three months

Everdeen Kate you are three months old! I can't believe how much you have changed this month.  Your personality is really starting to shine through and you are so interested in everything around you. You are the calmest and happiest baby I have ever known. Every morning when we wake you up, you greet us with a big giggle grin and we scoop you up and give you hundreds of kisses on your chubby little cheeks.  

This month you are babbling and cooing, have learned to roll over to your side and love to put everything in your mouth...including your daddy's nose. You are now 11 pounds and 23 1/2 inches long, growing bigger and stronger every day!

Beautiful girl, we love you more than you'll ever know and are so thankful for the joy you bring to our lives. 

two month update

one month update

Of Course You Need 3 Halloween Costumes

I think Halloween just got fun again :)

Happy Halloween Friends!

One Year Ago Today...

Our lives were changed forever by two pink lines.

{November 2011}

It's funny how this week has brought back so many feelings and memories. The day I found out I was pregnant was just as life changing as the day our daughter was born...a life had been created and the next nine months would be filled with so many emotions while learning about what this new life of ours was going to entail.

 Martin and I hadn't been planning on starting our family for a few years and boy were we surprised.  I don't think I've written about the day we found out because it isn't exactly fairytale material.  You hear stories of husbands spinning their wives around laughing with joy or wives planning special ways to share the news with their spouse. But we were in complete shock and we mostly sat in silence when I shared the news with Martin. Granted, it was almost midnight and Martin had been working an almost 14 hour day at the sushi restaurant, so maybe my timing was a little off. But how can you keep such a monumental secret to yourself? 

We went to bed that night quietly wondering to ourselves what bringing a baby into our lives would mean...were we ready for all of this? How would we make it work? I still felt like we were learning how to be grown ups and now we would be bringing a life into this world that depended completely on us. 

It really took a few weeks for the news to sink in. I knew one day that Martin was finally ready to talk about everything when I came home from school and the dining room table was piled high with baby books from the library.  I smiled to myself and knew that everything was going to be okay, we were going to be okay. And just like that we began planning for the summer when we would meet our baby.  

Now a year later, I am typing this post while Everdeen dozes off next to me in her crib. Life is pretty amazing...giving you the greatest gift of all when you least expect it.

Survival

I have officially survived my first two weeks back to work and though I feel completely and totally overwhelmed by it all, the days tick away fast and soon it is 4:15 and I literally pep step out of those school doors.  It's so different from the past five years where I would be one of the first ones to arrive at school and stay until I was one of the last to leave. I have never been so productive during my eight hours at school...my mom would be so proud of me for using my time wisely :)  

This is how it will be from now on and I'm okay with that. I'll give everything I have to teach my little kindergarteners during the school day, but the moment I'm home it's my time with my family and nothing else matters. 

The Saturday before I returned to work was emotionally draining.  I was bursting into tears over and over again...uncontrollably crying. I took a long hot shower and cried and cried, letting out everything I was feeling, crying until I had no tears left.  I let the hot water run out, climbed into bed, and fell asleep instantly. I truly don't think I have ever felt so sad in my life. I thought Sunday would be more of the same, but I felt a sort of calm wash over me and I was able to enjoy my last day with Everdeen before heading off to work in the early morning.

 {first day back to work}

My school days are filled to the brim with things to do and things to catch up on. I'm learning all about who my students are...it's like the first week of Kindergarten all over again. I think about Everdeen during the quiet and calm moments when the kids are at lunch. I scroll through my e-mail and open the messages from my mom that are filled with pictures of what Everdeen is up to that day with her cousin and I smile. I know she is safe and sound during the week...and although I feel a little twinge of jealousy that it's not me getting to spend the day with her, I'm glad she's in such good hands. 

 {On our way to Nana's in the snow storm}

These past two weeks have been such a growing experience for me. I really thought I wouldn't be able to make it through, but I have. I've survived. I don't know if it will ever get easier, but I do know we will settle into a new routine and I will live for those moments when we snuggle on the couch until dinner time, breathing in sync again, being right where we are supposed to be...together.

An Orange Kind of Day With My Favorite People

It's not fall in Colorado until you head to the mountains to search out the fall colors. Last week we headed up near where Martin and I got married and showed off the beautiful scenery to Everdeen...just like we did last year. Except last year, Everdeen was just a very near dream of the future :)