Eight Months of Pure Goodness

Marlow Lacy, you are an amazing girl.

Your smile, personality and most importantly those cheekies light up every room.

You're a perfect addition to our little family and we are so thankful for you each and every day.

Today you are 8 months old.

I cannot believe how quickly these past 8 months have gone.

The past month has been a month of changes for you:

• You're crawling
• You're pulling up on things
• You need your Momma 0.234 seconds after I've walked in the door
• You stare at your sissy ALL.THE.TIME.
• You want to cuddle and wrestle with the dogs, not sure they're the biggest fans of that idea
• You've stood, without holding onto anything, for seconds at a time multiple times.  You, my love, may be an early walker.

You sleep 11-12 hours a night and you appear to be taking after your Momma in the sleep department - early to bed, early to rise.  Sorry sister.  You take two great naps almost each and every day.

You're starting to give hugs.  Each and every time I get you out of your crib or pick you up, I feel you grab a little tighter each time.  When you rest your head on my shoulder or fall asleep in my lap I melt into a million mushy pieces of motherly love.

You're eating like a champ.  You love your food, especially spaghetti squash, your puffs and your sippys of water.  All big girl type things.

You continue your obsession with remote controls, the fireplace and pulling all of the DVDs out of the TV cabinet.

You are certainly on the go and ready to move.

Happy 8 months Itty Bitty.

We love you so much!

Guess I should start planning your first birthday, huh?

With Love, Always & Forever,
Momma

Bronde is the New Blonde

So as per usual, it's fall and therefore time to go a bit darker with the hair color so I'm not in the salon every 4 weeks and my Hubs doesn't take away my wallet.

He's not a fan of the darker hair, which he pointed out last night.  But I really like it for this time of year.  I will be back to my blonde self next spring, no worries Husband.  Saw a ton on "bronde" while perusing Pinterest for hair color inspiration.  I'm loving it!

I'm not that wife that doesn't cut or color her hair because her Husband doesn't want a different hair color or shorter hair.  My hair, my deal.  It's kind of all I have left that is 100% mine at this point.

Before

After

Day After

Early morning robe shot, bags included, you're welcome.

Video 

Sidenote: as much as I "see" all of you through your FB, IG and blog feeds, 

it's always interesting to actually hear your voices; also this is super corny,
but that is me 90% of the time and Mia is just like me in the
goofy department...reason #413 that Hubs thinks he needs a man cave....
"I need a space to get away from 3 girls."  Whatevs.  Funsucker.

What my stylist really wants me to do, which I love for long hair, but not sure I want to go much darker.

She's beautiful and I'm quite the fan of the tossled look - it's way easy.

Happy Hump Day my friends!

4

Mia Jane,

Today you turn 4.  I cannot believe it.  4 years ago this morning, at exactly 1:57 am, your Daddy and I welcomed you into this world for the first time.

You have been nothing short of amazing since that very moment and you have taught us so much about patience and understanding.  You've shown us the world through your eyes and that is one of the greatest gifts.

You are spunky, sassy, witty, goofy and oh so very smart.  You are an amazing big sister and you often tell us just how much you love her as you cover her in your hugs and kisses.

And your heart...it is as big as the ocean.  You care deeply for those around you and hate to see people sad or upset.  Your I love yous and those wonderful hugs you give are the best!  Your smile is contagious and your silly sense of humor is something I hope you keep around forever.

You're growing up too fast.  You're no longer my baby, but now my little girl.  You have changed so much in the past few months.  I'm not sure if it's because you are not in preschool or if it is just because you are getting older, but I want you to know something.  I will never stop telling you this...

Never Stop Being YOU.

You are wonderful, beautiful and perfectly sassy just the way that you are.

We can't wait to see where this world takes you, but I have a feeling you will go far...

I'm so proud to be your Momma Mia Jane.  I hope you don't ever question that.  I hope you know just how much you are loved each and every day.

And even though you are a little girl now, you will always be my baby.

I hope #4 is the best year yet.

With Love, Always & Forever,
Mommy

Fall Funk, Say What

Is it the weather or what is my deal lately?

I'm in a funk with work and everything in between.

Is it a 35 thing?

Is this normal?

I need to join a gym.

I need to be better about doing something for ME.

I feel like I'm losing a little bit of me each day as I'm taking care of everyone else.

I need a vacation.

I need to sleep past 5:30 am.

Sunday morning and the sun was not even up yet.

It may be the looming change in the time of the sunset and the sunrise.  Leaving at dark and getting home at dark puts a damper on the energy, motivation and happiness levels.

It's a new month, so that's helpful.

I feel like the constant go, go, go of the everyday is aging me quickly.

Days and weeks and months keep getting shorter.

Marlow is already 6 months old.  I mean how did that happen?

I'm exhausted most days and haven't been the greatest mom and wife in the evenings.

I feel like I'm pulled in 8,000 different directions from 5:30 am - 8:30 pm most days.

That, my friends, is exhausting day in and day out.

Being a Mom is hard work.

I've had a massage gift certificate since my birthday in June and I still haven't taken the time to go.  It's one hour.

We've made it a point to be better about weekend/family time and that makes me happy and always gives me something to look forward to.

Hubs has been better about working shorter Saturdays or taking off altogether if he can, so we actually feel like we have a weekend instead of one day.

