Saturday mornings...

One of the big reasons I don't get to sleep in. Somehow Dallas sleeps right through it all.

Just one photo... please?

On holidays I try to get a group picture of the kids. On Mother's day I would have liked to get a photo with my kids but it didn't happen. So on Father's day we attempted to get some group shots. As usual, it was a pain.

This test shot was probably my favorite... A little out of focus, but cute. I should stick with candid shots.

This is how photos typically go, 

"Evan put your hand down... Look at the camera..."

"Daphne!! Look at mommy!!

Kiah, look at the camera."

Another test shot :)

"Evan, look at the camera...

Makiah, smile!

Daphne!! Look at daddy!!"

Ok... we're done now. 

For now on, I'll have our sweet neighbor take the photos. She did a good job!

And this is why I love lifestyle photography. Candid shots. Next Father's day I'll have to take some fun pictures of the kids playing with dad rather then forcing them to smile :)

Daph at 7 months

It seems every post is about Daphne. One day I'll post pictures of the rest of us and you'll all be in shock to see how much Evan and Kiah have grown up ;) I have a little extra time that hopefully will go towards blogging about the kids, so soon enough I'll fill you in on what's going on around here.

Lots has been happening this past month with Daphne. She is changing into a mobile baby who can't hold still. Just changing her diaper is a challenge :) She can now...

Crawl (not just scoot)
Sit up
Transition from crawling to sitting and sitting to crawling
Pull herself to stand

The first time Daphne pulled herself to stand she was next to the bath tub. She loves the water a little too much :) I thought Evan helped her up, but then she did it again. We lowered her mattress in her crib and then she started standing in there too.

Daphne will sometimes start to cry when I leave the room. Though not every time, thank goodness. She still likes other people, but if I leave her with them she most likely will start to cry. If I put her down in one room I have to distract her with something before I can leave. This is all bad timing seeing that we are leaving to Utah soon to see family. Hopefully we can break her of any fears she has of being away from Mom.

Daphne also has a tooth coming in, but she has been handling that well. I haven't noticed a change in her temperament, which is wonderful... teething can be so hard and so far she is doing well. She sleeps just fine, some nights she sleeps through the night and others she wakes up early for a bottle. 


I took these photos at a friends house... that's why it might not look familiar :) I made the skirt Daphne is wearing, I made a bunch for her and Kiah. Kiah refuses to wear shorts so it is nice to have a bunch of play skirts for them to wear :)

This is Daph's cool yoga trick that she loves to do for us...

I don't know why, but Daphne doesn't care to eat solids, she is just fine drinking her bottle. I think she wants to eat when she sees us eating, but when I feed her cereal or baby food she just can't figure it out. I think it is just because of her tongue thrust, her tongue pushes out anything I put in. She won't even open her mouth for me to put the spoon in. So I get her to smile and stick the spoon in. Sometimes she swallows, but she mostly just spits it out. We've been trying almost everyday, but I don't push it. She'll figure it out soon enough.

Little stinker and her tongue poking out...

Trick her into smiling...

And show her how yummy the food is...

It's not so bad after all...

Time.

There is never enough time, but I often find myself wishing it away. Though, right now I want it to slow down a bit, so I can catch up with myself.

Things I wish I had time to blog about, preferably before I head out to Utah later this summer...

Evan's preschool
Daphne's scooting videos
Daphne's crawling videos (that I haven't taken yet...)
Daphne's 7 month photos (that I haven't taken yet...)
Memorial day photos
Swimming lessons
Makiah's first dance lesson

I am finding myself overbooked... tired... and wishing I had more time to do the things I love. I am in the process of doing just that. It's amazing how hard it is to slow down and simplify. I think about the months ahead and wonder if it really is possible. It will take some changes that's for sure.

Also...

My last post... I hope I didn't offend anyone. Motherhood is a wonderful thing, and I don't hate it, regret it or wish it away. It's just hard. I also understand that everyone's life is hard, I am not the only one going through trials and hard times. I have some close people in my life that are going through hard times, and I think about them often... I know that my trials are very small and insignificant to what they are facing. We are all in this together though, it's wonderful that we have friends and families to support and help us in times of need. I am grateful for the comments, emails and phone calls that I receive from people that help me through these rough times.

Motherhood is...

Hard.

