A First Birthday Fit For a Princess

This past weekend we had our baby girl's First Birthday Party.  In my opinion, the first year of your child's life is the fastest and the slowest year ever.  The slowest because at the very start, there are so many challenges.  The lack of sleep...well, really let's just stop there.  The lack of sleep alone puts everything in slow motion.  And then you just wish for them to grow out of this "stage", so that you can get some much needed sleep!  But then, you blink and they're walking, communicating, eating on their own, playing on their own, AND (thank goodness!) sleeping longer than 3 hours at a time!  And then, in my case anyway, you want nothing more but for time to slow down.  You miss that squishy baby who knew nothing except your touch, your smell...it was all you.  Those days are over, I'm afraid.  This little girl is curious, eager to explore, to keep up to her brother, to do things on her own...

So, I felt the need to celebrate her birthday and this turning point in her and our lives.  I tried to make it as special and as beautiful as I could.  I made all of the decorations and the cakes myself and invited our closest friends.

We had such a great time at her birthday party! Miraculously, we were blessed with a well rested, happy, baby girl (I feel like this is a rare occurrence for first birthday parties).  I asked a friend to take photos at her party, so that I could actually enjoy the party and not be worried about capturing it all on camera.  A word of advice: do this.  It was so nice to just enjoy this moment with my baby girl and my family and friends.  You don't ever get these moments back.  Ever.  Give your camera to a friend, preferably one who knows how to work a camera!  My friend not only knows how to work a camera, she rocks the camera!  I mean, these pictures take my breath away and mean so much to us.  Thank you Jenny, of Peanut Butter and Jenny Photography!

Life is sweet.  Enjoy the little moments.


~Jackie

Farewell to my friend

There are many benefits to the choices that my husband and I have made; moving to different places in support of my husband's career.  We have experienced so many new places, in ways that you can't simply through traveling.  We have exposed ourselves to challenges and things that aren't so comfortable, and have come out on the other side, stronger and more confident in ourselves and in our relationships.  One of the greatest things about living in other places are the people who we have met along the way.

I have met some incredible people on this journey.  People full of support and friendship, who really do feel like family when your own family is so far away.  Unfortunately though, the thing that is most rewarding is also the most heartbreaking.  Today I said so long to a good friend of mine.  She and her family are 'expats' as well, and they have been reassigned.  ...and it happens, just like that.  I am definitely in a weird space right now, not only because I am going to miss my friend a whole bunch, but also because this is hard.  It is hard to put yourself out there and not only meet people, but open yourself up to people.  And then just like that, they either leave or you leave and have to do it all over again.  The amount of loss that we deal with is a lot.  Loss of home, loss of family, loss of friendships, loss of jobs, etc., etc.  ...But I wouldn't change it.  The benefits of what is gained, like these roaming "family members" located all over this crazy world...this matters.  And these people help write the story of our lives.

I am going to miss you my friend.  But I will look forward to the day that our paths cross again.


~Jackie

So how bad is it, really...?

So how bad is it, really...?  I used to read this magazine, back when I still had time to read magazines...and they had a section that rated how bad different things were.  I LOVED reading that section.  They looked at common things that many people may or may not already do and give you the facts on it and the verdict on whether it is "not that bad" or "really bad" or "kind of bad".

I feel like this question enters my mind about one hundred times a day.  Being a mom of an infant and a little boy, I am constantly performing risk assessments in my head.  The funny (or not funny) part is the verdict.  Obviously my risk assessment calculations are purely subjective and many times performed under times of heavy stress, excessive tiredness and desperation, which very much skews my analysis and the level of risk that I assign.  But really, how bad is it to eat your lunch on top of your nursing baby?  What if your lunch is soup?  Or my personal favorite...what if you are enjoying a nice cold brew (after 9+ months of depriving yourself such privilege), while your baby happily chugs her milk below?  How bad is it, really???

How about this scenario, which happens all too often for any mother of little ones.  What if you're out and your baby drops their toy on the ground?  What if they drop it on the ground in the parking lot?  In the bathroom?  Now, what if the toy that they drop is a teether?  A spoon that you are about to use to feed them with?  Their pacifier?  Really, how bad is it to give it back to them?

Like I said, this phrase enters my mind so many times every day.  And based on my field research analysis of other moms...I think the more kids that you have and the less sleep that you get, the less bad things really are.  Funny how that works.  :)

Happy Friday everyone!

*Disclosure: the actions above were either shared with me by other Super Moms or were my own personal experiences.  No children were harmed following the assessed risk. ;)

~Jackie

You Know You're a Mother to Children 3 and Under When...

