twirl

My apologies for the prolonged absence on this blog. I have been completely consumed with something new that has been a dream and passion of mine for quite some time. Some of you may have heard that my mom and I are taking on a new business venture in the likes of a boutique. A women's and children's boutique that we have named Twirl Boutique.

Our official launch is going to be a holiday open house back in my hometown in a few weeks and we are tirelessly working to have everything ready by then - I just can't wait!

A little background on the whole idea. I'd say as long as 5 years ago my mom and I began dreaming of someday opening a clothing store together. We've always envisioned it to be located downtown Cedar Falls (my hometown) and thought about all the creative things we could do/offer to make our business unique. We actually met with a few local business owners to ask questions, and ultimately lay some ground work. We visited a boutique here in Des Moines that we liked and got to know the owner of it as well, who has since become somewhat of a mentor to us. And then things kind of got put on hold. No doors were really opening and so we just tabled the idea for the time being. 

There were a few small windows of opportunity between then and now but nothing eye opening or clear answer to prayers, until now. The past few months God has literally opened the doors wide open for us to clearly see His vision for this business. And so we are following. A little hesitantly and a little consciously but following.

We lost the opportunity of our "perfect" rental space a few months ago but with the encouragement of a mentor we decided to proceed anyways with some unique business avenues until our space is available again. So for now we will be holding open houses showcasing clothing we have bought for the store. We will be hosting the open houses in both the Cedar Falls and Des Moines areas, we then hope to develop an online retail business later this winter/early Spring, with the ultimate goal of moving into a rental space next fall. 

Lots has to happen between now and then for that to come to fruition but we are excited and hopeful. We are super busy planning for our first open house and there are so many unknowns that make us nervous and excited at the same time!

So that's what has been keeping me busy these days - lots and lots of ordering, tracking, setting up bank accounts, tagging inventory, etc etc. This is such a good thing for me and something that I absolutely love to do. It feeds that passion for business and fashion that is so exciting and makes me feel fulfilled in ways I haven't been since I left my job so for that I am incredibly thankful!

our first piece of inventory!

lily checking out our signage

first delivery of inventory

unpacking inventory

preston's dedication

I'm a little behind in blogging but so it goes, right?!

At the end of September we had Preston dedicated. What a special day it was! We decided to do it at we consider our "home church" even though we absolutely love our current church, it just felt right. We got married in this church and Lily was dedicated at this church as well, so I opted to have our son dedicated their as well. 

I asked Doug Tensen, a family friend, an awesome pastor, the man that married and counseled us, and a wonderful man of God do our private ceremony and it was perfect.

We invited our immediate family and grandparents and that room was sure full of love. Doug shared some verses with us about the promises of God, the blessings of children, and our role as their parents and providers. He asked us to affirm our faith and publicly share that we promise to raise Preston in the truth. And to us that's what this whole deal is really about.

When we first had Lily and talked about the differences between baptizing, dedicating, or doing nothing until they could decide from themselves we surprisingly both felt passionately about the same thing. It was incredibly important for us both to publicly profess our faith and our desire and commitment to raising our child/ren in a home that will know about Jesus. We want our children to see love through our actions, words, and service. My heart longs for them to find their own faith and come to know the Lord as their own. What a responsibility that is as parents, but what an honor! And then our vision for our children is that they will make the decision to be baptized on their own - when they have accepted Jesus into their heart and fully understand what being baptized really means. And what a day of celebration that will be!

So happy dedication day sweet James Preston - our prayer for you precious son is that you love Jesus with all his heart. That you will learn about Him through us and come to know Him as your own. 

jimmy & preston

LOVE this picture of our family surrounding us with their support

how quickly our lives can change

Two weeks ago we had quite a scare. We spent the afternoon sitting in an urgent care on pins and needles as we waiting to hear if our son was alright. So so scary and something I hope to never live through again, but as parents I'm sure we will.

It was a Wednesday and we had spent the beautiful afternoon having lunch with a friend and playing at a park. We came home around nap time, 2ish, and I quickly wanted to finish a few chores before putting the kiddos down for nap. One of which included changing the clothes in the washing machine to the drier. Simple and quick task - right?! Well my littlest was whining at my feet because he was tired and wanted picked up. So in an attempt to occupy him I handed him the closed container of Tide laundry pods that I use in our washer. I proceed to switch my clothes from the washer to the drier and glanced down at my son to find white soap on his hands and dripping from his mouth. Slight panic but I quickly scooped him up and headed to the sink, doing my best to rinse his mouth out and he begins to SCREAM.

