Inspire Me: Naturally Me

I can't believe it's already Wednesday again! That means it is link up time over at Life Unpublished.

This week's theme/prompt is "Naturally Me." I won't lie - when I first saw the theme last week I was seriously disturbed. I had no idea how I would go about presenting my inspiration board in a way that would let everything work together. 

So, I thought long and hard. The more I thought about it, the more I asked myself what "natural" really means to me. When I think of something natural to me, I think of things that define me, things that describe me, and things that I love. Everything true to me, what makes me, me.

I couldn't think of a better way to show off my inpspiration board than with pictures from my camera roll on my handy dandy iPhone. You can also find them on my Instagram account! I'd love for you to follow me!

 

Photos going clockwise:

1. My husband and I at our wedding during our first dance as husband and wife.

2. The most recent picture of my son, Aiden.

3. My two yorkies, Gucci and Faith.

4. My most favorite cookies in all the world.

5. I'm obsessed with these leopard nails stickers by Sally Hansen.

6. Blue Bell Red Velvet Cake ice cream is to die for.

7. A recent picture of myself.

8. Every time I see this flower I make a wish. Every time.

Grab this button below, create your own inspiration board and link up with us!

Inspire Me Favorite!

So, last week's inspiration board prompt over at Life Unpublished was "All that Glitters."

You design an inspiration board, or collage, that fits the theme and link them up. This is done every other week and on the off weeks, a favorite is picked and the new theme is announced. I love this link up because it gets my creative juices flowing.

Drum roll please...

I was picked as the favorite and was featured in Chelsea's post here. Go check it out!

Next week we link up again and the them will be "Naturally Me." I'm kind of nervous about this one, because I'm not 100% sure how everyone is interpreting this prompt. Am I supposed to include pictures of myself? Or things that describe me? What does the 'natural' thing really mean? I tend to look too deep into things, so I'll need to figure out how I want to go about it soon. 

Work on your board and link up with us next week! Grab this button, put it in your sidebar and join the fun!

Five Things Friday

More randoms for you on this beautiful Friday!

1. I'm supposed to be packing and cleaning, but I'm trying to squeeze this post in before I leave on our trip back to our hometown for the weekend. I know if I wait to do it when I get there, it will be too late. And more than likely I'll forget all about it once I start socializing with my family. Yet, somehow Aiden knows the second I sit down to type something. You don't get the free time like you used to get before a baby. He quite literally takes up all of my time! I do feel a little accomplished though. My bag is still half packed from our trip last weekend and I started a load of clothes in the washer. Go me!

2. Aiden is 12 weeks old today! He talks to me almost non-stop and he's awake a lot more. I'm afraid he's teething though. He's a lot more whiny, he drools so much, and he almost always has his fist in his mouth chewing away. He's driving me crazy. He better be glad I love him so much! He's gotten pretty spoiled though, he hates laying in his pack 'n' play by himself. I blame myself for this one since I co-sleep. I spoil him rotten, but I tell myself it's okay because he won't be a baby for long and there will come a time when he won't want to cuddle with me. So, I'm soaking it all up now.

3. Anyone want a free cat? Not really, I do love her. Most days at least - when she isn't pooping and peeing right outside of her litter box. I really don't understand it at all! We upgraded her litter box and got her a larger one. She has this thing where she gets right up to the edge and does her business, and then BAM! it falls on the floor. Seriously? I'm pretty sure if I bought her a sandbox that covered an acre she would still go right up to the edge and poop right over the side of it. 

4. My dogs are getting on my nerves too - two miniature Yorkshire terriers that have a mind of their own. They are potty trained for the most part; and by that I mean they know what "go peepee" or "go outside" means and they get excited when they go outside. This however does not stop them from going in the house. It's quite literally like watching a baby that has just learned to walk. You have to make sure they don't get into anything, or pee on something or chew on something. It gets really old. Add in a twelve week old baby and I get so exhausted. I feel bad because I never have time for them. We don't have a fence in our yard, so it's not like I can let them outside for the whole day. I'm almost ready to put doggy diapers on them and tell them to deal. Once they go to doggy heaven, I don't plan on getting any more inside pets for a long while. 

