Easter Shirt

This is Trey's cutie Easter shirt :)...that's the only thing the Easter Bunny brought him.  We're still trying to decide if we want to really introduce the Easter Bunny to our kids.  Guess we have another year to decide.

He wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get any really good pics...

This face makes me laugh! :)

Trey and his mama :)

Happy Easter!

First Time Parents

Dale and I are first time parents...which means everything our 1 kid does is pretty much the most exciting thing in the world.  That means when our kiddo is ready for his first haircut, I want to be there.  I want to collect some of his hair (even if it is too small to really collect).  Dale and I had talked about giving Trey a haircut for quite awhile.  It was growing over his ears, and getting pretty shaggy.  The kid does not lack in the hair department (though his leg hair, which was ridiculously thick when he was born, has gradually evened out).  But, we were busy, and life went on.  Trey's haircut was put on the back burner for awhile.  Then one day I came home from work and saw Trey's freshly cut hair.  Dale had given him his first haircut while I was at work.  I gotta admit, as cute as Trey looked, I was pretty disappointed/somewhat upset.  It was lucky for us Dale was teaching Piano lessons for 3 hours so I had time to get over it.  I know he was just being helpful.  I get that.  But I did have to explain that as a working mom I feel like I already miss out on so much, so I want to be there for those big things we can control...like my kid's first haircut.  As it turned out giving Trey a haircut was a 2 person job, and Dale wasn't actually able to finish it completely by himself.  So, I still got my pictures.  I still got a few scraps of hair.  And our hairy kid has now had 2 haircuts, and could technically use a third. 

 

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

This week I am extremely grateful for the honest people in this world.  One of our 2012 goals was to become rock awesome budgeters.  In order to do that, we had to actually budget and stick to it...what a concept :).  We've decided to do the envelope system since we deal with a lot of cash from Dale's piano lessons.  Basically the envelope system entails putting all of your money into separate "envelopes" for different things you need throughout the month.  I bought one of those expanding folders that has 12 compartments for all of our budgeting needs.  We absolutely love it.  This system has honestly revolutionized our entire financial future.  The only flaw is that at any given time you are carrying with you your entire month's worth of money in cash.  That can be a problem when you leave it in your shopping cart at Target.  Which I did.  On Saturday.  I even left it outside.  I was worried.  I could just see someone taking all of my cash.  In my mind I was formulating a plan on how we were going to get through the rest of the month with no money.  When I went back to get it, the shopping cart I left it in out in the parking lot was empty.  I rushed to the Customer Service section of the store and stood impatiently in line.  Finally, when the Target worker handed over my purse, I checked to see what was missing.  Nothing.  Everything was there.  My phone, my wallet, my money.  What a huge blessing.  Dale wasn't worried.  He said he had said a prayer.  Believe me, I was praying the entire time.  I am SO grateful our prayers were answered the way we were hoping :).  I have no idea who returned my purse, but I am so grateful for their honesty!

ALMOST 8 months

Yesterday Dale and I were talking about how fast Trey is growing up.  I said, "It's crazy he's 8 months old already!"  Then Dale so kindly insisted Trey is not 8 months yet...not for another 3 days.  So Trey is ALMOST 8 months old :).

Yesterday Marcie took more pics of our sweet little boy for us :).  I am so in love with every single one.  I can't even decide which one is my favorite.  They all are!  He's so grown up :).

Homemade Valentines

Dale and I were super low key about the whole Valentine's Day thing this year.  Homemade was our theme...which meant no excruciatingly expensive roses (as much as I love getting them :), no fancy chocolates, no restaurants, etc.  I had all these great plans for our homemade Valentine's night...and then the reality of having a Valentine's Day party at school and achievement days right after hit and my plans went out the window.  I was super tired.  So, we dined on my Valentine's day treats from my kiddos at school and some delicious tomato soup and bread.  Low key.  Homemade.  My kind of Valentine's Day :).

Our homemade valentines :) 

7 months + 1 day = 1 busy little Trey!

Our kiddo is exactly 7 months and 1 day today and is becoming quite the handful as was demonstrated at church today :).  I'm loving the new milestones!

* He now has his first tooth peeking through!
* He makes fun pterodactyl noises.
* He's VERY vocal!   He really loves to hear himself "talk."
* He says mama and baba and other babbling words, but we're still waiting on dada.
* He HATES peas but has liked every other veggie he's had so far.
* He blows spit bubbles A LOT.
* He scoots around on his belly (mainly backwards) but doesn't crawl yet.
* He gets extremely hyper when he's just sitting in his diaper.  Something about the freedom I guess :)
* He can sit up by himself if I position him.
* He's happy and gets slap happy when he's tired.
* We no longer have to rock him to sleep.  He usually lays down without a fight.
* He's becoming a "mama's boy".  Sometimes when Dale has teased him too much and I pick him up, he'll immediately look over at Dale with a look that says, "HA!  Mama rescued me!"

Scripture Journal

For whatever reason, studying the scriptures has always been hard for me.  I've taken turns being super faithful and a major slacker.  In college I was on top of my game.  When I was at Snow College I would wake up early and read them before I went to class.  At Utah State I found that I did better in class if I put my scripture study first, so I started taking my scriptures to the library with me and did my studying before I did any school work.  Those days are long gone.  Lately I've struggled to find a routine that both kept my interest and fit in with my new mommy life.  That is, until a couple of weeks ago when I discovered "The Scripture Journal".  I saw it on somebody's blog somewhere, and I fell in love.  I immediately had to go out and get my own.  Seriously.  That very night I went to the store and bought myself my ever so fancy $1.50 notebook from Target and some equally fancy pens.  I found an awesome box a student gave me a couple of years ago that matched my new scripture journal perfectly.  I filled the box with all of my scripture studying necessities...my new pens, mechanical pencil, one of those whiteout markers, and best of all, my multicolored scripture marker my hubby gave me.  I told him I really wanted one for Christmas, and he said, "here, take mine.  I never use it."  I didn't know it was possible to be so excited about a scripture marker, but I was giddy!  And, I was set.  I was ready to start my study.

I decided to start out with a "Topics" page.  This is not in alphabetical order because I like studying by chapter rather than by topic.  So, whenever I'm reading about a certain topic, I write it down on the topic page and write the page number next to it.  Then I write the topic on the page I'm on in my notebook and highlight it so I can find it easily.  I love it!

Studying by chapter has really worked for me.  I don't necessarily read an entire chapter each day, but I've found that I'm both spending more time studying AND getting more out of my reading than I was before.  I might only read one column of a chapter, but my scriptures and journal are filled with my notes and feelings, which in my mind is a much bigger success than simply getting through a chapter each night.  Plus, I love to flip through my scripture journal and see how beautiful it is :).  I like printing off quotes, or tables, maps, etc. and gluing them into my journal.  It makes me feel organized.
Bottom line, I honestly think I came across the scripture journal blog for a reason.  It has completely revolutionized my view of scripture study.  I'm still far from perfect...and let's be honest, some Saturday nights I still crawl into bed and realize I haven't done my study.  But overall my scripture time has become a time of refuge after a long day...and that's the biggest success I could ask for :).