Spring Cleaning

The other day I dumped out the garbage bags containing my shoes from the various times we have moved. It's been awhile since I've seen them all (hello yellow sandals!). I sorted them out and went through them and eventually put some in the goodwill pile. It felt good. It felt so good that I dragged all of our storage containers of clothes into the house to do the same thing. I made a closet pile, a salvation army pile, a winter pile, a maternity pile, an extra fat pile, and an in-your-dreams pile. I can hope, right? Eventually they went into buckets in the garage- but I filled six garbage bags of items for donation. Aren't you proud?

We are about 85% unpacked and moved into the house now that the carpet has been installed. Is carpet installed? or laid? Whatever. The garage is navigable and we only have a few more brown boxes to go through. And by "we" I mean Jazz, and by "few" I mean "ten to twelve." Just kidding. Sort of.

The super fun part now is decorating everything. Granted, it will take some time to accumulate stuff and figure out where to put it, but that's the best part. Everyday I find new crap on craigslist and think Hmm. I could totally refinish/sand/paint/create that into something else. I love craigslist with all of my heart and soul. Unfortunately, Jazz does not feel the same way. ("Um, why do you want to buy a vintage birdhouse?" "Because it's awesome!")

Right now I'm trying to decide where to put our current decor, and it's harder than I thought. Before, we had basically one wall and it was mostly like, hey, let's put everything on that wall. Now I have options, and my brain doesn't know how to handle that. Plus, every hole we make I cringe a little bit knowing it is permanent and there is no landlord to come and spackle the thing once I decide I hate it there. See? Choices. I was looking at blogs the other day and found a perfect example of the photo wall I want to create in the front hallway. I forgot to save it and now I can't find it again and my entire life has stopped until I can FIND THAT PICTURE. It has consumed me.

I do have to say how extremely happy we all are to be in such a spacious house. Isabelle even opened her tiny toothless mouth and garbled something in baby language. She really meant it. Btw, she is getting so much bigger. She just seems so different every morning, I can't believe how much she has changed in the last month or so. Something that hasn't changed however is her communal wake up party 2-3 times a night. We are going on vacation in about three weeks and I am 1) petrified about the 6 hour flight since she doesn't always fall asleep easily slash never ever takes a paci and 2) excited that the 3 hour time difference means her usual wake up time of 6 AM will be more like 3 AM. Fun!

No, but seriously, we love our house. It already feels like home. The carpet that we picked is really beautiful and was totally worth the two week wait. Isabelle rolls around on it all the time and I'm so thankful there is no pet excrement to worry about. And did I tell you that the people across the street are the Sorensen's too? Except they spell it SorensOn's. I have a feeling we will be exchanging a lot of mail.

PS. I spaced finishing this blog for a few hours and I totally found that picture. Plus- I made some rkt hybrids. SUCCESS!

How to pack for a trip with a baby.

Step One: Get out most everything you own.
Step Two: Put it in a suitcase.
Step Three. Put the suitcase in the car.

Please Note:

• You will likely pack for cold weather, and experience summer temperatures.
• No matter what, you will not bring enough wipes.
• 75% of your clothes will be dirty by the end of the first day.
• A run to Target is inevitable.
• In packing everything for your child, you will forget all the necessities for yourself.
• You will need a baby carrier, a bumbo, a stroller, and a car seat.
• Your baby will definitely get bored of all the toys you brought within a few hours.
• FYI, a small bottle of sunscreen will cost $12 inside Disneyland.

I'm not going to lie, this whole packing thing was a challenge for me. First of all, Jazz didn't go with us which meant I was flying solo. That isn't exactly true because I had tons and I mean tons of great help from my family. Before we left, I stood in Isabelle's room to pack and just stared at her closet for a good ten minutes. Everything was out of place from the move and I didn't even know where to start. Would she need a coat? Just a light jacket? Leg warmers? A hat? Two hats? I started building outfits, then had to add shoes and hair accessories (obviously.) and soon I had a huge pile of clothes. Not having taken a trip before really made it trixy, I had no idea how many diapers we would need (20? 300?) or how many bibs we would go through. I'm so used to having everything so close, plus the convenience of a washing machine, my whole brain was out of whack.