5. I'm making really good progress with my weight loss! I have been stuck at a certain weight (no, I'm not telling you) for the longest time. Changing my eating habits alone wasn't helping take the extra baby weight off, so I decided to try Insanity again. That was way too hard on my body since I had only had the baby in March. My husband got Hip Hop Abs for me for my birthday! I'll finish my second week on Saturday. I love this workout because I still get a good workout in, but its not as intense as Insanity. A few weeks ago Adam got a stationary work out bike from his boss for free! I try to fit in ten miles when I can and I think that gives my body just the right amount of "push" it needs to take more of the weight off. A couple of days ago I found a 30 day squat challenge and I started it yesterday. You start at 50 squats on day one and end up doing 250 by day thirty. I'm starting to feel so much better about myself and I'm slowly getting my confidence back. I can't wait to post my one month results!

Happy Friday, y'all! I hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day weekend, and remember it's not just about BBQ's and partying! Remember our troops that fight for our freedom.

New Blog Name Coming

I've thought long and hard about changing my blog and website name, and more importantly when to do it. I've started building a follower base and I'm excited about that! The number of followers isn't really that important to me. I would rather ten devoted readers who thoroughly enjoy my content, rather than having thousands of followers that don't really care about the experiences I write and share.

I'm worried that I am going to confuse the followers I already have acquired. I know that I would certainly be confused if I noticed a blog in my reading list with a name I didn't recognize or specifically remember adding.

The look and feel of my blog is certainly not a good representation of "me" either. I chose something when I published my first post that was a little more interesting than the plain jane templates have to offer. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a husband who works his butt off to provide for what we have. So, paying for a professional blog design is certainly out of the question. I'm currently working on a new look and feel to the face of my blog that I think will represent my personality a little better.

When I started my blog, I chose the name "Three Peas in a Pod." I just had my first baby in March and I knew I was going to be blogging mostly about my new addition and other happenings with my family. But, I started thinking more and more about when the time comes and we have a second child. There will no longer be just three of us. I plan on having three kids, Lord willing. So, I knew my blog name wouldn't be appropriate for long and I had better decide on a title that was better suited. 

So, without further ado...

Three Peas in a Pod is now Hot Mess Mama!

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I knew I had to do it now, before I gained more followers and confused more people. 

Thank you so much for understanding!

Follow me! Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Link List

I'm seriously lacking in this Blog Every Day in May Challenge. I know I should probably be challenging myself a little harder, but I have an almost three month old who most definitely takes precedent. I am pretty proud of myself with how far I've come and how long I have actually stuck with it so far. I think the concept is pretty cool, and it gets me into writing more.

I have missed about the last five days. I went out of town for the weekend and we got back yesterday around 8pm. It felt like the longest weekend of my life and I had to spend half of it away from my husband.

I'm definitely going to try to get back on my A-game. I have a lot of things I want to do with my blog and I really need to get the ball rolling. But enough of that, on to today's prompt.

"...Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives..."

2 Pink Lines 

First Pregnancy Update and Ultrasound 

Old Wives' Tales 

30 Week Ultrasounds 

Aiden's Birth Story 

I realize these links all have to do with my baby boy. He is my pride and joy, and when I started this blog, it was designed to document my pregnancy. Now I'm expanding and sharing more of my life and thoughts with you, but these are some of my favorites.

Inspire Me: All that Glitters

Life Unpublished is hosting a link-up every other Wednesday, and today's inspiration prompt is "All that Glitters."

You can go here to link-up and share your inspiration board and find some awesome blogs to follow!

When I think of the word 'glitter', I think of super girly things. I think of pink pretties. And I think of makeup. This was my inspiration for my board.

