Life with the Beirdneau's

Going Private

2011-09-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

We have decided to go private!
So please let me know if you want to continue reading our blog.
Anyone!
Leave a comment with your email and I will add you or you can write to me on facebook if you feel more comfortable.
Please don't be shy, we love our blog friends.

So we will still be here and we hope you will be too!

breaking points and posts not posted.

2011-09-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

You ever start writing a post but never finish it, then never post it.
I do.
I did it two days ago when I was reaching my breaking point with Grace's sleep.
But I have turned over a new leaf and am no longer at my breaking point.
Therefore, you will probably never see that post. (because i often look back and think i sound too negative, who wants to be reminded of that-but then again, it keeps it real, right?!).
Basically... we are struggling over here in the sleep department.--yet again.
Am I the only one?
Does everyone else have this figured out?
Or does it just feel like I am the only one sometimes because people just don't talk about it.
I don't know.
All i know is I always have alot of questions, and it seems that none of the other mothers around me do. Or they may, and i just don't know about it. Perhaps they are all better at working out what to do on their own.
I know that many people are sceptical to give out parenting advice, because it is often given out too much and people just don't want to hear it. But I say, keep the advice coming. Just because I hear it, doesn't mean I have to listen to it, or agee with it. I just like to hear what other people do. Helps with ideas.

anyway... back to the post that never was posted.
To sum up the overall point of it (well the positive, non question asking part. and the part about me clinging to my 'sleep' book every time i run out of Grace's room when she finally drifts off)
I am so grateful to be a mother.
It truely is the greatest. The waking up in the middle of the night, and having to get up three times because Grace keeps waking up just while writing this post, and all.

Because I get to see this cute little face looking up at me every day

And even though she can't talk (well except for saying 'dada'). I know she loves me.
Because she gives me lots of cuddles and kisses.
She crawls right up to me and sits on my lap.
She gives me a million of those cute little chubby grins.
And when the day is just not going right, mummy can make it all better.

Now to shift gears into what our little Grace has been up too.

She crawls everywhere. I spend most all of my days chasing her around. She climbs stairs, opens cuboards, pulls everything out of cuboards, loves to help me put dishes in and out of the dishwasher and loves to stand and hold my legs while I am making dinner.

She doesn't like her head bands anymore. Well.... rather she discovered that they were there and she can pull them off. So I try to utilize the little bit of hair she has growing--hence the bow on her head. It stays there for about 3 minutes until it falls out, because she rubs her head against things as she is standing up.

She has started to outright refuse to eat any baby cereals or pureed foods. I bring the spoon to her mouth and she squishes her face up and shakes her head around in protest. But if I cut up the fruits and vegies in small pieces and let her eat them herself she has no problem. The indepence is coming out again. But is this normal!? I get worried that she needs the cereal in her diet.... once again I send a random parenting question into the void.

Grace has a tooth! (can you see it, look closely you might). actually, she now has two teeth. Her two little bottom ones, which she has used to chew a few good chunks out of her crib. Now I have the bumper pads wrapped around the rails to prevent it from being ruined. I tried to explain to her that we need that crib for all of our kids, I don't think she got it-- hence the bumper pads acting as teething pads.

She loves to play. the other night we were putting the sheets back on our bed and she loved playing under them. I must admit I was ready to climb in under there too, it reminded me of being under a parachute (note these are not my sheets-rather not sheets that I own-the floral pattern is a little much for me).

I truely do love being a mother.
I am thankful for it every day.
Despite the fact that I have no idea what I am doing.
Hopefully I am not the only one.

Errands and Glitter Toes.

2011-08-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

Lately Brent and I have had a problem every time we go to run an errand.
The problem is that we normally forget something we need and are sent trapsing angrily back home all the way across town to get it.
It is probably because the type of errands we have been running lately envolve bringing every type of i.d known to mankind, not to mention letters to prove where we live, despite it being written on our drivers lisences.
Today we had a number of things to take care of and when Brent doesn't work until 1pm we seize the moment and try and get it all done.
As we were started driving down the road I asked Brent if he was ok (he was very quiet) and he said 'yeah, but everytime we run errands something bad happens.'
and he is right, as I mentioned before, normally our errand running is a somewhat stressful not so happy time.
But today (as you are probably guessing by now), it was wonderful.
We had everything we needed, and got in and out.
We left at 8:30am and were back at 10:30am. Miracle! Worthy of blogging!
Not only did we get the main things we want to get done, but I also got Grace a new car seat (since the last one we got was too big and I returned it) and I did not think I would get that done today! (although I was hoping!) -just hoping that this one works. I haven't tried it yet-wish me luck!
So all in all, it was a successful outing and nothing 'bad' happened.
well except for the fact that Grace was rather tired and got a little cranky and her morning nap was cut short to only about 15 minutes.
But she did well.
and today while she was taking an extra long nap to make up for the lack of one this morning, I gave myself glitter toes.

