MadHen's New Room

Now that Henry is one full year old, we thought it was time to change the heading of this blog to actually include him in the family. Ok, you're right. It's been on my list of things to do for about, oh, 11 months. It's a long list, folks. A long, exhausting list.

But alas. Better late than never, and I think it was well worth the wait. Doesn't it look great?! My fabulously talented husband (who still doesn't think he is a graphic artist) created it with the inspiration from a little nickname Mimi has taken to calling the kiddos: MadHen. I like the nickname but I also like the image it conjures -- a slightly crazed mama bird squawking and clucking about. I can really identify with that bird at this time in my life. Not all of the time or even the majority of the time, thank God. But certainly much of the time. At any rate, I love the new graphic and I'm genuinely impressed with Kurt for his artistic eye.

This might be one of my favorite photos ever:

The Olmsted children are nothing if not expressive.

In other news, we moved Henry into Madelyn's room over the weekend. We have been fretting and stewing and plotting about this event for months and finally decided that there was never going to be a good, calm time to move two busy, giggly, easily distractable kiddos into the same room. So we ultimately just did it and didn't think too much about it. It hasn't been without complications, but oh my goodness...the amount of cuteness coming out of that room between 7:15 and about, oh, 9:00 when they finally can't keep their eyes open anymore is worth it all. The first night, Kurt and I kissed them both goodnight, shut their door, and then promptly sat down in the kitchen on the other side of the vent in their room to eavesdrop on their first parent-free sleep-over. Henry, in new surroundings, cried a bit when we left, but our girl Maddie really rose to the occasion. "Oh buddy, they hear you crying, but you'll be ok. I'm here. Do you see me over here? You can't? Ok, how about a back scratch? You have to lay down, Henry. Henry, you have to lay down. Lay down, Buddy. There you go!"

Henry then began chatting back to her "dadadada" over and over again and probably began pointing around the room because at one point she said "that's the humidifier...I don't know what it does but we run it every night." They got the giggles and chatted some more and there was a loud bang at one point. It took a few gentle reminders and about an hour and 45 minutes, but they did it. And they seemed to have a really good time, so that makes a mama's heart happy.

First Haircut

Henry's first haircut! We're having family photos taken tomorrow and, well, it was time regardless. Our boy has a gorgeous head of curly hair. Look at those luscious locks:

But it can get a little, well, Trumpy at times:

So we visited Little Snippers this evening and Finny got the royal treatment -- fancy DVD, truck with a beepy steering wheel, flashy stars hanging from the ceiling, and bubbles. And we got a darling little "first haircut" certificate with his soft baby locks saved for his mama on his first day of college.

Seriously. We are simply smitten with this little boy!

Three + One = Whole

One year ago today at 3:03 p.m. PST, Henry Finn entered the world, thus completing our little Olmsted family unit. I am so grateful that in spite of my exhausted, two-brain-cells-barely-bumping-together Mama forgetfulness, I remember that day so vividly. I remember seeing his face for the first time and thinking "Oh my goodness, he looks just like Madelyn did when she was born!" I remember how my body felt electric at how excited I was to meet my baby boy. I remember how Kurt lovingly and dutifully stayed by my side as they were getting me all put back together, but when I finally "released" him, he practically leaped over to where the nurses were weighing and measuring Henry so he could get a close look at his son. I remember snuggling with him chest-to-chest under a warm blanket in the recovery room and thinking "This, right here, just like this is pure bliss." I remember Madelyn entering the room for the first time and without saying a word walking straight to her new baby brother and quietly, tenderly, maybe a touch cautiously stroking his soft little head -- there were presents given to her but she was so focused on Henry. I remember driving away from the hospital on our way home (on a gorgeous sunny winter day) with TWO babies in the back seat, laughing and saying to Kurt "Look back there! There are two of them!"

