Mozart, how I love thee...

So, I had a fun girl time with Jen last night, SO fun that we stayed up until 2:30 in the morning! So, when Capri woke up at 7, I was tired and desperate for more sleep.
Well, we have recently purchased a brand new DVD for her, called Baby Einstein... the Mozart one. She LOVES it, and will sit in front of it, and talk through the whole 30 minutes, its so cute. So, I decided at 7AM to put her in the bouncy seat, on the floor next to me, and I put the movie on. I thought it would buy me a couple of minutes.
Well, Wade got home from work, to me asleep in the bed, and her asleep in the bouncy, and the video running on repeat. He got home at 8:45! She fell asleep ALL BY HERSELF (never happened before), watching baby mozart, oh my goodness! All that gabbin' wears a girl out! When I fell asleep, she was talking away! Wade thought it was so cute, he snapped this photo for evidence:

and mama got some much needed rest....yay!

The rest of the story

So... to finish telling you about our trip to Arizona....

After the girls came over the night we got back in town, Chelsea came back over and brought Capri and I some breakfast, and we had a fantastic time!

My MIL and SIL took Capri out to lunch while Chelsea and I went to TARGET! Wahoo, it was fantastic. I know it sounds lame, but that is a MAJOR thing for this new mom that has a baby attached to me 24/7!

After that I met back up with my MIL and SIL for my SIL Penny to try on Wedding dresses. It was such an awesome experience to be able to be there for her, and see her look when she found "the one". There is just nothing better then seeing a Bride in her dress for the first time!

That night we gathered up all our friends and were able to hang out for a bit at one of our favorite pizza joints, it was great seeing everyone!

The next morning, Capri's great grandparents came and picked us up! My grandma had made THE BEST french toast and bacon. Wade was in heaven, a meal he could actually share with us! We always have such a great time visiting them. For some reason, they think we are really funny, and we think we are really funny when we are around them, and so we all laugh really hard! My grandma's gave me a special gift made by her best friend, they were hand quilted bibs for Capri, so precious! The same woman made my doll clothes when I was a little girl, what a moment!

After that we met back up with Wade's family and took some adorable pictures at a portrait studio. I am going to post those really soon!

We had a great trip!

The New Me

BEFORE:
AFTER
(I'm looking away, because I CANNOT take a picture without blinking!)


I've never had my hair this short...but I think I like it. The only downside? I wanted to be blonder, but the girl was afraid of bleachin....so, I got some cute high lights, and if I can't be blonde yet, this was the next best thing. It's a pretty color.

Our trip!

Our trip to Arizona was a big challenge! It was our first time traveling with Capri, and she was still recovering from an ear infection! This made me a little scared about flying with her... I hoped we weren't doomed to flight full of tears.

She made the whole flight great! She was still super high-maintenance but all of our efforts worked, and the tears were contained! Wahoo!

Wade's family picked us up at the airport and they were SO excited to see her, it was adorable.
The rest of the day was a challenge as we drove 4 hours south of Phoenix to Wade's parents beach house. Some of you might know this.... but Capri hates the car. I can't even tell you how many people share stories of their babies LOVING the car, and it even being the only way they can get their babies to sleep. Well, not my child, she hates it with a fiery passion! But, we managed, and finally made it to Mexico after about 13 or so hours of traveling.

Well, Capri loved the beach! Who doesn't? She napped and smiled her way through the weekend. I guess all those negative ions brought her some much needed peace. Our first day out, she was in the water sling (thanks to Steph) and she fell asleep and I got to have a beautiful walk where I took some pictures.Her very first swimsuit!
Totally asleep!

Isn't it gorgeous? This photo isn't even enhanced, it was THAT blue!This is after the water went WAY back to show the rocks (we were in ROCKY POINT!)


Some footprints
Our little family...

And some sand touching....
(Sorry, I can't figure out how to turn the video, since I turn the camera a couple of times, so you gotta turn your little heads... its okay... you will be okay...)


Mom MIL is holding her, my SIL Penny, is talking to her and we are talking about some family stuff.... so just act like you know what we are talking about, or just put your computer on mute and watch the video without sound!

