Davis' first birthday

Davis' first birthday was not just a party. It was not just a chance to see friends and family and open presents and dress up the kids and have yummy food. It was a day to reflect on this past year and to be grateful for every.single.moment we've had with our sweet little miracle boy.

It's hard to believe what has transpired over the past year and I am beyond thankful for where we are. There is nothing I'd rather do than celebrate than my healthy little boy, and so we did just that. It was a wonderful, happy day.

Menu card (and other details) by Sweet Birdie's Nest

 

Yo

 

Aunt Lacie, Uncle Luke, and cousin Logan (your future BFF)

 

 

Dear Davis,

You have changed me, and our life, in a way I could have never anticipated. You make every one of my days better and I cry happy tears over you more than I'll ever publicly admit. Thank you for every smile, every snuggle, and every little slobbery kiss. I treasure them.

Love,

Your mommy

Incase I forgot to mention...

Someone had a birthday!

Unfortunately, this same someone also has a mommy who is very busy at work and fighting a yucky cold. She promises to post all about her precious boy's first birthday celebration very soon.

In the meantime I'll leave you with this. You wouldn't have believed his smile when he saw that cake. Such a testimony to what a happy little angel he is.

Don't even get me started on how cute he was in that button down. I can't even take it.

The Things I Wish I Knew

The things I wish I knew when I became a parent for the first time...

Everything is a phase. It doesn’t feel like it when you’re in it—when they won’t sleep, when they cry for hours, when they insist on only eating a certain color food. No, when you’re in it, you feel rationally convinced it is going to go on forever. But it won’t. It never does. Just ride it out.

Your body will go back to normal. It may take a while, but it will. You will not feel like a jiggly blob forever.

The window of time that you get to hold your baby- truly hold them and snuggle them- is so short. Do it whenever you want to and don’t feel guilty. By the time they turn one they’ll be so active they’ll be running away from you (ahem, Davis) and you’ll miss those days when they laid on your chest for hours.

You are doing a great job. Even when you have a bad day, and you have no patience, and you feel like you’re doing everything wrong- you’re doing a great job. All your kids need is love. If you love them, and they know that, you’re already doing better than you think.

Trust your intuition. Don’t ever doubt the God-given sense that mothers have- it’s there for a reason.

Don’t stress- your kids can feel it.

Kids do everything at a different pace. Everything. Do not panic because your child isn’t clapping, or holding their bottle, or waving at the exact second the other kids are. These things are trivial. And they all catch up to each other at some point.

You will never be the same. Ever.

You will understand why mothers cry at Hallmark commercials and feel so silly for all the times you rolled your eyes. Those moments on those commercials, they are important. When you walk into your child’s room and they light up to see you. When you take them to school for the first time. Sitting around the table eating dinner. Brushing your daughter’s hair. Every moment is important…treasure it, and never take even those seemingly mundane activities for granted. Those moments make up your life.

The Labor Day Fail

Our long Labor Day weekend didn’t exactly go as planned. One of these days I will finally learn that MY PLANS MEAN NOTHING. Aren’t your 30’s supposed to be a decade of clarity and knowledge? Yet somehow I continue to live in sheer denial and with the belief that I really can control everything.

Saturday and Sunday were great, albeit I had a minor migraine both days. And let’s be honest, saying you have a “mild migraine” is like saying you got shot by one bullet not three, so you should be ok.

After said migraine got the best of me on Monday morning I took a very strong pill that my doctor prescribed for when prescription strength naproxen won’t do it. And what did this little magic pill do? Make me magically and deathly ill for 8 hours. I spent all of labor day in bed. Every time I got up I immediately started to faint or be sick and thus returned to the fetal position.

Not My Plan.

Turns out, and this is the worst part, I think somehow white wine has suddenly become a migraine trigger for me. And if you know me, you know how devastating this is. As I posted to twitter last night, I'd advise that you hide your children and the faint of heart- without my wine I am officially a threat to society.

To recap:
Nausea
Dizziness
Fetal position
No wine
=Holiday FAIL.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to Halloween.

Giving

One of the most important things I think we can teach our children is the importance of giving. I want Madelyn and Davis to grow up knowing every day how lucky they are, and that it is their duty to help others who aren't as fortunate.

Of course, I know this isn't going to just "happen" without diligent and intentional teaching from us as parents. We've tried to explain to Madelyn what it means to donate as we're cleaning out her toys, but at three and a half she's just now starting to really get it. It's absolutely amazing to see that little light go off in her head.

I have felt really moved lately to help orphans. I don't know why, but for some reason God has put it on my heart to help children without a family. I don't feel like it's in our journey to adopt necessarily, I just want to do something to help others adopt, or at least provide for those poor children in some way. So as I was tucking Madelyn in the other night we said her prayers and I told her about how some children don't have enough to eat, or clothes to keep them warm when it's cold. She looked at me with the sweetest little face and said "mommy- we should give them some of ours."

I was a proud mama. I am a proud mama. She's listening. She's absorbing what we're saying. And she wants to help. It was a really awesome moment.

Sometimes you think your words go completely unnoticed. Half the time I say something she just wants to talk to me about her princess dolls and the pretty dress she wore that day. But I know she's listening. And our actions won't go unnoticed.

We are all so very lucky. I think we forget amidst the mass affluence of this country that we are all so very rich. The majority of people in this world don't have basic necessary comforts let alone 400 thread count sheets and a pantry full of food.

My kids will be spoiled, and that's ok. They will know to appreciate it, and as long as they grow up with generous hearts, I'll be happy.

Happy Anniversary: our new chair

Reading blogs is a funny thing. There are some blogs I've read for years where I truly feel like I know that person, yet I never have and likely never will actually meet them.

Because of this, I was super excited when the opportunity presented itself to meet Beth from Design-A-Peele this past weekend. I've read Beth's blog for a while now and can relate to her on many levels. She has a great eye for design (on a budget no less!) and a super sweet personality, not to mention the most adorable little boy.

Recently, she started selling her beautiful creations and when I saw this beauty I knew it had to be mine. After all, the traditional five year anniversary gift is wood and honestly, what else can you buy each other made of wood? So Matt and I picked the chair up on Saturday and it's now happily living in our master bedroom. It's gorgeous and we are so so happy with it.

As an added bonus, it was so great to meet Beth. She warmly welcomed us into her home and after fawning over her adorable decor, I gladly took a few extra goodies off her hands. I'm hoping we can get together again one day as I really think our families would get along well.

Thank you, Beth, for everything! I loved our chat and can't wait to see what beautiful pieces you have available next!

Things that drive my husband crazy

As Matt and I prepare to celebrate our five year anniversary (!), I thought it might be fun to illustrate to you just how far I am from the perfect wife. You know me, I'm all for keeping it real.

Behold, things that drive my sweet husband crazy.

1. I am terrible at ironing. So bad, in fact, that I beg Matt to iron my clothes for me. #domesticfail

2. I leave cups of water and tea all over the house. Usually one on the nightstand from when I go to bed, one in the living room from that evening, and one on the kitchen counter that I may use again. It's just slightly annoying to him. I tell him I'm just trying to save him the worry that I could become dehydrated.

3. I constantly harrass him for using ranch dressing on everything. He doesn't even use it as often as he used to (he's a total ranch head) but when he does I still have.to.make.a.comment.

4. I find really fun DIY projects that look "so easy!" and then make him do them for me.

5. And lastly, I make to do lists.

For him.