What A Summer!

Well I thought I would do a blog post every month, but with my schedule that has NOT been do-able. I suppose I will just catch you all up when I have some down time...not that loads of you read this blog on a regular basis, but I am grateful for a few old and new friends who do :)

Kevin and I have been managing the Sparks II complex for a little over 3 months now. It is a lot of work, but I think it is really good for our little family. I LOVE that I can be home with Evelyn. With summer being the busiest time of year I also love that I can look forward to this job slowing down a lot once school starts. I have been selling contracts all summer and today we are down to our very last 2 contracts 1 for men and 1 for women. With three weeks plus till school starts I think we will fill.

Although summer is the busiest time here and I can look forward to things quieting down, I have made some realizations about life and priorities this time around. My pans for the summer were to work as manager, study for comprehensives, write my thesis and be a mommy. Plans for the fall would be the same, but would also add in my 10 hour a week assistant-ship. As I was doing all the things that were expected of me (including filling in as a lecturer on campus every couple of weeks) I saw a disturbing trend. My work, thesis, study, and teaching were all getting in the way of my other responsibility...mommy.

That is backwards right? ...right. To all you mommies out there you probably understand. I had no time even before adding in baby's needs. I felt like I always had to tell Evelyn "Sorry sweetheart, mommy doesn't have time to play right now." How could I keep saying that to my little buddy? This time in her life is so developmentally important. I want her to know from early on that she matters to me. I want to be accessible to Evelyn because I am grateful that my own mom was always accessible to me. I want Evelyn to learn how to play make believe and how to build with blocks, how to scribble and how to climb the stairs. And I want her to learn to do those things with me. She deserves a best friend who is available.

I was faced with one of the toughest choices I have ever made. What to give up. Well, as a grad student you are expected to make some sort of contribution to the department in the form of teaching or TAing so that couldn't go. I needed to keep the management job because that was an answer to prayer and is a great way for me to help us save up now that Kevin is in grad school. After weeks of thinking about it, I decided that my masters degree was the one thing  I could let go for the sake of something better. I realized that I was finishing my degree to finish it, not because finishing it would change anything about my life. I had thought that I might teach a few classes once my kids were bigger, but if you are out of the field for years a university probably won't hire you anyways. I realized that this is a time in life that I will not get back. I need to be present in my home. I know I have made the right decision. Now that I am accessible Evelyn is WAY happier! She will come over and play with me for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, but then returns to what she was doing. We go to the park, duck pond, or swimming most every day.

Now I am just working as manager and being a wife and mother. While there are still times when I need to work and must tell Evelyn I can't play right now, I am so much more focused on home and family. Even when I am working Evelyn is with me (unless she is napping).

I am so grateful for Evelyn! She is now 13 months old. I have been meaning to post some photos of this summer.

 Having fun with cousins up in Garland.

 Evelyn LOVES her hat and wears it all over the house.

 My whole family came down for her  birthday. We swam in the pool and had a BBQ.

 Time for cake!

 Evelyn's first exposure to chocolate was a roaring success!

 Evelyn was on this kick for a few days where she would put her jumper over her head and crawl around giggling. 

 On the train at Lagoon.

 Laughing at the monkeys at Hogle Zoo.

 We go swimming a few times a week. Evelyn LOVES the water.

 Ducks in two directions at the duck pond. She didn't know which way to look first!

 She is getting SO big!

 Apparently Evelyn thinks the ducks have had enough bread. Her turn now :)

 Evelyn is a great climber...at the park...in the house...on the bookshelves...

 We keep a diaper changing station in an ottoman. She opens the lid and climbs in almost daily.

Computer wiz kid. Already learning how to type and run a mouse :)

Life is good! The next couple of weeks will be crazy as the students arrive for school, but I think we can do it. Have a great day!

A Summer of "New"s

It amazes me how quickly life moves on and changes. You blink and miss something! This is the summer of all things new for our little family. We moved across town to accept a job as BYU single student complex managers. Started that new job. I received a new church calling, and Kevin graduated and is gearing up for a new degree. Evelyn is full of new things too!

Our new job started in April, but we couldn't move right into the apartment at Sparks II because they wanted to remodel our apartment. I was so grateful when they finished because now there is a safe place for Evelyn to play while I work...our living room! My office is just off the living room of our apartment. Evelyn doesn't really like that I need to work, but I only have office hours for 4 hours a day M-F and she sleeps through more than half of them.

Evelyn loves the tenants here. She smiles and giggles when they walk into the office. They love her too. Some of the tenants drop by just to see Evelyn in the afternoons. It is remarkable how much more social Evelyn has become since we started here. It is very good for her. It is very good for all of us!

We hosted a pizza party last night and got to play games for the evening with the tenants. They are super nice. If you know anyone moving to Provo send them my way. The people here are great!

