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han.

I'd never heard of the term 'nesting' until I was teaching 6th grade a few years ago. I had a student whose mom was pregnant with twins and one day when I asked how her mom was doing towards the end of the pregnancy she replied, "Oh you know...nesting." 

At the time, I absolutely didn't know. But I thought it might be unwise to tarnish my credibility by admitting that I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, so I just smiled and nodded. 

Being pregnant with baby #3 in just over 3 years...I've come a long way in understanding the period of time towards the end of pregnancy she was referring to. HA!

I've always loved making to-do lists and it's typical for me to have a running list of projects to tackle constantly in the back of my mind, but with the "due-date" of baby #3 rapidly approaching, I've reached the frantic stage of adding-and-crossing-things-off-my to-do list-at-lightening-speeds known as "NESTING." 

And yes, this frantic and frazzled little mother-bird is a pretty accurate in showcasing how I'm feeling right about now. 😂 

But here's the point: After months and months of avoiding it on my to-do list, THE KIDS' ROOM IS FINALLY DECORATED!!!!!!! 

Ever since moving into this apartment I planned to have Lydia and Elliott share a room, and over the course of the last 10 months I've gradually gathered things to furnish it. In August we started the..."adventurous" endeavor of actually putting them in the same room at bedtime and... 😅 safe to say that saga deserves a blogpost (or 5🙈) of its very own. HA.

BUT YOU GUYS THEIR ROOM FINALLY FINISHED AND I'M SO PLEASED WITH HOW IT CAME TOGETHER!!!! 

First of all. It's super simple. Some might even say bare 😂. I'm sure a normal person could have had this level of decorating done by noon in a single day, but I tend to be VERY indecisive and agonize over every little decision when it comes to decorating, so despite what this may look like, it is a HUGE accomplishment for me. (Our last apartment we lived in for over a year and I only ever finished decorating one room. ha.)

Thankfully for me, in the hours I've spent scouring Pinterest, I've zero-ed in on my design style and if all the "how to categorize your design style" quizzes I've taken are correct, my design style is classified as 'minimalist.' (Shocker, huh?)

Hooray for Pinterest teaching me things about myself I never knew and also for the fact that it means I can have only a few things in a room and call it complete! (Less things = less decisions = happier Hannah 👏🏻)

Lydia's crib was gifted to us from Kolcraft and we all love it. (Especially Lydia.) It's called the Roscoe 3-in-1 and even after three months of use she still refers to is as her "new crib." haha. One of the big advantages of this particular crib is that if you purchase it with the accompanying conversion kit, you can use it as a regular crib, toddler bed, or a day bed! And for being so versatile, the price-point is quite reasonable!

At some point soon we'll probably switch it to a toddler bed, but as of now Lydia still LOVESSS having a crib, and I'm in no rush to switch anything up since we finally have a good thing going with the two-kids-in-the-same-room situation. 😬🤞🏻😂 *knock on wood*

I chose this particular crib because of its bright, clean, timeless look and I was happy to see when it arrived that it is much sturdier than our other crib. Plus, when Stephen was setting it up he commented MULTIPLE times about how simple it was! It was already partially assembled in the box which made putting it together a breeze (very much unlike some IKEA furniture we've purchased in the past😅).

Last weekend we finally got around to hanging these adorable animal prints from The Crown Prints, and while it became VERY CLEAR very quickly that Stephen and I should never ever under any circumstances take on any DIY projects together (for the sake of our children and our marriage 😂😂😂) I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. It's amazing how much hanging something on the walls changes the entire feel of the room! Every time we walk into their room now, Elliott points at the animals and attempts to make animal noises and it's basically the cutest thing ever.

Although it's not perfect, and mayyybeeee at some point down the line I'll add curtains or something, for now the room is DONE. And you know what?! DONE IS FUN!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 What a relief it is to be able to cross things off my to-do list!!! (Now if only I could stop finding more and more things to add to it.😅)

Thanks again to Kolcraft for sending Lydia's wonderful crib and The Crown Prints for the perfect animals!

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han.

Last week Lydia, Elliott, and I were eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast. (I had attempted to make some Sunday morning for General Conference breakfast, and I'm choosing to celebrate the fact that they were edible and call them a success, but the truth is they mediocre at best, haha - we were eating the leftovers*.)  

Anyway, we're eating the cinnamon rolls and Lydia holds hers out to me and says, "More bacon please, Mom!" 

I was so confused 😂 We had had BLTs for dinner the night before and Stephen and I had made multiple attempts to make Lydia eat the bacon but she had continuously refused.

"What?!" I said. "Do you want some of the bacon that we had for dinner last night?"

"No," she said, "I like this bacon on the cinnamon roll!"

