Malia's Six Month Update, and Ringing in 2014!

Christmas has come and gone, Malia turned 4..then 5...and is now 6 months, and we are officially on our way to moving!  What a year it has been and I am looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us.  I spent half of 2013 pregnant, and I can't wait to spend half of 2014 getting my remaining weight off (ha ha can't you just taste my sarcasm?). On a serious note, I am super excited to see Malia grow and change in the new year, and all of the fun times that we have ahead of us. I can't believe she is already half way to having an actual number for an age..man time really flies when you are trying extra hard to hold on to and treasure every moment. 

In honor of Malia hitting her 6 month milestone on Christmas day and the New Year that is about to hit us head on tomorrow night at midnight I thought that I would do a two-in-one post... oh and not to mention the fact that I missed her five month post and I've got some catching up to do. So here we go!

Malia, like I mentioned before, turned six months on Christmas Day and we had so much fun celebrating with family.  She received plenty of fun toys to play and learn with as she grows, and not to mention the cute outfits I'm dying to get her into too! It was a perfect "baby's first Christmas" spent with our loved ones and we had a lot of laughs watching M eat all the ribbons and bows. I'm already looking forward to next year when she will actually understand the whole unwrapping instead of eating the paper idea, and that the fun part is what's inside.

She started sitting on her own in her fifth month and I feel like there is no stopping her now.  She is slowly starting to realize that she can bend forward and lean in every which direction in order to reach whatever toy, chair leg, or other object that catches her eye.  I am praying that she doesn't jump the gun on the whole crawling situation since she was so quick to sit...and I know that sounds like a terrible thing to say...but the whole moving with a crawling baby thing just does not sound like a party.  And, not only that but I don't think I am mentally ready for my little nugget to be scootin' and movin' everywhere when, as of now, I can just sweep her up and put her down, walk away for a couple of seconds, and know that when I come back she will still be in that same exact spot on the floor. 

With sitting comes a whole new perspective, and with perspective comes the need to have whatever mommy and daddy have.  We have entered the food zone, and at Malia's pace...if you have read my posts before and/or have met Malia, then you know that she is already quite the little drama queen so getting her to eat baby food has been an interesting task.  We've been letting her slooooowly work herself into the wonderful world of baby mush and she has as of two days ago really taken to it.  It took several wasted food attempts and plenty of adorable crinkled nose and disgusted twitches to get her to realize how great it is to have something other than formula...but we made it! It is so cute watching her hold her little mouth open waiting for me to give her a bite, and it is even more precious to watch her raise her teeny eyebrows when I switch flavors on her.  

The more that time goes on the more in love we fall with our peanut and sometimes I get so emotional just looking at her that I can't help but laugh at myself. 2013 did not only bring outward changes to my life, but also a lot of inward and I hope that 2014 can bring even more.  I've grown a lot spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, and it has definitely been a year to remember.  I'm looking forward to moving closer to family and building our new home.  I've already gone into full planning mode and thanks to Pinterest I have completely lost control of my mental idea board. I have not made any resolutions for the upcoming year because I typically don't since I find that they are so easy to break...but maybe I should make an exception and make a resolution to be a better blogger? ;)

Stay Well and Happy New Year!!

Meg

4 Months Already?!

WOW! How are we even at the four month mark? I feel like she should still be tiny and fresh with her little sweet cry. I know four months is really not that old at all, but when you look at all the little moments that have flown by, that you will never get back again...it makes a difference.  If I really sit down and think about how quickly just four months have gone by, my heart starts beating really fast and it almost makes me cry.  I'm such a sap. Like really.  I want to take in every possible moment I can with Malia and soak it all up while I have this time with her.  Anyone who is a parent, and even those who are not, know or have heard many times how quickly they grow up, and I don't want to look back for one second and wish that I had taken more time to cherish the small things. 

Malia is seriously SO much fun now. She laughs and smiles all the time, and there is never a time where being held by mommy is a bad thing (I'm also soaking this up because I know this wont last forever).  She still sleeps like a rock star (12+ hours a night...score!), and eats like a champ. Her inner diva/drama queen has started to show its face..and it's quite hilarious. Colton and I get a kick out of all the sighs and gasps that she makes, though sometimes we look at each other like "Oh man, we're in for it with this one". We're also starting to notice that she is finally porkin' up a little and hopefully this continues, because for a while she felt so fragile, but I think she gets that gene from her daddy ;). Plus, we hit a rough patch a couple of weeks ago and she couldn't keep any of her milk down for long due to the formula being too hard on her tummy, but it looks like the new formula we have her on is a lot better.  Unfortunately I was never able to get my supply back to normal after our car accident and eventually I lost it completely, so she is no longer a BF baby, but formula is better than nothing! 

I can't wait for all the fun times ahead with our little stinker! She has such a personality already...so I can only imagine where we will be in the next couple of months.  

Favorite things:

Mommy & Daddy

Laughing and smiling

Anything that lights up

Music

Sleeping

Teething rings

Riding in the car

Her reflection

Other babies/children

Bath time

Getting undressed (I don't know why, but she thinks it's hilarious)

Talking aka cooing, drooling, and her new thing spitting...

