042: Goodbye 2012.

2012. 

The year I: 

Became a mama. 

Rode in a C130. 

Held a tutoring job. 

Celebrated my 2nd wedding anniversary.

 Nearly died. 

Discovered strengths I never knew I possessed. 

Started writing again. 

Prayed more fervently than ever before. 

Flew on planes with my baby who didn't cry.

 Made an effort to eat consciously. 

Rekindled my love for photography. 

Drank water, lots and lots of water.

 Learned the value of a dollar. 

Started my 2nd quilt.

 Lost old friends.

 Made new friends. 

Cherished nap time. 

Treasured play time.

 Began to love myself after years of hiding the hate. 

Whew. Big year.

blessings in 2013, sgym

040: "Time is a Champion Racer."

My baby is 8 months old today.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? What did that happen?
Just yesterday I was laying in bed, Mal asleep on my chest, watching my DVR.
Just yesterday I was holding a special needs bottle in my left hand and a nipple shield in my right.
Just yesterday I was a broken record saying, "Watch his head..."
Just yesterday I was tiptoe-ing around my living room so as not to wake the sleeping boy in the bassinet.
Just yesterday I was lamenting that I couldn't even change my own baby's diaper.
Just yesterday I was hovering over a sleeping baby on his first airplane ride.

So many yesterdays already. So many to come. I hope I can keep focused on the today.

Here are the moments from today's monthly photoshoot.

happy eight months.

I love you, little man.

blessings, sgym

035: Thoughts Thursday: Try it.

I am a child of the nineties. My fond memories of school lunch included Dunkaroo's and Mondos. Capri Suns still bring back a flood of happiness. Don't get me started on Lunchables. And then they started making pizza ones too? A can of Dr. Pepper on a hot summer day after running around at the park with my siblings. Sweet tea and Ritz crackers with cheese. Ok. Getting too excited. 

We could say, "You ate that and you're fine."

Who wants to be "fine." Really. Think about it.

Maybe it's just me, but I want excellent. Spectacular. Fantastic.

I also want delicious. Scrumptious. Yummy in my tummy.

I battle allergies, soreness, and exhaustion. I can blame my 7 month old for some of the deprived sleep, but I've always felt tired. I'm tired of being tired. I'm tired of thinking feeling "just fine" is fine. For me, it isn't. Not anymore.

I've been thinking about what I eat. I've heard "food is fuel." I've heard "you are what you eat." I've heard "I deserve this." I've heard myself say each of those a few times. Last night my husband told me he wanted to change what we eat too. I think I could have jumped to the moon I was so happy. So, as a family, for our son, for our future as a couple, for our health...

I'm learning. I'm reading. I'm listening.

So, here's the thought I'd share today:

My mom and I are participating in a CSA at Real Food Farms in Brentwood, TN.

This is a shot from when we picked up our half-share yesterday.

There's my food in the distance, growing.

I love that.

blessings, sgym

028: Mama Monday, the First.

Today is, was, mama monday. Today, my baby turned 7 months old. Just 5 months ago I felt like we were NEVER getting out of the rut of feeling sickly and tired, using the nipple shield to nurse, glugging back water every five minutes, and trying to keep myself from spinning into a spiral of self pity and PPD. So, the first mama monday is a reflection day.

1. Breathe.

I kept forgetting that the small(ish) baby sleeping near me while I caught up on my dvr wouldn't be that small forever. I couldn't figure out how to leave him alone and get the household chores done. The laundry was on its third full basket. I was trying to balance both extended families, church, husband, and friend time. It took me time, but I slowly learned to breathe. I've always been a people pleaser. I have a hard time saying NO. So. Stop. Breathe. Kiss your baby's head. They won't be that small much longer.

2. Follow your instincts.

Before my baby was laid on my chest, I knew exactly how I was going to parent. I had all the answers. Everything was figured out. HA. Yes. I'll say it again. HA. Now, I'm following my gut. It's been right 99.9% of the time so far. I know when he needs sleep, food, cuddles, more sleep, and even more food. I can't tell you how. I just know my baby. I hope I can keep with it as he grows. My instincts told me that I MUST breastfeed (and so did my monthly budget). I fell into co-sleeping by accident, did research, and now I think I could even call myself well rested. There are others, but those are the two I can discuss in one sentence.

3. Take a ton of pictures.

One day my little man won't be so little. Cliche. Yes. Don't care. He won't be and I want to remember these short and beautiful times.


In the spirit of my "ton of pictures" mantra, here is Mal. Newborn through 7 months:

 newborn.

---

one month.

---

two months.

---

three months.

---

four months.

---

five months.

---

six months.

---

seven months.

---

If you're caught in the cyclical depression of early motherhood; breathe, follow your instincts, and take a TON of pictures. You will be out of it soon enough.
Try to enjoy it, love.

blessings, sgym

026: The Mother of Reinvention.

New header. New layout. Big thanks to my sister for the photo. Huge thanks to irocksowhat for sharing her artsy goodness with the world, AKA for the banner image in my header. Guess what, she rocks.

current thoughts:

blessings, sgym

022: Round Up.

