Sunday, December 30, 2012

A Very Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! In our 6 years of marriage this was our fourth year doing Christmas at home with just us and I must say I love it! As much fun as it is to be with the extended family, I really enjoy spending this special day as our own little family. We woke up and had to delay presents so we could video chat with Clark’s brother who is on his mission in Germany/Switzerland/Austria at the moment. Lily was having a hard time waiting and decided to arrange the presents for us while we were talking…

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We had a fun time opening our gifts, though I can say that nothing brings me more joy on Christmas than watching Lil’s excitement as she opens her gifts and finding her things that she loves.

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Lil’s big gift was a scooter (which I knew she would flip for!) and she has been riding that thing non stop around our apartment ever since.

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I Love this time of year and the opportunity to celebrate our Saviors birth. I’m so blessed with my little family and I love getting to spend time with them. We were so very blessed with the ability (at the last minute) to get gifts for one another  even though we’re on a young student family budget at the moment. But even if we hadn’t been able to do that, we still would have had a wonderful, special day!

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My babies :)

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A Blessed Day…

 

On December 23 Miles was blessed at church. We were ale to have almost my entire family (minus my brother and his wife and another aunt and uncle) there to witness it. I feel so lucky that even though most of them do not believe the same things that I do they are willing to support us and be there for the special days in our children’s lives. After church we all had lunch and were able to enjoy each others company in an increasingly rare chance to all be together.

From left to right: My Aunt and Uncle, my sister and her husband and son, us, my dad and step mom, and my mom.

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After lunch we drove out to my dad’s house so we could spend Christmas Eve with them. The next day we hung out with my dad and sister, who was visiting from Nebraska. Lily finally got to hang out with her favorite cousin Colin, who we talk to via Skype at least 2 times a week. I think Lil would go home with her auntie Jen if we would let her…

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We had a wonderful Christmas eve with my family. I am grateful that my dad only lives an hour and a half away by car and that we can see some family with relative ease. I am also SO grateful to spend time with my sister. She lives entirely too far away! I am grateful for our relationship and that becoming mothers has made us even closer. As much I wish we both had less stress, I am so grateful that we are both dealing with husbands in school and having young families at the same time because we can provide each other with the support and understanding that we need.

We tried to get a shot of our families and the 3 (soon to be 4) grandkids for our parents but it wasn’t so successful. Almost every shot we took looks like this…

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

6 years later…

So our life has been a little crazy lately. The birth of our son has been the center of our attention for so long and it has turned our world upside down, but in a good way. Clark is just about to finish one of his hardest semesters yet in school and has been glued to his homework desk if he happens to be home. Between those two things we haven’t given ourselves much time to focus on anything else. 8 days after Miles was born my birthday came and went without much fanfare. Lily even cried when Clark first asked her to sing to me (she happily did so later in the day). I guess that can happen during this time of life and frankly I didn’t care. But as is tradition, I got my Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, so I was good ;). Then a week later we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. This also came and went without the excitement one would expect for this kind of occasion. While Lily was downtown having fun with grandma, Clark and I took the baby on our fabulous date to Home Depot, Costco, and finished off the trip with a stop at Taco Bell. Terribly romantic, wouldn’t you say? We have been so busy lately it was actually nice just to have some time together to do random things.

This got me thinking. I have let stress get to me lately and hadn’t been taking the time to see how great things are. Yes, we’re both terribly busy. Yes, we have little to no time to ourselves and haven’t done anything fancy in a while. No, we didn’t go on some big getaway to celebrate, nor do we have the time or money to do so even if we wanted to. But I am so grateful for my life.

If you had asked me 10 years ago what my life would look like on my 26th birthday, I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined this is how it would be. I’m so grateful that I have been able to spend the past 6 years with my best friend. Even if things haven’t always been a fairy tale or didn’t go as smoothly as you always assume they will. I’m so grateful that we have 2 beautiful children who bring us so much extra joy in our marriage. Even if Lily does drive us crazy from time to time. I’m so grateful that even if we don’t always get out on fancy dates, we can spend a lazy Saturday all in our pj’s and have just as much fun, if not more, than we would have otherwise. I’m grateful for the comfort and security we have in our relationship and the knowledge that we are making it through some more difficult years (school, young family, no jobs…) with each other’s support.

I’m so grateful that life doesn’t always turn out as you plan, because what comes your way can be so much better!

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Can’t wait to see what the next 6 years hold, though I’m pretty sure a lot of it will look like this picture below… Smile

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Christmas party time

 

We recently went to our church Christmas party and had a lovely evening with our friends. When we told Lily that we were going to the party she clearly remembered the last one we went to, which was the Halloween party, and she told me she was going to bring her pumpkin and get candy. Who was I to stop her?

 

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When it came time for Santa pictures, Lily wasn’t so excited. I told her that if she let me get some pictures she would get a present from Santa so she finally agreed.  I love this first picture mainly for Lily’s expression saying that she isn’t amused. Miles is looking kind of crazy as well.

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Looking at these pictures, I’m still kind of in shock that I have 2 kids…

Christmas time is here…

This past weekend we had some fun and got into the Christmas spirit. Lily spent all day with grandma downtown at the Hometown Holidays event (I should have sent the camera with them…). There was music, a parade, crafts, food, an artificial snow area, and all kinds of other fun things. Lil came home with a teddy bear and some crafts and passed out on the couch. Apparently she had a blast and loved spending time with grandma. Later that night we went back downtown for the lighting of the city Christmas tree and a fireworks show that I think could almost pass for a 4th of July show. They ended up being a little too loud for Lily but she was a trooper and stuck it out.

