-Letters to Liv- {18 Months}

Livy,

Didn't I just write your 17 month post?? Time is flying by, literally. You are already a year and a half old and so grown up. You are talking up a storm and I love it! You're my best friend and I have no clue how I would ever live this life without you. You have completely consumed my heart and I thank God every single day for you. I hope one day you know just how much I love you. Even though it probably won't be until you have a baby of your own and feel that immense emotion totally take you over the minute they're placed in your arms for the first time. I pray that you always know that I will always be right here for you in every way imaginable. I will never leave you alone.

You have really become a little social butterfly this past month. You still mean mug everyone in new places until you get comfortable in the situation then you are so sweet and show your little personality. Last week you participated in Easterseals Fashion Event and you were sooooo cute. The music started playing and you were in heaven. Give you a good tune and you are the happiest little thing. You love music so much and love to dance. I've already been looking into toddler dance classes for you because you love it so much. You are free to do anything YOU want to do. Whether it is what your daddy and I want. You love to wave at people and say "hi" or "bye bye". Even when we're in the car, you will wave at the cars passing by.

You talk ALL the time but you've recently started grunting and pointing for things you want and it's driving me crazy. We're working on that though. You love to play games with us now and are so interactive with it like patty cake and peek-a-boo. You do the motions to all the little songs we sing. You are really trying to say 2-3 word phrases lately. Most of the time it's pretty unintelligible but every now and then we can really understand what you're saying if we know the context. The other night you smelt your shoe and said "ew stinks!" It was seriously the cutest thing. Word list: pizza, cheese, sock, eat, drink, tweet tweet, bird, baby, apple, ew stinks.

You have always loved shoes but you are obsessed right now. You always want them on even if we're just lounging at the house. You love going outside now that the weather has been pretty warm. You are still an animal lover. You want to see all the real animals and you love to look at all your books with animals in them. You have recently become very fond of Barney and Pete the Cat. Your favorite song right now is "If all the Raindrops" and love to say "ah ah ah ah". You are still going through a weird eating phase. Things you used to love you won't eat anymore. You will pretty much only eat oats and applesauce, grilled cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, pizza, and fruit. You have still been trying to cut your back teeth and aren't sleeping as well because of it. Hopefully they will come in soon. I love you so much, sweet girl. I'm going to start planning your 2nd birthday because ya know I'm OCD. Happy 18 Months!!

-Letters to Liv- {17 Months}

My Sweet Love,

I can't believe how quickly time flies. You're a month shy of a year and a half and looking SO big! We were a little behind on your 15 month shots and check up because you had been sick on and off for a solid month. When we finally got to go, you weighed 29 lbs. and was 34 and 3/4 inches tall. Once again off the charts in height. Your doctor says there's absolutely no way you are going to be short. You took your shots like a champ as usual and barely cried. You started staying with your Nana again about 3 weeks ago and don't go to Preschool anymore. At least not for right now. I went back to working 3 days a week and I feel like we're all a lot more balanced again.

You have been so into your baby dolls lately. You've always loved them but you are definitely into them more now. Every time you hear or see a baby on tv you are always pointing and saying "baby!" You've started playing peek-a-boo with them. You will put their little blankets on them and try to say "where's baby?" and then you'll pull it off and say "boo!" It's one of your favorite games right now. Then you carry them around all day, rocking them and kissing them on the head. It's seriously the cutest thing. Your hair is pretty wild right now but is finally long enough to put into a little ponytail with a bow. You love to watch me put them in and once it's done you will gently touch it and say "aww bow." Recently you have also been very adamant about praying before we eat and before you go to sleep. You will put your little hands together and bow your head to remind us to pray. It blows my mind how quickly you catch on to things. You've started trying to say "amen" but can't just yet. It's the sweetest and my most favorite thing you do right now. You love to color and play with your sticker book and you are still so obsessed with opening and closing anything with a lid. I think you could play with a water bottle and tupperware all day long and not get tired of it. You are loving your little red rain boots you got for Christmas. You like to wear them to walk out and check the mail and then you don't want to take them off. You love to play in the floor with your daddy. You are going to be one tough little girl because you two wrestle all the time. You still love to dance and have developed some new and pretty good dance moves. It's so funny watching you.

You are trying to cut some more teeth so that hasn't been real fun and you absolutely HATE brushing your teeth. We basically have to hold you down to get them brushed and you throw a fit. You have started semi-liking juice but you can put down some orange juice, girl. You haven't been eating as well lately but you've definitely become a fan of Wendy's chicken nuggets. I hate feeding you fast food but sometimes having a daddy as a coach that's what happens. You love Wendy's and Chick-fil-a. Your favorite snacks right now are the Annie's fruit bunnies and popcorn. You would drink anything if it was in a cup with a straw and not like your sippy cups, like a real cup. You love to pour water into your little pots and pans and act like you're cooking something which usually results in a big mess. You do know to go get a towel and clean it up if you spill something though. Your word list has grown a little bit since last month. Your new words include; bow, woof, horse, chicken, wa-wa, juice, drink, night-night, bubble, "ba" for barney, and "bi" for bison. I know, bison is so random but we went to a Harding game the other night and you were pointing at every bison silhouette and saying "bi". It was sentimental seeing you on momma and daddy's old stomping grounds. I would secretly love to see you there one day but I think daddy has other plans. WE love you so so much little bug and we're so blessed to be your parents. I can't wait to continue watching you grow.

