Eleven Months

The final countdown has started! There's only one month left before you are ONE YEAR OLD. When did this happen? Didn't I just bring you home from the hospital? Just thinking about those early days when you were a cuddly little helpless newborn makes me nostalgic. This time a year ago, I didnt know who you were (boy? girl? Isaac? Natalie?) or what you'd be like. Here we are almost a year later and I never dreamed you'd be my sweet, funny, talkative, stubborn, wiggly, hungry little boy, but you have fit so perfectly into our little family. Your dada and I are so thankful for you, Mr. Isaac.

You're eleven months old!

For every great photo, there are about 99 outtakes. 

I'm pretty certain that this past month has been my favorite so far. You have been an absolute joy. You are definitely living up to your name. Our days are filled with squeals and laughter and you're --almost-- always in a good mood. And you are constantly chattering; your vocabulary is slowly expanding and we've heard you say Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck, Uh-oh, and Ball. You'll wakeup in the morning, immediately start talking and sometimes don't stop until you've finally passed out either for a nap or bedtime. It's funny to see your little personality come out. Surprisingly, you've had some issues with separation anxiety in the last few weeks, which is so atypical of your easy-going self. I know it's just one of those baby phases, and secretly, I really enjoy being the center of your little world.

This is what typically happens when the camera comes out. 

You're still eating everything we throw at you, which has made life so much simpler. The only things that you are not interested in eating are cheerios and puffs. I mean, what kind of kid are you? Cheerios and puffs? Aren't those kid staples? I guess in the grand scheme of things, those are an easy trade out for a kid who'll eat anything else. You've been nursing 3 times a day for a while now, and starting today, I'm subbing in a bottle of frozen milk for that middle feeding. I'm hoping to be d.o.n.e. with breastfeeding here very soon. It's been a wonderful journey over the past 11 months, but I was never interested in nursing beyond your birthday. Fingers crossed for a smooth weaning process.

You still aren't crawling or walking, but it seems so close that I wake up each morning thinking you'll just pop up and get moving. You still barrel roll to whatever you're interested in, but you also can pivot, scoot,  slide, and go from laying to sitting and sitting to laying. Locomotion is definitely happening, just not in the "traditional" hands and knees crawling to pulling up to walking. Because I'm a nervous mama, we took a trip to the chiropractor this month just to make sure you don't have any major or minor joint problems that are keeping you from moving. With some poking, prodding, and adjusting, we came to find out that you are 100% A-OK. I was relieved to hear this, but of course am still worried about your lack of interest in doing anything other than rolling. I guess you really will get up and move when you're ready.

You're fitting into 12-18 month clothes and are between sizes 3 and 4 in diapers. You've been wearing 4's to bed, but as soon as the current box of 3's is gone, it's 4's all the way. I'm not sure where you are on height/weight this month, but we'll see Dr. Canales next month and get all your stats then. Hopefully you won't see her before then! You're still napping twice per day (but some days are more successful than others) and sleeping 7pm-ish to around 7am-ish.

My little Isaac, I adore you. You are the coolest kid I know and I am so thankful to be your mama. Each day I pray that I can be the mama you need and that you'll grow up to be a great man of God. It feels like we are on the edge of a new chapter and I'm so excited to see you grow and change.

Twinkies

Just in case anyone was wondering who Isaac resembles, check these photos out:

(Here's a hint: That's not Jordan in the Easter dress & bonnet.) #mylittledopplegänger

It was a whirlwind kinda weekend. But this is the take home: I went out of town overnight without Isaac for the first time. Cue the gasps and tears. Driving away from the house on Friday morning, I kind of felt like vomiting, but I eventually got to the point where I could function without him and even had fun! Even though the weekend was all about saying goodbye to one of my dearest friends before she moves across the country, we had a really good time together. Many apologies to my friends up in the metroplex who I didn't get a chance to see. It was a superquicktrip, but it was just what this momma needed to recharge (woohoooooo for sleeping in!), reconnect (sweet time with friends), and add some new pretties to my closet. #southlakeftw

Being away from my child for a weekend did nothing for my "mom brain." In fact, being consistently preoccupied thinking about how he's doing and what he's up to may have made me even more scatterbrained than usual. Need proof? I left all of my toiletries in the shower of the hotel that I stayed in. Shampoo. Conditioner. Face wash. Clairisonic. There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth when I unpacked my overnight bag this morning and realized that ALL of my shower stuff was still residing in the shower at the Hampton Inn. What's even better? I finally got around to buying a 2-pack  of brushes for my clarisonic this weekend. That's a big fat smack right in the middle of my forehead. Luckily, I got friends in low places who dropped by the Hampton Inn and grabbed my Clarisonic. Depending on the speediness of the US Postal Service, I should have polished skin again soon. #suchadummy

Anyone who knows me knows i've been floundering around trying different stylists basically since we've moved to south texas. For two years, I drove back to north Texas and had my hair done in Mansfield. Unfortunately, aintnobodygottimeforthat anymore. I definitely didn't have time to go this weekend, but fingers are crossed that stylist attempt #5 is a success. Because when you're rocking the ombre look, but it's unintentional.... it's time to get your hair done. #rootsyall.

