What's in a name?

  Ryan and I have found naming a human being to be no small task, and our third girl name was not the easiest to come by, but we are equally thrilled to have decided on

Iris Hope Anderson.

 I love the idea of story telling through naming, because I think our family stories are so powerful, beautiful, and valuable. God loves stories. He is the ultimate story teller, the author of each of our individual stories which he perfectly weaves all together into His cosmic story of redemption and restoration. I have found, both through being a client and a therapist, that there are few experiences more powerful than finding acceptance in sharing our stories of brokenness and redemption with each other.

My story is woven into my name, Laura Hope (which is also my mom's middle name), as I was born one year after my older brother Matthew passed away, and my parents saw me as new hope after deep suffering and loss. I never knew Matthew, but his life and death impacted who I have become more than I think I'll ever know. I chose to keep my middle name as I feel that it reminds me of my story, my parents story, my family story, and therefore my children's story.

We are passing the middle name, Hope, down to Iris because of what it represents to me, and also because of her story. Her story began long long ago, but in more recent years her older sisters entered the world through a very traumatic pregnancy and first year, causing me all sort of neuroses:)…no really.

 Iris means rainbow, and she has been such a bright spot after a difficult season. She is a mark God's grace and faithfulness (Gen. 9) to us after a trying few years having TTTS twins in a place far from home & family. Iris is also the Tennessee state flower, a little piece of our homeland. We are so thankful to God for all the ways he has provided for us, but particularly grateful for giving us a healthy and thriving SINGLETON (thank you Jesus) baby girl, and so a name of peace, hope, and rest it is. Thank you for checking in, and thank you to all those who have and do pray for our family!

"Operation Big Girl Room"- complete.

We are now on to "Operation Big Girls SLEEPING in Big Girl Room" :)- in process.

I loved working on this room, not that it's anything special, but I enjoy doing fun kid spaces much more than adult ones. I preferred this to working on the nursery too because I actually know the girls now, so I got to tailor it a bit more. This was a little tough because this room was once an attic space (I think) and it has not been updated in decades, not to mention I had a small budget (for 2 people), but overall, I am satisfied with what I was able to do with DIY, things I already had, giveaways, and clearance items from Target, Ikea, & Overstock.... Ryan may disagree ;).

In typical me fashion, this room can be described in too many ways; modern geo with a touch of rustic..and cloud themes.. I just looved these cloud & sleepy raindrop pillows, and had to incorporate them (tried to tie in poms & dot sheets for "rain"- maybe too much of a stretch:)). All to say, they were $45-$60 on ETSY, and so I decided to make them for free using an old white pillowcase, felt, and batting. I am no master seamstress, I only say that to encourage you that it was not hard at all, and totally worth the DIY!

I pulled out a bunch of these dipped terra cotta pots I did for a shower once, & I thought they kindof worked well in here. The girls love to help me water them, which we do about once every 2 weeks :)- yay succulants!

The Pom wall decor craft that Audrey and I did together

 My "high shelf" with my special vintage books. I just cut up a US map for a little background paper on the shelving.

A small washi tape gallery wall with the girls recent art work. I'll probably hang my, ahem I mean, their, favorite dresses on the ladder. 

Thanks Uncle Troy for making these adorable doll beds that actually look like our real beds!

 Thanks for stoppin by, wish us luck in our next operation, & come over to play in our big girl room ;)

mommy & me wall decor pom craft

Audrey has been waking up from naps before Evangeline, and so I have gotten some special one on one time with her lately. Their big girl room has been my most recent project during nap time, and so she has been my big helper and we had so much fun working on this pom wall decor piece together! This craft is super fun for toddlers, easy, inexpensive, and (in my humble opinion) adorable for big kid rooms!

Materials:
- branch
- ~30 2-3" multicolor poms: I got mine from hobby lobby ($3/bag), but I looove the big wool ones online.

- white yarn & embroidery needle: I considered fishing line too, but yarn provides enough traction for the poms to stay in place.

Instructions:
1) Take your little on a branch hunt outside
2) Let your little choose the poms she likes, and then as you are threading the poms, let her choose the color and number of poms per sequence (if you want to give up that much control:)). Audrey loved getting to make all these decisions, it made her feel so big!

3) Tie a little knot at one end and leave about 5-6" on the other end to tie to the branch
4) Space out your poms and tie each sequence to your branch. Tie one more string to each end and hang your pom decor. Your little one will be so thrilled to display their work in their big kid room!

number three, a he or a she?

