Waking up to snow on the ground after being up with baby every hour during the night - not a very nice April fools joke, Mother Nature.
Waking up to snow on the ground after being up with baby every hour during the night - not a very nice April fools joke, Mother Nature.
April 2 ·
#TBT - Yep. That is me on my mom's lap (my older brother on my Dad's). Complete with yarn wreaths and a totally sweet suit that my dad is wearing. smile emoticon Gotta love the 80's.
So we've been dealing with sleep issues with Riley (12 months old). He fights sleep, like a LOT. Anyway I've been up with him a lot during the night and last night was no different. We have been slowly trying to transition him sleeping in the boys room, so we put him in there after the older boys have fallen asleep.
Anyway last night Riley woke up around 2:30 and my goal last night was to a) let him cry it out for a bit, and b) NOT pick him up. Therefore he cried.
Taylor (4 yrs old), the light sleeper that he is, wakes up.
And from my bed, I hear a crying baby. And Taylor who out of no where yells "RILEY YOU ARE LIKE THE LOUDEST BABY EVOW!!!" (ever, he can't say R's).
Haha. Luckily I found it funny enough to get out of bed and make an effort to calm Riley and deal with the situation. But seriously. This kid has GOT to sleep better. And we need a bigger house. And poor Taylor AND me are sleep deprived. That is all.
Three goofballs after Preston's 1st grade Barnyard Moosical tonight.
April 2 ·
Preston sang his heart out at the 1st grade Barnyard Moosical tonight. I'm always impressed with how fast children pick up on music and how well they memorize. Preston had a solo line and did fantastic! Proud mama here
Totally didn't want to workout today. I was soooooo sore from the kickboxing cardio class I took yesterday and all in the weirdest places (like my forearm??). But got dressed and came because it is when things are hard and you push through them where you find growth and success.
I haven't made homemade cinnamon roll in years. Watching them rise right now, hope they turn out! I used Bird's English Custard in the dough. #genconf#nomnomnom
Just call him DESTRUCTO-BABY. He roams the house and basically destroys....
Well, the Easter bunny did come last night, but I have no cute photos of the boys looking around the house for the eggs, or discovering their Easter basket because they must have confused Easter with Christmas and WOKE UP AT 6:00 a.m. to get the eggs
Meanwhile, Will snored away while I put Riley back to sleep and tried to get some more sleep myself. All I remember is hearing the pitter-pattering of fwet going around the hardwood floors running circles with their sugar high lol. Such a blur...
Happy Easter everyone!
Since today is Easter, I just want to share something personal to me. In a world where religion grows unpopular, where if you take a stand for what is right you are labeled anti-whatever, I just want to say why it is that I personally choose to practice my faith, why my family and I have a belief in a Savior of the World, and why I BELIEVE when sometimes it feels like you are alone.
It is pretty simple. To me personally, having a foundation in faith in God has provided me with HOPE in my life. I am able to have an outlook on my life and my family's life that is full of hope instead of doom or negativity. It has also provided me with LOVE and FAITH, instead of fear.
It is in times of great despair, when people are faced with their greatest challenges or even death - when they will look to whatever faith they have and exercise that. Think about the 9-11 disaster in NY and how all of a sudden children were praying at school, people were praying in the workplace, church attendance went up. People were fearful and they wanted HOPE, LOVE, and FAITH in their lives to feel comforted.
Some may call that silly. Some may call is foolish. it is hard to believe in something you can't physically see in front of you. But I personally know that there is a God, and there was a man named Jesus who walked the earth. And Easter Sunday He rose again and He lives. In my own hard times, I have prayed and turned to God and He has been there for me. I practice in the Mormon religion, but specific religion aside and just looking at the big picture....the REASON why I go to church, the reason why I pray and have faith is because I FEEL hope in my life, I FEEL a love that is greater than all, and it truly gives me a brighter outlook on life.
