...but most days, it is REALLY HARD!
Friday was one of the hardest days I've been through since becoming a mom. Around lunch time, I couldn't handle it anymore and I just had to get out of the house. It's not like anything really terrible had happened. It was just a rough morning overall- she was irritable, screamed when I dropped her off at childcare for Jazzercise, and then only took a very short nap when we got home, waking up fussy. When combined with four previous days of the exact same behavior, the fact that my house looked like a war zone, feeling very lonely/isolated, and some big decisions looming, I think I had just finally had all I could handle. We loaded up the car and headed out the door. The destination was unknown, but anywhere would be an improvement over where we were.
After a visit to Daddy's work (where he gave me a few minutes break to eat a sandwich in peace,) we headed to our neighborhood park for the first time. Emily had tons of fun swinging, climbing the stairs, and sliding. Cue rainstorm, which caused us to leave the park, inducing an epic meltdown. From Emily, not me, although it probably wasn't too far off. We were home in about five minutes (five minutes of screaming bloody murder) where I then gave Emily a couple minutes to calm down and then put her in bed (where she stood at the crib rail for an hour and a half without sleeping a wink.)
In the two minutes that it took me to put Emily down, Maggie the Weiner Dog got into a tube of Desitin that had fallen off the changing table. She didn't eat much, so I wasn't concerned. I decided to sit down and rest for about five minutes before tackling the house cleaning. About five minutes after I sat, Maggie started throwing up. All over me, the chair, ottoman, rug, everywhere. I put her in her cage where she continued to throw up. After a quick Google search, I realized she wouldn't die, so I didn't worry about taking her to the vet. I called Lucas with an SOS and since he was planning to leave early anyway, he headed home. Thankfully, Emily already had a slumber party planned with Mimi and Papa that night and we had a night on our own to regroup.
When we decided that I would stay home, I never imagined it would be as hard as it's been. Although there are days that are a breeze, and I feel totally spoiled, the times when it is hard totally make up for those easy days. This past month has been especially hard and it has gotten progressively worse. It started with molars coming in, but I just don't think I can use the molar excuse anymore. Our little girl has found her personality and she is the quintessential strong willed child. I am VERY thankful for this. I believe that strong-willed children turn out to be great adults. It's just a little rough right now. Honestly, the last two two days have been much better. She has started napping again and I think that makes all the difference.
I was so discouraged Friday and so I just thought I would take a moment to blog about it. If you're a mom feeling discouraged, just know that it will get better!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
How Great is Our God
On August 19, 2011, just a few hours after Emily was born and all of the family had gone, I held my daughter and sang over her for the first time. It was a holy moment, one I will never forget. In preparation for the arrival of our sweet girl, I purchased an album called Sing Over Me, a compilation of worship songs and lullabies by several leading female worship artists. This album found its way into my hospital bag and was the background for some of our first alone time together as our new little family of three. As the song "How Great is Our God" came on, I began to sing, overwhelmed of the song's truth as I looked at her precious little face.
On August 19th, 2012, I found myself back in a place I never again thought I would be- at least not for more than a Sunday visit here or there. As I stood among the worshipers at the South Mac Church, the church I was born into, the worship leader began to play "How Great is Our God." Again, I felt the overwhelming truth as I held my daughter on her first birthday and remembered that amazing feeling of singing over her for the first time, exactly one year before. I know it was a sweet message from God that he sees me, knows me, loves me, and cares for me in a way that just a few hours previously was unfathomable.
After tonight's bedtime routine- bottle, Bible story, prayer, and songs, I wasn't ready to put sweet Emily down yet. The past few weeks have been harder than normal with multiple molars coming in, a transition from crawling to walking, a shifting nap schedule, and a baby who REALLY wants to communicate with us, but just hasn't found the words yet. With all the daytime craziness, the serenity and predictability of the bedtime routine is comforting, both to me and to her. Tonight she snuggled just a bit closer than normal and with her arms up around my shoulders, patted me so sweetly. Of course, the song that immediately came to mind was "How Great is Our God," so I began to sing. As I came to the chorus, my sweet angel joined in. It's something she's been doing often in the past week or so, but tonight was the first time I had sung her this song since she has found her "singing voice." It was a precious gift and again, one that I will not forget. The first time for us to sing our special song together.
