NieNie- Do you love her too?

My sister met (and hugged) Stephanie Nielson (hence the name NieNie) today. I'm jealous. Stephanie is one of my favorite bloggers. She writes about real life; the joys AND the pain. I like that. She has lived through two of my worst fears; crashing in an airplane and burning alive. People all over the world read her blog, and she's been on Oprah and the Today Show, as well as countless other programs and newspapers. She's also a frequent speaker at conferences. She is a Mormon, and is never afraid to admit it. I like that too.
So if you don't know her, I think you should.
Check out this video of her that I love:


One of her first posts I read had me hooked, back in 2009. If you have fairly recently discovered her or have never heard of her, then I bet you haven't read this post. It's so beautiful and inspiring, and it's still my favorite post of hers.

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2009/11/do-you-still-see-me.html

Thursday, November 05, 2009
Do you still see me?

I asked Mr. Nielson with tears
in my eyes if he could still see me.

He was shocked at the question and slightly confused. But he answered anyway; he said he didn’t compare me to anything especially my appearance before the accident.

Maybe he doesn’t, but I do.

Sometimes I actually scare myself.

Yesterday at the grocery store a woman turned around to me in the
line and with an exhausted look she blurted out:
“Oh, I feel just the way you look!!”

I wanted to curl up and cry in the fetal position right there in isle three. I looked away and tears stung my eyes. I wasn’t prepared to have confirmed to me what I had felt earlier that morning after I had scrubbed my fragile body in the shower until it bled.

Part of the deal I chose, I guess.

I guess I should just suck it up and remember my blessings.

But part of me hurts for outward beauty.

When I lie in my bed as still as can be, I feel like the Stephanie before. Out my eyes I feel just the same. I feel perfect. My skin isn’t strained and my joints don’t rip my thin skin over and over with each movement.

That’s why getting up is hard to do.

I had another perfect moment today as I lay on my couch.
The sky was a lovely shade of blue. My weeping willow’s leaves glowed bright yellow and it moved so slowly and graceful in the autumn wind.

I was so quiet.

I was so still.

And the Lord was talking to me. He was whispering to me his love for me. He was proud of me and I felt my blessings restored to me. He is so real. He is there. He sees so much more than we do. He is the light and truth and anything that is good that I have, is of Him.

And then, I felt beautiful.

Your Letter

Dear Lulu,

Lately you've been needing lots of mommy time. You always want me to hold you, and play with you, and tickle you, but mostly just hold you. You beg me multiple times every day for it. I don't know why. Maybe you've noticed that Buddy gets held a lot. He is a little spoiled. Maybe you sense that in the coming months you will have even less of my attention but mostly that I will have less physical ability to hold you. A big belly just makes me so tired, and I can't put unnecessary strain on my body or the baby. And then when he's here in June, I can only imagine how tired I will be and how much I will be holding him, and not you.

But that does not mean that I love you any less. I hope you never ever feel that you are less important.

Some times when I look at you, so intent in your coloring, or playing with your princesses, I am just so amazed at how beautiful you are. You are perfect Lulu, perfectly beautiful.


I appreciate how willing you are to help me all the time already! And I love how you play with your brother. The other day, when we had a rare warm but windy day, you decided to read him books outside and planned a little party for the two of you consisting of nerds at the picnic table:

And yesterday, when Buddy was having a really hard day and mom and dad were getting more than a little tired of his screaming and throwing and destroying, you went out of your way to quietly ask him if he was ok. You told him he could come and sit in your lap while you did puzzles, even though he was trying to throw the pieces everywhere. You then took him by the hand and led him down the hall to go and play with him. It was so sweet that you wanted to make him happy.

I also love your creativeness. I know you are watching everything I do. I mean, the other day you made a cake out of legos:

It was such a great cake too. I hope I am setting a good enough example for you to follow.

I just want you to know that you are beautiful, and creative, and talented, and loving, and special, and oh so loved.

Love, Mom

Valentine's Day

I don't really like Valentine's Day. I think I may be in the minority here.

