10 Years

In 2004, I had the incredible opportunity of participating in the Disney College Program in Orlando, Florida. The 4+ months I spent there were some of my favorite and have had a remarkable impact on my life thus far. I met many wonderful people--including 3 of my very best friends (i.e. The Disney Family, as they came to be known). When 2014 rolled around, it was hard to grasp that 10 years--a whole decade!--had come and gone since our time there together. 

This morning I was mulling those ten years and I have to conclude they've been AMAZING. The years from 2004 to 2014 have included:

• Losing 30 lbs. 
• Running 3 half marathons and countless smaller races
• Nose surgery
• Graduating from college
• Getting a teaching position
• Joining Facebook
• Starting a blog (2, in fact)
• Becoming a National Board Certified Teacher
• 7 different apartments/homes
• Quitting my first job and getting a second
• Serving as Relief Society President, Ward Music Chair (3x's), Ward Choir director (2x's), Primary chorister, Nursery leader, and I'm now in the Young Women's organization
• My first kiss
• 4 boyfriends (one of whom became my fiancee and husband)
• Buying a house
• Falling in love (Twice--and one time it stuck!)
• Getting married
• Getting pregnant and having a baby
• Discovering Smart Cookie, Ruby Snap, and Nothing Bundt Cakes
• Becoming a stay-at-home mom
• Traveling to NYC (3x's), Virginia, Florida, Boston, Idaho, Texas, Washington DC, Washington state, Canada (for one afternoon...), England, California (too many times to keep track), Hawaii, and Alaska.
• Buying a car (2, in fact)
• Numerous new friends
• Season tickets to Pioneer Theater, Hale Center Theater, and Capitol Theater
• Learning to quilt

And through it all I have stayed close with Mariah, Greg and Keith and my love for all things Disney has never faltered (I proudly own all 3 "High School Musical" movies on DVD). It has been a pretty incredible 10 years and I fully expect the next ten to be just as amazing. 

I Quote "Daniel Tiger" All. The. Time.

Life with a toddler is good times, you just have to know that right up front. I'm happy with him 90% of the time and the other 10% I'm wildly angry but at least it keeps things exciting!

The last couple months have been big ones for our little guy. At the end of April he caught a really nasty cold. He was croup-y for a couple days and just as it started to get a bit better, he went under general anesthesia for a quick procedure and it screwed his lungs back up and so he had a cold for nearly a month. And he got his molars. May was more awful than awesome.  

In May he also had his first Away From Home visit with his Grandma & Grandpa while we went to Disneyland for a few days. The trip was fun--because its Disneyland!--but overall we both remember being fairly miserable with allergies and overwhelmed with the insane heat (104 and 105 degrees for our two full days. NOT AWESOME.) The kiddo did okay with his grandparents but that nasty cold and the teeth...he was glad to come home. 

We went to Park City over Memorial Day weekend and had a deliciously relaxing stay. We ate too much and slept and watched movies and went to the pool. Turns out our little bug enjoys a good swim so that's fun news for the summer! I think we'll definitely try to repeat this kind of vacation in the future. Perhaps annually. 

Most exciting of all--the little bug is WALKING! Yes, it took him more than 15 months to figure it out but he is good! He toddles all over the place, babbling as he goes. When he does fall (and its still a lot, not gonna lie) he is champion about landing right on his tooshie and rarely crying. Love it! He's getting into everything and yesterday discovered the toilet paper roll in the guest bathroom. FUN! I know this is bound to get tiresome soon, but right now we're just so thrilled to watch him walk around and discover his world. He's just so flippin' cute! (And seriously--we can't go ANYWHERE (still!) without some kind stranger commenting on that fact. Our kid is gorgeous. What can I say?!)

Summer is here and I have big plans to read, Index, buy a new "Daniel Tiger" DVD, visit Yogurtland (only a 15 minute walk!), and convince the little bug to walk on grass. Yay Summer!!