Then I thought of my parents. Who had five Isabelle's. With five times as much stuff. In a smaller, less spacious car. MOM AND DAD, HOW DID YOU TAKE US ANYWHERE. I truly have a new appreciation for family vacations, I'm sure it was less of a "vacation" and more like "torturous hard work" for my parents. Just the coordination of clean laundry boggles my mind.

The entire trip went smoother than I imagined- Isabelle was mostly well behaved. I say mostly because there were a few occasions of fusstastic behavior, but all in all, it was wonderful. The day before we left for Irvine, I hopped on craigslist and found a used Baby Bjorn. We have an Ergo carrier for Isabelle- which was wonderful when she was new, it kept her snuggly and warm in the Utah weather. Now that she is a bit bigger, she is too big to carry the infant way and still too small to fit the regular, baby way in the Ergo. Eventually she will fit into it again. Mom suggested a front carrier just to see how it would work for now and seriously people IT WAS INGENIOUS. Isabelle loved it. Nay, she ADORED it. She giggled and smiled and laughed, all the while thinking "silly mom. this is all I wanted." As a result, most of her pictures from the trip are of her strapped to someone's chest. She is also doing so much better eating solid food and sleeping more at night. Hallelujah!

We met beautiful baby Jakob and spent time with Sean and Rachel. Rachel has transitioned into being a mother so seamlessly, I think around this time when I had Isabelle I was still hibernating in sweatpants and being anti-social. She is rocking the whole mom thing! The blessing day was so lovely, Sean's prayer for Jake was so special. After church we had a BBQ at Sean's, outside in the Southern California weather. PS I am moving there. It was so nice outside, people napped on the grass! In Redding, we have three days of spring and then BAM, it is too hot to keep your chapstick in you car.

We also spent some time at Disneyland with our family. Every time we go, the dynamic of our group has changed a little bit. When we were kids (ok teenagers and adults too) we ran from ride to ride, packing it in and closing down the park. This trip was so low-key, we didn't feel like we had to rush around and see everything. We took Madi on Peter Pan and Dumbo. Isabelle's first and only ride was on the Jungle Cruise. We walked through Tarzan's treehouse and sat and watched the Princess Frog performance. Our churro consumption, however, remained the same. There is something so magical about taking a child to Disneyland. Suddenly, everything is a little more sparkly and shiny- it was so much fun seeing disney through Madilyn's eyes.

And Monday night when I returned home, I was so thankful to see Jazz. He had flowers on the counter for me. He missed me. I missed him. I love being married.

Cue the photos.

Izzie's only Disney ride: the Jungle Cruise. Mostly she's trying to figure out how to get that entire pole in her mouth.

Just hanging out in our jammies. You know.

Baardson + Sumsion Families

Waiting for everyone outside Tower of Terror

Aaaaand baby bjorn time continues.

Sean and Rach and baby Jake on blessing day

Sometimes I pretend she is mine. Did I mention she calls me Mimi?

Baby's first Disneyland visit

Fancy hat!

Madilyn was so careful and gentle.

"If you just throw your weight to one side, you start to roll. See? Try it!"

Scott and JaNae meeting Jake

Holding Jakob reminded me how small Isabelle was as a newborn- made me want another one! Sike. I mean, yeah sure but later please.

roadtrip.

I'm blogging live from my tiny keyboard on my phone so forgive any spelling errors, incomplete sentences, or incorrect punctuation. Aka, this is a perfect excuse to be a lazy editor

We are heading south on I5, destination: Irvine. Sean and his wife have welcomed baby jakob to the family and we are making a trip to squeeze his newborn face and kiss his chunky cheeks. This trip marks isabelles first time to disneyland, her first vacation, and my first time away from jazz since we were married.

I'm not going to lie, I cried a little when I kissed him and sent him off to work this morning. He has a major project going on at work this week and it will carry on through the weekend, so he couldn't come with us. Luckily, Scott and JaNae are awesome and offered to let us tag along with them. So here we are, the five of us, 300 miles to go.

