Category / Wrenn

by Bethe

Holiday Weekend Recap

This last weekend was just so… wonderful. It was quiet and relaxing and fun. Mr. Right, Baby Girl, and I got to spend some quality time together, doing some FUN things around the house. It was so refreshing and peaceful and I want to do it again and again.

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On Friday night we hosted a Fourth of July party for our Sunday School class and our neighbors. We had hoped it would be a way to get to know some of our neighbors better, but, well… nobody from the neighborhood showed up. We had fun anyway – I mean, how could you not have fun with a picnic, gallons of sweet tea and lemonade, ice cream, and FIREWORKS. That’s a recipe for the best night ever, if you ask me.

(For the record… Wrenn LOVED the fireworks. For about five minutes, and then she was on to the next thing… but those first few minutes, she was mesmerized. I loved it.)

Mr. Right, in typical party-planning over-achieving fashion, built an 8-foot photo booth. It will now live forevermore in our garage, and you can expect to see it make an appearance at every party for the rest of our lives. Everybody should own a photo booth.

Oh, and I made peach cobbler. You know it’s a national holiday if I get the urge to bake.

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Saturday Wrenn and I hung out at the pool with my parents (weekends are workdays for my realtor husband), then we ventured out with Mr. Right to Trinity Groves in Dallas to eat the greatest gourmet hotdogs in the history of the universe. I ate one with pimento cheese (weird), bacon, and gouda, with a homemade bun dipped in maple syrup. It was pure awesomeness. I’m pretty sure it made my calorie-tracking app explode.

Sunday, after church, Wrenn and I bummed around the house and took marathon naps while Mr. Right worked, then we capped off the night with some movie watching and baby cuddles.

Can I have a do-over on this weekend? Or, rather, a do-again?

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by Bethe

You’re 11 months old, and I don’t want to forget…

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Baby girl, you’re 11 months old, and I don’t want to forget…

1. You still like to kiss every single page in your book. Every time. You also kiss people and stuffed animals and your cousin Luke, and the baby on the diaper box, and basically anything you can get your hands on.

2. You’ve only had two teeth since you were seven months old, and then suddenly, right at 11 months, you popped out your four top teeth ON THE SAME DAY. My word, you worked hard for those teeth!

3. You are filled with JOY. You fill ME with JOY.

4. You have gotten so cuddly. You love to cuddle up against me, lay your head on my chest, and snuggle for about five seconds, then get back to whatever it was you were doing before. Many times you will take snuggle breaks over. and over. and over.

5. Poor baby girl, you fall ALL THE TIME. You constantly have at least one bruise on your forehead, usually from falling onto furniture.

6. You can now use your stool (made by your daddy!) to climb onto the couch. You’re a pro at it. However, you are not very good at your dismount – you usually just leap head-first, backwards, off the couch and trust that someone will be there to catch you. Most of the time, we do. Most of the time (oh my word, my nerves!).

7. You are a baby foodie. You love everything. Last night you had roasted potatoes with a Havarti cheese sauce. I didn’t even know Havarti was a thing until yesterday, but you happily ate it. Your current favorites are bacon (just like your dad), grapes, blue berries, and potatoes.

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8. You took your first airplane ride at 11 months, to Colorado with my side of the family for a little vacation in Estes Park. Your daddy had to work so he stayed home, but you and I had a blast with your cousin Luke, your aunts and uncles and grandparents. You got to go swimming for the first time (which you LOVED), went on a hayride, and went shopping in Boulder. The flight coming home was a bit rough, and we were both covered in Ritz crackers and cherry sucker by the time we landed, but we made it. You got those four new teeth a few days later, which I think made the trip a little harder for you.

9. Your favorite movie is Frozen. It’s like a drug for you. Daddy just discovered that the Lego movie also has the same effect. You can sit still for an hour and watch either! (Confession: Sometimes I turn on the movie when I’m running late and need to pack the car, because I know you’ll be perfectly content while I run around the house.)

10. Back to food… we’ve decided to be laid-back about food and just let you try anything we’re eating. Which means that the cake you eat on your first birthday won’t be your first bite of sugar. You’ve had cookies, ice cream, cake… you name it. And you love it all. I can’t wait for your daddy and I to get to cook with you in the kitchen.

11. You are so close to walking… you could totally do it, but you refuse to let go of my hand. You’re a speedy and stealthy crawler (you have a tendency to sneak away if you spot a door ajar… especially to escape to the laundry room or pantry), and you can pull up and walk around the house if there’s furniture to hold onto. Just so I don’t forget, you started crawling and pulling up on the same day – the same week your turned eight months old.

