hair talk {how to add volume}

Have you ever heard of the "Utah poof"? It has quite the reputation... but I must admit that I'm a fan of the poof! I can go out in public in my husbands sweats, I can go without make up, but I can't make it out the door without my poof! So I'm going to show you how to "rat" your hair to add volume to the roots, while avoiding the dreaded "Utah poof" at the same time :)

I'm going to show you how to go from this....

.... to this! Not bad, eh? You can't even tell there's a "rats nest" under there ;)

Side note: please ignore my amazing paint skills, I'm hopeless when it comes to computer skills. In other words, I got no skills. And ignore the cheesy faces I pull. I mean really...

1- Pick your comb. Personally, I use a simple rat tail comb. But there are some pretty amazing ratting combs out there. My favorite to use in the salon is the waalaa comb.
2- Take a small section of the hair, maybe 1/2 inch wide (you don't want it too thick so that the comb can glide through and grab all the hairs), and pull it straight up. You do want to leave a little bit of slack so that the comb can pull hairs down as you "rat". 
3- Place the comb a couple inches above the root and pull the comb down in a curved motion (kind of like the shape of a crescent moon) all the way to the root. The closer you can keep the "rats nest" to the root, the better! You want the volume at the top of your head, just at the root, not on the side like it's coming out of your ears :) Repeat movement a few times.
4- Spray roots with your favorite hair spray. Note- you can spray before back combing (another word for ratting) but I prefer to just spray after. I don't like my hair too stiff or sticky. I believe there are products that are worth spending money on, but hairspray is not one of them. I just use the strongest hold of the Dove brand. I will share the products I believe you should spend your money on in another post :)
5- Flip first back-combed section over and grab a second section (the same size) just below it. Repeat steps 2-4. Flip section back to normal but don't comb it out. You want the hairspray to dry before combing out.
6- Repeat steps 2-5 on the other side of your hair. I don't back comb the back of my hair. I think it's a waste of time because I don't see it, and it can look really messy.
7- Wait a few more seconds (depending on the type of hairspray you use, and how quickly it dries) and laugh at how awesome your hair looks (or be scared. This part always scares my clients, ha!) Note: I wish you all could have seen Eric's reaction the first time he saw me do this to my hair. He was mortified but couldn't help "daring" me to go out in public like this :)
8- Take a brush or a pick (I prefer a brush) and gently brush over the very top layer of your hair. You want to smooth the poof, not brush out all of the back combing. Sometimes the poof doesn't look right so I have to re do a section or two. Then I spray a light film of hairspray over the finished product!

 Voila! Just in case you forgot that I posted this above :)

If this was hard to understand and you are interested, let me know and I will make a vlog. After I find someone who can teach me how to make one... ha ha!

how do I get so lucky?

I was chatting with a friend yesterday when she told me her first memory of me, which is a little embarrassing. Shortly after we moved to this dinky town we were asked to speak in church. The first thing that popped out of my mouth was a desperate plea for friends... I mean, what a great impression for everyone in the ward to have of me! Normally I would be too shy, or feel too stupid, or maybe even feel ashamed for admitting how much I needed people. Eric was working SO MUCH and I was heartbroken to leave behind my beloved northern Utah, all of my friends and all of the fun things that kept me busy! What can I say? I'm a people person and I need good friends in my life! It's crazy looking back almost a year and a half later to see how content I am now....

It was so good to see my friends last week while Eric was in training! I mean, I can't even explain how good it felt! It was like I hadn't even moved away, things just picked up where we left off (except I have a baby for them to love on now!) and I loved it! I am so happy and blessed knowing that even though we live hundreds of miles apart, Eric and I made amazing life long friends! And it's such a good feeling knowing all of those friends are working on planning a trip to come visit us asap.... (hint hint girls, ha ha!)
But when I was up north, I saw pictures on instagram of my friends in this dinky town bowling together and I felt a little sting of jealousy that I wasn't with them. And then I thought uuuuh oh! I didn't want to feel jealous that I wasn't in town because I'm not supposed to like living here! But I guess that's a sign that this dinky town has grown on me. That was a lie. I still think this dinky town sucks (obviously) but the people have definitely grown on me! I am just feeling so blessed lately that everywhere we go, we meet the most amazing people, people that we will be friends with for the rest of forever! God truly sends us what we need, when we need it most! Even though I feel like so much was taken away from me when we moved here, it has made me stronger in the long run.

