Saturday, September 21, 2013

I'm a wife first

This post has been sitting in my lineup, with only a title, since April 20th. I've kind of been afraid to finish it. Afraid to admit that I struggle. Especially since my DH reads my blog.

Before I had a child, I was taught to put your husband first. You chose him first. One day your kids will leave and he'll be the one to stay. The only way your home can be in order and your kids thrive is if you are committed to each other and put each other first.

I heartily agree. I also know heartily agree that it's hard.

Babies are wonderful little creatures. I adore mine, as does my husband.

And babies naturally take a lot of your time. Helpless little beings they are. And I enjoy being their everything (most of the time).

But being everything to one person leaves less than everything for anyone else. Including husbands.

Add in also being an employee, housekeeper, cook, crafter, church member and blogger, just to name a few, and the husband's slice gets even smaller.

But babies are just so loveable, and new, and precious. It's kinda like being in the dating portion of a relationship again. Giddy and exciting. Heartsick and overcome.

I'm sure as the years pass things will settle into a more steadfast love. Just as in marriage, the new will wear off. And that's ok. It's not something you can stop. You just have to be aware and prepared for when it happens.

But I want more than just steady. I want our marriage to thrive. And seeing as how Sophia will likely not be an only child, I better learn to make it thrive while also being a great mom. Because I don't want my marriage to suffer just because we had kids. They bring so much joy to us individually and together. But do we still bring so much joy to each other?

I love seeing John as a dad. He's excellent. But it's hard for us to change from our "momma and papa" hats to our "husband and wife" hats. Children can be all consuming. Just the practicality of bathing, feeding, clothing, diapering, entertaining and protecting a child all day long leaves not too much free time. This little blog of mine has certainly felt the crunch.

At the end of the day if either of us wants to pursue any personal leisure activities like gaming, TV, reading, crafting, blogging etc, it leaves really only minutes of quality time as a couple.

It's hard to find the balance. It's different for each couple. Some are happy and healthy with mostly family time and couple time only once every month or two. Same "date" weekly. Some spend 5 minutes of child free time a day being intensely connected.

I guess I don't know what our balance is yet. Even with free childcare available almost any time, there's still the energy of going out after a possibly long day and the money of eating out or going to a show. It's a matter of being intentional.

I'd be interested to hear the perspective of other moms...

Monday, September 16, 2013

Pretty n Pink- a fashion post

So looking back it has been over 9 months since I've done a fashion post. I guess we couldn't classify this as a fashion blog. Lol.

When I saw this dress on our local online shop and swap group, I just had to have it. I love a ruffled collar. I love pink. I love detailing and structure. And I love a bargain. It was only $5!

I was pretty upset after getting it to find that it had some stains where another darker piece of clothing had bled onto it in the wash. It was listed as "EUC, no stains, rips, holes". I contacted the seller and was able to get another dress from her I'd been eyeing, for free. So I really got 2 dresses for $5. But I love this pink one so much that I wear it anyway. The belt covers one stain and the ruffles hide the other. Now I've given away my secret! Don't say anything when you see me IRL :)

Oh, and I got my new aviators by Aldo on the same site, also $5!


Ruffles and bows?!? Sign me up!
Trying to fit in with the cool kids. The metal parts of the glasses have a floral pattern printed on them.

Polka dot mani pedi courtesy of moi

I need a better backdrop

Gladiator inspired bronze, gold and cork wedges

Polka dot toes
I've been taking a break from my gel manis to give my fingers a little recovery. They weren't really damaged but were just looking rough from the buffing and scraping (since I just peel them off rather thank soak them off). I'm enjoying the ease of switching colors!

I'm glad I got this post up before it turned to fall! But when it is finally fall and Thanksgiving, boy does Sophia have a cute outfit to show y'all!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sophia is 9 months!

