It Just Makes Sense

Ever since we were expecting Wryder, we wanted to attempt to have the kids share a room – based solely on the layout of our house if nothing else.  We have two bedrooms upstairs, which are ours and Sawyer’s, and two downstairs, which are a guest room/craft room and a guest room/play room.  We really wanted to have all of us on the same floor for convenience and safety’s sake, so sharing a room just made sense.

About two months before Wryder was due, Wrex and I moved downstairs.  I was making WAY too many middle-of-the-night trips downstairs to use the bathroom.  My deep sleep cycles were non-existent and I felt like a zombie most of the day, so moving down to where the bathroom was, just made sense.

Wryder soon came along and he has slept in our room since he was born.  It makes his middle of the night milk cravings a lot more bearable than trudging upstairs and (potentially) waking sister with all the crying.

Now that winter is upon us, we’ve been attempting to get our house (inside and out) winterized before fall is whisked away and the snow sets in.  In the process, Wrex had the grand idea of everyone living on the main floor for winter.  Our house was built in the 19-teens, so it’s old and quirky totally vintage which means there is no forced heat upstairs, just electric, radiant heat.  He did the math and he thinks we can save $700 – $1000 this winter alone!  So, you guessed it, moving everyone downstairs just made sense.

Bed(room) partners
Bed(room) partners

Our two cuties are officially sharing a room and loving every minute of it!  Sawyer is anyways.  She was so excited about sleeping with brother that she couldn’t sleep during her first naptime stay, but we understood!  We were excited, too!  Wryder’s pretty easy going so we’ll just say he doesn’t mind, either.

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Sawyer LOVES her tractor “beat” from Aunt Lori! She said “beat” for the word blanket ever since she was one and the name’s stuck!

He wakes up between four and five every morning ravenous but has yet to wake her with his crying.  She wakes up around seven and now has our permission to get out of bed (if she is certain that it’s light outside) and come get us in our room.  It’s been fun to watch her be excited about gaining more freedom and responsibility because she’s proved so trustworthy about not getting out of bed when that was the rule.

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Looking in from the living room
A little tight
It’s a little tight.  We thought of putting the toy box in the barn for now but I just couldn’t.  I LOVE it.  It was the kiddos’ great-great-great-grandfather’s show box.  This HAS to be in our house, right?!
Bookshelves made by daddy.  Love.
Bookshelves made by daddy. Love.
The art wall
The art wall.  It just got cleaned and sorted.  Don’t worry.  Sawyer loves office supplies..it’ll be full again soon.
A family photo
A family photo
Some of her favorite things
Some of her favorite things
Ocedo the cat wanted in on the action
Ocedo the cat wanted in on the action.  Love this hanging thing from IKEA, by the way.  It’s the PERFECT place for all those blasted stuff animals.

The layout feels a little square to me, but I keeping reminding myself of the temporariness (which is actually a real word, by the way)…and of the money we hope to pocket.  Plus, it’s really nice having both of them down here with us, and it’s been REALLY nice getting Wryder into his own room, but still on the same floor.  Here’s to hoping we really do notice a big savings in our electric bill…because saving money just makes cents.  <—  See what I did there?  Oh, Lord help me…a short night plus a long day makes for a cheesy momma. 😉

Little Coats

I don’t think I ever knew how much I would love to have little coats hanging in my mudroom.

IMG_2543I went through a phase in my life where I didn’t want to have kids.  I was scared to death of the thought of carrying one in my womb, much less the birthing process.  Thanks to Hollywood, the (apparent) pain and screaming and grimacing and cursing and squeezing and pushing just didn’t seem worth it.  On top of that, it felt like the world just kept getting meaner and meaner and I just couldn’t stomach the thought of making a child live in it.  It felt so unfair, so risky, so irresponsible.

I still remember sitting at our dining table talking to Wrex about the perils of the world and in those very seconds, the Lord revealed such sweet wisdom to me.  He showed me how the world would never stop being mean and nasty, especially if there wasn’t another generation to rise up and bring people to His Son.

Mind changed.  And I’m oh so glad it did.

IMG_2328These two have brought more joy to our lives than I could have ever dreamed or imagined.  They love so unconditionally and forgive so fully and show love so willingly.  They are so pure of heart and gentle in spirit; they make me want to be better and do better and say better and act better and think better.