This past year has been the fastest one of my life. Someone said to me once "With parenting, the days last forever but the years fly by." So, so true. What a delight it has been to watch Henry grow and change and see expressions emerge on his face and rolls fill out on his thighs and belly and chin. I've loved cheering him on as he learns new things and watching the wonder in his eyes as he takes in his environment (you know, every light in every room he's ever entered or the ginormous fan in the IKEA warehouse...). Every now and then in his profile or maybe a random expression I think I catch a glimpse of the man he will be someday. I'm sure I'll be ready for it when it happens (or at the very least I'm saving money for my future therapy fund), but for right now, I'm so glad I get to nurse my baby to sleep a bit longer and relish in his softness and innocence and dependence. Given that he is literally a part of me, my heart feels like I have always known him, and I am so grateful for every blessed minute of the last 365 days.

Happy Birthday, darling Henry Finn! You are deeply loved, sweet boy...

(Also, welcoming a second dependent into our world has shown us just how profoundly true the whole, "It takes a village..." saying is. I could not be more grateful for our "village" -- our family members and friends who listen and encourage and offer perspective and advice and, when necessary, meals and babysitting and playdates and hand-me-downs... You, too, are deeply loved!)


Henry the bi-ped! He took his first steps about a week ago and is now walking across rooms!

Shatter and Embark

I'm not really into making New Year's resolutions, and yet I find myself secretly, privately doing just that every year. Most of the time, my resolutions are pretty traditional: get in shape, reduce my sugar intake, "don't sweat the small stuff," read through the entire Bible. Perhaps also traditionally, I'm only ever moderately successful with those resolutions, and they significantly peter out around the end of February (e.g. I know Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus REALLY well but not so much anything that comes afterward).

This year I don't have a resolution, per se, but more of a (forgive the expression) "do I have the balls to go after what I really want" kind of decision. Not sure how I present on the outside to all of you, but on the inside, my mind is a flurry of whims and dreams. I see someone's beautiful garden and I think, yes! I want to be a landscape architect! I read a book about farming and I think, hurray! I'm going to milk cows and grow vegetables! I knit a pretty little sweater and I think, perfect! I'll open a knit shop and knit for the rest of my life! Even if I were a cat with the proverbial nine lives, they wouldn't be enough to pack in everything I want to do and experience and accomplish. Thank God I believe in eternity with a new heaven and a new earth -- there will be plenty of time to take care of all of those whims and dreams eventually.

Nevertheless, I'm still living this life here, and even with the promise of eternity, I do believe what we do in this earth matters. I think we are each gifted in a unique way and fulfilled in a unique way and that God delights in seeing us follow our hearts and our talents. The challenge for those of us idealistic dreamers is that we can imagine just about anything. At some point, we have to close our eyes, settle the flurry, and feel which dream pulls at our heart most persistently, most longingly, most excitedly. Not being in your 20's really helps this process. Good grief, I think most of us have Identity ADHD in our 20's, and I'm so glad to be (mostly) through that.

I know without a doubt which dream calls to me when my spirit is most still. (Well there are two, really, but one is more private for my family and does involve vegetables and fresh milk from a cow. That's another story for another time.) I can see it, smell it, hear it and even taste it, but it's like there is this thick piece of glass as far as my eye can see that prevents me from just jumping right into it, and for the life of me I don't know how to break it. I want to. I feel like I've paced anxiously in front of the glass like a caged bobcat at the zoo for years. Enough already.

So. That's my goal for 2012: shatter and embark.

No idea where to go from here.

Happy, Merry Christmas

Attended the best Christmas Eve service I've ever been to yesterday at our church, Mosaic. The music, in particular, was just beautiful. Toward the end of the service, the worship team did a series of carols that blended seamlessly one into the next: O Come O Come Emanuel, O Holy Night, and Silent Night. The words and the melodies were the same, but the chords were slightly different -- deeper, minor, more haunting. Underneath it all was this pulsing -- reverb, I think, from an electric guitar -- that created an incredible sense of mystery and yearning and urgency and awe. I was so moved that I was literally weeping because here's the deal: I believe that all the words in those songs are true. They aren't just fun, festive tunes to sing every December. They are the Gospel in its most direct, concise form that have somehow been accepted without question by the general populace for one month and sung with great enthusiasm no less. Not really anything else I want to say about that other than I hope your spirit was moved somehow this season too.