 I know I'm totally rambling, but I guess the point of this mushy post is that I am so grateful for my old AND new friendships. You people have saved me in ways you could never know! And I'm even more grateful that Mia will have so many amazing friendships with your kids :)

weekend review {Memorial Day}

I know, I know, I'm 100% biased. But seriously. We have the cutest baby everrrr! We are so blessed!

Eric worked on Memorial Day but I'm not complaining because we were actually in northern Utah all of last week! Eric had education/training so Mia and I tagged along and we had so much fun! We got to see more of our favorite guy in the last week than we have in the past couple of months, and we soaked it up as much as possible! I really did my best to enjoy each moment, which means no pictures because that always "ruins" the moment (silly hubs, doesn't he know how important pictures are for the blog, instagram, and oooooh yeah... posterity?! Ha!) Am I the only one who's married to a camera hater?

On our way home we stopped at the Seven Peaks water park. I was kind of worried Mia would hate it because she didn't enjoy her last dip in the pool, but she LOVED it! She was even good natured about the ice cold water in the kid section! I can't tell you what a relief that is, because I plan on spending lots of time in the pool this summer! It was so fun to watch Mia... she loved watching all the kids play, and she especially loved learning how to splash her hand in the water! It is crazy how much joy I feel watching my baby learn, grow and play :)

While my hubs worked on Monday, my parents came up to hangout with me and Mia (because we all know it's all about the babe)! We went hiking in Kolob and it was beautiful! I'm tellin' you guys... you all need to come visit! I have the world's cutest baby and am surrounded by incredibly gorgeous scenery! People travel from all over the world to visit my "backyard"! I'm so lucky I get to enjoy days like these with people I love! And I'm forever grateful to the brave men and women who have (and still do) fight for our freedom. I love this country and those who sacrifice so much to make it a better place! And I'm grateful for week (ends) like these to soak up time with my little family!

just some randoms {5}

Every one laughs when I show them this picture of our flower child... but I LOVE it :) Mia is the cutest!

Mia was so excited the first time we sat her up like a "big girl" in the stroller! She loves being able to see everything on our walks/runs! (Yes, I still need a jogging stroller. Hint hint Eric...)

Mia wanted some of granddad's chocolate shake soooo badly, ha ha! Girl knows what's good in this life ;) (In the last week we've actually let her try chocolate ice cream AND a pickle... no reaction to either one of them, ha! We are excited to start feeding her something besides milk in the next month!)

We put Mia in her jumper for the first time a couple weeks ago. She had no idea what to do but she still loved it :)

There's just somethin' about baby fingers and toes... am I right?

a heart like mine

Maybe it's because I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day this month? Or maybe it's because my sweet friend had to deliver her precious still born daughter this week? Or maybe it's because I don't ever want to take my perfect baby for granted, not even for just one second? I'm not really sure the exact reason but, today I want to talk about being a mom.

If Eric had it his way, we would have had a baby after being married 2 years. If I had it my way, we would have had a baby around 3 1/2-4 years of marriage. Of course God's way was the only way, and we had Mia just a few months shy of our 5th anniversary. And of course it was perfect timing (but you don't always see that until you are able to look back on life with more experience and wisdom under the belt, ha). But to be totally honest, I was terrified to become a mother!

I would tell Eric often that I had to be ready to sacrifice life as I knew it. I had to prepare myself to give up my body... as shallow as this sounds... I knew it wouldn't ever be the same again. And I was scared to have more imperfections. I had to be ready to care for someone 24/7. I had to be ready to put my needs and wants second, because the baby's needs and wants would always come first. I had to be ready for the unknown, even though there really isn't a way to be prepared for that. I guess I just had to get there mentally, does that even make sense?

Now that I'm a mom, if I'm being totally honest, it's the best thing that's ever happened to me! Mia has brought me so much happiness. It's like my heart could constantly burst from being so full of pure joy, and I know Eric feels the same way! I still have fears about being a mom, and I'm sure I always will. But I won't dwell on that, because then I will miss out on the whole point of motherhood. Mia has taught me to look at the world in a different light, to love unconditionally, to forgive in a heartbeat, and to live life to the fullest. No quote has ever touched me before the way this one has... Mia shapes and molds my heart to her more and more each day. I am forever grateful for being blessed with my baby girl.

