8 months... really??

Well, as it seems like I say often lately, time is flying by.  My sweet princess is already 8 months old!!

My sweet Alythia,

You are already 8 months old and you are just blowing me away with how quickly you are growing.  You are so impatient that you have just moved through so many stages.  Every time you learn something new, you are right on to the next task.  You have been crawling for about 2 months now and started pulling up everywhere almost immediately (like the next day).  You continue to gain greater balance and love to test yourself on moving objects, like your vetch walker, our office swivel chairs, mommy and daddy’s legs, etc.  You have great balance and could stand on your own but at this point don’t have the confidence to try it for very long.  You’ve probably made it about 5 seconds before realizing that I let go of you and sitting down immediately.  You love to walk holding our hands or using your walker and are so proud of yourself when you do.  You still love the mirror and often I will find you sitting there laughing and talking to yourself, after a while you do get frustrated with “the other baby” and start to fuss.  We are working on that…  You love to stand at the window and watch the snow or rain falling.  You love being outdoors still, however you are not such a fan of the cold so that doesn’t really happen right now.  You have such a big personality and know exactly what you want.  You are almost always happy and smiling, exploring and talking up a storm.  You love people and are certainly happiest in a crowd.  Sometimes I think you would stay up all night if only you could be around a group of people.  When you see mommy or daddy your face lights up with the biggest smile and you will reach for one of us if the other is holding you, going back and forth between us if we let you.  You are certainly an extrovert and love being held.  You aren’t much for cuddling though, too restricting I think.  You are content to sit for a few minutes and when your sleepy I can sometimes get you to stay for a while, but it’s not a regular thing.  You still have just two teeth, your bottom middle two.  No signs of any others coming in yet.  You love to eat adult food and are exploring all kinds of new foods and flavors.  You discovered mac n’ cheese the other day and seem to be a fan of that (what child isn’t though)!  You are pretty good about eating what mommy gives you but certainly know if you don’t like it and are becoming more determined about that.  We are working on trying everything, at least a few bites, and trying it over again as well.  You love to sing songs, or at least hear mommy sing to you.  You love to read books and play with your “learning farm” vetch.  I’m pretty sure your favorite toys are bookshelves, chairs, coasters, mixing bowls, boxes and cellphones.  You have also really taken to the onions in the pantry and love to throw them and chew on the skins.  You are a strange child, but I love you dearly!  I would expect that once you develop the confidence to stand, you will be off and walking and I will have a new set of challenges ahead.  I certainly look forward to them all but will be happy when the snow melts and it warms up so we can explore outside and do more things.  We are certainly developing a bit of cabin fever, but spend time with friends regularly to help.  You have one friend, Annabelle, who is 6 weeks older than you.  It is so fun to watch you play and explore together, watching you inspect and try to understand one another is such a treat.  I love to see how your little mind works.  I know you certainly are processing so much.  Even when mommy tells you “no” I can see you stop, think and decide if you want to listen and obey.  You are such an inquisitive, thoughtful and energetic little girl and I count myself blessed immensely to be your mother. 

With all my love,

Mommy

Some of my favorites from last month

Just watching the snow

Not sure that's how your suppose to use that...

6 months...a couple weeks late

So I have been on a major blog vacation, so sorry about that.  Things have just been really hectic the last couple months and I have not really felt like getting online and writing, or honestly having much to say.  I am going to try and work on that in this new year.  I am woefully introverted and really need to stretch myself in the social arena.  Nevertheless, during my hiatus my precious girl had her half birthday so I thought I'd let you know what's new with her.
  

6 Months!

 

We didn’t get to do anything super exciting for your half birthday as mommy got food poisoning from lunch that day.  We did have so awesome house guests for the weekend.  Mommy and Daddy’s friends, Laura and Mandy came to visit us for a few days from Florida.  I think that your Christmas more than made up for it though!  Over the last month you have learned to sit up completely independently, you “creep” or what mommy calls “worm” to get yourself around and are very fast at it.  You really are enjoying the ability to transition from sitting to crawling and back.  It often preoccupies you and so at times you don’t move very far because you insist on sitting and then crawling and then back over and over again.  You had your first road trip for Thanksgiving. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 We went to Pensacola, where grandma and grandpa Ozburn and aunt Kristen live.  It was a wonderful trip and you got to go to the beach for the first time!  It was really cold though so you weren’t all that excited about it. 

