Home Is Where the Heart Is

How true this statement is: "Home is where the heart is"! Since becoming a mom, I can honestly say that it is a JOY to stay home with Rusty, to be his mom, to raise and love him, but to also make my house a HOME-- to keep it clean and organized, to make it somewhere where the Spirit can dwell, and somewhere that my family and I, as well as visitors, feel safe and welcome. Lately I've become so inspired by this knowledge and so grateful that I'm able to stay home. We hear all the time how the world is becoming more and more corrupt and evil everyday and we need to safeguard our homes to make it a sanctuary away from it. Well, I am very grateful that I'm able to stay home to do such.

I worked outside of the home for 8 years before I had Rusty. I was nervous when the time was steadily approaching for me to stay home. Not because I didn't want to raise my son, but because I was afraid of being "trapped" and feeling like I wouldn't be contributing to the family... monetarily, especially. I felt that way until Rusty was put in my arms and then I realized how important this motherhood calling is, and what a blessing it is to be given such a sacred opportunity! Raising a child, I believe, is one of the most important callings anyone on this earth can have, and I'm honored and humbled that Heavenly Father has chosen me to be a mother here on this earth.

Last weekend we were able to hear from our General Relief Society Presidency and President Monson at the General Relief Society Meeting. Sister Silvia H. Allred gave this comment and how I appreciate it!

"I know that each of us has a vital and essential role as a daughter of God. He has bestowed upon His daughters divine attributes for the purpose of forwarding His work. God has entrusted women with the sacred work of bearing and rearing children. No other work is more important. It is a holy calling. The noblest office for a woman is the sacred work of building eternal families, ideally in partnership with her husband."

My heart is here, at home, with my son and husband, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

"Our home is a place...

Where God's Spirit can dwell...

Where the storm stops at the door...

Where love reigns and peace dwells."

-President Thomas S. Monson

Labor Day Adventures!

We decided last minute to travel to Bakersfield, CA for Labor Day Weekend this year, and boy was it fun! Russ' family lives there and so we get to visit a few times a year, which is great. Rusty is named after Russ and his dad (hence being the third!), but poor Grandpa Rusty had only seen Baby Rusty three times... that just wouldn't do! And Russ' grandma, Meme, had NEVER met him, so she was able to drive down from Fresno with Russ' Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Alice to behold her oh-so-cute great-grandson, which was so neat! We got a 4 generation picture, which is so cute! We sure love family, and now that Rusty is here, they seem to really love us, too! :) lol

Rusty and his cousin, Ellie. They absolutely LOVE each other! It was so funny watching Rusty just stare at Ellie and Ellie act like big cousin that she is. Her mom, Kali, is pregnant with her little brother, Baby J. We can't wait for boy cousin #2 to get here! There are so many girls in Russ' family!

Meme and Rusty

They adored each other. :)

4 generations of Schafer's!

One day we went out to lunch and we thought it would be fun to see if Rusty liked lemons: What do you think?

ha ha ha! He was actually intrigued at first, but then after trying to give it to him again he leaned as far back into his highchair as possible to get away from it. I guess not. :)

Then he decided to be a ham, as usual. This kid is seriously one of the most photogenic kids I've ever seen! If he sees a camera pointed in his direction he automatically smiles! I LOVE IT!!!

I LOVE this one! It's so him!

Too cool for school. :)

How can you not love those big, brown eyes? 

We broke up the trip home by staying in Vegas overnight... we just HAD to stay and play for the day! We ended up going to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay...

This is golden alligator. Pretty cool, I guess. At least Russ liked it!

And here, of course, are the sharks.

Looking at the sea rays... 

... and we got to touch them! I really liked this part!

Posing with mom and dad.

Who knew the Eiffel Tower is in Vegas!

Waiting to go inside Serendipity for lunch. While waiting for our food, we got some of these gems:

How much drool can one baby possess? Just look at him!

Giving Rusty his first taste of Root Beer... he REALLY liked it!

This is such a classic Rusty pose! I just love it!

"More, mom, more!!!"

This is my new FAVORITE! I love his hammy smiles! 

The whole gang at Serendipity:

Needless to say, we had a blast in CA and in Las Vegas! We've been on so many adventures since he's been born and we're definitely looking forward to the ones to come!

Little Giant

And when I say "little" it's only because he's still a baby! :) We had his 6 month appointment yesterday and he was such a trooper with the 3 shots they gave them! He only cried for about 10 seconds during the initial pokes, but as soon as I picked him up he was totally fine... and for the rest of the day, too! Such big boy! LITERALLY! Here are the stats:

Weight: 18.28 lb - 59th percentile

Height: 28.5'' - 95th percentile

Head Circumference: 18'' - 91st percentile

Yep... he's a big kid! He's still fairly skinny, minus his chipmunk cheeks, but he is super tall and has a really big head! ha ha! All the better to store his really big brain, right? ;) No, but really.

