Nursing Graduate

Guys.... We made it! Jayne and I made it (almost) 13 months breast feeding! I am so proud! It was not always easy. Who knew it would be difficult?? I sure didn't. When I was pregnant I learned that some people have a tough time nursing to the point where they give up. I thought it was a natural, simple thing?? Crazy how much you learn once you're a mom :) I remember nursing Jayne what felt like alllllll day when she was a newborn. Seriously I would feed her for 45 minutes sometimes! Then 45 minutes after that she would be hungry again! It was exhausting. I felt like a cow just sitting there haha. But that lasted just a few months before it got easier. I'm so glad I stuck with it! It got to the point where she would eat for only 5-10 minutes. So quick! Nursing in public wasn't too difficult. It wasn't my favorite thing... Jayne hated being covered up usually. But I would usually plan my day around her feeding schedule so I wouldn't have to nurse her in public. For the last month or so I was only nursing her once a day. From then it was pretty easy to quit. She was hardly nursing long at all. I had already starting giving her whole milk in a sippy cup. At first she wanted nothing to do with it, but now she loves it! She doesn't drink a ton of it, but it's ok. She gets enough and gets calcium from yogurt and cheese as well. I will miss my time with Jayne when I would nurse her.... I loved being the one that could feed her in that way. I loved cuddling with her. She is not a cuddly baby, so this was my time to just hold her and have her stay there and not move. I will miss that! But I guess that's why we have more kids :) That is not any sort of announcement... haha. I love my Jayney girl and am so proud that we made it more than a year nursing! Yay!

Day at the Beach

A couple weeks ago, our friends Annamarie and Ryan told us that they were wanting to get some of our friends together and go to the beach for the day.  We were so excited! My parents and Thomas' parents were both willing to watch Jayne. (Can I just say for a second how blessed Thomas and I are to have such awesome parents? Seriously we are so grateful for all their help. They are the best grandparents for Jayne!) I was super sad and nervous to leave her... This would be the longest I had been away from her. But then again I wasn't nervous at all because I knew she was definitely going to be taken care of. I don't think she even missed me haha. She had lots of fun while we were gone!
We met up with our friends Saturday morning at 3 AM. SO early. There was 8 of us so we all fit in a van. The drive there seemed a lot longer than the drive home... That's how it always is because you're so excited to get there! But it wasn't bad when you're with your friends. We had fun talking and Annamarie and I had fun playing Candy Crush on their iPad :) We got to Mission Beach at around 9:30. We pulled right up to the beach into a parking lot with empty parking spaces. We thought it was too good to be true to find parking so easy and for free too. Usually it is so hard to find parking at the beach and it sometimes costs. But I guess that's what happens when you get to the beach in the morning! Score!
It was a perfect day at the beach! Sunny but nothing compared to the heat in AZ. It was so nice :) The water was sooooo cold! Some of our friends boogie boarded but I was kind of a wimp haha. Thomas and I went on a walk along the beach which was nice. We had fun looking at all the beach houses and thinking about how we are going to have one someday ;)
One of the reasons we went to Mission Beach is because I heard it had a roller coaster there! I looove roller coasters... and I hadn't been on one in so long! So I was super excited about that :) Next to the beach (like literally right next to it) was Belmont Park. It's a little amusement park with rides... Kind of like a fair. You pay for tickets per ride. The roller coaster was nuts hahaha. I could not stop laughing the whole time we were on it. It was a wooden roller coaster and reminded me of Ghost Rider, except more "dangerous" feeling haha. We all felt like we were gunna fly out! But it was still so fun!
One part of going on vacation that Thomas and I both agree is important is eating good FOOD. We ate yummy pizza and salad from this random place we found. Then we saw a sign for Dole Whips... Ahhh!!! I love those things! It tasted just like the ones at Disneyland.
After being at the beach for a while we packed up and went to dinner. Thomas and I had Chipotle and the rest of our friends had 5 Guys. After dinner we went and walked around the San Diego Temple for a little bit :)
Then we went home... Boo! We left at like 6 and got home a little before midnight. It was a quick trip but it was definitely worth it! We talked with our friends about doing a trip together at least once a year. Whether it's going to the beach again, to someone's cabin, etc. I seriously LOVE my friends. Thomas grew up with the guys (they were in the same ward) since he was very very young. They have been really good friends since. I love that they married such great girls! We are such good friends and I love it. And I can't wait until they start having babies so we aren't the only ones haha. I am excited to have play dates with the moms and babies!

Now for pictures! :)

 Thomas and Brian 

 Some atempts at my jumping picture haha. You gotta do jumping pictures at the beach!

 Ryan and Annamarie! 

 Sand castles!! 

Tons of people! 

 Daniel and Jannae 

 Brian and Megan 

 Roller coaster time!! 

Pineapple Dole Whip float! Mmmmm 

 

 Beautiful San Diego Temple 

I'm so glad our friends planned this and we made it happen! It was such a blast. I sure missed Jayne though! I was so glad to see her the next day! I even woke up before her on Sunday... I woke up and looked at the clock and it was 8! She usually doesn't sleep until then. She woke up 15 minutes later. That was a nice welcome home gift :) 

Jayne's Birthday Party

Last night was Jayne's birthday party! It turned out pretty well! We had pizza, vegetables, fruit, chips and salsa (thanks to my mom and Margaret for helping with the food!) and cake of course! I am happy with how her cake turned out. It was fun to make! My sister-in-law, Taryn, helped me. 

We had lots of people come! I guess that's what happens when you and your husband are both the youngest of 6 kids ;) I am so grateful for our wonderful friends who came to. I love having such supportive friends! They seriously are the best. 

Jayne had fun playing in the water and eating her cake! She wasn't in the best mood for some of it... I think she was tired/overwhelmed... But overall she had a great time! 

I'm so grateful for everyone who came and for the presents Jayne got! She got spoiled that's for sure! 

 Payton was here for the party! Yay! Donelle, Nick and Pay got here yesterday afternoon :)

The Baby Einstein cake! I found the idea on pinterest of course. I picked this because Jayne LOVES Baby Einstein. It is seriously the only show that she will sit and stare at the TV/computer the whole time while watching it. I thought if she was old enough to pick a theme for her party, she would pick this ;) I didn't have any decorations though... After spending money on all the food I couldn't really afford to spend the money on decorations too haha. And I'm pretty sure Jayne didn't care ;) 

She ate like half of this cake. I was surprised she slept well last night because of all the sugar haha 

 We had the volleyball net set up to play beach volleyball! 

 This little cupcake birthday outfit is just hilarious. Hahaha

 She loved to splash in the baby pool!