New Beginnings

Well, it looks like motherhood has truly taken its toll on the blog-life. We have had a million changes happening in our lives in the last 8 months (which have zipped by at warp speed), and even if I would have had spare time to blog, I'm not sure I would have had the inspiration to, if I'm being completely honest. However, for the first time ever, I have made a list of New Years Resolutions of sorts. I am not a huge goal setter, it has never been a strong suite of mine, maybe fear of not acheiving them and therefore failing, or maybe just laziness, I'm not really sure which one. BUT, I have made a list of a few changes I would like to make in my life over the next year. They are attainable, realistic, and one of them just happens to be attempting to revive this little piece of internet. I made myself a promise that I would at least TRY. I have this problem with documenting important things in my life. I tend to leave them up to my memory, but I always wish I had some tangible things to treasure and look back on over the years. Plus, as my baby grows up, I would love for her to be able ot look back at theses beginning years of her life that she cant remember on her own, and see how much happiness she brought her mom and dad. So, without further adieu, my resolutions for 2012:

*learn to use my sewing machine. My mom gave me one a few years back, and I have never even taken the cover off.

*TRULY live within or below our means. More about this later, but I feel like we always SAY we are doing this, but over the years as our income has increased, our lifestyle has increased along with it. This has taken away from our ability to give above and beyond sacrificially. So in other words, our income has increased, our spending has increased, and our generosity has flatlined. We would like to give out of our first fruits, instead of our leftovers or abundance.

*Be more community minded. Live where we are. Not for tomorrow or next year or where we wish we were, but where we are right here and now.

*Exercise more regularly in a way I ENJOY, and not let it be a burden. I need to be healthier for the sake of my sanity and my family's sanity. This is not about being fit as a fiddle or lookin' sexy. Its about finding confidence again in my skin (stretchy as it may be at the moment) so that i can quit stressing out about it and pretending my husband wants to hear sentences like "I look like a popped beach ball". I want my daughter to see a model of confidence.

*Try out blogging again. Hense this first post of 2012.

*Scale back, minimize. Lets refer to the mounds of junk we gave to goodwill when we moved recently. Holy Moly. HOW did we aquire so much stuff in the last 4 years? Seriously rediculous. Our life has gotten so bogged down with STUFF, not even good stuff. Not bad stuff, just pointless stuff. I want to scale back and fill our lives with people and things that matter, and be a better steward of those people and things. This means having fewer aquaintences and deepening a few really great relationships we have. This also means getting rid of the junk we dont need, saying no to things on sale or offered to us for free unless we need them, and taking better care of the things that we have.

*Have a quiet devotion time every single day. I know this sounds crazy like I should already be doing this, annnnd you would be right in thinking such a thought. But the truth is, since having Evelyn, it has been hard to find time every day to just be quiet before Jesus. But I have quickly learned I SOOO need it. If I don't have it, I suffer, my husband suffers, and my daughter suffers. I need my cup to be full so it can overflow to my family instead of trying to drain every last drop out of myself and all thats left for me is an empty cup. Not ok.

So there they are! I will try and blog about them all individually and what I'm doing to carry them out.

Happenings

Well, I guess motherhood has caused a slight lag time in the blogging. I suppose I have been a little bit busy! Evelyn is almost 5 months old now! I can't believe it! She is so much fun. Talking up a storm, laughing, rolling over both ways, trying soooo hard to scoot, and eating oatmeal cereal and avocados. The time is going by so fast, I'm just soaking in every minute! Well, since it's been so long, I won't try and recap everything that has happened in the last few months. Instead, here are some pictures to look at. Now that I know I can blog on my iPhone, it might be a little easier to keep this thing updated. I've still got my hands pretty full most of the time, so sitting at the computer is a pretty rare occasion.

Outings Galore

We are a one car family. This means Ben usually has the car during the weekdys for work and Evy and I stick around the house most of the time. This is ok since she is still is the stages of nursing a lot and usually falls asleep on me for her naps. Its tough to get out during the day for more than a couple hours anyway, especially by myself. Anyway, when the weekends come, we like to try and do some fun t hings as a family. It takes some convincing sometimes since there are about a million things to do around the house.

Really, its like a war zone.

Thats ok, just promise not to be bothered if you stop by and you cant remember if you came to my house or to the Old Navy clearance section on black friday. messy.

But the important thing is this: its summer and my family is cute.

just at the lake!

I love nanna

but not as much as mommy and daddy

this is not my family, but I do love him.

Ben needed a $5 elephant ear at the zoo.

little pea pod

i know, kinda cute.

the fam.

not lovin the water so much

mama

super baby

Hi, it's me, but different!

Well hi! I guess its been a while since I've updated this here piece of Internet! I've been a little busy :) We finally got our little bean sprout out of my tummy and into the world...though it took a lonnnnnng time! I'll write out the story another day, but the important thing is she is here and healthy and almost 3 months old now! WOW time is flying. Here are the quick details (in case you wanted to know?)...She was born June 2nd at 8:51 in the evening, weighed 7 lbs 4 oz, was 21 inches long, and is the sweetest thing ever.

Fresh baby girl!

I cannot even tell you how much this little peanut has changed our lives for the good. Nobody tells you all the hard stuff about giving birth and bringing a new baby home for the first time. It is the most challenging, stretching, gut wrenching thing you will ever do. BUT its also the most amazing, incredible, indescribable thing you will ever do. I never know there could be room in my heart to love someone so much! I thought I was pretty much an expert in being in love since I met Ben, but I basically had no idea. :-) I will never be able to logically doubt God's love for me again. The transition from wife to wife and mother is the fastest one you can make. Becoming a wife is a pretty graceful transition. Think about it...

you get to spend the whole day looking more beautiful than anyone else, with all your friends and family there, you get a diamond ring, and then you get to go to a hotel and...well you know. THEN you go on vacation for a week and practice some more...then you come home to tons of presents! What could be better than that?

