Winter Break

December 20- December 31

Lived

- To start off I forgot to mention Leightons trip to the ER in my last post. It was so sad seeing her sick but it really was so sweet too. She is such a lover when she doesn't feel well. We took her in because she had such a high fever and luckily it was just an ear infection. Poor girl is on for it, Kaden and I both have always had them.

 

- Leighton, Tiffany and I packed up and headed to the Valley while Kaden and Sarah were in the Dominican Republic. Most of my time was spent working and Leighton kept busy playing.

Leighton is quite the little helper.

- We were so excited for Kaden to get home that I took Leighton with me to pick him up. Even at 11:30 at night Leighton lit up when she saw him.

- Christmas was perfect. Having Leighton here to celebrate the holidays made them feel more special than ever. She completes our family and fills our hearts with more love than I could have ever imagined. Of course we were all spoiled this year (like always). I got an iPad and a camera bag. Kaden got a laptop and a camera and Leighton got tons of toys and lots of clothes.

Leighton loves her uncle Luke,

all of her new toys,

and catching up on sleep.

- We were so lucky to spend the night with Camille and Alex in Las Vegas. We hadn't seen them since the wedding and enjoyed catching up. We ate yummy food, stayed in amazing rooms and caught up on each others lives.

best chocolates ever! Thank you Alex and Camille!

-Cami and Alex's wedding was featured on OnceWed and pinned by Nordstrom. How cool is that!?

- Kaden had to work New Years eve and I was scheduled to do some photos in the valley so Leighton and i  packed up once again for a quick trip. My session was canceled so we ended up spending the afternoon with my sisters and mom. It was nice to get out of the house and do something. We went to the movies and saw Parental Guidance. It was a pretty funny and cute movie and Leighton sat through almost the entire thing. The best part was how cool we were before the movie. We tend to embarrass my mom.

We were trying to prove to Katie that we could kick as high as her face. Sarah looks like quite the bad A. 

{Best part is when sarah said post that and say coming to a theater near you. I almost died laughing because we were actually in a movie theater. She didnt get it.}

Learned

- I found out that I can graduate in the spring. Uh to be done with school or continue with another year? That is my debate at the moment. I am pretty sure that I will be officially graduating this May.

- In the past couple of weeks I learned that a week away from Kaden is way too long, Leighton is growing up way too fast, and I am looking forward to all of the adventures that next year holds. This past year I learned so much that i don't even know where to begin. I have learned what it is to love, to be a mother and to really be busy. I think i will write a  post just for the new year though so i wont go into much detail.

Loved

- I loved visiting sweet baby Mia the day after she was born. Holding a baby fresh from heaven really is a spiritual experience. Courtney and Eric were so sweet to invite me to the hospital to see their beautiful daughter. Taking Mia's pictures made me melt. I hope that I will have the opportunity to do more newborn pictures and that I can start doing birth sessions too.

photos by me Sweet Wishes Photography

- I loved welcoming Kaden home from the Dominican, listening to his stories about his trip, and watching him play with Leighton. I loved celebrating Christmas with our families and enjoying Leighton's first holidays. So many sweet moments were shared between Kaden, Leighton and I. It is amazing how beautiful life really is right now. Some times i sit in awe of how truly blessed i am and wonder what i ever did to deserve such a charmed life.

A Little Update

November 11- December 19

Lived

- I figured I better update before it has been 2 months since my last post. The past month has gone by so quickly that I can't even remember everything we did.

- Luke came home and we are all so happy he is here! The past two years have gone by so slow for all of us since we seriously have been waiting for his return from the very day her left. Luke is the baby of the Leavitt family and is definitely treated like it. I am not sure how happy he is that all three of his sister in-laws have made it their goal to choose his wife. We all get along so well that we can't have anyone in the family that we don't approve of. Poor Luke has had a hard time of it already. Nancy says he has to go on at least 100 different dates before her can get married. Good luck to whoever he marries. The best advice i can give is to just fit in with the family.

- I survived this semester and I am becoming more and more nervous about taking next semester off. This will be the first time that I haven't taken classes in almost 5 years. I am so excited though. I have been super busy doing pictures and plan to keep it up. I hope to do a few workshops in the next couple of months and really start my business up.

- Kaden has survived work and has played a lot. Before thanksgiving he went on a big hunting trip with his dad and brothers. He bought a jeep and has gone out scouting with friends as well. Now he is in the Dominican Republic on his medical service trip. Leighton and I can't wait for him to be home, but i am so happy that he gets to experience something so great.

- Leighton hasn't stopped growing but luckily she isn't walking yet. She will stand all over the place and has started crawling like a stink bug but so far no steps.

Learned

- I have learned a lot this past month. Honestly every day i feel like i am becoming more and more confident with myself. I think that doing pictures outside of the valley has really made me come out of my shell. I feel more confident in my work and like i am treated as a professional. I absolute love it. I love the feeling that i get from being successful. I have enjoyed getting to know all of the people i have worked with. Really i have come to realize that i need to get over the "when i get older" feeling that i seem to always have. I tend to tell myself  things like "when i get older i will start my business" or "i cant wait to be older so i will be able to do that" Uh hello i am older, i am the age i use to imagine i would be when i said those things at first. I also see my amazing and very successful best friend who is doing great things with her life. She is my age and doing all of that she wants to. I think watching her has seriously been an eye opener for me. Obviously she has put her heart and soul into making her dreams come true, and i am not saying it is easy, but i know i am also capable doing what i want to and i should stop telling myself that i am not old enough. (i hope that makes sense)

- Do not leave dirty diapers where Leighton can reach. That is all i will say.