I was called to the Young Women's presidency last month. I am super excited. We have some really great girls! They all love Evelyn and she loves them too. It works out very well because Kevin clerks on Wednesday nights when Evelyn and I have mutual, so we all go to the church together! I received the call just in time to get ready for girls camp this summer. Another girl in the presidency can't go because the is going to have a baby in a couple of months, but she offered to take Evelyn for a day while Kevin works so I can go up overnight with the girls. I can't wait!

Evelyn crawls like a speed demon, she is cruising along furniture too. Not up on the whole balance thing, but it will come! She sings, babbles and can say daddy, mama, baby, hi, and eat. She also presses the phone up against the back of her head and says "hi". She keeps Kevin and I laughing at our house. Today she managed to get up to the boggle game and put two dice in her mouth before Kevin caught her. Scary, but her chipmunk cheeks were hilarious.

As you can probably see by the finger and lip prints Evelyn's mirror gets a lot of love :) She loves playing with 'The baby in the mirror'

I had a roll of paper towels out and this is what I came back to.

Starting her out young accessorizing :)

Evelyn always wants to be like her daddy. She put his tie on and kept it on all Sunday afternoon.

I often feel spread very thin trying to work, fill in for professors in the department, finish my thesis and exams, be a mommy, wife, as well as serving in the church. I will be excited when (in a couple of years) I can settle down to focus on the last three alone. It is hard to be everything all at once, but I know this time will be short and I am sure I will miss the frequent interaction with students and academics alike. Life changes so quickly and I don't want to miss anything!

We got a job and are MOVING!!!

...Ok so we are only moving across town, and since we are both still going to be in grad school it isn't even a "real" job. Kevin and I are going to be the new managers at Sparks II townhomes here in Provo. The current manager is an "in the hall with the kids" friend from church and she suggested I apply and recommended me to the owners.

Sparks II is a single student complex south of BYU. We are really excited! It is a good job for me and allows me to work at home while Kevin is in grad school. They expect me to have Evelyn with me which is awesome! And they are excited that I am still a student. It should be a lot like when I was an RA up in Idaho only I need to be home more, but since I have Evelyn we stay fairly close to home for naps anyways. The apartment is a tad smaller than our current one I think, but I really can't find fault with free rent and utilities or walk-in closets. They are even remodeling the kitchen and bathroom before we move in next month. There is a pool, hot tub, pool table, ping-pong table, bbq, and 60 inch TV.  This is a good move for our little family. I think it will help keep us young while we finish school. Heaven help me packing with Evelyn!


My mom and mother-in-law are amazing! We have had each of them for a week this semester. Thanks to them I finished my class very well and got a great start writing my thesis while they played with Evelyn. I feel so bad when I have to tell her I have homework to do. Since I hate saying that, I usually try to cram gradschool, TAing and keeping up my house into naptime. Thanks to Nana and Grandma I haven't had to do that for a while!

As for Evelyn, she is doing really well! At 9 months old she's still very healthy, and growing like a champ. She crawls like a fiend now. I chase her up and down the hall growling while she squeals and giggles :) She pulls herself up to walk along the couches. She turns pages in books instead of ripping them. She opens drawers and crawls under the bed in my room. She claps her hands and plays peek-a-boo. She still only says mama, dada, and baby, but she is understanding a lot more if not saying it. As of today she is 20 1/2lbs and 28.5 inches long
.

 Playing with the baby in the mirror.

 She loves any form of technology, even if it is an old deal laptop. She gets that from Kevin.

She plays a mean pot lid...she gets that from me :)

We took Evelyn to the Festival of Colors last month. She and I hid in the gift shop during the actual throwing to protect her lungs. Then she fell asleep in all the chaos. We still got covered with powder though. Cleaning up after was a joke with Evelyn :) So fun!

It has been a great year so far! We are making changes in our family to enjoy even better health.. I just finished a 9 week workout program called Insanity. It was awesome! I plan to continue doing it a few days a week still since it was SO good. I highly recommend it to anyone who is it decent shape already and wants to get in the best shape of their lives!

Life is good!

Moving on while standing still...

The last couple of months have been pretty crazy. Kevin and I are just managing to stay afloat with school, work, callings, and Evelyn. We have even kept up our new years resolutions so far. We are eating healthier (if this counts I make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that use all whole wheat flour and applesauce instead of oil) lots less processed foods, and we haven't missed a day reading a chapter from our favorite book. The Book of Mormon.

With this being my last semester in classes, the end of the scheduling chaos is nearly at an end...I think....maybe...OK so probably not. There will still be all the evenings this summer that Kevin will have to take Evelyn after working all day so I can go live at the library and work on my thesis. I would like to get most of it written this summer because...drum roll please... Kevin was accepted into the grad program for computer science here at BYU starting this fall!!! We are very excited. His emphasis is graphic user interface and he really enjoys it. More good news, he gets to keep his current job through grad school. He will continue to do research for the professor he works for now. So for now we are moving on while staying in the same place.