A few favorite moments from the last few days:

The Three Kings lined up waiting their turn to see the Baby Jesus. I guess we know what Madelyn's preschool teachers are emphasizing lately...

T.R.O.U.B.L.E. This is the look we get (frequently) when Henry knows he's somewhere he shouldn't be!


Evidently enthusiasm for olives skips a generation.


Umm, Henry is busy.

Papa and Nana's house and Baba and Mimi's house both have ceiling fans, and all Henry does the whole time he is there is point at them. Good thing his birthday is right around the corner...a ceiling fan isn't necessarily a traditional "first birthday" gift, but they just bring him so much joy!

Henry sporting a new hat for Daddy.

Madelyn has had this baby doll for a year and has barely picked it up. She got the doll bed and the diaper bag for Christmas and has suddenly been obsessed with caring for her baby. Who knew?

Good Night, Sleep Tight...

...Don't let the bed bugs bite.

Innocent enough, right? Haven't we been saying this with smiles and tickles to our children for decades? I mean, who has ever really seen a bed bug anyway. Aren't they, like, cute with googly eyes and bobbly antennae?

Umm, yeah... They're not, and the Olmsted's will NEVER say this little rhyme to our children ever again.

Two weeks ago Thursday, we discovered a bed bug infestation in Madelyn's' room. She has woken up with small red spots on her body for over two months, which, in hind sight, means the bugs have been there, crawling on her and biting her for two months. I nearly vomited when that realization hit me. We spent the weekend at a beach house in mid-September, and about a week later, the spots started showing up, so I'm 99% sure that's where we picked them up. I knew something was going on with those spots, but when we asked our doctor (whom we love) about them, she said it was likely a reaction to the child pox vaccine she had gotten about ten days prior. She said the spots would go away within a week or so, but they didn't. I was so bothered by them, but I just couldn't figure out what was going on.

Then one night, Madelyn wet the bed, which is very rare for her. We were in her room in the middle of the night, pulling sheets and blankets, which we never are, and we found a little bug crawling on one of her blankets. We didn't think anything of it at the time until we found another identical bug on her pj's the next morning. Sure enough, upon further inspection, we found many more bugs crawling all over her bed frame, her pillow, and her blankets. In a flash, everything synchronized and made sense: bed bugs.

In the 11 days since that morning, total chaos has ensued in our house. Bed bugs, as I've learned, are among the hardest pests to kill because they are centuries old and have adapted and evolved over time. Only high, high heat and chemicals will kill them, and they can survive without any food for up to 18 months, so you can't even starve them out. They can lay their eggs between the ridges of a dime, and they like to burrow in the tiniest cracks and crevices, such as in a bed frame (where they have easy access to fine midnight dining) or underneath baseboards. It's not just a matter of having some pest guys come out, spray around the perimeter, and get back to life within a day or two. Even in a mild infestation (which we have been told ours is), it can take months to be sure that you've really obliterated the problem.

So. For a gal like me who tends toward anxiety and neat-nickery anyway, this whole ordeal has been extremely trying on every level -- physical, mental, and emotional. There is such a stigma associated with pests like bed bugs and lice, and I can't help but feel dirty even though our pest guy (Brandon, who has practically become part of the family in the last two weeks) assures me that he spends the vast majority of his time in clean, well-cared for homes like ours rather than cluttered, garbage filled homes that one might associate with these types of pests. Also, because you have to be so vigilant in order to truly get on top of a bed bug infestation, I now see potential bed bugs EVERYWHERE in my house. Every crumb on the floor or fuzz on a blanket or tiny red scratch on one of my kid's faces is assumed to be a bed bug until proven otherwise. Every morning before our feet even touch the floor, we get out a flashlight and inspect every inch of our beds, pillows, blankets, and bodies to see if they've survived the two treatments we've had thus far and are multiplying. We've had to wash and/or dry on high heat EVERY sheet, blanket, stuffed animal, and article of clothing in our entire house. Everything else that was in our two bedrooms has been bagged up in thick plastic bags with a special strip in there that will kill off any live bugs or eggs. I vacuum every other day just in case, despite our vigilance, one has hitched a ride on a blanket or stuffed animal and is in the living room slowly making his way back to a bedroom. This is an absolutely exhausting way to live, and the end is by no means in sight.

