Here's a little peak of Christmas at our house. Funny story about the green goblet. So I went to a
church activity last week and they had a "treasure trade" (bring your junk and if no one else wants it, it goes to DI). And a woman brought these goblets and I snatched them up as fast as I could. I loved them! My mom called me later that night and I told her how excited I was for these beautiful goblets. I saw the woman the next night and I told her how much I loved them. Turns out she got them from Arby's one Christmas. Buy a combo meal and get a glass type of thing.
I don't love them anymore.

 Daddy does the weirdest things... like make his baby stand in a drawer.


































Gave Quinn a faux-hawk the other night. I think its cute, but I'm worried it might perpetuate his bad-boy image. When it doesn't have any product in it, Thurm thinks he looks like a neo-nazi. So many problems with this haircut---might have to cut it soon.

Baby Jens's first taste of cereal. This picture is deceiving, he wasn't that thrilled or interested.

"And he called His name Jesus-Matthew 1:25"

This is my new photo that I've been working on : )



Artist's Statement

The idea for this unique nativity came to me nine months before I actually took the photograph.  When I found out I was pregnant with my second baby boy I knew that I wanted to take a fine art picture depicting a father and son.  As the concept grew, my thoughts turned to the Savior.  We tend to focus on the relationship between Jesus and his heavenly father, but the relationship between Him and his earthly father seems so special and unique too.  It was so amazing for Joseph to raise the Christ child knowing that He wasn’t his own flesh and blood. Joseph, who was entrusted to raise the Son of God, must have been a very righteous and kind man. I wanted to show in my photograph how much Joseph must have loved the holy infant.

The models in my photograph are actually my husband and newborn. Luckily, my husband has a very biblical look about him. The beautiful light of dusk and the rocky surrounding help give a richness and softness to the photo. It has the effect of being a painting.

This one of a kind nativity would make a wonderful Christmas present or a piece of fine art to hang year round. 

Framed 16x20 $130

Framed 20x24 $180

Framed 24x36  $250

Please contact me to order (801) 440-8271 or natalieheiner@gmail.com

Perspective

I got a little perspective today.  I was reading about children being sold as prostitutes in the Philippians and though I've heard about it before, it was a reminder of how good I've got it.  I think its easy to get wrapped up in my own little world. My world of house payments, to do lists, church callings, potty training, home improvement.  And I'm surrounded by people who mostly live in that same world. Occasionally I feel a little sorry for myself because I have so much to do and I'm stressed. Because we live on a teacher's salary (which by the way is just below the poverty income level in Utah. Its a CRIME that teachers are valued so little in America. Parents, support your teachers! Its NOT the teacher's fault the school systems suck. Its NOT the teacher's fault they have to dumb down the material for all the kids with learning disabilities, ADD, problems at home, etc. If parents were more involved with their child's education that would be a HUGE fix to the education system. But this is a rant for another day).
Anyway, I was saying, I some times feel sorry for myself. But today I am feeling so blessed. I have a home. Its warm, its big enough for my family. My husband has a good job that he enjoys going to. I have two beautiful children who are sweet, fun, happy and healthy.  I get to be a mom. I get to stay at home with  my children and keep them safe from the world. I get to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ.   I get to teach them that being kind and doing service is so much more important than money, status, and success.
I was rocking my sweet baby to sleep while I thought about these kids in the Philippians that live in such dire circumstances that they are forced into a life of prostitution.  Peaceful little Jens just held my finger and slept with no cares or worries. It makes me sick and sad that there is so little I can do to help everyone who suffers in this world. But it makes me more determined to make sure I provide a safe, happy world for my children.
A few years ago when Thurm & I were on vacation in Thailand we were laying on the beach and I noticed this big, fat white man with two little Thai boys on either side of him.   I knew that he was paying them to be with him by the way he was commanding them. And my imagination ran wild with what I'm sure they were forced to do. I was SICK.  I didn't know what to do. I didn't have any money to give them. I was mostly scared of getting wrapped up in a situation that was over my head. I felt panicky and sick. I think about that moment still and feel guilty that I didn't do something. I still don't know what I could have done safely.
I always think I need to do something huge to save the world. Three days after Thurm & I got married we had our final interview with the Peace Corps.  It didn't feel right, so we decided not to go. I finally had to come to terms with the fact that I can't go to Thailand and save every child from a life of prostitution, but I can still help.  I volunteer with the Children's Justice Center locally in Tooele.  I don't have time to do much. But I try to help raise money.  Its not nearly enough and I always want to do more.
But I'm so thankful for what I have. I don't know why I have it so good, but I'm thankful.

