I feel awesome

Really, I do. Ever since Chamae was born, I feel like I've just been surviving and haven't really enjoyed being home all day with the kids.  I was in a funk.  At the beginning of the year, like the rest of the world, I decided to do something different.  I started waking up early, reading the scriptures, and working out for about 45 minutes before the kids and Brad got up.  Simple, right?  Those first few days were pretty much torture.  I hated waking up early.  I like my sleep.  But after a few days, I found that I was feeling better, more energized.  It wasn't just the exercise, because I have always done something, but it was usually in the evening or while kids were awake and crawling all over me.  I think the combination of getting up, studying, and getting energized with a workout, and having some time just for me has been the difference.  Now I love getting down and playing with the kids all day, I have energy to have dance parties and explore with Donovan, and I'm not as quick to snap at Donovan when he gets into something or makes a mess.  I feel more calm and collected as a mother.  It makes me feel better and I know it has been good for my kids too.  My good mood has trickled into other aspects of our lives as well.  I feel like I can accomplish anything I put my mind to, even with kids in tow.  I feel much more positive about what I'm capable of.  I'm also finding that I really don't care what people think of me.  I was so worried about how others percieved me as a mother and I have realized it's only because I wasn't happy myself and how I was as a mother.  Now I feel good about my mothering abiblites.  I can't take all the credit, but I have some pretty good kids and they are fairly polite and very sweet.  I'm also over the drama that people should have left in high school.  There is a lady in the group of women I sometimes get together with that has been giving me an "I don't like you vibe" and it was really starting to get to me.   At this point, I could care less.  I don't know why she doesn't like me, I think I'm a pretty nice person, but I don't care anymore.  I will continue to be kind to her and not worry about her feelings toward me.  I'm happy with the time I spend with my husband, kids, and the family we have out here.  I don't feel like I'm missing anything (except Utah and everyone there, but I am at peace with that for the time being) and it feels amazing.  

Pinterest, where have you been all my life?

If you don't know what Pinterest is, you should get acquainted.  You can find almost anything!  I have found some really cute craft ideas, tons of recipes, and some really fun science experiments to do with Donovan during Chamae's naps.  This particular one was called "Elephant Toothpaste".  This was the end of it.  The bubbles flowed out of the bottle and Donovan thought it was awesome.  We have also done vinegar and baking soda, but he wasn't impressed by that for more than a few seconds.

 He spent a few minutes squeezing out the rest of the bubbles and squishing it around.  It was pretty cool and fun to watch him get excited about the reaction.

 Drama, drama, drama.  This girl is full of it!  If something doesn't go her way, she lets you hear it!

 And then she's fine about 2 seconds later.

She has become a full time walker!  With absolutely no direction from us.  We sure tried, but she could have cared less.  She did it when she wanted to!  Now she's walking all over the place.  In this video, she was getting frustrated because the little phone she was holding was throwing off her balance, but she had to hold it.

See, she could walk if she really wanted to

I haven't posted videos for a really long time because I thought the files were just too big for blogger, but, our internet was just way too slow! 

Chamae's birthday, etc

Chamae's 1st Birthday cake.  Don't look too closely, I did it really quickly so it's pretty sloppy.

 Chamae in her jumper Granny made for her.

 Opening her little racetrack toy from Granny, Papa, and the Hiatt's.  She loved Corbin's so much, they decided she needed one too.

 Looking and her gifts from David and Joyce while opening her gift from us.

 I was a little lame and kept her birthday celebration pretty low key.  It's just not in me to go all out on a 1 year old, sorry.  If we were closer to more family, it would have been bigger of course.  I did make her a pretty cake though...I should get some points for that.

 Brad thought it was so funny that I would change my daughter's diaper while wearing gloves.  In my defense, I have really dry hands, especially in the winter so they are all cracked and sore and washing my hands 50 times a day doesn't help. 

 Almost back to our regular routine.  Brad went back to work on the 3rd, but Donovan didn't go back until the 4th so we had one more day of laziness.

 When he finally got dressed that day, this is what he came up with.

 She's adorable.

 I can't believe how nice it has been this winter!  We have spent so much time playing outside and the kids love it.

 I just hate that Chamae thinks she needs to climb the stairs whenever we go out.

 Checking to see if his heart beat got faster.  He's so funny.  He has a science book that he makes us read every night and his favorite parts are about his bones and his blood/heart.  He loves to tell me about how his body is working.

I'm not sure how good these videos turned out, but here you go.

Children's Museum and Impromptu Family Photos

Cute baby all ready to go play at the Children's Museum.  We tried to think of fun things to do as a family while Brad was on vacation, and Donovan always bugs us about going to the Children's Museum, so it was a given.

 Doing some fossil digging.

 The ball room is always the favorite.

 Chamae really enjoyed playing with her daddy.

 Enjoying her snack like a big girl.  She's so coordinated!  She is now reaching into bags to grab her snacks.  So cute...although, I still can't really let go of the bag or she shakes it all over the place.

 Always in motion.

 Doing the two things she loves.  Climbing, and grinning at her daddy.

 He is so curious about how things work.  He was pretty focused on something.

 Chamae has her daddy wrapped around her little finger already...

 ...can't you tell?

 He got to go inside a bubble!  This lady was awesome and gave us a really good bubble recipe.  I can't wait until summer so we can try it out!

 Chamae liked to put her hands in the water and then lick her fingers.  Gross.

 My handsome fireman.

 I loved his grocery shopping.  He loaded his cart with asparagus. 

 Finding more fossils.

 I decided we needed some family pictures, so rather than spend $100, I enlisted the help of our friend, Owen.  They aren't professional, but they turned out alright!

The end.