The past month we have missed a lot of church for various reasons - travel, sick kids, holidays, etc. When we were finally able to go back to church, I realized how uplifted I felt, how encouraged I felt, how much hope I felt. It was like a spiritual boost to get me through the next week. I wondered how people who have never felt that don't know what they are missing and I wished everyone could experience that sort of support.
So that is all. I just wanted to share why I personally believe and what it does for me in my own life. Whether you believe or not, I respect that and I admire many friends of different views and faiths. I am not usually outspoken about my faith, but hopefully you can see it in the way I live my life and can hear it in my music. Happy Easter everyone!
I'm stuck on the couch under a sleeping baby and I'm ok with that. Except that I kind of need to go to the bathroom and I'm kind of hungry. smile emoticon Priorities. Snuggles first always.
Riley had his 12 month wellness visit this afternoon. The stats are in: 85% for bodyweight (24 pounds), 33% for height. SHORT AND CHUNKY. smile emoticon And 100% of the office staff thought that he was absolutely adorable, even got offers to babysit for me. Haha. Oh and got the MMR vaccine hallelujiah (although he was not too pleased about that).
Hehe this cracks me up. Today at Riley's 12 month wellness visit, he had to do a routine blood draw to check for iron levels and this is his first time ever wearing a bandaid on his finger. All afternoon he has been holding it with clenched fists. He thinks that he needs to hold it or it will fall of otherwise. I tried to give him a cracker in that hand earlier, but nope mom! This hand is full!
So...we all took a spontaneous roadtrip to Spokane yesterday and spent the night and got home this afternoon. Just wanted to explore the area because you can get twice the house for the price. Turns out that as much as I loved the idea of being able to afford a bigger nicer home, I still couldn't get past the fact that it was 5 hours from the ocean.
I guess we are true Northwesterners. We love our green trees, our blue ocean, and mild temperatures. And we are willing to live in smaller older homes in order to afford the luxuries that nature gives us here. Back to home shopping on the peninsula...for half the house and twice much lol.
April 8 ·
Soooo you're sayin' I'm going to need a bath tonight.
April 8 ·
This is about how I would sum up my day today. Yup. I kept the kids alive. Barely. Yay me.
Some people stay up late getting reports done for their job. I stay up late making concise notes on my sheet music for a conductor of a symphony and choir I am meeting with tomorrow - who will be directing my music. #homeworksortof #kidsareinbed#alwayssomethingtodo
April 9 ·
I stayed up until 4 a.m. this morning. Never a good thing to do. But I did manage to get all my scores ready as I met with the conductor of the symph/choir this afternoon to review everything before rehearsals begin soon. Now I need chocolate, and a chic flick. Oh and my pajamas too. smile emoticonand sleep. Am I asking too much?
Brothers picnic out on the grass in the front yard. Too cute to not take a pic of big brothers sharing bites of PB&J with baby brother
April 10 ·
We really enjoyed attending the concert of Michael Dulin and Greg Maroneythis evening in downtown Seattle. We've known each other in the piano world for a while, so nice to finally meet in person. I was very impressed. Also great to see Rhonda Mackert and her hubby as well tonight.
April 11 ·
Happy National Sibling Day
— with Carolyn Lindsay Southworth and Mike Southworth.
Attending a songwriters workshop in Seattle (PNW Grammy chapter) , and the more I listen to other artists talk about their on-the-fly songwriting process and completing an album in only 3 weeks in the studio , the more I am convinced that the amount of time it takes me to complete music - I don't write songs and I don't write albums. I write film scores condensed into snippets that fit in album length. Life is my script. #IamaCOMPOSER
Just watched "If I Stay", and was reminded of how lucky are to spend time with our loved ones. Still thankful for my family, my husband and my little ones. Found this picture from 1 year ago...awe. My heart melted. I hope I can always LIVE each day fully and make sure they know I love them.
I totally have the worst shiner on my left leg, thanks to stepping up on a chair to reach something and banging my leg against the arm on the way down. It's been 3 days and it still hurts like craaaaaazy to the touch. Seriously ouch.
