...when a big holiday is over, and all the candy is on clearance. (including white chocolate m&ms and white Chocolate Cadbury eggs...)
...when days are spent outside, walking to every destination, and every other spare moment is spent exploring the front yard. (the back isn't as exciting.)
...when these two come tromping down the hallway each morning
...when Hubs, works at home and we can watch and stare at him all day long (and with these two girls in this house that adore him, you can believe that we totally do it too!)
...when Alexio curls up beside me during Lux's nap time and my devotion time
...when Lux goes down for a nap or bedtime and gets snuggly right before it
...perfectly pudgy pinchable cheeks on the little boo that lives in our house...
...when Lux wakes up from a nap and she's beaming from ear to ear, jumping in her crib and laughing
...when it's a happy mail day and something fun comes in the form of a package!
...when I have evening chats with a dear friend, outside on the front step, with a cup of coffee, and our rambunctious puppies roaming our yard, um, street.
...white chocolate m&m's (oh wait, did i say that already? I've gotta finish the bag so it no longer tempts me...)
...the very first morning light, when the day is brand new
...when i cook a meal, and everyone from Ryan to Alexio (i guess that only leaves Lux in between), are eating, having seconds, and wanting left overs the next day.
...knowing that tomorrow is Sunday afternoon and my little family can come home, put on sweats, and enjoy some family time after a crazy busy week
...the fact that my parents and little sister will be here in May. Um, so yeah, I will NOT be available for anything anywhere at anytime the weekend they're here. I'm soaking up my family time with them, and probably gonna be eating really good meals that MOM will cook, watching Lux with her grandparents and auntie, and probably swelling with happiness because i rarely ever see them (distance is painful.)
...closing a somewhat tiring day with a blog post and looking through all my favorite pics of Lux
We've extended her bedtime to be a little later, so after dinner, we ventured outside where she could explore.
I wonder if she's ever imagined anything so colorful as the world that God painted.
Everything that she's taking in, is brand new to this little one.
She's is amazed with the green beneath her feet, the rough trunk of the trees, the scratchiness of the grass when she crawls, and the smooth rocks and pebbles (that mommy pries out of her hands.)
I love thinking about what she might be seeing or thinking,
because everything that she's taking in and processing, has never been felt, seen, smelled heard, or tasted before-its a new perspective.
Only a few words to describe this chunky 10 month old.
She wakes up with a go-getter attitude and big grin to accommodate that.
We prayed daily for a little one full of joy, and our prayers were answered a hundred times more than what we could have ever imagined.
This month was the first time I ever left Lux in someone else's care. I went to MOPS and left her in the nursery, and was super nervous about doing so prior to it. But when I got there, her eyes were huge and she was already grinning as she eyed all the toys that should was just waiting to get her hands on.
I kept making excuses to check on her...and each time, she was fine. (i peeked through the window, and she caught me, and gave me this HUGE grin, started slapping the other kids tray, as if to say, "hey, hey look! it's my mom! its my mom!!!")
Lux face times family pretty often, almost everyday-its our only way that she can get to know her family members that all live far away. She always shows offf her new skills, her toothy grins, and whatever the toy of the day is.
Here she is talking to her Grandma (Ryan's mom) who played peek a boo with a bunny that she was sending Lux for Easter. Lux was enthralled. She couldn't keep her eyes off the screen!
Lux and I have our snuggle time during her bottle feedings...
I don't know when we'll ever get to snuggle once she's done taking bottles, because she's just. that. busy.
nobody got time to sit still!
At least, that's what she thinks.
Lux has a super special spot in her heart for her daddy.
Watching those two together could make any grumpy day, the best day ever.
Daddy has taught Lux so many things, and whenever he's home, she MUST be right near him or have his attention somehow.
Daddy teaches Lux all the important stuff: How to play with cars, how to splash really wildly in the bathtub, blow raspberries, and click her tongue. and wouldn't you know it, she's SUPER good at imitating us.
I think daddy is the reason she's so brave and fearless.
Lux got a super cool "just because" gift from her Lola and Lolo and its quickly become one of her favorite things to play with. She pushes it around, climbs over it, into it, out of it...its the toy that holds her attention best these days! She and daddy had a wild time the first time we put the car together:)
(she watched me while eating her lunch, and alexio watched her...very closely.)
