Simply Magical

I find that on the days where it is the hardest to get going and I feel at my wits end (thank you blasted teething) I am always given a simple and much needed miracle.  Yesterday I was blessed with not 1 miracle but 2!

The first came while I was prerparing to give my talk this Sunday (blah) but it is this wonder quote from Elder Holland's book Created for Greater Things.
“I especially wish to praise and encourage young mothers.  The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work…Do the best you can through these years, but whatever else you do, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones.” Elder Holland. 

The second is thanks to my sweet baby who somehow magically completes our lives and brings more joy and happiness than we knew possible. Dear little T thank you for rocking our world 4 months ago when you joined our family and thank you for thinking we are funny parents. 

  

Weekend Recap

This weekend was literally amazing. Most weekends we spend just together as just a little family but because of graduation we spent it with my whole family!

Friday we woke up ridiculously early to get to graduation on time. Literally I don't know how some moms always manage to be on time. It doesn't matter how much extra time I give myself to get T and me ready we always run late which happens to be a huge pet peeve of mine so I spend most of my time annoyed at myself (its a dilemma). A huge thank you to Kenzi and the rest of my family who watched Ty while Jake and I sat and waited for them to call our names so we could walk across the stage. Although it seemed a little pointless I am so glad we actually did it because I got to see everyone in my major that I hadn't seen in forever!! And because Jake and I got a lot of pictures that will last forever.  

Some things I learned though...

- When they say get there no later than 7, you could probably fudge that time to at least 7:30. Because when you follow their advice and get there at 7 you spend a LOT of time just standing around. 

- When BYU tells you to not wear our cap at a rakish angle, just wear it however you want and what looks best. I spent all day jealous of everyone who wore it back a little bit and looked fabulous and those girls who wore it the normal way and looked fabulous also. I hate to admit I spent the whole ceremony coveting their caps and how they looked on their head.  

- It is not a very good idea to let your husband fake fight your girl cousin in the front yard because a neighbor will call the cops saying their is a domestic fight happening. Then 3 separate cops and cop cars show up to see if there is a problem. If this does happen to you like it happened to us, inform the cop that it was a BYU graduation and someone secretly brought dr pepper and that's the reason it got a little out of control. Also just be your normal self because chances are the cop will take one look at how you are dressed and how you look and know there isn't a domestic problem (cue little children laughing and chasing one another and your grandparents holding babies).   

- It is a great idea to let your sister order a chocolate shake from Riverside and then throughout the entire meal leisurely drink most some of it. It is also more than acceptable to tear up a little when you realize you can once again drink caffeine without your baby being fussy because he can't sleep. I don't know what made me happier that day, real dc or walking...

- It is a great idea to squish your mom because you love her so much and want to pretend you are still little

To bad Brenna messed up the order, lol

- It is also completely normal to get ridiculously excited at starting your baby on baby food. It is also normal to feed said baby naked because the food literally gets everywhere. I have also learned to always change your clothes after feeding because chances are you will have some food secretly hiding on your clothes and will not make itself known until you are out and about in public areas. I call it the curse of the sweet potatoes. 

- It is also normal to find this amazing machine and then stalk every restaurant that has one.  This is called coke freestyle and we are obessessed. It has over 100 different choices of drinks! My current favorite is dc with raspberry. I know it sounds nasty but it is literally amazing and I go to bed at night dreaming about it... in fact my mouth is watering for one right now. But what happens is you choose your base drink, like coke, dc, sprite, fanta, ect and then you use the touch screen to decide if you want it normal/ plain or if you want you add a delicious flavoring to it. Like I said were obsessed and searched which restaurants in a 25 mile radius have one. So for now we rotate between Firehouse Subs, Noodles and Co, and Costa Vida in PG.

 Here are just some of my favorite pictures from this weekend

T... the lone boy in a sea of women

Love my Momma

A Big thank you to my parents and all they did!

 A big thank you to Jakes parents too!