I think I liked it in elementary school. Everyone gave valentines to everyone else. And it's a crafty time, making the cards and the boxes to keep them in. Plus treats! I mean, what's not to love?

Maybe it's because in Jr High and Highschool it was the day that made me feel the most un-loved. I think the idea to sell roses and deliver them on Valentine's day during each class in High School was a terrible decision. Horrible. It does not help the self-esteem of kids who are already struggling in that area. I never got one rose. Not even from a girl friend. But then again I never gave one either. It not only made me realize boys didn't like me, but how little friends I had too. It was my least favorite day of the year.

Fast forward to when I actually had a boyfriend, and now a husband of course. I do like finally having a Valentine, but I must still feel a little sting from past Valentine Days or something because the day has still lost most of it's luster for me. Honestly I don't feel any more loved that day than I do on any other day. Ollie makes me feel loved often. I hope he feels the same way too, as do my babies. My world revolves around all 3 of them.

Valentine's Day just seems like such a silly holiday for adults. I couldn't really care less about gifts. I think it would actually mean so much more if he gave me flowers or candies on a random day just to say I'm thinking about you, instead of on a day that he is expected to. So, we don't really do gifts. And I'm happy as can be about it, as is he.

Valentine's Day should be for the kids.

That is what I focused on this year. I helped Lulu make some homemade valentines and we had a special candle-lit dinner and fancy dessert.

And I will admit two things.
Having kids makes the holiday kind of fun again! Until they get to Jr High and then I will just dread it because I will know how they feel.
I also admit I liked getting a love note from my sweetie. Keep those love notes coming Ollie. On V Day, and on any other day when you feel so inclined.

Here some pictures from our kid-centered Love Day:

Making Valentine's in our PJ's:We left Dad's on his pillow:

Since it was warm, we got to play outside! What a nice treat:

Our dinner and our chocolate fondue dessert!

4 years old

Lulu was oh so sick on her actual birthday. After a little breakfast she opened her gifts:


We let her choose what she wanted to eat for her birthday lunch. She chose Taco Bell. She loves those gorditas. It was the first meal she actually finished eating since she got sick at Disney World. After tacos she blew out her candles:

Doesn't she just look miserable. And she was. For days and days. Poor little thing.
Alas after a trip to the doctor and a blessing from dad, she started to feel better during the week. She was able to go get her free birthday ice cream!
Here she is finally feeling a bit better and showing off 2 of her presents, her Tink outfit and her new camera:

Then Saturday, a week after her actual birthday, we had her little party with friends and family. She chose this Tink cake after she saw it on-line. I spent many hours on it, and it turned out really cute if I do say so myself.





Some of her little buddies that came to celebrate: (I didn't realize Lulu's eyes were closed, but the battery died after this picture anyway, so I couldn't have taken any more. Two other girls who came, and her cousins, didn't want to be in the picture. And check out Lulu's dress. Grammie made it for her for Lulu's birthday!)

Happy Birthday to our sweet little Lulu!

Lulu's First Pictures

She got a kids' digital camera for her birthday. Most of the pictures are duplicates and blurry. I guess holding the camera still while taking the picture takes practice. But she got some pretty good ones I think!
These are some of Lulu's first pics. It's fun to see the world through her eyes.

Her baby Pluto that she chose as her souvenir from Disney World

Dr Barbie that Grandma gave her for her birthday

Our flowers on the side table

I think this may be her view of me most of the day. Not the most pleasant view. Sorry Lu.

Dad's sunday shoes

Our kitchen

The stairs

Little Buddy

She can catch me making weird faces all day long

2 of Dad

Almost decapitated

What I look like today

Her sparkly tinkerbell skirt

Me taking a picture of her taking a picture

If we look sick, it's not Lulu's fault. It's because we are. We are all still dealing with the nasty virus we brought home from Florida. We are slowly on the mend. Hopefully by Saturday we'll be 100%, cuz that's when Lulu's fairy birthday party is!

Disney World!

We just returned from a 6 day trip to Disney World in Florida! It was my third time to Disney World, but the first time with kids. They made it so much more fun, but so much more tiring too.

