I just get chills or a BIG childlike grin on my face when my God...my Savior speaks to me so clearly..so loudly...so unexpectedly! He hears me! He wants to have an intimate relationship with ME! As the time for me to head back to work after my almost 13 weeks off of maternity leave came to an end, my mind and my heart were in overload! My heart kept wanting to soak up every single last moment with my sweet baby girl and just cherish it all...every poopy diaper (even the ones that required a second change of outfit for the day)...every bottle feeding (even the ones in the middle of the night that I use to dread)...my heart was just so softened to the fact that those moments were going to be few and far between once I went back to work. Life as I knew it would not be the same ever again. Sure I would have the weekends, spring break, summer break, and all of the in between days off, but Lilly will be older then. These days, these moments now are going to pass by with someone else taking care of her all day 5 days a week. I am sure The Lord knows that I need encouragement right now to get through this...so He keeps reminding me of how much time I have been blessed to have spent with her at home. Not every mommy is able to do that. It has been so wonderful being able to take off so much time from work! I think of what I would have missed out on if I would have had to go back to work after 6 or 8 weeks. GOSH! Those were some of the hardest weeks we had...in the beginning. Figuring out her tummy issues...whether or not she had colic...still trying to adjust to getting no sleep and somehow managing to get through days and nights of feedings every 3 hours..diaper changes. Over this past month is when she has been the most fun! Her smiles, her coos, her staying awake longer in between her naps during the day to play! I have been so blessed to share so many of those fun moments with her!!
So...back to God giving me a word just when I need it the most and knowing exactly what word I would need. I have been telling Nick lately...in between tears...that I hope that I had truly taken the time to enjoy every minute with Lilly since she has been born. Looking back now I felt like there were so many times when I would be feeding her thinking about what I had to do when she took her nap after her bottle. My mind was constantly thinking about what I needed to get done in the little bit of time I had during her naps. I just hope I didn't rush those moments. I guess because I know now those exact moments will never be lived again and I will not be able to make those moments as often since I'm going back to work...it makes me want to...it makes me hope I was able to... savor them while I could. That's my word for 2015...savor. This word didn't come to mind for me on my own. I was reading on incourage.me and someone that wrote the blog for January 3rd chose savor as her word for the year. But as soon as I read it I could just feel the intensity of it. I could feel God telling me...this is for you...this is what you have to do with every part of your life. Savor. How sweet does that word sound? I have to slow down. I have to sometimes stop in the moment. I have to not think of what's next, but instead what's now. I have to relish in every single moment..even the itty bitty ones...even the messy ones...even the exhausting ones. So, since God spoke that word to my heart through that devotional I read, I have been...more than ever...stopping to savor the moments.
I encourage you to pick a "life word" for this year!!! God has spoken to my heart over and over again...I hear Him so clearly whispering "savor"...always at just the right times that I need it.
So peaceful:)
Sleeping good!!
Play time! Tina the Turtle!!
Her first baby doll from her Mimi...Rosie :)
Being silly with daddy!!
Then...nap time:)
Rise and Shine!
Already trying to hold the bottle by herself!!! :(
She loves to snuggle with her lovie from JoJo:)
This was my last weekend at home before starting back to work on Monday! Yes...I was definitely trying to SAVOR every single moment with my sweet girl!!
Not sure what to think about Mike the Monkey!!
Oh Tina the Turtle!!
Hanging out with mom doing some chatting:)
Spending time with daddy!
And the teething has begun :( Poor baby!! She loves her raspberry though!!
Holding her own bottle!! Noooo!!!! :**(
She's growing up too fast!!!
Practicing holding her head up in her boppy and watching Winnie the Pooh:)
Pic collage highlighting what we did on my last day before going back to work.
Her current sleeping arrangement! Top of her pack'nplay on the changing table pad! Trying to transition her to sleeping flat to get her ready for the crib.
Monday...Mommy's first day back at work...daddy kept her home while he worked because she needed one more day before starting daycare after getting diagnosed with the flu 5 days ago! She loves her swing from her Grana!:)
At home with her daddy!
Her first day at daycare!!
I sent this to my friend Catherine who is pregnant right now...so sweet! Makes me miss it so much!! Just an incredible feeling that I was so blessed to be able to feel and experience!
