Behold Your Little Ones

I got a package from my Grandma this week that was the nursery manual and an article about it from the March 2012 Ensign. I was really excited about this and wanted to share it with the rest of you!

Lately, I've been pondering and praying about how I can teach Mia about the gospel so as she grows she will be able to understand the principles and apply them into her life and know that her Heavenly Father loves her and is always there to guide her. I've also been thinking about how I can teach Mia during Family Home Evening and do it in a way the will involve her and help her learn. I don't know about you, but as a young/new parent it sometimes seems like a daunting task and sometimes I worry I won't do it right! This package was an answer to my prayers!

While reading the Ensign article, a mother talked about how her 18-month old daughter could already identify colors, animals and famous animated characters, but she didn't recognize pictures of the Savior. This got me thinking of how much young children really do pick up on and if they are learning all these other things they could also be learning simple things about the gospel. Here is a quote that really touched me while reading the Ensign article.

"Parents, look into the eyes of your young children - their minds are receptive. They are ready to learn pure and simple gospel truths. Don't wait; teach them now! Behold Your Little Ones is a valuable resource to assist you."

Even though it might be a slow process and sometime seem ineffective, I am excited to start teaching Mia from this nursery manual. One of the greatest blessing my parents ever gave me was teaching me how to rely on my Heavenly Father and understand the principles and doctrine of the gospel at an early age so I could gain a testimony of my own. Because of that I was able to cling to that through my teenage years and even now to get me through the challenging times.

Here is the link to the Ensign article, which also tells you how you can order Behold Your Little Ones!

Mia's 1 Year Book

I just ordered this photo book of Mia's first year from Shutterfly! Even though I scrapbooked a lot in high school I came to realize it was not something I wanted to do for my kids. I still wanted to put together something from Mia's first year and came to find that there are some really great options for photo books online so I thought I would try that. After researching different places to make photo books I found Shutterfly to be the most user friendly and had cute layouts and themes you could use. Plus is was probably the cheapest with my discounts. The book was originally $55 but with a couple discount codes (yes they let you combine them!) the total cost of this book was $18!

For some reason it would only upload the book onto my photography blog. So if you would like you can look at the book there or at the link below!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Build your own high-quality photo books at Shutterfly.com.

A Year of Homemade Gifts

When it comes to buying "toys" for ourselves the conversation between Eric and I usually evolves into a debate to who's toys cost more. In the process of this conversation Eric on multiple occasions has brought up my sewing machine and crafts. I rebuttal with something along the lines that those are things that I can actually make things with that benefit us or others. Even if that statement did win me the debate, which is normally doesn't, my sewing and crafting has been seriously lacking the last several months!

Anyway, my point to all this is that I want to start putting the things that I have to use, not to mention the next step Eric and I hope to take in "real" life is buying a house. Obviously this is nothing that's going to happen tomorrow or maybe not even within the next year but you have to start somewhere, which for us is saving for a down payment! With all of this said I have been thinking about doing a year of homemade gifts. My sister-in-law did this for Christmas last year which gave me the inspiration. Not only can doing this save a lot of money, but it gives that chance to make gifts personal and makes you put some thought into the gifts, not to mention with pinterest at my fingertips there are SO many cute ideas and inspiration for handcrafted gifts out there!

Some examples...

Adorable Fabric Dollhouse that folds up!

Colorful Painted Wood Bead Necklace

And apparently no more examples because blogger won't let me at the moment!

So I'm running this idea over in my mind and wanted to know what you guys think? Sure it would be more work, but I think more satisfying in the long run. Plus, the fact that I'm thinking about this now gives me plenty of time to plan for Christmas!

Wheeler Farm Family Outing

Between the time Eric gets home from work and him starting to work on his online classes we get a few hours to spent together as a family. This evening we decided to take a drive to Wheeler Farm in Cottonwood Heights. It is a very scenic area with animals and beautiful foliage. The weather was perfect...a little overcast and not too hot and I dare say perfect for taking pictures! Here are a few that I snapped!

My two favorite people to be with! I love that they are both kind of just staring all candid at me. 

Mia not really sure about all the geese coming her way or maybe it was just the smell :)

Isn't this just the cutest picture?! And don't mind the fact that my husband decided that he had to be decked out in BYU attire for this outing.

