Feed Me

I am not a cook.  

Ask my husband.  He'll tell you straight up that he does most of the cooking around here.

See, I teach 4 days a week in the afternoons and evenings.  There's not really a whole lot of time for meal prep.  And by the time I'm done teaching, I'm usually starving so I don't have the patience to prepare anything.  I find food and shove it in my face.

But I found a way to cook dinner for my family that works for me.

Enter freezer crock-pot meals.

My MIL bought us 5 freezer dinners for our anniversary and they have been a life saver.  And I thought, I can do that!

So yesterday, I went grocery shopping and picked up ingredients for 8 crock-pot meals.  Five of them are currently prepped and sitting in the freezer.  I have another 1 to make tonight.  The other 2 are simple enough to grab the ingredients and toss in the crock-pot in the morning.

Anyway, here are the recipes.  Hopefully they'll help you out too!  When I try the meals, I'll post pictures and reviews.

Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast Recipe

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Freezer Style

Slow Cooker Bacon-Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken Freezer Style

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Freezer Style

French Dip Freezer Style

Orange Chicken Freezer Style

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Mac and Cheese

What are your go-to meals that are simple and quick?

I'm joining in at the Mommy Blog Hop this week - come visit!

When Someone Knocks

Wednesdays, I teach from 3-7.  It's basically chaos around here with people coming in and out.  D takes care of J, Izzy, and handling the flow of traffic while I'm teaching (since I'm in our home studio for 4 hours straight).  

Today, I took a second to pop by head out of the room because I was having some serious allergy issues.  I was surprised to see D standing at the door helping our next door neighbor's daughter with something - her mom had knocked on our door asking of one of us could help her with daughter with her homework.  I told him to just bring her (the daughter, E) inside and ducked back into the studio to keep teaching.

An hour later, I popped my head back out again to talk to a parent (and grab my Coke from earlier, I'll be honest) and was surprised to see D still sitting at our kitchen table with our neighbor's daughter working on Algebra homework. 

And so, I submit to you, is there anything sweeter than seeing the man you love helping a child?  And I found it especially sweet that he was helping a child he's not related to or anything.  It was so awesome to listen out of one ear as D patiently explained the math problems, encouraged her to try again if a mistake was made, and cheered her on when she got something right.

I married a good man.

Beautiful

There are roughly 5 billion boards on Pinterest about Beauty.

Most of them are related to hair styles, make-up and clothing: various tutorials on how to do your hair in pretty styles, to do your make-up in ways to make you look like a completely different and more beautiful person, how to do your nails beautifully.  Not to mention, which products will make your hair, and skin, and make-up gorgeous.  And then there's all the outfits you should be wearing to dress beautifully and jewelry to accessorize all of those outfits.

I don't have a board titled "Beauty" but I do have a board for "Hair and Make-Up" and another board for "Style."  And I admittedly pin to and reference these boards frequently. 

According to Pinterest, we're all concerned about being more beautiful.

Our inherent, natural beauty isn't enough.

We want more.

The last week or so I have been feeling especially un-beautiful.  I've bought some new make up, some new clothes and jewelry, tried new hair styles - Pinterest recommended, of course - but nothing has worked.  I've still felt incredibly blah.  
What's missing?

This quote from Audrey Hepburn (one of the most beautiful women ever) sheds some light:

 More make-up, hair products, nail art, clothes and jewelry won't make me, or anyone, happier or more beautiful.

Our thoughts, our words, our actions can make us most beautiful.  We should start by asking ourselves: What is good about you? What kind things can you say about yourself?

I have the most trouble with this one.  I can find wonderful things about others, but struggle to see it at all in myself.

But Confucius said,  

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."

I am a part of everything.  Therefore, I have beauty in me.  
It's time to start looking for it.  It's time to start focusing on what goodness I have, to start treating myself with more kindness.

As we look for the good and focus on being kind, we will spread beauty around us everywhere we go.  It will be contagious!  And who couldn't use more beautiful feelings in their lives?

  I know I could.

