While they didn't know I was listening

Tyler was jumping on the trampoline with a neighbor friend yesterday and they didn't realize I was around the corner listening.

As the conversation continued, I held  my breath so they wouldn't hear me and thanked God I was able to hear this window into how my little guy is growing up.

Parth: "Tyler, why do you always ask me to come play?"


Tyler: "Because you are one of my best friends."


Parth: You used to be my best friend until I lost my football and now we can't play football anymore


Tyler: Well, you're like one of MY top 3 friends


Parth: Yeah, you're like my number 2.  Well...number 3.  Yeah, your in my group of best friends. 


Tyler: Parth, you know how you have Ali...I have Amanda. 


Parth: You're in love with Amanda?!


Tyler: Yeah! She's my girlfriend


Parth: I'm going to tell everyone at school.  


Tyler: I'm too embarrassed to tell her.  You know Ethan?  Amanda and Ethan kissed each other 16 times!


Parth:  Whoa!

Tyler: I know!!

Parth: You and Amanda are definitely going to get married.  Tyler and Amanda sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G...


Tyler: I really hope I marry Amanda. 


Later that night I asked Tyler about Amanda.  Turns out he doesn't think kissing is gross anymore.  BUMMER!

Me:  "So, what do you think about kissing?"

Tyler: "I think I'm too young to kiss.  But if it was okay, I would LIKE to kiss Amanda"

I reminded him he was going to meet many more girls in his life that are awesome like Amanda and that most people don't marry someone they meet in first grade.  I encouraged him to think how awesome it would be to save kisses for a girl he meets down the road after all the awesome girls he's met.

He then told me his theory on how girls don't get pretty until they're in high school and then they stop being pretty when they get really old and get wrinkles.  I asked if I was already that old.  He said no but I think he was thinking I was but is smart enough to know not to say that.  :-)

I had no idea I'd have to have these kinds of conversations yet.  It is great exercise in prayer because every grown-up word that comes out of his mouth is a surprise and I have no idea how to respond.  My biggest prayer is that he TALKS to me. 

Grayson is 5

How can you not love this kid?  
I really haven't met anyone who doesn't just LOVE him....and I mean LOOOOOVE him.  


He has more personality than can be contained in his little five year old body.  I often wonder how I get to have a kid as delightful and endearing as Gray. 


Everything he does is funny.  In the picture above, he found the snorkel mask in our garage as we were about to ride bikes around the neighborhood.  "Dad!"  "Why haven't you taken us snorkeling?!"  With all the excitement and wonder of discovering the coolest treasure, he proceeded to wear the mask non-stop for a couple of days.  


One of my biggest failures as a mom is not writing down all the things he's said and the stories of his antics.  There are so many.  I want to always remember how much he loves to dress-up.  There probably wasn't a day for two years he wasn't donning a superhero costume, cape or even bike helmet (when not biking).  He went through a long phase where he wore one glove 90% of the day.  


He kind-of causes a scene wherever he goes.  A little reminiscent of the Charlie Brown character, "Pig-pen," he is often messy, disheveled, and knocking things down along his way.  He has no volume control and speaks only at an 11.  This is especially fun when he announces things about his body.  

There is the infamous story of him pulling out his penis in the small grocery store while announcing, "MOM, a penis is...a penis is...MOM...a penis is...THIS."  The latest announcement was the other day when leaving the neighborhood pizza place.  "Mom!  I have to go poo-poo"  "can it wait till we get home"  "NO! Its coming out of my bottom right now"  :-)  There wasn't a family in the restaurant that didn't hear him!  

This is the restaurant where he is known by name by most of the employees (pretty sure they don't know our names).  The cook the other day said to our favorite waitress, "Man, I want to be just like that kid.  Grayson is awesome!"  

He is a great kid to have when you move to a new place.  Almost everyone we've met here was first approached by a confident, talkative little boy.  Our neighbor, Joan, was out jogging one day and he started running up next to her and asked if he could chase her.  We're friends now.  