I have been wanting to get glitter toes for over a year (sad yes i know... you are probably thinking 'why didn't you just go and do it then?!').
Problem was I don't have an extra $30, $20 or even $10 laying around. So I cannot ever justify going to get a pedicure.
In fact I have never had one.
So I decided that it can not be that hard and I will do it myself.
So today was the day that I got glitter toes and I spent a whole $0 on it because I had everything I needed.

yes this is a horrible picture of my feet (funny how the last few photos on this blog have been of my feet, I promise I do not have a foot fetish). Oh, and my toes don't even look that sparkly here, but trust me they really are!

So just in case you were wondering how I did it. (more in case I forget and want to do it again, which of COURSE i will)
This is how I did it.

Supplies:

Coloured Nail Polish
Fine sparkly glitter (The one I used I have seriously had since I was about 10, it was from Bath and Body Works. You know the stuff we used to(well I guess I used to) plaster all over our cheeks)
Small paint brush or cue tip.
Clear nail polish

How to do it:

Paint one nail with nail polish. I would recommend a color that is the same as, or compliments your glitter.
Generously sprinkle glitter over the nail (this is why you do one at a time, to prevent clumping and the nail polish will dry too much and not enough will stick)
Use a paint brush or cue tip gently to evenly spread the glitter and remove excess.
Let dry.
Coat with clear nail polish.

and Wahla!!! You have beautifully sparkly nails!
i am in love with them.
Only wish I did it sooner.

So all in all.... successful wonderful errand running, glitter day.

p.s Don't glitter toes make you feel so girly! Love 'em
can't wait for Grace to be patient enough to get some too!

Flip Flops, Visits and Babies.

2011-08-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

This last week we had some visiters.
Some visiters that we were very glad to see.
In fact I was almost about to try and convince Brent that we had to drive to Utah for a weekend to visit them, but knowing that Grace could possibly scream the whole 7 hours I decided against it.
But before I could even finish thinking about traveling to Utah for a mere two days, Brent's mom accidently let it slip that SCOTT and KERI were on their way to Colorado on that very day!
So...needless to say, I was very excited.
They pulled in late thursday night and left this morning 'sigh'.
Although I know they have to get back to life in Utah, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad they had to leave. Even if they have been here 5 days already.
We miss living near them.
Brent was excited to play basketball almost everyday with Scott (something that he has been missing ALOT), and I LOVE chatting and hanging out with Keri.
This is the last time we will see them before they have their baby boy Tommy.

Which... to get side tracked as I often do, reminds me of the surprise family shower we had for them when they came to visit then end of June.
I made my first diaper cake ever. I have to say I think it turned out quite cute.

Don't you just love how Scott had to pull a crazy face. --now its forever immortalized in history--

At our little family shower we also all guess how big little baby Tommy will be. I fear we were all off.

Keri just had an ultrasound the other day and they are anticipating that he will be at least 9lbs.

And I am sure no one cares what we guessed, but I am worried I will loose the piece of paper (plus I promised a prize for the winner--no idea what it is yet, but I will work on that when we know who won!)

So here we go:

Holly: 10lbs, 22"

Janice: 9lbs 10oz, 21.5"

Scott: 9lbs, 22"

John: 8lbs 15 oz, 20.25"

Michelle: 8lbs 14oz, 20"

Keri: 8lbs 10oz, 21"

Mark: 8lbs 4oz, 21"

Craig: 8lbs 8oz, 21"

Angie: 7lbs 15oz, 22"

Brent: 7lbs 9oz, 18.5"

According to what the doctors told Scott and Keri, those Kovach's may have been more right than any of us. They all guessed BIG! Although, Scott could be right on the money. We will see!

Now, back to this last week...now I have gone off on a tangent again.

I love crafting, and whenever we get together lately, I just wanna make something.

It probably comes from my worrisome obsession with reading craft blogs, but never actually doing any of the projects that I read about.

But when I was reading makeit-loveit.com the other day, she had some super cute flip-flop refashion tutorials up, and I just wanted to try. So Keri was a good sport and agreed to make some with me.

We headed off to old navy and picked up some flip flops and got to work.

Our first pairs that we made took alot longer. We used the brading technique here to have a nice stretchy band around our feet then added our own flowers.

Then our second pair we saved for later as we were flip floped out. But they only took us a few minutes.

I have some flip flops that I got from Target and all they are is fabric knoted on top to make the straps.

Super easy.

And I love them.

So now we have two new pairs of flip flops each for only around $5 (in fact I only spent $3.50 because one of my pairs were on sale for $1)

Oh and in case you were wondering whos are whos mine are the grey and black with yellow flowers, and the purple with grey straps.

Now this wouldn't be a post without mentioning Grace so here she is!

She still loves sitting under the table, even though her head hits the top. She was enjoying reading under here the other day.
She started saying 'dada' on friday, which was the first full day Scott and Keri were here. So cool they got to see a first.
She still loves holding on to things and standing up everywhere, also her knees have been coming up into the 'correct' crawling position alot more lately. I don't think it will be long untill they are always up!

