Guess What? It IS Okay

I just love being a mom. I cannot say it enough. I am still far from being the type of mother I'd like to become, but I'm learning and I'm very happy with how things are going right now. I feel confident in my mothering abilities and I know I will continue to learn and improve. I really feel like I have the best job ever and I can't wait to have even more wonderful babies.

A few months ago, I saw an article which essentially scolded parents for using the phrase, "It's okay!" to attempt to comfort their child when he or she gets hurt. It claimed that using this phrase belittles the child's feelings or pain. And for those who watched Juan Pablo's season of The Bachelor, we know how annoying "Ees okay" can be when used at the wrong time. But this phrase has been on my mind since I read the article. Every time Tenley tips over or bonks her head, I remember the article and though my natural instinct is to tell her that everything is okay, I instead would try to ask, "Are you alright, sweetheart?" even though of course she can't answer me yet. But while this has happened several times in the last few months as Tenley learns to sit up, reach, crawl, etc., my feelings about those words have started to change. I have started to realize that it is okay for her to get hurt. As much as I want to protect her from everything that could ever harm her, it's simply impossible and it's not meant to be that way. She needs to experience pain and sadness to know joy. That is why we are on this earth. That is why we have our agency. We are supposed to fail. And that is why we have been given and must rely on our Savior. Jesus Christ atoned for our sins so that we can return to live with our heavenly parents and family after we leave this life.

Now let's be clear--that does not mean Tenley's sorrows do not affect me. I am the biggest empathizer and any time she is hurt or sad, I feel hurt or sad too. When she cries, I want to cry with her because she's my precious baby and I want her to be healthy and happy always. But I have decided that it is fine to comfort her with "It's okay," because it is okay. She will be okay and it's okay for her to be a little sad sometimes. I'm still going to ask her if she is alright and see what I can do to help her get through her pains once she is able to convey that to me, but for now I will continue to remind her that things are okay. She is safe and her mother and father and her Father in Heaven love her so much.

I imagine how our Heavenly Father must feel when He sees any one of His precious sons or daughters hurt. I know that He values our feelings and because of that, I know that ultimately, it is okay to get hurt. It is okay to feel sad. It's part of having trials and testing our ability to get through struggles in this life. We have to be tested in order to become better. Those tests help us improve and teach us to become more polished and more like Jesus Christ.

Anyway, I've said it before and I'll say it again, being a mom rocks. It's so fun, so challenging, and so rewarding. It makes my heart happy and I can't wait to feel that love grow as our family does.

With lots and lots of love,

Our 7 1/2 Month Old Sweetie

What I want to know is how am I going to have an 8 month old in two weeks? How?! I was just pregnant like an hour ago. And I just gave birth like ten minutes ago. And Tenley was 6 months like twelve seconds ago. I dunno, I just don't get it. She is growing up so fast already! Am I seriously going to have a one-year old in four and a half months?!?!?! Unreal. 

Anyway, Tenley is still the easiest baby ever (counting my many blessings) so far.

Her most commonly used nicknames are: Ten-Ten, Little Ten, Baby girl, Princess (haha, which I swore I would never use but surprise, surprise...), Baby Princess, and Littles. I can't help it, she just is my princess. Plus having a daughter is the best thing ever. 

She goes to bed easy (most of the time...if her routine is majorly disrupted, I can't make any guarantees). 

Her favorite things to eat include basically anything off my plate. I give her pieces of bread, veggies, chicken, potatoes, fruit, etc. I don't blend them, I just give her a piece the size of like my pinky nail (which is really small) and she loves it. She really likes grapes, but I mean, she likes everything I give her. Even broccoli and stuff that I do not like plain. She's enthusiastic about solids, but she is totally still a momma's girl with nursing. It's her comforting cuddly time with mommy and she settles right into me and is as content as can be. 

She also likes baby food but eats much more of it when it is mixed with another flavor (sweet carrots, apples, and blueberries for example, or pears, peas, and broccoli--yum, I know). She also does not seem to like cold baby food that much. She makes a face when it's cold. It's cute, but not cute when she doesn't want to eat. She has been eating half a jar of mixed baby food a day. I've not been that good about giving her rice cereal anymore, mostly because I personally think the Gerber version does not taste as good as the NatureMade or whatever it was we used to get. I try all her foods first haha. Mostly because I'm curious. 