Just feeling a bit like our balance is off or maybe it's just my balance throwing everything off?

It's up to ME to change it because Moms can fix everything, right?

Fall Mantle - DIY...kind of

I've never been one to decorate for Fall.  I always thought it was weird to decorate for a season commemorated by falling leaves and colder temperatures.  I'm a Halloween girl.  It's my second favorite holiday behind Christmas.

Sunday after Marlow's 206th night in a row of waking at 5:00 am, I needed to get out of the house for a bit by myself.  I just needed to breath and let's be honest I'm not sure there is anything better than a little retail therapy.  These moments make the Hubs a little nervous because 9 times out of 10 that means a SOLO TRIP TO TARGET.

I was in the mood to decorate, so after looking through Pinterest for some Fall, not boring leaves type decor, inspiration, I headed to my favorite place for all fun decorating things - Gordmans.  Not sure if you have one in your city, but they have the most amazing things and for the major cheap.  I bought a wreath (I typically would just make it myself, but for $20 it was worth just buying it already made and it wasn't too "leafy" for me), 4 picture frames, one candle, a candlestick and a pumpkin (the green vase is a part of my non-holiday/seasonal mantle).  Ran to Michaels for some scrapbook paper and a few letters and voila, my Fall mantle...

It makes me feel all warm and cozy, especially with my Baked Apple Pie + Cider Mill combo in my Scentsy burner.

Now I'm just going to need the 85 degree days to come down to about 75.  I shouldn't have to use the AC in late September.

This will tide me over for a few weeks and then I'll get my Halloween on...bought a new rug for that yesterday...at Target...when I was supposed to just be stopping for baby food and wine because it is impossible for me to go into Target and only get what I went in for...there's some super major power force in that place..I lose all sense of shopping control and focus.

Happy Friday people!!!!

We Were Done and Then We Weren't and Then...

When we met we had both just gotten out of long relationships.

When we met we weren't looking for anything permanent.

When we met, at a bar (ahem), we weren't looking for anything more than conversation and a little fun.

When we met, we didn't realize that our first date would lead to so much more.

When we dated, we didn't realize that two years later we would be engaged.

When we got married, we didn't realize we would have children.  Someone was content with being a kidless bachelor for the rest of his life (again, ahem)

When we had one child, we weren't sure we would have another.

And then we did.

And she's amazing and the perfect addition to our family.

We felt content.  We felt whole.

Four is a nice round number.  One kid per parent.  Perfect.

And then the summer came and went (I know technically it's not over, but when the pools close it is to me) and I turned 35 and yesterday my baby started preschool.

And then we started talking.  A conversation that was started by my Husband who as you may recall thought he would be a kidless bachelor the rest of his life.

Maybe one more?

We have goals for ourselves and our family outside of our work.  We want to travel, explore, see new things and do some things for ourselves.  Bask in the glory of life instead of working our life away.

Another child could hinder those goals.  Because kids are expensive and day care is expensive and selfishly, we want to create a life for our two children we have now that will create memories forever.  When you have two full time working parents, one of which works six days a week, family together time is extremely limited. Each and every week of each and every month of each and every year.

Mia asked me Saturday why her Daddy had to work so much.  It's hard to explain to a 3 year old that Daddy runs his own business and therefore is on "duty" all the time.  I told my Husband.  I didn't want to but I knew I needed to.

All of these thoughts and emotions sparked a conversation for beyond two hours last night.

And as selfishly as it may seem, and as wonderful as it would be to bring another blessing into our family, we determined it's time to focus on some of the things we've been striving for in the past ten years of our relationship.

Let's do some things for us.  Let's focus more on our family and spending time together.

Because damn it, we work really hard and deserve to spoil ourselves.

There should be no shame or selfishness in that.

This Place

Today was a very big day for a certain little girl in our family.

I wasn't sad.  I didn't cry.  But I did feel a strange sense in the pit of my stomach last night and this morning as I thought about how we got to this place.

Just shy of four years ago, she made me a Mom and here we are today dropping her off for her first day of Pre-K.

There are moments where I just yearn for some quiet, some alone time, 5 minutes to go pee by myself, maybe a solo trip to Target.

But today I realized, once again, just how very lucky I (we) am (are).



Mia is amazing.  She's smart, social, happy, healthy and FULL of energy.  And her memory....it's outstanding and scary all at the same time.  She remembers so many experiences already.  If there was a way to bottle it up and sell it I would.



This morning my thoughts were on how quickly she's grown into a little girl, how my baby is no longer a baby, how amazed I was that she found her own name tag upon entering her classroom.

I can't believe I have a pre-schooler.  I'm pretty sure someone told me that they stay babies forever. Liars.

I'm so excited to hear all of her stories tonight when I pick her up.

I'm so excited to watch her grow and develop.  The girl could not have been more excited to put that princess backpack on and strut into school this morning and for that I'm elated for her.  I'm impressed by her ability to walk into a new and strange environment and settle right in.

But that pit, that pit is there.  That pit that tells me she's growing up and there is not a darn thing I can do about it.

Kids teach us so much about love, patience and life.  Watching them explore all things for the first time is such a remarkable process to experience.

Life, I tell you, is one interesting journey of emotions after another.

Ok life.  You win.