Baby Girl Turns One

Holy moly, how is sweet Felicity already one??
Of course this post is delayed, as much in my life is these days, ha, but I still wanted to take just a quick minute to reflect.  Wow, the time truly flew.  Faster then any year I have previously experienced.  When I reflect on the last year the thing that hits me the most is just how totally grateful I am to have had this sweet girl in my life.  I feel like everyone would be so lucky to know her, and I am lucky enough to spend every day with her and to be her mommy.  What a blessing.  I remember the initial fears of being pregnant, the worries about being a mother to two and being able to share my love and attention between two, and I love that God allowed me to feel those things because He has shown how silly it is to worry, and even sillier to not trust that He is guiding every step of this life.  I still thank God all the time for knowing what was best for our family.  And truly Felicity is the Best! :)
I also think a lot about those first two months of nursing.  I dont think I ever said too much about it on here, but truly two months of hell.  Complete emotional turmoil as I was in the worst physical pain ever, but also falling apart on the inside as I was sure (as were the medical professionals around me) that I wouldn't be able to keep nursing.  I mean it with everything in me that we were able to keep going by an absolute miracle.  And to this day, when I snuggle up with my baby girl and lay in bed nursing her I thank God every single time.  It just doesn't get old!  And yes, I suffered abundantly in the beginning, but it was worth it.  I have now had 11 months of joy with feeding my sweet baby.  All the cuddles, all the naps, her stopping in the middle of eating to look up at me and smile or to say "hi", or getting to kiss on her little toes and rub her back, having her tug on my earring or play with my hair or poke at my face.  I don't know how much longer we will nurse, and I'm not all that concerned with it.  I wish she would drink more out of a sippy cup so I would have a bit more freedom, but I'm not ready to be done.  It is too special to stop quite yet...plus, I might as well continue to enjoy it considering all the pain I went through to get it!
Things I am currently loving about Felicity:
She is so cute with all the new words she is saying.  She can say mama, dada, belly, eye, ball, baby, uh oh, all done, bye bye, more and night night.  She says most of these things with a lot of attitude!
She is such a fast crawler but is really great at walking.  She walks on her tippy toes like her brother did and she does well when she is patient enough to do it.  Most of the time she takes off with her super fast crawl after a few steps.
I love her little "cheese" face and the best is when you get to see her top teeth.  She has such a big gap between them and Cole and I think it is the cutest thing in the world.  Cole always tells her, "I don't know whether to smile or kick a field goal!"  Lol, too funny.
She loves to play with her brother and she is actually really tough.
I love her relaxed, lazy spirit.  If there is a pillow, cushion, bean bag, blanket, etc that is accessible to her she climbs onto it, rolls onto her back, and just lays there.  I have so many picture of her like that!
She is so cute when she throws little temper tantrums.  When she gets hurt or something doesn't go her way she doesn't have a sad cry, it is an angry cry!  and usually she just lays flat on her belly, face in the carpet, and cries.  I can't help but laugh!!
She is such a big eater.  She eats whatever we are having for dinner and I never make anything special for her.  She doesn't like baby food (never really has) but I think it is mostly because she doesn't like eating off the spoon because she wants to do everything herself.  Everyone who eats with us is pretty impressed with the amount of food she eats, and the fact that she isn't picky at all.  Fingers crossed that she will stay like that!
Cole's favorite time with her is after he gets her out of the bath because he wraps her up in her towel and they just cuddle for a long time.  It is so cute to watch.
She is pretty much obsessed with her Daddy.  She gets so excited when he comes home and I usually can't take her out of his arms for awhile.  (side note...it must say something about what an awesome dad cole is since both of my kids are OBSESSED with him!  what am i?..chopped liver?? ha!)
I tried painting her toes the other day and she wouldn't have any part of it.  She actually seemed terrified of the nail polish.  I'm sure she'll change her tune soon enough :)
She gives the BEST kisses ever and even makes a kiss sound when she does it.  The cutest part is that she is super stingy with giving me or Cole kisses, but she would give Tavian 100 kisses in a row if I let her.  She actually is willing to kiss any other baby or kid, but somehow knows when it is an adult and then she gets picky!
She has a little walker toy that she loves to play with.  She literally runs all over the house with it.  I can't believe how fast she can go and she is also great at steering it.  Super funny to watch!
 Overall she is such a happy, easy baby.  Thank you, Lord, for giving us such an amazing year with Felicity.  I look forward to all those to come :)

Date night week 2

We had an amazing time at pf changs. We had a yummy appetizer and delicious alcohol! The only bummer was tavian woke up and started crying when he saw the babysitter telling her "only mommy can put me to bed". Lol it broke my heart! We came home a bit early but still had a great time.

