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!

First beach trip!

We decided that we needed a small get away this month, so we decided to go to the beach! Last saturday, we packed up the beach gear, and our car, and headed down. We were a little nervous that Hannah really wouldn't like the sand or the water, so we went prepared. She didn't really like the ocean, but the sand was a hit as you can see from the pictures, she was having a blast eating it and playing in it. It was great to relax, enjoy the sun (even though I forgot sunscreen in some areas), overall it turned out to be a fun trip! Enjoy the pcitures and this video!

Adventures of self feeding and teething!

So the past two months, have been loads of fun! Around late January, early February, hannah got her bottom two teeth in, and has perfected her pincher grasp well enough that she seems to think she can feed herself. Little does she know. I used to think that hitting these milestones would be exciting, and they are when you get there. No one tells you the frustration you go through to get there. The whinning, cranky child is what it takes and LOTS of patience. What you anticipate and more. I didnt ever imagine that I would get so frustrated at my child, for not eating what I fixed because normally hannah is such a good eater, that is when you realize that they dont feel good. Aw the joys of parenting! So, then you play chef, finding whatever you can, that they want to eat, that is good for them as well. Good luck with that. Time to be creative, and thank goodness for the Tylenol! I am sure that it was a women/mother who invented that drug. Anywho, here are some funny pictures of hannah feeding herself and her teeth!

New house!

We closed on our new house! We made a few updates and have moved all of our stuff in this past weekend. We love having our own space and a place for everything. We took a walk this morning around our new neighborhood. Everyone we have met has been friendly and said that the area is nice and quiet. Here are some pictures!

New Year, Time to Update!

Since September, Daniel and I have made some big decisions, and lots has happened. Daniel has changed jobs, we moved, and are now in the process of buying a home! We felt it would be better to be closer to family, so that Hannah could grow up seeing cousins and grandparents. Its been a blast so far! We will post pictures of our new house soon! Here are some pictures from Christmas!

What no one tells you about motherhood/parenthood...

Its been two months since Hannah was born. At times, it has flown by and other times, it seems like it couldn't have come sooner. There are many people that have asked me if I have enjoyed being a mom, and I had to be honest. I don't always enjoy it. I was thinking the other day, that there are some things that people don't tell you when you are expecting. Maybe they don't remember, or when you are pregnant, maybe you don't care. Some of the things I wish someone would have told me is; one, that its okay to let your baby cry. Once you know that their basic needs are taken care of, there will be times when they just cry, although, any normal healthy baby, should sleep, so maybe my baby isnt normal. Two, its okay to get angry and frustated, its what you do when you get angry; dont do anything that you'll regret is what I have come to learn. Three, sleep and food deprivation. I thought I could tolerate a lack of sleep, but I never comprehended the extent of the lack of sleep, and I have learned that you eat what you can and when you can, because you dont know when your next meal will be. The fourth thing, don't listen too much to what doctors or professionals will tell you. You know your child better than they do. Talk with other moms, they are your best resource. The fifth and most important thing that I learned as a mom, is to trust myself as well as my gut instinct which I fully believe comes from a higher being. The greatest help and advice on how to raise God's children is from God himself. There have been many times, when thoughts "pop" into my mind that relate to taking care of Hannah, and things always work out. How grateful I am for the things I have learned and hope that any one that is planning on being parents, may you realize that being a parent is the greatest challenge you will ever take on in this life, but as they all say, the most rewarding. Here is picture to prove it.