  

We got to stay at a beautiful hotel on Pensacola Beach because grandma and grandpa’s house is in the midst of a kitchen remodel and their furnace wasn’t working.  Momma was in heaven!!  Views of the beach and sunshine!  It was the most wonderful thing for me.

 

View of the sunset from our balcony

 You have decided that you want to get into absolutely everything and so are exhausting your momma for sure.  You absolutely love people and are such an extrovert!  You are certainly the opposite of me but that’s all right.  I think you would be happy if you were always in a crowd of people and are happy to let just about anyone hold you.  You are talking so much and every day I think there are new sounds you have discovered.  We started a little bit of food before we left for Thanksgiving and I am trying to be consistent with feeding you regularly now.  Its not always easy because you aren’t eating at the same time as we are yet to it takes some extra effort.  You have loved the Christmas tree and particularly love to pull the bottom branches down and let them fling back up.  This has caused all of the ornaments that mommy strategically placed on the bottom to need to be moved as they all have hooks and would be dangerous for you to get a hold of.  It’s a learning curve for you and mommy and daddy.  Baby proofing is always in flux as there are new things you discover that seem like fun but in fact are not for you.  You are growing so fast and seem to want to always be bigger than you are.  I often have to remind myself that your only 6 months as I often think your ready to take over the world!  Mommy and Daddy love you so much and honestly don’t know what we would do without you in our lives.  You are such a joy and pleasure to parent.  You are almost always happy and content and remind me to enjoy the simple things in life a little more. 

I love you, monkey!                    

Momma

Christmas and New Years were also a wonderful time but I will write a separate post about those.  Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and were able to spend it with the people you love!! 

Becky

Cara Box Exchange

Well I know I have been absent from the blog for a while and I apologize.  It will probably stay that way for a bit longer as life with my active 6month old is getting kinda crazy.  I'm hoping once she starts to take longer naps I can get back in the swing of things but I'm not sure.  For now I have a post that I'm a little late getting up but wanted to make sure I gave a proper thank you for the opportunity to get to know a few new bloggers through this "event".  A couple months ago I signed up for something called "Cara Box" initiated by another blogger.  The purpose is to match each individual with two other individuals who have signed up to participate.  Over the course of about 6 weeks you communicate through email and get to know one another.  At the end of that time, one new friend compiles a box of goodies personally for you and you compile a box of goodies personalize to the other.  You exchange, open and enjoy the thoughtful gifts that were put together just for you.  I was matched with Melissa and Shannon.  Both of these ladies were such a blessing to get to know and I am so glad I was able to participate in this exchange and have the opportunity to get to know them and start following their blogs.  It's so exciting to me when I am able to meet other moms who are believers and struggling through this new territory of mommydom.  I feel like I have someone who understands and can also be an encouragement.  

So Melissa was the one who put together a package for me and man did she do a beautiful job!  

Here's all the goodies!!

 Her sister is a rep for Scentsy flameless candles and so she sent me a beautiful warmer and some cinnamon wax for Christmas time, some inspriational cards so I can write notes to people, a little daily devotional, picture frame, a beautiful necklace some really neat wood letters (one for Alythia and one for the family), some notebooks, EOS chapstick that I have always wanted to try and of course the coveted Starbucks card!!

I was truly overwhelmed when I got the package in the mail.  She really outdid herself and it continues to make me smile!  I very rarely get packages in the mail and getting one that was filled with personalized goodies for me was a major bright spot in my week!  Please go check out her blog and give her some love.  She is such a sweet lady and I hope to continue to keep in touch.  

Head over to Wifessionals Cara Box reveal page and check out all the other participants.

