things i have learned

things i have learned so far in my 9 weeks of motherhood.

1. you can't plan anything, part of the lesson is learning to go with the flow and loving it.

2. ALWAYS have an extra outfit on hand for the little one. i learned this the hard way, 3 times.

3. you can do just about anything with one hand that you used to do with two.

4. fitting back into pre-pregnancy clothes might not ever happen, things shift! but, hey, i get to go shopping now, so not necessarily a bad thing :)

5. breastfeeding isn't always easy, but SO convenient and cost effective.

6. breastfeeding in public is a do :) who cares what others think.

7. the pump is my enemy and best friend. hate the process, love the result of freedom.

8. yoga is more important now than ever before. it is just for me.

9. being a mom is THE most rewarding experience. it is love in it's most pure form.

10. i know everything i need to know, i just need to trust that.

xo

nothing like family...

my new favorite picture of my precious little girl.

lillian and i took our first trip to houston together to visit my sister this past weekend and we had such a blast. lillian was a great little traveler and my sister made it SO easy for us by having all baby products on hand! i just wrapped lillian in the moby and checked a bag. it was amazing. thanks megs, tom and jack for having us!!!

my mom also flew in and met us there, it was such a fun filled weekend of kiddos, girl time and family snuggles. nothing beats it!

my mom, lillian and i

lillian doing her irish jig out of pure happiness

my nephew jack, my mom and lillian- happiest granne in the world! :)

we took the kids to the pool, and lillian loved it to say the least. made me so happy.

jack & me at the zoo

i think the pictures say it all!

xo

2 month appointment

took lillian to the doctor today, for her routine 2 month check up. i had been dreading it all week, knowing she had to have vaccines and just worrying about the pain she was going to feel. we have been so lucky because she hasn't shed a tear in the 2 months he has been in this world, and today ended that streak. and it was awful. definitely worse for me than for her, but she wailed, turned bright red as a tear fell down her cheek. heart break for me.

the bittersweet part though was being able to comfort her. having her open her eyes after all the shots were done, looking up at me and calming down. she trusts me, she loves me and i am her mom. wow.

i left the office with such pride. i am proud of lillian for taking the shots like a champ. i am proud of hank and i for reassuring her and getting her to smile only minutes after she was crying. i am proud of the confidence i feel as her mother, not from a place of knowing, but from a place of trusting. today proved to me that trusting the bond i have with lillian, the motherly instinct i was born with and the love hank and i have for each other- with that, anything is possible.

she is growing perfectly, a little over 11 lbs now! such a big girl...

off to houston on thursday morning to see my sister, my nephew (lillian's cousin) and my mom. it is going to be such an amazing trip and we are so excited. a bit nervous about the travel, but, i will trust we will be just fine :)

a picture for your smiling pleasure... :)

smiling with the tongue out!

xo

family time

had a great visit from some fam this weekend, my cousin chris, his wife molly and their two little boys. had so much fun hanging out, soaking up the sun and talking kiddos.

lillian also got to ride the swings at the park for the first time. she loved it :)

i can't say it enough- i love this little girl, being her mom is the best.

xo

spring has sprung!

spring officially begins next week, but today nashville bloomed.

lillian and i took a long walk, felt so good to be outside, soaking up the sun and being with my amazing daughter.

speaking of, here she is. love, love, love. so in love with this nugget.

a few photos from our walk in beautiful east nashville...

i love spring, the fresh air and the sunshine are sublime.

xo

adding a car to our train...

hank and i have had a lot of people tell us that they are amazed how we have continued to live our lives after lillian was born. we meet friends for drinks, go on dates and take road trips. everytime i am out and about most peoples reaction is wow, you are out and about early! as there is no rule book with parenthood, i guess i didn't even think about what was normal, or acceptable, i just trusted my instinct.

after getting this kind of comment over and over, hank and i had a conversation and i came up with a metaphor that rings true for us. we decided to have children last year, not to pack up our house in east nashville and move to the suburbs, and definitely not to trade in my compact honda fit for a minivan. hank and i had children to add another car to our already amazing train rolling down the train tracks we had created for ourselves. we are still on our same track, still pursuing our goals, listening to the things we need as individuals, as a married couple and now, as parents. sure, our track bends here and there, i am definitely not trying to say nothing has changed because of lillian, but these bends are welcome bends. we embrace them, learn from them and grow closer together in the process. when i come home from drinks with my girlfriends to my husband and my baby, i am so grateful for the bends. i am grateful for an amazing husband who hopped this train track with me and wants to ride it to the very end. seeing him with lillian makes everything worth it. it is going to be a beautiful ride, and yes, there will be more cars added, and with each one, more bends. i recognize things will be bumpy, we might get derailed, but all in all, it is going to be an amazing journey.

so, advice i have for new parents to be, or anyone thinking of adding a child to their life, it is having your cake and eating it too. it is just a choice, and its work, but you can have it all. i feel like i do, and i couldn't be more grateful.

