toddler trouble

There it is, Madeline's first art project (above)

 "Hey mom, did you know these toys you keep giving me OPEN!? Pretty cool, right?"

 "why did you take my fun brush, mom...?"

 "I just loved playing with it so much!"

Madeline's favorite toy for the past few months has been my mascara.  She enjoys carrying it around the house and banging it on different surfaces.  I don't think she (or I) had any idea until this morning that the colorful cylinders she adores so much are also fun for art projects!  

The ironic thing is that right before I made the discovery of the toddler trouble I was thinking to myself, "How nice that she's learning to quietly entertain herself."  Lesson learned.  

Happy Monday!  I've got to go wash a door and make a trip to the store for some new mascara.

p.s. sorry for the horrible flash in these pictures.  The lighting in our house is horrible especially on overcast days so flash it is.... Someday we'll have a house with big windows and natural light streaming in from all directions... :)

ten eleven twelve

{All photos taken by Matt Shumate}

Yesterday was October 11, 2012.  10-11-12.  Yesterday was the day I wanted to get married.  When Jeremy and I first started dating, we knew almost right away that this could be (and probably was) it.  I told him that I thought (if all worked out) we should get married on 10-11-12.  Because, come on! What a cool anniversary! Plus I'd be twenty by then and who doesn't love October? Jeremy thought I was crazy.

When that date got crossed off, we decided together that June 17, 2011 was a good date.  We had our first date and our first kiss on a '17th' so we thought it would be kind of clever to get married on one.  And June just says, "wedding", to me.  We celebrated our "pre-anniversary" on June 17, 2010 just days after I graduated from high school.  But we still weren't officially engaged.

Well, guess what.  We didn't wait til 10-11-12.  We didn't even wait for 6-17-11.  A month after our pre-anniversary we were engaged and chose 12-18-10 instead.  I'm so glad we did.  We got to the point that we knew we wanted to be together.  We knew we wanted it to be forever.  So why wait? I am eternally grateful for Jeremy knowing I was crazy (and still wanting to marry me).  I can't imagine my life without him. It hurts to try, so I don't.  I can't imagine having waited and not having Madeline in our family.

So even though pinterest wasn't invented before we got married and even though I didn't get my dream spring/summer/fall...not winter wedding it still turned out pretty beautiful. God has a way of making everything turn out perfectly.  

Most importantly, we were Sealed for time and all eternity. And no number combination can beat that.

p.s. Now we have like three anniversaries and it's kind of awesome.  Just sayin'.

p.p.s. How we celebrated our first anniversary.

my baby

   

She's growing up.  

It's a bitter sweet feeling that I really didn't anticipate.  Each day my heart finds itself conflicted.  I long for her to be my little baby.  I've loved that she needs me and depends on me. Loved that there are certain things only I can offer her. And yet I want her to learn, grow and be who God intended her to be.  It's amazing watching her take in the world and try new things. I just didn't realize how hard it would be to let go of basinets and binkys.

Our nightly ritual of nursing before bedtime is becoming more and more difficult.  She wants to nurse but seems to think she's too big to be cradled or hold still long enough to accomplish anything.  It feels like this is the last piece of her babyhood I have and it's slipping through my fingers.  She's really more of a toddler these days.  Talking and walking almost more than she crawls.  

Nobody warns you that once you figure out the whole being-the-mother-of-a-baby thing you'll have to let your baby keep going.  No one said, "Hey, just a heads up, it's gonna be hard to let her grow out of babyhood." I know even better things are ahead for both of us, but I sure loved that skinny little baby.

So here I stand at the cross-roads of babies and toddlers wondering where time has gone.  Hoping she won't be a teenager tomorrow and getting married in two weeks.  Wishing she'd slow down just a little so I can catch my breath.  Praying I'll be at peace when I nurse her for the last time.  And fighting back tears just thinking about it. 

swim diapers

 When you need one {ie hotel swimming pool} you probably won't have one.  But the other 99% of the time there always seems to be one laying around.  Which often results in using them as a fashion statement in an unexpected way.

p.s. You can add cracker to the list of words Madeline says.  If you count "ka kah" as cracker - which we do.  

autumn flowers

You can often find a smile on my face these days.  First of all, how can you not smile with the changing of the seasons.  There's a wonderful crisp feeling in the air, the leaves are adopting warm and welcoming colors and I have beautiful autumn flowers sitting on my windowsill thanks to the most wonderful hubby I could ever ask for.  

Can we talk about him for a minute?  He is the best.  He has spent the past seven days studying his brains out for a week full of exams with the culminating test being the day after Conference weekend. We've talked a lot about studying and in particular how it fits in with keeping the Sabbath day holy.  Before the semester started we decided that regardless of Jeremy's schedule he would choose not to study on Sundays.  We had no idea how hard this would be.  Especially this past Sunday when he had one of the hardest tests of the semester on Monday and he'd spent most of Saturday ''being in church''.  Saturday night he was far from ready.  But he made the choice to put the Lord first and he blessed for it.  He got a 94% on this test he was just hoping to pass.