 I am so grateful for my Gray-Gray.  He came into the world screaming and he screamed for four months straight.  Ohh, that was rough.




He has more than made up for it.

It is the most incredible honor to be his mom.  Even when he's having a rough day, he makes us laugh.  Every day he spontaneously tells me he loves me.  He fills my hug quota and then some.  He is incredibly fun to tickle.

He loves music and loves to sing. He has the best imagination.  He is happy to play by himself and can be heard making all kinds of sound effects. 

From the time he could walk, he started getting into things.  I kept a running picture log of all the mess he made and got into.  This is a picture of him after he found the container of cocoa.  Notice all of it in his nose?   

 
He LOVES food and will eat anything you give him...usually with an announcement that its the best dinner/snack/lunch ever. 
  
 

I believe a life of optimism is in store for him...and therefore, also for the rest of us.  


Thank you Grayson.  You have made my life so much brighter.  


You are MY JOY!

  

Reminding myself I am known

I am pretty sure we have found a Church here.  In many ways this brings great joy but it is also bittersweet as I realize that no church will be like Riverside.  I can not compare.  I have to stop trying.  The reality is, no church here can compare with a place that has been my home for 10 years.  What I miss the most is being known.

I have much hope here and have been encouraged by many of the relationships I am starting to make here.

But how long does it take?

I've experienced what its like to be fully known and still enjoyed. 

Its hard to settle for less.  But you have to start somewhere. 

Tonight I am going to a ladies Bunko night with women from Soma Eastside.  I really only know a handful of women's names.  Urgh, I don't like this stage.

So, my pep talk to myself tonight...

Friends are icing on the cake.  Jesus is my cake.  A damn good cake.  Enough to fill me and more.  I've feasted on the cake AND been blessed with incredible icing too...more icing than I deserve.

On a related note, our sweet friend Matt Blazer wrote a blog post about our friendship with him and his family.  If you have time, READ IT.  I am so humbled by his words and warmed by the memories.  Words are my love language and this is like words on steroids.  Thanks again Matt for loving us well and recording the stories.  BTW, the HUGE beer Brian appears to be drinking is actually a coke...and a joke.

Well, off to buy an appetizer and make some friends...

Living at the End of the United States

Tyler told us the other day that he loves living at the "end of the United States" Annabelle refers to it as the "united stakes"

Side note: other funny things she says:

• "lasterday" instead of yesterday
• "two cocoa bugs" instead of 2 turtle doves in the 12 days of Christmas
• "oppameal" instead of oatmeal

there are more but that is all I can think of now. She also speaks everything with a German accent.

Anyway...
A few weekends ago we had a beautiful, sunny, 60 degree day. When a day like this happens here, you embrace it. We drove to the city and spent our first experience on a Puget Sound Beach. It was indescribably gorgeous.

They're Gone

I'm sad. But it was wonderful.

It is hard to describe how great it is to be with friends who know you well, call forward the best in you, and love you unconditionally. It is hard to pin point when the Schwietermans became lifelong friends but I am very aware of how rare and precious their friendship is. We have walked through all stages of life together: weddings (well, they weren't at ours because they felt it necessary to go on a honeymoon...sore subject), births (even when we lived in different cities we have been able to be at the hospital to meet every baby), early parenting craziness and doubts, family crises, job changes, moves, Church changes, conflicts and celebrations. There is depth that comes with history but also hearts that have committed to live together.

When we were deciding to move, we took very seriously the Schwieterman's counsel. I had always envisioned living in the same area with them for the rest of our lives. So, of course, I asked them when they would be moving to Seattle. God has us in different places now, that doesn't mean I don't still dream about a different time when we might be called to the same place.

