Life Lately: Toddler Adventures, Surprise Trips, and Fireworks

Once again summer is in full swing and passing us by way too quickly. We are busy over here in Texas getting ready to move. I wish when you only move a short distance...like us...it meant your moving process was much easier, but that is not the case. Whether you are moving 7 miles or 500 miles, you still have to pack up your apartment the same way. So we are staying positive, enjoying frequent trips to the donation center at Goodwill, and cleaning out all of our closets! Although it is hard to see the end result over the mountain of boxes filling our dining room, this move will be worth it in the end. We are going from a 3rd floor apartment to a 1st floor apartment! It's the little things in life that make me happy :)

Katie is a walking and dancing all over the apartment. She learned how to walk a little over 2 months ago. It has been so fun to watch her explore this new little skill of hers. She also learned how to walk backwards and spin in circles. She loves to dance with me and still loves reading her books. The last 2 weeks have given us glimpses of the roller coaster of toddler emotions! The majority of the time she is one happy and content little camper, but when she gets tired and hungry...it gets exciting!!

Mike's company was recently named the 5th best place to work in Dallas!! So thankful for Innovation 360 and the incredible help they provide for so many people. Being the 5th best place to work involves some fun and exciting events for the staff. In June, the whole crew loaded up in an RV for a 4 hour road trip to Amarillo to participate in the 72oz Steak Challenge at Big Texan Steak Ranch...yes, you read that correctly, 72 oz! I am happy to report Mike was able to eat 50 oz without throwing up and got a super awesome t-shirt that says, "I tried to eat all 72oz!" HAHA!! So good!! He would also tell me to tell all of you NEVER try a 72oz steak eating contest unless you want to feel miserable on purpose :) I included a short little video if you would like to indulge your curiosity!! Side note, in preparation for this contest, Mike ate 10 pounds of watermelon the night before and a huge bowl of salad. The preparation for this contest was legit!

I am currently loving staying home with Katie girl! We have filled our summer days with swimming, story times, mall trips, and play dates with baby besties :) I am also tutoring a little preschooler who is getting ready to start 1st grade this fall.

Over the 4th of July weekend, we surprised my parents by coming home! The surprise had been in the making for months ever since we got home from our trip to the island this spring. Mike came up with the idea as a thank you to my parents for taking care of Katie while we were away and I loved it!!! It was much better than any souvenir we could have brought home from our trip. The weekend didn't disappoint. My brother and SIL were in on the whole plan so they helped us organize and make sure my parents weren't going to go camping...because we all know how much they love to camp! We pulled off the surprise in epic fashion and I wish we would have recorded my mom's face when she saw us standing on the front steps :) The weekend went fast, but we filled it to the brim with fun. It will be a weekend we always remember!!

Katie, this is your eye! 

I'll end with my favorite picture of the whole weekend...my sweet grandma :) She will be celebrating her 98th birthday next month. I am so thankful Katie gets to spend time with her great-grandma!

5 Favorites for New Moms

This post is for all my fellow sweet new mamas. I have been wanting to document the favorite items/things I used during those first couple of months and thought it might be a blessing to someone else as well...thus, blog post :) And for all the moms who have multiples, I don't have near the expertise you have and some of these things/ideas probably get increasingly harder with each baby...but every mom has to start somewhere, so this is a glimpse into my beginning as a mommy!! 

1. Fellowship with other new moms! 

This really isn't an item, but it was one of the most important things I did after having my daughter. Getting involved in a mom's group with other moms in the same life stage as you is so important. I was blessed to find a group through a large church in the area and our group met once a week for 8 weeks. Together we were able to laugh, cry, and be vulnerable about this new stage of life as we were all transitioning into the role as mommy to tiny, precious babies. Not only do you get to meet other new moms, but you get to glean wisdom from experienced moms in the process. Hopefully these groups will lead to friendships for both you and baby. So look into local churches or MOPS for groups to provide support. 

**Dallas moms: check out Square One at Watermark 

http://www.watermark.org/ministries/square-one--ministry-for-new-moms/

2. Songs of Encouragement 

At one of our new mom sessions, the speaker played the following the song by Natalie Grant called: When I Leave the Room. Of course, all of us new moms are already overflowing with emotions so it didn't take long for the tears to start flowing as I listened to her song. When I got home, I put together a playlist of songs that became like prayers I sang over my daughter. Music has always been something that has touched my heart and this was a perfect way for me to incorporate this love into my new baby. These songs provided the backdrop to countless late nights. Here some of the favorites  on my list: 

-When I Leave the Room by Natalie Grant 

-Keep You Safe, I Get to Be the One, I Dream of You, When I'm With You all by JJ Heller

**Pretty much loved her album I Dream of You

-It is Well by Kristene Dimarco, Bethel Music 

-Here's My Heart by Lauren Daigle 

-This Grace by Kristian Stanfill 

-Immeasurably More by Rend Collective 

3. Words of Hope 

Once your little baby is placed in your arms, life will never be the same...in an extraordinary way :) But it also comes with lots of changes. One of the biggest changes is how you spend your time. During those late night feedings or afternoon snuggles, I grew to love listening to podcasts, reading/memorizing scripture, reading books, and catching up on encouraging mommy blogs. With caution, though, you have to take blogs/podcasts with a grain of salt. Just because it works for another mom, doesn't mean it works for you. There can, however, be great encouragement and support through the online blogging mommy world :) These are some of my favorites:

1. God Centered Mom Podcast Join Heather MacFadyen, mother of 4 young boys, in her weekly podcasts as she interviews moms offering words of encouragement and wisdom. I have come to look forward to these podcasts so much they have replaced music in the car :) She has all of her past podcasts available so you can search through topics and find ones relating to your life stage. Even though I only have a 14 month old, I love listening to the podcasts from moms further along in the mommy life than me so I can start processing and gaining wisdom for the years to come. These are some my favorites so far:

