Mother's Day

You know those people that always come up with the most thoughtful and creative gifts?? Well sadly, I'm not one of them. I'm more of the, "Oh crap, [insert holiday] is tomorow??" type. And then I frantically throw something together.

So although I would like to take credit for my Mother's Day gifts this year, really, it was my Sister, Lindsay who came up with this cute idea. Since there are three of us sisters, each of us took a picture of our kids spelling out "We love you." (Lindsay's girls held the letters W-E, Grace had a white wooden heart next to her basket and Ashley's kids held up the letters Y-O-U.) So since I'm totally original and creative, I did the exact same thing for my Mother-in-law, but with just Grace. I was pretty happy with how it all turned out!

Here are the pictures I took for my MIL's gift.

Not bad, huh? Good thing I have such a cutie pie to take pictures of. That really helped.

Well, I can't end this post without mentioning that this was also MY first mother's day. It was one year ago, on Mother's Day, that I announced on my blog that I was pregnant with Grace. I can't believe how much my life has changed in a year! Long gone are my days of sleeping in, going to the movies or running to the store "real quick" to grab something. My life is now strictly scheduled around feeding and napping schedules and I've become accustomed to carrying around about 20 pounds of baby gear (not including Grace) everywhere I go. 

I'd be lying if I said sometimes I didn't miss parts of that old life. But that's just because back then it was easy to be selfish. If there is anything having a baby has taught me, it's that you can't be selfish and be a Mom. (At least not a good one). I'm so grateful that Grace is helping me become a better and more selfless person every day. I really do feel blessed to be her mama!

So although this is incredibly late, happy belated Mother's Day to all of the wonderful Mama's out there! 

5 months

I had really high hopes for these cute little month cards...

Oh well! We gave it our best shot.

Here is Grace at five months old:

 

This is her natural, relaxed face. She always has her tongue out. I'm really hoping she doesn't end up having a lisp! (Especially with the name Grace...)

Oh! Hello! How did these get in here?? (Sorry, but That little bum was too cute to pass up!)

Ten things I love about Grace (at 5 months):

1. I love that she gets this really serious (but adorable) look of concentration when she plays with her toys.
2. I love that she gets the hiccups everytime she laughs. 
3. I love the way she flaps her arms up and down when she gets really excited. 
4. I love the way her eyes light up when I talk to her. 
5. I love when she falls asleep in my arms and snuggles her head into my shoulder. 
6. I love the way she watches Chipper and gets so excited when he comes up to her.
7. I love that she is so tiny but still manages to have those cute chunky rolls.
8. I love that she has her Daddy's bright blue eyes.
9. I love that when she "talks," she does it in a super high pitched squeaky voice.
10. I love that she is such a ham and always puts on her cutest face for strangers. 

I'm just so in love with this little girl. I can't wait to see who she will become.

Sailor girl

My friend Kasey bought this adorable sailor dress for Grace back when I was still pregnant and it has been sitting in my closet waiting for this little cutie to grow into it. Well, I finally tried it on her and I'm a little bit obsessed with how cute it is on her. 

25

Keith and I both turned 25 this month. Maybe this is weird, but I'm actually pretty happy to be a year older. And not because I can rent a car (although that will be convenient). You see, according to everyone else on the planet, I look like I'm 18 years old...tops. Everyone always tell me, "Oh don't worry, when you are 40, you will love it!" Well, I'm not 40. And trust me, I'm not lovin' it.

When you are married with a baby, being mistaken for someone in high school on a regular basis isn't that cool. People think I'm either Grace's babysitter or about to join the cast of teen mom. 

Hopefully when I'm 40, I really will love it. But for now, I'm welcoming aging with open arms over here.