Day 30: Self-Portrait

Cue the chorus. The photography challenge is finished. I enjoyed playing with my camera so much and capturing pictures I never would have without the daily tasks. However, blogging for 30 days in a row has been quite the feat. I'm anxious to see how often I'll be here in July. You will hear from me for sure, just not every day.

Today was Wes' Friday, so I'm a happy girl. I'm planning on going to the gym for the third day in a row tomorrow, and this time I'm leaving Reese at home. You would like to know that she got an incredibly glowing report from the gym child care today. I was a proud mama. {Side note: Is it annoying to write/talk about stuff like that? I have no idea, and I guess before now I didn't pay much attention to it.}

I took Reese to the DMV today to get my new driver's license, and it was the first time I wore my hair up for the photo. I didn't wake up having this on my to-do list for the day, but I had an hour this afternoon, and I was three days past due. So, hair was up, tank top was on, and it was after the gym. Oh well. Four years with a lovely ID are ahead of me.

All right, on to the fun stuff. Enjoy our little self-portrait session along with cute pictures of Reese in her newest Etsy outfit. LOVE it.

Blinds pulled down.

Blinds pulled up. Big difference in light.

My little buddy just doing what we do...with my makeshift crafting area behind us.

Look at those ruffles.

Hey, big eyes. I love you.

I think her first word other than mama and dada will be book. Or maybe Emmett.
Reaching in for some new toys.

Day 29: Black and White

I did something today that I haven't done in about 11 months. I went to the gym! You have to know that I love aerobics classes and have thought about becoming an instructor more than a handful of times. My workouts for the past 11 months have been either on sidewalks around my neighborhood with a stroller or in front of my tv doing an exercise video via the Wii on Netflix. These have been fine, but I really have been wanting to rejoin the gym and get back to my routine of Zumba, Body Pump, and spin. So, Wes got me 14 months at 3 local gyms for my birthday, and today was the first day my neck felt like going. It was fabulous and so good to be back.

After eating lunch at Dixie Cafe with one of my favorite people, I showered, Reese napped, and then we got to play with all my nieces and nephews for a couple of hours. I always love any time I get to spend with my sisters-in-law and their sweet kids.

Enjoy my black and white pictures with a couple in color at the end.

The baby babies of the group. Ty and Marion.

The third youngest.

Bath time.

Getting dried off in her ducky towel.

The three babies.

She kept putting her hands on their heads. What a cute trio.

Day 28: Flowers

Today was a fabulous one. Two great naps for the little girl. One fun outing with dear friends and lots of kids to a family pool. A sweet, smily, happy baby all day. A great devotional this morning. It was just one of those great days. Wes is gone until after 9 tonight, so Reese and I had dinner and bedtime to ourselves. After feeding her some chicken, pasta, green beans, and pears, I took Reese on a stroll around the neighborhood right next to ours, swung her on the front porch swing for a few minutes, gave her a bath, read a little of a story, and nursed her before putting her in the crib. It was a sweet night time, and now I'm finishing up some of my leftover birthday dinner. I'm debating whether to indulge in a piece of my Coldstone birthday cake that Wes brought home for me last night. I think I will. And then I'll get my stuff ready to go to the gym in the morning.

My little helper watching me take pictures of flowers in her crib.

Flowers. Not real, but pretty.

Day 27: From a Distance

Today's shot wasn't necessarily what I had hoped. You see, today is my birthday, and although I didn't have big plans, I did think we would be out at the park or pool and I could snap a few pictures from a distance. Nope. We have been at home except for my trip to the chiropractor this morning. I woke up with a BAD stiff neck, and I had never felt this pain before. It's still pretty painful, and I'm in a rather frozen position, but I have hope that it will be better in a few days. I was adjusted and got worked on pretty well, so now it's just ice packs and biofreeze. Oh, and to make things more interesting, my phone completely froze this morning. I guess it felt bad for me and wanted to freeze just like my upper back and neck. Wes met me at the chiropractor's office, took Reese and my phone to AT&T while I was getting adjusted, and then brought my unfrozen phone and my sweet girl back to me. Oh, and then he came home, made me lunch, and put Reese down for her nap.

This is no call for sympathy. In fact, I was thinking on my way to the doctor that God had this planned out perfectly. He has been trying to show me lately how to let time be up to Him and how to rest in Him all the time. I have been able to have some good quality silent time today just taking comfort in knowing that I don't have to be in control. These little troubles are good, and when I can consistently remember to thank Him for these trials, eventually my heart will immediately praise God in all circumstances. I believe that.

