Z-O-O zoooooooooooo

This has been STRESSFUL (and the school year is only 2 months over!) So it was an awesome break the weekend before last when I got to go spend the afternoon with my friend, Krystin.  We had so much fun looking at the animals, especially the polar bears which are my favorite.  Autumn loved seeing the animals.  She would start squealing with excitement every time she would find a new animal to look at.  I used to not care too much for zoos, but after being married to Dillon and having an animal-loving daughter, I think I'm converted.  Here are some pics from the day.  I can't wait for my next relaxing "day off."

She loved chasing the chickens.  They definitely were a lot more afraid of her than she was of them.

We finally took family pictures! Dillon bought me a tripod and a wireless remote last Christmas so that we could take family pictures, and we finally got it together enough to try it out today.  I didn't have super high expectations since this was my first attempt, our remote isn't the best, and Autumn missed her nap and was crankily refusing to give us a smile, but.... I love them.  It's so nice to have pictures of all of us together.  Now I just need to learn how to edit....anyone want to teach me??

My Belly Thanks You

I love being married to a food man.  It's one of the things that I love most about Dillon.  He's always excited and eager to learn to make new things in the kitchen, especially things that most people wouldn't think about making at home.  Like doughnuts, and cheese, and SUSHI.  A few months ago we attempted to make sushi rolls at home.  It was pretty much a disaster. The rice stuck more to our hands than to the Nori and we ended up with a pile of rice mush.  Last week we started having an intense hankering for sushi.  We went to an all-you-can-eat sushi place in town and it was delicious.  After we got a taste for it, we couldn't stop craving it.  And as fellow sushi lovers know, sushi can get pricey.  So we decided to try to make homemade sushi again.  We were determined to do things right this time so Dillon did tons of research about how to make the rice work.  He even took a trip to a local oriental market to get only the best ingredients: the kind where the labels are completely in Chinese. We even got all fancy and topped them with homemade spicy mayo and eel sauce (it kind of freaks me out that you can make a sauce out of eel). They were a-maz-ing! Next time we want to try doing them tempura style. My man sure knows how to keep me happy.

More please!

The Big 1

Autumn had her first birthday last week.  I can't believe that she's already one.  Time flew by so quickly, but at the same time I can hardly remember a time that we didn't have her in our family.

Here are some pictures of our birthday celebrations.

Dillon's mom sewed Autumn this beautiful birthday dress...

She got to open presents...

And we ate cake...

And I went a little crazy and took one hundred pictures that all looked exactly the same...

And we went to CALIFORNIA!!!! and had a blast.

We went to the beach and watched the fireworks...

We went to Disneyland and California Adventure where I did a terrible job taking pictures because I was too busy having a ton of fun...

 Autumn got a little loopy from eating too many veggie straws.

We had never seen World of Color before so this was an awesome treat.  It was incredible.

 We had so much fun on our trip and it was even better because we got to go with our friends, Krystin and Felipe.  We were absolutely exhausted by the time we got back.  I can't wait until we get to go again.  What a great trip and a great birthday!

The best way to spend a weekend

Spoiled

I have been spoiled by this adorably squishy little face.

When I first thought about getting pregnant, the thought of quitting my job seemed unbearable. My job was everything to me (except for my husband of course) and I couldn't imagine how mundane life would be if I ended up leaving teaching to become one of those "stay-at-home moms" I so openly pitied. Even after I had Autumn, I had moments where I wished that I was still in Orem so I could continue teaching part time. I really missed it a lot.

So a couple of months ago when the opportunity to teach online math and reading classes came up I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me. We've been looking for ways to save money for the future and I felt certain that a little bit of work was exactly what I needed to keep me from being completely sucked into the world of dirty diapers and nonsensical baby babble.

Well I finally started teaching my first section this week and I am quickly realizing how spoiled I have been being able to be one of those "stay-at-home moms." I am only working 4 hrs in the evening for 3 days a week and I am struggling with being away from Autumn and Dillon even that much, even though "away" simply means in the other room. Pathetic? Probably. I'm sure I will get used to it with more time, but it is definitely helping me realize how much of a blessing it is that I am able to be home with my baby and that I have a husband who supports me in my desire to do so. He knew it would be the right decision for me even before I did.

It also makes me so grateful for my own mom who worked while we were growing up, but still managed to always be there for us. It must have been hard for her, much harder than my measly 12 hours a week I'm sure. Three cheers for mommies.