I'm a REAL mom!

Today felt like a REAL day as a REAL mom.

This is a first.

Today I threw in a batch of Laundry
then I took Seth to the Library to study
and took Ryan to the Grocery Store--BY MYSELF!

We must have looked a little silly
with Ryan in the Snap-N-Go
a Basket FULL of groceries precariously hung on the handle
and a Basket full of groceries underneath the carseat in the cubby.
not to mention the gallon of milk and box of diapers in my hand...

I was lucky to get a parking spot in front of our apartment
so that I could get Ryan and the Groceries in without Ryan leaving my sight.
How does everyone else do these things alone??

I took Ryan in the Snap-N-Go around the corner to change the laundry
all the while talking to my Dad on the phone.
Ryan took a nap while I put the groceries away
and prepared dinner
and baked some cookies

Ryan woke up, and ate
and then I wore him (in the sling) while I made lunch for me
we even caught an episode of the Mentalist while I folded Laundry.

Then....I decided to take a shower.
Again, how do people DO these things while hubby is at work?
Ryan was perfect. He hung out in his swing seat and didn't make a peep.
he even let me blow dry AND straighten my hair before eating again.

So we finally ventured out again
and picked up Seth from the library
and brought him home to eat our dinner

Ryan slept through dinner before having his own
and then he was soooo tuckered out from our exciting day
that he fell asleep at 9:30. that's a few hours early!

So why do I tell you this, you might ask?

Well, because this isn't normal for us.
but I'd like to make it the new normal for us.

It feels so good to feel well enough to be a real mom and do real mom things with real mom energy and real mom independence.

This is simply so I can have a picture of my cute lil' guy on this post. Note the chubby thigh :)

We'll see if I can keep it up for tomorrow :)

Julies

Julies and baby Ryan--he LOVED snuggling with Julies

Julies is my friend from DC who has made me a better person in so many ways. The founder of Taco Tuesdays, she brought humor to my soul during one of life's bigger trials, and helped me develop the perspective I needed to move forward with faith.

This last week, Julie's Mom passed away unexpectedly. We were able to attend the funeral on Saturday, and it was FULL of faith, of memories and reflection, of love, and of HOPE. Charlene Bradshaw was an incredible person who led a full life. Her daughter Julie is so much like her. As we drove home, Seth and I talked about the many things we learned at the Funeral that we would like to emulate in our own lives, and the incredible strength we felt from the Bradshaw family.

It seems that in the past month I've heard so much about trials other people have been called to pass through, from my extended family all the way to the blogging world. My heart has been heavy with the sorrows people have been faced with, and my prayers and thoughts are with those who are passing through these difficult times. At the same time, I have been so impressed with the manner which these people have chosen to learn from their trials. It has inspired me to want to pass through my trials with as much faith and patience as those around me have done.

Our stake president said in essence at ward conference a few weeks ago that "A disciple of Christ should not expect to be free from trials" and I realized that it's not the lack of trials in life that brings us happiness, but rather the right focus through the trials.

Notice that Julie is still smiling...even when baby Ryan spit up all over her pretty dress.

And he loves her so much for it!

Sunday Pictures

We snapped some photos after church--they aren't my favorite, but it's fun to see our lil guy looking so old!

Happy 3 Months to Ryan!

Baby Ryan, you're 3 months old today!!!

Well, for your 3 months birthday, you slept in for a LOOOONG time. Maybe that's because you wanted to stay up last night to celebrate the dawn of your 3 month birthday...for a few hours. Dad and I need to work on a little more restraint and let you fall asleep on your own--that's our goal for this month.

We love you baby Ryan!

Baby Ryan Laughs

For Ryan's day-before-3-month birthday, he decided to start laughing for us!

Well..actually he laughed for the first time yesterday when I was at work....telling them that I would not be coming back. When I got in the car to come home, Seth called to tell me that Ryan laughed! It was a sweet assurance that I'd done the right thing with work...thinking of missing all those "firsts" would be so hard.

I LOVE the end of the movie, it's my favorite, that sigh is just adorable.

Puj Baby Bathtub: A Review

When my friend sent me an email a few months ago calling for Puj Bathtub Product Testers, I jumped at the chance and was excited when they asked me to be an official Tester!

When I was pregnant I was a little frustrated at the bathtub options. When a baby is small you can only do so much...and those mesh slings in the bigger stand-alone bathtubs just seemed painful! We did end up getting one, and baby ryan tolerated it, but I was SO happy when we got the Puj tub! It's really soft squishy material (BPA/PVC free!) and it is the perfect recline for a baby! A few other things we found useful:

--it's easier than a bulky tub to wash off his back and bum
--he can't fall from side to side in the Puj, it kind of is molded to support him from all angles!
--it fits in our tiny sink in our tiny bathroom
--it's easier for me to bathe him by myself because he's so supported
--it folds together with four little magnet "thingies" and so when you're done you can pick it up with one hand and pull the magnets apart to hang and dry, just like that.


Living in a small apartment, we definitely need storage space, and this tub was the answer...

See, it folds flat and is only about an inch thick!!! This comes in handy not only for storage, but also for travel! When we went to Arizona for christmas, I was a little bit crazy (first time mother crazy) and insisted that we bring everything we have ever purchased for ryan, including his full wardrobe, his own bassinet, his bathtub, every blanket he owns....you get the picture. Well, needless to say our car was full, but this tub made the journey because it just was flat at the bottom of the trunk, no problem, slid right in!