We had such a great trip, and when we returned our last few days were spent with the Aunts (my previous post)!

We had a great time, but it wasn't really a vacation for us. Getting ready, traveling with a baby, seeing so many people, transitioning back home... it was so exhausting. We are STILL recovering and we got home over a week ago!

It was a great trip, we miss our loved ones, but we are happy to be home!

Easter

I hope you all had a great Easter! We were a little sad that we weren't able to spend it with family. Wade worked overtime, my sister and her family were sick, and the rest of my family is out of state! So what's a girl to do? Have a photo shoot with Easter clothes!

So, only a few turned out good because Capri would be smiling really big, but as soon as I pulled up the camera she just stared at it like it was the strangest thing ever!

XOXO

Capri meets the Aunts!

Okay, so I can't find the cord thing that hooks up to my camera to update you all on our trip to Arizona. We had a great time, and I will post a video of Capri's first time at the beach (toes in the sand, watermelon bathing suit and all!) But until I find the cord thing, please go to my best friend Jordan's website and check out what she has to say about meeting Capri HERE.

You can also check out here album page for MORE pictures and even a video (which I had no idea she was recording, and hearing myself speak "baby talk" makes me want to cringe!)

But, she got some pretty adorable pictures! Oh, and Jordan is pretty new to the blog world so, leave her a comment and let her know you stopped by! (Remember how good it felt to get comments when you FIRST started? Heck, it still feels great right?)

XOXO

1st Anniversary!

One year ago today, I married the man of my dreams. It was the very best day of my life.
We met at a high school football game, and started dating when I was 15 and he was 17. We dated for 6 years (2 1/2 of those years long distance), and went through everything together!
He proposed to me on Mendenhall Glacier on a trip to Alaska (diamonds look even better next to blue ice, let me tell ya!) and six months later, we were married!

It was a perfect day. We had a "destination" wedding in Long Beach, CA at the Ebell club. It was a vacation for almost all of our guests, and so many came early, stayed late and enjoyed a whole week of fun!

The day was perfect, I remember waking up with pure joy and peace probably the most I have ever felt of either of those emotions. My bridesmaids-all seven of them, consisting of my closest friends and sisters took care of me all day.

As I waited to walk down the aisle, it was a moment that seemed to last forever (in a good way), I paused and really took in that moment. I remember talking to my wedding planner (the best ever, and a girl I hope will soon be my sister in law) she affirmed me and gave me my last minute instructions. My oldest friend (since 2nd grade) was my maid of honor, and we talked about being young, playing barbies and dreaming of this moment. I had a LONG walk down the aisle, from the second floor balcony. I walked all the way around to "Somewhere over the rainbow". I walked down the stairs and met my dad at the bottom as the traditional wedding song played. That was the the moment I saw his face....
I saw him whisper "Oh my gosh" as he took his first glance of his bride. I was overwhelmed with emotion, yet more at peace then ever. The moment by dad lifted my veil, gave me a kiss on the cheek and gave me away was the only moment I began to cry. Here was the man that had lead me, protected me, provided for me, and guided me, and he was handing over all of those responsibilities to the man I love. His love had prepared me for this moment, and I loved him so much.

As Wade took my hand and we prayed, my knees shook. I had a hard time catching my breath. I was more in the moment then I have ever been in my whole life, and the unbelievable reality made my body shiver. Wade and I said traditional vows and then read ones that we had written for each other. Those words are so deeply etched into my heart.

My very talented brother played and sang a beautiful song he had written (how cool is that?!) and my friend Searcy read a beautiful modern take on the verse in 1 Corinthians.

As we were announced as "Mr. and Mrs." I knew one thing: God had performed a miracle. In that moment, we became man and wife, He united us under a great covenant. We were soul mates forever united with Him. It was beautiful.

As for the reception, I always said that I wanted it to be the BEST party I will ever throw. So, what was important? Food, Music and TONS of fun.

We had the most yummiest food, OH I still dream about it. If my dress had not of been so tight, I would have eaten SO much more.

