Mountain Vacation

We ended up joining Ryan at the last minute for a work trip to the mountains last week. It was about 4 hours away, so we drove up Monday morning and came back Wednesday evening. We drove through Yosemite National Park, and it was a gorgeous, sunny day, so we got to enjoy the beautiful scenery. 

We ended up having a not-so-great time in Mammoth Lakes. It was freezing and windy, and Ryan ended up having to work a lot more than he had expected. So we spent most of our two days there in our hotel room. Which is lame when you have a newly-mobile baby who is crawling all over the nasty floor. Ick. But oh well, such is life. We were just very ready to be home in our own beds. 

Unfortunately, the drive home was rough because Lexi was tired of being cooped up so much. She was crying off and on the entire way. It was a long 4 hours. And to top it off, she now hates sleeping in her crib (since she napped on me and slept in our bed at the hotel), and she immediately flips over and stands on the edge of her crib and cries whenever I put her down. Lesson learned... don't take your newly-sleeping-through-the-night-baby on an overnight trip. Worst. Idea. Ever. 

We had planned on spending Memorial Day Weekend at my parent's cabin (right outside of Yosemite), but with out trip last week, we decided that it would be too much to handle. We decided to just go up for the day on Saturday. We spent time playing games, shooting the bb gun, swinging on the tree swing, and we even rode the Sugar Pine Railroad. It was nice to relax a bit (although, that's a relative word since it's nearly impossible to relax with an 11-month-old crawling around everywhere). 

Overall, we enjoyed the fresh air, beautiful weather, and time spent with family. But I am so glad that we could enjoy the rest of our weekend at home, where Lexi can crawl around without me worrying about what she's crawling on, and Jax can play with whatever his little heart desires. 

Happy Memorial Day, Friends

As a military spouse, this weekend always means so much to me. In year's past, I've posted about the EIGHT soldiers who went to my high school and were killed in action within just a few years of each other.

 You can read more about them HERE. 

And this year is even more meaningful because I had two close friends (fellow military spouses) lose their husband back in October. Two separate events within 3 weeks of each other. 

My dear friend Diana's husband Joe was KIA on October 6th last year. They have 3 beautiful children... JT (4), Caroline (2), and Nate (1).

My other friend Kira's husband Clint was KIA in Afghanistan on October 25th last year. They have a son, Caleb, who is almost 2. 

I hope that you enjoy your family, friends, and yummy food on this day. But if you could also pray for my friends, as today is a painful reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that their husbands paid. 

Especially on this day, I am proud to have been an Army Wife!

Happy Memorial Day, friends!

So big!

All of a sudden, Lexi seems like such a big girl! I can't believe how quickly we are approaching toddlerhood! 

Over the last 10 days, she figured out how to turn around on her knees in the shopping cart...

 And get up on her knees in her crib...

 Which has turned into her sleeping on her stomach 99% of the time now...

Which also means that she has started doing the cutest baby sleeping position ever... 

And she figured out how to take tissues out of the box...

But one of the biggest developments that I haven't gotten a picture of yet... crawling FORWARD! No more backward crawling for this girl!

She is getting too big, too fast!!!

The kind of mom I want to be

I'm a completely different mom now than I was when Jax was a baby. Ok, well maybe not completely... I still worry about little things (Ryan calls it hypo-momdria), I still like to check on them every.single.night. before I go to bed, and I still ooze baby-love out of every pore in my body. Except for when Jax is driving me batty, but I digress.

BUT, overall, I have definitely grown and learned and changed... and, if I do say so myself, it is completely for the better. 

These days, I lean a lot more towards attachment parenting than I did with Jax. Don't get me wrong, we don't co-sleep all night and I don't carry my baby all the time, but I am still breastfeeding exclusively, as in, she's never even had a bottle of pumped milk, and I don't let her cry it out nearly as much as I did with Jax. I hated it back then, but was told it was the best way to get your kids to sleep. And while I do think it has it's place to a degree, these days I would rather snuggle Lexi and make sure she feels secure. And if that means nursing her back to sleep, then so be it. 

These days, I want to be the kind of mom whose kids never, ever question my love for them.

I want to be the kind of mom who is always honest with my kids, even if that leads to hard conversations. 

I want to be the kind of mom who says yes to games, and crafts, and play-doh, and catch.

I want to be the kind of mom who teaches my kids about healthy, real food and why it is so important to eat it.

I want to be the kind of mom who teaches my kids as many things as I can, even though other people may think they're too young. Doing laundry, putting dishes away, using kitchen knives, making meals, painting bedrooms, organizing and purging toys, using tools, giving back to those in need, being friends with people no matter what they look like... these are all things that are so important for my children to learn from an early age. 

I want to be the kind of mom who is able to calmly respond to frustrating circumstances, without yelling and losing my temper. (I have to say, I am honestly getting better at this, although it is definitely still a work in progress)

I want to be the kind of mom whose kids are kind, compassionate, loving, and giving.

I want to be the kind of mom who remembers that my kids are only little once. I'll blink and they'll be graduating high school, moving out, getting married, and having kids of their own. So I want soak each of these moments in. To enjoy their little-ness. To make memories. To have a household that is full to the brim with love. 