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While Lil was out with Grandma, Clark and I picked up a Christmas tree and we spent our Monday night decorating. Lily was SO excited to get to help! She loved playing in the lights and putting on ornaments.

 

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She even made her own little “nest” of ornaments in the tree :)

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We decided not to put the glass ball ornaments on the tree due to Lil’s fascination with them, and luckily have enough other random ornaments to fill the tree. It may not be the fanciest of trees, but Lily loves to look at it each day and rearrange it so it is just right. Even without putting the glass balls on the tree she still has managed to break 2 so far this year…I think she must have hidden them somewhere during the decorating process ;)

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I think one of my favorite moments so far this Christmas season was when I put a Santa hat on Miles and Lily said “Look, mommy! Now he’s a Christmas tree!!!” I love the things that come out of her mouth (most of the time…)

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Thank goodness for grandma!

So it has been 9 days since we’ve added a new member to our family and I have been feeling pretty great! I have lots of energy, baby’s sleeping and eating well, Lily’s not having meltdowns (yet), and nothing too hectic has happened…until today.

I was about to take a much needed shower and while deciding what to wear for the day I heard Lily shouting from the bathroom. She had gone potty (luckily on the toilet) and was half naked saying she NEEDED to take a bath too because she was stinky. While trying to convince Lily to put her clothes back on grandma rounded the corner with Miles, who was pretty much wet from the waste down due to a diaper that clearly could hold no more. It was time for his first bath! Of course I needed to get pictures of this and wanted to keep him as comfortable as possible but needed to also get a cranky Lily situated in the tub before being able to do so. Luckily I wasn’t alone and together we eventually got everyone bathed and happy again!

I guess that’s what I get for thinking that transitioning to 2 kids was easier than I expected ;)

 

Little mister was not very happy getting a bath…

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Not as easy as it looks….

So I have been seriously spoiled the past few years.  My good friend Ariel was sweet enough to take some of the most precious pictures of our family, including Lily’s newborn pictures. I have always known how talented she is but today I was seriously missing her while I attempted my own newborn photo shoot of little Miles. I managed to squeak out a few pictures that I am happy with but I definitely have a long way to go to get my photography skills where I want them. But I guess practice makes perfect…

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Saturday, November 24, 2012

Miles Jamison

This past Monday, November 19, we welcomed our second little one into the family. It was quite the experience and we are so happy to have our new little Miles here with us. During my pregnancy we chose not to find out the sex of the baby and Lily was really hoping for a little sister, but she has fallen in love with her baby brother. Lil is so sweet with him and is anxious to teach him all she knows. I think my favorite thing so far is when she tells Miles “Stay calm. It’s ok, I’m here.” Here are some of the few pictures I managed to take while in the hospital. Anyone interested in hearing more about his entrance into the world and his first few days can check out his personal journal/blog. The link should be over on the left side of the page.

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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Feelings of Peace

 

I have probably sounded pretty ungrateful lately. As excited as I am to be having another baby I have been letting the stress of life make me very anxious about his or her arrival. With the troubles we had getting or staying pregnant you would imagine that I wouldn’t even think about complaining. But as the time draws near I have been struggling with understanding why we had to wait until what is turning out to be one of the most stressful times of this year for us.

I finally asked Clark to give me a blessing to be able to calm down and to have the strength to handle dealing with a newborn and toddler along with everything else we’ll have to do very soon after the arrival of the little one. That definitely helped but I was also determined to get out to the temple one last time before baby. I was thrilled that our ward temple night happened to be one week before my due date and we made the trek out there with some friends. Unfortunately I didn’t pay much attention and was informed that my recommend had expired last month. I was understandably upset and wondered why I hadn’t thought to check that or why my good intentions were not working out. In any case I felt that Clark didn’t need to wait outside with me and waste an opportunity to serve so I sat out on the beautiful grounds by myself and took the opportunity to pour out my soul to my Heavenly Father.

At one point I stopped to pay attention to the hymns that were playing on the speakers and one song struck me in particular. All I could remember from the song was one phrase so I pulled out my phone and looked it up to see what the rest of the lyrics were. It just so happened to be “How Gentle God’s Commands” and as I looked at the words I was overcome with peace and knew that hearing this song was an answer to my prayer.

How gentle God’s commands,
How kind His precepts are!
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust His constant care.

Beneath His watchful eye
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guide His children well.

Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
Haste to your heav’nly Father’s throne,
And sweet refreshment find.

His goodness stands approved,
Unchanged from day to day;
I’ll drop my burden at His feet,
And bear a song away.

 

Even though I wasn’t able to go into the temple I received the peace I had hoped for by going to the temple that night. Luckily I was able to renew my recommend this past weekend and some friends went with me on a Tuesday afternoon so I could squeeze in one last session before the baby comes.

I am grateful for answers to prayer. I am grateful that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder who can bless our family when ever we need him to. I am grateful that I am never alone and that I can turn to my Savior and my Heavenly Father whenever I need comfort or a little (or a lot of) extra strength to get through hard things I may face.

 

How do you occupy a toddler when mom just wants to take a nap? Again…

 

As my pregnancy draws to a close I have been less and less motivated to do much other than sit on the couch or take a nap. Poor Lil has quite a bit of cabin fever and I have tried to do my best to come up with fun ways to entertain her.

 

She finally got to use her rain boots in something other than warm sunny weather and she just about died getting to jump around in all of the puddles.

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We had so much fun painting her little pumpkin that we have pulled out the paints many times since. Lil clearly has a little trouble keeping the paint on the paper…

 

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Lil has been LOVING her weekly dance class and I promise one of these days I’ll get some good shots of her in her little dance outfit. Every time I have tried thus far they just turn out to be a blur because she won’t stop spinning.

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