new horizons

cheesy title...i know.  before i start

another gem of a picture that  i recently came across....

 

 haha. love it.  she still makes that blank stare face. all. the. time.

what a busy week.  a lot has happened.  cody has been looking for the past few months for a new job.  he turned in lots of resumes, and had some interviews, but nothing was happening.  it was hard to see him struggle in trying to find what he wanted to do, and where his career should go.  we've prayed and fasted a lot to have direction, and it seemed like nothing was happening.  the whole time, i had this feeling that something that we didn't expect was going to be the answer.  then last week two companies that he hadn't applied to, reached out to him for interviews.  he wasn't really excited about either one, but going for the interview never hurts.  so he went.  within a day, one of the companies made him an offer.  we still weren't sure about accepting it.  on saturday we headed to the temple, and literally on our way, the other company called to make an offer.  in the temple, we both had the feeling that this was the offer he needed to take.  i know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers, and answers them.  not always in the way we want, or think.  but He does answer them.

we're excited for cody to start this new experience.  it will challenge him and help him to grow.  and overall we know it is what is best for our little family right now.

this week, i decided to tackle taking mae to the gym. she does not like it.  she cries the whole time.  they've had to come get me during my workout because she's crying so hard.  so, i'm still debating what to do.  do i keep going, and hope that she'll get over it?  or, do i just stick with my routine of working out at home?  i'll keep you posted.

caught her in action trying to climb onto her little scooter

 her new favorite thing is to pull up to the end table and read/play with her books.

this week bre, joseph, and lucy are coming into town for thanksgiving!  we're so excited to see them, and to meet our little niece.  we're letting them use our infant car seat, and cody got it down from the attic the other day.  mae loved playing in that thing.  it's so nice when something occupies more than 2 seconds of their time so you can get things done!

"that kid"

i was going to start off by saying we had an accident-free week...but that would be a lie.  i think every family has "that kid" that is always getting hurt...and i'm pretty sure mae is going to be "that kid" in our family.  growing up "that kid" was coleman.  so there ya go coleman, she takes after you!

i feel like overnight my little baby has become a toddler.  i took this picture a week ago, and when i looked at it, she just looked like a kid.  not a baby anymore.  it's crazy!

her little personality is so much fun, and it's actually not that little.  she is so full of life, i love it.  she loves to jabber.  she says a few words, her first was go, quite fitting for this one.  but mostly, she just jabbers to herself. 

she loves to play on the deck, and it's nice because sometimes i can just let her run out there while i get things done around the house. although she figured out how to drop things from it, so we'll see what fun things i'll find on the ground.

she loves her littler scooter.  she's just figuring out how to push herself.  before she would just sit on it.  but now she pushes herself all around.

and sometimes she gives rides...

 of course just scooting would be boring.  so, she figured out how to stand on it.  and as you would expect...took a spill.  "that kid".

she's a fun girl.  it's hard being a mom.  but i have to say, i got pretty lucky with this kiddo.

halloween

i've always liked halloween.  but it is so much more enjoyable with kids!  this was mae's first "real" halloween.  last year she was only a month old.  so this year we actually did some trick-or-treating.  well, sort of.  we went to gram and gramp's house, and then to grandma and grandpa's.  i figured she can't even say trick-or-treat, so i didn't see the point in going out.  but she did have fun in her costume and seeing her grandparents.  and she loved watching all the kids that came by trick-or-treating.

this is the little munchkin last year on halloween...it went by so fast!

 this year we decided to dress her as a clown.  my mom made these clown costumes for erich and i like 20 some years ago.  back when we were the dynamic duo.  all four of us at some point have dressed as clowns in these costumes.  and my mom still had them, so mae suited up.  coleman asked me what she was going to be, and i told him she was going to wear the clown costumes mom made, and he was like "those things still exist?"  that's how old these bad boys are.  but, they are still adorable.  and a clown seemed quite fitting for our little goober.

 hamin' it up for the camera

 she be-lined for the candy bowl at both houses.  and she figured out real quick that she got to take it and put it in her little pumpkin.

it's so fun to watch her experience new things, and to create our own traditions as a little family.