hair crisis

When I was pregnant, Eric sweetly told me that if I wanted to cut my hair off, it would be alright with him. Oh thanks baby. He really loves my long hair but you hear about all these pregnant women chopping their hair, so I suspect he thought he was being a good husband by giving me his permission :) ha ha! I told myself that I would wait until my baby was 6 months old before doing anything drastic with my hair.... that way my hormones wouldn't be making any irrational decisions ;) But you guysssssss, I'm about to shave. it. off.
My hair isn't falling out, yet (hair can fall out anytime in the first year after labor.... the things we go through for our babies). My hormones are pretty much in order (just don't ask my husband if he agrees on a bad day, ha). I love the length (I've been growing it for years to get to this point). Mia only pulls it a little bit (she'd get a handful even if it was short, just ask her daddy). But I'm so annoyed that my shedding hair is all over the house. We are constantly pulling it out of our clothes, sweeping it off the floors and cleaning it out of our vacuum. We have even pulled it out of Mia's little bum while changing her diaper... I mean seriously! I spend the time each morning to make it look "pretty" and then I spend the rest of the day daydreaming about shaving it off. It's a problem!

 My legs look weird in this picture... good grief! I'm just one big hot mess right now! Heaven help me and everyone who has to put up with me!

I know what I'd tell me clients in this situation.... but I can't seem to give myself the same advice. Someone please, please talk some sense into me before I pull a Britney Spears (she's the first one that shaved her head out of desperation, right?) and I shamefully upload pictures onto all social media sites, ha ha! But seriously....

a perfect day {Zion National Park}

(Mia ended up wearing pj's because it was a bit cool, but I had to show off her little workout outfit, ha ha!)

I took Mia hiking for her first time in Zion National Park this past weekend.

We got to go with Shay and had the BEST time. She was the perfect friend to go with.

The sky was overcast and there was a bit of a breeze. It wasn't cold and it never got hot. The weather was totally perfect!

Mia loved checking out the beautiful scenery. She slept great in the carrier. And she smiled and laughed anytime she got attention. She was a perfect little angel baby!

I don't really know what else to say except... this was a perfect day!

I'm thinking this needs to be a weekly outing :)

p.s. With the baby, backpacks and everything else we had to pack, we left the camera behind and just used our phones. The pictures don't do it justice, Zion is beautiful!!

happy 5 months to my love bug

Have I mentioned that time is flying too quickly? Well, just in case I haven't, TIME IS FLYING TOO QUICKLY!! I can't believe my baby is 5 months today!

- As you can see, Mia discovered how fun it is to stick her foot in her mouth this past month :) Eric was giving her a bath the first time she did this. He grabbed the camera, covered her up and snapped some pictures, while hollering for me to come see. One proud wifey/mommy right here, ha ha! He got some good pictures of this silly milestone :)

- She still rolls from her tummy to her back all the time. But she doesn't have anything to do with rolling from her back to her tummy. (update: as I was typing this post I heard a lot of grunting so I looked up and saw that Mia had rolled from her back to her tummy on the play mat. Second time ever doing that!) 

- Mia sat up by herself (with no support) on the couch for the first time May 6th. Such a strong girl! We only practice with no support on the couch or bed right now. Softest landing we can find when she topples over :)

- Got her first cold this past month. Broke my momma heart! She was still a happy baby (just not as giggly) the whole time! But her little cough just killed me. 

- Mia is a pro at taking the binky out of her mouth AND putting it back in :) She started to figure it out within a couple days of turning 4 months old, but now it's the easiest thing for her! In fact, it's how she puts herself to sleep. She pulls it out and puts it back in over and over until she closes her eyes, ha! If she is super tired then she gets too impatient and just cries until we put the bink in for her.

- She is SO good at reaching and grabbing toys, hair, anything she can get her little fingers wrapped around ;)

- Mia LOVES faces! She gets so excited to play with toys that have little faces painted on. Her favorite toys to play with are tiny babies and dolls :) And she loves other babies. She smiles so big and starts babbling excitedly anytime we get together with friends and their babies! We have a very social baby and I love it!

- She is still in size 1 diapers. We tried size 2 but she peed right outta those... definitely going to wait awhile longer before trying size 2 again :)

- We are finally able to dress her in 3-6 month clothes! I can't tell you how sick I am of her 0-3 and 3 month clothes, ha ha. I'm having so much fun dressing her up! But I still have to safety pin the 3 month and 3-6 month bottoms. We have a skinny baby! 

Mia is the happiest, funnest, most loving baby ever. And of course she is gorgeous and perfect in every way. And we are only a little biased :) She brings us so much happiness and joy!! Eric and I are over the moon for our little 5 month old.

