YW in Excellence

I'm the 2nd Counselor in the YW Presidency in my ward, and this year I was in charge of YW in Excellence. YWIE is a night when the young women get to display and share things they have worked on for their Personal Progress. I was a little nervous about being in charge of this, for two reasons. One, I have been a lot more tired lately, and Matt has been gone a lot more. I wasn't sure if I was going to have the energy to pull it off. And two, I hadn't been to a YWIE since I was in YW, and that was over 10 years ago! Luckily I have a wonderfully smart and talented sister who also serves in the YW Presidency in her ward, and she always gives me great ideas! She told me about a couple of sites to get a ideas, and I found one that went along with what I was already thinking of as a theme.

I decided on a theme called, "Color Me Beautiful". It basically was how each girl is different, but all beautiful, and reaching for the same goals. I got some ideas for decorations, but made a couple of changes that were "me". I worked hard on getting things ready. I really wanted the girls to know how much I love them, and just how important Personal Progress is. When I was in YW, I worked really hard on completing my PP, in order to get my YW Recognition, and I want the young women in my ward to know the feeling of that kind of accomplishment. Mattie was a very good and patient girl while I worked on all of my stuff to get ready. In fact, here's a picture of her after being left alone to watch some TV and eat a couple of Oreos! I just had to laugh when I saw her dirty little face!

That night things went so well. All of the young women did great sharing their experiences. The Spirit was strong, and I had a wonderful time sharing my thoughts and experiences with them. I really hope that they were able to feel the love that I have for them! And, a big thank you to my awesome husband who made the program on the computer for me while away at work! (I stink at those kinds of things.) Also, a big thanks to my sister and mom for all of their help. I couldn't have pulled it off without you guys!

Hair Change

So, for the last 2 years or so, I have been trying to grow my hair out. I usually keep my hair pixie short, since it takes forever for my hair to grow. I always get to a certain point and then chop it all back off. I have never had long hair, EVER. Even when I'm pregnant, my hair does not grow fast. All of these women talk about how long and luxurious their hair gets when they are pregnant, and I just don't have that luck! The process is slow, but I have stuck with it this time.

I decided a while ago that I wanted to change something up, so that I didn't get bored with the whole "growing my hair out" thing. When I was in my early 20s I liked to color my hair all different colors. I have mellowed out a lot as I've gotten older. I don't even highlight my hair anymore, and I usually only get it colored once a year around the winter time. The rest of the year I'm in the FL sun all of the time, and my hair just naturally lightens. Purple has been my favorite color since I can remember, and its like the one color I never put in my hair! I decided that when fall/winter time came around this year, I would dye my hair dark like I normally do, but this time I would also have a couple of purple streaks put in as well. So, last week that is exactly what I did! I had my hair cut, colored dark brown and had a couple of purple streaks put in. The streaks are kind of hidden, so its not super radical. I just knew that I wanted to try this though! I love how it turned out. The purple will fade quickly since it is a semi-permanent color, but I love it just the same!

Mother/Daughter Campout 2008

About a month ago, our Stake had a Mother/Daughter Campout. Mattie was very excited to go, and since our Stake now has air-conditioned cabins, I decided that I could handle a night of "camping" with Mattie! I had already been camping this summer at the new camp site, and it was pretty sweet. I was once again the Camp Director for the YW in my ward this year. I survived that, so I knew that I could make it one night with Mattie, even if I was 7 months pregnant at the time!

This was our first actual Mother/Daughter Campout. Last year we got rained out and had a craft night instead. Like I said, Mattie was very excited to be going camping, and to be able to spend the night with all of her little friends. We got there on Friday evening, and picked out a cabin that would be big enough to hold all of our friends. We set up and had fun helping our friends get set up too. We got our fire going for dinner. I brought stuff to make tinfoil dinners, and had everything pre-made and ready to go. Of course all of the other mothers brought something fast like, hot dogs! So, poor Mattie had to wait forever to eat her food, but it was so good (Mo probably would have preferred the dog).

I had a wonderful pregnant woman moment at the camp out, when I realized that I had charged the battery for our camera, but had forgotten to put the battery back into the camera! Luckily my wonderful friend Kendra offered to take some pictures of Mattie and me, so that we would have something to remember our fun night. (Thanks so much Kendra!)

