Tuesday I had my first working interview, and after working for 7.5 hrs, I found out I got the job!

This is not the office I work at, just an insta of when I worked a day at Mike's office.

He also paid me for that day of work right then and there which was really nice, because who wants to ask the boss (of a place your not yet hired) when you can expect to be paid for the work you've done.

It's a really small office, but I love that the entire staff (totaling 5) is friendly to not only the patients, but also each other. I've heard many a horror story about working in dental offices where the assistants don't get along with the hygienists and no one helps each other out, and they even kind of pick on each other. I was really pleased with how my day went at this office, and then even more pleased when they offered me the job! The assistant will always bag my instruments for me, and mount my x-rays. And I was able to help her out (when one of my patients cancelled) by sterilizing instruments and then when she wasn't able to get a PA of tooth #4 (she had taken 4 x-rays already trying to get this one shot- thank goodness the patient was in no pain and didn't mind) she asked me for help. I did it for her and got it on the first try! I was kind of really proud of myself because I've always felt like I'm not very good at taking x-rays, then when she was asking for help I was nervous because I was trying to impress these people for goodness sake! I must be alright because I also took a few bitewings and they all turned out well. Phew! It was a blessing that I got the opportunity to do something that really did impress them! Hooray for a steady income!

Dickens of a Christmas

To get in the Christmas spirit we headed to the Dickens of a Christmas in downtown McKinney. 

Their downtown reminds me so much of downtown Provo and that made me happy.

Liv was SO excited to get her winter hat and gloves on and go "see kids" (her cousins)!

It was actually quite cold and windy on this night and it was kind of fun to finally get bundled

 up for a stroll in the winter weather! There were several activities, but it had rained earlier in the day and

 most were closed. We were sad we missed the streusels and hot chocolate bar, but we stopped in several

 stores, sampled lots of other food, and bought some yummy kettle corn.

We went in the Loco Cowpoke Salsa Shop and sampled TONS of jams, jellies, salsas, and types of honey butter.
Some of those salsas killed me- eyes watering, mouth on fire, and nose running!
Why would B tell me that it wasn't that hot...twice?
He was in trouble for not realizing that even though it wasn't hot for him, it was waaay too hot for me! 

Because my mouth was on fire and there was no water in sight, I went and slathered on some honey
 butter. It was delish! I loved the cinnamon honey butter and the praline pecan honey butter. To die for,
 so good that we brought some of the Praline Pecan home with us :)

Afterwards, we went over to visit my sister and her family. As I've already mentioned, Liv loves their

 dog Fritz and I'm pretty sure she thinks he is actually her dog! She was in heaven giving all kinds of 

hugs and loves to that pup.

We had soup, hot chocolate, and chocolate eclairs while we talked and played. I loved their Christmas

 decor and their awesome Dickens Christmas Village. If you look close, you can see inside the shop

 windows!

It was a fun way to kick off the Christmas season!

chunky circle scarf

Between interviewing and temping I've been filling my time with more

 crocheting projects. I hopped over to this site when I saw my sister

 made this headband. I was going to try the headband, but I got

 sidetracked by a beautiful scarf that I just had to have.

This was a more difficult project than any I'd ever taken on up to this

 point, but after 3 tries (starting and then unraveling and restarting)

 I figured it out! I was seriously so proud of myself. Have you ever

 done something that is way above your level of understanding, but

 instead of quitting you try again (and again, and in my case- again)?

 Well, when you finally get it, it feels really good! And I also have a

 lovely infinity scarf to show for it! It doesn't get much better. 

Now I kind of want one in every color.

Feast

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of food, family, and football! 

We are always especially grateful for all of our family at this time of year, and so happy that we got to spend time with a few of them. 

I'm thankful for a husband that knows what he wants and is extremely driven and determined to achieve his goals. 

I'm thankful for a healthy daughter that brings laughter to our home and pushes me to develop more 

kindness and patience every day. I'm thankful for my education and career, and that I'm done with

 school :) We are thankful for the roof over our heads, the food on our table, the love in our family, and

 for a loving Heavenly Father that we know is watching over us.

