Lessons Learned in Motherhood

Yesterday had me thinking about how weird/cool it is that I am actually a mother. It has been 5 short months but I feel like I have grown and learned so much already. Here are some of the lessons I've learned:

1) Always, always, cover parts with a diaper or wipe when changing a boy's diaper!

2) Have a burp cloth handy at all times. And if you put on new clothes, you're just asking for them to be christened!

3) Never change your baby's poopy diaper until you are absolutely positive he's done!

4) If you want Shane's clothes to match, set the outfit out before you leave for work (love you Josh ;) )

5) A good alternative to having your hair thinned out at the salon is to put it within your baby's grasp

6) When you see little white spots on your baby's gums, don't assume the teething will be over any time soon!

7) Don't try to cut your baby's hair on your own, even if it's just a few hairs in front- it will not look good!

8) Never think to yourself, "Hey, I think I've got this parenting thing figured out." You will quickly realize that is far from the truth!

9) When you realize that, just laugh and don't be hard on yourself.

10) Enjoy each moment, good or bad, and remember how grateful you are for this cute little boy!

Music to the Ears

Shane has started laughing, and it so dang cute! We captured it on camera when Grandma Dettinger came. That is the second video. The first video is one of him blowing rasperries, just because it cracks me up. I'm glad Josh is on top of filming all this stuff!

Congratulations Josh!!

4 years down, only 4 more to go! And thanks for coming Dettingers! Shane had a blast, as you can tell from the pictures. We remain convinced that Shane is a little ham, he put on quite the show for the grandparents. Either that or he just gets tired of looking at our faces all day!

They Really Should Pay Me For Advertising

I have mentioned several times how much I love Wii Fit for its entertainment and weight loss benefits. Well lately I have discovered a bonus feature: it makes my baby happy! When Shane gets fussy, I get on the Wii Fit and do step aerobics with him, and he absolutely loves it. He would hang out there for an hour if I could haul him around for that long. Plus, it makes my workout that much harder!

10 of My Favorite Things That Start With the Letter..."P"

My friend Amy Lynn recently wrote a post on her blog with her 10 favorite things that start with the letter "K." Her friend had written one about a different letter and given her the letter "K" to do hers with. I loved her post so I had her give me a letter and she gave me the letter "P." I had a lot of fun thinking of these, and if any of you would like to try, leave me a comment and I would be happy to pick a letter for you! My 10, in no particular order:

1) Peanut butter, especially in a Reese's. Even more especially in the holiday varieties like eggs or Christmas trees that are loaded with peanut butter.

2)Payday. Who doesn't love this? I try to be frugal and stay within our budget every month, so sometimes at the end of the month I feel like our food supply is pretty sparse and I don't want to make a big trip to the store. But when payday comes, I get to go make a huge shopping trip and restock the house.

3)Pajamas on babies. Even before I had my own baby, I always thought babies just looked so adorable all ready in their pj's for bed. Now that I can put them on my own, they are that much cuter.

4) Planning time. 4 days a week my kids go to 45 minutes of computer, P.E., library, or music, leaving me time to get some stuff done (read-not go completely insane!)

5)Pillows. Okay, these are really just accessory to one of my favorite things, sleeping. Heck, who am I kidding, like I even need a pillow to sleep!



6) the Pursuit of Happyness. I love this movie! I get a little emotional every time I watch it. The first time I saw it was on my honeymoon, and then coincidentally ended up watching it while my epidural was kicking in.

7) People watching. Josh will often have to repeat himself when we are out in public because I get so caught up in watching the people around me. I'm sure the people watching will be even better in Dominica.


8) Provo City Library- It's too bad I only discovered this little gem last year. They actually have good, current books and dvd's you can rent for free.




9) Placentia, CA. My hometown. The longer I've been away the more I love it. It really is a pleasant place.

10) P.F. Changs. It has a gluten free menu, which would be enough in and of itself, but lately I am in love with their lettuce wraps too. I could eat the dipping sauce on a spoon.

Easter Weekend

In what has become sort of tradition, we headed down to Manti to spend Easter weekend with Josh's family. The whole family was there and it was nice to spend time with everyone since we won't have much longer here. Josh's sisters babysat so we could go to the temple. It is beautiful inside and out and brings a great sense of peace.

Shane enjoyed playing with aunts and uncles,

grandparents,

and cousins. His cousin James was especially fond of him. I think Shane liked him too.

He loved taking a bath in a real bath!

We enjoyed some serious egg coloring,

and Shane enjoyed an Easter egg hunt (okay so maybe not really but his parents enjoyed his share of candy!)

And Easter was especially meaningful to me this year as my Grandma Durham passed away on Saturday. How grateful I am to know of Christ's resurrection and that because of it she will still live.

No More Prune Juice For This Kid!

After two straight days of this, I think it's working!