Fae's Party

Well, maybe I went a little overboard, maybe we got too much food, and maybe the two cakes me made were too much.. maybe... but definitely not! Fae had such a wonderful birthday party, spent with friends and family! We were so thankful that we got to see some extended family, eat yummy pizza and in Fae's case, play with friends! 

I had been planning her party for a few weeks, I arranged a bounce house (courtesy one of my mom's friends) a ball pit (courtesy my aunt), and balloons, and the kids loved it! 

We were also able to use the church's gym... so there was tons of room for the kids to run around.

The tables has balloons and little bags of caramel popcorn with "tags" that said "We can't believe Fae is Turning two, We're thankful we got to celebrate and play with you!"

I made each of the kids a drawstring backpack (yes, I sewed them myself) with their initial on it! - they were really easy, so don't give me too much credit!

Oh! and we also had a pinata, which of course even though I "rigged" it, didn't break haha! still 

fun!

I didn't get any pictures really because we decided to video tape it instead (which sucks because I don't have one of her eating her cake or blowing out the candles :( oh well, there's always next year, right?), but here is one with 5 of the kids!! They were loving the ball pit and the big balloons! 

I will try to upload some video footage at some point, but I think it's going to be too long. 

Fae being really excited about her Dora water bottle! 

Singing happy birthday! (it was the shortest video I could find)

These were the water bottles I made for her party (stole the idea from my sister in law, megan, but they were so cute!)

I had a great time planning and carrying out her "way too big for a 2 yr old" party. I love to see my little Bird laughing and running around crazy, so all our efforts were totally worth it! A big thank you for all the beautiful presents and for coming and hanging out with us to celebrate Fae's special day! We love you all! 

What is beautiful?

I have been seeing this picture popping up all over Facebook lately, and I have to say it has really bothered/stuck out to me. I'm torn by what this picture is really saying, I know the general message is something along the lines of "you don't have to be a skinny super model to be beautiful" and with that, I totally agree. The other thing this picture is telling me is that it's okay to be over weight, and that your weight has nothing to do with beauty.. which I also agree with, to some point.
I have never noticed how huge of a role society plays in our everyday lives, on one hand we have actresses coming out and saying "I'm fat, I know it, embrace it, love it, because it's okay to be unhealthy, it's still beautiful." along with other things like "we don't have to be skinny like "everyone" wants us to be. On the other hand we are willingly forced to see beautiful men and women on TV, in magazines, online and in newspapers who are stick thin, claiming they do not have a disorder, that the bones sticking out of their chests are a sign of being healthy. So what is it? What is beauty? Should we all put on 50 lbs and call it good? or should we exercise and deprive ourselves of food? It seems as though these are the only answers we have.

Now, I beg to differ on this. I spent a majority of my life worrying about my weight, as you can tell from some of my previous blog posts, I even went through a 2 yr. eating disorder in which I literally ate nothing new- ever. My diet was horrible, but I lost about 30 lbs and kept it off. Awesome? no. When I became pregnant I wasn't one of those people who stuffed their faces and blamed the baby, (not to be rude, but some of those people are out there) I tried to eat a little better, and get over my - what I will call "fear of  new foods". The pregnancy helped a lot, and I gained a normal "healthy" amount of weight, and delivered a beautiful healthy baby girl. I'm using the word healthy a lot here because I think that is what beauty is. To me, beauty is a combination of happiness, healthiness, and confidence. There is nothing worse than either a skinny person OR an overweight person complaining about their weight. In fact, I find it pathetic.

Right now, according to the "doctors charts" I am right at a "healthy weight" and I have to say that, no I'm not as thin as my wedding day, but I am much happier and a LOT less self conscious. There are days of course that I wish I could look good in some skinny jeans, but come on, do those really look good on anyone?? (Maybe I'll address the world's fashion problems next). Beauty should not be defined by a persons weight, although (AND ALL MEDICAL ISSUES ASIDE- obviously) weight can be an outward expression of an inward problem. What my main concern is, is that we (especially here in America- according to my homework this week) are so willing to let society and the mass media tell us what is beautiful and what is acceptable. Letting our weight define us as individuals, letting it dictate our level of happiness and confidence is absolute ludicrous.

What I suggest isn't that all the overweight people loose weight, and all the underweight people gain it, I'm suggesting that we all find our "happy place" the place where we all feel most comfortable, the place where it really doesn't matter what number your jean size is because you are confident in yourself anyway. Beauty is NOT self consciousness, and it is NOT unhappiness. It also isn't the classic "trying to make your self feel better by putting others down"-syndrome that many girls these days have. We all just need to worry about ourselves, find what makes us happy, and the people who will fully support us in this venture. So often are we surrounded by people who don't want us to be our best selves, and this is something we need to get rid of.

