10 Months!

Another month has slipped away, and my baby just gets bigger!  At least she gets older... I'm not sure she'll ever be big... ha!

- Mia is SO ACTIVE!  She crawls so fast, and is a furniture-cruising master!  She's got pretty good balance, and loves to walk while holding onto our fingers.  She pretty much never sits still.  Ever.  Even while she's nursing, she's kicking her legs around.  And while she sleeps she moves a ton.  It's really no wonder she's as tiny as she is with as much as she moves!

- She loves to sing.  If music is on or either Lex or I are singing, she sings right along with us.  She loves to shake our maracas and tambourines as well.  She also loves to pull herself to standing by the piano and play it for us!

- She is starting to talk.  I love it so much, and it also breaks my heart a little that she's so big.  She says Mama, Dada, bubble (bub bub bub), Cosmo (ca-ca [DJ isn't thrilled by this.  I think it's funny!]) and banana (nana).  

- She has learned to say her first Spanish word, "Boca."  She usually cuts out the "o" and says, "B-ca!  B-ca!" 

- She loves to clap her hands!  If we ever say "Yay!" she immediately starts clapping.

- If she sneezes or coughs, I always say "Bless you!" and she continues to make noises like she's pretending to sneeze or cough so she can get more attention.

- If anyone around her is laughing, she starts to fake laugh so she can be a part of it.

- She is back to sharing a room with Lexsi, and I discovered the key to making it happen:  she just wants to sleep in the Pack and Play!  She had been sleeping in it in our bedroom for a while, but she started waking up every few hours and wanting to nurse.  It was getting ridiculous, so we moved her down to the basement bedroom and the first night down there she only woke up one time to eat.  It's like she knew before that I was only a few feet away before, and I'd get her if she cried.  I still got her if she cried in the basement, it just didn't happen as often.  After about a week in her own room, I put her down in her crib in the upstairs bedroom for nap time and she screamed and screamed.  It took her a long time to fall asleep and she didn't stay asleep long.  So I just kept her in the basement, thinking she wanted to be in the room she was used to.  Later that week we went to my mom's house and she slept in her own bedroom in a pack and play and it suddenly dawned on me-- she didn't care what room she was in, she really just wanted to sleep in a pack and play.  When we came back home to Brigham I took down her crib and put the pack and play in its place and she's been sharing a room with Lexsi ever since-- even during nap time.  Obviously the crib looks way cuter in the space than the pack and play, but when it comes down to it, I'm WAY more worried about my daughter's comfort than the way her room looks.

- Mia always sleeps on her stomach.  When I lay her down in bed, she immediately rolls to her tummy and buries her face in her little duck pillow.

- I've yet to find a fruit or vegetable that this girl doesn't like!  She loves fresh produce so much!  It's awesome.

- Aside from fruits and veggies, her favorite foods are spaghetti, pizza and yogurt.  We pretty much finish off her dinner with yogurt every night-- like a dessert.  She loves it!  She's such an excellent eater-- it makes my life so easy! 

- Whenever she sees a food that she wants to eat, she says, "Mmmmmm!" until you give some to her.  We went to Lovell for a week and while we were there, Papi pulled some ice cream out of the freezer.  Mia crawled over and sat at his feet saying, "Mmmm!" until his shake was made and he shared some with her.   

- Mia is terrified of animals.  It's so opposite of Lex that it's a little funny to me.  Lex has always loved animals and wanted to be around them.  Mia tenses up and yells whenever she gets too close to an animal-- including our own dog!  Mia HATES taking Cosmo for walks-- she's just petrified of her!  Cosmo is super friendly and wouldn't hurt Mia, but Mia doesn't realize that.  We went to the fair a few days ago and saw all the animals-- Lex was in heaven, and Mia hated her life.  It's just something she'll have to get used to, cause with Lexsi as an older sister, we're going to be spending a good amount of time around animals!