But this weekend was such a sweet gift and reminder that distance can't change true friends. I will never forget seeing all of them walk into our house here, proof that my old life was not a dream. I squeezed those little girls so tight, Lizzie said I made her stomach stop hurting. :) We very quickly moved into a comfortable groove of sharing meals, housework, parenting and entertaining kids. The kids needed very little entertaining as they were inseparable. There was hardly any need for electronics as they had all kinds of invented games going on. Most of our time was spent hanging around the house, riding bikes in the rain and snow, and going to the park. We did a little bit of sight seeing too:


Ski slopes are just 30 minutes from our house and they have a snow tubing hill. The kids loved it, especially since St. Louis has had snow only a couple of days. Annabelle and Bea entertained themselves by pulling each other around and making snow angles. Ty and Brian got a great work out pulling the kids back up the hill multiple times. Lizzie and I built an epic snow fort and ambushed most of the unsuspecting crew with snow balls. It was awesome!

We stopped for fries and Root Beer at a restaurant that overlooks the Snoqualmie water falls. It was warm and quaint with a fireplace and our loud, loud crew that managed to spill 4 drinks in the 45 minutes we were there!

We celebrated St. Patricks Day with Shamrock Shakes and green cookies.

BTW: the shakes were a hit: Frozen Banana, Vanilla Yogurt, and tons of spinach.



Despite the drizzly rain and cold weather we made it to Pike Place Market and the much awaited Gum Wall. We made a stop on our way out so all kids could pick out their own pack of gum...so much fun!




We had pretty weather on their last day here. Which allowed us to spend more time walking the neighborhood and go on a hike through our Enchanted Forest.
The grown ups also got one date night out which was the most life giving night we've had in months. We laughed so hard we cried and our stomachs hurt, we were loud and obnoxious to probably most people in the restaurant. Our conversation was both ridiculous and meaningful. Even Brian and I were able to communicate about things more in depth in the presence of friends more than we often do just by ourselves.



Thank you friends, for coming. Thank you for spending your vacation and Spring Break with us. Thank you for sharing your life with us. We love you!

They're almost HERE!

This has been the longest week of my life. Our great friends the Schwietermans have just landed and Brian is driving them to our house right now!!! The week has seemed to drag forever as we've anticipated their arrival. I have been giddy all day!!

The guest room is all ready...I'll take this chance to show you my favorite room in our house.


Its my favorite because I love the way it looks but also because of how everything came together. The bed was given to us by my generous in-laws and it was in our old house but never in a room where it was able to shine. I had dreamed of all white bedding but when we tried that we realized the walls are actually cream. Enter ROSS discount store. What a fun store! The quilt was $16!!!!!! Lamps and red flowers from Target. My favorite creative spot is the picture frames. They are filled with wrapping paper I had saved from 2 Christmas' ago. Proof that never throwing anything away is NOT a problem.

The rocking chair used to be in my nursery when I was a baby and was then in Annabelle's nursery before. It was hard to decide to spray paint it black because my sweet friend Amanda Akin had done a fabulous job making it look shabby chic with a cream paint and antique finish details. I tried to take pictures of what it used to look like but I couldn't capture what a beautiful job she did. Thanks again Amanda!

I am debating about whether to post this picture of the closet but I am hoping that this might nudge some of you into visiting. Guests of the Janous Home will stay in this tranquil room with mountain views, plush robes and slippers provided as well as ample storage room for clothes. Guests are always greeted with a welcoming bed gift.

I am especially excited about the bed gifts for the girls. I had wanted to give them fleece blankets thinking it would be fun to snuggle in the morning with but couldn't find any that were inexpensive. I am trying to be faithful about spending very little money. I about jumped up and down when I found these blankets at IKEA for $2.50! Since I am so VERY crafty now I sewed felt letters and buttons on them to make them more personal. For those of you who are more experienced in this area will see this as an easy task. Not so much for me. It was quite comical as I Googled (oops...Binged) almost every step of the project. I think they'll be happy. So Who's wants to visit next???

Creative Weekend

I am so excited about the weekend we just had. We finished pretty much all the decorating in the house and did it without buying much of anything new. I have been so convicted about my spending habits (even though I could be considered frugal to many Americans). I buy most of my stuff at Target and discount stores but do I really NEED most of my purchases? I took the month of February as a shopping fast. I felt very victorious walking out of Target with only diapers and lotion in my hands and not even walking by the clothes section.