She loved playing with Scott and Keri, and she remembered them!

I was wondering if she would or not! I guess it had only been a month, but still!

Keri was playing with her in our sheets the other day after I cleaned them. She LOVED it her little arms were flapping everywhere and she was giggling like crazy!

We loved having you visit Scott and Keri! Hopefully we will be able to come and visit you some time after Tommy is born! Grace will love having a little cousin to play with!

Our little Explorer

2011-07-27T11:24:00.000-07:00

On July 12 Grace's life changed forever.
She woke up and all of a sudden she was scooten all over the place.
So funny how the day before she was getting all frustrated then all of a sudden she had it!
She is yet to master 'correct' crawling, she prefers the 'worm' as we call it.
She will take a few 'steps' correctly crawling then go back to the worm.
One day she will work out that although she is fast doing the worm, it is alot more work.
She is literally doing full man push ups all day long!

This new found freedom and opened up SO many limitless adventures.

She LOVES these tables. and crawls up onto the bottom level and slides all around the place. She goes up and down all day long!

She even likes to have a little rest on them! All that crawling wears you out!

She has also taken a liking to disappearing behind the chairs.
Sometimes she is right in front of me, I turn away for a second and she is gone.
She is always hiding behind the chairs. She loves the vents that are back there. She puts her little hands above the vent and feels all the cold air coming out, before scooting forward and putting her whole belly on top of it.
Maybe she is just hot!

She also LOVES standing up on everything! The last two days the crawling has taken a backseat to climbing.
She is seriously trying to climb everything. I have to really watch her because she has almost pulled things down on herself a couple times.
She especially loves helping doing laundry. By pulling out every item of clothing that I put in the basket one by one. But she is just helping!
She has even crawled up the stairs by herself two times! This child is unstoppable!

The other day I put sesame street on for her and she took quite a liking to it right away.
She sat there for quite a while watching.
It was SO cute.

So our cute little girl just keeps on growing. Sometimes I wish she would slow down a little.

The last two days when I have gone in to get her from her nap she has either been sitting up with her arm resting on the top of the bumper (so funny and so cute) or has pulled herself up and is hanging on the side of the crib. I am glad that we put the mattress down a level because I kept panicing she would fall out the side of the crib after her nap or something!

She has also gotten really good at sitting up from any position. Last night at 3:30am Grace started crying, when I went to get her she was sitting up at the opposite end of the bed.

Took me a while to find her!

We just love our little Grace, and LOVE being parents.

Everyday is wonderful!

ideas

2011-07-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Ever have an idea that you think could earn you a million dollars.
I do.
However, every time I start my million dollar plan with research.
Where do you reseach... google.
What does google say: about 370 000 related results.
meaning my million dollar idea is someone elses million dollar idea.
So much for that.
Wanna know what it was?
-onesie white dress shirts
I thought it was a good idea.
If you want one, you can buy it at target, amazon, ebay and gap... just for starters!
Guess I will start working on my next million dollar idea!
(note: a million dollars may be a bit of a reach)

My magical world

2011-07-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

I have a magical world that I escape to.
Its a world full of dragons and wands,
wizards and witches,
good and evil,
cloaks and broomsticks,
owls and goblins.

This world is not my only magical world. I have many.
But right now I particularly love this magical world.
I love my friends
Hagrid and Harry,
Ron and Hermione,
Ginny and Nevile,
Luna and Murtle,
and the many more.

I love quidditch and honeydukes,
diagon alley and Olivanders.

I have loved this world for a long time.
I have been escaped to it numerous times since I was 10.
Then again with each movie.

So thank you
Harry, Ron and Hermione (to name a couple) and Daniel, Rupert and Emma.
For giving me this magical land to escape to.
Thank you especially J.K Rowling for inviting me into your magical land for a little while (and for telling us the 'whole' ending... so we actually know what happens to our favorite friends).

So I will not put away my Hogward cloaks just yet,
in fact they will always hang in my closet (metaphorically of course)
just in case I need to take a quick visit to Hogwarts again.
Which of course I will,
because I love this magical land,
and I promise to return often.

Top Secret: Family Superpowers

2011-07-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

This is Brent. I must tell everyone who reads this that Michelle and I are hooked on the show Heroes. It is a cool show and is similar to Smallville, which we also enjoyed. Michelle wants me to remind everyone that this is only my opinion...........

As it turns out we both have super powers.........

Michelle's superpower is the ability to speak at superhuman speeds (her normal speed).

Grace's superpower is that she can somehow maneuver her body over to anything if she wants it bad enough (even though she can't crawl yet)

And MY superpower is.........

The ability to smooth a person's fungal toenails with a dremel at lightning speeds!

Now you know our family secrets........

Don't tell anyone or we will find you and stick Grace on you!

