This Fall and beginning of winter we have been blessed to be close to both of our families. Even though things haven't turned out they way we had planned on and may not have preferred we just need to trust that what is best for our family will happen after we do all that we can do. 

It has been fun for Brylianna to be around both of her Grandparent and close to Pat's sister and be able to play with cousins. It has also been fun to be closer to my siblings too. 

We helped my parents decorate with Christmas lights. It will be Corbin's first Christmas

We bought a kid friendly nativity online and it isn't at all what I was expecting but it is still cute. 

Cute little Christmas helper

Oh I want to snuggle this cute boy all winter

Mommy and Me dresses

How cute are these Mommy and me matching skirt and dress? I am totally one of those moms that loves matching with her daughter and was excited about this every since I found out that I was having a baby girl :) 

There is something that makes these even more special though. I have a good friend named Katie. Here and her husband have an adorable little boy and they would love to have more children but have to do IVF treatments. My dress and Brylianna's skirt are from the shop that Katie created to raise fund for their IVF treatments and from her love of sewing that she inherited from her grandma. 

What better reason to buy cute things than for them to have a wonderful cause to go to as well?! Oh and they also come with adorable matching headbands!

If you would like to check out her stuff find her on Facebook at Coopsie Coo Creations she has a page where she shows and sells dresses and baby items too! 

And this is literally the softest dress I have ever worn! I would wear it every Sunday if I wasn't self conscious about wearing the same thing to church every Sunday lol 

Or

Fun Cheap Family day

What do you do when you need a fun cheap family day of fun??? Go to Cabela's! Hey it worked for us. There are a lot of fun things for little ones to look at and they were even giving free fudge samples when we left so that was a win! Of course it is tempting to buy a lot of expensive things while you are there, but it is fun just to look too. The only thing we bought was a string that had lights in it ( lighted cord) that you can hang up in your tent. I loved it. They had some in a display tent and we found out that they were on clearance. 

Brylianna did cry like the whole car ride home,but other than that, it was a pretty fun day I would say. 

"Fishies!" 

Our Family life this Fall

I started working at Vasa Fitness in Tooele part time in the evenings ( 5 hour shifts 3-4 nights a weeks) it has been such an adjustment going from being a stay at home mom for 2 years. I miss my babies so much. Being a mom is a funny thing, when I am just a stay at home mom I need a break from the kiddos and go crazy being home all day every day, but now that I am working I miss being a stay at home mom lol. I just need a job where I can work one day a week and make a lot of money and that would pretty much be perfect I have decided.
Pat is doing an internship in Salt Lake with the Department of Natural Resources and will finish in Dec. He goes for 40 hours a week Mon-Thurs and we both have weekends of thank goodness because the weeks are crazy. He gets home from Salt Lake around 5:30 pm and I leave to work at 5:40pm and work until 11 at night and Pat wakes up at 5 or 6 in the morning so he is usually asleep when I get home. Talk about crazy schedule. But it isn't permanent so hopefully we can survive it for a bit. This way the kiddos get to see both of us and we can have weekends together. ( They go by all too fast.) But I will tell you I have never felt so busy and exhausted in my life ( Even when I was working 2 jobs up until I was 7 months pregnant with Brylianna) And Corbin isn't sleeping through the night yet so we are pretty sleep deprived. Some nights he has been waking up every 2 hours and those weeks are sooooo long.
But we know that hopefully this will be best for our little family right now and pay off and that it will be a short amount of time and will all be worth it.
( Sorry this has kind of turned into a long complaining post, but I just think it will be important to remember how busy my life was and how it is still always a reminder of what is really important in life) I also have decided working at night is hard because some days Brylianna cries when I have to leave and it is the time when everyone else is coming home from work when I am going to work. Pat goes to work and comes home and she yells "Yay daddy's home and runs to him to hug him." It is hard for me working at night because I just see her cry when I leave and she is asleep when I come home. So that is a little different.
It sure makes me grateful for my sweet kiddos though and I miss the the whole time I am at work. Esepcially with Corbin only being 4 months old when I started working. I am grateful that I do not have to work full time though and we can make ends meet. I could not bear to be away from my babies that long at all.

I think a lot of families have working moms and dads nowadays which is fine if that what you have to do and every family is different and some things are right for certain families and some are right for others. I feel like it is a private decision and choice between each family and the Lord what is right for them at certain times in their lives. I do think though that if a mom is working outside of the home just to  provide things that they want and are not necessary ( like the latest and greatest fashion trends and fun technological devices, vacations every weekend etc) than that might not be the best choice. But it is such a fine line it is so hard to make decisions about what is right for your family sometimes. Especially with all of the pressures of this world. But I know that being a mom first blesses my family in more ways than I could ever know. And I am grateful for this busy time in my life cuz it has actually made me more grateful for when I can be a stay at home mom again and not go crazy ( cuz we all know I will have those days as stay at home moms do)

Brylianna was singing to Corbin " Don't you worry, about a thing, cuz every little thing, is gonna be alright" 

This is us most days, Brylianna wearing her hat sideways, Corbin falling asleep, and me with no makeup on