November so far...

Jens the fatty fat isn't so fat. I took him to his 4 month appointment on Monday and he is above average height and average weight.  But that kid is SOLID--I'll take a picture of his leg rolls that are SOOO cute.

Thurm tends to come up with some interesting nicknames for our children. Quinn's are Quinn Kwon and Mr. Quinch. I thought Jens would be Yens (the Danish pronunciation), but Thurm calls him Jensipan (think marzipan) and it has stuck. We all call him that.

Thurm has been writing every day this month for a few hours. He is doing a competition of sorts and is trying to write a novel in a month. So that has been consuming his time and mind.

The sheetrock is done in our attic, now I have to paint. But I decided to potty train Quinn this week, so painting will have to wait. We can't afford to carpet anytime soon, so I guess it doesn't matter when I paint. Quinn has done great with potty training. I set a timer for every 30 minutes and he gets a nilla after. Its working like a charm. He has yet to go #2 in the potty, but I know he's ready.


I always appreciate when Thurm takes photos of me (though I usually delete most of them) because I'm always the one behind the camera.

Sweet, sweet Jensy.

Doesn't every mom have a picture of their kids with make-up all over their face?

I found the boys like this the other morning. Quinn had moved Jens over to his pillow and put a blanket on him and read him a story. It was actually really cute, but Jens started crying when he saw me.

I LOVE this picture, its one I'll look back on fondly when my kids are grown.

I'll probably look back on the finger paint picture fondly too : )

Quinn Anecdotes II

Quinn played 'time-out' yesterday. He set the timer, sat on the stair and told me I was in time-out too. So I sat on the stair and asked why I was in time out. "For hitting Jens."

Today he successfully put his lunch in the microwave to heat it up. He held up his hand and said "high-five."  I was so surprised it took me a minute to respond. Then he went through the next series of hand guestures "knuckles....noggin...dude!"  I laughed pretty hard. Thanks Aunt Marci : )

He has been watching "Super Why" lately and I'm not sure if this is a direct result, but he has suddenly started being very creative and using lots of imagination.  Imagination and pretend are brand new concepts in his world and its so fun to watch him.  The other day our couch was a boat and he kept jumping off into the water to swim.

Insulation done in the attic. Sheetrock guys coming Monday.  No money in our bank account.  Scary--I hate that.  Good thing I have a little photo money coming in this month and that we have credit cards.

Quinn has been into fairy tales this past week. I went to our local library and the ONLY fairy tale set they had were some alternative version. They tweaked all the stories : ( I can't believe a library doesn't have more fairy tale books!  Just good ol' Brothers Grimm would be fine.

Jens the Fatty Fat is cute as ever. He's had some rough nights of waking up every 2 hours. So that means about 4 hours of sleep for me. I really don't know how people survive on that. I start panicking during the night as I count how many hours I have left till morning. And miraculously nap time rolls around and I still have the energy to get stuff done instead of napping. The only problem is the next morning I'm like death. Maybe that should be my halloween costume.

Speaking of halloween costumes, both my boys are going to be lions.  So I've been trying to come up with costumes for Thurm & I.  The only two I have come up with for Thurm are very politically INcorrect.  His brother brought him home the traditional clothes the men wear in the middle east.  But I'm worried with Thurm's beard someone might think he's dressing as a Taliban member. Which is sort of funny. But sort of not.

