Traveling Circus

This weekend I was the ringmaster. Who knew that's what family vacations with kids- excuse me, 'kid'- would be like? We stuffed our car with toys, bottles, diapers, and all other things baby, and headed for the beach. (Just in time for the weather to warm up here...I know right? I'm really good at planning vacations...)

But this vacation was a long time coming. Jared and I had wanted to make a trip to Santa Cruz since we got married-in fact, it was supposed to be our honeymoon destination. But we never made it.

This weekend we did! Better late than never.. Ahh, who am I kidding, much better. Because now we got to bring little miss world traveler.

She really is a great trip buddy.. As long as she's not throwing up. Charlie is a wicked gag reflux from having a feeding tube for the first month of her life and when she gets too worked up, or laughs too hard she throws up. It's pretty disgusting. It's even worse when it's the fourth time she's done it and your only an hour into your trip home.. Ughh.. I'll take any suggestions on how to best clean vomit from a carseat.. Ready, go!

Really though, we had a great time. Without Jared I would be the most boring person in the world. Most of the time the adventures he suggests I think are silly. But I'm always glad in the end because we have so much fun.

When we got to Santa Cruz we stopped for a tour of the Mystery Spot. It's pretty mysterious. This house slid down the side of a hill and when you stand in it straight up you appear to be leaning over. I probably butchered the explanation and have left you more confused than before, but take my word for it. It's mysteriously cool. If you ever find yourself in SC I'd check it out.

We ate great food

Spent much needed time at the beach,

Which, have you heard? It's Charlie's favorite place in the whole world. She had this smile on her face almost the whole time we were there. (Minus when we showed her the waves. Girl hates the ocean)

I love these two. And even more I love that this girl loves her daddy so much. They have so much fun together!

On Being a Mom

This last month I have learned that deep down I really have so much more patience than I ever could have imagined I had. 

I have had long lists that haven't gotten accomplished-or even come close, I've missed showering, sung twinkle twinkle little star 'til I was blue in the face, and laid for countless hours trapped under a sleeping baby (that would sleep nowhere else) staring at blank walls and boxes that so badly needed to be unpacked. One day as I sat in silence thinking of everything I needed to get done that I couldn't, it hit me. This is what being a mom is about. Sometimes dinner isn't done when dad gets home, sometimes the bed goes unmade and laundry is left to wrinkle. But I'll never get back these precious moments. And if Charlie has taught me anything, something I learned very early on with her, it's to never take anything for granted. I cherish her. I cherish the laughter, the funny faces, the milestones, the smiles, the poopy diapers, the screams, the tears and everything in between. I realize everyday how lucky I am that Heavenly Father chose me to be her mom. I'm the lucky one. 

I love you baby C.

 

Time Is Not on My Side.

That's right, time goes by way too quickly. Oh how I wish I could pause moments and stay in them forever (umm, or fast forward).

Needless to say, I have been a super slacker in the blogging world lately! I think it is safe to say we have been crazy busy! In the minutes I manage to steal each day getting things done I find I'm interrupted every five minutes seconds by my baby girl that has recently discovered crawling and new adventures of getting into everything and anything-especially things she's not supposed to.. Can anyone say baby proofing soon?? Yeah, I'll go ahead and put that on my to-do list. 

Anyway, in the last few months we've taken our first family trip to the Oakland temple,

discovered the wonderfully sticky world of solids,

become homeowners (and hopefully will never move again),

--Pictures to come--

gone to Hawaii-just me and C,

took our girl to church for the very first time, also my first time being able to go to church with Jared since she came home,

(you can't really tell in this picture, but her dress is super cute. Promise.)

and.. Well I guess that's it. I supposed traveling and moving (in the same week-and with a baby) can really take it out of a person! We are finally settling into our home and organizing the longest list of "to-do's" you will ever see, but were loving it more than ever. Our neighbors are super friendly, our yard goes for days and our house is a blank canvas awaiting inspiration from, you guessed it, Pinterest! I was almost sure Jared hated it now more than ever before but I've since caught him several times checking it out. I smile inside every time and know I got myself a real catch. I feel like I owe my hubs a shout out for moving everything almost completely on his own while Charlie and I were in Hawaii. Unfortunately my grandpa got sick and our plans to visit him in Hawaii happened to be the week our house ended up closing. He is such a great guy and with times as busy as they have been I know I haven't given him the appreciation he deserves.

Here are some snapshots from our Hawaii trip. We were sad to leave J behind but I couldn't hide my excitement of introducing Charlie to the beach. She loved the sand- which I desperately tried to keep out of her little baby rolls, and she desperately tried to eat, but was terrified of the water -noise? Temperature? Either way I was shocked because she loves bath time.

I'm sorry, but babies in swimsuits?! Have you ever even seen anything so cute in your life?!

She was an absolute angel on the plane and I sat terrified the entire flight ready to throw a mask on her at the first sign of a sick person. But we she made it through the trip healthy (I got sick when we returned home). Anyway, can't say I'll ever be excited to travel without husband and alone with baby ever again. I can't even imagine how hard it would have been if she wasn't angelic.

Oh, did I mention that someone told Charlie it was okay to grow up? ..Yeah, wasn't me.

That's right she now drinks from a sippy cup. Can you believe it? Might as well go pick out her wedding dress...

There is much more I could bore you with but for now I'll end with this cute picture of my sleeping babe. Because who doesn't love sleeping babies?