pretty

December 7, 2015

To Utah and Back

London's Preschool Thanksgiving Program
"I can't believe we're going to Utah for the first time!"
"Honey, you were born in Utah."
"Hahaha, OH! I don't remember that!"

It's been almost two years since we left Utah, and we hadn't returned to see friends or family since. And so this Thanksgiving, it was time to journey back to see all those Utahns we love so dearly. 

Let me preface this by saying, I am by no means an expert at traveling great distances in a car with 4 children under 4. That being said, these are my recommendations:

Step 1) Don't do it. 
Your mental state matters more than saving a few hundred dollars, I promise. Put your children on an airplane. You're welcome. 

If you are stubborn, and have already made up your mind that you are driving, first of all, welcome to the club, and secondly, continue to Step 2.

Step 2) Limit your stoppage time.
If you're nursing, pump while your spouse drives, and that way, you only have to stop to change your twin's outfits six times--- and of course, their diapers. Dine on boxes of smuckers uncrustables, dark chocolate coconut kashi bars, apples, and two dozen McDonalds fruit and yogurt parfaits.

Step 3) Entertainment
Watch The Book of Life, on repeat, for the entire 19 hours. When you think you can't listen to the movie for another second, a Junie B. Jones audiobook collection should do the trick. If you follow this regiment to the T, I guarantee your four-year-old will only ask "Are we there yet?" 84 times. 

A typical stop. Notice all the diapers and the 
children calling me from the back seat.

19 homemade pies. 
All 26 of us stayed at my Aunt Jill's house. My mom, aunt, sisters, and I spent Thanksgiving baking from my grandmother's recipe book. There is NO activity on this earth I enjoy more. It's why Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year! Then friends who are really more like family stopped by to catch up, and meet the twins, and Taryn's new husband, OJ. The girls played with my little cousins, London went sledding for the first time, and the men watched more football than any of their wives would normally approve of.



Cambria REALLY wanted to kiss Elle good-bye...
Isn't it funny-- the absolutely ridiculous things we do, in order to spend time with the people we love? Will Elle remember how happy she was, making pretend birthday cakes with my Aunt Jill? Will London remember her secret handshake with little Emma? At some point, all the effort we put in to ensure our children develop these very special relationships must pay off. My prayer is that each of my children will grow up with that same beyond unconditional, nearly irrational, love for their family, that led us to Utah and back this Thanksgiving.




November 12, 2015

Twicka Tweet

The Elle-est Elle face EVER.
What was the point of holidays before I had children? Take Halloween, for example. I dressed up in some lame (but also super cute) costume, went to a party, ate...candy? Think about it. Enter children. All of a sudden, Halloween becomes a magical day where your children can be whatever their sweet imaginative minds can dream up, when they walk from door to door with the most excited smiles on their faces, asking "twicka tweet?" or some other adorable variation. 
A chocolate chip cookie and a cupcake!
The night before Halloween, we had a party at church. London and Elle ran off with some of the young women to play carnival games, and two of my wonderful friends came rushing over to hold the twins. I ate approximately 7 servings of chili from the chili cookoff contest table, and sampled enough corn bread to feed a large army. Kyle took an insistent London through the Spook Alley, which was, of course, way too spooky for a four-year-old. Mormons know how to throw a party for two hundred people---we all enjoyed ourselves!


A monsoonal rainstorm blew its way into Seattle on Halloween night. Elle and the twins made it to exactly one door before the rain and cold was too much, and we headed back to the cousins' house. I was then in charge of handing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters, while London braved the weather with the help of an awesome Aunt Melissa.


This is a before and after picture of little London- and this is WITH her heavy-duty, insulated rain coat on.




This year, instead of carving pumpkins, we painted them and sprinkled them with glitter! The girls did such a great job.

I hope to look back at this Halloween and remember the 87 times I read "The Very Brave Witch", and Elle losing her mind over the matching "pokie dotchs" on her and London's faces, and the hilarious nose-guessing game we played with our friends, because Halloween with my four littles was actually pretty magical.



