Life, love, and some other stuff.: thoughts

Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts

Thursday, October 8, 2015

To my daughter

I love your bright eyed smiles at 5:30 in the morning. No really I do. I love your fluffy brown hair after bathtime. I love that you have brown hair when we thought for sure you would be blonde. I love when you look up at me while we're nursing. I love your chunky rolls on your arms and legs. I love our quiet moments together and I even love you when you're screaming. I love reading stories to you in the rocking chair in your room. I love when we play airplane. I love talking and singing to you and seeing you light up and give me a gummy grin. I love when you make noises and squeaks and growls. You can't wait to talk to me. I love when we get you dressed but I also love your squishy, naked belly. I love it when you need me to rock you to sleep at night and when we cuddle in the morning. I love that you look like my baby pictures but that I can see your daddy in expressions that you make.

Everyday I love you more and more and I am so grateful to be your mama.

I want to remember every single moment and soak them all in. Don't let me forget.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Parenting Class Project

I don't have a baby or I would use a picture of myself.
This one is from shailynnphotography.blogspot.com/

My Parenting Manual

For my parenting class this semester I was asked to read two parenting books by Alfie Kohn and Laurence Steinberg. There is a lot of good information in these books that I would like to refer back to when I am a parent. Here I will be sharing the 7 most important principles that I have learned and how they apply to gospel principles.

1. Keep Your Eye on Your Long Term Goals (Kohn, p. 122)

What do you want for you child's future? Do you want them to to be kind, thoughtful, moral, and happy adults that make wise decisions? Or do you want them to do things because they are afraid of punishments or they are seeking rewards or praise? The way we parent has everything to do with the way our children turn out. If we use love withdrawal (time-outs or physical punishment) when they misbehave, we are teaching them to only act well when we are present.

"Generally speaking, no one is better able to help children recognize their spiritual feelings than parents, and no time is better for doing this than childhood. The Lord endows parents with a deep love for their little ones, a special capacity for discerning their needs and feelings, and the right to receive spiritual guidance in their behalf. Because children feel and respond with great sensitivity to their parents’ love, they are open to parental influence and eager to be taught." (Helping Children Hear the Still, Small Voice-By C. Terry and Susan L. Warner)

D&C 42:14 And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.

2. RESPECT (Kohn, p. 124)

If we treated children like we treat adults, we would be a heck of a lot more respectful. All people deserve respect. Children are more likely to respect you if you show them respect.

Exodus 2:25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

3. Be Authentic (Kohn, p. 125)

We need to show our children that we are real people too. Show them that we sometimes make mistakes and have bad days. It's okay to be human. It's okay to be honest. We need to apologize when it is appropriate. Our children learn from our example. "The more real we are with them, the more likely it is that they'll feel real respect for us."

D&C 97:8 Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me.

4. Attribute to Children the Best Possible Motive Consistent with the Facts (Kohn, p. 130)
Children are inherently good. There are no sinister desires to cause trouble. Get all of the facts before you discipline your child. Maybe you're wrong or frustrated or not seeing the big picture. Maybe what they did was an accident. "Mischief ofter can be explained by a simple lack of skills or guidance, an innocent desire to explore, an inability to foresee what happens when you take that thing and do this to it." Consider the fact that the child might just be curious instead of naughty.

Moroni 8:9-10 And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children.
Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children.

5.Keep Their Ages in Mind (Kohn, p. 129)
This one goes hand in hand with number four. If we keep in mind the ages of children we will not expect more of them than they can offer. do not hold your children to unrealistically high expectations. Find out what is developmentally "appropriate" for your child and do not try to push them further than they can handle. Remember that it is normal for small children to fidget, be loud and forgetful.

