My New Beauty Routine

(I'm currently working on my post from our Disneyland trip.  There are a lot of pictures and videos to sort through, so I'll put them up soon!)

There are tons of articles circulating right now on Facebook about how much a mother's perspective of herself affects her daughter.  I've read most of them, and I agree with all of them.  The way a little girl views her mother is so important.  She models herself after her mother.  The way she acts, talks, dresses.  I've seen this in my own life with Audrey around.  I recognize that it is equally as important for little boys to have a positive female presence in their lives, but because I only have experience with a daughter that's where I'm speaking from.

It is really hard for me (any woman, really) to not point out to their husbands or just mutter to themselves their flaws.  I was getting really bad at it and wanted to break the bad habit before Audrey was really affected by it.  I decided to channel my inner-Audrey.  Audrey thinks she is the most beautiful princess to walk the earth.  She tells us daily.  She walks with such confidence and nothing stands in her way.  The other day I didn't see Audrey around so I went to investigate.  I found her in my room in front of the full-body mirror looking at herself.  "I have lovely yellow hair!" she said.  "I am so big and strong!" she exclaimed, reaching her arms to the sky.  It made me stop and think about how much she loves herself.  I wanted her to know that it was good to love herself as much as she does.  I also wanted her to see that I loved myself as well.  So I walked over, sat with her and said, "look, mom's hair is so beautiful!"  She agreed.  As awkward as it was for me, I kept going.  "I have nice green eyes!"  Audrey then pointed out her beautiful blue eyes.  We kept going like this talking about everything we loved about ourselves.  Audrey loved it, and you know what?  It works.  I felt so good about myself for the rest of the day, and Audrey and I kept telling each other what we liked all day long.  We've done it every morning since, and it is by far the most successful beauty routine I've used.  I feel and look great after we do it.

I certainly don't think I'm the most beautiful in all the land, but I'm slowly learning to love myself despite my imperfections.  It's amazing the things toddlers can teach us.

Be Happy!

So first, a confession.  Days of Our Lives (you know, the horribly cheesy soap opera?) is always on during Audrey's nap.  I watch it.  It is a nice, mindless thing to have on while I surf the web and relax a bit.  It's embarrassing how much I look forward to it.

I should say, I used to watch it.  Channel 5 switched things up so now Days of Our Lives is on at 1 am!  So, today I watched Studio 5--the show that now occupies my Days of Our Lives spot.  I actually quite enjoyed it.  I've seen the show before, but it's got a new format and the topics today were interesting to me.  At the beginning of the show they talked a lot about being happy.  They had a relationship coach who talked about ways to consciously be happy in your day to day life.  It got me thinking, and I really want to be a happier person.  Who doesn't?

I'm not a particularly angry person, but I do feel like the pressures and stresses of adult life have definitely changed my attitude and disposition.  I'm a mom to a toddler, so I'm tired and stretched to my limits every day.  Do you know that in 7th grade I won an award for "Person Most Likely to Bring a Smile to Your Face"?  It's true.  My English teacher, Mr. Knight, nominated me for it.  He gave a whole speech about how he was always excited when it was time for my class period because I always smiled at him as I walked in.  He said it put him in a good mood for the whole day.  I want to be that way again.

The relationship coach on Studio 5 gave a 7-day plan to Live Happy, and I'm going to try it out.  I think it will benefit not only me, but Tony and Audrey as well.



Here's to a happier me!

I'm Not a Baby, I'm a Big Girl!

Do any of you remember this commercial?  The way this little girl talks is totally Audrey right now.  It's both super adorable and sad for me.

I remember when I was a nanny, the biggest insult you could give the 3-year-old girl I watched was calling her a "baby."  I thought it was funny but never dreamed of the day when my own little girl would be worried about the same thing.  You better not call this cute face a baby.  She's a big girl.

She just recently started saying, "I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl!" to Tony and me.  Yesterday I asked her what made her such a big girl and she responded, "I have long hair like Rapunzel."