We had the most AWESOME live band. They got everyone on the dance floor, and united everyone from my grandparents to my young nephews, and they kept the party going all night. We had a ridiculous amount of fun.

There is just nothing cooler then having EVERYONE you know and love all together in one room, it was so much fun.

EVERYONE stayed until the very end, when we did our last dance to "At Last" by Etta James, and everyone lined up with sparklers, and as the song ended we ran through the sparklers, and jumped into a very OBSCENELY decorated care. :)

I had expected the inevitable things to go wrong, the flowers being wrong, this vendor being late, this person causing drama, the service being bad... ect... but no... everything went perfectly, and it was amazing.

I somehow always doubted the greatness that people talked about on their wedding days. It seemed almost impossible to me, for this day to live up to the PERFECT expectation I had always dreamed. But, it did, and it was even greater then I could have ever expected.

I felt SO deeply loved by Wade, so connected to him, and as we partied with our loved ones, it was OUR party, and we were so deeply connected in every moment of it.

It's been such a wonderful year, and I can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for Wade and I.

Today was a great day.

I am so honored to be my Husbands Wife.

Marriage Wisdom Part 2

Continuing on from where we left off...

• Be careful with your tone of voice. This is a huge weakness for most women I think. It's really easy to deny any wrong doing because of the words you speak, but we ALL know the message we are trying to send when our tone is demeaning, not so friendly and prideful. Your body language and tone of voice say more then your words sometimes. Be careful to not be hurtful.
• Always seek a solution instead of just fighting. It's easy to let the conversation get out of hand to the point that you end up fighting about what you said when you were fighting. Let go of your desire to be right, to prove your point, to let the person know how MUCH they really hurt you, and just seek to work towards solutions. Instead of focusing on what was done, move on, let go and figure out (together) how to make it NOT happen again.
• Protect your marriage. It's an obvious thing to tell a married women to not have an affair, but most of us are closer to this then we think. Never think that you are above this, and put yourself in situations where you might be tempted. I would guard against riding alone in a car with a man that is not your husband or family. Don't share intimate, emotional details with any other man other then your husband. HE should be your best friend, your council and your greatest confidant, not another man.
  
• Create romance with your hubby, whenever possible. Affection goes SO FAR in connecting with one another. Cuddles, kisses, glances, touches as you walk by is SO important. Try to have date nights as regularly as possible, and take time to do thoughtful, cute things for each other. The other night I wrote a little "love" note and hid it in my husbands uniform for him to find at work. It took him a few days before he realized it was there, but he called me from work to tell me it "made his night", and it only took me two minutes!
  
• I would suggest reading the book "The 5 love languages" by Gary Chapman. Learn your hubbies "love language" so that you can be intentional about the way you love him. You can love him in the way he WANTS to be loved, instead of loving him the way YOU would want to be loved. When I read this book a few years ago, it absolutely changed my relationship with Wade. It is something powerful, trust me.
  
• Your husband is the leader in your home, and you must let him. I believe it is one of the hardest thing for a man to do, is be a leader, and its one of the hardest things for a woman to NOT do. It's almost like as soon as there is a lack of leadership, we swoop in to control instead of give our husbands the time and space (and encouragement), to lead. Submit to your husbands leadership, and trust him. A great example of the way I view submission as a wife is this.....When Wade and I started to talk about moving from Arizona to Indiana, I was the one that brought it up. I was pregnant, and each week that my baby grew I became more and more desperate to be by my family (mom and/or sister), and I felt like God was leading us out of Arizona. I told him my heart, and my desire (and it was his responsibility to listen). As we continued to talk about the possibilities, we struggled with many things. I know that Wade struggled with many things, and it wasn't going to be an easy decision. I told him that I trusted that he would seek the Lord's guidance for us, and I trusted that he would consider my heart, and I trusted that HE would make the best decision for us. A few weeks later, after doing both those things, he decided that we would move to Indiana. Whatever his decision may have been, I would have trusted it, and respected it. HE has the huge responsibility of listening to my heart, following God, and doing what was best for our little family.
  

I hope to continue to learn, and fall more in love with my Hubby, and I pray the same for you and your marriages...present or future!

XOXO