Being a mother is great.  It's rewarding, super fun, and super exhausting.  I remember before I became a mother and I used to read lists like these and chuckle, but I never really got it.  These are a few things that make up my every day.

You know you're a mother to children 3 and under when...

1. You run the water in the bathroom for longer than you actually need to, just to get a few more precious seconds of "quiet" to yourself.

2. Having a bright red potty sitting in the middle of your living room doesn't even phase you.

3. You find yourself regularly negotiating with a pint-sized mini me.

4. When you're trying to sing in the shower to keep your baby from crying, the only songs that you actually know the words to are kids tunes.

5. Once the kids are in bed, you don't flush the toilet, sneeze...you wouldn't even move if it was possible, just in case the noise will wake one of them.

6. Your meals often consist of random scraps of food that your kids didn't finish.

7. Your new home decor consists of lego pieces, play food and dinosaurs...very trendy.

8. Nap time = bliss.

9. You have moved ALL of the chocolate, cookies, any treats up to the highest possible shelf in the pantry because they WILL reach it somehow otherwise.

10. You've zombie walked out of your bedroom way too early in the morning, on more than one occasion, to your toddler eating a cake pop, cookie, chocolate, mint, candy, ...insert treat here..., which explains the necessity of #9.

11. Your new bedtime is 9:30pm...and even that is pushing it.

12. You find yourself setting your alarm at night hoping that you will actually get to hear it go off in the morning.

13. You have a remarkable ability to multi-task, especially if it has to do with keeping your baby asleep.  You can talk on the phone, listen to music, put on your make up and eat lunch, all while continuously rocking your baby to a regular rhythm so that they stay asleep.

A new day...

Here I am, at my computer again.  So often I write in my head and recently it has been happening more and more.  I have decided it is time to take these words out of my head and put them somewhere.  Here is a good place.  I think it's a rather safe place...and I did create this blog for such a purpose.  So, here goes!  Get ready for plenty of random thoughts from an often sleep deprived, always on the go, Mommy.

I know.  You're totally stoked.

~Jackie

Butterflies, Butterflies, Butterflies...

What a blessing it is to have a baby girl.  Baby snuggles, chubby cheeks, big blue eyes and Oh! those lashes...I cannot get enough of this little girl.  Having a girl has it's perks.  Dressing her is so much fun!  The little skirts, and tights, and ruffles!  I love all of it.  It was also fun planning and decorating her nursery.  I didn't really hold back on the girly-ness of it either.  ;)

I wanted to share a few of the things I made to make this little lady's room special and full of love!

I started with her mobile and cut out so many butterfly's.  Making this was pretty tedious, but it was worth it!  The way these butterflies flutter when you lay underneath them...it's perfect.



My next project was sewing a strip of this beautiful fabric onto a single curtain panel.  I couldn't resist the fabric, and when I bought it I had no idea what I was going to do with it.  (This happens a lot with me!)  Now I get to look at it every day!  So pretty.  So many snuggles happen in this cute, cozy corner!

One can never have enough butterflies...  I cut these out too and put them on her wall.

My last project (for now!) was this cozy baby blanket.  This pretty much was a result of an I-have-to-have-this-pretty-fabic purchase again.  It is so soft too...  :)

Such a special baby girl...I can't wait for more pretty projects to come!

A Reflection on Life and Love...

Alright, so I understand that it has been eight months since my last blog post...I feel the need to lay out all of my excuses, but I never professed to be a great blogger anyway!  So much has happened in the last eight months.  First thing: I grew a little person in my tummy.  No biggie.  Well, truthfully, she is still in there and we are anxiously awaiting her arrival, which could be any day now!  On top of being pregnant with a toddler running around me, we also moved to Texas.  I like challenges, but come on!!

So, life has been challenging, but it has also been great.  The best part of this blog for me is that I am able to reflect on everything and it helps me really put things into perspective.  For instance, being 38 weeks pregnant isn't exactly the most fun I've had and I was feeling that today in a big way.  But sitting here in front of this keyboard I realize just how blessed I am.  I have a family who I love with my whole heart.  We have so much fun and share so much love for each other.  We have experienced a lot and have had many adventures already, all of which make us stronger both as individuals, but also as a family.

Recently, we had a family photo shoot and I think Jenny, our photographer did a great job of capturing the love in our family and our anticipation of the newest member of our family.  I will cherish these memories forever.

 Love.
xoxo

Jackie