Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ella the Dancing Queen

Ella went to play group on Tuesday and they captured her groovin' to If You're Happy and You Know it." It was a new song and she was the only kid dancing. She tried to convince another toddler to dance. She loves music and looks forward to this each week.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Ezra Animated











So, I finally managed to get a few photos of Ezra interacting with me. It's difficult to capture him smiling on my own, but I managed a few good shots. I am so in love with my baby! He is such a sweet little guy and growing so fast.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Mom and Ezra

Ezra and I were relaxing together on the floor last night. He is so adorable when he smiles, coos, and moves in his arms in response to your voice. Sometimes he makes this cute litte kitty-like sound. I loved watching him tonight during Family Home Evening as he followed Ella around the room with his eyes and moved his head. I'm so glad she is so sweet to him and he responds so well to her - except when she's smothering him, of course. He's so alert now and starting to show his personality. He likes quiet rooms with low lighting the best where he can relax and take everything in. I don't have very many pictures of Ezra and I yet, so I had Tim take a few last night.












Friday, January 16, 2009

Dad and the Kids

I still haven't been lucky enough to capture an Ezra smile, but here's some fun photos from the past couple of weeks.
Tim and Ella had tons of fun playing the "toss the toddler" game downstairs. We loved what the static electricity did with her hair.



Tim helped entertain Ella while I nursed Ezra the other night. They looked so adorable reading together at the top of the stairs. I especially love how their legs mimick each other. First, Tim read to Ella, then she read to him.




I always love the photos of Tim snuggling with our kids. You can tell he really loves it and he has a magic night-time touch with Ezra (thank goodness!)



I wish I was a better photographer so I could better capture the personality of Ezra. I am determined to get a photo of him smiling with his eyes all lit up. Until then, I've tried to capture how big he's getting. I put the Winnie the Pooh next to him to try and give my mom and idea of how much he's grown since she saw him.





Thursday, January 15, 2009

Little Baby Grins

I wish I had a picture, but it's hard to capture a baby smiling up at you in the moment. Ezra is so alert when he's awake now, which is wonderful. He reacts to voices and turns his head to see you. He gave me the sweetest smiles tonight while I was talking to him. I love how he is getting roly-poly now with a belly and double chin. I'll have to take a picture of him tomorrow and post it.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Turning 30

30 is fast approaching and I keep telling myself to be cool about it. It's a bit ironic that I even mind, since I've never really been "young at heart." Mom likes to joke that I was a 50 year-old in a 5 year-old's body. I was wound incredibly tight in my teens and just wanted to grow up so people would "take me seriously." In fact, even now I think it would be just perfect to simply stay 25.

Perhaps 25 sticks out for me because I think that's the time I really came into my own. My early 20s were a muddled struggle to figure out my place in the world. I recently read some poetry and other writing from college and saw such sorrow and uncertainty. I am so grateful for those struggles, though, because working through them strengthened my confidence, my testimony of the Savior, and my empathy for others.

When I married Tim at 25, I took it as an opportunity to change more than my name. I'd made so many changes personally and felt exhilarated by the chance at a new start. With marriage came a myriad of other changes: a new apartment, new job responsibilities, a new ward at church, and a new people to meet. I discovered that Mindy Farmer could shed the old burdens that weighed me down and present myself anew.

I decided that Mindy Farmer would enter a room with confidence and spend less time worrying about herself than Mindy May did. This is probably not a secret to anyone else, but it was a revelation for me: When you focus on others, you don't worry so much about what everyone else is thinking about you. When you behave confidently, you feel confident. When you have positive expectations, you see the blessings of life unfold around you.

Tim inspired this quite a bit: being with him is so wonderful because he personifies "what you see is what you get." Because he is naturally open, he doesn't approach others with suspicion. I used to waste so much time worrying about what other people were "really thinking" or overanalyzing motives, basically letting my insecurities rule me. I armed myself with sarcasm and pushed my way into a room before anyone could push me around. This, of course, caused people to put up their guard. When I started approaching people differently and expecting the best of them, I felt incredibly free.

I've truly learned to love my life over the past few years. I grew professionally, learned the joy of marriage, and became a mother. Life has been far from perfect, but that's perhaps what's most wonderful about it. When I consider the past few years, I remember it with such joy and gratitude. We experienced frustrating times, but I don't isolate them as "bad times." Instead, I include them as a part of a collection of wonderful experiences that have helped me to experience new things, develop new skills, grow as a person, and enhance my family relationships.

Perhaps the truth is I've been looking at turning 30 all wrong. I look back at the past decade and recognize so much growth in myself and changes in my life. I can also see so much more that I want to experience and learn in the coming decade. Who knows. Maybe when I turn 40, I'll think the ideal age is 35.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Modbe Blowout Sale at www.modbeclothing.com/mindyfarmer!

Modbe is having Huge Blowout Sale at www.modbeclothing.com/mindyfarmer !

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Modbe Swim 2009 is right around the corner and they need to make room in the warehouse. Check out our huge BLOWOUT PRICING online at www.modbeclothing.com/mindyfarmer with savings up to 65% off on almost ALL of our inventory!

This is a THREE DAY ONLY sale STARTING Monday, January 5th at 12:00 AM (EST) and ENDS on Wednesday, January 7th at 11:59 PM (EST). Hurry online to www.modbeclothing.com/mindyfarmer before it’s ALL GONE!