Clay and Finger-paints

This week I was on call for one of my shifts so I only worked one night this week and that means I had more nap time to craft because when I work more then I spend her nap times sleeping. Wednesday after looking at cute expensive Noah's ark sets, I played with clay and made a few animals for Cami. I think she likes them, mostly just to make the noises they make and she keeps making interesting noises for the giraffe. I think the elephant is my favorite and next the sheep, since he took forever to make. I did get it all done on Wednesday because Cami took a three hour nap :)

 It was so fun, I just might have to add to the collection.

 I also made some homemade finger-paint. Her fingers are clean in this picture because she gets a little feisty if her hands are dirty, so I had to wipe them off before I could take a picture so she wouldn't be grumpy. It was a lot of fun for me and it was neat to mix colors. She is too little to understand that part yet, so it will be fun later too. 

 JD and I got to see the Hunger Games last night, which I enjoyed. It  was fun to go on a date and have a babysitter for Cami because we hardly ever go out. We have date nights at home, so I am not complaining, but it is good to get out every once in a while!

I have spent the week getting excited for Conference. Due to work I have not been able to watch conference as it was happening in 3 1/2 years. So to be able to be home this weekend and watch it is so wonderful. Cami   did pretty well for the first session and I just remind myself that I try to get what I can out of it and enjoy the opportunity. I am so grateful for living prophets and apostles and their guidance today. I have already been touched by the first session and am excited to hear more this afternoon and tomorrow.  

I see you!

Cami decided the other day that she just will not sit in her high chair and so she is currently using one of my  old nursing books for a booster. She is so funny, and as you can see in this picture loves her macaroni and cheese.

 Cami loves to play picaboo, that and reading and tickling are pretty much her favorite activities. So I saw a cute idea on pinterest for a "reading nook" and pretty much just simplified it so it involved draping fabric that was on sale at walmart over a short shower curtain rod and pinning it to the wall. She loves peeking around the fabric and saying " I see you". This last week her vocabulary has started to explode. She has been talking a lot for months, but now more of it is actually understandable! She can say some of her ABC's, almost spell her name, say please and thank you, and almost count to 10. I love it! It is so fun, but also making me realize that I need to be careful what I say and how I say it. JD was watching her while I slept after work and she kept saying "sit down" real fiesty...like mom says when Cami stands up in the tub, repeatedly and grins after I tell her not to.

 I did make a quick couple of pillows to make it more comfy in our fort!

 Last Friday a couple of my friends had a joint baby shower and I got to make the diaper cakes...They were lots of fun and I thought they were cute so I wanted to show them off! They are supposed to be strollers on the side if you can't tell :)

 Cami is learning how to color better...mostly since I finally got her a coloring book and it has pictures of Elmo, who is her very favorite.

As for JD, he is working hard. JD finally got all his grades back from his second quarter and did very well. He and his partner made it to the semifinals (the elite 8) of the moot court competition too! I am so proud of JD and how hard he works at school. I am also so grateful for his support at home. He is always willing to pitch in when I ask and he is good about letting me sleep after work when he can be home. I am sure grateful for such a wonderful, hardworking, supportive husband who also makes me laugh and smile every day!

Happy St Patty's Day!

I hope you all had a lucky weekend. For me the whole week was a wonderful break and I am ready to face a new week! To celebrate St Patrick's Day, Cami and I ate Lucky Charms for breakfast and I made biscuits with green gravy for dinner. I also made a cute little centerpiece and Cami discovered green jello. She is so funny about textures and she would not try to eat it and hated touching it, but was ok if she had tools. I have such a funny little girl. Here is a fun little video of the Jello experiment.

Spring Break!

We got to take a trip down to Galveston for a few days this week since it was spring break. It was a nice trip, and I am so glad I was able to talk JD into it! 

 This is Cami's first time at the beach... she doesn't like sand we discovered so that is why she has her sandles.

 She was also a tad grumpy from our 4+ hour drive.

feeding the seagulls on the ferry

playing at the beach

 Moody Gardens.

 We went on a ferry ride and Cami really enjoyed the birds

 Her favorite part was running around the boat and trying to wear Dad's flip flops.

 We found a sweet playground that we played at Thursday morning.

 We went to the beach three times because it is free and Cami really started to enjoy it, minus not really loving the sand and eventually getting pretty tired and leaving in a bit of a melt down.

 Splash!!!

 We went to the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens, I could have put a ton of pictures of the animals here  but it was fun, despite being super hot and humid in there since it is a rain forest!

Cami was a little grumpy here. 

 We forgot her shoes so we had a little "hobo" baby :)

 Us in front of the hotel.

 Going for a bike ride on the sea wall.

Here is our bike ride on the Sea Wall. JD and I got to play a little mini golf at the hotel and we had a quick swim in the hotel pool. The weather was perfect the whole time and the Inn we stayed at was nice and quiet and we really just relaxed and enjoyed our stay. We felt so grown up since this is the first real trip we have taken by ourselves since we got married almost 4 years ago! 

Finally finished

I finally finished the puppets I was making to go with Cami's theater. She just likes to make animal noises with them which is fine by me. I am sure she will like them more when she is older.

 Last Saturday we had some friends over and JD and I got to experience taking care of more than just Cami and was good. The down side was that we were all sick with colds, but I am happy to report Cami seems to be finally over her cold and JD and I are getting there.

 The kids played really well together and had fun with the piano and coloring so we kept busy and had a fun time.

 Yes that is Cami drawing on the table... 

I made up a game with our Coloretto cards where she could practice matching and colors... She gets a little frustrated sometimes and lately has been kind of OCD about laying them out in straight rows...

This last Sunday at church we had a wonderful lesson about who we should be. I was very touched by the lesson and grateful for an inspired Relief Society presidency. It was what I needed to hear. One of the highlights from the lesson was about learning not to look to others to find out what we should be, but to turn to the Lord and learn what He would have us be. Perfection is going to look different for every person because we are all different and are meant to be. The way that we show love or give service may be different, but no less serviceable then what someone else might do. In fact someone may have a specific need that only we can fill with our own individual talents and abilities. It gives me hope and perspective to stop judging myself by those around me and take it to the Lord, like it says in Ether 12 :27. The teacher referenced two talks that I will link here because I love them- One is by Lynn G Robbins, and the other by Dale G Renlund. I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life that gives me hope, perspective and purpose.