Father's Day

I think I was more excited for Father's Day this year than Aaron was.  I was so excited to give Aaron his gift!  Aaron is the greatest father to our baby, better than I ever would have imagined.  I love watching the way that he plays and adores our little boy.  He is so gentle and loving with him. He is a wonderful example of a man who honors his priesthood.  He is one of the hardest workers I know and I am so grateful that my son will have many opportunities to learn how to work alongside his Dad. He will also have many opportunities to have fun with his dad. Aaron is so excited for a hunting buddy.

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Chubba Chunk

Hyrum is three months old now.  Most of his nicknames have to do with his figure is this going to give him a complex when he is older?;)  He is growing and developing so fast.  He doesn't quite laugh all out yet but is getting so close.  He smiles a lot now and it is so fun.  Hyrum loves when Daddy acts like a fool for him by singing made up songs and dancing for him.  Our little Chubba loves music, just like I thought he would. Music is like an instant soother for him.  He also loves to be bounced. He is for sure a stand up baby. (I don't know how babies can tell whether you are sitting or standing but they sure know which they'd prefer.)

 This picture made me laugh so hard. he had the blanket in his hand and was trying so hard to reach it to his mouth to suck on.  He finally succeeded!

 

Just when I thought he was smiling, out comes the tongue!

 

"Hyroom" and his cousin Katy. We love having the Larkins so close!

My Oh My!  Look how much he has  he changed!

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There have been many things about motherhood that I have recently learned.  First off, there are no perfect moms or perfect babies. No matter how perfect someone tries to make their lives appear through blogs and/or facebook all moms feel overwhelmed at times. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that most people show their best pictures and share their best stories with the world. However, we all struggle and we all have hard times. I often wonder what it'd be like if everyone felt comfortable sharing what is real. I don't mean that we should talk about our lives in a negative manner either.  I just wish that people were comfortable being real. I feel like it's too easy to get caught up in the worldly aspects of motherhood. The truth is that babies only need the basics: love, warmth, food, and a clean bum. It doesn't matter how cute the outfit is that you put on your baby, they will still find every way possible to get out of it, usually by way of spitting up or exploding out the other end.  It doesn't matter how many times a year you get professional pictures done. Babies still  seem to look the cutest in the simple shots of everyday life, after all these are the ones which carry the memories.  In all honesty these things can be fun once and a while, but there comes a point where it can be too much. When I start to get overwhelmed I realize that the gospel has good guidelines for motherhood.

  A friend of mine posted the motherhood video to facebook and it was good reassurance for me.  I am so grateful for my knowledge that motherhood truly is a partnership with god.  I am also grateful for the examples set for fatherhood.

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It's a BOY!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've written.  I am now 6 1/2 months pregnant and we are expecting a little boy at the end of March.  We couldn't be more excited for his arrival.  There are a lot of changes ahead.  We found a smoking good deal on a three bedroom, three bath apartment and will move in February.  We can't wait for the new changes ahead of us.  We have been blessed with a very healthy pregnancy and are so happy that our baby is growing and developing normally.  He seems to be a very active little boy who really loves music and his daddy's voice. It's been a fun journey and we can't wait to meet him!

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Life's an Adventure!

This month has been such an adventure.  Aaron and I have had so many big decisions to make and we've become so much stronger through it all as we've been guided by a loving Heavenly Father.  Earlier this month     Aaron and I were faced with a tough job decision which could very well affect the next 30+ years of our lives.  There was so much good about staying here but there was also a lot of opportunity if we chose to move.  In the end after much prayer, fasting, and discussion we decided to make Cedar City our home.  Since we made the decision, life has only gotten better as far as blessings go.

