Adventures in King Henry's life lately

Citrus juicing with Nona.  He loves this.  And is excited when she shows up with a bucket full of oranges from her yard.  And he will stick his straw right in the juicer and sip up the juice. 

Caught on camera.  Yelling at me to come get him.

Waiting for Library Story time to start.

At cousin June's baptism with Whitman trying to be quiet for the last 10 minutes. 

No pictures, please. 

Henry's lounge. 

Family Home Evening sticker activity. 

Riparian playdate (date) with Violet Williams. 

His first blow out since baby-days.  It was terrible, guys. 

Snuggling with Afton when they came to visit from Utah.  The two of them got in the stroller together.  On their own. 

Evening toy mess and Henry trying to put on a movie.  King of the house. 

My mom was talking to me standing like this.  Then we looked over and Henry came by her and just copied.  He's adorable. 

Henry looking happy with his future wife, Afton.   At Afton's 1st birthday party. 

We went to the zoo with Amanda and it was super fun.  And actually super freezing.  I have to write that part because I have really never been that cold in Arizona.  Henry was thrilled with some animals, but mostly all the snacks we kept pulling out of our bags.   And he looks so big and grown up here.  But he's not this grown up. Don't worry. 

The crew at the zoo.

Perched with Daddy. 

Matching sweaters at a wedding reception. 

Cheek snuggles on my birthday. 

Sleep positions.

Being all charismatic. 

Matching suspenders.  And Henry has learned to smile on command now.  

Sweet little face. Probably watching Toy Story 2. 

Leaving Whitman's house.  And being so cute. 

Late night gymnastics at Home Depot.  This is the first time I've seen him hold himself like this.  

We started some winter swim lessons.  More on that later. 

Henry was keeping his blanket in this (clean) wastebasket for a few days.  And carrying the basket around instead of his blanket.  When we were loading the car a few times, he tried carrying the trash basket into the garage like I didn't know his blanket was in there.  His blanket never leaves the house.  And this trickster was trying to smuggle it into the car.  And he also decided it was a chair and sat at the fridge like this for too long. 

This smile is just hilarious to me.  I love that I can say "smile!" now and he does it.  That's chocolate everywhere. 

Cookie party with cousins.  Henry dumped three containers of sprinkles and I managed to collect all three back into their bottles.  Go me. 

Testing out his new room!  Hunter's mom gave him that huge bin of big legos and it's been so great. 

Valentine's Day. 

Carousel and then a lunch with ward friends.  Where Henry had a stomach ache and laid on the bench. 

Laughing SO HARD with uncle Todd. 

Exploring the corners of Nona and Abueltio's yard. 

Watching TV like a King.  (My Dad sits just like this when watching TV.)

Me lately- really long and wordy post

I had a birthday.  And life has been going nicely lately so I wanted to write about some of the things that are going right.  

BIRTHDAY

My birthday was on a Sunday and Sundays have been particularly annoying lately.  So I was not looking forward to that.  It was also Stake Conference and I was in charge of the Stake choir.  And pressure for things like that just make me grumpy.  So this was the first birthday that I really wasn't feeling a celebratory vibe.  I finally felt old.  Like when your mom always said she didn't care about birthdays because it was just another day.  I don't ever want to be that way.  But I kind of was.  

And then the day came and it was one of my favorite birthdays.  The stake choir went super great and then it was over! (Best birthday gift).  Henry sat well during most of the meeting.  My parents came over for lunch and we had super super good yummy sandwiches.  And my mom and I got to chat for a while.  And then I napped.  And we went to Hunter's family's for dinner.  And everyone was pleasant.  And the food was very good.  And I just felt happy all day.  Calm and blessed and happy.  

SPIRITUAL HELPS LATELY

I went to the Hillshed boutique with my friend ShaLyne and found this ceramic pin by a local artist that simply said "Be Kind".   I had also just got a very awesome new backpack that I LOOOOOVE for a purse.  I finally decided that this pin should be on my backpack and I bought it.  But then I took a few weeks until I put it on my backpack.  WAS I KIND ENOUGH TO HAVE THIS ON ME ALL THE TIME???  Would some people see that and go... Natalie, you are be a hypocrite.   The more I thought about it the more I thought I am just not nice enough.  And then I realized the pin was talking to ME.  Not others.  And I fastened it on.  And truly honestly, it has helped me be kinder everywhere.  Like I have to live up to what my bag says.  And it makes me happy to have this underlying "be kind, be nice" vibe to my days.

"Never miss a good chance to shut up."- Will Rogers

Also. I started reading the Book of Mormon in bed in the morning before I get up.  Before I even go to the bathroom.  And I am pregnant and really have to go when I get up.  But this reading has probably changed my life more than anything.  "I'll seek the Lord EARLY" to me means EARLY in the morning.  There is just more power to the scriptures when I start the day with them.  

I found this on Pinterest and can't find the source but it has helped tremendously and is probably where I thought I should start reading early:

"The secret to a happy life is giving God the first part of your day, the first priority to every decision, and the first place in your heart. "

Things just go better. 

