Tales of #MOMLIFE: 2015

Guys, I am so stoked about these shirts! Even though they took me countless hours and many mistakes. I should now be an expert but next time I will still probably forget to mirror the images a dozen times before it clicks. Haha

So onto the actual shirts...

We wanted to do something as a family but Ethan and I were against anything corny and over-the-top. So after searching for ideas I blended my own with another I found.

The front is a really simple idea that you see on lots of these types of shirts. Since I did this with my cricut I had to be super careful of the smaller letters, especially the "s". I just purchased plain iron-one from hobby lobby that were "Design your own" not for laser printers. They did not come in very big sized sheets so next time I will be ordering from cricut ahead of time. Overall, a few flaws on my first two but nothing major. The rest are perfect and look really good and not gaudy.

I was really proud of my idea to put our names on the sleeve. Super fun since we used the names that Aria calls us. Everyone was up for it.

Now, my favorite part. The back! Now I apologize because I did get this idea from somewhere and can't seem to find the source. So when I do, I will give proper credit where it is due. Anyway, the backs are a silhouette of our favorite Disney character along with a quote. I came up with the idea to use as close to the movie fonts as I could get. Unfortunately that didn't work for all of them but still turned out great!

So we tried and tried and tried some more to find Aria a red shirt in her size. To the point of severe frustration. And to no avail. So hers is black instead and I'm ok with it because she's the focal point of this trip, right? So she should definitely rock a different shirt to stand out. Or at least that is what I'm preaching to myself. Either way, she is just excited that "Tinkeybell" is on her shirt. Haha

Can't wait to post pics of all of us wearing them! Stay tuned guys!

UPDATE:

Our shirts looked awesome as we walked into the park! We got a great pic of all of us and I'm just glad we got that in before they started falling apart. I do not recommend the iron on from Hobby Lobby. ( I need to go back and find the brand.) my shirt held up perfect, but a few hours in the letters started falling off of others and poor Stitch's ear just kept flapping in the breeze.

So my take on this diy? A great idea, a great look, but next time I will buy the cricut brand.

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My morning drives to work are a good thirty minutes to an hour, depending on who takes Aria to daycare in the morning. I love these drives because it gets me ready for the day ahead that is always sure to be hectic, stressful and all around crazy. Most mornings here lately I wake up with this overwhelming need to cut out the lights and crawl back into bed. Yes, most people do not want to get up in the morning, but my struggle these last few months has been real, and frankly terrifying to me. This is why these morning drives have come to be so necessary for me.

I am not a person who is generally unhappy. I run off of stress and mountain dews and as crazy as I look to others, I am generally a happy camper. I have a beautiful daughter, a loving husband and a life that a lot of people are not lucky enough to have. I get the chance to travel, meet new people and gain experiences from everywhere that I go. I've come to accept the fact of moving a lot (even if sometimes I do let it get me down) and I've learned to live with the hectic and adventurous life that is the military. But this move has really taken its toll on me.

I can honestly say that even after being here for months, I still have not caught up on sleep or gained back my sanity. Time alone and hardships at work have left me feeling hopeless and like a failure. There are still boxes left to be unpacked and my house is constantly a mess. We eat out way more than I cook and I go to bed late every night feeling like I accomplished little. Never in my life have I felt like I was failing at so much. This has been the greatest struggle I have had in a long time.

So every morning I drive. I get in the car and I turn on Air1 and I worship. I listen to every line, every word and I let it soak in. I believe that every morning God sends me a song that I will need to carry me through the day. Some reminder of His goodness and His presence. Something to help me when a child is pushing every button I have or when I find out I have one more thing that is due that I knew nothing about. Something to remind me of why I am teaching or why I am a wife and mom.

One particular song has really been on my mind and hit me strong after the first time I heard it. Now, it comes back whenever I feel like I'm losing my ground and just can't hold on anymore. The song starts "Hold it all together, everybody needs you strong. But life hits you out of nowhere and barely leaves you hanging on." Wow. Exactly how I feel. I feel this constant need to always be strong and to take care of everything. To always have a clean house, dinner on the table, a quiet classroom and activities with Aria that make everyone stop and stare. This feeling to be super mom, wife and teacher. But this move, and everything that has happened has just left me feeling breathless.

I'm working so hard everyday to do as this song says and "stop holding on and just be held." This is a huge struggle for me, but every day I try to make a conscious effort to let go and let God. To trust him to take care of me and to give me the strength to do what I can and to accept what I won't be able to do. To be ok with not being super at everything.

I'm posting the video below and I hope that it gives someone a little bit of hope and strength like it gives me. Casting Crowns: Just Be Held.