 

Photo credits (from left to right and going down)

1. Keep Calm and Sparkle: www.weheartit.com 

2. Pink nails: www.weheartit.com

3. Lips: www.weheartit.com

4. Bracelets: www.weheartit.com

5. Brush: www.pinterest.com

6. Eyeshadow: www.pinterest.com

7. Lip gloss: www.weheartit.com

8. Skulls: www.picship.com

9. High heels: www.pinterest.com

I didn't make any of those links clickable because I had no way of telling who the original poster was. I searched for all of these pictures by typing in "glitter" in the search engine of each website. 

I hope you enjoyed my inspiration board, and I hope to see yours!

The Things That Make Me Happy

"...Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy..."

I'm loving this blog challenge! If you are just now coming across this, you can join in at any time!

Now, on to the ten things that make me really happy, in no particular order.

>> My sweet Adam & Aiden <<

>> Chocolate - the darker, the better <<

>> Long, hot bubble baths <<

>> My best friend <<

>> Ice cream <<

>> Bon fires with friends and family <<

>> A long nap when I can get one <<

>> Tanning <<

>> Coke from any Mexican restaurant <<

>> Shopping sprees <<

What makes you really happy? 

Leave your list or link in the comments below!

Something I Miss, Plus an Apology

"...Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)..."

*I missed posting this yesterday. I'm sick and yesterday I felt absolutely terrible.*

If I had to say I miss one thing, I think it would have to be how skinny I used to be. As vain as that sounds, it's completely true. I miss not having stretch marks every where I look. I hate that I can't wear a bikini this summer without feeling self conscious. I don't fit in about 98% of my clothes. I miss the confidence I used to have in myself. 

Right before I got pregnant with Aiden, I definitely wasn't the smallest I've ever been, but if I could just get back to that point I would be extremely ecstatic. I used to tell myself that the number on the scale doesn't matter, that as long as I'm fit and toned that is all that matters. That isn't completely true. The scale completely destroys me. It's discouraging and my husband always threatens to hide the batteries. I think I would die. It's become a habit for me to weigh myself three times a day. My weight flucuates constantly and sometimes it gets really high, but when it gets really low, it's an instant boost of confidence. And confidence is definitely what I need to stay motivated on my weight loss journey. It's tough, but I take it one day at a time and I'm always one day closer to my goal.

"...Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be..."

I could apologize for a lot of things; I'm sure of that. But this apology is for my Instagram followers and Facebook friends:

I'm sorry that 90% of what I post on Insta and Facebook has to do with Aiden. He is everything I have ever wanted. I've prayed for such a long time for an angel like him. My whole life revolves around him and he makes me the happiest, most proud momma in the entire world. He shows me the deepest love and he brings so much light to my life. 

I think social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook are meant for us to share recent, relevant times of our lives. We all have things that makes us proud and happy. Some people choose to rant. Some people choose to share their drunken state with the public. I choose to share Aiden with all of you. 

Sorry I'm not sorry.

10 Little Words

"...Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words or less..."

No pressure, right? Who can think of only ten minimal words to describe themselves in the best way possible? I'm going to try my best. Here it goes.

Passionate 

Honest 

Confident 

Perky 

Reliable 

Energetic 

Genuine 

Techy 

Intelligent 

Devoted

I chose to do individual words. I couldn't think of a creative sentence to put the most important things together without going over ten words.

What do you think? How would you sell yourself using ten words or less? 

It's definitely a lot harder than I thought.

Clumsy Me

"...Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment(s). Spill..."

The good Lord above knows I've had my fair share of embarrassing moments, and I've chosen to lock most of them away and never think of them again. When I saw that today we were supposed to talk about our most embarrassing moment, I had a hard time remembering something to share. I don't have any juicy stories. And I'm sure you all are thinking "yeah right, just spill the beans." But, in all honesty, I don't. I guess my life is a little boring in that aspect. Sorry. 

All of the moments I would consider embarrassing have to do with me falling or running into something in some way or another. The story I'm going to share today happened back in good ole Junior High. 

