Random but fun musings.....

Clearly, time is moving fast, and yet with a two year old, the days can seem to crawl, especially if it is raining outside. Today is one of the those days, which means I get to blog about those times when we are having fun. This weekend, there was a nice break in the weather, so Daniel and I took the opportunity to try out Kure Beach on Saturday. The best part was the drive down was just right for a young child. No more than 3 hours in the car, and we were at our destination. We took ourselves and our gear out to the beach, found a good spot, and got set up. Few mishaps occurred though, one, the shade tent we bought became a kite because of the strong winds, and our belief that a now older Hannah would enjoy the beach more, was way off. She cried almost the entire time because she hated the water and sun. She didn't really have much fun until mom and dad started playing in the sand, and then she decided it was okay to play along. By that time, we had been there for about two hours, and all of us were getting hungry. So, slightly deflated, we packed up, rinsed off and ate lunch at a nice park nearby. Thank goodness for shady parks, and swings. :)  To make our trip to the beach a little more worthwhile, we made a trip over to the Fort Fisher Aquarium which was so cute! The fish were fun to see as well as the different marine life, but I wish they had more things to do for adults since we paid more than anticipated for Daniel and I. Anyway, overall it was nice to get out and do something  different than just being at home. Here are few pictures for your enjoyment!

Reflections on parenthood

Yes, I am going to look back for a minute. Being a parent is the hardest and yet most rewarding thing I have ever agreed to do. I will say that I am glad that I didn't know everything that it entailed, or else, I am not sure that I would have done it, other than the fact, that I am following a commandment. My daughter has some unusual challenges, and they just seem to change over time as she gets older. They have gone from colic because of protein intolerance and possible allergies straight to the challenges of not being mobile and able to communicate, now to the "I want to do everything myself and do what I want to do! Aarrrggghhhh! I have heard it all, to it gets better because of this and this or its gets worse because of this and this. So yes, I love that my daughter can now feed herself, almost dress herself, understands me better, can walk on her own, and sleeps 12 hours a day in a 24 hour period! Which means I have some freedom again, why would anyone in their right mind what to give that up? Oh yea, there is that one thing I mentioned, following God's commandments. So I guess I am going to do my best to try and remember all the things that my daughter can do, the times she leans toward me for a hug and kiss, crawls into my lap just to be near me, when i hear her say mommy, laughs at me when i tickle her or make a funny face; all this moments help me forget the times that I have to take a deep breath or walk away because she is  behaving badly. Well, overall, I will say that being a parent has helped me become a better person even though it is not easy. When has anything been easy? As for other areas, I have also accepted a new calling in my ward. I am working in Primary as a counselor. It is so fun! I love working with the kids and I am so amazed at how simple the gospel can be, if we are just willing to do our part. Well, as usual here are some pictures of my latest adventures as a parent! Til next time!

Is it Spring yet?

This past few months have been super crazy. January and February have just been super cold this year and then March hit. One day its in the high 60's and the next day freezing. I am not sure whether to have the heat on or the A/C. To top things off, Daniel and I are still fighting illnesses. In the past 3 months alone, I think we all have been sick at least every other week or so. Colds and flu, off and on, in the first two months, and then stomach virus for all of us and last but not least, upper respiratory infection where Hannah got so congested she had to be on antibiotics. Luckily for Daniel and I, we didn't have to be on antibiotics, so that's a plus. Having kids is wonderful, but sick kids I can do without. On the bright side, we filed for our tax returns already this year, and have used that money to spruce up our house! We now have a fridge that will last another 10 years and have a bigger table so that we can seat more people! We did have some fun by celebrating Daniel's big 30 in February, and then in March, we attended a wedding of a good friend of Daniel's in Columbia South Carolina! March came and went fairly quickly thank goodness and April is here! I'm excited for this warmer weather, as well as, I was asked to work with the children in our ward as a Primary Counselor. I have to admit, I am in uncharted waters here, so here's hoping for the best. Though, I can't complain, I have some great women working with me :)  Well, wish me luck and enjoy the pictures!

Long time, no time for post...til now!

I realize that it has been a looooonnnnnngggg time since I posted anything. Really who has any time when you have young kids, plus I am sure we caught every virus out there this winter. :) Being inside all winter, has almost got me going crazy! On a good note, the past few months the holidays came and went, as well as the flu season is thankfully almost over! The holidays were fun! We spent equal amounts of time at Daniel's parents and my family for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Daniel did have to work Christmas Day, but not til the afternoon, so we still enjoyed most of the festivities. Hannah was still a little unsure of the holiday, but that's okay. She loved helping us unwrap the gifts, and playing with them of course. She is getting bored with her toys now, but is learning new things each day, and can't wait to be independent (I can't either!) . She is getting very good at words like bye bye, daddy, mommy, uh oh, and has even got a few phrases like, Where is she? and What is that? It is so neat to help her learn new things! She even helps me get her clothes and shoes on, and loves to go outside! I am super excited for the warm weather, so we can go to the park more often! Well, enjoy some pictures, I know that is the reason I post most times anyway.

