happy easter!

{lillian and her granne}

{me, lillian with her first easter basket & aunt emily}

{she fell asleep with her finger in her mouth}

{happy easter smile}

{lillian in lilly pullizer following the easter bunnies tracks!}

xo

out with the crazy...

thank goodness for sisters.

without them, i would be a mess.

i got a book about sleep patterns for babies, read way to much into it, and had a few days of crazy.

me + pacifier + crib = lillian not sleeping. ugh.

so, thankfully my sisters gave much needed assurance that lillian is still young, needs some time to learn sleep patterns and will not end up cognitively behind at age 4 months due to lack of sleep. i am crazy, right?

thank goodness for sisters.

this week made for a much happier mom, baby and husband, since lets face it, hank does what i ask and he was so sweet in joining in on my crazy. we are all happy to see it go :)

with our re-newed sense of freedom we have been taking lots of walks with friends and loving it. lillian happily sleeps in her moby wrap and wakes up a much happier baby. (funny enough, she napped in her crib this morning before we met friends for an hour and is now in there for her afternoon nap after our walk.)

go figure.

{tummy time}

happy tuesday!

xo

amazing.

took a great walk with heather and her adorable daughter summer today. we took these photos post-walk and i can't resist in sharing them with you. so funny. thanks heather!

serious lillian.

laughing lillian! summer doesn't find me as amusing... :)

xo

learnings.

1. don't leave a newborn (esp. not an irish red-headed one) in the sun for too long. their skin can turn the color of a beet.

2. even when you think you have lathered your newborn in sunscreen and put them in the shade, they might very well still get burnt.

3. newborns need sleep, and lots of it. oh, and they don't know this for themselves.

4. sleep schedule = life changing.

5. husband and wife time post-baby, SO important.

i guess from those learnings you can probably guess that what i have been up to is slathering my daughter in aquaphor (due to sunburn), figuring out that lillian was only sleeping 1/2 the amount she needed to (who knew they won't sleep on their own?!) and trying to get in some quality family time/hank and me time. whew, its been busy!

in the free time i have had as i finally get lillian to take some naps, i have been crafting. yup, i said it, crafting. for those of you who know me, i like to exaggerate my artistic abilities. i have myself convinced i have creative talents, but really, i am much better served elsewhere. however, i am also stubborn. so, i set off to create lillian a mobile for her nursery and i have to say, i think it came out really well. i am happy and lillian is over the moon, so mission accomplished :) hobby lobby might be my new favorite place to shop! ok, maybe not.....

i haven't hung it in her nursery yet, i have to get the hardware. but here it is in our living room. i made it with the 12 chinese animals that a dear friend gave to me from bangkok! thanks pat :)

lillian turns 3 months old this weekend! i can't believe it.

we had some great family time this weekend and here are the photos to prove it!

{shelby park}

{swoon}

we also had drinks with our friends adam and caroline. thanks for meeting us on lillian time guys!

looking at these photos i am reminded of how blessed i am. i have the best family and friends and of course, a fantastic nugget for a daughter!

happy wednesday!

xo

keeping it real

hank and i are a young couple, married two years this june and in our mid-20's. having lillian has been the biggest blessing we could ask for, we dreamed of the day we would start a family and now it is real, right in front of our eyes.

but, there is still hank and i. having lillian doesn't nullify our wedding vows.

i have been thinking about this since we had her, how can hank and i keep our relationship alive independently of our children? how do we make sure we continue to challenge and love each other unconditionally? and i realized yesterday, its simple. we need to remember to always, always, always to tell each other how we are feeling. we need to be more vulnerable now than ever. we each have needs, and if we don't express those needs, we aren't being true to one and other.

"forgetfulness is the darkness, mindfulness is the light."

- thich nhat hanh

so we re-pledged to one another that we chose the light. we chose to be open and honest about what we are and are not getting from our marriage. we re-vow to never assume the other person knows how much you love them, or that your angry. everything will be put on the table to be seen and heard.

i feel refreshed. i love my husband so much and i am beyond blessed.

xo

our first run!

lillian and i went on our first run together today at shelby bottoms :) it is finally warming up again here and the sun is out and so beautiful. so, we celebrated the sun (and lillian's 10 week birthday today) by hitting the pavement. i would love to say it felt awesome, but it didn't. 6 months of no running really does take a toll. but, we managed 2.5 miles running and one mile walking. a bit pathetic, but i will take it.

she certainly enjoyed the ride!

when we came home, we both had a snack and then laid outside in the backyard, 1/2 in the sun and 1/2 in the shade. every time the wind blew she laughed and smiled. she loved the sun on her belly, the wind in her hair and the company (so i like to think!). the warmth put her right to sleep. ahh, spring. just love it.

xo