Ben's Room

For those of you that have not been to our house or have not had the tour of the homestead Ben has a jungle themed room.  I found these cute "Wall stickers" online about 7 months ago and so I ordered them and waited in anticipation for them in the mail.  When they got here I was disappointed to find out that they were just animal shapes cut out in contact paper.  They were not cheap and when I saw them online they appeared bigger than they really were.  I decided to keep them because I still liked them and the bright colors were fantastic.

Since I received them I often thought that I can easily make my own animals with contact paper and why wouldn't I?  I found this to be rather difficult to achieve since it is super hard to find contact paper in anything other than an awful floral, marble, or wood grain pattern.  One day while shopping in Fred Meyers I spotted one roll of super cute green contact paper.  I snagged it and brought it home with every intention of making Ben a giraffe.  Months passed and I had forgotten all about the giraffe when last night, after the kids were all in bed, I decided this was the perfect time to make the it.  I think it turned out pretty darn cute and about the size of a baby giraffe.  I think now that I need to make a few trees and some jungle vines and his room will finally be complete.  Maybe by the time he is a year I'll have it done!

What am I thankful for? Day 18

I am thankful for a patient dentist.  Today was Claire's first dental appointment and it did not go very well.  She refused to sit in the chair and then of course Ben started crying so I had to pick him up.  I am trying to get her to sit int the chair and I finally get her to, on pain of death, when the dentist come in and reclines the chair and raises it up.  She is not impressed and starts to scream like he it taking dental tools to her eyes.  She is uncomfortable with him being a man as she has always been hesitant of men and the appointment just hits rock bottom.  She has now been in the chair a total of 2 minutes and at least she is screaming and he can see her teeth and he quickly tries to take a look, count them, and put this foam on them.  The hygienist starts to suck Claire's face off with the spit sucker and Claire at this point has started to hyperventilate and turn a little blue.  The dentist looks at me and shouts "I can stop if you want."  I tell him to just finish if he can so he pokes a tooth in the back and says that things are looking great.  He sits Claire up on the chair and she throws herself off towards me and hides behind me for the rest of the conversation with the dentist.  She was in the chair a total of 4 minutes.  She got to pick out her own tooth brush, floss, tooth paste, and a prize and of course now she is fine and smiling.  We get to go back in 6 months.  I can't wait.  

What am I thankful for? Day 17

I am thankful for helpful medical receptionists.  Today I had to make 3 doctors appointments for the family and 3 dental appointments for all of us.  This can be a problem when you have never seen the doctor before and sometimes the front desk, in my experience, can be at times snotty and unhelpful.  Everyone was more than helpful and very nice.  Tomorrow Claire has her first dental appointment.

What am I thankful for? Day 16

I am thankful for a healthy fish tank.  I have been struggling with my fish tank for about 3 weeks now.  I recently discovered that most of my fish had ick.  This was not a fun discovery as most of them died and the "Cure" killed all my snails.  At this point I think everything is OK and the tank has struck a balance.  Everything is looking great and I still have 5 fish left.

What am I thankful for? Day 15

I am thankful for sales on kids clothing.  Today I was able to spend little money and clothe our growing children for winter.  Plus I got to spend the day without kids and with my sisters in-law.  It was a fun day and I am a great bargain hunter.

What am I thankful for? Day 14

I am thankful for sleep. I wish that I could say that I got a lot of sleep last night but not getting any sleep makes me so much more appreciative for the next time I get it. Claire was awake until 11:30pm and Ben was up at 11:30pm, 12:45am, 2:15am, 6am, and then up for the day at 8:45am. Claire of course got up at 6:30am which means only 7 hours of sleep! For those of you with toddlers you know that trying to get them to function and have a good day on 7 hours of sleep is almost impossible. Being at the beach and all sleeping in the same room is difficult. You can't let one cry it out a while or try to go to sleep on their own with singing. I hope that tonight is a better night as I would love to get more than 2 hours of sleep and would be super thankful for it.

What am I thankful for? Day 13

I am thankful for my family. Today Travis's parents and brothers are all going to be at the beach and we all get to spend 3 days together. I love all of them so much and with all our busy lives we just don't get to see each other often enough. They are kind and funny people who make you strive to want to be a better person. I feel so blessed to get to be in their family and that they love me for me. How have I been so lucky to get to be in this family?