Videos: growling, eating and dancing, oh my!

I wonder if it will ever get old to take pictures and videos of my girl???

Olivia Layne - 14 Months

Dearest Olivia,

I can't believe how much you learn and grow in a months time. Sometimes when I look into your eyes I glimpse a little girl instead of a baby. But let's not rush it! You are doing so many things these days. You enjoy walking while mama or daddy holds onto your hands, or you push your stroller around. It's funny to watch you try to put your baby or Leo or Rabbit in the stroller. You concentrate so hard to get them in it just right. At bathtime you wash your own tummy by rubbing all over and dabbing the soap bottle on it. You have started sleeping in your crib all night every night. Well, you don't actually SLEEP all night, but you don't come into our room anymore. I would say about 50% of the time you sleep without waking up, and the other half of the time you wake up about once and I rock you back to sleep. You are completely done nursing. Sometime in the beginning of February, after several days of not nursing, I brought you into our bed in the wee hours of the morning hoping you would fall back to sleep (no such luck!) and you asked for milk. I was sad I couldn't give you any, it was the end of a precious bonding phase for us, but you didn't seem to mind at all, which made it easier, and strangely a little harder, too. You have learned a few more signs: butterfly, help, please, and sometimes you put your hands out like you are saying "where is it?" or "I don't know." I think the signing is good because it gives us more of an idea of what you want, but sometimes you get the signs confused or you try using different signs when we don't understand what you need and it gets frustrating for you. I'm looking forward to being able to communicate with each other more and more so you can know that you will get what you need from us when you need it. You have started making a growling sound and it is hilarious and adorable! You also make a sort of high squeak or hoot when asked to tell us what certain animals say. I LOVE that you are trying to talk and you are so smart! Dinner time is getting more fun because you are learning how to use a fork. You enjoy trying to scoop up food and put it in your own mouth and it's a blast when you accomplish it! We went on a little girls only trip to Fort Collins this month and it was a blast. You did great in the car, the hotel, and exploring Mama's old college town. It was really special for me to have such a sweet time with you and it made me really excited for all the trips we'll go on together in the future. You have the sweetest smile and brightest eyes. You are such a happy baby and bring so much joy to Mama and Daddy. We love you to the moon and back!

And now for too many pictures. I have to make up for lost time now that I only do a monthly update!

The Light in the Middle of the Tunnel

“Don’t blink, this time will fly by.” “They grow up so fast.” “Enjoy every moment.” Is it just me, or do new parents hear these phrases at least once a week? The truth is, when you’re in the middle of ear infections, poopy diapers, colic, your baby tumbling down from the sitting position for the eleventeenth time, sometimes those phrases fall on deaf ears. Sometimes, as I paced the floor, rocking Olivia, shushing her, singing to her, bouncing her, begging her to fall asleep, I would wish for the future. For days when she would lay her head on her pillow in her big girl bed, fresh faced from her bath, holding her beloved lovey of the moment, snuggle in for a hug after a bedtime story and BAM, be out like a light. I’m pretty sure there are a myriad of problems with this vision, but let me start with the one that jumps up and punches me in the gut. Wishing away my baby’s life? What the what?!

I’m pretty sure it’s not just me who has struggled out of sleep in the middle of the night to nurse a baby and wondered when I’ll have a full nights rest again. I’m sure it’s not just me who wonders when on earth this little one will be able to play independently for, oh, say five minutes, so I can throw together a dinner more complicated than frozen pizza. And I’m sure it’s not just me who becomes wracked with guilt after such thoughts. So I hope this can be an encouragement. Yes, time DOES fly by. Before we know it, we’ll be sitting at a high school graduation, watching our “baby” accept their diploma, while the tears that fall from our eyes reflect memories of their tiny snuggles, their first giggle, those sweet moments in the middle of the night while we nursed them back to sleep. OK, maybe high school graduation is a bit extreme, but I can tell you from very recent experience, that I simply can’t believe my 14 month old girl is now sleeping in her crib ALL.NIGHT.LONG. (Nevermind the fact that she still wakes up in the middle of the night and I still get up to rock her, the point is she is weaned and our bed now only contains two people instead of three.) Sure, I came to a point where I was not just complacent about rocking her, nursing her, getting up with her, multiple times at night, I was content to do so. I was cherishing those moments. Nevertheless, there were plenty of moments of despair in my sleep deprived state, or in the back of my mind when my to-do list seemed to pour out of my head and wrap itself around the nursery, darkening the soft glow of the pink nightlight and stealing away my happy cuddles. And yet, here we are, only 14 months in, and that transition has happened. Looking back, it seems like it was so FAST. Already my memories of exhaustion and despair are buried by the grief of passing through a stage that will never happen again. Isn’t if funny how our minds do that? Like, there are women out there who have babies with NO PAIN MEDS and then DO IT AGAIN! Um, hello crazy minds and your sneaky ways.