Another fun part of the month was her determination to eat with a fork and spoon...
she refused to swallow her food unless she was the one that put it in her mouth.
Currently, we're helping her stab food with her fork and then she puts it in her mouth, and then claps for herself and does a happy wave dance. The spoon is more of a challenge, but i try to sneak extra bits of food in her mouth with it.
She also learned how to drink from a straw...by stealing my cup and sucking water out:).
She was soaking wet by the end of her experiment with the straw, but she had so much fun, and backwashed a ton into the cup. Now she can drink from the straw without so much of it leaking out:)
This girl is dauntless. fearless. and super strong.
I have a tub pic of her, and she looks RIPPED in it.
Seriously. I want my kid's abs.
anyways, she loves to climb, and balance on whatever she can.
I see a lot of me in her when she does this, because, if you ask my family, I climbed everything in the house! (and broke my arm like three times doing it!)
(this one cracks me up. She was beyond thrilled to climb on top of this box, but then realized she was stuck and started wailing for help to get down. I let her figure it out, and she did;))
We had a passover night at church and Lux and her buddy, Helen, ran around as fast as they both could go. It was HILARIOUS watching Lux. She was screaming out of pure delight and thrill as Helen pushed her around. No one had every made Lux laugh that hard besides Daddy, so he and I were cracking up. She slept so hard that night!:)
Oh, and this month she got her top front teeth.
She proudly ate an apple by chomping into it with those new pearly whites.
My dear Lux,
Your daddy and I couldn't be more in love with you, with your spirit, with your spunk, and with your attitude. Your energy and joy fill us with happiness and thankfulness that you are ours. Where did you even get your fun loving spunkiness from?? You make us laugh so hard, your joy is contagious, and your friendliness makes everyone stop, say hello, and talk to you. We're blown away with how confident you are and we pray that one day you will come to know an even greater confidence in Christ. We pray for your heart, that your energy and happiness will be used to reach out to others for Christ. You already are following by example, by your imitations after us, especially after your daddy, and we pray that we'll continue to strive for excellence in Christ as we see you watching and looking to us as an example. We love you little girl.
I don't think she knows what she's done in my life.
The influence that she had through every day that we had together.
The example she set with the way that she loves.
The joy she displayed when it came to her family.
I don't think she realizes that each time she danced in the kitchen, jump roped while teaching us, gushed over cute boys with us, engraved hilarious and wonderful memories in our hearts forever.
I don't think she realizes that each of those times, makes me want to be as fun and as crazy a mom.
I don't think she realized that each time we waited for dad to come home, so that we could have dinner as a family, and spend hours talking and laughing with them, would make me want to strive for that kind of closeness for my own family.
I don't think she knows how often I think of the way she loved my daddy, how she taught us how to adore and love him, how she encouraged us to stop what we were doing whenever he came home, to greet and hug daddy hello (it was the best part of the day).
And how that has carried over into my own little family, as we wave goodbye at the window and watch Lux's daddy leave for work, and have a huge celebration when daddy comes home-we also stop what we're doing to hug and kiss daddy hello.
I don't think she realized that the way she and my daddy never saw us as burdens,
never told us they needed alone time,
and always included us kids,
made me see the importance of the priority of not just being a family, but loving being a family.
They displayed a desire for our family to grow together, play together, talk together, and do things together...anytime we had family time was a treasure.
My husband recognized the uniqueness of how intimately close my family was during each visit we've had...and he wants that same rare family dynamic.
I don't think she knows that she taught me not to compare, because she didn't do it with us.
She didn't compare us to each other, she knew all three girls were different, yet she loved us all equally and the same. She never compared us to other kids or families, and cherished us and our individuality.
I don't think she realized that as we were growing up, and others would try to discourage her that the next stage of her girls' lives (toddler years, sassy years, teenage years, college years), would be horrible, awful, and she'd hate having girls at those ages...she just smiled at them, but never took to heart those negative views.
She doesn't know that I'VE taken to heart what she did all our lives, and even when I hear those same comments about my own kid (and future kids), I let it slide off my back, and refuse to compare or dread those different stages of life...I look forward with joy at each part of my little ones' life.
