Musical Baby

Last Sunday we noticed something, and have been noticing it ever since. During sacrament meeting, Cambria was kicking her leg during one of the hymns. She was kicking almost exactly on beat. She has an exersaucer that plays music and she LOVES hearing the music! When the music plays, she bounces... again, almost exactly to the beat. I have no idea if that's normal for a baby to do, but I feel like she gets it... she's got rhythm. :)

Firsts....

Look at what Cambria pulled off yesterday!!!



Yep! You saw that right! She has a ponytail! This was a big day for her :)

Carseat Cover

The carseat cover that I made for my friend got to her yesterday, so that means I can post pictures of it! I was really nervous about how it turned out, but she said she loves it... so that's all that matters.

[caption id="attachment_765" align="aligncenter" width="300"] This is the outside[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_769" align="aligncenter" width="300"] It's reversable, this is the inside side on the outside[/caption]



I find that with every project I do, I'm more and more happy with the outcome. It's like I'm getting better or something :). The only problem with that is that I'm always the one with the worst of my projects, I guess I'd rather that then someone else having to be stuck with them.

Blessings

Priesthood blessings are so wonderful! As I was unpacking a few weeks ago I came across an old journal. I opened it up and a paper fell out of it. It was notes from a blessing that I received back in 2008. I remember the situation, I was debating whether or not to pursue a boy that was Catholic, and I was struggling really hard to know what to do. So I got a blessing. Among other things, the blessing said something about Heavenly Father preparing my future husband for me. Now, looking back, it was so tender to read that. I know exactly what my husband was doing at the time. He was in Brasil serving the Lord, working hard, and becoming a better person because of it.

I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father that has a perfect plan for me, and that I don't have to try to figure out this life all by myself. It's a lot better to let Him lead me.

Saturday is a Special Day

Oh what do you do on a Saturday? (oh man! I'm just combining as many primary songs into this post/Post title as possible! Did you catch that Primary Song?)

Well I'll show you what I did a couple Saturday's ago, then I'll show you what Jonathan did.

I changed this...

to this...

I was really amazed by the difference! If you were wondering, yes, the entire house was that dirty before we moved in. I (we) did a lot of cleaning before we moved in. It felt so nice to wipe away other people's dirt. I know that we are living in a clean environment, because I cleaned it. Every. Square. Inch. of it (almost).

While I was doing that, Jonathan was changing this...

to this...

Doesn't it look so much better?!?

 

 

 

The Idea of Running

Whenever I'm driving down the street and I notice runners I think "I love the idea of running". I have a couple friends who were coordinating times they could go running together, and again, I thought "I love the idea of running". I don't know what it is, but it seems really cool, it seems like a great form of exercise, you can just pick up and go, you don't need any expensive equipment (except maybe shoes, but that pales in comparison to some things you need for other forms of exercise) you can even tote your kiddows along (if you have a jogging stroller).

I feel like I have given running a fair chance (I think running three times a week for 5 months is a good fair chance) and I still hate it. I never liked it while I was doing it (although, I did really enjoy the company ;) ) and I didn't like the way I felt after I finished running. Even though I know this, I honestly still love the idea of running!

I don't know what it is, there must be something deep inside me that likes to run, but it most certainly isn't my body.

Way overdue

I promised a friend that I would make her a carseat cover. I bought the fabric when she was roughly 20 weeks pregnant, and it's still not done. She now has a one month old baby...
What am I doing today, you ask? Ya. sewing. I'm going to finish it. I have to!

President Hinkley

I am listening to archived General Conference as I am cleaning/cooking dinner. I just had an ah-ha moment that I would like to share.
President Gordon B. Hinkley was the prophet I grew up with, and I was listening to one of his talks. At one point he said "my beloved associates" That really hit me! The prophet of the church is calling me (us) his associate...
That's all.

People watching

Ok, two things...

I was at the store today and noticed 4 girls all shopping together. As I was checking out they were chatting and having a good time. When I loaded my car and my baby they were talking about if they could make it to Walmart and back before one girl's next class.
Oh college. Oh roommates. What a fun time of life, I really enjoyed it. I loved living with lots of girls, and having my only major financial expense be rent and groceries.
Don't get me wrong. I'm SO HAPPY with where my life is now, but I just took a moment to reminisce in the good ol' days.

Also at the store there was a really nice gentleman who was very social. He walked passed and looked at Cambria (I had her facing out in her carseat, so she could see everything as it was passing. But that meant that I couldn't see her face. She also just got her shots :( so she's not the happiest thing). He looked at me with a worried expression... "I'm sorry, I looked at her." (he was chuckling) then I heard her cry, I explained that she got her shots, he nodded in understanding. Later he passed again, smiled, and didn't look at Cambria, then looked at me and said "I didn't look this time, she's fine :)", THEN as I was loading my car with the food and the baby I was about to take the cart back to the cart return and he was walking from the cart return and offered to take my cart. "Let me take it, then you don't have to leave your baby" I love kind people! I need to be more outgoing like that. It really makes people's day.

