Vermont

Leah and I had a BLAST visiting my family in Vermont. It started as just a planned girls weekend, but quickly grew from there. Brett had planned a trip to Haiti last weekend to visit his godson and family (more on that trip later) so I thought, “Well, hey, maybe Leah and I will fly up to VT to visit my two sisters!” Once my parents heard we would be up there, they too decided to make the trip up. That led to my grandpa deciding he too would come up to VT (he hadn’t yet met Leah!) and before I knew it, a whole mini family reunion was planned for our little VT weekend get-a-way.

Flying alone with Leah was TOUGH (not because she cried, more because she wanted to climb all over our seat neighbors and stand on my lap and shake the seat in front of us the entire time…) We lucked out and had an empty middle seat on the way there for her to sit in and climb around, but the way home, sitting next to an entirely too grumpy business man, I was sweating trying to keep her in my seat and trying to keep her from poking mr. grumpy next to us!!

We fit a lot into our short 4 day weekend! My sister and her husband live in the cutest little house in Ludlow, VT and their gorgeous, picturesque town made me miss the northeast in a bad way! (Although ask me again in the winter and I will tell you that I am loving south FL just fine, thank you very much). The weather was perfect, the flowers were blooming, the views we saw on multiple hikes were amazing, and the food?? Oh man, can I just say that I ate wayyy too much cheese over the weekend and it was AH-MAZING. And miss Leah got to be the center of attention the entire weekend, so of course she had a grand ol’ time. Between being passed from person to person and crawling around the floor with 3 dogs, the kid was in heaven. Since we did so much (and I have so many pictures to share!) I will split our trip up into a few posts. First up are pics from the trip up and seeing family the first day.

Big girl sitting in her own seat on the flight to VT

The view from my sister and her husband’s house.

Sleepy babe fell asleep in grandma’s arms multiple times over the weekend!

I’ll be back with pictures from our trip to Woodstock, VT (cutest town ever!) and our family hike. For now I have a poor, sick husband (he must have caught a nasty bug in Haiti or the flight back!) and sleepy babe to care for.

Currently

Loving: My job. When I first went back to work I struggled with being away from Leah (I still do at times) but lately I’ve felt at peace with being back in the swing of things. I LOVE my job and every day I feel as though I am learning so much through my work as a child life specialist that will, ultimately, only help in making me the best mother possible for Leah.

Reading: Lots and lots of books to Leah. Her current favorite is a book called “Good Night Babies” where she can take cut outs of baby animals and tuck them into bed with their mommies.

Watching: Hubs and I finished season 3 of Downton Abbey and I’m feeling lost without it!! The season 3 finale left me so incredibly sad (I’m telling you, I’m so sucked into this family!) and I cannot wait until season 4 is over and available on the internet so we can catch up! Until then my grandma told me about another PBS show, Call the Midwife, and I am LOVING it! Sadly, Brett is not as into it as I am…

Listening to: The Wailin’ Jennys. If you’ve never heard of them I highly recommend looking them up. Their music seriously soothes the soul.

Thinking about: Flying alone with Leah tomorrow. This could either go really well or really bad…I’m just hoping people on the plane take pity on me when they see that I’m alone with her!

Looking forward to: Leaving for Vermont TOMORROW with Leah!! I cannot wait to get up there and spend some time with my family. I’m also psyched to get a little taste of a northern spring!

Making me happy: Celebrating my first Mother’s Day last weekend. It’s so crazy to think back to last year, when I was 7 months pregnant, dreaming about being a mother and holding my sweet baby girl. And now, one short year later, I have this amazing little family and the sweetest baby girl who looks into my eyes while she nurses while simultaneously melting my heart.

Boys and Babies

Leah loves her babies. She has one doll in particular (the doll she is holding in the above picture) that she is particularly attached too. That is her “baby.” The one she sleeps with every nap and night, the one she will grab when asked, “Leah, where is baby?” and the one she so lovingly gives her binky to when we pretend to make baby cry. I think a lot about what the future will hold for baby. Will Leah one day give her a name? Will she continue to be a favorite? Will she sleep with her every night and beg to bring her to pre-school during the day? I love that she has a baby. I love that she is gentle and caring and, although she still whacks baby in the face with a block from time to time, she will also hold baby with both hands, lean in, and give baby a big open mouth smooch on the mouth. It’s my hope that this baby, and the many others I know that will follow in the coming years, will teach her to be compassionate and nurturing and will, one day, help mold her into the amazing mother I pray she will be. But Leah is a girl. So when I tell anyone that her favorite item in the world right now is a baby doll, they smile and say “How sweet.” But what if Leah was a boy? What if my son loved a baby doll more than anything else in the world and was caring and nurturing to that doll?