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Yes, I am just now getting to write about our move after a month. But any of you who have made a move as huge as this one can certainly understand. I have never been so busy and overwhelmed in my life!

This move has been quite the whirl-wind and emotional roller coaster. We have not slowed down since the plane touched down in Augusta.

First off, God is good all the time! Within a week of being here we found a home and I already had a job. I absolutely love our new house. I've always imagined Ethan and I living in the country with a big yard and lots of room to roam. We definitely found that in this house as Ethan can attest too seeing as it took him a solid two hours to mow the lawn! It needs a little TLC and even though we are just renting we are ready to give it just that. I have spent so much time dreaming over the things we can do with the house and how awesome it will be to actually host family get-togethers here. I will be posting about the home DIYs that we do over the next few months. We will still be waiting for a couple of weeks for our stuff to arrive from Hawaii.

I am very blessed to have found a job so quickly. That I can say. But I also can say that it is very difficult. My job has probably been the hardest thing I've dealt with since being here. Hindsight is 20-20 as they say and I truly do miss my kids in Hawaii. My kids here need my love though. That I can tell already. Learning how to give it, and to make a difference is the hard part. As a teacher I know that every student is different, and in my head I knew that every place would have a different demographic of students. I guess I just didn't realize how big of a difference it would be teaching here. I am getting a much needed reality check and lucky for me my hubby and friends are there to help me out with that as well. I am learning a lot about myself...

Ok guys, so I honestly am sitting here with no idea what to write next. There's been so much going on, but I'm at the point where I want to move forward you know? I feel like I haven't gotten to slow down and enjoy anything. I'm constantly worried or stressed or trying to fix this or going here or there. It's exhausting. So the only real thing you guys need to know right now is we made it. We did it. It's crazy how fast the transition took place and how fast we just became a part of this new place. It's strange and exciting and exhausting and overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time. One day at a time. One day at a time.

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Well everyone, the time has come. We have officially taken everything off of the walls in our home, and the reality of the move has finally set in. Crazy... Three years here in Hawaii. Two homes, one amazing daughter and a lot of learning experiences later we are moving from the island and heading back home. (Or close to it.) This has been such an amazing and crazy adventure, filled with both the good and the bad. I don't even know how to describe the rush of emotions I'm feeling.

It's sad to think that it will be a long time before I see these amazing friends that I've made again. I'm not very good at saying goodbye. But I'm also filled with this amazing sense of relief. I don't want to sound horrible or anything, but guys, we made it through! We made it through our first duty station and we are better for it. You don't know how scary this adventure was for the two of us. We had never lived this life before or lived this far away from family. We didn't know anyone and we didn't know what to expect. It was so huge for us and we made it! I want to shout it from the rooftops!!!

Now, I'm not saying that it was a rough life for the past three years and that we really struggled. I don't want to sound as if we made it through hell. haha It's just a great feeling to have done this and move on. To start fresh. To meet new people and to have new experiences. To say goodbye to the crap that we did endure while here (because it wasn't all sunshine and aloha.) To be grateful for all the things we learned and experienced. To breathe a sigh of relief because soon we will be breathing southern air!

God put us here for a reason and I've had to remind myself of that so many times while being here. I guess he knew I needed to meet the people I did. To meet my first friend here, Kim, who took me under her wing and showed me what aloha really means and kept me sane when I thought I couldn't take anymore. For Andrea who became the military wife friend I was craving and helped keep Hawaii and daily life as interesting as can be. For Noreen who mothered me and always made sure I knew how much she cared for me. For Li-Anne who helped me become the teacher I am today. And those who weren't as welcoming who showed me that I'm much stronger than I ever thought I was and kept me in check. God knew we needed the sand and the sea and the warm weather to keep our spirits high even when we missed home like crazy. This is where we were supposed to be and now He has called us somewhere else.

Hawaii, I am going to miss you. Maybe not as much at first, but I'm sure when the cold weather hits I'll be longing for you again.

Aloha Hawaii.

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As an educator, I make it a point to read as many Children and Young Adult books as I possibly can. As an avid reader, it's an obsession! I am currently working on reading a list of the 100 Best Children's Chapter Books from Children's Books Guide but I'm only on number 12 (Huckleberry Finn is kicking my booty.) I have ALWAYS loved reading and I attribute a lot of that to my mom who shares this with me and read to me constantly while she was pregnant with me. My dad tells me that all of the time, and so I tried to read aloud to Aria while I was pregnant as well. It is one of my greatest hopes that Aria will share my and her father's passion for a good book!

So without further ado, here are my top 5 books that I am dying to read with Aria when she is finally old enough. (Some of which are already on her book shelf!)