Some background info that you might want to know. (Or not.) My husband tells me I give way too much detail and that I should just get to the point. I'll tell you any way. I grew up in a really small town. A town so small that it had one red light and the elementary school was connected to the junior high and high school by the cafeteria that everyone shared (at different times of course - high schoolers weren't eating lunch with 5 year olds.) So, it was time for class change. We had to walk from our class in the junior high building, all the way over to the music building that was located in the elementary side. You had to walk through a couple of breeze-ways to get to where you needed to be. 

We are in junior high, mind you, so we aren't escorted by any teachers. They trust us to get to our classes on our own. So, imagine if you will, a group of thirteen year olds unchaperoned for five minutes. So a group of us from my class were walking through one particular breeze-way located between two buildings and in the mean time, some of the guys were doing that thing where they kick underneath your feet while you walk. The point of this is trying to get you to trip. I turn around and tell them to quit acting like children, and BAM! Right as I turn back around I smack my face right into an open door. I ran right into it like it wasn't even there. And nobody even tried to give me a heads up. I was pretty mortified, but I shook it off and it gives me something funny to look back on and laugh about. 

It's probably not the most embarrassing story you've ever heard. But it's my story. And it was embarrassing at the time. I'm usually always running into something, stubbing my toe, falling down, etc. So that will definitely not be the last story I'll have to share. Promise.

Inspire Me Inspiration Board

I'm a huge fan of link-ups now. They get me into the blog world and I get to find such interesting blogs because of it. 

Chelsea from Life Unpublished and Elle from My Dearest Friend have come up with a new type of link-up. It's a picture collage that has a different prompt every other Wednesday! On the off weeks, they choose their favorite collage from all of the link-ups and that blogger gets featured. 

I'm super stoked to try this out for the first time! I love pretty pictures and finding new people in the process of it all. 

Wednesday's prompt is "All That Glitters."

Start looking up pictures and designing your collage!

A Moment in My Day

"...Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)..."

The moment I'm choosing to share with all of you is the long bubble bath I enjoyed tonight.*

Any alone time you get when you are a new mom is now considered a luxury. You don't get them often, and when you do, you don't hesitate to soak up every second of it. 

My days are kind of the same during the week. I snuggle and cuddle Aiden, feed him when he's hungry, and sleep almost all day until Adam comes home. 

Adam usually exercises first. He's doing Insanity. But today he wasn't feeling well, so I got to work out. I'm doing Hip Hop Abs. 

Adam watched our little guy while I got to soak up every ounce of this amazingness. The Strawberita was definitely a plus, too! It felt so good to wind down after what felt like the longest day ever.

*Disclaimer: I apologize if this seemed the least bit provocative to any of you. We all take showers and baths (hopefully.) And we all have to get naked to do it. (Unless you shower and bathe with your clothes on - in that case, you're just weird.)

xoxo, 

Deanne

Blog Hop

I'm new to the blogging world, so I'm always looking for new reads and friends to make along the way. 

Join me in this Bloglovin' Blog Hop over at B.You's blog.

 Enter your bloglovin' link in the linkup and find some other blogs to follow!

What If's

"...Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all..."

I'm not one to be dishing out advice, because I rarely take the advice given back to me. It's not at all that I don't like taking someone's advice, it's just that I like living and learning from my own mistakes. It helps me grow. 

But, if I were to tell you one thing, it would be to stop dwelling over the "what if's" in life. You won't get anywhere by questioning yourself hundreds of could-be scenarios in your head. If it does anything, it clouds your sight set on where you are meant to be in that moment. This is not to say that you can't set dreams, or goals, or ambitions. Set the bar high. Reach for the stars. But, don't beat yourself up because you aren't where you wanted to be at that specific time in your life.

I'm a huge believer in the quote "everything happens for a reason." In any given moment, you are exactly where you were meant to be.

What advice do you have for me?

Follow me with Bloglovin'

Now you can download the Bloglovin' app on your smart phone and follow me from anywhere! 

Comment with your blog link and I will follow you back!

My Worst Fears

"...Day 7, Tuesday: the thing(s) you're most afraid of..."

