Being Moms

I've been reading of blogs about life post pregnancy

(aka with baby) and how hard it is and how 

we moms keep comparing ourselves to each other.

Now I will admit that it's true.

I've compared myself to moms that are breastfeeding, have 2 cars,

and have gym memberships with daycare and made myself feel awful

for not being more fit, lithe, and "fitting into my skinny high school jeans".

You know, those ones that have it all together.

And seriously, I think it's awesome that they do!

I'm just not.

I wasn't able to breastfeed.

(I'm debating trying something new to try 

and get the milk in for the second kid - 

but ultimately it's MY decision)

And I'm not making it up, the women in my family weren't able to breastfeed,

and I tried but decided that my feeding baby was more important

than me being the provider of the food.

That what MY decision, I highly respect all the mothers that nurse!

I've never been good at losing weight.

Quite frankly, I love chocolate and exercising when I have to, 

makes me hate it therefore I don't (very often) hahaha.

We only have one car so a going to a gym

(not to mention paying for one) 

is just not in the cards for us.

BUT I'm also not a slovenly person just sitting here on a couch 

eating ice cream all day,

or chips or junk food all day all the time.

I've been eating better, I play with Rory all the time which now that she's walking,

includes some throwing into the air and such ;)

I've come to terms with my body as it is,

and how it works.

I've never been a tiny girl,

always been more on the stocky side

and it's ok.

Now does this mean that I don't want to keep myself healthy?

Absolutely not!

But I refuse to drive myself crazy comparing myself to the others

that had babies around the same time I did

and went back to their pre-pregnancy selves when their bodies

and mine work differently ;)

I hear breastfeeding is a huge weight loss help,

so to the moms that can YOU ROCK!

And for those of us that can't for whatever reason,

we're not broken, bad mothers, etc.

We're just different and it's ok.

As for me, I've just decided that for now,

I'm gonna get a few new things to wear to make me feel

more like me

and later when the weight seems to be dropping,

then I can go back to what I already have.

But I honestly have mostly gotten over the 

"you're one of the fat moms"

because I'm still Rory's mom and she loves me for who I am,

not how I look ;)

DO forgive me if I sound a little off,
I'm working off some negative energy here hahaha

P.S. If you can, go show my friend Alexis some love?

She's having a rough day today :(

Kid #2

As you all know,

Rory is the only grandchild right now and since she's getting so big,

there's been some teasing about a second kid and when they're coming.

*and let me say now that I'm NOT pregnant, I've just been thinking about this a lot*

I've been thinking a lot about the second kid.

Cuz we do want one and I'd love to snuggle a tiny newborn again,

new baby smell is my second favorite (freshly bathed babe is the favorite).

I'm also TERRIFIED of having a second one.

What if I get so caught up with Rory that I "forget" the new one?

Or vice versa?

Will one get neglected because of the other?

Now I also know that these are slightly ridiculous questions 

and that "millions of women have done it before" blah blah.

But to be honest, I'm a little worried about it.

But then it will so GOOD for Rory to have to share her spotlight.

Right now she KNOWS she's the center of attention,

there's no competition!

So it'd be good for her to have someone else to share it with ;)

Plus she'd have someone to play with.

We live in a ward where it's very transient

(we have over 10 apartment complexes, 5 condos, and like a bunch of mobile homes)

which is fine, but the moment you make friends,

the next week they're gone.

taking their kids with them.

Rory has no one her age.

She's got younger than her ones and older than her ones,

which is all fun and games but she doesn't connect with them very well.

But ya know what?

We're just gonna keep trying and hope that someday she'll have a little friend.

Maybe nursery will do that for her (not til December though ugh)

But anyways back to kid #2.

I still want some time with Rory before I'm crazy and pregnant again,

so it'll be a little while before we're expecting.

Everything is moving so fast I just want to push a pause button!

So while I can I'm just gonna soak in my Rory girl time

and when the second one comes

(whenever that may be)

we'll take it one day at a time ;)

Ugh, grr, blah!

You know those days when you wake up just grumpy?

And then after you wake things just keep happening

 to make you even more grumpy?

