Some Really Important Things That I Hope To Teach My Daughter...and Then A Couple Other Things

 Now that Lucy is entering into toddler hood and is being able to understand and communicate more I started thinking about what I want to teach her and what I want her to know. It will be a process that I'm sure takes more then her 18 years with us to learn everything that I hope to share with her. This is a lifetime task but one that I truly look forward to with all my heart.

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Choose your girlfriends like you would a pair of shoes. Quality always wins out and keeps
you from hurting later in life. 

Be the friend that you would like to have and guard each others hearts.

Never choose a guy over a girlfriend. A good girlfriend will be with you much longer then a crush ever will.

Take school seriously, but take your imagination even more seriously. The world already has answers to logical questions, but it doesn’t have your answers. Smart is good, being creative is great.

Believe in the good of other people, even if they prove it wrong you will be better off for choosing good. 

Don’t swear or cuss. Being pretty is more then your outwards appearance, it is also how you present yourself.

Be motivated but don’t become too focused on being competitive. Focus on doing a good job, not about being better then others.

Keep baking soda in your fridge, tissues in your purse and an extra pair of comfy shoes in your car when you go out wearing high heels.

Tearing others down to make them seem small will never make you bigger then them.

Invest in what matters, your friends, your family and your faith.

People will forget what you say and what you do but they will always remember how you make them feel

Believe in yourself, believe in God, believe in the good in people and the power of mascara.

Almost all the answers about life can be explained with Steel Magnolias. I’m willing to watch it with you as many times as needed to learn those lessons.

The Girl Scouts got it right. Always leave a place better then the way you found it and make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold. Hang on to the gold ones.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Mistakes happen. Laugh at yourself.

Read lots of books. I recommend ones by Ann L. Martin, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss.


You are always welcome at home. No matter what you do, you can always come home. My arms and the front door are always going to be open to you.

Disney movies are like cookies, they are really yummy but should not be what you base your life (or diet) around.

With that said, cookies can fix a whole lot of problems. Unless you ask your dad and he will tell you that ice cream can do the same thing.

There might be a time when your faith in God doesn’t seem all that important to you. That is ok, you will always be important to Him. You can always find your way back to God.

Saying sorry first doesn't make you weak. It means you care more about the other person then you do about being right.

It's okay to cry. Crying is great therapy. Happy tears are ok too. Invest in lots of tissues, you are my daughter after all.

PMS is not an excuse to act out. It is only an excuse to wear sweatpants and eat chocolate.

Always dress nice when you go to church. The way you dress reflects your attitude and church is the time to be respectful.

You are never too old to say please and thank you, to believe in the magic of Christmas, to go on It’s a Small World at Disney World and to need your mom.

No number will ever define you. Not the scale, the size of your clothes, your grade point average or the money in your bank account.

Put your computer and your phone down and go outside. Look up at the sky. Look all around. This is the real world.


If you can’t say it out loud you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

Driving is a privilege, you are not entitled to it. You must earn it by being responsible.

You can cheer for any team you want. Except the Bears. And the Vikings. And the Yankees. And especially the Cardinals. You might want to check with your dad about the rest of that list.

Always remember to pray. Even when you don’t think God is listening. Some of the greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

Always celebrate your birthday. You are special and always worth celebrating. Age doesn’t matter. You get old or you die trying.

You can’t control others, this includes making them happy. All you can control is how you react. Choose to be happy.

Good girls aren’t nerdy or boring. They call their mom every Sunday and make it a priority to help other people.

I will always be your mom and you will always be my baby. Always.

I will always have time to talk to you about what you are feeling. And yes, I can bring cookies.

Lucy's 1 Year Photos

When we went down to Florida for Lucy's birthday party to celebrate with our family and friends we also were able to do her 1 year photos. My husband has done a really good job of taking pictures of Lucy throughout the first year of her life. This child's first year is VERY well documented. I'm pretty sure that there are more pictures of her in 1 year then my parents probably took of me in 18 years. It is great that he is so diligent about taking pictures because I'm pretty bad about it. I'm much more of a "savor the moment" type and forget to take pictures. Ying and yang. We balance each other out. He reminds me to take more photos, I remind him to edit and eliminate so that we don't have to buy another computer just to save all these photos :)

My best friend, who I have known since preschool, is awesome at doing photos and offered to take these for us. I was so thrilled! And then I saw her work and I was even more thrilled at how they all turned out! I'm trying very hard to encourage her to really look into doing this as a business because she really has a talent for it. She also made the great chalkboard sign for Lucy which was such an awesome touch. 

 

 

 

I love how the photos turned out and think she did such a great job of capturing Lucy's two sides, sweet and spunky.

