WE'RE MOVING!

we're moving to utah! it feels surreal to think that we are actually moving. two years ago we moved to california & in with my mom with the plan to move out within 6 months tops...two years later, we're still here! with austin's job there was always the possibility of moving away & it seemed that just about every time we were going to move out of my moms & into our own space, we would *almost move. i can't tell you how many times we actually started looking for housing in other states that fell through, it was pretty high & low on the emotions scale. eventually we decided it was better for us to stay with my mom because we were always on the cusp of moving & we didn't want to get stuck in a contract.

fast forward 2 years & austin has quit his old job, started a company & we are officially relocating to utah. a place i literally never thought i would move back to. i am pretty excited though! i do love utah, it's just pretty bittersweet to leave california. it's my home & where my family & friends are, we've made a pretty good little life here & i love it. weirdly enough, my moms house is the place we have continuously lived the longest in our entire married life. when we lived in provo we were there for almost two years but, moved twice. then we moved to salt lake for 11 months, spain for 14 & my moms house for 2 years. kind of funny.

while we wait for our move date i am anxiously trying to find a decent house for us to rent & get my hopes up with almost every one, haha. i can't help it, i love imagining our life in the houses & our things (which i haven't seen in almost 4 years i might add, so weird) living in them. it will be pretty fun to decorate a home again.

we are excited for all the new possibilities that come with moving again. i like the spontaneity of it & the adventure i know it will bring. plus, california isn't that far away, we will definitely be back.

AUDIO BOOKS WITH KIDS

a couple months back I started listening to audiobooks with the boys when we are driving somewhere that is sort of far away. if I'm being honest, I did it for a completely selfish reason. cedar is a complete chatter box & talks my ear off the entire time we are in the car & sometimes I truly can't handle it. he's really into definite answers, so I can never give him a "maybe" or "I don't know" or even a "I'm not sure", it's all gotta be yes or no & you'd think I'd learn not to even try anything else, but I'm a slow learner. sometimes the conversations lead to him being frustrated with me because I'm not giving him a definite answer & a lot of times it leaves me feeling totally exhausted. & that is when I landed on the audiobook idea.

I wasn't sure at first if he would like it & if he would actually listen but, as soon as I started the first book, he was hooked. he listened silently for almost the entire hour something drive & would sometimes ask questions about the book. afterwards I asked him some questions about the book to see if he was actually paying attention & he really was! it was so cute hearing him talk about the book & sometimes I hear him repeating little parts of it when he's playing or something. ever since that first book he has been hooked to books in the car & just about always requests that we listen to one.

I was totally new to the audiobook game, so I wasn't sure what apps to use but I started using the audible app & iBooks audio. for me iBook has been a billion times easier to work with because you can download straight from your phone from the app which is awesome if we finish a book or i forget to do it when we are home, BUT the books are pricey, so that is a major downfall.

audible has been a bit of a trick for me. it's awesome because you can get a lot of children books for a better price than iBooks & sometimes for free, but the number one downfall is that you have get the books through amazon so it's more of a hassle. when i remember to do it though, it's awesome.

the books that cedar has loved the most are:
1. Henry Huggins: anything from this series. we've listened to 3 different Henry Huggins now & it was the first audio book we ever listened to that grabbed his interest.
2. The Wizard of Oz: cedar loved this book! Anne hathaway reads it & she does such an amazing job with the voices. i really liked listening to it & so did Cedar. after we finished the book we watched the movie & it was so funny because he kept commenting on how the book was different from the movie. i love knowing that he is paying attention to the books.
3. Charlotte's Web: cedar didn't love this one as much, but i got the version that the author reads which could have been a problem, so don't get that version!
4. The House at Pooh Corner: cute & fun stories of winnie the pooh. cedar has never been a huge fan of the show, but he has really liked listening to the stories.
5. My Father's Dragon: cedar loved listening to all of these books. if you haven't read them as a kid, definitely listen to them. they're light hearted, easy & a fun story.