Grandparents with all 5 BYU grads

T and Papa

Typical for us (pre cops)

Flashback...who's the ugly girl in the middle

 

A Big Fat Thank You

Although I 'technically' graduated from BYU in December tomorrow is when it really happens.  As I picked up Jake and my gowns and counted down the minutes until I can walk across that stage for point 5 seconds I thought back on my time at BYU.  I am so truly grateful for the pride and the accomplishment I feel from saying that I earned not only a college degree but one from my first choice BYU.

There would have be absolutely no possible way I could have done this without my parents. I am so grateful that in high school they told me they would only pay for BYU. At the time I didn't think much of it and just applied there because that was really all I knew. I will forever be grateful for that decision. I know BYU isn't the school for everybody but it was the perfect school for me.  I loved every minute of my time there. Except for DTRs, physical science A and B, living with a crazy roomie my sophomore year, and an awful guy who didn't understand the meaning of never talk to me again. Aside from those little things BYU was amazing! 

The thing I will look back on for years to come as a highlight is my major. I was never planning to do El Ed but my major got switched to that somehow and I decided to take a leap of faith and go along with the classes required to apply. I instantly found my niche. This is exactly where I was supposed to be. Then it got even better when I was placed in the Wasatch Cohort. Those couple of women are some of the best women I have ever met. They are hard working and truly love that major. None of us went into EL Ed because we wanted to make a lot of money or bank roll our families we did it because we all felt like it was our calling in life. I hope that everyone has the privilege of their children having a teacher who has as much passion for their job as all of us did. Even though I might never use my degree professionally I know that everyday of my life it will be used. I know exactly what to look for to help my children succeed and that is a HUGE blessing.

I was also blessed to be put into some wonderful classrooms. Those 5 women have shaped my beliefs on how to teach as well as how to be a mother. I am forever grateful that I was placed into their classrooms, they have no idea how much they have influenced my life.

In addition to my parents I am so grateful for my grandparents. I am grateful that they set up a college fund and that they helped me throughout my time there.

I am grateful for going to school with my cousins. It is here where I really grew close to them and developed lasting relationships with them. I will always remember cousin lunches and discussing various life events. Thank you Garrett and Torrie you both helped me during my high points and low points. BYU would not have been the same without you! "Hey! Get in the car!"

 A big thank you to Jake. He was always helping me with projects. Whether it was listening to my ideas or suggesting different things to make my projects and lesson plans better. There is so much I could say about how grateful I am to Jake and all he has done its impossible to put it all down.

Once again I desperately want to thank my parents for everything they have done for me so that I could have this opportunity of going and graduating from BYU. I don't know what I would do without my parents and all they have done. I don't think they will ever know how grateful I am for them. There are a lot more people I could give a shout out too but I'll end this ridiculously long post here.  So go out and give your loved ones a big giant thank you for being a part of your life!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

I love when Ty wakes up in the morning or from a nap and greets me with a huge smile. Nothing puts me on top of the world quite like a smile from that kid! He is changing an growing so fast that I love these small little moments that I will remember and cherish.

Late night runs to sonic for a large cheery limeade (ok actually route 44 size but that's just a tiny detail). Jake and I started doing this when I was prego cuz I craved it so bad! Now I don't have an excuse but I still whine /beg/force Jake to go with me and get one. Then I convince him he needs one and we need to split a popcorn chicken. Those are some of my favorite nights!

My relationship with Jake. We are no where near perfect nor do we even try but I love how good we are for eachother. I know I married the perfect person for me and for that I am grateful. Because I believe there is nothing sadder then not being happy let alone in love with the person you are with. Everyday isn't full of roses, sunshine, and new shiny presents like diamonds (wishing just a little on this last one jk) but we have always been in love and that is a wonderful thing.

Baby talk. There is nothing better! Sometimes it blows my mind how Ty tries to talk to me. I can tell he really thinks we're talking and that I'm understanding him. I wonder what goes on in his little head. Until I can figure it out I'll just keep pretending I know and making a fool out of myself in public places as I talk to my baby.

A new pair of Steve Madden shoes. For some reason they always make me feel like I can conquer the world. That is why I wear them to do the laundry. All laundry is easier with Steve.