What You Need to Know

What do you need to know about the C family's happenings the last few months? Let's break it down.

• Baby C is really no longer a Baby. He's a big 14 month old boy now, emphasis on BIG. He's topped 26 lbs. and I think he needs to learn to walk soon because hauling that big ol' kid around is killin' me!
  
  
• The little guy has the cutest crawl EVER--he uses one leg and let's the other one sort of shuffle/drag behind. Its awesome and amazing how fast he gets going. My mom says I crawled EXACTLY like that, too. How cool is that?!
  
  
•  Mr. C's semester has been A BEAST (one reason you might not have heard from us for a while) but when he finishes next week he'll only have 3 more classes until graduation. 3!!
  
  
• We all had birthdays in February/March. There were celebrations--most of which involved a lot of food and treats. We all gained weight. It was awesome--just not the weight part.
  
  
• Most Sunday nights, Mr C and myself curl up on the couch and watch the appendices to the Extended Editions of LOTR. (Nerds? Yes. Yes indeed.) We're currently closing in on the end of "The Return of the King" and I'm not sure what we'll do when it all ends. *sigh*
  
  
• Baby C has figured out how to stand and we expect him to start moving forward into toddling sometime soon. Its still really disconcerting to look over and have him just standing right next to me. BAM!
  
  
• Me and Mr C have joined a "health challenge" with some friends. We're starting into Week 3 right now and so far we have both lost weight and we're feeling good!
  
  
• We visited Ruby Snap in January, February and April (sorry March) to try their special flavors. I just adore that place. FACT.
  
  
• We pre-ordered Frozen on DVD even though we never saw it in the theaters. Since its arrival I've watched it at least 6 times. Love. Love. Love.
  
  
• I'm now serving in the Young Women's Presidency in my ward. Its been different--that's for sure!--but I'm adjusting and learning to love it.
  
  
• Baby C has dropped his morning nap so we now have a little more time to play each day. Its pretty cool. In the process of transitioning he developed a whole plethora of odd tics and twitches which thankfully are starting to diminish as he's slowly becoming less sleep-deprived.
  
  
• I binge-watched all three seasons of Veronica Mars and LOVED it. And then had a fantastic night watching the new movie with mi amigas, Charisse and Katherine. There were Snickerdoodles and marshmallows involved. OF COURSE.
  
  
• We're in the planning process for a family vacation to California and I'm super excited--and a bit overwhelmed with all the planning involved in taking a toddler on a roadtrip. But hey--it'll be great!
  
  
• Baby C loves Daniel Tiger, Elmo, chili, cookies (YES!), his moose, throwing himself off our bed (we catch him, no worries), reading stories (especially Brown Bear, Brown Bear), rolling Dad's water bottle around, standing up, and watching reflected light on the ceiling.
  
  
• I won a Facebook contest that Leatherby's put up. WOOHOO! Once the health challenge is over we'll get to go party at my favorite ice cream place. Can't wait!
  
  
• We absolutely love and adore our little Baby Boy (even if he's no longer a Baby...maybe we should call him Little Boy C) more and more each day. Some days are better than others, but we love him all the same!

The 2013 Top Ten List

No doubt about it, 2013 was a major year around here. It was absolutely LIFE CHANGING, but totally for the better. Yesterday I engaged Mr. C in brainstorming the major events of our year so with no further adieu--The C. Family Top Ten of 2013

1. Baby C Arrives: No question about this being #1. Our amazingly wonderful little guy arrived early in the year and our year really became about him. He is hilarious and adorable and challenging and smart and wicked fantastic. I love being a mom!

2. Mr. C Switches Jobs...Again: This one came out of the blue for me, but it happened! In the spring Mr. C was offered a job at a new company with better pay and a position more in line with what he wanted to be doing in the field. He accepted and had a long commute, but we're happy with the job. I do have to wonder, though...how often is this going to happen!? Since we've been together, this is his fourth job. They've all been good jobs. He just likes moving around, I guess!

