Mikena hanging with the girls

Earlier this month Mikena came with me on my girls date with my amazing friends. Here are a few silly moments that made the outing so much fun.

 Katrina was cuddling with Mikena on her shoulder and when she went to lift her off Mikena was holding the burp cloth in her mouth like so.... SOOOO funny.

Thank you Aunt Mina for the photos. You capture some amazing ones.

2 more days!

WOW, has the past 3 weeks been a challenge. I NEVER want to be a single parents and I have so much more empathy for those who have had to raise kids alone. I am blessed to have made some great friends and have amazing family who have helped me out.
So as the title says I have 2 more days left until I can go get Sky. I am so excited to see him and Mikena together. I wonder how she will react if she even will. So the past couple weeks I feel like both Skyeler and I have been able to grow. It really is a great opportunity to really appreciate your spouse. Skyeler really does a TON here. Especially taking Mikena when mommy needs a time out. Not being able to just have my time has been hard but its okay. I now know that I am capable of more than I thought I was... Lets face it me and little kids have never really been my thing. Then being stuck with a infant for 3 weeks straight... I was terrified. But I did it and I haven't freaked out. She is alive, healthy, and happy and I am alive. I am just so grateful that I do have a husband that helps me so much. It really has been a hard experience to go through.  I am thankful for the challenges and the ability to rise above them and to become a better wife, mother, and person. Life is crazy but amazing.

6 Months- Happy half birthday!

Yesterday Mikena made it to her first ever HALF BIRTHDAY!!! She has changed so much during that time and it is exciting to watch her grow and learn.
SIX MONTHS!

• Army crawling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Likes to sit outside and watch whats going on. 
• Lights up when listening to Daddy on the phone (Daddy is in Korea for 3 weeks)
• Has funny spots on her head where her hair is much shorter and other spots where her hair is much longer
• Loves to eat big people food.
• Finally taking a nap during the day. (Mommy has been trying hard with that.)
• Chews on a pacifier 
• Mellow and willing to go with the flow.
• Just so loveable and the biggest joy and blessing for mom and dad.

As I was taking the pictures of her today (pink outfit) we were outside and she was WAY to distracted by all the cars passing to look at me. She loved sitting out there watching everything go zoom zoom.

I can't wait for daddy to see this!!!

Park Outing

I am feeling very blessed lately. I usually have a hard time making friends but the past couple months I have made a few. (It helps having Mikena) Today a friend of mine invited me to go over to the park so our little ones could get out of the apartments and play. It is nice to be able to go outside and enjoy the nice weather since it wasn't overwhelmingly hot outside. Anyway I took my camera and took some pics of these two cuties.

13 more days till Skyeler comes home

Have I ever mentioned that time differences are weird... Skyeler is currently 15 hours ahead of me. So as I am typing this at 3 am it is 6pm there. (at least we are on the same day)

I am missing him like crazy... This go around has been easier but harder in many ways. I enjoy having Mikenas company but it is hard seeing Sky miss her and her miss Skyeler. I know she does. It isn't a ehhh I think she misses her daddy. SHE MISSES HIM! I will let her listen to our conversation on speaker and her whole face just LIGHTS up. She will instantly start cooing and babbling and then afterwards she gets a little bit fussy and I can't do anything to stop it. She wants her daddy. So cute but oh so heartbreaking at the same time. I hate it. I seriously tear up just thinking about it.

Another thing is that Mikena is attempting to be mobile and she got up on her hands and knees yesterday and was doing that bouncing thing. AHHHHHHHHHH. She can't do that yet. Skyeler is going to be so sad and disappointed if he misses it. He wants to be there so badly for her first everything. Hey crawling is a BIG milestone. I would hate to miss out on anything. I couldn't imagine being so far away and not being able to be there for it. I hope she waits just 2 more weeks. It is important to him... yeah yeah it is just a milestone there are other ones, and some are bigger... Who cares if there are others. He doesn't want to miss ANY! No matter how big or how small they are.  He will see it when he gets home... True, but it isn't the first. He wants to be there for his daughter! Be part of her life and experience it with me. To see and feel each others excitement and have our relationship grow together as parents and husband and wife. This is our kid and she is growing and learning and doing so many new things. It is exciting. So really seeing it later or when he gets home he really misses out on so much more than just a milestone. So don't say it isn't a big deal. It may not be to others and you may not understand but don't make light of it.

