insta-life

Little moments I don't want to forget:: The way she excitedly shows me her doggie every time I go get her out of bed. Sometimes she has to show me every single thing in the crib, it's always so exciting for her :) The way she tucks her hands under her belly when she cuddles up to me! The way she melts our stresses away with her cheesy smile and goofy personality She was so in tune with us the whole weekend after receiving the rotten news about Eric's job, randomly asking "you okay?!" Love our sweet girl!!

A Halloween cupcake decorating party... I was sure that Mia would be shoving as many cupcakes as she could in her face, but nope! She barely sat still long enough to eat one eye and stick the hat in because hello mom? New toys to play with!

One morning in early October I took Mia on a run and we found this gorgeous patch of trees. First sign that Fall had arrived!

 #obvi

 Day date with my love (and a real smile, whaaaat?!)

Pumpkin patching in Washington with our besties!

 I think I said "last one" like two pictures ago... but you know, these are just so cute! I can't help but share :) Love my little family!

I was so excited for the month of October! We had so many fun plans, celebrating the cute side of Halloween with Mia, and seeing dear friends that we miss so much! As you know, life decided to deliver quite the sucker punch which took a lot of the excitement out of me. Thank heavens for our precious Mia who helped us find the simple joys in life again! She made October SO great! If you'd like to follow along on our adventures through November you can find us at courtbrink!

patience is a virtue...

 Last random photo from Washington :)

...one that I fear I will never master! Today's topic is a good one, how to not lose your patience with your toddler. All I know is that every piece of advice I think of is so much easier said than done! But when I think about my sweet Mia who will do anything to please me, or get the look of approval, or earn and applause... I wonder how I could ever lose my patience with her? Yes, she tests the limits and is learning her boundaries, but I knew we would experience that when I signed up for the job of becoming a mom! I think what keeps Eric and I in check when keeping our cool with Mia, is setting our own boundaries (and helping each other stick to them.)
For example, we have decided that we will not be slapping/flicking Mia's hands to teach her a lesson. That just doesn't work for her. But occasionally Mia will purposely throw her food on the floor... the floor that I just mopped and the food I'd been slaving over for way too long... and I get the BIGGEST urge to flick her hand and teach her a lesson! Sometimes it's ridiculously hard, but I do my best to shut that urge down before I have time to react.
Speaking of reacting... I find that I usually lose my cool when I react. I have better control when I take a moment to breathe, assess the situation, then respond as calmly as I can (all it takes is a deep breath or two and I'm calm again) Does any of this make sense? I realize I'm all over the place with this post and I think it's because I don't have the right answer... I don't know if I'll ever have the right answer! I do know is that I do my best to stay calm and react in the most positive way I can to any situation Mia throws my way :) That's really the only thing I can do until I've mastered the art of patience (which will be never, in case you were wondering!)

 

The Not Quite Military Wife// Like a Morning Cup of Coffee//  Meet the Sullivan's

 From Here to Eternity//  Pig and Dac//   Everyday Love

A Cowboy's Life// Life of Faith//  Foxy's Domestic Side//  My Delicious Adventure

Oct 2:     Toddler Diaper Bag Essentials 

Oct 9:     Learning to love your post-pregnancy body

Oct 16:   Busy Toddler Activities

Oct 23:   Keeping in Shape While Caring for a Toddler

Oct 30:   Sick Day Tips

Nov 6:    How to Not Lose Your Patience with your Toddler

Nov 13:  Favorite Toddler Outings

An InLinkz Link-up

our situation {a better update}

During the month of November, I love to participate in the "I'm thankful for..." game on Facebook. I try real hard to get creative with my "thankfuls" to help me recognize the blessings I take for granted a lot of the time. On November 1st I shared: It's that time again! Today I am thankful for answers to my/our prayers. Even if I would prefer a different answer at times... (Ha!) I always know that I will be able to look back and realize that everything worked out perfectly. When I wrote that I was thinking about trials we've experienced in the past, and of course our latest trial, Eric losing his job. Some read that and assumed that Eric got a job... and they were right! Eric landed a great opportunity just a week and a half after I thought my world ended (but I got over that feeling after I simmered down, HA!) While I'm obviously grateful that Eric got a job (so incredibly grateful!) this was a good reminder that sometimes it's okay to hand over the reigns and trust that everything will work out, instead of feeling the need to control every second of our lives, you know?
Eric started his job this week and so far, so good!! I hadn't even thought of sharing the news on the blog yet until my sweet friend commented on my status, "... Did he get a job?? Email me! Or I'm sure I'll read about it next week ;)" Bahaha! I didn't email her because I suck, but I suppose you all can count on me for being an over sharer :) (love ya, Liz!) I had convinced myself that it would take months to get a good job, mostly because we live in such a tiny, remote little town with few to no options, and the interviewing process can take months! I was totally excited at the prospect of moving out of here, but now I'm content to stay awhile longer :)
I just have to say that I'm incredibly thankful to be married to such a hard worker! Eric sacrificed so much to build an incredible resume... and it's paying off! And I'm forever thankful to be apart of this amazing, supportive online community. The love and prayers we received from you all mean more than you'll ever know! Thank you, thank you! Even when life seems to take a turn for the worst, God is good!!

