It's November!

So, I've decided that I need to be better at updating my blog, I want to be able to remember little things that are happening now down the road.

In my last post, I wrote about going to nursing school. Chris and I talked about it, we decided that this dream will have to actually be put on hold for a few years. It will probably be a 3-4 year endeavor to get through school (with all the prereqs and then 2 years of full time nursing school). We probably won't want to wait 4 years for our next baby. So, I have decided that I'm going to wait until our kids are in school to pursue that dream. It WILL happen, just not as soon as I had hoped.

All of my life I planned on just being a stay-at-home mom, I love my baby girl more than anything, but recently I discovered that I need to work to not go stir-crazy. Yesterday was my first day back to work. I'm going to be an accounting assistant at Rescue Alert. I'm really excited about it, it's part-time, so I only have to be away 4 days a week for a couple hours. I think it's really going to help me stay sane, plus it's really fun and nice to talk to adults again. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE VIVIEN more than anything, working will make me appreciate and cherish my time with her even more.

Yesterday was the election, sadly Romney didn't win, I was really hoping that he would. BUT it's okay, everything happens for a reason, and there's no use complaining about things we can't change. Everything will be alright.

‎"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won’t fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges. I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through". -Harold B. Lee.

Chris is working hard at school and work, as usual. I'm so proud to be his wife, he is such a good person and hard worker. He is a great father and husband, I'm so lucky to have him.

So pretty and happy

Date night at Salt City Burgers, yum!

Thanks for reading, have a great day! XO

Fall update!

Hey, long time no blog! I hate that I have been such a bad blogger lately but 1. I don't have a ton of time to blog 2. There usually isn't anything too fun to blog about!

Things are going well for us! Chris is almost HALF WAY through law school! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!? I seriously can't! With our stupid economy, Chris is kind of scared that he won't be able to find a job once he graduates but he is such an honest, hard working man, he will find a job. Plus, he works for the Attorney General right now, he always has that to fall back on! I have complete faith in Chris, everything happens for a reason, and I know things will work out just fine in the end. We may not probably won't ever be "rich" and we'll be paying off student loans for the next 589 years, but who cares?! I wouldn't trade my Chris for all the money in the world.

Love love love them!

We had the fun opportunity to spend Fall Break with some of Chris's law school friends, their wives, and babies! We all went down to St. George and stayed at Beau's family's house. We had so much fun just relaxing, swimming, roasting marshmallows, and watching Conference. We also got to spend some time with Andy and Cammi's family, which was so fun, I wish they lived closer to us! One of Chris's friends from high school (he went to high school in St. George) took our family pictures while we were down there. They turned out AMAZING, I knew they would, Hayley does SUCH a good job.

Marianne, Eddie, Chris, Me (Viv was sleeping), Drew, Noelle, Heather, Kevin, Henry, Sharee, Beau, Beau Jr.

Vivien and her cousin Hugh

One of our pics taken in good ol' Pinto, Utah...population 8

A few of my friends who have babies get together each month for a baby date! I look forward to it each month. This month we went to Gardener Village with our babes dressed up in their Halloween costumes. HOLY COW that place is BUSY, I think it must just be this time of year, because every other time I've been it has been completely empty. It was so fun to catch up with these amazing ladies! Can't wait for next month's get-together! We love adding new moms/babies to the group, so get on that baby making, ladies!

Allyssa & Finn, Ashely & Stella, Jessica & Ava, Whitney & Quinn, Me & Vivien, Nikki & Rylee

Last night, I was having a hard time sleeping (who KNOWS why because Viv still isn't a good sleeper) and I was thinking about how my life has changed since I've had Vivien. One thing I realized is....

I have completely overcome my lifelong fear of the dark! 

I'm so proud of myself haha!! When I get up to feed Vivien during the night, I do everything I can to keep her asleep, so the room has to be completely dark, so my phobia was basically forced away from me! I feel like a jedi or something!

So, while I was pregnant I basically fell in love with the medical field. I think nurses and doctors are the coolest people EVER! I loved my stay at the hospital mostly because of the kind and loving nurses. This was on my mind for a few months when I decided that I want other's have the same great experiences as me. I have decided that I want to be a nurse! I was kind of nervous to bring it up with Chris because for my whole life I have always JUST wanted to be a momma, I have never wanted to work. But I told Chris my thoughts and he has been very supportive of my decision. Now, don't get me wrong-I love being a mom, I just feel like I want to do a little more. I started feeling a little guilty about wanting to work (so many people would give anything to just be a stay-at-home mom) but yesterday at church we had a great lesson about working and bettering ourselves, this lesson was an answer to my prayers and doubts, I feel so good about it! 

