Welcome to LarsenLand: The Purple Room

I realized that I never posted pictures of the purple room after we finished painting because we hadn't hung the chair rail yet. And then the chair rail had to be touched up and nail holes puttied. And then the crib set up. And then the changing table recovered. And then pictures hung.

And I still haven't really posted anything, because I've been waiting for it to be "done." This is an analogy for life, I think. We wait to share something until it's a finished product, only to realize that nothing is ever really done, especially ourselves or our lives or our abilities. So if we wait to be perfect we'll never have anything to offer.

Hopefully I get some really nice looking pictures someday, but for now, take this as my public declaration that I am a mom, with all the good and bad that entails. Have you ever felt like everyone else had it together and you just didn't? I've been inspired by this article and the true confessions of some of my mom friends who also recently had babies. Here is my true mom confession: My house isn't perfectly clean or fashionably decorated. I don't own nice furniture. My kids wear pre-owned clothes and right now we're eating frozen pizza at least once a week. But I love my kids, I love doing things for them, and I love spending time with them. I love those moments at the end of the day where Scotty is finally tired of running and wants to curl up on my lap. I love the sweet baby smiles and the way Alyssa's hysterical screaming stops when she realizes she's back with her mom. I make up songs for Scotty on request (they will never be heard outside of his room!) I'm not afraid to let my kids help. [Well, at least Scotty, Alyssa has a hard enough time keeping her head under control.] Doing dishes or cleaning with Scotty sometimes makes more of a mess than getting anything clean, and it definitely takes longer, but I love teaching him the small things and seeing how much he is capable of. I can answer Scotty's continual "why's" without getting frustrated and take even the worse accident/mess/destruction in stride. I'm definitely not perfect, but what I have to offer is still worth sharing, especially with my family. It's time to stop waiting for the finished product, because we will always be a work in progress.

So here it is. Much more finished than it started, but still not completely done and definitely not clean.

I recovered the lampshade (this is SUCH an easy project I highly recommend it!), and my mother in law helped make the cover for the changing table. The curtains were made by my amazing friend Kira, who I miss terribly since she moved to San Diego. I did all the painting and Eric cut and hung the chair rail. That picture is a new one of some of her best expressions (taken at six weeks). Click on the picture to see it larger, it's really adorable! We just hung it on Monday and she noticed it right away and loves to look at it while I change her diaper.

I've been brainstorming this project for months but just made it this past weekend. I had a tough week and something brought to mind the talk Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave at a general Relief Society meeting in 2008 called Happiness, Your Heritage. Basically, our heritage is happiness--God's happiness. God is a God of creation, and we should emulate that. He says, "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.
Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.
Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.
You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.”
If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.
But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.
If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next."

This whole talk is beautiful and inspiring, please read it! I have found that to be amazing advice, as I feel genuinely satisfied and much happier when I am creating something. It especially touched me as some of my most creative friends are currently single or dealing with infertility struggles that I can't imagine and I've been at a loss for what to say or how to help. So girlies, you know who you are, and I know that your creative talents aren't just nice hobbies but the best kind of preparation--one of those ways of demonstrating faith that your time will come and you'll be more prepared than all the rest of us.