Life is good, Life is great, Life is wonderful

2011-07-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think I am not as grateful for what I have as I should be.
I love my husband and my little baby girl, yet sometimes I find myself waiting for nap time,
or just longing for a moment where I can do something I have been wanting to do without being interupted.
because truth is... I am not really alone very often.
I have a beautiful little girl who loves to be with me every minute of the day
(and who am I kidding, she doesn't really have a choice)
But I really do love it.
Although it is tiring (especially when she likes to be with me at 3am and I have to fight to get her back in her crib).
I love every moment of it.
Because even when she is sad, i see her little frowny face and it makes me smile.
It makes me remember when she was first born and the first time I saw her little beautiful screaming face.
Brent and I often talk about the night she was born and she was just screaming, but we thought it was great.
We were just happy she was breathing- and by golly she had some good lungs.
we didn't care that she was crying, we were just soaking in every little detail of her little tiny body that we had been waiting to see for 9 months.

I am so grateful for my little family.
Grace is a good baby. Although I may talk about her crying, she doesn't cry that much.
In fact most of our days are filled with smiles and uncontrolable laughter.
She is one funny girl.

Last night I was sitting in a chair and she scooted herself to my legs and was hugging them, when i looked down she started giggling uncontrolably.

I love my family.
They are my best friends.

I wouldn't want to spend my days any other way.

Independence Day

2011-07-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

This July 4th was Grace's first EVER.
Since Brent didn't have to work we decided to make the most of the day and do something fun.
We enjoy getting out and going on 'adventures' but actually being motivated to do it is another thing.
but we pushed our butts out that door and went and enjoyed a beautiful day!

We actually started out by planning on going on a hike to 'devils backbone' but we got lost (as we say... it would not be a family trip if we did not get lost...Brent and I have trouble with that ;)
But we ended up somewhere even better!
(we will save the other hike for another day)

We went for a little hike up at spring creek park (at least I think that is the name of it)
It was beautiful but hot.
Grace started out in her little back pack, but was trying to crawl out of it, so on the way back we caved and carried her.
As we were leaving we noticed that the park had a interactive water park (as they call it) basically it is just lots of water shooting out of the ground that kids can play in.
we were unprepared for that, but Grace enjoyed sitting in the water in her onesie! -sad i didn't get a picture of that...but we will be back!

Later that day we headed out to a high school, which was the prime location to watch the fireworks. We went early with Brent's parents and some family friends armed with lots of food ready to celebrate.

Grace has been pulling this really funny face all the time! Who knows where she got it from but it sure is funny! Glad we got it on camera so she will see how funny it was too some day!

We weren't sure if we were going to stay for the fireworks (brent gets a little 'people' phobic) and we didn't know how Grace was going to handle the whole thing. But she was doing so well we decided to stay.
She fell asleep around 9 (bedtime) but was woken up when they started.
She LOVED them. It was so fun watching her.
Everytime a big one would go off and fill the sky her jaw would just drop! ha ha!
So funny.
Brent said he enjoyed watching her more than the fireworks.

Then the way home (as I am sure you can imagine) we fought through the swarms of people...Brent's people phobia kicked in (hehe) and it took us forever to get home.
At the time we were tired and there were too many people, but we finally made it.
And in my opinion it was all worth it.
It actually reminded me of a scene from 'War of the Worlds' when they are in the car with all the people fighting to get in.
Not that anyone tried to jump in our car, but at first it felt like we were the only car and we were surrounded by SO many people, and they kept hitting our car!
Maybe its just me but I thought it was common courtesy not to hit someones car as you walk by...

all in all, we had a wonderful July 4th.
I will look forward to it all again next year.

The 'art' of getting bubba to bed

2011-06-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

So all you mummy folk out there, I need some advice.
and I know that every baby is different.
But Grace was sleeping through the night from the time she was about 2 months old.
and it was great.
there was hardly ever a time when she woke up.

Now....
different story.
For the past 2 months she has began to wake up at night again.
not fun.
At first it was every now and then,
but now it is consistent every night.
I have been doing many things... none of which have been working.

We have a bed time routine.
We have the same bed time every night.
I don't let her nap after 6pm because then she doesn't seem tired for bed.
yet... still she goes to sleep at 9pm, to wake up at 9:30pm on the dot. Has more milk.
Goes back to sleep at 10pm.
To wake up at 2:30am--to eat
wakes up again at 4:30am---to eat
then 7:30am.
Sometimes it is even more frequent.
At first I thought it was teething. But now she seems hungry!?
could this just be growth spurts? but for almost two months now!
All I know is that I miss the sleeping through the night.

Any advice you have is appreciated.
oh the joys of having no idea what you are doing as a parent!

but how can you be mad at someone so cute ;)

During Nap time

2011-05-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

What do you do during nap time?
When Grace was first born I would often nap myself.
Then I started running around the house trying to clean everything (that was the only time I seemed to get it done).
Sometimes I would cook dinner,
other times I would just watch t.v (then feel guilty later because I didn't get anything done).
Sometimes I tried to sew... only to find that 30minutes is NOT long enough to really get anything done.

