One Year of a Sweet Little Girl

Wow! People always say time flies, but you really don't know until you have a child.  Yes, it flies, but nothing like when you are watching your child grow from a small, helpless newborn to an active 12 month old on the verge of walking.  I catch myself just sitting and wondering where did time go?  I know it just gets faster so I want to make sure I soak in every moment of our precious little girl. 
Esther has such a personality and it is definitely a people-person one right now.  Everyone talks about her being such a happy baby and she is the majority of the time.  We all  have our moments.  ;)  She loves seeing people in the stores; she just smiles and talks to them.  She likes to wave bye bye or hey to people also, but it is usually after they have turned around.  When we go get the mail in the afternoons, she waves at the cars as they pass. 
Esther loves to be active and on the move.  We have so much fun watching her explore but it does come with moments of "uh-oh."  Child-proofing cabinets and moving breakables out of reach came quickly in this house. 
Food is a love hate relationship, as it is with most babies I think.  One day she will eat everything and want more, the next day, she isn't interested in anything at all.  :)  We are trying to branch out and eat more things, but sometimes it is a little hard to find dairy-free options.  Bananas are out best friend right now.  :)  Apples usually work too.
Esther loves being outside!  She will pull her carrier down and bring it to me to go outside walking and now we have a wagon she got for her birthday and she loves riding in it.  We took it to the pumpkin patch and she just sat there and looked around and had a ball.  Just don't stop before she is ready to stop, which doesn't happen!  :)
It still doesn't seem right that Esther is one year old today, but we will celebrate and have fun going to visit daddy.  Later we will have some more cake we saved from Saturday, but for now it is nap time.  Nap time is still the time where mommy nurses and rocks her sweet little girl.  She is still my little baby for a little while longer.  She will always be my baby but she won't want to be held and rocked much longer so I am going to soak up these moments and treasure them.  Later we will play and have a big time, but for now it is mommy time, I mean nap time. 

When that day comes that you have been dreading

This was last month.

It happened last week.  On Thursday, it wasn't avoidable any longer.  Mothers dread the day and know it is coming nonetheless.

The day their child gets hurt and bleeds for the first time.

Esther was crawling and the blanket slipped under her.  She hit the floor face first and busted her top lip.  The cry I heard said she was terrified and hurting.  It broke my heart.  I scooped her up and hugged her and told her I loved her and kissed her.  I also got a teether out of the fridge for her hold so it would numb her lip.  It worked enough for her to nurse and go to sleep for her nap.

We want to protect them but also know they have to learn to do things on their own in their own way.  It is so hard for us to step back sometimes but it is necessary for them to learn.  It doesn't make it any easier when they get hurt though.  Somehow I don't think it ever will be easy.

Post never published: Motherhood

I found this post draft and decided to post it because it was written when she was around 8 weeks old.  We did get her the The Jesus Storybook Bible for Christmas last year and we have also gotten a board book style Bible that will stand up to her active little hands right now.  I love watching her daddy read to her out of it.  She still wants to play with it but one day she will understand.


There are so many things that can be said about being a new mother and most of them I have heard from different people at different times.  The one that I have heard the most is that your life will never be the same.  I used to think, well duh!  We will have a baby, of course it will be different.
Well, it is not just the normal order of the day changes, EVERYTHING changes.  Some good, some bad, and some great!  For the most part, it's great.  I truly can not imagine my life without our little princess.  I will admit, the fussiness at 3 am because of gas is not great, and trying to figure out why there is gas is not great.  Even in those moments though, I look at her and smile and thank the Lord for her.
She is the best gift the Lord has ever given me, besides one other one.  The best gift is salvation through His Son Jesus.  I want to teach her this and feel it's one of the most important tasks I have as a mother.  She may only be a few weeks old, but I am burdened (in a good way) with this task already.  I am looking forward to getting her The Jesus Storybook Bible and creating an Advent calendar to explore with her.
Motherhood is amazing, and there are no words that can describe it.  Those moments when I feel as if I will explode just looking at her because I love her so much.  The moments of panic when I actually have time to get in the shower and wonder, is she still breathing?  Then I hear her little chuckle she does in her sleep.
There is nothing in my life that compares to being her mother.  I am very happy being just that (as well as a wife to my wonderful husband!).

Motherhood has taken over

Well, my little bundle is 10 months old today!  Where has the time gone?  I only wish I knew.  She is starting to crawl and zooming around in her walker, trying finger foods and breaking our hearts every day.  By breaking them I mean making them explode with love!  It is amazing!!  It is also tiring and time management has gone out the window for me.  Last year I did a Bible study named, "I used to be Organized," and I thought I would have it together. HA HA HA  All mothers know the humility that comes with becoming a mother.  If only we knew what we thought we did before we had children! :)
I haven't blogged in awhile but I have decided to start back.  My posts may be simple and short or they may be long-winded (I have discovered a couple of topics that are a big deal to me.).  They will probably be irregular  but I think I will enjoy doing them this way.  No pressure in other words.  We moms definitely don't need any more pressure!
So I will leave you with Esther's newest trick (as in this morning).  She used to lay in the pack n play and roll around and play, well you can see for yourself, those days are a thing of the past!