Gratitude

For one of my classes I had to do a social experiment on gratitude.  The days leading up to Thanksgiving I had to write down one thing I was grateful for that day and then after Thanksgiving I had to document if it had any impact on my life.  For 24 days I took the time to reflect on blessings I experienced that day.  I will admit, some days were a lot harder to find something that made me smile but overall I was amazed at how many blessings I saw every single day.  It was amazing how little blessings really added up and made a huge impact on my overall happiness.  There were quite a few blessings that I would have usually overlooked but since I took the time to look for them I realized my life is overflowing with blessings and happiness.  There is a hymn that we sing in my church that says "count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."  So friends and family reading this, I challenge you to do the same! Set aside time in your day to look for your blessings and see if it makes a difference in your life!

Here's a few of my favorite gratitude quotes I found

"We can choose to be grateful no matter what." ~ President Uchtdorf 

"Gratitude attracts more reasons to be grateful" ~Dating Diva's

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough" ~Dating Diva's

"The secret to having it all, is knowing you already do" Dating Diva's

"When you love what you have, you have everything you need." ~Dating Diva's

I believe it is important to remember to live with gratitude within our home so we can more fully appreciate our families and realized how blessed we are to have loved ones in our lives! I believe this is one way to strengthen our homes and families and to increase love and happiness.  

THREE MONTHS

                           

Baby Girl turned 3 months old and I can't even believe it! Holy cow it's been the fastest three months but at the same time it feel like she has always been a part of our little family.  I'm not sure if it is the lack of sleep or what but I can't remember what life was like with out our little chatterbox.  She is awake a lot more which is SO MUCH FUN! She loves to coo back and forth with her mommy and daddy.  She even sings along to music and it's hilarious.  She has learned that she HATES her carseat but she is starting to enjoy tummy time so little victories.  She has even flipped from her tummy to her back a few times which has been so exciting.  She eats all the time, at least that is what it seems like, and it shows because she is really starting to fill out.  She is definitely a wiggle worm and loves to lick anything and everything she can get her little mouth on. She has so much personality in her little body and it's so much fun to watch her figure out the world around her.  We are tired, stressed, busy, and it has been a roller coaster but she has brought so much joy, love, and light into our lives.  We wouldn't trade these crazy days for anything! <3 

                                

Proud Wife Post

**proud wife post**  Our super big news. . . . Keiton got an internship with Honeywell!  I love BYU and I love the Marriott school, I think it is amazing that Keiton gets to study at one of the top Finance programs in the nation. It is awesome how the big prestigious companies come to BYU to recruit.  That being said there are quite a few things that drive me crazy about the Marriott school and one of them is summer internships.  There is SO much pressure to get an internship and we have been looking all semester for a good fit for our little family.  Well, this week Keiton accepted his offer and we are so excited the recruiting season is over for us! Hallelujah! Maybe we will get to see Keiton a little more (fingers crossed) ;) So we actually don't know where we will be going yet, but Keiton got to rank a few different cities.  Hopefully in a few weeks we will know where we have to pack up and move.  It could be anywhere from Charolette, New Jersey, Chicago, or randomly somewhere in Minnesota (we are hoping for an exciting adventure this summer so we are hoping for a big city!)  We are so excited and I am so proud of Keiton and the extreme hard work he has put in this semester even though it has been insane hard especially with a little one! 

So with that good news we have been floating on cloud 9, which is good because it has been a crazy week! Looking back at what has happened this week I am so overwhelmed at how blessed we are to have this cutie and I am convinced she is as perfect as babies come! I don't want to get political (even though I have a lot to say about that) because this blog is all about baby girl so friends and family can watch her grow. But wow lots has happened this week! Tuesday night, Keiton and I stayed up and watched the election.  It went on so long we switched over and watched a movie and turned back when things were getting more exciting. This was a big deal because lets be real, when baby goes to bed we go to bed.  We don't stay up past 11 like ever, so staying up until 1 in the morning was awful, I was BEYOND dead!  As I went to bed I was dreading having to wake up soon but to my great surprise baby not only slept through the night but she slept in!

That was awesome which made my experience at the Social Security Office such an awful contrast.  For some reason we never got baby's card after she was born and we had to submit it to her insurance this week, so I was super stressed and already dreading going to get it.  To make it worse, I walked in and it was PACKED! Seriously, I had to wait in a 20 minute line just to get a number! Overall such a stressful experience, there was a little boy there who would not leave baby alone.  This boy smelt as though he hadn't bathed in days and I had NO idea where his hands had been.  So I was trying to keep him out of her stroller.  She started crying and the whole room turned and were giving me dirty looks.  There were 4-5 people coughing their lungs out so I didn't want to get her out of her carseat.  But by a HUGE miracle I was able to calm her down and she fell asleep and stayed asleep while I waited and waited.  Those 5 minutes were so stressful but I am so grateful she is such a good baby and that she calmed down because those people were not understand and if looks could kill then we would have been in trouble!  It took over 2 and half hours and my mom ended up coming to get baby girl because I could not keep that little boy away but everything got sorted out.  yay for efficient government offices. . . 

Baby girl is rocking tummy time! This is a huge deal because before she would get so frustrated and scream because she wanted to move but couldn't.  She also loves to "roar" back and forth with her daddy.  Watching the two of them plays melts my heart.  Maybe that's why she is such a happy baby, because she has so much fun with her daddy! 

                             

Here's a little reminder for your week, don't forget to smile and be happy :)

                           

Dockstader Halloween 2016

My cousin Tia told me once that holidays are so much more fun when you have a little one. Well I totally agree!! Even though Baby Girl is still really little it was so much fun to carve a pumpkin for her, dress her up in cute costumes and eat candy for her.  We dressed baby up as Minnie Mouse and Keiton and I wore Disney shirts, I had mouse ears and carried a Disney autograph book and a Mickey balloon shaped popcorn container we got last time we were at Disneyland.  We were going for the tourist look because we are this little Minnie's number one fans!!  Unfortunately this Minnie never let us get a picture with all of that, so this is the best Dockstader Family Halloween 2016 picture we got. She definitely won the battle this time!

In other exciting news Baby girl and I got to escape the huge amounts of homework and laundry that consume my life and go to the Pinner's Conference up in Salt Lake.  I love Pinterest, one of my favorite hobbies is trying to create the pins that I find.  This conference was like my Pinterest board came to life, it was a dream come true! There were booths everywhere with crafty things and cute clothes and I loved the demonstrations I was able to watch! I could have spent a lot more time there but life with a baby. . . need I say more??

We tried to hurry back but got stuck in some major traffic, finally we made it home and we got to spend the weekend with Kim, my mother-in-law.  It was a super quick visit but it is always fun to have her here.  We always have a good time and go out to eat at really yummy restaurants.

Look at baby's new trick!! She has gotten pro at holding her own head! 

                

 

How can I freeze time?? I want her to always stay this little and cuddly!