HGTV Inspiration

During the 6 weeks I was on maternity leave, I watched a lot of TV. And I discovered HGTV along the way. It is amazing how my whole perspective has changed in regards to a home that's a "fixer upper." I used to think I wanted to avoid "fixer uppers" like the plague. But now, they actually intrigue me. Everywhere I go, I have ideas of how to make a space better, more open, more practical, more beautiful, etc. Now I just want to knock down walls and redo kitchens and bathrooms.

Anyway, I can't do those things in a rental apartment.

 But, I realized not all hope is lost. I can do little things for now.

For instance, last week I decided I hated Ellie's crib color. It was brown and ugly. And had chew marks on it from a previous tenant. So here is my latest project. Bryce and I took it apart, sanded it down, painted it, and put it back together. I thought it would take a few hours, but it seriously took an entire day. But it was worth it! I didn't want to spend any money... we had a big can of white primer and a little can of really dark gray paint. At first I thought I would paint the crib white with the primer. But then I decided to mix the two together and do a lighter gray instead.

I didn't really take a "before" picture... I forgot to. But here is a picture of Ellie's bedroom before I redid the crib. 

And here is an "after" picture. I love it! I also repainted the frame of the picture above the crib as well. 

Mondays.

WARNING: This blog post contains complaining on the part of Beki. Read no further... she just needed to vent.

My whole life I have heard people talk about Mondays. How Mondays are the worst day of the week. How hard Mondays are. Most of my life, Mondays really haven't been that bad to me. I mean, yah, the weekends go by fast, but for the most part, I have always loved school. I have always loved my job. And usually I kinda looked forward to a new week. Mondays have never been that bad in my mind. (Granted, there have always been hard days... but I wouldn't blame it on Mondays.)

Well, I went back to work last Wednesday for the first time since having Ellie in our lives. And ever since Wednesday began, I longed for the weekend. I wanted so badly for it to be Friday at 4:00. I have never disliked being at work this much.... ever. And to be honest, a Monday has never come so fast. And for the first time in my life, I will truthfully tell you that I hate Mondays.

I love my students. I love my job. Having a teaching job has been such a blessing to our family. It has also brought a lot of joy to me. But I think no matter what I do, it will always be hard being away from my daughter all day. She is my world now. And she is on my mind constantly. I love her.

When I went in to the teaching profession, people always said that being a teacher is the best "mom job." I can definitely see why people say that - you get off work relatively soon after your kids get done with school. You get summers off. Well I just have to say that the one bad thing about having a teaching job is that when your contract hours are up, you aren't done with work. There is always more to do. There is always grading to be done, lessons to be planned. But here is my goal to help me get through the next 6 weeks and to be happy. I am going to work my bootie off and get done with work at 4:00 every day. I am going to leave school... and all my work behind. I am going to come home and cuddle, play with, and love my sweet baby with no distractions. If any of you really know what it's like to be a teacher, you know this is a lofty goal. But I am determined. 

May 29th cannot come soon enough. I can't wait until my only job is taking care of this sweet girl. 

Ears, Bottles, and Cuteness!

First of all, I just love this little face... 

Second of all, you can't see her face very well because of the shadow, but Ellie has 2 wires attached to her head, one wire attached behind her left ear, and another wire thing going in to her ear. When she was born, they tested her ears at the hospital to see if she was hearing okay. It is amazing that they can test that at such a young age! Unfortunately, after two tests, Ellie's left ear didn't pass the test. So yesterday we took her to the audiologist to have her checked again. Sometimes babies still have fluid in their ears from spending 9 months in said fluid, which makes them fail the test - so waiting a while and testing again will often times come back with a "pass" result. Anyway, she passed! She can hear just fine.

Then this morning I took a bunch of pictures right in a row of Ellie. That's what I do. All day long. Take pictures. Because I just love her adorable faces she makes! The next 5 photos were taken in the space of about 10 seconds.... so animated! 

Ellie has struggled to take a bottle. She hates it, actually. Often times, she would be starving and it would still take 5-15 minutes of her screaming and crying for her to even entertain the idea of sucking on any bottle I gave her. She is so dramatic sometimes :) Anyway. After spending a fortune on bottles, we have finally found one she will take with little or no protest at all. 

Which one is it, you ask?  

With a close vote between Medela, Dr. Browns, Tommee Tippee, Nuk, and Avent, Ellie has made her decision...

Avent it is!

A Day in the Life of E

Hi Everyone! I'm Ellie. My first name is Ellyse, but most people call me Ellie. And sometimes mom refers to me as E because that is what she called me before she wanted everyone to know my name. I am 5 weeks old today! Here is a picture of me.

I bet a lot of you are wondering what a day in the life of Ellie is like. So now I'm going to tell you. 

I wake up at about 7:00 am. 

Then I eat.

Then mom and I snuggle in bed and read scriptures. 

Then mom makes me get out of my pajamas and put on real clothes. 

After that, I sit in my swing and watch the birdies above my head while mom works out. 