Well that was some rant.   Can you tell this is important. You never know how important something is or someone is until they are not there or you miss out on it. We had some amazing talks in Sacrament meeting today.... (I guess it was yesterday) But basically as humans we tend to make light, forget, or even belittle our blessings, things we have, and even the people around us because we get use to them and eventually they are not so special anymore. Every day is a gift. Everything we have are gifts. Our jobs, homes, clothes, basic needs, EVERYTHING is a gift. Yes we work hard for these things and are able to provide for ourselves but who gives us these opportunities. Who opens the door for us to get these jobs and promotions. Our Heavenly Father does. Everything we have comes from him and in our daily routines they become second nature and we tend to forget how blessed we are. To have a husband to cuddle with on the couch and to be able to have children who bless our lives. It is an amazing gift that doesn't seem all that amazing or grand when you have it every day and to take it for granted. To have your spouse away and having *LIMITED* communication really puts the special back into your thought process. You realize how blessed you are to have such a wonderful best friend to love and be with. I am a bit of a clean freak and I wish with all my heart that I could just have a messy house if it meant that my husband and best friend was home with me. I miss him so much and I hate being alone. But I am grateful for the little reminders on how important life is and for the empathy it gives me for others who's husbands are gone a lot longer or even whose husbands or wife has left this earth.  How grateful I am to be part of this church and to have the blessings of forever. If a week without Skyeler makes me this miserable I don't want to imagine him passing on before me. I hope that I can live a life that makes my Heavenly Father happy and proud so that we can be blessed and be worthy of our sealing.
Oh boy you are getting a ton with this post. I better stop before nobody wants to read anymore. Guess this is what happens when I get woken up at 2 am for a 10 min phone call... I'll take what I can because 10 min at 2 am is better than nothing. Oh how I miss my best friend. But I am thankful for the opportunity to grow and learn things about myself and to become a better person, wife, and mother because of these experiences. So good early early morning, I hope you all have a wonderful day and don't take for granted the people who you have around you, because they might not always be there.

Sleeping

This is how she has been sleeping the past couple of nights. The top pictures are almost a spitting image of how Skyeler sleeps. She must be missing her daddy if she is sleeping like he does.

Up till lately she would sleep on her back with her hands behind her head. I thought that was also funny.

Favorite Place to Play

Mikena has a favorite place to play in the living room....

There have been a few times where I will walk out of the room or be laying on the couch and I have no clue where she is at. I can hear her coo or cry but can't find her. But she is always under there having fun. I will move her out from under there but she is rolling right back under the couch. Such a funny little girl. 

Mikena's Exercises

Yesterday Mikena did something new. (These pics are from today though)

This is what she did that's new!

 Do you think she is wanting to do a push-up? Funny thing is just prior to her doing this today I was doing push-ups. HA HA 

She gave a big smile after accomplishing all those exercises.

 She is so funny, I can't believe how many things she is able to do and that she is learning. I really wish Skyeler was here to see them. only 18.5 more days....

Playing with the Diaper Bag

Today Mikena wanted to play with the diaper bag. Needless to say she got tangled up in it. No worries she was having to much fun to realize.

Mid Diaper Change Nap

OK funny story.... I decided that Mikena needed a nap! So I go into her room and start nursing/rocking her and she was fading fast.... Then I realized that I needed to change her.. DANG IT!!! I figured that it would be worth the extra work to get her to sleep for the peace of mind of knowing she was in a clean diaper. So I got up and placed her on her changing table and prepared for her little tantrum...... well it was a little one because she slowly started to fade back to sleep while I was changing her.... Then I realized Mikena fell asleep.

I didn't know what to do... Do I leave her there.. No she has a tendency to fall off stuff.. Do I just lift her up and place her in bed.... with or without a diaper???? EHHHHH.... Hmm I'll take pictures!!!! (Don't worry she is modest)

So like any good parent these pictures made it to the blog! I couldn't help but sharing them. It is just sooooooo funny that she is holding her feet.. Every so often she would let go and her right leg would fall off to the side then she would pick it back up and hold it. I tried to get a video and it mostly worked until she woke up... So once that is edited I might share it.