It's mid-October. Is it just me or is this year flying by? I was dying for 2010 to get here in 2008... and now I can barely believe so much time as passed! I'm living in my own apartment and I have an amazing husband. I find myself in shock a lot of the time! I can barely believe it sometimes.

I've had the opportunity to go to Ft. Walton Beach, FL and New Orleans, LA. We've had friends come visit us down here at the beach and, honestly, I think every weekend for the past month we've had visitors for the weekend!

The holidays are coming up and Cage and I are trying to decide where we're going.

Cage has a graduation date! We'll be done here and headed back to Nashville the week of Valentine's Day 2011.

He is also living with me now!
It only took 5 months after our wedding, but we live together!

We've picked up fishing as a hobby. Why?
Well, we're surrounded by water, so why not?

Yup. That's all I have for now. Haha.
Small update, but I would have to organize my thoughts a little better to get a longer post.

The following pictures are from our 2nd trip to New Orleans, and I've decided to try to do this on every trip I take.

blessings! sgym

015: Happy 4th of July!

Can you believe it's July already? Is anyone else out there wondering why time seems to go by so much faster as an adult? I thought being in school had the year chopped up into 3 pieces and therefore the year flies by... boy, I was wrong.

I am currently in Plano, Texas - one of my favorite cities in the world. We're at my Uncle's house, which is without a doubt THE coolest house I've ever had the privilege of hanging out in. He designed it himself, being a brilliant architect and all. It's a modern home, but you can tell that the people within it aren't contemporary zombies. They actually live in the house, making it one of the warmest and welcoming homes in the country.

I'm sitting at the dining room table typing this, while my aunts and uncles, parents, and little sister watch a movie in the living room, and my brother and younger cousins play Monopoly Deal. I can't pretend to understand that game... and the movie is one of the ones I've not seen, so I would need to watch it from the beginning. I'm hoping to go to IKEA before I leave this area, and I'm leaving on Wednesday for San Antonio to see Cage's Graduation.

Originally, I was posting to update with some wedding pictures... So I'll give you two of my favorites.





Thanks to Krystal Waters of Krystal Clear Photography for letting me have digital copies of these. :) She worked with Andy Morris of AndyCam Productions on my wedding day and I ended up with some awesome pictures.

And, I found this on facebook... so I had to share. This is my handsome husband.


I love my airman!

blessings on you and yours,
sgym

014: It's the end of June...

... and it's also the end of one of the LONGEST months of my LIFE. I cannot wait for July 8th. That's the first time since May 11th that I'll see Cage. I can't believe I've made it this far. Being without him is horrible, but knowing that he's serving his country, that he is working for our future... it makes me content to be away from him. I've never been happy to be away, but I am able to describe myself as content. I'm sending a card to Cage today with a few random pictures, not sure what OF yet, but it's a fun anniversary card and, yeah, it's not a year or anything... but at this point I am celebrating even the small fact we've been married 67 days. We've been apart for 51 of those days. Oh, the numbers make me sad, so I'm moving on! haha.



The youth camp my Uncle put on this month was AMAZING. Not only was it fun to be with my family for two weeks, but the camp itself was a blast. The daily outline: 7a - 7:50a Breakfast. 8a - 8:45a Quiet Time. 8:50 - 9:15 Worship. 9:20a - 10a Games/Trivia. 10:15a - 11:15a Big Session. 11:15a - 12:15p Lunch. 1p - 4p Activity. 5:30p - 6:30p Dinner. 7p - ? Service. 11p In room Devotions. 12a Lights Out. Usually, we didn't get back to the hotel until after 11:30p and there was more than one night where we didn't get to sleep until after 1:30a. Even though I was incredibly tired, it was very rewarding.

Well, I have pictures to gather and send to Cage. I see him in one week and two days. Oh, I can barely wait!

009: It's April!

First things first...

HAPPY APRIL! Cage and I are getting married THIS MONTH! AHHHH! I can remember looking at the TheKnot.com countdown and thinking "I've got over 400 days to go!? Am I EVER getting married!? GAH!!!" ... Yes! Yes! I can barely believe it.

Well, what would a blog post be if I didn't do some kind of picture post? Not much of one, that's for sure! These aren't the best quality, but they're from my blackberry which I have with me at all times. So, they're good enough.

I witnessed two rainbows this past month! I have a picture from the double rainbow that happened last Friday. (taken with my blackberry through a car window)

Below is a small snapshot of our wedding "loot" so far. And this is all from wedding showers! We have been truly blessed by all of you! Thank you again!

And this... well... Cage and his Dad were doing push-ups. And it was funny.

And below is a picture I didn't take. I got it from facebook, but I wanted people to see the Youth Center on the Bethel Community Church property. We'll be having the wedding behind this building in the backyard of Seward Hall. But, hey, in case of severe weather we'll have a solid building around us! Though I'm praying for sunny with a high of 75.

I'm sure there are other things I could update on... but I'm tired and I just wanted to exclaim excitedly about it being April and ... I did! Ha. Thanks for reading. Get those RSVPs in if you haven't!!! Thank you!

sgy