I am so grateful to this wonderful man I get to call my husband for being the leader of our home, helping us follow the Lord and setting such a great example for me.  And on top of all that, the man surprises me with flowers from time to time.  Life is good.

city girl

I always thought it would  be fun to be a city girl.  I'm not what you'd call a country girl, I don't do the horse thing, but I've definitely spent more time in the country than the city.  For the last few weeks I've realized more and more that I am not a naturally born city girl.  I'm not wild about the noise, parking sucks and I haven't had a breath of fresh air in what feels like forever.  But every once in a while I have a city moment helps me realize I can be a city girl for a few years.  This morning gave me one of those moments.  It was just a jog through the park with a spectacular view of the city.  And so for at least four years, here I am, a city girl.

Of course this little bundle of joy is and always will be my favorite view :)

Welcome October

{via}

There's been an added crispness in the air the past few days.  Madeline woke up with cold toes this morning which means we'll have to start turning on the heat at night. I'm hoping fall is really on it's way.  I don't think I've been as excited as I am this year for fall.  I'm so much more grateful for the cooler weather that sends the humidity away.  There is also much anticipation for fall leaves, this year.  There's not a whole lot of Autumn color in the North West.  There's a reason they call Washington the Evergreen state.  

{via}

We're excited for apple picking, pumpkin carving, haunted houses, trick-or-treating, cozy, new recipes to try and, of course, the anticipation of Christmas.  We're going home this year and oh boy are we excited! Most of all, though, I'm looking forward to sticking Madeline in a pumpkin. Here's my fall bucket list from last year.  It's pretty much the same this year, other than having a baby... :)

Thank you October for all of your wonderful festivities.  

Hope you stay around for a month, or so.

she really is a little einstein

Remember this post? Turns out we really do have a little genius on our hands.  A few months ago I thought she was learning stuff quickly but the learning is speeding faster and faster and I am just overwhelmed by how quickly our little girl is growing up.  Do I have baby fever right now?  Yes.  (For the record I'm not pregnant).

One of her favorite little "tricks" lately has been the position you see above and below.  She loves when I surprise her by looking between her legs and saying, "BOO!"  As you probably noticed in this video, she loves playing peek-a-boo.

Not only did she start walking yesterday, her vocabulary decided to blossom today.  She's been saying, "bye bye" (pronounced 'buh buh') for weeks now but that's all she's really said.  Today she decided she'd add a couple of words to the mix.  This includes ,"ni ni ni ni ni...." (aka "no") which we're not exactly thrilled about.. but she's only told her daddy, ''ni ni ni ni ni",  so I still think it's cute :)  She even said it in situations that make sense (i.e. Daddy is changing her diaper and won't let her roll around (see picture below) or Daddy won't let her pull everything out of the diaper bag at church).  She also sometimes accompanies "no" with the shake of her head.  It's not going to be cute, soon, but for a couple days. ha.

She's said, "ah duh" (all done) today, too.  She did it when she was done eating and did it simultaneously with her 'ASL' sign I taught her.  I'm so proud of my little munchkin! 

After offering her some water this morning, Madeline responded with, "wah wah", and crawled on over to gulp down some agua.

It's kind of funny that she said so many new words today because last night Jeremy commented on how, "She doesn't really talk that much anymore."  He was referring to how she hadn't done much babbling yesterday.  Right after that we got in the car and drove to the church and she BABBLED the whole way over.  She hasn't stopped talking since.

Just now we've been practicing more walking and she has no trouble starting on her bum, standing up and walking anywhere she pleases.  The distances she walks without falling are getting longer and longer.  It's all happening too fast and yet I'm so eager to encourage her and help her grow!

She never ceases to get into trouble.  Always emptying bags, pulling things off of shelves and out of cupboards.  She's just busy.  My philosophy has kind of been if it doesn't hurt her and it makes a mess that'll take a minute or less for me to clean up, then whatever.  She's not aloud in the bathroom or the cupboards under the sink, but other than that she explores all over the house.  Some days it's one step forward two steps back, but I love finding a little mess that means she's been here recently. 

{I spy with my little eye...}

Madeline is such a joy and a blessing to have in our home and our family and I thank God everyday for letting me be her mother. 

Madeline walked today

{Madeline Walks! from Sarah Wells on Vimeo.}

Here's the video of our little (only not so little anymore) Madeline walking!  She was doing so well right before we got out the camera, sorry.  That's kind of how home videos go though isn't it?  

Can't believe our daughter is almost a toddler! It's the craziest most wonderful thing to be a mom.

peek-a-boo video

{peek-a-boo! from Sarah Wells on Vimeo.}

This little girl.  I can't tell you how much fun it is to spend my days with her.  Last night while I was making dinner she entertained herself quite happily and spent most of that time playing peek-a-boo with a pair of pajamas.  She loves putting clothes "on".  If I'm sorting laundry she'll come right over, help me empty all the baskets... five times... and then when I finally give up, she will put every article of clothing "on" by draping it over her head or around her neck.  I think she'll be one of those little girls I find playing dress up in my closet all too frequently.  And that is just fine with me :)