12. You just graduated to a toddler class at church and you LOVE it. You also don’t make it out of the parking lot before you pass out from pure exhaustion after three hours of pure glee.

13. You are still a napping QUEEN. You usually take a 2-hour nap and a 3-hour nap every day, plus you sleep from around 8:30 at night until around 7:30 in the morning. Bless you, my child. Bless you.

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14. Your favorite things in life are: eating, grandparents, snuggles, trying to pet Harley, pulling off shoes and hair bows, your cousins, being outside, bath time, Frozen, being swaddled, laughing, and talking.

15. You can say mama and daddy and your newest trick is pointing and saying “Huh?” You also love to laugh and make other people laugh, and you can play peek-a-boo with a blanket over your head. It gives you the biggest case of the giggles ever.

16. You LOVE people. Strangers, family members, other babies and children… it doesn’t matter, you simply LOVE people. It makes my heart so happy! I think you’re going to be outgoing like your daddy, although when you’re overwhelmed, I’ve seen you turn speechless, just like I do when I’m overwhelmed. I know your personality will continue to evolve, and I will be interested to see if this continues.

Baby girl – I can’t believe you’re 11 months old. I’ve already mailed your birthday invitations (we’re having a family-only party for you in a few weeks) and am busy making plans for your big day. I keep thinking back to this time last year, as I sat, VERY PREGNANT, and wondered what you would look like, what you would be like… and now you are here and your big eyes and big personality make my heart so very happy.

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by Bethe

First Birthday – Party Prep

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Wrenn is turning ONE in two weeks. How is that possible? I swear just yesterday I was 800 months pregnant, lamenting to my husband that I would never go into labor, as I was stuck on the couch on bedrest, eating Chick-fil-a and binge-watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix (y’all, Netflix got me through a very difficult pregnancy and the first two months of Wrenn’s life). And then my water broke, and next thing I knew, I was in the hospital holding my beautiful, big-eyed baby girl.

And now that beautiful, big-eyed baby girl is about to be ONE. ONE! We’ve decided to avoid the first birthday insanity and host a family-only birthday party with a simple dinner and cupcakes. But of course I had to design a special invitation and a FEW special decorating touches for the big day.

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It was only fitting that we declare this a BIRD-day party in honor of our little Wrenn-bird. We

found the idea a few months ago from a greeting card while on one of Mr. Right’s secret dates. The card had a bird with a crown and it simply said, “Happy BIRD-day.” From there, we spent the evening brainstorming fun ways to use this theme.

I’ve been on my best behavior and haven’t gone crazy buying decorations OR gifts, but I did decide that Wrenn would have to have a special birthday dress. I found this pattern on Etsy and did a practice run with scrap fabric (see photo) to make sure I could do it. I’m in love with the way it turned out! I’ve bought special BIRD-day fabric, and Wrenn will proudly debut her new dress at the party. (Lord, please don’t let her have a blow-out diaper in her new dress before the party starts!)

I can’t wait to fill you in on the rest of the details! Also, in the meantime, don’t forget about my little Etsy Shop! That shop helps fund my fabric addiction.

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PrintCheck out my newest print: Every Day I Love You.

Other places you can find Texas Lovely:

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by Bethe

Baby Shower

Over the weekend Andrea and I hosted a baby shower for our dear friend Katie. She’s doing a lamb theme for her nursery and decorating it in purples, grays, and whites, so we decorated the shower to match.

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I spent weeks working on craft projects, and then when I set everything out, it seemed kind of… wimpy. So then I did some more crafts in the days leading up to the party, raided my house for decorations, and called Andrea who rescued me with some more filler. I’m so pleased with the result!

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Mr. Right and I are on a mason jar kick right now. We have some gorgeous glassware from Pottery Barn, but it’s so delicate that I can’t wash it in the dishwasher, and it shows water spots like crazy, and, well… I don’t have time to hand wash and perfectly dry my glasses every single time I use them. Mason jars are cheap, hardy, and can be thrown in the dishwasher. And they’re cute! We have some larger ones for everyday use, and I invested in 18 smaller ones for parties (here they are on Amazon).

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I made mini hash brown casseroles (here’s the recipe – next time I’ll add another egg or two to keep them from crumbling) and this fruit salad. Andrea brought those adorable lamb cupcakes, sausage balls, and mini muffins. I’ve found, over my decade of hosting showers, that it’s better to only offer a few food items – it’s so much easier to cook larger quantities of a few options (makes for a much smoother day!), and your guests still get plenty to eat. It meant that I didn’t have to stress and could enjoy the morning before the party (a plus, considering I was also corralling a crawling eight month old as I prepped).