So far Isabelle has done so well taking naps and being happy in the car that I'm seriously considering becoming a professional truck driver

I miss my husband, I'll miss his warm toes in bed tonight. I miss his scruffy beard. I hate that I will be doing things without him. I'm sad I won't see him until Monday night. This is the time I really wish I had attended hogwarts instead of ehs.

Well, I will let you know how the rest of the weekend goes. I'm sure by Monday, I will bow down to all single parents.

Ps. Blogging via phone is hard.

Pss. Remind me to post about our new fablous carpet. And also about the art of packing for a trip with a baby. Thanks.

Isabelle.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about how we were having a difficult time with Isabelle sleeping at night, napping during the day, and just being fussy in general. I ended up not publishing it because it was whiney and complainey and comical and I think I wrote it mostly for my own therapy.

But that was a few weeks ago. And now it's not really that funny anymore. Since then it has only gotten progressively worse and I'm starting to run out of ideas. I think she is hard core teething, which is contributing to this whole thing, and I know this transitional homelessness doesn't help, but it's like sometimes it seems like her tummy just hurts her and I hate that I can't help very much. I'm a fixer, you know? I like to fix things and usually I can figure it out and make it work better.

I never thought I would say this, but I feel more tired now than I did when she was a newborn. Sometimes she wakes up 5 or 6 times at night and it just isn't conducive to any sort of REM sleep cycle. I know I'm not functioning as I normally would, and I definitely don't LOOK as I normally would. Bless Jazz for still loving me.

After witnessing some of my frustration this weekend, my good friend reminded me that this too shall pass. I know it will. I know the day will come when I will miss this stage of Izzie's little life and wish with all of my might to revisit it for a minute so I can nibble her baby thighs and kiss her soft cheeks. I know there are lots of mothers out there who don't have help like I do, who don't have healthy babies, or can't afford financially to stay at home. I recognize that this is a privilege, and I embrace it as my calling on this earth. It is a full time job and I love being a mother- but like any job, sometimes it's just hard. Usually, after a good cry and some time on my knees pleading for guidance, I feel better.

Anyway, I am hoping that after we move and get settled, we will be able to help Isabelle sleep better during the night so she is happier during the day. Until then, I'll be wearing my sweatpants and uggs pretty much all day long.

Of course, I am more than open to suggestions. Things we have tried so far: mylicon drops, baby tylenol, baby orajel, sensitive formula, nutrimagen, every pacifier ever manufactured, feeding her more, feeding her less, feeding her solids, feeding her cereal, letting her cry, swaddling and rocking her, having a schedule, having many short naps, having a few long naps, playing her music, various other song and dance routines. You get the idea.

Our Little Alfalfa.

If you look really closely.

Really closely.

Closer.

You can see Isabelle's Alfalfa hair.

See?

So cute slash hilarious.

Now, how do we get the rest to grow?

The one where we didn't move.

(My nearly homeless baby.)

Remember how we were supposed to move this weekend?

And I packed up our whole house?

Every pot? Every pan? Every dish and every spoon?

(Here is where it gets trixy)

We didn't move.

Thursday afternoon we had an appointment to get the carpet cleaned at our new house. Isabelle had a doctor appointment at the same time, so my mom went over to let the carpet dude in. Turns out, our carpet at the new house is totally and completely ruined. You can just tell when you walk in that there has been some sort of canine business going on allllll over the place. Apparently the sellers cleaned the carpet before they moved, causing the liquid pet odor to resurface. And they left the heater on high. So, basically we walked into a Pee Oven.

Carpet dude said we have two options. 1) Try to treat the whole area and hope it goes away. 2) Totally replace the carpets and seal the slab. He volunteered to come back at night with a black light flashlight to show us the extent of the damage. We met him there around 8 and you guys- seriously, it was WAY WORSE THAN WE EVER THOUGHT. It looked like 5-inch polka dots throughout the entire house, I kid you not. You would never, ever be able to tell how bad it really was with just your naked eye, the black light picks it up so much better.