Yeah that's today so far (and it's not even 9 yet!)

BUT then again a lot of this spilled over from last night into this morning.

Yesterday we were getting ready to leave in the morning for "craft day" 

at my mom's house for me and Rory

and Andrew to work, 

when we get a knock on the door at 8:40 from maintenance

wanting to fix our tub that was supposed to be fixed 2 weeks ago!

AND we needed to be gone all day cuz of the repair.

Well....ok no notice or anything but luckily 

we were already going to be gone 

so no harm done right?

We got home around 8:45 last night and our apartment 

REEKED of paint fumes!

I've never smelled anything so strong before

(special tub paint??)

And to make matters worse,

no windows had been left open or anything 

and our bathroom was sealed off

 

(luckily not the one with the toilet or we would have had some serious issues!)

so apparently this means he has to come back today I'm guessing?

NO notice, no instructions, no nothing.

To say I'm frustrated is an understatement.

Our complex recently was bought by a new company

and since then,

it takes weeks to get anything done,

the maintenance people aren't professionals

(or if they are they need to smell and look better than they do

and should speak English)

and when I called about the problem all I got was

"Let me take down your number and name and we'll call you back

with updates" and days go by.

I don't mind that it took longer than they said it would,

what's bugging me is the lack of notice

and the mess we came home to.

The guy told us just to take out the stuff in the tub.

Alright NBD did that.

Came home and he had moved a bunch of stuff

around (I'm guessing for room for his equipment)

and didn't put it back,

left things in the middle of floors for me to trip on cuz I didn't know they were there

(duh!)

and he had apparently used our toilet......ewwwwww.....

Yeah I'm ready for a new place........

Oh and for even more fun I woke up this morning 

to this beauty mark

Ugh.

Gorgeous no?

Yeah me, Rory, and my lovely lip are gonna be

paying our office a nice visit this morning once it opens.

20 Wishes Update!

SO time again for another update on our Twenty Wishes!
Again this month I didn't do as much as I wanted to BUT I"m working on things

as much as possible.

1. Make a Minky blanket for Rory.

2. Learn to use my sewing machine. - my mom and I have a few projects lined up to do!

3. Take cookies to our neighbors.

4. Buy a pair of heels!

5. Go on a date with my husband once a month! - so far so good!!

6. Do a Disney movie marathon! - I'm partially into one!

7. Cook dinner once a week.

8. Sew a skirt!

9. Finish my wedding scrapbook! - again, halfway done.
I took a break form that scrapbook cuz I couldn't take it anymore hahaha
and I was Smashbooking and Disney scrapbooking ;)

10. Make fudge - the right way!

11. Go on family walks.

12. Buy something from Groupon. - I'm just waiting for the right thing to pop up.

13. Make a "memory board".

14. Make a headband for myself. - and I made some for Rory too ;)

15. Have (or go to) a blogger weekend somewhere. - So I
don't ever know about blogger weekend meetups,
anyone have one that I HAVE to go to?

16. Buy a fancy dress!

17. Buy myself a nice, pretty watch. - I'm on the lookout, anyonehave any suggestions?

18. Find a pen pal!

19. Get out of the apartment at least once a month,
without the baby. - so far it's happened every month!

20. Make Christmas ornaments for our friends and family

one year instead of cards.

I promise I'll work on more as the new month comes!!

10 months!

My baby girl is 10 MONTHS OLD people!!

Oh gravy!!

It's weird to think that a year ago around now I was having a baby shower

for this little princess

and now she's here and growing up so stinkin fast!

Highlights from right now:

- she stands on her own ALL THE TIME

- she walks anywhere from 2-10 steps at a time 

(sometimes more if she forgets what she's doing)

Who loves the epic "Justice League" music playing in the background?
Makes it cooler in my opinion ;)

- eats a TON: bread, crackers, cereal, bananas, the big jars of baby food,

chocolate (duh!), Oreo filling, I mean I could go on but really, 

she's an amazing eater ;)

("Would you like a goldfish mommy?")