...And that's when it occurred to me that somehow in that adorable almost-three-year-old head of hers, she had confused the word 'frosting' for 'bacon.' 

😂😂😂

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han.

*the fact that there even were leftovers again illustrates that they were pretty average. haha. Exceptional cinnamon rolls do not get "leftover." 

Back in July we took a family trip to Iowa! The trip was inspired because one of Stephen’s best friends from high school was getting married and rather than just have Stephen go all that way for a weekend, we thought it would be fun to go as a family and make a vacation of it! Stephen's parents had the idea to make the first part of the week a family reunion in Chicago, so after arriving in Iowa late Saturday night, we drove to Chicago, picked up his sister Sarah from the airport, and then all stayed together in an air B&B in the Ukrainian Village part of the city for a couple days! 

Spending Monday through Thursday in Chicago was a ton of fun! We're not really big planners, so although I asked a few friends for recommendations of what to do while we were there, we didn't have anything specific planned ahead of time and mostly figured it out as we went! (Except going to Shedd Aquarium, Stephen was very adamant and excited about taking the kids to one of his all-time favorite stops as a child, so that was a MUST.) 

We could not have been more fortunate with the weather and ended up hitting up North Avenue Beach three of the four days we were there and Lincoln Park Zoo twice 😂. Although I'm sure we missed out on a lot of typical touristy-Chicago spots and attractions (including the Bean...woops!) I honestly wouldn't have changed a thing! (Except for the fact that someone tried to steal the catalytic converter from one of Mom and Dad Olson's cars during the night, and I managed to lose my wallet and not discover that I'd lost it until we were about to head to the airport to go home...woops again! 🤪) 

Late Thursday afternoon we headed back to Iowa City for a couple days. It just so happened that while in Iowa City RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa) came through, so Friday night we went downtown and participated in some of the evening festivities with all the bikers (as much as one can, anyway, if they choose not to drink alcohol, haha). We ended up walking back to Mom and Dad Olson's house from downtown since the shuttle was taking a long time and we were so impressed that Lydia walked the whole way (over a mile!) entirely by herself! 

Saturday was the day of the wedding and Mom and Dad Olson were so kind yet again to watch the kids for us while we drove two hours to Decorah where the wedding was held and then back (not getting home until sometime after 1 AM!). 

It really was the perfect little family summer vacation and I think we commented about how unbelievably lucky we were in regard to the weather at least three times a day! 😂 (I had been pretty worried about spending a week in the infamous Midwest humidity while being nearly 6 months pregnant, haha.) 

I made a little video of some of our trip just using my phone so the quality isn't great, but I really love some of these clips and the memories that go along with them (I just wish they showcased Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah more!). Traveling with kids may be exhausting and unpredictable, but man, they sure make life so much fun!!!! 

Thanks again Mom and Dad Olson for all you did to make this trip so wonderful!!! 

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han

Yesterday I read the following post in a facebook group:

This post has been in the back of my mind ever since I read it for a couple reasons. The main one being: three-years ago I could have almost written it myself.

I've told the story a million times before. I was pregnant with Lydia. Uncomfortable. Unhappy. Unexcited. Quite honestly, I was dreading the day that Lydia would be born and I would assume the role of "mother." 

"Motherhood is hard" was the go-to phrase I heard over and over and over and over again during her pregnancy. I heard it so often, in fact, that not only did I grow to completely RESENT the phrase, there was a period during which I cried to Stephen almost DAILY (have you noticed I tend to cry a lot when I'm pregnant?) BEGGING him to explain WHY people intentionally have children. At all. Ever. Period.

"I don't get it!" I would say. "People seem to be endlessly bothered by their children and frequently feel the need to complain about how 'hard' it is....but yet they continue to have more children?! WHY." 

Maybe Stephen didn't know the answer to the question, or maybe he knew I wasn't in the mindset to hear the answer, but thankfully for both of us it didn't take long after Lydia was born for me to learn to answer for myself: JOY. 

In the temple we are taught to "have joy in our posterity." I don't think that phrase ever registered before Lydia was born, or at least I never gave it much thought, but over the years it has become one of my favorite parts of the endowment. The reason God wants us to have kids is because they bring joy. 

And so, to answer this random stranger on the internet's request for some "positive, happy moments with my children," here are a few ways Lydia and Elliott brought me joy (so far) today:

Lydia's appearance this morning: crazy curls escaped from her braids, wearing backwards Elmo pajama pants with her belly sticking out of the two-sizes too small pajama shirt she was wearing.

Elliott's grin and wave when I got him out of his crib.

Lydia's brainstorm on what to do while waiting for her pancakes to cool down, "Oh! We should say a prayer!" 

When Lydia requested I help her put a sleeping-eye-mask over her face.