October 25, 2015

"Neigh!"

Maybe it's that raspy voice, or the blazing fire in her eyes, or her love of books, or the pigtails, or the constant "neigh"-ing, but I'll bet that if you've had the privilege of meeting Elle, you love her. Being a mother is wonderful and challenging and craaaazy, but Elle makes me look at this life I have chosen and think, "This is SO MUCH FUN."  

Elle loves horses. Every minute of her day is spent pretending to be a horse, or riding on your back as you pretend to be a horse-- cheering "giddy-up!", or reading books about horses, or pretending all her toys are horses, or riding on pretend horses, calling "neigh! neigh!" and blowing air out of her mouth like a horse. She carries four plastic horses with her everywhere she goes, affectionately named Daddy Horsie, Mommy Horsie, Baby Horsie, and Apple Juice. She watches movies about horses, talks about horses to anyone within hearing distance---please tell me you get the picture?


SO- we had her 2nd birthday at a FARM! This may surprise you, but every member of the Hartwell family flew to Washington for the festivities. Taryn's fiance' (now husband!!!!!) OJ traveled down from Canada. Grandma and Grandpa also drove up from Oregon for the day! The Little Farm at Windwater was the perfect setting to celebrate our little Bellie.
Every time she fed a horse, she screamed with excitement!



The kids all fed chickens, goats, bunnies, and a potbelly pig with a mouthful of tusks and yellowed teeth! And then it was time for the crowning jewel of the party: horse rides. At first, we tried to put Elle on a horse by herself, and she was hysterical. So, I climbed on behind her! MUCH BETTER.


I have the cutest nieces and nephews.
Everyone had the opportunity to ride a horse around the coral, while adoring parents and grandparents oo'd and ah'd and flashed their cameras. There was something angelic about my children as they interacted with the animals, especially amidst the rolling farmlands of western Washington. 

Just because Juliette is adorable.
 So, Happy Birthday to my daring, darling, beautiful little girl. I hope the horsies were everything you dreamed they would be...


October 7, 2015

Call me Bella.


Things I can do while holding a baby:
1) Prepare/eat meals
2) Read books
3) Brush my teeth
4) Vacuum
5) Talk on the phone
6) Type this blog

Things I can do while holding 2 babies:
1) Sit
2) Stand
3) Walk
4) Call out to London for help

Let's start with Henry...
Henry is ALL boy. He is thick and dense. He is the fussier baby, with the most incredible set of lungs----but he is also the smiliest! He is very particular, and only likes being held on your knees while you sit down, or pressed against your chest with his head tilted back. I am his favorite person, and I love it.



Juliette is a tiny little angel baby. She squeaks more than she cries, and would rather cuddle with you than do anything else in the world. She lets everyone hold her. After eating, she burps like a 40-year-old-man. I have a feeling she'll be the peacemaker in our family.




The girls are adjusting to the twins as I expected. London revels in her new responsibilities as the "biggest" sister. When the twins are upset, she runs to their side to sing them songs, or tell them, "It's alright, it's alright! Don't cry, don't cry!"---and then reports to me, "Uh, Mom? It's not working." Elle is finally getting better at waiting for me when I'm busy with the twins, but we still have hard days. She loves to say, "Hi the twins!" and "Bebe Julet so cute!" She can't tell them apart yet...

The hardest thing about having twins is consuming enough calories to feed them. I feel like Michael Phelps when he was training for the Olympics. Or Bella Swan when she first became a vampire. All I do is eat, and I am STARVING. I read all these twin books during my pregnancy, and not one gave me a heads-up on this fascinating phenomenon: By the way, you will eat your body weight in food every day.

The days are long and exhausting, and it takes me one hour to prepare to leave my house. Friends still come over to help me, so I can shower before noon, or take an afternoon nap, and there is a carpool that takes London to school that I don't even help drive in. And now I understand the phrase: "It takes a village." I sure love my village.




"Are they twins? Are they boys or girls?"---- questions that make me doubt the survival of the human race.
Our first family outing....
A walking circus.