joy in the journey

Well, I have come to a decision and I wanted to share it.

I am happy now.

Life is so crazy and I have a few thoughts.  I have been thinking a lot about the talk by Thomas S. Monson a few years ago called, Finding Joy in the Journey.  I am at an incredible point in my life right now.  I have a beautiful baby boy sitting next to me playing with his toys and making the cutest sounds in the world.  I have a hard-working husband who is at school still working on his dissertation so that we can graduate someday.  I have a wonderful family that I got to spend time with this last weekend.  I have a great apartment and a wonderful life.  But, sometimes I find myself saying, "Oh, when we are in a real job making money life will be so good" or "It will be so nice to be able to buy a new car" or "won't it be wonderful to buy groceries and be able to buy those expensive pretzels".  

These lines run through my mind often.  

When I was pregnant I even thought to myself, "Oh, life will be so much easier when I don't feel like a huge whale"...and you know what?  Life is easier, in the fact that I have my body back, but life is not easier when you have to think about feeding, sleeping, burping, and play time with my darling little one.  It's still not easier.  But, it's absolutely wonderful and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  There will always be "things" that are wrong.  Whether it be money or being pregnant or illness or whatever.  I want to stop looking forward to the future so I don't miss what is happening today.  So what if we are poor.  So what if we won't be done with school for a long time.  Life is so good now and that is what I need to focus on, and look for the good in every day and not worry about anything else.  It's fun to be poor :)  It's fun to go to the WIC clinic and see our cute friends there getting the same government assistance as us :)  Life is so awesome and I wouldn't trade it for a thing.  Now, I'm going to go pick up my cute Brettie and have a wonderful night together playing games and having family home evening. 

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now." -Thomas S. Monson   

misled.

This morning was a very different morning.  Lincoln woke at 9. 9. Yes, 9.  It was incredible.  He was as happy as can be, as usual, but was hardly making any noise at all.  He jumped in his jumperoo for almost an hour as Brett and I got ready.  We were so excited about his excellent, quiet behavior we thought it a good idea to not bring the car seat to church.  Mistake.  To our dismay once we got to church the happy youngster decided he was tired and he wouldn't sleep in my arms and he had the voice to tell everyone about it.  So, after a loud sacrament meeting production and a sunday school lesson spent in the foyer I ventured home.  Upon arrival he fell asleep.  

Don't let that smile fool you....

1. wonderful weekend!

2. wonderful weather!

3. wonderful week ahead!

Rice Cereal

On Sunday Lincoln had his first small bowl of rice cereal and he loved it!  He played with it in his mouth for a couple seconds, spit it out and then wanted more.  Pretty soon he was swallowing and he cried when it was gone so we made him more.  He is loving his new food!!

1. Jungle Jumperoo

2. Linc's little laugh.

3. It's friday!

3 up, 3 down

Last Saturday Trevor had one of his competition team baseball games in Alpine, so we went to cheer him on! The teams are so intense and so good!!  It's such a blast to go watch.

 Lincoln loves cheering for his Uncle Trev!

"Go Monarchs!"

 He is always in awe at how great Trevor is.

 Trevor is a pitcher and is so good.  At the game he pitched an inning with 3 up, 3 down.  I can't believe how fast he pitches!  

 Andrea was so nice to feed Lincoln and give me and Brett a break.

 Mom and dad have games weekly with Trevor and love it!  

 GO 24!!!!!

Brett and Dev observing and cheering on our Monarchs!  After the game we went and enjoyed some very yummy Texas Roadhouse.

Trevor asked me to send this picture to Josh.  He got a pretty bad black eye at the beginning of the first game  that day.  One of his teammates threw the ball to him when he was catching a ball from someone else.  He is pretty fantastic though, after this he pitched 60-something balls and had some really great hits.  

Way to go Trev!!!!

1.  Good weather!

2. Holly got to see Lincoln!

3. Getting to watch Lu and Mia this week! 

upgrade.

Lincoln got a huge upgrade today.

 He went from the '10 Bouncer to the....

 '11 Jungle Jumperoo.  It's got a lot of add-ons that the previous addition lacked, namely:

-more colorful toys with lots more play options

-better songs, with lights added for a more entertaining effect

-and the ability to jump and stand all while sitting in a red swivel parrot seat. 

"Do I really get to keep this mommy??"  Yes, Linc, it's all yours buddy.