Linking up at

What We Hold On To

I have this shirt that I bought in 2006.  I remember clearly when I bought it - it was out the Downeast Outlet in Provo right next door to the Albertsons where I was working.  I never had name-brand clothing growing up, unless it was a hand-me-down.  This shirt was from American Eagle and something about buying a name-brand, even at an outlet, made me feel rich and hot.

I've worn this shirt a ton over the years.  I wore it out with friends during the summer, to class, probably out a few dates, on a spontaneous trip to Wyoming, etc.  I have so many fun memories while wearing this shirt!

 

 

Now, from these two pictures, you can see that it's not the most flattering color on me.  Nor is the fit flattering - it's too short and too low cut. 

And yet, I have pulled this shirt out of the Goodwill pile numerous times and it continues to hang in my closet.

Why?

Maybe because it was the first name-brand shirt I bought?

Maybe because seeing it reminds me of a different time when I felt rich? Hot? Fun?

I'm not sure.

And I'm not sure why I still can't let it go.  I have a bag of stuff to take to Goodwill this week and I can't bring myself to drop it in the bag, again.  It's not like it's going to magically look good on me or fit correctly.  So why do I hang on?

Any insights?

What do you hold on to?

My Saturday Date

 One of my voice students is in a community production of Little Mermaid, Jr. and I needed someone to come with me to the show (since I knew that D would not enjoy it at all).

L happens to love Little Mermaid and was thrilled to be my date!

We had a blast!  We got sodas to drink during the show - L got Orange Soda, yum!  She was adorable and snuggled right next to me the whole time and held my hand and put my arm around her.  She even had me cover her eyes when she got scared (Ursula was intense).  She clapped, cheered, danced along and laughed in all the right places and the show was so much more enjoyable as I tried to see it through her eyes (and the show was really enjoyable to begin with).

After the show, we got to meet Ariel, Ursula and Sebastian, which was followed by a trip to Icing on the Cupcake for delicious cupcakes!

I love how sweet my niece is and that I get to spend so much time with her!

And, I love supporting community theaters and my voice students!

Win-win!

Now, someone tell my husband it's his turn to take me out on a date.

Food Storage

Confession: I have never really cared or done anything about having food storage.

We have a cupboard full of canned food and pasta and such that we could live on if we needed to.  When I go to the grocery store, I try to buy a little extra to have on hand.  And I always figured for me and D, we could get by fine on just a little bit.  We can scrap, we can make due, we're flexible and easy going.

Call me crazy (go ahead, you wouldn't be wrong), but now that we have J, there's no messing around.  Kid is not flexible when it comes to food.  Kid can't scrap for food.  Kid relies on me and D for everything he needs.  I realized that for his sake, I needed to step it up and get prepared.

We now have 5 full, large cans of his formula (and 7 more coming on Sunday thanks to a friend who works for a doctor).

We have 8 boxes of dried (just add water) baby food - each box has 8 packages and each package makes 2.5oz.

We 2 large boxes of rice cereal.

We have 2 large, full bags of frozen baby food.

We have 15 jars of baby food.

I still need to get water to add to our (his) food storage.  But, I'm feeling much more confident that if (God forbid) an emergency were to occur, I could still take care of feeding my son.

I've only been doing this mom-thing for a few months, so you experienced mom's out there - what else should I have on hand, food storage wise, for J in case of an emergency?

"Single Parent" Days

Three times a month, D volunteers as a firefighter for Penryn Fire Protection District.  This means he's gone for 24 hours.  That further means that I'm alone with J for 24 hours.  The days that he's gone also happen to be days that I teach piano and voice lessons.

Yesterday was one of those days.

When J needed a bottle, it was all me.

When J needed his bum changed, it was all me.

When J needed a bath, it was all me.

When J needed rice cereal and sweet potatoes, it was all me.

When J needed some loving, it was all me.

When J needed some play time, it was all me.

When J woke up in the middle of the night, it was all me.

When J needed to go down for a nap, it was all me.

Whatever J needed, it was up to me.

I also had laundry and dishes to do as well as some errands to run.

I also happened to teach 5 piano lessons and 1 voice lesson.

Holy exhausted, Batman!

(When I finally sat down to eat dinner at 11pm, all I had the energy for was a bowl of cereal.) 

