My First Newborn Session

Attempting my first newborn session was a little intimidating and scary. Babies do not follow directions and they are needy. So armed with my patience, off I went to my friend's house to photograph her daughter in the comfort of their own home.

Here are a couple of my favorites. Well, a little more than a couple to be fair. 

Baby toes are the best. One of my favorite pictures of my daughter from her newborn session are her toes! 

 Look at those sweet, big, loving eyes!

 I think this one here is by far one of my favorites. Dads are so important to little girls.

Thank you "C' family for allowing me into your home to capture a small part of your journey into parenthood. May your love continue to grow and your nights be restful. Treasure the simple and significant moments you encounter as a new family. God Bless.

Conversations with my toddler: The Bike

Being a parent can be a difficult and sometimes trying endeavor. It  can also be a very entertaining time as well. Here is an actual conversation between me and my daughter.

Little Miss: I don't like my red bike. I want a pink one.

Me: You have a pink bike, but it's not here. It's at Nanny and Papa's house.

Little Miss: Buy me another one! {money doesn't grow on trees you know! Cheeky little kid}

Me: No. We are not going to buy you a new bike. We'll just throw this one away and you can just have the one at Nanny and Papa's. {there that will teach her to be grateful for what she has} Do you want me to throw it away right now since you don't like it anymore?

Little Miss: {frantically} NO! I LOVE IT! DON'T THROW IT AWAY!

{lesson learned for now}

Another Simple Moment: Christmas Time, Photo Time

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember

inspired by SouleMama
________________________

"Christmas Time, Photo Time"

Not So Simple Saturday

Parents have a tendency to multitask. Kudos to all the moms and dads out there who juggle so much while attempting to maintain sanity and structure. The struggle is real!

Here is my so far and it is only 9:18 AM as I begin to write this post.

1. Up at 6:00 am and after I finish making my cup of coffee my kiddo wakes up ready to greet the day.
2. Make Little Miss chocolate milk.
3. Use nasal aspirator to suck out buggers from sinus infection.
4. Snuggle on couch and watch cartoons
5. Offer former student help on Facebook with her college paper
6. Make a pancake and bacon breakfast
7. Post two pictures on Instagram for #ourthankful30
8. Eat breakfast with kiddo
9. Get kiddo dressed (mommy still in PJs)
10. Do kiddo's hair and brush her teeth
11. More bugger sucking
12. Clean Up kitchen
13. Remind self to drink water
14. Fold two baskets of laundry
15. Work on grocery list of morning trip to Walmart
16. Meal plan for dinner this week
17. Get kiddo a mid morning snack
18. Try to get dressed and make self presentable to the world. 
19. Put in movie for kiddo
20. Write blog post after inspiration strikes 
21. Still in PJs at this point--Hubby back from garbage run. Maybe now I can sneak away to bedroom and get dressed! LOL

Parents you are awesome! I hope you hear that today or at the very least feel appreciated. Have a great day.

Another Simple Moment: She's Three

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember

inspired by SouleMama
________________________

"She's Three"

Turning 29

My 29th birthday is tomorrow. No, I am not sad or freaking out it's the last birthday of my twenties. It really is just another birthday to me. In fact, I love birthdays! Bring on the happy birthday's, sweet treats and presents! The Hubby has some stashed somewhere in the house. I know they are there, but I love surprises so I have been waiting to see what bought me.

On my Facebook page, I posed the following question, "Any suggestions or ideas for a must do before the big 30?" My Hubby says I should want to try and climb Mt. Everest. Um...no. I'm not really a death defying risk taker. Let's be honest.

Another FB fan, Marlena suggested I cross something off my bucket list. This got me thinking about what would be on my list of wants, adventures, and ideas for my 29th year of being me. 

I am not very good at large challenges like this. I totally flaked out on the September photo challenge. As you will see, the list I created is very realistic overall. Additionally, this list can be done even after the big 3-0!

