Nick and Rachel

Growing Girl

// July 1st, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Mariah, Motherhood, Rachel

i hate when i write an entire post and then lose it! grrr….attempt #2 for this post:

i thought being at home for the summer would lead to more frequent posting. quite the opposite. even though mariah now takes one nap that gives me 2-3 hours to myself, i spend it doing other things. my photography business items take over, as does cleaning, reading a good book or other’s blogs, or taking a much needed nap myself. not to mention our site was hacked twice now and inserting pictures is a big headache now for some reason.

i’m so enjoying being home with mariah. we have a nice little routine of getting out of the house every morning for a walk/run, playground, errands, zoo….etc. followed by lunch, nap and playtime. having the little pond right behind our house is great for those crabby moments. one lap around and she’s just fine.

i don’t know how i’m going to go back to work in august! leaving a four month old last year wasn’t hard at all. she mostly ate and slept and made cute faces and noises. now everything has changed. she’s soaking up information like a sponge and it already breaks my heart to leave her with someone else. i want to be the one who teaches her new words and colors and shapes and morals and obedience. maybe i’m just being selfish and my need for control is coming through, but maybe in this case that’s ok.

mariah had her 15 month check up today (a little late b/c i kept forgetting to schedule). we had to see a different doctor b/c i’m a slacker, but he was so impressed with her. he asked if she had 1-2 words other than mama and dada that we understood. we counted a few weeks ago and she had 30!!! she’s been rapidly adding to that every day.

he also said she’s doing very well socially and was impressed she didn’t cry or squirm during her exam. then she wow’ed me by not crying at the first shot, wimpering just a bit for the second, and then just a few tears on the last one. she’s never done that before!

she’s getting so grown up i can hardly stand it, but i sure do love it!

and for those of you interested in stats: 30 inches (30th percentile) & 24lbs. (65th percentile)

restoration

// April 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Motherhood, Rachel

on sunday, darren talked a little about restoration. i’ll be honest, i had a million other thoughts going through my head that i only caught little parts, but restoration was one of the last points and it hit home. i need some.

to restore:

• return to its original or usable and functioning condition
• regenerate: return to life; get or give new life or energy
• give or bring back
• repair: restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken
• bring back into original existence, use, function, or position

i need all of those.

why?

maybe it’s being a mom. lots of people say being a mom changes how you take care of yourself. i focus on my daughter and her needs before mine. my world usually revolves around her.

maybe it’s nick working so many hours combined with motherhood. it left me drained. maybe it’s that when i have free time i spend it working on my photography business. website, blog, design, contracts, networking….. maybe it’s lack of sleep. or not taking vitamins. or the fact that my class is finished and work is slow.

it’s all of those combined i’m sure. i haven’t given myself time for myself. i think about it. i know i need it. but i don’t give myself any time. i need a pedicure, massage, bubble bath.  something to relax and bring restoration.

but honestly, those things might help momentarily at best. i’m finding that i rely my own strength too much. WAY too much. and no amount of quiet time, massage or bath time is really going to bring me back. i need to rely on God. i can’t tell you the last time i read my bible. i mean really read it. i get a daily verse on my phone every morning, but i just read it. i just see the words. i need restoration in Him in addition to all those nice girly things.

hopefully i don’t keep putting it off.

organization: shoes and purses

// February 13th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Rachel, house to home, organization

i’ve been wanting to take on this project for quite some time. over the past week my closet floor has looked like this thanks to a little crawling someone who thinks it’s funny to play with mommy’s shoes.

normally it’s not that bad. nick has some pants down there and my old ballet leotards and skirts made it to the floor with everything. usually it’s like this:

oh what? you can’t tell a difference?  hmmm…..yeah, it usually doesn’t look very good.

i started with the purses. those were over there in the right corner. (more…)

motherhood rollercoaster

// February 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Mariah, Motherhood, Rachel

honestly i think i’ve had more ups and downs in the last 10.5 months than i’ve ever had in my life. it’s amazing how much mariah’s mood and attitude affect mine.

when she was first born i was high on some new mommy chemical or something. even though i was feeding every 2.5-3 hours, i could keep going. i mean, there may have been something in the fact that we had visitors and help for 2 straight weeks and i took lots of naps. but she was a perfect angel. the world’s easiest baby. all my fears of being able to be a good mommy were gone.

then after our travels to italy around 2.5 months, things got a little tricky. sleep through the night was now hit or miss for the first time. but at {3 months} things seemed to click. then at 4 months with the start of daycare, pneumonia, and teeth it got ugly. 6 months i think was happy (kind of a blur). from there it was up and down weekly daily.

between colds and sickness every month, lack of sleep at daycare, teething, tummy aches from grown up food, learning new skills…. sleep has been rare. then i get crabby. then i write posts like {this one}

but then she catches up on sleep, gets over a cold, the tooth breaks through and we see our easy baby again. and i feel the joy of motherhood.

she told us a BIG story at the dinner table saturday night. something that included “poof” and her hands on her head and then behind her ears. we kept trying to figure it out and keep her talking. “is mommy’s hair poofy?” “did you poop?” finally she picked up some food, put it behind her ear, brought her hands out and said “poof”. OH! she was telling us about her magic trick!

today i noticed how much her hands had grown and it put things into perspective. during these happy moments i need to treasure them and drink them in so i can hold onto them in the rough moments. because she’s growing up too fast to get stuck in the hard times.

next time she’s screaming for two hours in the night, i need to think back to her cute little magic trick story.

aprons

// February 5th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Rachel, baking

almost a week has passed since the first baking disaster you read about in the previous post. we are slowly nibbling at the bits and pieces of cupcakes, but it could take awhile. i did bring a few to work on monday to share with co-workers, but only had a few takers. maybe i’ve had one too many (cupcakes, not drinks people), but now i don’t think they taste good. is that something that happens when you eat too many or is it that they’re kind of old?

anyway, moving on.

i thought maybe what kept me from baking well was the fact that i didn’t use an apron. logical right? so i hopped onto etsy remembering i had saved some cute aprons to my favorites. i think i would be a much better baker if i was wearing one of these?

these are from {city girl aprons}. she has tons of fabrics to choose from, but i’m a big fan of this one. it’s like wearing a dress while baking. fantastic!

how adorable are these matching mother daughter aprons from {creative chics}?

wouldn’t mariah and i look fantastic in them? i mean hers might be a little big now, but she’s grow into it soon right?

a few others i like:

1. Felicity Hostess by {Bella Style}

2. Urban Green by {Dianne Designer Aprons}

3.  Full Cotton Purple with Flounce {FeedMe Fabric}

4. Apron with Frills – Lemon {wonderlandavenue}