This baby is obviously littler than Ryan...more like his newborn size of 9 lbs. But I'm happy to say that Ryan, at 15 lbs, still fits nicely in our tiny bathroom and the Puj tub! And he's not going to slide into the water or have any scary "slip and slide out of my hands " moments!

Ryan is adorable in the tub. He mostly just looks at us like we're crazy, but he loves a good bath time!
He even gets the bubble bath treatment now and again! (and look at those cute toes!)


So...if you're in the baby bath tub buying demographic, do yourself a favor and check out the Puj Tub for yourself at Puj's new website for Baby Bath Tubs!!

Undercover Mama: A Review

It's funny how we all go through "Phases" in life. It's even better when those "Phases" coincide with those of our friends! It was last year about this time that the "baby phase" hit--it seemed like every day another friend announced they were pregnant, and it continued throughout my entire pregnancy! At one point I counted over 50 people I was close to or knew fairly well that were pregnant. That's a lot of babies!!! So...now that lots of those babies have been born or are soon to be, what a better thing than to share the "products" that we have grown to love! So...this one is for all the nursing mothers out there!


I first saw this company on Give Away Today a week or so ago and immediately went to the website to check it out! I emailed the owner to ask about sizing and she was so nice I decided to purchase the Black Undercover Mama.

This might just look like another nursing tank top....but it is SOOOO not! It hooks on to the nursing bra and is strapless so that when you nurse the flap just comes down with the rest of everything so you're not dealing with a bunch of different hooks and flaps and straps! AND...unlike a nursing tank...if you wear an extra layer like some of us do, it can go right in between the two and then everything is nicely contained with the one-flap!!!
Seriously, this has made my life so much easier--it keeps your sides and front and back all covered up , which is just essential--let's face it, post pregnancy side exposure is about the worst humiliation I can imagine.

So, this is even better!!! If you go to http://www.undercovermama.com/ and pick out your essential color, you can email the owner, mention my blog post, and get free shipping!!! (I love the owner, we have exchanged a few emails re: size and payments, and she has just been wonderful. I'm all about supporting her!)

I have loved my undercover mama so much that I just bought it in the rest of the colors. Who doesn't need a tank of every color!!! I have a few drape front cardigans that work perfectly with the tanks, too, so it doesn't even add an extra EXTRA layer for me. YAY!

Happy Australia Day!

Thanks to my sisters, I found it it's Australia Day! (Next time you see Heather, ask her to do her Australian accent for you, it'll make you smile!)

Heather posted a recipe for Pavlova, and I was so excited and called Heather to ask her how to make it and she reminded me that I posted it and it was my recipe...oops. I originally got it from my friend Rob's mom when we were there for Easter, and when I went to Utah a few years ago to take care of Carol's kids I made it for them!

I was SO glad that Heather reminded me about this, because I made it tonight for me and Seth and it was So Yummers!

(I know...this is not photo composition to try for...I didn't want to turn all the lights on to take a picture of the pavlova)

What did Baby Ryan do for Australia day, you ask? Well, unless Grover is secretly Australian...nothing related to Australia but I wanted to share anyway.


He Hugged Grover...

And then he and Grover wanted to hug all of their blog friends!

Ryan also discovered something very interesting...

He has frogs on his feet!!!

And he's fascinated. They move whenever he moves his feet. And they smell just like his feet. and he can bring them closer to him and move them farther away. It has intrigued him for a good 20 minutes at a time :)

Is Delurk a Word?

My friend Melanie blogged that it's National Delurking week, which means that strangers who read your blog can come forward and introduce themselves, isn't that fun? (Also, who comes up with these national weeks? I have to say that it's ironic that Delurking week is on my birth week. Whoever came up with the holiday must know how much I LOOOOVE blog stalking :) )

I’ve seen from my blog tracker that I have readers in 26 States, Canada, and Germany. Please, introduce yourselves!!!

A visit from the Reeds & Prices!

Seth and I came back from the Arizona Johnsons in time to meet up with the California Prices and a special visit from the Reeds!

It's so fun to have Ryan meet his cousins. Brandon and Christi were so cute with him--we realized that Brandon and I are the same age apart as Brandon and Ryan are!


We were lucky to go to two really great restaurants--the prices are known for centering family activities around food, and that's exactly what we did! Thanks for treating us, Reeds and Prices!
I told Brandon I'd pay him a dollar to eat his entire chicken fried steak meal. He is way too smart and I'm way too cheap. He did get through half of it--I owe you 50 cents, mister!

Here are the Prices! Notice how Ashley has her hand on Adelyn's head--she always wanted to be right by her little sis! My favorite is when Dan was holding Ashley who was Holding Adelyn while Samuel had his arm linked in Dan's. I love seeing my family with their families.

The next day we had the Reeds over for Sunday dinner--Seth whipped up a great stir fry and fried rice for the family, I made everyone try edamame and the kids helped Seth set up the Wii Fit Plus. It was fun to get in girl chat time while I fed the baby upstairs!

Here's Christi showing off power yoga!

Thanks for the trip, family!