The doctor says that he'll be around 6'2'' or 6'3'', which we're both pretty happy about. He can play basketball for me and football for Russ. Best of both worlds! :)

6 Months!!

My baby is officially a half of a year old! Time sure does fly when you're having fun! We've had a BLAST since he's been born and have loved EVERY minute of him being here with us. He's the sweetest, funniest, most lovable babies ever and we really do love him to pieces. He's getting the cutest personality and we're looking forward to seeing it blossom throughout his life.

Being a first-time mom I go a little all-out with a lot of things now, which I am perfectly fine with! We threw a small family party for him on Saturday... decorations, pool, and a yummy bbq! We had so much fun!

He ALWAYS has his fingers in his mouth!

Aunt BB!

Opening his present from Aunt BB

"Go, Dog, Go!" This was one of Russ' favorite books as a kid, so we're hoping Rusty loves it, too. :)

My sweet Grandpa Malmstrom admiring Rusty. They were fascinated by each other!

Sharing daddy's fudgesicle. He loved it!

This picture makes me laugh so hard! It almost looks like he has a goatee! He sure loved this! I didn't particularly like the cleanup, but kids have to be messy sometimes, right? :)

No more fudgesicle for you! ha ha! Sorry, kiddo!

My GQ baby. He's such a handsome boy! Just like his daddy! :)

So excited to go to church!

My handsome boys and their matching ties

Such a proud daddy!

I sure love this kid! And so do my arms! ha ha! This kid is a tank! :)

Happy 6 months, Rusty! You've definitely been the best addition to our little family and we love you round and round!

Birthday Fun!

I turned 26 on August 14th and I had a fantastic day! We started off by waking up bright and early (which was actually kind of nice!) to go up to Jordanelle Lake to watch Brittany participate in a triathlon. I can't believe the strength and endurance required for one of those! Props to Brittany for completing it! She finished in 1 hour 44 minutes. She also ran a full marathon in June and a 5k last month and wants to complete a "bicycle century", which is a bike ride of 100 miles in one day! That's crazy! She's gotten really into races and excels at whatever she puts her mind to. She's awesome and I love, love, LOVE having her as a sister-in-law! We're so proud of you, BB!

Russ, me, Rusty, Robin (Russ' mom), Brittany, and her friend, Trevor, who did the race with her. She had a goal to beat him and she did! By 4 minutes! WHOOT!!! :)

Later, Russ took me out to Magelby's in Springville... neither of us had ever been there and we were so glad we went! It was so yummy and the restaurant was so pretty! We had some really good conversations, too. It's not very often that we get to go out to a nice dinner by ourselves anymore, so it was really nice. I love my husband SO MUCH and am so grateful for him. He makes my life so complete and I'm more happy than I ever thought I could be. Thanks, babe, for always making my birthday so special.

We, of course, got this appetizer and it was SO GOOD! No wonder it's award-winning! It was delicious!

We got home and he had my family and some of his over for a surprise party! It was a lot of fun! His mom always makes the most interesting parties... every birthday party we've had as a family she has these "games" we play. She gives everyone a piece of paper and a pen and has them number it from 1-10. She then asks questions about the birthday boy or girl and whoever gets the most right wins a prize. Russ won-- 10/10! He won a Snickers, which he then gave to me because it's my favorite. :) She also asks everyone to say something that they like about the birthday boy or girl and/or a special memory they have with said person. I really like that one because it makes me appreciate everyone else, in turn. It's nice to hear what people like about you and fun to hear some of the memories they have with you.

I got a big purple ring (I LOVE big jewelry!), a bracelet, a hat, some Nordstrom giftcards (YAY!), a digital frame, and Russ got me the new Kindle, which I'm SO excited about! It's on back order, so I won't get it until the middle of next month, but it's worth the wait. I'm an avid reader and am thrilled at the idea of being able to order a book and begin reading it within 60 seconds. :)

Blowing out my birthday candles! I can't tell you what I wished for, though. Sorry. I want this one to come true!

The next day, the Mills' family (basically my family-- the family I used to nanny for) invited us over for a Sunday birthday dinner. They made me steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, fresh watermelon and cucumbers from her sister's garden, and for dessert we had one of my favorites-- strawberry shortcake! It was SO YUMMY! I'm so grateful for them in my life. They truly are amazing people and I love them all very much.

Gary, Russ, McKenzie, Tyler, Haley, and Becky

And last, but not least, here's me and my little munchkin outside on the grass.. his new favorite! He has recently learned how to sit up and we're the proudest parents in the world! :)

I just LOVE this little guy!

Again, I had a great birthday and I'm so grateful for everyone that was a part of it that made it so special!