My big girl has also somehow acquired a very strong opinion about anything and everything she wears.  Typically she will only wear dresses, sometimes long shirts with tights.  I spent all this money on clothes for her at the outlet mall and she refuses to wear any of it.  I'm talking Gap shirts, here!
She picked out this fabulous sunglasses at the mall and every time she puts them on says, "tell me I'm stylish, mom!"  I've decided that this fall I'm taking her shopping and she can pick her clothes.  I'm not going to waste a bunch of money on things she won't wear!

She very rarely sits in a high chair at restaurants any more, and sits in her booster seat at home.  She wants to sit in the big girl seat.

Yesterday I saw that Audrey's poor toenail was bent back and asked her how she got her owwie.  She told me, "my shoes squish my feet!"  Doh.  She's outgrown her SIZE 7 shoes!  This girl has flippers for feet!  I cannot believe how big her feet are.  I guess we're going shoe shopping this weekend!

Today as I watched Audrey eat her lunch, using her spoon perfectly scooping up her mac and cheese, taking a sip of juice from her "big girl" cup, and carefully wiping her mouth with a napkin -- it hit me.  She is a big girl now whether I like it or not.  We're entering a new phase of life together and I have so much to learn about this big girl stuff.  I wish she could stay my baby forever, but if I'm forced to let her become a big girl I want her to do it just the way she is.  Confident, happy, smart, beautiful, and loving life.

Splash Pads, Popsicles, Friends, and Summertime Fun!

So far, the majority of our summer has been spent with Audrey in a swimsuit doing some sort of water activity.  We have a nice little playgroup established and we've been able to experience some really fun things!  One of our favorites is the Pioneer Park splash pad.  It's perfect for toddlers (the water doesn't shoot super high like at some of the others) and it's huge so it never feels all that crowded.

We're the coolest cats around when we are ready for swimming lessons....

I signed Audrey up for a mommy & me swim class and she LOVES it.  It's gotten her some good exposure to water, taught her how to be safe, and best of all wears her out!  It's kind of funny, we signed up with some friends and it ended up that we were the only people in the class!  I think it's made Audrey a little more brave to see her best friends getting in and splashing around.

If Audrey's not wearing a swimsuit, you can find her in one of her favorite "princess dresses."  This girl has to be forced to wear anything but a dress.  Such a girly girl!

For the 4th of July we went up to Sandy and stayed in Tony's parents' empty house while they are away having a European vacation.  We picked up Candace to hang out and decided to go to the Sandy Freedom Festival (or whatever they call it up there.)  Audrey had a BLAST even though it was sweltering hot.  I think Candace had some fun, but she just seemed to be bummed out that we weren't buying any junk from the vendors there :)

They had a booth with "Jurassic Sand" that Audrey really loved.  She played in the orange sand for a long time.

Nothin' like a red, white, and blue popsicle to beat the heat! 

Tony finishing off what Audrey couldn't eat :)

At the festival we found a stage with a dance studio that was performing and Audrey was enthralled.  There were a lot of girls close to her age performing tap, ballet, and lots of other dance routines.

Getting her dance on

One of the groups did a song from Cinderella for their ballet routine and Audrey was convinced the real Cinderella (the class teacher) was dancing on stage right before her eyes.  She ran up to the stage squealing and stood as close as she could to that stage.

She even started dancing with them!

Making friends

After the festival we ate dinner then headed back to our house.  I wasn't into the idea of giving Audrey sparklers for the 4th, so I bought some glow sticks from the dollar store.  She loved them!

We weren't about to try actually going somewhere for fireworks because of how late they are, but Audrey felt comfortable enough to wander over to the neighbors to watch their display.  They were kind enough to let us crash their party.  Audrey loved the fireworks and was so hyper afterwards!  She keeps talking about them and how one of them had purple flashes of light.

I don't have any pictures from it, but last night my friends and I decided to have a Mom's Night Out.  We went out for dinner and had a blast just chatting the night away.  It was supposed to be from 7-10, but we ended up staying at the restaurant until midnight!  (Don't worry, we ordered dessert after staying so long.)  I've been in such a good mood today just from having that one night for myself.  We are already planning our next mom's night and I'm so excited!  It's been really nice having friends with similar interests, and it helps that we all have daughters around the same age.