Six Months!!!

How did Cambria turn six months old?!? She's getting so big!

Some of her developments and favorite things are:
-  grabbing toys; she is starting to be able to twist the toys, and is getting a lot better at manipulating them the way she wants to.
-  she loves to feel things with her fingertips. She often has long nails, which can easily be mistaken for liking to scratch things, including my face (more on that later) but I think she just loves discovering the texture of things
-  Kissing; she LOVES to kiss! She will grab my (or daddy's) face and not let go till we bring our face to hers and let her kiss (or open mouth slobber) on it. It's quite sweet. I love it because not only is she kissing us, but she's showing that she's learning from our actions. We kiss her face A LOT!
-  She is starting to be able to move on her belly. Not forward or backward, but she can move in circles. If there is a toy to the left or to the right of where she is she will move to get it.
-  She is really showing her desire for things, she has toys and other things that she wants. And she reaches for them till she gets them.
- She has a few toys that she loves. They are:

she loves her keys!

Meet Sophie, she's the new hot baby toy. Very expensive (in my opinion) but she loves it!

Get Excited

I have a friend who had a birthday today. She turned 34, or 35 today. I don't remember which. When she was telling me about her birthday she was really excited about it. What did that make me want to do? Bake her cookies, naturally.

She also had a friend make her lunch, and has another friend who is taking her out to dinner. That's a lot of things that people have done for her birthday! That's not including everything her family and husband is going to do for her.

Why did I feel inclined to make her cookies? Why are all of these people doing all these super nice things for her. Because she's awesome, yes, but I don't think she's any more awesome than anyone else that I don't make cookies for on their birthdays. (Don't take that as a stab, she is awesome. But I know a lot of awesome people, and actually a lot of awesome people that don't get treated to every meal of the day on their birthdays.)

So... why? I think it's because she makes her birthday a big deal to her. She is excited about it, which makes other people excited about it too. Sometimes in our society we feel like we need to "be humble" which we take to mean that we don't want to make anything that is exciting a big deal. Guess what I learned today? It's OK to be excited about exciting things in our lives! Let's relish in the joys of life, and not down play them.

... just a random thought I had today. I thought it might make a good blog post. So there you have it.

Aerobics

The ladies in my stake get together every day in the morning and do Zumba type aerobics. Half of the instructors are certified, so it's pretty legit. They were talking to me today and said that they needed more instructors, and asked me to prepare something. They have asked me before, but I just turned them down flat before... There's no way I know what I'm doing, how could I teach a full hour class! I don't have the endurance for that.

Well... today I agreed to start looking into choreographing a few songs. We'll see how it goes. I think I'll start with this ... It's so fun, not very aerobic, but so fun.

DMV

Here are a few random thoughts about our trip to the DMV today.

So, sad news. My last bit of holding on to being Utahn got taken away from me today :( I had to turn over my Utah driver's license to get my Indiana one.  Just had to say that first.

We went to the DMV and took a written drivers test so that we could get our Indiana driver's licenses. I just have to say that taking tests freak me out. The thought of failing them freak me out... Especially tests that I haven't really studied for and that 15 year old's are passing daily. As I was taking practice tests I wasn't doing too well... That didn't help my anxiety. Thankfully I passed, and it's not a question whether or not Jonathan passed. He passes tests, that's just what he does.

As we were looking at our temporary licenses that we were given, we noticed that we both added a few pounds to the "weight" category. Jonathan justified it by saying "Well, if I'm fully clothed, and have a full stomach, then maybe I am _____". My justification was "well, when I'm not nursing, this is my weight". Jonathan mentioned that most people probably do the opposite; they probably shave off a few lbs. We had a good laugh about that one.

Cambria was such a good baby. She was tired and hungry, but didn't do more than a subtle whine, with maybe a little squeal (both excited ones, and frustrated ones) every now and then. The lady that was helping me (about my age) mentioned that she doesn't have kids, but when she sees cute, well behaved babies like mine it makes her want a baby. That made me feel good. I like to hear that someone besides me thinks she's cute and well behaved :)

Guess What Cambria Can Do?!?!?

"Guess what I did today daddy" Cambria would say if she had any sort of decent nap yesterday.
"OOOhhh! What did you do today?" Daddy would say
"I sat, all by myself. For a LONG time"
"Wow! What a big girl you are! What a big girl you are!" Because every daddy and mommy repeats themselves several times adding more expression each time when talking to babies.

Although the words coming out of Cambria's mouth may not be true (mommy may have said them), everything else was completely true! Unfortunately, since she didn't have any decent naps yesterday, she was too cranky to show off her new trick to daddy. Hopefully today. Hopefully I'll be able to either get a picture, or a video soon!

For all Eternity

There is an audio CD that Jonathan and I have been listening to that I totally love! It's called "For All Eternity" it's by Dr. John L. Lund. It's a 4 part class that he teaches in a fireside setting.