- As always, Mia is tiny.  A few weeks ago she finally outgrew all her 0-3 month onesies and I put them away.  She's in 3-6 month onesies  and dresses now so they're long enough, but still wears 0-3 month pants, shorts, skirts, etc.  3-6 month bottoms are WAY too fat on her.  I'm going to have to take in all her 3-6 month pants in the fall-- and she'll be a year old!  Such a tiny little thing! 

- Her hair is staying curly, which makes me so happy!  She also has a lot more hair than Lexsi did.  Lexsi's was longer on top, but she hardly had any anywhere else.  Mia has a lot of hair all over her head.  Her little curls are my favorite!  For a while I thought it might turn blonde, but I don't think so any more.  It's lighter than Lexsi's, but it's definitely brown.

- Her eyes have also turned brown.  They were lighter when she was little and I thought I might get a green-eyed girl like me!  But they've turned a dark brown, which is super pretty.  I'm just destined to be the only light skinned, light haired, light eyed person in the family!

Mia is such a blessing in our lives!  She's such a loving little girl.  She's so much fun to have around and I'm so so grateful that she's ours!

Mia playing with Dad:

Playing at the park in Lovell:

Playing at Mammie's house:

When you give a baby a fruit leather to eat in the car, this is what happens:

Her ridiculous curly piggy tails are my favorite:

Here's her 10-month pictures with the zebra:

Lex wanted to give Mia a horsey ride:

Here she is saying "Mmmmm!" 

Education

As a child, I always wanted to be two things when I grew up:  A mom and a teacher.  As I got older and moved to Provo with my family, I always just had it in the back of my mind that I'd go to BYU and major in Elementary Education.  When I was a Junior in High School, I thought it through and changed my mind.  I realized that my number one goal in life was to be a mom.  I worried that I would probably start going to BYU and get married and have babies and never finish school, at least not until they were bigger.  Or even if I did finish school before having kids, I always knew I wouldn't work while they were young and I didn't want to be the old lady teacher that hasn't worked for 20 years and comes back thinking things are exactly the same and be all set in my ways and end up not being the best teacher out there.  (I realize now that this doesn't necessarily have to be the case-- you can raise a family and then go back to work and be a good teacher.  But at 16, you just don't think that way!)  Instead of going to a traditional 4-year school, I decided on cosmetology school.  My dad was not very happy with my decision at the time.  I got really good grades in high school, and he kept reminding me that I could go to any university that I wanted and get a scholarship to boot.  I kept reminding him that I knew I was smart and I could go anywhere I wanted-- and what I really wanted to do was go to cosmetology school.  In the end, my parents let me make the decision (which I am incredibly grateful for!) and they supported my decision to be a cosmetologist.  

I did concurrent enrollment my Senior year of high school, so all my elective credits were taken care of by going to cosmetology school.  I  also needed one English credit, which I did through BYU Independent Studies.  I graduated high school in May of 2005 and graduated cosmetology school in October of 2005.  In December of the same year, I decided to go to Nauvoo through BYU's study abroad program (even though Illinois is not technically "abroad"), and was there from January- April of 2006. 

When I returned home from Nauvoo, I started working as a cosmetologist in the MTC Barbershop.  It was SO awesome, and I stayed there for 3 years, until I got married.  I am so very grateful that I was able to go to cosmetology school and have the experience of working in the MTC!  I love doing hair so so much!  Now that I'm a mom, I'm grateful I had the foresight as a 16-year-old to make the career choice that I did.  My number one priority is STILL being a mom.  I certainly don't do hair full-time, but I do it enough that I make some extra money to do fun things with my family.  It's also been comforting to know that if anything ever happened to my husband, I would have a career to fall back on and be able to support my girls.   

There have been times that going back to school has crossed my mind, but I never really gave it much thought.  A few days ago, a friend of mine on Facebook mentioned that she was going to go back to school and do the Pathway program through BYU-I.  I'd never heard of it, but decided to just check it out.  The more I looked into it, the more right it felt, and I got pretty excited.  

Pathway is a 1-year (3-semester) program.  Each semester you take one religion class and one general studies class.  For me, the religion class is at the WSU Institute building one evening a week.  The general studies class is online.  It's only 5 credits a semester, which I think will be totally manageable with 2 kids at home-- if I have time to do Family History, refinish furniture, and do other projects, I certainly can make time to go to school!

