||Liv Turns ONE||
Last Saturday we had Liv's first birthday party at our new house. Ever since we started house hunting back in March, I had the vision of how I wanted Liv's party and I had the perfect place in mind. It sounds crazy but every house we went in to I had that mind set of looking for an area that would be great for hosting events. Our humble abode down by the river is exactly what I was looking for. It was so stressful to plan and get together but I loved it! It turned out way better than I could have imagined. Something will always go wrong when planning an event, but for the most part it went pretty smoothly. She had so many family and friends come celebrate her. We are so thankful for all those who came out and drove the distance. You all are the reason why we survived our first year as parents. She loved opening gifts and seeing everyone. There was well over 30 people in our home and she did awesome with all the chaos. For her to only be one she was really into ripping wrapping paper and paying attention to each gift she received. Christmas is definitely going to be fun this year!
{Letters to Liv}-1 YEAR
Olivia Jade,
It's been ONE year, ONE whole year since your beautiful little soul came into this world and melted our hearts. I have cried on and off the past two weeks just thinking about how fast this past year went. It seems like yesterday I was going in for my 38 week appointment and was dilated to a four. You were ready to make your debut and I was a big ball of emotions. But so excited to meet you and see your pretty little face for the first time. When you arrived I couldn't help but cry from pure happiness and joy. You are the one thing that has ever made me feel that way. I have always wanted to be a Mama and you, my love, made me that. I might be exhausted and on edge a lot of the time, but please don't ever confuse that with whether or not I love you with ALL of my heart. This has been the best year of our lives so far and we are looking forward to see what the next year holds.
You have of course, blossomed even more this past month. You started (Pre) Pre-school this month and I have noticed a difference in you already (some good, some not so good.)You are in love with your baby dolls and books right now. Your teachers tell me all the time that if I was to walk in their room multiple times throughout the day I would find you in Reading Center, carrying around a baby doll, or playing with your good friend Lily. I won't even lie, that makes me so happy that you have taken to school like you have. Right before you started school you started to go grab your books, open them, and started pointing at the pictures and jabbering all about them. You can identify way more than you let on. Your favorite pictures to point out and label are cat and dog. You love animals right now and are becoming fond of your barn. You say "mama", "hi", "bye bye", "ball", "go", "cat", and "dog" consistently. You have imitated "dada" a few times but you are pretty stubborn when it comes to that word for some reason. You have word approximations for "baby" and "milk" and I can't get you to use any type of sign language for the life of me. That's okay though because I would prefer you talking over that anyway.
You have been walking everywhere for at least a month now, but you are starting to get more brave and are attempting to run through the house. Your play skills have skyrocketed this past month and I love watching you. You randomly started scribbling on paper one day and it's something that can keep you entertained for a long time. You are definitely a thinker and you love toys that you have to work hard at. Even though you might have a little temper tantrum if you can't get it the first time. I have no idea where you get that from? You love music and dancing. Oh my goodness, do you love to dance. We have no idea where you get your dance moves from. You will dance to the ring tone on our phones, you love dancing so much. You have discovered the TV within the past couple weeks as well. You love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Doc McStuffins. You are limited to it, but really don't care much about it unless those two shows are on.
You are so independent it gets you in trouble sometimes already. Everyone tells us that it's hard in the younger years raising an independent child, but it makes for great adults. You were eating your oatmeal one morning and you grabbed your spoon from me and started trying to feed yourself. You are getting better and better at it every day and more coordinated. I really wanted to skip the sippy cup phase so I took away your bottles and set a straw cup out one day and you literally figured it out yourself and now that's what you prefer. You still nurse 3 times a day and I have started sending you whole milk in your cup at school. You don't particularly like it yet, but will drink it. You love to chew on straws and wet wash rags. You are still fiercely teething and we all hate it. You love to hide in corners, especially to poop and you think it's hilarious when we can't reach you.
You are FINALLY sleeping in your crib all night. Woohoo!! We started you out a little at a time and within two weeks you were sleeping at least 10 hours and you actually want your bed now. We have let you sleep with us twice since you started sleeping in your crib and you don't like it anymore. You don't rest well and toss and turn all night. I definitely think starting school and you being so worn out from it has contributed to a fairly easy transition.
I am so proud of you baby girl. You have developed so well and you work hard at things until you figure it out. You are so determined. We are so grateful to God for blessing us with an amazing blessing that is you. We love being your parents and getting to experience you. Happy First Birthday, baby girl. We love you so much!
Love,
Mama
It's been ONE year, ONE whole year since your beautiful little soul came into this world and melted our hearts. I have cried on and off the past two weeks just thinking about how fast this past year went. It seems like yesterday I was going in for my 38 week appointment and was dilated to a four. You were ready to make your debut and I was a big ball of emotions. But so excited to meet you and see your pretty little face for the first time. When you arrived I couldn't help but cry from pure happiness and joy. You are the one thing that has ever made me feel that way. I have always wanted to be a Mama and you, my love, made me that. I might be exhausted and on edge a lot of the time, but please don't ever confuse that with whether or not I love you with ALL of my heart. This has been the best year of our lives so far and we are looking forward to see what the next year holds.
