Wordless Wednesday

Clothing

So as of lately I have been feeling kind of frumpy and blah. I kept feeling like most of my clothes weren't fitting quite right. I am only a few pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight, but I know that my shape has probably change permanently. My hips are a bit wider and as is my midsection, but that's just the way things go when you have a baby. So to fix this problem I decided to investigate my closet. I ended up giving away most of my clothes to my cousin so I needed to find some new things for fall.

Enter my younger sister. She is always trying to get me to dress more "trendy", so I decided to give it a try. And you know what leggings and long tops/long sweaters are my new obsession. I love it! I honestly don't know why I was so resistant to it before. I now have several new clothing items for fall and I honestly feel much better about my style. Call it vain or frivolous, but sometimes this girl just needs a self esteem boost. It takes some time to get used to your postpartum body, but now I know how to dress it a little better. 

And speaking of cute fall clothes, Sarah has so many! I am so excited to dress her for the cooler weather. Not only will she be all dolled up, but we can make more frequent outings outside! Oh I am so excited for this season. 

I believe

... fall is just around the corner. Crunchy leaves, sweaters, jeans, and cute baby clothes here we come.

... God has a plan for my life. I may complain about being at home all day or about being lonely, but God really is working on me. I have met some new people who are turning into friends and I am getting out more and more as Sarah and I work out a routine. Being a stay at home mom is truly a blessing, even if I can't see it that way all the time.

... I am obsessed with baby headbands/flowers/bows and baby clothes. I never thought I would be that mom but seriously I HATE it when people think Sarah is a boy.

... my dogs are a perfect fit for our little family. Laid back, calm, and yes, lazy. Nothing high maintenance about them and I love them for it. Plus Penny makes a great foot warmer come winter time. (disregard the demon eyes)

... Sarah's new toy remote has saved my cell phone and actual remotes from being covered in drool and or spit up. I can handle Elmo's laugh if it means that she won't accidentally ingest something she shouldn't or water damage my phone.

... my husband is truly a great man. He loves me even when I am unlovable and even when I don't recognize that he does.

... my daughter is absolutely gorgeous! And a newly diagnosed thumb sucker.

... that time flies. My baby is almost 6 months old already. Gone are the days of being a wrinkly newborn. Now we have a mobile, sometimes independent little baby.

... marriage and parenthood are worth the fights, stress, and hard work. The joy is so much greater than the any negatives.

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday Recap

My family does birthdays right! They knew exactly how to make the day special without going over the top and it was such a fun day. It started off with my little bit sleeping until 9:00 before she even wanted her first bottle. Talk about AMAZING! That was a gift in and of itself. Then my wonderful mother in-law took Sarah for the afternoon so Ryan and I could have a lunch/shopping date. We went to the mall and Chipotle so it wasn't anything extravagant. Just the fact that I was able to spend some one on one time with him is what made it special.

While at the mall we stopped in Barnes and Noble (AKA heaven on Earth), I am such a huge reader and love getting new books. So after being prompted by my sister and a friend, I decided to pick up The Hunger Games. It was a great book. It's not my usual genre of book, so I was kind of wary, but I loved it and bought the other two books in the trilogy the next day. I told you I loved reading. I am now on the third book and all I can say is Suzanne Collins is a gifted author.

So anyway after our afternoon date, we went and picked up Sarah Bear from Grandma's and headed over to my parents' house to get ready for the dinner/party. We had salmon, asparagus, and mango salsa. It was SO delicious. Then of course we had the presents and cake. My family really spoiled me by getting me gift cards for things like pedicures and mall shopping. Since becoming a mom, I feel guilty spending money on myself a lot of times. So my wonderful family made it possible for me to pamper myself guilt free! Ryan even made me some awesome coupons for things like diaper changes, middle of the night feeds, and baby free time. This is one happy girl! So my 24th year has started out wonderfully and I can't wait to see what all is in store for the rest of it.

Wordless Wednesday (Technically Thursday)

 Veggies (Peas)

Today is my Birthday

I am now officially 24 years old and I couldn't be happier with where I am in life. I'm going to spend the afternoon with my wonderful husband who volunteered to take a half day. My sweet mother in-law took the baby so we can enjoy ourselves without having to wrangle a stroller and a potentially fussy little girl. 

After our afternoon out we are getting together with our families for a little celebration. Everything should be nice and low key. I will try and get some pictures up later for a Wordless Wednesday. There are tons to choose from because my little girl makes the best faces when trying new foods or discovering different things she can do. 

Friday Philosophy

There's a lot that goes into being a person. Everyone has some many different aspects of their personalities and they are constantly changing and evolving. I firmly believe that women are more complex than men. Women have so many different hats that they wear within a day and so many roles that they fulfill.

For the last 5 months I have been trying to balance my new "mommy" role with all the others that I have. On any given day I am mommy, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and daughter in-law. Discovering how to fit my newest role with all the others hasn't been difficult. The difficult part has been making sure that being "mommy" doesn't overtake all of who I am.