Look who curled up next to me and feel asleep. And I just took a nap with baby too. Two snuggle sessions with 2 kids in one afternoon, how lucky am I? (The 3rd is busy pretending he is a super hero). #lazysunday
Our boys have really been into time lately. Like how long things take, how many minutes until we leave, how many hours to drive somewhere, etc.
This morning Taylor (4 yrs old) asked me, "Mama, how much long is 1 minute?"
Me: It's not very long at all. It's very fast.
Taylor: Then how come when Papa says "I'll be down in 1 minute" it takes forever?!!!"
Hahahahaha. Touche, Taylor. Touche.
Yep. Still around. Just been working very hard on music this week, and also dealing with the stress that comes from having a 12 month old who fights sleep, fights taking a bottle, and screams a lot lately. And he gets into EVERYTHING as you can see behind me now (and you can see how much I care at this moment too). Love him, but I won't lie this phase he's currently going through has been a bit challenging. #workinghard#tryingtosurvive
LONG POST. Need some PARENTING advice from someone who is a baby whisperer. Seriously.
I was reluctant in posting this because EVERYONE always has different opinions on child-raising, but we're sort of at our wit's end.
Riley. HORRIBLE sleeper. He is 12 months (almost 13 months old) and won't take naps. Like seriously, he'll sleep for 10 minutes and wake up and scream. The daycare mom at the gym who watches him for an hour while I workout told me today that in her 20 years as a daycare worker she has never seen a baby who fights sleep so much. As in...he feels himself going to sleep and literally starts shaking his head, wiping his eyes, saying "Na na na na", and whining.
We've tried music. We've tried lavender lotions and oils. We've tried swaddling. We've tried bottles with milk. We've tried singing. We've tried laying him down awake, we've tried laying him down asleep. We've tried letting him cry for 20 minutes and then going in and not picking him up but patting his back. We've tried letting him cry it out. The ONLY thing he wants is me and mommy's milk, and at almost-13 months I'm trying to get his feedings per day down NOT up. We were down to morning and night feedings only and taking cow's milk during the day. This week? NOPE. He wants nothing to do with cow's milk and throws a fit if it's not me. Absolutely won't drink it.
What ends up happening is two very stressed out parents from trying to get him to sleep - especially me because we get to the point of just not wanting to deal with him crying and screaming and I end up nursing him. I get him to sleep, lay him down in his crib...he instantly wakes up, stands up, and cries. Last night when that happened, I let him cry. He cried for 45 solid minutes until he finally passed out. I waited 10 minutes and then went in to put a blanket on him, when he popped open his eyes and instantly sat up and cried.
On the days I'm working on music, and Will is in charge he tries to get him to sleep and gets screamed at for up to an hour. He can only handle so much screaming and so he just gets him up and lets him be awake and cranky. I could get him to sleep and avoid all that, but again....trying to AVOID another daytime nursing with him and get him to sleep without mommy.
SIGH. Seriously. WORST SLEEPER EVER. And I'm getting concerned because it's totally not normal for a baby his age to survive on such little sleep. In the past 4 days he has had maybe ONE 20 minute nap per day, but then he will go to bed at around 9:30 and sleep until 3am. I then sometimes spend between 3-5am trying to get him back to sleep, and then when he finally does conk out he'll sleep usually until 7am, and then again until 10am.
The problems are:
1) He refuses naps.
2) He won't sleep unless he has a boob in his mouth.
3) When he DOES sleep at night, if he wakes up, it is extremely hard to get him back to sleep.
4) seriously sleep deprived but fight's it hard-core.
2) He won't sleep unless he has a boob in his mouth.
3) When he DOES sleep at night, if he wakes up, it is extremely hard to get him back to sleep.
4) seriously sleep deprived but fight's it hard-core.
It's a miracle. We left the kids with a babysitter tonight to go to the temple, and when we got home we found that our AMAZING 14 year old babysitter got Riley to sleep. After I picked my jaw back up off the floor, I asked her how she did it, she said she laid him in his crib, he cried for 5 minutes, and then fell asleep.
