Mamas + Babes

Lately I've been finding myself being drawn to photos of moms and their babies. I think every day I understand more and more the amazing relationship you can have with your children. Newborns depend on you for actual life, but toddlers depend on you for comfort and happiness. It's a new experience with each thing Jude learns and it's so much fun (and sometimes challenging).

We get to choose what kind of relationship to have with our kids. We can be too easily frustrated and constantly saying 'no' or we can be involved, teaching and enjoying having them around. I've been trying to think about this when I have a frustrating day (like yesterday and today).

yellow skirted mama
orange sweatered mama

I'm into it

What I'm into right now:

1. How much Jude loves food (see photo). He's also learned how to drink out of a straw. Big boy!

2. Using the Feedly app- so much better than the blogger app and even google Reader. Those always used to freeze or quit on me. Feedly is much more user friendly and prettier, anyway. Are you still into blogs? I've narrowed my list down to mostly friends/family and a few guilty pleasure blogs. I wish I wasn't so snoopy...

3. Having central air at my disposal. After a summer pregnant, on the third floor of an apartment complex in humid Orange County with only an ancient wall unit AC to cool us down I am joyous over living in comfortable temperatures.

4. Babies. Newborn babies. Jude as a baby. What the? He's almost EIGHT months old. I never in my life imagined that I would be baby hungry this soon after giving birth. We're not planning on having kids quite this close together but I will say that my views on age gaps has changed drastically in the last 2 months.

5. Anne Shirley Blythe. I have loved the Anne of Green Gables series since I was a little girl and I'm re-reading them for the 4th time. I'm on the 5th book in the series (Anne's House of Dreams) and sat on Friday morning with tears running down my cheeks at 6AM (I had just finished working) because it just feels so real. The dialogue especially, and experiences, are so true to life and I love Anne's personality and attitude toward life, love and happiness. Plus, Gilbert is the perfect husband. It's had me daydreaming about the benefits of having a doctor for a husband...I guess a lawyer will have to do ;)

6. Netflix obsessions: The Office, Parenthood, Overboard, Lars and the Real Girl.

7. Fenugreek supplements. If you want to produce more breast milk, take it. It works for me and makes a HUGE difference. I buy mine at Sprouts. (I pump for Jude's last feeding because he's often too tired to eat enough before bed with nursing alone).

sun, sun, sun

When I was little, I was really afraid of ET. I swore he would come out from under my bed and be staring at me. I have no idea why I was afraid of him- I'd never seen the movie and he wasn't a mean alien. I'd lay in bed, as still as I could until I fell back asleep. Or, if I was beyond scared, I'd brave sneaking to my parents room. They never let us sleep with them, and I didn't want to wake them up because they'd just send me back to my bed, so I'd lay on the ground and army crawl to my dad's side of the bed (the floor was creaky if I walked, and my Mom would be more mad at me waking her up than my Dad). I'd usually make a bed on the floor and fall asleep. Once the sun rose, I knew it was safe to go back to my own bed.


Even now I'm still more comfortable when the sun is shining. At night, my thoughts go crazy. If I'm home alone, I sleep with the light on. I get up early in the morning for work, and a lot of times my thoughts are irrational. Brain takes over, things are blown out of proportion. If something is weighing on my mind, it's a thousand times worse at 3AM. Not surprisingly, my favorite time of day is sun rise. It's the beginning of everything good and the end of something dark and unknown. I am still like a little kid in a lot of ways, and this one probably won't ever change. But it's okay.

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." -Victor Hugo

Source: Uploaded by user via Thao on Pinterest

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful...

