My little cuties

I certainly don't update my blog very often anymore.  I don't do anything as often as I used to anymore. I don't have time to  clean, bake, craft, hang out as often as I used to...but I wouldn't have it any other way.  My babies are growing up way too fast.  I wish I could slow it down... give them all the time and attention I have.  I am so grateful to be these adorable kids' mom.  I am blessed with more than I deserve.

My beautiful Aileah.  She loves dressing up, riding carousels, and pretending to be characters from her favorites movies.  She is also becoming quite the little photographer.  She takes my phone from me all the time so she can take pictures.  She says the funniest things.  I have no idea where she comes up with these things.  She just had her first sleepover.  While I am glad she had a good time, I was sad too.  I feel like she doesn't really need me anymore.  She is getting cuddlier (yes, that is a word), which I love! Such a sweet girl.

 

My handsome Eli.  He is still army crawling, although he can crawl the other way.  He is pulling himself up to standing on furniture.  He is fearless... and has had the bumps on his head to prove it.  He is a calm little guy, usually.  He says "Dada" when he's happy.  "Mama" when he's sad.  He does a funny, long  intake of breath when he is excited.  He likes to laugh when we do.  Such a good baby.

Fall Adventures

Time is flying by.  I feel so busy, yet seem to get nothing done.  It is November.  I can't believe this year is almost gone.  We have tried to do some fun things with Daddy while we can.  Here are some things we've been up to lately.

We went to the canyons, lots of times.  I love it!  So beautiful!

We went to Gardner Village.  Aileah was a little afraid of this witch.  But LOVED riding a pony named Silver.

We went to Cascade Springs.  Pretty little walk.

Went to the Pumpkin Patch.  Fun, but windy!

Carved a pumpkin.  Aileah didn't want to get dirty, so we had to scoop the pumpkin guts onto her spoon.  Then she would dump it into the bowl.  What a silly little monkey!
 

And we went Trick or Treating!  I have the most adorable

If I could do it all again

As I grow older time seems to pass more quickly.  Seems like just last year I was in high school.  Just last week I was in the singles' ward.  And as if yesterday, my beautiful daughter was born.  Thinking back makes me think about things I would do differently, lessons I learned from my mistakes.  Here are some I wish I had learned a little earlier in my life.

Don't be afraid to look silly.  (Actually one of my greatest fears) People are rarely watching you to see if you look goofy, dumb, whatever.  So go ahead and be crazy.

Try new things.  Don't be afraid of new experiences.  You may find something you love because you try something different.

Enjoy the stage of life you are currently in.  I wasted so much time while I was single wishing I was married.  I forgot to enjoy it.  Bloom where you are planted.

Make friends, be social.  It's so easy to stay in your own little cocoon.  But you only grow when you stretch yourself.  I learned so much from my friends and roommates.  I am so lucky to have such amazing friends.

Family is the most important thing.  I love my family, always have.  But I take them for granted. They are my best friends.  I know they will be there for me no matter what.  But I need to take time to strengthen my relationships with them. 

I wish I could go back in time and tell myself these things.  But I can only take the lessons I've learned and move on from here. 
   

A Quick Getaway

I am so glad that Tom's back in school!  Why?  Because we actually see him for a little bit now.  The summer was rough, really, really rough.  Tom was working 2 jobs and was home less than ever.  It was hard on all of us.  Tom created and started an internship, hoping to get some real-world experience in an auto shop while still getting class credit.  It didn't take long for us to realize this was not an option for us.  He was NEVER home.  Never.  Gratefully, he quit the internship so he would have time for homework and family.  Whew. 
We took a quick trip to Ogden and Elko.  Here are a few pics from our trip.

We started our trip with a drive thru the Alpine Loop.  It was really bright.

Relaxing in the hotel in Ogden

Happy to be out of the car seat

Playing at the Treehouse Museum.  Aileah loved it!

Aileah asked me to take this pic at the Dinosaur Park.

Visiting with Tom's family

  It was nice to just be together and to get away... even if it wasn't a "real" vacation.  I love the times when we are all together.  I wish we had it more.  We are all a lot happier :)

A new year, a new beginning

Today is my 36th birthday.  For some reason this birthday was kinda bummed me out.  30?  Loved it!  35?  No big deal.  So why the random 36?  I think because I am no longer in my mid-30's.  Now it's my late 30's.  Silly, I know.  But, this birthday has got me thinking about my life and changes I'd like to make. 

