I Came From Where?!?!

Avey and I are having  a lazy morning listening to Big Daddy Weave on Pandora and hiding underneath the covers while the sky pours outside.

I am so blessed to have a husband who works hard so that I can stay home. Being Aveys mommy is the most fulfilling and rewarding position I've ever held. I realize that getting to spend every moment with her is a privilege and that not every mommy is afforded the same privilege. Thank you Lord for providing for my husband and I.

She is so silly.

As is custom for every person on earth in January-- Brady and I have made a resolution to begin a raw whole foods diet. We kissed being a carnivore good-bye for the time being. I'm excited to see what improvements are made in our health.

 Hi-Yaw! Kay-Raw-Tay!

As most of you know I have Hypo-Thyroid disease. I had accepted the fact that I would be on pills everyday for the rest of my life. After watching a documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead where  an Australian man cured his autoimmune disease with a juice fast-- I've been encouraged. If his body can heal itself so can mine. It's time to clean out this temple and start this year fresh-- healed-- Holy.

Baby girl agrees. It's a grand idea. 

Yesterday was our anniversary. We spent some time at home and took our time getting ready. We went ghetto and decided to eat at Applebee's because we had a giftcard. Our waitress was awful but aside from that it was a nice lunch that neither one of us had to prepare or pay for. We held hands the whole time while making frequent glances at the sleeping baby in the carrier.


Note the dirty diaper. Classy.

I was surprised the other day when I laid Avey down after her 2am feeding when she didn't cry-- she just laid there smiling and chatting quietly to herself.  I went back to bed and so did she. She did it again last night. It's a relief to know that my independent girl doesn't need me to rock her to sleep every time I lay her down.

Shes got this. 

Her eyes are still blue-- she's rockin' it.

Tana came for a visit. All the way from Alabama just to see little one. Well-- not exactly but Avey fueled her motivation.

Blessed to have friends that care for me and my family. Tana and Tori oohhed and aahhed like Avey was glitter.

She is pretty impressive.

Sometimes we just sit and have nonsensical conversations. I have a feeling that we'll continue doing this until one or both of us are gone. She's just so cool and I thrive on her sweet baby coo's, face engulfing smiles, and kisses. I could live on her kisses.

Have a beautiful Monday. Don't work too hard. Hold the ones you love close. Inhale their scent. Make strives to never forget these moments.

And with this I leave you with the words of the winner of the facebook caption contest-- Zuzu Ford:

"I came from where?!?!"

1 Year

It's 11am and we're still in bed. We were out till 3am last night. I used to be a night person and now I'm a mom. Its the sad-- or certain-- reality I now face. Hellooooo motherhood!

Avey is licking my leg to death right now so I'm going to try to make this post quick.

A year ago this second I was getting all made up in my mothers bathroom while Brady, his parents, the Elenburgs and my family waited in the living room.

A year ago today I got to marry my best friend. The peanut butter to my jelly.

And what a year it's been! To a thousand more adventures! To four more babies! To living a long modest life in the country-- on our own land-- in the home that we build with a wrap around porch. To watching sunsets and sunrises with you by my side. To getting mad and making up. To lots of making up. 

You are my whole world. I am so mad about you. I want to grow wrinkly with you.

Happy Anniversary.

ATTENTION: PACI MIA

The baby is clean and fed. Chili is on the stove and cornbread is in the oven. The laundry is done, the dishes are washed, my make-up is on, my hair smells nice, the bed has been made-- it's been an eventful past few hours.

Today I cried a little. Because today we started something-- something called size one diapers-- and that means that my newborn is becoming an infant and I would like to know when the heck that happened please!

Because I remember when she used to look like this-- when preemie diapers where too big for her.

And now she's rockin' size one. I'll be hysterical when she starts growing out of her newborn clothes.


Hysterical.

 I've been busy lately. Not the working mom-who-has-seven-kids busy but the I-just-had-a-baby-and-all-we-do-is-lay-around-and-cuddle-so-I-don't-have-time-for-anything-else kinda busy. Really. I made up an excuse to get out of hanging out with a girlfriend the other day because I was super busy cuddling.

It's not my fault. Look at her. Sister begs to be cuddled.

Also. This paci? Is totally MIA. Or that's what I'm telling myself because I don't want to have to move all the crap that's being stored under our bed to fish it out. It was the perfect storm. I tossed the binky onto the bed and it continued to roll--into the headboard--straight through the cracks--where it came to rest under the bed.

Poor paci.

Mmmm... I love me some baby booty!

