Wordless Wednesday

Applesauce, Veggies, and a side of Meltdown

Tonight was an off night. Reese and I went to the pool and she fell asleep on the way home. I let her sleep but she ended up sleeping too long and was out until 5:00. She woke up crying so we cuddled and changed her diaper. I rocked her and so did her dad but she was grouchy. So we did what any normal parents would do in the same situation we decided to stuff out the crying with food.

As I got it ready she screamed and screamed. She screamed until I was ready to put my own head down and scream. But I pushed on and got some of the food in her mouth. At first glance, it worked. She thought to herself, ahhhhh; food. But that's when she realized that it wasn't food; it was the dreaded green mixed veggies and she wasn't havin' it.

She cried and cried and I stuffed and stuffed her mouth full of food. I learned a lesson today. If a baby is crying too hard to swallow, don't fill her up with green stuff. You will end up wearing it. All of it. But I stupidly hoped that food would cure her sadness especially when I diluted it with applesauce. This was not the case. We both ended up putting our head down and crying. It was one nasty meltdown on our behalf.

But I swallowed hard, put on my happy face and wiped us up. I picked my baby up and sang her a song and danced her around the kitchen. I let her chew on her washcloth and put her down in the bumbo to watch me cook dinner. All this while Dustin was at Walmart....and he thought he was getting the raw end with a 5:00-in-the-afternoon trip.

So, lesson learned. Sometimes the baby just needs her mommy to shake it off and give her a little love. Sometimes the mommy needs to put her head down and cry. But never ever stuff a mad, teething baby with green baby food if you aren't sure it will be swallowed.

Peace, Love & Baby

Baby

This baby of mine makes my life light up. She laughs and giggles and I come running. She plays with her toes and sticks out her tongue. She blows raspberries like it is her job. She puts her head on my shoulder when she gets up from a nap and falls asleep in the car. She loves to be read to and feel on the pages. These little things add up to one thing.

Love

How could anyone not love this little girl? This girl is my pride and joy. I watch videos of her hour after hour and laugh and cry and feel so much pride. I feel the Mama-Bear come rising to the surface during times of distress and I know what it feels like to want to throw yourself face first in to danger just to protect the Michelin Tire Man Legs. I look at her face and my cup runneth over. Motherhood is the greatest of all journeys. And a journey it is, it is not all heart-two-sizes-too-big kind of adoration. It is laundry and dirty faces. It is screaming and sleepless nights. But it is beautiful and perfect in an imperfect way.

Peace

And speaking of ....a girl could use a little peace once in awhile. There are so many rewards to being the Mommy; but when you find yourself needing a break when you wake up in the morning, only to be spit up on, screamed at, and shoved away by an unhappy, un-napping, teething baby, you begin to think about what peace really is. Peace can take on many forms. It can be a day at the spa, a mani/pedi, or a simple head scratch by your husband. It can be a 5 Star Restaurant, a candlit dinner for two, or a Happy Meal. It can be a quiet mountainside at dawn, and meditative sunset or a book on tape. But the important thing is; don't forget about the peace. Peace makes the love stronger. It makes the happy happier. And it makes the Mommy feel better.

Wordless Wednesday

Reese's Baptism

Sunday marked an important occasion for our beautiful girl; her baptism. We decided to have her baptized in the Catholic Church because it is important to me to instill faith in her very young. One of my favorite scriptures ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God’" (Luke 18:15–16), really makes me think of Reese -or all kids- when I think of it. They are so innocent and precious and all that Christ asks is that they come to him unhindered. So before we mess it all up, we thought we better take the step to get her involved in church.

As our friends and family arrived at our house my heart began to feel two sizes too big. Here were all the people we loved the most ready to celebrate a big day for our girl. They were here because they were as proud to be part of her family as we are. That really was one of the best parts of the day; the look of pride on every one's face. Especially The Hoyt Family (Mary, Eric, and Clara Jean); Reese's Godparents. Dustin and I both caught Mary beaming a couple of times and that meant so much to us.

Off we went to the church where we all sat down, some more nervously than others. I didn't know what to expect, not because I'd never seen it or done it but because I am a control freak and didn't plan the ceremony myself. But as church started and Father Ken asked us what we asked from the church and asked the Godparents if they knew how important their role was I couldn't help but get choked up (raise your hand here if you are surprised), we were there asking for God to bless this beautiful girl. We walked in and as everyone turned to look at the beautiful baby I felt so proud to be her mom.

