Trying New Things

Now this is something that you don't often hear from me since I am a person that does NOT like change very much. I also don't tend to try new things just because of the excuses I make for myself sometimes. A few being that I'm afraid that I could fail, it would be too hard or the "unexpected" that comes from stepping out of our daily routines can be scary.

Honestly, most of these new things didn't take a huge leap to do. For example, this week I decided to try doing more "crafty" things with Mia. She gets so bored around the house sometimes, doing the same old thing day after day. However, for those of you who have toddlers also know that doing crafts with children mean more messes to clean up besides all the messes they already make on a daily basis along with all the other things that need to get done. So the other day I sucked up the fact of having a little more to do that day and sat Mia up to the table for some painting.

I saw this picture floating around pinterest of taking a empty roll of toilet paper and shaping it like a heart using that as a stamp with some paint. It looked simple enough for Mia to try and perfect for making some homemade valentines for friends and family. For Mia not always being the best listener and loving to make bigger messes the necessary, this project was quite the success. She managed to keep most of the paint off her (even though I stripped her down to her diaper just in case) and between the heart stamp and using paint brushes she stayed entertained with it for almost an hour.

The results...

After the painting project and Mia deciding not to take a nap, I got a little more ambitious and decided to have Mia help me make heart-shaped sugar cookies and decorate them. Mia have recently started to love helping out in the kitchen. She has a stool that she drags around the kitchen and get's up to try and help me. This project took a little more time and definitely was more messy, but I must say it's kind of fun/cute to have a little helper in the kitchen to help me bake. We didn't get to decorating the cookies until later that evening and by then I must say I was worn out from the day so I might have taken over decorating the cookies a little once I saw that Mia was basically just eating all the frosting and toppings, but she did help with a few. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of the whole process, but here is a picture of a little surprise we left out for Eric since he wasn't getting back until really late from being away on business. We also made up some cookie Valentines for Mia's friends. I'm sure their mother's appreciated me giving their kids a cookie the size of their heads :)



Lesson learned from these "crafting" experiences with Mia? Even though it makes more for me to do, as a mother is was so fun seeing Mia's creativity come out and watching her try something new that she was enjoying. So maybe not an everyday occurrence, but something that I will try to do more often.

That night offered another first for me. I had signed up to clean the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with some of other ladies from the ward. Although I was very willing to serve when I first signed up, after a long day of tending Mia and not getting much sleep lately due to the pregnancy, I was beat and the thought of staying up late to clean wasn't sounding all the appealing. However, I was so impressed with how those hired to clean the temple made it such a peaceful and spiritual experience for the volunteers even as we cleaned. This really made me appreciate Eric's grandma much more, who cleans the Vernal, Utah temple each night. I always wondered how and why she did that every night with everything else on her plate she has. I now know that it hardly seems like a "chore" at all, but a blessing to be able to do. After everyone was done cleaning they let us spend the next 10 minutes going where ever we wanted in the temple. I spend most of mine sitting and pondering on the beauty of the temple and on how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life and to have something to live for that is meant to make me eternally happy.

Lesson learned from this experience? After a long day this is just what I needed to rejuvenate me spiritually and physically and I would do it again in a heart beat. If any of you ever get the chance to volunteer to clean the temple DO IT!

My last first for the week...embracing the unknown and stop worrying about always having a plan for the future. I thought this one would be hard one for me since I live for having plans for the future and knowing exactly where I'm going. A couple weeks ago Eric informed me that he was going to be put on another project so he would no longer be going to California and it looked like the new project would be in Virginia. Normally, I would have a mental freak out with the new change and all the unknowns that this new assignment would bring. Surprisingly I was quite calm about it and after sitting on it for a week or so and still not knowing much more all I feel is peace instead of my usual worry and stressing. All I know is that I'm having a baby in April and after that who knows...maybe we'll be adventurous and move to Virginia to be closer to Eric!

Lesson learned? I am SO much happier when I stop worrying all the time about things I can't control and when I'm more light heart about unknowns and dare I say change!? And even though Eric would never admit this, I am probably much more pleasant to be around. Needless to say for once I am heavily relying on faith that the Lord will direct us where is best for our family and not making my own plans first.

Oh and one more other kind of new thing...Annelise, Sara and I have decided to go the Arts in the Park fair in Ely this August again! There were difficult times last time we did it and I'm sure there will plenty of those times this time around as well, but in the end it was a great experience last time, even though it's scary to put yourself out there by trying to sell the things you enjoy making. Hopefully this year is a success!

Anyway, here are a few more pics of Mia that Eric took on his phone that I meant to get on the last post.

Mia has such a good daddy that will play out in the cold snow with her. She loves it!

Mia's face after she gets done with her "moo-mee" (smoothie). We have one about every day now.

Note her crazy morning hair along with an adorable cheesy smile