She is either full of magic, or he was finally so tired he crashed. Either way, I'm grateful. Thank you lovvvvvely Julene aka best babysitter ever.
I am pretty proud of myself this morning. I got out of my usual gym routine shell and went to a Zumba class this morning that I've been secretly eyeing from the weight room every Friday. Their music is always energizing and I watch them doing their TOTALLY sexy dance moves while I think to myself "Daaaaang, wish I could move like that."
So I went this morning. I looked absolutely rediculous, but it was so liberating for my body. This is going to be my regular Friday workout going forward. The teacher was so nice too, as well as the class. Made new friends too. Happy
April 17 ·
Excited for some family time tonight! They are especially excited that it's a monster truck show LOL
With the crew at the state fair. Photo cred @runwillt
This is what we do. #Statefair #kidsareonaride
Good night fair
Good morning world!! It's a beautiful day in Seattle. The hubs is running a 50k today in Yakima. The munchkins and I just finished the gym and are getting ready to pack a picnic and go hiking. Wanna join us?
Just me and the boys....
First time selfies actually served a legit purpose - the only way I could check on little Riley-guy in the backpack. #Finallygotanap #hikingwithkids
A certain someone was somewhat interested in a new brand of bottle tonight (Tommee Tippee), and the fact that I spiked his cow's milk with a tiny bit of hot cocoa mix (he has refused any non-breast milk for the last week, I've tried cows milk and almond milk, though we are still nursing, just trying to do both and gradually wean). He drank an oz and then started shaking it and squirting it everywhere whilst giggling. Annnnd it's 10pm and still not interested in sleep yet. But at least we have a very very small progress on the bottle factor. At least this time.
Another beautiful Spring day in Seattle. After church we enjoyed a lazy early evening next to the lake. I know someday our boys will turn into tall strapping young men, but I will always remember them right now as little cute playmates. It will probably be my favorite age of them burned into my mind.
April 19 ·
Taylor was sitting next a grass full of daisies earlier today and said matter-of-fact-like, "Mama, there are so many flowers here. That's a lot of flowers I need to pick for you.
Last weekend we went to the WA Sate Spring Fair in Auburn and had a blast. We ended the night with the monster truck show. The best part was I seemed to have captured a plethora of very silly faces throughout the day....
I've been working on composing "I Saw Three Ships" today, and Will meandered by and said "It's nice to hear you composing something in a major key! Sounds happy!" tongue emoticon Nicely noted by the man who knows me best and that I normally gravitate towards minor keyed moody epic stuff.#feelsweird
April 21 · While I eat my protein waffles for breakfast, so does he. I've given up on trying to get him eat anything else. I'll never have my breakfast to myself again.
Setting up our living room to record an interview with me for the Ensign Symphony and Choir to talk about our upcoming collaboration.
April 21 ·
My usual face.
Perks of working for yourself: you can totally have a pajama day when you stayed up working on stuff until 3:30 a.m. and your baby woke you up at 7:30 a.m. Feels so gooooood!! The pajama part...not the lack of sleep part.
Look who finally lost his front tooth that's been wiggly for over a week now!
Annnnnd this is how Riley feels about shopping for makeup with Mommy. #mac #makeupforvideoshoot#babysidekick
What is this you ask? Oh just AMAZING print work for all the choral and conductor scores done by Nanette Davis at Qivu Graphics in Woodinville (thanks David Sabee for the recommendation).#andIwasjustgoingtogotoKinkos #firstrehearsaltonight
April 23 ·
It is beyond incredible to hear one's own musical creations being sung to life by a group of magnificent people. What I've only heard in my head or from a virtual software choir is now a reality. I'm also hearing a lot of mistakes I need to fix that I couldn't hear before, but on the upside - I'm also hearing a lot of heavenly noise. Rehearsal #1 down. 2 more to go before recording session.
I left for rehearsal last night a bit stressed about the state of our messy home, but came home to a beautiful CLEAN home. And amazingly enough it is still clean this morning. Thank you Will for all the little (and big) thoughtful things that you do to make me happy. I 💖 u!