Sweet Sophia,

    You're getting to be more like a toddler than a tiny baby. Although, I still think you're a baby and think that "baby" covers up to age 2. I don't want you to feel pressured to grow up too fast, and I don't want to coddle you so much that you grow up too slow. For instance, I still hold your bottle. You can hold it, but you like to shake and slosh it around and spill milk everywhere. So it's somewhat convenience on my part too. But, I'd like to think if you were still breastfed I'd be holding your "bottle" for you :)

    Oh but in almost every single other area you are Ms. Independent. I wondered if you might be a bit headstrong, being a first born and all. But, I'm told this is just part of normal development. You want to stand even though you can't, you want to feed yourself even though only 10% of your food makes it in your mouth, you want to grab and swipe and hold everything you get near, especially if it's something you shouldn't. I'm not even sure why you have your own toys. You rarely want them. You crawl over to the dog's toy basket 90% of the time. Bottles of all kinds, pens, sunglasses, straws, phones, jewelry and electrical cords are just a few of the things you're keen on. Oh and shoes, you love to chew those, yuck.

    You've said several "words" but I think we can say your first real one is "uh oh". It's the only one you use appropriately (sometimes). I'm not sure why you picked that one. It's cute though! You are mimicking words a lot now. You've tried to say "no no, mama, night night" and today you added "papa". Your dad was so excited!

    We went to your new pediatrician for your well check. You're no longer off the charts for height. You're 28.75 inches and 20.25 pounds. That puts you around 90th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight. Still a big girl :) Tonight I tried to put a 12 month sleeper on your (open foot style) but it was too short. I got it snapped but you were so cranky in it I changed you back to your onesie.
You now have a total of 7 teeth! Four on top and three on bottom. You also finally started hands and knees crawling, although you only go a few feet at a time. Your pediatrician said we need to cut back your formula and increase your solids. We're working on that. You don't eat very much in the way of solids so I'm not sure we'll completely follow her advice. She was nice but we still miss your old pedi a lot :(

   You had your first fever. You ended up being feverish for a little over 24 hours. The nurse practitioner checked you and said it was likely just something viral. It was really worrisome. You woke up in the middle of the night (which is fairly unusual) and dad checked on your, re-tucked you in and you went back to sleep for about two hours. You woke up crying again and I checked on you. I decided to pick you up to comfort you and I was very taken aback. You were burning up! I called for your dad and the thermometer. Your temp was 100.4, but you felt very hot. You got a tepid bath, sips of water, and Tylenol. But you wouldn't go back to sleep unless I was holding you. So you slept on my chest on the couch for a couple hours. You were so pitiful and it heart mine and papa's hearts so much. And exhausted us all! It was as if the world stopped for a day and we were consumed with you. Mama is also not used to sleep deprivation anymore since you're such a good sleeper. It was hard on us all.

Your 9th month also included a trip to Disney World! It was just for about 8 hours but we had fun. You did really well and took two naps! It was a busy week with family so I think you were pretty tired. Now I know you really can sleep anywhere if you're tired enough. You actually fell asleep in my arms on the Haunted Mansion ride and then slept through walking, talking and two more rides.

Disney day was also your papa's birthday. That night we went out for Hibachi and you ate a decent amount of vegetables and noodles/rice. But- your papa was holding you when they sang to him and brought him a cupcake. He had a bite, then fed me a bite. Usually you explore new foods before eating them. But at lightning speed and in one fluid motion you grabbed a handful of cake and stuffed it in your mouth. We were all very surprised and everyone had a good laugh. I'm telling you, you only want the stuff you aren't supposed to have!

Mama and papa love you so much pretty baby! We couldn't have known how much joy you'd bring.




On our car ride to Tampa. You thought throwing paper balls was hilarious!

At a baseball game

"No pictures please"

Pool time!

Teeth!
Eating a leaf on vacation in Orlando

With your papa and grandpa

Great Grandma Joan

Aunt Tiffany and Aunt Hali the night before Disney

Disney day!

Giving kisses!

With your papa having fun!

With the aunts!

Your Aunt Hali ADORES you!

And so does your papa. It makes my heart overflow.

You're also enamored with your Uncle Jeff

And Grammy Melanie wants to bite you!
And you're the light of MeMe and MawMaw's lives!