Loved

- I loved getting to focus on all of the things that i am grateful for during the month of November. It is always really neat to me to see how much i really am thankful for. I also loved Thanksgiving. This year Leighton and I celebrated it without Kaden though. My sweet husband had to work. Leighton and I did a lot of bouncing around though, we went from the Leavitt's to my parents quite a bit. I loved being with family and having yummy food.

Just a little black Friday shopping

- So far i have loved celebrating the Christmas season. It has been beautiful weather in Cedar and Leighton has been the perfect little helper. Every time we go shopping she does great and she makes it so fun for me. The other day we were in target and she was a little restless so i started swerving the cart a little and she laughed so much. Sweet moments like that always remind me why i LOVE being a mom.

My Favorite Month

November 1-10

Lived

- So far it has been as busy of a month as October was. We have it planned to go to the valley every weekend for one thing or another. Ah who knows how we will afford this but its going to happen.

- Leighton and I headed to the valley the 1st, Thursday afternoon to get a head start on baking and organizing for Kaden and Sarah's yard sale and bake sale. The ride down was a little long because I thought it would be fun to stop and look for some cute new Leighton clothes. I should have waited though really the stores don't have too much right now. Friday we spent the day getting our bake on and man we really did. It was a lot of fun though, I only wish I was better at it.

- Saturday morning bright and early we all dragged our selves out of bed for the big sale. I was nervous that we weren't going to have very many people there and that we were going to lose out in money from it. Man I was wrong. We had an amazing turn out and the valley really supported Kaden and Sarah. It was sweet to see that so many people took an interest in their service trip.

- Kaden and I got the idea to sell pomegranates to help pay for the trip when we were down at Ron and Joyce's. We have done pretty good with that too and it had helped to pay for his trip which is so nice.

- We voted! Who we voted for may not have won the election but at least we went and put in our part. I hope that in the next 4 years things do start to turn around for our country. I guess we will see. There are a lot of people out there who have faith in our President and we do support him since he is the leader of our country. 

- This weekend Leighton and I went to the valley without Kaden, he had to stay home and work. Saturday was the Leavitt family reunion though, we can't deny that big of a family the chance to see Leighton so I went husbandless. The reunion was really nice, it was great to see all of Kaden's relatives. Really I think all the Leavitt men are pretty lucky, they have amazing wives. I love the women that I'm distantly related to by marriage. They are some of the most beautiful and kind women I've ever met. It's fun to talk with them and get to know them more.

- After the reunion Penn helped me pick more pomegranates. I hope he realizes how much I appreciate his help. I have orders for 18 dozen and I think we probably able to get all of them filled between Ron and Joyce's, Penn and Nancy's and Ty and Annie's pomegranate donations.

- Saturday night I got to my parents ward party. It was nice to see some familiar faces but it was sad to see how different the ward has become. I picture my old home ward to be one way and I still feel like I'm Laurel's president when I go there. I had a sweet moment remembering a ward party I went to in high school. As I put on lipstick and my jacket I laughed and thought of a Christmas party where Shalee wore some horrid lipstick and I wore the same jacket. We enjoyed the night laughing with Jace, Travis and Whitney.

Learned

- The photo business is not so easy anymore. I have never had such low prices and so few customers. It's hard times I guess. I just need to keep at it and hope for some up coming shoots.

- I am organizing my time a lot better and I am feeling happier because of it. I get my home cleaned, work done and do something for me time after Leighton is in bed. I am still learning how to be on a schedule though and my next task is actually getting ready for the day.

- I learned how to do a top knot! This is quite a big deal for me. Honestly you can not even imagine how many Pinterest tutorials I have read or how many you tube videos I have watched. As I was reading one the other day and looking at its pictures it just clicked and I did it! I may just wear a bun everyday for the rest of my life.

Loved

- I love November. After reading last months relief society message in the ensign I got so excited for November. I especially love the challenge I give myself to post something I am grateful for everyday. I feel so blessed! I know some people are skeptical of how I portray my life online but I honestly do not have anything to complain about. I am truly grateful for everything I have. To be real, money is tight but at least we can afford what we need. Kaden and I argue, but then we make up and make out. I am sick of school, but not of learning. Cedar is not my favorite place to live but it is beautiful, our families are close and we are surrounded by good people. I am not in shape but I am healthy and so Is Leighton. This list goes on but why think of things to complain about when I just have blessings that go along with them?

- I love that Kaden has been really trying to get his trip paid for. In case i have never mentioned this trip, Kaden and Sarah are going to the Dominican Republic for a week on a medical emmersion service trip. Sarah went on this same trip last May and fell in love with nursing, and serving the people of the Dominican Republic. It seems like such a special thing to have this opportunity for Kaden to experience helping people who live in such poverty. I am so excited for him, and it is coming up fast! I am pretty sure that they leave in 3 weeks.