Much of my awareness was triggered by reading the book Seven by Jen Hatmaker. I LOVED IT!!! I will write more about how I processed the book but for now let me tell you...you should read this book! Its funny, entertaining, and not at all scary like I thought it would be.

So thanks to my resolve to spend as little as possible on unnecessary items and to Pinterest which allows me to believe I can create anything that has a tutorial...I spent my weekend being very creative.

I will show off my favorites.

The first is our Family Sign. I had seen a large wooden wall hanging in a fancy gift store with a similar poem for close to $300. I loved the words and wanted something just like it but I wouldn't dream of spending that kind of money on a wall hanging. I came home and looked on Etsy (which is what I usually do when I see something I like somewhere else...someone on Etsy is probably making it). There were a few on Etsy but still $50-$100.

$4!!!!! Four dollars is what I spent to make my knock off!

I had a large frame 20 x 20 that had pictures of Tyler from when he was a toddler. I found Searchfreefonts.com and downloaded multiple fonts. I set the word document size to 19.5 X 19.5 and justified my lines. It took me a couple of hours to figure out spacing and work it to get it the way I wanted. Then I emailed it to the FedEx Kinko's here in town and picked it up the next day for $4.

I love it! I love what it says, I love it more that it cost so little. It makes me so happy. Last night, Brian and I lay in bed almost asleep and I just blurt out, "I love my sign!"

Okay, so one last moment of creativity I want to show off. I feel very inadequate when I look at my mantel. Mantels are showcases for those with great decorating talent and when I stare at mine I felt its emptiness laughing at me. I've been wondering what to do with it since we decided to rent this house. Thankfully, I was finally inspired by a post on Jones Design Co. in which she decorated a wall with various types of the letter L. Again, using things we have this is what I did...

What do you think?

The vertical picture frame showcases photos Brian took of the first neighborhood we lived in (Central West End). The small square frame is an old picture frame with the glass removed. I used a piece of scrapbook paper and glued the wooden letter on it (Michael's for $2). The larger square is a mirror we've had for a while with no place for it here. The wooden letter is also from Michael's and is just resting on the ledge of the mirror. The last picture frame is our last name printed on a different piece of scrapbook paper.

I am feeling super creative and have even had visions of me doing crazy things like sewing and knitting. Who knows...

Sunscreen

A friend recently asked me what type of sunscreen I would recommend.

Last year I spent hours looking at the ingredients list of many "natural" products and reading their reviews and toxicity/allergic levels. You can go to the Environmental Working Group website to find out how safe your beauty products are.

I chose three sunscreens based on what was the safest and also the cheapest per ounce. Keep in mind that overall, my family does not burn easily. These all worked fine to keep away sunburn on us, but I am not sure if that would hold true for different skin types. I ordered all of them from Amazon. We used 2 of the loving naturals and one of each of the others to last the summer.

For the family: Loving Naturals SPF 30 ($9.99 for 5 oz)

For the kids: Caribbean Solutions SPF 25 ($17.99 for 4 oz) (This one leaves a white color to your skin which is why I didn't use it...vain, I know. Hard to imagine why I spent this much on this one. Maybe the price has gone up.

For my face: Beyond Coastal Natural Lip and Face Screen SPF 30($5.85 for 1 oz) I loved this one! A little goes a long way, I still have some left over. It does leave a little white residue but if you rub it in enough, it doesn't show much. I actually loved the way it felt on my dry skin. I am very sensitive to most everything, especially sunscreen. This felt soothing and nice to put on.

We also used hats and swim shirts to guard against sun too.

We're Here

Hello my long lost blog. I have missed you.

Two months ago today, we moved into an empty house that now feels like home. I am thankful not to be waking up in the morning forgetting where I am, I am thankful the kids no longer ask where rooms are in the house, I am thankful that all but 5 boxes are unpacked...and let's be honest, those boxes will probably never get unpacked.