this is our lillybug in atlanta this past weekend, smiling at me :) she is smiling all the time now and nothing lights up my heart more. she turns her head to look at hank and i when she hears our voices in the room, smiles at us when she wakes up and sees us. it is amazing. pure joy.

we road tripped to atlanta this past weekend to see hank's family. his brother, denny, drove down to meet us and we had so much fun. it was great weather and lillian was a gem. she slept in the car and through the nights when we were there! it was amazing. she has regressed since being home to waking up once or twice...but i am hopeful we will get back there!

here are some photos from our weekend...

lillian and hank, so much resemblance!

lillian with her uncle denny

off to teach a yoga class while my amazing husband hangs with the lillybug to make it all possible!!!

xo

she smiles.

my heart is so full.

i am complete. :)

xo

all smiles.

new hat! love etsy.

lillian is a smiling fanatic :)

we have yet to catch it on video or phone or the camera, but the moments are so precious. she is smiling in reaction to things that make her happy, which is different than before, when they were just nervous reactions, uncontrolled and without meaningful purpose.

now, now they are so filled with reason, such bursts of pure joy and wonder it makes my whole inside feel warm and fulfilled. it makes me smile, and cry. the most beautiful feeling. and when we catch it on some form of technology, it will be a memory we can keep forever. and of course, i will post it!

our days have been filled with other adventures as well. lillian and i met up with heather and summer on friday morning, a good friend, fellow new mom and blogger. it was so much fun, we walked four miles without even thinking! heather, thank you so much for all our baby chat, so good to have a fellow new mom to walk and talk with!

saturday was grey and rainy, so we did what any new parents would do- took lillian to the mall. for anyone who does not know me (or hank), this is not a normal occurrence. but, we needed to get out of the house. walking outdoors was not an option, so to the mall we went. lillian was great, hank and i on the other hand, walked out exhausted and reaffirmed in our distaste for stale and sterile malls. plus, nursing in a gap fitting room wasn't all that comfortable!

today wasn't sunny either, and turned out to be quite cold, but we bundled our little lady up and walked to ugly mugs, our fav. coffee shop in east nashville to meet a new friend, blair. blair, so good to catch up and get to know you, nashville is lucky to have you as one of their newest transplants :)

hank is on spring break, so we are getting to spend lots of time together as a family. i have so appreciated him and the amazing father he has been and continues to be day in and day out. i feel so blessed to have had lillian when we did, while hank was/is in school- it has allowed for him to be around so much, bonding with lillian, seeing all her firsts so far, all her growth. and for me, it has given me to opportunity to get out and do somethings for me. this week, i got to go to a yoga class- pure bliss.

ok, now to the real reason you all read this blog....

the pictures.

here are some from her most recent bath time. lillian's version of pure bliss.

buddha belly.

as my mom says, "i could get lost in those cheeks!"

ready for bed!

xo.

family fun and sun

we had such an amazing weekend with our fam in town! my two sister in laws, Maggie and Suzanne, came with their littlest ones, Quinn and Kai. So, three babies, three women and hank :) just when hank thought the house was at it's max estrogen level...haha.

what i really loved about the weekend was that i felt like such a mom. being in the house alone, i know i am a mom, but being out and about with other moms, doing kid friendly things, eating dinner at 530, having brunch at 9am, napping at 2...it was just awesome. we did SO much, yet i never felt like if i had to stop and breastfeed that i was holding anyone up!

thank you maggie and suzanne SO much for coming, lillian and i miss you all! please come back!! :)

Quinn

Kai

lillian happily napping on her aunt suz (and K2!)

hank and i with all the kiddos...a gaze into our future? :)

we also drove out to to see our cousins brian, chris and eva and their kids. so nice to meet some relatives on hank's side that i hadn't gotten the chance to. just such a family and kid packed weekend! love.

lillian and i are really getting into a groove. we wake up by 9am, feed her, get her dressed, have some time laying on the floor together, either checking out the ceiling fans, reading some books or dancing to some tunes (thanks maggie and suzanne, we LOVE the new music!). then she usually falls asleep by 10:30 or so, i get showered, get some laundry going, or take a walk with her while she naps. then she is up by 2pm or so, she feeds again, we have some time to either run errands together (she love love loves the car and car seat, makes her smile every time) or practice her tummy time. then she will feed again around 4, sometimes doze off again (this is when i sneak in a nap if i need one :), then up by 6 or so, feed again, she hangs out with dad until she feeds around 830, 9pm and then she is off to bed. :) we are doing bathtime at night two times a week, unless she has been especially messy :) she still loves her bathtime, so we are going to try and take her to the pool soon. the pediatrician said it is fine, and since she loves the water so much, i figure why not? looking forward to seeing how she reacts :)

i feel so cheesy every time i say this, but i love being a mom. truly the most amazing accomplishment of my life. because it really is an accomplishment. a beautiful and wonderful accomplishment and i couldn't be more proud of hank and i and our little lillybug. we don't ever really know we are doing things right, but gosh darn'et we are doing it!! it is messy and sometimes scary, but oh so worth it. and i give lilly, hank and i a pat on the back, because i think we are rockin' it all in all :)

xo