Beautiful BOY. That's right, we're having a boy. On a whim on Monday night we decided to try to find out what the sex of our baby was. I'm 16ish weeks (my doctor thinks I'm a little further along, or at least I'm measuring that way) and we heard about a place down by the beach that can determine what the baby is around this stage. Within about 2 minutes, the technician was telling us there was a reason we couldn't decide on any girl names...we were pregnant with a little boy. The funny thing is since the first ultrasound, whenever I looked at it, I thought it looked like a boy. Don't ask me why...it's not like you can really tell. I was still surprised, because most of my life I just assumed I'd have a girl first. Maybe I thought that way because that's how my family is; I'm the oldest.

We didn't care either way what the baby would be. We have 4 (and a half) amazing nieces that we adore. My friends have very cute little boys that I love. And I think it is the coolest thing in the world that we don't get to pick what the baby is...it's just this amazing surprise.
So I'm getting used to saying "he" and the thought of raising a boy child. David keeps coming to random realizations, and it's the cutest thing ever. Last night on the couch he realized, "Father and son! I get to take him camping!" So. Cute.
This is a really special time in our lives and I hope we never, ever forget it.
What I want to know from YOU is...did you have a boy first? or second? or at all? Was it hard to raise a boy? If you have both a girl and a boy, are they different? I am kind of nervous because it's foreign to me!

  
baby boy photo by me

Beds + Things

I am on the hunt for some new bedding. Mostly just a new duvet or comforter. We have used a down and duvet cover since we got married, but I'm realizing now that we've always lived in a mountain climate and it's just too hot for southern california non-mountain weather. What do people use? I'm at a loss.

Source: homelife.com.au via Natalie on Pinterest

David finished his first round of midterms and starts his 'kind of' Spring break this week. I'm glad he worked so hard and can have a little bit of time to himself! We are going to celebrate the break with Disneyland and family time.
In other news, my dog died. Not Clementine, but my family dog we've had for 12 years. She was getting old and could barely walk. She was the best dog, ever. So happy. It's really hard for me to talk about. I miss you, Sunny!
On a happier note, our babe is the size of a large peach now! That would explain why I look like I ate an extra large pizza. My clothes are getting tighter (as in none of my church skirts fit me) and I'm really struggling with feeling like I look good. This in between stage is just like growing out your hair...nothing looks right.
Thank you everyone for your kind words. We are overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude for everyone's support and love. We can't wait to bring our baby into such an amazing, happy circle of family + friends.

The Good + the Bad

We're working on New Years goals over here and preparing for school mode again. Basically we've been super lazy soaking up the last days before studying ensues when I'll have copious amounts of alone time. It's kind of funny, but I never thought I'd like being by myself again after I met David. I guess 6 1/2 years of being together and 5 years of marriage was the mark where I began to feel it was okay. :) I also can't get enough sleep right now. I've gone through a few weeks here and there since starting my job where no matter what I do I can't catch up on sleep. This week is one of them, and I am so excited that it's Friday!
                               

Goods + Goals:
We made a plan to only eat out for dinner once a week and have stuck to it this week.
I got a new book and I plan on reading a lot more this semester (TV is my downfall)
We finally got our last piece of 'necessary' furniture, thanks to my bil. A dining set!
Disneyland has been super empty this week which means no long lines
Plus we made a res. for Blue Bayou the day before Valentines Day. We've never been!

Badnewsbears:
So tired.
Knowing mine + David's lazy lounging days are over for a few months
I've had a cold for almost two weeks, and David had one that went away but it's back again, and worse!

At least the good outweighs the bad :)

Thoughts on moving

Some things I've learned over the last week:

Don't do a newborn shoot unless you plan on having one yourself in the next little while. You will leave wishing you were taking him with you.
Don't plan 4 photoshoots within a 1 week period- the same week you are moving.
Don't plan a birthday party for yourself. And don't wait until 20 minutes before to find an open gazebo at the park.
Don't leave packing til the last minute and then stress about it for the 3 days before you move.

I will be glad when we are settled in California. I'm soooo looking forward to the 4th of July, sleeping in this weekend and seeing my nieces and family.
Oh, and if you are going to do 4 shoots in one week, make sure there are cute kids involved like the one above :)