For now, 
Happy Holidays  

  











 Becky

3 months... a little behind

So I began my pregnancy and my launch into motherhood with high hopes that I would be able to blog regularly about my experiences.  Sadly I am finding that there are so many other things that demand my time at this stage that I don't have the time to sit down regularly and write it all down.  I'm going to keep trying because I really would like to have documentation of this stage of our lives, even if it is only sporadically.  It's amazing though how much more I am wanting to focus on what is going on around me than I do on anything else these days.  So as a result, my baby girl is almost 4 months old and I'm just getting around to writing her 3 month post.  Just means you will get 2 in very short succession. 

My dearest Alythia,

You my child are the joy of your mommy and daddy’s world.  I cannot believe how much you seem to grow and change every single day!  At 3 months old now you are so interactive and engaged in what is going on around you!  You love to laugh and smile and every time you see mommy or daddy you get the biggest smile on your face, doesn’t matter if you just saw us 3 minutes before or 3 hours before.  You are one of the happiest little girls I have ever known.  You only cry when you are hurt, tired or hungry and sometimes fuss when playing because you get frustrated that you are not quite able to do some things yet.  You really would like to be able to crawl and are having such a hard time accepting that you aren’t ready for that yet.  When you wake up in the morning, or any time really, you instantly have a smile on your face and are ready for whatever adventure lies before you.  You have grown so much from your newborn self.  You are now 24 inches long and 12.9 lbs!  I cannot believe you have already almost doubled your weight and are right on track with your growth.  Mommy could not be more proud of her average child.  During this past month you have been getting settled into our new home and your new room that has been specially designed for you.  It has all of the things that I love most in it.  You have really begun to enjoy your tummy time and are lasting much longer before you get frustrated.  We began using an exersaucer last month and you are so enjoying it.  You never fuss for your toys but when mommy is holding you, you will often look longingly at whatever toy you would like to play on next.  Right now we are on a rotation of playmat, exersaucer and tummy time.  We have begun watching a little cartoon every few days called “Shawn the sheep”.  Mostly we decided on that one because there are no words in it and it entertains mommy and daddy since you aren’t really intent on watching much yet, it does seem to calm you down though and we have caught you laughing at it a few times.  You are very intent on standing and really don’t like it when mommy tries to make you sit down.  I am working on helping you build up your upper body strength and core muscles with some pull-to-sit motions and sitting with little support.  Your getting more ok with it but any time I hold your hands you immediately try to stand up.  I keep telling you, we have to sit before we stand and crawl before we walk!!  Your not sure that’s true though.  My precious girl, your mommy cannot imagine life without you and I am so happy to be spending my days with you.  I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Happy 3 months,

Mommy

Becky

House closing!!

Well, it's official.  We have accomplished all of the wickets of adulthood in the eyes of the American public, as Rob would say.  We have careers, got married, had a baby, own cars, and now we are officially home owners!  I'm not sure if I'm excited or terrified by that but nevertheless we now own our very first place.  We purchased a 3/2 condo on the far east end of Louisville.  It's spacious, beautiful and move in ready.  We have actually been living in it for the last month and a half but now it's officially ours.  The people who owned it before us are close to the same age as us and it appears that they had similar taste and so we really have very little we need to do in order to make it work with what we have.  Of course there are projects we would like to do as money allows to make it exactly what we want but really what it needs right now is some simple paint in a couple rooms and that's about it.  We are going to start with painting the master bedroom and both bathrooms.  The master suite is a light green color at the moment.  There isn't anything particularly wrong with that but it does limit how I can decorate our bedroom and I would like some more flexibility to change up the bedding and do some interesting things without needed to repaint in the future.  It's a rather large undertaking as the room is huge and has vaulted ceilings throughout, but I think it will serve us much better in a light gray color.  Still soothing but a little more neutral and flexible.

This is the current layout and color of our bedroom and bathroom:

I am thinking one of these two colors would be a nice alternative.  Haven't decided if the bathroom should be the same color as well or if I should go a different route with that.  Our bathroom doesn't have much of a design at the moment.  What do you think?  Bathroom the same or different?  Which gray seems more "master bedroom" to you?

