Mara-13 Months

Wears:  She is still mainly in 12 month clothes.  We have moved up to 18 month in jammies and onesies.  This is mainly to give room for your cloth diapers.

Rocking shades at your birthday party

Yes you do baby girl.  Yes you do.

Loves the sunglasses

Health:  You are doing great in this department.

I think you're teething your bottom right molar as your gum is pretty swollen but you seem completely unaffected by this.

Hanging out with friends at a local festival

Dressed up and ready for church

Says: You say "mama" and "dada".  You also say "yeah" and something that sounds like "tickle tickle".  You try to mimic me when I say things to you but for the most part it doesn't come out sounding anything like what I said.

You are your father's daughter

Favorite Foods: You still love strawberries and cheese.  You are a pretty picky eater so I am slowly trying to introduce new foods to you.  Last night you ate dinner off my plate and loved green beans, fish and rice.  You love your puffs and recently discovered gold fish crackers at a friend's house.  You do great with pasta, especially macaroni & cheese and ravioli.

This month you also tried raisins and cheerios.  You love both of them.  We still haven't given you cow's milk but will probably in the next month or so.  I originally wanted you to just have breast milk but the milk I pumped went bad in the freezer.

Already a ham

Sleep:  As always you are up and down in this department girl.  At the beginning of this month you were still waking every few hours or so.  Mama was exhausted and I had to let you cry a few times.  The past three nights you have slept for 5-8 hour stretches and it's been so refreshing!!  I am also trying to ween you from sleeping with Mama in the mornings.  You used to come to bed with me at about 4.  I slowly pushed that later and later and the last two mornings you've woken up in your crib!!  You seem to love this and play in your crib for about 15 minutes so I think this is best for both of us.

We've been practicing for Halloween

Best Moment:  Some of my favorite moments this month have been seeing you talk with daddy.  You are interacting with him more and more each day.  I know he loves this too.  We also have been doing all things fall and I love experiencing this time of the year with you.  Today we're going to dress up and head to the batallion fall festival on post.  You'll be a strawberry!

Every girl needs a tutu!

Milestones:  You started walking this month!  About a week after your birthday you finally got the guts to take a few steps and then you were off.  I knew this was how you'd do it.  You were just studying things until you were completely sure you could do it.  You are already so steady and rarely fall anymore.

You found your shadow this month and were completely entertained by it for a whole ten minutes.  It was funny watching you trying to grab it off the floor.

You answer questions when asked.  Of course I don't know what you're saying but you always provide an answer.

You also respond to a lot of short commands.  "Follow mama." "Come here." "Let's eat."

You feed others food.  You love to offer bites to mama and put them in her mouth.

13 Months!

Loves To:  You love to push furniture around the house.  It was so much so that mama got grip strips for all your favorite things to push.  The coffee table and shoe rack are now permanently in their spots!

You love to chase Buddy.  Whenever he's around you walk toward him and chase him in circles until he ultimately retreats upstairs.

You love to open the kitchen island drawers and pull out my mixing bowls.  You dump them all out and then go on your way!

You love to dance.  You push any buttons on musical toys and dance away.  You have also started to workout with mama in the mornings, swinging your arms and trying to mimic the video.

You love to play with your friends from church.  You love watching kids and do pretty good interacting with them.

This is her go to face

Favorite Toys: playing with the magnets on the fridge, cooking at her play kitchen, any toy that makes music, pulling out daddy's jewelry in his closet, swinging in her swing

Dislikes: Not getting your way!  You are so stubborn girl.

You also do not like to do your signs.  You know them all but refuse to do them.

I love this quiet moment shot.  

A Life Update

This month has flown by with my mom visiting and getting settled back at home.  We've been running errands and trying to get back into the flow of life.  I've also been trying to connect with friends and get Mara back on a schedule.

We've been doing all things fall around here (although it doesn't quite feel like it yet).  I've been burning pumpkin and apple candles.  We went to a pumpkin patch and carved our pumpkin.  I've been drinking apple cider and wishing for scarf weather.

I've also been working on a few projects around the house.  In the last few days I've mowed the lawn, trimmed all the hedges and treated all the fire ant mounds.  I have also recently refinished some old bookcases and worked on getting the fall decorations up at the house.

Lately life has felt like a big to-do list which has been both a good and bad thing.  Even though I love lists I try not to get overwhelmed in them. I also really try to not live by how much I get crossed off of them.  The positive of them has been that they are making time go quickly.  We've hit that halfway point on this deployment and I'm trying not to "sprint" down the mountain so to speak.  Trying to realize that time on this side of the mid point may go just as slowly as it did on the first half.

We celebrated Josh's birthday with him via skype.  I tried to make it special with a festive box and a few presents.  It's always hard to be apart for holidays and I'm sure it's only going to get worse as the holiday season gets into full gear shortly.

This week we're getting ready to do all things Halloween.  We have a few fall festivals and of course trick or treating to attend.  I'm really excited to see Mara's reaction to things this year as she is now a bit bigger than she was last year (1 month).

