Foto Friday 2/24

I think I've decided that I'm going to start "Foto Friday" for me. It's not a link up or anything. I was explaining to my mom that photo posts are quicker than wordy ones. I sure can ramble on and on and on ;) Plus, I just happen to have several cute photos of Jillian from the last 24 hours so it worked out!

{My friend Jess came over and decided to help me get Jillian used to her Bumbo seat. Jillian has been a little apprehensive until now, but so far so good} 

 {Things were better once her hands got in her mouth ;)}

{She stayed in it for a good 5 minutes! I was so proud of her} 

{Though it clearly tuckered her out. She fell asleep after she got out} 

{My blue jean baby and her humongous flower headband} 

{Jillian is too cool to sort laundry} 

{Now I just need to teach her the thumbs up and she can be like The Fonz HAHA}

{We made a special trip to Gigi's Cupcakes again! From left to right starting at the top: Raspberry Champagne, Lemon Drop, White Midnight Magic, Strawberry Shortcake, NodiniCannoli, and Wedding Cake} 

{I think Phil's ready to dig in!} 

{Poor girl... the outing made her sleepy}

Happy Friday y'all! Enjoy your weekend :)

Ash Wednesday

{Mama's sleepy girl}

It's hard to explain what it is like to grow up in a home where one, or both parents are ministers. This is partially due to people thinking they could imagine it while others don't seem to understand how a family could function that way. One thing I think is the hardest for people to understand is how we lived in seasons.

While most coincided with a literal season like summer or fall, these are not the seasons I'm speaking of. The main ones I describe most are: the Christmas season, the season of funerals, and the season of Lent. All of these seasons were already hard enough to juggle since my parents had separate churches. This meant twice the amount of sermon preparation, twice the driving back and forth to church, and twice the amount of services to attend. Once my brother and I became more involved in after school activities, this made each season a little harder. I remember one year having my dad drive me to a junior high dance immediately after a Maundy Thursday service at church. There were musical rehearsals, voice and piano lessons, academic team meets, etc. Being a new parent, I have no idea how or when my parents slept before Mike and I could drive ourselves.

If you're not familiar with Lent, it is a common practice for those who observe it to give up something for the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Once I was older, I tried adding something positive if I could not think of something to give up for Lent. Sure some years were harder than others, but nothing really did much for me in terms of feeling closer to God. I think last year was the closest I ever got to feeling like I made a good choice. 

My mom and I were speaking the other day and I asked if she had thought about what she wanted to do for Lent. This sparked a conversation in which I wondered if the point of not succeeding with your Lent sacrifice is to remind us that Jesus was the only perfect human who faced temptation and won. Then my mom said something that really hit me. "I think instead of giving up or adding something, I think I'm just going to focus on the season."

This is the first year in a long time where I'm not completely involved with a church. With Phil and I looking for a church home, I have no obligations to a choir, or being a lector, or even a specific congregation. I can enjoy the season of Lent all the way through Easter morning without having to worry about how I will "perform" at any given service. Don't get me wrong, I love being deeply involved in worship. However, this may be the only year in a long time that I can just be somewhere and let myself be fully open and aware of God's presence during this season. I don't know about you, but that sounds like something better to focus on then giving up chocolate for another year :)

As a sinner who is in need of God's grace, I hope to focus as much of my energy on this season in the church, and in my life, for the next 40 days. I may not succeed, but that's ok because Jesus did. Jesus winning his fight over temptation, then dying on the cross is all the success I need in my life. 

{Amen}

Mardi Gras and King Cake

Happy Mardi Gras!

For dinner, I decided to do something a little jazzy, yet easy. Around the time I started high school, my mom started buying this stuff called Zatarain's Jambalaya mix. She always used sausage as the meat and it was yummy! It has just enough cajun spice to satisfy me without being too overpowering. Besides, you can't live in southwest Arkansas and not have a taste for cajun food ;) Plus, it's a good meal on a budget. I even bought a King Cake for dessert.

