Today I am SOOOOOOO Proud of My Husband!

He did it!  Tony graduated on Tuesday and now we are in the Seattle area.  The move was a whirlwind event that occurred right after his graduation.  And a big shout out of THANKS! to my sister Rachel for coming to help.  A life saver right there. 

 (happy man!)

Tony's graduation was nice and we skipped the first, more formal half because it was just a bunch of speeches that the girls would not have sat still for.  The second half was when all the different groups split up depending upon their major.  It was cool.  There were a handful of great speeches and the giving out of diplomas took the longest!

Tony graduated with a degree in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations.  So, if you know of any positions opening up in that field...... lemme know.  :)

Right now he's doing the required internship that all seniors have to do.  It's most likely that he will have to do at least one more internship to get into a good firm.

 (our little family at graduation)

So, we're currently homeless.  :P  We're living with Tony's parents and we all share a bedroom, which is going better than I thought it would, except for when Elle wants to get up early and I don't.  **big bags under my eyes**  We're still trying to figure out a space of our own, where that should be and whether we really need a second car or not.

Apartments (which aren't even desirable) are way out of our current price range for 3 bedroom places.  Some 2 bedroom apartment complexes won't rent to us because they only allow 2 people per bedroom.  We have 5.  And of course houses usually rent for much more than apartments.  So, our most serious thought is getting a travel trailer and living in that for a year or so. 

We'll see!  No matter what, it's awesome to be back home.  But I sure do miss my friends in Rexburg!  Wish I could have brought some people with me....

Today I Let My Daughter Choose.

This is Britt, sportin' her new hair do.  I took her over to my friend's house (who also happens to be my hair dresser) and had her chop Britt's hair short.  I just think it fits the shape of her face so well, not to mention that it also goes along with her sassy personality too!

Then, today, Ash found a pic in a magazine that she must have found inspiring and decided that she wanted her hair cut too.  She talked about it for over an hour.  I have to admit that, initially, I tried everything I could think of to convince her to just leave her pretty, long hair alone!  Then I realized that I was being silly.  And controlling.  And I don't like controlling people.  And it's not like she was asking to to shave her head or put neon green streaks in it, for heaven's sake!  **deep breath**

I realized that I needed let go and act on what I believe.  I believe that we were sent to this earth by a loving Heavenly Father to learn to make choices.  And though my job IS to teach her what is right and wrong and guide her into good paths, and put my foot down when she wants to do something that hurts herself or others, I also need to let her make her own choices.  Like, the majority of the time.  How else will she learn about consequences to her own choices?  Not because I told her to or not to.  I realized that if she hates it, she'll learn to be more cautious when making snap decisions about her appearance.  And if she loves it, she'll gain self esteem because SHE made a good choice.  

Voila!  Cute little, matching English girls!

 

 

Yes, I think she's beautiful.  They both are.  Yes, I miss her long hair already.  But, hair grows.  Yes, I am so proud of her.  She's getting so big and really is a good helper with her sisters.  **tear**

Today I Took Pictures.

Hi friends!  Long time, no talk! 

Just wanted to share a current picture of Ash, Britt, and Elle.  I've been practicing shooting pictures in manual mode.  Today I was messing around with dark rooms and bumping the ISO way up.  Makes for an interesting grainy look.  Not my fave, but artsy looking anyway.

(my favorite little people) 

So, remember how I said I was gonna let this blog go dark and blog with my husband over at wordpress?  Yeah...............

He lost interest, so I lost interest, plus wordpress is SO different and I just couldn't figure it all out!

School has been a major struggle for me and I've come to the conclusion that I want to continue learning, but I also want to be able to be a good wife and mom and still have time to do other things I want to do.  So, I'm going to just take one class a semester. 

I've also been doing CrossFit, which I absolutely LOVE, but I messed up my back and hip (from a former injury), so I've got to take a break and do exercise that is less intense.  Boo!

I've been contemplating whether I should share the next bit and I think I will.  I miscarried 3 weeks ago.  I was only 5-6 weeks along and it wasn't a pregnancy that I was planning or expecting.  Still, I was sad, but also grateful that I lost the baby early instead of later, as I tend to get more and more attached as the weeks of pregnancy progress.  :(

Tony is done with school in a week.  Graduation time!!  Woohoo!  Then we will be moving back to the Seattle area.  So.  Stinkin'.  Stoked!!