Despite my staying out so late last night, we decided to go to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point with Tony today.  Audrey watched these cute little chicks hatch last time we were there and she was excited to show Tony.  I think she feels a special connection to them since she watched their birth :).

Jailbirds.

We've had a very busy and very fun summer so far, and we are so grateful for the new friends we've made this year!  It's been so nice for Audrey to have playmates and so nice for me to have some mom friends, as well!

Audrey Turns Two

On June 3rd our little Audrey turned two years old.  It's still hard for me to believe she's been around that long (everyone has to say that, don't they?)  It's really been the best two years of my life.  Audrey is such a fun kid who challenges me, makes me laugh, and teaches me on a daily basis.

Her birthday celebrations (yes, plural) were not as extravagant as last year because 1) I got lazier and 2) we had THREE separate celebrations.  Tony's sister was leaving for Europe, so we celebrated with his side of the family early, then we had a little friends' party, then one in Indiana.  Like I said, none of them were extravagant but still fun and Audrey still asks me, "its my birthday again?"

I'm going to try to write as much about this portion of Audrey's life as I can think of.  It seems like every stage becomes my favorite, but this one is just so much fun.  She's turning into a little person and it's just so fun to watch!

GREATER COMMUNICATOR

Audrey's always been a good communicator and has always tried to tell us things.  It's been nice to be at the phase where we can easily explain things to Audrey.  She always likes to know everything about everything and exactly what is going on.  This proved very helpful on our plane ride...more on that later.  Our grocery store trips have become much more pleasant because I can tell her on the way over that she has to sit in the cart and if she's good she'll get a prize -- usually a few M&M's I bring from home.

She's also gotten really good at telling us what she's feeling.  The other day she started throwing a tantrum and I asked her to use her words so I could help her.  She came over to me, put her hands on my knee and said, "I'm very angry."  It took all of my strength not to crack up, but I helped her through it and we totally avoided a tantrum because of her new-found communication skills.

I remember as a little girl playing Barbies with my sisters.  It was a lot of "okay now you say this.  Now Ken says this."  We pretty much just told each other what to say.  Sounds fun, right?  I'm fairly certain most little girls do this.  Audrey is starting to kind of get into that.  Every time I go into her room after nap I usually say, "hi babe! Did you have a good nap?"  If for some reason I don't Audrey will quickly remind me "Say 'Hi Babe!  Good nap?"

THE PRINCESS SYNDROME

I like to consider myself a fairly progressive parent, keeping in mind that it's good to encourage Audrey to take interest in all sorts of things, not just things deemed "girly."  We have a basketball hoop, firetrucks, helicopters, tea sets, dolls, castles, princess toys, etc.  We encourage her to be herself and let her know that we think she's super great.  (Not too much though.  There's nothing worse than a toddler ego.)

HOWEVER...

This girl was born royalty.  Or so she thinks.  Out of nowhere she became engrossed with princesses.  The only cartoon/Disney-type movie we owned was Cinderella and she immediately loved it.  I'm not particularly "princessy" but Audrey has it down.  She only wants to wear dresses and it takes a lot of bargaining to get her to wear her other clothes.  When she wears her dresses she walks with her hands above her head and says "I'm a princess!"  When she comes into a room she'll announce for everyone to take a bow and very politely curtsy for a good 5 minutes.

We jokingly call all of this "the princess syndrome" and think its great that Audrey seems so confident with all of it.

GROWING AND GROWING

Audrey had her 2 year check up this past week and her stats were pretty similar to her last check up.

90th % for height
60th % for weight
99th % for her big old head

FAVORITES

Food: blueberries
TV Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Movie: Cinderella
Clothing Item:  ANY dress


Audrey is the light of our lives and we are so blessed and happy to be her parents!

A Letter to My Talented, Confident, Beautiful Daughter

Dear Audrey,

I've been thinking a lot about how confident you are.  I love it.  It's my favorite thing in the whole world to see.  I'm worried that as you grow up you'll lose it and I don't ever want that to happen.  I wanted to tell you a few things about being beautiful, strong, confident, and happy.