{Simple and fun dinner for Mardi Gras}

{Nom nom nom}

I looked back and I didn't mention this last year, but Phil and I ate King Cake on Mardi Gras, (and a few several days after), and it didn't have a baby in it. Trust me, we even looked over the box just to make sure and we didn't find it anywhere. I jokingly laughed to my mom about it and asked if that was a sign that we wouldn't have babies. Of course we all know what happened later :) So for the sake of our pocketbook and my sanity, I really wanted to make sure there was a baby this time so we wouldn't have another one in real life. Luckily we saw the baby in the box and Phil hid it in the cake.

And guess who found the baby?

{There it is!} 

{At least that means I have to buy the King Cake next year :)}

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday which makes the beginning of the season of Lent. If nothing else, that means Easter is just around the corner!

I hope y'all had a great Fat Tuesday :)


Disclaimer: I was not asked by Zatarain's or any other company to talk about that mix in particular. I just really like it and highly recommend it to anyone who wants a cajun dish in an easy and affordable way.

Rub-a-Dub

The other day, I realized that I had at least one picture of Jillian for every day this year, (minus two separate days in early January). Of those photos, most of them were of her either a) sleeping or b) on her activity mat. I understand that is kind of her life right now, but I figured that had to be some way to take her photo on Sunday that did not involve either of those things. Then it hit me... bath time :)

Since I'm doing a special Mardi Gras post for later, I'll keep this post down to the intro, this little bit, and my top 4 favorite photos. Enjoy!

{Love those long eyelashes!} 

{HAHA Looks like someone took her Cheez-its} 

{Wide-eyed and bushy tailed, but oh so cute}

{Love}

{This is actually my new desktop photo on my computer :)}

Blog Giveaway Link

Ok, so this is my first time entering for a blog giveaway, but it is SO worth it!

First of all, the amazing Laura is having her 3 year Blogiversary! I have been reading her blog since she started and just love her! She is so sweet, has the cutest boy in the world, Ethan, and is a great blogger. She updates about her family, her faith, recipes, and all kinds of other goodness. If nothing else, you should definitely check out her blog.

However, this giveaway is HUGE. Not only is there a prize, but there are 6 prizes!! And those 6 prizes? For 6 different people. That's right, she is spreading the love you guys! The prizes are anything from Scentsy to Stella & Dot.

Please check it out here!

Like I said, I've never even bothered entering giveaways before since I figured my chances of winning were slim. If I entered the giveaway, you know it's worth it! Good luck :)

Photo Catch Up

I have lots of posts in my head right now, but I'm not sure which to start with, how I want to do them, etc. Hopefully I'll get it figured out soon. Until then, let's play catch up after this weekend :)

{I posted this on Twitter, but wanted to share. Jillian has gotten in the habit of eating half her bottle, taking a quick catnap, then finishing. It's not a good habit, but she's so cute I hate to wake her :)}

{So bright eyed and alert!} 

{Resting up for visitors on Saturday}

{My cousins sent us this bib and it's so sweet} 

{Jillian with her Grandma Darla} 

{Grandma Darla and Papa Jim came over for a couple of hours on Saturday. It gave Phil and I a chance to run an errand and spend a little time with them!}

{Every time Jillian lays like this, I pretend that she's saying "Ahhhhh....."}

Saturday was not only fun for us since Phil's folks came down, but we had a fun dinner with our friends Abbey and Matt at Olive Garden! Our waitress was hilarious and an amazing singer at a nearby university. I don't think I've laughed so hard in quite awhile and Jillian did great, (even with a 40 minute wait to be seated). 

Yesterday we watched the season finale of Downton Abbey. We've watched it since day 1 and we're big fans! I noticed they didn't have a blurb saying they are filming the next season. Phil thinks it's because it's doing so well that PBS doesn't feel the need to let us know it's coming back.

No major plans for today, but I will have something to post tomorrow and Wednesday. Also, someone special is officially 10 weeks old today! We're in double digits people ;)

Happy Monday y'all!

The Saga Continues

Some days I just can't get things together. Other days, I accomplish things despite starting to cry several times. Today was a mixture of both.