The other day, as I was working with a patient and chatting with his mother, the patient turned to me and, while cradling his favorite stuffed batman doll he brought from home for his surgery, said, with the innocence that only a 5 year old could poses, “When I grow up I want to have lots of babies.” As I turned to his mother to say what a sweet thing that was, she rolled her eyes and said to me, “I’m trying to stop him from saying that.” She turned to her son and said, “Don’t you want to be an astronaut? A police officer? A race care driver??” And her son smiled sweetly, looked down at his still cradled batman and said, “Nope. I’m going to have lots of babies.”And the mother looked at her son cradling batman and said, “Stop doing that!” He looked at her, put batman down on the bed, and started smashing him in the face with the anesthesia mask we were using for medical play. It hurt my heart that this mother was so embarrassed and opposed to her 5 year old saying that he wanted to have babies when he grew up. I don’t think he was talking about wanting to physically give birth to babies when he grows up (although, even if he did, so what? He’s 5! When I was younger I was insistent upon the fact that when I grew up I was going to be a daddy, not a mommy.) But the way he was treating his batman doll, I believe he meant that he wanted to have babies when he grew up to love and care for. And, in that case, why is that such a bad thing? And why would his mother cringe when she watched him loving cradle his batman doll, and yet sigh in relief as she watched him rough house with the doll instead? Is it because it’s more gender appropriate?

Now, I don’t have a son. But one day, God willing, if I do he will be surrounded with dolls that belong to his sister. And I am sure sometimes he will love on those babies and other times he will smash them in the face with a block. Just like his sister did before him. But I do know that however he decides to play with those babies is fine. Because there is nothing wrong with teaching boys to be loving and nurturing and caring for those who are more helpless than themselves. If anything, by playing with babies, they are learning to become nurturing and loving fathers. And isn’t that what we need in this world?

Yet another island birthday

Homemade birthday cinnamon rolls

Birthday boy and babe.

I am so behind with my blogging and I’ve been wanting to share pics from our island birthday weekend where we celebrated hub’s 26th birthday! I could never say enough about this amazing man I married. And watching him as a father these past 8 months? Well, it’s just made me fall even more in love with him and develop a greater appreciation for his devotion to his family. I don’t know what we would ever do without him!

We had a wonderful weekend up on “our island.” We started Brett’s birthday celebration the night before his actual birthday (which was on Saturday) with ice cream cake. When we got to the island on Friday night I ran to the grocery store to get a few provisions for the weekend, which included an ice cream cake for hub’s bday the next day. Except that evening, after dinner, Brett decided that we might as well start the celebration off early with some ice cream cake since “otherwise we wouldn’t have any dessert..” Such a smartie, that one. Saturday morning dawned nice and early for me (sadly, Leah does not seem to grasp the concept of a weekend and was up at 6:30 am happy and ready to start the day). I quietly snuck out of the room to get started on Brett’s bday breakfast meal of choice, homemade cinnamon rolls, figuring I would give the birthday boy the gift of sleeping in on a Saturday. Unfortunately he was up not even 30 minutes after I left. Oh the joys of parenthood! Our 1 year ago selves wouldn’t even recognize these people, up at 7 am on a Saturday!!

The rest of the weekend was filled with the joys of the island; lounging by the pool, visiting the farmer’s market, going for family walks, swimming with the babe….perfection. The condo’s hot tub was off all weekend, resulting in a nice, perfectly temperatured baby pool for Leah and daddy to swim in. This little Florida babe is a beach bum in the making. She can not get enough of the sand, the water, and being outside. She would have swam for hours if it wasn’t for silly mommy forgetting her sunhat at home. Even though I slathered her head with sunscreen I was still afraid to leave her outside in the pool for too long!

Overall, a perfect celebration of me and Leah’s favorite man. Happy (late) birthday Brett!! Your girls love you so much!

8 Months

“Fancy meeting you here, baby..”

 

How big is Leah? Sooo big!!

And she’s done.

Dear Leah Grace,

8 months….I can barely believe it! You are definitely turning into a big girl..you are officially no longer momma’s little baby. Just taking this months pictures was a project and SO much different than last month! You are a girl on the move and you have little time for sitting and posing for pictures. Mommy did her best to distract you with your favorite toys, but you thought you would attempt to launch yourself off the rocking chair, rather than sit nicely and pose for pictures. Who has time for that?

There have been some crazy changes this month! Just a few weeks ago you were still figuring out this whole scootching business, but you have since mastered the art of the army crawl. And man are you fast. The other day I left you playing in your room and walked into the kitchen to quickly grab something. Little did I know, you were right behind me and when I turned back, there you were. You had scootched out of your room, down the hall, around the kitchen table and you were quickly making your way into the kitchen. You are a speedy one, and you don’t like to be left behind!

I love watching you learn. Your brain is like a little sponge and you are soaking up everything you see. I see you watching daddy whistle and you try so hard to mimic him and make the same noise. You wrinkle your little lips and blow and blow and it melts my heart. You might not have that trick down yet, but you have mastered many others. You love blowing kisses, waving bye-bye and throwing your hands over your head every time mommy asks, “How big is Leah?” You also know what I mean when I say, “Leah, give mommy a smooch” and you will lovingly turn your face towards me with your mouth wide open, waiting for a big kiss on your smushy lips.