I've been a worry-wart ever since I can I remember. I worried about all sorts of things, irrelevant and not, and I still do to this very day. Becoming a mother only intensified that to its max potential. Worrying is something that consumes me. My worrying more often than not also turns into anxiety - something I wish I was able to control. But, I never let it get the best of me. 

Some piece of me always feels that if I don't worry about certain things, then that must mean that I don't care enough about them. And that's certainly not true. I care about A LOT of things. When I care about something, I attach myself to it wholeheartedly. 

I'm scared of a lot of superficial things like spiders, and heights, and being alone in the dark. But the one thing I'm scared of the most is losing my husband or son. 

I couldn't stand the thought of losing Adam in any way. May it be divorce, disease, a car accident. I've had the absolute worst scenarios play out in my head and it eats away at my heart. I hate to even think about what it would begin to feel like if I no longer had him here with me. This makes me afraid to grow old with him. I don't ever want to go a single day without him. 

As for my sweet boy, Aiden, I'm completely terrified of losing him. Whether it be to SIDS or some kind of health problem that the doctors identified too late. I'm also terrified of other people dropping him on his head. As silly as that may sound, it scares me more than anything. Life before Aiden was so meaningless, and now I couldn't imagine going a single day without him, either. 

These two boys are my everything. I can't stand the thought of losing them.

What I Do

Let me start off with an apology to all of my devoted followers. I am so terribly sorry that I did not participate in Day 5 of Blog Every Day in May. My husband and I were mega exhausted! All day long I felt like I needed toothpicks hold my eyelids open. Day 5 was meant to profess the love of a blogging friend. I have a few blogging friends, but I don't know enough about them to publicly profess my love for them. I was really excited to get to brag about my best friend, but since I missed it, I'll have to write about her one day and give her a special post dedicated to her amazingness.

Ok, so now on to Day 6!

"...Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do?'..."

What do I do?

I have a job. The most complex job there is on the planet. First and foremost, I am a wife. Dictionary.com defines it as "a married woman, especially when considered in relation to her partner in marriage." I love being a wife to my husband, Adam. I love taking care of him. I like to think we work really well together, on most days at least. Just kidding. We value each other's opinions and take the other's feelings into consideration. I love working with him to make decisions and figuring out this crazy thing we call life. It's hard work, but I love the woman it has made me out to be.

Just a short 2 months ago, I became a mother to a beautiful baby boy, Aiden. He is the light of my world and I honestly don't know how I have made it this far in life without him. He makes my days so much brighter. Being a mom is a full time job. You don't get days off. You don't get vacation time to cash in for a one week trip to the beach with your besties. Being a mom is a tough, but I wouldn't trade it for all of the money in the world. It's simply the biggest reward you could ever get.

We've finally fallen into somewhat of a little routine lately. Some days are a little more rough than others, but we always make it through. Aiden doesn't have a set wake up time, but we always start our day by sending Adam off to work. I hate this part, because I would much rather just stay in bed and cuddle the day away with my two boys. Then the rest of our day consists of eating and sleeping for the both of us. We waste time by cuddling and playing, and counting down the minutes until Adam gets home. Adam always calls me when he is headed home and this is the part I look forward to the most. I know that we don't have to wait much longer to see him! When Adam gets home from work, we take turns watching Aiden and working out. Then we shower and eat supper and crawl into bed for quiet time. I spend every minute I can with Adam because I don't get to see him much as of now. He sleeps when he can and so do I. I know that as Aiden gets older, our schedule will get a lot easier. But right now, this is life as we know it.

Be Grateful

"...Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it..."

I am a fairly indecisive person, which means I have trouble coming up with "favorites." I have a lot of favorites. I like a lot of things and can almost never narrow anything down to just ONE favorite. It'll never happen. That's just who I am.

So, in choosing a quote for today's challenge, I decided to use one that I go back to often. 

"Sometimes you are delayed where you are because God knows there's a storm where you're headed. Be grateful."