In no particular order, here is my 30 before 30:

1. Go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal studies
2. Drink butter beer at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
3. Take a family vacation
4. Take another photography class
5. Enter a photography contest
6. Have a girls night at Painting with a Twist
7. Finish painting and decorating the home office and bathrooms
8. Go to a fancy makeup store and learn how to do my makeup better.
9. Eat at a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives
10. Take daughter to Disney World
11. Family trip to go see  and play in snow. Do you want to build a snowman?
12. Meet a celebrity TV/Movie
13. Attend an event which requires a fancy dress
14. Drink champagne
15. Have a staycation at the Gaylord Palms Resort
16. Go to the shooting range with The Hubs (a first for me and he would love it)
17. Go to a sporting event with a sports enthusiast (more fun)
18. Make a Vlog Post
19. Meet an author of a book I have read
    
20. Go to a blog conference
21. Maybe get another dog. I think I would like a Corgi.
22. Eat a food that I've never eaten before
23. Do a girls weekend away maybe at the beach
24. Go back to the place where the Hubs and I went on our honeymoon for a little getaway.
25. Stay out late with friends just talking and hanging without getting tired before 12 am!
26. Ride in a limo
27. Go to a comedy club for the first time (not vulgar though)
28. Pay for a strangers meal in a random act of kindness
29. Do something brave
30. Participate in a good book club or bible study

So what do you think? Where should I start? Do you see anything you want to do with me? Regardless of whether I do just one or two dozen of things on this list I know it's going to be a great year!

Momma's Gonna Blow Her Gasket

I could feel myself getting angry.
I am not a 100% sure why.
Was it the fact that Little Miss refused to eat her dinner?
Is it s combination of things?

I really kind of want to yell....really LOUD.
I don't. I want to, but I don't.
I can feel the tenseness rising within me
Ready to erupt in an undeserved explosion of emotion.
My family the victims of this emotional mess.

Is my voice scratchy?
Oh God, I hope not. Just my luck sickness.

Man, I am in a crappy mood.
The Hubs has noticed.
Little Miss hasn't. She just wants to play.
Where did my joy go?

I want to run and lock myself in my room.
Breathe.
Stay calm.
This too shall pass.
Don't loose it.
Don't take your bad mood out on other people.

This evening "feels" tough.
It started out fine.
Idk
I hope some quiet time and sleep calm my
Inner storm of stress and frustrations of
No definitive source.

Parenthood is not simple.
Life is not simple.
Both can be good--just not 100% of the time.

Who told you that?

I am sitting on the couch this evening and Little Miss and I have a very interesting conversation----not just one, but a few times tonight. Here are some snippets:

Little Miss: I am going to Disney World.

Me: Oh really? When are you going to Disney World? 

Little Miss: Tomorrow.

Me: Who are you going with? Papa?

Little Miss: Yes.

[ little later....]

Little Miss: I need a prince to save me.

Me: You are a princess, you don't need a prince. You can save yourself!! #girlpower

[ little later again....]

Little Miss: I want to get married. 

Me: You want to get married? To who? 

Good grief where does she get this stuff? It's fair to say her sweetness made me smile. In fact, it kind of made my day.

How did that get there?

I am a mom.

I am a mom to a toddler.

I am a mom to a toddler who has a big personality.

I sometimes catch myself in moments when I don't know if I should be mad or laugh out loud.

Here's my latest example:

After dinner, Little Miss and I were playing in her room and she wanted to take off her boots. As she was doing so I noticed she a large dark mark on her ankle area and her sock was discolored. So as a concerned mommy, I took a closer look.

Any guesses as to what I found?

A blueberry.

Yep.

A blueberry from dinner. She put it in her boot.

"Why did toy put a blueberry in your boot?" #thingsmomssay

Family Outing Hassles and Hangups

Do to ever feel like a big "fuddy-duddy" hermit who never really feels like going anywhere?  Yeah, as slightly shameful as it is to admit we've got that problem.

Th Hubs and I can come up with a list of excuses or be uninspired when it comes to choosing what to do:

1. That's too long of a drive.
2. Too hot (Florida problems)
3. Too crowded (sorry you won't catch us at Disney world anytime soon)
4. Too expensive
5. Too late in the day
6.  I don't think she's (Little Miss) is old enough for that yet.

Eventually, someone gets mad and we scrap the entire idea and are left with nothing to do, but stew about how we have nothing to do at home. Do you see the pattern? It's a rather sad and frustrating experience especially since we have a small family of three. You would think we would be a lot more flexible. I don't think we're horrible for not wanting to run ourselves ragged. I mean, we both work full time and with an energetic 2.5 year old; we have to be able to have fun and function.

One of this things I have tried doing this summer is to make a list of activities and places I would like to go to and we try and make it happen. Other times, it's more spur of the moment. Both of the options work when we are willing (that's the key isn't it?)