Overhearing Lydia giggle with her friends.

Elliott's babble to himself as he patiently waited for me to get him after his morning nap.

Lydia telling me, "Mom! I'm making a PIE! It's just pretend." 

Elliott's delighted squeal when Lydia handed him the yellow balloon. 

Lydia walking over to the olive-wood Jesus carving on the bookshelf, pinching his nose and saying "HONK!"

Elliott crawling over and giving me a raspberry on my leg and then looking up at me and giggling. 

Elliott putting his head on my shoulder and arm around my neck and pulling me in for a hug.

han.

It's OCTOBER which means it's time to start thinking about Halloween costumes!!! (Totally unrelated, but it also means that I can officially say I'm due next month which is weird.) I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that we've done cute family-costumes the past two years because it's been SO much fun! ...but is also making me feel pressure to out-perform the previous two years which is going to be hard to do! (So don't count on it 😂.) I'm sure we only have a year or two left in which I'll be able to convince Lydia to wear the costume iiiiii want her to wear and not the one SHE wants to wear and I guess that's probably for the best because then it will take the pressure off. haha.

Here are some pics of last year and the year before in case you need some inspiration. I'm hoping looking through them will inspire me as well!  😂

2016: Kuzco, Yzma, and Kronk from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove

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han.

Today was our ward's primary program and goodness. Children singing primary songs + pregnancy hormones are a ROUGH combination. All I can say is thank goodness for waterproof eyeliner and mascara and thank goodness I was seated with my primary class on the BACK row, with kids STANDING all around me, because to say I was "a bit teary" during the program would be a liiiiiittle bit of an understatement 🙈. (I think a more accurate description would be something along the lines of "blubbering mess.") 

I can't believe next year Lydia will be part of the Primary program - and then we will have over a decade's worth of primary programs watching our OWN children. WHAT! That is crazy!!! Just thinking about it is enough to make me start tearing up again....

Today Lydia was "singing" the hymns in Sacrament meeting and it was just about the cutest thing ever. I can't wait to see her in the program next year. For being not yet three, she amazes me with how much she understands and can communicate everyday. There have been a few hilarious things she's said lately that I need to document somewhere. 

Lydia: "Mom. Do you want some lemonade?"

Me: "I'm okay, but thank you!"

Lydia: (concerned) "Mom. I think the baby wants some lemonade." 

Me: "Lydia, how should we do your hair today?" 

Lydia: "Uhhh...tangly." 

She's currently very into Peppa Pig and since the episodes are only about 5 minutes long, I've decided I'm really into it too. Not to mention the fact that since it's a British show she will randomly say things with an accent and it KILLS me. All week she's been calling the grocery store the "supermarket" and she found some broken glasses the other day that she told me "needed to be mended." CAN YOU EVEN. Needless to say Peppa won't be going anywhere if Lydia or I have anything say about it.

Although Elliott still isn't walking (and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that that fact frustrates me at times - mostly because my back is already all sorts of out-of-whack but also thinking about carrying around a 28+ pound toddler AND an infant carseat everywhere makes me want to cry - have you noticed a theme here? #emotional) he really is the best little buddy. He's been popping teeth like crazy and has a giggle that makes me squeal with delight. He continues to eat and sleep like a champ and LOVES playing with the big kids. Whenever Lydia has friends over (which would basically be 24/7 if it were up to her - in case there was ever any reason to wonder, she is CLEARLY an extrovert 😂) Elliott tries to follow them around (which is made particularly difficult by the fact that he has to crawl after them and they lose him rather quickly. Poor guy). 

A few months ago we put Lydia and Elliott in the same room at night and BOY OH BOY has it been interesting. hahaha. We're finally all starting to get the hang of it, but there were a period of at least a few weeks when they kept each other up well past 11pm every night laughing and playing together. It was adorable. But also like, "Uh Lyds. Dad and I are trying to go to sleep now so will you guys please keep it down?"  😂 On multiple occasions Elliott would fall asleep and we would hear Lydia saying, "Elliott? ELLIOTT! EELLLLIIIOOOOTTTTTT, WHAT ARE YOU DOOOINNGGG?" Each time she wouldn't stop yelling until he would wake up and continue playing with her. haha. I've never felt so conflicted with something being equal parts adorable and positively infuriating. 

 We've finally gotten into a groove where Elliott goes to sleep first and then once he's asleep we take Lydia in there and remind her to be "sneaky like the gorilla" (from one of her current favorite books "Goodnight Gorilla"). It works MOST days but not all (today it did not). Usually at least once a week Lydia requests to go the sleep at the same time as Elliott and they laugh and play for a few hours before we threaten to separate them at which point Lydia is usually good at actually going to bed (usually after 10 pm). The morning after those late nights Lydia will often report to me about how she was making Elliott "laugh sooo hard in the crib." And it's true. It wears poor Elliott out saying up so late though, he takes like 3, 2-hour naps hahaha meanwhile Lydia doesn't seem to be phased in the slightest.

