Old Fart

Today. Was. Perfect.

Really. Today couldn't have gone any better. I had a wonderful 24th birthday!

I woke up on time and got ready for preschool! I even had time to spare so I was able to pick up a Rockstar on my way to work! For preschool we went on a field trip to the fire station. The fire fighters are awesome! They got two calls while we were there, but luckily they finished our tour right before the calls came in. 

In between classes my mom gave me her and my dad's gifts. They gave me hair stuff and a note saying she paid for me to get my hair done, (YAY!) so all I have to do is call and schedule my hair lady! They also gave me the Frozen Barbies, because I'm obsessed with Frozen and love Barbies! Really though, I can't wait until Val is old enough to play Barbies so I'll have a reason to play!

After preschool ended, Shane came over to my parent's house with Val and I opened the gift she picked out for me. I didn't take a picture of the gift, but it's a super cute picture frame with pictures of her in it.

Shane even let her sign her own name on the wrapping paper!

We then left Val with my mom and dad so that we could go on a date baby-free!

Valarie loves going to Grandma and Grandpa's!

So we left and went back to our place so that I could open my gifts from Shane. He spoiled me! I got a few new pairs of earrings, a charm for my bracelet, a beanie, a clock, money to spend at Hobby Lobby, storage for my craft things, and my a place of my own to craft! See? Totally spoiled rotten.

We're in love, in case you couldn't tell.

After we finished with the gifts, we headed over to the Megaplex at Jordan Commons. We got HUGE ice cream cones and saw Olaf! (Frozen. Obsessed.) We went to the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It was pretty good. 

When the movie ended we were ready for dinner. We went to Bohemian Brewery (for the first time,) but also known as one of my new favorite restaurants. It's a delicious German place! 

I got the Bohemian Schnitzel and Shane got the Provencal pizza. It was a ton of food, and so good that my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

We finished dinner and went back to my parents to pick up Val. We then went home and just relaxed. I made some Pero, because I didn't feel like Tea. 

I feel so blessed to have Shane, Valarie, and my family in my life. They are all so good to me and do so much for me! They made this a very simple, but perfect birthday. I couldn't be more grateful for all of them. I love my life! 

Happy birthday to me. Holy crap I'm getting old. . . 

Airports, Flu, and Food

The Pike family has been really close with Shane, and a couple weeks ago Elder Travis Pike got home from serving his mission! We were lucky enough to go to the airport and see him come down the escalator. I've never seen a missionary get home, and the experience was awesome! It was so good to see Travis again, too! Kinda weird too, because when he left we'd only been married for a month and a half. Now we have a baby! 

Valarie has always been a very good sleeper. She goes down around 9pm, and wakes up around 6am to eat, then goes back down until 8am. Last weekend she all of a sudden wasn't sleeping well anymore. She wouldn't go to sleep. Friday night she literally cried for 2 hours straight, slept for a few hours, then woke up at 3am and cried until 5:30am. Saturday we took her to the doctor and found out she had a bad case of the flu. Kinda funny since the previous Monday she'd gotten her flu shot. She got some meds, but still cried constantly. All night Saturday, all night Sunday. Finally, on Monday, she began acting like herself again. It broke my heart to see her so sad and miserable, I was so happy when she was finally acting better!

Anytime I wear hoops, Val likes to pull them out. usually she drops them after she's gotten them, but this particular night she kept sticking them in her mouth. She was very proud of herself and thought she was hilarious.

Sometimes Shane likes to play with Val too soon after she's eaten. 

We had meatballs and pasta for dinner last week. Valarie wasn't very interested in eating it, she just liked playing with it.

We made Val a homemade ball pit. She enjoys it!

Last night while at work I texted Shane to see how he and Val were doing. I received two pictures back.

Life is pretty good right now. We're happy, healthy, and excited for February! 

(It's going to be a good month!)

Stupid Super Mom

Can I just vent for a few minutes? I'm a little tired. Tired of not getting much sleep, tired of feeling like I'm constantly working, tired of never having alone time. The last time I think I was completely alone, (I need my alone time people,) was before Val was born. What I am most tired of though, is trying to be someone I'm not.

I feel like these days the only acceptable mom is the Super Mom. The mom who loses all of her baby weight in a month, who does her hair and makeup so it's flawless every single stinking day, the mom who has a Pinterest house that never has a spot of dust of object out of place, and the mom who finds time to exercise daily, spend quality time with her children, cook dinner, and please her husband.

I am not that mom. As much as I want to be that mom, I never will be. I don't doll myself up and I'm still carrying ten pounds of baby weight. Yeah I work out three times a week, but it's with my mom. Our work outs are half vast. We talk and visit, lifting a weight or doing some cardio in between stories. My house is always a mess, unless it's ten minutes before I know someone is coming over. In that case I stuff and hide all my crap and do a quick sweep over the floor. Yes, I play with my baby, but some days I'm exhausted and the only thing I can do with her is put her in her walker and turn on Yo Gabba Gabba. The small amount of energy I have is from the ridiculous amounts of Rockstars and Diet Cokes I drink. Dinner is usually a five minute meal and at the end of the day I can give my husband about twenty minutes of my time for catching up and kissing.

I can't be that perfect mom. I can barely be a functional mom. But you know what? That's ok. My husband and daughter are happy and we're surviving. We're dragging by one day at a time, and we're happy.

Society is stupid anyway. Who does it think it is, telling me if I can't be perfect then I'm not good enough? My family loves me, my friends love me, and my husband and daughter love me. I don't know why society thinks I have to prove myself to it. I owe them nothing. I'm happy how I am.

I don't know where I'm going with this. This post is all over the place. Basically, I guess I'm trying to say I'm sick of feeling down on myself because I'm not Super Mom. I'm a great mom, and I'm not going to let myself feel bummed anymore.

I am good enough.

Well Hey 2014!

2013 ended well and 2014 came in with a little bang, nothing too exciting, but still kinda fun!

Valarie learned to run around, literally, in her walker. She loves the lamp and its cord, so we now have furniture blocking off half the house.

Shane shaved most of his beard! It looks much cleaner and more handsome now!

Val sometimes likes to sometimes cuddle with her toys.

We brought the new year in with the Wilsher family! Shane and Valarie went to their house in the early evening, I joined them around 11:30pm when I was finally off work!

The girls tasted some yummy treats!

Caity, Ben, and sleeping Isobel!

Shane and I, (Val is sleeping on the couch behind us.)

Our January 1st picture, (we've taken one in the exact pose every year.)

Valarie has learned to stand against the couch and she loves it! She's always so proud of herself!

We got her a few new blankets, and this is my favorite one. I'm basically obsessed with it.

Almost two weeks after Christmas we finally got batteries for her toy. She's unsure of it.

We used Shane's new grill for the first time. He loved cooking with it.

Valarie got to try Mum mums for the first time while we had burgers.

Our veggie burgers were amazing!

Really though. Amazing.

Almost every Sunday we go to my parents house. Valarie loves chilling with grandpa.

She had a bubble bath for the first time and very much enjoyed it!

I wish I could spend all my money at Target! I'm seriously obsessed with their baby girl clothes! They are all too cute!

Sometimes Shane and I facetime while he's at work. . . in our office down the hall. Yeah that's how we do.

Mommy and baby play time!

I got a mixer for Christmas, (mostly for making mashed potatoes, yay!) But I also got some cake mixes to try them out with. So tonight I made a cake, just for fun!

Just a simple white cake, nothing too thrilling. It was delicious!

Val even loved it!

What a great year it's been so far, I'm excited for the adventures to come!