To view some pictures I got of just Mia check them out HERE!

Photography and Mia

As I mentioned Eric enrolled me in a photography workshop for Mother's Day. It was a 4 hour "Photography for Fun and Profit" class. The workshop was Monday night and I loved every minute of it! The people who did it was a couple here in West Jordan who are professional photographers. The workshop was offered on groupon for $39 when is originally $295! A deal?..I very much think so! I think the groupon is still going on and I plan to take some of their other classes they offer as well so if you have a fancy camera that you don't know how to use (or even in you just have a point and shoot) and want to learn more you can find more info here at Don Polo Photography. The couple teaching it was so honest in sharing what helped their business grow and some tips and secrets to better pictures!

Now I am wanting to practice all the things I've learned so if anyone wants pictures done let me know *hint hint* :)

Still on the subject of photography, this class rekindled my love for taking pictures and so I updated my photography blog. Check it out HERE!

So getting to the subject of Mia, after taking the class I wanted to practice a few things with my camera so I tried to take some pictures of her, but as most toddler's she wasn't really great a sitting still or looking at the camera with her cute smile.

After doing these pictures of Mia it made me realize that I haven't done much updating on Mia! (Besides when I am frustrated with her.) So here are some things about Mia and almost 13 months old...

• Mia is still not walking as her sole method of transportation. She still prefers crawling and doesn't often walk when we want her to, however, when we aren't paying attention and she is playing she'll walking to and from her toys and sometimes around the room. She thinks she is so sneaky!
• Mia's favorite words that she is always saying is "Wow", "Whoa", "Hi" and "Dad". "Dad" seems to be her go-to word, especially when I want her to say "Momma".
• Mia loves playing Peek-a-boo. She puts her hands "somewhat" over her eyes and when we start asking where Mia is she throws them up in the air and smiles!
• Mia is becoming pickier in what she eats. Most often she will have nothing to do with meats, however, I've sometimes I can be sneaky enough to slip some in. She loves fruit and is our little sweet-aholic.
• Mia graduated to a toddle carseat! Now she can actually see out of the window and even though life would be much easier with her seat facing forward, I was a got girl and listened to the doctors (which if you ask Eric I never do) and kept it rear facing. Anything to keep my baby safe!
• Mia still gives kisses generously with mouth fully open and tongue out. They are extremely slobbery to say the least, but she looks so pleased with herself after she have given me one.
• Mia has moved off of "Cat in the Hat" and is now glued to "Super Why". I usually let her watch it on my kindle up at the counter while I make dinner and I don't hear a peep out of her until the Super Readers have saved the day and she again throws her arms up and shouts with a smile. Maybe watching this show so young will make her read earlier lol. (My way of justifying!)
• Lastly, Mia attends nursery! Ok so I have to go there with her since she is not old enough, but she loves it and I love it because church is SO MUCH more enjoyable, even if I do miss actually lessons. She's so cute sitting up to the table with the "big kids" and eating snacks and just dancing when they have singing time.

Mother's Day Weekend

Last weekend was another fun weekend filled with friends and family! After a busy week of continuing to get life into a routine and somewhat back to normal, not to mention trying to get Mia comfortable in her new surroundings I was in need of a serious girls night! My good friend was able to oblige! Her husband, baby and her live in Provo, but were staying in the area for the night so we did what we love best and went and got dessert and chatted. Eric never understands how I can enjoy just chatting with other women, but we women know after spending all day, everyday with small children, talking to another woman is mind therapy and of course just fun! So a big thanks to her for the outing!

Saturday Sara and Collin came and stayed with us for the weekend! I love that we have the space to be able to have people come and stay and actually relax without feeling like we have to get out of the apartment to have some fun. They of course brought that adorable baby of theirs which I again hogged most of the time. I even stole her when they were going to give her a bath and did it myself lol! As much as I love Mia and her growing personality, the baby stage is still one of my favorite stages.

Anyway, Saturday afternoon the guys went golfing and Sara and I relaxed at home. That evening our neighborhood had a BBQ that we went to which was a lot of fun. Everyone was so welcoming and it felt good to be a part of the "fun" neighborhood, which is what our neighborhood is apparently dubbed. Then Sara and I thought for Mother's Day we deserved pedicures so we left the babies with guys and enjoyed an hour of total bliss.