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Andrea and Katie were bridesmaids in my wedding… they have been such dear friends to me, and it’s fun to celebrate new life stages together. It was so fun to celebrate a new baby girl for my friend. Ever since I had Wrenn, I have had a new appreciation of what a treasure babies are!

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6 And Wrenn’s dress… we don’t dress her in frilly things very often (my baby style is all about comfort/mobility and much less girlie than I ever would have predicted pre-baby ), but someone gave us this gorgeous pink polka-dotted dress at one of my baby showers, and it’s like a baby prom dress. I love it. Every girl has to dress up occasionally, right?
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Can I just add that it’s so rare to get a picture of me with Wrenn that’s (1) not a selfie, (2) I’m wearing make-up and my hair is done. I’m trying really hard to have pictures of all three of us together, because I know in 30 years I will love looking back on this time of life, but man, it’s hard!

Happy Baby Shower Katie – I can’t wait to meet Baby Girl in a few months!

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by Bethe

Letter to my eight-month-old

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Baby girl,

Oh, Wrennie Minnie, I swear you can’t be eight months old. Four, maybe. No more than that. I was holding you in the hospital just yesterday, so impressed when you could lift that newborn head of yours, watching you stare at the world wide-eyed, taking everything in.

And now you’re eight months old, staring at the world wide-eyed, taking everything in. And moving EVERYWHERE. And talking (although I have no idea what you’re saying). And laughing and smiling and squealing in delight. You live life FULLY, baby girl. It is an absolute joy to watch.

You LOVE to eat. It took you awhile to learn how to chew. And swallow. We joke that we got to practice our baby Heimlich Maneuver every single night at dinner. You have puked up your dinner on our table more times than I’d like to count. That chewing was just so hard to figure out. But that was your seven-month-old self. Now that you’re eight months, well, you rock at that whole eating thing. You love to eat off my plate (you love bread the most, just like your mama), and you also love puffs, yogurt bites, greek yogurt, and every vegetable in the book. The only thing you hate? Ketchup. Can you believe it? I didn’t think ANYBODY could dislike ketchup. I bet you learn to love it later. Oh, and you feel like such a big girl when we let you drink water from a straw.

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Last week you learned to crawl FORWARD. This is a big deal. You’ve been rolling and scooting all over my living room floor since you were about six months old, and at seven months you could crawl backward like a pro. You’re really good at inching your way under furniture, you love tight spots (until you’re ready to get out, and then you don’t love it any more). But one day last week, I laid some puffs just out of your reach, and there you went… crawling FORWARD like a pro. Or not a pro, really, more like a clumsy baby deer. It was adorable. I was so proud. A week later and you’re getting GOOD at it.

You love to stand – all the time if you had your way – holding on to just a finger, or the edge of our coffee table, or the side of your crib. You don’t pull up yet, but you also don’t need very much help to stand up. And the funniest part – if I say “WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE!” and shake my head in excitement, baby girl, you start dancing – wiggling your hiney and smiling in delight. It’s the BEST. THING. EVER.

You are still a swaddle baby – even though you’ve tripled in size since you were born, you still love to be swaddled for your naps. At night we leave your arms out so you can roll around safely. You continue to sleep so well – usually from around 8:oo p.m. til 6:15 a.m. or so. Then you lie in bed and talk and sing and entertain yourself until we get you out out of bed closer to 7:00. You usually take a morning and an afternoon nap, (between 3-5 hours total) but lately you’ve been adding an additional, short evening nap between 5:30-6:30. Maybe you’re growing – then again, you’re always growing!

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You have two teeth, and baby girl, you had to work HARD for them. The first came around 7.5 months, and you had a 101 degree fever for three days, threw up twice, and were just miserable. I thought you were sick, but after that third day, up popped your tooth and you went right back to normal. Your second tooth was easier, but you still cried HARD for three days. I don’t know if I can take this two dozen more times!

You love to be outside. You love your dog, Harley. You light up at the sound of your daddy’s voice – and are VERY close to being able to say his name. You say DA DA DA DA DA and MAMAMA and GAGAGA and PAPAPAPA. But you don’t really know what you’re say, it’s just babble. Your nursery teacher told me you’re one of the most verbal babies she’s ever seen. Looks like you’re going to be a talker like your mom and dad. Oh, and you LOVE people. It makes me so happy.

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Baby girl, you have brought out a side of me that I didn’t know existed. I love getting to act like a big kid again, playing on the floor with you, reading you books, singing songs and making funny noises. It’s like this part of my life has been opened up that I didn’t know was missing. I was made to be your mama and it is SO. MUCH. FUN. You are a blessing to me and your daddy, and we love you dearly.

by Bethe

Countdown to Cali

Friends, I’m hopping on a plane and headed to sunny California this week! Well, actually it’s northern California, home to gray overcast skies, but it’s California nonetheless.