Before I left her on her second day at daycare...she didn't seem too excited. :(
Shopping at Catherine's! We got Lilly a Ladybug costume for Halloween this year! Crazy to think she will be that big!!
Went shopping at Samantha's, too!! Such cute cute clothes for our baby girl!!
She was all bundled up one morning for "school". But she wasn't sure what to think about the mittens!!:)
10 degrees outside!!!!!!!!!
More CUTE outfits we bought from Catherine!!!!!:)
Excuse my messy desk! I took these pictures at school to send Nick so he could see what we bought:)
LOVE this!!!
These were in my "maybe" bag, but I wanted them so I sent Nick a picture asking to spend some more money on Lilly some cute outfits!!
Okay...this is embarrassing, but at school one afternoon my first week back I was in a hurry to pump so I could hurry and leave to pick Lilly up from daycare. Well...I was in such a hurry that I got my "cones" hooked up, but I forgot to attach the bottles to them....I started pumping away and then felt something wet...looked down and this is what I saw! Bless!!!!
Precious baby girl on the night of her 3 months!!!!:):)
Nick wanted her to wear her hat for her 3 month pictures! It was very cold outside that day!!
Getting Christmas decorations and things put away and I saw this on a gift bag I was putting into a box. Made me smile and made my heart miss my daddy!!! I wish he was still here sooo bad! So many times I just want to pick up the phone and call him! And I want to see him with Lilly so bad! I know he would love her SO much!!! She will get to meet her Papa Kim one day in Heaven though! Thankful for God's grace for saving my daddy just one month before He went to Heaven!!
Lilly one morning before school...these pictures look so funny because she has on her navy blue top knot, but it looks like she had a head full of black hair!!
Friday Night...after her first week at daycare and my first week back to work!!! So glad to have the weekend to spend with her!! I've missed her beyond words!!!
Nick wanted us to "camp out" in the living room that night..so he started a fire in the fireplace and blew up the air mattress! Jonah thought it was the best big pillow ever!!!
This is who I get to spend my Saturday mornings with!!! I love waking up to her even at 5 A.M.! After her bottle we went into her room and she laid in her crib and we talked and smiled for awhile! Sweet...sweet moments!!
She loves looking at her sparkly bird mobile!! Thank you Aunt Jan!!:)
Then after being awake awhile we made our way back to mommy and daddy's bed for a little nap!:o) This was her happy sweet little self after waking up from her nap!:)
Nicks's Mom...MiMi came to visit!!:)
Random...Nick ordered this for us to start working out! WOO HOO!!!! :-/
She had some tummy time on Saturday to practice lifting her head! She did so good!!
Nick was cleaning and then he stopped to play the Harmonica for Lilly! Haha!!:)
She was holding her legs up and straight out! She's so strong!!
I love her toes!!!
Sweet feet!!!
Grana came to visit Lilly!! She was just hanging her feet over the ottoman!:)
Nick's mom came to see Lilly Saturday morning around 10 and she got to enjoy a lot of talk time with her and then Lilly fell asleep right before she left.:)
Lilly with her MiMi!:) They match!
Lilly's first Sunday at church!:)
She fell asleep...no offense Pastor Mike! ;-)
She loved all of the colorful lights and the music:)
Headed home after a great message from Nehemiah 1...new series on Building Blocks :)
We designated Saturday and Sunday for some BIG time cleaning at our house! We had a MESS!!! We had been undecorating Christmas stuff for what felt like a month....just doing it when we had a chance. Taking down a tree here and there. We wanted to get it ALL done and put away over the weekend though! Well Sunday was mainly mopping and dusting and cleaning the house after all of the decorations were put away. Nick was in charge of watching Lilly while I did my cleaning duties. I was walking through the living room and I heard him tell her "Okay you yawned so it's nap time." and then a few minutes later I walked back through and this is what I found!!:) Daddy was snoozing on the job! It may have been nap time for him, but Lilly was wide awake!!:)
About 30 minutes later it was time for her to take a little snooze...here we are in the bed! Mommy decided to nap, too! The BEST naps in the world are with her!!:)
When Lilly and I woke up from our nap this is where I found Nick :) He was awake when we headed to the bed to take our nap and I asked him to come with us and he said that he had things he needed to get done...! Haha!:)
Lilly was doing such a GREAT job on Sunday working on holding her head up!!! Ohmygosh! SO cute!!:)
Studying Mike the Monkey! ;-)
Then we tried a little Tummy Time on the floor. It's not her favorite thing to do, but she was trying so hard!!:)
She was looking at herself in the mirror:)
Little Tid Bits...
