I can’t help it…

It would be irresponsible of me not to share this.

(A handful of Olympians mid-dive…Take special note of #1 & #6)

 

I think I need to print this and put it on the fridge.

As opposed to yesterday…

today went surprisingly well!!  Amelia-Jayne was as happy as could be and it turns out that the counselor I was planning on having a horrible time with her during the meeting had the magic touch. :)  When he wasn’t holding her she was flirting with the other speakers and stroking the sleeve of the gentleman next to us. haha. I’m pretty sure this baby just eats up attention, and in public she will simply not go to sleep, eat, or bother playing with her busy toys when there are so many interesting people around.  She is such a cheese now.  SO, the new game plan for church is to let her eat it up and sit in the back where there is space for her to lie on a blanket on the floor and play when she gets too tired to inspect everybody….until she starts crawling and I have to look for her a few pews ahead…then I’ll have to get a new plan. :)

I hope yesterday’s post wasn’t too much of a downer.  I don’t want to be a mom blogger that condones constant whining about the not so glamorous parts of motherhood/housewifery.  But, I don’t want to be one that makes it sound as if we poop glitter either.

So, let’s raise a glass of chocolate milk to all the good days, laugh at the bad ones and be a little more realistic with our expectations of ourselves.

And now, to erase that mental picture of glitter that we’re all stuck with, here’s Babycakes today.

  

Thank-you for all of the sage advice, my fellow mommies.  It really helped to know that this is a stage we all must go through, and I know that we will be blessed by our attendance no matter what.

Now, off to bed to get some rest before she turns 6 months tomorrow. I know, I can’t believe it. We are having our first real Mommy-Daughter date since Daddy has to work and because she’s such a big girl now. :)   I can’t believe how fast the time goes and little babes grow. 

Mommy Advice, Please!

Sundays. Church.  Anything uplifting. 

I use to LOVE these things.  They relaxed me, I left feeling the sweet spirit and they were moments of peace in my life.

Nothing about the goodness of these has changed…the Church is still true, Sunday is still the Sabbath and uplifting things are still flyin high.  BUT, since our church time got switched to 11 am to 2 pm (right in the middle of BOTH of somebody’s naptimes) and babycakes started teething they’ve been quite the opposite of heavenly. 

Don’t get me wrong…I have a wonderful baby.  She’s super happy 98% of the time and a joy to be around.  But I think she’s aware of the stillness and silence at church.  And feels the need to fill it.  And be held, preferably while mommy stands bouncing her in the back.  Between hefting her 20+ pounds, her car seat and loaded diaper bag, my arms are shaking by the end of any meeting.  And why such a loaded diaper bag?  Well that’s because Sundays seem to be that special day when she spits up twice as much as usual and has explosions of the bum.  Mass spit up and blow-outs aren’t uncommon on other days, but seriously happen so much more on Sundays.  We always start out clean, but both come home sopping wet. I also bring an arsenal of toys/books to TRY to keep her entertained. Instead of playing with these things, she prefers pulling up or down my dress, pulling my hair and attacking my jewelry….but she’s very happy while she’s doing that.  People watching is a plus though, looking excitedly around the room and smiling keeps her busy for the first half hour or so.  Then it’s time for a nap and she now refuses to go to sleep in public…there’s just too much for her to keep tabs on!
I don’t know what happened…it seems like just last month she would just sleep and the only concern was spit up/blow outs…And now…well, you get the idea.  Today I was so excited to go to our regional Relief Society Conference because Sister Silvia Allred came to speak.  Amelia-Jayne was great for the first twenty minutes, flirting and smiling at people…then she wouldn’t take a bottle or let me hold her for a nap, so I had to take her out THREE times.  Every time I would take her out she was completely fine…happy as a clam.  So, I’d venture back in, climb up the theatre stairs, just barely get my buns back in a seat when she'd let out her shrieks.  I gave up and left the building, dropping a burp rag on the way out but not daring to stop and pick it up.  I found refuge in the grass and called my mom.  Baby's cries immediately turned to smiles and giggles playing in the grass. What a little stinker. I just don’t want her thinking that she can get out of anything by crying (which sounds like she already has learned) and I don’t want to be a person that makes a habit of becoming borderline inactive because of strict nap times, although now I can see why.