 The other room that needs to be painted desperately is Alythia's bathroom:

It's a very bright blue color that is rather hard to work with and doesn't really go with my beach/kiddie idea that I have for her space.  It's somewhat difficult with this bathroom as I want it to be mostly kid-like but it is also our guest bath so it needs to be still put together.  I have some adorable pink frames with sea life sketches that match the ones over her crib that I intend to put in there but they definitely do not work with this wall color.  Can't decide what it should be though...  Any thoughts?  Her room is so intentionally designed and laid out that I would hate for the bathroom to not be up to par as well.

It is somewhat daunting and exhilarating to actually be able to think about these things and to know that I don't have to ever repaint it if I don't want to!  I can actually think about how things will grow with her as she ages and know that at least for the next few years, this is where we intend to be.  I'm so excited that I can actually start to do some interior designing!

What are your thoughts on my dilemmas?  

Becky

And like that, the new semester begins

Well, we had an eventful and exhausting summer.  We went cave hiking, on a babymoon, had a baby, had grandma visit for a couple weeks to help with the baby, made 3 trips to Michigan and at least 3 trips to Cincinnati as well, had aunts visit to meet the baby, grandma and grandpa Ozburn visited to meet the baby, moved to a new house we are almost fully closed on and now finally things are going to settle into a bit of a routine.  I feel a little exhausted even talking about it!

The highlights of course of our summer were the birth of our wonderful daughter and the subsequent family visits to meet her.  It was so nice to have my mother here with us for a couple of weeks helping out and playing with Alythia.  It was so much fun also to have my sister-in-laws up for a weekend to spend time with us, meet Alythia, and really see our world for the first time.  We had such a wonderful time with them, I hope we make it a regular habit of spending time together as just the kids.  My mother and father-in-law also were able to make it up last week and it was such a joy to have them here.  They were so delighted to have some time with their very first granddaughter and I can already tell she is going to be a bit spoiled by her grandparents!  But, after all, what are grandparents for?!  They were able to be here for just 3 short days but it was precious time to be able to spend with them just hanging out and it was so wonderful for me as a momma to see Alythia with her grandparents.

it's a little blurry but it's so hard to get one with mom's eyes open

Grandma O was so enamored with her beautiful granddaughter, it made my heart so happy.  We were able to spend a day with them on campus and they attended chapel and one of Rob's classes.  As always, we wish we had more time with them, but are so grateful for the time we did get.  

We have entered another semester of seminary life now and with is comes the realization of how quickly time is flying by.  We are already into our 4th semester here!  I cannot believe that there is only this and two more until we are done with the MDiv.  This of course does not mean we are done with school but that this has gone by so quickly is something that still shocks me.  We have decided to see if we can make it work to allow me to stay home full time with Alythia for at least this next semester and have Rob work.  Thankfully, because of the internship he is participating in at Kenwood, he is only required to take two classes this semester.  After the 5 he took last semester I am ready for the change of pace.  I am truly loving my time with our daughter and am looking forward to being able to be more hands on and present in the next few months as well.  I am going to be taking one class in the Seminary Wives program studying a survey of the Old and New Testaments.  I am really looking forward to this class as it is taught by two seminary professors and should be more like a traditional class; notes, quizzes and the like.  I was concerned with needing to put Alythia in the child care in order to take classes but Rob will be home on Thursday evenings which will allow me to go and for her to maintain her schedule.  This certainly is a relief as I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be in childcare and I also really don't want her schedule disrupted one night each week just because I want to take a class.  I'm looking forward to seeing what I will learn over this next term.  God is so good in the way he provides for us, even in working out little things like timing for something we want to do.  What a privilege to study God's word alongside my husband as we prepare for what lies ahead for us.  I am often overwhelmed when I think of the graciousness of the Lord to allow us to spend time here learning and growing in our faith and in the knowledge of His word.

~Becky

Things I have learned

As I think I have mentioned a couple of times, and so desperately failed at so far... I am going to strive to post at least twice each week both to keep my mind working on being somewhat creative and to give myself an outlet for the various things happening in my life lately.  So please keep me accountable if you haven't seen a post in a few days as me what's up, or just comment on what I have posted to give me more to write on or a new direction to go, if that's your thing.  

So I've been a mom for approximately .2 seconds, or so it feels.  2 months really but man how did the time go by so fast?  Obviously I don't have a ton of experience but I have certainly learned a few things already.