She lovesss those baby food pouches with the spout for sucking because she can hold them and suck on them herself. If she likes a flavor, she powers through that thing. We don't buy many of them because they're kind of expensive, but they are a lifesaver when we are on vacation or long trips. I love them. I wish I could give her all her food that way (they are WAY less messy, too). 

Tenley seems pretty close to crawling. But then again, who knows. I'm simultaneously excited and anxious for it. She always wiggles/shimmies across the whole bed, but she doesn't move much on our rough carpet. I think it is rough on her skin...it's rough on mine, so yeah. She likes standing more than trying to crawl. I love walking her around her room or over to daddy. I also love when she stands between my legs using me or the couch for support. She looks so tiny next to our monstrous red couch!

She says, "Da-da" a lot. More than anything else. She is saying "Mama" more and more lately, and she definitely says it mostly when she's getting upset with me. Kind of like "Mama, why are you leaving me here all alone!?" She also says "Papa," "Goy-goy," and "Hi Dad" which is my favorite thing. She signs "I love you" still imperfectly, but it's clear what she means. She gets excited when I sign "more" for food, but does not react much to "milk," "please," "thank you"...that kind of thing. I love her little babble. She is quite the chatterbox.

She is more needy lately...more needy for me specifically. She still goes out with dad and Grandpa and everyone just fine, but as soon as she sees or hears me, it's like, BAM. I need mom. It's cute but I've been pushing for her independence lately so it makes it a little hard on me. 

I love when I am nursing her and have the computer on my lap and she suddenly stops eating, rolls over and taps the keyboard like she's typing with her little fingers. She will stop eating multiple times to type for a few seconds then go back to eating. It's pretty funny. 

She loves reading. It's sweet because pulling a few books out will calm her down and she seems to be listening quite well. 

 She still thinks I'm hilarious. Yesss. Especially my growling, my tickling, and my silly faces. Her laugh is either a loud giggle or a series of grunts. They're great. 

I see a lot of red in her hair, especially in the sunlight. I'd be so happy if she got some of our family's Irish/Scottish red hair! 

The first thing everyone notices is her big, bright, beautiful blue eyes. Besides those, everyone who spends a lot of time around us notices how "well-behaved" she is (not that babies are bad behaved anyway). She is just so calm and rarely cries around other people and it seems to surprise everyone. She cries around me though, don't worry ;)

Her (fairly) new bedtime is 9:30pm to 7am. At that point, I nurse her then she sleep a few more hours with me (she's so nice to let me sleep in ;). Her bedtime used to be at 7:30pm but then we discovered she gets up way too early, so it's better to keep her up later even if sometimes it's a struggle to entertain her the last couple hours. 

She has her two bottom central incisors (middle teeth) and her two upper lateral incisors (aka her vampire teeth). Her top front incisors are right there but not quite poked through. Tooth 1 was a breeze, but she had a hard time with teeth 2, 3, and 4 coming in so I'm a little scared for the others.

Her favorite toy is probably...I don't know actually. She sucks on anything I give her, but she currently is not gravitating toward a particular toy. She used to love her crinkly chicken toy but it collects so much fuzz that I rarely give it to her because it looks kind of dirty. 

She weighed a little over 14 lbs. at her last appointment, which is low for her age range but everyone (including me...and our doctor) says she's perfectly proportioned. Plus people comment on her sweet cheeks and squishy thighs so it's not like she's thin. Just the other day at IKEA a lady asked me, "Is she breastfed?" I was like, "Yeah." She said, "I can tell." Hmm. Good, I guess! 

There are like a billion other things I could say about sweet Tenley, but I guess I will just add that she is super chill and that she loves watching other kids. She was so excited when I babysat a little toddler girl and thought everything she did was so interesting and hilarious. It made me happy. Usually Tenley ends up being the one poked and prodded around other kids but she just takes it and chatters and laughs at them. 