1. Lincoln's face when he first sat in his new jumperoo.

2. The plumber is here to fix the kitchen sink :)

3. Dinner tonight with my best girlies!!

sunday snugglin

Sundays are my favorite.

Yesterday Brett, me and Linc snuggled in bed after church and it was so fun.

Lincoln is at my favorite stage so far!!  He is laughing all the time and is so, so cute!!

He is getting so strong and holding his head up all by himself.

 I love his eyes looking up at mommy and her camera.

1. Lincoln!

2. Really yummy dinner!

3. A new tv!

A Good Laugh

With all this rain I was looking for a little pick-me-up today and decided to look at this lovely picture to get a good laugh...and it worked.  :)  We took this one night after a dinner on the cruise when we were all really hyper.  Everyones expressions absolutely crack me up.  Enjoy :) 

{we be cruisin'}

Last week we went on a fabulous cruise to the Caribbean with Brett's family!  It was such a wonderful trip filled with tons of fun memories.  Here are just a few of the highlights:

 Heading out....

 First family photo aboard the Carnival Dream.  I love Brett's face :)  What a cheeseball...

First day stop: Bahamas.  I loved the Bahamas!  So gorgeous.  We went to fabulous  beach and enjoyed crystal-clear waters and playing in the sand.  

Ah!  Look at that water...I want to go back!

 Racing into the ocean... 

The beach was right next to the resort Atlantis.  Such a cool place!

Formal night with the fam...

  Second stop: St. Thomas.  Loved it here too!

 Loved the side streets and markets....

 We found Hilary at Del Sol!

 

We went on an amazing two island adventure to snorkel.  The fish and coral was so beautiful!!  On the second island we saw tons of turtles, they were so cute and the water was so clear.  

Snorkeling!!

An everyday classic, games before dinner!

Brett and I played mini golf at sunset one of the nights...we both got a hole-in-one and tied in the end!

"Hot, hot, hot!" Dancing at dinner...

Stop Three: St. Martin.  We went to a fabulous beach and enjoyed a day in the sun and more playing in the water...

More beach fun....

Our waiter, Nenjah, gave Brett the best dancing award, a napkin shoe!!  Then he showed us more of his napkin folding skills and made a duck!  We loved Nenjah....

Fun day at sea going down the waterslides on the boat...so much fun!!

One of my favorite parts of being on a cruise was all the yummy food!!  So good...especially frozen yogurt whenever we wanted.

It was such a great trip!!  Thanks to the Mellors for taking us.  It was such a blast!!

1. Caribbean adventures.
2. Getting to be with family!
3. Relaxing without Lincoln, thanks for watching him mom!!

Missed You

So, I went on a cruise over my first mother's day and didn't have Lincoln with me.

I was so sad.  

Lincoln is literally my little buddy.  Obviously the cruise was way more fun without him-seriously who would take a 4 month old on a cruise?  We had a great time, but I truly missed my little pal.  We have so much fun together and I love him with all my heart.

Being a mom is so different than I thought it was going to be-and it's so much better than what I thought.

Yes, the crying, the screaming, the poopy diapers, the anxiety over schedules and nap times and ear infections-

all TOTALLY hard and all TOTALLY worth it.

I love being a mom.  Thinking about the fact that God gave us this sweet little boy brings me to tears.

Yesterday he laughed while I was getting him dressed cause I hit a tickley area on his legs and I started

to cry.  He is so precious and straight from heaven.  

I cried on our way home from Orlando on Saturday thinking that I was going to be able to see him soon.  

I came home and picked him up out of bed and I cried.  

I held him and kissed him and...well, he woke up and he wasn't very happy I woke him, but I couldn't wait.  

I love to see him smile.  

I love his sweet blue eyes and his blonde hair that grew so much while I was gone. 

 I love his big belly and his big head.  I love that he loves the bath and that he loves to splash around.  

I love his legs and that they are so tickley.  

I love the way he looks at Brett.  

I love the way he looks at me.  

I love that he is a 24/7 full time job.  

I love that I hate to be away from him.  

I love that he is ours forever.  

I love that God made families eternal so that we will never, ever lose him.  

I love the sacrifice it takes to be a mother, it makes me love my mother even more. 

It hurts my heart when people say that they are just a mother, because being a mother is the greatest, hardest, most rewarding job that there is and I'm very proud to 

be a mother.