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Family, Personal

A Tribute to Mother’s – My Mom!

I’m going to start this week on to the Mom that I know the most about….mine! Her name is Cindy and she is amazing! She is, of course, the person I want to call when something good happens, I have a question, or when I’m sick. She has always been there for me and has shown me how to sacrificially love day in and day out for the past 31 years. Without her help, support, encouragement, and advice, this motherhood thing would be way too much for me and I know that I would be failing miserably at it. So today I want to share some fun memories about my Mom and why I love her so much.

You know those birth stories that you hear and you just cringe thinking about the Mom having to go through that. My Mom had one of those with me. Not only was I over three weeks late, but she was in labor for almost two days and signed the papers twice for a c-section without receiving one before I made my appearance. They said I was fixing my hair. To say she gave a lot for me from the beginning is an understatement.

My Mom was one of those who did everything. Hand smocked beautiful dresses for me to wear? Check. Made me a genie costume one year for Halloween? Check. Went and bought us a dog without my Dad’s approval? Check. She was PTA President, came in to our classes to supplement math and science teaching, fundraised, planned and literally dug a fish pond and a garden in my elementary school courtyard, went on field trips, made my lunch every day until I graduated from high school, was the general contractor when we were building our house in Decatur. You name it, she did it. Those things that no one wants to do (like be a sponsor/chaperone for long choral trips, high school sororities, and more)…she did. Cart us around to numerous practices, rehearsals, youth groups, and more. And throughout it all, she was fun and made time to hang out with us and teach us the important things. You can’t ask for better than that.

It might seem strange to have a picture of her and my Dad in a Mother’s Day tribute post, but I think one of the best things she did as a mother was to show my brother and I that my Dad came first. She made her marriage a top priority and that’s something that I especially treasure now that I’m married. They say that the best thing a Dad can do for his child is to love their Mom but it can also go the other way. She showed me what it means to be a helper to a husband who works hard to provide, to support him at work and at home, to express opinion but still respect him, and to love him well.

As you grow older your relationship with your Mom changes and mine was no different. When college started I’m pretty certain that it was a hard adjustment for my Mom. She says that that’s when they started eating in front of the tv because dinner was all of a sudden a quiet affair. But never once did she make me feel bad for branching out and living my life. She was there to cheer me on anytime something happened and made multiple trips to Tuscaloosa to do things like pick me up from my lab to drive me across campus so that I wouldn’t be late for Serious Night during rush, sneak in to town to surprise me when I got inducted into The XXXI, and moved me in and out of residences every year without complaint. We became friends during those years and I’m so thankful for the way that she made that transition so easy for me in a time that can sometimes be fraught with landmines.

And these days she’s still there for me in any way she can be. It helps that we only live half a mile from each other, but she gives advice when the kids are sick, babysits whenever asked, lends me clothes that I then forget to give back (I’m bringing those leather jackets back…I promise!), and generally helps me keep this crazy life of mine together. I am so thankful for the way she loves my husband and kids and how much they love her as well. You’re the best Mom. Happy Mother’s Day!

One Month ‘Till Cake

My sweet, charming Hadley girl,

Today you are 11 months old. In one very short month you will have your first birthday and, while I love watching you grow, it will be a bittersweet month. You are the most precious baby girl and we love you so much!

This month you did a lot!

You finally learned how to sit down by yourself from standing (that was a long time coming but at least you quit standing up so often in your bed prior to learning how to get yourself down).

You really started vocalizing. You will almost always respond with a very southern “Hey” when you see someone or want their attention. You have sometimes sounded like you were saying other words but nothing concrete.

You got two more teeth (both top center ones) and while they weren’t fun to get, you are so adorable with them!

You started swimming lessons last week and are doing great. You float all by yourself and can get yourself to a back float no matter what way Ms. Caroline puts you in the water. You are still whimpering throughout the lesson but are quick to calm down when you get out of the pool and today even seemed proud of yourself so I think you’re getting more comfortable with it.

Your schedule is still much the same but occasionally I’ll drop one of the mid-day feedings to prepare you to start weaning. You aren’t phased one bit if you miss one of those feedings so I think that process will, hopefully, go fairly smoothly. You take two naps (9-11 and 1-3:30) and sleep from about 7:30 – 7. You nurse four times a day (7, 11, 3:30, 7) and eat baby food three times.

Speaking of baby food, you won’t touch table foot with a ten foot pole. Well, you’ll eat crackers and cheerio’s but that’s it. Blueberry muffins? Wrinkle up your nose and let it fall out of your mouth if I put it in there. Pancakes? Will pick around them to get the puffs out without touching a single bite. We’re pretty baffled, especially James. Tonight at dinner he threw his hands up in the air and said, “Who wouldn’t eat pancakes and blueberry muffins??!?!” I know you’ll get used to it but you need to pick up your eating habits and soon!