I saw a women dressed in really ugly clothes and then she had drawn dark circles under her eyes and wrinkles, colored her hair grey, etc.  And she had a sign "my husband's worst nightmare." haha I thought that was genius, but the problem is I don't know that I could look much worse than I already do.  I already wear stretchy pants and grubby t-shirts everyday and throw my hair in a messy pony tail with no make up.  No one would realize I had dressed up.  So then I was thinking of getting all dolled up and and wearing a sign that says "He wishes."

Off to fold laundry.

Blessing Pictures

We blessed baby Jens last weekend and we were feeling the love.  We had 60 people travel to see us! It was so nice of everyone, we really weren't expecting anyone to come.  We had a lunch at the park just two blocks from our house.  It was a little cold, but sunny.

 Cousins sharing a sucker.  How nice : )

Baby Jens is a lion for his first Halloween.  What a cutie!

 Jens rolled from his tummy to back this weekend! Another huge step was his first time in the jumper.  He didn't do much but hang there, but he liked to be up and looking around.  He is three months old already!

Canned stewed tomatoes tonight (well Thurm did, and I helped a bit).  We are still getting tomatoes from our garden.  Too bad they don't come all at the same time.

The electricity is finally done on our house, so hopefully the insulation guys can come this week! YAY!

Any suggestions?

The finger sucking has been going on for a few weeks now. I don't think its going away. What do I do? The problem is its the most attention he's gotten since the baby was born. Everyone asks him why he's sucking his finger or he hears them talking to me about it.  I've tried to make it a non-issue, but it is one. I'm thinking just ride it out and maybe he'll stop in a year or so....

Mom to Quinn: "Goodnight baby, I love you."
Quinn to Mom: "Goodnight. I not Baby, I Fwinn."

Mom to Quinn: "We are going to see Dr. Gardiner."
Dr. Gardiner walks in.
Quinn to Dr. Gardiner: "Hi Dr. Seuss!"

I suppose this was my fault for even giving him beads in the first place.

Comments

How come no one comments anymore?  I was searching for an old post just now and came across these comments.  Funny stuff. 

Yens

Baby Jens had his two month appointment last week. He is 11.5 pounds and 24 inches! I can't believe he grew 3 inches! He is 95% in height and 50% in weight. Quinn was about the same, just a little skinnier.  We call Jens "fatty," because he seems so huge next to how Quinn was.  I'll have to take some pics of his fat rolls, so cute.

Jens is smiling and trying to talk. The other day I got him to laugh for the first time! Man, a baby's laugh is the best sound there is.  He has been sleeping horribly lately though. He wakes up every 15 minutes crying.... gas? Babies are such a mystery.  So is breast milk.  I never know what is going on with either of them.

Quinn loves his little brother and wants to hug and kiss him all the time. However, he is also being naughty- pinching, poking, hitting, just generally bugging Jens. He's taking out his anger at me on Jens. Poor defenseless Jens.  However, I think Jens will have 20 pounds on him when they get older.

Quinn Anecdotes

Last night Quinn & I were reading a book with animals. He learned his animal sounds a year ago, but I was asking him the sounds anyway.  What does a cow say? moo.  What does a dog say? woof, woof. What does a pig say? Pig, pig. haha!

He has been sucking his finger the last week (regression from the baby, I'm guessing. Not sure what to do about it).  I asked him why he was sucking his finger and he pulled it out of his mouth and said, "Quinn's milk."  He calls what Jens drinks "mommy's milk."

He has been singing Hakuna Matata none stop for about a week. He sings "Cue tata" in perfect key.

When I respond to his questions with "mmm hmm or hmm?"  he says "mom! talk!"

The other day I asked Quinn to go in his bathroom and wash his hands. He came back out a few minutes later with soaking wet hair and I asked why. He said "make hair cute."

Yesterday Quinn had a late nap and woke up CRANKY! He cried and cried and there was nothing Thurm could do to calm him down. He tried a movie, some soup, holding him, rocking him, taking him outside, etc.  Finally, Thurm sat him down and said in frustration, "Quinn! Why are you crying?" And Quinn looks up at him teary eyed and says in a small voice, "no like soup."  haha, I think you had to be there for that one.

Family Pictures Fall 2010

Took some impromptu pics one night while driving past these awesome sunflowers!!!