Furthermore, pest control is one of the most expensive things we've ever had to pay for. It's worth it, of course, because you do whatever you have to do and I certainly wouldn't do that job for any amount of money, but oh my goodness...it kind of takes your breath away.

Anyway, I am writing all of this for two reasons: 1) Oddly enough, I want to remember this time, not because of how awful it was but to remind me that we survived and encountered overwhelming generosity on the part of our family to help us get through it, and 2) to offer a few "Public Service Announcements" to all of you to help prevent you from ever having to deal with something like this. So, here is my unsolicited advice, gleaned from spending several hours with Brandon the Pest Guy in the last couple of weeks:

1. Bed bugs have become an epidemic in this country due to increased travel and increased population density. To avoid them, you must check every bed you sleep in at every hotel or house or wherever no matter how fancy or clean it is. Look for the actual bugs (which is hard because they only come out at night) or look for tiny black spots on the bed frame, mattress, bed-side tables, or baseboards which is their excrement.

2. Don't ever put your suitcase on the floor. Put it on a suitcase stand or a chair, and don't ever unpack your clothes from your suitcase or leave them lying around the room.

3. When you get back home, take your suitcase IMMEDIATELY to your washer and dryer and wash and/or dry EVERYTHING on high heat -- even the clothes on your back. Then vacuum out your suitcase thoroughly.

4. If you find small red spots on your body (or your kids' bodies), assume bed bugs first and look for them. They are very good at staying hidden, so you really have to hunt, but the sooner you can catch them, the better.

Anyway, that's about it, I guess. It's been kind of strange dealing with all of this around the Thanksgiving season, because I have to be honest that I didn't feel very thankful this season. This current bed bug infestation has really been just the latest crisis in a string of challenging things our family has been dealing with, really, for the last year. But it is true that life is all about perspective, and we are 100% in control of what we choose to focus on and what experiences we allow to occupy our hearts. By the grace of God, we fought for thankfulness in our hearts this season and very much felt grateful that bed bugs have been our worst problem and not cancer or foreclosure or starvation.

And, to prove the above point, let's end this post with some photos of our healthy, happy, currently bed-bug free children who bring immeasurable joy to our hearts on a minute by minute basis.




Madelyn and Henry playing in the biggest pile of leaves I've ever seen -- every leaf from the park behind our house! All the neighbor kids came out to jump in them one dry, sunny afternoon, and it was so much fun.

I love this shot of the trees in the park behind our house. We love being so close to a park.

Yeah, that about sums it up much of the time!

Is there anything cuter than a little boy in overalls?!

Henry smiles and laughs all the time, but it's really hard to catch them on film because he instantly becomes so fascinated with the camera. Here's a great one of him and Auntie Kelsie on Thanksgiving -- I think he just loves his Auntie Kelsie so much :)

Neighs and Nibbles

Henry, aka Salmon Sashimi, all dressed up for Halloween. He was a bit like a dog chasing his tail with the pillow on his back, but he was definitely interested in all the activity going on around him. And he was definitely interested in the shiny candy wrappers that big sister was so focused on. (No, we didn't let him try any...but we thought about it!)

Madelyn, aka Star Song of the My Little Ponies. I've decided that I will totally indulge this toy obsession of hers because it's fancy hair and pretty accessories attached to ponies as opposed to busty, long-limbed, tip-toeing humans. She'll want to play with Barbies eventually, I'm sure, but I'm going to keep these ponies around as long as I can.


Hope you all had a fun Halloween! We were super excited to get a steady bunch of trick-or-treaters this year after years of no kids. I think that's a great sign for our little neighborhood, and we had a blast trick-or-treating at our neighbors'. One older couple with no kids even had special treats just for Maddie and Henry which totally made me think of one of my neighbors growing up who did exactly the same thing for me and my siblings every year. I am feeling more and more invested in our little community here and am looking for ways to serve our neighbors and bring us together. Any ideas or things that work for you?