After my one year in Pathway, I can start taking online courses through BYU-I for only $65 a credit.  There are quite a few options of programs and majors available.  I've decided to get a BS in Marriage and Family Studies.  I chose this because I'll be learning things that will help in my real, everyday life.  I'm not doing it because I want to go out and get a good job.  I already have the BEST job, and won't be working outside my home unless something catastrophic happened to my husband. 

There have been so many General Authorities who have talked about the importance of education.  In April 2012, Mary N. Cook gave a talk in General Conference and said this: 

Gaining knowledge now will pay huge dividends when you become a mother. “A mother’s education level has a profound influence on the educational choices of her [children].”  A mother’s education can hold the “key to halt [the] poverty cycle.”  Educated women “tend to: Give birth to healthier babies, have children who are healthier, be more confident, resilient and have improved reasoning and judgment.” 

We learn in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” that “mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.”  Providing an education for your children is part of that nurturing and is your sacred responsibility. Like the stripling warriors, who “had been taught by their mothers,”  you will be the most important teacher your children will ever have, so choose your learning carefully. Bless your children and your future home by learning as much as you can now.

I believe that continuing my education will help my girl see how important it is to me.  I already think I'm a pretty good mom, and being more educated will only help me to be a better mom.  I know this is going to take a long time.  I'm not trying to get it done in 4 years.  It's a 120-credit program, and going into it I'm hoping to have 28 credits-- 15 from Pathway and hopefully my 13 from BYU transfer.  I'll only take a few credits each semester until all my kids are in school and I have a little more time to focus on my own schooling too.  I believe in getting as much education as you can.  I know that all education doesn't come from a university.  Right now, for me, it does-- and I am so excited about it!

Craft Room Update

After painting stripes in my bathroom today, I was kind of on a roll.  I decided to try something completely different in my craft room!  I wasn't sure how I'd like it, but I figured, hey!  It's a craft room.  It doesn't hurt to try something crazy in the room where I'm most creative, right?

Here's the room, pre-paint.  Very beige and very blah.

So, I started putting up painter's tape, pretty much randomly.  I just wanted it to be geometric.

And I kept going...

And going, until the one wall was covered in geometric glory!

I chose a few sections to paint a medium blue, then painted the rest of the wall the same light blue that is my accent wall color upstairs in the living room.

After two coats of paint and some serious patience while waiting for it all to dry, I got to peel off all the tape!

In  the end, I kind of love it! 

It's definitely different.  It's not something I'd necessarily choose for a main room in my house, but it's pretty cool, and I really like it for my craft room!

And one last side-by-side for good measure:

In the end, I spent less than $5 on painter's tape for both of the projects I did today, and all the paint I had was leftover from over projects.  Spending less than $5 to make over 2 rooms is a good day in my book!

Bathroom Update

Before we moved into our house in May, we repainted the entire upstairs.  Between that and totally overhauling the kitchen, I was pretty burned out on projects!  Now that I've had a couple months to rest and recover, I'm ready to get working on my house again!  We painted everything a nice medium grey, so I pretty much have a blank canvas to work with!

As a starting point, just a reminder of what the bathroom looked like when we bought the house:

When we repainted, we left the wall with the door white, like the previous owners had.  I didn't want it to be too dark in there, and I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it.  

Well, today I decided:  Stripes!!!  So I penciled in the lines I wanted and taped them off:

Then applied the same grey paint that I used on the rest of the walls:

And voila!  Much cuter :)  

This was a super fast, super easy project!  All I had to buy was the painter's tape, and I only used a tiny bit of it!  I love cheap fixes that make a big difference!!!

Now I just need to update my sad counters and oak vanity!