Important lessons learned...cloth versus disposables

   Here are my findings on the new cloth diapering, as I was curious to try it out. I asked around to all of my friends on Facebook and at my church that cloth diaper. I found out some good info. Each baby is different, as well as each parent. If I wanted something simple and easy to use, I thought that for us, a cloth insert that snaps in and out of a waterproof shell sounds simple, so I went and purchased brand new GroVia cloth diapers. I love how easy they were, plus they now make flush-able inserts so when you baby poos, you can just flush it! No mess, no rinsing, no diaper sprayer! Just toss the soiled insert in a diaper pail, and wash! Genius! Now, of course, there is a small setback. The money you must spend upfront to get all the items you need, depending on the age of your child , will range from $200 to $400. Granted that doesn't seem to save you money, but it does pay off in the long run. If you really want to save money, if you have the time, and if you're a seamstress, you can find websites that sell all the fabrics needed to make your own all-in-one cloth diapers, or liners and shells. I used my cloth diapers for two weeks doing everything special to take care of the cloth diapers properly. After a few days, Hannah would wake up soaked even at nap times. I began to read more about GroVia diapers, and come to find out that most CL moms that have a toddler and use GroVia had the same issue, leaks with the cloth inserts at night and nap times. What?! I wish I would have known this before buying all GroVia. Oh well, needless to say, Daniel has talked me back into disposables, and thankfully I was able to sell my GroVia set online.  Maybe one day I will be brave enough again to try cloth but for now, I realized, especially with a sick toddler, it is so nice to be able to toss that diaper in the garbage. :)

Its vacation time!

Daniel and I decided that summer is almost over and we need a vacation! We took the Labor Day weekend and made the trip north to New Jersey to see Daniel's sister and her family. It was so nice! The best part of the trip was spending time with my wonderful spouse and daughter. The first day of our trip we stopped over in Hershey to see the Chocolate World Tour. It has been years since I have been there and Daniel has never been. It was so much fun! We even got pictures with the Characters! Getting chocolate of course at the Chocolate Factory was expected and i felt like a kid again! Daniel and I both got our favorites, as well as a cute shirt for Hannah. We then continued on to New Jersey, got to Daniel's sister's house that afternoon, where we took a swim in the neighborhood pool. It felt so good to be out of the car. That night we went to bed early, in preparation for our trip to Philadelphia on Saturday. In Philly, we stopped in to see the US Mint which was really neat, the Liberty Bell through a window, and Independence Hall. Being in the room where the signers of the Declaration were, was surreal. It made me ponder and greatly appreciate the things our founding fathers did for this country and sad at the same time for the way the country is now. Anyway, after all that, we were spent, so we headed back to the house. Sunday, was nice and restful. Had church and took naps. Monday, was the final day, so we crammed in everything we wanted to do. We took the hour drive to Staten Island New York, took the free ferry across to Downtown Manhattan, visited the Top of the Rockefeller Center, picked up Daniel's niece from the Manhattan LDS Temple, had lunch in Central Park, and visited the 9/11 Memorial, as well as stopped by Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken in hopes of getting a cupcake for my birthday, but my hopes were dashed when we found out they had closed early for the holiday. Oh well. New York City was so much more fun the second time around, plus it was so great to have a personal tour and help from Daniel's sister and her family. The best part was the dinner on Monday. We went to an Italian restaurant where I got my favorite dish, Chicken Alfredo! Happy 29th to me! Here's to another fun filled year before I reach the dreaded 30! Enjoy the pictures!

what happened to my sweet baby?

I am sitting here doing some work around the house, and my daughter is currently in her room with the door shut, crying every 2 minutes, because of who knows what, and I really don't care at this point. It seems, ever since Hannah turned 9 months, she turned into this monster, who all of sudden knew what she wanted, and threw a fit when she didn't get it!  We are talking throw herself to the ground, and cry hysterically. What in the world? It seems to happen almost all day! So what happens? I put her in her room, and shut the door. Of course, there is the chew on everything because she's teething too! So, I can say I really don't like being a parent right now, and who really wants to go through this phase again? Can we just have a kid and have them start at the age of 4? Potty-trained, talking, getting themselves dressed and fed, and of course sleeping through the night, and no more naps, That's sounds wonderful! I am gonna need some therapy for this. Seriously. Plus don't forget that my child's only playmate is yep, you guessed it, ME! If I don't play with her, she cries, if I do, she cries, its a lose-lose situation, or if I do play with her, she wants more until I have spent all day playing with and nothing else gets done, I have no time for anything that I need to do or want to do. Forget the bathrooms getting clean, laundry washed or folded, dinner wouldn't get made, and heaven forbid I take time to spend with Daniel. I would love to pay someone to come and do all that, but then the money I am making doing a paper route, is worthless. Maybe it's just me, thinking. Maybe I ought to change that somehow, I guess that is the only way that things will be better. Well, I have a lot of work to do then on top of taking care of that wonderful 14 month old who decided this past week that she is now going to walk everywhere! Thanks goodness for that, minus the bumps and bruises of course. This lovely 14 month old also had her first birthday. Here are some pictures of her birthday as well as her attempts to walk! Enjoy!