Also- my mornings are actually pretty sudden and hectic.  Because Henry and I like to sleep, I do not wake up until I hear him yelling at me from his crib.  Some days, SOME DAYS, I manage to open the Book of Mormon a few minutes before he starts yelling, but most days when he yells, I yell back to hold on and I take my 5 minutes to read before getting up to get him.  Its just 5 minutes but that 5 minutes in the morning adds up to way more spiritual help than if I read 10-20 minutes before bed (throwing it in at the end of my day).  And I haven't missed a day in the morning where I would miss evening reading a lot.  Sometimes at lunch or during nap time I'll read a little more since its only 5 minutes. 

This morning reading I think inspired me to do better with praying.  And that actually works better for me in the evenings.  NOT AT NIGHT BEFORE BED but the evenings.  I figured out how to do it finally.  After Henry goes to bed at around 8:45pm, I go wash my face (or shower) and pray.  These are two things that when I left them until before bedtime I hated everything.  Washing your face right before going to sleep is the worst.  And when I left praying until that time I was so tired that I was irreverent about my prayers (repeating the same things, dozing off, loosing track.)

So first thing after he's in bed- I wash my face.  And then its done.  

And then I have prayer.  And holy cow my prayers are a much better time now.  I enjoy them.  I don't feel rushed.  I think and talk and ponder and cry more.  And I feel them working in my life.  And then at bedtime, I can go right to sleep and not feel guilty for skipping prayer or saying a short, ungrateful prayer! 

SCHEDULING HELPS

Mid-January I began scheduling activities for Henry and me almost every day.  We were in a rut where we were home too much and so the TV was on too much and I felt too much guilt.  I didn't know what to do with our days.  There were so many options.  Park, mall playground, Target, library, friends, playdate etc.  But I could never quite make up my mind about what to do that day so we ended up staying home.  We were both loosing it.  

So I literally sat at the computer and made a new calendar called "henry" and started simply plugging in all these activities into certain days so I didn't have to decide each day what to do- it was planned and we just did it.  It seems so incredibly simple but it has changed my life.  

It has also helped me find more things to do around the town and invite friends into our days to either have playdates or join us on our activities (since I KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO).  And the social part has helped not only Henry get to play with more friends, but I get to interact way more often with my mom friends.   Right now our top activities are: neighborhood playground, mall carousel, swim lessons, playdates and the library.  I also literally schedule "stay at home days" so I can relax and be okay with movies and pajamas all day every once in a while.  And we need those days too.  

So with all this scheduling I was worried about being over-booked and over-busy and exhausted.  But honestly, I have been laying low in most all other scheduling departments.  Less lunches, less errands, less saying "yes" to things that really deserve a "no".  What Henry and I do is simple.  We go out for a few hours in the morning before nap time at 1:30 and then our day is over.  Nap, play at home, dinner, play with Hunter, bath time and bed.   My schedule is simple and I love it.  

PROJECTS

Being the Stake Music chair has given me some musical numbers to work on at the beginning of the year here and it has been surprisingly pleasant to have practices here at home and play the piano more.  Henry loves it too.  And I'm glad I'm being forced into making music at home.  And this sweet baby in my tummy can hear it too!  I need to remember that I kind of like putting together music and I am pretty good at it too.  

Nesting is at its fullness here and that is making me happy.  Hunter is fulfilling all my commands.  He is the best.   Henry is finally moved into his new room.  Slept all night the first night and hasn't missed a nap or bedtime since.  How is he so great? Hunter built him a fabulous closet, moved his crib, hung all the artwork and will put together his toy shelf when it gets delivered in a week or two.  I still want to order a rug for in there.  But his room is so great!  It's a lot bigger than the nursery so all his toys are in there with him.  And it has cleared up the toy mess in the family room.  WHICH IS SO NICE. 

Next is a closet for the nursery, and deep cleaning/ painting the nursery as well.  And then washing baby clothes, gym mats, rock n play, carseat etc.  

**Also real quick.  To clean out Henry's room which was the office/ craft room/ guest room I had to re arrange all around the house and take 4 carloads to goodwill.  And it feels so good to get rid of stuff. 

Our house has been staying relatively picked up and clean lately.  Probably because my mom is coming over more! Haha.  And because we are gone most of the day.  Oh and the toys are in Henry's room!  Hunter and I have been good about doing dishes before bed too.  Which changes your life, let me tell you. 

PHYSICAL HELPS

-I've been trying to do my hair more. And I'm getting it cut strictly every 6 weeks instead of waiting longer.  My curls just need fresh cuts more often.  

-My valentine's gift to myself was Crest white strips.  And I feel like a new woman as my teeth are brightening up again. 

-I'm throwing on a dainty necklace and my grandmother's tiny gold rose shaped earrings almost every day.  It makes me feel all put together. 

-Annnnnnnd I have gestational diabetes again.  Which has its risks, but I'm eating WAY BETTER and feeling WAY BETTER.  And so I'm kind of grateful I have it.  

ITS THE LITTLE THINGS.  

And a lot of little things are going really well right now and I'm feeling really good.  

And then the baby is coming and will throw me all off!  haha