So. There we are. On the eve of our move. Staring at carpet that has to come out. The sellers have agreed to pay for 75% of the carpet expense, although they were not happy about it at all. I'm sure they had no idea what their two little doggies had really done when they weren't looking. Sneaky dogs.

Shopping for carpet has only confirmed my post-pregnancy inability to make decisions. They have polyester, nylon, fluffy, non-fluffy, Berber, soft, thick, twisty, patterned, monotone and every color of the rainbow. Did you know that you have to RAKE some carpets? Like leaves? After trying to choose just one carpet color, I have decided that I could never build a house. It would take centuries.

The problem with buying new carpet is that it has to be ordered from carpet heaven. It comes either from LA in 3-4 days or from Georgia in 7-10 days. Please recall that we thought we were moving Friday, so any extra days mean we are basically homeless. We have to be out of our apartment by Thursday, and there really is no way our new carpet will be installed by then. Faced with the prospect of taking shelter under an overpass and living off of Pirate's Booty and Protein shakes, my mom and dad have offered to let us stay with them at a very cheap rate of 3 Isabelle Cheek Nibbles per day. Totally fair.

I know you are thinking but how is your crazy brain doing with all of this. I think I am being calm? We have stuff everywhere now- a little left at our old apartment, a lot in our new garage, some in my bedroom here on El Vista Street. You all know how I feel about random stuff distribution, it drives me i-n-s-a-n-e. It was hard to know what we would need short term, since we didn't know when we would actually be in our house. Outfits? Shoes? Church clothes? Maybe. I just don't know. Throw a baby in the mix and all bets are off. It's called ANXIETY.

The good news is that we get brand new carpet! That we like! For Isabelle to roll around on! That doesn't smell like animal feces! Exclamation Point! We just have to wait a little bit for it to arrive. In the meantime, we have been cleaning and scrubbing, loading and unloading, packing and unpacking, you get the idea. It looks like the carpet will be installed a week from Wednesday, and I know it will be worth the wait.

6 Months

Dear Isabelle,

Today you are 6-months old. Happy Half Birthday to you! At your checkup on Thursday you were 13 pounds, 6 ounces and 26 inches long. Tall and skinny! But very healthy. Today we are celebrating Easter Sunday with our family and listening to General Conference. Last time General Conference was on in October, I was in the hospital in labor waiting for your arrival. What a special day that was for our family. Listening to our church leaders all day today has brought back such wonderful feelings of your birthday.

In the last month you have become so much more aware of your surroundings. You reach for objects, notice colors on my shirt, grab my hair (ouch.) and watch people move around the room. You are a rolling champion now and can stand to be on your tummy more, though it's not your favorite. You love to stand and jump and wiggle and are constantly moving. You are growing out of your 3 month clothes and are starting to wear some 6 month sizes. Suddenly you stretch across my whole chest when I'm holding you and its hard to remember when you were so tiny that you fit on my shoulder. You've grown out of your infant bath tub and your favorite part of the day is bath time. You squeal and splash to your heart's content and if we let you, you would stay in there all night long.

We've started giving you a few solids now and your favorite food is sweet potatoes. You could eat them by the gallon and you usually screech at me if I am not feeding you fast enough. When you are drinking your bottle you love to play with my hair- you don't pull it or grab it, you softly run it through your fingers over and over until you are full. These sweet little moments are among my favorite and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

The other day we rushed into church a little bit late and sat down next to Scott, JaNae, and two year old Madilyn. This little girl loves you so much, she is so careful and gentle with you- she loves to give you your toys and blankets and she calls you Belle. As we sat down on the bench next to her, she cradled your soft face in her small hands and smiled so big, leaned into you and loudly exclaimed "Hi, Belle!" I thought of your special little spirits in heaven before you were born, how you were probably the best of friends and couldn't wait to come down to earth to see each other again.

6 months have come and gone since you joined our family. In this short time you have brought more joy to our lives than we ever thought possible. Yes, you still wake us up multiple times a night. Yes, sometimes you are a handful. Yes, occasionally I feel like I will never catch up on my life ever again. But you are so, so incredibly worth it. We love you so much.

Love, love, love you.

xoxo


Momma