enjoy the day mama

You will never have this day with your children again.
Tomorrow, they will be a little older then they were today.
This day is a gift, breathe and notice, smell and touch them;
study their face and little feet and pay attention.
Enjoy today mama, it will be over before you know it!
RELISH THE CHARMS of THE PRESENT.
                           -Jen Hatmaker

 

^ And by this quote I hope to ALWAYS live. 

where I work

Meet my Boss

Her name is Sienna

 she's no slacker

 This boss is quite the taskmaster and makes me work my butt off from dawn to dusk, 7 days a week and puts on quite the stink if I don't keep up to her strict schedule

but its OK,

I'm pretty sure she's the cutest boss I've ever had ;)

Emotinal Breakdown

Motherhood can be so hard sometimes

 in between the gooey kisses, giggles & precious moments...are the hard ones. The overwhelming moments, the messy moments, the want to pull your hair out moments, the exhausting moments that make you want to crawl in your bed & hide under your covers.

lately I've had a few of the last ones...

yesterday... I had a breakdown
it wasn't pretty...luckily Danny saved the day - as he always does

here is what happened...

Before Sienna was even born, I promised myself that I would do whatever it took to make breast feeding work for us and I put this notion in my head that formula just wasn't an option  ( nothing against anyone who formula feeds) so no matter what it took, I had to make it work.

Breast feeding was never something that came easy for me, even though I always envisioned it would, it was never the "natural & beautiful" thing  like it is for a lot of moms who embrace and soak up every second of it, quite frankly its been the complete opposite for me

 but I was so desperate to do whats 'best' for her that I didn't care about the strain it put on me and the fact that it wasn't 'best' for me, but I always excused it with motherhood being about scarifies so I had to make one.

So I put this tremendous amount of pressure on myself

For the last 7.5 months I bared with the pumping but the older Sienna got the harder its gotten...and the other day I just crumbled...I felt so defeated and ready to quit I told Danny I was done, I told him not to renew the rent for the pump anymore and to get ready to start buying formula once our frozen stash runs out.

I cried and cried
 I felt guilty
I felt selfish
I felt like I failed

feeling like you've failed as a mother hit the hardest.

I'm still trying to figure out how its all going to go...Danny is very adamant about me continuing and sticking with it, though he's also trying to be supportive at the same time in this situation. I do feel much better today, he took Sienna out for a few hours to give me a break & time to relax....my goal of making it to one year is just looking so unattainable right now and its hard to stay positive.

Decor Dilemas

What was just going to be a new wood floor had turned into a whole project of redoing and completely redecorating our whole livingroom/familyroom space

the dust, 
constant construction messes,
gazillion trips to HomeGoods 
worst of all...the decisions!

 The interior designer thought our couch didn't belong, we agreed and quickly listed it on craigslist thinking eh it will take a while to get rid of it so in the mean time we'll look for something new - it sold in 2 days.

so we were couch-less & having a daily dreadful debate
 leather vs. fabric

Hubby had his heart set on leather, he didn't want to even hear about cloth...while I think leather is nice to look  I'll take comfort over aesthetic any day

now to convince Danny...

you have no idea how long we went back and forth on this

we went to Macys where he fell in love with this sofa....while I thought it was beautiful....I thought to myself would I want to take a nap and snuggle up on this thing? ABSOLUTELY NOT...cold and uninviting in the cool months, sticky in the hot months....yuck no thank you.

"Our home is not a museum I want something cozy and pleasant to sit on, not something that's pretty to look at but cold, stiff and unpleasant"

That was the line that finally made hubby agree with me.... :) 

 my choice: light colored, fabric, cozy cushy sofa

wait light colored with a baby & black dog? 

who am I kidding.

 luckily we had the option to have it made in a custom color of our choice that we picked out of about 200 different samples

the downside - custom made takes  6-8 weeks- yikes!!

but....

it will be so worth it

ever sit on a couch that is so incredibly comfortable that you just kind of sink into it?

that's exactly what this one is

3 more weeks, 

maybe less of waiting...

its kind of like this, but bigger and maybe a shade darker.

now I need to raid ETSY for some yellow/gray pillow covers!

 

you know you're a mom when...

you have no idea what day of the week it is,

let alone the number associated with this day

you spend your days with someone who has cooler clothes than you 

you talk about poop, a lot

you find yourself scrubbing toilets, showering & doing laundry at 10pm

your purse is full of toys

you've crawled under the bed at 2AM searching for a pacifier like your life depended on it

you look at their pictures when they're asleep

you never pee alone

yep, I wheel her high chair into the bathroom

7 Months old

Dear Sienna,

You are 7 months old today,
 a happy go lucky, healthy & beautiful girl you are.

Life moves very fast when you're watching the most beautiful display of it right before your eyes. 

We love you with every ounce of our being.
(written 10/13/12)

 

we discovered that you are ticklish! 

its the best way to get giggles out of you

you said your second word this month "cha" for Charlie

you love your doggie so much, he knows now that in order not to be bald he must keep his distance from you as you love to tug on his fur...but he loves you regardless.

Sleep:

Your sleeping habits when from bad to worse, mama cant catch a break and its the only reason why now at the age of 25, I started drinking coffee- I'm not sure if its just from teething and it will pass with time...I can only hope. 

speaking of teeth - you don't have any yet and I'm perfectly ok with it because I don't think there is anything more cute than your toothless gummy smile

you smile from ear to ear & kick your feet in happiness when Daddy gets home from work. My favorite thing to watch is you two together.