Kjirstie is taking this pic, but she was there too!

the backyard

B showed me this video he made last night, and I was laughing so hard! 

We love this girl of ours. Does she not have the sweetest face?!

I know this is the time of year for sweaters and boots and all things cozy, 

buuuuut our cold weather just barely came today (and I'm hoping it actually stays around this time). 

This is Liv enjoying the backyard and all the sunshine, warmth, and wonder a little girl could find out there. 

Sorry for the quality, it was all filmed with the iphone a few weeks ago.

p.s. She has never gotten any spliters, but we do usually put shoes on before we go outside. 
For that matter, we usually put pants on too, but crazy little girls will be crazy little girls. 
Oh, and B is donning those infamous blue scrubs! Who knew those would ever come in handy again? 
He used them while shadowing a doctor over the last few months.

May the odds be ever in your favor...

Lookin' pretty good Lionsgate. Pretty darn good.

All about Liv: 2 yrs (+ 1 and a half months)

{Phrases}

• Yeah, okay Momma/Mommy (her favorite phrase at the moment)
• Okay my Dada 
• I see {moon, bubble, buggie, etc}
• Kishesh (kisses) and then she runs at you with puckered lips
• Ticken nugs (chicken nugs), I want ticken nugs...meeeeeese (please- this is said while digging her fingers into her cheeks to make dimples and fake smiling)
• I make a {buggie, uh-fly (butterfly), smile mace, etc}
• Momma do it (fine when she's handing me the pen so I can draw something, not as cute when she's talking about cleaning up a mess)
• Ohhhh myyy guhness (goodness)!
• Oook (look) at me Dada/Momma
• Guh morneen (good morning)!

She says a lot more than this, but these are some of my faves at the moment. I LOVE talking and having mini conversations with this girl. I hope we always get to have our little chats.

{Convos}


At the tender age of 2 our convos usually go something like this:

• Liv: I see moon!
• Me: You see the moon!?
• Liv: Yeah Momma, its BIG moon! (giggles)
• Me: It is a big moon isn't it! I see a pumpkin. Liv, do you see the pumpkin?
• Liv: I see tiny puckin. (whenever she's talking about something tiny she talks in a higher voice and kind of puckers her lips)

If you can't tell, she's really into pointing out things big and tiny. She'll usually draw two of everything, one big and one tiny. Which brings me to one of my favorite convos:

• Me: There's your big Daddy (pointing at Brady)
• Liv: Yeah, BIG Daddy, tiny Momma.

Haha, it still makes me laugh even though, unfortunately, I'm not that tiny. I was more trying to show her how big we (the parents) are and how tiny she is. But I'm fine with the other too! More often our conversations consist of me talking and her shutting me down:

• Me: Look, do you see the Monkey playing with the bunnies (its a curious george episode)
• Her: *still too enthralled with what is happening on tv to respond to me*
• Me: Look at those bunny rabbits! They are so cute and tiny!
• Her: Yeah, okay Momma. *then stares back at the tv*

or

• Liv: I want coooo-kee (cookie)
• Me: *approaching this very delicately* Oh sweetheart, you know what? Its night night time...
• Liv: *starting to whimper* cooo-kee coo-kee
• Me: Listen to mommy, we are not going to have any cookies right now. We can brush teeth instead (she thinks her toothpaste "tastes like choc-o-wet" so that usually works)
• Liv: *desperate now* Coo-kee...yeah okay momma?!

{More}

I have to approach anything that I know I will have to say no to very delicately because it usually hurts her feelings when the N word escapes. Like when she filled a toy cup with water and then dumped it on the carpet, or when I saw her on her hands and knees sipping up some naaaasty rain water from outside, or when I caught her pressing all the buttons on the DVD player. If I do accidentally let the word NO escape my mouth (as a knee jerk reaction in such dire circumstances!) without thinking of some other way to stop her, she will look at me with giant eyes and a pouty bottom lip. Then I have to watch her big blue eyes fill with water. Its really the saddest thing ever, and I feel absolutely terrible. I do love that she (usually) runs right over to me and hugs me. If she doesn't come to me, then I go to her, hug her, and tell her that I'm sorry that I scared her. Then I reiterate that (whatever the thing is) is a no no for her to touch but that I love her and she is a very good girl. She usually gets over pretty quick, but for about 4 seconds I feel like the meanest person alive for making a girl as sweet and innocent as her sad.