Anyway, that's it for now, but isn't she just a love? We think so ;)

Yay for my sweetest Tenley being 7 1/2 months old! Boo for turning 8 months so quickly :( 

P.S. One more random fact about Tenley: The Frozen song "Frozen Heart" will stop her crying right in its tracks. She loves that song so much! I'll post a video on Facebook soon;)

Pending Adventures and Spring

When I read popular blog names (or even unpopular ones) I can't help but feel like I'm in the Hunger Games and the Capitol is real. You know how some of their names are like Cashmere and Glimmer? Yeah, I always am seeing stuff like that for blog names. But I won't pick on any blog in particular, I just think it's funny. Everyone tries so hard to be original. Sometimes I wonder how humans have not run out of things to say. Hasn't everything already been said? Hasn't every possible song been written already? Nothing should be original anymore, yet somehow a new song comes on the radio and it is completely different from anything else. It's pretty remarkable really. Humans are pretty talented.

Today the weather was beautiful here in Provo, Utah. Tenley and I went for a walk outside to feel the sunshine after saying goodbye to Dalin for the evening as he left for work. He had brought me (us ;) some colorful flowers before leaving today. He always does that kind of thing at the most random times, which to me, is the very best time to do it. He also knows how much I love flowers--almost more than anything else. I have a bad habit of trying to dry out and save every flower he gives me though...I can't help it! They just bring me happy memories! Anyway, spring always makes me feel so hopeful and positive. I am so looking forward to the coming months. I think I sometimes really struggle with being fully satisfied with the present. I am always looking to the future. I'm kind of a dreamer in that way. But I do love my life right now!

I love the colors!!!

Tenley and I are going on an adventure in the next few days. We are flying to meet up with my mom and brother--we had flying credit that had to be used up--who really just want to see Tenley, but I'm okay with that ;). I am excited, happy, nervous, and a little scared all at once. Nervous mainly because I've never been apart from Dalin for more than three days since we've been married. But I am doing my best to have faith because everything will be okay and no matter what, we will be together forever. I'm scared because I will be flying with Tenley alone which I have never done before but I have had many people reassure me that it will be great. Tenley is going to be an old pro at flying! By the time she is one, she will have flown to and from New Hampshire and Florida twice! Eight trips! She is a pretty wonderful little girl and I am so thankful to have her. I have been feeling so grateful for my life lately. Grateful for the promise of joy that comes with being a Latter-day Saint. I am thankful to have been raised a Mormon. It gives one such peace having a purpose. God has been so good to me and my family.

I am thankful that Dalin is so forgiving. I am so imperfect and he sees that more often than I'd like to admit. But he cares greatly about my happiness and I see how hard he works to support our little family and give us the very best. Ugh, it is going to kill me to leave him, but I know he will be right here for me when I return. And I'm going to give him a huge smooch so he knows that I really, really missed him haha. I already miss him and we haven't even left yet!

Anyway, wish Tenley and I luck with our travels and pray that this adventure goes smoothly. I so love adventures!:)

And thanks a million in advance!

On Being Super Woman

After my last post, someone asked me how I have time to blog almost every day with a 6 month old. She (I am assuming it was a she) also asked if I was super woman. I actually thought that that was a really nice comment. But no, I am definitely not super woman, though that would be awesome and I'm sure I would get a lot more done if I was. I am responding with a full post because I was thinking a lot about how to respond to this question and there were too many things I wanted to say.

First off, I guess blogging is a small part of my priorities. I don't really think of it as particularly important, but it is something that I do enjoy and that I hope has helped some people a time or two. But I guess to answer your question in the most plain way, I have time to do it because I make time. I love to write and I think about blogging fairly often throughout my day. Now that I have a smart phone finally (I just got it a month ago as a gift from family--prior to then I had a Motorola Razr haha), taking photos is a lot easier. So when I am going about my day, thinking of ideas for posts, I usually choose to write things that align with my life at the time. Like when I wrote about my favorite cleaning product the other day, that was because I decided to do a fairly deep clean of the kitchen and our bedroom that day and I thought, why not? I had my camera handy and took a few photos during and after. I also plan out my posts a lot during the day. Like I was imagining what I would say for the post as I was cleaning the kitchen. Then, all I needed was for the baby to go down for a nap or play with daddy so I could take half an hour to upload photos and get down the many things I had been thinking about. I admit I am not a good revisionist whatsoever which is ironic because my intentions were are to become an editor. Probably if I were getting paid to blog, I would put in a little more effort, but for now, it's just a thing I like to do that helps motivate me to be better.

