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!