Time flies when you're having fun!

Who has time for blogging when you are working a full-time job, traveling because of said job, supporting a husband who works full time and is in school, and keeping a close eye on your very crawly little one?! Kudos if you can, but I can't multi-task. :)

Six months came and went and now little Margs is 7 months old. I feel like we just had her! I am starting to think about all of the exciting things coming up: football season, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, her FIRST birthday, her dad's 30th birthday... We have so much to look forward to.

Things she LOVES:
Swinging- it's her new favorite
Putting things in her mouth- We are betting a new tooth is right around the corner!
Playing the piano and singing- She's a natural!
Jumping up and down
crawling and crawling and crawling
The remote! Can't get enough of it!
Pete the Cat! Don't know that book? YOU SHOULD!
Dogs and her cat, Duke
Pears! Loves them!

Things she HATES:
putting her arms into her shirts and nightgowns.
Sun in her eyes (but who doesn't hate that)
sleeping on her back... still.

She really is the sweetest little girl. We've traveled a lot this summer: Baltimore, Boone, Washington D.C., Virginia, Charlotte, Pennsylvania, and more Maryland. She's been to a wedding, a conference, and spent a week at home without mommy. She's heard daddy preach at church and watched mommy sing in the choir. She's been on a boat, swimming a lot, and  had dress up parties!

How are Jeremy and I? Great. There's no time to talk about it! :) (Quickest blog entry ever!)

she hates it!

6 months- 100% squishy!

bedtime stories with daddy and nana molly

his second favorite time of the night. {the first is when she scares him after her bath.}

7 months and teething

Recent pictures!

I do keep up with some of my goals. One of them was to start using a real camera to take pictures of Margo. I have to admit, the phone is definitely easy to take pictures with, but the camera is much better quality. Here are some photos from 4 and 5 months:

This face! 

A little tired and confused about the flash! 

And the rolling begins...

Patiently waiting for her bath to be ready and playing with her bunny.

I figured you'd want to see that she is on her back sometimes... :) 

Her most recent photo (recent like this morning). SO. MANY. PATTERNS. I love it! 

The morning of her 4 month birthday. 

The morning of her 5 month birthday. She ate her sticker. She's getting brave! 

She loves her activity center, clapping, music and singing, watching Olivia, her new car seat, bath time, and rolling. She will roll around all day and all night. She actually is up on all 4s and my guess is that she'll be crawling soon-- WATCH OUT!!

March Pictures

Back in March, Valerie and I were finally able to have some family photos taken. Becky, our photographer and owner of Becky Williamson Photography, was so great with our children. She is a mother of 3 and you can tell! She is so patient and fun. I think any family is nervous to take "fancy" photos with their children. She made the process enjoyable and easy. We had a great time! Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, the fear!

I don’t consider myself a brave person, but I don’t live my life in fear. One thing I’ve noticed from other people is the fear they try to force upon you when you have a child {or in my case, a perfect, little, sweet baby}! While pregnant, I grew to despise any sort of phrase like “Oh, you just wait” or “Wait until this” or any sort of variation of that that ended in some terrible horror story about pregnancy, child birth, first weeks home, etc. I often found that people would JUMP at the chance to tell a terrible, scary story over sharing praises and joys. I am finding that these sorts of statements never actually go away.

My confession: Margo sleeps on her stomach. Go ahead and take a moment to judge. It’s apparently the thing to do. After many efforts to get her to sleep on her back, Jeremy and I made the decision to do what was best for Margo. She’s been sleeping that way since she was 3 weeks old. I can tell you that I haven’t slept in 4 month. And I've never prayed more.

 I never really talk about this part of our lives because people judge. I've heard every statement, suggestion, scary story, etc. And I've had enough.  The comments and reactions I’ve heard about this decision have filled me with so many mixed emotions: I’m mad that people find out and judge immediately, I’m mad that people continually tell me stories of children dying because they slept on their stomachs, I’m sad for the parents who have lost a child, I’m confused because I don’t know if I should listen to what everyone tells me or trust my mommy gut (after all, I did birth this child), and I’m sad that I always feel like it’s a secret that I have to keep. I let the opinions and scary stories let me live in a secret state of fear. 

Over the weekend I shared this picture on my social media:

 My sweet child was upset because she didn’t get any good napping in before a 4 hour (turned 5.3 hour) drive. She cried 2 hours of the ride... Minimum. She was so unrecognizable to me. It’s really heartbreaking to see your child so tired and know that all she wants so desperately to do is sleep. I think we can all agree that we know how that feels even as adults. Her little brain was on overload.  Many people said things that encouraged my heart- thank you! Others were realists. I’m not mad about that. I understand rules, I understand reality. The world needs people to be realists. But reading the comments threw me into one of my passionate tangents about this topic that I’ve struggled with for almost 5 months {Margo will be 5 months on the 28^th}. I’m thankful that my husband listens, even if my passion makes my voice seem like I’m yelling, and then calmly tries to bring me back down to earth. I am passionate about helping people understand that we are using certain situations to instill fear into new moms. It's not fair.  

