Friday Letters

Ready for the weekend!

Dear Friday, Way to finally show up. All day yesterday I thought you were here, only to be told over and over again that it was only Thursday. Dear Hubs, You are simply amazing. You are such a hard worker and  I'm so blessed to have you in my life! I'm so excited about where God is taking us and I look forward to all that He has planned and taking the journey with you! Dear Bug, You are growing up way too fast! 3 months already! It doesn't seem possible! You're also talking so much more! You are such a joy and blessing to us Bug and I love spending my days with you! Dear House, Prepare to be conquered. I've been looking forward to this day for a very long time. Dear Rain, Please don't come tomorrow so we can conquer the house. Dear Readers, Here is a video of an adorable baby to make your Friday that much more enjoyable.

Capturing Moments

It's a quiet day here at the homestead. It's dark outside. Rain is predicted for this part of Georgia. I hope it's a good thunderstorm. I just love a good thunderstorm. As long as it's only a thunderstorm, none of this "tornado warning" nonsense. 

Bug is playing on her play gym. It's almost her nap time. But I wanted to capture this moment. It's a sweet moment. A special moment. 

Thank You, LORD, for this beautiful gift you have given us. She is truly a blessing.

Prayers for Boston

On a day like today I can't imagine letting my little one out of my sight. I just want to cuddle her and hold her and protect her from the world and the tragedy that is out there. I know that is impossible. I cannot protect her. But I do know some One who can. The same One who gave her to me to care for and love. Only He can protect her, and all of us, during times like this. It is He that I turn to when I am scared or weak. He is the only One that can take care of us. It is Him that I lean on now, and it is He that I pray to asking for strength and peace for the people of Boston and all those effected by this tragedy.

So hold on to the ones you love and remember that God has you in His hands and He loves you so much!

3 Months!

weight: 15 lbs 2 oz      

height: 23 1/2 in

eating: every 2-4 hours still; exclusively breastfed

tummy time: beginning to love it more and more!

happiness: starting to smile more and more and talking up a storm; we're starting to have "conversations" now!

loves: cuddles, Lamaze toys, play gym, looking at herself in the mirror or phone

sleep: between 6 and 8 hours a night depending (however, last night little bug woke up every two hours wanting her paci); officially in the crib!

Bug has gained 2 pounds in the past month! Her rolls are getting more and more pronounced! They're just adorable! She still hasn't accomplished the whole rolling over thing. She makes it to her side and then gets really frustrated when she can't make it the rest of  the way. Maybe she'll accomplish the feat this month!

This was her last day in 0-3 month clothing, and believe me, it was a tight fit. She's officially moved into 3-6  month clothing. She needs something bigger to house all her rolls. I'm in the process of changing out her clothes once again. It makes me sad to pack away all of her little clothes. She's getting bigger and bigger.

Bug has started "talking" to us and having conversations! It's the best thing ever! I love hearing her talk and seeing her smile when we respond to her.

She loves her fingers and looking at herself in the mirror. She's also started drooling tons and tons. We've had to bring out the bibs so her clothes don't get completely soaked. I'm hoping it's still too soon for her to be cutting teeth! I'm not ready to go through that just yet...

The hubs and I went on our first date without baby this past month. Bibi and Papí watched Bug for us. The hubs had the night all planned out. He surprised me with tickets to go and see Mary Poppins at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! It was a wonderful night, but I was happy to see Bug by the end. And smart man took me to a theatre where I could text my mom every few minutes to see how she was doing.

She's always playing with her hands now! I love the way she holds them together. 

She's officially in her crib and sleeping great (for the most part...we won't count last night).

Dear Bug, 

You are such a joy! Such a gift! I thank God every day for blessing us with you. You're learning up a storm these days and even mimicking our facial expressions! We love you so much Bug. We're a family because of you. Every month there's something new you've discovered and it's so much fun seeing the joy on your face as you discover it. You're ready to take the world on, but please slow down just a smidgen. Your daddy and I want to cherish every moment we have with you and we don't want you to grow up too fast!

Gitchee gitchee goo!

Mommy and Daddy

Comparisons

Just a little comparison for your Wednesday.

3 month update on the blog tomorrow!

You Are Beautiful

Dove's new ad

Polluted by the World

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27 NIVUK

I typically stray away from "heavy" posts. I don't like to get caught up in all the political hullabaloo, or in weighty religious topics. I speak my mind and leave it at that. I don't want to throw my beliefs at you or the next the person that comes along.

But this is where I draw the line. 

From here on out I'm going to be blunt. I'm going to be honest. I'm going to speak my peace on a topic that is very important to me. If you don't want to read my opinion, then I suggest you stop here. I'll go ahead and apologize for not being sorry that I wrote this. I will not apologize for something I so strongly believe in.

I hope many of you have heard of this man: Kermit Gosnell. But I'm afraid many of you have not. Who is this man? This man is on trial for 8 counts of murder and infanticide. 

