Morning Walks

Juliet and I have been going for morning walks (almost every day) and I love them! It's so funny how since last week, she doesn't lay back in the stroller, she sits up and watches the cars drive by, the sprinklers watering the yards and Koda (our dog) walking next to her. It's so great to be out with her early in the morning.

It may seem silly, but now that Juliet is a little older and starting to notice things, I've begun to appreciate the little things. Flowers, the birds chirping, the sound of the train going through town, trees swaying in the wind; she is so interested in everything. :)

Last week as we were walking, I saw a dad walking/jogging with his daughter who was about 10, and it made me smile. I get so excited to think about all of the things Joel and I get to do with and teach Juliet. Such an honor. 

A funny from our walk today: There are always student drivers in our neighborhood in the morning. I smile whenever I see them stopping way to soon for a stop sign or trying to parallel park on the street. This morning though, one of them drove up on the curb as they were turning. Tee-hee. 

I sooo wish I would have had my camera with me this morning as I saw the sweetest thing. An older gentleman was walking his dog this morning. You might say, "What's so cute about that?" Well, this older gentleman was using a walker to walk and was still out taking his dog around the block. Melted my heart. <3 

I hope you all take time out of your busy lives to stop, notice and appreciate the little things in life. :)

The Start of Something New

Here we go! All of my life I've wanted to be two things when I grew up; a teacher and a mom. The past 6 years I've lived and loved being a teacher. It is one of the most rewarding jobs ever! My students have been my 'kids' while I've been teaching and I love them.

All good things eventually come to an end though and now it's time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life. Being a mommy! I can't wait to make memories with my little girl. I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with her and that I have a husband who wants me to be with her; even though it means I won't be getting a paycheck anymore. Besides, who needs things when you get to spend all of your time with this girl...

Wonderful Weekend

Oh, Memorial Day weekend. The official start to the summer, even though we have two weeks left of school. This weekend was awesome! The weather was fantastic and we didn't have a lot of plans, so we were able to enjoy a weekend together around the house.

Friday night, Juliet hung out with my Uncle while Joel and I went to see The Avengers. Great movie! I just cannot believe how expensive movie tickets have gotten! Good thing we're not going to be able to go to many movies in the future. $20 for two tickets... ridiculous!

Saturday morning was pretty chill. Juliet and I hung out and Joel slept in, then I headed to my sister's for a haircut and did a little shopping at the mall and Meijer for groceries. Saturday afternoon I baked some cookies and did a few things around the house before we headed to a neighbor's for a cook-out. It was a lot of fun hanging out with the neighbors. We are very blessed to live in such a great neighborhood and have made friends with so many of the neighbors. We came home early to put Juliet down for the night and had a bon-fire with some great friends who are expecting their first baby any day now. So excited for them!

I got to sing at church Sunday morning, which was so fun. I can't wait until school is done so I can sing more often. After lunch, Juliet went down for a nap, so Joel and I did as well. We slept for 2 hours and Juliet for 3. Yeah! She loves her Sunday afternoon naps just like mommy. :) Joel had his small group at church last night, so Juliet and I got to hang out and I did some gardening after she went to bed.

Today was totally great! I got up with Juliet around 6:30, fed her and we headed out for a walk before the heat kicked in. :) I was able to do some cleaning while she napped in the morning, we took her to swim in the big pool, put her down for her afternoon nap and read and took a nap in the sun ourselves. I planted some flowers and we played for quite a while before bedtime. Juliet also tried rice cereal for the first time tonight. It was cute, and messy. :)

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend. :) I can't wait for summer!

She wasn't too sure about the water...it was a bit colder than her baths. 

This stuff is good mom!

Mother's Day

I think Mother's Day is my new favorite day of the year. Being a mom is the greatest blessing I have ever experienced. The weather was beautiful today and we enjoyed a wonderful day at church and with family. I even got a nap this afternoon. :) 

Joel got me a beautiful tree last year when we found out I was pregnant, so he took a picture of Juliet and I in front of it this evening. I just LOVE her! 

Hope all you mommas had a great day and that all of you told your moms how wonderful they are! <3

Photo Op

Being a mom is the best job in the world! Joel and I are loving all of the new things Juliet learns to do every day. She is the joy of our life. Though it's been hard being back to work full time, I cherish all the time I do get to spend with her. It's been a while, so here are a bunch of pictures from the last few weeks. :)

We had a friend's baby baptism and luncheon last Sunday. Somebody was really sleepy and ready to go home for a nap.

 Easter morning. I had to torture her with the ears.

This picture and many moments like this melt my heart. Joel is such an amazing daddy and he already has a daddy's girl on his hands.

Juliet feel asleep while we were grocery shopping. What is it about watching a sleeping baby? I could watch her sleep for hours.

A family pic on Easter morning

We had steak dinner for Joel's birthday; he thought Juliet needed to join in.

I LOVE that my awesome neighbor and friend is watching Juliet for me. She sends me pics all the time of her playing. Such a happy girl while mom's at work.

My parents and Uncle got an oak high chair for us. It's beautiful. I can't believe she'll be big enough to use it soon!

Such a silly girl

Milk coma :)

A girl's gotta be stylin'!

Juliet had shots on Friday as well as a cold. She was super snuggly this weekend. 

She does know how to push the buttons with her hands, but hitting them with her head is so much fun :)

Have an awesome week! You can expect another post from me next weekend. We're celebrating the one year anniversary of my mom's heart surgery. So excited and thankful!

Slacker

Yep, I've been a slacker. I have been a little bit busy, you know. :)

Things are going well for us. I've been back to teaching for about 3 weeks now (with one week off for Spring Break). I still don't like leaving Juliet in the morning, but once I'm at school, the time flies and I know she's being well taken care of! My awesome friend, and neighbor, Jamie is with her all day long and I know she loves on her tons! She so great and sends me pictures and videos of her throughout the day. Only just over 7 weeks to go, that's only 36 days and, because I despise pumping twice a day, I'm actually keeping track of the number of pumpings to go: 72 to be exact. :) Ha!

I am so excited to be able to stay home with her after this school year. I feel so blessed that Joel and I are able to afford for me to be home with her. I'm so looking forward to being with her all the time!

Praise God!

My heart is so full of happiness this morning for some of my dear friends. For those of you who don't know, we have friends who were expecting twins this spring, but they decided to come at 24 weeks less than a week after Juliet was born. They had two beautiful boys, but one went to be with the Lord on New Year's Eve. The other has been in NICU ever since. There have been some improvements and some drawbacks, but he's been holding on. 

Last night, I received a text from his mom saying that he had an awesome day! He'd had surgery to repair his little heart the day before and did so well. They moved him to a private room last night and during the transfer she was able to hold him like a "normal" baby for the first time. I was sitting at a Pampered Chef party when I got her text and started tearing up when I read this. I started thinking about how many times I get to hold Juliet during the day. The fact that they're basically the same age and this was the first time she got to hold him. I'm so thrilled for her, but also reminded that I need to cherish every second I have with my precious baby girl (not that I don't, it's just always good to have a reminder). 

If all goes well, my friend will get to have skin-to-skin time with her little boy for an hour today. Praying that she gets to. Praying for continued strength for the little guy and can't wait for him to come home and be loved on all day long!