For as long as I can remember I have struggled with my weight.  I finally was getting a hang of it before Tom and I started dating.  I swore, up and down, that I would not go back to where I was before.  That I would keep the weight off.  Yeah.... that so did not happen.  Here I sit, way too close to my highest weight.  Grr!  How did I let this happen?  I am so annoyed and frustrated with myself.  So, I have decided it is time to make some changes.  It will not be easy, this I know.  But it is possible... if I work at it.  I will cut back on soda, I will eat less sweets, I will exercise more, I will eat more fruits and veggies.  I will look like this again!

Or maybe even better!  I will post updates on my progress. (Gotta have accountability, right?!)

Smile

The last few months have been crazy stressful for our little family.  A couple of things pop into my head when I think about trying to stay positive in the face of adversity. 
The first is a quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley.  “The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.” 
The other is a song that I absolutely love.  "Smile"

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.

So this is what I have been trying to do.  Some days  I am more successful than others.  But here are a few things that make me smile.

This cute girl!

This handsome little guy!

This goofy, handsome, hard working man!

The beauty of nature

The excitement she shows

This girl's sense of humor. She is pretty funny.  Hard not to smile when someone walks up to you with Mrs Potato Head's tongue in her mouth.  She is so sweet to other kids.  And says, "I love you!" all the time.

Regardless of what we go through I am a lucky girl!

Cute kids!

I went to town taking pictures of the kids this evening.  I was trying to catch Eli's smile.  It is tricky since, unfortunately, it usually disappears once a camera comes out.   I will share a few pictures with you.  Eli is growing up too quickly!  He loves to stand.... so he is very content in his little toy.  He is a happy boy.  He likes to give kisses, talk, suck his thumb, and play with his feet.  I am lucky to have the two cutest kids ever :)

Talking to Aileah.  He LOVES his big sister!

I love his picture!!!!

Giving Kisses!

Proof I do exist ;)

Happy birthday, baby!

Where on earth have the last 3 years gone?  My sweet baby girl turned 3 today!  She is such a funny, sweet, sassy, stubborn, loving girl!  She makes me laugh and, yes, sometimes want to pull my hair out.  But I love this girl and am so grateful I get to be her Mom.  I know I mess up  A LOT... but she has somehow turned out pretty great so far!

She LOVES to sing.  Some of her favorites to sing right now are:  The Veggie Tales Theme Song, God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man, Do As I'm Doing, When I am Baptized, I am a Child of God. I have tried to capture her cute little singing voice on film, but she is not cooperative!

She LOVES Peter Pan and Disney Princesses.

She loves to pretend to be other people.  Today she was pretending to be Darth Vader, "Give yourself to the dark side."  (Complete with Vader breathing)

She is scared of owls, and birds and sneezing puppies and kitties, and grass and sticks.  I don't know why she is afraid of most of these things but we have to pray everyday to be kept safe from them.

She loves people!  She makes friends so quickly.

She is fighting potty training like none other.  GRRRR!  She will do a funny walk after she has peed in her diaper now. 

We found out today what an adrenaline junkie she is!  We went to Trafalga and she was ready to ride all the rides all by herself.  Her favorite was the Frog Hopper... it lifts you up high and then bounces you up and down.  She rode it at least 5 times.  Then as we were walking to the car she said, "Oh... we forgot to ride the big Frog!"

We like her a lot!

Our budding photographer

Lately Aileah has enjoyed using our camera to take pictures.  She is pretty adorable.  Please enjoy her photographs.... and some cute ones I recently took of our little cuties.

These first 4 pictures are of Aileah taking pictures of daddy.  She turned the camera the wrong way.

Aileah wanted to take a pic of the giraffes at the zoo.  Good shot except for her hand.

  My shots:

She fell asleep reading.  She is too funny.

Riding a horse.  She loves it.  She says "Giddyup!"

Eli enjoying the gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  He is so adorable!

Love this smiley guy!

A little comparison

Elijah

Aileah

 When Elijah was born I thought he had a look  that was totally his own.  As he's gotten a little older (since he is only 5 weeks)  I've seen some similarities between him and his big sister, Aileah.  I don't think they'd be confused for each other.... but i do see some resemblance.  I think they are both adorable.  So happy to be their mom!

2012... so far

Aileah had been waiting for it to snow for so long.  Finally.... we had enough to make a snowman and snow angels.  She was in heaven!  If only it had snowed more, we could have used the sled that Santa brought her for Christmas.  Maybe someday soon!

And our BIG news!!!!!   Elijah Thomas was born on Feb. 9th.  He weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 21 inches long.  His big sister weighed the exact same... but was an inch shorter.  He is a good sleeper during the day.  Such a sweet little thing.  And although I'd forgotten how exhausting having a newborn is.... I wouldn't trade it for the world!

By Sunday we were all really sick of spending time in the hospital!  Time to go home!