No, it's not weird to visit my in-laws without my husband...

Adam has been preparing like crazy for boards this past month. My wonderful in-laws were kind enough to save me from ten days of being ignored by my better half (Bless you!). I am happy to report that Adam has made it through boards and the cloud of stress has been lifted (until mid-terms). Anyways, I went down to Houston right before the major studying began and had a wonderful time while Adam stayed here and studied (and played XBOX and softball). A lot of people asked me if it would be strange to visit my in-laws without Adam. It wasn't! I have great in-laws who always make me feel like I'm part of the family.
I really have a lot of pictures from the trip. I narrowed it down to my favorites, and I still have a lot to share.

Charlotte loved playing with Poppi. He's so much fun!
Aunt Cassie and Hailey came from California to play too!We went to eat at Gringo's and the babies loved the black beans!Charlotte and Hailey spent most of their time at this window watching Shadow, the dog. Hailey was so cute and would bark at Shadow everytime she barked. Charlotte just liked following Hailey around.

We spent an afternoon at the beach in Galvestion. The salt water and waves where a whole new experience for Charlotte. She really loved it and kept licking her hands.

I've always wanted to go to a butterfly center. It was so neat to have all the butterflies landing on us and flying arou Hailey and Charlotte almost had matching outfits one day...little twins!

Little birds drinking from Mimi's cup.

Playing with the uncles.

Laura and Charlotte have been in Houston now for about a week, leaving me here to hold up the fort and try to remember how to take care of myself. I have found that I take my wife for granted for more than just the good food and the clean laundry that she stockpiles in the fridge and in the drawers. I know she just barely made a video last week, and this is not original at all, but I wanted to post a video up here for her and anyone else to see too. I might get in trouble for a couple of the pictures, but hey, they were too funny to pass up. Sometimes pictures speak louder than words and I hope that these pictures can demonstrate just how special Laura is too me. I love you babe and I look forward to you coming home here in a few days.

For Adam

Adam has been studying like crazy for boards. I don't think I've ever seen him so stressed. I made this video for him as a "thank you." He's still super supportive despite all he has on his plate right now. I couldn't have asked for a better husband. I love you babe!

Frantic

On Thursday and Friday of this week I am going to Youth Conference to chaperon and teach. Early Saturday morning I leave to go to Houston until the end of the month. I have approximately1 1/2 days to pack, shop, tweak my lesson and make sure that Adam is on the same page (i.e. bills, food, scheduling) before I leave...all while taking care of a very active and curious 10 month old. I'm not complaining, just thought that writing it down might relieve a little stress.

It didn't.

Luckily, the rest of the month will be very stress free down in Houston!

10 Months

I'm a few days late with this post, but I wanted to wait until after Charlotte's doctor appointment so that I could post accurate information. So, I happy to report that after 10 months I still want to keep this fun girl! She brings so much joy to my life. I have already posted about her accomplishments from this past month in other posts so I'll leave that out this time.

I guess my scale here at home must be off because her weight at the doctor's office was different than what I've been measuring here. It turns out that she actually only weighs 15 lbs. 15oz. So, that places her in the 10th percentile for weight, but on the flip end she's in the 75th percentile for height at 28 inches. She's long and lean.

Under the Weather

I know there's been a lack of pictures lately. Charlotte has been a little under the weather. I soon joined her. Probably because I've become a moving snot rag. Ah, the joys of motherhood! We haven't gone on many adventures lately, and while we've still been playing here at the house it hasn't been very joyous. On the bright side, Charlotte has become very cuddly.
I can't be selfish forever though. We're going to the doctor tomorrow to see if he can make things go back to normal.

Elbow Grease

I have a faint memory from my childhood where I was cleaning something. I don't know if I was cleaning the bathroom or the kitchen or what surface I was cleaning. All I remember is that there was something that was hard to get off. My mom came and sat by my side when I told her that I couldn't clean the entire mess up, and she proceeded to tell me that some messes require "elbow grease." I expected her to take the rag and start scrubbing, but she handed the rag back to me and told me that I just needed to put a little more effort, strength and time into what I was cleaning, eventually it would come up. So, I scrubbed. I also thought how foolish my mother must be. She was stronger than me, and it would easy for her to scrub off the gunk that was such a challenge to me.
This experience came to my mind the other day as I was cleaning off an exceptionally stubborn mess on my kitchen counter. My mother's words, "Use elbow grease" popped into my head. I chuckled to myself as I realized how wise she was in teaching me about elbow grease and not rescuing me every time a mess got too difficult to handle. Somehow, in my childhood mind, I always figured she would be around to clean up anything that needed elbow grease.
The truth is, this goes far beyond housekeeping. As life continues to unfold, I realize that mom was teaching me to apply "elbow grease" to all of life's tough situations. There isn't always someone around who is stronger or even willing to clean up your life's messes. This may seem trivial, but I have a very difficult time making phone calls that have to do with day to day business (bills, doctor appointments, banking, insurance, etc.). For some reason, I thought that I would just get over it one day, or I would marry someone who would take care of the phone calls. Well, neither happened, and phone calls still need to be made. I've had to use elbow grease and just put a little more effort, strength and time into getting over this phobia of mine.
Messes happen in life. Sometimes, I think Heavenly Father does exactly what my mom did with that mess from my childhood. He doesn't come clean everything up for us when it gets hard. We still have to do it on our own, but the Savior is right beside us, teaching us the best way to make it clean.
Where do you have to use elbow grease?

Busy Body

This is what my kitchen towels are supposed to look like:But this what they end up looking like at least three times a day:

It seems like if I turn away from her for just a few minutes, she's making a mess or is about to make one. I found her just short of spilling oil all over my laundry room/pantry area this morning:Yep. Somehow she managed to get the lid off my oil. Watch out Mimi...I'm coming to your house next!!! I decided it was time to redirect her attention away from mess making for a bit. We had some friends over for dinner last night and had to pull out our big table. Adam hadn't put it away yet, so I made it into a slide for Charlotte:

It then became a tunnel:
This occupied her for about ten minutes. Then it was back to making messes! I'm okay with that. It's kind of a nice excuse on days I don't feel like cleaning. I just tell meself, "Don't feel guilty. Charlotte's just going to mess it up again. Besides, she'll only be a baby once. There will be messes to clean up forever."