What do I mean by that? Well think about it. If I just didn't care about improving myself, I would probably be blogging about watching Netflix all day (which sometimes I do anyway...) because I would not care about accomplishing anything. Fortunately, I do care about becoming my best self and so I try to be that person every day. I fail a lot. Too many times. But blogging about my life has helped to motivate me a little more. I don't want to write about boring things, I want to focus on the joys in my life and on my love of being a wife and mother. So I guess in a sense, my life is fun and pleasantly busy because I make it that way. I want to blog about my accomplishments, so I accomplish things to blog about. Does that make sense?

You mentioned that you have a young infant and that he or she keeps you occupied. While Tenley is considered easy as far as babies go, she still cries and whines and wants to be with me almost all the time. I absolutely adore her and spend so much of my day on her that it does seem quite surprising that I ever have time for anything else. And while she is my world, the reason I have time to do other things (just like blogging) is because I make time.

My priorities in regards to my daughter each day are to make sure she eats enough, sleeps enough, gets read to, and that she has a lot of playtime. Playing is basically a baby's job and is the best way for a child to learn so I make independent time a priority. It is not always easy. Sometimes I put her in her little Bumbo chair or in her jumper/bouncer thing and she just fusses the whole time. But I let her fuss and get as many things done possible as I can before it escalates. Some days, I have to nurse her to sleep on our bed and then sneak away before she wakes up. But I do this and let her cry sometimes (though it always is hard) because I am trying to teach her to be independent. Sometimes, she is just making it impossible to accomplish anything, and then I strap on our baby carrier and take her with me. I've done dishes, laundry, all kinds of household tasks while wearing her. I have to pretend I'm working out because she gets heavy in that thing after a while. But basically, I make do every day and adapt to the situation.

I realize those things may not be possible for your child because all babies are so different. One thing that motivates me is fiercely believing in my job as a mother. It really is hard work and I treat motherhood the way I would any other job (only I think I work even harder because it's a job that's truly important to me). I want to be the best mom. I doubt my children will always think that of me, but it is a personal goal for me to work toward achieving. I have always wanted a big family...somewhere around seven kids would be awesome (though I'll admit my husband is hoping I'll compromise) and that being the case, I have a mentality that one kid is a piece of cake, even though sometimes it isn't. I have to have that mentality if I could ever hope to fulfill my goal of becoming a mother of seven. I have to tell myself that I can do it or I don't think I would have sufficient motivation.

I actually believe that this mode of thinking is the primary reason that I had such a good birth experience. Everyone has always told me I would change my mind about having seven children after giving birth to my first. Because of that, I have kind of always been determined to prove those people wrong. Everyone treated my thirteen hours of labor (four of which were pushing) like I had done something insane or impossible. But to me, I was just doing what had to be done to get a baby out of me. Also, I know that having seven kids can't always be that easy, and so I remind myself that I haven't seen anything yet. I am confident that God does and will continue to help me if I rely on Him.

I firmly believe that our minds can be tools to help us become our best selves but you have to have the right attitude. That sounds super cheesy but I've realized this in my own life over and over as I have grown up and I know it is true. Tell yourself you can do it all. You can do hard things. And you will.

I am so far from being Super Woman that it's sad. But I like the person I am becoming. Try setting goals each day of things you hope to accomplish. If you even get one thing done, you are a success. That is what gets me through my days and I have high hopes that it will help you, too.

Dear friend, I hope this gave you some insight into my life. Thank you for your kind comment and know that it really made me think a lot. Thanks for that.

Best,

Catching Up

Happy belated Valentine's Day! I love Valentine's Day because I love the color red and I love stuff with hearts and getting fresh flowers. But Dalin and I had a less traditional celebration because we were in Las Vegas for our good friends' Jason and Halie's wedding! The two got married on the 15th in the Las Vegas temple.