It's happened before. Back when I was pregnant, that was my identity. I was carrying a life and it was FANTASTIC! Sure it was uncomfortable at times but it was so new and exciting. Sarah was the first grandbaby on both sides and everyone was anticipating her arrival. This meant I was showered with attention and questions. I tried REALLY hard not to be that girl. The one that does nothing but talk about her pregnancy. But let's be honest, I was a stay at home wife and being pregnant was all I had going on. So for the first few months I was so obsessed with being pregnant and it being my purpose.

Now I am a mother. It's challenging, exciting, new, and emotional. I am trying very hard to not forget that I am not just a mom. I also have other parts of me. However, being a stay at home mom makes that a little hard. I spend every day with Sarah. No one else knows her routine the way I do, no one else knows the difference between her bored and sleepy cries, and no one else can get her to go to sleep as quickly as I can. Not even Daddy. (But Daddy sure can get Sarah to laugh like crazy.) I am not disposable, but I am not only Sarah's mom.

So I guess the point of this whole post was just to remind myself that it's okay for me to take some time to myself. It's actually more than okay to sit and not do any chores and just take a minute to enjoy life. It's okay to take Sarah over to Grandma for a few hours. It makes Grandma happy and Mama gets to relax. So I shouldn't feel guilty about sitting on my couch watching Grey's Anatomy reruns and drinking a Coke while Sarah plays at Grandma's because I am not ONLY her mom. I am also a woman who needs some time to recharge and refuel. So that is what I will go back to doing.

Wordless Wednesday (I love her eyes)

And We're Mobile

Sarah is working so hard on crawling!! But she's not quite there. When she's on her tummy she will desperately kick her legs and move her arms trying to move forward. Sometimes she scoots backwards a bit but usually she ends up doing some type of awkward face plant into the ground. After about 10 minutes of this she just gives up. However she has figured out how to move from one spot to another...

Sarah has discovered the barrel roll my friends. If she sees something across the room and she wants it well she will just roll there. It's so funny to watch. She mostly rolls to the right but she can roll to the left. I remember laying her down on a blanket or her playmat and being amazed that she had scooted herself to a different position. Now if I take my eyes off of her she's somewhere else. What happened to the baby that hated tummy time? I'm guessing it's just a matter of weeks until she's crawling and then I have no idea how often I will be able to blog. I hear moms of crawling littles have a lot to do!

5 Month Stats

Sarah now weighs 16 whole pounds. She's nearly as heavy as Penny (the dog) now. Just one more pound to go. she's also 25 1/2 inches long.  Both of these are roughly in the 70th percentile. Not too bad. She also started eating sweet potatoes yesterday! She didn't seem too confused by them and eventually gave us some baby bird faces. So I take that to mean she liked them. (FYI when your baby spits up after eating sweet potatoes it will be orange.)

Things she does now

• She can sit unassisted for about 20 seconds or so.
• Has this new cry that has a bit of a vibrato to it and sometimes she sounds like a sheep baaa-ing.
• She can now touch the floor in her jumperoo.
• She still wears size 2 diapers.
• She can roll belly to back and back to belly. In fact she did this across the room when she didn't like where I set her.
• She can creep (usually backwards) on a hardwood floor, not on carpet yet.
• She pets any animal that comes close to her.
• Disney music is still a soothing thing.
• She stays awake for about 2 - 3 hours at a time.
• We may retire the play gym soon but for now she still likes it.
• Toys hold her attention much longer and she likes discovering new ones.
• Still not patient enough for more than one book in a row.
• She is desperately trying to crawl. She wants to be mobile so badly. (Eeek that means baby proofing)
• There are now PLENTY of stylish headbands for her to wear! What can I say? Mama gets into making these things.
• Socks are her enemy. She wants to eat her toes.
• She has been to the church nursery and likes it. No paging the parents to pick her up ... yet.
• Still fighting sleeping. Nap time is not as bad as bed time though. If you don't know she does this it might seem odd.
• There are plenty of smiles to go around.

5 Months Old

Things I don't want to forget ...

• Your toothless grin
• Big sloppy "kisses" which could be interpreted as you trying to eat my face
• The way your eyes light up and you smile big when Daddy gets home from work
• Your laugh that is elusive, things are rarely funny twice
• The just woke up face
• Your excitement to be in the jumperoo and how you get it going so fast
• Spitting and blowing raspberries. It's cute now, but not when you're two
• The way your sleepy body fits just so in my arms. Even if it is time for you to sleep on your own now.
• Your "conversations"
• How much you love the dogs 
• Bath time splashes and fun
• Fascination with mirrors
• Hand eating
• Your "baby bird" face when you eat solids. You flap your arms and open your mouth wide
• Naps on the couch together
• Walking across the apartment. You just need to hold onto someone's hands.
• Your efforts to scoot and crawl. You sure can move if you want to
• Changing table acrobatics
• How much Mommy loves you even when things get so overwhelming or you're cranky pants!

And since I missed Wordless Wednesday ....

Oh were you needing this??

Five month stats to come soon