3. I Quit My Job: After the baby arrived, we made the decision that I would get to be a full-time mom. WOOHOO!!! I love it. I worked for the school district for nearly 8 years and it was hard to leave, and yet totally easy at the same time. Being a full-time, stay-at-home-mom is ridiculously wonderful and so hard at the same time. But we're living it and loving it and learning a lot.

4. The Year of the Pump: As I wrote about previously, Baby didn't take to breastfeeding like I'd hoped/expected. I still felt it important for him to have breast milk for at least 6 months, so I ended up pumping hours every day so we could feed the kiddo breastmilk in his bottles. And so I felt like I was attached to that pump for a solid 5 months. When August came and I weaned him it brought on some new problems, but it was SOOOOOO freeing! Would I do it again? Yes. But I really really really don't want to. 

5. New Church Callings: I started out the year serving as the Primary chorister. I ended the year serving as the ward choir director AND a Mia Maid adviser. The latter is totally brand new and I'm excited about it. The choir thing has taken some getting used to--its so intimidating!--but I'm learning to love it. Mr. C is now serving as a counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency. Suffice it to say, our Sundays are busy. 

6. Senate Youth Scholarship Coordinator: In the fall, I was asked to pick up the reins of the state's Senate Youth Scholarship program rather last minute. It mainly involved a lot of organizing and I happen to excel in that area. So I jumped in and had a grand time of it. Its a great little program and I'm excited to tackle it this year as well.

7. Household Repairs: Mr. C had his hands full this year with a variety of odd jobs around the house. I kept joking that he'll eventually replace the entire house. He's replaced a valve/stopper thingamajig on the toilet, the bathroom fan, the garbage disposal, and the kitchen faucet. He's also put up new shelves in our storage room and in the baby's room. And in addition to that, he fixed the water temperature problem we were having in the guest bathroom. I love having a handy man husband. I'm hoping to persuade him to install a ceiling fan in our bedroom before summer.

8. 5K Fun: I was intent on getting back in shape as soon as possible after the baby arrived. To that end, I signed up for a 5K before he even showed up. We did our first 5K together in April. As a family we tackled another in early June and a 4th of July one the next month. And then Mr. C and I ran the first annual Harry Potter Run in our area this fall--I was Ravenclaw, he was Hufflepuff, and my sister ran for Gryffindor. It was great! We're already looking forward to some fun races in 2014.

9. Family Pictures: This summer we had family pictures with both sides of the family and with our only little family too! The O side of the family was done in about 5 minutes. Our little family took about 30 (and that included the baby's 6-month photo shoot). The C side of the family was over 2 hours. (WHAT?!) Go figure. Anyway, its really great to have updated photos to display in the living room. 

10. Reading of Middle Earth: Mr. C rarely has time to read anything that isn't directly related to school. But this year we took the leap and read "The Hobbit" and "The Fellowship of the Ring" together (as in, we had one copy of the book and took turns reading it during the same period of time). We're currently in the middle of "The Two Towers." Its been really fun to read and discuss the books as we go along. Hopefully by next year's Top Ten list, I can say we've finished the entire LOTR trilogy.

And since I like to include a few other things, Honorable Mentions go to: Bubblews.com (my writing hobby site), Noosa Yoghurt (my favorite food indulgence), Jillian's 30-Day Shred (you can actually do a complete workout and shower during naptime!), and "Lincoln," "Catching Fire," & "The Hobbit II" (the only three movies we actually got to see in the theater together this year!) 

Looking forward to another great year!

******

Previous Years Lists

2012

2011

How I Feel Every Night When Baby is Finally in Bed

Image originally found here (on a truly brilliant blog!)

Life Lately

I haven't written since Labor Day and even before then I've been pretty slothful with Blogging. Sorry all! Life has been busy and I just don't seem to get around to this little ol' Blog enough. (Sorry little ol' Blog!) So let me tell you about some of the stuff we've been up to and whatnot.