 This was her about 2 minutes into the walk home in her papoose…I knew she was exhausted. How can I stay frustrated at those cheeks?

Unfortunately, with Jordan’s work schedule, I have to go by myself at least half of the time.  And these details are all especially important for tomorrow.  Tomorrow I have to give a talk in sacrament (cringe) and Jordan has to work.  I usually don’t mind public speaking, but seeing as that I’ve had absolutely no control for the last month’s worth of church activities, it could turn out to be a very memorable experience.  I have decided though to make the Bishopric watch her while I speak.  I have a feeling that if I have them do that, I won’t be asked to speak again in a VERY long time.
Sorry for this novel of a brain dump.  I would LOVE some parenting advice…so tell me how it’s done, people!
I thank you in advance for saving my sanity.

Dang it….

 

the sink shrunk.

 

:)

Lovey Dovey Decor

Growing up, I LOVED coming home from school or practice to find mom’s seasonal goodies all over the coffee table, mantle, entry way and throughout the house.  And we’re not just talking about Christmas here…EVERY holiday got it’s little time in the spotlight and it made every part of the year worth getting excited about.  It always made me feel all sparkly inside…and I’ve missed it.  While we were overseas, we tried to decorate as much as we could but it wasn’t the same.  So, I’ve really been enjoying getting our little nest spruced up for the holidays this time around.  To start, my goal this year is to make a wreath for each holiday…so here’s what I made for our door this V-day:

               Living in Vernal and living on a budget is making it a little tough..but I’m trying to improvise.  For instance, there wasn’t a wreath to be found in all of Vernal, so I went to the DI and found a Styrofoam wreath with humungo fake flowers on it.  I’m pretty sure it came from someone’s gravesite (kinda gross) but I decided it needed a second chance at life.  So, I wrapped it in some cheery polk-a-dot fabric and made some flowers and such out of scraps.

I wanted some cheery things inside for the winter too…so, I made these garlands out of paint chips and ribbon (Thank-you Pinterest).

After repurposing some things around the house, we have a tablescape with some goodies…Chinese figurines of a couple getting married that were given to us by a friend in Tianjin…a framed piece of fabric with some 3d things I stitched in it…and candy hearts, of course.  I always like to have some themed candy, but I like to get the nasty, non-chocolate kind so I won’t eat all of it.  Jordan says he doesn’t like them either, but the goal keeps getting lower and lower. Funny, the very same thing happened to the candy corn last November!

 

“You are my favorite” is a phrase that the man used to say to me when we dated…and he still does…love that Valentine of mine.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

xoxo

A Taste of Sunday…

First, we started off with a second taste of lunch… :0)

Then on with her little photo sesh to show off the cute bow my sis-in-law, Yulie, made and the sparkly red shoes from Susie and Addy that she can’t kick off her feet!  I had to celebrate THAT triumph…

    

 

Pretty sure my happy girl thinks taking pictures is hilarious.

        

Trying to remove the shoes…

 

  

Wait for it, wait for it…

.

.

There it is…

 

NAP TIME. :)

Happy Sunday!

Pocketful of Yuan…

In January I pulled out my big red coat that I hadn’t worn since last Winter and found all these treasures in my pocket from China!

1.Yuan!!!!  73 1/2 Yuan to be exact.  Sounds like a lot, but it’s just around 10 bucks. Worth hanging on to for the next time we go?  Possibly ;)

2. Candy and Gum- I was pregnant and very sick at the time.  Sometimes sucking on these things were crucial.

3. Lots of Tums- Pregnant.  Enough said.

4. Receipt that reminded me of how cool and beautiful their symbols are.

5. The best scented VS lip gloss that I thought I lost.  The good smell right under my nose helped me avoid puking.

All these items added up to a total score.  They reminded of China and how we needed to celebrate Chinese New Years!  So we did, with some last minute Beef and Broccoli from the freezer section (oh yes, we’re all sorts of fancy), fortune cookies and a Chinese Movie via RedBox!

