Grandma's coming to town!

Tomorrow my mother-in-law (the saint, Paula, Gramma Buh, Ian's mother, Niev's favorite phone buddy) is coming into town. I CANNOT wait. I know there are those of you out there that say that your mother-in-law is your archenemy, but this is not true in my case. She is a great friend and one of the best babysitters found on this earth. She adores Niev almost as much as I do and can't seem to get enough of her. She has the patience of Job which is perfect because about the time that I run out of patience with Niev is about the time that Paula comes for a visit. I have not been feeling well lately so my patience is definitely been wearing a tad too thin. Luckily, Paula is on her way to rescue me.

Ian is also excited to see his mom (he is kind of a momma's boy, but in a good way). I can tell he is excited because every time we talk about it he gets giddy and then he has been singing anything and everything (you have to know my husband to realize that he does have a great voice but he doesn't always use it to his best advantage...it can be REALLY annoying!).

I really cannot express how much this means to me that I can go on as many dates with my husband within the 10-day period of her stay as my little heart may desire. Niev has a constant playmate that will personally entertain her, teach her, read to her and love her. Plus, I could talk to her for days on end. It is the greatest deal EVER! Honestly, more people should become friends with their MIL so they can have this great opportunity as well. I guess to make things fair, you should be able to also have Paula as your MIL, but unfortunately Ian is the only boy in his family, so your kind of out of luck.

General Conference

I have a small confession to make. I had a quiver in my testimony when Pres. Hinckley died and Pres. Monson was sustained as the new prophet. It is not that I didn't believe at all that God chose him, but I had not yet gained that personal witness. I have always loved Pres. Monson, but he wasn't one of my faves. Anyway, I had gone with a prayer in my heart as I listened to conference that I would gain that personal testimony that he had been called of God and would lead the church in truth and righteousness. I cannot express to you the feelings that came over me as I listened to his final address on Sunday afternoon session. What a powerful speaker. I loved hearing from him and found that witness that I was truly seeking for. I now can say that he is a prophet of God and that I know he is the Lord's mouthpiece.

I also was very touched by Elder Ballard's talk on Sunday. Everything that I have felt as a wife and mother (positive and especially the negatives) he seemed to address, validate and calm my anxieties. I truly felt that his talk was designed specifically for me. I sometimes think to myself that I really wish I could just go back to teaching because compared to being a stay-at-home mom, that was easy. I seemed to have that completely under control. I'm not sure I have my house, Niev or anything under control anymore. It was a very special message to me and touched me in such a way that made teaching school seem minimal and almost pointless in comparison to staying at home and helping my family. I loved conference. It was just the pick me up that I needed. What a blessing we have to listen to God's servants every six months.

Confessions of a blogger's husband

Though I have not previously made any appearance on this blog, I feel it would be remiss if the first half of it's namesake never posted a thought. And that thought is this: my wife is amazing.

It would be nice to say that it was love at first sight at our meeting, but it would only be half true. She hardly gave me a second glance. Luckily for me, things change with time, and I am now humbled by the depth and fullness of love I feel from her.

I am grateful for her.

I am grateful for the way she cares for the Nievlet and I...making dinners, changing diapers, cleaning messes (made by both of the juveniles in the house), and a host of endless other menial and repetitive tasks she'd rather not do.

I am grateful for the simple chores she does to take care of our home...washing dishes, vacuuming floors, washing clothes, grocery shopping, cleaning toilets, and more, some of which I'm sure I'm not even fully aware of.

I am grateful for the larger things that she does to improve our home, and bring it closer to the potential we saw in it when we found it... painting walls, pulling carpets, putting up curtains, putting up bookshelves. Largely she does these projects on her own, being very aware of the demands of my work, and I am impressed with her willingness to try new things and dive headfirst into projects she's not entirely sure she knows how to complete. She has been a quick learner, and a hard worker.

I am grateful for the concern and care Lora has for the raising of our daughter. Lora has worked hard and done a wonderful job to create a loving, nurturing, and creative environment for Niev. I truly did find the right mother for my children.

I am grateful for Lora's commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ and his church. Lora's example has made me a better man, a better priesthood-holder, and a better member of the church.

And mostly I am grateful for Lora's friendship. She is always there for me with a hug, willing to talk things out, willing to forgive, willing to comfort. She believes in me, in my career, in me as a father. We still find ourselves talking 'til two in the morning from time to time, excited to share the details of our day and our thoughts (and we still find ourselves exhausted the next morning).

I am grateful for my sweet wife.

Ian

Books Galore

We have finally gotten bookshelves put up! Ian wanted to make the booshelves himself so it took some time just because of the common demands of work. I was able to put books up that have been stored in boxes since I graduated from high school (yes that was over ten years ago and yes they needed a tad bit of dusting)! I get so excited to sit and just read now that all of my books are in their finally resting place--until we move that is.


I had been wanting to make some curtains for this room as well. When we painted, we took down their ugly, heavy white curtains and patched/painted over the holes. We didn't think about how hot that room gets during the daytime and how we could easily be stalked during the night. Thank goodness it only looks onto our backyard. We looked at fabrics and the fabric that I really wanted was $33/yard. The window is 110 inches which is only a little over three yards, BUT we would need to get six yards in order to make it long enough. Then to make them as full as we would want them we would need to add another 1-3 yards of fabric...Needless to say, it was getting mighty expensive (we hadn't even looked at a rod at this point!). That got put on a back burner. Then we went to Target and found the exact curtains (slightly different material, but same dark chocolate brown color) that I was wanting to make! Sorry, no picture! But, the family room is all done except for little things (new furniture and new baseboards). It feels so great!

On the Niev front, she walks around using anything and everything as a telephone (hand-held Yahtzee game, Tinkertoys, laptop batteries, playing cards, etc.) . Her latest thing is laughing hysterically at her own "conversation" while using the phone. I haven't caught it on video yet, but believe me, it is good.

She is a very social little girl. We went to Dairy Queen yesterday for a little family treat and there was a man sitting kitty-corner from us. Niev waved and waved until he finally waved back. Then she continued to stare at him while he was trying to have a peaceful meal by himself. She kept staring, then waving, then staring, then jabbering, he would look and then she would wave. It was cute for the first couple minutes, but after ten minutes it was kind of embarrassing. We will need to work on restaurant manners.

Ian--Artist and Carpenter

So in the last post, I was informed that I made Ian sound like a tyrant. He isn't. He has been busy painting so he can fund my house improvements; therefore, the inside house "stuff" has been left up to me. He has been very supportive in whatever I want, but he doesn't have the free time to help with it as much as he wished. Then on his free time, he has been making me a kitchen table.

When we were planning for this move, I told him that I wanted a REAL kitchen table, not a desk that we bought at IKEA when we first got married because it would actually fit in our tiny apartment (it had fold down sides) and would work as a makeshift table. He told me he would make me one. I laughed, but sure enough about a week ago, he bought the wood, started sketching designs and now it is finished. I love it! We still need to paint it or do some kind of staining, but you will at least get the idea. I love having a husband that is handy! Plus, he find it fun to work with wood, building things with his own two hands. He can definitely be proud of himself. Now he just needs to make me some chairs!

Upclose--I love seeing all the different wood grains and colors!

Niev seems to also enjoy it! Isn't she the cutest!

Back to painting...

Once again, I have been trying to make this house look a bit more like our house. I found this great color that I really wanted to paint somewhere in my house, but I hadn't decided exactly where. I decided to paint our dining/living room area in this great orange/red color.

Before:

After:

Someday we will also have great couches or a big reading chair rather than a white futon, but one thing at a time I guess.

After I finished completely painting both walls (and being so careful that my line was perfectly straight) Ian tells me that he would really like it if the wall that is white was also orange. I told him that would be fine, but that he would have to do all the edging this time. That takes forever!!!

Yes, I used blue tape, but the it is imperfect and my husband hates when he can see mistakes so I had to go back with a tiny paintbrush and paint a perfect line on the ceiling and corners. Now he wants to paint the wall that I was so careful about to make that perfect wall. Oh well. I guess he is helping me with my patience...