I Blew It

On Thursday night I was talking with my father in law. We were trying to figure out what we should do this weekend and he invited us to the beach for an impromptu visit. We are blessed that he has a condo at Wrightsville Beach that we can visit.

After a day of busy packing and crossing things off my list on Friday, we headed out at 7:00 so Ainsley would be asleep. (Side note, I love making lists just so I can cross things off of them. I made 3 while getting ready for the trip and crossed everything off of every list. So rewarding. Now back to my story). We got the condo late, settled in and went fast asleep.

Saturday morning I wasn't woken up by my little girl until 8. Wow. What a treat. My father in law and I quick threw our running shoes on and went to run the "Loop". Quite humbling to get your butt handed to you by a 58 year old man. Oh well. I'm working on it. Give me a few weeks and I'll be able to keep up.

We spent some time out on his boat on Saturday afternoon. Ainsley didn't like her little pink life jacket. She did like the sand and her sun dome. Ainsley fell sound asleep on the way back on the boat. It was totally precious. She was covered in sand so we dunked the sleeping baby in the pool when we got back. She wasn't so happy with that. We went out to eat that night at a beautiful Thai restaurant. The ambiance was amazing! The food was amazing! The fellowship was amazing!

On Sunday we went to church with Nan from The Joy's of Boys. It was great to see her for the first time in 8 years. We spent the afternoon on the beach. Ainsley was adorable in her pink and brown bathing suit and her sun hat that was as big as she is. She loved the sand. She didn't love the ocean.

We came back on Sunday night and here we are Monday morning. We are headed to the pool this afternoon with friends from church.

So I write all that to say, it would be great to show you pictures of all these fun and new things. But guess what. I got to the beach, and didn't have the memory card for my camera. Are you kidding me! These memories will have to live in my head. It's a good thing we are going back to the beach in 2 weeks and can recapture some of these.

The Battle

I have always been someone who battles weight. I have never really been at a consistent weight for more than a year. I yo-yo. I am either gaining or losing. I hate this about myself.

I grew up in a family where you just don't talk about it. I married into a family where it's definitely ok to bring it up and ask questions about it. Some members of my husband's family, especially my husband, don't understand this struggle at all. They are all naturally thin or have incredible self-discipline. I have often said that I feel like a giant compared to all of them. (I have probably made them mad by talking about it too. Sorry family. And family, I don't want to talk about this with you. Again, sorry)

When I got married I was a decent weight. I lost my job a year and a half later and got bigger. We moved to NY and I was surrounded by a bunch of people who ate a lot at work. I got huge. I went on Weight Watchers and lost 47 pounds. I was too skinny, like seriously scary skinny, like they were threatening to kick me out of Weight Watchers skinny. I slowly started to get to a healthier weight and then I blew right by it. I got pregnant. I got big (and no it wasn't all baby).

So that brings me to today. I gave birth 10 months ago. I'm still carrying some weight that I don't want to be carrying. I need to seriously address in my head why. I don't want to just lose the weight and not deal with it. I need to or it will yo-yo right back on.

I am going to spend the next couple weeks really praying through this issue. While I have started running, I can't start a "diet" until my head is on right. I need to be sure I don't get back to that "scary skinny" place again and I need to make sure I don't stay here in the "baby weight" place either. I just want to be happy and healthy.

Sleepy Baby

Yesterday, my first Mother's Day, was a busy day that resulted in no nap for Ainsley. During Ainsley's dinner this happened. I have seen pictures like this before but never witnessed it first hand. We could hardly keep it together we were laughing so hard. Enjoy!

The Tooth

We all know that babies put stuff in their mouths. It's an expected part of babyhood. They crawl places and they see things that we never see and put them in their mouths. We try to vacuum and keep the little things from going in their mouths. Somehow, they always find something we didn't see.

This morning my wonderful husband let me sleep in because of Mother's Day. When I woke up he asked me to look at something. He handed me this...


Yes, it is a tooth and it came from here...


My husband told me that he saw Ainsley chewing this morning and went to figure out what it was and found this tooth. We are pretty sure she didn't pull it out of his mouth and that she just found it on the floor. We figure he would have definitely noticed if she got it from his mouth. But still it makes you pretty sad...Tucker agrees...

Thank goodness she didn't swallow it or we wouldn't have ended up like this today...

What is the oddest thing your children have put in their mouths?

The Examples

This Mother's Day is obviously special for me. It's my first one. I must say, I am enjoying motherhood more than I could ever imagine. I think it's because I have 2 wonderful examples of what it is to be a loving mother. My mothers are both very different and I feel blessed to have them in my life.

My Mother in Law (or should I say Mother in Love), Lonnie has shown me many things over the years. She has shown me how to be a supportive and encouraging mother. She supports her children in everything they do. She encourages them to dream and to follow through with those dreams. She encourages them all to be who God created them to be. She affirms their decisions and gives unconditional love even when they make decisions she doesn't agree with. She is very accepting of the women her sons have chosen to share their lives with. She has embraced both Jenny and I as daughters. She is down right a lovely person. I realized that I need more pictures of her because my most recent picture of her is with Ainsley right after she was born. Oops. Sorry.

Lonnie - I love you!

My mother has shown me how to exude grace as a mother. She encourages me constantly to look to the One who made us. She loves with such a nurturing spirit. When I think of my mother, I think of warm hugs and gentleness and of course homemade chocolate chip cookies. She is an example of how to love a child with Godly discipline. She is never quick to anger and is always slow to speak. She has shown me how to train children in the ways of God. She has shown me how to love a husband the way that God calls us to love husbands. All three of her daughters follow Jesus and I believe it's in a big part because of her influence. In my head, my mother is synonymous with Love.

Mom - I love you!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers in my life!

No Better Way

There is no better way to break radio silence than with a video of the 2 loves of my life