Mara's Birthday-Round Two

When we got back to North Carolina, I wanted to throw a small birthday party for Mara with some of her little friends here.  In Illinois we mainly celebrated with family and I knew Mara would love some play time with her buddies here.

Dressed and ready for her friends to come

The actual birthday party ended up being more of a mama play date but the kids had a blast.  Mara and Benjamin have both just learned to walk so they loved chasing each other around the house.  Luke seemed perfectly content to play on his own surrounded by all the new toys.  And Susannah played the big sister role perfectly!

Rocking their shades

These two and their walking antics

Mara did much better opening presents this time and seemed to finally get the hang of it.  She pulled all the tissue paper out of each of the bags before peering inside.  (I'm excited to see what she does at Christmas) This time she seemed interested in all the gifts and didn't get side tracked when toys were pulled from the bags.

Opening presents

hanging out with Luke

Otherwise the day was pretty low key.  We snacked.  The kids played.  We chatted.  It was great.  Even though it was a small party, I'm glad we were able to celebrate again here in North Carolina.

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby Girl!!

Giving it Up for This Thing Called Motherhood

*Note this is just a reflection on where I am in life right now.  This is not an opinion piece in any way.*

Lately I've been meditating a lot on my stage in life.  With all the news lately on Ebola, that public health part of me starts to itch a bit.  Makes me wonder if I'll ever get back to it at some point.  But at the same time I can honestly say right now I am perfectly content.

This motherhood thing.  It's pretty awesome.  Sure it's a whole lot of hard work and yes sometimes I think it would be easier to go to work every day.  But right now I feel incredible blessed to be able to stay home with Mara.  To take in every second with her.  To focus my efforts on our family.  To make it possible for my husband to follow his career.

It's a calling.  It's a conscious effort.  It works for some and it doesn't for others.  Lately I've come across this quote and I just keep coming back to it.

I have discovered that 

This act of mothering

 is my act of worship to Him right now 

dying to self & delighting in them. 

There is failure. 

Yet forgiveness

 and grace

 and growing. 

First Birthday Pictures

The wonderful McConville Studio took Mara's first birthday photos.  Andrea and Phil are simply amazing.  Not only are they great photographers but they are the nicest couple.  They did our wedding and I was so excited that they could do Mara's birthday.  If you are in northern Illinois check them out at http://www.mcconvillestudio.com/ 

Here are a few of my favorites!

A Reflection on Motherhood

This mommy thing it's hard work.  It's also the most fulfilling work I've ever done.  There are some days where I literally throw up my hands with frustration and others where I cannot imagine my heart growing with more love for her.

Each day I make a choice to try to be the best mama I can be.  I want to make precious memories with her.  I want to instill in her love, discipline, faith, and obedience.  I want to play and laugh.  I don't want to wish the day (or night) away.

Sure there are days where other things consume me.  I get wrapped up in the amount of things on my to do list.  Freak out that the house is dirty or the laundry isn't done.  But then I try to remember to step back.  To remember that these days will go to fast.  That I will regret that I was too busy worrying about these tasks instead.

I don't want to miss anything.  I don't want to miss the milestones.  The first words, the first steps, the moment she starts running.  I want to marvel in these little accomplishments and praise her for her efforts.

Motherhood has challenged my faith.  Drawn me closer to Him in times of doubt.  Sure there were nights where I just didn't understand.  Prayed for clarity and felt abandoned.   But I mean how many times do we actually understand His plan?!  In the end He is always faithful and always there.

Motherhood is the hardest job I have ever hold.  It is a forever job.  It is one I have to work at each and every day.  But it's the best job.  Some days I complain.  Heck most days I complain!  But I know it's worth it.  That this is my calling.  That I am capable.  That each and every time that little girl wraps her arms around me I am complete.

Tackling Those Home Projects

For the past few months I've been itching to cross off two major home updates off my list but frankly haven't had the time to do so with Mara underfoot.  Having my mom around for a few days proved just the ticket to finally tackle them!

Cushion off!

First I wanted to recover an old stool we have behind our couch.  The stool itself is in great shape for it's age but the fabric was just so dated...and pink.  I found a fun fabric at JoAnn's Fabric that was on sale and quickly purchased a yard for this project.

I have never recovered anything but this was surprisingly easy.  I just unscrewed the seat from the base and then proceeded to pull all the staples from the fabric.  I found once I had removed the pink fabric that the original fabric and foam was still on the cushion.  Deeming it in good condition I just did what the former owner did and recovered over it!

I worked in opposing directions and stapled the new fabric on pulling it taunt as I went.  After I was done I simply screwed it back into the base.  I think the whole thing took 20 minutes.  It's such a fresh look and brings some color to our neutral living room.

The finished stool

The second project I wanted to tackle was the night stand in the guest bedroom.  Josh got this night stand free off of Craigslist before we were married and frankly it screams bachelor.  The wood is like three different finishes.  It's just kind of an eye sore.

Why not just get a new one you ask?  Well that's just too easy and the bones of this table were ok.  The shape was nice and it was pretty sturdy.  I mean I love our guests but it's not a major focal piece in our house so I didn't want to spend too much money on it.