The day wasn't anything extraordinary or terrible.  It was a normal day.  But it was hard work.  J is a sweet and happy baby, pretty dang easy, and I was still super tired at the end of the day.

It's on days like yesterday that I realize how much he does for me and J.  I'm so grateful to have a husband who is an equal partner and contributor.  He is such a great dad to J and I know that I always can count on him (in fact, he's currently rocking a crying baby to sleep - he's just the best!).  What would I do without that man?

D, thank you.  Thanks for sticking with us.

Baby Foods

Once upon a time, on this same vacation, D and I spent the day visiting M & CC.   M's son was around months old and while we were there, she whipped him up some baby food.

That's right, she made baby food.

This was entire new to me.  I thought baby food came from stores in little jars.  But, apparently, there are other options!

M told me how easy and cheap it was and I was sold.  

I decided then and there that I was going to make my own baby food.

Here we are a year later and J is 4 months old and starting on solids.

Thus far I have made him sweet potatoes and butternut squash and I have found that M was right!

Example:

I bought a butternut squash at Safeway for $.79/lb.

And this is how easy it was to turn into baby food:

Slice in half length wise

Put "orange side down" on a cookie sheet

Add about an inch of water to cookie sheet

Place in oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes

When it's done cooking, scoop out the orange part (the "meat") and put it in the blending device of your choice (I did one half at a time)

Add 1/4 cup of water per half

Puree that stuff

Bam!

Baby food.

The whole squash made me 24 2oz servings.

At Target, right now 2 2.5oz of squash (Gerber) are selling for $1.10.

And, once the squash was cooked, it took me all of 10 minutes to puree, put in containers, and throw in the freezer.

Awesome-town.

Fall Leaf Garland Tutorial

There is a coordinating "Give Thanks" banner now posted

As a girl on a budget, I've had to get creative and crafty when it comes to holiday decor.

Enter this little beauty from Pottery Barn Kids:

Adorable, right?

$59.

Slightly out of my budget.

So, my SIL knocked it off and I loved her version so much more that I took it a little further.

And so, I present to you, my Fall Leaf Garland Tutorial.

1. Gather your supplies.  You will need felt, embroidery thread, hot glue, and some twine (or other hanging material of your choice).  All of these things can be purchased at JoAnn's - get a coupon go crazy.  

For the felt, I would strongly recommend fall colors - deep red, gold, dark green, orange, brown, tan, etc.  You'll want to get some embroidery thread to match - I did dark green, golden yellow, brown and orange.

2. Print out leaf shapes

I found the leaf shapes I liked over at craftjr.com:

Print and cut these out on something sturdy like card-stock as they're going to get traced a bazillion times.  Don't cut out the stem - you just want the leaf shape.  On the elm leaf (the first one) don't cut out all the little scallops on the edge - just smooth that guy out.

3. Start tracing!  You're going to be tracing for a while, depending on how long you want to make your garland.  Mine's rather long - 26 leaves - so that means I had to trace 52 leaves.  Put on a tv show and go to town.  You're going to want even numbers of each kind of leaf and a variety of colors. 

4. Cut those leaves out!  Again, it's gonna take a while, so get another TV show going and enjoy!  Don't worry if the leaves aren't perfect - that's part of the charm!

5. Choose which leaves you want paired together and which leaf will go on top, and which on bottom.  Try brown with orange or green with gold or red with tan!  

6. Gather your "top leaves."  These are the leaves that are going to be altered slightly - some embroidered, some cut.  

This is the part I would say just have fun with!  Embroider some!  Cut some! 

Here are some examples to get you going (forgive me, I'm not a photographer):

7. Plug in that hot glue gun and start gluing your leaves together.  Glue the edges, not the center - especially on the leaves where you gut the insides. 

8. Glue your finished leaves to your twine.  Don't glue them all nice and even - set some of your leaves at angles.

And...

BAM!

You have a beautiful Fall Leaf Garland!

Enjoy!

This garland stays up at my house from mid-September until the Christmas decorations go up because it works all autumn long!

PS - You can also find me over at The Crafty Woman today :)

Cans and Can'ts

As a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom), I have lots of time to play with and observe my child.