As January 8th quickly approaches memories of last year and what I was doing during this time have been playing through my mind. I was buying a wedding dress, getting prepared to move out of my parents house, packing for my honeymoon, shopping for lingerie, and enjoying an impromptu bachelorette party-- oh how far we've come in one short year.

We are so blessed. I can't say it enough. We are blissfully happy, healthy and content. These are the best years of our lives. The years that I'll look back upon when we're old and grey and think "what I wouldn't give to go back". I'm trying to soak up every little ounce of every little moment. I don't want to forget a thing-- knowing fully that I am only human and that I will forget lots of things.

That's why writing it all down is so important.

She wont be like this forever. Just last year she was only a dream that I'd had since I was 5.

Today it's moving up the car seat straps and graduating to size 1 diapers. Tomorrow she'll be walking. I plan to cherish every single second.

The Cutest Little Unicorn You Ever Saw

Availeth is 6 weeks old today--and you know what that means for momma! Well what it would have meant if Brady and I could have kept it together for that long. Knowing that you're doing something you shouldn't be doing makes it so much more exciting.

It's amazing how much they grow in such a short amount of time. She's already cooing back at us and I can sense the beginnings of a giggle when she smiles.

This face just begs for a giggle and I know it's coming. Our once mute little darling is beginning to imitate us.

Her once dark grey eyes have turned blue. I wonder if they'll stay that way? Brady wonders if she'll be blonde like him. Her once black hair has already turned a reddish shade of brown.

She is still so tiny yet so much bigger than when we brought her home. My body used to be her home. That little thing took up a nine month residency within me. She used to move around inside me. I'm going to cry at her Kindergarten graduation. I just know it. I'm going to be one of those moms.

We-- well... me. I like to play this game where I put her paci on her head and make her magically turn into a unicorn.  She humors me but I don't think she quite gets it yet.

Cutest little unicorn you ever saw.

Happy six weeks baby. You've made me so happy.

Magic At 2AM

 I am loving life right now-- today-- this moment. We haven't done anything but lay around and sleep all week. I feel rested even though I'm up at 2am, 5am, and 7am every morning.

I love being a Mommy. Getting up with Avey isn't a chore. It's a secret, magical time we get to spend together while the rest of the world sleeps on. There is something magical about being up at 2am nursing-- her eyes locked to mine as she tries not to smile while I coo at her and tell her how pretty she is. She always cracks this half grin around me and it makes my throat get tight and my heart expand.

We're living on borrowed time. These nighttime moments-- we wont ever get them back. Because Sister is growing and growing fast.

Weighing in at a whopping 7 lbs 4 oz she's already well on her way to toddlerhood. So we take naps together-- skin to skin. We have hour long one-sided conversations. And we do a lot... a TON of nursing.

Can you spy the binky?

I am so excited for the future but I am very content living in the present-- living off her baby smell, Christmas candy, and sweet slobbery kisses. It is indeed a wonderful life and I am so blessed to be in it.

Brady has been enjoying his time off. Making up for all the game time he's lost all year while at work. Baby duty doesn't even phase him. Though usually not the best multi-tasker he has a talent for juggling the things he loves and it makes me oh so very happy because it makes him oh so very happy.

Just a quick little blurb about this water bottle that I got at Costco the other day. It came in a pack of three water bottles and it has quickly sky rocketed to the top of my "Favorite Things I Love" list. There are few things in life that make me so happy as a good water bottle-- butterflies, rainbows, Zelda-- this water bottle trumps them all.

Sisters got moves you've never seen. She practices ballet in her sleep and she's darned good if I do say so myself. Look at her raw talent. Oh the places you'll go Little One.

Jil dropped in for a visit before she caught an early flight back to Chicago. We hadn't seen each other since the summer-- when I was pregnant and we tired to meet at In-n-out.

I gave her a ring when I got there.

"Where are you?"

"I got us a booth. Where are you?"

"I just walked around the place. Can't find you."

"Huh. I'll stand up. I'm by the door."

"Me too. You must be at the other door."

"I'm waving. Do you see me?"

"No. I just checked both doors. Are you hiding?"

"No. I'm just standing by the door. I don't know how you can't see me."

Conversation went on for a good ten minutes before we realized we weren't at the same restaurant.

pay no attention to the laundry basket, diaper bag, and jacket hanging over the crib in the background. i am a domestic goddess and my house is always clean. everything is always in it's place and those things are figments of your imagination. 

Flashback to the 1980's. Mick Jagger made an appearance.

I dread Tuesday. Brady goes back to work. I wish that he could just stay home with us forever.