As for me, I'm rapidly transitioning from the "cute" pregnant stage to the, "WOAHHH she's hecka pregnant!" stage. I can't believe in just six (okay, probably seven) weeks we will be the parents of THREE! What an exciting and absolutely horrifying thought. hahaha. I'm feeling confident that Lydia is going to love having a little baby around (at least at first) and I have literally no clue how Elliott is going to react. But either way it's going to be an ADVENNUTREEE. (Right, mom?) 

Stephen and I just finished reading the book "Educated" by Tara Westover together. We started it while we were on our little getaway in St. George and we finally finished it last night. It was definitely thought provoking. I'm not sure I would recommend it, mostly because I'm still processing? haha I don't know. Ask me again in a week. 

Anyway, I realized I haven't really done a "life update" on here in far too long and although I post A LOT on instagram (some might even dare to say "too much" 😏 ) I thought it might be nice to have a little update on this [very neglected] blog ;) 

thanks for reading.

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han.

*This post is written in partnership with My Place Hotel St. George. All opinions are my own.

I've only been to St. George a handful of times in my adult life, and if you're a long-time follower of this blog you might remember the time a few years ago when we went for a long weekend with some friends and I got bamboozled into hiking Angel's Landing. That experience has haunted me for years (😂 only kind of joking) so when Stephen and I were presented with the opportunity to go down to St. George a couple weeks ago and be hosted by My Place Hotel for a few days, I was ecstatic! . . . And also determined to stay FAR FAR away from any national parks/potential hiking situations that may come about from being in such a highly "outdoorsy" area. 

Thankfully Stephen had had the opportunity to go hiking with a friend a few weeks prior, and he also knows his wife and is a very understanding and supportive husband ;) so he didn't push me on this issue in the slightest.

(I've never been one to claim a love for hiking, as a matter of fact, I think I've made it abundantly clear that I'm NOT a fan.😂 ..Also did I mention I'm currently 6 months pregnant?)

Needless to say, we've been back from our little getaway for almost two weeks and I'm happy to report that all National Parks and subsequent "day hikes" were safely avoided and we had a FANTASTIC TIME nonetheless. 😂

Just in case you, too, are headed to St. George for a couple days and you happen to share my aversion to spending hours and hours in the hot, hot sun, huffing and puffing, stinking and sweating, all to see a 'lovely' view that could have been just as easily enjoyed by looking at a postcard (I'm certain people like me exist!) THIS POST IS FOR YOU. 

TUACAHN

I'd heard about Tuachn, St. George's outdoor live theatre, for YEARS but had never had the opportunity to attend a performance there. Although the tickets can be a little pricey, we were treating this little getaway as a "babymoon" of sorts and decided to splurge so we could finally experience outdoor live theatre with the striking red rock that almost surrounds the stage. The setting was unbeatable. We ended up getting a little more than we bargained for when it started POURING rain only a few hours before the performance. The show ended up being delayed about 40 minutes, time which we spent sitting in our seats with trash bags on as ponchos. Despite the rain and the delay, the show, as they say, "MUST GO ON!" and it did! And we were very grateful!

The acting and special effects were INCREDIBLE. The script of the particular play we saw (The Prince of Egypt) wasn't my favorite, haha, but the undeniable talent and jaw-dropping special effects (we're talking fireworks, projections, flooding the stage) AND the fact that they had live animals, was all enough to make the experience well-worth it and I would definitely go back.

Did you know that St. George is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States?!! I know it seems hard to believe, but it's true according to this USA Today article! As I'm sure is the case with most rapidly-growing areas, there is NO shortage of restaurants to try, and it seems like new ones are popping up all the time. Keeping with the mentality of "taking it easy" we ended up eating out for every meal, despite the fact that our hotel room had a mini-kitchen that we could have easily used for making a few quick meals. 🙈 (For the record, this is very unlike us, we're usually all about saving a few bucks!)
Overall, we loved our time in St. George and honestly can't wait for another little getaway like that one! We keep joking that literally the only thing we would have done differently was make it a few days longer! (..except, we're not joking 😜).

BOOK WITH MY PLACE HOTELS ST. GEORGE USING USING THE PROMO CODE "HANNAH15" OR CLICK ON  THIS LINK  FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS AND GET A 15% OFF DISCOUNT!! (valid through 10/17/2018) *Your stay does not need to take place in the next 30 days, it just needs to be booked!*

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han.