I attribute part of the desire to speed time up to being a first time mom. When you’ve never had a baby before, all the harder stages seem like they will last forever. You have no gauge that tells you, “wait a minute, Mama, just hang in there, this will pass, you can do it.” It’s too hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel from the dark middle you feel like you’ll be in forever. It’s not until it’s too late, when the stage is over, that you’re able to look back through the end and see that there was light shining the whole time, you were just too caught up to see it. The light that shone through the bags under your eyes, the unwashed dishes, the unfolded diapers that was illuminating the precious parts of those stages. The extra snuggles, the special bonding, your baby getting to hear the sweets notes of soft lullaby’s, the tiny fingers clutching your arm, the sweaty cheek against your heart. Hear me, Mama. If you have come through the tunnel of a hard stage and didn’t see the light until you were through it, do NOT succumb to guilt. You did your best! You were valiant as you tried to figure out how to stay sane while cherishing your child in the midst of a difficult period. Your baby felt your love in her soul! And you learned much. Both of you did! You got through it together, no matter how often you wondered when things would change. And now you know, you can do it!” In parenting, no matter the age or stage of your child, there will always be tunnels. But isn’t it sweet knowing that it probably isn’t as long or as dark as you think at first. There is light shining through it before you even get there! Let your baby (or toddler, or tween, or teenager) help you see the light in the beginning, so that while you might not enjoy the whole tunnel, you can at least take heart and know that there are enjoyable moments smack dab in the middle of it, and you will find them!

I’ve said before that sometimes I feel like my reflections on motherhood are all about the hard parts. I don’t want it to seem like it’s been one challenge after another, with none of the amazing, blissful, exciting, precious times, too. That is not the case whatsoever! Sometimes it seems like the hard parts are those less talked about, though. And there is a longing in this mama’s soul to reach out to other mama’s and tell them that no matter how often or rare the hard parts are, you are not alone! Whether your child slept through the night from a few weeks old, or whether you are still nursing your big toddler at 2 AM. Whether you have an “easy baby” from the start or had to go through colic or are in the middle of terrible twos or teenage angst. Whether your twelve year old wants to spend every waking moment with you because she loves you so much or you’re sitting up at midnight waiting for your past-curfew son to walk through the door. You are not alone.

We all know there are good times. We can recite all the precious things about our children and the reasons we love being mothers. The moments that feel like glimpses of heaven. Those things are written on our hearts. The good outweighs the difficult by elephants and rhinos! But when the challenges are casting shadows in your nursery or over your dinner table, take heart. Give your baby an extra squeeze. Take a deep breath with your nose right in her neck and soak up her baby smell. Sit next to your teenage son on the couch while you watch yet another action movie and memorize his long lashes, his square jaw. And know, this too shall pass, and when it does, you will both be stronger, wiser, and more entwined in each other’s hearts.

lately

Livi checking out her new growth chart

Olivia has a bow just like one of the girls :)

watch me grow!

a sweet potato lentil soup. beautiful to look at, only so-so to eat.

getting ready to change Leo's diaper

 a conversation

naked baby!

I forgot my camera!!!

Last weekend Livi and I went on a fun Mama/Daughter trip to Fort Collins! I admit I was a bit nervous about the drive and staying in a hotel, but in the end everything worked out so wonderfully and I'm really glad we went! Livi did GREAT in the car and we had a blast pretty much the whole time. I tried to remind myself not to get worked up over her schedule (or lack thereof) and just go with the flow when needed. It proved to work well because when she decided not to take her morning nap on Saturday morning, we went ahead and headed to Old Town to window shop and she fell asleep in the stroller for 1.5 hours! That is longer than her normal naps! We got to spend great time with our old friends Jo and Everly on Friday evening and Saturday morning, hit up all my favorite shops on Saturday morning and then went to a lovely baby shower to celebrate my old friend Sarah and the upcoming birth of her son! It made me really excited to know that little trips like this can be fun. What will the future hold? Of course I couldn't find my camera so there are NO pictures, just memories. But here are a few pictures of lately to fill in the words :)

I tried to capture a picture of Livi and our Sense Of Place treasures to show to Grace, because that store is special to us :)

We found out Olivia likes to ride her Zebra much more if the music is NOT playing!

If you didn't think she looked like Daddy before, is there any denying it now???

Big girl using a fork! Watch the video below-it's priceless.

more boat progress! Jeff put 2 sides on! I have to admit it makes my stomach hurt sometimes, not knowing how it will pan out. Look at how that wood has to bend! And all those clamps to hold it on! YIKES!

My Hubby is pretty amazing :)