I feel like I am living two different lives in one. My first life wakes up early. Feeds the baby, changes the baby, plays with the baby, sleeps a little if possible, reads, talks to Dallas and sends him off to work. Then I put the baby down for a nap... my second life begins as my two kids wake up around 8:30. I feed them, dress them and get them ready for wherever it is we need to go that day. Then, when the baby wakes, I combine the two lives into one. The day is crazy though. Because now my two lives are all blended into one: being a mom of a demanding baby and being the mom of two young children. Trying to get things done all at once (with a baby on my hip).... cooking, cleaning, driving, shopping, planning, working out, diaper changing, feeding, showering (if I am lucky), disciplining, organizing, doing laundry, playing with kids, and trying to keep up with all the things I should be doing on top of all the day to day stuff (phone calls, scheduling appointments, reading scriptures, visiting friends, teaching my kids, taking photos of my kids, recording memories, etc.. etc... etc.). My only relief is nap time and bed time. But even then I am not done. I am never done. Because when one life slows down, the other speeds up. It's a vicious cycle.

I hit a point where I can't take it anymore. But I put on a face and pretend that I can. The only person who knows I am falling apart at the seams is Dallas. Poor Dallas... because all the weight that was on my shoulders gets shifted to his.

Being a mom is hard. It's the plain, honest truth. At the end of the day I don't know how else to describe it. But when I wake up in the morning, I do it again. Because it's what I want. Truly it is, I just have to keep reminding myself that it is all worth it. My three crazy, adorable, fun, loving, wonderful children are worth it and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This photo is for my 12 for 2012 project. The theme for May is: Motherhood is... The technique is: self portrait. This really isn't a portrait of myself, but I am in the photo :) It's more of my perspective, my view on things as a mom of young children. I really like how it turned out. I only wish Makiah would have been it the photo... but that's ok, I still love it.

More of Daphne

Sooo... I should have had this photo taken weeks ago and I should have posted it 10 days ago, after Dallas took it for me. But I didn't. I finally got around to editing and organizing my personal photos, so hopefully I'll be posting some more of what has been going on around here. 

I think the main reason I didn't post these right away was because I didn't like them :( We put up two bookshelves along my white wall in my room where I usually take these photos. I could either move the shelves... or find a new spot in my house. Let's just say, I wasn't too happy with the options I had. The light is just different from my room and I want the photos to all look similar. (Also, I needed a hair cut and my hair just doesn't look so good in this shot.) Okay, I am done complaining... I think. I do like these photos though, Daphne is just too cute.

6 months

3 months

Newborn

My girl at 6 months

Six (and a half) months old now...

This is my new favorite photo of Daphne. She is growing like crazy and learning so much. Here are some of the things she has been up to:

Scooting backward, forward and in circles.

Scooting across the room (as of last night!!)

Sitting up when we trick her into it, she doesn't like it much.

Eating rice cereal (only a few bites a day, still getting used to it).

Napping only twice a day.

Sleeps 10 hours during the night.

I thought I'd post more photos from this shoot of Daphne on my photo blog... take a look!

Utah and Birthday

I got to take a last minute trip to Utah last week. My dad had to have two surgeries recently and I wanted to be with him and help my mom out during this time that my dad is recovering from surgery. I flew out with Daphne so she could meet grandpa (finally!).  I was also lucky to be home with my family on my birthday :) It's been a while since I got to celebrate with them.

Here we are on my birthday with my dad. We partied it up at the care center that he is staying at this month...

Mom :)

The crew (and Brandon's precious Dr. Pepper)...

Daphne loved everyone! It was a perfect time to take her to meet everyone. She isn't nervous with new people yet.

My nieces loved Daphne, and Daphne loved having kids play with her. I really think she missed Evan and Makiah while we were gone. We Skyped a couple of times with Dallas, Evan and Makiah. Daphne got SOOO excited to see them. It was so cute.  

Sophie took good care of Daph, she was so sweet to her!

Demi :) I love this girl! She wouldn't come near me last summer... but this year she warmed up to me quick and even ran and gave me a hug on my birthday :)

The kids insisted on celebrating when I got home. They were sweet and had presents, cake and ice cream all ready for me. (Do you like how I have empty frames on my wall? I really need to get some more prints :))

It's good to be home, it was hard being away from my family. Luckily next time I go to Utah they will be coming with me!