Recent News: I made a mobile for Lo's room, but it's a lot cuter in person.

 Here she is enjoying it while it was hanging in the living room.

 Our little girl is becoming a thief! She enjoys taking anything she can get her hands on... even the doggy toys. Bella doesn't like that very much...

Here she is, ready for the -20 degree weather we've been having. Our little teddy bear! Look at that face!

Just relaxing at home. A little half smile for the camera :)

I recently decided to start on some solid foods with Lolo since she seems like she's ready. She really enjoys Cheerios and Kix and freeze dried mangoes and bananas in a fruit net. We tried some cauliflower the other day and I discovered just how independent our little honey is. She had to feed herself... Yes she had to physically take the spoon and put it in her mouth herself. I can understand an older baby doing this, but this was her first time with solids! I thought it was so funny! At first she would get mad if I tried to push her hand away and just feed her myself, cause let's face it, I really don't like messy faces and hands, but she loved to be a big girl and do it by herself! So cute. I Just love her! Below is a video of our little 5 month old feeding herself.

 She also HATES tummy time... am I a bad mom for letting her whine a little when she's down there? Lol. I kinda think it's funny :)

Our little princess is sooooooo close to saying Dada! Below is the cutest video of her from tonight trying really, really hard to get that first "D" out. She loves her bath time :)

 

Here's another video of when we had cousin Rae over for some play time :)

This is NOT a diet blog...

Wait a sec... I thought working out was supposed to release those feel goo hormones. I thought when you worked out you didn't really have the desire to eat junk. These have been my previous experiences with working out, but today has totally changed that. 30 mins on my elliptical this morning totally ruined my day! I have been sooooo moody and just plain depressed and I don't understand why. I have been craving ice cream or cupcakes or anything sweet and I have had NO motivation to do anything. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!?! I was sitting on the couch... minding my own business when a ice cream bar with devil horns pops onto my shoulder. What did I do? I gave in. But we don't have any ice cream... What's the next best thing...? HOT CHOCOLATE! Yes ladies and gentleman, I made hot chocolate, with a dash of cream and whole milk. "But what is hot chocolate without whipped cream or marshmallows?" I thought to myself, both of which we don't have. Then it hit me. I had bought some marshmallow cream for Sterling the other day! Yahoooooo! Heaven in a cup! Now my tummy hurts... but I think it was worth it?

Yummmmm....

Yesterday

We had such a wonderful Sunday. Church was great and we got there on time, even early! Booyaw. We then went to dinner at our friends Shanna and Adam's house and had delicious food and good conversation. Lolo saw her first kitty cat and Shanna took beautiful pictures with her new camera which I am so jealous of! We had a fun fun day. Ster and I finished off our night with some chocolate cupcakes and lots of pillow talk. I love my husband.

As we were talking I was complaining to him about how I don't have a car during the day, cause he takes it to work, and I was comparing our life to the lifestyles of family and the people in our ward etc. All I'm going to say is that he helped me put things into perspective. "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." My husband always has words of wisdom and comfort at the ready when I'm feeling depressed. All I have to do is think about what our lives will be like when we're out of this "temporary, transitory" period in our lives. We will be leaps and bounds ahead of our peers when it comes to debt and life experience. My husband is perfect for me.

Now I'm going to brag about him a lil'. Last winter he did some freelance/volunteer work for a start up company called Get Found First. He initially went in for an interview but they didn't hire him and he asked them if he could do a sort of free internship to just learn about what they do and how they run since Internet Marketing/ Web Business is what he want's to go into for a career and it would be a good experience. He worked for them for a few months and built some really wonderful relationships with the owner and employees. Well, every successful new company grows, and a few weeks ago they asked him to come back and work for them, and get paid for doing it! He is now the manager of several companies' online advertising accounts. He gets to do SEM (search engine marketing) work and lot's of other cool things that I know nothing about... BUT, another HUGE thing is that he is now Google Ad Words Certified! If you want to know what that is, check it out here, or here. It's a really really big deal and the tests cost a lot of money and are really really hard. But he did it! And I am so so very proud of my Honey Bee!!!!! He is my sunshine and my strength. I have such a wonderful life! But basically what this means is that when he graduates from college he is going to be a pretty hot commodity since he will have had previous experience in his field and he is Google Ad Words Certified. I am so proud of my hubby! Even though we are sacrificing so much right now, I know that it will all pay off! I feel like I never get to see my husband, since he's gone from 9am-1:15pm at Get Found First, then gone again from 4:45-11pm working his tush off a Wlamart, but I know that all the time he's putting in right now, is just time that we get to spend together later when he's making $1,000,000/hr and only has to work 1 hr a year. Juuusssst Kidding. But that would be cool, yeah?

I LOVE MY LIFE! 

PS When Ster is making $1,000,000/hr, I am going to buy all my clothing from here and here.

Cousin Time

Today we took such cute pictures with cousin Rae. I absolutely love them and we had lots of fun doing it. We also picked up our new CALIFORNIA KING bed :) Sterling's feet don't hang off the end. I love my tall hubby. I'm super tired, but here is a teaser from our photo shoot.

Life Lessons...

Today, we learned the hard way that our student insurance deductible starts over in September and not the beginning of the year.

This past year has been a hard one for Sterling. He got carbon monoxide poisoning in late August and then what we thought was a cold turned into pneumonia in December. When he was hit with pneumonia we thought it would be no problem since we had just payed the deductible for his CO poisoning. WRONG! Once again, our finances have been screwed over by the lovely school we attend. YAY!

Even though we are financially stretched to the limit right now, all I have to do is think of the wonderful blessings I have in my life, and it makes it all better :)

I'm going to go beat my husband at Yahtzee now and I'm sure that will make me feel better too.

Loves!
-Ari

My Beautiful Daughter

Basically, I'm not even exaggerating when I talk about my perfect little girl. She's not only physically beautiful and perfect in every way, but her little spirit just astounds me every day. She is so chillax about everything and she absolutely loves her mommy and daddy. She understands when I need to be doing something and she's totally content with just sitting by herself playing with her feet or a water bottle or her numerous toys. On the other hand, when I'm doing something unproductive like sitting on the computer or watching a show, she knows that I'm not doing anything important and then she'll demand my attention. She is the sweetest little girl ever made! She loves her doggies and loves kisses form Junie. She has fun talking to her monkey stuffed animal and bouncing in her bouncer. She loves reading books with mommy and playing with daddy There isn't a day that goes by where I am astounded by her intelligence and also her calm, loving spirit. She is my comfort. I love her so much and I know she was given to me for a reason. I have so many blessings in my life, but the two that are closest to my heart are my wonderful husband and my amazing little girl. I love them with all my heart.

Today I decided to make cupcakes instead of work out on my elliptical that I got for Christmas. It's like a never ending battle for me! Why can't I work up the motivation to do what I know needs to get done? I don't want to keep these 20-30 extra pounds that lingered after pregnancy... and I certainly don't want an extra 20-30 after each of my next pregnancies... I just need to buck up and get it done.

Jalapeno popper are in the oven and asparagus is done and waiting to be eaten. Love my life and the people in it.

"To become a mother is one of life’s greatest blessings. It is a lifelong event that forever changes you. Becoming a mother changes your heart, your thoughts, and your actions."