Thank you, Jesus, for reminding me again of how much you love me. I am so unworthy, but forever grateful.
On August 19th, 2012, I found myself back in a place I never again thought I would be- at least not for more than a Sunday visit here or there. As I stood among the worshipers at the South Mac Church, the church I was born into, the worship leader began to play "How Great is Our God." Again, I felt the overwhelming truth as I held my daughter on her first birthday and remembered that amazing feeling of singing over her for the first time, exactly one year before. I know it was a sweet message from God that he sees me, knows me, loves me, and cares for me in a way that just a few hours previously was unfathomable.
After tonight's bedtime routine- bottle, Bible story, prayer, and songs, I wasn't ready to put sweet Emily down yet. The past few weeks have been harder than normal with multiple molars coming in, a transition from crawling to walking, a shifting nap schedule, and a baby who REALLY wants to communicate with us, but just hasn't found the words yet. With all the daytime craziness, the serenity and predictability of the bedtime routine is comforting, both to me and to her. Tonight she snuggled just a bit closer than normal and with her arms up around my shoulders, patted me so sweetly. Of course, the song that immediately came to mind was "How Great is Our God," so I began to sing. As I came to the chorus, my sweet angel joined in. It's something she's been doing often in the past week or so, but tonight was the first time I had sung her this song since she has found her "singing voice." It was a precious gift and again, one that I will not forget. The first time for us to sing our special song together.
Thank you, Jesus, for reminding me again of how much you love me. I am so unworthy, but forever grateful.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Emily is walking!
Our sweet little girl has been on the verge of walking for a couple of months now. We've been sure that she would just take off any day. And two months later, here she is! She still isn't a "walker" (although technically she is- hardee har har,) but we are definitely getting there! This video is footage of her walking across the kitchen for the third time within about five minutes.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Update
It's been such a busy summer and I haven't been great about keeping the blog up to date. Confession: (If you follow me regularly or via Google Reader, you already know this) I am very guilty of writing blog posts a week, two weeks, or even a month late and then back-dating them so it looks like I did it on time. I don't do this to look like I have it all together (because trust me, I don't,) but so that our family scrapbook- AKA the blog- keeps some kind of semblance of order.
Now that summer is over, I am making an effort to get even more organized and polish our schedule a bit. We've always been pretty structured with Emily's naptime/bedtime schedules, but I'm trying to be more disciplined for myself about going to bed on time, getting up early, and doing my best to be productive during the times Emily is asleep. Because really, there's no other way to survive life as a stay-at-home mom/household manager/domestic engineer/housewife. After Emily's birthday party, I experienced that first hand. Staying up entirely too late every night for a couple of weeks, working out for an hour every weekday morning, and chasing an emerging toddler around for ten hours a day really took its toll on me. I didn't have a choice to do anything but push through, but it was a hard two weeks. I've finally caught up on my sleep and have been more consistent with vitamins and am finally feeling good again! Now that I'm back and better than ever, it's time to get intentional about my new career.
Speaking of new careers, things have been CRAZY around the Takala household lately. August was just a month of all kinds of exciting goings-on. You already know about the birthday party, but on top of that, we had a couple other great/crazy opportunities come up. It's not at all a stretch for me to say that never in a million years would I ever think that I'd be doing either one of these things. Lit-rally.
Back in July we were introduced to AdvoCare and after completing the 24 Day Challenge and losing a combined 30 lbs and 16.5 inches, we decided to take the plunge and become AdvoCare Advisors and Independent Distributors. If you've known me for awhile, you may remember the whole Arbonne debacle back around 2005ish. It was a bad experience with direct sales/multi-level marketing and I swore I'd never do it again. However, I left this decision up to my husband who is VERY level-headed, money-minded, and just a bit cynical. If he was for it, I knew there was something to it. Our new AdvoCare business just seems to be a better situation all-around. We've already made more money than I ever saw in the other business and the products are helping us to live a much healthier lifestyle. We're making money, which is a great bonus, but our initial intentions with AdvoCare were just to get a discount on the amazing products. If we make money, great. It's hard not to make money, though, when people see how great the products are. We do want to build a business because of the great team we are on, but opportunity number two has kind of placed that one on hold for a bit.