When she is finished working out, I get all cozy and swaddled and take my morning nap at about 8:15. I usually sleep until 10:00. Or I try to, at least. 

That's when I wake up and eat again. Mom usually tries to feed me a bottle this time around. I don't really like drinking out of a bottle, so sometimes it takes me 10-15 mins to even start sucking on it.

But I'll do it. 

When I finish my bottle, it's play time! Sometimes I lay on the floor and mom tells me stories or makes funny noises with my toys. I don't interact much, but I like to look at whatever it is that she is showing me. Sometimes this is also when I run errands with mom, like going to the bank or the grocery store. 

After some play time, I get pretty tired again and have to go to sleep at about 11:15. Then I try to sleep until about 1:00. 

Then I wake up again and eat. Sometimes I get a bottle this time around, too. I am going to keep practicing with a bottle so that dad can feed me when mom goes to work. 

Then it's play time again! Sometimes I watch TV with mom, or walk with her out to the mailbox. Sometimes, when the weather is nice, I even get to go for a walk with mom in my stroller!

Then, once again, I get sleepy at about 2:15. So, I get swaddled, lay in my bed, and and try to sleep until about 4:00. 

Then I wake up, eat, play... and then it's one of the best parts of the day because Daddy comes home! He cuddles me, hugs me, kisses me, loves me... and then I take a short nap at about 5:15. 

Then I eat at 6:00, play a little and get ready for bed (some days I get bath time here!), take a nap, eat at 8:00, go to sleep, eat at 10:00.... and then sleep! Sometimes I'll sleep about 4 hours here for mom and dad. Then I'll get hungry, eat, and go right back to sleep. Then a couple hours later, I'll get hungry, eat, and go right back to sleep again. Then it's morning time and I start my day all over again!

Anyway. That's a day in my life. Hopefully I can keep this schedule up so that dad will have an easier time taking care of me when mom goes back to work. :)

Creative Works Conference

Bryce presented his embedded systems project at BYU-Idaho's creative works conference yesterday. I got to help a little bit with the aesthetic appeal by adding soccer jerseys and cleats to the decor. Bryce did awesome! He hasn't found out what place he got yet, but I am so proud of him and all his hard work! Also, he passed his senior project which was a Pandora-like recipe finding program. He is pretty much done with his semester now! Wahoo! This was his most difficult semester. I am so happy for him because now he only has 2 classes standing between him and graduation... and he thinks they will be pretty low key. (I'm sure it will be a little more time consuming than he thinks, especially since he will also be taking care of our little girl for half the semester. But he will do great! :) Start the countdown to graduation on July 23rd! 

One Month!

Our sweet Ellie is one month old today! I can't believe how quickly she is growing. Here are some things about Miss Ellyse: 

Loves:

• Baths
• Being held
• Bouncing
• The taste of gas drops
• Hanging out in the Moby Wrap
• Swinging
• Her car seat

Hates:

• Sucking on a pacifier (sometimes she loves it, though....)
• Getting out of the bath
• The mittens I make her wear so she doesn't scratch her face
• Putting on clothes
• Drinking out of a bottle (she'll do it, but very reluctantly...)

Picking T25 Back Up!

Last January, I stepped on the scale and I weighed 169 pounds... the most I have ever weighed in my life. I suddenly had the strong drive to get back in shape. So, I ordered a beach body work out program called T25. It is a series of 25 minute work outs and a schedule to follow. You are also supposed to follow a nutrition program, but I decided to do my own thing in that category. (Mostly because you are supposed to drink a "Shakeology"shake every day according to the program, and I don't have the money to pay for Shakeology.) Anyway, after 3 months of doing T25, I lost 26 pounds and several inches around my waste. I LOVED doing T25. I thought the work outs were fun and I felt like I had more energy than ever before. I also had never in my life felt so good about how I looked.

Fast forward a couple of months down the road. I found out I was pregnant. I continued to do T25 for a while, but the first trimester was pretty miserable. So I stopped my daily routine of T25. Top that with only craving beefy 5 layer burritos from Taco Bell and you get one out of shape pregnant mama.

Now that I have had Ellie and have had about a month to get used to momhood, I am definitely feeling up to starting T25 back up again. The reason I am blogging is to help me be a little more accountable. Writing it down helps me stay motivated.

Right now I weigh 162 lbs and the biggest part around my belly section is 36.5 in. I would show a before picture if that wouldn't make me feel uncomfortable, so I will just keep that to myself.

Here is to getting healthy and getting back in shape! I'll check back in in about 5 weeks (that is how long the program is, even though I will start back over after 5 weeks :)

Ellie's Photo Shoot

My friend Blythe did a photo shoot for Bryce, Ellie, and I when she was about one week old. I was disappointed at first because I didn't think the photos would turn out because Ellie just would not cooperate during the session. But when we got the prints back... holy cow! I LOVED them! Here are some of my favorites. Thanks SOOO much Blythe! I treasure these photos!