It's been quite a week

Today Michael and I gave a talk in church. It went really well and I feel so accomplished now.

My topic to speak on was adversity. I always find it ironic when you are given a topic to speak on and you learn more about that topic through experience rather than studying. 

This past week was one of the hardest weeks I have had in a long, long time. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. Before we put Olivia in her own bed she slept with us. When she would wake up during the night I would feed her in bed and we both fell asleep. (I know I am always saying things about not judging me but I really feel that motherhood is one of the most judged jobs and it is the most personal job out there. So, please don't judge me for how I choose to raise my child) After Olivia fell asleep I could fall asleep right away. Now that she is in her own room I have to get up and feed her then go back to bed and try to get comfortable again and try to fall back to sleep. Olivia wakes up more often now that she is in her own bed and she wont sleep in my bed so her naps are only 30 minutes long. If I get a nap during the day it is only 10-20 minutes and I feel even more tired. Because her naps are so short she is super cranky and cries more often and It wares me out emotionally. 

The second counselor in the new General Relief Society told a story that I thought was perfect for my talk. She had a large young family and her husband became very sick with a rare disease. As the weeks went on she realized that her husband was dying. She said she became angry and hurt and turned away from God. She stopped praying for a few days until she felt more alone than ever. She realized she couldn’t do this on her own so she went to the Lord and asked for forgiveness and prayed for strength and told him if this is what needed to be done that she would never turn away from the Lord again. She then felt a very strong overcoming spirit like a blanket was wrapped around her and she knew that is all the Lord wanted to hear. Her husband made a miraculous recovery. A few years later her 17-year-old daughter was on her deathbed and instead of turning from the Lord she accepted his will and knew that he would take care of her daughter and her family. 

I realized that the Lord is my greatest strength and when I am struggling I need to turn to him rather than try to do everything on my own. Especially being a mother and being responsible of one of his children, I need to turn to the Savior Jesus Christ to help Olivia as well. I am so grateful for experiences like I had this week. I am also grateful to know that I have a Savior who never leaves my side  especially during my hardest trials.

I am also very grateful for the support of my wonderful family who has loved me through my craziness! I love my hunk of a husband and chunky baby!

5 months

Where has the time gone? 

My sweet girl is 5 months!

I feel like it was just yesterday she came into the world.

Look how little she was!!!

Sweet girl sits up all on her own

 She is always smiling and giggling

 She LOVES to eat her books

 She is working on crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees and is trying to rock.

 EVERYTHING goes into her mouth

 She is always grabbing things (dad's hair and for sure mom's hair!!)

She loves dad. More than ever now. They are really having their bonding time now.

 Shout out to this hot man!!! I didn't want to be the type of mom who had a baby then never mentioned her better half but I have become that mom... Its hard because all I do every day all day is think of Olivia. I have to say my husband is my best friend!! He is AMAZING! Michael is the most dedicated person I know. He is currently on a diet with his brother and he has so much self control. I love him so much and he has been so much help with getting Olivia to sleep through the night.

 Olivia is starting to reach for me when she is with someone else and when she is with me she will reach for Michael. It melts my heart to know she loves me after all I do for her!

Olivia got to spend some time with her "Awesomely" great grandpa!

 She loves to eat real food

 guess what she had last night? Peas. eww! and she thought they were nasty too. She made the funniest faces. She LOVES carrots (EW!) and she enjoys peaches if you trick her into eating them.

 She is now getting into the splashing phase of bath time. She loves to eat her letters and splash splash splash! 

 Olivia has the cutest clothes! I wish I could match her but I'm not sure a 23year old would look as cute in her clothes. 

A few other things she does:

Blows bubbles with her mouth

eat her hands all the time

she loves...

POPSICLES!! Just like mom. I thought she just liked the cold feeling but I was eating a popsicle and gave her a taste and she went crazy for more so I gave her the frozen teething ring and that wasn't enough for her. She practically attacked me for my banana popsicle! Look at her eyeing my popsicle in the picture! She was plotting how to get it probably. And don't judge that I give her licks of my popsicle... I'm her mom and do what I feel is best!

I think back on life when Olivia was a newborn and miss it but we have so much fun now. I can't wait to see what is next. I have found it to be a lot easier to get out of the house now and don't feel so tied down to our home. 

Being a mom is my perfect job and I absolutely love it. I feel more confident every day and that makes it more fun!

I could go on and on about my baby but I am limited on time and my bed is calling my name!! 

Oh, one more thing. She loves The Princess and The Frog! She kisses her frog Carter all the time hoping he will turn into a handsome prince!

PS- please ignore spelling and grammar errors and if something just doesn't make sence... I'm sleep deprived and don't care to fix them.

Free time?

Olivia use to be a great sleeper. She slept through the night when she was 4 weeks old but at 3 months she stopped sleeping through the night in her rock n' play. We were still in our old place and we didn't have her bed set up because we were going to move in a few weeks so she slept in our bed. (I know "never let your children sleep in your bed" I don't need opinions on this) When we moved I hard a hard time putting her in her own bed. I loved cuddling with my sweet girl. When she woke up she would stare at me with a big smile until I woke up. She would hold my face till she fell asleep and when she woke up she would touch my face. It melted my heart.

After a month and a half things got worse. She would wake up when I tried to put her in her own bed. She would wake up screaming until I nursed her and she would wake up every 45 minutes. Michael finally went down stairs to sleep one night and I knew we had to make a change. We needed sleep and she needed sleep. We listened to the book The Easy Sleep Solution and started to apply the principals.

Night one. We put Olivia down around 8 and she cried for 20 minutes and I cried for about 15 and that was that. She woke up every 2 hours and after she ate we laid her down awake and she fell asleep and wouldn't even cry. Every night it has gotten better and better. Tonight she went down and didn't even cry!! We have only been doing this for 5 days and our lives have been a lot easier.

Now that she goes to bed at 8 I have all this free time!! Last night I deep cleaned the kitchen! Its been so nice. Tonight I get to blog!!! YEAH! I love having free time.

Our trip to Grandmas

We took a quick trip to Grandma Woolley's house in Colorado Springs this weekend. It was way too short and I am now waiting for the day when we move to Colorado!

I fell in love with Colorado 5 years ago when I visited my best friend Hannah. Ever since that trip I have wanted to live in Colorado... Good thing I married a Coloradan!!

On our trip:

We went to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox game

Olivia was so good. She didn't cry once during the game.

We went to the balloon festival in Colorado Springs

We went SHOPPING!!! I had way too much fun at the Carters store!

We drove to the top of Pikes Peak where "America The Beautiful" was written. 14,115 feet!

I had the famous Pikes Peak donut on top of the mountain

This is the last tree on the mountain.

We also played with Spencer, Olivia's cousin and enjoyed being with family!