I slept a little longer than I planned to today which made everything feel out of whack. I got up just in time to have a small bowl of Trix cereal and a cup of coffee before Phil had to head out to work. Jillian was a little sleepy, but alert so we played together a little. Her smile is just so irresistible :)

Then about 10 a.m., Jillian started her newest thing, being consistently fussy. Holding her doesn't help. Pacifiers are not comforting. Even her favorite thing, the swing, just doesn't cut it. Laying her on her back on the activity mat? That helps a little. I laid her down and she was content for the next hour and a half.

A fed her and it was a struggle to get her to eat 3 1/2 ounces. Ok fine, I can deal. By the time her reflux feeding adjustments are done, it's already almost 12:30. Lunch? Nope, not for this mama. There's nothing to eat and we're in desperate need of another grocery trip. Suddenly, Jillian was even fussier than before. The remedy? Back to the activity mat.

Then my mom called. We talked for a bit before Jillian started to fuss again. I picked her up, placed a pacifier in her mouth and she seemed content. Woot! As I wrapped up my phone conversation, I thought I could make it to the grocery store! I went to change Jillian's diaper and she slept through the whole thing. Almost there. Then I placed her in her bassinet so I can get changed.

Can you guess what happens next? That's right, she was wide awake as soon as her head hit the mattress. Now I'm hungry and pissed off. I called Phil to let off some steam. For whatever reason, this only worked me up some more. We got off the phone and I decided to just go anyways. I fastened Jillian to her car seat, changed clothes in record time, and started to grab my coat when...

*Ffffffrrrrrrpppppppppppppppppppppppppppp*

Yes indeed, my child just pooped. I sat next to her seat on the floor and started to tear up. I picked up my phone to call Phil when I slammed it to the ground. I wiped my face and thought "No, I'm going to go! I need out of this apartment and we need food. I will change her really fast and we'll go." I unbuckled the babe, laid her on the changing pad on the floor when I realized it's a poop explosion.

Now, she's had explosions before, but this one takes the cake. I tried to keep the soiled onesie off of her, but there was a spot I missed. Can you guess? Yes, she had poop smeared all over her back, a little on her head and arm, and she even had some behind her left knee. I started to cry again and reached for the phone. "No!" I yelled to myself. "You will clean her up and go. You really need to go!" So I wiped my tears and gave her a mini-bath with her baby wipes. I put on her emergency outfit I keep in the diaper bag and refastened her in her car seat.

As we're leaving, I noticed we had the best parking spot we can in the unassigned area. {Back story: We are assigned 1 covered spot so the other car has to go anywhere we can find. Since we live on the back side of the building, any spot that is not near the front is incredibly inconvenient without a newborn and/or groceries.} I also noticed both cars belonging to some inconsiderate people in our complex are there. {That's it's own blog post. I won't get into it now.} Worried I would lose our spot, I decided to make it the fastest grocery shopping trip I could.

I got to the store, and somehow got Jillian calm enough to fall asleep even though she was getting really hungry. I spent $117 and got enough food to get us through another 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. I got home in under an hour which allowed me to park in my same spot. {I guarantee I would have lost it if I took any longer.} I ran up the stairs with Jillian, then locked the door to the apartment. I got all 9 bags and two 12 packs of soda in one trip and threw all the bags on the floor. I ran around putting the cold and frozen foods away, washed my hands, made Jillian a bottle, and finally started her feeding at 2:45.

Phil walked into the apartment to grocery sacks half full of food scattered on the floor, Jillian's soiled outfit from earlier, a frazzled and sweaty wife trying to feed the last 2 ounces of formula to Jillian. Thank goodness he got Burger King since he missed lunch as well. I finally ate around 3:30 and he finished up Jillian's bottle.

Please do not take this post as a big complaint. If anything, I know I will be able to laugh at all this later tonight. I just pray these days are few and far between, though I'm sure they probably won't be. And honestly? Jillian makes it worth all the trouble :)

{Jillian and her G-Chaz on Monday taking an afternoon nap}