It's all about how to strengthen marriages. Although my marriage is awesome (I'm really grateful for that), it can always improve. I am kind of a how-to-improve-my-marriage junkie. Granted, that's what my Bachelors was in, so it makes sense. But I LOVE this one! He is a marriage therapist and he is also a member of the Church. He is amazing! I like it so much because he uses his research, along with John Gottman's research (John Gottman is basically the go-to for marriage research. He is awesome!). Dr Lund also uses the gospel, and stories from his many years of therapy sessions. He also uses practical things we can do to improve our marriage. Sometimes I feel like other things I have listened to or read will just say "you need to love more" for example, and I am thinking "ok... how? I think I do that, but what can I do to love more?" but he is not that way. He gives doable, measurable, things that will improve your marriage. It's awesome! I could go on all day, but I won't. Oh and he's funny. That always helps.

Copy Cat

Cambria is at such a fun stage of life right now! I think it's my favorite stage so far! The other day I was drinking from a water bottle that had a straw, she saw me and decided that she needed the water bottle (how did I know? She started reaching for it). So I handed it to her curious what she would do with it. She did exactly what I did and put the straw in her mouth. She chomped on it (trying to figure out what this new foreign object was that was in her mouth) for a few seconds and then looked at me and gave me the biggest smile! It kind of made my day.
She's cute.

Does something look familiar?

Actually, a lot of things do. I didn't plan to be wearing the same color my mom was in this picture. But it's kind of sweet that I am! Seeing Cambria and me as a baby side to side makes me think that she may look like me after all! I still think she's got a lot of Jonathan in her, but she's got a lot of me too.
I also didn't think I looked a lot like my mom... but I think I do.

But... the point of the picture is to show off the dress! My grandma made it for me, how special is it that I was able to get it in time for Cambria to still fit in it :)

 

And The "Best Baby in the World" Award goes to...

Cambria! Seriously! She is so awesome! I love her to death.

She has endured at least four, three hour long shopping trips in the space of 6 days (I didn't go shopping Saturday (temple) or Sunday) and she didn't even make a peep. Seriously, she hardly fussed the entire time! What a champ. If she could eat ice cream, I would have taken her out for ice cream.

Curtain Frustration

I have awesome ideas in my head, but finding them in the store is a battle. All I'm asking for is yellow curtains that don't cost a fortune. But, I can't find them. Actually, at first I was pretty open, I'm still pretty open, but I can't find anything that will work!
I bought some blue curtains (after shopping with a baby for three hours, and calling Jonathan a couple times)
Then I went to Walmart by myself and found several that I liked. So I brought Jonathan with me the next night and we discovered that they are the price we paid for a set of curtains for one panel. That's not going to work.
Today I was on a quest. Find yellow curtains, I found some, but again, they were 50 bucks a window.... that's not going to fit into our budget. I found some green ones, bought them, left them at the store and went home. When I got home I realized I left them, and headed back. Then I got them on the window and decided I didn't like them. Boo!
I'm bound and determined to find curtains! Maybe I'll start looking online.

Temple

Jonathan and I went to the temple on Saturday, and we had some friends watch Cambria so we could go together. Oh man. It had been a long time since we had been in an endowment session together. It felt so good!
The Spirit is so strong there, even just on the temple grounds. I feel like there is a power that comes from going to the temple with your spouse, and sitting in the celestial room with him/her. I'm so grateful that I can do that from time to time.

Cambria the Trooper-Shopper

As we have been home from Utah, I have realized how nice it is for both Cambria and I to have a schedule. I have discovered that she needs three naps and usually only stays happily awake for 1.5-2 hours max before she needs another nap.

That being said, any errand that I need to run, needs to be perfectly planned. On Wednesday I made it a point to be ready for the day, and be out the door as soon as Cambria woke up from her first nap. ... I was out the door a half hour after she woke up. I needed to check on some sales and feed her.

I needed to get some stuff for the activity on Thursday (did I mention that I'm the new RS activities chair?) so I headed to Joann's, and then I needed some matching frames for our pictures that we ordered (our home decorating is coming, slowly but surely!). So I ran down to Hobby lobby as well, and there happens to be a TJ Maxx and a Dollar tree in the same strip mall. TJ Maxx was my first stop (at that strip mall), I found some awesome frames, but they didn't match, so I ran down to the dollar tree and found matching frames that looked super cheap (imagine that) and then went to Hobby Lobby and found awesome, matching frames, that didn't look cheap! AND they were 50% off (that's not saying much since all frames are 50% off every day... but it kind of made me feel like I was getting a bargain, seeing that the tag said each frame was 15.99, and I knew I was getting them for only 8 bucks each... if I didn't think about it).

Needless to say, it was a long shopping trip, probably three hours or so, and Cambria just sat in her carseat looking at all the different things to see. I was so impressed and proud of her!

Oh! And then she fell asleep in the car, so I decided to go grocery shopping too!

I felt accomplished, and she was happy. It doesn't get much better than that.