 

- sleeps through the night (goes to bed around 10 and wakes up about 9)

- makes the cutest excited faces

- giggles like there's no tomorrow when she's happy about something

- still has tons of power behind her screams if she's angry or sad haha

- loves her set of keys I bought for her at Target

(she would try to keep the real keys every single time we got in the car so I finally

bought her a set for $3!)

- likes to wrap herself in her blankets or pillows

- loves to have soft things thrown and bounced off her face

(seriously, we have a Flounder stuffed animal - Little Mermaid - 

that she just LOVES to have

bounced off her nose, makes her giggle nonstop)

- loves tickles

- has 7 teeth (soon to be 8)
- gives nice slobbery kisses

- and sits in the bathtub all by herself now ;)

- loves to play with her toes and slap her feet together ;)

I seriously can't believe how big she is!
And she has brought so much love and happiness to us
"for she fill[s] [our] lives with sunshine"
(Sleeping Beauty quote)

Days Gone By

Thank you all so much for the nice words 

and compliments about Rory's Smashbook!

I really do owe it all to Emma, since she was the first one I saw using one ;)

I do enjoy working on it,

AND I'm finishing up my Disneyland scrapbook from our January trip!

I'm excited! I admit that I am not the best scrapbooker in the world,

but thanks to some fun Smashbook accessories

I've gotten a little better ;)

And don't worry, 

I'll post some pages from our scrapbook once it's finished!

And I'm sorry I've been MIA,

but I've been busy snuggling (when she'll let me)

and playing with the cuteness ;)

I mean look at that grin!!

All 6 teeth ;)

We play "try-to-catch-mommy-from-the-inside-of-the-playpen"

Mwahahaha although she's getting so fast that this game is almost obsolete.

She talks to her princesses in her book

I love when she talks to the books ;)
Sometimes she even points to the words too
as she's talking!

She's taken to loungin in the carseat hahaha

It's my favorite when she does this and falls asleep!

Practicing our giggle and walking!

She walks a lot of the time now but never for very long,

6 steps at the most which is fine with me ;)

She LOVES the theme song to Good Luck Charlie
and dances to it every time
but when we put the camera on her she falls to her butt
and kinda dances

My Blanket Baby Burrito (BBB for short)

She did this mostly on her own!

Yesterday Little Miss had to get some blood drawn

for a lead test (routine thing, nbd)

but I didn't know they'd take it from her arm!!

I sent Andrew in there with her cuz I'm not strong enough to hold

her down when she's struggling haha

and this was how she looked afterwards :(

It was naptime, she had been screaming, and she hurt :(

Once we got home, I rocked her and she fell asleep on my shoulder.

I didn't have the heart to put her down so she slept on me

for about 45 minutes ;)

Tender moments friends ;)

She turns 10 months next week!!!

AHHHH!

I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us ;)

Rory's Smashbook

So the lovely and adorable Mrs Emma

introduced me to the awesomeness that is the Smashbook.

When she first started talking about it,

I thought she meant those tear away journals,

which, to me, are pretty pointless since you throw stuff away......

anyways!

But then she explained that they're more like a scrapbook but there's no wrong way to do it.

(You all know that there IS a wrong way to scrapbook,

and I have MASTERED the wrong way hahaha)

I was intrigued so I went to the site and investigated.

And I fell in love!

SOOOO easy and if you buy the kits everything is there for you!

(I'm not scrapbook inclined hence why I bought the kit,

but Emma had stuff already so she didn't have to buy the whole thing,

just FYI)

I ended up ordering one for Rory,

as a baby/advice book for her to get later in life

(haven't quite decided when yet)

and one for Andrew and me since I've done NOTHING since we've been married.

I know, I am ashamed....

Then Emma told me about Printstagram!

Have y'all heard about this?!

It's AMAZING!

Prints your Instagram pictures and has $7 as a flat rate for shipping

and taxes included!

I had been trying to figure out the best way to print these without

costing me an arm and a leg,

BOOM!

So I love this and if it sounds like something you'd like

go look into it!

You don't have to order the stuff from the website!

Target, Joann's, or even Micheal's has them!