Jens helping me with laundry today : )

Little bit o' August

I crochet a hat for Jens for his baby blessing. It turned out way too big and WAY too girly. I think it was a combo of being white and the pattern.





















I found a pattern for these ballet slippers while I was looking for hat patterns and I had to make them. How cute are these!?! Now I just need a girl to give both the shoes and hat to.


















Here's baby Jens at 5 and 6 weeks. These are it. I have only taken a few snapshots since he was first born. I feel bad that I haven't taken more. I'm going to try and make up for it today and do a 7 week photo session.


























































Isn't there just something about him that makes you think he's going to be a rowdy boy when he gets older?  Like he'll be jumping motorcycles off rocks and playing in the dirt his whole life.  Maybe its because he sort of reminds me of his uncle Wade in this picture.

My baby is 6 weeks old today. That went fast, of course.  He's starting to wake up a little more and smile a bit. I love when they start to get a little personality.  He has been sleeping for 5 or 6 hours at night. Its so nice : ) He's a great little eater and is getting chubby. I've always wanted a chubby baby and he has the potential.  He might not appreciate that as an adult but I will appreciate it now. 

Quinn MAULS him to death. He lays on top of him, gets right up in his face, kisses him non stop, he just wants to be in Jens' space! But being the naughty, jealous boy that he is right now, he also pinches him, twists his head around, pokes, squeezes, hits, etc. 

Quinn sort of hit the triple threat this summer. He had a summer of no routine or discipline, a new baby rocking his world, and he turned two. I'm really hoping this is the worst of it and we are on the down hill slope.  Some funny things about Quinn right now are that he LOVES lotion. Everyday he wants to put on tons of lotion.  He rides a little car around the house and yard like a madman. He can maneuver that thing like its a BMW. And can probably go just as fast as a BMW.  He's obsessed with the pumpkins that are growing in the garden. He tells me everyday about them and that they "get orange and get big."  Today he took me out to show them to me. He normally goes out with Thurm to the garden. He also has been drawing pictures of the pumpkins (scribbles, but we don't tell him that). 

I feel like I barely have time to do the dishes everyday.  Nursing is usually about all I get accomplished. Today I mowed the lawn AND vacuumed the floors and I felt like it was the most productive I've ever been in my life! Monday I had some primary handouts to prepare and it took me the entire morning because of interrupting children.  I'm trying to resign myself to the fact that to every thing there is a time and season. Right now is not my season to have a clean house, be a photographer, volunteer for charities, do genealogy.... It stinks not being able to do everything I want to.   BUT I have two beautiful boys that I have the privilege to raise and I need to remember to appreciate it while I have it. 

I fumbled my way through my first primary sharing time today. Went pretty well, but I couldn't keep the Jr. primary's attention. They were wired and I think its because they were feeding off my nervous energy.  So far I am liking primary--I've only been twice.  I feel like there is alot to keep track of that I'm not keeping track of yet.
Baby Jens is doing great and growing up so fast. He is already 3 1/2 weeks old!!! He will so soon no longer be a newborn! I don't know if I have been appreciating it enough.  I love when they sleep whenever, where ever. That didn't last long with Quinn. Jens doesn't quite know what to do with himself when he's not eating or sleeping. Its a rare 15 minutes when he is awake, content, and not eating or being held.
Thurm has ONE WEEK of summer left! How did this happen. I knew that it would, but now that its over I'm in shock at how quick it went. Vacationing for a month and a half and having a baby really sucks up the summer. I think I had two days of doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe two days. Maybe it was just one. Lame. I really value my nothing time.
We went to the county fair last night. It was pretty sad. So far I've been impressed by this little town we live in. There are tons of community events, kids activities, free concerts, community theater that is really good,  etc.  The arts festival was a mini version of the SLC one.  But the fair was pretty lame. The highlight of the night was watching an old guy dancing with his dog to some locals doing karaoke. Quinn loved the karaoke BTW. He loves any kind of singing and/or dancing.

Found these awesome monkey vinyl's at a yard sale for $5.






























I admit that I tied this on Quinn, but he asked me to.