I found this quote one day as I was aimlessly browsing Pinterest (you can follow me here.) It credits www.spirituallythinking.blogspot.com.

This quote speaks to me in many ways. I do consider myself a Christian, but by no means a perfect one. But one thing I often catch myself doing is questioning God. I always ask him things like "why didn't my alarm go off, how could you let me over sleep and miss work?!" or "why did my car decide to have a blow out NOW? God, how could you let this happen?" After I'm through questioning Him, I tend to realize that it always sounds like I'm blaming him. When, in reality there could have been a million things happen to me if I would have woke up at the right time or if I didn't have a blow out and stop on the side of the road. I could have been in a wreck that hurt me or someone else. I have come to realize that this is God's way of preventing bad things from happening to me. He's letting me stay here on Earth a little longer. He's telling me I have more life to live and it's not time for me to come Home just yet. I have to really pay attention to this quote more often and stop blaming God for all of the "bad" things that I think are happening and realize that my life is, in all actuality, good. 

What quote speaks to you? 

Five Things Friday

I tried this once when I was updating weekly during my pregnancy and I didn't hold to it. I'm going to hold higher expectations for myself and try to make it a priority. Plus it gives me something to blog about in my ever-so-boring life. 

1. Today is my birthday. I turned 22 and I got to spend all day with my munchkin. Even though he acted a fool all day and hasn't slept since noon, he kept me company and I got the best snuggles out of him. 

2. I've been doing really, really good about counting my calories all week. But, I decided to cheat today since it was my birthday and all. Now I feel like I'm starting back at square one and I feel totally guilty.

3. Aiden finally came down off his fever he had from his shots on Wednesday, but he's not sleeping and that means I'm not sleeping. I changed his clothes twice. He peed in my bed. And he has learned this new trick. He has figured out that if he cries, I pick him up. And when I put him down, he cries. When I pick him up, he stops crying! What a smart boy. Spoiled, but smart!

4. My birthday present from my sweet hubby came in the mail today! He got me HipHopAbs! That might not sound exciting, but I've been oogling it on those late night infomercials for a while now. I was so excited when I found out that's what I was getting. I'm going to try it out tomorrow for the first time. I've got to lose the rest of my baby weight. I plan on doing updates on my progress for this as well. Stay tuned!

5. I'm contemplating getting a haircut, but I'm terrified. It has grown out a lot in the past year and it's the longest my hair has ever been. But, it's about to be summer and the humidity will make you think twice about having long locks here in the deep south. I know though, that the moment I cut my hair I will immediately regret it! So, long hair it is. For now. 

Letting You in on a Little Secret

I'm having a ton of fun with Jenni's link up for her Blog Every Day in May Challenge. 

So, I'll get right into it. 

"...Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable..."

1. Strangers touching me when they talk to me. 

2. Feet. Wiggling feet. Naked feet. Unpolished female toenails. Pretty much anything to do with feet. 

3. I can only wear a t-shirt and underwear to bed. Sorry to paint that picture in your head, but I am supposed to be talking about things that make me uncomfortable, and frankly, I don't like being hot when I sleep. 

4. And speaking of being hot when I sleep, I get cranky when my feet get hot. 

5. I don't like being the center of attention. Never have and never will. 

6. I hate giving speeches. 

7. Recently I went to Aiden's 2 month wellness check up. I was feeding him while we were waiting in our room. He had just finished his bottle as the nursed walked in to give him his shots. I had to burp him and all she could do was stare at me. Judging me - as if I wasn't doing it right. Like I wasn't being a good mom. THAT made me uncomfortable. So this is a 2-for-1. People that stare and me and people that judge me make me uncomfortable. 

8. People's bad breath or dirty nails. I seriously try not to judge here, but it makes me uncomfortable if they get to close. It makes me feel dirty too. 

9. And last, but certainly not least: bugs. Any kind, shape, color, or size. 

My Husband's Wife

And so comes Day 2 of Blog Every Day in May. 

Day 1 was a challenge for me because I'm not good at writing about myself. 

But, I decided to take Day 2 by the horns. 