Daycare/School: So far everything is going great! The first morning that I brought her I didn't even put on make-up because I knew I was going to cry and I did. It was hard...that's an understatement! I just had to pray and trust that she was going to be okay...and me too. ;-) I had SO many of my friends and family tell me that they were praying for me and The Lord made my heart less heavy just hearing that and feeling them lifting me up! I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love me and love The Lord!!
When I drop Lilly off in the morning I leave her with Ms. Carrie and Ms. Gail. She is asleep some mornings, but sometimes she is wide awake! It makes it hard to leave her when she's awake bc I just want to stay and play and talk to her! Plus I have to look her in her eyes when I am kissing her bye. :( I think about her sweet face ALL day though and I leave work as soon as I can to get her!
Her first day of daycare, I couldn't even get the garage all the way open and there was Nick at the door waiting to see our sweet baby girl! He had missed her so much and was so anxious to see her!!
We love spending time with her in the evenings so much! We love seeing her sweet smiles and her talking to us and telling us about her day! We both definitely savor the time that we have at home with her...more than ever! :)
Sleeping...Most nights she is still waking up every 3 hours to eat...so it's around 11, 2, and 5. Some nights I have been guilty of picking her up and putting her in the bed with me without giving her a bottle and she goes right back to sleep! She just wanted to snuggle with me!!:) We have been debating about adding oatmeal or rice cereal to her night time/after bath bottle, but I am going to wait to see how things are going when we go for her 4 month check up in February...that way Dr. Luci can tell us what she thinks we should do.
Teething...Drooling..hands in her mouth...gnawing on her fingers constantly...gnawing/grinding her gums...fussy periods especially at night and a low grade fever were all signs that she was beginning to teethe. However, we were reluctant to say that since it was before she was even 3 months old when those symptoms started...BUT we are certain that's what it is now! We can feel little ridges on the bottom front row of her gums. We have given her Tylenol a few times when she just seems so uncomfortable and maybe even in pain and she likes to chew on her raspberry teether, too! It's funny watching her with it because she knows exactly where to put it to get her some relief!! The other night she gnawed on Nick's finger for about 10 minutes and LOVED it!
Bath...She still LOVES her bath time! She has started to splash and kick in the water now and she will smile and giggle, too! She just LOVES the water. We had a few nights where she was fussy and cried even in the bathtub, but we think it was because of her teething. :(
Bedtime Routine...We aren't on a consistent schedule as far as a set time every night, but we are on a schedule as to what to do. She will have her nightly bath sometime between 7:30-8:30 and then she will have a bottle. While she is drinking her milk, Nick will read a bedtime prayer with us and he will read a story to Lilly. :) I LOVE this time with my sweet family!!! My heart overflows every night! I am so blessed and so thankful!!! I never want to forget these moments...these memories that we are making right now with our baby girl!
Smiles and...GIGGLES!!...Lilly has started to giggle some!! It is SO precious!! Nick is really good at getting her to giggle! He will just act silly sometimes and she will or he will tickle her! It is SOOO sweet!! We both just light up and look at each other and grin!!
Talking...She talks ALL the time!! Her daycare teacher even said that she will be sitting in the swing at daycare just talking away even if there isn't anyone there to talk back to her!:) Too sweet!! She was also talking and blowing bubbles at our friend's little boy, Ace!! Brooke said that she was flirting with Ace, so Nick had to have a little talk with Miss Lilly. ;-)
Active Baby...she is CONSTANTLY moving her legs, which isn't anything new...but she is also doing a great job of having head control and sitting up!
Play Time...She loves to lay in her crib and look at her mobile. During these times she is VERY talkative! It is so cute!! She also loves to sit in her boppy and play, too! She is very good at grabbing her toys!! She will grab anything that she can get her hands on and she will hold on VERY tight! She has gotten a hold of my hair several times!!
Encouragement
I have the BEST friends anyone could ask for!! They send me sweet words of encouragement all of the time! Here are some especially good reads for mommies...SOO much truth behind these words!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment