After Living Room

A long time ago I posted some pieces that I was going to use in my undecorated living room but I realized I never showed the room after it was done. Well, done meaning done for a while because who knows when we’ll get to the rest of it. We actually had finished it right before a Christmas party we held here last year.

I made Rob stand high atop a ladder to hang these portraits. He actually hates standing on ladders. Maybe hate is too strong a word, but it makes him nervous. He’s a nervous ladderer. After these were all hung I thought it would be done but almost instantly declared that I think I want the entire wall filled. It’ll take some time to acquire more large frames, though.

 

The coat tree is something I had looked for for a long time, but all the ones in the stores were over $100 and, honestly, kinda cheaply made for that price. I found this one posted on KSL by an antiques store for $20. The kicker, the store was in Riverdale. So, I took an afternoon and trekked up there to get it because, even with the price of fuel, it was still way below what I could get anywhere else and the quality is much higher. I love that the top spins! I’m thinking of painting it a color other than white but I can’t make up my mind on that and white works so it’ll remain that way for now.

 

This bag I got while I was in Paris when I was 19. It’s one of those things where it is completely functional, but I don’t want to use it out of fear of it looking used. It’s a cheap bag, but it has a lot of sentimentality for me so instead of keeping it packed away in the basement, I put it on display. I do actually use it every once in a while.

 

I looked for a long time to find drapery fabric. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. Everything that matched seemed to…match too much. I needed something to contrast with the wall color but didn’t necessarily want green to match the sofa and chair. I ended up falling for a heavy velvet with a sheen. It was sort of a super deep blackish green but when moved had some gold. I bought it and brought it home and low-and-behold, in the house light it was brown. Serious brown. I wasn’t happy since you can’t return cut fabric. But, after living with it I have decided I really like it. It goes with the nail heads on the sofa and coordinates with everything, but isn’t too matchy-matchy. I do wish the sheen showed through more, though. I decided to make these puddle just slightly. I got the rod on clearance from Restoration Hardware. It’s a really heavy duty rod and was only $26, normally $80 I think.

The stools underneath the window came from Rob’s grandparents. They are from somewhere but I don’t remember. Indonesia? Bangladesh?

One day as we were finishing up the decor a surprise $50 showed up in the mailbox and with it I bought this mirror. I had originally been thinking “starburst” but after bringing a few home I liked this better. The round is perfect next to all the boxy. It is substantial and can hold its own in a room with very high walls.

 

I like to redecorate the top of my piano each month. I call it my “pianoscape”. This set up is for back-to-school. I really don’t have any holiday decor, etc so I just use whatever I have around, usually books, which is perfect for back-to-school anyway! The globe was mine from way back when I bought it to go on my desk at Church Travel. The math book and two spiral notebooks were Rob’s grandpa’s who is also an engineer. The two middle notebooks are from Rob’s French studying while on his mission.

It would be nice to have a pair of chairs on each side of the couch, a coffee table, and a rug. Okay, and a tripod lamp. And I need to figure out what to do with the huge void that is my walls that go from 10’ up to 20’ at the ceiling. But, you know, in time. You’ve got to move on to another room sometime, right?

So there you go. Most of you have already seen all this already since it was done almost a year ago, but I thought I should document. In the meantime I have also done the master bath and the porch is almost done! So those pictures will come some time.

Team Lewis Painter

 

Here is Colleen’s newly expanded team. (I actually have no idea what team has 8 team members…players?…it could be many teams, might be none. Maybe 8 is a team with a couple subs?? Can you tell I don’t follow sports much?) Anyway….

Colleen wanted some urban-y, slightly grungy, cool photos of her family since they aren’t formal, dressy people and I said, “Yes!”. We love doing pictures like this!

We went to old town Midvale since it was a good midpoint between us and found a great, funky brick wall.

We didn’t have much time. We were losing daylight and since we also had our kids with us, there were NINE kids hanging out in a grimy parking lot next to a bar.

These boys are great.

And since I’m sure they don’t always get along so peachy-like, we had to get a more realistic shot to end the evening.

 

Smarty Pants

Sometimes I call this boy Smarty Pants. He really is. He made such strides in reading and math over the summer but I didn’t know exactly how huge they were until last night at Parent Teacher Conference. I had already talked to his teacher about sending him home with harder homework and she also has been giving him a higher level of books to read.

He’s a fantastic reader! He not only knows words way above his 1st grade level but the way he reads is really good for a 6 year old. He has articulation and expression even when reading a book for the first time. His favorite books to read are non-fiction Science books (natural disasters, spiders, etc). The other day he described, at length, buoyancy to me. He was slightly off, but had the right idea. It’s pretty cute hearing him talk about things that interest him. He has such enthusiasm!

So here’s the report:

• On a scale of 1-5 he got a 5 on Respect, Attention, Preparation, and Participation. He got a 4 on Focus.
• His Academic Goal: “Photography. Learn more about taking pictures.” Ha!
• His Behavioral Goal: “Be friends with those who don’t have friends.” Yes!
• On spelling he is 5 levels above what the class is currently learning.
• On math he is in the hardest of the 3 books offered in his class. They are all story problems.
• On reading, the avg level of a 1st grader in the fall is a 3. Nate is a level 16. 16!
• His teacher wrote, “Nate is very bright! He shows respect towards the teacher. Nate is always trying to do better and be his best.”
• She also told me that she loves how she can see him think. He really tries to work through a problem before asking a question, which is uncommon for this age.
• He wrote a note to me and Rob and signed it, “Love Dr. Nate".

So what does all this mean? Well, she says he is and always will be at the top of his class. She said he could easily skip a grade but she doesn’t recommend it. She believes it is better to keep him with his age group and build up his confidence and just give him harder work. At the end of 2nd grade he will take the “advanced” test which would allow him to go to a class with peers on his same level but at a different school, which is probably what we will do, but I’m not going to think about it until the time comes.

Nate is joyous, soaks everything in, asks thoughtful questions and seeks answers, and catches on quickly. Rob and I are so proud of him and his success!

I took this pic when he came home from school with his tooth in a ziploc baggy.

Karen’s Family

Karen’s annual family pictures were taken last month. We went to the conservancy district but they were closed! We decided last minute to go to a park and do some fun, colorful, playful family pictures. Here’s a funny thing…Karen forgot little Emma’s shirt at home. It just so happened that Caroline’s shirt not only fit Emma, but it was the exact color needed!! How perfect was that?!

It is much easier getting great smiles out of the kids when they are climbing all over playground equipment. Imagine that!

     

       

       

I love getting shots of kids truly being themselves. These are the kids we see every day. They’re not posed. No one is telling them to “say cheese!”.

A lovely shot of husband and wife.

 

And it really just wouldn’t be a Hymas family photoshoot if we didn’t get some lens love from Jake.

                   

Check out those “come hither” eyes! Karen’s a lucky lady ;)

Rob and I were so thrilled to do such a fun shoot. The kids played, we got some cute pictures, and everyone left happy. Thanks, guys!

Oh, and remember how Caroline lent Emma her shirt? Here she is shirtless with her skirt hiked up. She ran around at the park like this for an hour. Not at all white trash. Hahaha.

Caroline’s History Thus Far

I’m a little hesitant to write this post, not because I like the appearance of perfection but because I don’t want little Caroline to some day read this post and feel something I don’t want her to feel. But this blog is our family’s history and this is part of it.

Caroline has always been difficult. Her first 3 months were pretty nonstop crying. We tried everything but there just wasn’t much that helped. I remember one night (out of every night) of constant screaming. We were trying to drive through the Layton Park’s Christmas lights and Cara just wouldn’t stop, yet again. Rob finally had me drop him and her off at home while I took the other kids in peace and quiet. I broke down crying while driving. I apologized to Nate and Madeleine for being upset and crying and explained that Caroline just was so hard and cried so much. Nate said, “We still love her, mom.” That made me feel better and we enjoyed the lights. When we got home, Cara was still crying.

