6 Months of Joy: Month 1

I can't believe it, my Little Bird turned 6 months old yesterday! That time has gone by so fast! I just wanted to sit and look at all her old pictures and remember how small she was!

I haven't been good about writing down her accomplishments or dates on pictures or anything, so I figured that now, before I forget it all, I would record my little sweetheart's life so far.  This is the new form of the baby book ;) I have so many pictures, I'm going to divide the posts up by month.   Enjoy the baby pictures!!!

10 Week Clean House: Week One

It's the first week of the Ten Week Challenge! Have you started? If not, feel free to jump on the bandwagon and get your house clean!

Ryan & I started with our first room: the Garage.

10 Week Clean House: The Details

So you've decided to take my challenge? Or maybe you just wanted to learn more.  Either way, I'm excited to share the details with you!

How It Works:

10 Week Clean House: The Challenge

Our family moved 2 months ago from Texas to Oklahoma, but looking at the state of our house, you'd think we moved last week. I could blame it on the baby, but truth be told we are just kinda lazy and used to living with boxes. It would be SOOO nice to have a clean house and feel really moved in.

Who else's house could use some attention? Maybe it's from moving or from several kids or just 20 years of stuff in the house. I'm sure so many people would love a house makeover! 

So I challenge you, join me for the next ten weeks to get your house in order. Just a small amount of time a day, for two and a half months, and you will have the house you always dreamed of, and the habits to keep it clean!

Want to learn more? Click here for the details of how it works!

My Favorite Mommy Moment

I've been a mom for a little over a year. My baby's been in my arms for four and a half months.  I've seen my share of baby smiles, giggles, and squeels of delight. Little Bird has rolled both directions and plays with all sorts of toys. I get to snuggle with her for hours a day, but none of these things compares with my favorite moment as a mom.

When my daughter was less than 18 hours old and ewe were still in the hospital, my favorite moment happened. 

It was early in the morning. Ryan had left to go to a presentation (yes, the day after Little Bird was born) and it was just the two of us in the room.  A student nurse came into the room to take her vitals (as they did a million times while we were there!). She was trying to take her temperature, but Little Bird was crying and upset. She asked if I could help by holding my little girl.  Of course! She handed little girl to me, I gave her a little hug and a kiss, and she immediately calmed down. "Awe, she already loves her mom!" 

You know how in the movie "The Ginch Who Stole Christmas" they say "and his little heart grew 2 sizes that day." That's how I feel with every smile, giggle, and excited wiggle. Well that day, in that moment, my heart grew ten sizes.

That was the moment I knew that I could do this. The moment I knew that no matter how hard it got, I loved this little girl so much that I would do anything for her. My favorite moment as a Mommy.

2 Months!

On Sunday,  my beautiful Little Bird turned 2 months old!

She is such a smart girl! She has already learned to roll over from her belly to her back.  She loves to smile and giggle and squeal in delight! She also loves to "talk", to mom, dad, grandma, and her toys. She has even begun to use consonants, and has, on accident, said "Mama"!!!

She is working on learning to sit up on her own and we think she is even beginning to experience teething.

Of course, we had to have her monthly photo session!  I never posted her 1 month photo, so here's one and two months!

The official One Month Picture

The official Two Month Picture

Runner-Up 2 Month Picture!

 I can't believe how fast she is growing! At her two month appointment today she was

Little Bird's Birth Story

One thing I loved doing while pregnant was reading pregnancy, birth, and parenting blogs.  Some things that really intrigued me were the birth stories. I don't know why. Maybe I was looking for advise on how to do it or confidence that if these women could do it, so could I.  (Yes, I was a bit scared of giving birth, I don't know how you could not be.) I just loved hearing these women's adventures and how they resulted in the birth of a beautiful new baby!

As you can imagine, I have waited months to add my own baby's birth story to the stores of various experiences with childbirth, so without further ado: Little Bird's Birth Story. (in great detail!)

Pregnancy Pictures

One thing I meant to do (but wasn't very good at) was to take pictures each week of my pregnancy.  I did take a bunch of pictures and decided to put them all together for you to see how everything progressed!

Major Changes

It has been a LONG time since I posted on here. I know, I'm a slacker! Life got so out of hand last year with the wedding, honeymoon, moving basically three times, starting a new job, and, then in June, this:

Granola Mama

I consider myself pretty modern. I'm constantly attached to my cell phone, I rely on GPS to get me anywhere new, even my grocery list is on my phone (in a really cool app where Ryan & I can both see/edit it on our respective phones!) so what is it about motherhood that has made me revert to how our grandmothers did things?

Don't get me wrong, I'm constantly searching the internet to make sure her poop is the right color or she's sleeping the right amount, I'm not trying to shield her from modern conveniences, but in some ways, our grandmas had it right, and I'd prefer to do it their way, so call me granola.

What does that actually mean, "granola
Mom"? To me, it means parenting more naturally. I know some people have used it to mean being hippie-like, like its a bad thing. I really think using the most natural methods possible for my little girl is the best choice I can make. 

So what type of things do I do? I have created a list of the things which might label me "granola" and will be writing a dedicated post, or multiple posts, about each. So for now, here is my list:

Natural Childbirth

Breastfeeding

Co-Sleeping (really bed sharing)

Baby wearing

Cloth Diapering

Baby Led Weaning (when it gets to that time) 

Attachment Parenting

Now, don't get mad and think that I'm saying this is the only way to parent and any other way is wrong. I am very aware this is one way to parent and is definitely not easy (washing poop in the washing machine every day? Yes, there's definitely an easier way); these are just our choices as to what we believe are best.

Centerpieces, Complete!

(This post was written over a year ago and I forgot to post it! I'm sorry!)

Hello blog world!!!

I'm so sorry I've been neglecting you! I promise to do my best to be a better blogger now that I'm done with student teaching! (Yes, you read that right. I am done with everything I need to do for college!!!!!! )

So, on Sunday I took the huge mess of things that I have been accumulating over last year to make my center pieces, spread it all over Ryan's table and got to work!