We did s'mores that night and then went into the cabin so that Mattie could play with all of the other little girls. She had a great time climbing from one top bunk to another. The moms had a fun time talking and visiting. After awhile we decided that it was time for bed, so Mattie crawled into bed with me. It took me a little while to get her to calm down and go to sleep. After she fell asleep, I hoisted her onto the top buck. I didn't get much sleep that night, and I don't really know why. I wasn't uncomfortable, but I just couldn't fall asleep! I think that I was a little nervous with Mattie being on the top bunk. She had never slept on a bunk bed before, and I think that maybe subconsciously I was scared of her falling or something! Anyway, I finally fell asleep and got about 4 hours!











In the morning, we had a pancake breakfast provided by the Stake, and then crafts. Mattie went to do crafts with my friend Shelly, while I packed up our stuff. I was very tired and ready to go home and get some rest! I did catch the tail end of Mattie making her crafts. Mattie was so excited about the little jeweled box she made for me! I of course loved the box. We went back to the cabin and finished cleaning up our stuff, and then headed home.

I had a great time with Mattie, and I'm very grateful that she is my daughter. I love that she has joy in the small things. She has so much energy and uses her body to the max each day! I thank Heavenly Father that He sent her to us, because I couldn't imagine my life without her!

Crazy 8's Tag

My friend Faith tagged me for this one, and since I'm finally caught up on my blogging, I decided I would do it!

8 Things I am obsessed about right now:

1. My pregnancy and the arrival of Reddin
2. Checking the weather, to see how much longer I can enjoy the cool
3. Getting things ready for YW in Excellence
4. Trying to get it all in before the baby arrives
5. Helping Mattie get excited to be a big sister
6. Facebook
7. Thinking about the upcoming holidays
8. Wondering if I am going to go into labor when Matt is gone

8 Words or Phrases I use:

1. I love you
2. Baby (when I'm talking to Matt!)
3. Please stop doing that
4. Mattie listen to me
5. 1...2...3...
6. Enough Mattie
7. Sugarplum (when I am talking to Mattie!)
8. Calm down please

8 TV shows you love to watch:

1. America's Next Top Model
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Private Practice
5. Dr. 90210
6. My Name is Earl
7. Iron Chef America
8. A Baby Story

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Went to the dentist to get my retainer adjusted
2. Got Mattie a Happy Meal
3. Took Mattie to playgroup at the park
4. Went to the store to get a couple of things
5. Researched ideas for YW in Excellence
6. Went to a YW Presidency meeting
7. Went to Mutual
8. Sang Mattie to sleep

8 Favorite Places to Eat:

1. Jason's Deli
2. Macaroni Grill
3. Panera Bread
4. Mimi's Cafe
5. Olive Garden
6. Chick-fil-a
7. Thai Thai 2
8. The Yellow Dog Cafe

I tag really whoever has the time and wants to do this one!

Happy Halloween 2008

First of all, I have to say that I have finally caught up on my blogging! So, if you want to read them all, then you'll have to scroll down about four posts to start.
Ok, so Friday was the much anticipated Halloween! Mattie was very excited about getting dressed up and getting lots of candy. Matt got home on Thursday night, and we were very happy to have him home this year to celebrate with us! We spent Friday morning running some errands, and then came home for Mattie to take a nap. Matt took one too! I spent my afternoon blogging! Before getting ready for our ward's Trunk or Treat, we had some healthy snacks, since the night would be full of sugar. Finally it was time to get MoMo dressed up in her costume. This year she was a belly dancer! (Our good friends, the Ahmeds, brought her back an authentic belly dancer costume from their family vacation to Egypt this past summer!) My friend Faith gave me a maternity shirt that said "Belly Dancer", so I had fun getting a little dressed up too. (Thanks Faith!)

We headed off to Trunk or Treat. Mattie had a great time walking around and saying "trick or treat"! She was able to see some friends.

The funniest thing of the night was when our Bishop, asked Mattie if she could show him some of her belly dancing moves. We were wondering what she was going to do, and sure enough, she started "shaking it"! Our Bishop about fell over laughing! I don't think that he was expecting her to do anything. So the for the rest of the night we had MoMo showing off her belly dancer moves.

It was a very Happy Halloween for our family! We hope you all had as much fun as we did.