I quickly read the back of the container to see that if ingested I should give them milk or water and call poisoin control immediately. So I do, in the meantime he throws up. The posion control lady tells me to go the ER immediately. After a little further discussion she decides Urgent Care may be the better option, because it's much closer, and we hang up. I rush around to quickly change Preston's and I's clothes, as they are covered in throw up, call Jimmy, call my sister to see if I can bring Lily there, and hop in the car. I call Jimmy again once in the car to let him know which clinic I'm going to and then Preston starts throwing up again, alot. So much so that he begins choking in his carseat. I barely get the car pulled over, hop out of the car, and begin scooping it out of his mouth. He has soaked his clothes, the two blankets I had given him, and his entire carseat. Jimmy yells from the bluetooth phone call to go to the Urgent Care immediately, bring Lily along, and he will meet me there. 

We jump out of the car and arrive at the Urgent Care - they were waiting for us. He's taken back almost immediately and they begin to check him over - looking in his mouth, listening to his breathing, and just examining him. They of course ask me several questions, all of which I could thankfully answer because I was right there. And then they scare me deeply. The Dr proceeds to tell us that ingesting these laundry detergent pods kill children. That because the soap is such a concentrated amount it can burn the child's mouth when swallowed, and then creates legens on the inside of their body/organs that cannot heal, and consquently causes them to suffocate. Crazy, insane, completely freaked out, so scared. He proceeded to tell us that they had an ambulance ready and that if at any point he wasn't comfortable with what he saw, he would be ambulanced down to Blanks Children's Hospital downtown. And then I completely lost it. How could this have happened? How could I have been so stupid? How did I not know how bad those things are? How could I have given him that container to play with?

They told us that we'd be staying awhile and that they wanted to continue to monitor him for a few hours. And so they did. At first Preston seemed out of it, which I don't know how much of it was just due to him being tired and how much was because of the soap. But then after an hour or so he began to play with Lily. They read books and discovered the room we were in and I started to relax a bit, but not entirely. What if something happened when they sent us home? How do we know what to watch for? How do we know he's ok?

After a few hours the doctor told us that he thought he was in the clear and that we could go home. He told us that in the majority of these cases they see the signs within the first hour. I was still nervous to go home unsure of what the night would bring. However, he gave us clear instruction on what to look for and advised us to check on him every hour. Needless to say I didn't sleep much that night. But morning came and he was fine. He's been fine ever since. Amazing.

So crazy to think about how differently that day could have gone. How our world could have been flipped upside down. When I think about those possibilities it literally breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. He is such a gift to our family - what in the world would I do without him? Children are so fragile, God entrusts us to protect them and keep them safe and what a good reminder that we should never take that job lightly. There's no doubt in my mind that God was watching over little Preston that day and only allowed him to ingest some of the soap. May we always remember how small we are and how powerful and BIG our God truly is.

northern michigan

We just got back from an awesome trip to Northern Michigan for my cousin's wedding. We left Thursday after work, drove through the night and arrived in Petosky, MI early Friday morning.

After a failed attempt at getting our kiddos back to sleep we got our room settled then headed down for breakfast with family. It's so fun seeing family we don't see that often, some of my cousins I hadn't seen in over a year! We spent the day Friday exploring the awesome downtown, walking along the Lake Michigan harbor, attending rehearsal lunch, Jimmy golfed with the men of the wedding, and then after pizza in the hotel we hit the town for the night. One of the bummers of traveling with small kiddos is one of us always seems to miss out on something - Jimmy stayed back with the kiddos that night while I caught up with several of the ladies and enjoyed some yummy appetizers and drinks at a local restaurant.

Saturday was wedding day! We spent the morning at a park and a fun coffee shop on the pier before heading back to get ready for the wedding. We had previously decided that just I would go to the wedding and Jimmy would stay back with the kiddos. That worked well because it was a 2pm wedding - aka nap time - and then they'd be well rested for the reception - so we thought. Funny how things never quite go as planned :) Turns out Lily didn't nap and Preston didn't sleep long. So sure enough by the time we drove the 20 minutes to the reception site they were both tired! Turns out Preston really can sleep through anything and slept a good hour in the corner in the stroller while we ate dinner and visited. Then before the dance even started Lily switched him places and slept the entire rest of the reception asleep in the stroller as well. Preston was a party animal and stayed up dancing with us until the last dance!

Sunday we took our time getting packed up and hitting the road and took a scenic drive back to Grand Rapids, MI where a few of my cousins and aunt and uncle live. We were able to see both of their places, the kiddos were able to play and run around with my cousins kid, have dinner with them, and then load back into the car for the drive home through the night Sunday.