Anyway, the trip was awesome (and tiring) and included warm weather, last-minute hotels, visiting the strip, awesome food from a Las Vegas buffet, a temple sealing, a luncheon, a wedding reception, sleeping in our car overnight, long drives, and lots more craziness. Plus I almost got kicked out of several places for looking 16. One, I have a kid and two, I turn 23 this year, folks. But it's all good. (Also, I realize that saying I have a baby doesn't help since half the teenagers these days are getting pregnant but oh well). I will have to catch up with these stories later though because I am just so exhausted...it's been a long, long day. And I pretty much never want to get in the car again. 

Time to go snuggle my husband and baby girl (lucky her, she's been asleep the last couple hours already ;). 

Hope you all had an equally exciting Valentine's weekend! Here are some favorite pics, just to give you a sample...

I stinking love this girl.

Freaking precious for Valentine's :)

BFFs foreva'

What was your favorite part of Valentine's Day? 

Have you ever been to Vegas? What do you think of it?

Just Busy Being a Mom

My life today has been trying to be productive, which is why this post is really short. I actually like Mondays right now (mostly since I've become a stay-at-home mom). It is certainly a challenge getting things done with a baby, but it isn't impossible (glass half full...sorta). Look at the tremendous amount of dishes I tackled today from the past three days (sad, I know)! 

Before: 

And after: 

If you're looking at the time on my microwave, it took like half an hour tops, I just forgot to take a pic right away.

Anyway, here is a nice quote on some cute paper that my sweet cousin Whitney made for me before Tenley was born. I love this and seeing it again today helped me to remember that I need to have my priorities right. Read it and tell me what you think (or what you would add!) Also, note to self, I need to move this to a more noticeable location.

                     

What would you add to this? 

(I take your suggestions very seriously, so please take a moment and consider!)

What have you accomplished today? I hope it's been more than I have!

A Visit to the Paleontology Museum

Happy February!! Are you as joyful as I am to be out of January?
Yesterday, to end the month on a positive, and since Dalin didn't have to work, we wanted to do something fun as a family. I have been wanting to go to BYU's Paleontology Museum for a while now (I just love museums--of all types) and yesterday we finally went! We only paid $2 to get in (it's technically free but they have a suggested donation box which says $1 for adults and $0.50 for kids). It is pretty amazing if you are in the area and have never been. For one thing, most of the bones and fossils found are local. Which is insane to me for some reason. I forget that dinosaurs existed at all sometimes, never mind that there were any living in North America...I always picture them over in Africa or down in South America or something.

Anyway, the museum is not very large and can take anywhere between twenty minutes to an hour and a half to walk through depending on how interested you are in reading the information with the displays. I think it took us about forty minutes, though I would have loved to stay longer (I just love the atmosphere of museums!).

So if you live in the Provo area and have little kids who would be interested in dinosaurs, fossils, and rocks (or if you would be interested yourself), I would definitely make time to stop by. Plus, I loved that it wasn't busy. Crowds and lines are a pain. This place only had one other little group of a mom and some little kids there.

Here are some photos we took on our phones:

Cutest little dinosaur of all

Can you believe these things were found in Utah?

Have you ever been to the Paleontology Museum? 

Do you like this kind of stuff?

Do you believe in dinosaurs? ;) 

Thankful for Daughters

I am so grateful for daughters. And husbands, but especially daughters right now.

It's been a long week of homework, attempting to clean our apartment, find health insurance, and several other boring things. I usually don't mind cleaning so much, but when it has been a week and little to no progress has been made, then it gets annoying.

Through this week, Tenley has had a stuffy and drippy nose and a really sad cough. Yet somehow she has been smiling through it. She has almost seemed happier than usual (and she's usually pretty happy!) and has been an inspiration for me. I was feeling a bit sad earlier in the week and Tenley could tell completely. She looked at me with concern and then gave me the biggest smile and it just repaired my heart. I love this little girl who is so wonderfully happy and cheerful 98% of the time. She is a light in my life and every day. I am so glad that she is ours!