I’m headed to a social media conference at a winery in Sonoma for a few days. I know, rough life. I’ll be staying in a big empty hotel room, all by myself, with no baby monitor, no barking dog, no chores to do. I plan on doing some deep sleeping while I’m there. I’m going to eat all of my meals with both hands, no juggling a baby and praying she stays happy while we inhale our food.

I won’t have to make a single bottle (although I’ll have all the joys of pumping on the road) or change a single diaper for three whole days.

And oh my gosh, I’m going to be in a hotel room, 1,000 miles from my baby girl. And Mr. Right. And my baby girl. For the first time. And I won’t get to snuggle with her, smell her sweet baby smell, be on the receiving end of her big, open-mouthed wet kisses, or hold her as she falls asleep.

Please pray for me.

We practiced Face Timing over the weekend. First we called Wrenn’s grandparents – she looked confused, as if to say, “How did grandma and grandpa get inside your phone?” She was serious and curious, but not unhappy.

So being the first-time parents that we are, we decided to practice Face Timing with me to see what Wrenn would do.

She had a total meltdown. She did NOT like seeing her mama on the phone without being able to touch her. It was awful. She cried. I cried. And y’all… I was just one room away. I still cried, because the thought of her melting down like that while I’m in California… well, that would break my heart.

Did I mention during all this crying, Mr. Right just laughed? Thanks a lot, honey.

Deep breaths. I can do this. She’s six months old. She has no concept of time. She’s in good hands with her daddy while I’m gone. It’s only for three days. She probably won’t even notice that I’m gone.

Oh my gosh, what if she starts crawling and I miss it? Baby girl, don’t you dare do anything new or cute while I’m gone. And Mr. Right, if she does, don’t you dare tell me.

Really, I’m so excited about my trip that I could spit. I couldn’t travel while I was pregnant because I was too sick to function most of the time (ahh, memories), so it has been almost two years since I’ve hopped on a plane. That’s two years too long for this girl who has traveling in her DNA.

Any advice on how to survive my first trip away? And, any advice for pumping on the road? I’ve got a battery pack for my pump, steam bags for the hotel, a dozen storage bottles and pump parts, and an ice chest for the travel home (Suitcase weight limit? Whatever dude.). I think I know what I’m doing, but if you’ve been there and have some good tips, I’d love to hear them!

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by Bethe

On why 4-6-month-old babies are the absolute best

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I’ve figured it out. My mom used to tell me that if childbirth was that bad, everybody would just have one kid. Meaning, it’s not that bad and that’s why people keep having babies.

But I know the secret. The reason people keep having babies is because one day they wake up and their baby turns four months old and they become SO MUCH FUN that they want to have 10 more.

I knew being a mom would be a blessing, but I had no idea just how fun it would be. To all of my friends with newborns who are dealing with sleepless nights, and heaven forbid, colic, I have encouragement for you. Four-month-old babies are God’s reward for all of the stresses of having a newborn. When they’re four to six months old, they are like Christmas and your birthday rolled into one, every single day.

Wrenn is almost six months old , and here’s some of the things I absolutely love right now:

She talks. All the time. She coos and grunts and makes a tooting noise with her mouth that she finds to be hilarious. Maybe it’s because I do it back to her and next thing I know we’re making funny sounds at each other and we’re having our own conversation in our secret language. I think we’re going to have a big talker on her hands (takes after her parents).

She laughs. I waited forever to hear that precious little laugh, the one that sounds just like mine, and I will do anything – and I mean ANYTHING – to make that baby laugh. It’s the best part of motherhood.

Except for the kisses. Baby girl loves to give open-mouthed, slobbery, wet kisses. I didn’t think there could be anything better than hearing her laugh, but getting a big, slobbery kiss on the mouth or cheek from her is the best feeling in the whole world. She’ll plant a few kisses on me, then hug me and nuzzle her head into my shoulder, then sit back up and give a few more kisses, then cuddle again. Oh my goodness, I want to have a dozen more babies if it means more of this.

She has discovered her hands. And she stares at them, turning them over, moving her fingers as she studies them and then smiles in delight at these strange things attached to her body. The only thing more interesting than those hands… is her feet. Which she can now put in her mouth. If only I was half as flexible as she is. I love watching her play with her hands and her feet.