Last stop was Monday morning to spend the day at the farm. It timed out perfectly that Jimmy's dad was ready to harvest our field so Jimmy actually did that himself this year and ran the combine all day Monday, while the kiddos and I spent the day at Grandma's! Both kids loved riding in the tractor with Aunt Jissy and in the combine with daddy. Such fun memories being made. Then one last time in the car Monday night to drive the last few hours home to Ankeny.

It felt like we spent days in the car but it was well worth the trip! I don't think we've missed a family wedding yet and I love that. Sometimes it's the only time you see some family that lives far away and marriages are such a big celebration. 

Congratulations to Brett and Biz - may you experience the blessing of marriage in a real way and work daily to follow Christ through your marriage.

Lake Michigan harbor

Great Grandpa Dieken playing with Preston

sisters

babies & grandma

ready for the wedding

brett & biz

they're married!

their wedding site

mom, dad, cinda & i

party time!

ready to get in the combine

harvest

preston & daddy

northern michigan

one year of no john deere

It's been a little over a year since I took a leave of absence from John Deere. At the time I decided to take that leave I was frustrated in my job, ready to spend more time with Lily, and waiting for our second child to be born. A lot has happened changed since then but my desire to take a leave is not one of them.

It's funny how life changes. 5 years ago I was completely career focused and driven - thinking constantly about my work performance and the next step or move. I wondered what other people thought about my work, if they thought I was good at my job, and/or if I deserved that next promotion.  Now my thoughts aren't that much different, just the subject of focus is. Now I wonder if I am doing the right things with my kids, challenging them enough with their development, feeding them the right foods, maintaining a good balance of self play and interacting with them. Of course I wonder what other moms think of me in this role as well. Do they think I'm a good mom, do they think my kids are well behaved, do they think I spend enough time with my kids, do they think I've let myself go. It seems strange that ones job title can be so different yet their standards and thoughts are so similar, isn't it? 

I sometimes envy that mom that works full time, thinking she has the best of both worlds. But then I think about how little time she really gets to spend with her kids, how hard it must be to get everyone up and out the door in the morning - including herself, I think about how her mind must never quit thinking about her to-do lists for both work and home, and then I don't envy her at all. How hard it would be to live in both worlds. And I think while some of these moms choose to work, some don't. 

So it's a weird place of discontentment and contentment at the same time, isn't it?

I've been finding my place in the world of stay at home mama's this past year. Really figuring out where I want, and need, to spend my time and focus and I've learned a few things.

1. I need to get out of the house. For my own sanity, the safety of my children, and the well being of my husband, I need to get out of the house.
2. I'm not like a lot of stay at home moms, but there are more stay at home moms like me than I thought. 
3. Working part time is a good balance for me. I need something intellectual to be stirring in my mind most of the time.
4. There are tons of opportunities to be involved with things that also involve your kids if you look for them.
5. Not all stay at home moms like being on the go.

So lets revisit #3 - working part time is a good balance for me. I knew this before I decided to stay at home full time, however, working part time had to be worth it. Meaning I needed to make enough money that off set the cost of paying someone to watch our kids, and it needed to be something I really enjoyed. And while working for John Deere definitely off set those costs it was to a point that I wasn't really enjoying what I was doing. So God led me to leave the corporation role and since then has been paving the way for new opportunities.

God has been working on a dream for my mom and I to go into business together for quite some time, and it seems some doors are finally opening for us. While I'm not ready to reveal what this opportunity entails, it is very exciting for us both and has given me something intellectual to focus on, which has been so good for me. I love feeling challenged, using my business skills that I've learned in school and in practice, and thinking about ways in which we can use our creativity. I do not know when things will pan out - it may be 6 months, it may be a year but things are definitely in the works and I am so incredibly excited and blessed for the opportunity to stay home with my little ones, which is allowing me to look into these said opportunities. Let the adventure continue :)

preston is 1

A week ago my little man turned one year old.

I now am a mama to a 2 year old and a 1 year old, my gracious, seems crazy. But oh so good.

At his one year appointment he weighed in at 22 lbs 4 oz and was 31 inches long. That put him in the 75% for weight and 80% for length. He is wearing mostly 12M clothes and some 12-18M. For being on the bigger end of the charts he seems small to me. Although other than height he and Lily are about the same size, we actually get asked fairly often if they are twins :)

He's still taking two good naps a day! He eats pretty much any and everything and lots of it! He plays hard, is starting to fight back when his sissy attacks :) and really is just FULL of life and personality for such a little guy.

He isn't quite yet walking but has mastered pulling himself up on everything, walking along side anything, and walking while holding hands - which he likes to do often, he's two front teeth have just poked through but aren't quite totally visible, he took his first kayak ride with daddy in Eldora, he still loves being outside and has really been more interested in exploring - rocks, grass, mud, toys, whatever he can find, he has mastered the stairs, so much so that he thinks he can just go ahead and go down facing forward now - not a good idea, and he's started becoming more of a daddy's boy and actually preferring him or me when he's home. 