I know I'm your dorky mom, but hear me out for a second.

Growing up in our society is hard.  For whatever reason, the media tries to make us think certain images, ways of life, looks are what should be beautiful and desirable.  Usually these things are unrealistic but for some reason we all tend to buy into it.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to feel and look beautiful.  However, in my opinion, it has nothing to do with your outside.  Nothing to do with what clothes you wear, how much makeup you have on, or what your hair looks like.  Even though I know these things, I still struggle with the desire to want to be "beautiful" according to the world's standards.  It's really a sad thing because I have such a wonderful life and wonderful people in it who love me very much.  Once I remind myself of that, I always feel much better about myself.

I want you to want to be healthy and happy.  Your attitude and confidence definitely will show and other people can see it.  The more confident and happy you are, the more beautiful you become.  It's okay to want to wear nice clothes, have a nice haircut, and wear makeup, but I never want you to hide behind any of these things or think they make you better.

Last night as your dad and I were singing songs to you before bed, you listened to dad's guitar and danced slowly and gently to his lullabies.  I began to giggle at your dancing, then realized how confident you were in yourself at that moment and how happy you were to just be feeling the power and beauty of music.  I hope with everything that I am that that never changes in you.

Some of your favorite things to say are, "I'm so big!",  "I'm so strong!", "I am SO beautiful!" and I know that you may not know exactly what they mean right now, but I hope you continue to say and believe those things.  I know it's going to be hard.  Just remember I'll be right here to help remind you how big, strong, and beautiful you are and always will be.

Love always and forever,

Your Mama

Easter in St. George

I'm finally getting around to playing catch-up on this blog, so one of today's posts will be a month old!  This year we decided that it would be fun to spend Easter in St. George, Utah.  Tony's parents have a house down there, the weather would be warm, and Tony had Good Friday off (we're still not sure why!)  We were able to go to the zoo, swim, hunt for Easter eggs without jackets on, and cross off one of "Hollie's Biggest Fears Having a Child in Public" list items...(more on that last one later.)

I wasn't sure if Audrey would be into Easter egg hunting but she got right down to business and surprised us all.  Tony and his dad went easy on Audrey and told everyone that the ones on the grass were for Audrey only.  At first she'd only pick up the yellow eggs, but when she realized there was chocolate in them, she was more than willing to pick up the rest.  After she'd collected all of them, she asked Tony to throw them back on the ground so she could hunt them again.  It was probably the longest Easter egg hunt I've ever been a part of, but it was the best one, too.

Hunting for eggs!

She found a tricky one!

 Audrey's love obsession with ducks is well-known by everyone, and apparently even the Easter bunny!  She got a life-sized duck and immediately fell in love.  She takes after her mom with creativity in naming her toys so this guy is named "Big Duck."

I know what you're wondering.  "What is this big fear you got to cross off your list?"

As a parent, there is a list of certain things you hear about but hope and pray never happen to you.  Your kid mooning the principal, your kid throwing up on you in the airplane, your kid POOPING IN THE POOL AND SHUTTING IT DOWN ON ONE OF THE BUSIEST WEEKENDS IN ST. GEORGE.

Yeah.  Audrey single-handedly closed down the pool on Saturday.  Whenever we travel Audrey gets weird with her stomach/bathroom going.  When I purchased the swim diapers in St. George I had even thought to myself, "should I get the bigger size?  Her weight qualifies, but she's so skinny!"  Audrey is a very tall, skinny girl.  She can still wear 18 month pants as capris :).  Going against my better judgement, I bought the bigger size and the rest is history.  Poop.  In the pool.  Everywhere.  We had to tell everyone to get out, call the HOA and it was closed for the rest of the weekend.  I was beyond embarrassed that I made Tony's poor dad take care of it all.

I'm sure this isn't the first item on my biggest fears list Audrey will help me cross off.

Despite the pool incident (which is actually kind of a funny story now) we had a lovey weekend in St. George and even got to see Auntie Carleigh who lives in Florida.  Audrey loved seeing her and got to spend the evening with her while we went to see a movie.

It was a great weekend together and we're glad we were able to spend time as a family.