Nowadays, since we are living with Brent's parents and we don't have a baby monitor I sit down stairs (so i can hear Grace when she wakes up) and look things up online, write a post, stalk some blogs, watch something I had been wanting too, take a shower (if I haven't already), sometimes (sometimes being the key word) work out, pay bills... the list goes on.

I have been trying to get more done while Grace is awake, because she LOVES to be held.
I am trying to get her used to daily life, and not me sitting there holding and cuddleing her all day long.
Not that cuddleing all day long is bad.
Because I am enjoying it while I can.
Because soon enough she will be wanting to crawl all over, and get into everything.
Actually sometimes I feel like she wants to do that now, except when I put her down she gets frustrated and those little arms and legs start waving around like she is swimming. Just trying to get to the other side of the room.

But I enjoy nap time... nice relaxing nap time, when I don't have to feel guilty if I am writing a blog post, or watching t.v because Grace is sleeping soundly. And I am not denying her my undivided attention.
But it sure does end quickly... like right now for instance.

my little 5 month old

2011-05-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

On Monday Grace celebrated her FIVE month birthday.
She is getting too big too quickly.
She is just SO loveable.

So to commemorate the occasion, a little about Grace.

She is SUCH a cutie. Have to say I was excited to have a little girl, but she is just so much cuter than I ever imagined. LOVE little girls.

She has a good glare.
When she was first born she had a very concerned look on her face.
She still gets that concerned face, also the very serious face and as Brent's dad has said, she can shoot some daggers with those eyes if she wants.

We got her an exersaucer, and she LOVES it!
She loves eating all the toys.
Did I mention that she is teething?! Fun for Grace, fun for mum and fun for all.... we have lots of drool, lots of complaining and LOTS of biting going on. Not to mention a little someone who started waking up during the night again.... aahhhhhhhhh
hopefully its short lived.

She loves to sit in things.
Boxes, baskets, ANYTHING
I think that she likes it because it gives her enough support to sit up on her own and when she falls she doesn't plummet to the ground and hurt herself.
(actually got her smiling on camera! AMAZING)
She is very smiley, and is starting to talk alot... no not real words, but lots of Grace words.
Also, she has worked out that if she screams REALLY loud, someone comes to get her (because face it... I don't like screaming).
She also has been working on developing her art of blowing bubbles.... cute.

She wants EVERYTHING, and is now rolling all around the place to get it.
She LOVES paper, and will destroy a magazine, a letter, handouts from church in about 2 seconds.

We tried out some rice cereal to celebrate her 5 month birthday, and she is starting to LOVE it.
Last night she was actually swallowing it and opening up her mouth really big for more.

Her toes have made it to her mouth.
She chews on those cute chubby toes every day.
If there are socks on her feet, then she pulls them off and chews on them.
This bub loves to chew.

She is the sweetest little bubby I could have asked for.
And although she screams and wakes up in the night, I LOVE her more than I can say.
She just has to stop getting so big so fast.
I just want her to be my little baby forever.

3 years ago, 1 week ago

2011-05-17T16:42:00.001-07:00

3 years ago (1 week ago) I woke up early with big puffy eyes.
I tried to work out what to do about my puffy eyes (allergies),
I showered and carefully shaved every part of my legs (yes often I only shave the part that you can see),
I ironed my dress and headed out with the girls to the hairdresser.
I still was worried about what to do with my puffy red eyes (mum went and got eye drops-worked a charm).
I drove back with the girlies to put on my makeup with my hair all curled.

I found my husband 'to be' covered in sweat running late from playing football with his brothers.
He tried to convince me that he didn't need to iron his shirt.
Then found out that he hadn't eaten anything all day (a BIG no no for him, he has been known to pass out).
When we were ready to go, we headed out to the temple.
I was so crazy (stressed/nervous) that I didn't even notice that it was a beautiful day.
I went into the peaceful temple and got ready with my mum.
Again... nervous because they took so long to come and get me (started thinking perhaps Brent changed his mind...)
Then... 3 years ago... (1 week ago).... I was sealed for time and all eternity to my best friend.
The man that I can not imagine life without.
The man who makes me laugh.
The man who makes me dance.
The man who makes me better.
The man who makes me smile.
My Prince Charming.

Although the day was stressful and crazy (what wedding day isn't)... It was beautiful.
and I can not imagine spending Eternity any other way. Than with HIM.

What we are up to

2011-05-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Our daily doings have been a combination of a few things lately.
But have mainly been dominated by one... well two things lately.

1. We got Netflix
$8 a month for everything we could ever dream of watching. GREAT huh!
well... good and bad.
Good because we have been enjoying it.... getting our monies worth for sure.
Bad because (insert guilt here) we have been watching far too much t.v
we are hooked on prison break right now.
Sure I play with Grace at the same time, but really I think over the past two days she is starting to believe that life consists of eating, sleeping, pooping and watching prison break.

