Two weeks

Being away from hubby, and daddy for two weeks is a long time. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being here with James and Sadie and kiddos; but Cambria misses her dad, and I miss my hubby. I especially miss him when I have a cranky, tired, hungry and possibly teething baby on my hands and nobody to pass her off to when I can't take it anymore. I miss him when I need a hug and reassurance after said breakdown.

Counting down the days till he gets here. Not because I want to leave, but because I need some hubby help.

11 months, a few weeks late

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun! Here's our adorable little girl, looking so big!

[caption id="attachment_1057" align="aligncenter" width="584"] this isn't an official 11 month picture, but I love her faces she makes! I have been trying for months to get this on camera![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1058" align="aligncenter" width="584"] 11 months!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1059" align="aligncenter" width="584"] 11 Months![/caption]

This month:
STARTED TAKING FOOD FROM A SPOON!!! I have been having fun giving her baby food. Even though she probably doesn't need it.
Will stand un-assisted for up to 30 seconds
has lost interest in smiling for the camera
Started to try to introduce a sippy cup, not the fondest of it yet.
Mommy started to think about weaning, Cambria's not too excited about the idea
Hates the bottle, it doesn't matter what is in it.
She's still our little screamer
Has picked up a few signs "milk" "more" and "all done" the necessities.

My mom

My mom's birthday was this week. It has caused me to reflect on her life, and her example to me. She is seriously one of the most amazing women I know. When I talk about my mom, especially when I go into detail (not the times that I brag about her, but when I talk about the things she's been through, the things she does, how she continues to be a mom, and a wonderful nana etc etc etc) the person I talk to often gets a look in their eye and says "your mom sounds pretty amazing" sometimes they even say "angelic" and I agree wholeheartedly.

What makes her so awesome, you ask? Well, let me tell you:

My mom lives each day with a smile on her face.
She works hard and doesn't complain.
When my mom goes through trials, she doesn't often say "why me?" but "what can I learn from this?" or "what does Heavenly Father want me to do".
I often hear the words "I just want to do what He wants me to do" spoken by my mother.
My mom LOVES her family, she lives for her family, she would give anything and everything she could for them, for their benefit, and for their progress.
She is true to her faith, and her covenants, even in the face of adversity.
My mom serves and serves and serves and then when she's done, she goes and serves some more.
My mom loves to have fun, and would throw a party for any event that she deems worthy (which is almost anything).
She loves traditions, traditions is a major component of the glue that stuck our family together.
She is continually trying to be better, sometimes we give her a hard time for all her lists, but hey, if it helps her to be more organized what's so bad about that?
She doesn't talk bad about people, she loves everyone.
She's tactless :) Now let me explain, usually that's a bad attribute. With my mom it doesn't matter how she says something because you know she loves you unconditionally, and she's just trying to help you be better. I never have to wonder what my mom thinks of me because she'll tell me if there's something I need to work on.
She gives the best hugs, oh and back scratches.
After an argument, I never wonder if she loves me, because she always gives me a hug and tells me that she loves me. No matter how angry I was, I'm not anymore. Hearing that from her gets me every time.
It doesn't matter if you are her biological child, an in-law, out-law, step, or foster, if you are part of her family you're blood. Water is definitely not thinner than blood in her eyes.

Oh, did I mention that she raised 6 kids (and a foster child), kept the house clean; canned fruit, salsa, syrup, and jams; had a garden, cooked dinner every night, held family home evening religiously, made mealtime a priority, did family scripture study and family prayer regularly, and was able to maintain a good relationship with her kids, her sisters and her parents. Oh, and she did a major tradition monthly, and had dinner parties almost every Sunday, and did it with a smile?

Need I say more? My mom is awesome. If I turn out to be half the woman that she is by the time I turn... her age ;) I'll be a happy woman.

Love you mom! Happy birthday.

Wiscaaaansin Fun

What a fun week it has been. Full of family, laughter, toys, sleep (maybe not so much of that from the baby they call Cambria) and food. It doesn't get much better than that. Here's some picture fun