For the younger girls out there, it's hard sometimes, in high school to realize how meaningless, and silly all this is- but let me assure you- it will pale in comparison to your "grown up years". Are we going to sit back and willingly let society, or friends, the media, etc, tell us what is acceptable and beautiful? OR are we going to decide for ourselves what makes us happy?

Happiness, Confidence, and Healthiness= Beauty.

How I feel about...

Fae! I love Fae. Actually, that is an understatement, but I am having a hard time finding a better word, cherish, adore, am enamored with... you get the idea. Fae is one sweet, funny, silly little girl. She is so smart and so beautiful. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl in my life. She has just so many awesome qualities, one of which is a fantastic sense of humor. Lately she has been making funny faces and saying "mommy, that's funny!" haha she is just the bees knees. I love my girl. I am so excited/sad/happy about her turning 2.. I really can't believe it has been almost 2 years since she came into this world. So much has changed, in our lives and she has been quite the little trooper.

All I can say is that I adore and cherish the little life Jarom and I brought into this world. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect baby girl. She is the light of my life, the apple of my eye.. and all the other corny phrases.

Farm Festival

Well, I didn't get very many pictures of this girls today, but just know that they had a blast. We only made it to Bowman Orchards, but it was more than enough. They have everything from apple picking, to apple cider doughnuts to pony rides. Fae and Marlo both got tickets to ride the pony, but of course once we went to put Fae on she freaked out and only wanted to give the pony a hug, I do have to admit it was the biggest pony I've ever seen... I have my suspicions that it was a full grown horse haha. So, Marlo got to go twice! We decided not to pick apples since it was crazy crowded, and just let the kids play in the playground, and feed the goats and sheep. We also got some delicious apple cider doughnuts, apple fritters and kettlecorn. Oh, and I bought both the girls a little pumpkin and a chocolate lollipop. (They are spoiled).

After that we headed to Lakeside Farms to get lunch (they have the. best. hard rolls)
Lakeside has a great breakfast as well, I make Jarom take us there every one in a while.

Here are the girls literally drooling over the fresh pastries... I didn't get them anything (because at this point they had both had a doughnut and candy necklace.. enough is enough right?!), but I bought Jarom an awesome looking apple fritter!

And here they are with their balloons, picking out a pumpkin! Fae kept yelling "Mawoo, wook! Punkins!" haha it was so cute.

a funny little story...

*This may be T.M.I for some people, so beware*

I meant to post about this after it happened back in July, but I never got around to it... I haven't forgotten about it though, so enjoy at my expense!

One sunny day, Jarom and I decided that we would go to Raleigh for the day. We were living in Durham NC at the time, and thought it would be fun to explore some of the free museums.

As we were getting ready to go, I started packing up some last minute snacks, juice boxes and gathering some change for the meters. I came across my birth control pills, which I had misplaces a few days before (this story does not result in me finding out I am pregnant, I'm not.) I hadn't felt any cramps or anything so I decided I would just pick up where I left off. I took the Thursday pill and didn't think anything of it.

The day went on, we walked around Raleigh, seeing the sights, checking out the various restaurants and finally hitting up the museum of life and science (which was awesome). While we were in the museum I started feeling cramp-y, and I knew I was going to get my period. Unprepared as I ALWAYS am for this situation (because I normally skip the white pills and only take the pink ones.. so I don't normally get my period) I started looking in all of the bathrooms for one of those "dispensers"... of which there were two, both of which I tried and neither of them worked- and I lost a dollar in change. So, I was pretty desperate, not wanting to ruin my favorite purple pants, and also just not wanting to be uncomfortable- so I walked around until I found a janitorial person. I told her my problem and she laughed about it, telling me she would go get the key to the "dispenser" and get me a tampon. So there I sat, outside a bathroom, (which was located in the cafeteria area) on a rocking chair with Jarom and Fae. We waited about 10 minutes before I hear OVER. THE. INTERCOM. "Does anyone have a key to the tampon dispenser? There is a girl sitting by the bathroom who really needs a tampon." Pretty much the whole cafeteria turned to look at me, and a MAN janitor comes over to help me.

I really never get embarrassed, but this was definitely an awkward situation for me. haha, so since then I've always been "prepared".