So, Reese has been in her pack n play a bit today, and right now she's having independent play time in her crib. I'm parenting "from a distance" more than usual today. Wes is bringing home a nice dinner from a favorite restaurant tonight, and I've had so many phone calls and texts from friends I see often and friends I see way too little of, so life is good. I love that about birthdays. Three more days of this photography challenge. I'm thankful for that, too.

Parenting "from a distance."

Day 26: Close-Up

As mentioned a few days ago, my mom and I have done some furniture painting. I'm waiting to get a few more things done including seat cushions to post before and after photos, but I decided it would be a good idea to use today's challenge to highlight a little of what we did. We painted my kitchen table aqua and the chairs white. I tried to do a little distressing, and while I learned a lot and have a good idea now of how to make things look just like I want, these pieces are definitely done by a beginner. I'm ready to try my hand at a few more techniques and repaint more things around the house. I love how my kitchen furniture has turned out, and I can't wait to get my fun Amy Butler seat cushions done and a few more pieces painted white. Until then...

An edge of one of the newly painted white chairs.

A corner of the newly painted aqua table.

My inspiration for the room. Now it's nicely presented in a watermelon painted frame.

Oh. I snuck a picture of Reese in here. She's sweet.

Day 25: Something Pink

Well, I have a new crafting obsession. My mom has been making different types of headbands for Reese the past few months, and my friend Cat just recently started making fabric rosettes and other fabulous little girl headbands. I figured it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon, and I'm riding at full speed now. Nap times are now even busier for this mama.

The rosettes that have "pink" in them.

The rosettes I've made the last two days. Now I just need to attach them to the great elastic I have and voila...perfect little accessories for Reese (and a few other lucky girls, too!).

Day 24: Animal

I have one animal in this house, and he is very photogenic if you ask me. Three shots from the past year:

Approximately 2 weeks before Reese made her arrival. He was getting excited.

About 1 month ago...he has established his presence in Reese's life.

About 2 weeks ago..."What? You can play with me?"

Emmett, you are one fantastic animal. Thanks for taking the back seat in life now that you are no longer #3 in the family. You really are a fabulous pet and friend.

Day 23: Sunflare

Oh, how I love sun flare photography. It's beautiful and so romantic. HOWEVER, I was too busy playing with my mom and Reese, doing some birthday shopping, and going on a date with Wes to stop and focus on getting a good straight into the sun shot today. Yes, excuses, excuses. I do want to play with this technique soon though, and if I do it successfully, I'll be sure to share. In the meantime, enjoy this picture I took on our way to Conway last weekend. It's the sun, and I see some flare.

Day 22: Hands

I have some really cute hands to show you tonight. As they are uploading to this post, I'll tell you about today. Mom and I painted my kitchen table and chairs, and the weather couldn't have been much better for this. We tackled the chairs this morning, ran to Lowes for more supplies, and then finished it all up tonight after dinner. During Reese's naps, we worked. When she was up, we played, strolled the neighborhood, brainstormed 1st birthday ideas, and ate. It was a good day, and I am really looking forward to getting in the shower as soon as this blog post and So You Think You Can Dance are over.

Oh, the first picture isn't even focused on her hands; it's just cute.

Crawling hands.

Playing hands. (see the problem though? i focused on the toy instead of her hands.)

Swinging with Mopsy hands.

Day 21: Faceless Self-Portrait

I pretty much just wanted to highlight my new couch pillows and my new bracelets that my mom made. Reese was napping during this little photo shoot, but as you can tell, I didn't bother picking up her toys this time. Happy Tuesday! My mom is here for a few days, and there are some really fun projects in store for us these next few days. I'm sure you will be seeing pictures of it all.

Day 20: Bokeh

Oops. I failed today. I had to look up what Bokeh is a few days ago, and it's pretty cool. However, I just didn't get around to putting in the effort to creating a good Bokeh shot today. Instead, I unpacked, took Reese to the doctor, went to the grocery store, baked cupcakes, did a few loads of laundry, wrote the 9 Month blog post, and had a girls' night to send off a friend moving to Omaha. Sorry. I feel like a failure, so instead of just leaving you high and dry, I'll at least post a picture of someone else's Bokeh art. Enjoy, and please forgive me.

You can find this picture and 87 more really cool examples here.

The 9 Month Post

Here we are...Reese is NINE months old now. CRAZY. I feel like I've been blogging a ton lately, so I don't feel the need to fill you in on everything Reese is doing these days. However, I know that I want to print off these monthly updates, and I will want to know a lot of details at that time. Nine months is pretty spectacular. Reese is growing and changing on an almost daily basis, and she is absolutely my favorite girl in the world. Here are her stats:

*She weighs 18 lb. 2.5 oz. (the paper says 37.55%, but i thought i saw 49th percentile on the screen) Regardless, woah. I think her constant movement is definitely keeping her from holding on to her rolls and extra poundage. I guess she's already settling into taking after her mother and father. We are pretty small people.