How's that for a super quick update?  I seriously miss you guys.  But I'm not gonna go making blogging promises I might not keep.  It'll be what it'll be. 

 

Today I Am Moving On.

I know it's been awhile since I posted.  I got lazy.  And then we got hit with the worst stomach bug I think I've ever had.   Tony and Ash got lucky and stayed yuck-free.  Elle caught it and gave it to me and Britt.  I literally wanted to die by the second day.  There is one thing for being sick.  It REALLY makes you grateful for health when it returns!!

Ok, so about the moving on part.  I recently asked my husband, Tony, if he would like to co-blog with me.  I was surprised, but he actually liked the idea!  **totally stunned, but thrilled**

So, he has set up a completely new blog for us and I will be posting there from now on.  We will continue with the "spontaneous day: what i did today" theme but you'll get to hear from both of us.  And I think I will attempt to get more guest posts too.  That is really appealing to me right now.  :D

Here is our new blog link: spontaneousday.wordpress.com

Hope this doesn't throw all you bloggy friends off!  Hope you can make the switch easily! 

(elle with a candy bunny bracelet in her mouth.)

P.S.  I had several posts planned about stuff we did this past month.  I will try to play a little catch up at our new virtual place.  :)  

Today I Weaned Elle.

 (what my sweet, baby elle looked like a year ago.)

Elle has been gradually weaning herself.  She reacted badly to cow's and goat's milk.  So I've been giving her rice and coconut milk regularly since she was....11 months, I think.  Somewhere around her first birthday, anyways!

We were in a long phase where Elle would nurse first thing in the morning and then right before she went to sleep.

Last week she cut out the morning feeding.  Today I sat down with her, after she was all ready for bed to nurse her.  Keep in mind, we're talking about speed-eating.  5-7 minutes tops.

Tonight she latched on, sucked a bit (not long enough for me to let down), then looked up at me, right in my eyes, came almost all the way off and BIT ME!  Then she sat up, pushed herself up and took up running, laughing and playing.

Just like that.  We're done.  I can't even tell you how I knew.  But that is exactly what she said to me in her non-verbal language.  It was the funniest thing.  I've never had an experience quite like that.  I've never had a child tell me they were done breast feeding, for good.  It was my decision to wean with the other two.

Elle is in such an independent stage right now.  She wants to do everything herself.  She wants to feed herself, dress herself, make her own choices about what she plays, who she plays with, when she will received hugs and kisses, etc.  It's so hilarious because she just doesn't have the mastery over her body yet to dress or feed herself very well!  I've wondered if I should introduce the potty......

Anyways, so yeah!  Elle is weaned.



**UPDATE**

She hasn't tried to nurse at ALL.  She just wants rice or coconut milk!  She was for real.  Bittersweet for me, but I've served my purpose!

Today I Just Want it To Be Spring Already!

The girls and I definitely have cabin fever.  The temps around here are rising but it's still too cold for the snow to melt!  Spring is right around the corner!  Why doesn't it look like it?????

I was perusing Facebook this evening and one of my adventurous, childless, outdoorsy friends posted pics from her camping trip to The Grand Canyon.  It looked gorgeous and I felt a teensy bit jealous.  :)

I'm just done with snow.  Haha!  Looking forward to Saint Patrick's Day (did I ever tell you I'm the descendant of an Irish princess?), First Day of SPRING, Britt's birthday, and Easter!  That last two weeks of this month are gonna rock!!

Just hope Mother Nature gets into the festivities too....

(i bundled the girls up and took them outside.  they loved it, even though it was cold and they kept slipping on the ice.  and ash had a hard time riding her scooter.  i just love this pic of elle.)

Today I Worked On My Biggest Order Yet.

I recently had a boutique owner from California contact me at my etsy shop and ask for 20 unicorn horns!  Yay!  So, the past couple of nights, the hubby and I have sat down to watch a movie while I work on unicorn horns.  Not the most efficient and quick way to make them, but they get pretty tedious after a while.  It's nice to have something else on which to split my attention.  Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

(fun, bright, pretty!)