Ryan jokes that we are going to change our name to AnderDAUGHTERS. We are thrilled to have had a healthy 20 week sonogram of our third daughter! While I can't help but wonder what a baby boy would have been like, this little one adds such a sweet, joyful, and different dynamic and experience to our family, and I can't wait to get to know her. We are so thankful for our girls!

Big Sisters!

Wanted to let you all know we are thrilled to be expecting a singleton July 2nd! I am so thankful to God to be expecting a singleton. I am currently 17 weeks. At this point in the last pregnancy, I was seeing a specialist once a week, and at week 18 was diagnosed with TTTS. Although I was very nauseous until recently, that has been the worst of it. Baby is growing, and we will hopefully find out the gender soon. I feel so much happier and lighter this time around. I have great hopes that this pregnancy and delivery can be healthy, full term, risk free, and low intervention. Thanks for checkin in!

Christmas Crafting with Kiddos: snow globe jars!

Baby, it is COLD outside in Texas, and so we have needed a few more indoor activities to get us through. I had seen these snow globe jars at Anthropologie and on pinterest, and thought they were too darn easy and cute to not do... and then I saw ALL the materials at The Dollar Store, which sealed the deal (wasn't going to drag 2 toddlers all over town in the cold).

Materials (The Dollar Store):

- jars (i got a few different sizes, but at least 5" tall)
- mini trees, accessories (carolers, snowmen, forest critters, ice skaters, street lights)
- white sand
- glue gun (not from The Dollar Store)

Instructions:

1) allow your kiddos to choose what they would like to include in their winter scene

2) allow them to scoop sand into their jar (like 1/4c)

3) hot glue the bottom of your items, and allow your child to place them on the inside of the lid

4) screw on the lid, tip over the jar and enjoy your little snow scene! The girls got to use these as decorations in their room, and think that they are super cool. Particularly, the snowmen:).

                         I did a few little scenes around the house too.  Aren't they kind of cute? Super easy, cheap, and adorable! No excuses, have fun :)

Road Trippin' with toddlers. what what

Welp, we just returned from a 12 hour road trip to St. Louis where we surprise visited my family! I was TERRIFIED to confine our family in a small space for that amount of time, but it was a great success!! So glad to have that under my belt. Here are some tips that worked for our family, and I hope they work for yours as well!

1- 6 days before: If you do not have a car dvd player, buy this. This iPad HOLDER was my lifeline. Make sure you purchase and FULLY download your movies/shows beforehand. Remember a power cord and car charger, and check to be sure the cord is long enough to reach the iPad- if not, order an extra long one. Power up!

2- 5 days before: NEW is key. Go to your public LIBRARY and get children's sound tracks and audio stories. I HIGHLY recommend choosing an artist who won't make you lose your mind (ie. Jack Johnson 'Curious George', Zooey Deschanel "Winnie the Pooh", definitely nothing with Elmo). Also, let them choose some board books to bring along.

3- 4 days before: Go to TARGET (obviously), and get stickers, coloring books, crayons, play doughs, and fun toys from the $1 section. Get a clip board (I got mine in $1 section) to color on. Don't let them see their new goodies until the trip! Keep the target bags and put them in the car for trash and whatever. I gave the girls a little stuffed animal when we got in the car to get them excited for the trip and they snuggled with it the whole time-- I pulled out maybe one more surprise toy when we started to go down hill (that's ok on a 12hr road trip, right? ;)). Also get the car shades- I didn't find them to be super effective, but at least you feel like you tried. My fav toddler blog, Love&Lion, also did a post on this and reminded me to put sunscreen on them and wear sunglasses if you're traveling during the day- great tip!

4- 2 days before: get lots of SNACKS. We loved wholes apples (keeps 'em occupied), bananas, Squishers, Craisins, nuts, and goldfish snack packs. Remember little baggies too to hand back. And a paper towel roll!

5- Maximize on SLEEP times. Obviously drive during nap times (keep blankies and lovies accessible), and also try to knock out a chunk later in the night or early morning if possible. We may or may not have given them a teeny 1/2 of a Melatonin gummy to help during sleep times (per a pro-mom friend's suggestion-- ps. they are really yummy and work and I am not a doctor and don't do this in real life :) ).

6- We found it really helpful to stop for a meal and get a good BREAK (I feel like their little tailbones get so sore in those carseats :( ). We even stopped at a real restaurant, which was fine because by the time I changed everyone's diaper, washed hands, cleaned out sippies, and cleaned trash out of the car, the food was there :).

7- Arrive and drink red WINE.

That's what I got! Yay, road trippin'.

GOOD LUCK! I hope this helps you, and I'd love to know your tips and tricks. XO