She is a Daddy's girl through and through! They have a very special bond that I am so grateful for. I think its really sweet (and nice that sometimes she only wants her daddy!). She still always wants her Mommy when she gets hurt though. Even when Daddy is there first, the second she sees me walking up she reaches for me to give her cuddles. I think that's pretty sweet too. There is nothing better than being the one that makes her feel better. This is the age where a kiss heals all. I am trying to soak it up because I know I'll blink and it will be over.

I love how she says her name right now : Yivia, Yivy, or sometimes it comes out Bibee (Not as much anymore as when she was a little younger, but I always thought she was saying "baby" and I would always say "you're a big girl not a baby" then I finally realized she was saying her name).

{Nick names}

• Tinkerbell
• Singer girl
• Bear, bear child, little bear, bear-y
• Sweetest thing
• big girl
• tiniest girl 

I  know, I'm probably a bad mom for sending her mixed messages but she IS both our biggest and tiniest girl! We love her so much!

candy

I let Liv eat ALL of her Halloween candy the other day. 

photo from a Fairy Tea Party earlier this year

I was doing a thing where I would let her choose one piece each day from her pumpkin, but it started becoming such a sad afternoon.

Liv: "pick a ca-nee....puckin"
Me: "oh, you want to pick a candy from your pumpkin?"
Liv: "yeah, okay momma"

Then I'd have to explain to her that she already picked her one piece and she would have to wait until the next day to pick another; of course the next step was tears (like that video I posted below). Usually we'd end up giving her another piece later in the day.

Then I decided, candy is so bad for your teeth and its better to eat it all at once than to snack all day on it (from a dental hygiene point of view). So one day I just gave her the pumpkin and told her she could eat all the candy. She has never been so happy (or so hyper). It was kind of comical! The best part was that she actually would just take a bite of one piece and then get another. Our only rule is that she has to throw the piece she has away before getting another, you can see where I'm going with this, she actually ate less candy because she was throwing it away before it was finished. I was just glad to have it all gone (whether in the trash or in her stomach) because it was always taunting me.

This won't fly when she's older and has a lot more candy, but it works for now. The BEST part is now we never have tears about candy, she's been eating more carrots than ever, and she's back to thinking fruit snacks are candy (of which she only gets one pack a day)!

Being Grateful

Lately I've heard from ALL directions to enjoy life right now and live in the moment. This is something that means a lot to me considering the place in life I am at right now. We are living with my parents and basically have no idea where life will take us next. Yes we have Plan A, B, and C but where we are in life right now is the definition of an "in between" moment. We have done all we can do and now we have to wait (this applies to several things that I'm not going to specifically go in to. B and I know what they are). The time of life that you can't help but think "I can't wait until....", so the call to "enjoy the journey" is something that I take seriously. Years from now I hope to be able to look back on this time with some of the fondest memories instead of barely remembering because I was so anxious to be done.

I just finished reading a book called "The Last Lecture" right now for my book club started by my cute SIL. In this book there is a chapter called "The Man in the Convertible" describing a woman who sees this man with the top down on his car, his hair blowing in the wind, and a content smile on his face. He is completely enjoying that day and that very moment. As the woman watched, she realized she knew the man. It was Randy, who she also knew had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had only a few months to live. This is a true story! If he can still be fully engaged in life and enjoying every moment, so can I!