I have been experimenting with some projects (when I should have been doing homework) and some of them have turned out really well!

I made these blocks for my friend Lindsay's wedding. They take a decent amount of space, but I love them. I've made similar blocks with baby paper on all sides and birth statistics.

They were super easy. Sand and stain the wood-Print and cut the letters/photo- Modgepodge paper to wood.

This February marked my third Valentines Day with Kevin. What a great time it has been. I wrote him a list of 100 things I love about him and filled a basket with little gifts that signify important things about our relationship and he spoiled me with a homemade candle lit dinner (the same one he proposed with) and CANDY!

Kevin is always so kind to me. I don't know that I have ever heard him say anything mean about anyone, and I know he has never said anything harsh to me. I don't think I have ever met a more mild person and I am truly blessed.


Speaking of blessings! Evelyn is growing up WAY too fast. While she hasn't started crawling yet, at 8 months she is the fastest army crawler I have ever seen. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks, but slithers onto her belly when she actually goes to move forward. She can army crawl right over the top of me if I am between her and her favorite toy (right now a slotted wooden spoon from the kitchen :) ). Evelyn babbles up a storm these days. Right now I am pretty sure "mamamama" means "I want something" or "I need help". "Dada" is her pass-time word. The only word she says that I think she actually comprehends the real meaning of is "baby". She opened a magazine to a picture of a baby and said it over and over while smacking the magazine. She loves exploring the house, blowing raspberries, babbling, and sitting in her highchair to eat cut up berries.

She is getting SO tall!

Evelyn loves books. Especially the one with pictures of toddlers telling the story of Nephi.

She decided at 6 months that my bed was the ONLY acceptable place to nap.  She also decided that 4 1-hour naps would be a better idea than 2 2-hour naps. So she is only awake for a couple of hours at a time and is still down for around 10.5-11 hours at night. You know, she can do what she wants as long as she naps. When she is happy we all win!

 I think Evelyn's room will always be a work in progress. I still have fabric from her quilt and wall hanging to cover pillows with. We will see when that happens!

I DID use some of the fabric to cover formula cans for holding her hair bows

I have been learning so much lately about what it means to value those I love. What would I do if I didn't have them? There have been days as a parent that I think "What in the world did I get myself into?" but I would rather have Evelyn on her very worst day than not have her at all. Same with Kevin (although he really doesn't have bad behavior days). I count myself very lucky to be surrounded by such a happy family. My little sweetheart is always full of smiles, squeals, and giggles when I get home from class to relieve Kevin. Heck, if Kevin were the squealing or giggling type he might be too! As it is I know my family loves me and enjoys having me around. I am really excited for the day when I will be done with school and work so I can focus wholly on the tasks of being a wife and mother. Till then I suppose I will always be a little tired from staying up late to do homework after Evelyn goes to bed! 

Here is a little video to finish up. Our home teacher was making Evelyn giggle so hard she had tears running down her cheeks. We missed the hardest giggles while grabbing the camera, but it still makes me happy.

Still Changing!

Here is an update mostly on Evelyn. She is 7 months old! She has been sitting for a couple of months now and is scooting across the floor like a champ. She gets up onto her hands and knees now, but I think it will be a while before she actually crawls. Her favorite things to find (and chew on) are power chords, laptops, remotes, phones, and textbooks. My house is SO not baby proof.

***

So Evelyn is in a sing/squeal/scream phase. She does all three A LOT.  I love the singing and often think the squealing is adorable...the screaming not so much. Here she is singing a bit and squealing a bunch :) (it was a Saturday so pardon the laundry in the background)

***

She loves her bouncer and it is heaven sent while I do the dishes. This week she discovered that she could walk herself over to the door  frame. She even reached the edge of the garbage can so it had to be moved. A moment after I snapped this picture she lifted her feet off the floor. Totally reminded me of Spiderman climbing the walls!

***

In addition to school and hanging out with Evelyn, I have also been working one some projects this month. I've been learning to crochet with even stitches. I made an ear warmer from a pattern I found on pinterest and BOY has it been necessary this month with all the cold weather. I have also been finishing Evelyn's nursery, but I will wait until I am done to post pictures.

I made this one for a friend

***

Since Evelyn is a sturdy sitter now, she has decided that her reclining cradle swing is unacceptable. That means I get this corner of my living room back! Yay! My pretty chair has been stuck in the nursery for the past 6+ months and I am so glad to have it back out where I can enjoy it. The paintings were a gift from my friend Taryn and I think it is amazing that they match my my vase and flowers.