Mother's Day started with frantically getting ready for church and making it on time. The meetings were great, especially when the Priesthood took over all the other classes so all the mothers could go to Relief Society. We went to Collin's grandma's house for dinner and that night our hubbies made of cookies for dessert! To show his appreciation to me, besides telling me constantly, Eric signed me up for a photography class for Mother's Day! He is so sweet in supporting this new found hobby of mine!

Sara, Collin and Addi stayed through Sunday and left Monday. I was sad to see them go since Sara and I always enjoy ourselves even if we are doing nothing (a Robertson trait apparently since our husband hate doing nothing).

All in all is was a fabulous weekend! I am so grateful for  the blessing of being a mom, no matter how taxing sometimes the job can be! I love my little, miss Mia and am grateful for the joy she brings me daily. I can't wait to see what I beautiful young women she grows into. I am also very thankful for my mother. Besides being the best mother who taught me pretty much everything I need to know to be a great mom she is my adviser, confidant, hero and best friend. I don't know what I would ever do without her!! Lastly, I'm thankful for all the other women in my life who are great examples and have taught me so much through life's journey.

And from this great weekend I did not take one picture!! So since I don't like to do posts without any pictures here are some for your viewing pleasure. Mia usually hates having things on her head, but the other day she found Eric's hat and put it on and walked around with it on for at least 30 minutes. It was really cute. My little gangsta!

The Coveted Craft Room (Corner)

For quite some time now I have coveted after a craft room! I've seen them all over pinterest and with every picture of one it made me want one even more! Now that things are settling down a little bit I decided that I was going to do one!

Our third bedroom was were we put all of our moving boxes when we moved in so I could unpack leisurely without boxes everywhere. However, I'm kind of OCD about organizing and putting away things so the room was driving me crazy, plus Eric needed a place to work from home on Fridays. Lo and behold I had an idea! I would clean up the room and Eric and I could both have our separate corners of the room. His side, a nice place to work and my side...my guilt pleasure corner for crafting! Not to mention I was able to put together the whole room for around $120!

Eric's "manly" office corner: I mentioned that he should get a white desk top and a few other things and he made me promise it wouldn't look like the other half of my craft room. So we got this corner desk from IKEA and I just got him some things to help him stay organized and help him when he works from home and does some online classes.

My craft corner!

1. Clipboard inspiration Wall (Walmart -$7.50): I love this idea from pinterest for clipping up pictures or things from articles for future inspiration.

2. Pegboard (Home Depot scrap section $0.51): So handy to have everything hanging up at arms reach when needed. I get a pack of hooks for the pegboard at Walmart for $2.50

Total - $3.01

3. Rocking Chair (Already had): Eric's dad refinished this chair for us when Mia was born and come to find out it works perfect at a desk!

4. Desk (Already had) We had this cheap laminate desk and since we didn't have the budget to buy two new desks I decided to paint this one. It did wonders for making it look better! I used the Martha Stewart Sea Glass paint from a test sample that was $2.50 after painting it with primer for $9.

Total - $11.50

5. Wall Shelf (Ikea 3.50): After looking at how over priced wall shelves are I went to the "As Is" section at Ikea and found this scrap board to a bookcase for $2. The cheapest really wall shelf there was $5 and was half this size! The brackets were also from Ikea for $0.50 each!

6. Accessories: Lamp (Walmart $10), Mason Jars (Already had), baskets (Ikea, already had), paper holders and decorative paper for clipboards (Hobby Lobby, $5)

Total for my craft corner: $30.51

Struggles

In this world with keeping up on the latest trends at our finger tips and endless blogs of women who seem to have kids who are always happy and well mannered, a clean/organized house with the latest DIY home decor, always have the fairy tale relationship with their spouse, and always look fashionable, at times I find that I can't relate to any of it! What I crave most,as more and more people are sharing their lives with others through blogging is reality...experiences that I can relate to and know that I'm not the only one who struggles with what I'm sure most women out there struggle with everyday! Of course I love keeping up with all the wonderful things that are going on with my family and friends or sometime complete strangers, but sometimes I want a little more depth. Since we all have growing experiences and struggles why not also use blogging to help others by sharing what we have learned or just to know that behind those perfect picture is a mess of everything we moved out of the way to get that perfect picture, or that sometimes raising kids it hard and frustrating! As a young mother I am always seeking advice/suggestions on how to do better or just to know that others are going through what I am.