Big Girl Haircut

When Lex was 9 months old, I gave her her very first haircut.  Her hair was crazy long on top and short on the sides, so I took a couple inches off her mohawk and blended it all in.  This was what she looked like the last time I cut her hair:

Since then, I've never even trimmed her hair.  I've been noticing lately that her ends were getting a little yucky, so tonight I gave her her first "Big Girl" hair cut.  It wasn't anything drastic, because we LOVE her long hair!  I love that I have so many options of what I can do to it.  So I trimmed everything up, gave her some layers, trimmed her bangs so we can train them to swoop to the side, and that was it!  Just enough to make it healthy.  She was so excited to sit in my hair cutting chair!  I thought she would get restless or hate having the cape on, but she loved it so much!  The whole time we just talked about princesses and she was happy as can be.  My little girl is getting way too big!  The best part of this experience is when I was texturizing her bangs and she said, "Oooooh!  That's a cool trick!" (Only in her little voice she actually said, "Oooooh!  Das a cool twick!"  Hilarious.)

A mom and Lex picture before the cut!

Before-- she was so happy to be sitting there!

And after!  She was thrilled.  And really-- could she be any cuter???

Ta-daaaaa!

She seriously wouldn't stop looking in the mirror-- she felt so cool!

Here's the side-by-side before and after shots...

To most people it probably looks the same.  But to me, it's way better now!  It's very healthy, it's all evened out, and she looks great!  I can absolutely tell a difference-- such is the life for a cosmetologist!

9 Months!

Somehow, another month has passed, and my baby is 3/4 of a year old!  Here are some updates on my sweetheart, as well as some pictures of what's been happening in our lives this month!

- Mia is SO active.  She is in to pretty much everything.  She is really fast at army crawling, and in the past few days has started to master crawling on her hands and knees.  She can also pull herself to standing and cruise furniture.  She is doing this several months earlier than Lexsi did, and I'm not really prepared for it!  Since she's starting so young, she falls over a lot, and every time she falls she cries so hard, it just breaks her heart that she has bad balance.  Ha!

- She is still a great eater!  She eats pretty much everything we give her, and really loves watermelon and strawberries.

- Otter Pops are her favorite-- If she sees DJ get one out of the freezer, she gets so excited and crawls over to him so he'll share.

- She think Lexsi is the funniest person ever.  Lex will roll her around on the floor and do all sorts of things that I think would be annoying and/or scary, but Mia just laughs.  They are best friends for sure!

- She is a picky sleeper.  We don't have central air right now, but we do have a window AC unit in the master bedroom.  Mia won't sleep in her own room any more because it's hot.  Lex doesn't seem to mind, but Mia has started sleeping in a Pack and Play in our room since it's much cooler there.  I don't blame her for not being able to sleep in heat-- I totally can't either!

- She has been trying to get her top front left tooth for a long time now.  It keeps coming down so we can see the whiteness and see her gums bulging, and then it recedes again.  So frustrating.

- She says "Mama," regularly, but not always when I tell her to.  She also says "Dada" sometimes, but not as often.

-She is such a climber!  She climbs all over DJ and me.  She also climbs stairs, if we let her.  She hasn't learned to go down stairs yet, unfortunately.

- This morning, she stood up by herself for like 7-8 seconds.  She has been sitting on a little rocking chair, and slid off the front of it to standing and stood alone until DJ came to get her.

- She often tries to "bear crawl," and it's hilarious to watch.

- If you let her hold your fingers, she'll totally walk wherever she wants to go.

- She is incredibly happy.  She has the sweetest disposition, and I just love her!

Hailey and Mia at the park:

Lex and Mia at Kate's princess party:

The fam at Costa Vida:

Out for a walk:

"Helping" me with the laundry:

Staying cool in the summer heat:

These girls LOVE Otter Pops!

Mia stole bread right off my plate at my cousin's mission farewell and ate it up!

Four generations:

Mia got to try eating a spoonful of peanut butter.  She loved it:

My early riser.  I usually don't mind getting up with this sweet girl, though!

Happy girl eating watermelon:

My sweethearts:

Fourth of July outfits:

They love each other so so much!

Reading with Keesha:

Bear Lake day trip:

Mia fell asleep on the way up:

She did not mind one bit when her dad buried her in the mud!

Mia and Lex hanging out:

Both girls were way worn out and slept on the way home:

My 9-month-old sweetheart!!!