seen here: loganmolyneux.com/blog/christmas-beard

I (Kendra) spent the majority of this year growing a baby. During that time, I tried my hand at sewing a skirt for myself, and a quilt for Elsie. I can see this becoming a new love of mine. I also enjoy reading, blogging, and cooking (although I had a lot more time for all of that prior to Elsie being born). But most of all, I love being a mom and feel so blessed to spend my days and nights with both of my children. I never could have anticipated the joy I would have in raising my children.

Owen (2 1/2 yrs) has grown up so much over the past year. His language has exploded as well as his skills. He's on his way to counting to 100 and knows his ABCs. He loves to sing and knows at least 10 different songs including I Am a Child of God, Annie's Song, You Are My Sunshine, and Daddy's Homecoming. He enjoys making them his own by singing in a fast, low, growl. He also loves to read and has many of his favorite books memorized and will "read" them to Mommy and Daddy. We are constantly amazed at what a sponge he is and how much he picks up. Most enjoyably, he is a silly, goofy, fun, little boy. He loves to jump and can often be found (and heard) bouncing for hours in his crib during "nap" time, or on his trampoline. He makes us laugh daily and is a bright light in our lives.

Elsie (2 1/2 mo) most enjoys eating and sleeping. However, in the past month she has added smiling, cooing, and sucking on her hands. She is often found with a bib around her neck to catch the spit up caused by her reflux. She tolerates her brother's boisterous outbursts and loves his sweet hugs, pats and kisses. She is happiest in the morning and loves to see a smiling face. She also loves to be held and will fall fast asleep with the jostling bounces of a walking gait. She is an angel and brings a sweet spirit to our home.

We are so grateful for the wonderful year we have had. As we welcomed a miracle into our lives this year, we also recognize the miracle of our Savior's birth, whose life made it possible for us to experience such joy. We hope that this New Year will bring happiness and prosperity to you - our family, friends and loved ones. And we hope you will all feel the love of Jesus Christ in your homes and hearts this season and always.

With love,

The Wright Family 

Gingerbread Houses & Rice Crispy Trains

Grandma Wright (Margaret) sent us a Christmas package that had a gingerbread house kit and rice crispy train kit in it. This year I let Owen help out more with making it. However, that quickly turned to eating it. It was so funny to watch him swipe at the frosting after I would pipe it out, or take a moment to think about whether or not he wanted to eat the candy vs. put it on the house. Usually, eating won out. It was a bit of work to get anything accomplished with my little "helper," but it was a lot of fun too.

The next day I found him sneaking candy off the house at least 3 times, until I finally moved it to higher ground that could not be reached simply by standing on a chair.

We also made the rice crispy train set she sent. It had similar results. Although he did want to suck on the tube of frosting and eat every little candy ball, he actually did a bit better decorating his own train. He would ask me for the candy balls by color. "Can I please have a green one?" (I would hand one to him) "Thank you!" And so on through all the colors. (Except for some strange reason he kept calling the red one brown.) I love the little pile of balls he made too.

A couple days later, I also found him sneaking candy off the train. He had eaten all the little balls off of his train. Sigh. What can I say? He has a sweet tooth just like his mommy.

The Man in the Big Red Suit

Last week we went as a family to go visit Santa. We went to the Riverwoods like we have for the past two years. I love it. It's always so beautiful with all of the lights and decorations.

Warming up by the fires:

It was fun to get some family shots.

I should mention that I was only able to get one picture with my nice DSLR before it died on me. I had even checked to make sure the battery was charged. I think it's a faulty battery. :( So all of our pictures were taken with our iPhones. Miles said it was our "experiment" to see how they did. I think for the most part they turned out pretty good - except when someone didn't quite know how to use it and focus properly...but at least we have them. :)

Waiting in line to see Santa:

I loved having this little one all snuggled up to me. It was good too because it was so cold and I was able to wrap her up and keep her nice and warm. 

Earlier in the day I tried to prepare Owen for meeting Santa and sitting on his lap. When I first told him we were going to see Santa, he said, "Yay!" I told him Santa would ask what he wanted and had him practice what he would say. He said, "Presents!" I asked, "What kind of presents?" He said, "A blue present." After more encouragement, he finally said, "A car." We had this exact conversation about three times (presents, blue present, car). I also had the great idea of showing him pictures from when he saw Santa the previous two years (both can be seen here). After looking at those, I again asked if he wanted to go see Santa and sit on his lap. He looking slightly frightened and shook his head no. Oops! So much for "preparing" him.

So once we got there, it took him a second to warm up to Santa.

But as soon as the jolly old man gave him a high five and knuckles, he was sold. 

Elsie was a little upset at first. I'm sure it really had to do with being yanked from her warm, snuggly, spot on Mama's chest more than sitting with Santa.

But then she got over it and was just apathetic to the whole thing. 

After visiting Santa, we walked around and enjoyed the lights. 

Then we decided to grab some dinner. I had never been to this "newer" Chinese restaurant. It was pretty good. 

While we waited for our food, Miles and Owen had fun sticking their tongues out at each other. 

This was my view - a sweet, sleeping baby all snuggled up to me in my carrier. She did great and slept the entire time. 

Owen dined on ice cubes (typical): 

But ended up doing an amazing job of chowing on his chow mein noodles. I think it's because they were so fun to play with. You can make mustaches, snakes, jump ropes...the options are endless. 

Here's a video of Owen enjoying his meal. In it he grabs a piece of chicken and says, "Another one!" and tosses it to Daddy. It makes me laugh because he had just taken it out a minute before and Miles put it back on his plate for him to eat. I guess he wasn't convinced to eat it. :)

And here were our fortunes. Can you guess which belongs to each of us?

It was actually pretty funny. I opened the one that says, "You will soon embark on a business venture," handed it to Miles and said, "I think this belongs to you." He then handed me his, "Soon someone new coming into your life will become a very good friend," and said, "Then this must be yours." I then told him to open Owen's and see what it said..."You deserve respect and will eventually get it." We both cracked up! Perfect.

And one last family photo to end the night. 

It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend the evening together. I sure do love my little family of four!