2. Sickness

Our little Gracie is sick.
Which is partly why we are sitting in our room watching so much prison break.
I don't want to take her anywhere and when she gets too excited the coughing starts.
So she gets all the love and attention (yes her first not prison break--I am not that bad of a mother)
Hopefully lots of sleep-- right now she is conked out on the bed. Because that is where she finally fell asleep and I am NOT moving her, she needs her rest. Sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do right?!

Adjusting

2011-05-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday we go to church.
For the past 'almost' two years we were in the BYU 75th ward.
Being a BYU ward it meant that it was a ward of only young married couples who were in school. So our ward was different from most. There were no middle aged people, no grandparents, for the most part-no kids (only a few but they were little), LOTS of babies and no young women or young men.
When we first moved in... I won't lie, I didn't like it.
We had come from a family ward and I missed having lots of people of different ages.
But then it started to grow on me.
Then I started to really enjoy it.
Then I got a calling that made me LOVE it. It helped me learn to love everyone. I loved those sisters in my ward more than I can even express.
Then we moved.
But at the same time the ward was rearranged, and that ward actually doesn't exist anymore.
I knew that we would be fine.
Because we always are.

4 years ago (almost exactly) I moved to another country.
I was all alone.
I couldn't call my family when I wanted to.
I didn't know what the food brands were in the store.
I had never lived away from home before.
Everyone talked different and called things different names.
I didn't know where anything was.
Anytime I said anything I had to repeat it because no one understood me.
I cried ALOT.
When I arrived I was ready to pack up my bags and leave immediantly.
If it wasn't for the horribly long flight I may have.
But I decided to give it a try.
Although I was so far away from home, and EVERYTHING felt different when I arrived at church on Sunday things were the same.
I had the same feelings.
The same love for the Savior,
the same willingness to serve,
and people who were willing to serve me.

I felt at home.

Yesterday was our first sunday in our new ward.
As always I got a little nervous,
I was worried if I would be able to make friends.
If anyone would say hello,
would anyone even notice we were there,
I worried that I might not like this ward like I did our old one.
I yearned to be sitting in my old Relief Society room, with my friends.
I wanted to be sitting in our regular chapel with my old bishop,
I wanted to see all the young couples with their arms around eachother still in the honeymoon stage.
I wanted all the familiar faces,
I wanted to be busy with the various meetings I would attend on sunday,
I wanted to help those that I know need help.
I wanted what I had.
Then I remembered that everyone back in Provo was probably feeling the same way as me, because yesterday wasn't just a change for me, but a change for everyone.
Everyone in my old ward is having to go to a new ward next week for the very first time.

But after my feelings of anxiety and longing to be back in my old ward... I noticed I still felt at home.
With different people,
in a different building,
I still felt the same feelings. I still loved it there, and I still felt like I was at home.
Because the gospel is my HOME.
and I am so thankful for that.

Home new Home

2011-04-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed from my last post, life happens quickly.
Often quicker than I may like.
Although I find it hard to adjust to change (says the girl who moved to the other side of the world),
I think I am doing rather well.
So to give the low down (or the down low... who really knows which way round it goes)
here is what we have been up to the past couple weeks.

1. GRADUATING
'but didn't you graduate in December?' you may ask.
Why yes, by golly you are correct.
I did finish up in December (luckily or I probably would have never finished... after having Grace and all... you women that do- you are superwoman. That is all I can say).
Brent finished up in April and since they don't walk in December I was able to walk with him.
Way more fun that way if you ask me!
So since Grace made it through the end of winter semester, spring/summer and fall semesters with me. She dressed up for the occasion also. (I made her cap and gown, which got alot of attention I may add!)

2. EASTER
We actually graduated on Good Friday, and between packing up our entire apartment, Easter came along quickly.
Unfortunantly we didn't really do much for it. But Brent's parents were in town for graduation so they did give up some easter treats.

Grace has started to grab everything! and I mean everything!
And where is the first place that it goes!? you guessed it... in her mouth.
As you can see, chocolate is a favorite of hers. (she wanted to eat it bad... such a mean mother I am).

3. MOVING
Monday April 25th we packed up our little Uhaul (yes little... that thing was jammed as full as possible)
and we headed out to Colorado.
Just in the nick of time too, our car got broken into a few months ago, and I found out a day after we moved that monday night our neighbors car was broken into.... great neighborhood we were living in.

Grace was such a trooper.
It did not take us as long as I predicted.

She started out good. Just holding that foot and playing with her dummy.
--side note on the dummy.
She DID like it, past tense.
She DOES NOT like it anymore.
The only time she takes it is in cases like this.
When she gets to hold it.
Hense she is not really sucking on it. She is playing with it.
We already have a case of the 2 year old 'I do it'
She will be fun when she gets older!

