It's about time!

Okay I haven't updated here in forever. And not for lack of exciting material. I just made a goal to blog less and journal more. So since I barely wrote in my journal... by default I had to barely write in my blog.

Well let's see. Olivia turned 1!! We had family and friends over for some pizza and ice cream. My camera is not working, so I need to get the pictures from Aaron's dad's camera.

The day after her birthday Olivia and I hopped on a plane and flew 3,000 miles to NJ. Spent a wonderful week there with family. Then flew home (roughly 5.5 hours) on a Weds. Then on Thursday (the very next day) we got in the car and drove to Disneyland (roughly 5.5 hours). Crazy fun.

Now we came home from Disneyland to find out one of our puppies has parvo. It's deadly. It's a virus that has to run its course and hopefully he survives. We are keeping him hydrated and making him as comfy as possible. He's returning the favor by being all nasty all over the place. I really don't want to get more descriptive.. just know the smell was so bad this morning it pulled my from my sleep.

Stay tuned for more fun news.....

Viewer Discretion is Advised.

EXTREMELY messy baby! Don't worry it's not blood covering her face, it's spaghetti sauce. Olivia loooves spaghetti and espcially loves feeding it to herself. Of course after this we needed our third bath of the past 24 hours, but so it goes.

One cute thing Olivia started doing this week is blowing on all her food. It's so funny to us, because usually everything is too hot for her, so we blow on it, and now she blows on everything, even things that are cold like frozen peas!

Fun Times.

So lots has been going on. Aaron's sister is coming home from her mission in Hong Kong next week! His mom and dad are there now visiting. So, the office has been different. Aaron's gotten some time off and we've been having a lot of fun. I worked on Thursday while he got to spend all day with Olivia, and he even did laundry and cleaned up the living room! I was so impressed. Then we went to the park with cousins, and the dogs and had a blast.

Then today we went to the Phoenix Children's Museum because it was free admission today, AND Elmo and Grover, aaaand Roxie the Shamrock Farms cow (LOL) were all there. But it was sooo crazy. Parking was insane. Then it was a 40 minute wait just to get in. So we just played outside the museum and then we saw inside through like a glass wall how insanely packed it was inside. So we decided it'd be best to just go home. Well, first we went out for lunch, then did some window shopping, then home. Then after naps and dinner we went out for ice cream! Olivia enjoyed her first ice cream cone, and I thought it was worth blogging.

This is her actually saying "mmmmmm" so cute! I took 21 pictures of this moment, and really no picture came out great. So this is the best we got!Oh and I should probably mention.. SHE STARTED SAYING MAMA! :) There is just something about that first time hearing "mama!" and knowing she's wanting me :) Aaron said kept saying it the whole day I was gone working.

When did this happen??

Seriously. Ignore the filth that always seems to accompany my daughter and just look at that little GIRL! Where's my baby? And how cute is her cousin!

(This picture was taken by the lovely Aunt Allison, while Aaron and I were enjoying a blissful evening baby-free. :) )

My new motto.

So last week or so as I was getting Olivia ready to go to sleep a thought occurred to me. I'd like to write it down somewhere, and share it. It's really changed my attitude. First of all, let me tell you getting Olivia ready for bed is something I do not look forward to. She screams the entire time, fights me, now tries to stand up and run away... and it can be a 20 minute ordeal just to get her diaper changed and into her PJ's. (Sometimes she's good and cooperative, and it takes 5 minutes, I just never know.) So ANYWAY, as I was sooo tired from a long day, the last thing I wanted was the struggle to get her into her PJ's, nurse her, rock her, sing to her... I just wanted to go to bed.

Then a thought hit me.

Hard.

It's a BLESSING, not a CHORE. I was reminded how of many nights I cried because I wanted THIS, exactly this so badly. I couldn't believe the feelings in my heart were anything but gratitude for the blessing of being able to rock my child to sleep. I thought of friends who would give anything for this blessing, that I was thinking of as a chore. I cried. And my attitude changed. That night. About putting Olivia to bed. (Even now sometimes I need to remind myself of my new motto.)

The next day a sink full of dishes were waiting. There were at least 4 loads of laundry that needed to be done. A floor to be mopped. All my "chores". But then I saw them in a new light also. I thought of how lucky we are to have dishes to wash, and a sink to wash them in. I am so grateful that we enough clothes to require 4 loads (and then some!). I was espcially grateful my husband wasn't home to help me. Because he has a good job, that allows the lifestyle we have. Maybe they are still chores, but to me it suddenly felt like a blessing.

I've been saying over and over reminding myself...

It's a blessing, not a chore.

The funny thing is, now I ask Aaron, "Do you want the blessing of doing the dishes tonight, or the blessing of getting Olivia ready for bed?" :)

Just some cuteness.

Love these faces.

Don't potty train a 10 month old.

It's messy. But I'm hoping in another 8-10 months will have been worth it.