• Mr. C is back in school. He's taking two classes and the assignments are very time consuming. He's still working full time and the office is located nearly an hour away from home. So he commutes South 3 days a week for work, commutes North 2 days a week for school (works from home the other hours those days) and spends most of his other waking hours doing homework. Its a busy life!
  
• Baby C is a big 8-month old boy! Physically he's tall and sturdy. We definitely understand the latter coming from family, but we're not sure where his vertical prowess comes from. He's had two bouts of teething and a cold in the last month, so we're VERY pleased to have our funny, cheerful boy back! I'm fairly confident he's the cutest baby in the neighborhood and if/when you meet him you WILL comment on his chubby cheeks. Everyone does. And I do mean EVERYONE.
  
• I've started writing online at Bubblews.com (Such disloyalty to our little ol' Blog, but hey--it pays better...) and its been a fantastic experience to try my hand at being a "real" writer. So far my most popular post is on our Flexitarian lifestyle (http://www.bubblews.com/news/935031-i039m-a-flexitarian). Go us! We had eggplant burgers for dinner, so I'm no poser y'all.
  
• I also accepted a last-minute position to serve as the state's Senate Youth Scholarship Program coordinator. It involves a lot of organization and since I learned from the best (MOM), I seem to be a natural fit for the job. I'm enjoying it so far and I'm just trying to forget about the myriad of things I know NOTHING about.
  
• We got to see "In the Heights" at the Hale Centre Theater in Orem this week and really enjoyed it. I'd heard such great things about this show in NYC and I'm sorry I never got to see it out there. Its fun and upbeat and if you're in the area, you should check it out!
  
• Christmas is about 2-months away and the ward choir still hasn't even started on two of our songs. Eek! Being the choir director is a new adventure, but I'm slowly coming to love it more and more. I have my very own music stand now. I'm invested. The upcoming Christmas season also has me super excited about Baby C's first holiday. Yay!
  
• Thanksgiving is coming and that means PIE. I've decided to attempt a new German Chocolate Pecan pie (I tried some last night at a Relief Society activity. It was heavenly.) as well as the cranberry apple we made last year. Really I'd like to churn out as many pies as my schedule will allow. I love pie.
  
•  And since I know you just really want to know more about Baby C:
  
• He is fascinated by laundry baskets
• He smiles big after every sneeze. Loves them!
• He's doing much better with the solid food and has also switched to soy formula
• He's a pretty willing running partner and enjoys a breeze (though not a wind) on his face
• He has a shriek that will literally make your ears ring and has no problem sharing this noise on a daily basis with whomever is around. Its usually Mom.
• He loves veggie straws and bananas
• He still is not rolling, crawling or even thinking about it. He is, however, a champion sitter. He's also a master of the sippy cup.
• He's our favorite thing EVER.
  

Two Awesome Pictures

I haven't written on this lovely Blog of ours since July. And I'm not planning on writing much right now. I am going to share with you two fantastic pictures, however.

First is this:

I started working on this mobile for Baby C's nursery before he even arrived. And then he arrived and life got C-a-ra-zy! This past week I decided it had to be finished and voila! It is. And it is soooo adorable! I love how it looks hanging above his crib. I especially like when the A/C comes on, and makes it move. Let's hope Baby C likes it as well.  A big thank you to Charisse, Catie and Jen for helping me with the initial hand sewing, and another big thanks to Mr. C for helping me finish and for hanging it up!

Second awesome picture coming your way is this:

I made zucchini bread today--for the first time in recent memory, or perhaps the first time ever. I can't tell you if its delicious since its still cooling in the pan. But the batter tasted fantastic, and the house smells even better right now. I expect great things.

Finally, a bonus shot of Baby C being his awesome self on a rainy day last week:

 Life is good. Autumn is on its way (the colors are changing already!!) and I am a pretty happy lady.

Peace out, y'all.