One of the spur of the moment outings we recently did was going to Build-A-Bear and a petting zoo. Build-A-Bear was cute, but very expensive! She very much wanted shoes and skates for Twilight Sparkles, but it would have been another $60 +. We told her next time. She's still hasn't forgotten that promise yet!

 She knew immediately which animal she wanted! That's my girl.

 The Build A Bear experience was cute. The employees made it fun and so interactive.

 Daddy absolutely loves places and outings like this one. Can't you tell?

Little Miss couldn't stop talking about how much she loved her new pony. As big as it is, she's slept with it every night. She has a menagerie of animals in her little toddler bed.

Here are a couple quick shots from the farm. She loved feeding the animals! She would feed them one piece at a time. It was cute.

I suppose the "moral" of this story for us is to stop talking about it and just do it because we had fun each time. Sometimes we must overlook the hassles to make the memories.

American Honey

Do you ever find yourself suddenly feeling nostalgic out of the blue? Or a certain something (a trigger) sets you on a walk down memory lane?

I had one of those moments last night at dinner. My family of three was eating dinner last night and "American Honey" by Lady Antebellum came on Pandora.

Why am I so sentimental of this tune you ask?

Well, it's a song I sang Little Miss when she was born. I distinctly remember sitting at the hospital and rocking her to sleep while singing it. It was so sweet and precious--a proud simple mommy moment for me as I began my journey of motherhood. Music was one of our "tools" to calm the savage beast her as newborn. It doesn't work for everyone, but it did for her.

So here I am last night, sitting across from my Little Big Girl eating dinner by herself with no assistance from Mommy or Daddy. I start to feel the tears welling up in my eyes as this song plays gently in the background. Just prior to dinner, she took herself to the bathroom and announced she was going poop! This is nothing new, but she usually only pee-pees,  but this time she did go #2! I was so proud of her and her sweet look of success in the bathroom was precious! Slowly....

She's only done this a couple times, but she's finally getting it.

Mommy loves you.
You're growing up so fast.

It's not just the solo pooping and eating (it's okay to laugh by the way....I am talking about poop!), but it's her mind that amazes me as well. Her vocabulary is off the charts and we recently played pretend together! I literally have a front row seat to her imagination as we look for fairies or chase them no good "milk bandits" with Sheriff Callie.

You don't get more simple and significant than that! Do you know what I mean?

Baby Go Back To Bed

Good morning, friends. I am sitting here with my first cup of coffee for the day pondering about my night. My  sweet little, darling daughter has started getting up in the middle of the night again----Talk about a Throw Back Thursday #TBT!

The first time was around 12:45 am I heard her crying out in the living room. She had a poopy diaper. I totally understand why she was up. (Remember, we are still using diapers at night. We've got day time potty training down.) So, I cleaned, we snuggled and then it was back to bed.

4 am I hear her again. Her diaper is dry. Why are you up? I trudge back to her room and escort her back to bed. To the best of my ability, I try and explain it is still night, night and she needs to stay in bed. I mean what else could I do?

And last but not least, when I walk out of my bedroom this morning, she is sitting on the floor outside our bedroom door. She wasn't crying. I think she might have been trying to peak under the door actually. SMH. I am so glad I am on summer vacation because I would be exhausted and probable more irritable not a good combination for anyone.

Is this a phase? Will this pass? Dear Lord, I hope so. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? I know this isn't a crazy thing. My kid is an early riser to begin with, but she really needs to stay in bed.

I love her dearly and this is just something we are going to have to work through. Just another day in the life of a mommy. End mommy mini rant.

My Not So Little Big Girl

My little girl is growing up. Yeah! Sniff. Slow down. Can't wait. What do we do now? Oh goodness. It's fair to say that I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. What parent doesn't? It is truly amazing to me to see the miracle of life develop right before my very eyes. Slow down baby girl...

My daughter is a treasure---my treasure. Now, we all know that parenthood is no easy battle, but this is not one of those "hardships" or "struggles" posts. This is about love and moving forward a little bit at a time. One of my summer projects is to make my daughter's room a little less baby and a little more big girl.

As you might recall, we fought the good fight with the transition from crib to toddler bed. Now, mommy wants to focus on decorating her room! I'll be honest, I didn't do much decorating when it was her nursery room. I didn't have the energy and realistically she wouldn't have known what was on the walls, comforter
etc.

Last weekend, this project began. I don't know what it was last weekend, but I am a cleaning, organizing, DIY machine! Thank the Lord for those bursts of energy. 