 Ep 68 A Naptime Diary with Jessi Connolly

Ep 65 How to Get Real and Savor More with Shauna Niequest

Ep 64 For the Mom with Lots of Little Ones with Hanni Go

Ep 56 Blind to Grace, Learning to See with Stephanie Rische

Ep 55 How to Parent with Grace with Jeannie Cunnion

Ep 54 How to Own Your Life with Sally Clarkson

Ep 51 The Well-Versed Family with Caroline Boykin

Ep 52 Focused Instead of Frustrated with Susan Seay

2. Inspired to Action Podcast Join Kat Lee as she encourages and inspires women to action by believing that being a mother is one of the most important jobs on earth. I have already listened to my favorites multiple times. My favorite line from her podcast is her closing line each week: "Your a mom. Your kinda a big deal. Now go be awesome!" -Kat Lee

Savoring Motherhood and Making Time For Your Creativity with Shauna Niequist

How To Wake Up For Your Life and Not To Your Life 

How to Eliminate Overwhelm and Organize Anything

Grace Laced Motherhood with Ruth Simons

1. Hands Free Mama: Hands Free Mama is the digital society’s answer to finding balance in a media-saturated, perfection-obsessed world. It doesn’t mean giving up all technology forever. It doesn’t mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. It means looking our loved ones in the eye and giving them the gift of our undivided attention, leaving the laundry till later to dance with our kids in the rain, and living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions. {via}

2. A Mom After God's Own Heart Elizabeth George's A Mother After God's Own Heart offers 10 principles to help moms make God an everyday part of their children's lives. Readers will explore how to...

• teach their children God's Word
• train them in God's ways
• talk to children about Jesus
• pray with and for them

Elizabeth, who has two grown children and six grandchildren, gives practical advice and real-life suggestions for helping children--no matter what their ages--incorporate God into daily life. Elizabeth's husband, Jim, also provides biblical advice from a dad's perspective. {via}

3. The Best Yes: Lysa TerKeurst is learning that there is a big difference between saying yes to everyone and saying yes to God. In The Best Yes she will help you:

• Cure the disease to please with a biblical understanding of the command to love.
• Escape the guilt of disappointing others by learning the secret of the small no. 
• Overcome the agony of hard choices by embracing a wisdom based decision-making process. 
• Rise above the rush of endless demands and discover your best yes today.  {via}

1. Coffee + Crumbs
2. Kari Kampakis
3. Grace for Moms
4. Naptime Diaries
5. Thrive Moms
6. The Better Mom

4. Sleep Resources/Aids 

Adjusting to the new sleep normal after baby is a big one. The first couple of months are so important to creating comfort and trust between you and baby. Once babies are given the ok from the Pedi to start sleeping without waking for feedings, the sleep learning begins. The swaddle, which the nurses teach you at the hospital, was a life saver for our little one during the first couple of months. One morning, however, I went to pick up my little girl from her nap and she had busted out of her swaddle. Our swaddle days were over! So I made a switch to the Zipadeezip, added a Wubbanub, and read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child!  There were many other things I used, but again, these 3 were my favorite. 

1.The Zipadeezip is a great transition item from swaddle to more movement once baby can roll over or push up. These are a little expensive, but totally worth the investment. If you have a family member that can sew, look up patterns!

2. The WubbaNub is our favorite pacifier. It is more like a 2-in-1 as it provides pacifier and a soother. 

3. Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth: A friend told me about this book and it quickly became my go to for sleep. Not only does the author provide helpful information about creating healthy sleep habits for your child, but he also has the research and data to back it up (I skipped most of this in the book). The best piece of advice he gives, in my opinion, is learning how to recognize your baby's windows of sleep. 

5.  Date Nights/Mommy Time 

Date Nights: These were a must for me and my husband...and I want to preface this by saying we didn't have family living in the area to babysit, but we still tried to have weekly dates as much as possible. Date nights after baby looked a lot different than date nights before baby, but making our marriage a priority didn't changed. Since we didn't have family in the area, many times these date nights included myself or my husband picking up food and bringing it back to the apartment to eat after our daughter was napping/sleeping for the night. Or if we did manage to actually "go out" of the apartment, it was for a quick dinner to Chipotle or Pei Wei...something fast...and then we would make or pickup a special dessert to eat at home...again, after our daughter was asleep. One of my favorite date nights from these first couple of months was simply sitting on our kitchen counters, eating ice cream, and talking about life. We also love to play games, so board game or cards quickly became a go to for date nights...especially games we could play while holding a baby :) And of course there is the ever popular Netflix marathons of our favorite shows or renting the latest Redbox. I will never quite understand how we could be so tired/exhausted, but still have energy to watch one more episode!! Now don't get me wrong, these dates weren't glamorous by any means, but they were simple and life giving to our marriage.

Mommy Alone Time: This was also crucial during those first couple of months. It is so important to get away, leave the house, grab some coffee, take a shower, go for a walk, run to Target...by yourself...during this time. Before my daughter was born, my mom told me I should try to plan a little time away once a week. It didn't have to be long, sometimes it was just a 15 minute bubble bath or a walk to Starbucks to a get a caramel frappuccino, but it gave me a chance to recollect and refresh my mind and heart.


To all the new mom's out there, please know you are loved and chosen to the be the exact mommy your baby needs. I know everyone says it, but these first months will go fast. They won't seem fast in the moment, so cling to the hope that soon you will see a little smile or hear a little laugh, and those long nights seem to drift away...for the most part ;)