Reading this passage has made me think about a lot of things, and realize a few things that I am so specifically thankful for. The first is that my parents have been so generous to let us live here with them while we "wait". They are the best teachers and examples of kindness and I am grateful just that I get to hang out with them! I feel blessed to have the parents I do and even more blessed that they are still my personal super heros. I won the parent lottery :)

And although this may seem random, if you've read this book you'll understand why this came to my mind while reading it. I am thankful for all of the pen marks, smiley faces, and buggies that are constantly drawn on Olivia's arms, legs, hands, and feet because I love that she is so creative and how such a small thing is so magical to her. I am thankful to have a husband that is as laid back as me and lets her draw all over herself (maybe he even drew ab muscles and some ribs on her once) and doesn't care what people at the grocery store say. One day we'll have to explain to her that its not PC to draw all over your body, but for now I want to let her imagination go wild, and I think I was blessed to have a husband who agrees.

Trick-or-Treat

Monday night we drove up to McKinney to have dinner with my sister, Kjirsten, and her family! I was so happy they had invited us because trick-or-treating is so much more fun with a group, and this was actually Liv's first time to go real trick or treating (because it rained last year).

We have already visited once before this and Liv took to her cousins really easily, which was a relief! She loved playing with Luke and Claire, and Liam was so good to watch out for her too (we didn't get to see Caleb very much that time) and then of course there's Fritz. The first thing she did when we entered the house was look for their dog Fritz. Now you see why she was a puppy for Halloween. LOVES that doggy Fritzy! She even got inside his kennel (should have gotten a pic of that). She stayed and played with him while the rest of us ate. 

Yeah, she only had candy for dinner. I felt like a really good mom, thanks for asking.

Before we even started knocking on doors she squatted down and started eating some candy (I think my Mom wanted to give them the first piece). I guess I don't blame her since she didn't eat dinner.

Liv (the puppy) and Claire (the "superman girl" as she says)

These teenagers couldn't get over how cute they were, and kept telling us they win for cutest kid costumes. Doesn't Liv look like she's having the time of her life!?

People already love dogs, so when you put a cute kid in a soft furry outfit people go crazy! One lady wanted to keep her as her third dog, she was "pet" on numerous occasions, and kids would see her and bend and pat their knees and say "Oh look at the puppy! Here poochie poochie!". Guys, she's not a real puppy :)

Pretty little Claire!

Luke (Karate Kid), Claire, and Liv! Liam and Caleb were long gone with friends by this point.

About halfway through, Liv was done walking and sat in Anna's (who is a newborn baby) carseat. My mom held Anna, Luke took Liv's place in the sit and stand stroller, and Claire kept her rightful place in the sit and stand. Poor Mom (Grammy) and also poor Dad (Grampy) because he pushed Liv in the stroller for the rest of the night. We asked if she wanted to get out and get more candy and she said no, which was fine with me, but her nice Grampy just pushed her stroller right up to the doorstep and she still got tons of candy. This was a cute neighborhood and most of the people actually sat out in the driveway for easier and faster access for the kids. 

When we were making the walk back to the house, she was so happy to have a tray to put her glow stick and some candies in and a "bed" to lay down (when she needed a break from all that eating).

Luke came in and sorted his candy right away! And Claire danced to Halloween music for us. She has the cutest thriller-like dance, I die every time. I wish I would have filmed it.

 We all ate too many Halloween goodies and talked the night away!

Liv's bucket. Full and pretty heavy by the end. 

There's a full sized Snickers right there from the cutest older man.

Several minutes (hours?) later Liam was home with a pretty full pillow case!

And now, days and several pieces of Halloween candy later, this kind of makes me want to throw up :)

Happy Halloween!!!

(I'm sorry, but how did my little baby bumble bee (from last year) grow into a little girl? Its still amazing to me how fast they grow.

Post Halloween trauma

What can I say, we watch a lot of videos around here.

You need to watch this one though because its hilarious! Parents tell their kids that they ate all their Halloween candy.

The 2 boys at the end are the best!
"Oh, good for you! Now you're probably gonna get a belly ache....
that's why you shouldn't eat so much candy"

Hipsters

My husband is very cool and hip. He usually finds all the hip things and then sends them to me. I thought it was so hip that I'm posting it on here. 

{This is what he told me to write, hahaha! Probably didn't think I was actually going to write it! He really did find it though}

Being serious now, I can't believe this is all stop motion! It's kind of amazing! Do you have any idea how long it would take to make something like that? The song is cute too. All you hipsters, enjoy...