So my reality...I struggle...some days more then others. For example, currently I am struggling to be patient and loving mother to a tantrum prone daughter as of late and today ashamed I admit that I didn't succeed! I struggle with not being sad when I hear my sister-in-law talk about seeing her healthy baby boy through an ultra sound as when I saw my babies on an ultra sound, where I was expecting to see a heart beat and a healthy baby I saw two hardly distinguishable babies who didn't form right that weren't alive. I sometime struggle with loneliness and that in a new place I won't make friends or fit in. I struggle with creating a picturesque house that is always spotless. I sometime struggle when getting dressed in the morning and finding something that I feel good in! I struggle with inadequacy on a daily basis in all the roles that I play. I don't always feel like I'm doing everything right to be a great mother, wife, or friend. Lastly, I struggle with having faith more times then not to take that step into the dark and know that everything is going to work out.

Unfortunately that is not the end to my struggles, but I will spare you from knowing all my weaknesses! The point is that I'm learning and growing everyday from the things I struggle with and trials I go through. I find that sometimes one of the things that helps the most is knowing that there are others facing the same things I am. (Whoever you are, lets be friends!) But mostly I'm grateful for the things and people who show me even during my struggle that there are things to be grateful for, which sometimes takes me a while to realize depending on the day!

Anyway, if nothing else then revealing to everyone that I have many problems, this was a good venting post for me. However, I hope that this post did some one good or at least inspires us to remember that through the experiences and struggles we've been through we can help others and we should do just that!

Back to Realitiy

And so it is that all our family and friends have left our new abode and it's back to the grind of real life and getting Mia back to her normal self.

Last week Eric flew to North Carolina for work and my mom came to stay with me a week to help out. In all honesty I could have probably managed the week by myself, but actually having a week with my mom without dilemmas, graduations, moving, or whatever else might bright my family in sounded like it could be a lot of fun and the week did not disappoint! Our daily routine entailed getting up and having a slow and easy morning until Mia would take her morning nap when we would finally get ready for the day, then after lunch we would go shopping, come home for her afternoon nap, watch a chick flick until Mia woke up, have dinner and then go shopping again, come home to put Mia to bed and watch anther chick flick.  Let's also not forget a stop to the Chocolate (a dessert cafe that we loved in Provo and for better or worst they recently opened one just down the street in West Jordan!) Could there be a better girl's week! So as always, I loved having my mom come stay for the week and enjoyed her company and help with Mia as I will admit Mia was trying my patience some of those days.

Also, last week we went down to Provo for Mia's 1 year appointment/shots and that afternoon I watched baby Addi while Sara and Collin went on a date. Which while I'm on the subject, I always advice that new parents take the time to still get out and spend time together, even if it's just to go for a walk! I know it's hard to leave those cute little babies, but it's really important to keep that close relationship with your spouse through a life changing time. That being said I always like to offer to babysit while parents can do this, because I sure appreciated those who were willing to let Eric and I have a little time together, plus it made all the difference while I was going through so many changes in such a short period of time when Mia was born. Anyway, while I was there I was able to captures so adorable pictures of Addi. Some of you might have already seem these pictures on my photography blog, but because they're so cute I'm posting them again!

As for life in the new place, I'm loving the space and the chance to "redecorate" every room. By this I mean taking everything we had in our old apartment and rearranging it in this apartment with a few new touches here and there. The ward is really great as well. We constantly have people in church come up to us and introduce themselves and welcome us to the ward! I love this because I'm not a particular out going person and in those transitional Provo wards newbies kind of get lost in the crowd without much introduction. In fact yesterday I was out in the hall with Mia since she was not having anything to do with sitting through sunday school and a sister from nursery came out and told me I could come join them. Mia of course loved it and was entertained the rest of church. She especially loved their singing time where she would dance to every song. Boy will I love the day I can just leave her in nursery and go to class!

So in summary, life is great! I have my husband back home, a baby who is getting out of "being spoiled by grandma" mode, a clean apartment that is almost fully unpacked and a beautiful, fun summer ahead.

Here's a picture I snagged from Eric's phone of Mia on her Rody. I was informed that it is in fact an alpaca which knowing that makes it look less creepy. Regardless of how it looks Mia loves it!