Weekly Date Nights

I know, I know...I dont really exist in blog land anymore.  I wish I could say I was going to be making a huge change sometime soon, but truthfully, I have no idea if I'll be able to blog more regularly.  But I do hope to stick to jotting a quick blurb and posting some pictures each week of mine and my hubby's weekly date nights. We have recently decided that date nights are too important and we haven't been making them as big of a priority as we should have.  So that is all going to change! We have the babysitter scheduled every week for..well hopefully a very long time. and the weeks that she can't be there we are going to try and do something creative and fun at home. Like last week. Margs on the back patio, Pandora music,a shot of rum to keep things interesting :), and a whole lot of fun on the long board together. Enjoy the photos of our fun date night!....Ok, so I uploaded these photos off my phone and this is how they came out...and I don't know how to rotate them.  So enjoy the mess, and if you have any ideas of how to get around this problem, please let me know!

My Baby's Heart

Tavian and I have a lot of games that we love to play together.  One of them goes a little something like this:

"Momma, I fell" (and he throws himself willingly onto the ground, laying flat on his back)

"Oh no, you fell?  Are you ok?  Let me check!"

As I kneel over him, I do a series of checks to make sure he is ok.  I open his eyes, one at a time and take a good look.  I look into his ears..and I "smell" them too because I know it tickles him!  Then I stick my finger under his arm to make sure he doesn't have a fever.  I tap my finger on his belly and tell him it sounds good.

And lastly, and most importantly to me, I listen to his heart.  As I put my ear to his chest I say, "ba boom ba boom ba boom".  And although we are just playing a silly game, every time as I make the sounds of his heart, I truly listen to the beautiful sounds of his beating heart.  His beautiful heart.  And I am reminded of the first time I heard that heart beating.  He was so little...this new life within me, and yet his same, beautiful heartbeat filled the doctors room.  Cole and I were holding our breath in anticipation, filled with excitement and anxiousness as we waited for those sounds of hope...sounds of life!

Praise God for my baby boy and for his beating heart.

Praise God for a silly game that brings music to my ears, and reminds me to thank God for the miracle of life!

Thankful for my Bestie

My best friend Amy turns 26 today.

I am so happy to have the opportunity to celebrate with her and rejoice that she is in my life.  She truly is a blessing!

In case you don't already know her, I'll give a quick overview.  She is passionate, loving, giving, smart, laugh til you cry funny, sarcastic, and BEautiful! (there is oh so much more)

I remember around a year ago, after her 25th birthday, that she told me this was the year she was going to get her life in order.  The year she was going to make changes and pursue dreams.  I didn't necessarily know how serious she was at the time, but I was excited for her!  I have and always will want the very best for her.  I was proud of her for wanting amazing, beautiful things out of life.  Proud because you may remember this post a few years ago that I wrote the day her dad died.  She went through such a horrific experience and had reasons to give up, or to just except that the best of life had come and gone.  But she didn't.  In fact, I have seen her stand taller, try harder, give more, and love more ferociously then I have prior to that event.  How inspiring is that?!?

She is the kind of friend that pushes me to be a better person.  I know she loves me and is there for me and wants good things for me.  She loves my family...each of  us as individuals, and we each indivdually love her.  I am so happy little Felicity has Amy as her Godmother...Amy is a prayer warrior, and I know she has my little girl in her daily prayers.  What a lucky little girl I have!

In the past 7 months Amy has been on an amazing journey.  When she said this would be the year she would take life by the horns and run, she truly meant it.  And I can't tell you the number of people she has inspired in the process.  In these 7 months she has lost over 100 lbs.  Yes, you did in fact read that correctly!  And no, there is no gimmick.  She was worked her butt off.  She eats healthy and works out every day.  And I have never seen her happier.  And if her weight loss wasn't enough of a lifestyle change in itself, it really is just the tip of the ice berg.  She has confronted demons and hurts from her past, she has begun to dream big, and she has made huge strides in achieving those dreams.  She has softened her heart and made herself vulnerable to all the good that God would have for her in this life.  And I am so thankful to have witnessed it all!

I know I can't do it the justice it deserves, so why don't you head on over to her fab blog and check it all out for yourself.  Trust me, you won't leave uninspired!

I love you Amy.  I am so proud of all you have accomplished.  Thank you for loving me.  You are loved and cherished by so many...and the best part is I think you believe that more now then you ever have before.  Praise God :)

Happy Birthday, My Friend!  May this coming year be even brighter!!!

One of my faves.  Ames and Felicity!

A Pin Come True: DIY Air Freshener

Ok, I was really excited when I saw this Pin.

