Crazy Socks & Writer's Block

With a new year here, it's time for some new goals. I was stressing a few weeks ago that I felt like there was nothing I'd be able to accomplish goal wise in the new year because I could barely get out of the house. However I'm not feeling as overwhelmed anymore and am so excited for this new year. It's going to be so different from years past. First off, we have Aaron.  Second off, I no longer work at the library! I'm free! No more worrying about dying at work, being harassed, calling the police, dealing with bodily fluids, and drama. I went back to work for two days and now I'm free.  So this year, my goals are: To write a first draft of my new story, preferably by April Stay off social media  Practice mindfulness everyday  Try ten new recipes Our goals as a couple are: Go on a date once a month Go to the temple quarterly  Budget every month  Go to the gym 2x per week Complete the Come Follow Me Lessons every week Our goal...

Aaron finally had the opportunity to be held by his uncle Tanner. Okay, I might have just walked by and placed Aaron in his lap ;) Aaron just chilled for a bit, then struck this pose.   I love his little attitude, he's so stinking cute. After that he laid on the floor then started putting his bum in the air and farting like crazy. He cracks me up.  He also hung out with his uncle in his man cave, claiming his own chair.  A few days later he got to take a nap with his uncle Mike. He just relaxed and let his arms fall. Aaron's lucky to have such awesome uncles:) 

Aaron went to his first Christmas party. We've been asking him if he was excited to meet Santa for weeks. I put him in his cute little Christmas onesie.  I tried to put him in a pair of jeans, but they are still way too big. Aaron snuggled with me early in the day to conserve his energy for Santa.  I was excited to see how Aaron would react. Here's my first Santa picture.  We tried to put Aaron in the Christmas sweater that my mom bought him, but when I tried it on him, he was pretty hungry and not having it. My dad said it was because he wanted nothing to do with the dark side. We got to the party and my family was there and the food was amazing! They had a taco bar and salsa contest. Sammy ate some salsa that even made his eyes start watering up. He went up to the woman who made it and told her he loved it, and she had watery eyes as well. Aaron got passed around the party to people that I grew up with. It was so fun to see him with them, and how he'...

My newest nickname for Aaron is my bug-a-boo. He started as my Boo but it just evolved from there.  Here are the latest random cute pictures of my bug-a-boo.  He was eating his hand and Remi was licking her foot right behind him. Holding a french fry  All of his wubbanubs  His Halloween outfit that finally fits  Crazy bath time hair  His little hand 

I've been so excited to read with Aaron since he was born. I tried a few times to read to him but he showed zero interest. Then out of nowhere he started looking at the pictures in this book Skeleton Cat where a skeleton cat wants to be a drummer. He'd even smile while I read it to him. He has great taste.  We read a book about colors and he really loved the green and purple pages.  Then one night I gave him his medicine and he was crying pretty hard. I set him on my lap and started reading him one of my favorite books when I was in 2nd grade to him. He looked at every page and stopped crying, and at the end he fell right asleep. It was one of the sweetest moments I've had with him.  We took Aaron to my work since we were nearby. In the short time we were there we saw a fight in the parking lot, people grilling out side, and a woman having a meltdown. Aaron slept through all of that though and we got him a few books. I'm already getting tired of reading the...

Aaron was blessed on November 25th. I've been excited for his blessing day for a long time. I was so excited that Sammy could bless him, and that he would be. I was excited to hear what blessings were in store for our son.  I was originally stressed out about finding Aaron the perfect outfit for his blessing. So much so that I let Aaron have a full on meltdown in a Target while I looked at the clothes for a moment.  This was his face after said meltdown. But then the next day we were in the hospital and getting Aaron the perfect outfit was the least of my worries. It's funny how priorities can change so quickly. When we finally got out we grabbed him this adorable penguin outfit. The day of his blessing Sammy and I were both nervous in the morning. We got up at seven and started getting ready. We left for the church a whole hour early.   We were so lucky to have my family, Sammy's family, friends I grew up with, and friends we've made here there to ...