Our life looks nothing like it did pre-children and there are things I miss about it just being the two of us.  I miss the small amount of responsibility I once had…the way we could pick up and go somewhere on a whim…the uninterrupted conversations…the quick meal times and long snuggle times…the way the house would stay clean and picked up for weeks on end…but there will be time enough for all of that again one day.  Yes, there’s more laundry and more dirty diapers…there’s fewer showers and more time-outs…there’s more correcting and less vegging…there’s more stuff scattered about and longer to-do lists that rarely get done…

But I’ve come to cherish those things.  All that I feel I’ve lost, is lost not.  And even if it was, I have gained so much more.

The little notes that get left around on my things, just to say “I love you” in one of the biggest ways she knows how…

IMG_2547The tiny cups of “tea” she makes for me when we come in from playing outside…

IMG_2546The way he always has a smile ready and waiting to send my way…

IMG_2115The pictures I find on my phone that show the things in her world that catch her eye…

IMG_2410The way she finds a flower for me every time we’re outside…

IMG_2094The way he’s always up for an adventure, even if it involves something pink…

IMG_2540The toys she leaves in my spaces because she wants them “to be like mommy’s”…

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Oh, man – I have lost naught.  Those two sweeties are my heart outside of my body.  They are why I do this blogging thing. They are why my husband works so hard incredibly hard to provide for our family so I can stay home to pour into them.  They are our reward and our blessing.

It just seems like those little coats keep getting bigger and bigger, quicker and quicker.  I want to slam on the brakes and put my hands over the rest of the numbers on the calendar and just force the time to STOP.  Because there are days I didn’t do it right and need a second chance…there are memories I want to ingrain in my mind to re-live again and again…there is so much left to do with them while they’re little and I want to make sure we get it all done…there are more things for them to leave about the house so that I’m constantly reminded how empty this life would be without them.

Good gravy, I just don’t want this time to slip right through my fingers; I want to make it count.  I want the wearers of these little coats to know that the Lord loves them exceptionally more than I ever could and that I love them a whole, whole, whole heackuva lot..and still will, even when their coats aren’t so little anymore.

We Don’t Say No to Sister

Ever since Wryder joined the family (out of the womb), Sawyer has vacillated between wanting to be a baby and wanting to be his parent.  Quite the range, yes?

These days, she frequently wants to “play baby.”  She’ll goo and gah, want to be fed a bottle, be burped, want her (pretend) diaper changed – the works.  You know, because I don’t get enough practice with just one…  When Wryder eats baby food, she wants to eat applesauce; when Wryder’s on his playmat, she lays with him to play with the hanging toys; when Wryder’s not in his carseat, she is.

Lately, Wryder has been enamored with his feet and likes to suck his toe from time to time.  So, yep, you guessed it.  Sawyer tried that, too.  This weekend, she was sitting in the chair and decided to suck her toe like brother.  As she did so, she proceeded to lose her balance and fall out of the chair, biting her toe in the process.  Tears ensued, coupled with a little bit of whining and I found myself saying, “I’m sorry honey but you’re the one that bit your toe.”  And then?  I got a fit of the giggles.  It was one of those “I never imagined I’d say THAT sentence” moments and I had to leave the room!  On the plus side, she hasn’t sucked her toe again.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we’re seeing her firstborn roots begin to bloom as she’s taken to simulating our discipline when it comes to Wryder.  She likes to chime in and say, “Hands down, brother” while he’s eating or help him take his thumb out of his mouth if he’s trying to suck on it.  Yesterday as we were driving, we hear from the backseat, “Wryder, we don’t say no to sister.”  Wrex and I exchanged glances and tried our hardest not to drive the pick up off the road as we suppressed our laughter.  Keep in mind Wryder can’t talk yet but his facial expressions and body language must have screamed “no”?!  Who knows!  Regardless it was a funny (but not) moment.

Wrex is a firstborn and I’m a firstborn, so the kid comes by it honestly.  Needless to say, we have some correcting to do and some boundaries to find in regards to her big-sister authority.  At the same time, pretty sure brother will be well watched over…by at least one of his three parents.  😉