Lately

Gosh, I can't remember the last time I wrote an actual blog post that wasn't one of Emma's monthly updates. I don't even know how to start this thing, but something made me show up here today so I'm going with it.

Here's a not-so-quick rundown of life lately:

I finally started a scrapbook for Emma. I want to at least have a scrapbook documenting her first year but was slacking big time on all things involved with that project. I finally bought most of the supplies, starting planning it out and most importantly, started organizing all our photos of her so I can easily find and print what I need. It's definitely a time consuming project but I know I'll be so glad to have her first year of life documented so well.

Our girl wants to crawl so badly! Playtime on the floor floor typically results in Emma on her tummy trying to figure out how to get moving. She's definitely scooting back and has figured out how to switch directions but no crawling yet. It's pretty sweet to watch her try and figure this out and it's especially adorable when she gets tired and just rests her head on the floor to take a break. I know once she's mobile there's no turning back so I'm soaking in the time we have left of her needing me to go places. 

I've been making baby food for a few months now and it's going really well! I like to spend one afternoon cooking and preparing to build up a decent stash of pouches to last us a few weeks. Emma is starting to figure out how to feed herself with these and they are super convenient! 

We've done a little redecorating in the last few months, mainly our living room. I'd been ready for a new couch and a living room facelift for a while but I finally got Jonathan on board early this year. We handed down our hand-me-down couch and after a few weeks of searching (couch shopping is more difficult than I expected!), we decided on the couch, coffee table and recliner chair above. The clock is also new and from World Market. I'm in love with it and so glad we went for one large piece above the couch rather than trying to create a gallery wall or something more complicated.

Jonathan got me a Letterfolk board for Christmas and it was looking lonely as the only thing on our wall next to our kitchen table. We'd just gotten the copper mugs and I figured they'd look great hanging in the kitchen. We found the bar and hooks at World Market and the shelves are wooden crates we found at HomeGoods. I loooove how this turned out although I've been slacking on updating the message on our board...I need to get on that!

Two weekends ago, my parents took Emma for the night so Jonathan and I could attend my friend's wedding over near Disney. We decided to get a room for the night and my parents were more than willing to take Emma so we could make it a mini getaway. We checked into our room early in the day and popped a bottle of champagne. With plenty of time before the wedding, we were able to walk to Disney Springs and enjoy some downtime together. We walked around for a bit with beers in hand and headed back to our hotel to take our time getting ready for the evening. It was such a carefree, fun day with my man. We had a blast at the wedding, dancing and laughing together all night. I feel like we really needed a night like that. Being baby-free and having a room there, we were able to just relax and have some fun together. It was awesome!

Florida weather has been a dream these past few months! We've been soaking it in as much as possible with lots of backyard projects and Sundays spent on the back patio with friends and family. I'm going to miss this in the summer when it's 90 something degrees out!

As for me, I've been trying really hard to make sure I don't lose myself in all of this. Motherhood is literally the best thing I've ever done, but it's also way too easy to be so wrapped up in all that entails and forget to be good to myself. It's easy to second guess every decision I make; to obsess over what others think; to beat myself up for not yet having my body back; to feel like I'm not the wife I want to be; to forget to do things for me, too. The list goes on and on. 

It's funny. I took the photos above to send to my sister. She's recently become a Younique presenter and I was pretty impressed with the mascara I bought from her, so I took a few pictures so I could write her a review to use on her page. I haven't been loving myself enough lately and that's a post for another day, but these pictures made me feel beautiful and that's something worth celebrating so I guess that's why I shared them here. Also, this is not an ad because I have maybe 10 people who read this blog, but the mascara is pretty incredible and that's coming from someone who hardly knows how to do her own makeup. On the subject of beauty and makeup, I also suck at doing my hair. I can't use a curling iron and if I do try to use one, it takes me about 2 hours to do my hair. Who has time for that, especially with a little babe? I bought the Bed Head Deep Waver after seeing a few people raving about it on social media and it has changed my life! In 10 minutes, I'm now able to at least make it appear as though I know what I'm doing. Seriously, it's the best.

Other new things with me: I started at a new gym in February and I've been loving it! I was able to get free childcare with my membership so I'm able to bring Emma and the people there are so good with her. She loves it there, too, which is a bonus! They offer a ton of classes, including barre, so I've been mixing in one or two barre classes a week with my other workouts and they seriously kick my butt. I've also been participating in the weekly women's bible study at church over the past few months. We're in the middle of Tony Evans' study on Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny. I've been really enjoying this study in particular and the weekly fellowship has been really good for me. Something from our homework a few weeks ago really stuck with me:

"When you fill a sponge full of water and then you squeeze the sponge, water is going to come out of it because it is full of water. When you are going through a trial and you feel the pressure of life caving in around you, how much of God comes out? Or is it cussing, fussing, complaining, and blaming that comes out instead? Why are those things coming out? Because that is what you are full of. A sponge only lets out what is in it."

This really resonated with me when I read it. I want to approach any of the not-so-great stuff in life this way. It's easier said than done but I feel like it's so easy to fall into a habit of complaining and self pity and I'm trying to break those habits.

This seems like a good place to stop. This post was all over the place but it felt really good to just write and once I started, everything came out. I hope to show up here more moving forward. I have so many posts I started and never went back to and a few that are nearly complete, so I'm hoping to revisit those here soon.

We're in the midst of a busy and super fun season and I love having so much going on. I'm heading to New York City for the first time ever on Friday for my friend's bachelorette weekend. I'm so excited for the girl time and to finally see what the fuss over NYC is all about. The following weekend, I'm off to Charleston with Emma, my mom and my sister. We're also hosting Easter brunch again so I'm trying to remember to plan that in the midst of all of this fun. Now, if you have any advice on how to cope when leaving your 7-month-old for 3 whole days, please do share! I'm gonna miss my girl.