I've been thinking a lot about the things that made pregnancy and birth more bearable, and things that I wish I'd done differently. Here's my list. Body pillow. I waited forever to get one because I thought it was so expensive at $40, but that was the best $40 I've ever spent. It made sleeping so much better during pregnancy and during recovery. I don't know when I'll remove it from my bed.   Night cheese. I started eating a piece of cheese every night before bed when I had morning sickness at the beginning and end of my pregnancy. The protein in it kept me full and made it easier to sleep longer.  Walmart Memory Foam shoes. I had sciatic pain at work, and my feet were larger during pregnancy. I went to Walmart and got some memory foam shoes a size up and they were a lifesaver. My sciatic pain almost went away completely, and I still felt cute in my shoes. They're too big now, but I got great use out of them.  Maternity leggings with the g...

Aaron is definitely my child in that he loves attention, so he really loved Thanksgiving.  He spent all day being held by lots of people who love him. We had lunch at my parents house. Aaron sat next to the table in his rock and play, cooing and chattering during the prayer and during lunch.  My family thinks that Aaron looks like Sammy from the side. We all watched the dog show together. I was betting that a poodle would win but sadly that was not the case. Sammy and I actually got to sit next to each other on the couch while someone else held Aaron. (I swear Aaron has a sensor that goes off every time we sit next to each other. He'll be dead asleep and we'll sit by each other and he'll immediately wake up and start crying.)   We watched Magnum PI after that and Sammy admitted that it's actually good :)  We went over to Sammy's parents for dinner where everyone fought to hold him and Aaron got to play on a play mat his grandma bought for him. I got...

I have long said that Tuesdays are the worst days of the week. Mondays are hard because you have to get yourself back into that week grind. But Tuesdays you're tired from Monday and still have to keep on going. That idea only perpetuated itself when I got a job that required me to work later on Tuesday nights. Aaron has caught onto the idea because every single Tuesday with him has been so hard.  He usually behaves on Mondays which is such a blessing to me since I'm nervous getting back into the week. His good behavior on Monday's had lulled me into a false sense of security like maybe I can do this mom thing on my own. But every single Tuesday has been hard. On one particular Tuesday after his hospital stay Aaron just kept crying and crying and crying. I was full on sobbing by 10:00am because I couldn't get him to stop, and I hadn't slept well the night before. I was too tired to keep up with the crying and I had tried everything to fix it.  That day was o...

After being gone from church for two months, I was itching to go back. Before, I dreaded going for a lot of anxiety reasons. But after taking a break I was ready to see everyone again.  Getting ready for church with a baby is a lot harder than just getting ready. It took Sammy and I two and a half hours to get ready, mostly because only one of us could get ready at a time while the other took care of Aaron. We made it though and I got to put Aaron in the cutest onesie. Friends, I almost died he was so stinking adorable.  I went to put my dress on and came back to see that Sammy had completed Aaron's look and somehow gotten his hair to stay down! He's still figuring out this tie thing.  We got to church and people weren't as grabby as I thought they'd be, probably because we kept him in his carseat. I have no idea what anyone spoke about that day because I was so focused on Aaron the whole time. Every time he made a noise or wiggled, I was scared he was ...

When we were in the hospital, I joked with my mom and sister that when I pictured motherhood, I pictured it going a lot differently. I thought that I'd spend the day watching Harry Potter with Aaron, then I'd write while he took a nap, then I'd have the time and energy to make a delicious, nutritious meal every night while he sat in his bouncer and watched me.  Haha. I was so naive.  The day after the hospital, Aaron was extremely cuddly with me. He did not want me to put him down or walk out of eye sight. One of the saddest moments of the day was when I put him in his rock and play and walked to grab something. I watched him turn his head and his eyes follow me. As soon as I was out of eyesight, he started screaming. I  completely changed my plans for the day at that moment. I didn't worry about cleaning up or making dinner.  We went for a walk and I left the shade down so he could see me.  I turned on Harry Potter and snuggled with my boy in h...