So what is opportunity number two? Well, at the beginning of August, Lucas and I were asked to come on board as worship leaders at South Mac Arthur Church of Christ, the church I grew up at. (That sentence may be confusing to some of you if you know anything about the Church of Christ.) Although I resisted at first, it's easy to see now that Lord's hand in it. We left The Branch in the Spring and were THIS close to placing membership at a church in Colleyville when we were approached by the pastors at South Mac to come join them in their new venture. The church made the transition from a cappella worship to instrumental worship in January with Joseph, the youth minister, playing guitar and leading worship. (Don't worry...there is still one a cappella service, so we may still get to Heaven by association. I kid, I kid.) This summer, they finally decided it was time to build up the band a bit by adding keys and a female vocalist, which is where we come in. We have been able to relieve Joseph a bit by planning the worship sets each week and running rehearsals, but he still plays guitar and sings lead. We've only been leading for two weeks now, but it has already been such a blessing to us. While we were hesitant before coming on, any reservations we had based on past experiences have totally been put to rest.
Opportunity number three was presented in August as well, but that's on hold for now. Updates on that one may be coming, too. (And no, there's no baby number two on the horizon for those whose minds IMMEDIATELY go there. :))
It's wonderful to be at home with Emily as Autumn approaches. God is good and life is good, too. We are thankful and blessed.
Now that summer is over, I am making an effort to get even more organized and polish our schedule a bit. We've always been pretty structured with Emily's naptime/bedtime schedules, but I'm trying to be more disciplined for myself about going to bed on time, getting up early, and doing my best to be productive during the times Emily is asleep. Because really, there's no other way to survive life as a stay-at-home mom/household manager/domestic engineer/housewife. After Emily's birthday party, I experienced that first hand. Staying up entirely too late every night for a couple of weeks, working out for an hour every weekday morning, and chasing an emerging toddler around for ten hours a day really took its toll on me. I didn't have a choice to do anything but push through, but it was a hard two weeks. I've finally caught up on my sleep and have been more consistent with vitamins and am finally feeling good again! Now that I'm back and better than ever, it's time to get intentional about my new career.
Speaking of new careers, things have been CRAZY around the Takala household lately. August was just a month of all kinds of exciting goings-on. You already know about the birthday party, but on top of that, we had a couple other great/crazy opportunities come up. It's not at all a stretch for me to say that never in a million years would I ever think that I'd be doing either one of these things. Lit-rally.
Back in July we were introduced to AdvoCare and after completing the 24 Day Challenge and losing a combined 30 lbs and 16.5 inches, we decided to take the plunge and become AdvoCare Advisors and Independent Distributors. If you've known me for awhile, you may remember the whole Arbonne debacle back around 2005ish. It was a bad experience with direct sales/multi-level marketing and I swore I'd never do it again. However, I left this decision up to my husband who is VERY level-headed, money-minded, and just a bit cynical. If he was for it, I knew there was something to it. Our new AdvoCare business just seems to be a better situation all-around. We've already made more money than I ever saw in the other business and the products are helping us to live a much healthier lifestyle. We're making money, which is a great bonus, but our initial intentions with AdvoCare were just to get a discount on the amazing products. If we make money, great. It's hard not to make money, though, when people see how great the products are. We do want to build a business because of the great team we are on, but opportunity number two has kind of placed that one on hold for a bit.
So what is opportunity number two? Well, at the beginning of August, Lucas and I were asked to come on board as worship leaders at South Mac Arthur Church of Christ, the church I grew up at. (That sentence may be confusing to some of you if you know anything about the Church of Christ.) Although I resisted at first, it's easy to see now that Lord's hand in it. We left The Branch in the Spring and were THIS close to placing membership at a church in Colleyville when we were approached by the pastors at South Mac to come join them in their new venture. The church made the transition from a cappella worship to instrumental worship in January with Joseph, the youth minister, playing guitar and leading worship. (Don't worry...there is still one a cappella service, so we may still get to Heaven by association. I kid, I kid.) This summer, they finally decided it was time to build up the band a bit by adding keys and a female vocalist, which is where we come in. We have been able to relieve Joseph a bit by planning the worship sets each week and running rehearsals, but he still plays guitar and sings lead. We've only been leading for two weeks now, but it has already been such a blessing to us. While we were hesitant before coming on, any reservations we had based on past experiences have totally been put to rest.