"You’ll understand people better if you assume that people’s behavior is rational, at least from their point of view. Try to see what they see.” (Choose to Be Good-By Henry B. Eyring)

6.You Cannot be Too Loving (Steinberg, p. 27-46)
It is impossible to spoil a child with love. Tell your child every single day that you love them. Show affection. Give hugs and kisses. Children do not need toughening up, especially from their parents. They will get enough of that from the world. Children need to know that there are at least two people in the world that will always love them no matter what.

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. … Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations” (The Family a Proclamation to the World-The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

"[We must] make our homes a safe place where each family member feels love and a sense of belonging. Realize that each child has varying gifts and abilities; each is an individual requiring special love and care." (Strengthening Families: Our Sacred Duty- By Robert D. Hales)

7. Don't Be in a Hurry (Kohn, p. 138)
This one is pretty literal. Do not rush children. Plan extra time in your schedule. Children are slow moving. They take their sweet time. The more frantic we are, the slower they are likely to be. Plan accordingly and everyone will be much happier.

"My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. Let us be mindful of the foundational precepts our Heavenly Father has given to His children that will establish the basis of a rich and fruitful mortal life with promises of eternal happiness. They will teach us to do “all these things … in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that [we] should run faster than [we have] strength. [But] it is expedient that [we] should be diligent, [and] thereby … win the prize.” (Of Things That Matter Most- By Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

top 10 reasons why 2014 is going to better than 2013

10. We are no longer the newbies in the neighborhood. We know everyone who's anyone around here and people think we're pretty cool. [I guess.]

9. I'M NO LONGER WORKING ON THE CAMPUS GROUNDS CREW. For those of you who don't know what that is and why it's so horrible, let me tell you. It's a job where you wake up super early to mow lawns in the summer. And everyone hates you for being in the way as they're walking to class. And then, you wake up even earlier, like 4:00am, to shovel snow in the winter. And everyone still hates you. Sometimes I cried.

8. We BOTH have new awesome jobs that we love. He sells cell phones and I am a secretary in the Teacher Ed. department and a T.A.

7. We made an herb garden for our kitchen and I'm pretty excited about it. [I may post pictures soon.]

6. We have super awesome couple's best-friends that we both get along with perfectly. It's like, why didn't we meet y'all sooner?

5.I am changing my major, again. Hopefully now I will have less stress about school. Hopefully.

4. We are working on being healthier. Well it's mostly me. I have almost cut gluten completely out of my diet and I am cutting back on dairy and meat. I don't really feel like I'm missing out on much since fruits and vegetables are my favorite things anyways.

3. I've decided that I am not going to let anything stress me out like it did last year. For those who don't know, it was a terrible year for us. I'm going to be real honest. There were times when I thought I couldn't get through. I know that God gives us trials in our lives to test our faith in Him. He gives us trials to prepare us for something else down the road. My trails have made me stronger. I am going to stay positive from now on and I'm not going to feel sorry for myself.

2. I am committing myself to write down my thoughts in some form (journal, blog, essays, tweets, etc.) at least once a day. I want to start making records for my posterity and all.

1. I am going to: pray more, read something uplifting daily, meditate more, do more yoga, take more bubble baths, kiss longer, write more love notes, worry less, eat more sushi, go to bed earlier, and watch less TV.

Here's to the new year! May yours be better and brighter that the one before.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

trying something new

Everything about this outfit was either a gift or so old that I don't remember where it came from.

I'm not one to draw attention to myself. I think selfies are completely awkward, and I will never be able to take one of myself with out feeling like I'm trying too hard. But, people tell me, all the time, that I need to take outfit pictures. How's a girl to do this when all she has is a crappy phone camera and a husband that doesn't share the same vision as to what a good picture looks like? She saves up her pennies for a good camera...
So until the pennies stack up, y'all are just going to have to look at my crappy pictures. Sorry.

