Holy Blessings!

the season of lent has always made me sad in general. i cry every single year at the good friday service. even though i know the outcome, and i know the magnitude of the gift, and most importantly, i know the importance and love behind it, it just makes me sad that we, as humans still don't get it. the things people do to one another, the things people do to themselves, the things we all take for granted and the countless sinful ways of life we are all guilty of day in and day out...it is hard to see the direction the world is taking and the hate in so many hearts. i wonder how long it can go on before we destroy everything we have been given...

sometimes, life gets hard. i have been trying extra hard these days not to let things overwhelm me and to appreciate all of the wonderful blessings i have been given in this life. holy week certainly crept up on me this year...and i can't stop thinking about all i have these days. i guess it is perfect timing, what with the most perfect gift in history being celebrated in just a few days...

first week of the rest of our lives...

obviously, the most amazing gift in my life has been miss heidi. sometimes i forget how fortunate we are to have such a happy, healthy, smart, beautiful, perfect little baby. she completes our family and adds more joy to our lives than i knew there was room for! even in my most tired, exhausted, impatient moment, i can't help but kiss her forehead and tell her how much i love her.

my big girl giving hugs

here are some pics of our girl through the past amazing 5.5 months...









she has made me realize what really matters in life. i see life through different eyes now. i see who i want to be and how proud i hope she is of me one day. life is quite the journey. love is the destination. i am home.

happy birthday

i posted this on 3/15, but i guess it never posted officially. oops!

to my true love.

thank you for putting up with my moods, my impatience, my committing to EVERYTHING, my habitual lateness, my messiness, my lack of common sense, my clumsiness...my EVERYTHING.

 

thank you for loving me through all of our ups & downs.

thank you for being you.

thank you for being perfect for me.

9 years old? really?

this year, i decided to do things a little different for birthdays. i want to spend more time with my little nieces and nephews. things are things, but memories are forever! i came up with a few things i thought each of them would enjoy. emma's birthday was first, so she went first.

we went to paint monkey in lawrenceville. just ee and emma. i was actually kind of nervous to take her. it was going to be 3 hours of painting in a studio of adults in a strange place...i wondered if she would get bored? would she like it? would she be too shy? would this be the worst birthday present of her life?

we got some candy and an icee (with all of the flavors mixed together, of course) on the way down and emma read a library book to me the whole way. (she is an amazing reader, btw). when we got there, i knew she would be the youngest in the class, but i didn't realize she would be the youngest EVER to participate in PAINT YOUR PET night.

busy artist @ work

 

 

 

i feel like any other 9 year old would have been so nervous, but not emma. (at least, if she was, she didn't show it). she painted roxanne like she had been painting on canvas her whole life. i was so proud, i held back tears most of the night. i wasn't even so proud of her art work (i KNEW she was a fine artist long before i signed us up for the class), i was so proud of the little lady she has become.

could it look anymore like roxanne?

she was mature, and funny, and took the owner's advice on techniques and took her time. she was patient and polite. it was such a fine night...one of my favorite spent with emma in so long. it was so great to be with emma. just emma. just  emma and her ee who loves her so much it hurts.

proud aunt & talented niece

if emma had even a fraction of the fun that i had, i would say it was a pretty great 9th birthday for her!

up next...ava @ katie's clay studio then logan & garrett @ sportsworks!

bucket list

i have always had one.

some of the things on the list have changed as i have gotten older. some of the things i have been blessed enough to be able to cross off.

for example, dance with my dad at my wedding. #1 on my list since I was 11 years old. Crossed off 15 years later...

there are so many things i want to accomplish in life, for myself and for my family. sometimes i feel like i am settling with the way things are...with where i am at... but every once in awhile, i pull out my list and decide to work on one of the numbers.

my mom actually reminded me of this (by accident) last week. she reminds me that i am talented and can do more than i give myself credit for. how many people are lucky enough to have a mom like that?

so i have decided. it is time to cross another item off of my list. even if it doesn't end up the way i plan, i need to try. if not for me, for the one who believes in me when i don't believe in myself. for the one who loves me win or lose, laughing or crying, happy or sad, moody or nice. this one will be for you, mom. and i will give it my all!

5 months already?

i just have to write a little bit more today because time allows...

there have been so many firsts happening in our home lately! most of them are wonderful and exciting, but there are a few that i could do without...

cereal!

praise the Lord, cereal has arrived...and it is a wonderful thing. miss Heidi loves it most of the time and it has made sleepness nights fewer & farther between (thank goodness!) usually, she gets to eat it with a spoon for dinner (the messiest, craziest, most wonderful experience of parenthood thus far), but for bedtime she gets some mixed into her bottle and. . . drumroll, please . . .she normally only wakes up once per night now!

watching her learn how to use a spoon is mindblowing. she is just the smartest baby on the planet. i can't imagine how hard it must be, but she makes it seem so easy. our only problem is that it is just too slow for my oh-so-hungry girl. she can't help but grab the spoon and shove it in as far as she can. her appetite is as big as her cheeks!

feet!

my cricket has discovered her beautiful little tootsies this week. she has been grabbing them left & right and pulling herself over with them. she is becoming so much more mobile all on her own . . .not sure that i like all this growing she is doing before my eyes. . . i know all parents say that, but Heidi is living proof of the truth behind the saying!

nerd alert!

it seems we have a little book worm on our hands. my sweet thing loves books. she loves to turn the pages and then turn them back, and then turn them again. and once she has gone through the book a couple of times, the only natural thing left to do is to eat it.

 

busy reading

i'd rather just eat it...

 

splish splash...

she is lovin her bath! there is one MAJOR difference between Heidi & my fur baby, Hunter. Heidi is starting to LOVE bath time. she splashes and giggles and is finally not scared of the water or the soap. it is still kind of hard to master giving her a bath alone because she is so "slippery when wet," but it is a fun family activity (at least i THINK adam finds it fun).

happy girl

 

on the other side of things, if i use the term "bath" in Hunter's earshot, I cannot find him for the rest of the night. He is off to a room as far away from "us humans" as possible.

screams!!!!

Heidi has also discovered that she can scream louder than a car load of frightened riders on a roller coaster. at first, i thought it was the cutest thing on earth. the screams were funny and new. now the screams are constant and ear piercing. she has also been singing to herself and talking in her own language, and she loves to hear herself make sounds, i am just hoping the screaming tones itself down a little, before we all lose our marbles at home!

 

life really couldn't be any better. every day is a great new adventure. i am so glad i have such wonderful people to share it with. until next time. . .

my most favorite place

...with my most favorite people. we went to the zoo last weekend. the weather could have been a bit warmer for my liking, but the chill in the air kept the crowd down, so i can't complain.

i have loved the zoo so much...ever since i was little. everything about it. the sights, sounds, even the smells. my imagination runs wild thinking about the animals...wondering if they have ever lived in the wild, if they think humans staring at them is weird, if they like where they are...how old are they? do they miss their family? what do they do when it rains/snows? i think of a million things. my head actually hurts on the way home most of the time...but it's a good kind of headache.

just peekin' out through my warm blanket, ma!

heidi was less interested than i thought she would be. she is so attentive to everything going on around her, and she did look at the animals, but she seemed more cautious than usual. either way, it was a wonderful day. i love being with adam, and i especially love when all 3 of us can be together doing something fun! our zoo trip couldn't have come at a better time. it's JUST what i needed!

just me & my girl