Easter

Some of my favorites of Zoe from Easter. Hope everyone had as wonderful a time as we did!

 

 

Three Generations

I love capturing images of the three generations of our family. And I love how much love we all share.

 

 

Butterflies

Mum is here visiting. She and Zoe have such a good time together. Yesterday we went to the butterfly conservatory and the butterflies just loved Mum!  One landed on her head and just stayed! I love watching Zoe in the conservatory, though its particularly hard for me to be in there: bugs and birds in an enclosed space, all my fears wrapped up in a pretty package. Facing those fears is so worth it to see the looks of amazement on our little girl's face. 

 

 

 

One Small Step for a Baby, a Giant Leap in a Lifetime

Zoe took her first steps today. It was amazing. And then she climbed up the step from the sunporch into the foyer so I let her get on the steps from the foyer to upstairs and she climbed all the way up and into the bedroom for her nap!

Here I've saved THYME in a bottle.
If only it were as easy to save TIME!

It just makes me think about how quickly life goes by. It feels like just yesterday when we brought her home. Just yesterday when the only way for her to get from point A to point B was in my arms. And now she's cruising around the living room and climbing up the stairs!

I actually think that's why we write blogs and keep diaries and update our Facebook status. It makes us pause for a moment and think about the moment, the day, or the week. It kinda stops time for a second and saves it for us.

Gratitude and Goals

Is it any wonder that she tops
my gratitude list?

I've decided to spends Sundays focusing on all my blessings (not that I don't think about them everyday, but I think it's good to set time aside for just that) and thinking about what I want to accomplish during the week to come. Sometimes I spend so much time focusing on what I haven't gotten done, that I don't think about what I want to do.





This week, I'm grateful for:

• Zoe's smiles - What can I say? I'm head over heels in love with her and everytime she smiles my heart melts and I feel invincible.
• Michele - I'm grateful for everything about Michele, but lately I am just so in love with her as an amazing mom to Zoe. She's so good at loving our little girl.
• Lisa Gonzalez - Her blog, Happy Mama's Journal, inspires me everytime I read it. She is so full of goodness and light that I feel blessed for having known her.
• Wegmans Food Mart - I'm grateful for Wegmans not just because they employ Michele and provide us with an income and health insurance, but because our Wegmans is full of wonderful people who know our names and always have a smile for us and a kind question about Zoe. Plus, I love the convenience of having access to good, healthy food just up the street.
• Nancy Topolski and her knitting needles - I just got a pair of Nancy's fingerless gloves and for the first time in forever my hands aren't cold as I'm typing this.
• Amazing crafters vending in the cold - I'm so grateful that my friends Kira, Karen, and Sabra went out in the cold today so that I could enjoy hanging out at a craft show.
• Good friends and a wonderful family - we worked on Zoe's baby book today, on the section about who her family is, and I count us so lucky to have so many wonderful people written down on those pages. We are very well supported in life.

And my goals for this coming week are:

• To spend more time in prayer - I don't talk to God nearly enough and I have so much to say "thank you" for.
• To reach out to a friend with an email or phone call.
• To keep up with my chores - I'm finally getting caught up and don't want to get behind again.
• To work on Zoe's flannel quilt - I'd like to finish cutting the fabric.
• To call my parents - since becoming a parent, I don't talk to them as much as I'd like to. I need to fix that.

With honest intentions, I'll strive to do my best this week and have the best attitude while doing so.

What are you grateful for this week? What would you like to accomplish?

Summer Fun

It's been a fun, but busy summer. Here's a pictorial review of what we've been up to over the past few months:

Enjoyed a visit from Nana - May

And from Grampa and GG - June

Went to the beach - June

Went to the Butterfly Conservatory - July

Planted a garden and built a fence around it - May



Feasted on cucumbers from that well-protected garden - July

And undoubtedly the best of all was our August road trip to meet Uncle Joel:

 

Happy Easter



Easter Bunny sneak attack!



All tuckered out!

Zoe went to her first Easter egg hunt today. Actually, she started crying the minute we got there, so we rocked and watched the hunt from the upstairs window. It was a fun Easter hunt and brunch hosted by the wonderful Sue. Once Zoe fell asleep, I surrounded her with Easter eggs as though the Easter bunny had visited her in her slumber. Very fun for baby's first Easter! Happy Easter to all!

Four Months Feels Like Forever

Hello World! I'm four months old today!

It's amazing to me how quickly life changes. Zoe is four months old today. I know logically that four months isn't very long, but illogically, it feels like forever. It's so hard to remember a time before Zoe and it's hard to believe that she's only been a part of our lives for four months, and yet, I also can't believe that she's four months old already! At the same time it feels like just yesterday that I was pregnant and it feels like its been she's forever been with us!

She's such a little miracle, changing and growing daily and keeping Michele and I alive with all her energy and all our love for her. It truly has been the most amazing four months. I wake up everyday and cannot wait to see what is new with Zoe.