I have avoided blogging for a few reasons. Obviously, we've been busy and fumbling to find our new routine. Secondly, I have been pretty blue for a lot of our time here and did not have the energy to whine on-line. I also have this ridiculous rigidity about random things, one of them being that I feel the need to do all things in chronological order. I won't fill out things in a baby book that are current until I fill in things before. I won't upload pictures to Shutterfly out of order. I won't order Shutterfly books out of order, etc. So when I blog, I feel like I have to tell the story of Christmas, moving, etc. before I talk about what's happening now. I know not really necessary, but, we all have our things. So here is the brief synopses of our last two months.



Our empty house. The move went as smoothly as it could have gone. I don't ever want to do it again. The night the movers left felt like the night of a funeral. I had held it together the whole day until I walked into the boys room and saw it empty. I closed the door and sobbed. The next 24 hours I felt like I was walking through a fog.

We drove to Columbia and stayed the night with my great friend from college Christina. The next morning Erin and her husband Charles (both girls in my wedding) who live in England came over to visit. These are all our kids! It is always such a treat to be in Christina's home and to be with my college girls. It was like water to my weary soul and a reminder that good friends last a lifetime no matter where you live.

In KC, we were able to see more bridesmaids (Mandy, Steph and Cassie), the Warren's (friends in town from Texas), the Brock's (friends in from Colorado), and new friends Tim and Jodi. My dad and step-mom surprised as when we went to visit my Grandma Fulte. The rest of the family was all there too. It is a rare treat to be all together with the Fulte family and I felt like such a princess that my dad and kath would travel all that way as a surprise. I can't explain how happy I was to see them!

We celebrated Christmas with my mom and all my KC family. She made Christmas so special for all of us. The kids slept in her "secret room" that she decorated just for them. It felt like a Christmas hideout. They loved it!!

Santa brought the much anticipated Huge Angry Birds with the surprise of a life size angry bird game. The kids spent forever knocking down and rebuilding the boxes.

The Watkins came over later on Christmas with all their angry bird dolls and joined in the fun. It was great to see them again. We soaked up as much time with them as we could get.

There were two particularly hard moments while we were in KC. Saying good-bye to my Grandma was almost unbearable. She put my head in her hands and, through tears, whispered "you be brave." I love my Grandma.

The other was one night in the car with Brian when it all came crashing in on me. "What did we just do, Brian? We just left all our friends and everything we love?" He cried with me. We just held each other and cried. That has only happened one other time in our whole relationship. I am so thankful to go through this with him. He has been amazing.

So the day after Christmas we left for Seattle. We rode with the Watkins to the airport. After they gave the kids special photo keychains to put on their travel backpacks, we said a VERY tearfilled good-bye to them and to my mom.

As hard as it was to say good-bye, I took a huge breath on the plane. I needed a break from all the sadness and it was helpful to look forward to our new adventure. We had a great travel day and loved riding on the plane with the kids and watching them all through the airport.






We were all so excited to get to see the new house that night. Totally empty, the kids ran and jumped and screamed. We stayed in a hotel that night and were able to swim in the hotel pool and eat and the free buffet breakfast. It was a vacation. We toured the Seattle Aquarium the next day and drove around our new city. On move in day, the kids played in empty cabinets, helped open boxes, and Tyler proudly took the all important job of checking of numbers of boxes as the movers called them out.

The next month is a blur of excitement, sadness, exhaustion and sweetness. The kids came up with every game you can imagine with boxes until even they were saying "I'm so tired of boxes!"

I am glad we are here. I love our house and I really enjoy Seattle. The weather is challenging, especially when everyone in St. Louis is at the park and zoo in record outdoor bliss. I really, really, really miss my friends. The two hour time change makes phone conversations difficult and I feel overwhelmed at times with loss. I love the slowness of our life now and all the opportunities we have to start new rhythms in our family life. The kids have all adjusted by now (Tyler the fastest) and they have developed such a stronger bond together. They play much more now then they ever have. Brian and I too, have appreciated our friendship more than ever. I'm glad he's the one I get to hang out with every night.

Now that I'm caught up, I'll fill in more often.