We love you, Mia!!

currently...

In case you're wondering, Mia is so proud of herself because she has a fist full of dad's hair, ha ha! He's so good natured with her :)

Loving: that I just ignored everything on my to do list during Mia's nap time and took a nap with her. I missed her SO much while I was working yesterday that I didn't even want to put her to bed last night! I just wanted to play with her and snuggle the crap out of her :) But since that would have been a little messy, I put her to bed. I was planning on cleaning, doing laundry and typing this post while she napped but I ignored it all to get in some snuggles with my sleeping babe. And I LOVED it!

Reading: I'm actually not reading anything at the moment. Eric has some work trips coming up and I will be tagging along, so I'll have quite a bit of down time for reading. I'd LOVE some recommendations for my kindle?!

Learning: to trust in my husband in ALL things. Sometimes he really does know what is best. He's especially trying to teach me that patience wins in the end. I'm still waiting to find out if that works out... ha ha!

Trying to: cook dinner every single night! Obviously it is healthier and cheaper than eating out, but I really feel kind of yucky and bloated when we eat out. I'm totally happy with occasionally eating out with our friends but I'm really trying to make an effort to plan ahead for our meals. If there's a day where Eric and I will be super busy, or get home late, or whatever, I'll make sure to have a crock pot meal ready. Things like that to be sure that grabbing take out isn't the only option we have left. It makes me feel like such a good wifey when we eat a good meal (that tastes good, ha!) and is healthy :)

Wishing: that Mia will stay sweet, innocent and happy her whole life! I remember my dad asking me if I would stay a sweet little girl instead of a rotten teenager like my brother was becoming... of course I said yes! And of course I turned into a rotten teenager anyway. But I want Mia to always view Eric and I as her best friends and love us foreverrrr, ha!

Excited for: the lunch I'm trying to set up with all of my northern Utah blog friends! I'm thinking it will be next Thursday (the 24th) Leave me your email if you're interested in coming! I'm trying to keep the location private just because babies (as in my baby) is involved and you just never know... But tell everyone you think might be interested! I want as many of us to get together as possible!

weekend review {Mother's Day edition}

These pictures are just a peek into my weekend through my phone. I'll go into detail a little more with my narration. I just don't want to forget celebrating my first real Mother's Day :)
I was so excited to celebrate over the weekend, but of course life had other plans! Friday evening we went to a BBQ and I got to play sand volleyball while Eric kept Mia. It was so fun even though even though I suck :) That night Mia woke up around 1:30 to eat, but then she was up crying for the next 2 hours. I should have known something war wrong, but I was just so exhausted and frustrated with her! I finally tried to feed her again around 3:30 (Mia will NOT eat if she's not hungry. Eating is not her "go to" for comfort) so I swaddled her up and she fell asleep on my bed. Eric took Mia back to her room when suddenly she threw up on him. I felt so awful, no wonder she'd been fussing all night! I changed her (because it got all over Eric... for some twisted reason I wanted to high five Mia for puking on dad instead of mom, ha!) and put her in her crib. I went back to bed and watched her in the monitor when after a couple minutes she threw up in her sleep. I ran and got her and gave her a bath. Once Eric was done with his shower he threw everything in the washer. Once Mia was cleaned up I brought her to bed with me where she fell into a good, deep sleep. After calling my mom at 4am (I was so worried about Mia!) Eric set up the pack n play and Mia slept right next to our bed. Once Eric switched the laundry to the dryer we finally went to sleep, around 5:30. Of course Eric got a couple phone calls from work, which he didn't hear but they woke me and Mia..... ah! I think I got an hour of sleep from 1:30-8. It was the hardest night to date! But Mia was all better and totally herself by morning, thank goodness!
I was way excited to see what Eric had planned for Saturday. He surprised me with some roses.... and then got called into work. I was already frustrated that they woke us up at an unreasonable hour (even more unreasonable because I'd only been asleep for maybe a half hour the first time they called, ha!) but I just wanted to be pampered, ha! I know... so snotty. But I mostly felt so awful that Eric was running on as little sleep as I was. I promise I'm grateful for Eric's job!
Sunday ended up being perfect! Mia let us all catch up on much needed sleep :) Eric made me breakfast complete with those little chocolate donuts. I must admit, I still miss those hostess donuts! I may have dressed Mia to match me as much as possible, but she loved it (ha ha). Eric grilled salmon and asparagus for lunch. We went on a walk and enjoyed the beautiful, sunny weather. Eric made German pancakes for dinner and a lemon meringue pie for dessert. We ended the night with a movie in bed while Eric played with my hair, my favorite thing ever! So the weekend totally didn't go as planned, but Sunday was just perfect!
Once again, I'm so grateful for Eric and Mia, the reasons I get to celebrate Mother's Day. And of course I'm grateful for our mom's and all the other mom's that I learn from daily!