You see, this man ran an abortion clinic. I'll go ahead and tell you that I am 100% pro-life, so already what this guy does for a living does not sit well in my boat. But what he did in his clinic makes me hurt. 

According to the grand jury report:

"This case is about a doctor who killed babies and endangered women. What we 

mean is that he regularly and illegally delivered live, viable, babies in the third trimester 

of pregnancy – and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with 

scissors. The medical practice by which he carried out this business was a filthy fraud in 

which he overdosed his patients with dangerous drugs, spread venereal disease among 

them with infected instruments, perforated their wombs and bowels – and, on at least two 

occasions, caused their deaths. Over the years, many people came to know that 

something was going on here. But no one put a stop to it."

Let me repeat this:

He regularly and illegally delivered live, viable, babies. He murdered them by severing their spine with scissors! The thought disgusts me. It horrifies me. It makes me sick.

But most of you haven't heard about this man. Why? Why has the media kept this from airing? Is it because the subject of abortion is already so taboo that we don't want to interrupt our agendas by talking about it? Are we afraid it will ruin the pretty picture we're trying to paint? Or is it because, deep down, we all know what abortion really is, and this will only bring it to light?

I know that it is only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ that I am saved. My sins are no less than this mans sins. But still, I am mad. I am upset. People knew what was going on and they did nothing. They turned a blind eye to the things this man was doing. And this makes me mad. 

But more than that, it makes me hurt. I hurt for those babies that came traumatically into this life and then were just as traumatically taken out of it. I hurt for the women who had to endure such horrific procedures with incompetent staff and "medical" professionals. I hurt for their loved ones who went with them during this process. I hurt for the employees who had to endure what was going on there. And most of all, I hurt for the man who thought this was okay for him to do. 

Has our world become so jaded?

Right now the LORD is working hard in me. I have a fire in me that I haven't felt in a long time. There is something that I have in my heart that I want to let out...I don't know how quite yet, but I'm praying that He will guide me in this.

First time I held my newborn daughter. A moment I will never forget.

**Let me state, that just because I'm pro-life does not mean that I hate anyone and everyone that has ever had an abortion. In fact, it is just the opposite. I love and support you. And this is me being 100% honest.**

Let the Renovations Begin...

We've officially started! Well, if you call buying paint samples and getting them on the siding starting, then we've started. 

Here is what our house looked like when we first bought it:

Those bushy things to the right of the picture are no longer there. We ripped them up last year and then we ran out of money...so nothings gone back there. It's still a work in progress. Also note this picture was taken in the winter time, so that's another reason for the dismal look.

Basically our house is an ugly green blob with this pinkish brown trim. I don't like it at all. So now we're painting!

Not the best picture, it's a cloudy/rainy day here.

Left side blue: Behr Mosaic Blue (siding color)

Top: Glidden Sunflower (door color)

Middle on top: Behr Misty Morn (porch color)

Middle on bottom: Glidden Pebble Grey (porch color)

Right side blue: Glidden Rich Navy (siding color)

We didn't pick out a trim color. I want it to match the new windows, which will be white, so we're waiting for those to be installed before we decide.

As of now, we've picked our siding color! We decided to go with the Glidden Rich Navy (but in Behr paint...nothing against Glidden, we just know Behr, so that's what we stick with). We were uncertain at first, the color seemed to be so light! But thankfully, it dried darker and in fact is the perfect color! Just what I was envisioning! The yellow door is also a thumbs up from us. I think it has the perfect pop. It's hard to tell now because I didn't do enough coats to show it's true color, but I know it's going to pop and I love that! I think everyone should have a brightly painted door. To me, it just says "Welcome"!

The hang up is with the color of the porch/deck. We're not going to paint it the same color as the siding, as is the case with the house now. We want something different. I want to go for a lighter shade of blue for a contrast. The hubs wants to go with either a slightly darker grey or a tan. I don't know how I feel about grey. I feel like it would be too dark and not welcoming.  I definitely don't like the idea of tan with a bright yellow door. Those colors just don't seem to go well together in my opinion. So we're going back to the HD to get two more paint samples. One of my choosing, and one of his. I tried compromising with a blue-grey, but he wasn't a fan. I guess we'll just have to see!

What do y'all think? Should we go lighter blue for the contrasting porch? Or should we go a slightly darker grey than what is pictured above?

the Cloth Diaper Adventures #3

The One Where I Wash My Diapers:

Step 1: Separate. 

Whenever I change Bug's diapers, I separate the insert and the cover and put them into the wet bag. Right now I don't bother with scraping the poo off because she is solely breastfed and it just rinses off in the wash. Which brings us to step 2...

Step 2: Rinse. 

I put all my diapers, inserts, and the wet bag all in the washing machine and set it on a complete cycle without soap with cold water. This gets all the mess off of the diapers.

Step 3: Wash.