"...Day 2: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)..."

I had a lot of trouble coming up with a topic for discussion. I wouldn't necessarily say I have any special hobbies, and I definitely don't have any special talents. Or, maybe, it's the fact that I don't give myself enough credit for the things I do well. I thought long and hard about this one. 

When I ask myself what I do best, one thing sticks to the back of my mind. What I do every single day. What I live to do. What teaches me to be a better person day in and day out. 

What do I know a lot about? I know how to be a wife. Adam's wife. I'm not a perfect one by any means, but one that is constantly learning how to be better each and every day. 

You should note:

There is more to a marriage than being two people living under the same roof sharing the same space and sleeping in the same bed. 

Marriage is a sacrifice, putting your spouse's wants and needs above your own. Knowing when to say yes and how to say no. 

Marriage is a two part effort that takes work. It requires falling in love again and again, day after day. Remembering how the two of you reached this commitment in the first place. It requires you to be selfless even when you don't want to be. It requires you to apologize even when you know you are right. Realizing that two steps forward and one step back doesn't mean you have failed at this thing we call love. It just means you have to work that much harder to prove this is something you truly care about and that it means enough to you to get it back on the right track. Slow progress is still progress. 

Since I've had Aiden, I've also learned a lot about being a mother and balancing my time to still be a wife to Adam. Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in my son needing me that I forget that my husband still needs me too. He needs to feel that love and support after a long day at work, and I have to remember to give it. It's not that I forget about my husband or that I don't remember to show him the love he needs and deserves, but a baby takes a lot of time and attention and I usually put myself on the back burner. I have to remind myself that forgetting about myself also means forgetting about my husband. 

So, find something to do every day to keep the romance alive in your marriage. The little things sometimes mean the most. 

A few rules we live by:

We never go to bed fighting. Our bed is Switzerland and all arguments cease when it's time for bed. Life's to short to be mad any way. 

We always kiss each other goodnight and make sure to tell each other "I love you."

Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Make sure that the ones you love know it. 

2 Months

I feel like I just blinked, and when I opened my eyes, I had a 2 month old. Time needs to slow down. Seriously. 

I feel so blessed that I get to spend every day with my precious little guy. I get to see him grow, and our bond grows along with it too. I don't have to go to work, so that means I don't have to send my boy to daycare. I get to love on him all I want. 

He seriously is the sweetest baby ever. The only time he cries is whenever he's hungry. He moans and groans when he poops. But that's about it. He doesn't love taking baths, but he doesn't hate them either. He usually just sits there staring at me wondering what on Earth I'm doing to him and why is it so cold. This kid makes the cutest, funniest faces I have ever seen on a baby. He sleeps on his own and has done so ever since he was born, but he sleeps even better when he's snuggled up next to me. What's even better is that I sleep good too when he's snuggled up next to me. 

Another month has come and gone. 

Sleeping patterns: About 4-5 hours at a time now, thank goodness!

Eating habits: 4-6 ounces at a time, my little chunk

My accomplishments: Learning how to smile. It isn't happening often yet, but it's still just as cute.

Places I went: We started taking Aiden out to eat and to go shopping now. I'm not as afraid of the germs as I was at first. 

Special memories: Aiden woke up from a nap and when I went to pick him up, he gave me the biggest gummy grin I have ever seen in my whole entire life. It was like he recognized me and he was trying to let me know it. My heart instantly became a puddle on the floor. The sweetest. 

Likes: He still loves to stare at the light. If you are in the same room with him and there is a bright light, he's going to be staring at it. Forget about trying to get his attention. He still loves to cuddle. He also likes it when he give him lots of kisses on his cheeks. He loves to eat. And loves his monkey mobile on his crib. I'm pretty sure he would stare at it for hours. 

Dislikes: I've come to realize that he hates sitting in a wet diaper. My child isn't fussy, but he will let you know when he's uncomfortable. And who could blame him? I wouldn't want to sit in a wet, hot mess for hours at a time. That's just gross. He also hates waiting longer than 0 SECONDS for you to make his bottle. When he's hungry, he's hungry. And he's going to let you know. 