I'm really hoping I can get into SLCC's nursing program, I feel really good and confident about it. I only need to take a few classes, get my CNA, and take the HESI A2 exam before I apply. I will start in January, I am only going to do 1 or 2 (prereq) classes at a time so I can get good grades and still spend a lot of time with Vivien. Chris will graduate before I start nursing school. I'm SO excited!

Well that's about it for now. Until next time (which, let's be honest, will probably be a few months!)

Harry Potter Quiet Book

Hey blog world, it's been a long time...again! I have been busy busy busy being a momma and loving every minute with my AMAZING daughter. She isn't much of a sleeper (she only takes 40 minute [on the dot] naps), but I recently decided that I wanted to bring out my artistic side while she takes her cat-naps. 

My friend Heather is amazing at sewing. I was browsing through her blog and I came across her homemade Harry Potter Quiet Book, check it out HERE! I had been wanting to make Vivien a quiet book, so I decided that since I am the number one Harry fan, I absolutely needed to make my own version of this. I browsed the internet for ideas, but it looks like Heather is the only person who has made one, so mine is the 2nd HP quiet book, SO COOL!

After hours and hours of work, I am finally finished! It is made mostly from felt and sewed on with a sewing machine. I'm so excited to train Vivien to be a Harry P fan reeeeal young haha! HERE IT IS!

Find Harry's lightning scar

 

{Lift hair...scar!}

 Sort the students into houses

 

{Match the colors or the letters on their shirts}

Help Ron catch Scabbers

 

{Velcro Scabbers to Ron's hand}

What is Hermione thinking about?

{Thoughts -Ron, Crookshanks, books-}

 

{Attach thoughts with velcro}

 

Add ingredients to the potion

 

{Ingredients -worm, ladybug, banana, diamond-}

 

{Put them inside}

Count Hagrid's dragon eggs

 

{Lift the eggs, 1 2 3}

Catch the golden snitch

{Attach snitch with a button}

Feel Dumbledore's beard

{The beard is soft fur}

And that's it! Not gonna lie, I'm totally proud of myself! An extra perk from it all...I only recently started sewing and I think this has really helped me to improve! If you want me to make you one...it will only cost you like...hmm...$5000!

I'm excited to start a new project during Viv's naps soon, but first I think I'll do something easy...like read a book! PLUS, I have started thoroughly studying the Book of Mormon. I saw this lady's blog on Pinterest, she breaks down each chapter to really help you understand what's going on. Click HERE to check out her amazing blog! Ohh how I love being a stay-at-home mom! Thanks Chris for working SO hard and knowing how important it is for me to spend so much time with our sweet Viv!

It's been too long

Holy cow, I have been a slacker when it comes to this blog! I have a hard time spending too much time blogging though when I want to be spending time with our sweet baby Viv! Well, unlike most of my posts, I can say that A LOT has been going on, life has completely changed. Taking care of a baby is super hard and very tiring, but it's SO worth it for our little princess. [If you'd like to read about Viv's first 2 months, go to higleybaby.blogspot.com]

Being a mother is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Being a mom was (and still is) my life-long dream, I always thought that I would be this super mom who was able to do everything effortlessly. I love every minute of it, but there is so much more to motherhood than just dressing your baby up in cute dresses and snuggling. 

Vivien wakes up 2 times during the night to eat, so that's about 2 hours of sleep I lose each night, plus she wakes up at 6 or 7 each morning, I run on very little sleep these days. It's really hard to exercise because it wears me out the next day (I feel fine while working out), and between the sleepless nights and playing mom all day, it's pretty tough to function at my best when my body is beat.

Despite my extreme tiredness, I'm loving motherhood. We love to get out of the house, I think we've been to Target about 23433 times since Viv was born. Going on walks is really fun, I can't wait until it's a bit cooler outside so we can go on daytime walks. We have had a few play dates with other moms and babies, I love doing this and talking about/seeing my friends cute babies! 