I love easy DIY projects, especially ones that are so useful in the home.  Candles and air fresheners can get pretty pricey so I thought this could be the perfect solution...especially for all the bathrooms since they are smaller spaces.

I already had a mason jar, baking soda, and I even already have the essential oils because I use them for some of my massage therapy stuff.  I also had extra scrapbook paper laying around so it took me a matter of minutes to follow the steps and assemble my air freshener.

The problem?..it doesn't work!  You can't smell anything unless you put your nose up to it.  I am very dissapointed!  Part of me wants me to tell you not to waste your time doing something that doesn't work...but the other part of me wants you all to try it to see if I'm crazy and maybe doing something wrong!  I want this to work so I want to know how to fix it!

It doesn't say you have to use a certain size mason jar, but I started wondering if mine was too big.  That could be the case, even though mine is still a mini jar size, but I don't want to go buy a different jar and have it not work again.

Well, there you have it.  This is the kind of feedback that will hopefully save all of you some time!  I'll let you know if I try it again and get different results!

My Two Year Old

Tavian turned Two on March 7th.  Is that seriously even possible?  I can't believe how fast he is growing up.  We watched his birth tape (a tradition we will do every birthday), and it was so wonderful and emotional.  Our lives changed so much in that moment...the world got better and brighter with his beautiful soul entering it.  As quickly as it has all gone, it was still a little crazy to watch his birth tape and realize that I have done that whole birthing thing twice in less then two years...that is crazy talk!

No matter how big he gets, he will always be my baby :)

We celebrated Tavian's birthday with lots of family and friends and it was really wonderful.  We decided to rent out Pump it Up for his party because it was too cold to have it at a park, but I also felt too overwhelmed to host it at our house.  And let me tell you, it ended up being a great decision.  Not only did everyone have a great time jumping around and going down the big slide (we even held an adult relay through the obstacle course...haha), but it was so nice not having to clean up the house or make any food and have any dishes afterwards.  It was totally stress free!

It was so fun watching Tavian play with all of his friends.  He is seriously just the sweetest, most hilarious little kid and I am honored to call him mine!

He was loving his Elmo Cupcakes!

On his actual birthday we all went to ice cream with my Dad and my sister and her family.  Tavian loved the special time with his cousins!  He got plenty of wonderful gifts.  I was able to find an amazing kitchen on Craigslist, and since I paid full price they gave me an outdoor playhouse too!  Talk about a great deal :)  He loves the kitchen and the playhouse a lot and it is so fun watching him use his imagination in the kitchen.

I wish I could remember all the sweet, funny things he has been doing lately.  Here are a few:

*The other day he looked at me, stroked my face and said, "Mama beautiful!"  Talk about melting my heart!
*He wakes up every morning saying, "Dada,where are you?  Please help, Dada."
*He always raises his food and drink, touches it to ours, and exclaims, "Cheers!"
*He has started to sing his ABC's
*He is loving playing with his friends, especially Cash and Dominick.  All the time he'll say, "Play Cash, today? and Sydnie, too? (Cash's mommy)"  If I tell him not today he always says, "next week?"  Such a smart kiddo!
*At bedtime I ask him how much I love him.  He stretches out his arms as far as he can as says, "thiiis much!" And then I say, "at least!"  Then he says he loves me more and I say I love him most.
*He has started making the sign of the cross and praying with us at meals and bedtime
*He is so sweet to his baby sister and says the funniest things to her.  "Hi, sister!", "Hi, baby girl", "Don't cry, sister"...lol, I wonder where he gets all of that from!
*He is such a whiz at puzzles.  It seriously amazes me!  He can put a brand new puzzle together super fast without any help!
*We sing all the time together.  He loves Its Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know it, and Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.  I love hearing his little voice chiming in!

As part of our birthday traditions, Cole and I recorded a video message for him.  One day we will complile all of them and give them to him.  I'm sure it will be pretty funny!!  And I read to him, On the Night You Were Born, by Nancy Tillman, something I plan on making a tradition from this year forward.  We love all of her books, but this is perfect for birthdays.  If you have never read it, you should.  Such a sweet book.  It was so special reading it to him, and the end of the book pretty much sums it up:

"Heaven blew every trumpet
and played every horn
on the wonderful, marvelous
night you were born."

My Sweet Tavey Love,
Always remember how much I love you.  Always remember that you are precious, and cherished, and wanted.  Remember that you have a purpose in this life and you are here for a reason.  Know that I am praying for you all of your days.  Praying that you are faithful to the Truth no matter the cost, and praying that you will always stay close to Jesus in all that you do!  God Bless You, Sweet Boy :)