Aiden had his 2 month wellness visit today. He got his first round of shots too. I was a nervous wreck all day long. The day started out ok, until I started to fix my hair. Then it all went downhill from there. He woke up from his nap grunting and moaning and groaning. I was thinking that the poor kid finally pooped. Checked his diaper numerous time - no poop. I got done with my hair and changed his diaper. HOLD THE PHONE. There was a hard pebble-like turd. Poor guy is constipated. So now he is fussy, and the decides he wants to eat. I still had to get both of us dressed and get my diaper bag packed. I should have already been on my way to his appointment. 

I got to his appointment and they weighed and measured him. The whole time I'm spacing out because the only thing I could think about was the shots he was going to get. And I was there with him all by myself. I had to be strong for my baby, but who was going to be strong for me? He only cried for about a minute or two then he got quiet and seemed like he was trying to contemplate everything that just happened. Now my little man is sleeping his life away, but I keep hearing him wake up and whimper, poor thing. I can only assume his little tiny legs are hurting him. If only I could take the pain away. I would do in in an instant. 

>>>>> 2 Months <<<<<

05.01.13

Height - 23.25 inches long

Weight - 11 pounds 8 ounces

 

1 Month

Aiden's first month in this big, bright world was definitely a crazy one. Not only am I learning how to be a parent and take care of a fragile tiny being, I'm learning about life and the true meaning of love. 

The first month was as terrifying as it was exhausting. No matter how tired I thought I was though, there was a little person who completely depended on me, who needed me to be there to comfort him, feed him, and (most importantly) love him. 

No amount of lack of sleep or the feeling like my brain is slowly slipping away will ever make me trade this experience for the world. Aiden is the light of my life and the reason I breathe. 

The first month with my sweet boy passed by way too fast. This scares me. It scares me because I'm afraid I'm going to miss something. I'm afraid I'll forget how tiny his feet are, or how little his hand was as it wrapped ever so tightly around my finger for the very first time. Afraid that I wouldn't be able to remember how his 6 pound body felt almost weightless in my arms, because he was so tiny. There were lots of things I thought I might forget. So, I cherished every single second. Every waking and sleeping second. 

It's amazing to me how much a baby can change in the matter of weeks, and even days. Here is his 1 month update.

Sleeping patterns: fall asleep right after your bottle and sleeps for about 2 hours. 3 hours was rare.

Eating habits: about 2-3 ounces every 2-3 hours

New discoveries I made: making lots of cute, funny faces

My accomplishments: picking head up during tummy time on mommy and daddy's chest

Places I went: you stayed at home most of the time, because you were so young we didn't want you exposed to lots of germs, but we did go to Anacoco for Easter to show you off to the family

Special memories: your cord stump finally fell off when you were 6 weeks old!

Likes: cuddling, being talked to, looking at the light

Dislikes: getting his diaper changed, waiting longer than 0 seconds for his bottle

>>>>> 1 Month <<<<<

04.01.13

Height - 21 inches at 2 weeks old

Weight - 7 pounds 12 ounces at 2 weeks old

*Our pediatrician doesn't see babies at 1 month, instead sees them at 2 weeks*

My Mini Autobiography

Today is May 1, 2013 and that means the start of "Blog Everyday in May." 

Today's topic: the story of your life in 250 words or less.

Ok, so here goes nothing. Enjoy!

I turn 22 on Friday! I married the love of my life on December 3, 2011. We have a beautiful baby boy who just turned 2 months old today and he teaches me things about life and has opened my heart to the deepest love I’ve ever felt. My husband works hard so that I am able to stay at home and raise our sweet boy. I’ve been to Guam and Hawaii and flew on a plane all before I was 2 years old.  We moved around a lot when I was a kid. I’m very shy until I open up to you, but once I do there’s no letting go. I love with all my heart and live every day like it might be my last. Life so far has been an extraordinary ride and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.