Little Bites

I love all the lessons I'm learning as a new mom. One of the most important things is to alter the expectations I have for myself. I used to spend hours on a task until it was complete, but now I need to work around Zoe's needs and there are definitely not hours in between those. So, I'm trying to take things in little bites, breaking my goals into tasks that are further broken down into tiny nibbles that are easily accomplished during naps. So, instead of "clean the dining room," my to-do list says:

• Remove glasses from dining room table
• Polish table
• Polish sideboard
• Vacuum
• Water plants

It gives me more things to cross of the list everyday and definitely makes me feel more accomplished. I'd say this is one of my greatest challenges so far. I've always been so driven that not getting things done has been really hard for me. I like feeling these little successes everytime I cross something off the list.

A fun book I got a few weeks ago, The Rookie Mom's Handbook, advised new moms to create a "Done" list with things like "Changed 8 dirty diapers," "Dressed and re-dressed baby three times," and "Nursed baby four times for 30 minutes each." I haven't done that yet, but seeing it down in writing would definitely help me see how very much I DO in a day. It may not be the tasks and chores on my chore list, but taking care of Zoe is so much more fun and rewarding that cleaning the dining room is anyhow!   

Zoe's New Throne

Zoe has quickly overcome her premature status and grown very quickly into a sturdy little baby. She's outgrowing her infant carrier/carseat faster than expected. Michele and I weren't quite sure what to do since although in size she's ready for the next carseat, in muscle and head control, she still needs the support of an infant seat. After a lot of research, talking to my sister (big babies run in our family), and talking to Zoe's doctor, we decided on a convertible carseat that will work for Zoe now as a rear-facing seat and can be converted into a forward-facing seat later. More research found the Britax convertible carseats. Zoe's new throne arrived today. It's about the prettiest carseat I've ever seen! What a lucky little person! We'll head over to the fire department this week to get it installed properly and ready to roll!

Researching and finding the best of the best of what this little angel needs feels almost like a full-time job, but it's one that I really enjoy. I love learning all about anything having to do with Zoe!

Happy Quarter-Year Birthday, Baby Girl

Zoe is just the happiest, cuddliest baby. It took us a long time to decide to become moms - Michele and I have been talking about it for our entire relationship - 14 years! I'm sure every parent gets the exact right baby for them - I know Zoe is the exact right baby for us. She just seems like the perfectly shaped puzzle piece fitting right into our family. Or maybe it just feels like that because I can't remember how life felt before Zoe. I don't remember feeling like something was missing, but I now feel peacefully complete. These past three months have been full of change, full of happiness. I can't believe she's three months old already; and yet I can't believe I lived for 36 years without her either.

Dreams

It's funny thinking back (and looking back through my blog posts) about all the dreams I had while pregnant. I really wanted a baby girl and I knew I'd be having a baby girl - I knew it in my bones - but most of my dreams were of a baby boy - and most people who wanted to guess guessed baby boy. Michele and I were excited thinking about our baby and would have loved having a boy, but something inside me just knew that we were going to have Zoe. After that last push and our little one was out, I actually forgot to ask the sex! Michele, though, didn't hesitate to proudly announce "She's a girl! Zoe's here!" What an amazing moment! The moment Zoe came out to play!

A New Beginning

Day 1

It's crazy to think that my last post was in October. Even crazier to know that I'm writing this post with a sleeping baby in my arms. Our daughter was born five weeks early on December 7th and my life has completely changed since that event. Zoe Lorraine burst into this world at 7 pounds 3 oz and 20 inches long just anxious to meet her moms and make us the happiest women in the world!


Month 1



It's amazing to me how in one minute with one event everything changes. Even things that still exist, like my relationship with Michele, my love of reading and sewing and chocolate, my wonderful family and friends, are different. Everything is filtered through Zoe: Michele and I aren't just a loving couple, we're parents; I ravenously consume books on child care and development and children's books, plan quilts for Zoe and other projects that will make my life as a mom easier, and limit my chocolate consumption because, as a breastfeeding mom, I want Zoe to get only the best from me; and our family relationships and friendships all seem to center around Zoe: "Oh won't it be fun taking Zoe to meet Casey," "Aunt Kym is coming to meet Zoe," and "Zoe do you hear Nana on the phone? Say 'hi!'"

Month 2



I absolutely love it all. Everything is new and exciting. Things that were routine and maybe a bit boring are new challenges with Zoe. A trip to the grocery store used to be "Let me stop at Wegman's real quick for cheese" and is now "Okay, I have my list; Zoe's fed, so she'll probably sleep; do I have her sling to tote her around the store?; I'd better get cheese, it's not on the list, but I won't be able to get back out here this week, so I'd better get some just in case; Oh, there's Rita, she'll want to see Zoe before we leave; Zoe slept through shopping, but is awake the minute we get to the register, maybe if I bounce up and down she'll be okay until we get to the car; ok, we made it out of the store, but I'd better climb in the backseat and nurse before heading home(although we live 5 minutes away) so that we can make it home peacefully and I'll be able to get the bags in the house and the perishibles put away. . ." Grocery shopping is now a weekly adventure that I enjoy each time!



I just had no idea how completely this little girl would change my life and my outlook on the world. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be a mom to this special little person! Hopefully, I'll be posting here often to share my new adventures as a mom, partner, quilter, gardener, vegetarian, daughter, friend, sister, and whatever other title this new beginning bring me!