That's because of the way I watched her deal with it.
I don't think she knows that I've observed and remembered the joy that she displayed, the love that gave us, and the life that she lives even today.
I don't think she knows that she's been on my heart a lot as I raise Lux, hoping and praying to do it well.
I don't thinks she knows that I think about how she raised us, just her and daddy, without any family members to help her, because they weren't even in the same country. She always prayed for strength and guidance and had the confidence through Christ to actually do it.
It gives me strength to say, "I can do this with excellence through Christ," even without the physical help of family members since we're each in different states.
I hope that she knows how much I reflect on what she's done for my sisters and I,
how fun it STILL is to gush about celebrity eye-candy with her and my sisters,
how we love the same books, movies, and music.
I hope she knows that I hope to have the same relationship with my kids, as we do with her-she's my best friend.
I hope she's knows that she left an imprint on my heart, and my sisters' heart, and will leave that same imprint on my kids, even from a distance.
I hope she knows how much I love her, how much I think about how fun she was and still is, and how safe and secure we felt because of the love she and daddy gave us.
I hope she knows that I'm so thankful that God gave me her to be my mom.
Enjoying going outside. Seriously, i don't think this weather could have come at a better time. We are all so thrilled to get to look at the gorgeous colors, breath the fresh air, run around, and play at the playground. Lux is amazed with all these brand new sights and sounds. We've been going on walks on the nice days, and each time she has just happily ridden along in her jogger while I ran with Alexio, and has fallen asleep each time, while clutching on tightly to her veggie straws. It's super fun because everything is all new to her and I can just see her brain processing everything that she's taking in. Summer is gonna be a blast with her.
Obsessed with Freshly Picked Moccasins for Lux. Seriously, I can't get enough of the mocs. I adore the look, the function, and the business of Freshly Picked. Also, the fact that I get to collaborate with them throughout this year to help spread the word about them, makes me all giddy and excited about what I have in store for my blog readers and your friends. So heads up on some great things to come:) I'm pumped about it.
Missing our family. I long to see any of our family members, share Lux and Alexio with them, and do some belly laughing over dinner. I record so much of our day so that I can send an insane number of pictures to the family, so that they can connect with Lux and so she can spread that contagious joy she has, with them. We do a lot of face timing in our week so that she can know our family members that all live away from us. *sigh.*
Busy with spring de cluttering. In full speed. There's a sweet new Facebook page that allows people in our town to do online garage sale stuff, so I keep finding things that I want to get rid of and I post pics and sell that stuff. It's wonderful, cuz I get rid of stuff, but I also get some cash out of it. I've sold a ton of stuff and at the same time, cleaning my house of clutter and stuff we don't use anymore. (and on the other end, someone else is finding use in the stuff we don't need anymore:)).
Loving days that my husband is home and we have nowhere to go and no plans. Those days are truly the best. Lux is beyond thrilled to have daddy all to herself and I love watching him love on her (and Alexio of course.) Daddy is her best bud. They play rough, but they play the most fun things together. He teaches her all the good stuff, like splashing, sticking out her tongue, speeding in her new car, making stuffed animals come to life, looking for the best rocks, vrooming toy cars...and that's only an hour together. I fall in love with him more and more every time they have their little adventures together. My heart melts and I get all gooey and mushy about it.
Starting to run again....slowly, but surely, it's going to happen. I'm not a runner, but I've built myself up to run before, so i'm starting all over again. It's a mental game that takes a while for me to conquer, but it's my goal this spring to run the way I did before. I have a weird wall that I can't get past...if i stop anytime during my run, then my run is over. So running with Alexio made things...difficult. He likes to poop a little over a mile of running. And when i stop to pick up the poop, I'm done running. I'll get past it, i promise!
Feeling so blessed with my little family and those that I get to spend time with. Thankful for meaningful and encouraging talks I've had this week. I love how one friend phrased it in a difficult situation, "However God writes this story..." Yes, yes, yes. It was a perfect way to say it. In both difficult and wonderful times, God writes our story. So thankful for the control He has over each of our lives. Thankful that He knows how to work on each of our hearts to draw us closer to Him. I loved that reminder.