Now for some Malia spam with some outtakes from our monthly photo shoot :))))

"who's four months? Me?"

Outtake #1

Outtake #2

Outtake #3


Stay well--
Meg

Some New Projects & Adventures..

I have been working my butt off for the past two weeks trying to set up my first Etsy shop, and now it is officially open for business! I had no idea how much work went into opening an online shop... But whew wee I learned quite quickly how delusional I was about the online business world. Not only do you have to make the products for your shop, but you also have to set everything up online too, all the while taking care of an infant who fully relies on you.

Soo if you haven't already checked it out, pop on over to my Etsy page! It'd be totally awesome if you favorited my page too ;), or you could always like my Facebook page. That way you'll know every time I have a sale or new item up.

We'll see where this little adventure takes me, and I'm hoping that I'm able to keep it up with how busy life can get. Plus, creating bows for Malia as well as others lets me put my creativity to use, while I get to have fun torturing Malia by making her my little model ;).

In other news.. Colton and I have decided that we are going to put our house on the market so that we can get a little closer to family and friends, which means we are embarking on the dreaded moving process. I seriously HATE this process and I wish buying or selling a house was an easy task, but it's not. So, all we can do is pray that something happens and that we are able to move when it's meant to be. I'm sure it will be extra fun trying to move into a new house with a baby, but we'll make it work! (Anything to get out of the 45 minute drive it takes just to see our parents!) Anddd Malia turns 4 months on Friday! Can you believe it?!

Stay well--

Meg

Weekend Recap

Can someone please tell me where my fall has been? I'm so ready to wear all my fall outfits with my boots and dark colored tights.  I also want to be wearing my burnt orange peacoat and my mustard and olive colored scarves, but I can't bring myself to do that when the weather is so stinkin' hot! It looks like cooler weather is on its way though, and I'll be quick to pull on my leggings and boots.

We had an extremely busy weekend, which started with Dayton Days  (I worked our church booth) on Saturday and holy cow! Who knew that chicken tenders and taco salad would be so popular!?! Oh, and did I mention my aunts homemade apple fritters? I ate so many of those addicting little things that I'm not so sure that my insides haven't completely turned against me. Besides the fact that the weather was like working in a furnace and there were what seemed to be like a whole countries worth of people there...it was fun.  I also found some really cute goodies for little Mia for next summer.  I love homemade hair bows, headbands, and dresses..and there was plenty of that to go around at DD this year.  We also went to a corn maze and a bonfire that evening..and to my surprise I LOVED the corn maze.  Malia fell asleep like ten minutes into it, but I didn't mind because I was having so much fun enjoying it myself.  I don't know if it was the fact that I was with some of my closest pals, while we acted like complete children (and maybe even complete idiots), or the fact that it was so much more of a challenge than I expected.  After making it out the first time, I left Malia with a friend while I went back in a second time! Half way through my second trip in I realized that it was a total mistake and that I was also a big loser. It was pitch black outside at this point and I had no map with me and NO IDEA where I was going. TOTAL FAIL. two broken shoes, muddy knees, and a face plant later I was out of the freaky corn mess and on my way to a bonfire. The bonfire was a blast of course..I mean they always are, and it turned out to be a great evening spent with friends.

On Sunday it was a beautiful day and I felt that it was oh so tutu worthy, so I put little Mia in her first tutu onesie and I think that I might have died and went to baby heaven because I could not get enough of that little nugget!  Every time I looked at her as she pulled, sucked, and chewed on her little tutu outfit I melted.  Never in my life have I felt so proud of something, but she makes me one proud mama! It's all the little things that make her so special to me... like how she has figured out that there is a toy on her carseat and she has endless staring contests with the pink critter, or how she is now a rolling baby! and not to mention the fact that she laughs, like REALLY laughs now. I'm pretty sure that is one of the single best sounds I have ever heard. We spent the day with both of our families yesterday (meaning our actual family and our church family), and it was a great end to a not so fall like weekend. But now it is back to reality until it is time to relax all over again next weekend..

Being adorable..like always 

At the corn maze before she conked out

Malia talking up a storm

I hope everyone has a great week and enjoy this crisp weather!!

Stay well--

Meg

How Motherhood Changed Me

Okay, first off I'm just going to go ahead and come right out and say it.. I was one of 'those' people who thought that once I became a mother I would be the same old me just with a side of baby on my hip. Wrong. Here's some examples of how being a mommy took me from an apple to an orange.

1. I was never an emotional person before becoming a mother. I mean don't get me wrong I still had a soul and all, like the one time I hit a bird on my way into work... I didn't cry or anything but all day I thought about that poor little birdie and how I sent him into a ball if feathers. If I would have hit that bird now.. BOOM tears like a big 'ol baby. I can't even watch an episode of Chicago Fire without boohooing. It's not like being an emotional person is a big deal or anything, but the fact that I always picked on my mom for crying all the time and it has come back to bite me in the butt.. Well that makes it one.