My adorable 4-month-old loves to play on his back, loves music, loves looking at himself in a mirror, loves screaming (not in anger, just in general), loves smiling at me...

And I adore all of those things.

But then I read blog posts and status updates about other 4 month old (or younger) babies like:

"___ just loves to laugh."

"This little man can roll."

"Just rolled onto tummy..."

"...she knows that it's bath time when I put her on the counter now, because she acts really excited."

 and the voice of panic starts to creep in.

"My child is 4 months old and he's not laughing, he's not rolling, he doesn't enjoy bath time, what's wrong!?"

I find myself googling "What should a 4-month-old be able to do?" and "4 month old milestones" and "Developmental Delays."

Seriously.

I completely forget that 1. My child was a preemie (a month early), 2. My child has some other things out of his control holding him back - like his feet being in a brace 24/7, and 3. My child is an individual! 

I get so wrapped up focusing on what he can't do and wondering why he's not just like everyone else that I forget to see all of the positive things.

He has more than doubled his birth-weight.  He is smiling and grasping.  He responds to voices and sounds.  He tries to mimic.  He recognizes mom and dad.  He sleeps through the night.  He kicks his legs a ton - even individually - despite his brace.  He loves to talk and have people talk back.  He can hold himself up and lift his legs at the same time while on his tummy.

Rolling?  We'll get there - only another month of full time brace wearing.

Bath time?  Who care's if he doesn't enjoy it.  Aren't boys supposed to be dirty anyway?

Laughing?  We'll get there - how could he not laugh in this house, right?

In the meantime, I need to log my butt off the computer, love on my son and not get so alarmed/worked up about the little things.  I need to focus on what he can do, not what he can't.

Shouldn't that be what we all focus on anyway?  What people (including ourselves) can do?

Rise and Shout!

D and I are both BYU alums.

 

My parents are BYU alums.

D's parents (and entire family) are huge BYU fans.

This is at my in-laws house.  They fly a BYU flag and have everyone over to watch the games.  Pretty sure I would not have been allowed in this family if I wasn't a BYU fan.

When it comes to football season, there's no messing around.

It's in our blood.

Today is the big game against Utah.

(boo, hiss!)

And we, as we always do, will be cheering loudly for our BYU Cougars!

Even J!

Worth

Which one of these is worth more?

You can buy a swig at McD's with either one.

You can deposit either one into your bank account (trust me, I've worked at 2 banks).

Someone who doesn't have any would be happy with either one.

You'd pick up either one if you found it on the street.

Sure, they look different from each other. 

The top one is crisp and clean.

The bottom one is dirty and wrinkled.

But, they are of equivalent worth. 

Ok, so let's apply this to people.

We all look different. 

Some are short, some are tall.

Some are fat, some are skinny.

Some are boys some are girls.

Some are young some are old.

But, to God, we are all of equivalent worth.

He doesn't love the tall more than the short.

He doesn't love the young more than the old.

He doesn't love the skinny more than the fat.

He doesn't love the boys more than the girls.

So, why do we?

I have spent my entire life feeling like I'm worthless because I'm not as pretty as others.  Or I'm not as skinny.  Or as talented.  Or as tall.  Or as funny.  Or as well dressed.  Or as crafty.  Or as reproductively capable.  Or as rich.  Or as fit.  Or as whatever.

And it has hurt.

I have spent so much time crying, sobbing, because I didn't feel like I was worth as much.

I have skipped auditions.  I have not volunteered.  I have kept my mouth shut.  I have withheld food.  I have over-spent.  I have tried new make up, new clothes, new hair styles and colors.  I have not prayed.  I have hidden.

All because I felt that I wasn't worth enough as someone else.

I struggle with it.  

Almost daily.

Why?

I've read a couple blogs this week.  One by my friend Stephanie and one by my friend Meg about very similar topics.  I've also spent some time at Anonymous8.

And I know I'm not alone in my feelings.

Sarah at Anonymous8 wrote this:

"The only difference between those who have a strong sense of love and belonging and those who don’t is this:  those who have a strong sense of love and belonging BELIEVE they are WORTHY of love and belonging."