I decided a fresh coat of paint and some new knobs would do the trick.  Again our guest room is pretty neutral so I decided a pop of color was the key.  Lately I've been into teal so I went with a beachy teal green with some silver knobs.

The sanding of this piece was really the most work.  It took forever to get the varnish off as there seemed to be layers upon layers of it on the table.  But once this was done and the sawdust removed the painting went quickly.  The table just soaked it up and after two cans of spray paint I was satisfied.

The color is bold and I think I need a little more time for it to grow on me but I love it in the room already.

A little blurry but all finished and ready to go in the guest bedroom

An Illinois Wrap-Up

Our last week was a busy one in Illinois.  I didn't realize exactly how much until I turned around and it was mid week.  We spent most of the day Monday and Tuesday recovering from the party, picking up and finding new homes for everything.

By Wednesday I was starting to feel the stress of packing to leave.  We acquired a ton of stuff while we were up North and I was beginning to wonder exactly where it was all going to fit inside the Jeep.  Thankfully Mom and Aunt Mary were on hand to watch Mara while I tried to fit two months into the car.

The rest of the week was spent saying good bye to family and having lunch with friends.  We tried to squeeze in one last visit to everyone because we're not exactly sure when we'll be headed up that way again.  Mara got some last minute play time with Grandpa and tons of rides in the Cozy Coupe.

By Saturday I was just itching to hit the road.  Although I never like leaving I always get a bit ready to just get the traveling over with.  We left as the snow started to fall.  Kind of fitting for the Midwest and a sign it was time to head back south.

The first day went well.  For the most part I did all of the driving.  (Mom did tackle most of Ohio though)  The morning was quite with Mara falling back to sleep quickly and then taking a mid-morning nap.  We stopped for lunch and then hit the road.

We weren't quite sure where we'd stop for the night but wanted to get as far as Mara would tolerate as to make our second day easier.  By Mara's afternoon nap we were practically out of Ohio and decided somewhere in West Virginia would be our destination for the night.  We may have pushed it a tad to much as Mara had a melt down exactly as we pulled off the interstate for the night.

That night we relaxed and had a good dinner.  We tried to let Mara play as much as possible knowing she would be back in the car the next day.  Thankfully though we only had 4.5 hours of driving on the agenda for the next day so it wouldn't be as bad.

The next day went smoothly.  With less driving we were able to sleep in a little and have a good breakfast before hoping in the car.  Thankfully Mara seemed to forget she hated the car just the night before and did great.  She was easily entertained for the majority of the trip and we got home early afternoon.

The trip back wasn't the power house road trip as getting to Illinois was but thankfully it went off without a hitch.  I don't think I'll be making that drive anytime soon and am happy to be back home.

Mara's First Birthday Party

Mara's birthday party was everything I hoped it to be.  I wanted a day where Mara could enjoy herself and be a tad bit spoiled :)  I tried to plan ahead by doing most of the work the day before.  I hung up decorations and made food with the help of my mom and Aunt Mary.  I didn't want to be stressed out the day of.  I also wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to try to connect with Josh and Mara to get a nap in.

Twinkle Twinkle little star

Ready to party

So in true Mara style she gave mama a minor panic attack when she refused to take a nap until literally the last possible minute, but after an hour and half nap she woke up right as everyone was starting to come.

All dressed up

She loved the tutu

We really didn't have anything planned as far as activities during the party.  As it was mainly family we just sat around and caught up.  Mara played and managed to always have someone's hands ready and willing to walk her around the house.

Delicious cake

A rare moment with Uncle Joe

After a bit we decided to let her "open" presents.  She didn't really understand the concept about tearing the paper off but really like the items inside the boxes and bags.  Her first gift, a piggy bank, held her attention for the rest of the present opening despite our efforts to distract her.  She did briefly turn our way when books were pulled out of the bags but didn't even look up when clothes were discovered.  A typical kid, right?!

Loving the piggy bank

Then we decided it was cake time.  Mara had her own smash cake and after a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday we let her go at it.  She was so confused.  I had told her we were going to eat but here there was this massive thing on her high chair.  I gave her a taste of the icing and that was all it took.  She never "dug" in but picked at the frosting a good deal.  In the end she was pretty much pink and I'm positive she didn't even get to the cake part.

Mmm cake

She's so happy

Not sure why everyone is singing and looking at her

After cake everyone slowly went on their way.  It was really nice to have everyone together for Mara's day.  I can tell she had a good time and I know my mom loved throwing the party for her.  We're excited for round 2 in North Carolina!!

No face plant for this girl

So happy Mal could come celebrate with us

Homecoming Parade

Last Friday was Homecoming for my hometown.  Everyone was decked out in their purple and gold to support the Trojans as they took on Princeton.  Mara has never seen a parade so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to take her into town and see what she thought of it.

So decked out in her Lil Trojan shirt and gold bow we watched the parade.  She loved the firetruck and got really excited when the band started playing.  Otherwise she was just in awe of all the people.  Basically the homecoming parade is just the different teams on either a truck or wagon.  So it was short but filled with lots of people and things to look at.  She even caught a mini football!