--side note on what happened minutes after this picture was taken.
She started fussing.
Grace crying is really just fussing. She hasn't really scream cried since she was first born. Except for on a few occasions when she has been spooked.
Then the crying began... scream crying for about 15 minutes. before that is was about 20 minutes of fuss crying.
It was horrible.
She looked at me with those little 'why are you doing this to me' eyes, and the 'why won't you just let me out' eyes.
Needless to say it was killing me.
Luckily as soon as we stopped, she stopped. But no smiles for me. Only Daddy.
She got over it, then the next time we took off she did this:

And this was pretty much what she did for the rest of the trip.
So all in all... pretty good job!

4. UNPACKING

Since arriving in Colorado Grace has been fussier than normal.
I think it is this whole new environment thing.
We are living in a huge house with Brent's parents for a while to save money.
So huge house
New people,
New bedroom,
New EVERYTHING: Fussy baby who does not want to be put down.

So the other day when I had LOTS of unpacking to do, this was the only thing that would make Grace happy (except for me holding her).

She loved sitting in the box.
She has starting scratching everything, including her head, tummy and leg.. So really everything.
She liked the noise the box made.

She also liked eatting Daddy's phone.

So.... We are here, we are adjusting and all is well.

--side note on exclamation points.
Brent said that I use them too much, and that it sounds like I am yelling! ha ha!!!
I had never thought of them like that. They mean happy and excited to me!
Now I am so self conscious of when I use them.
So!!! If I use them I am not yelling! (ha ha when I read texts now it is all I can think about, and it is funny!)

So many side notes later and lots of pictures. I am now done.
Go and enjoy your day.
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

ready or not

2011-04-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

This is the week... whether I am ready or not life is moving on.
It is exciting, scary and overwhelming all at once.
BYU has been my life for the past 4 years, now its all over.
I will miss Provo more than I ever would have thought when I first moved here.
But ready or not, here we come Colorado.
More to come once we are moved and I have more time!

I feel fat

2011-04-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

To be begin, I just want to say that I an NOT writing this to recieve compliments or reassurance.
There are just some days where you don't feel good about yourself.
We all have them.
Well at least I am under the pretense that other people have them also.
It just seems that as of late I have them all the time... really... all the time.
It may have something to do with the fact that my clothes just really don't fit very well anymore, and when I think about going out and splurging on some new ones, I think to myself 'but i want to fit in my old ones!'
Not that I don't love new clothes.
Because by golly I love'em.
I just want ones that fit my old body. Not my new one. Aaaaaaaaaaaughhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I also want comfortable clothes. If I find some cute shirt to wear, then I squish those jeans on and layer up my top, but then find my jeans pinching (face it, no matter what anyone says jeans are not comfortable), and when I am lifting up my shirt all day long to wip it out (excuse my bluntness), shirts that are tight, or too layered, or not super baggy are a pain in the butt.
So I resort to wearing the same loose, baggy, out of shape, stained, and ripped gray sweat pants almost every day. With a random, loose, unattractive, old, bacon neck t-shirt. I mean... I am at home right!? Who cares!
Turns out I care.

Funny thing is that this morning while my little baby was napping, I turned on the t.v and watched about 10 minutes of Rachel Ray (while paying a pile of bills-which took me about an hour to finish... let just say Grace already doesn't like paying bills) and they were talking about quick fixes for mums on the go to make yourself feel better.
Gotta love that Rachel Ray, she always has something on that I like!
So their main suggestion was having some cute items in your closet that are comfy and make you feel good about yourself--- my problem again. I want them to fit my old body.
I also have become a terrible shopper.
Trust me I used to be good (well good at ripping through money, good thing that changed)
Yesterday I went to the mall because I had a gift card and I wanted to find something new and cute, and would help prevent these feelings.
I tried on a ton of stuff.
Alot of it really cute.
In the end I left with nothing.
Thats right..... nothing.
I just didn't want it that bad.
Plus all the things I wanted were sweaters. (seriously I can't just wear sweaters and nothing else!)
Its like they need to make a section in a department store labeled 'Made for Michelle.'

Today is just one of those days.
and yes I realise that perhaps I only blog when I am depressed about something lately... but I am venting.

So how did you loose your baby weight? (or any weight for that matter)
I try to give myself the reassurance that I actually have lost all of my baby weight but my last 10 pounds. But why are those last 10 pounds so stubbon. (note to self, do not gain so much weight next pregnancy... if I told you how much you would be in shock)

So how to fix this..... (perhaps part of it can't be fixed... like I said it is just one of those days and I am a woman after all).
1. Work out more
2. Eat less
3. Find cute clothes that don't break the bank and make me feel better
4. Stop complaining
5. Stop writing posts that make me seem ungrateful for what I have.

And no there will be no picture, because today I feel FAT.

My love cup is full.

2011-04-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have a love cup.
For those of you who do not have the ability to read my mind, I will explain.

It is not something you can drink out of,
or something you can hold.
It is a feeling.
We all have feelings. I don't need to explain what they are.
Now and then my little love cup, feels slightly less full. I may not even notice.
But whenever insecurities or feelings of inadequacy come lurking around,
A little love is tipped out, and my love cup is not quite as full.

I am so grateful for general conference.
It fills my love cup right up.

