liebster, schmiebster

I've had this liebster award hanging over my head for awhile now (not 1, not 2, but 3 nominations! Also thank  you Marla!) So third time's the charm I guess?

I "met" Danica through her blog. BLECH I just hate that because it makes things sound much creepier than they are. She's really the bees knees though (apparently this is the 50's now. Welcome to my blog, cool cats). Her blog cracks me up, and the only reason why I'm okay embracing this online-turned-real-life friendship is because she's the real deal and as great in person as she is via the internet. So thanks for nominating me, lady. Here are the questions she asked:

What blogs do you read every day? Well obviously Danica's, also Bonnie's, NieNie, Brooke's, and my dear friend's Chantel's and Kimber's. 

Where do you find inspiration for your blog? I really love people who are funny and REAL. So I guess when I read and see things like that, I'm inspired. Also my husband and baby. What a cliche.

Latest book you read AND should I read it? I'm currently reading Harry Potter but, been there done that. I also just finished reading Heaven is Here, and I loved it. Stephanie's love for her husband and motherhood is super inspiring.

If you could make ONE book mandatory reading for every American, what would it be? Can I say Harry Potter? Because seriously... Harry Potter. If I had to choose just one (why would that even be a rule?) it would probably be Deathly Hallows. SO GOOD.

Which song is the most played on your iPod/Spotify right now? It's not really one song, but the NSYNC Christmas album has been on repeat in our house for the last few weeks. Actually who am I kidding... more like every December for the last 14 years of my life.

Where is your best-kept-secret place to shop (for anything)? I totally love Trendy Xchange in Provo. Now the secret's out!

What’s the #1 thing on your Christmas Wish List? Honestly I would just love to find a place to live in Salt Lake. Our imminent move is starting to stress me out. Either that, or some earrings that my little guy can't pull out ha!

Who is your favorite Harry Potter character and why? I love that every other question is slanted to  Harry Potter. That's my life ha. I totally love Ron. If I went to Hogwarts, he'd probably be my MCM. Also Hagrid. And Dobby. ACK! This is too hard!

What is your must-have winter fashion item? Scarves, for sure. You never realize how cold your neck gets until you cover it.

What should I name my baby? Provide one boy and one girl name. Lilly and James. HA joke. I really love the names Owen and Ava!

I’m coming up on the crazy/fun/miserable lead-up to Christmas where all my kids eat candy and drive me insane. What is your best coping mechanism for when life is out of control? Oh man, if I knew the answer to this question, I wouldn't have eaten half a container of ice cream yesterday! For me it depends on the circumstance I guess. Sometimes ice cream helps (obviously), or bad reality tv, or a good sweat session at the gym, or painting my nails, or a trip to target, or watching videos of my laughing baby, or making out with my husband.... I guess just dabble in it all until you figure out what works.  

Thanks for nominating me Danica.
I keep waiting for the day when things like this make me an official blogger. 
Maybe it would help if I wrote more than just twice a month. What are you gonna do.

bad habits

Obviously "not writing stuff" is a bad habit I'm suffering from at the moment. Life's just hung me out to dry the last few weeks, so I'm recouping. Good news though, I'm back on my B Game
(a little less than A Game, but better than F Game!)
so. There's that.

Anyways, I've been thinking a lot lately about my bad habits, because I have a few that drive me crazy. I'm sure Christian could tell you that I've got WAY more bad habits than this (like tickling him which he HATES, but I honestly don't see the problem...), but here are the glaring ones that I've noticed lately. They make me laugh, and you're going to think I'm crazy.

I drink a ton of water. WHAT A BAD HABIT! 
Ha just joking. But because I drink so much, I have to refill my water bottle every hour or so during the day. When I'm at home, I usually turn the faucet on and let it run for 30 seconds or so, to cool down, because I like my water to be freezing. Usually I get distracted while that happens and wind up changing a diaper, or thinking "hey i haven't eaten!" and then start cooking something, or I hop in the shower, or I'm doing my makeup, and before I know it, the sink has been on for literally 20 minutes.

This happens at least once a day, I'm not kidding.

In the same vein, I'm awful about eating food and not finishing it. I can guarantee that there is always some bag of half eaten carrots, or several neglected granola bars in my bag. Last week there were 3 apples in there. THREE! In October, I also found a half eaten granola bar in our pantry that I can only assume I left there because Christian is an adult and finishes his food, and Nash is just like "gimme rice cereal." I have a hard time finishing meals lately too, because I'm usually navigating the circus that is feeding my 6 month old monkey.
I mean baby.
Why then, if I'm not eating, am I not 3 pant sizes smaller than before I got pregnant?
Spoiler alert: it's called donuts. I can definitely finish donuts.

So I guess what I need to learn from these bad habits is it's actually a deeper rooter issue: I don't follow through! I have all these plans like "drink water!" and "eat food!" and then I'm just like "yeah maybe not". And don't even get me started on the cookies I meant to take to our neighbor that somehow ended up disappearing instead...
(I lied. I can finish cookies AND donuts)

I need a life coach or something.

6 months!

This blogging thing cracks me up sometimes. For a few weeks I'm like "write all the time!" and then things get so busy and all I want to do is read Harry Potter during my spare moments. So I do.

But Nash is 6 months old tomorrow, and that I deem worthy of a post!

At 6 months, Nash is rolling all over the place. It's so fun to see him using this as his mode of transportation haha. Next stop... crawling! He's also sitting, and has been for almost a month now. He gets a huge kick out of this, which is adorable. He's eating lots of solids, and has done so well with everything we've introduced. Like his parents, boy loves his food! He's sleeping in nice long stretches at night, and we MOSTLY feel human in the morning ;) He's in the middle of his first cold, and handling it pretty well... as long as I don't use the snot-sucker ha. He loves his toys, being held, figuring out new faces and making them all the time, grabbing everything in sight, and primary songs.