2. I am a sanitizing freak. And by this I mean I have sanitizer hanging on the diaper bag, Malia's dresser, kitchen counter, and even on my car keys. I mean it's everywhere! I know that I am making myself sound like I wasn't a clean person before, but that's not true at all. I totally loved all those delicious smelling hand soaps and I've always bought them in bulk, but now it's like I should be a valued customer or something for how often  I'm buying it.

3. I've become the ultimate planner. I plan EVERYTHING. For example, if I make plans to meet someone for lunch, then that means that I have to plan things such as what I'm going to wear, whether I will shower the night before or the morning of, what Malia will wear, and what time I will need to get up in the morning in order to have everything ready. I also have to make sure that the diaper bag is stocked and ready for every spit up, poopy blow up, and bottle feeding that I will in counter while out in town. I had to say goodbye to all those times I woke up ten minutes before I had to leave the house and hello to becoming a walking planner.

4. I'm obsessed with online shopping. Before becoming a mother I would shop online here and there, but for the most part everything I bought was from making a trip into the store. That's not so easy anymore now that I'm lugging around a 5 pound car seat with a 11 pound baby in it plus her diaper bag (which somedays feels more like toting around luggage). To put it as simply as I can, online shopping just makes my life easier (and it also makes it easier to say 'no' once you see the S & H prices sometimes).

5. I'm finding that I have become more compassionate towards those with a crying/temper-tantrum throwing child. Before having my own child I would sometimes look at others and be like "okay, get your child under control people, or get them out of the public eye". But NOW I think dude that whole baby screaming because he's hungry while you're trying to pay in the checkout line thing.. I GET IT. It's not like Malia is a fussy baby at all, but when a baby wants their food, they want it and they want it NOW. And Malia does not ask for it quietly. So when I see a child crying while their embarrassed parent(s) try to calm them only to fail as they cry louder... Yeah all I can think is that was me last week. And if you have children of your own I would think that you would feel the same way (unless your child eats gold and poops butterflies) that being a parent isn't always easy, and sometimes they unexpectedly throw curveballs at you while you're in a building full off judgmental people. But that's LIFE.

6. I care so much less about my self image. And let me clarify that I am not saying I don't care about the way I look, that's not what I mean. I just don't look at myself and criticize the way I look like I used too. I mean my body went through huge changes in 9 months, and it's not even the same body anymore. This body grew a human being and not all bodies are able to do that. So for that reason I think I owe it to myself to give my body the credit it deserves. Eventually I hope to get off the 8 lbs I have left to lose, and hey it'd be awesome to lose even more than that.. But I'm not going to stress over it and honestly I don't have the time too. I'd rather put my energy towards being a good wife and mother and enjoying myself for the person that God created me to be, not the person society wants me to be.

7. I enjoy life so much more. Uh, hello? How could I not? I have the 3 best things I could ever have in my life; God, my husband, and my daughter.

So yes, I'm not exactly who I thought I would be after becoming a parent.. But that's okay, because I'm happy with the new me. It's kind of fun in a way being able to see the positive changes that have taken place in my life. And any other Mama's out there that have noticed changes since parenthood feel free to share! I love hearing everyone's experiences!

Stay well--
Meg

Falling into Fall

Hallelujah! My favorite season is upon us! We started off the fall season right by having Malia's 3 month photos taken at the pumpkin patch. The weather was gorgeous, and the sun was in the perfect spot the for the whole session so I'm dying to see how they turn out. Little Miss played shy for the most part, spending most of the time sucking on her fingers and sticking her tongue out.  We might have gotten a couple of little grins out of the booger, but for the most part just a dead on stare like "Really mom, you have to change my outfit again, and I have to sit awkwardly in this wagon again too?" Hopefully, though we got some good shots :)

Here's a couple of pictures that her daddy and I took afterwards while we picked her first pumpkin!

Stay well--

Meg

I'm Baackkk

Where do I even begin? It's been quite a while since I fell off the blogging wagon (I haven't blogged since I was 20 weeks pregnant). Now I have an infant who is a cooing, pooping, and sleeping machine.  I have become fluent in baby talk and I have mastered the art of bringing out that adorable gummy grin at the drop of a hat. Some may think that being a stay at home mom gives you all this free time to do the things that, to me, sound delightful right about now such as sleeping, showering, cooking, cleaning, and not to mention eating.  I usually get half way through one of those tasks and I have to stop because Malia needs changed or she is screaming her head off because she does NOT want to sit in that dang swing anymore. But if anyone were to ask me if I would go back to having the time to brush my hair, have a spotless house, and all the freedom in the world to go and do as I pleased...of course my answer would be no.  Yes, it's true that I can't go out with friends as much as I used to, and I can't even go out to the mall without spending at least an hour getting Malia ready to leave the house only to have to feed her again by the time I make it into Target.  But all those things don't matter at the end of the day when I have that sweet little face with milk running down the side of her mouth smiling up at me. I can't wait for the journey that we have ahead of us as a family and hopefully I can find the time to actually keep up with my blog this time. :)

Stay well--

Meg