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Actually, I love watching her discover things. First it was her hands and feet, now it’s the whole world. She studies people intently. She looks for the dog. She is fascinated with textures – I recently took her grocery shopping and I let her touch every item as I put it in the basket. She sits in her exersaucer and plays with all the toys and you’d think she was conducting some elaborate science experiment. Watching her learn about her world and the endless possibilities it contains is one of my great joys.

The only thing better is to see the way she looks at her daddy. When Mr. Right walks in the room, everything else stops and she gets a big grin and can’t take her eyes off him. She makes eyes at him, smiles at him, talks to him. If I’m feeding her, she stops every minute or so to look to see if he’s still there. If she hears him rustling around in another room, she has to search him out to see if it’s him. She looks at him like he hung the moon. She has no idea how much he loves her yet. I don’t know that she’ll ever fully comprehend it.

Yep, four to six months is the best stage. I don’t know how it could possibly get any better than this. (Winking, because I’m pretty sure things are about to get even better.)

Mamas, what age is your favorite so far?

by Bethe

Christmas 2013

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I have always loved Christmas, but there’s just something about having a child at Christmas that makes it 100 times better. The wonderment. The memory making. The squeals of delight.

Oh, and Wrenn liked it too.

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I made a list of things I wanted to do this Christmas and Mr. Right kindly helped me cross every last one off my list. Put Christmas lights up on the house? Check. Visit the tree in downtown Fort Worth? Check. Drive around and look at Christmas lights while drinking hot cocoa and listening to Christmas music? Check. Take Wrenn to see Santa? Check. Watch Christmas movies? Check. Do some Christmas baking? Check and check and CHECK.

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It was one of those wonderful holiday seasons that was just… easy. We did all of our shopping before December so there wasn’t any stress associated with that. Everybody was healthy, if you don’t count that week that Wrenn and I caught RSV… but we were sick during a huge ice storm so we couldn’t have gone anywhere anyway – we just watched Christmas movies and did lots of cuddling.

We spent a lot of time with family. We managed to keep a pace that was fun but still allowed time to rest. We didn’t overdo.

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Wrenn had no idea it was Christmas, and slept through just about all the present opening, but she loved the lights and the tree and Santa. And she looked crazy cute in her hand-me-down Christmas dresses. I’ll save more Wrenn stories for another post, but she was 5.5 months this Christmas, and I’ve decided that this is the very best age for babies. She is just so much fun – she’s suddenly very aware of her surroundings, and loves people, and constantly smiles and shrieks and makes the funniest noises. And she cuddles (oh, the cuddles).

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We figured out a way to stretch Christmas into four days filled with big meals and a lot of family time. Little Wrenn was spoiled by grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and great aunts and uncles. And of course, her mom and dad.photo (6)

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I spent the month being overwhelmed with thankfulness. Thankful for the gift of my Savior. Thankful for the gift of my husband and my daughter, for the extended family that traveled many miles (including two from England and one from Nigeria) to see us. Thankful for a new job for me and a booming business for Mr. Right. Thankful for a home and friends and a church we love. Life can be hard some time, but we are so, so blessed. And we know it.

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To you, all of my blog friends, I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and a 2014 filled with blessings and adventures.

by Bethe

One year ago today…

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It was exactly one year ago today that I found out I was pregnant. It wasn’t nearly as romantic as it seems – the same day I took my positive pregnancy test we ended up in the ER because it looked like I was having a miscarriage. But my Little One was a fighter, and God had big plans for her. There were several points over the next few weeks where it looked like I might lose her, and I spent most of that first trimester on my knees in prayer. It was scary and humbling.

One year later? I have the cutest, snuggliest, most beautiful baby I could ever imagine. I can’t believe I get to be her mama – she is my answer to prayer.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

by Bethe

I’m her mama

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My baby girl was  sick for the first time in her life this week. What a blessing that she’s been healthy for four whole months – I don’t take it for granted. But these were a rough couple of days for my little one – a good fever, sore throat, trouble eating, trouble sleeping. No fun.

And I won’t lie – I was exhausted. She woke up four times the first night and five times the next two nights. Every time my head hit the pillow, she would begin to cry and I would go back to try to soothe her once again. I was quickly brought back to her newborn days of living on the edge of delirium. It’s not easy.

But you know what? As I fed and rocked my baby over and over and over the past few days, I was overwhelmed with what a huge privilege it is to be her mama. When I was a little girl, I wanted my mama to hold me and comfort me and make everything better. And now, I’m the mama. I’m the one she looks to for comfort and that feeling of safety.

Little one, I am the one who is blessed. You are more than I deserve.

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PS- Today she is finally back to her normal feisty, hungry, chatty, bubble-blowing self.