Here's about how the transition to becoming a mother takes place...you spend hours (in my case days) in a kind of pain you didnt know existed, with people you dont know looking at your girly parts (not that you really care in that moment), then you go to a room where a stranger teaches you how to feed a human out of your own body parts, then you come home and nobody tells you what to do, you wake up every hour and take a concoction of pain meds, forget to eat for 8 hours, forget to go to the bathroom for a few days, keep a running chart of poops and pees and change a bagillion diapers, look up online with your husband what baby poop is supposed to look like, examine the poop, then worry a little bit, then laugh hysterically, then cry for no reason, then get scared, then realize again that nobody is going to tell you how what to do, then realize that youre a mom and you cant put them back, then get mad at yourself for even thinking that thought. Then you look at your husband and remember that he's your husband and not your roomie. Then you feel so much love your heart feels like its going to explode and you cry because you cant stand the thought of your tiny little baby ever doing anything except lay curled up in a ball on your chest with milk on her cheeks. :-)

Then one day you wake up and realize that this is who you are. You are a mom. Its not like being a mom is something you do, as if you need to have some time to "just be yourself", you are a mom. Its the best feeling in the whole world.

sigh.

It really is amazing. I am so blessed.

booger nose


somebody looks exactly like daddy!

kinda done taking pictures, mom.

my baby is naked

Its almost the end of my first week home from work waiting for baby. I have been very productive, but haven't rested very much. I can't seem to relax as much as I'm trying. I want her to be here so bad, I have a hard time waiting! I know she'll come in her own time though. In the meantime, I have been writing thank-you notes, running errands, doing projects, cleaning, doing laundry, having visitors, organizing, and forgetting to take breaks to sit down even though my feet feel like they have daggers in them. Seriously, so much aching of the feet.

Anyway, I have no choice but to wait on my little one to arrive, and while I am waiting I have been dreaming of seeing her in all her sweet little outfits. Right now, shes naked. That's a cute thought. She has been naked her whole life, and she will not even know what is going on when I put clothes on her. I bet babies think that it is uncomfortable to be in clothes after being naked in a warm bath for nine months. I know I would! Here are some of my favorite things (mostly dresses, which I know is unrealistic) I am looking forward to putting the little kumquat in. I can't show you my favorite little newborn outfit yet because I'm taking her home from the hospital in it and it can't be revealed to the world. It just can't. Its my rule.

This came as a set from the Carter's outlet, so summery.

The pants have THE tiniest ankles ever.

This used to belong to Allison, my sister-in-law-even-though-i-hate-that-term, when she was a baby (25 years ago). Given to me from our cousin, given to her by Ben's mama when she had her first little girl.

Again, used to be Allison's.

Again. And this one has ruffled panties to match.

I used to call them "Sunday panties" when I was little.

This is my favorite. From The Children's Place. (on sale, $4).

Again with the matching panties.

From Ben's mom, I think from Target.

I don't know if I'll be able to put her in all of her clothes. I might have to change her outfit 9 times a day to get them all on her before she outgrows them. What a sad thought! I don't want to think about her growing yet, just getting here!

37 Weeks

Update- Week 37:

Well friends, I am headed into week 37 of being pregnant, which means I'm full term! This little peanut could be here any day :-) This morning at our appointment we got a little surprise when our doctor wheeled in the ultrasound machine to take a look at Evelyn. We haven't seen her since week 20 when we found out she was a "she". We could barely see her because her head was SO low! This is a good sign, and our doctor said she is looking down and turned sideways. I'm not gonna lie, I wish I knew what she was pointing at when she was showing us her limbs and whatnot, but I had to pull a Rachel from friends and pretend I knew what she was talking about (raise your hand if you know the reference I'm talking about). Confession! :-) I am feeling pretty good except for being really really tired a lot of the time and having very sore feet! I also have heartburn like no other! I will be glad for that to go away!

This last weekend we went to Ikea and got a chair and some shelves and organized everything in her room, so its all ready other than some artwork still missing on the walls! My tasks for the week include:

♥ Target for batteries, sugar free candies, baby monitor, etc.

♥ pack our hospital bag

♥ fold some laundry

♥ clean the bathroom

♥ empty the camera and video camera and load it with fresh batteries

♥ take lots of naps

♥ oh, and did I mention NOT going to work, since Friday was my last day :-)

I'm so excited to meet my girl! Seeing her this morning on the ultrasound put me in the best mood. Now I'm off to take a little nap with my puppy!

And just for fun, here's a picture of her room...

not the best picture, I took it on my phone.

Have a happy Monday!

Tiny Crafts

Last week I started on this little craft I have been wanting to do for Evelyn's room. I haven't been able to find any crib mobiles that I really like, so I was inspired by the one over at Young House Love, and wanted to give it a shot! I was trying to wait until I am done working to start on any crafts so that I have plenty of things to keep me busy, but I couldn't wait!

Here's what I did:

♥) I bought a bunch of fake flowers and plucked off the little buds one by one.

♥) Poked holes in the bud section of of the flower (the little part at the bottom), and threaded some lightweight floral wire through.

♥) once I had a ton of flowers threaded on, I wrapped the wire in an asymmetrical sphere kinda shape.

♥) I hung them all at different heights from a little wreath from the craft store.

Easy as pie (but kinnnda tedious)

soooo many tiny flowers.

The finished product! I love how it turned out!

Here is what her view will be, from in the crib.

♥

All together the whole thing only cost me about $35 and a few hours in front of the TV plucking off flower buds and poking holes!

Still to come: a big ol' chalkboard for above the changing table, some artwork for the walls, and some tissue paper garland.

This is the fun stuff!