Tuesday, April 30, 2013

DAY 601... It's Been a Year!

Can you believe that it's been a year since we moved to Rexburg???? Time has just flown by! When we moved to Rexburg we were 6 months pregnant, unemployed, Spencer had hardly any school behind him, I was not in school, my parents and my sister and her family all lived in Utah, and we hadn't even been married for a year.


Now, a year later, we have an almost 10 month old, I work 2 jobs, Spencer is almost a junior in college, I only have 17 months left of my graduate program, my parents live in Kansas and my sister and her family live in Oregon, and we have been married well over a year and a half.

The past year has flown by!!! I think it makes it a little easier when it comes to the fact that we only have 2 years left in Rexburg.... Hopefully. Not that Rexburg is a bad place. It's a good community and we have fun, but it is too small and too cold for our liking really. But it has a Taco Bell so that's a bonus! But perhaps the biggest bonus of all is that Aniston is here now and she makes our lives a BLAST! Here's a couple of cute videos of her lately. She LOVES to dance, and she is getting to be quite brave!
 

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Things I Love... Part 4

Isn't the best thing about life finding new things that you can't live without??? I just love discovering new things that I didn't have before that now I can't live without!!!

iPad Mini - So really I bought this for school. How cool is it that you can get most of your textbooks through kindle now? Kind of love that. Of course I can't buy all of them on there, plus it would kill my eyes to read off the iPad all the time. But it was a good excuse for a new toy! Ani LOVES it! It's nice to be able to pull it out when we aren't at home and she can watch her favorite shows or play her games. Definitely keeps her happy. Plus Mom LOVES skee-ball!!! I really like the size of it because it fits in the diaper bag and in my purse. LOVE IT!!!


Cheerios - This one is kind of weird right? This is Ani's new favorite snack and I love that because it's cheap and one box will last FOREVER! I don't know why we didn't think to use these instead of the expensive snacks we had been buying for her? I am just so lucky that I have an AMAZING baby who will eat anything! Seriously, there's nothing she won't eat.


Sharky & Bones - Aniston will watch a little of Disney Junior in the morning, and this little music video came on and she LOVES it! We have it saved on the iPad so that she can watch it whenever or wherever we are. I am a tad bit obsessed with it. There's something about their mannerisms that get me hooked. They are just weird people... I think it's hilarious, and I pretty much sing this song all the time! It keeps Ani happy!

Baby Sign Language - We have been using sign language with Aniston since she was 4 months old and she understands it really well. She's not signing yet, but we hope that will happen soon. It's so since that when she is crying I can use sign to help her know that I am trying to help her. As soon as I sign what it is that she is wanting she will communicate with me by her stop crying or smiling or just getting excited. She knows the signs for eat, juice, milk, please, thank you, more, mommy and daddy. She also knows the word snack verbally because I promise you will never see any child get more excited than when you say the word snack to her. My girl LOVES her food!!!! And I LOVE that she is happy!


DAY 600... Yes, I'm a Working Mom

So apparently you cannot be a good mom and a working mom... At least that's what I've been told lately. I would like to think that I am a good mom because I am a working Mom. Aniston never goes to daycare while I work, Spencer is always home with her, and when I get home I spend as much time as I can with her. I work so that I can provide for my family and so that my husband can get an education. I don't work to get away from my daughter. I don't work because I am lazy. I work so that we don't have to live off credit cards and so that we can get out of debt. I work so that we can still afford to have fun and do things that we want to do while being students. I work so that Aniston can have clothes and all the necessary items that she needs. I work so that my husband isn't burdened with both school work and homework. Plus, since I already have my bachelors degree I can get paid more and make more than he can right now. I'm not a bad Mom because I work. I'm not one of those girls who had a baby just so she doesn't have to work. Would I love to stay home all day with my baby girl? Of course! But I'm okay with working right now so that husband can finish school and someday support our family in the lifestyle we want to have. I treasure every moment I have with my daughter and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her.

So please... tell me again why I'm a bad mom because I work.


Monday, April 22, 2013

DAY 594... A Day In The Life

So I thought someone out there might find it interesting to see what I do on a regular day.... .It might be boring to you actually, but if that's the case than you can skip this one.

Aniston woke up around 7:30 this morning. She use to just play in her crib until we would come and get her, but now she pulls herself up and yells for us. But even though it may be early some days  I love waking up to this adorable baby! Her new favorite thing is to point and everything! So cute!