So I realize that this outfit isn't spectacular, but it's necessary. It's pushing me out of my comfort zone. You see, I'm more of a black, grey, brown and white, kind of girl and this outfit has a lot more color than I'm used to. Don't get me wrong, I love color, especially when it comes to lipsticks and other people's clothes. But for me and mine, I will always gravitate towards the darks and neutrals. It's just comfortable and flattering for me. And I just think there's something a little sexy about an all black outfit.

I'm excited to see what this blog becomes, and if I jump on the fashion blog bandwagon full steam ahead. Hopefully it will force me out of even more of my comfort zones and make me a more well rounded, confident person!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

chemistry

WARNING: I'm about to get really gushy and lovey-dovey. {deal with it}

So listen, the first three months of our marriage we were living in Minnesota in his parents' basement. It was wonderful to spend time getting to know David's family. I love them all so much. But I'm not going to pretend that it didn't make me want to hurry up and set up house.

Fast forward to now. We are still happily married...duh. We are all settled in frigid Rexburg. We are 1 for 2 on the job front. We are making slightly great grades {despite the fact that I'm taking Chemistry AND Anat & Phys}

We are absolutely, head over heels, nauseatingly, adorably, in LOVE. I love living with David! I have seriously learned so much about him. It's kind of creepy how similar we are with certain things and annoying when we disagree. {but lets face it, that almost never happens.}

Today, we were talking about Valentines day and how we have to postpone it a day because husband has to work. We both had some romantic ideas for how to surprise each other but David was worried that we planned the same thing so he told me what he was doing... GOOD THING! We were both planning on waking up super early to make a cute Valentines breakfast for the other. We would have crossed paths in the kitchen. Luckily, I have some other tricks up my sleeve that he doesn't know about. I hope he likes them.

Monday, April 2, 2012

april fools!

It has seriously been forever since I posted! What's up with that?! I'm guessing it's probably because of: roommate's birthday celebrations.

partying.

homework has been killer.

lot's of finals.

end of the semester chaos.

wasting a little too much time on the internet. (pinterest)

running & working out.

girl's nights.

lack of sleep.

packing.

moving apartments... at least i'm on the first floor!

trip to Utah.

festival of colors.

messing with Cami's car.

seeing old friends.

reading the hunger games.

general conference weekend.

So I think I should tell you about some major awesome/awkwards that have happened since I last posted.

awkward:

Katelyn had a birthday on the 11th then Erin had one on the 13th. We decorated the apartment with balloons on the morning of the 11th and left them up. At midnight on the 13th we screamed outside the front door "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!" Then we danced around the apartment and on the porch. Then, the boys across the parking lot form us started flipping their lights on and off and dancing with us. Then there might have been a little dance competition... this was all happening, and we were stuffing balloons in our shirts, and were probably being too loud because out of no where some guy came up right in our faces wearing a scream halloween costume! It was terrifying! Angela and Kody screamed, Erin froze and Katelyn ran away. Then, while i was screaming, I chucked the hard, plastic, completely full water bottle I was holding at the guy and it hit him square in the face and we slammed the door. Laughing hysterically. So creepy...
Trying to find people to ride to Utah with.
The aftermath form the festival of colors. It took a few days to stop sneezing out rainbow snot.. Attractive.
I didn't get to see Cami when I went to Utah. But, at least I got to wish her a happy birthday and write all over her car!
Wearing skirts in windy Rexburg. Sorry if you've seen more than you wanted...
Trying to figure out a new apartment to move into for next semester. I've moved twice.. Hopefully nauvoo house doesn't mess up again.

awesome:

Dancing at Erin's party and when she almost killed some boy while swinging the bat at the pinata.
This semester is almost over!
My roommates are so sweet this semester and i'm going to miss them.
The festival of colors was really fun and I got some cute and really funny pictures with Mary and her roommates.
I'm now in love with the hunger games! David and I read the first book and we are hooked! I can't wait to see the movie!!
GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS THIS WEEKEND. I love conference and being able to hear the prophet and apostles speak to us!
I GET TO SEE DAVID THIS SATURDAY!!