[She looks so chubby, which is funny because she is SO skinny haha]

Chris is doing really well. He loves being a dad. He works for the Attorney General and has an internship with a judge in SLC. I think he really enjoys using some of the things he has learned in school in real life. He starts his 2L year this month! I can't believe it, doesn't it seem like just yesterday we were waiting to hear back from schools?! Chris has been SO supportive of me, constantly compliments me, and is sweeter than ever, I sure love that Chris. 

We love being parents to the sweetest little angel in the world. She is growing up TOO fast. We love her with all our hearts.

Higley update

Hey there blog followers! Nothing too new or exciting here. Just enjoying life! This post (once again) won't have any pictures, I'm sorry, things just aren't super flattering in the Cami world these days...if you want, go to my baby blog to see belly pics!


Chris is in the midst of his Spring Semester finals. He works so hard and I'm so proud of him. There is NO way I could study for 9 hours every day, he is such a champion. He got a summer internship thing with a judge, which is awesome. He also got a job as (basically) a research assistant for the next school year, which is also awesome. I can't believe that he is already almost finished with his first year of law school, I'm sure it went by quicker for me than for him though haha! Chris is a great example to me of hard work and dedication, I couldn't be more proud of my husband.


We are exactly 1 month away from Vivien's due date! I'm so happy, excited, anxious, and nervous! Are we ready? Do we know how to be parents? Ready or not, here she comes, right?! We basically have everything we need, we'll just need to buy a few things here and there. Our hospital bag is packed, we are pre-registered at the hospital, and now we just have to wait. Anytime after May 4th will be a great time for her to come (the 4th is Chris' last final.) I can't wait to see her face, her hands, and those little feet that kick momma's ribs all day long. Here is our prediction: bald baby! We'll see soon enough if we're right or not.


Elder Ry boy comes home from his mission on May 17th, less than a month! Oh my gosh, that went by FAST. Chris and I weren't even engaged when he left, look how much has changed over the past 2 years! We are excited to get him home. Elder Ty has been out for like 7 and a half months already, which is also going by pretty fast. At first, I would always forget that he was gone but I'm finally getting used to it by now...I would always be like, "Where's Ty?"....oh yeah, in Florida, I haven't done that in a while. 


[Here comes my negative ramble for this post]
Okay, I need to put some things out there, just to get them off my chest...don't be mad.
I hate Instagram and Adele, there, I said it! 
Instagram: Why people? WHY? Why do you post faded pictures of useless junk [rhetorical question BTW]? I just don't care about your coffee cup, the close up of your dog's nose, that lovely graffiti, or your "myspace" self portraits. Yes yes, we are all very artistic with our iPhone photography, but seriously, just why? Whatever.
Adele: Holy cow I'm so sick of her songs I could just scream...and I don't even listen to the radio! She has a very pretty voice, but everyone has completely ruined all of her songs by constantly playing them, boo.


Well, that's just about it for now, I just felt like I needed to do a quick update since I'm such a bad blogger these days. Sorry again for the lack of pictures, maybe after we go on our post-baby diet, I'll get better at posting haha! XO.

Some thoughts

I have been neglecting this blog so badly since I have been doing weekly baby blogs, I'm sorry!

Chris and I are doing GREAT! Chris can't wait to be a dad. He is such a good husband, I can't believe I scored someone so amazing and perfect for me. Here is an example of his sweetness:

We were getting ready for bed on Friday night and we noticed that a bottle of soap had tipped in our shower and spilled a bit, no big deal. On Saturday (aka his only day to sleep in and take a break from school), he got up at 5am to wash the tub out so that I wouldn't slip while I was showering. I told him not to worry about it but he insisted. He is so kind.

Now imagine that kind of love every single day, that's Chris. It's SO nice being married to someone who is so sweet and in touch with my emotions and needs. I can't explain how lucky I am. Marriage is my favorite thing and it literally gets better every single day. 

We saw The Hunger Games on Friday. Holy cow, we LOVED it! We had such high hopes and expectations for it, and we weren't let down at all. I totally cried like a baby at the beginning when Katniss volunteered...baby hormones...or something!

Chris is still enjoying school. He has so many nice friends. They play a lot of ping pong and occasionally study and go to class. Haha jk Chris is very dedicated to his work, he is getting so smart! He only has like 3.5 more weeks of class, then it's finals time! 1 year (almost) down, 2 to go!