You are an incredibly happy baby. Other than swimming lessons you rarely ever cry unless your brother is trying to “play” with you and, thus, pushing you down or something. You give lots of smiles and giggles. There has only been one occasion when you cried hysterically when I gave you to anyone else and that was after your first day of swimming lessons so it was probably deserved. You have started crying when we leave you at Sunday School but I knew that was coming. You’re always happy when we pick you up after the service. Your sweet spirit endears you to everyone who comes across you and we are so thankful for that!

You are a growing girl. Nine month clothes fit you well these days and you can wear most 12 month clothes as well. You’re still in size 3 diapers and your Easter sandals were size 1’s. I can especially tell that you are growing in weight when I wear you in the Baby Bjorn. It is significantly harder to carry you for long periods in that than it used to be.

We love you so much Hadley and are loving getting to see the girl that you are becoming. We pray that you always seek God’s wisdom and that you always know that he made you the exact way that you are for a purpose. God specially chose every one of your features and he couldn’t have done a better job if you asked me.

I love you baby girl!

Mommy

Entertaining, Family, Recipes

Setting the Perfect Brunch

Last Sunday we hosted our families for brunch after Hadley was Christened at church. Our families are large and so there was a crowd, plus we were feeding a wide variety of ages — from Hadley to her great-grandparents. I wanted a menu that would be low key and easy to fix but would also provide everyone with something that they would like. Enter what I believe to be the perfect brunch menu. It received rave reviews from everyone and it was fairly easy to prepare.

Drinks

We served orange juice and grapefruit juice as well as ice water. If your family has a lot of coffee or tea drinkers those would be good options as well.

Brunch

Our menu included some ready-mades like Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Cranberry Walnut bread from the local Gluten Free Bakery as well as a few varieties of muffins that Mom made for me. In addition to those we supplemented with some homemade recipes.

– Vanilla Almond Granola from Sally’s Baking Addiction – I made two recipes of this and, I think, because I made two recipes at once I didn’t have enough liquid ingredients to make mine clump. Or maybe it couldn’t bake perfectly correctly? But even though might was more of itty bitty granola, it still tasted great. I set out of a bowl of greek yogurt and little cups and spoons and our guests made themselves little yogurt parfaits so that they could at least feel like some of the brunch was healthy!

– Bacon and Cheddar Quiche from How To This and That – I’ve used other recipes for quiche but this one was very yummy. I, again, prepped it the night before and actually cooked it on Saturday as well before reheating in the oven on Sunday when we got home from church. It was finished by the end of brunch so I thought that was a good sign.

– Bacon, Cheddar, and Scallion Scones from Fifteen Spatulas – Before I decided to add a quiche to the menu, I thought we needed something savory to balance out all of the sweet so I made these scones. They weren’t incredibly easy to make but they tasted great, especially right out of the oven. I made these on Saturday and re-heated them on Sunday (covered with foil) which I think made them even drier than they were originally, but scones are dry so I think I made them correctly.

– Cream Cheese Filled Banana Bread from Averie Cooks – Family members reading this might wonder where this was because they didn’t see it at my house on Sunday but that was because I got a little distracted with all my pre-event cooking. I accidentally set the oven to 450 instead of 350 which resulted in a very, very done outer layer but a perfect inner layer. I couldn’t serve it like that so Jason and I just taste-tested the inside for dessert on Saturday night. Let me tell you, it was fantastic. I’m waiting on some banana’s to ripen right now so that I can make it again. It was fantastic!

– Cinnamon Roll Skillet Cake from Chelsea’s Messy Apron – This recipe was the trickiest because it needed to be cooked once we got home from church. But unless you’ve got a late service and are in a hurry to eat, it’s perfect. I prepped the whole recipe the night before and sat it in the fridge overnight and popped it in the oven as soon as we got home. I cooked it on 400 degrees to shorten the cooking time and it turned out perfectly. Jason and I might have eaten the leftovers for dessert on Sunday night.

Dessert

And, lest you think we didn’t have enough sweets already, we topped the meal off with a vanilla cake with vanilla icing. Hadley was very jealous of the cake and we tried to reassure her that in two short months it would be her turn to indulge!

I’d love to hear your favorite brunch foods or recipes! Is there something that I’m missing? If so, let me know in the comments!