Some of it may have to do with the harness she had to wear for 6 months due to hip dysplasia or the constant bucket loads of spit up. This lasted until after she turned 1.

By the time we moved in with my parents when she was almost 4 months old her crying had eased up to where she only did it if we didn’t pick her up and carry her around all day and night. I considered a 15 minute nap in her swing a success. At this time she was hospitalized for RSV.

Two months later after we moved to Lehi and when she could start moving around on her own, her crying literally disappeared. She was so fun and pleasant!! My little baby was a complete joy and made me beam…for 5 months.

 

Then the week before she turned 1 she became difficult again. Chalk it up to the terrible 2s a year early we told ourselves. A year later we are still telling that to ourselves. Caroline is difficult. You’d probably think I am crazy saying this when none of you see how she is at home with her family. In nursery and at family gatherings she is a little angel. Her shyness kicks in and she sits on my lap, obeys, is quiet and gentle. Get her in her own environment with just her family and a second personality emerges. Caroline is deliberately destructive. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen remorse from her. She disobeys and laughs. Does lots of things she knows she shouldn’t. She plays with her feces whenever she has an opportunity. If offered something she doesn’t want at the moment, like raisins, she grabs them and chucks them across the room and yells NO! Today she tried to push me and pull my hair just because I wouldn’t change her dry diaper. There is no compromise. There is no sharing. There is no moderation.

She has had months long bouts of diarrhea. She is now struggling with constipation and a couple of other related things.

Her speech has also given me headaches. Really, she babbles like a 10 month old. Today she said “up” and I was so elated! Up! And although it was barely audible, it was a real word. She can mimic sounds of the alphabet but she can’t mimic words at all. She isn’t even close to putting two words together. We had her hearing checked and it is normal. It was suggested by the ENT that we get her evaluated by the school district’s early intervention program for speech delay but her 2 year well-baby check up is in a couple of weeks and I will be talking to her pediatrician first. She will also be getting a lot of blood work redone to make sure her alkaline phosphatase and other levels have normalized since they were done at 1 for her “failure to thrive” growth deficiency. She is currently 22 pounds.

Yes, she is two. Yes, her parents aren’t large in stature. Yes, maybe she is just a slow talker. Yes, her behavior is hopefully just a phase. But I’ve known many 2 year olds in my lifetime and have had two others of my own. I know they have difficulties. I also know she is definitely on the more difficult end of the spectrum.

In the mean time, I’m doing the best I can. I try not to lose it. I try to give my other kids enough attention to offset all the energy and attention I spend on Cara. I try to let go of my controlling personality and let things be; whether it be letting her make a huge mess or letting her keep messy hair, face, and clothes because I can’t hold her down long enough to clean her up. I try to get out one night a week by myself and Rob is very helpful with that. I breath a heavy sigh of relief at naptime and try not to cry as I close the door with her screaming at me at the top of her lungs for the 8th time already with only half the day over. She seems to be getting worse and worse every week.

I have the ever persistent feeling that something is off. Maybe a couple of things, even. She is still having gastrointestinal issues and put that along with her speech delay and behavioral issues and we’ve got a cocktail of issues and symptoms to wade through. I could be overreacting or I could be listening to my inner voice telling me to fix whatever is ailing my little girl. In the long term, I will never regret trying to help her but will regret if something gets past us. So I will be barraging the pediatrician for answers on the 15th. Maybe if we get some of these underlying issues taken care of her behavior will improve.

I know many parents struggle with difficult children and I know it could be a lot worse than I have it. Nevertheless, I do struggle.

On a positive note, at least she behaves in public…that way we can keep up appearances…’cause that’s really important to me (not really). Truthfully, this girl has spunk and sometimes that’s my favorite quality about her. She makes us laugh. She has such an expressive face and gives us the funniest expressions. She is super intelligent and can literally do anything she wants to do. She’s my littlest girl and I love her.