Bye, bye changing table that we were no longer using and hello side table with drawers. The side table I had stashed in the closet so I brought it out and put the changing table in the closet for "shelving."

Next, I decided to add some butterfly decals to the wall. "Butterfly" garden was the theme I was going for in her room. I had a few things already in there, but they decals bring it up a notch. I was going for a butterfly cascade. Did I nail it? Hey for 98 cent stickers at Wal-Mart I think that it came out pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Lastly, I broke out some paint and a stencil. Little Miss has plain white furniture which worked, but I felt a little update was needed to go along with the big girl now decor revamp.  Th stenciling didn't come out perfect, but it definitely made a nice difference. I love the pop off color off the white!

It's a bitter sweet moment to see my little girl's room transform like she does each and everyday. I don't always have all the answers and I don't always know what I am doing, but I want to be there for her every step of the way.

Weekly Wonderings & Musings 6/1/14

When this momma gets some time to herself to unwind sometime between 8:00 pm to 8:30 pm, I like  to read the latest blog posts from the bloggers I follow, waste time on Pinterest, read a little news or a book, and La-dee-da on Facebook. I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the highlights from my week.

Randomness

These pictures made me laugh out loud this week. You know, the silly,dumb, stupid kind of funny that lightens your load a little bit. 

Simple Moments Captured

Simply Lovin'

Skinny Cow Dark Chocolate Dream Clusters--OMG! They are DELICIOUS! They have been my go to chocolate fix here in the afternoons. Like most women, I appreciate a something sweet.

Grateful Wife 

This week I am grateful for my husband's health. He has been battling a yucky virus for the last two weeks or so and he is finally starting to feel better. There is nothing worse than feeling out of sorts while having to work and be a parent/spouse.

Also, I am grateful for the fact that we both share in the household chores. We had a long list of things to do this weekend. You know the normal things that need to be done mop the floors, clean the bathrooms etc. The kind of things that are very easy to put off because no one really wants to do those things, but it is very noticeable when you do. Yuck.

Significant Scripture Focus

Why is it so easy for "us" to loose faith at the slightest bump in the road? God is so amazing. I mean, he is there with us each and every step of our way out of love and devotion. Sometimes we try and walk by our sight and by worldly ideas and institutions only to find that that path is wrong. Any path without God is the wrong path. It takes conscious effort to keep your faith in the forefront of your heart, mind and soul. May I always remember to walk by faith each and everyday. 

Another Simple Moment #15

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember

inspired by SouleMama
________________________

"Girls Morning Out"

Conversations with my toddler #2

The following conversation actually took place between me and Little Miss the yesterday. I had to write it down and share with you! I mean, that's what normal people do, right?

Little Miss: Your back is cheesy! Begins to laugh hysterically
Me (in my head): WTH does that mean?______________________________________

Little Miss: I eat my waffle I get bigger?

Me: Yes, baby. She then proceeds to take a very small bite of her waffle. 

Little Miss: I'm bigger!! (very enthusiastically proclaims)

Me: A little bit. (Love her positivity) 

Weekly Wonderings & Musings #7

When this momma gets some time to herself to unwind sometime between 8:00 pm to 8:30 pm, I like  to read the latest blog posts from the bloggers I follow, waste time on Pinterest, read a little news or a book, and La-dee-da on Facebook.  I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the highlights from my week.

Randomness

In honor of my daughter's love for the movie Frozen and Mother's Day, I wanted to share with you a super cute video I came across on Youtube that kind of summarizes a good chunk of motherhood.

This picture really made me laugh. It has a sweetness about it don't you think? Just looking at it makes me a little happy inside. 

Simple Moments Captured

Mommy, Daddy and Little Miss went to High Five FroYo for the first time! It was delicious and just what I wanted on this hot day. Plus, I played the Mother's Day card! It was a delicious combo of vanilla (sugar free) and butter pecan topped with heath bar crunch. 

Simply Lovin'

It was teacher appreciation week and I got a lot of little goodies from student council and the administration. I love teacher appreciation week, but OMG all the candy and food! I could feel my waist line expanding! One of the highlights of course was receiving some flowers from my student on her AP test day. It was totally unexpected and genuine.

Grateful Wife 

As a grateful wife, I want to recognize my the Hubs for working so hard for our family. He works his day job and then in his spare time he does computer work. His side job really does help our family out financially. Additionally, this weekend he changed my oil and vacuumed out my car. It really needed it. I mean it. I really did because with the toddler my back seat was littered with goldfish, cheerios and other goodies.  