I wash my diapers in hot water with a tablespoon of powder soap. No liquid soap used on these diapers. Side note: we don't use liquid on any of our clothes. Instead, we make our own laundry detergent and I use this as our diaper detergent.

Step 3: Rinse #2.

I re-rinse all of my diapers in cold water. This is to get any extra soap off of the diapers. 

Step 4: Dry.

I hang dry both covers and inserts. It typically takes anywhere from 12 hours to a day to dry. I'm hoping that will speed up once I get my outside clothesline up and going. Of course, it's April in Georgia which means major pollen everywhere, so I'm okay with not hanging my diapers outside...

Anyway, that's my diaper washing cycle. If anyone has any tips for when the poo changes that would be greatly appreciated!

The Quiet -- Also Known As: Alli Rambles

Bug is asleep. She actually didn't fight going to sleep tonight. Just a short bicker, but it was settled quickly. Now I'm sitting here, listening to the Braves game (Go Braves!) and looking for things for the house. 

Aren't these curtains from Target amazing?!

Is it crazy that I miss my girl right now? She's quietly sleeping in her crib just down the hallway, but I still miss her. I like her to be in my sight so I can just look over and we can share smiles. I know this is silly. I can't have her by my side 24/7 for her entire life...But I can't help but miss her when she's not with me. 

This whole being a mom thing is a new thing. A wonderful thing. It's during these quiet times that I can reflect on the wonderful thing that is being a mother (have I used the word thing too much?). I'm loving being a mother, especially a mom that gets to stay at home. I love getting to experience every day with my girl. Every day is a new day filled with new experiences for her. I love watching her discover new things. She is so close to finding her feet! I love seeing her face light up and hearing her coo. I even love her sad and pitiful faces! She seriously has the cutest sad face you've ever seen! And her pouty lip stretches for miles! It's just adorable. Then again, I am biased. 

I just love being a mommy and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Favorite Things: 2 Months Edition

1. Fisher Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym - This little play gym has kept Bug entertained for hours while I busy myself around the house cooking and cleaning (or updating this blog). The lights and sounds keep her mesmerized. Both of us just love this!

2. Skip Hop Bento Tote Diaper Bag - I personally love this bag! I can fit everything in it. Plus it's easy to tote around and it has a place for everything.

3 & 4. Lamaze Toys - Bug absolutely loves batting at these. I love the rings on #4. She swats at those and grabs at them and holds on for dear life. Plus they make noises as she hits them. She just goes to town with these, giggling and cooing. It's adorable!

5. Fisher Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker - This is a new toy for the Bug. She watched as her daddy put it together and her face just lit up when we put her in it. The first night we put her in it, she played so hard she fell asleep. It was adorable! Plus this is great to pull into the kitchen with me, so she can hang out while I cook and do dishes.

6. Alva Baby Diapers - I am loving our cloth diapers by Alva Baby!! They are so soft and adorable! I really just can't get enough of them! (I know I said there would be a post on how I care for my cloth diapers, and it's on the way!)

Bug's First Easter!

We dyed eggs with Bibi. 

Bug's Easter basket contained: bubbles, an outift + shoes, a sock monkey bunny, the Further Tales of Peter Rabbit, a rubber ducky, and her first "Bun Bun" made my me :)

Our first Easter as a family of three!

It was a crazy weekend. The hubs's family holds a sunrise service every Easter on the hill behind their house. We try and go every year. In fact, we've only missed one service the entire time we've been together and that was because we were moving. So I was religiously watching the weather to see what I needed to pack for Bug. Did I mention this was going to be her first time spending the night away from the house? I was a nervous wreck! So rain was predicted, but we were praying and crossing our fingers that everything would be okay. Otherwise, Bug and I would have to be camped out at the house while the hubs joined the family. 

So I packed everything up and we headed to the in-laws. It rained as we drove up there. Not a good sign. Thank goodness it stopped though, but not enough to have service up on the hill. It was too muddy to take the vehicles up there. So the service was moved to the arena across the street. That meant Bug and I could go! We got up before 6 and I prayed that she'd do alright. She had slept wonderfully that night, so I was hoping that it would bode for a good day. We got ready and made the trip across the street. I decided to wear her in the Infantino, and she fell right to sleep as we sang hims and watched the sunrise. It was absolutely precious to be holding my baby girl as we sang praises to God.

After the service, we joined everyone back at the house for breakfast. They were all anxious to meet the newest addition to the family. We ate a quick bite to eat and then had to run. We had to be back at our home church for the 9:30 service. So we changed and ran. Thankfully we were only a few minutes late. It was a wonderful service. We stayed for the 11 o'clock service to work with the kiddos. Then it was off to my parents' house for lunch and then the hubs's grandma's for dinner. 

It was wonderful to spend the day with family and friends. Bug was exhausted when we got home and ended up screaming crying herself to sleep. But in the end we had a wonderful Easter.

Happy (late) Easter everyone!