Its so great that you can sit in restaurant high chairs & shopping carts now, you are content the whole time making cruising through the aisles of Target more enjoyable for mama.

you have dark brown hair with the bluest of blue eyes 

that you get so many compliments on

(Daddy better star gearing up to chase away lots of boys)

its getting harder and harder to take these sticker pictures,

 because you just do not wanna stay put

Eating:

you are a very small eater and it shows - you're a little petite lady

in the morning you have some oatmeal & fruit then bottle...that you do ok with.

lunch we attempt the dreaded veggies...so we trick you with puffies and shove spoonfuls in your mouth when you open for what you think is a puffy.... you're a tough cookie.

I cant get enough of you in hats

I wish Arizona was colder, for this reason alone.

I don't realize how much you change, until I do the side by side comparison - wow!

What I'm looking forward to...

I cannot wait for the day you say "mama" I think my heart will explode

Halloween- though I dislike this holiday as a whole - I cant wait to see you in your costumes, yes as in plural - you have two...I'm a crazy mama what can I say :)

Hikes - now that its getting nice out we will be taking many weekend hikes with you! hope you love them as much as we do

Your Daddy thinks you need a sibling next year,

I'll get back to you on that one.

I love you sunshine,

Mommy.

From Belly to Baby

I took these pictures with intentions of putting them side by side & completely forgot until I just  came across them today. 

Better late than ever!

40 weeks pregnant with Sienna                                    Sienna 3 weeks old

Fall Shenanigans

I have looked forward to the day we got to take Sienna to a pumpkin patch ever since I was pregnant

 something really cute about a little babe among pumpkins as big as them

Sienna was most interested in the hay, she kept trying to put it in her mouth...maybe I should have gotten her a little cow costume for Halloween  :)

Best part, 

amazing weather has finally made its way to Arizona,

 I hope Sienna is ready for all the hikes we will be taking her on!

Happy Fall everyone!!

Recipe for Life

I've been addicted to this new recipe. It has zero carbs, zero calories, leaves you with glowing skin and a bright smile. I thought out of the kindness of my own heart I would share this super top secret recipe.
Without further adieu, I give you the...
Recipe for a Happy Life
1 Cup Friendly 1 Cup Love 1 Cup Laughter  2 Heaping Cups of Personality and Fun   1 TBSP of  Great Friends  Dash of Humor & Smiles
First, wash thoroughly of all worry, bitterness, rumors, hate and jealousy. You should be left with a clean, new slate. Measure Great Friends carefully. Add in cups of Friendly, Love and Laughter carefully. Use generous amounts of Personality and Fun. Cook, keep temperature low and do not boil. Add dash of Humor, Smiles. Season to taste with Spice of Life. 
Can be served with new beginnings or taking chances.
I have a lot of fun cooking up this recipe. For me, it never gets old because this simple recipe could make a lot of positive changes.
I hope you enjoy the Recipe for a Happy Life as much as I do :)

Baby girl, I love...

your big blue eyes...

your gummy smiles...

your sweet giggles...

your quizzical eyebrows...

your girly lashes...

your cute button nose that you love to scrunch...

how you twirl your feet when you're in your stroller...

how you place your hand on mine, as if you want me to keep it there forever...

waking up to you...even when its 5:30 in the morning...

the faces you make when you don't like something you're eating...

how ticklish you are...

how you stick our your arms when you wanna be picked up...

how you  much you love your "DaDa"

how you try to grab things on the pages of your books 

& get mad when you cant...

how you hold onto our shirts when we hold you...

most of all,

I love that you're our little girl

Road trip+Friends

Dan & realized that when taking road trips with baby & dog, 

you must lower your expectations of a relaxing weekend getaway and plan for times of grouchy tired baby, extra work, extra packing and poop stops in the middle of nowhere for baby and fur baby.

We spent the weekend with our friends in one of our favorite places in Arizona,  Sedona.  We stayed in a little cabin that was secluded enough not to get cell phone service,  it had a fully equipped kitchen so we were able to stay in, cook & just hang out...in the morning we were reminded of what a cold morning feels like

Hiking Oak Creek Canyon

Our cabin - Sedona Pines Resort 

attempt to take a picture of the insane amount of stars

 

Though it was a lot of work...it was nice to get away for a bit.

its too early

Little stinker woke up at 5:30 today

5:30 on a SATURDAY

gone are the days where we used to sleep in on the weekends 

its a good thing shes cute ;)

I let hubs sleep in a bit and I made Sienna some baby healthy pancakes

Flax seed, coconut oil, banana, vanilla, egg yolk, coconut flour

she loved them,

  or atleast playing with them

We are now off to the local Farmers market for some FRESH FRESH produce then off on a little road trip with friends - Its looking like a good weekend :)

Good Morning & Happy Saturday to you all!

Breast Milk Tasting

While in NY last month,

 My Mother -in -law insisted on trying my breast milk bahaha (strange I know) 

 I myself never even tried it...something about warm body fluids that just totally grosses me out for some reason, maybe Id drink it on the rocks... and yes I know what your dirty mind is thinking....I don't do THAT either, never have...ew.

but wait...it gets more weird

She totally LOVED it and made Dan's brother & his girlfriend try it

their responses: PRICELESS

of course I had to capture this on video

 for my own amusement 

"DELIGHTFUL NECTAR" 

I was laughing about that for days

tiny pigtails

Sienna decided to boycott nap time today,

 so we had lotssss of extra time on our hands...here is the result of that...

teeny tiny pigtails!!

I was hardly able to contain myself from all this cuteness