Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts

Friday, February 21, 2014

4 Year Blogiversary!

This little ol' blog reached the 4 year mark a couple weeks ago. 
Unfortunately, my posts get less and less every year.
And it kills me. 
But obviously not enough to actually post more, so "kills me" may be a bit of an exaggeration. 

We've reached quite a few milestones over the past 4 years and I thought it would be fun to do a quick recap. 

This was my very first post in 2010.
 I started blogging when we were about 6 months into marriage and living in Florida while Mr. B was finishing up school. 
 I was a nanny/stay home wife and had way too much glorious time on my hands while living in the sunshine state.

So here's a quick recap of the past 4 years as well as a few of the most popular posts:

We were in newly-wedded bliss.

He graduated.

We moved back home. 

We bought a puppy.

The puppy grew.


::That winter we vacation and I although this is slightly embarrassing, one of my most popular posts over the years was written around this time: Bathing Suits and Butt Cracks
Always, keeping it classy around here!::

We struggled with fertility.

 We vacationed. 

We were excited

There was sickness. Lots of it. 
For 33 weeks. 

She was worth every minute.

We became mommy and daddy.

Our hearts exploded.

::Shortly after, I wrote another one of my most viewed posts:
Clearly, the heartfelt ones are the kickers::

We moved again.

We vacationed. {and I cut my hair}

We reached half a year. 

::Another most viewed post: Adalyn's Pantry. Again, the content is heavy, so please read slowly and take it all in. ::

We learned that time flies. F-L-I-E-S.

We reached a year. 

::Another popular post from this time {that I never finished}: 

We became homeowners.
{and moved again}

We vacationed some more. 

We reached a year and a half.

We soaked up the little things.

We captured sweet moments.

We snuck in kisses as much as we could.

We reached two years. 

We love where we've been and we love where we are.
And we look forward to where will be in the next couple years! 

And for the record, I'm back to the same hair dilemma...

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Bar

Lately I've been struggling.
Partially due to social media.
Partially due to the way my brain works and how I over analyze everything.

When we were trying to conceive I was bitter- pregnancies were being announced left and right.
When I finally got pregnant there was a constant fear of having a miscarriage- I was reading it everywhere.
When she was born there was a paranoia of childhood cancer- stories were always popping up.
When I fed her formula there was judgement and justification and the appearance of not being a "good mom".

And lately, I've been struggling with the bar.
Not the bar that is set to where she "should be".
 The bar that is set to where "other" kids are at, in the social media world I'm surrounded in, therefore  that is where she "should be".

Facebook is great.
Blogs are wonderful.
I am so thankful that I have milestones documented.
From trying to conceive to pregnancy to 8 months old {where I slacked off big time and I'm now disappointed that I didn't keep up!}.
Because of the simplicity and awesomeness of blogs they'e now become a virtual baby book-a place to post every.thing your child is doing for everyone to see.
But, they are often times hard for me to read.
Sometimes it's because it stirs discontentment in my life.
Sometimes it's because the grass is greener.
Sometimes it's because it's too much for me to handle and it feeds a fear that is not from the Lord.
And sometimes, like in this season of my life, it creates an unwanted, unneccessary comparison of my child to another child.

Some are talking.
Some are signing.
Some are potty trained.
Some know their alphabet.
Some know their states.


Some know their shapes.
Some know their colors.
Some know their countries.
Some can read.
Some can write.


Those things are great.
Really, they are.
And, of course, I would be proud if it was my child, too.


But what I find happening is that I become frustrated or concerned when Adalyn isn't doing x, y and z.
I get angry when she throws her flashcards instead of pointing out the animal and the letter.
I get irritated when she puts all the colored stars onto the page instead of choosing one and matching correctly.
I lose my patience when she purposely presses the wrong button on an educational ipad game because she likes the sound that it makes when it's the incorrect answer.

And what I seem to be forgetting is that Adalyn is made in the image of God.
She was perfectly and uniquely knit together in my womb by our awesome Creator.
He made her exactly who she is.
And I need to- more than accept- I need to embrace where she is at today.
Right now.