Lately, I just love seeing dogs with their head's hanging out of the car window. Like seriously it makes me giddy for some weird reason. Even when I'm driving alone, I'll let out a little high pitched EEK when I see it.

Something I don't love...is when I'm driving to work (very early in the morning when it's still very dark) and there are people running in the road. Good for you for running, especially before the sun rises, but PLEASE GET ON THE SIDEWALK! It is SO scary and I almost have a heart attack every time. So many people do it and I think it is so unsafe. Come on folks!

Sorry, no pictures of us on this post, I'm not so photogenic these days haha!

Valentine's week

Like everyone, I love Pinterest. There are always so many awesome DIY projects that I always want to do, I just never get around to doing any of it! Since we like to be cheap, for Valentine's Day, I decided to end this DIY-Pinterest-projectless existence!

Here is my first project that I made for Chris:

I made this awesome scratch off card!

Here's a sample of what one of the scratch-offs looked like!

Chris loved it! I thought it was more fun than just a normal old greeting card.

Then...I made these:

 

Big old rice krispy kisses!

Super easy and fun.

I also bought Chris a tie.

I think if I were a guy, I'd have a whole ton of ties, I love them.

Chris is going to need a lot of them for his future career, so I buy them for all sorts of occasions.

I took the weekend off work and we celebrated Valentine's Day last night/today.

We went to The Salt Lake Burger Company, which is DELISH.

Then we went and saw The Woman In Black. HOLY SCARY! We were able to make so many great Harry Potter jokes throughout though. "Harry, get your wand out!"

Today, we spent all morning together and went to the temple.

Valentine's Day is fine, but it seems kind of silly that there is a day specifically to show your love to your husband/boyfriend/etc. Something I absolutely love about Chris is that he shows his love for me 365 days a year without fail. He is so sweet and I couldn't have dreamed of someone more perfect for me.

5 reasons why Chris is perfect for me:

-He lets me put my cheek against his cheek while we lay in bed every single night. He doesn't like it that much, but knows I love it, so he does it.

-He only fills up one big cup for the 2 of us to drink from.

-He never makes fun of my weird Harry Potter obsession. He just kindly asks what part of the book I'm on today.

-He always laughs at my stupid jokes and listens to my pointless stories.

-We have spent so much time together that we totally have the same lingo and even the same laugh. We are SO much alike, it's insane. 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a nice V-day!

Anniversary

{Warning: cheesy post, don't read if you gag when hearing about other people's lovey dovey lives!}

Yesterday was our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Wow, I can't believe how FAST this year FLEW by! Oh my heck, it was the greatest year of my life. I have the greatest husband, we have such a perfect relationship, my life is so good! Chris is everything I ever could have dreamed of in a man. He literally is the perfect person for me, he is my other half, we have such a good balance together. I love him more than words can describe. 

To celebrate our first year, we went to Massage Envy for a couples massage.

Aww it was heavenly. I NEED the pre-natal massage pillow wedge things, it felt like I was laying on a cloud for an hour.

Here's us all relaxed after our massages

We ate a piece of our wedding cake!

It was actually surprisingly good still, had a little freezer-burn, but whatever, what can you expect after a full year in the freezer?! It was almond poppy seed (minus the poppy seeds [I didn't want poppy seeds getting in my teeth at our wedding reception haha]) and it still smelled like perfection. The lady who did our cake, Cindy at Heritage Gardens, is a really good cake maker! YUM!

Chris and I agreed that we didn't want to exchange gifts or anything since we would be getting massages together and we like to save money for our baby and other necessary things. I wasn't going to do anything, but decided to do just a little something for Chris since he does so many sweet things for me. I got 12 white balloons (1 for each month we have been married), and wrote 1 thing I love about him on each balloon. I thought this would be more meaningful to him than just a card or note. 

 

It turned out pretty cute and Chris absolutely loved it

Anyway, it really has been the most perfect year of my life. I cherish every minute I get to spend with my sweet husband, he treats me like a princess. Speaking of which, the other day I heard a married woman say these exact words, "Disney gave me unrealistic expectations about men" and I kind of chuckled but then started thinking...Chris is better than ANY prince charming on any Disney movie, Disney just gave me a glimpse of what my life WOULD become. I'm so blessed.