I'll try to blog more soon, I just really need to focus on school these next couple months!

Hope you all had a pleasant week. It's nice that the sun has been melting some of the snow here in Provo. It gives me some hope that spring will be here soon. 

Fresh Bruschetta Recipe and My Day

I have an awesome appetizer/snack recipe for you today that I hadn't had in forever but this blog post by my friend Elisabeth reminded me of how simple and delicious it is. (She also did a variation with mint leaves, which is cool).

First though, someone commented on a post recently saying they feel like I don't let my real self shine through enough in my blog posts. What they really meant was that I don't always share the negative things in my life. Mostly, that's because I try to focus on the positive in my life. I don't like talking about my failures and mistakes (who does?). But they seemed to feel that I can be difficult to relate to when I only share the positive. So today was a perfect day to fix that.

I wouldn't call my day sucky, but some sucky things definitely happened today.

For example,

I woke up to my little girl coughing. It sounds like she has her first cough. I hope it isn't bad and she was smiling through it, but it's so sad to hear her little throat clogged up. I gave her her vitamin liquid and a tiny, tiny dose of grape baby medicine in case it helped her at all. I don't know what else I can do for her really, so hopefully it'll disappear quick.

I was not very nice to Dalin last night. I admit it because he knows it and I know it. I didn't talk to him all last night because I was being selfish. He didn't do anything wrong. I was mad at him for something that he didn't do and something that probably, being a guy, he didn't even think about doing. I told him I'm sorry before he went to work and in a minute I need to text him and tell him I appreciate him taking the trash out and picking up his things while I was at the grocery store. I also appreciate him helping me carry the laundry and groceries in before leaving for work.

Yesterday, I went to take a final for an Independent Study course at 4pm. I thought two hours would be plenty of time. By the time they got my test ready (and after sending me out to move my car closer, which was super obnoxious because I didn't really care where I was parked) it was 4:30pm. I started the stupid exam and got cut off at 6pm. They close then. I was so stressed about it. It was seriously the worst couple of essays I've ever written. And it was my FINAL. Ugh, I'm so glad it's over with though. I just hope I didn't fail.

At the grocery store today, Tenley spilled an entire container of blueberries in the checkout line. It was my own dumb fault for setting them right next to her in the stroller seat, but my first instinct was to blame her, which is stupid and makes no sense because she's five months old. Two other people helped me pick them all up and then I ended up buying them anyway because I figured I could wash them really well and, I don't know, I would have felt guilty wasting Macey's blueberries...

When I pulled our laundry out of the dryer I noticed that Dalin (again!!!!!) had left his chapstick in his pocket. I grabbed it from the bottom of the dryer and opened it to see how much was missing or what it looked like (I don't really know why I felt I had to open it) and hot waxy liquified chapstick flew everywhere, including on my hand (where it instantly solidified) and on some of the clothes I'd just finished washing. I was pretty ticked and threw the stupid chapstick at the laundry room wall (in the general direction of the trashcan) then proceeded to carry our big Ikea bag of laundry out in the snow to our car.

Tenley has thrown up all over me every single time I've fed her today. That is not normal at all. And it's gross. And smelly. And it makes me worry she's sick. We've gone through three burp rags which is a bummer since I just did laundry.

So, it's been a messy day so far. I'm not sure if these are the real-life details that people want to hear about my life but I'm trying to take your advice. My life is still good in spite of all the things that have happened in the last 24 hours. And hopefully, after I finish this post, it will get even better.
* * *
Now--all that aside--here is the recipe for fresh bruschetta (which is basically just Italian-style bread with olive oil and other deliciousness on it to make a fancy appetizer or snack).

Ingredients: 

fresh baguette or crostinis (sliced in about 1/2" to 1" pieces)
tomatoes--heirloom are my favorites (diced the best you can--I'm a bad dicer)
fresh basil leaves (can be chopped if you'd like)
Queso Fresco or goat cheese or some other similar substitution (sliced or crumbled)
lemon (or lemon juice)
olive oil
garlic salt
pepper

I poured olive oil over my baguette slices on a baking pan, then put them in the oven at 325 degrees for 7 minutes. Then, I flipped them over on the pan and put them in the oven for another 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, I sprinkled garlic salt lightly over my diced/chopped tomatoes. Once the bread was ready, I put sliced of Queso Fresco on the bread, put two basil leaves down per slice, then put a dollop of diced tomatoes on top. Last, I squeezed fresh lemon juice over it and peppered it.

