My First Mother's Day As A Mommy

Last Mother's Day, I was about halfway through my pregnancy and excited that the next Mother's Day, I would have my baby in my arms.

I am a mother!! I can't think of a more challenging and yet rewarding job on Earth. I love my little girl so much! It also makes me appreciate my own mom in a way I had never before. You don't understand the love a mother has for their child until you have your own. It's amazing how much my heart has grown with love.

I once heard this quote, "Having children is like letting your heart walk around outside of your body." It's so true!!

I'm so blessed to have such amazing women in my life. My grandmothers, mom, and MIL are all so wonderful and I love them so much!! They are all special to me in their own ways. I'm so grateful that Emily has so much love surrounding her from everyone in the family. She truly is so loved and has so many awesome women around her!

I feel so priveliged that my Heavenly Father trusted me and loved me enough to allow me to have one of His precious daughters to raise and love as my own. I try my very best every single day to be the best Mommy I can be.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Girls Rule

One of the best things about having a girl is dressing them up. Whether we're goin caj (as in casual) like wearing these comfy sweats her great grandparents bought for her...

 ..or struttin' her stuff in a skirt with leg warmers...

It's a lot of fun!!

We've been so blessed to have family and friends who have just as much fun buying her these awesome clothes and accessories! Thanks so much! We love you!!

P.S- Congratulations to my BIL and SIL, Jason and Jocelyn! They had their first baby (girl!) on the 14th (also my dads bday!)! Welcome to the world, Ellie! Your Aunt Shelley, Uncle Mikey, and cousin Emily can't wait to meet you!!

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First Came Love...

First came love...

Then came marriage...

Then came a baby...

Happy Anniversary, Michael!! A lot has happened in four years and I feel so blessed to have you as my husband and the daddy to our beautiful baby girl. I love you so much!

xoxo,

Shelley

Crackle Nails and Cheesiness

The other day I went to the store by myself for the first time since having Emily. It was nice being able to walk around without people staring at my enormous baby bump and feeling like I was going to split in two from carrying her. I missed Emily like crazy even just being gone for like an hour and a half, but I enjoyed getting out of the house. I treated myself to some pretty new nail polish. Since I can now reach my toes, I wanted to give myself a mani/pedi. I got 'It's Possible!' in OPI, 'Trophy Wife' in Essie, and 'Fractured Foil' in Sally Hansen for the Crackle overcoat. I put 'Trophy Wife' on first and then 'Fractured Foil' on top so that it would look like this:

You can't really see it that well but I love it! It's something I've never tried before and it's fun. I'm probably really behind on the whole "crackle" look but oh well!

Life's been great lately! Michael is still home with Emily and me until the end of the month and we have pretty much mastered the newborn thing. The only issue right now is getting her to sleep when we want to sleep but even that is not that big of a deal. I also don't mind having her in bed with me to sleep. Eventually we will need to have her sleep in her crib or pack n' play but for now...I love the closeness. Everything is going really well! She is a complete and utter joy in my life and I can't believe I am so blessed to have her. I love her so much! It may sound totally cheesy but having her has made my life feel so much more complete and meaningful. I was made to be her mommy!

Happy Birthday, Diana! Happy Father's Day Weekend!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, loving, generous, smart, and awesome mother in law Diana!! I love you and I'm so blessed to have you in my life! Thank you for being you!

Let's not forget that this Sunday is Father's Day! I have a great dad who has always been a great example of the type of man I would want to marry. He's always worked so hard to provide for our family but he always made sure to make the time to spend with us too. Raising four kids couldn't have been easy, but I believe he did a wonderful job! I learned so much from him growing up!

Here's a few things that he taught me/us- off the top of my head:

He would ALWAYS correct our grammar! Even though we would roll our eyes at him and ignore it most of the time, I have to admit that I am glad he did it!

He taught me how to ride a bike.

By example, he showed what a true Christian is and how important it is to do what is right, even when it isn't the most popular or easy option.

I remember asking him to buy me things in the stores and he would say, "Money, money money!", which is hard to understand as a kid but now I am glad that I know how to save my money.

Thanks, dad!

I also happen to have a father in law who raised my husband right! He taught him to respect and cherish women (Michael STILL opens all doors for me). I know that Michael will be a great daddy because he had wonderful parents who showed him how to love unconditionally, among many other things!