One more from Halloween because I can't help it!

leggings c/o Baby Leggings moccs c/o Freshly Picked

that time I fed a bear {Washington pt 2}

This is the only real picture Jaicee and I got together... shame on us!

Look at her eyes... Mia wasn't havin' it, haha!

Eric thinks this poor fellow looks like E.T.

Check out the size of that yak, huge!

Mia's headband c/o Emma's Kloset

Okay, okay!! So I only threw bread as far as my arm could throw (not very far, ha!) and there was a fence and a vehicle between us the whole time.... here's the story :)
My best friend and her husband are the best hosts ever! They packed our weekend visit to Washington full of so much fun! On Saturday we took a ferry to Port Townsend then drove to the Olympic Game Farm (on my Instagram post I called it Olympia Park. Major typo considering those are two very different places, HA!) This ended up being the perfect activity because it was a dreary, rainy day! We saw the most beautiful scenery and the game farm was actually a lot of fun! Mia was napping but I woke her up and pulled her onto my lap because I couldn't wait to see her reaction to the animals! Turns out... she wasn't a fan, HA! But goodness, the cuddles I got to soak up were worth every penny I paid (only $12, but one of the best $12 I've ever spent!) We fed deer, peacocks, turkeys, lamas, yaks (both pretty gross animals, ha!) bears, elk and bison. We also saw bunnies (Mia's favorite part!), tigers, a lion, wolves and zebras! The zebras refused to come out from under the shelter to eat, dang! I was bummed about that! Mia got brave at the very end and started hanging out the window and she even threw bread out to the elk :)

Basically our drive through the game farm consisted of shrieking (from adult women, poor Mark!), terrified whimpers from the little girls, excitement from the kids (as they warmed up to the activity) lots of laughing and even more cuddling! It was so fun to do something I normally wouldn't have added to the to-do list! Thanks again for an amazing weekend Mark and Jaicee!

trick or treat {Halloween 2014}

On the eve of Halloween we took Mia to our first ever trunk or treat that our church hosted. Mia had so much fun running around with all the kids while we ate dinner (her dinner seriously consisted of chips and candy. Yes, I was dying but I kept my fingers crossed that one night of bad food wouldn't kill her ;)) Once we started hitting up the trunks for candy Mia became overwhelmed. She wouldn't put the candy in her bag, she held it in her hand until she saw the next bowl of candy. She would set the treat she'd been holding in the bowl and grab a different one, ha! Don't worry, I had my back and grabbed the candy and put it in the bag for later, haha! We were about half way through the cars when Mia picked a sucker out of a bowl. She ripped the wrapper off and decided she was done! We stopped by our friends house to show Mia off on our way home and they spoiled her rotten with the best treats! Thank Kort and Jord!!
Halloween night was much more exciting! We went trick or treating with my parents in the neighborhood that I did a lot of my growing up in! It was so fun to show Mia off to everyone :) Mia was great about knocking on the doors as long as Eric or I were right there with her. Sometimes she would say "treeeeeat!" and other times she just let them "ooh" and "aww" over her while she picked a treat. She never tried to grab more than one candy and always said, "tank you!" :) We quickly discovered that her treat of choice is "gugkers" (suckers), girlfran is obsessed! I would say that Mia's first time trick or treating was a total hit!
Happy belated Halloween from the sweetest witch in all the land :) Side note- let it be known that while my friend instructed me every step of the way (ha!) I made Mia's tutu! I never make anything so yes, I am totally patting myself on the back!

leggings c/o Baby Leggings moccs c/o Freshly Picked