[caption id="attachment_1042" align="aligncenter" width="584"] "ummm... you look like my daddy but you aren't acting like him. Good thing you are still fun."[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1043" align="aligncenter" width="584"] First experience with the snack trap. It's a hit[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1044" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Taking a break from playing to eat. mmm[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1045" align="aligncenter" width="584"] The Mr. Micah[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1046" align="aligncenter" width="584"] I love the faces he pulls[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1047" align="aligncenter" width="584"] TITAN POSE! Random tidbit... every baby does this pose when their head is turned, it prepares them for rolling.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1048" align="aligncenter" width="584"] streeeeetttttcccchhhh![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1049" align="aligncenter" width="584"] I don't think these pictures are half bad considering I was also trying to keep Cambria away from getting too close.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1050" align="aligncenter" width="584"] MMM Hamburger.
Cambria loves that corn on the cob[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1051" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Lookey there... I'm holding a watermelon and I have a watermelon on my shirt![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1052" align="aligncenter" width="584"] This is what happens when you tell Arilyn to smile :)[/caption]

Dancin'

It's sideways... but here's a cute video

http://youtu.be/7qLLIAt5qUY

Daddy! ... Daddy?

While spending the last few days here at James and Sadie's house, I have noticed Cambria is taking a liking to her uncle James. That may or may not be because she doesn't realize that he's her uncle, not her dad.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho

Hi-ho Hi-ho it's off to Wisconsin I go! I'm on may way to help SIL Sadie with her new baby. I really hope that the three babies under 2 won't be too much for two mommas to handle :)

See you (blog world) in two weeks!

Zumba!

Well, it happened. The ladies who teach aerobics have been pushing me to get some routines together. One day it was only me and the instructor that showed up so we sat down and put together a routine to "Brave". I told her that I needed a deadline or else I wouldn't ever work on anything. She gave me the deadline of this last Monday. So... I did it! I did 4 songs and at the end I was pumped to get some others choreographed.

Funny, the one that I choreographed myself was the one I remembered the best, and the one I enjoyed the most. So, for the remainder of my songs that I am going to add, I'm going to choreograph them myself.

Any suggestions on good, upbeat, songs that don't have trash lyrics?

Warmth!

Cambria and I got out of the house today to do some shopping. It was so nice to not have to worry about my baby's face freezing from the walk from the car to the store! I didn't even put her coat on!

It made me very excited for spring, even though I know it's a long way away.

Step Step

We have a walker! Cambria took her fist steps on Tuesday! She took three steps towards daddy. She hasn't really taken any since then, but I'm confident that she'll be cruising sooner than I think she should :)

If I were...

So you know those moms that do it all? They have a meticulous house, they DIY everything, they always serve perfectly plated, well balanced food to their family; and they provide sensory type activities for their 8 children, oh and they blog about it too. They are awesome. So... I often say "If I were awesome, then I would ..." fill in the blank. Now before you think that I'm saying I'm not awesome, let me clarify. Here's how I see it: I'm doing the best I can when it comes to mommyhood. Therefore I'm a good mom, and good mom's are awesome.

Ok, here's the point of this post:

One day I was hanging out with a friend, who happens to also be a new mom. We were talking about gardening, or canning, or baking bread... ya know, one of those things that someday maybe I'll do... (I don't remember what it was that we were talking about...) But I said "If I were..." and I tried to think of something to say "better than I am... more organized..." as I was coming up with something to say, my friend filled in my blank "Super-human?" YES! That's the thought I was looking for. At this stage in my life, there's not much more I can do besides what I'm doing, but... someday, in a perfect world, *if I were super-human*, then I would like to do all the things that I'm not doing.

So guess what I'm going to say instead of awesome? Yep, you guessed it... super human.

Standing baby

Cambria is getting better and better at standing! She is realizing that she can let go of things... She stood for a good 30 seconds today! Any guesses on how long it'll be till she starts walking?

Beans and Rice Baby

We eat of beans and rice a lot. Like, two to three times a week a lot. The past few times we have given Cambria some beans. Last night, we gave her both beans and rice and she chowed it down! You should have seen the look of pride in Jonathan's eyes.

New Year's Resolution

Often, every new year comes and goes and I make a long list (often the same list) of resolutions that I want to do. More often than not, I don't do many if any of them.
Not this year! I have only set one real goal (besides my continual goals to become more spiritual, and to be better at writing in my journal...) Be better at keeping my house clean. This year I have a plan. Do you want to hear it? ... well see it?

[caption id="attachment_998" align="aligncenter" width="640"] I whipped this out today. I'm very happy with it (side note: I think I say that about everything I post that I do... naturally I'm not going to post anything I'm not happy with)[/caption]

... The older I get, the more I realize how similar I am to my mom. She's a list person, I write a lot of lists... Like this one. The one major difference between my lists and hers are that she spends a lot of time writing them, but then ends it there... I spend a lot of time writing them, and then I spend a lot of time making them something nice to look at... So... I waste a lot more time than she does. ;)