School is going well. Most days I can't believe that I am so close to finishing my masters degree. I still don't feel like I have mastered much of anything, but I love what I am learning! I am so grateful for my little family, for school, and for work. It is a good life to be living, and I am happy.

6 months...really?

6 MONTHS OLD?!?

I really can't believe my baby is 6 months old! In some ways the time has flown and in others it has crawled. What a ride! The adjustments have been many and I am still making them every day. Evelyn is sitting up very well. She has even started scooting, but usually moves backwards and then gets mad that the object of her efforts is growing ever further out of reach.

I can't believe how fast life changes. In 2009 I completed my bachelors degree. In 2010 I was traveling the world. 2011 brought marriage to the greatest man I have ever met, and 2012 brought our sweet Evelyn Marie into our lives. I wonder what 2013 has in store for us. I would like to think it will hold a masters degree for me, but that is probably wishful thinking...fingers crossed for 2014 on that one!

Kevin and I are both in classes and working this semester. YIKES! Kevin has Evelyn in the mornings on MWF while I go to class and/or teach Music 101. Then I have her the rest of the day and work remotely from home while she naps so Kevin can go to school and work. I think she likes having Kevin all to herself all morning. It has been pretty crazy so far, and will only get more so, but I think we can do it!  This is the last semester of classes for me, and the last semester of Kevin's bachelors degree. Hopefully by this time next year he will be settled into his masters degree or a new job.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS: I often go overboard with resolutions then get discouraged when I can't stick to them all. This year I tried to be more realistic. Kevin and I only made one resolution for this year as a couple. Read at least one full chapter of the Book of Mormon together every night before bed. So far so good! I also made a resolution for myself to make our family's food as healthy as Evelyn's baby food by the time she is eating what we are.

...speaking of baby food. Evelyn started solids last month. I make most of her foods (at least the normal foods) because it is fresher and more economical. She LOVES trying new things! She hasn't refused anything yet. Her favorites are avocado, oatmeal, prunes, and sweet potatoes.

 Excited for breakfast!

I used to do a lot of housework while Evelyn napped, but now I find the need to do homework then so I can focus and so she doesn't eat my textbooks. (She has a thing for print books. She kept going after mine while I was reading it so I gave her an old one to keep her occupied. Before I realized what was going on almost half the page was missing...no bits of paper survived!) This semester I need to do chores with my little buddy. This week she helped me with the laundry.

                               

 I sure hope Kevin's socks passed the taste test!   :)

Christmas Break, Truffles, and Potato Chowder!

I mentioned in my last post how excited we were about the break! No school for 3 weeks! Well, so far the break has lived up to our expectations. We traveled to visit family, had a very merry Christmas, and are back home in Provo.

TRUFFLES!

Day one of the break I made my favorite MINT truffles. The past few years I have made peanut butter, mint, and cake truffles along with chocolate covered caramels, but this year that seemed unrealistic so I settled on the mint and the caramels.They are super easy!

The mint truffles only have 4 ingredients: the three above and chocolate chips for dipping (we did a double batch). Mix the cookies in a gallon ziplock and crunch them up. Repeat as needed until all the cookies are crumbs. Mix in softened cream cheese until you have delicious firm cookie dough texture. Form balls of whatever size you like. I use a cookie dough scoop to make it faster. Stick them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for an hour. After that all that is left is to dip them!

We used milk chocolate chips because they taste better, but they also melt faster in your hand. Milk chocolate chips mixed with candy coating are a better bet. These are super rich and amazingly good!

CHOWDER!

I had corn chowder at my mom-in-law's house and wanted to make a variation of my own.

6 red potatoes
1 bunch of green onion
4-6 stalks of celery heart
4 slices crispy turkey bacon

chop the above into bite-size or smaller pieces

Corn
Peas
4 chicken bullion cubes
Poultry seasoning and garlic powder (not garlic salt)
4 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and cook until potatoes are done. Pull out about 1 potato's worth of potato chunks and mash them. Mix the mashed potatoes with 1 can of evaporated milk and return the mixture to the crockpot. Stir and cook on high for another 30 minutes.

It turned out incredibly well!

CHRISTMAS!!!

At first there was no snow so we enjoyed walks!

Then Evelyn learned how to play her piano...sort of.

Although she didn't really get the paper ripping she sure got the paper eating!

She totally knows the good stuff!

...and she has perfected the art of flat bottomed sitting!!! She finally got over the "lean" she has been struggling with.

We went to both our families houses during the break. They were all so happy to see Evelyn! She had a great time too. Now we are home trying to get back on a schedule that is acceptable to everyone. I am so grateful for the Christmas season and for Christ and his perfect life. I am grateful from family, friends and the knowledge that everything will work out in the end. Life is good and I am happy.