First Year Months, Hadley

The Countdown is On

Hadley-girl,

I know I say this every month but I don’t know how you are already 10 months old. This year has flown by and we are now at two months until you turn a year. One year old!?!? You’ll practically be an adult then! Despite the fact that time is racing by and you are growing each and every second, we are so thankful that you are our sweet baby girl. So, what are you up to this month?

Pulling up on EVERYTHING. Your favorite standing toy is now the chest next to the couch that we keep James’ trains and cars and other toys in. As soon as we set you down anywhere in that vicinity you immediately beeline to it and start opening drawers and standing up pulling things out. You occasionally get your arms stuck as you accidentally push a drawer in while trying to reach for something but for the most part you’re content to just hang out there and play with things that you’re not supposed to. You also go the hang of pulling up on your crib this month which drove us to desperation. You would get yourself up multiple times each nap but couldn’t get yourself back down and would stand there and cry. I think (knock on wood) that you’ve finally tired of that game and have been either getting yourself back down without me knowing or not standing up for the past few days. I surely hope that that phase is behind us because it is no fun for anyone.

You have two teeth now and are working on number three. We thought your top one was going to come through last week because you were pretty miserable but it hasn’t made an appearance yet. Your two bottom teeth are so cute though and you can really see them now!

Even though you have some teeth, you aren’t really interested in real food. You’ll down baby food, puffs, yogurt melts and the like as if we never feed you, but if I give you a small piece of bread or fruit you’ll leave it sitting on the table in front of you. If you do get it in your mouth you make the worst face imaginable as if we are torturing you by feeding you a bite of buttermilk pancakes. It baffles me but I remember James being like this too so I figure you’ll eat real food eventually.

You are growing and definitely getting heavier. Your six months clothes are too small so you’re in 9 month outfits as well as some smaller 12 month right now. Still in a size three diaper. You’re taking two naps a day (9-11 and 1:15-3:30) and sleep from 7:15-7. You nurse four times a day (7, 11, 3:30, 7) and eat baby food three times (after breakfast, after lunch, and with us at dinner).

You are incredibly happy and so sweet. You give us lots of giggles and huge grins. You especially love it when Sissy gets in the car after school and you can see someone from your rear-facing perch. Occasionally it sounds like you are saying Mama and one night we promise that you signed “All Done” and said it back to me when I asked if you were all done but that was a one time experience. KayKay attests though that you are saying her name (as NayNay) and I’m pretty sure I heard it yesterday too so maybe those verbal skills are about to take off!

We love you so much sweetheart and enjoy every second with you. We pray that as you grow in stature you’ll also grow in God and know that his love for you (and ours) knows no bounds and is forever.

We love you every second, of every minute, of every day,

Mommy

Charlotte, Christmas, Family, Hadley, Holidays

December Fun

December always seems to fly the fastest. Whether it’s because the month is packed to the gills with events and happenings or whether it’s just spent in breathless anticipation of the child in the manger, December goes by in a blink. This year was no different although we did try to focus on the real reason for the season and not get as distracted by all the other stuff. Or, at least, remember the reason while doing the other stuff as well.

Jason and I ran our first 5k on December 2nd at the Botanical Gardens. It was a fun night run through their Galaxy of Lights. It was hard but I ran it without stopping and am very proud of myself! I’m ready for the weather to get a little better so that I can start running in the mornings again.

Charlotte continued to be super Big Sister and Hadley continued to love her even more.

My helper helping me finish up our Christmas cards

There’s never a bad time to be an Alabama cheerleader!

Baby girl went back and forth between a cold and teething during the month and didn’t always feel great. But that meant that I got some sweet snuggles!

James loves school and was very excited when it was pajama day and their class party day. He’s sitting next to his best friend, Claire, in the classroom.

Charlotte finished up her semester of art with a portrait of our dog, Luca!

I have no idea what this picture is from…but they sure are cute!

Hadley discovered that the heat blowing her hair up is pretty fun

We enjoyed getting to hear the Christmas story in different ways at church

And right before Christmas we surprised Char Char at the airport when he came home from California!

Charlotte, Christmas, Family, Hadley, Holidays

Searching Out Santa

It’s an annual tradition in our family to head to Santa’s Village to see Santa. We like to go early in the season to avoid the crowds and to give Santa plenty of time to get those gifts made. The big kids were over the moon excited to see Santa this year which was a lot of fun. And Hadley didn’t seem to mind him either!

James wouldn’t sit on Santa’s lap but he gave him a fist bump!

We were the first in line to see Santa and went to explore the rest of the village after we’d met the big guy. Charlotte wrote out her Christmas list and then stuck it in Santa’s mailbox.

(If you can’t read it she asked for art storage, a dolphin baby, a Santa baby, and a Rudolph baby. I’m happy to say that Santa came through on all of those requests.)