SNOW DAY

a couple of days after christmas we flew up to utah to attend my uncles funeral. my mom, siblings & i had gone up a week before christmas to see him & say goodbye, but it was very surreal when we heard that he has finally passed. he had battled with melanoma for the last year & a half which struck especially close to home because that is what my dad died from almost 19 years ago. it was a very bittersweet experience attending the funeral, it brought up a lot of emotions but, it was also comforting being surrounded by our family. all of my 28 cousins were able to make it to utah for the funeral, some of which i haven't seen since i was a kid, so it brought some happiness to the occasion. plus, my entire family was also together which is always fun.

most of my family went home before new years, but we stayed behind to make more of a trip out of it since cedar has the week off from school. we've been having a good time with the boys & have been making daily trips up the canyon to play in the snow. cedar loves the snow. he has wanted to go play in the snow as soon as he learned that it was winter. he was completely convinced that it was going to snow on christmas day, despite the fact that i kept telling him that it doesn't snow where we live in california. a couple hours after he woke up on christmas day he came up to me & said "mom, i think you're right. it doesn't snow in newbury park, but i think it might next year." he has all the faith in the world that it will snow one day, haha. 

he has totally loved tromping about in the snow & making snow angels. it's so cute when he does it. he jumps straight in to knee deep snow & goes wild with his arms & legs, it's so funny. milo on the other hand isn't so sure, but he totally loved sledding & cedar loved pushing milo on the sled.

YEAR IN REVIEW

2017 was a good year to us. there were the highs, the lows, the high highs & the low lows, just like any other year but, it was still a good one. we spent a lot of our time at the beach, which you can't really beat. austin decided to start his own business. milo turned 1 & started to walk & talk. cedar turned 4 & has continued learning & growing, there is no stopping that boy. we stuck closer to home this past year, we weren't as on-the-go as we normally are but i sort of liked it. it was a calm year. we did manage to make a few trips up to utah, we sent to semis & san francisco & went to iceland & france with my family so, it wasn't totally mellow.

i'm so excited to see what 2018 has in store for us. i think it will be a good year & full of a lot of new adventures.

2018

my favorite photo of 2017!

guys, i can't believe that it's 2018. christmas went by in a FLASH! i swear i just blinked & it was over. i'm pretty positive that as i get older years get shorter, anyone else feel that way? no? just me? ohwell.

so, i totally think the actual holiday of new years is overrated. it always gets so hyped up! & then nothing exciting really happens.. but i do love the feeling & idea of a fresh start, so i'm all about setting up new goals.


FAMILY GOALS
be present // a lot of the time i'm taking pictures or videos of whatever we are doing because i don't want to forget anything, which is awesome because i have so much documented. but sometimes that makes it so i'm not paying attention to everything that is going on around me. we can all benefit from being more present when we are with each other.

simplicity // simplicity in all forms. it's easy to get caught up in the hustle & bustle & i'm wanting to get out of it before i'm stuck!

HEALTH GOALS
body acceptance // i consider myself to be pretty active, i try to get out & be active a few times a week, along with actually going to a gym or fitness class. i'm just not very good at sitting still & i do not like the way i physically feel when i don't push my limits. even though i do try to be active, i can be pretty hard on myself when i shouldn't be! i have a really healthy, fairly strong body who has had 2 babies. i should be proud of the body i have & all that it can do & i want to focus on that.

PERSONAL GOALS
be more organized // i am the worst at organization, just ask my husband. i am unorganized in just about all aspects of my life but i want to work on it! i'm going to focus on three aspects to be more organized to make it a bit more attainable.

• clothes/ closet: i'm the queen of stuffing my drawers & leaving things on the floor & i hate it! 
• blog: i have a million ideas for my blog & always wait till the last minute & never get the posts done that i want to, so i'm going to try scheduling days to write/prep & post. 
• time: ultimate procrastinator over here. i'm also always down to ditch boring chores for something fun but, that leads to not having enough time for everything, so i really need to work on that one!

no comparisons // it's so easy to compare lives with those around, especially with instagram. i really want to focus on not comparing my life to others & to be happy with where i am & where my family is in our life. 

my list is short & sweet for my goals, but i like to keep it mellow so i don't totally let myself down if i fail at them!! it's worked for my in the past. plus, this way i can really focus on my goals. i also plan on revisiting & assessing my goals every three months to check up on how i feel like i am doing with them & see if i want to add any others to my list.

how do you like to set up your goals? i love hearing what people want to work on.

happy new year!

SAYING GOODBYE

my mom & her two sisters

a couple of days after christmas we flew up to utah to attend my uncles funeral. my mom, siblings & i had gone up a week before christmas to see him & say goodbye, but it was very surreal when we heard that he has finally passed. he had battled with melanoma for the last year & a half which struck especially close to home because that is what my dad died from almost 19 years ago. it was a very bittersweet experience attending the funeral, it brought up a lot of emotions but, it was also comforting being surrounded by our family. all of my 28 cousins were able to make it to utah for the funeral, some of which i haven't seen since i was a kid, so it brought some happiness to the occasion. plus, my entire family was also together which is always fun.