Last Year’s Celebrations-

J drove us all over the city to see all the fireworks on our little red motorbike…then tried to get me to go up on the roof of our high rise building at midnight (when the fireworks really go ape-wild) but I wouldn’t due to my fear of heights and the ridiculous ladder you had to climb to get there…It was amazing though in our apartment….Fireworks were literally going off on all sides as far as you could see and there were ones RIGHT up next to the window.  People were lighting huge ones in the courtyard too that landed on the roof…right were J was!  He was fine, but a little singed.  The video he got was well worth it…I’ll have to find it in our old files and add it here one day!  This picture was from our ride before there were too many over the river…and there’s that lucky red coat!

This was our spread this year…(the hanging symbol was given to us by our neighbor, Ron/Charlie…he couldn’t ever decide on just one English name…so we always called him both.

  

If you’re wondering why she’s in a Bunny suit, here’s the answer:

We celebrated Chinese New Year’s living in Tianjin, China last year and it was the year of the Bunny.  In China, you are the animal of the year you were born, according to their calendar and when your year rotates around again, it’s a BIG deal…You pretty much have the biggest birthday party of your life, you’re super lucky for that year, you eat a ton, wear lots of red and people give you mullah in pretty little envelopes (if you’re Chinese, we just ate a lot and enjoyed being pyromaniacs).  Amelia-Jayne was born last year, so she’s our China Bunny…1987 also happened to be the year of the Bunny- so I’m a bunny too!  I guess that makes Jordan the new Hugh Heffner. Haha.

Amelia-Jayne tried to munch through her own fortune cookie and got her first taste of what else?!  RICE cereal.  We had to get the Asian theme in there somewhere for her. :)

 

We decided that we want to have traditions surrounding the places we’ve been and that next year we are going to really live it up for Chinese New Years…a party will happen with joutsa, chopsticks and PYROTECHNICS!  (We’re really excited about that)  So, if you happen to be in the Uintah Basin…come celebrate with us!  YOU’RE ALL INVITED!

Next stop…BRASIL!

  Carnival, anyone? I’m not sure Vernal is ready for that kind of party. ;)

5 Months!

Babycakes is 5 Months Old!  And as Jordan would say…that’s almost 6 months! :)

                    

All of the sudden, it seems like our little girl isn’t such a little baby anymore.  Now she has even MORE personality in her little body!  Here are some of her latest tricks:

-Amelia-Jayne loves to smile at strangers in the grocery store…her favorite demographic right now seems to be old men.  I think she misses her Papi!

-This girl can sit…and roll…and roll into things, off of things and under things.  I don’t know how she does it…because she usually gets into trouble when we’re out of the room (ie: rolling into the sharp end of the rocker) and only rolls once when we’re with her. She also has this funny little butt bridge she does when she’s on her tummy…it helps her do her little army crawl scooch.

-She sleeps all the way through the night and is usually pretty dang happy to see us in the morning.

-If you tickle her neck, feet or sides she has this funny old man giggle.

-Babycakes has been eating like a champ now for a week.  It took her about two whole feedings of rice cereal before she got the hang of swallowing…now she leans into the food, tries to grab it (usually successfully at least once or twice) and gets upset if we take too long to get the spoon in her mouth….You would think this girl’s been eating for years now.

-She likes to take out her bows, kick off her shoes and pull of her socks (and giggles while doing it.  Notice the pictures above).  She also LOOOOOOOOOVES to spit up ALL over herself anytime I give her a bath and get her (or me) dressed all the way.  I’ve been questioning why I get us dressed at all the last few weeks.  Her favorite time to do all of these things simultaneously happens to be Sunday mornings…last Sunday she even managed to dump the bucket of soapy water from her sponge bath all over my living room carpet…Church is starting to get a little more eventful each Sunday. :)  She is still a great baby, she’s just learning that she can do SO many things! 

Good thing she’s so dang cute. :)