Beach Day Today

It was a beautiful and warm day and we enjoyed going to Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach! It was a spur of the moment decision but when the sun comes out, we have to take advantage of it!

Our family, as sea turtles. Micah loves the sea turtles.

Oakland Temple

Saturday we went to the Oakland temple for our Stake temple day. It's been really difficult to go since Micah has been born because my children just don't stay with other people very well and they are all nursers. It's always so hard when they are babies. This time we were able to reserve a room at the stake center which is on the temple grounds. We took snacks and toys and Linnea watched Micah and Gavin. It was a lot of work for her but she did a great job and we're so appreciative. Gavin helped her with Micah as well. Our Bishop really encouraged all ward members to go, even children, just to be on the temple grounds. I loved having the children there to see the temple and feel the spirit on the grounds. It was a COLD day but beautiful. I am once again amazed at the spirit we feel in our home after attending the temple and the blessings I already feel in our lives. I am rededicating my resolve to attend the temple more often. Jacen was not feeling well that day but I plan on taking him to do baptisms in the temple every month.

Scentsy!

Well, I am officially a Scentsy Consultant! I love the products and thought it would be a really fun thing to do on the side. I love parties and getting together with friends and I like that I don't really have to be a sales person with Scentsy. Really the products just sell themselves. We'll see how it goes... I have a website if you're interested.
click here: https://jaimezuniga.scentsy.us/Home

I was a bit interested when I learned that Scentsy warmers were safe because their was no fire and matches involved (I do have a 6 year old boy) and the wax does not get very hot. I spilled some on myself once and it didn't hurt at all. Then I became more interested when I saw a catalog and saw the great designs that actually compliment a decorum rather then detract from it. And I fell in love when I finally spelled the scents. I love walking into my house when it smells so good and I love having the house smell good for my family when they get home.

The Little Things

I saw these flowers at Trader Joes for only 3.99 and bought them.
I love how fresh flowers totally brighten a room and I'm loving the sweet pea pink color of these right now. So pretty.

And my friend gave me the new scent of the month for Scentsy, Shades of Green, and I love the scent! I feel so good when my house smells good! I'm seriously thinking of becoming a Scentsy consultant. What are your experiences with Scentsy? I'm relatively new to it but I love the products!

New Bed

We set up Micah's new bed and he LOVES it! He loves that he can jump on it and loves the sheets that have cars and trains and airplanes on them. We haven't even tried sleeping him in it yet but when I went to check on him I found him reading the book in the picture below.
Cute huh.

Gavin loves the bed too and he has slept in it. (:

Love Spring Dresses

When my children don't want to go to school, or the principal calls because my six year old peed out in public because someone told him the boogie man was in the bathroom, or my teenager ruins family home evening with his angry attitude, or the dog hair builds up under the chair legs in the kitchen, or the baby won't nap, or I gained back a pound I'd been so excited about losing, or my hair is the craziest hair on the peninsula, or .... I could go on and on... but when all that happens, it actually helps to shop... or virtual shop when you're trying to save a whopping $500 for EFY. I'm in love with these spring dresses! How much cuter could they be?

This is my favorite but of course it's WAY over my budget at its full price. I hate it that I have expensive taste. And, it's dry clean only. But isn't it so cute?

I love this one because I can dress it up or down and get tons of wear out of it and it's really reasonably priced. I always love Pilcro items. I wish it had pockets though.

Doesn't this look spring-ish? It does have pockets and is machine washable. Cute.

Looks like this may be a flattering dress. Love the color.

This little chemise is actually what Albert brought home from Anthropologie not too long ago. It doubles as a tunic if I want to wear it out. Isn't that sweet of him? I never thought he would shop for me at Anthro!

Airport!

I've been wanting to take Micah to the airport for some time now because he gets SO excited about seeing airplanes up in the sky. With it being a holiday for the other kids from school, I thought today would be a good day to go. My parents dropped in unexpectedly and so us and them and Albert (on his lunch hour, he did have to work) and Great Grampa Neufeld all had lunch at the airport and watched the planes come and go. It was really fun and Micah's ooh's and ahh's were so cute! I love it that small children don't try to contain their emotions.

Advice Please!

