Exploring

I love watching Sadie explore and discover the world around her. The other day we had a little picnic at the park. And by little, I mean super SHORT because it was way too hot outside! She is so curious and confident in herself which makes for a fun combination in a new environment.

 

She keeps me young. I'm glad we have so many adventures to look forward to together!

Spiritual experience

Something wonderful happened today at church. I was completely blown away by the Spirit for the first time since Sadie's blessing day. I try every day to be kind and honest, so that I can be open to promptings or "love notes" from God. It can be so hard to be still enough to notice these in such a busy world. Well today during Primary, I felt engulfed in His love. I'll build up to that moment...

I was just recently called to be the new Primary chorister (teaching church music to the children) in our church ward. Last week my anxiety was running high and I felt so inadequate in my new calling. Even though the other teachers and pianist were understanding and patient with my mistakes, I just couldn't get out of there fast enough after. I spent the next couple of days wondering why on earth God wanted ME to fill the shoes of the previous chorister who was a music major and clearly felt right at home in the calling... After feeling sorry for myself, and a few pep talks from my husband later, I came to a resolve. God has called me to teach these children because He knows I will give my best. It won't be perfect, and I will surely sing off key a few times.. but I will serve gladly and share the joy I feel when I sing about this amazing gospel with the kids. I realized in that moment that that was all Heavenly Father was asking of me to do. 

So I thought, I can do that! After I made that decision, it was like getting back on a bike. Most of the songs came back to me and my mom had plenty of visuals she let me borrow to teach with. (She served in this same calling for years and it was her absolute favorite place to be. Go figure.) I learned a song in ASL (brought back a lot of memories of my ASL classes I took in high school), a chorus in Spanish, and a lot of extra verses to the songs I grew up singing. Come this morning, I was not just prepared but also EXCITED to teach. I had fun with the kids, and they smiled and followed along.

One of the last songs we sang was "We'll Bring The World His Truth". The kids all stood up (to practice for our program) and sang with the most beautiful voices and unshakeable faith these words:

We are as the army of Helaman

We have been taught in our youth

That we will be the Lord's missionaries

To bring the world His truth

To be honest, I about lost it right then and there... In front of me was a group of 8-11 year old children who are still so young, have yet to experience so many of the struggles that come with growing up.. And they were bearing their testimonies (harmoniously I might add) that they know why they are here. To share the joy of the gospel with the world. It was awesome and they are going to do incredible things! I'm so happy that I get a glimpse of their sweet spirits every Sunday.

Home projects

Since I've got a couple of weeks until school starts, I've been sprucing up our home in my spare time. It's a newer home so there isn't really much "improvement" that needs to be done to it. I just wanted to add a personal touch by re-painting several spots and decorating. Our master bathroom was half a yellow/tan color with the other half maroon stripes. The second I saw this bathroom, I knew I'd be changing that... I found some of the matching yellowish paint tucked away in the garage and used a layer of primer in between. I love how the color looks with our wood blinds. It is much lighter in there now and the tackiness is gone.  :)

 

The very first thing I painted after we moved in was our front door. The house itself is tan with red brick accents (just on the pillars) so I wanted to lighten up the door, but stick with the nice green color. I used the color "Kiwi Kissed" because it blends well but also adds just the right amount of pop. The picture doesn't quite do it justice.. It's like a soft mint color. Now I just need to hang a wreath!

  

 Sadie's room was another space I was anxious to change up. It was obviously a little girl's room at one point (top picture below is how it was staged when we were doing our walk-through) but I wasn't digging the pink and brown combo. I painted the paneling white first to see if the pink would grow on me but it didn't.. so then I changed the pink to a lavender. I am really into the lighter walls now if you can't tell. I feel like it makes the room look clean and bright. 

 

After I took the photo above, I rearranged her dresser and crib, hung some shelves, made a little story corner, and added a polka dot decal wall as a finishing touch! Her room is definitely my favorite. 

It's been so much fun turning our new house into a home by hanging photos and adding touches of personality to it. My next projects are to repaint Sadie's bathroom (I'm thinking gray and white striped) and create a gallery wall in our loft. More pictures to come!

Fossil Springs hike

This past weekend, we took an impromptu overnight trip to my family's cabin in Pine, AZ. I've been dying to show Will all of the variety that Arizona has to offer and my mom was willing to babysit Sadie, so it was a done deal! This was the first time I've ever been away from my baby overnight... I actually didn't get anxious at all after we left! (It helps that she is crazy about her grandma and is also taking whole milk along with nursing now.) We invited our newly married friends Roman and Jessica along and planned a hike at Fossil Springs for the next morning. Well, the morning quickly turned into half the day hiking... because apparently the road to a much shorter trail was closed. We ended up hiking 9 miles roundtrip to get to the springs but it was well worth it though for the 2 hours of swimming, rock jumping, and cave exploring at the bottom. The water was really cold but once we hopped in it felt nice. I haven't done that strenuous of a hike in YEARS and the last 2 miles hiking out were tough for me. Thank goodness I had awesome hiking buddies that kept pushing me forward. It's always an awesome feeling to accomplish something really hard.  
 

 

 

 When we got back to Mesa, there was a happy little girl waiting for us. Even though my mom said everything went perfect (fell asleep without a fuss, made it through 3 hours of church, took naps, and was just a happy camper all around), Sadie has not let me out of her sight the past 2 days. I'm hoping we didn't give her separation anxiety... but I seriously doubt it. She is just a momma's girl above all else!

I can't say I mind one bit...

more birthday shenanigans

i know i know it's been a week since her birthday...

but when you've got one kid and a camera phone, you document that like crazy.

here are a couple of videos and some more pictures from last week.  :)

started the day with one of her favorite breakfasts, banana pancakes!
then on to a tub and some bath paint..
loving that tan line above her bum bum.

after her bath, i dressed her up in this cute outfit our friends elle and max got her.
then, we went to the mall so she could pick out some outfits and dress up jewelry.
she is a little diva and loves to wear her "jewelry" around any chance she gets.

later when will got home, we all went to the aquarium.
we thought for sure sadie would be enthralled with the fish,
but whenever they swam close, she would push against the glass and back away.
it was funny to see her reaction and we had a good time.
afterwards, we went to "the rainforest cafe" for dinner. delicious!

this tank was full of all of the Finding Nemo kinds of fish.
i thought it was so cute!

it was an awesome day with our favorite girl.

splish splash, sadie had a birthday bash!

 setting up for the party... sadie was eating 90% of the night.

 

my mom made these yummy and CUTE "sand dollar" cookies.

 

 

sadie's cousin violet knows the way to her heart is through her stomach.

 

trying to hold hands with her cute boyfriend, troy  ;)

the cutest moment ever when we posed for a picture and she just started giving kisses! 

  

 

the party theme was "under the sea" if you couldn't tell...

we're so grateful for our friends and family who came to celebrate with us!

sadie is lucky to be loved by so many wonderful people (and so are we!)