Significant Scripture Focus

Psalm 23 has become apart of my "night-night" prayer routine with Little Miss. I started doing this to myself when we where having battles transitioning from the crib. I found that it really helped to calm me down and lessen by stress and in turn made the whole process of putting the toddler to bed a little easier and peaceful.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest  my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Well that about summarizes some highlights from my week. What stands out about yours? Trust me, if you take some time to sit and reflect on it I am sure you can find something. Have a great weekend! 

Adventures of Potty Training

I wanted to share with you one of my less stressful more laugh out loud moments from our potty training journey. As you might recall, we've had our ups and downs up to this point.

Well, Little Miss gave us one for the memory book today! My Little Princess sometimes has a hard time going #2. She might hold it in for a couple of days. Anyways, today was a day I was waiting for a poop. She didn't poop for Papa so it was mommy and daddy's turn to be on poop watch because Little Miss is known to go and hide or over dramatize the "poops."

After dinner, she was doing too poop dance. It looks something like this:

I knew it was "time" because she was starting to squat so I scooped her up and ran to the bathroom (without killing us falling in the process). Well, the #2 was coming and most of it got in the potty, but some of it didn't. Yuck right?

I bet at this point you're like where's the funny part? It's coming...trust me.

As a kind of loving parent, of course I am telling her she did a good job and that I am proud that she went poopy in the potty, but at this point I am more concerned about the stinky mess I now have to clean up. I dissemble the floor potty after I clean Little Miss off, but I don't put on any panties yet. Again, more concerned about the poop mess.

So as I am in the utility room, cleaning her floor potty, I hear a toilet flush. Her toilet to be exact. Uh oh. What did she do?

Any guesses? I'll wait.......

Still waiting......

Okay, I'll tell you what she did. Little Miss peed on her potty without the bowl meaning she peed on the floor and then went and flushed the toilet. There is no way you can be angry at her because that is hilarious!

It's these moments that we'll look back on and laugh!  I love these simple, but significant moments.

Do you have a funny story about your kids and something they did by accident? or maybe it was something you did? I would love to laugh out loud with you! Share your story today in the comments sections.

Another Simple Moment #14

{my simple moment} – A new ritual. A single photo, maybe two – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, significant, blessed moment. A moment I want to treasure and remember

inspired by SouleMama
________________________

"Cupcake Face"

Toddler Transitions

I wanted to give you a little update on how things are going here at the Simple Significance house with Little Miss' transition to toddler bed hood. You might recall from this post that the first few nights were not at all easy. This Momma is a sucker for tears and I just wanted to make it all better. However, the warm and fuzzy method was not going to work. We had to put on our "battle armor."

On the other side, Little Miss is not stupid and she knows what to say and what buttons to push to make Momma and Daddy jump. I am happy to report that we seem to have made some progress with the fit throwing before bed (knock on wood that I am not jinxing it here).

After paying hard ball for a few nights with her, it seems to have gotten across that Momma and Daddy are in control, we love you dearly, but "night night time is night night time" and you will go to bed. Dealing with this issue gave me flashbacks to the newborn stage when you have all the stress of an inconsolable child and sleep deprivation to top it all off! Totally makes me want to have another one (insert heavy handed sarcasm)! After the initial "breaking in period," we've had less tears as Momma leaves, but she has woken up in the middle of the night a couple of times.

I wholeheartedly acknowledge that this is a confusing time for Little Miss. She is potty training and she is learning to control her body. I think part of her issue might be a little constipation. She has days where she eats great and other days not so much, but it's quite possible the #2 scares her a little bit or upsets her tummy because she hasn't gone. Two words--maybe three: MORE FIBER or PRUNES.

Here's another little fun nugget from this mommy hood adventure. Little Miss prefers to sleep on the floor than her converted crib bed. I'll be honest. I really don't mind much because her room is carpeted and I don't want her to fall. Don't you think the converted crib beds are a little high off the ground? I do. No wonder she is reluctant to sleep on it.

Well to make a long story short, my in laws bought her a little Minnie Mouse toddler bed that worked out great today when she tried it out. We are going to try that here too. I am hoping to hype it up as a "special present" like the one Nanny and Papa got just for you! Do you think she'll go for it? I am hopeful, but we'll see.

Again, totally open to suggestions and words of encouragement here so don't be afraid to throw in your two cents or swap war stories! Until we meet again.....