5. Holes: Stanley and his bad luck sure do make for a good read. Although this may seem like a very "boyish" choice for Aria, it's one of my favorites and I think that her adventurous spirit will love it as well. I can't wait to see her face when Stanley and Zero are stuck in the hole with the yellow-spotted lizards or when she realizes the connection between Stanley and Zero's families.

4.Out of My Mind: Aria will certainly be considerably older when we read this, and she may be past the love of mommy reading to her, but this is a book that I really want to share with her. I really want Aria to grow up with a respect for all people and with compassion for those around her. I want her to understand that everyone has a voice and everyone is special. In this book, Melody overcomes the stigma of being "dumb" or "less of a person" that comes with her disease. Smarter than most, she works hard to find her voice and make everyone hear it. I can't tell you how many times I cried reading this awe-inspiring book. I can't think of a better book to help Aria see the beauty in those around her, no matter their disability.

3. Inkheart: Who doesn't love a good father-daughter story! What a girl wouldn't do for her daddy. This book had me on the edge of my seat page by page. I mean, who couldn't love a book about books!! Oh to have the power to read characters into life. A power I wish I had. I'm sure Aria will wish for it too. Who wouldn't? Maybe Aria will relate to Meggie and her sense of bravery and strength.Whatever the case, this is a must read!

2. Anne of Green Gables: This series was one of my favorites as a young girl. I remember my dad buying me the remaining set of books while we were on vacation from a small hole in the wall used book store. I remember the smell of old books and how excited I was to see these books in the window. I wanted to be more like Anne. More adventurous and imaginative. Not afraid to be myself in a world full of peer pressures. I learned a lot from Anne and her adventures as well as from her many mistakes. I was equally as heartbroken as Anne when Diana became drunk from the raspberry cordial and they were no longer allowed to be friends. My imagination was alive as"Elaine" floated down the pond and her flat began to leak. And I cried like a baby as Anne and Marilla watched Matthew take his last breath. Anne quickly became one of my favorite characters of all time. I can't wait for the day when Aria can let her imagination run wild as I read this to her!

1. The Harry Potter Series: OK, I do realize that series is not a single book but to save us from having each Harry Potter book be each number in this list, I'll bunch them all together. If you know me, you know that no other chapter book even comes close to HP. As I said before, I've always loved to read, but the Harry Potter series really made me fall in love with reading. Fall in love with getting lost in a book and transported to another world. No other series has captivated me like this one. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are forever my favorite group of friends. I cannot wait to share their adventures with Aria: the bond of friendship and family, overcoming evil and the path of a hero. The day that she is old enough to start these books will be one happy day for this Momma!!

Well, there you have it folks. My list of must reads with Aria. Let me hear about your faves in the comments below. Night y'all!

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Well, I officially made it through day one of staying home with Aria and as I lay here nodding off I realize I may have been a little ambitious. I guess ambitious is the best word here. Altogether though, the day was a great success with only one meltdown. Yay for me!

We started off with what I was trying to make a healthy breakfast. Needless to say, blueberries did not go over well with Aria. I'll give them one more try but I'm thinking those need to come off of the list. Her face as she stuck the blueberry in her mouth was nothing less than priceless. Even Mommy over-exaggerating about how AMAZING those little blue things taste didn't do the trick. At least she ate some and we were off on our walk. Aria was very excited about getting in her stroller and "driving" around, hitting the music button over, and over, and over, and over again. Another thing I learned today, bring headphones tomorrow.

I'm pretty proud of how well Aria is playing by herself these days. I purposefully scheduled independent play into our daily schedule so that I can get a few things done. I was able to send e-mails regarding potential teaching jobs and started working on our PCS binder. During this time Aria played in her swimming pool (in the living room) and tortured poor Riley with her squeals and screams.

I have very lofty goals for this summer for teaching Aria. I really want her to know her basic colors and be able to count to at least 5. Today we worked on colors. Her favorite is apparently blue, because every color was blue, blue, blue. Pretty cute huh? Anyways, I colored large colored circles on paper plates and got out our trusty fruit loops. We found fruit loops in every color and repeated the color names. Then, we sorted them together. She desperately wanted to do it all on her own so I gave her a handful and let her have at it. She did so well! I was pretty impressed. If you haven't already, check out my Instagram for a short video of her sorting the colors. This was such an easy and quick little activity but so very effective! I would recommend giving it a shot if you are teaching your little one basic colors.

After nap-time we made our way to the park and played to our little hearts' content. It's so much fun to watch her run around with her little horsey prance climbing and sliding and doing it all over again. I will never get used to how cute she is. Ever.

We ended our day with some yummy ice cream and was joined by daddy. All in all a great day, but one that left me super exhausted. Successful first day!!

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Tales of #MOMLIFE

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