1) You can never truly know what it means to love someone unconditionally until you become a parent.  You can certainly love your spouse or your parents or your siblings in something like unconditional love.  You certainly love them in spite of what they might do or have done to inevitably hurt you, however, truly unconditional love can only really be understood when the person or thing you love truly can give you nothing in return for your love.  In fact, instead of giving something to you, they almost are guaranteed to take from you, demand more of you and inconvenience you in ways you thought you never would be.  When someone does that and all you can feel for them is pure love, that, at least in my understanding, is what unconditional really means.  This is the way that God loves us, before we could offer Him anything, he chose to love us, in spite of the pain, inconvenience and demands that we would place on him as his creation, even to the place of pouring out the life of his own son to redeem us from our own rebellion, that I have realized can be understood most fully from the perspective of a parent.

2) I have learned the true meaning of sacrifice.  I now wake in the middle of the night, and have for 2 months, at the slightest stir from my daughter to ensure that she is nourished and cared for.  I am someone who really enjoys sleep.  I have often told Rob that I think that there will still be sleep in heaven, not because we will need it but because it is just so enjoyable.  I have never been an early bird or a night owl.  I prefer to sleep from 10pm till 9am every day.  And yet, I awake, joyfully at 5am to feed my daughter.  If she has a rough night of sleep, I am there without hesitation to comfort her.  I treasure the precious time I get to spend with her in the middle of the night, when she's sleepy and snuggly and I can just hug and kiss on her before I put her back down.  I am also an avid shopper.  Something my husband will never understand, I love to just browse and wander in a mall, looking at things and seeing if anything catches my eye.  I don't need a purpose and I have always enjoyed being able to buy something for myself on a whim.  Now, I debate whether or not I need something and give preference to getting something for Alythia rather than for myself.  I have spent more time planning out the perfect room and selecting the best things for her than I have on anything else in my life.  I love to care for her and provide for her, and one day when she is able to show a response to something I have done for her, that will be even greater for me.  To see her face light up when she sees something her mommy has done for her, that will be one of my greatest joys.

3) I have learned that relationships do not maintain themselves, ever, but especially when children are in the picture.  There are very few moments of just sitting down and talking, without something interrupting us.  Marriage always takes work, but with every new addition, there are new distractions that make planning even more important.  Now it is not simply planning for a date night or a fun getaway, we have to plan for intentional, inward facing conversation.  If we don't, we can end up going for several days without really talking to each other.  We may have spoken words, but real, heart to heart conversation requires planning.  This also requires a new level of sacrifice because our first instinct so often is to finally get some sleep, or to check out something online that we have been wanting to read but have not had the time.  Sadly our first instinct is not to seek out one another to connect with.  This is certainly a big lesson for me and I am still working out how to best show my husband that he is still my number 1 priority on this earth.

4) I have learned that my preconceived ideas that being a mom/stay-at-home mom would be boring and mind numbing were way off base.  I feel like I never sit down anymore.  Even when Alythia is napping, there are things to do.  Laundry to wash or fold, dishes to clean up, a meal to make, research to do, errands to run.  I have no idea how all of this got done before she was around because I'm sure I had more down time then but I can't imagine how.  As for not being mentally engaging, staying on top of how to teach your child and caring for them as well as keeping everything around the house in order, there is plenty of engaging things to keep my mind working.  I think I may be more mentally engaged than I was even when I was working!  

5) My greatest joy in the world truly is my family.  I can think of nothing greater than to help them grow and to teach my child/children about the Lord.  I never in a million years thought that I would be someone who felt fulfilled in caring for my family, but I have greater joy in caring for them and in doing my part to provide and nurture them than I have in anything else in my whole life.  My fulfillment in school, a career, even my friendships, pales in comparison to the contentment and joy I have in taking care of my little family.  Anyone who has known me for longer than a year should understand how radical this is for me.  Never in my life did I think that I would feel this way, and yet look at how the Lord works.  I am truly in awe of his perfect timing and gracious patience in teaching me.  

Have you learned anything in the stage of life you're at that surprised you?  Any insights you think might be helpful if you are a parent?

~Becky