{Snap Shot January 2015}

  

One of my New Year's resolutions is to keep up on this blog. It is my journal, our family journal, and I want to keep a good record. It's so fun to look back on! Claire is a little over four months old and is so much fun! Our whole life revolves around her. Here is a snap shot of our life right now, January 14th, 2015:

• Claire is finally getting pretty good about sleeping through the night (whole other post on that coming up) and usually wakes up between 6:00-7:15 am. We feel like we've totally slept in when she wakes up past 7:00--funny how your perspective changes!
• Sam helps out a lot with Claire when he is home in the morning and evenings. He usually gives her, her morning bottle (I pump and she drinks breast-milk from a bottle--kind of time consuming, but after a lot of trial and error, this is what works for us right now). At night, he gives her a bath before bed. Claire's daddy is her favorite person--she just lights up when she sees him or hears him talking.
• Sam is usually at BYU from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm (on a good day--if he has to take a test or something he gets home later), and we have dinner when he gets home. One of our favorite meals lately has been pasta and meat sauce with steamed green beans. We also eat a lot of crockpot meals. I have started cooking a lot more because it's so much easier to keep with my no-dairy/soy/nuts for Claire (see 2-3 month post) when I know exactly what goes into what I make. Claire is pretty good to sit in her little rock & play and watch us eat dinner. It will be fun when she can start eating a little too!
• Lately when we want a treat, we usually make brownies or homemade kettle corn (super easy and fast)--we've branched out a little from our chocolate chip cookies/ice cream/frozen yogurt, again, due to my lovely no-dairy diet for Claire. It's interesting, it was really hard for me at first, but after a while your body kind of just stops craving what you're not giving it. Makes me think maybe I should cut out sugar...hmmm. I don't think I'm ready for that one!
• We both been pretty bad about working out lately and really want to be better. We are both hoping to do the 10K for the Rex Lee Run in March, so that is helping to motivate us to do better. Hopefully next time I do a snap-shot post, working out will be a part of our regular routine!
• Sam has been really busy preparing for the MCAT, which he will be taking on January 23rd. He did a prep-course through Kaplan and has really found it helpful. Hopefully the stars will all align and his test will go great! I am proud of him for studying so hard on top of his busy schedule at school.
• Sam is a T.A. again this semester for Dr. Savage's organic chemistry class. This job is so time-consuming, but he loves it. He is a great teacher and a big help to all his students!
• 2015 is the year! We are really excited for Sam to finally apply for medical school! He will apply in May and June (May for the Texas schools, June for all other schools) and will then do secondary applications and hopefully interviews all throughout the year. It will be so exciting to finally know what our future holds and where medical school will take our family!
• We got really into The Blacklist series right after Claire was born. It's not really my kind of show, but I strangely like it. We used to watch episodes while I fed her, but now that she is bigger and more alert, we usually just watch it when she's in bed. It's a little intense for a four-month-old. ;) We also love to watch Friends together--a little inappropriate at times, but that show just has a way of putting me in a happy place.
• We try to do our family scripture study in the morning before Sam goes to school, which lately is really brief. If all else fails (which, sadly it usually does) we always read the scripture and quote for the day from President Hinckley's Stand a Little Taller book. It's an old book, but neither of us have read it, so we decided to go through it as a family this year. I love it! We also have family prayer before Sam leaves in the morning, and we are consistent about doing this. I think being a missionary got me in the habit of always praying before leaving home--it just feels wrong not to!
• I feel like I've finally settled back into myself a little after having Claire. I still have a long ways to go to be where I want to be physically, but I finally feel like me again, which is awesome. This took much longer than I expected! Having a baby takes a lot out of you!
• Claire and I usually go to Josh's JV basketball games with my parents on Tuesdays and Fridays at 5:15. It is always a fun outing that I look forward to! We also go up and hang out at my parents' house quite a bit. My siblings, especially Tara and Danny, are so cute with Claire. We're grateful to have them so close right now! 
• Life is so happy and good right now! Claire fills my days and keeps me busy, and school/work/research/studying fills Sam's days. Somehow we squeeze in time together, usually just at home while Claire is asleep. We are blessed!