“Dada” is still your favorite word to say, but this month you finally did say “mama!” You know what mama means and you use it to get what you want (and it works!) Although you say “dada” all the time, you reserve pulling out the “mama” until you are upset and need me to come rescue you. Then, you will look at me with your sweet, round eyes and say, “mamama!” You know I can’t resist that. But it’s okay…I’ll always be here, ready to rescue you from whatever may be.

You LOVE to eat and your favorite is whatever mommy and daddy are currently enjoying. Although you will eat your entire oatmeal and veggie dinner (with a baby biscuit for dessert!) you will still want whatever we are eating for dinner. Mashed potatoes, tomato soup, pasta sauce, rice, pizza….whatever it is, as long as mommy and daddy are enjoying it, you will too. You don’t want to miss out on anything good!

Leah, mommy and daddy are so proud of you already. Is it crazy to be proud of an 8 month old’s accomplishments? I’m not sure, but I am sure that we will be feeling this sense of pride towards you a lot in the coming years. You are smart and kind and we couldn’t love you more, our beautiful girl.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

 

Currently

One of my favorite blogs, Love Matt and Kara, does a “Currently” post weekly and I always love reading hers, so I thought it would be fun to start my own! So here it goes:

Loving: Florida in the spring time. Yes, the Florida summer heat is starting to sneak in on some days, but for the most part it’s been gorgeous. Warm, sweet air, flowers blooming, fun walks to the playground to swing…I’m loving it all. I’m also loving Lele’s funny girl personality that’s been emerging these past few weeks. One things for sure…we have an extrovert on our hands which is so unlike her mommy it’s humorous.

Reading: For the first time in I don’t know how long I’m not reading anything!! I recently finished reading Graceling by Kristen Cashore on my Kindle, which was really good! Now I’m in the process of looking for a good book to start.

Watching: Hubs and I finally jumped on the Downton Abbey bandwagon. We aren’t that far into the series, just 5 episodes or so into Season 1, but we are loving it so far! We are all about watching entire seasons or series of shows on Netflix and/or Hulu Plus and I get upset when we finally catch up. That’s what happened with two of our other favorites, Touch and Revenge, and now we’re left waiting for an episode a week like everyone else.

Listening to: The Wiggles and anything from my “Sesame Street Radio” station on my Pandora. I’m such a mom and I absolutely love it. Besides when “Fruit Salad (yummy yummy!)” gets stuck in my head for 3 hours straight.

Thinking about: What I want for Leah when she grows up. On the way to church this morning Brett and I were talking about our hopes for Leah as she gets older. She is such a sweet, funny and outgoing baby and, if she is anything like this when she’s 10, I know she will be surrounded by friends and will be goofing around, vying to be the center of attention. I just pray that we raise her right; that she’s never a bully or a mean girl, that she surrounds herself with Christian friends who serve as a good influence (and who she serves as a good influence to as well!) and that she is smart, driven and caring. It’s a tall order, but I hope (with the help of God) we are able to raise her to be smart, kind, and beautiful both inside and out.

Looking forward to: Flying up to Vermont next month with Leah to visit two of my sisters!! (And my older sister’s husband too of course!) I’m a little nervous about flying alone with Leah (oh boy…) but I am so excited and ready for a good girls weekend with my sisters.

Making me happy: My sweet little family and our current kitchen remodeling project finally coming together!! We got our stove/oven last weekend and bought some hardware for the cabinets and drawers this weekend and are in the process of putting all the handles/knobs on. My dream kitchen is finally starting to come together!

In Bloom

I wish these pics weren’t blurry, but her smile was too cute not to share.

Just rocking her ice cream jammies and mini pony tale

Spring has most definitely made its way to South Florida. Although our spring may look a bit different than it does up north, spring still instills the same mentality of renewal and life. No, we don’t have layers of ice and snow that are beginning to melt, and yes our idea of a “seasonal temperature change” may mean the early mornings bring 70 degree temps instead of 60 degrees, but all around us flowers are beginning to bloom and the air is beginning to get warmer, bringing the sweet smell of spring in the breeze. I would say we are also getting hit with the “spring cleaning” bug in this house, but let’s be honest, we’ve been cleaning like crazy since we moved into this house so the new season isn’t really bringing much change on that end. Although hubs is starting to feel an extra push to finish our yard projects, before the dreaded Florida summer arrives with it’s 80 degree heat and 100% humidity. Gotta love it. When we first moved in and saw the overwhelming amount of landscaping in both the front and back yard (let’s just say the previous owner was a bit obsessive with his planting) we decided that the majority of the “jungle” must go. However, lately, more and more beautiful flowers seem to be springing up in the yard, making us second guess our “just rip it all out!!” mentality. Scaling back will still need to happen (I’m not exaggerating when I say the current landscaping is so overgrown you are not able to see the house from the street) but we definitely will be keeping as many gorgeous floral plants as possible. Because I’m digging the caribbean resort feeling they give me every time I come home and see their bright colors. So, a new season is upon us and I’m loving it. Leah and I are embracing spring with as many afternoon walks to the park as possible because our sweet girl loves feeling the breeze blow through her wispy hair as she swings and mommy loves hearing her delighted belly laughs.

Happy Spring!