Of course when I was changing her diaper she had to play with the "A" on the wall. She knows better than this.... She always ends up pulling it off and it's super annoying to have to pick it up every time! I guess I could learn from this and change up the wall decor, but I'm a little lazy! Question... When do you stop using the changing table? I feel like Ani may be getting a little big, but it's so nice to change the diaper standing up.... thoughts????

I usually feed Aniston right away! She inherited her mother's appetite! Poor girl! This morning she ate some oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast...

Which she succeeded in spilling all over Mom. Sometimes she gets a little too excited when she sees food.

She loves to play the app "Giggle Gang" in the morning. Well actually she likes to play it anytime, but she gets really excited to play it right after she eats.

Then she got in trouble for eating the iPad... Naughty Noo Noo. Yet I still let her eat it while I took a picture... The things I do in order to make a good blog post!

She always hesitates to play with her toys in the morning. I think because they are all clean and put away, she thinks she can't play with them. We do this every morning! Hopefully someday she will realize that sometimes it's okay to make a mess and have a good time.

I crack up when she stands with her legs so far apart that she has to sit down in order to be able move.

Finally around 9am, it was time for Mom to get ready for the day. Always helps to have a little Netflix and some yummy breakfast to get me going in the morning.

Then I had to get Aniston ready to go shopping... Seriously so much fun to dress her!

We saw this car on the way to Walmart... Read the bumper sticker if you can... Who fishes naked?

Do you like how Spencer wears shorts when it's 30 degrees in Rexburg? Fashion does not know coldness. Rexburg does not know fashion...

I caught Ani having an intense argument with her hand while we were shopping.... Weirdo.


Obviously we buy baby food more than anything else when we go shopping...

The child does weird things in the cart. She will either be super happy and excited...

Or she will lay her head down and act bored out of her mind! She will seriously sit like this forever!

I don't normally sit in the back seat with Aniston, but when I do she glares at me. Is it weird that she will not use binkies and that she only likes to chew on them??? They keep her occupied for hours!!!

But then she remembers that I'm awesome and shows me how she can play peekaboo! I have never seen her do this before. So cute!

So all of this occurred before 11am!!! I was already exhausted! Since I had been craving pasta FOREVER and I made some for lunch...

It was a HUGE disappointment!

So to take my mind off my depressing lunch, I read through my awesome new cook books! Shouldn't every college student should buy a cookbook with 200 ramen noodle recipes? This picture will NOT rotate! ANNOYING!

Aniston has been going through a phase where she doesn't like taking her morning naps, but thank goodness she decided to outgrow that phase today. It gave me time to get a little homework done.

This girl almost always wakes up so happy! I LOVE getting her up from naps! Even if the naps only last 20 minutes...

I headed to work, little did I know it was going to be a CRAZY day there. And yes...I often get distracted with instagram at work.

First I found this super cute battery operated puppy that I want for Aniston. However, it plays music and it might get really annoying really fast!

I ended up rewriting the teaching schedule multiple times....


Most of my staff showed up late... And I mean really late. I had to get mean and really mad.

I had naughty kids that had to do homework in my office because they were so naughty...

Luckily I came home to steak fajitas on whole wheat tortillas made by my AWESOME hubby. Can't go wrong with fajitas and Seinfeld. This was the first time we were trying whole wheat tortillas and surprisingly they were really good!

Ani wanted to play with her Giggle Gang some more, so I gave in. Notice how much more messy our living room gets by the end of the day.

While Aniston played on the iPad I got an exciting e-mail with the mock ups of our new uniforms for next year! No picture here cause they are still a secret!!! They are AMAZING!!!!

Ani also got to try Cheerios for the first time today and of course she LOVED them!



While I was gone at work Daddy taught her how to give high fives! So of course she had to show me when I got home... or not. She is growing up so stinking fast I can't handle it!

Before going to workout I gave Ani a bath. Look at that cute naked booty!!! She loves to watch the  water fill up!

This little lady loves her baths!

After bath time we read scriptures...

Read a story...

And said our prayers. Well we attempted to say our prayers...

Dad did her hair...

Aniston loves to drink her bottle with her Dad in order to fall asleep... Don't worry, once she's done with her bottle we wake her up to brush her teeth. She hates that!

After she went to bed I escaped to workout. Definitely no picture here....

And now I will end my day with my new obsession... Skee Ball on the iPad! BEST GAME EVER!

Anyway it was really just another day in my life. I stay pretty busy, and it's crazy! But I LOVE it!!!