Well I now know why this B-flat all of a sudden today sounded like a honky tonk piano (one of the 3 strings is out). I was just informed by my 6 yr old that my 4 yr old threw a Rescuebot (Bumblebee Transformer)) into the piano last night. Sigh. #emergencypianotuningneeded #ohmyEars #badkidsbad
Hubby is out of town and I survived church with all 3 of these guys. Just barely.
Sunday afternoon snuggles are my favorite. I am laying here admiring his perfect cute chubby face.
I was invited to come sit and listen in on the beautiful music for a video game scoring session tonight (Glenn Stafford. Although shhhhh not sure I'm supposed to disclose that? LOL ) at Bastyr (where I will be recording the choir in 2 weeks). Very enlightening to see so I can plan better for my own upcoming session.
April 26 ·
Dear baby at the end of my bed playing with my hair brush and giggling,
It's 10:30pm. Go to sleep already.
But even though you are not the best sleeper and you are currently yelling "Da!!!" at the top of your lungs while laying on the floor and kicking your legs, I still love you.
Mommy
Maybe some of us aren't ready for Monday morning yet.
I love the beach and needed a new cover photo that really inspired me, made me feel happy, and want to actually be there in that picture soaking my feet up in the sand and this was it. smile emoticon Ahhhhhhhhhhh....happy.
Done composing Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry. I was so excited I couldn't contain myself. That blasted piece had me stumped for weeks and I finally figured out what I needed to do with it and just wanted to yell it for everyone to hear. YAY ME.
— 
feeling accomplished.
Laying in bed this morning and Taylor (4 yrs old) climbs in and asks, "Momma, what will it feel like when you're dead?".
#waytostartthemorning #whattheheck #thiskid
#waytostartthemorning #whattheheck #thiskid
I hit a new postbaby low weight this week, after a long plateau (but still have along ways to go). I've been busting my rear at the gym 6 days a week, and eating healthy and being more mindful of not mindlessly snacking outside of planned eating times. My baby is 13 months old and I feel like for the past year I've been living in a postpregnancy soft body despite my efforts. It's only been the past couple of weeks where I've felt like I've been finally seeing a little definition, and seeing a small glimpse into the body I used to know. It's been a long and gradual process.
Having a baby is hard, and I've been very kind and accepting of my body this 3rd time around but still working hard at the same time. Sometimes I have a really hard time seeing the difference between now and where I was before (left was in October, 6 months pp, right is today). But taking photos has always helped me. But the BEST is having Will come up to me and hug me and tell me he can feel.a difference. #winning#postpartum #losingbabyweight
Having a baby is hard, and I've been very kind and accepting of my body this 3rd time around but still working hard at the same time. Sometimes I have a really hard time seeing the difference between now and where I was before (left was in October, 6 months pp, right is today). But taking photos has always helped me. But the BEST is having Will come up to me and hug me and tell me he can feel.a difference. #winning#postpartum #losingbabyweight
And the questions continue again this morning from this one. "Mama, when Riley came out of the hole did it hurt?"
"Oh you mean when Riley was born?"
Taylor: "Yeah."
"Well the doctors gave mommy some special medicine and made it so nothing hurt and i couldn't feel anything and then they cut a hole my tummy, and then they pulled Riley out and he cried."
"Why did he cry?"
"Because it was the first time he ever breathed air, and so it's a good thing that babies cry when they are born. It means they are healthy."
"And so so so did it hurt?"
"Nope because they gave me the special medicine remember? And then after Riley was out, they sewed me back up and i was all better, but it took mommy a long time to feel good again. Remember how when you went to the doctor and got the ouchies fixed in your throat and you got to lay on the couch and eat lots of popsicles? It's kind of like that."
He thinks for a moment.
"And so when my blood comes out it kind of hurts. I think it's hurting right now."
"Uh oh, are you bleeding somewhere? "
"No i mean the blood in my body."
And then a conversation ensued about how the blood in our body is good for us and keeps us healthy.