I know there's not a switch I can flip overnight to make myself believe that I have worth.  Especially because I have spent years believing that I am worth less than anyone else.

But, somewhere in my brain I know that I have worth.  My heart doesn't feel or believe it.  Yet.

I have to re-learn that I have worth.  Inherit worth.  Just like the dollar bills.  

I may look different.  I may act different.  But those differences don't change my worth.

I'm going to start my worth re-education.  

I'm going to start by thanking Heavenly Father every morning for being who I am.  I'm going to thank him for being short, being female, being the weight I am, having blue eyes, having crazy-out-of-control-hair, having all the clothes that I do in my closet, etc.  I'm going to thank Heavenly Father for making me the way He did and giving me what He did.

And then, I'm going to have some compassion.  I'm going to be a little nicer to myself and others.   I'm going to offer forgiveness for shortcomings.  I'm going to say kind things to myself and to others.  I'm going to seek the good in myself and in others.

It's not much, but it's a start.  

And I have to start somewhere.  

And where ever I start from, it's better than not starting at all.

God's Sense of Humor

Some people would tell you that things like duck-billed platypus are evidence that God has a sense of humor.  And, while I would agree with them, I happen to have first hand knowledge that God has a sense of humor.

Let me share the following terribly true story.

A year ago, D and I took a vacation to celebrate both of our birthdays, our 4th wedding anniversary and to take our minds off the fact that we were having troubles in the baby-making field.  First up was a cruise, followed by a day at Disneyland, followed by some time with dear friends.

This particular story takes place at Disneyland.

As we entered the park, for some reason I was speaking in a British accent.  I honestly couldn't tell you why.  I thought that it would be hilarious if I could convince someone that I was from Great Britain.  D rolled his eyes at me and tried to talk me into dropping the accent.  But I was having a grand time and didn't want to stop.  

We got in line at Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and D and I were still bantering back and forth about me being silly.  Disneyland will give you a button to wear if you're there to celebrate your birthday!  Lo and behold, a little girl was in line behind us and she was wearing such a pin.  So, I turned around and said "Happy Birthday," in my accent of course.  Well, this little girl was with her whole family, grandparent's included, and she happened to be standing with her grandma*.  Her grandma, hearing me speak, stopped the conversation she was having, turned around, and excitedly asked me where I was from.  I grinned and said "Cambridge."  The lady, still excited, said "Oh my goodness!  My husband and I just got back from 18 months in Edinburgh Scotland where we were serving a mission for our church!"

I had a sinking feeling.

I asked, "Are you Mormon?" to which the lady, even more excited now, replied "Yes!  Are you?"

I said "Yes" feeling rather embarrassed at this point.  

D just started laughing.

I wanted to die.  Here was this lady who shares my faith.  She had just spent 18 months in the Lord's service in Scotland.  She was obviously a good person.  She was there with her family.  And I was deceiving her because I thought it would be funny!!!

She asked me how D and I met.  I was able to tell the truth at this point and said that we had met at BYU.  She got a kick out of that and said "Oh wow!  An international love story!"

D was laughing really hard at this point.

She then introduced me to her entire family.  Children, grandchildren, everyone.

And then she said, "You know what I had the most trouble with adjusting to in Scotland?  Driving on the wrong side of the road."  Then she looked at me and said "Well, you must know what that's like!!!"

D now was totally having fun and said, "Oh yeah, she had trouble with that, too!"

This sweet lady kept the conversation going until it was our turn to get on the ride, much to D's entertainment and my mortification.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride takes you on a wild ride that ends in hell.  D was kind enough to point that out to me, saying that it was rather appropriate given that I had just spent the last 20 minutes lying to a kind lady and her entire family.

We got off the ride and I made D run because I couldn't bear to run in to that lady and her family again!

And then, I busted up laughing.  Because God has a sense of humor.  He said "Really? You think it would be funny to convince someone you're from GB? Ok! Convince this sweet lady and her family!"

Thanks, God.  Thank you.  Really funny.

*Dear stranger we met in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, please know that I'm sorry for lying to you!  You're very kind and your family is wonderful!  I feel so embarrassed, but it really is kind of funny isn't it?  I hope you can laugh at my silliness, too!

