Mommyhood Monday // Having Fun

I had a few different ideas for great and detailed posts for today's mommyhood monday but instead I enjoyed my weekend, played with my little girl and went to the beach twice. And you know what? I learned a valuable lesson: sometimes you have to forget the to do list and just have fun.

kisses!

♥

Lilly + Louise

I know I've mentioned this before but I really love Bob's Burgers. And Louise is my favorite. 

I knew pretty much right away that I wanted to make a bunny hat like her's for Lilly. I tried to make the ears stand up but couldn't find a great way to do it so just ended up having long floppy ears. I finished the hat a few weeks ago but kept forgetting to take a picture of her in it to post here. Tonight we finally got down to business! She was a little sleepy so I had to tickle her to get that half smile.

LOVE!

She wore it to the grocery store last week too. She was so darn cute that I couldn't even say no to her getting into the box of cheerios. Her mischief is made all the more irresistible in that hat.

Have you seen Bob's Burgers yet?

♥

Mommyhood Monday // Anxiety

Remember this exchange between Marlin and Dorie in Finding Nemo:

Marlin: I promised I'd never let anything happen to Nemo.

Dorie: That's a funny thing to promise. If you never let anything happen to him nothing would ever happen to him. No fun for little Harpo.

I can tell you completely and honestly that I have a problem with anxiety. Often times I feel just like Marlin. I have struggled with "what if" situations my whole life but it became magnified once I became a mommy. Ben is much more laid back then me and sometimes this can cause stress in our relationship but it is important for me to trust him and say to myself "She is his daughter too! He will make sure she is safe." I know this to be true, sometimes the mommy crazies just take over.

A perfect example of this is the Dog Park. Ben and I used to take Liberty to a dog park by our house several times a week. It is on a lake and Liberty loves to swim, plus there is lots of room to run around and lots of friendly dog and owners to mingle with. The only problem is this: I am a born and raised Florida girl. That means when I see a body of water I automatically start to think about the things that could potentially be in the water that could hurt/kill/eat me... or my beloved pup in this matter. I could usually keep this fear to myself but it became a little harder once I became pregnant. My mothering instinct kicked in and I couldn't help but play out scenarios in my head about what I would do if Liberty got attacked by an alligator. Would I jump in? (That would be crazy!) But I couldn't just watch my pup get eaten! (Ok, I'm officially crazy.)Towards the end of my pregnancy I stopped going with Ben and Liberty to the park. I just couldn't handle the stress it put me though. And once Lillian came along I never looked back.

Until a few weeks ago. I was out to lunch with some gals from church and Ben had Lillian and Liberty. They went to the dog park and he text me a picture of my sweet baby knee deep in the lake. Now by this point I had been working on and praying about my anxiety. I repeated the phrase about trusting Ben and was able to enjoy the rest of my lunch! Divine intervention!

text photo from Ben

Recently, on a day that Ben was off in the morning, I suggested we all go to the Dog Park. He was surprised but went along with the idea. We had a great time and I even said at one point during the trip, "I've got a pretty good grip on my anxiety!" Ben replied, "I noticed and was surprised." (har har)

It is so true that you can't never let anything happen to them because nothing would ever happen to them! And what a sad life that would be.

♥

The Mischief of Lillian Elouise and the coffee bag

Ben had the day off yesterday so I got to spend a little time on the computer while Lillian was awake. This is what I heard while I was shut away in the computer room:

Daddy: "Lillian, what are you doing? Oh, no. No no. Lillian that is naughty. Daddy should have been paying more attention."
Me: "What's going on out there?"
Daddy: "Nothing! Don't come out here!"

Well, you know I wasn't going to stay put. When I walked out of the computer room the above picture is what I saw. Lillian had grabbed a bag of coffee off the counter and found a few measuring cups. Then she sat on the floor and scooped the coffee out to play with. LOL! So stinkin' cute.

When I ran back into the computer room to grab my phone. Ben did not want me to take a picture (like that would stop me). I felt like the paparazzi.

I ♥ my family.

Mommyhood Monday // Pregnancy Story part 3

Ahhh, the conclusion of a 3 week saga. Boy, I can get long winded sometimes. This one is definitely the happiest and most fun. (ps- if you want to catch up here are parts one and two.)

August 19th 2009

I can honestly say that despite my previous disappointment about the c-section it was a great experience. We got to the hospital around 7am and were almost immediately called back into surgery prep. We visited with the friendly nurses and answered lots of questions before my scheduled surgical hour, nine o'clock. There were only a few hick ups. The most painful (pre-delivery) part was getting my iv put in. The nurse had a hard time finding a vein so I got poked a few times. The epidural (the part I was most worried about) was easy... for me. Ben was standing across from me holding my hands while it was administered. He says that he saw the anesthesiologist pick up a gigantic needle and jam in into my back. (I had been given a numbing agent in my back already so I just felt pressure.) Then he saw me lurching forward as I was being poked and simply said "I think I need to sit down." Apparently that phrase isn't allowed in the hospital because they made him go in another room, lay down on a stretcher and drink some apple juice. He was fine. And he learned to never say those words in a hospital again. (hee hee)

We were wheeled back into surgery promptly at 9am. I was blissfully numb at the time so everything was just dandy for me. I do remember feeling like them were going to dump me on the floor when I was being rolled onto the operating table. It was a quick and easy experience. Lillian Elouise was born at 9:24 am and was perfectly healthy. She and her daddy went into recovery which they stitched me back up. At this point I became aware of a feeling I would identify as pain, although it didn't really hurt (drugs). I still told the anesthesiologist (who was with me the whole time) about it and she said "That is normal. They are putting your uterus back in." I pretty sure I would have freaked out about this if I were in a normal state of mind. 

Everything went swimmingly in recovery. Lilly was great and I was too but we weren't allowed to go to our normal room until I was able to wiggle my toes. I felt just like the bride from Kill Bill. "Wiggle your big toe." I'm sure I said that out loud several times. Turns out I'm a little goofy on drugs. We finally made it to our room on enjoy our sweet little baby girl. The was perfect except for one thing: her sweet little head was completely flat on top because she had been pressed up into my ribs for so long.

The pediatrician said it would probably round out on it's own (which it did) but also informed us that we could choose to put a "shaping helmet" on her. We declined.

I was pretty determined to get up and walk around to get the recovery ball on a roll. It was no fun and hurt like crazy but got easier every time and we got to go home a day early. I was and am so in love with this amazing little creature. She is so full of happiness, wonder and curiosity. I love being a mommy, her mommy. 

 Through all of this I learned that, no matter how they get here, babies are the most amazing thing in the world. 

Thanks for reading my story.

♥