To think that at least she is almost potty-trained and can say and whine and scream and repeat 1,000 times a day Mama.
To think at least she's got that going for her....
It's wrong and it's ridiculous.

She is loved.
She is loving.
She brings us so much joy.
She is sweet.
She is caring.
She is silly.
She is observant.
She has the craziest bedhead.
She loves to give hugs and kisses.
She loves to praise Jesus.
She has an expressive face.
She loves to read books.
She loves to dance.
She loves to laugh.
She loves animals.
She loves to play outside.
She loves to get the mail.
She loves to eat.
She loves her giraffe, blankie and paci.
She loves to say "hi".
She loves to help me sweep.
She loves her car and her wagon.
She loves to swing.
She loves Curious George.
She is obsessed with babies.

The list could go on and on about how great she is and how much I love her.

It's not fair to her for me to be comparing her to "the bar."

Before Adalyn's 18 month check up, I was telling Mr. B how they were going to see how smart she is- what body parts she knows, how many words can she say etc. We estimated how many words we thought she was able to say and that night I went to bed worried.
What if it wasn't enough?
I feel like she is a little delayed.
Her speech isn't very clear, but I can usually decipher what she's trying to say.
So I made a list and I decided it would be more accurate to say she can say/uses 25-30+ words a day.

I get to her appointment and guess what?
The doctor asks me if she is pointing to things.
She asks if is able to demonstrates things that she wants.
If she can follow simple directions.
She never asked about the number of words.
She didn't care about states or countries.
Alphabet or numbers.
Colors or shapes.

And you know what else?
The paper the Dr. gives at the end of the appointment, under the "What I Can Do Now" section, said: speak 8-10 words.
8-10.
The bar- the social media childhood development bar- is too high.


Adalyn's appointment was perfect.
And it wasn't because she knew or didn't know.
It was because she was healthy, happy and growing.

The things that other kids can do are awesome.
I believe some kids thrive more in certain areas than others.
It's just how God wired them.
But I forget that some days.
It's important for me to remember that she is only 18 months.
The bar tends to be getting set higher and higher and it's so easy to push aside that fact that although she's not really a baby anymore...she is just a baby.
She's not even 2.
I need to let her be.
She's my sweet girl, a child of God, who will learn all these other things in time.
Right now- what she really needs to know- is that she's loved.
And she does.
                                                               And that's what matters most.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Whatever Wednesday

Having a baby makes time go by ridiculously fast. Having a blog and a baby makes time go so ridiculously fast. I feel like I am constantly playing catch up. If I can even catch up! I still need to do a 6 month recap and a post about my friend's wedding.

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Last night I had a little heartburn and it's lingering a bit today. I haven't had that since I was pregnant. It's not nearly as bad as then- not even close, but I can't say that I've missed it one bit! And no, I am most definitely not pregnant.

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Yesterday my sister made some eggless cookie dough for us to eat {recipe somewhere on pinterest}. And we went.to.town
I got a little carried away with the idea that I could eat as much as I wanted since it didn't have eggs in it. 
Although I wouldn't get sick from the egg, it didn't take long for the butter, sugar and chocolate chips to catch up with me and make me want to hurl. 

It was really good though and I may or may not be having more today.
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This makes me laugh. 
I mean, really?? 
I will admit that I was a fan.
 And I will admit that I have said in the past month how much I appreciate boy bands and their songs....
but this is now a "man band" and I'm just not sure I'm ready for that.

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I took about 50 pictures of her eating corn last night. 
It was so cute, her eyes looked pretty and it sums up a summer night.


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She also started doing this new smile that makes me laugh.


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I was laughing yesterday as I perused my Facebook for pictures of high school and college. 
My caption for this photo was "Booooobies".
Did I really post that?? 
At least it's clear that I have matured in some ways over the years. 

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I really need to have a cleaning day and deep clean everything of Adalyn's. 
But it will have to be on a day I am filled with energy and motivation. 
Which is not today. 
And may not be tomorrow.

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I also realized I never posted our Father's Day gift pictures. So put that on the catch-up list. But thankfully, that's an easy one!

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Happy Hump Day!