more from Mia's special day

I blogged about Mia's special blessing day in March, but I've been dying to share more pictures of her outfit! That day was so crazy and hectic that I didn't really think to take pictures of just Mia, so I had some taken during her 3 month shoot. I'm so happy to be sharing these because I love everything about her blessing dress!

Mia's headband and bracelet were gifts. I bought the dress from a girl that my friend referred me to (thank goodness because it was the only dress that I fell in love with)! And my great great grandma (Mia's 3rd great grandma) crocheted the booties for my blessing day. I love that my mom gave them to me so that Mia could wear them on her special day! My angel baby couldn't look more perfect in this outfit!

linking up with Megan, Lindsay and Kelly for Trendy Tot Tuesday!

Happy Mother's Day... to me!

This time last year, Eric and I were sharing the news that we were gifting our amazing mom's with a new grand baby! I don't know about you, but I think that was a pretty great mother's day gift, ha ha! I love our mom's dearly and have to say that they are the BEST grandma's to baby Mia... but today is all about me :) Today is the first time that I truly get to be selfish and soak up all the pampering I can get out of my hubs, and I don't even feel bad about it. Why? Because I LOVE BEING A MOM!! Mia truly is the greatest blessing Eric and I have ever been blessed with!

I am so grateful to have these two in my life! Without Eric and Mia, I wouldn't be able to proudly celebrate my calling as a mother. I am the luckiest!

this is terrifying to share...

Have you guys watched this video by dove? I saw it circulating Facebook for quite awhile before I actually watched it. I kept switching my view from the computer screen to the video monitor. I cried as I listened to these women describe themselves and each other. I cried as they revealed the sketches. I cried as I watched my perfect baby girl sleeping peacefully in her crib.

You see, I've had multiple conversations with Eric about how terrified I am for Mia to grow up in this world. I am afraid she will lose herself. I'm afraid she won't believe she is enough. I'm afraid she won't love herself. Mia is.... Mia is the most perfect little being I've ever laid eyes on. She is so happy! I know she is only a baby, but I know that her love for me, for her dad and for life is unconditional. This tiny human has taught me to view the world in a different light, and it's so wonderful! But she will grow out of that and it is my job to teach her how amazing this world can be and how incredibly beautiful she is. It is my job to teach her that there couldn't possibly be a more perfect version of herself. I want Mia to know of her self worth! I want her to love her as much as I love her!

I am embarrassed to admit the thoughts I've had about myself. I went through a brief period of self loathing, all due to hormones (nasty stuff we are made up of, ha ha) and I cringe just thinking of how cruel I was to myself. But my normal day to day thoughts are almost as ridiculous. Would you believe that I believe that I'm the ugly duckling out of all of my friends? I have such gorgeous friends, every single one! And I often wonder if people feel bad for me for being the odd duck in any group. Just saying (or typing) that out loud sounds ridiculous. I'm embarrassed to feel that way! I gripe about my skin, I pick at my body, I voice concern about all of my imperfections to my husband and that sweet man probably wants to smack me! He is quick to tell me how perfect I am in his eyes. If only I could see myself the way he sees me....

Do you see why I was crying? I don't really know how others view me, but it doesn't matter! What matters is how I view myself. How am I supposed to teach Mia, unless I believe whole heartedly that every word I'm saying is true? It's easy to tell her she's beautiful, in fact, it comes naturally to compliment my angel baby! It feels foreign to compliment myself. It is time to start looking at myself in a different light. It won't be easy at first, but I want to love myself the way I love my daughter. I want to think positive thoughts about myself, the way I do about my friends and family. I want to change and become a better role model for my daughter!! I just want to be better.

photos by: Sweet Wishes Photography
headband: Little Miss Millie's Boutique

Mia's 3 month photos

I know this is like a month and a half overdue... but here are some shots from Mia's 3 month photo shoot! I can't believe how much my baby has grown! I may be biased, but I think she's so beautiful and perfect in EVERY way :)

 headband: Little Miss Millie's Boutique

all photos by: Sweet Wishes Photography

I can't wait to share the rest!