I want to be the kind of mom who shows her kids how incredibly important their relationship with Jesus is. To be a daily living, breathing example of the single most important decision that they will make in their lifetime. And that they will see that being a Christian is not about rules and things we "can't do", but it's about a relationship with their creator, the savior of their little lives. The one who loves them more than I do, as impossible as that seems. 

Above all, I want to be the kind of mom who never fails them. I know that is impossible because we are all sinners and we live in an imperfect world. But God gave me those two beautiful kids because I am the perfect mom for them. So even when I'm losing my mind and things seem out of control and I feel like the world's worst mom, I want to remember that to them, I am perfect. And I will give my all, each and every day to live up to that. 

Because they are so worth it.

{Mother's Day}

My Pinterest House

So I'm a terrible decorator. Ryan and I both are. We are in the bad habit of seeing random things we like, buying them, then having no where to put them. Then we end up with random things in random places throughout the house, but nothing "goes together".  

When we bought our new house, we were determined not to let that happen again. I scoured Pinterest for ideas that I liked and we tried to make a plan for each room before we even moved in. That way, we wouldn't end up with a bunch of randomness. So far I think we are doing really well. And there does seem to be one noticeable theme... I steal a lot of ideas from Pinterest. 

{Pins on the left :: Our house on the right} 

Jax's reading nook

 Original Pin

Lexi's crib skirt

Original Pin 

Playroom wall

Original Pin 

Lexi's bow holder 

Original Pin

 Jax's room letters

Original Pin

Lexi's room letters

Original Pin 

Lexi's mobile

Original Pin 

Kids' growth chart

Original Pin 

Bible verse in Lexi's room

Original Pin 

Accent vase in living room

Original Pin

Initials on playroom wall

Original Pin

Bench storage in playroom

Original Pin

Stay tuned for a home tour coming soon!

10 months!

Miss Lexi turned 10 months old on Saturday!

 

She is at SUCH a great age! We are really starting to see the beginnings of toddler-y things start to happen. It love watching her mind work. She throws something over the edge of her high chair and knows to look down for it. Something rolls under the couch and she leans over to try and see it. She bangs two things together that make a loud noise, pauses to think about it, then starts banging them again... and again... and again. She hears her brother coming down the hall and she dives into my shoulder to hide herself from him, laughing all the while. She's losing a lot of her baby-ness, which makes me both happy and oh-so-sad all at the same time. 

There haven't really been a ton of changes physically this month. I think it's mostly just been brain development. She still isn't quite crawling, however she is SO very close. She can scoot/crawl backwards, turn herself in a circle, rock on all fours, hold herself in a plank position (which is hilarious!), and sometimes she sill move one leg forward as if she's going to crawl. But then she always just ends up on her belly. She has, however, figured out how to get her self from her belly, back up to sitting position. She can also pull herself up onto her knees in front of the couch or at her toy table. I'm not complaining too much about her not being able crawl, because once she does, things will definitely change around here. BUT it will make my life a little easier when I don't have to carry her from room to room when I'm doing things around the house!

Here's her monthly checklist---

*Approximately 17-18 pounds

*9 month clothes

*Size 2 shoes

*Size 3 diapers

*Usually wakes up once at night to eat, then wakes up at 5 and comes into our bed to sleep until Jax wakes up at 6

*Scooting backwards and rocking on her knees

*Favorite foods: strawberries, melon, blueberries, cheese sticks, pasta... and there isn't hardly anything she doesn't like

*Love, love, loves her sippy cup

*Loves being in the bathtub or pool

Happy 10 months, Lexi girl!

First birthday party planning has begun!!

Insta-Randoms

The weather here has been GORGEOUS! It's been really warm (like mid-90's... in April. What the heck?) so we've been enjoying lots of outside time, playing in the water and enjoying fresh lemonade and ice cream. 

See?!

I think I've mentioned this before, but this girl LOVES to drink out of her sippy's. I made her a smoothie and she gulped it down!

Zoo date with our cousins

We finally started a chore chart with Jax. I just made this little page in Word using clip art pictures. He has 4 chores in the morning (empty silverware from the dishwasher, make his bed, brush his teeth, feed Mojo) and one evening chore (pick up everything from his playroom and bedroom). We haven't completely decided what his "reward" will be. We don't necessarily want to give him an allowance for things that he should be doing anyway to contribute to our family. For now our plan is to have him set a goal, like a place he wants to go for dinner or an activity he wants to do, and he gets that if he does his chores for a whole month. We'll see how it goes!

I love this adorable shirt that Ryan bought for Lexi.

Summer weather = water play!

Post-nap snuggles with my girl

This weird kid likes to drink his milk using no hands. Almost-4-year-olds are strange!

Our first pool day of the year. I can't believe it's only April!

Jax and Lexi were "wrestling", which just consisted of Jax laying his head on Lexi's tummy, and Lexi hitting it and cracking up. I love that these two love each other so much!

We have a busy weekend ahead because it's my mom's birthday and she is also graduating from her master's program on Saturday! 

Congrats Mama!!