Let's start with:

Things that made our trip hard:
-Getting sick with cold= tired mommy
-So much walking for a prego mommy= tired mommy
-Too quiet in our room = bad sleeping most nights= tired mommy
-Buddy didn't like waiting in lines, or being stuck in the stroller for too long= holding Buddy = tired mommy
-Lulu got a high fever for the last 2 nights while we were there
-Our travel agent didn't book me sitting by my kids, which was the biggest hassle to change seats just before boarding or taking off.
-Changing planes in Atlanta was no fun

That being said, look how many things went right!:
-Loved staying in a Disney hotel with bus transportation
-Beds were nice
-Couldn't hear through the walls or the noise outside too much
-PERFECT WEATHER
-SHORT LINES on the rides for the most part
-Watching Lulu meet princesses and other characters
-Playing with cousins
-All you can eat food, all included in our plan
-Workers calling Lulu princess and making her feel special by telling her Happy Birthday!
-Fireworks over the castle. My brother in law said he's never seen kids get so excited about watching fireworks as mine did. Lots of dancing and clapping involved.
-Lots of help from Grammie and other family members
-Loved the cute kids rides
-Didn't lose any kids, keys, cards, phones, shoes, bags, etc.
-Buddies for Ollie to ride the "scary" rides with
-Lulu did AWESOME with the potty
-Buddy actually took pretty good naps in the double stroller since it lays back

So over all it was a fun trip!
Although if you are pregnant and have a 2 year old I would recommend 3 days max. 2 might be perfect.
I would definitely recommend staying in a Disney hotel.

It would have been easy to fix our few problems too. We needed to bring a little travel fan, wash our hands more often, and make our own plane reservations so we are sitting by each other.

Next time we go, years down the road, we decided it would be better just to go to DisneyLand in California. The kids mostly like the rides at Magic Kingdom and California Adventure and you just can't beat 1 short plane ride.
But if you don't have kids, do Disney World at least once in your life cuz Epcot is pretty awesome.

Now for pictures galore:
We visited all 4 parks- Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom

Lots of character signings in Lulu's little notebook and pictures:



Lulu wanted to see more princesses, but the lines were too long some times. We were lucky to catch these ones when the lines were really short.
Except for Woody and Buzz, we had to wait maybe 20 minutes. Buddy almost didn't make it. And we almost missed Buzz. He left right after us!
The army men from Toy Story were funny. This guy was copying Buddy's little foot stomping dance.

Jasmine and Mulan were really cute with Lulu, hugging her and getting down on her level to talk to her. So was Belle. Belle asked Lulu where she was traveling from. Lulu said "ummm, my house." and Belle said, "oh, where is your house?" Silence. "In your kingdom?" she asked. "Yeah," Lulu said.
Buddy wasn't scared of any of them at all, neither was Lulu. She went right up and hugged them and talked with them. They must get that from Ollie's side. I'm still kind of freaked of people in big suits.
One day we got Lulu a birthday pin, and they sprinkled her head with Mickey confetti and sang Happy Birthday on the way into the park:

We saw a few shows there too. The nemo show was cute, but a little too long for a tired Buddy. I had to take him out, and he was entertained by the gift shop while we were waiting for everyone else to come out. He was in LOVE with this huge Nemo. I was tempted to buy it for him, but not sure how we would get it home.

The kids loved the park areas. Here is the Honey I Shrunk the Kids one and the Dinosaur Dig one


A few more favorites-
Here's the Buddy being a good boy in his stroller

Lulu waiting to see Buzz and Woody


The elephants taking a bath on the safari at Animal Kingdom

Lulu enjoying her chocoalte cake (We got to choose a dessert with every meal. We tried to choose a fruit or yogurt most of the time, but the frozen lemonades and the chocolate cake were pretty good!)

Buddy was excited to see this S every time we got on the bus. He recognizes S's everywhere he sees them, since he's knows his name starts with an S. Lulu wanted a picture by her L too.


Buddy loving more Nemo stuff

Our only family pictures are on our Disney Photo pass card. It costs $15 to buy one picture from them! So, here's a picture of the pictures on our computer. Ha ha.


Thanks everyone for the fun trip!