Becoming As A Little Child

Whilst driving today, I was thinking about how much I love J.

He was screaming bloody murder in his car seat and, rather than get frazzled or stressed (as I often do), I just thought about how much I love him and would do anything for him to make him happy or ease his pain.  I couldn't take him out of the car seat - he was in there for his own good.  But, I could play him music that made him happy.  I could give him a pacifier.  I could reach back and hold his hand.  I could talk to him and tell him everything was going to be okay and that I was there and he wasn't all alone.

And then I thought about the way that he feels towards me.  Now, I don't know if he loves me, per say.  I mean, he's never said those words exactly.  But he trusts me completely.  He trusts me to change his bum.  He trusts me to give him a bath.  He trusts me to snuggle him.  He trusts me to play with him.  He trusts me even when I'm shoving his feet in his braces.  He trusts me even when I put him on his tummy (he still hasn't gotten to like tummy-time yet).  He trusts me to feed him.  

It's this last one that stands out the most to me because we just started J on rice cereal (which he loves, but more on that later).

The first time he ate rice cereal, he had absolutely no idea what I was spooning into his mouth.  And yet, he still opened his mouth.  He trusted me.  And tonight, when I try to give him sweet potatoes, he'll open his mouth again.  Because he trusts me.  He might not like them, but he'll still trust me even if he hates the sweet potatoes.

While I was thinking about how much I love my son and how much he trusts me and how wonderful this relationship is, I started to realize more about what my Heavenly Father wants for me.  I understand more why we're told to "become as a little child."  Little children trust their parents perfectly, even though parents are imperfect.

So, shouldn't I, as a child of God, trust my Heavenly Father perfectly, since He is perfect?

Going back to the driving example, I couldn't take J out of the car seat.  It would have been completely unsafe.  He needed to be in his car seat, even though he was screaming in unhappiness.  When we go through difficulties Heavenly Father isn't going to just take them away and give us a life of ease and comfort.  Those seemingly uncomfortable situations are for our own good, even though we can't understand it at the time.  But Heavenly Father can (and will and does!) give us pacifiers, holds our hands, tells us He's there, everything will be okay and that we're not alone, and does whatever He can to make the difficulty easier to bear.  And we have to trust that He'll be there the whole time.

I have a really difficult time trusting Heavenly Father.  I am a stubborn and prideful daughter and I just want to do what I want to do (think terrible two's).  I need to become more like my sweet son.  I need to trust that whatever Heavenly Father gives me is for my good, even if I cannot see it at the time.  Just as I love my son and would do whatever I could to ease his sufferings and bring happiness and joy to him, so Heavenly Father feels about me!  And just as my son trusts me to take care of him and meet his needs, so I should trust my Heavenly Father.

I think this is part of the reason we have children.  

So we can understand better how Heavenly Father feels about us, His children.  

Mosiah 3:19  "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and he will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Reflecting and Remembering

Please don't think of me as a disaster of a person from my last post.

I forgot the date.

I realized after my post how silly it was for me to have posted about my really-not-that-bad day on the 11th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Truly, we are a blessed people and we live in a blessed land.

I remember the feelings I had on this day 11 years ago - disbelief, shock, horror, complete sadness and heartache.  I cried watching all of the TV footage throughout the day at school.  Even thinking about it now I feel sorrow for the families and friends who lost loved ones in the attacks.

And, at the same time, I felt gratitude and happiness at the way the country banded together - we were all brothers and sisters on 9/11 carrying each other, offering service, and anything that we could to help another person.  And, thinking about this day 11 years ago, those same desires to serve my brothers and sisters are welling up in me.

I am grateful to the men and women who serve every day to protect our country and our freedoms.

I am grateful to the men and women who serve in the armed forces, the fire service, and the police service.

In honor of those who passed in 9/11 - the men, women, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, children, grandparents, firefighters, police men, etc. - let's all be a little kinder.

This week, let's fill our days with acts of kindness towards each other - strangers, friends and family alike.  Take out the trash for your roommate/parent/spouse.  Pay for the person in line behind you at the drive through.  Look the bagger at the grocery store in the eye and say thank you.  Let's all be a little kinder.