*Reese is 27 1/4 inches long. (38.72%)

*And her head? Oh, it's not shy...45cm--78th percentile I think. :)

*Typical Day:

Somewhere in the 6:00 hour she wakes and plays and sometimes falls back asleep

7:00 nurse

8:30 nap

10:30 out of crib (she doesn't nap that long, but i keep her in there for 2 hours both naps)

11:00 nurse

1:00 nap

3:00 nurse

4:00 if we are home, this is independent play time

5:30/6:00 dinner

6:15 bath, nurse, bed

(the times are starting to get pushed back 15 or so minutes which I really like)

*Naps are sometimes awesome and sometimes not so awesome. I know that Reese doesn't need a TON of sleep every day, but I want her used to being in her crib for 2 hours for 2 naps a day. If she wakes up before nap time is over, she always sits and plays until I get her. And when I get her, it's THE BEST time of the day.

*Reese still sleeps in a sleep sack and LOVES it. She switches back and forth between a Halo one and an Aden and Anais one.

*Sweet girl is crawling all over the place. The day we got our carpet cleaned about 2 or 3 weeks ago, she really got going. Good timing.

*She is starting to learn "that's a no," but I have to say it a few times and then sometimes distract her with a toy or move her. She definitely knows when I say her name in the voice. She stops whatever she is doing, sits up, and looks my way.

*Sweetheart is enamored with Emmett now that she can crawl all over him. He just sits there and lets her mess with him.

*Reese is eating like a champ. Fruit and cereal in the morning. Fruit, veggies, and bread/cheese/turkey at lunch. Fruit, veggies, and some of whatever we are eating for dinner, if it's ready, at night.

*Oh, she waves on command. And it's so cute.

I think that's it on the monthly update. Aren't you so proud I am only posting ONE picture?

Happy NINE months (and 2 days) to my daughter. A nice man walked up to me at the Neighborhood Market today just to tell me that Reese was REALLY cute. I had to agree with him. Not only is Reese absolutely beautiful, but she is beginning to have the most precious personality. Still laid back, content, and happy, she's my girl. I love her way more than I ever imagined in a million years. Reesey Peesey, you have stolen my heart.

Day 19: Something Orange (and a whole lotta pictures)

It is very fitting that today's challenge is something orange. My dad bleeds orange, and it's Father's Day. Perfect. Hendrix College's colors are orange and black, and seeing that dad has been a part of campus since 1968, I've seen my fair share of orange on this man. So what did he get for Father's Day from my mom? A new pair of orange shorts. {Cue perfect blog brainstorming.}

Today was a very special day. Not only was it Wes' first Father's Day, but I got to share the day with my dad and father-in-law. You see, Wes and I are lucky people in that our parents are good friends. My parents had his over for lunch today, and we talked about everything from the genetic makeup of lemurs and elephants to dad's rediscovery of Lisa Stansfield. I am extremely blessed to have such an incredibly loving, supportive, dedicated, thoughtful, and simply warm hearted daddy, and what I've gotten in a father-in-law is pretty remarkable, too. He's wise, encouraging, and sure has shown his youngest what it means to be an exceptional dad. I thank the Lord for their roles in our lives and for the love that they share with their granddaughter.

It was pure joy getting to spend the day with three fantastic fathers, and my mom prepared a pretty fantastic meal to serve these fellas. She decided to treat them to sliders and all the fixin's, as well as some sweet daddy tributes. Enjoy the pictures of our day!

Yeah, I know. This has nothing to do with what I just wrote, but Reese's room may be my favorite thing I've done with orange, so I couldn't not share at least one picture of her nursery.

The orange shorts.

Wes' new belt. Daniel, thanks for being real with Wes and letting him know his old one was a bit outdated. And Wes is trying out one of his gifts from me right now...new headphones specifically designed for running.

Wes' card from my mom and dad. Phil Dunphy...what a dad.

Some of the sweet decor my mom fixed.

The names we call(ed) all of our dads were typed on the white cards.

Blackberry cobblers.

Some of the "fixin's." She also had potato salad, Asian coleslaw, baked beans, and homemade guacamole.

The sliders themselves. Cute little things.

Mom. She deserves an award.

Wes' dessert.

Reese with her own daddy and her two grandfathers. LUCKY GIRL.