For my sanity I needed to release this secret that I hold on to. I love Margo. I cry just thinking about it. I would never do anything to intentionally harm her. I would never do anything that is not in her best interest. I never thought that I would enjoy a life of changing diapers, being peed on, staying wet because of drool, sleepless nights, having no time to use the bathroom, constantly pumping, not washing my hair or doing my makeup, and staying home just because I want her to be comfortable…but I do. I love this life that I have been given. It’s a joy and a blessing to be her mother. I don’t take this job lightly. My reality is that I serve a big God. He knows every minute of our lives and I trust that He knows what's best for our family and for Margo. I TRUST HIM! I can't imagine or comprehend how much he loves Margo, or me, or Jeremy. I love both of them so much that His love is just something I can not fathom. Think about that and rejoice in it! 

 So please, I beg of you, if you are a horror story teller, if you can only say things that instill fear in others, please stop. No two babies are the same and they shouldn’t be treated that way.  Encourage a new mother. Lift them up. Since becoming a mother, I find that I make more of an effort to share good stories, to compliment people and talk to other moms about their personal experiences, and to encourage them. I hope that you do the same after reading this.

4 months already?

As a twin, it is really important to compare and contrast our girls. I am just itching to see how similar they are! I think they favor each other, although Margo may end up being taller! :)

Our girl was only awake for 30 minutes (her 4 month shots knocked her out) and we managed to take a picture with her animals and capture her sweet smile!

She loves baths!

She is teething. I am snacking.

She loves her doggies, Nana Molly and Nana Lula. And they love her! When she cries, they come running!

recently...

What a winter! What a spring! I have had very little time to blog or update pictures of our life on the go-go. I don’t think I can apologize for it, though, because I have been spending as much time with Margo as possible. Working full-time, along with being a mom full-time, is tough business. I have been humbled by the lessons I am learning constantly.

Mother’s Day is around the corner and I am certainly seeing my mother in a different light. Being a mother to 1 is tough, but she was a mother to 4 (under the age of 5). I am seeing scripture in a new way. I am seeing what Christ did on the cross in a new way. I am seeing my marriage in a new way. I see the students I work with daily in a new way. Being a mother is selfless. It is definitely one of the most selfless things I have done. It takes a lot to raise a child, to spend all of your spare time teaching and loving a child, and to working through your tired, achy days to give them the love they deserve, not the love that’s left over. I look up to every person who is a mother. I understand how challenging it is. I respect mothers who are single, mothers who also work full-time, mothers who raise their children full-time, mothers of multiples, mothers who have family far away, and mothers who have husbands in school. I have a new respect for teachers who spend their days loving babies and children that are not their own. My list could go on and on… my whole perspective on life and Mother’s Day is different.

I also have a joy that I never had before and that I never knew existed until I became a mother. It’s so great to see this sweet child of God growing and learning. I tear up every time I think of the gift that she is to us. One day she will do amazing things for the kingdom of God and it excites me that we get to support her in that!

Margo is doing really well. She loves school. She loves rolling over. On Easter Sunday she found her voice and she loves to sing and talk to her animals. She is enamored by Olivia and everything Olivia does. She loves her daddy so, so much. She loves her taggies and teethy toys. She loves bathtime and looking at herself in the mirror. She loves looking at pictures in books and being outside. And she still has beautiful blue eyes. We love being her parents. We look forward to watching her grow; although, yesterday Jeremy made her promise that she would never have a boyfriend. She’s the sweetest and we are blessed by her! And for those wondering, we are definitely not ready for number 2. J

 

What a week!

This has been one of the craziest weeks we've had. Monday I had a root canal, Tuesday- Wednesday Jeremy had a kidney stone, Wednesday- Thursday Margo got sick, and Thursday- Friday I had mastitis. Phew. Needless to say we were happy to have a break this weekend. Our poor little Margo still has a cold, but it's not as bad as it was the first two days. 

Because I just got back to work from maternity leave I was a little flustered to have to miss work because Margo was sick. Knowing how flustered I was, my boss sent me this encouraging message:

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 19    Remember he will Never leave you and will provide strength when you need it most:)

When I got her message I started to cry. The Lord has blessed me with so many people who love and care for me and my family. I am thankful for my boss, for my coworkers who checked on me and Margs, and for my sweet mother-in-love who helped out when we frantically asked her to help. 

Our goal for this week? Try to avoid catching colds, don't have kidney stones, and work a full week of work. I hope we can manage!

I snapped this picture at the endodontist. My mouth was getting nice and numb. Boo. 

Sick day number 1. Trying to decide if we go to school and work or stay home. 

I invested in a fancy elephant humidifier and that made her so happy! 

Double the kisses, speedier recovery. 

Finding time to play in spite of her breathing issues. Stuffy noses and coughing all night. Woot. 

Her poor little nose has just about had it with the sucking and wiping. 

Here's to healthier days ahead! Xoxo