I love both sets of my parents so much! Happy Birthday, Diana! Happy Fathers Day to my dad and James! Happy Fathers day to my Grandpa S and Grandpa R as well!! Love you!

I'm so glad that I have such a solid, loving family on both sides. My daughter will be very loved and well taken care of! :-)

Mothers Day As A Mommy-To-Be

It's Mothers Day weekend and I couldn't be more excited that I can now celebrate the fact that I am a mommy-to-be! Last Mothers Day I wrote about how I have always loved taking care of children and that I wish I could have my own. This little girl is already so cherished.

Not only will I be celebrating being a mother, but it's also a special day to let our mothers and grandmothers know how much I love them. I have been extremely blessed to have such wonderful women in my life. I love you, Mom, Diana, Grandma T, and Grandma S!! Thank you for being such a blessing in my life. My daughter will be just as lucky to have you in her life and I know she will love you so much too!

Happy Mothers Day!! Xoxo!

Christmas Doesn't Come From A Store

On Christmas morning, I dragged Michael and myself out of bed at 8:30 AM (gasp!) to get ready and head over to his parents house. While we were there we opened the great gifts that were given to us.

After we spent a little time over there, we went to my parents house. Luckily our parents all live within 15 minutes of each other so going back and forth isn't a huge deal. My mom prepared her usual delicious Christmas dinner and set up the dining table.

Can you spot my grandpa's head in this picture? He was on the couch snoozing before dinner :-). It was so great having him visit!

Here's my dad carving up the turkey!

After dinner, Michael and I took a short nap and then we all played games for a while.

My sister is a goofball. She wouldn't take any normal pictures with me all day! Stinker.

A little later on, we went back over to Michaels parents house. They were having their Christmas dinner. When we walked in the door we heard everyone who was there singing a hymn. We were like..."what in the world...?" Haha! It was awesome. I guess they had planned a quick Christmas program with a couple songs, short speeches, and prayer. It was nice to get some spirituality mixed into the Christmas holiday.

Then we sat down for (another) dinner. Michael and I were obviously not hungry yet since we had just eaten at my parents house, but we had a couple bites of their yummy food anyway.

After dinner and most people left, us kids (ha!) watched GI Joe on their big screen TV. Tyler is catching up on movies he missed while on his mission for two years. I recommended Avatar.

It was a long day of fun and family so we headed home after the movie.

It was a great Christmas! I think it was one of the best ones ever. It was so nice to have Michaels family all together and also most of my family.

I think this year was the first year I realized that I really don't care about presents anymore. Like, yeah I am grateful and excited for what I did get, but I would have been perfectly happy just spending time with my family.

I like the quote from the Grinch that says, "He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more! "

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What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Cough drops. I'm fighting off a major sore throat and these have been a life saver.

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My baby girl! She's been kicking a lot lately. She's measuring about 10 1/2 inches (like a carrot) and I'm 21 weeks along now. Crazy!

Michael and Jexi, of course!

Pure Chocolate's from The Coffee Bean. They are soooo delicious and refreshing!

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My pedicure. I can't bend over to paint my toes anymore. I love getting the white tips. I feel so feminine with pretty nails!

The baby bedding I have picked out right now. I found it at Target and I think it's super cute. I want to paint the room a matching light green and maybe have pink wall art.

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This is my first time linking up for WILW!

Thankful Thursday

Tracy from over at Then I Got To Thinking does these Thankful Thursdays and I thought it was a good idea! I won't do it every week but I feel so thankful today...and it's Thursday...and yeah! :-)

I am thankful for...

• 
  
  My husband, Michael! We don't get to see each other much except for Friday nights and Saturdays but when we are together it just reafirms to me why I wanted to marry him in the first place. He's my best friend and I love him so much! I can't believe we are on our third year of marriage already!

• 
  
  The progress we are making on our house hunting! We are almost there; I can feel it!

• 
  
  My new pretties!

• 
  
  My family. I am really lucky to have such a supportive, loving family. I'm talking in laws and my own. I couldn't have asked for better! And I love my extended family too! I wish we lived closer to everyone.

• 
  
  An awesome vacation alone with my hubby this month to San Fransisco! I'm so so so excited!

• 
  
  The sunny weather...(not including the last couple of days though)

• 
  
  My job. I realize how lucky I am to have a job these days!

• 
  
  That tomorrow is Friiiidaaaay!!

What are you thankful for??