"Oh you mean when Riley was born?"
Taylor: "Yeah."
"Well the doctors gave mommy some special medicine and made it so nothing hurt and i couldn't feel anything and then they cut a hole my tummy, and then they pulled Riley out and he cried."
"Why did he cry?"
"Because it was the first time he ever breathed air, and so it's a good thing that babies cry when they are born. It means they are healthy."
"And so so so did it hurt?"
"Nope because they gave me the special medicine remember? And then after Riley was out, they sewed me back up and i was all better, but it took mommy a long time to feel good again. Remember how when you went to the doctor and got the ouchies fixed in your throat and you got to lay on the couch and eat lots of popsicles? It's kind of like that."
He thinks for a moment.
"And so when my blood comes out it kind of hurts. I think it's hurting right now."
"Uh oh, are you bleeding somewhere? "
"No i mean the blood in my body."
And then a conversation ensued about how the blood in our body is good for us and keeps us healthy.
April 29 ·
What is the best way to pull a tooth? Preston front tooth is loose and he is in a lot of pain and is bleeding and I am a wuss. Do you pull forward or backwards?
Thanks everyone! Will is the hero. He did it with floss and distracting Preston with a YouTube clip of the real Transformers movie (which they never get to watch). This was after 45 min of him bawling.
Tonight I am thankful for having amazing friends in my church. I have been trying to find Christmas trees to decorate for my music video shoot next weekend and wasn't having any luck. I emailed a decoration rental company for a quote and they came back with....wait for it....a quote of $2786.78 to rent 2 Christmas trees and have them decorated. I sent an email out to my ward at church and within 2 hours had so many offers to help. A wonderful lady offered to let me borrow 3 trees, plus garland, plus lights, and she is coming to help set up and she won't take payment. She will be getting chocolate then. Or something. But seriously.....so amazed at the kindness of people. smile emoticon My heart is full.
This shirt is 100% me. My hubby agrees and accepts my apologies.
The new park is FINALLY done! Taylor has only asked me EVERY single day for the past few months to drive by to see if it was done yet (after the gym in the mornings). They had a chain linked fence around it, or tractors were digging, or pouring cement for the parking lot. But today, TODAY it was open for the first time and the sun came out to welcome my 4 year old into the arms of fresh a playground. He was pretty happy.
April 30 ·
This is my "I left early to be at rehearsal on time but I've been stuck in traffic for an hour and am now 30 minutes late" face.
Back in the middle fork. Looking across the valley at Russian Butte.
Chirico 6-peat this morning with good friends. 21.5 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing makes for a great workout.
Olallie Lake welcoming Spring.
Sorry guys. This was the prettiest view today.#stillwinterinUtah
Happy #ArborDay So glad to live under a lush forest canopy. The tree on the right probably would have been celebrating its 500th Birthday about now.#treehugger
Happy B-Earth day from the only remaining lowland old growth stand of trees along the I-90 corridor. — atAnnette Lake Trailhead.
Got to love discovering a new trail in your backyard.#newtrailtuesday — at Mason Lake.
Sweet hammock setup with a view. — at Granite Mountain Lookout.
Will Thomas added 14 new photos to the album: Yakima Skyline 50k 2015.
It was a hot, exposed day of climbing and descending at the Yakima Skyline 50k, but we got 'er done with some good company.
— with Stuke Sowle atYakima Skyline Rim 50k and 25k.
Happy Zoo day with Cousins. Thanks Will Thomas for coming with us. Gwenevere was so excited to see Preston. And it was fun hanging out at the zoo. Even if it was super crazy busy.
Will Thomas added 17 new photos to the album: Mt. Baker via Easton Glacier.
I was thwarted from my 2nd attempt on Mt. Baker, this time due to weather. What started as a perfect day quickly turned into nasty weather and of course as soon as I retreated from the mtn, turned back into a beautiful day.
Got an upfront different view of my local ledge today.— at Rattlesnake Ledge.
And that's an April rap!
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