Voila! The easiest, most delicious appetizer imaginable. I made them for myself because I've been craving them. And apparently it's so easy you can do it while holding a baby (though I wouldn't chop the bread and tomatoes with one in your hands).

Please let me know if you try this! It's seriously so good. I could hardly stop myself from consuming them all (but I did, don't worry...). Also, tell me if you think I need to share more real life experiences on here. I hope people who know me don't truly think I'm fake because I'm pretty sure I'm one of the most down-to-earth people I know...but maybe it gets tiresome hearing me be positive about everything all the time. Oh well. As I've learned many times already in my mere twenty-two years of living, you can't please everyone. Thankfully, I have a forgiving husband and daughter that look past my many flaws.

But seriously, comment.

Family Florida Trip

Well I was a complete slacker during the two weeks of Christmas break, but honestly, having such a long break from technology was AMAZING. It was freeing. I should do it more often. I wouldn't have gone on the computer at all if Dalin hadn't shown me a few articles during our trip.

What trip you ask?

For those of you who didn't hear, Dalin, Tenley, and I flew to Florida to spend Christmas with my parents, brothers, and cousins from both sides of the family. It was probably the best trip Dalin and I have ever taken together in my opinion. I didn't even bring my laptop or Kindle because I just wanted to be able to focus completely on being with my family and taking in our experiences.

I have lots of fun photos to share, but there are so many I'll have to go through them and pick my favorites.

But about our trip:

December 23:
We flew to Orlando--which is the dumbest airport I've even been in as far as quality goes (it's super huge and really cool inside with its own hotel, indoor trees, Disney and SeaWorld stores, etc. inside) but they have serious crowd control and customer service issues. They lost Tenley's car seat and stroller (and tons of other people's luggage from our flight) which was ridiculous, but then it was going to be okay because they told us they replace lost ones, so we went through the process of acquiring new stuff when, almost two hours after we'd landed, they suddenly found them. Sheesh. But at least we got them back.

My parents picked us up in their car which they had driven down over the last 48 hours (it's a 24-hour drive, but they decided to break it up) and we met up with my brothers at the Hilton Orlando, which is a really cool hotel. My parents booked a hotel for a few nights just around Christmas because we didn't want to impose on our family for the holidays (though I know they wouldn't have minded). Our rooms were connected and the hotel had an amazing pool, water slide, lazy river, basketball and tennis courts, fire pits, etc. It had several other things too that we didn't even use. We went to Ihop for a late-night dinner then stayed up in the hotel room talking and catching up with my brothers.

Christmas Eve:
We went to SeaWorld (like two minutes from our hotel) and enjoyed the dolphins, rides, and particularly the new ride called Manta which is amongst our top favorite coasters now. We also went to a special Christmas-themed Shamu show which was especially awesome because they actually included Christ in the music and message. Afterward, the boys played on the basketball court while my mom, Tenley, and I roasted marshmallows and relaxed. Well, Tenley just relaxed ;)

Christmas Day:
We opened our stockings while listening to Christmas music in our hotel room, then we spent the majority of the day down by the pool. We "tanned" (ha ha, except I'm still snow white) and played in the lazy river, then played doubles on the tennis court. We ate some very good homemade pizzas at the hotel restaurant and had tropical drinks. It was definitely the most unique Christmas we'd ever had. We wouldn't trade the experience, but it was very weird having no snow, Christmas tree, or Nativity (we left all those at home). Still, I don't think anyone wanted to trade it.

The next several days were a blur a fun and tiring activities. We tried to fill every moment and truthfully over-planned a little. Or a lot. But it was awesome and I'm so glad we took advantage of every day! Here are some more highlights from our trip (December 26-January 3):

Payson taught Tenley to grab her feet which she now does frequently. She also loves sucking on her tiny toes. It's precious. (This is a milestone for babies so it's a big deal ;)

He also taught her to roll over but she can't get completely over by herself yet. She's so close though!