AND all the supplies are really cheap if you look in the right places ;)

Conference

This weekend is going to be filled with

spiritual upliftment,

teachings, and learning from the leaders of the LDS church.

(Mormons - for clarification)

If you want to know what we believe or hear some upliftment yourself,

you can watch here!

Happy Conference Weekend!

5 Facts

Linking up again with the lovely Mrs Megan ;)

(I almost typed Miss, but she's maried so....anyways)

5 Super Star Fun Facts

1. I've been to Hawaii once - hopefully more times in the future - for a family reunion

(my grandma grew up there cuz my great-grandparents were labor missionaries

there building the PCC and BYU-Hawaii and the La'ie Temple)

and we met President Monson and Elder Hales

(and President Monson told my brother that he looked forward to signing his mission papers-

which 6 years later, HE DID!)

For you Mormons, this guy is the dad in Johnny Lingo that says

"Mahana you ugly!" -

yep, he totally knows my grandma!

2. I've always been a homebody,

but not very domestic hahaha

I'm working on that now - ya know, making dinner and such.

3. I LOVE doing things for other people!

I'm no Chrissy but she makes me want to be better!

I fully believe in "what goes around, comes around" 

plus the Savior said

"When you're in the service of your fellow beings you are in the service of your Lord"

(slightly paraphrased cuz I can't find the scripture!)

Taking dinners, babysitting, giving gifts, etc.

It just makes me happy ;)

4. I've always daydreamed about being stopped by a stranger

and asked to do a voice in a cartoon!

(preferably John Lasseter for a Pixar movie - or anyone for any Disney movie,

but I'm not picky ;) )

I know, crazy but true,

I LOVE cartoons and I think being a voice would be sooo much fun!

5. I've always wanted to be a SAHM

but sometimes I struggle with being stuck in the apartment day after day

with "not much to do"

 (there is stuff but nothing ever fun hahaha)

Hence my Smashbook obsession-

post to come soon!

Go link up with Megan cuz she's awesome ;)

Guest Posting!

I'm guest posting here for Jen today 

while she hopefully gets to have her baby!! ;)

Check it out!

And love Jen just like I do ;)

She's one of the ladies I met at the #azbloggermeetup 

and she's funny and adorable and I love what she posts!

Housework + Baby

Ok I know,

2 posts in the same day is like a no-no but still I had to post about this.

So I just re-read this post I wrote in July.

Oh how times have changed hahaha

When we first brought Rory home,

I had it in my head that I needed to do everything: 

laundry, dishes, cooking (BAHAHAHA), and all the general housework,

PLUS the stuff I wanted to do like: blog, read, craft, etc.

Well she's almost a year now (Guys, she's 10 months on the 19th!!)

and I'm lucky if I get a shower hahaha,

let alone laundry folded and such.

There's a pile of clean laundry on the floor in our room, 

Rory's room is a mess,

I don't even wanna talk about the kitchen table,

(what kitchen table - I haven't seen the top of it for weeks)

dishes are done though!

And we all know that I don't normally do the cooking anyway.

(I will start doing more mmmk, I'm just milking it while I can ;) )

I'm really looking forward to Thursday when I have a whole day to myself

to organize and make me feel better about the apartment.

Has anyone else had this happen?

At the beginning you feel like you've got it all under control, 

then you wake up one day realizing NOTHING is in its place anymore?? 

One note

I just wanna clarify one thing about yesterday's post:

I would have been fine if I HAD been pregnant ok?

I'm just not ready yet for another baby hence the panic mode

but honestly we would have been very happy to add to our craziness ;)

We're putting our faith in God's time and if it had been that time,

we would have been happy.

Right now, I'm ok with it not being the time ;)

Just to soothe minds.

The end.

That one time I thought I was pregnant again...

Basically I was over 2 weeks late for ya know,

and the panic had started to set in.

"Another baby so soon??"

"How!?"

"I'm on the freaking pill!!!! This isn't supposed to happen!"

"I'm not ready for another one yet!"

Then this morning,

ya know what came.

I have never been so happy for its debut!

I want another baby,

but not quite yet!

April Fool's Day huh?

Well played body, well played.