The actual ceremony was very quick, a short 5 minutes, most of which I can't remember. But really, who remembers the actual ceremony of their wedding or their high school graduation either? Father Ken did a beautiful job of getting Reese right down in the water without making her too mad. She was anointed with the chrism oil, a lot of chrism oil, and it was over. Quick as a wink, but very nicely done.

After the service we all headed home for lunch. We were scrunched and not everyone had a comfortable seat. There were kids laughing and adults talking and maybe a couple of times, a baby crying. It was exactly the kind of Sunday, Father's Day, baptism day that I hoped for.

Reminders of a Great Day

Tomorrow is Reese's baptism. I am very excited about this and have been going through lots of preparation. We took a class (which was interesting I might add). We have been cooking and cleaning and doing piles of dishes. We've cleaned until I want to lay my head down and cry (see Tired Tuesday for more on that).

But the good part of that is that now I am always going to have this memory of the day she was baptized. Good, bad or otherwise it will always be a day that is part of her history. A big day for her even though she will never remember it. Which makes me want to create reminders for all of us of it all. So, I took a few pictures of the things that remind me of my own baptism and a couple of things to remind her of her own.

First, her dress. It was a beautiful little handmade dress I found on the internet and I just couldn't resist it. It is far from traditional but definitely perfect for a late June day. And it was a special gift from her Grammy and I know she will look back at how beautiful it is.

Next, her bracelet. Again, another special gift. This from my Grandma, who was most excited to get her something pretty to wear on her special day. She can't be here and we are really going to miss her, but she will be with us in spirit and I know I will always be reminded of her when I see this bracelet.

And finally a few of my own little things. The first is the cross I got as a gift for my baptism that I really love. The next is a crystal pitcher from my own Godmother, Marcia, who I reference in another blog as well. She received one for her own baptism and then gave me one too. I am so glad to be able to use it tomorrow, it's very lovely and definitely perfect for a special occasion. And finally a painting I made for Reese to commemorate her big day. It's not much but a special little reminder that we were thinking of her.

Tomorrow we will have a special day for Reese, it will be marked with family and some special friends. We will be busy talking and eating too much and hopefully enjoying the nice weather. But one day when we are quietly looking through some old things we will cross the path of these sentimental reminders and smile at the reminder of Reese's baptism day!

Mexican Fiesta!

When we got married, we got these amazing serving dishes that I loved. They are Mexican themed and really cool BUT, I usually don't have Mexican when I friends over. Last night we had some friends over and I was craving guacamole so out came the fiesta wear! It was a low-key night at home but we had a great time with some old friends making us wonder why we don't do it more often.

And for you, a little peek at my awesome dishes....because I know you really wanted to see them! (or not)

Tired Tuesday

We are in the process of deep cleaning our house. Really, I am in the process but Dustin pitches in here and there so I can't take all the credit. See, we work really well together because he is incredibly anal about making sure that everything has a place and is organized just so. I, on the other hand, am more of a sanitize the house kind of anal. He organizes, I clean. In any case, it works for us so we are going through little by little getting this place fixed up.

So now all I can think of is what else needs to be done. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and think things like, "when was the last time the string on the attic door was wiped off?" Or "I really should vacuum out the closet door tracts." Seriously, it's getting ridiculous. Last night I even brought a notepad to bed so that I could write down my random thoughts. And I do have to pat myself on the back when I say that all of the 10 things on the list are done minus 1, hence the "Tired Tuesday" title of this blog.

And now, it's 7:45 and I am really wondering if it's socially acceptable to go to bed when sunset is still an hour away. But, it's not as if I'll rest because I'll just be thinking of all the things I could get done tomorrow. So if you see a tired, sweaty, dirt-covered lady muttering lists to herself at the grocery store (to which I have been 3 times already since Sunday), just turn and walk the other way. I probably won't be coherent enough to carry on a conversation anyway.

7 Months

Reese is already 7 months old! I can't believe how fast time flies. She is getting so big; I just can't believe she is the same little tiny thing we brought home from the hospital. She is also hilarious. She cackles all day long, just laughs and laughs at everything. We walk down the street and she finds something to laugh at. And if you blow spit bubbles at her, you can forget about it, because your heart will just dissolve at all the cuteness. She can now sit up and move herself around in a circle. She loves sitting in her high chair and throwing things on the floor so I can endlessly pick them up over and over. Each day is a little better than the last!

Our Busy Weekend

We had a lot going on this weekend and we were exhausted by the time it was over! But there were lots of fun moments in the meantime. Here is a little timeline of our festivities.