We also taught her to sign "I love you" back to us in ASL. I'll post a video if I ever catch it!

We went to Islands of Adventure and spent the majority of our time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which is amazing (but SO busy during Christmastime!)

We rode Dragon Challenge and the Forbidden Journey.

We ate authentic British food supposedly--delicious fish and chips (fries)--in the Three Broomsticks.

We also tried Butterbeer both in slush form and regular (I preferred the slush).

We visited Honeyduke's, Zonko's, Ollivander's, and Dervish and Banges (obviously we had to go in every Harry Potter store...)

We also rode the Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, and plenty of other rides at Islands of Adventure.

We took Tenley around Dr. Seuss world (too bad she won't remember it...)

Uncle Payson held Tenley like 50% of the trip. She just LOVED him.

We were fed numerous amazing and authentic Swedish dinners from my Swedish cousin, Arielle and my aunt Nina.

On Sunday, we went to Church with our Swedish cousins.

We visited with a lot of wonderful family members from each side of my parents' family.

We ate at the Black Hammock and Payson and I shared gator, catfish, and frog legs for dinner. 

We also held Max, a small gator.

After, we took flashlights and went gator hunting in the dark by the lake (so freaky when you see their eyes glowing in the distance).

We visited Blue Springs and watched wild manatees swimming down the clear blue and green river.

We drove to Tampa to Busch Gardens and rode the water rides and best of all, Shiekra. We also liked Cheetah Chase and the Sky Ride which took us right over the animals.

We got free Quick Queue passes at Sea World just because a worker saw my dad's Red Sox shirt!(meaning we got to skip the regular lines).

We caught dozens of joeys (that's our name for those little lizards that are everywhere)--especially while waiting in line for rides.

We rode Manta, Kraken, and Journey to Atlantis at Sea World.

We spent more quarters (and more money) squirting people on the water rides with my dad than probably anything else at every park we visited.

We ate way too many turkey legs.

We learned that Florida drinking water is awful no matter how many times you try it.

As a result, I drank more soda during the trip than I have since I married Dalin (who doesn't drink soda and it rubbed off on me).

We loved the Men in Black ride, Transformers, E.T., and the Mummy ride at Universal Studios.

We started collecting magnets from the places we'd been on this trip.

We roasted marshmallows on New Year's Eve, watched the ball drop, played Bananagrams, and cheered 2014 with Sparkling Grape Juice (no one in our family drinks alcohol).

We went to an awesome outlet mall and my mom bought Tenley some rad little Nikes.

We got a tour of the University of Central Florida from our cousin, Nathan, and checked out the Psychology building for Dalin.

We watched a Knight's game with family and ate the most delicious filet mignon you could ever imagine (courtesy of Uncle Brad ;).

We canoed/kayaked down a crystal clear and winding river through Florida's swampy woods at dusk (it felt like we were in the amazon or somewhere crazy and was one of the coolest parts of our trip).

We got rained and poured on (unusual for us when we've visited Florida).

We laughed so much with all of our family.

We dreaded leaving...

So we extended our trip another 24 hours and looked into extending it further (but all the flights were sold out).

We decided we should probably go back soon.

Prepare for a photo overload. Seriously, it was so hard to pick just a few.

My parents surprised us with these cute plates. #Favorite grandchild ;)

Christmas morning in pajamas!

The water slide leading into a very small part of the humongous pool at our hotel

Flaring her nostrils at me. Can't handle the cuteness!

Slightly excited to be at Harry Potter world

A joey.

Realistic reaction to getting mauled by a T-Rex.

Wild manatees (a mom and two babies!) at Blue Springs!

My brother, Donovan, holding Max the baby gator

Grandma Searle and our sweetheart, Tenley

This was so cute of Tenley and my brother, Payson, how could I NOT put it?!

Canoeing down the Amazon...jk, but it felt like it!

Looking much happier than I felt to be leaving Florida :(

What did you do for Christmas and New Years?

Have you ever been to Florida before?

What about Orlando? 

Is there something you love/would love to do there?