Opportunity number three was presented in August as well, but that's on hold for now. Updates on that one may be coming, too. (And no, there's no baby number two on the horizon for those whose minds IMMEDIATELY go there. :))
It's wonderful to be at home with Emily as Autumn approaches. God is good and life is good, too. We are thankful and blessed.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
One Year Old!
- Walking- Emily has officially begun taking steps. She still isn't all over the place walking, but she can walk. Mostly, she just takes three or four steps and then sits down. Her crazy height makes it a bit harder for her to balance. It's so much faster and easier for her to crawl that she isn't very interested in walking on her own. If we hold her hand, though, she loves to walk. It won't be long and she'll be running, so I'm not pushing the walking!
- Clapping- Emily also began clapping on her own this month. It is so cute! When we clap for her, she also starts clapping for herself. You can see how proud she is.
- Eating- This month Emily has discovered green beans and she LOVES them. She could eat a whole can at once. She also finally decided that she likes mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Both of these she has balked at on multiple occasions in the past, but now she is a big fan.
- Sick again- Just a little cold this time, but she gave it to mommy and daddy. Thanks, sweetie!
- Jazzercise friends- Emily goes to babysitting at Jazzercise every day and she is making some sweet little friends. Most of them are older and they all just love her. They all crowd around her when we get there and call her by name as we leave. So super sweet.
- Peek-a-boo- She loves to play Peek-a-boo and Where's Emily? We've been doing it for awhile, but she has finally started initiating the game herself this month.
- Words- Her main words are still Mama, Dada, ball, and hi. She says Hi ALL THE TIME. She loves it! She says ba and da as well to mean alot of different things.
- Kisses- Emily has started giving kisses this week and it is the sweetest thing ever. Right smack on the lips.
And of course...Emily's many faces.
Emily Elizabeth,
Every day you amaze us with your sweetness, your brightness, and your precious personality. You are independent, strong willed, loving, beautiful, and you were made especially for us by God! We have loved every single moment of our first year together. You will never know how much we love you...until you have your own little girl! We pray for you every day that you will grow up to be healthy and strong and that you will live a long, happy life at the center of God's will for your life. We pray that the Lord will use you to do great and mighty things for him. Selfishly, I pray that God will give you the amazing gift of music and that you will lead people in worship to him, but I know that whatever gifting the Lord gives you will be amazing and we will always be so proud of you. We love you so much, baby girl. Happy Birthday!
We somehow didn't manage to take any good pictures this past month, so these are all from my phone. Oh well!
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| Trying to squeeze around the changing table barricade to get to the stairs. I have since purchased more gates. :) |
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| Playing in the laundry basket |
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| Getting an early start on AdvoCare |
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| Green beans! |
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| She loves her daddy! |
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| About to get in trouble |
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| And again...sitting on the fireplace. |
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| Little puppy girl |
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| Birthday invitation photoshoot |
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Emily's Berry First Birthday Party
Today marked the culmination of roughly nine months of dreaming and a solid two months of planning a very important event...Emily's Berry First Birthday Party! While I'm sure it sounds ridiculous to put that much planning into a birthday party for a one year-old, it was worth every single moment. This little party was such a labor of love, down to every little detail. I spent hours of time planning decorations, handmaking the majority of them. Each part of the party was thought about probably too much, and while I budgeted myself pretty well, choosing to do much myself rather than purchasing ready made, too much money was probably spent. Regardless, I am so glad I did it and would (and will) do it again in a heartbeat. Emily had a FABULOUS time and so did all of our sweet friends and family who came to celebrate. I will never forget what a wonderful time we had together celebrating our sweet, perfect little one year-old princess, Emily Elizabeth.
Can't wait for birthday number two!
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| Emily's Berry Sweet Invitation |
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| Back of Invitation- Month by Month |
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| Pictures from Invitation Photoshoot |
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| Birthday Girl |
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| The Front Porch |
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| Some inside decor and party favors (picture taken after party was over and most favors were gone...oops!) |
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| The Food Table |
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| More Food- A simple, but yummy menu |
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| Party Guests |
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| Opening Gifts |
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| Dessert table |
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| The CAKE! |
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Swimming Lessons
This summer, Emily and I took Mom and Tot swimming lessons together with S&A Swimming. It was very special not only because it was a fun time together, but also because I took lessons from the same people when I was a little girl. Such fun memories! Emily did great, especially to be the youngest in the class, and we are excited to take lessons again next summer!
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