My other three children never climbed out of their cribs.
Micah is and I seriously need help. He's only 21 months old! The other children stayed in their cribs until nearly 3, except Linnea because she potty trained at night at barely 2 and needed to get up to use the bathroom but I didn't have any trouble keeping her in her bed for night or naps. Micah won't take naps because he just gets out and opens the door. And I am wanting to wean him from breast which I know will require some crying at night so that could be a problem there as well. I still need to try just being firm and carrying him back to his bed (thanks Brenna) but haven't tried that yet. I've considered a tent but haven't found one for porta-cribs. I really don't want to have to buy a crib at this point and get little use out of it for my money, plus we don't have a lot of room. We have a toddler bed but I'm afraid of moving him in there for obvious reasons. Any ideas? I would love some advice or what has worked for you. I'm desperate. I need him to nap, he needs to nap, and I'm starting to get tired of being a pacifier.

Just Letting It Out...

One thing that bugs me about blogs is that they seem to paint a life of perfection. I'm not going to post about my fight with my husband or that my kids are unruly because of my bad parenting, or that I gained ten pounds because of my chocolate addiction (those things aren't really true, well except maybe my bad parenting). Life isn't perfect and I'm just having one of those days where I need to let it out.

I feel like my life is at one of it's more stressful times.
Micah is acting more and more like two. He's throwing fits and screams much of the day.
I've never been good at parenting. I'll be the first but not the only to say that.
He learned how to climb out of his bed. Great. Now I can't even contain him.
None of my others kids did that. Any suggestions?
We really need another bedroom. Micah doesn't have any where he can sleep but my room.
Jacen can't share with anyone because his room is super tiny and because he can't get along with anyone. Linnea is almost eleven and needs her own privacy. I get so frustrated sometimes about living in a little shoe box. But then I go for a walk along the gorgeous coastline that is walking distance from my house and I think it's all worth it....for a while.
My teenager seems to lack motivation on every scale and I worry about if he will ever get into college, let alone BYU. He doesn't like school. He doesn't like being the only boy so many times at mutual. I don't blame him for that. He is always about ready to burst and I totally stress out, walking on egg shells, just waiting for the explosion.
I have two dogs that I don't really want and no one really enjoys that much and I have to clean up after them and feed them. I'd rather not. I'd rather have a clean house. And on days like today when its raining, they have to be inside because they don't have a dry outside space. That means lots of dog hair and filth in my kitchen.
I am grateful for many things though. I'm grateful for our good health. I'm grateful for two cars that run well. I'm grateful to be a homemaker. I'm grateful that Albert has a good job. I'm grateful for our safety. I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and my testimony above all. I love my family. Life is just hard. Someday Jacen will be a grown up man and Micah won't be almost two and I'll have more space. But then I'm sure I'll miss things about this stage too.
Anyhow, I just had to let that out. Hope you don't mind.

Family Valentines Day Celebration

In my perfect world that exists only in my head, the kids will come home to perfectly wrapped and homemade Valentine treats left in their spotless rooms for their enjoyment. The whole house will be clean and decorated like something out of Martha Stewart's magazine. A delicious home cooked meal will be ready and a delectable dessert prepared. I would have a perfectly planned out family home evening lesson that correlates with Valentines Day and the children and husband cooperate perfectly. I won't be too tired from doing all this preparation either. And the baby will have cooperated perfectly all day. That's in my head anyhow.

In real life, I feel like I have to do everything that was in my head for some reason.

But, my decorations are anything but grand and my homemade treats for the kids don't look professional, and Micah falls asleep on the way home from the store and won't take a nap so he's super cranky, and the house is really messy, and I'm still really, really tired by the end of the day.

The kids were really grateful; however, for the homemade cookies and love notes I wrote them and left on their pillows. They loved the decorations. Everyone liked the dinner, which actually did turn out good. It was: Beef Wellington over a puff pastry square with crimini mushrooms and sauce, baby green beans with turkey bacon and onion, and dark chocolate fondue for dessert with banana pieces and strawberries and puff pastry hearts to dip into it. (I loved the beef wellington but next time I'd just assume put it over brown rice. It's more nutritious and I think I'd like it better that way.) Linnea put together a great family home evening lesson that tied in great with the day and also with our family scripture reading. Everyone was happy. I was still really, really tired. I still am. I don't know how other people do it. But maybe it was worth it.