These are currently what I have been wearing to not only do laundry but clean our place

Countdowns till I get to see my family. Right now it's tomorrow night! I love my family so much! Having Ty has made it 20 times more hard to be away from them. Luckily they like Ty more than me so they invite me to come down a lot to make up for living far away.

Ty and my Grandma at Lunch

The peace and truth that comes from living the gospel. This life isn't always easy but I know I would be lost without these simple truths. That I have a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and cares for me. That I am a child of God. That I have a loving Savior who not only atoned for my sins but was then was willing to die on a cross for me so I could live again. That my little family is an eternal family. There is nothing better than knowing that when I die I can be with Jake and Ty and anyone else in my family forever. These basic, fundamental truths help me though the hard times and make the good times so much sweeter.

Love this kid and his love of his Cow from Aunt Kenzi

There are so many more things I could talk about and say because I know I am blessed beyond measure but for now I'll keep it at that.

Hunger

Saturday night as I sat at home on my ridiculously small white couch procrastinating cleaning, even though Ty was asleep I turned on the Food Network to "help" me. Ya right. Instead I got sucked into their show tilted Hunger Hits Home. I literally bawled shed a little more than a couple of tears watching this show.

I was reminded once again how much our country needs to change. The programs we have like food stamps are so vitally important to the people who need them. However they could be so much more effective if they ALL went to people who needed them and didn't abuse them.

I have had the opportunity to work since I was 16 in the medical field. I have seen numberless people come in for various exams from all walks of life. Some drive up in an 80,000 dollar car but are on government health care because they "can't afford it". Some walk countless miles with their children just to get one exam, and some are just making it not needing help from the government. I have seen more able abuse the government system than I can count or remember. Until I had Ty it would just annoy me while I saw it happen and then I would get caught up in my busy life and never give it a second thought. Now it fires it me up. I know that it is there for a reason and I think that reason is wonderful. There are times in people's life where they desperately need help and they should get that help, but there would be more help to give if people were honest, lived with-in their means, and were generous in giving to their fellow man.

As I cried non-stop watched this show my heart broke for those people. I broke down the hardest as a mom could only afford ramen type noodles with her food stamps for her two little babies. She could not even get fresh produce to make baby food. Towards the end she discovered a program that allowed her to buy produce so she could make baby food for her little babies. I can honestly say that at this time in our lives we have never been poorer. We could more than qualify for every aspect of government help right now. However we have been blessed with families who are willing to help us out until we can get out of this place. Hopefully that means Heavenly Father will show us the way like a burning path like any second...but until that happens I am going to spend every second grateful that I not only have loving parents who will help me but in-laws as well.

I am well aware that not everyone is able to be in the position we are. I also know that my in-laws and parents are not money trees and cannot help us for the rest of their lives. This is all temporary. I can also say that this time in our lives were I feel the lowest has fueled my fire to not only never be in this situation again but to get to a point where I can give to others who may be struggling. I am so grateful to belong to a wonderful Church that looks out for helping/taking care of their own. I know that I can turn to my church leaders at any time for help and that is another major blessing. I hope that Jake and I are always in a position to not only generously give to our Church  but to give to local food pantries and other places that desperately need it.

I have had the privilege of completing my college education by spending weeks and months in various elementary classrooms. I have seen those children who only eat at school. There is nothing sadder than seeing a hungry child, you will literally feel your heat break in two.

As I look at my sleeping baby with my stomach full of food I make a mental note to tell my parents, in-laws and Heavenly Father how grateful I am that I go to bed every night with a stomach full of food. To especially thank these people that my child is never hungry. I don't know what I would do if T was hungry. This show has renewed the fact to me that we as a society need to change our systems. They are born of the right place but they are being misused and there are not helping in the way they need to be. We as a society and people of this society need to be better. We need to be more honest with our money, especially to ourselves. No child should ever go hungry and no parent should have the burden of watching their child go hungry. I don't know where or how to fix it but I desperately hope this massive problem of child hunger gets solved asap. I also hope that we get a job asap so that we can help give to those who need it.
    