 The past couple of weeks I have had job opportunities come up, all of which are good offers.  The interviews all went very well and now I am just waiting to hear back from my two favorites.  The pay is better with Zions Bank and there is more opportunities to pick up extra shifts. However, I am quite excited about the job opportunity at TURN community services.  TURN is a place where they work with adults in the community with disabilities.  In so many ways I feel such a strong connection with these amazingly strong spirits!  My parents and other family members have always helped me to be so understanding with people with disabilities.  My mom especially was a good example to me.  I miss working with people. I miss being in an environment where I feel I can help make a difference in people's lives by helping them do things that they can't do for themselves.  More importantly I miss the opportunities I had to learn from them.  In the end I know that everything will work out for the best.

Aaron is so supportive in all of the decisions I make and he always makes me want to be a better person.  I am amazed at his strength and how hard he tries to improve himself each day, he shows me and tells me how he loves me so much especially through serving me .  He is such a blessing in my life and my appreciation for what he does has grown so much.  Not a Sunday goes by where I don't have someone mentioning how much they appreciate how he goes out of his way to make them feel welcome.   He has a way with people and is such an amazing influence on everyone he comes in contact with.

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One Year ago today (May 7, 2011) we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Manti Temple.
We still don't know everything about marriage but our love has deepened so much as we have stayed true to our covenants and have served one another.  I am so grateful for my husband and for how hard he works for our family.  I don't know where I'd be without him and know that marrying Aaron Mark Simons is the best decision I have made.  I look forward to our life together because I know that it will only get better if we continue to put each other first.

It  is so fun to look back on our first year together and realize the changes that have happened.  As most couples do, we started out with extraordinary plans.  It was exciting and scary.   We started out, unsure of what the future would hold.  So far we've found that marriage is better than anything we could have hoped for, but it has to be something that is constantly worked at.   We have struggled financially and emotionally at times as we have been putting ourselves through school and planning for the future but we've found that we are blessed by temple attendance, tithing, and service to others.

In the first months it felt almost like playing house, our roles as husband and wife were so fun and new.  
Now there are times were cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping don't always seem so exciting, especially on a busy day, but when I remember how hard Aaron works for us with school and work I learn once again how rewarding it is to serve my sweet husband.  Not a day goes by where he doesn't show appreciation and love for my efforts and for me.

I still feel so blessed and "Lucky to be in love with my best friend".  Aaron truly is my best friend!


I Love you!

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March 20, 2012

I can't believe we've been married nearly a year.  While I was looking for my journal I came across a book about writing personal history. Although I did not find my journal I found some fun writing prompts about the first year of marriage.

I feel so blessed that I can say that my parents loved my choice for marriage and I married into a family who loves me and accepted me on day one.  Going into marriage, Aaron and I had some high expectations and I honestly feel that for the most part marriage has been better so far than anything I could have expected.  Aaron and I have had so many chances to learn and grow together and although we personally haven't endured a great hardship we have grown together as we have watched all that his family has endured this year.  We have had so much opportunity for service and it has helped strengthen our love and appreciation for one another.

I've learned so much about Aaron this year and it has been the best year of my life so far.  As I look back over the year there have been some pretty hysterical things that have happened as we've tried to figure this marriage thing out. For example, our first apartment was a dive.  Aaron jokingly says that he had to move me into it before we found another place so basically anything would be amazing after the first place.  It had a tiny kitchen that I could hardly fit in alone. There was no oven so every meal we made was stove-top. There were only a couple of cupboards so we had to use our dishwasher to store our dishes rather than for washing them.  The bathroom was smaller than a half bath and had mold problems.  It was a basement apartment and on the door to the apartment there was about a 3inch gap from the bottom of the door to the floor, which enabled bugs to easily crawl into our house. One good thing about our place was the air conditioner, but wait, even that blew dirt around in the air.  Like I said before, it was a total dive but we didn't care much because we were newly married, had no debt and knew the living conditions weren't  permanent.  While we lived there we enjoyed living close to Aaron's parents while still having our own little place. Aaron was able to make us a beautiful bedroom set at his dad's shop and made the same design for Joe Cummings, who happened to be teaching a very expensive carving class which Aaron had been wanting to take for a while.  The work was traded in order for Aaron to take the class and he loved the skills that he learned.

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