Happy Two Years!

Happy birthday to my little family! Two years ago, JL and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Manti Temple, and I wouldn't take back a single moment.

(Don't you just love the face my husband is making in this picture?)

somewhere in the crowd there's youuuu

It's not very often that I have a moment to myself these days. There is always something to be done, and with JL back in school and back to juggling two jobs, I'm happy to take the lead on all of the house stuff. It only seems fair.

But...since Walter got his second flu shot late this afternoon and started feeling the effects soon after he had consumed his "Needles hurt and Mom's sorry" Happy Meal (the fries and the lemonade anyway), I have a minute to myself before JL comes bounding through the door. And I have something to say.

I love my husband.

I was talking to my mother this morning about friends and family and the usual smattering of random people popped up into the conversation. Not to be vain, or prideful, but every time someone came up, I thought to myself, 'Man. Have I got it good.'

I'm not always the best at showing my husband how extremely grateful I am that he does what he needs to so that I can stay home with our son and live the life that I want to. Just two weeks ago, we spent a good 20 minutes pushing on either side of the bathroom door while I sobbed hysterically and said unkind things. I'd like to say that all of that crazy is because I've got hormones raging through my body. Unfortunately, about two percent of it is there all the time. And he puts up with it.

He not only puts up with it, he caters to it. He goes out of his way to make me smile, to hold me when the crazy is telling him, "Don't touch me!", to be an amazing father to our son, to kiss my belly full of baby, to tell me I don't look fat, to reassure me that I'm a good mother, to encourage my interests and hobbies, to help me push myself past my comfort zone, and to pick up the pieces when all that pushing ends in utter failure.

So this year, and every year after, I resolve to be the most patient, supportive, and loving wife that I can be. Because this scruffy guy is completely worth it.

my very own retro house (and other things)

There have been some big changes in the Olmstead household.

1) Walter turned 1! This makes me feel old. Really old. I have a toddler. He is adorable. Unfortunately, he refuses to walk, but we sure love him. He's a wicked awesome dancer.

2) We moved! We UPgraded and hauled all of our stuff upstairs from the basement to the main house. There is a fireplace, a backyard, a frontyard, a garage, a huge back porch, and best of all, two bathrooms. Walter is in love with his retro pink tub. JL and I love not having to navigate a narrow staircase everytime we walk through the door.

3) I'm pregnant! We're expecting our second child on July 6 of this year. I still have panicky moments of, "Oh my gosh! What am I doing? I can't handle two kids!". JL is beyond elated.


All in all, we're looking forward to an adventurous new year and I can't wait to see what Heavenly Father has in store for us!

Lighting The Riverwoods | Pizza For Africa

So Wiffy and I + Walt decided to go to the Riverwoods tonight. It has been under construction for most of the past year. Tonight the central square was completed and the whole place was dressed for Christmas.

It was lovely.

Santa was there, the line was about a block long though, so we opted for another day.

The lighting was amazing! As you can see they had strands running above the walkways and icicles that seemed to drip from the trees and buildings.

A local band was on center stage singing some songs that were familiar, and other that we hadn't heard before.

They did a good job. It was fun to listen to.

Dotted throughout the Square were large braziers, all of which had different pieces of awesome metalwork. This was my favorite, mostly because it reminded me of Daeden.

Sorry, my camera sometimes has issues with night shots. A couple of these are blurry.

My lovely Wiffy!

(Spell-check wanted to turn Wiffy into WiFi,

[add to dictionary]

Ha, take that spell-check)

How I love her.

As we were wandering about, around, and through the different events, our minds started to switch back into food mode. The Riverwoods while known for great food, (IMO) is also known for it's prices which, class as tier 3. So with that in mind we started to search for something on the cheaper end.

Enter Malawi Pizza:

A personal custom pizza parlor, with 6 minute wait times, friendly staff, and a promise to feed a child in Africa for every meal purchased.

We loved it.

Wiffy decided to go for the salad, which while it was good, she says she won't get again after tasting the pizza.

I ordered off of their 'Healthy Specials' menu. Something about roasted garlic and shrimp sounded amazing! It was.

Walt had his first taste of commercial lemonade which he liked only after he realized it wasn't water. (Which took some convincing. [read as trickery])

The wait time was amazing. The place was crowded, easily around 150 people. Before I finished dispensing my drink they brought Wiffy's salad, as I was walking back to my seat they brought my pizza. I had watched the process while we were waiting to order; raw ingredients thrown onto dough, covered with cheese and set in a large open brick oven. They were quick and efficient.

Walt was even tempered and smiling the whole time.

The date night was a success.

Man, I love that kid.

parents, inc

Walter has been having nightmares lately. Most nights we toss him into bed with us until he calms down and then he snuggles with Dad on the walk back to bed.

Unfortunately, last night was kind of our fault. As the husband and I got into bed, I looked at him and said, "We need to change Walter's diaper. I forgot to put him in a nighttime before bed." We grudgingly got out of bed and made our way into the nursery. There was Walter, curled on top of his fuzzy, completely dead to the world.

The husband looked at me and said, "Are you sure about this?"

I was.(insert speech on diapers leaking and clean bedding and a recently washed fuzzy) We just needed to move with stealth. We got to work. From the crib to the changing pad, Walter was still asleep. We moved with his stretches to get his little legs out of his pajamas. We switched diapers. And then as we were getting his little legs back into his sleeper, Walter's eyes opened. His mouth twitched. He shot us murderous looks. He opened he mouth. and. WAILED.

The husband insisted that he would be fine once we put him back in bed. We walked out of the room to wailing. We stood by the crack door, listening to more sobs. We got into bed serenaded by the distress of our child. The husband sighed and got out of bed. Three minutes later, with no end in sight, I heard a voice down the hall say, "Should we go find Mamma? Let's go find her." Sniffles. Light sobs. "There's Momma." Screaming.

Snuggling.

Hand holding.

Gibberish.

Reaching for Dad's beard.

Sleeping.

Snuggling. All the way back to bed.

Happy Monday!

 

and the little one said, "Roll over"

Last night, between the hours of ten and midnight, I had a Walter in my bed. Remember him?



First he fell asleep in the crook of my arm. Then he lunged across our bodies with his head on JL's chest and his legs on my stomach. Finally, JL and I sandwiched around his little body and he rolled from side to side in his sleep, putting his little hands on our arms and faces.

It was adorable the way he gently clung to us like we were giant teddy bears. And because he wasn't screaming.