We started out at the pool on Thursday. Reese didn't hate it but it was really loud and hectic, not quite the haven of our back yard pool, but fun nonetheless.

After the pool, we knew we had a party to go to! So Reese put on her party popsicle dress and we hung out at my parents for the Pepsi Tournament Kickoff. Here's Reese with my step-sister Alyssa's kids hanging out. They are in LOVE with Reese and she really had fun with all the attention.

The next morning Reese went and stayed at TT's all day while we went out on the golf course. Here are a few party pictures from out on the course. These are really it, I guess I was preoccupied. We had a great time out there, the weather was awesome, and the beer was really cold.

After we went out all day, we then had a wedding to dance it up at. I had my dancing shoes on (okay, my flip flops, but I was excited). We headed out there and enjoyed some time with some friends we don't see nearly enough.

Our weekend was really fun and it made us sad that we don't live closer to some of our best friends. But it also helped us remember to enjoy the time we do have with them.

An Award!!!

My friend Jenny just nominated me for a blogging award! Yay! I am so excited about this! She wrote a description of my blog telling her readers to; "beware, there is one adorable baby on there." That really made me smile, I'll take any award that has to do with how beautiful my baby is! (EXCEPT a baby show....there will be a whole other blog on that topic one day........)

So anyway, here are the rules of the award. I must pass the award on (if I nominate you, just copy and paste the award to your page and follow the same rules!) and I must tell you 10 things about me that you didn't know before....that should be interesting.

Here are some wonderful blogs I must nominate:

1. Ramona and her Mother It is beautifully written and usually I learn a lesson.

2. Sunshine in the House: Another beautiful blog about a creative mom and her family's fun adventures.

3. The Kingz: a family's journey of new motherhood and dealing with the stresses of a preemie.

4. Big Girls Small Kitchen: A Quarter Life Cook sharing her social life and the food that goes with it! They're also getting ready to publish a book, check them out for some yummy food!

5. The Kazmaier's: A phenomenal photographer and her crazy adventures with 3 kids!

Now for the juicy details of my so called life:

1. I don't really like when people send me flowers, I think they can be wasteful. But if someone sent me some peonies I sure wouldn't turn them away!

2. I love a well-picked out card. There is something about someone standing around in an aisle reading all the cards and picking out the perfect card that sounds like me makes me smile and feel so special.

3. I love writing this blog and taking pictures. But I also feel a little narcissistic talking about myself all the time.

4. Having the windows open letting sunlight come through the house is one of my favorite things. My allergies really prevent this but I still love it.

5. I used to hate when people would get lazy and say "your mom and dad" when they were talking about Terry. But now I love it and feel really proud when he introduces me as his kid.

6. Old '80s movies turn me into a sucker. Cocktail, Adventures in Babysitting, Dirty Dancing, I just love them all.

7. I love The Pioneer Woman Cooks, cookbook. It has great pictures and I love her stories!

8. I do NOT enjoy reality TV. I'm sure you are all ready to throw tomatoes at me for this, but I just usually end up getting so embarrassed for the ass they are making of themselves that I have to turn the channel.

9. Watching Reese on the Jumperoo is 20 times better than TV!

10. I think google is the finest invention of the technological age.

Thank you, Jenny for making my day! I am so excited about you thinking my blog is beautiful!

Our Kiddie Pool!

Sunday I was bound and determined to buy Reese a pool. I had to have one immediately, so I did what every mother on a search for her child does, I went to every store I knew of to get one! Luckily for me I found one on my second try....Wal-Mart really does have everything.

Monday I woke up ready to get in that little, yellow pool. So, at 6 AM, Reese and I were outside filling it up (I wanted it to get warm enough to be comfortable). We kept ourselves busy for awhile, Reese took a little nap so she wouldn't be fussy, and then we got ready for the pool!

She was a vision in polka dots and we had a great time splashing around. She finally is able to sit up on her own so it was perfect timing for her to sit in the warm water and play. She loves to get wet and kick her legs so we did that too. But her VERY favorite thing is to get squirted in the face with her toys with her tongue sticking out so she can "drink" the water (I was not okay with this considering I didn't put a diaper on her since we were in our own easy-to-clean pool).

As much fun as we had, we did have one tired little girl last night. She was in bed passed out by 6:30. But I will never forget how much fun it was to watch her splash and play. And how cute she was with her milk belly hanging out of her polka dot suit!