Our little man truly is one of a kind. You will never see a bigger smile, a better 1 year old dancer, two bigger teeth, a little brother that loves his sissy, or someone that brings joy to each one he meets more than our little guy. One year ago my heart was full and thankful as he entered our lives, and as we celebrated one year of his precious life, my heart is even fuller and more thankful. 

the first moment with my new son

1 day old

ready to head home

excited about his bday cupcake!

us with our boy 1 year later

grateful

Do you ever feel an overwhelming sense of complete gratitude? I felt that so vividly this morning as I held my son in the quiet hours of the morning, after my yoga workout as he had just awoke. Then later on in the morning as I got down on the floor and just played with my kids. I didn't think about the dishes that were still in the sink from last night, the laundry on the table that needed to be folded, or the half emptied totes of fall/winter clothes that needed to be put away in place of their summer clothes - I just played. I listened to their giggles, I let them roll around on top of me and hit me all over with toy drumsticks, and I was present. 

God is so very good. This life is so full of struggles, emptiness, and evil sin but in light of it all he gives us moments like I had today and I'm so grateful. Never have I ever done anything to deserve being called mommy by my two precious gifts but he gave them to me anyways. 

And I am eternally grateful.

a dr seuss birthday

This past Saturday we celebrated Preston's upcoming 1st birthday with a Dr Suess/Cat in the Hat themed birthday party with family and friends.

I had so much fun planning his party and love taking time on all the little details that may go unnoticed but to me, make it extra special. I know he won't remember this birthday or any of the things that were made for it but I will and it's a true celebration of his first year of life and survival :)

Here's the pictures and details......

The entry and welcome area:

welcome table

entry way

the kids party favor

welcome table

The guests were asked, via a clever little poem, to sign his Dr Suess "Happy Birthday" book with a little message to him letting him know you were in attendance at her first birthday.
The Suessville sign is something I made by painting a wooden rod, hand drawing and cutting the arrow signs, and anchoring them in a red bucket with a foam arrangement square and some rocks.
And the "Welcome" sign is something I picked up at the Target dollar spot intended for a teacher's door.

Our mantle in the main living room area:

I picked up the aqua candles at Hobby Lobby to use in our room but they matched perfectly so I added them to the party decor.
The Dr Seuss sign is ones I printed on card stock on our home computer and then painted Dollar Store frames to make them more colorful.
The monthly pictures banner I made with scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby and pictures I printed off via Shutterfly.
The "Preston" letters are from Hobby Lobby and also used in his room.

The sweets table:

This table was located right next to the main food table and got plenty of attention throughout the night.
The Dr Seuss fabric is something I picked up in Denver, CO while visiting my sister and worked perfectly as an overlay to this table.
Hy-Vee did the cake and I made the sugar cookies.

The main food table:

I had all the paper laterns, which I picked up at Hobby Lobby long ago and use some of them in Preston's room.
The red backdrop is a Dollar Tree table cloth taped to the print we usually have hung in our dining room.
The Dr Seuess details are from a printable I bought on Esty for $4! and printed on my home computer. The package included the food labels, which I was able to personaliz, the "Welcome to My Party" sign, water bottle labels, and cupcake toppers that I used on the fruit kabob sticks. It came with other things too but that was what I used from the package. Good deal!

We served Ham and Green Egg salad sandwiches, Yot in a Pot meatballs, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish goldfish, Cat in the Hat fruit kabobs (alternating strawberries and bananas to look like the red and white hat), Assorted Green and Other Things veggie cup with ranch dip, and Oodles of Noodles mac n' cheese! Yummy yummy!

I had one planned kids craft which involved making a popsicle stick cat nose and a cat in the hat red and white hat. Here's a picture of Lily with her completed craft - the "older" kiddos loved it!

Come cake time he didn't dig in like I thought he would. He nicely shared with Daddy and picked at it some but never really dove in. Somehow he managed to get plenty messy though :)

By present time he was pretty much ready for bed so we just did a few. He got lots and lots of gifts - trucks, trains, cars, all things boy! and we needed a few non pink items around here :)

my grandma makes all the great grandkids a quilt for their 1st birthday - so cute! he loved the animals!

we got him this chair from pottery barn and gave it to him earlier in the day so he could use it at his party

It was such a wonderful evening spent with close friends and family that we feel blessed took the time to spend the evening with us celebrating our little man. What a year its been - he's the best!

pre party picture

bad lighting but little man snuggling in

i'd call it a success :)