(not to mention all the yummy food that is around during general conference. That doesn't fill my love cup, but it fills my love handles...)

and this little girl always fills my love cup. She is just too loveable!

oh how I wish...

2011-03-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Right now on this gloomy day... I wish the sun was out.
I wish I could take Gracie outside and lay on the grass (something she is yet to experience).
I wish I could go for a walk without freezing my butt off.
I wish I could fit into all of my old clothes... Pregnancy has a way of changing that apparently.
I wish my hair would stop falling out, because I fear I will go bald and I am sick of finding hairs all over me, all over Grace, all over the floor, in between Grace's fingers and toes.... the list goes on.
I wish that I was motivated to start packing boxes.
I wish that the boxes would pack themselves.
I wish that vacuuming was not so loud, so I could do it without waking up Grace.

And although I wish a lot right now...
I am very glad that nap time and bed time has been going a little better.
All because of a little something that Grace hated, and is now starting to like.... Her dummy

Mumerella

2011-03-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived far far away on a little island.

She loved dresses, makeup and dolls and believed she was a princess.

She would wear her crown to school proudly

(true story... I really did wear a crown to school almost every day in grade 1),

and dream of the day her Prince Charming would come and sweep her off her feet.

She dreamed of her perfect little home always clean and shiny, and perfect little children always perfectly groomed and smiling.

She would wear puffy dresses, lipstick and pearls everyday and would gracefully vacuum in heels.

Dinner would be perfect and ready on the table every night when her husband got home, and they would all spend the night laughing and enjoying eachother.

She would speak very profoundly and call people darling, and would never wear jeans or heaven forbid sweats.

Then that little girl grew up.

She realised that the life she had dreamed did not sound so perfect anymore.

In fact, in seemed somewhat boring and over rated.

She realised her fairytale was a little bit different.

Although her Prince Charming did come and sweep her off her feet

(literally sweeping... we met working early morning custodial cleaning toilets).

Life was not perfect...

She didn't wear high heels, lipstick, pearls and puffy skirts everyday.

Dinner often was not ready.

Her little girl would cover herself in poop almost every day.

She had spit up and slobber permantly covering her right shoulder.

Often hair would go un-washed and not done.

Sometimes showers had to wait.

There was always laundry to do and things to clean, and the house did not always sparkle.

But their days were filled with smiles and laughter and time enjoying eachother.

Because being a super mum and wife doesn't mean getting everything done,

or being so busy you have no time to relax.

It doesn't mean looking perfect and always acting perfect.

It is trying your hardest... and

Loving your family

Nurturing your family

Caring for your family

Even if that means you do it un-showered and covered in spit-up.

And do you know what that little girl realised when she was all grown up?

Her fairytale had come true.

And they lived happily ever after.

The end.

had to include this because its just so cute!!

So Thankful...

2011-03-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I watched and movie and one of the characters said,
the great thing about being a mother is that there is no rule book and you wake up every day hoping that you are not messing up your kids.

Often I sit here thinking about all the things that I am responsible for now that I am a mother... There is just so much.
I want to make sure that I am teaching her everything that I need too. But where do I begin!? What am I meant to do with a little baby every day... I mean baby talk gets tiring after a while.

After feeling this way for a while I went to lds.org to listen to some church talks in hope of getting direction.
I was browsing through the various talking hoping to see one titled 'especially for mothers who need help', but although there wasn't a talk with that title.
One really touched me.
Sister Beck's talk 'Mothers who know'

This talk inspired me, made me feel better, and gave me direction.
Whether you have kids or not, you should listen to it.

In fact... I have listened to it more than once.
I am just thankful that I do have an instruction manual on how to raise my children.
Just so thankful.

The Money Secret

2011-03-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am hesitant to post certain things. But this is continuously racing through my mind and maybe if I share then I can get some insight.

Money is one of those things that people don't talk about.
It is rude to ask how much people earn,
how they afford certain things, and how they have an income at all.
But I want to ask all the time.

Not because I am nosey and I want to know how much they make and compare it to myself. Simply because I want to know how other people survive.
It seems to be one of those things that is always a mystery to me.

When I had Grace I stopped working. Now we only have one income.
I know many different people that have done different things. Some mums return to work, some don't. Some husbands have graduated and now earn 'real' money, but some haven't.
What is a mystery to me are the people in the same circumstance as us. One income. No 'real' job.
How do they afford to live.
Because I am telling you.... we are hanging in there.
We have decided that because of our lack on income we are going to have to live with Brent's parents starting the end of April.
And although Brent is graduating.... he is planning on going to podiatry school, so we are no where near finished.

So... I have decided that there must be a secret.
But the secret... I have no idea what it is.
What do you do when you are going to graduate school for..... I have to come to terms with it and admit it. It will be about another six years (yes.... a really long time).

Perhaps that secret is loans?.....perhaps parents help...... perhaps couples have big fat bank accounts.
I know this is personal, and different for everyone... perhaps its rude to ask... but what is the SECRET.