Love, Mama

-Less is More-

I’ve had a lot on my mind these past couple of weeks as we started a new year. Every year, I always try to think of a word to represent what I will strive for in that year to come. I’ve struggled to find a word this year. I don’t think that I’m going to choose one. I always make resolutions and do pretty well until mid-February and then I fall off. As many Americans do. I have struggled for months to find “more” in every aspect of my life it seems. I want more money, more quality time with my husband and baby, more consistency, more energy, more motivation. What I have realized is that I don’t need more of any of those things. What I need more of is Jesus and all those areas will naturally feel fulfilled. My life feels as if it has been dull. Ever since Liv stopped nursing I have felt a sense of sadness and lack of motivation to do anything. Seriously, it takes everything in my power to do the laundry or do the dishes. Which starts another battle with feeling like I’m being a terrible wife and I’m slacking on my wifey duties. Again, I need more Jesus. We are so richly blessed so why don’t I feel like it? Why do I still feel as if something is missing? Why do I never feel content or happy? As I have set aside some quiet time and have been reading God’s word more, I have come to a very tough realization. It’s not what I need more of, it’s what I need less of. I need minimalism. Simplicity. I need less things and more memories, love, purpose, and intention. Why am I on this earth? Why did God create me? What is His purpose for me? I’m pretty positive that it’s not constantly feeling unhappy and wanting “more.”

A few verses that have really stuck out to me lately are: And he said to them, “Take care, be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” — Luke 12:15

“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” — Luke 12:33-34

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” — I Timothy 6:6-8

It is pretty evident that God is not impressed by our material things and possessions. What He treasures is focus on Him, focusing on our purpose, and taking care of the people in our lives. My love needs to be poured into Him rather than focusing so much of my time wanting “more” of whatever it might be that day. A person of contentment is way more desired than a person of wealth and possessions. We can’t take anything with us when we leave this world and we can’t “work” on ourselves anymore. The time is now. When I let all of those thoughts and feelings go, when I sell things in our home that have no value or meaning to me, when I choose to live joyfully and content. The time is now. So farewell 2016. No resolutions, no word, just ACTIONS. This year will be different. This year will be my year where I really find myself and when I really find my Jesus. I’m excited for a new beginning and am not at all sad to say goodbye to an old me.

-Letters to Liv- {16 Months}

16 Months! Here we go! You are the chattiest and sassiest little thing that I've ever seen. You are driving your Daddy's nerves bonkers and it's secretly funny to watch. You loved the holidays so much this year and you were so fun to watch on Christmas. Last year, you were a little bitty almost 4 month old. I hate how time flies so fast. I miss all of the little things you did and the way you made me feel as a baby. But then I really love this phase you're in as well. Watching you grow and learn things every day warms my mama heart. You are developing so perfectly and your language has really exploded this month. You jabber and really think that you're saying things all the time. You got a kitchen for Christmas and your imaginative and pretend play skills are really emerging and I love it. You will put something in the microwave and say "beep beep beep" like it's done. It's so cute. You still love music and dance all the time. You can be crying in your car seat and the minute we play music you are dancing and clapping your hands. We turned your car seat around a couple of weeks ago and you love it so much more. You can see things out the window and you've started labeling objects. Even when we're driving, you'll see the train and say "choo-choo" or say "tree" when we pass by the trees. You are really into your baby dolls again. You love to push them in their stroller, rock them, feed them, and even try to swaddle them. You're little mind works so fast and you get bored with a lot of things after a while. You are so into any task that I give you and you have to feel like you've accomplished it yourself or you get upset. I have no idea where you get that! You love to color. Give you a pen and paper and you are busy for a while. I'm going to start introducing you to new tasks that are more sensory based. I think you will love it. Your appetite has changed quite a bit. You only want to snack and that's it. If it doesn't have sugar you don't want it. It's driving me crazy, but then you'll have your days where you eat so much I have no clue where you put it. You won't hardly touch any veggies now and are still a fruit girl. Your teachers say that you are the best little helper at school. You help them clean up the toys and the tables and you talk non-stop all day long. I think you've been going through another growing spurt because you've been limping quite a bit lately. You are better now but for about two weeks you were limping pretty bad. You've also started to try to sing. ABC's, Rock-a-bye baby, Itsy Bitsy Spider and you are gesturing to songs. You can identify all of your body parts and are understanding way more than you let on. Your current word list: car, go, bye bye, hi, baby, boo, hot, what's that?, shoe, eye, horse, dog, woof, cat, bubble, sock, ball, eat, that, mama, daddy, no, choo-choo, light, tree and a whole bunch of unitelligible words haha. We love you so much, sweet baby!!