I can't believe this adorable human is only 6 more months away from being a 1 year old. Time is seriously flying. I love my little buddy so very much! I'm so thankful I get to be his mom. I think that since May, I've learned and changed more than I did in our first two years of marriage!

(Maybe not... but man. Motherhood will stretch ya! And my imperfect self is so thankful for that!)

weekend warrior

I have been a total drama queen lately, sorry about that. I just really feel things. A lot. Ha!

So I'm gaining a new appreciation for weekends as this semester progresses and continues to drown us (Christian) in mountains of pointless STUFF. Not like I didn't love them before. Obviously. But they are as good as gold these days.

Last weekend was nothing special, but having so much time together was just the best. Friday night we made pumpkin ravioli with balsamic brown butter sauce for our dining-in date.
Guys. RAVIOLI IS THE WORST THING TO MAKE IN THE WHOLE WORLD. The name of the dish should have tipped me off. The end result was seriously delicious, but I advise against this endeavor unless you have a ravioli mold (we didn't) and a lot of patience (also didn't).

We also went to a birthday party which was fun, but the fun was overshadowed as I saw a little boy fall off a table. I'm being slightly dramatic, but seriously my mom fears about Nash falling off of things are a little out of control right now.
(He's already fallen off the couch and the bed so.... not unwarranted worries!)
Seriously, as a mom, that's the worst thing to witness!

I also tried out an easy, delicious new recipe for our Sunday dinner (I'm such a culinary fiend right now), and it was a hit. I love when that happens.

And church! We survived with flying colors! I actually really enjoyed the whole thing, AND neither one of us got spit up on! Win, win, win.

And can we talk about all the unadulterated time with my number one buddy? I miss him so much when I'm working and schooling during the week. Saturday and Sunday are the best for that reason. I didn't think it was possible before I became a mom, but seriously. He gets cuter every day, and I fall more and more in love each time I look at his sweet face.
And can you blame me?!
Christian and I are the luckiest!

be nice. you deserve it.

I recently read this article (YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!) about postpartum care in the US, and I'm so frustrated by it's truth!
In this country, we have such a skewed idea of how quickly moms should bounce back and feel/look/act like normal again after having a baby. IT'S ABSURD and it needs to change.

My delivery was fairly normal, with minor complications. But in hindsight, I wish I had slowed down more, given myself more time to recover, and that I'd had a little more help. During delivery, I had an episiotomy, and both Nash and I had to be put on antibiotics because I had a fever the duration of my labor. Thankfully my mom was in town to help for a little while, but she was super sick the whole time and was also helping me at night, so she was equally exhausted during the day (darn babies!)
Christian went back to work one day after I gave birth.
I went grocery shopping THREE DAYS after I gave birth.
I went back to class LESS THAN A WEEK after I gave birth
I was doing laundry and cleaning.
I was so swollen because of over exerting myself that I could hardly walk.
Nursing killed. I bled from my boobs and bled even more from my lady parts!
My back was on fire all day, every day, because of having to realign itself over night.
And yet, in spite of being in a ton of pain, and completely exhausted, and emotionally stretched to my limits, I still felt the pressure to get up! Do more! Be more! And I know I'm not alone in this.

Why is this the case? Can we not stop and appreciate what our bodies go through for pregnancy and child birth? Whether you deliver vaginally or via C-Section, both are MAJORLY traumatic events for our bodies and require weeks, if not MONTHS, to recover from. Stop expecting yourself, and others, to bounce back immediately! Our bodies need time to heal, and it's okay.

On a larger scale, we MUST be nice to our post-baby bodies and other women with post-baby bodies. This is a deeply emotional and difficult change for some, and it's okay to take some time to heal in this regard too.  I loved this response that Jennifer Garner gave on Ellen a few days ago, when she was asked for the millionth time if she was expecting again. If you are a normal human being, your body will NOT be the same after you have a baby. No matter how thin or in shape or healthy you were. Let's accept that, treat our bodies kindly, feed them right, sleep them right, exercise them right, and move on. It's exhausting to see and feel judgment from other women, and for women to be so hard on themselves. I'm tired of it. It needs to stop. The messages we ought to be spreading are those of love and support and happiness and excitement. And this needs to be shared both with other women and with OURSELVES.

Let us be gentle and loving to new moms. Let us be gentle and loving to ourselves. Let us reach out and serve WITHOUT being asked. Let us stop judging and expecting so much and realize that although we can be superwomen, we can also ask for help. And we should. Let us give others the opportunity to serve us. Let us love our bodies and ourselves for BRINGING A LIFE INTO THIS WORLD. For squeezing out a melon-sized object, and for being able to love and nurture unconditionally despite the battering and bruising! Mothers, you are amazing. Having a baby is hard enough. Let's ease the burden on others and ourselves and reach out.
You need it.
Your neighbor needs it.
And this doesn't just apply to mothers.
WE ALL NEED IT.
We all need to realize that we are amazing for the things we do day in, day out.
Amazing for going to work. For cooking dinner for your little family, again. Amazing for exercising when you didn't want to. Amazing for listening to your friend express her sorrows over the phone. Amazing for giving yourself a break because you recognize you need it. For dealing with yet another miscarriage. For breastfeeding at 2 in the morning for the 6th day in a row. For struggling with infertility and putting on a happy face. For cleaning your house. For talking to the clerk at the grocery store. For scoring an amazing deal at Target. For loving your in-laws. For serving your husband. For eating some ice cream because you deserve it! For not buying those shoes. For BUYING those shoes!
You are just plain amazing. And you need to know that.

As women, we have been given an amazing capacity to love and serve.
Now, let's go out and DO THAT.