You have of course, blossomed even more this past month. You started (Pre) Pre-school this month and I have noticed a difference in you already (some good, some not so good.)You are in love with your baby dolls and books right now. Your teachers tell me all the time that if I was to walk in their room multiple times throughout the day I would find you in Reading Center, carrying around a baby doll, or playing with your good friend Lily. I won't even lie, that makes me so happy that you have taken to school like you have. Right before you started school you started to go grab your books, open them, and started pointing at the pictures and jabbering all about them. You can identify way more than you let on. Your favorite pictures to point out and label are cat and dog. You love animals right now and are becoming fond of your barn. You say "mama", "hi", "bye bye", "ball", "go", "cat", and "dog" consistently. You have imitated "dada" a few times but you are pretty stubborn when it comes to that word for some reason. You have word approximations for "baby" and "milk" and I can't get you to use any type of sign language for the life of me. That's okay though because I would prefer you talking over that anyway.
You have been walking everywhere for at least a month now, but you are starting to get more brave and are attempting to run through the house. Your play skills have skyrocketed this past month and I love watching you. You randomly started scribbling on paper one day and it's something that can keep you entertained for a long time. You are definitely a thinker and you love toys that you have to work hard at. Even though you might have a little temper tantrum if you can't get it the first time. I have no idea where you get that from? You love music and dancing. Oh my goodness, do you love to dance. We have no idea where you get your dance moves from. You will dance to the ring tone on our phones, you love dancing so much. You have discovered the TV within the past couple weeks as well. You love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Doc McStuffins. You are limited to it, but really don't care much about it unless those two shows are on.
You are so independent it gets you in trouble sometimes already. Everyone tells us that it's hard in the younger years raising an independent child, but it makes for great adults. You were eating your oatmeal one morning and you grabbed your spoon from me and started trying to feed yourself. You are getting better and better at it every day and more coordinated. I really wanted to skip the sippy cup phase so I took away your bottles and set a straw cup out one day and you literally figured it out yourself and now that's what you prefer. You still nurse 3 times a day and I have started sending you whole milk in your cup at school. You don't particularly like it yet, but will drink it. You love to chew on straws and wet wash rags. You are still fiercely teething and we all hate it. You love to hide in corners, especially to poop and you think it's hilarious when we can't reach you.
You are FINALLY sleeping in your crib all night. Woohoo!! We started you out a little at a time and within two weeks you were sleeping at least 10 hours and you actually want your bed now. We have let you sleep with us twice since you started sleeping in your crib and you don't like it anymore. You don't rest well and toss and turn all night. I definitely think starting school and you being so worn out from it has contributed to a fairly easy transition.
I am so proud of you baby girl. You have developed so well and you work hard at things until you figure it out. You are so determined. We are so grateful to God for blessing us with an amazing blessing that is you. We love being your parents and getting to experience you. Happy First Birthday, baby girl. We love you so much!
Love,
Mama
ONE YEAR STATS:
Height: 31.5 inches
Weight: 22 lbs.
Teeth: 4
I say: Mama, ball, hi, bye-bye, go
I love to eat: spaghetti, pancakes, fruit, applesauce, yogurt, and biscuits & gravy.
I can: wave hi and bye, clap, walk, feed my babies, and identify cat, dog, and ball.
I love: music, dancing, reading books, my baby doll, and Nova girl.
{1 Year Photoshoot}
A week before Liv turned one I called up our good friend Jason to come take some photos of a smash cake session. I planned her photo shoot and party for months and it was so exciting to see it all unfold the way I had planned. They turned out beautifully. She figured out real quick that she was getting her picture taken and she started modeling. Jason captured all of her little expressions and mannerisms perfectly.
||3 YEARS||
August 3rd marked 3 years of marriage to my absolute best friend. We've been together 8 years, but married for 3 and it's so crazy to think about. We were just young, little college kids when we first met and now we have created a beautifully imperfect life together. I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else and I feel so blessed to be able to call Bradley my husband. Our relationship is not perfect, it's a marriage. I don't know whose is. It's so easy for me to get caught up in reading other girls' blogs who are stay at home mama's and they are so good at portraying a perfect life through their writing. I have learned recently that everyone struggles in a marriage. There are definite ups and downs and neither one of us are perfect. Have you ever heard the phrase "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus", I feel like that's pretty spot on. Men and women are so different and I am understanding more and more why God created woman for man. We do not have a perfect life, but we are perfect for each other. I am convinced of that. There is no one else that balances me out as much as B. I am so thankful Harding and basketball brought us together those 8 years ago. Even though our relationship is considered a minority, a sin and disgusting to some; we love each other and we firmly believe that God brought us together for a reason. He was the one thing that I felt like I had been missing in my life. We made a beautiful baby girl and I can't wait to grow our little family some more one day. Happy 3 years, babe! I love you!!
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