One of those mornings

I'm sure we've all had those mornings when you wake up and already feel behind.

That was this morning.

And it just keeps getting worse!

It's 12:15 and I'm feeling like I'm so far behind I might as well quit and just start again tomorrow.  Horrible mentality, I know.

But seriously, is it bed time yet?

And, rather than be productive and try to make a little headway today, I'm blogging about it.  Example of my stellar time management skills.  

I'm going to try to put a mental block on my "to-do" list and just go play with my boy.  The dishes and laundry and bills and everything else will be there tomorrow.  Of course, tomorrow they'll be dirtier and stinkier and late...

I think I'll move to Australia.

(10 points to you if you get that reference.)

What do you do on days like today to get your groove back?

Four Months!

 

Our sweet boy is four months old today!

Nicknames: Jack, Jack Jack, Bug, Doodle-bug, Bug-a-boo, Bubba, Jackie

This month

• J experienced Lake Tahoe
• J grew into size 2 diapers
•  J started eating rice cereal - he's not quite sure how he feels about it
• J loves his mom and dad and we love how he greets us with huge smiles!
• He still loves sucking on his hands - they're almost always in his mouth
• He doesn't really nap during the day much at all - usually just 30 minutes at a time
• He's sleeping about 12 hours at night thanks to the rice cereal keeping his tummy full for longer
• He gives us great snuggles when he's sleepy
• He has experienced 2 BYU football games!  He's a true blue Cougar fan!
• He still loves his play mat and swing
• He love love loves music!  He sings along with my voice and piano students.  He also calms right down when he hears the music on his playmat or his mobile or his toy from Grandma T
• He is starting to splash in the bath a little more - still doesn't love bath time, it's not the worst thing in the world anymore
• He still loves mirrors and staring at himself
• He still hates waking up
• He blows spit bubbles all the time and has almost mastered blowing raspberries (thanks, Grandma T!)

We love our sweet boy!!

Just a Little Getaway

Our anniversary is mid August.

And it was kind of a big anniversary.

Five Years.

I know, right?

While we didn't do anything to celebrate on our actual anniversary, we made up for it this week! 

D was off work for baby bonding time and we were in definite need of some play time.  D's parents have a time share in Tahoe so, Thursday, when D got home from the fire station, we packed up the car and drove up to take advantage!

And let me just say, packing to go on a trip with a baby is much more complicated.

Jack slept most of the way up.

 We're so excited!

Hanging out in our studio suite.  We stayed at Red Wolf Lodge in Squaw Valley.  The Winter Olympics were held there in 1960 and the Olympic Flame still burns there.  D also grew up skiing at Squaw so he had lots of stories to share while we were walking around up there.

 Silly family picture in our studio.

 We took an aerial trolley up to High  Camp.  At high camp they have an Olympic museum, a skating rink, swimming pool, and a beautiful view of the area!

 J is clearly excited.

This is at the Olympic museum.  I have a couple of gold medal winners!

This is part of the view from High Camp.  Isn't it gorgeous?  That's Tahoe in the background.

On Friday, we spent the day at the lake.  It was beautiful weather!  We should've brought our swim suits, but I thought it was going to be a lot cooler than it was. 

J experiencing Tahoe for the first time!  He fussed a little at first, but then was loving it!  He splashed his feet around a ton.

We played at King's Beach in North Shore.  So beautiful!

Later in the afternoon, we drove down to Emerald Bay.  Again, so beautiful!

 Dad and boy at Emerald Bay.

We had such a great time!  It was so nice to get away just the three of us - it was actually our first family vacation.  And it really was a blast!

I was commenting to D how I feel so blessed to be a mom who likes having her kid with her.  J made the trip so much more fun!  Sure, it was a little more complicated - having to pack formula, cereal, diapers, wipes, a port-a-crib, etc.  But he makes things so much more enjoyable!  It's fun to see him experience and try new things.  And his smiles and giggles brighten up everything.

Where are some other great family vacation spots for quick getaways?   

Because I'm pretty sure this little 2-day vacation was just what the doc ordered and we're going to need to do it again soon.