#theend.

Countless

For the last week, I have been seriously jamming to the Rend Collective Experiment album, Campfire. It's pretty fantastic and I'd give it two moderately enthusiastic thumbs up, so go & check it out if you get a chance. While you're investigating the music, take a second to read up about the band as well. Their story is pretty neat and the heart of their work is pure worship.

One of the songs on the album is haunting me in the best way possible. I find myself yearning to listen to it on repeat if only to savor it to the fullest potential. Maybe before you go any further, you should play the video embedded at the bottom of this post, so you can hear it too as you read along. As simplistic as the message is, a melody about forgiveness, I can't help repeating the words over and over again in my mind. It speaks to my heart, reminding me of the extravagant grace that is lavished upon me. Grace can often be scandalous, but God is always good. Wounds inflicted by others are healed. The guilt I hold over my own shortcomings is quieted. Patience is strengthened and renewed.

Did you catch that? Go back and read it again. I'll give you a minute.



If you didn't go back, here it is a second time:

Countless second chances we've been given at the cross.

Not one chance. Not a few chances. Countless. As in, I've-lost-track-of-how-many-times-i've-screwed-up-and-its-only-wednesday... but I get another chance. There's freedom and joy to be found here. Realizing how many times I've been forgiven, the cost of forgiveness, the unending grace makes me appreciative to the point of heart change. And heart change is the point of all this, isn't it? I find that I walk a little taller because in the moment, I've forgiven myself for my own shortcomings. Smiles are a little brighter and more earnest because I'm reminded I need forgiveness as much as the person next to me. Oh, how great is the grace handed down so freely to me.

So if you're reading this, why not make this song your heart's cry today?

"And you, who were dead in your trespasses...God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all of our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

Have you lost your temper recently and yelled unintentionally at your child? [raises hand] In feeling unloved have you been unkind toward your husband? [raises hand] Are you battling your own expectations, convinced you'll never be good enough? [get the picture yet?] Allowing myself to let go of my own failures is often harder for me than forgiving other people for wronging me. The guilt and the comparison and the ugly seeps in and can be a beast to shake off. And yet,

Countless second chances we've been given at the cross.

Has someone hurt you deeply with hateful words or heartless actions? There's nothing easy about letting go of grudges, especially when the pain is personal. Leaving justice in the hands of the Father and choosing not to condemn the people who have wronged me often requires more grace than I'm willing to part with. And yet,

Countless second chances we've been given at the cross.

From Chaos to cluttered to clean

It's been a month (well, 4 weeks to be exact) since Jordan & I started on our daily cleaning household chores list and while my excitement over actually doing each task is waning, my exuberance over the finished product is still going strong.

In other words: I still hate doing laundry, but I adore having clean clothes all the time. No more living out of laundry baskets, wearing the least wrinkled item, digging around for that one blasted cream-colored cami that will only go with my cream lace top, but where can it be, I've looked in every possible corner of 2 overflowing baskets, 2 drawers, and through the dirty pile of clothes on the floor. {deep breath}

It's been good.

As it turns out, I don't even need to straighten for an allotted 15 minutes each day. Chances are good that I put things away when I'm finished, which leaves very little to pick up, so it happens throughout the day instead of in a 15 minute block. The timer approach was great in the first week to get things rolling, but shortly, I was finding myself organizing jewelry and lining up my shoes for 15 minutes because everything was already in its place. Interestingly enough, my clean-it-up-ness might be spilling over into work as well. On Saturday, I spent 15 minutes of my morning throwing away paper, shelving charts, returning angiocaths and saline flushes to their rightful place and wiping down counters.

I'm having a harder time with the meal prep part of our weekly chores. A month into things and I am having just as much of a writer's block with nightly dinners as I am here on the blog. I'd like to see where we are financially after finishing this month of eating at home almost every meal and only buying the groceries we actually need. Well and a few bags of skittles.

In the last month, I've also gotten back out to the pavement once again and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting my running groove back. It only took 9 months, but at least I'm putting some miles on my sneakers again. I'm looking forward to cooler days on the horizon to really increase mileage and speed without feeling like I'm having a heatstroke. Increasing my mileage will be a big deal soon.... because it looks like I'm doing another half marathon.

Yeah, you read that right.

By the end of the month, I'll be scratching the surface of a training plan that will hopefully prepare me for the Dallas Half Marathon on December 8. More details to come.

Call me crazy.

Photo Dump

I'm still majorly stuck in an ugly writer's block over here, so to pass the time, here's what we've been up to recently:

Early Morning Breakfast: Sleepy Eyes, Bananas, and cowlicks

We got a visit from the cousins (minus the littlest cousin) before they went back to school.

Teething (I think??) = not one day in the Ergo....

...or two days...

but three afternoons fighting Isaac's afternoon fuss-fest by hanging out in the Ergo

Yo Quiero Mexican Food.