Highs and Lows

So I meant to post this yesterday but the flu bug has hit this little family and we have done literally nothing but lay in bed and try not to throw up every 5 minutes.  This is also the first time I realized how hard it is to be a mom and be sick. Major props to my mom and all the other moms you try and work in throwing up among their already jam packed schedule.

Lows

- Do you see how white I am in the picture above? That is also after a week of self tanner. Apparently Jergens is a liar and it doesn't take only ONE week to get tanner

- Poop coming out of every end of Ty's diaper just as we are on our way into Target.

- While trying to change explosion realizing that I only have 1 wipe.

- Taking 3 separate sized of shorts into the dressing room, thank you pregnancy I am now trying to redefine my size.

- Trying on about 10 different dresses for graduation and having ALL of them be too short. It is times like these that I find being tall and modest a challenge. Plus this is not really something I can fake seeing as how I am graduating from BYU and having my garments hang out would not be socially acceptable.

Highs

- Gabby telling my mom that talking about her bladder is inappropriate because its in that region. Which in turn sparked a debate about how your bladder is not in that region and it is not considered private. I cant remember that last time I laughed so hard.

- Gabby sent this text to Mackenzie from my mom's phone "Hey did you get your sex shoes yet?" Gabby of course forgot the y in sexy. I wish I would have been then as Kenz opened that special text from our mom, not knowing Gabby sent it.

- Getting sick as home and having Gabby be T's little nanny. I so desperately wish she was here now to take care of him.

- T falling asleep every night in my dad's arms. I had so much free time to watch my guilty pleasures like Toddlers and Tiaras, plus its so sweet to see my big dad holding little T.

- Both me and Jake being sick at the same time. All we do is lay in bed together with T in between and watch movies as we try not to throw up. I love my little family!!    

Hope this little bug misses you!! And I hope that you have a more enjoyable night than we will be having!!

Define Normal...

So I have always considered myself a little different.  Maybe its the fact that I grew up in Southern Ca that opened my eyes to a whole world that some people never get to see or experience. I knew that my growing up in Ca played a large role in how I viewed people and how I viewed the world when I came to Utah to go to school.   

Weird Factors (these are just a few)
- I secretly want/wish I could be a gypsy from My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding for Halloween...however no-one would know who I was and their outfits cant be fit to be modest. If I wasnt married though I would be one of them in a second!

- Jake likes to say that if there is any trashy, reality tv show on tv chances are more than likely that I watch it. Sadly that is true. I not only love reality tv shows but have the US weekly app on my ipad so I can stalk read up on celebrities.

- I never once went to a class let alone step a foot onto BYUs campus in my pjs or sweat pants. I dont know why I never did. 

- I wash my hair and get dressed to go to Walmart but I dont put on makeup

- I have never gotten used to not hearing people swear when I am on campus. Its all I heard growing up throughout middle and high school. Even though I attended 4 years of college I still find it hard to believe there is an entire school full of people who dont swear. (I'm not saying this is a bad thing just something I never got used to)    

T's shocked face

But I have decided that my weirdness is nothing compared to the people on "My Strange Addiction" on TLC. I dont know if its the whole series or just the one I watched that left me in a state of utter shock, a little grossed out and laughing my butt  off.  I watched the one where a woman is addicted to snorting baby powder because she loves the smell and a man was in a relationship with his car both physically and sexually. The part that blows my mind is that he said he developed this relationship as a result of his parents divorce. I guess it goes to say that everyone handles trials in their life differently.

I am not trying to be critical or judge anyone! All I have to say is that watching this show reminds me that I am extremely normal and somewhat boring (thankfully). Really this show is an amazing boost to my self confidence and makes me grateful that I have normal friends and family. I highly recommend this show when you feel bad about yourself or if you want to have a good laugh.  Tonight I watched it and ate chocolate, caramel eggs in my sweat pants. I didnt even guilty because at the end of the day I dont have nearly as many problems as the people on that show.