Love, Mama

-Christmas 2016-

I'm not sure why Christmas just didn't feel like Christmas this year. The entire month of December went by so fast, we were so busy that we didn't have time to just stop and enjoy the season. I hate that! I hate how busy and hectic life gets sometimes. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I found myself in a bad mood more often than a good one this year. However; I will say that this is the first Christmas ever that I have literally not cared to receive one gift. You might think that sounds awful because Jesus is ultimately the perfect gift that any of us have received and that's all that matters. You're right, He is. Children and even some adults have a difficult time realizing that it is not about the gifts. I wanted to start our own traditions with Olivia after she was born. I wanted to bake cookies for Santa, read a Christmas book every night in the month of December, take her to see the lights, and other traditions. Once again the month was so busy that none of that happened this year and that makes me so so sad. I feel like Bradley and I are working ALL the time and she's always at Preschool. We're either at basketball games or getting home late because of work hours. Have I mentioned that I hate this? I want to be present! In my life, in my child's life, in our marriage, with our family, at church. I want to be present! Christmas will never ever be like it was this year. I won't let it. We will take the time to enjoy one another and if that means letting some things go, that's what we will do. On Christmas morning we woke up early so Liv could open her gifts and we could get ready for church. She loved being in the comfort of our own home after a long trip to my parents. She was excited to open gifts with Mama and Daddy and she kept going up to the video camera and telling it all about her new toys. She has outgrown almost all of her clothes and shoes. I didn't know if we would make it until Christmas for her to get new clothes. I had to break out one pair of boots a week before because her little feet were so cramped in the ones she had. She grows so stinkin fast. The girl loves clothes and shoes. This might be the only Christmas that she will appreciate socks and clothes but hey! they're necessities. She loved everything she got and the look of surprise with every gift she opened was priceless. We then went to church and she was so exhausted. We had a great lesson on the significance of the manger that baby Jesus was laid in. I love learning about Jesus and the history of His birth. It was so great to have service on Christmas morning.

-Thanksgiving 2016-

We had a really great Thanksgiving. We spent time with Bradley's family and it was such a low key day which made it that much better. This was Liv's first year being able to eat Thanksgiving dinner and she loved it. She's not a big meat eater, like me, but she loved turkey! We always spend Thanksgiving with Bradley's side because my family does Christmas really big. Like a whole week type of deal which I love! This was the first year spending it without his uncle there. He passed away this past September and it has been extremely hard on everyone. His presence will forever be missed. He was a one of a kind guy who was always laughing and joking. From the day he met me he accepted me and never once failed to ask me how my entire family was doing every time he saw me. The holidays are always so hard when you've lost loved ones. I lost my Nenny 6 years ago the week before Thanksgiving and it never gets any easier. We are forever thankful for the years and times that we did get to spend with them. I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving.

-Letters to Liv- {15 months}

15 months?! How? How are you 15 months old?? I have spent the majority of my nights lately looking through old pictures and videos on my phone of you. Watching you develop and grow throw them all over again. Time goes by so so fast and even though I felt like I soaked up every minute when you were little, it's so easy to forget the little things. You are the most independent little thing. You don't want anything done for you, you have to do it yourself. We're already semi- hitting those toddler twos. You are so smart and beautiful, my love. I still can't believe that God chose us to have you. You have the sweetest little soul. When we pick you up you hug us so tight and pat our backs. You have become SO obsessed with your daddy. You always want him around and you cry so hard when he leaves you. He loves that so much! I have watched y'alls relationship grow into something that will never be broken. The way he looks at you with so much joy and protection melts me every time. You are literally running everywhere and jabbering all the time! You have around ten consistent words right now and you understand wayyyy more than what you can say. You have the intonation down for "what's that? and there it is!" You still eat pretty well. You don't eat near as many veggies as you did when you were younger but, you wipe us out of fruit. And don't let you see a french fry. You would snack all day long if I would let you. Just like your mama.We recently took your pacifier away. We had been trying to only give it to you at nap and night times, but you knew it was still around during the day and if you saw it you were wanting it. So after school on Tuesday I decided to just snip the nipple off of it. You freaked out for a solid hour because it hurt your feelings so bad. You moved it all around your mouth trying to figure out a way to suck it and finally just gave up and threw it. You went to sleep easy that night, but had a fussy next day at school. Other than that you have surprisingly done really well without it. You can identify nose, eyes, mouth, ears, and feet on yourself and on us. You still love books more than anything and your newest thing is giving us a surprised look with your mouth open so wide when you see new things. We put our Christmas tree and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving you LOVE it all. When you woke up from your nap that day you were so excited to see the tree. Now, everyday when we get home from school you go around helping me plug all the Christmas lights in. This Christmas is going to be so fun. I can't wait to start our own little traditions. Love, Mama. **Word list** dog cat mama dada ew! eye eat shoe hot what's that? there it is!