5 on Friday

I am all about the link ups right now to help me find my blogging groove again. Really I don't need to find a groove I just need to find more TIME to blog. Such is life as a mom. Link it up!

ONE.


Fall.
Everybody loves Fall. I love it too, not being a hater, but if I was another holiday/season I think that I wouldn't exactly be "liking" Fall's Facebook page sine Fall gets all the love and spring and say Easter are kind of "meh" in the popularity contest. Just about every blog I come across is talking about fall, pumpkin spice lattes and knee boots. I had my one pumpkin spice latte and I'm good for the rest of the year, I would rather have a chocolate pumpkin muffin truth be told. I just want fall weather and fall leaves. And Halloween. And a side of Thanksgiving. Those are my holidays. Spooky, candy, good food and pretty colors. That is how I roll.

 

TWO. 

In spirit (oh I'm puny) of all things fall let us talk about this lovely handbag. 

 It is Dooney & Bourke's Disney bag for the season and it is inspired by Disney's Haunted Mansion. 

And it wants to come and live with me. 

I wish.

I love this bag. I love that from a distance it just looks like a nice print and then up close you realize that it is the wallpaper from the Haunted Mansion. And that just happens to be my favorite ride at Disney World. See? It was like we were meant to be together like some cheesy boy band song says or something. Only thing that I don't like about this bag is it's price. And since I need a much larger bag to carry all of Lucy's my stuff and because I'm too cheap saving for our future house fund this just wouldn't really work for me when it comes to day to day needs. 

But a girl can dream. And drool. And wish that she was holding this little lovely while going on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney. 

THREE.

I identify myself as an optimist. I can't help but smile when I see the picture above. I suppose it could be a litmus test of optimism because I can't help but want to cheer the elephant on. I have a theory that most everything that I needed to learn in life I learned as a Girl Scout. One of the things I learned there, besides never handing someone a knife or scissors with the sharp end or the importance of checking the bathroom with a good flashlight at night, is that when you go camping you leave your campsite better then when you found it. I like the idea of leaving things better then the way that I found them. About bringing my gifts and talents and using them to make something better. Not perfect, just better.  I saw this video below and at the part where Oprah tells host Andy Cohen that he "carries the light" I couldn't help but think about what an awesome compliment that was, and not just because it is Oprah, and how that was what I would hope people would say about me. Click the link below.

Watch Watch What Happens Live Season 10 | Oprah's Encycl-O-pedia

(Sorry that I couldn't get the video to load on to my page!)


FOUR.

Lucy is just so much fun right now. She has her off times but in general I feel like I almost can't keep up with her with how fast she is changing and the things she is learning. My jaw has dropped multiple times when she did something I had no idea that she was capable of yet.  We were in the bathroom together and she grabbed her shampoo and started putting it towards her head and I said "Yes! Yay Lucy, that is right we do use that to wash our hair". The she touched her hair. I asked her again "Where is your hair?" BOOM. No problem mom, I've got this one. Mind blown. Daily.

FIVE.

I love Bethenny Frankel. She created Skinnygirl cocktails, aka my "Mommy Juice" and for that I will forever be indebted to her. I love her books, love her sass and super honest attitude. I love her yoga dvd and food advice.

I'm not loving her talk show though. I can't tell you how much I really really want to love her talk show but I just don't. I'm planning on sticking with it though because I really hope that it does find a rhythm that I can get on board with. I got your back girl.

Link Up! Kid Tested, Mom Approved

I’ve been loving the Kid Tested, Mom Approved link up. Some of my favorite mommy blogs, Strawberry Swing and Other Things and Sunflower State of Mind, have been posting on different mom/baby things and I am finally getting on the boat now that they are on their last leg of this link up tour. 
                              


 The subject for the day: Go To Gear.  When making up this list I did notice how I feel like since Lucy is 1 now we have a lot less gear that we have to have then where we were a year ago. So now on to the goods...

1.Aden &Anais Lovie Blankets. I love A&A like many moms. We have used many of their products as Lucy has grown. We used (and still sometimes use) the Aden & Anais Swaddle blankets. I love the texture of these blankets. We used the sleep sacks when we were no longer swaddling and now she has an Aden & Anais lovie blanket that she sleeps with. I have also added a swaddle blanket to her crib for her since Lucy tends to float around her crib and that way she should always be able to find a blanket.

2. Munchkin Straw Cup. Love this cup. It was an impulse buy at Target and it has become her favorite cup. I love that the straw is great at not letting the water spill out with the way that Lucy tosses it around.


3. Fisher Price Sea Horse. This sea horse is crucial to our sleep routine. We’ve used it for a long time now and love it. I have had to zip tie the sea horse to her crib otherwise we would have a flying sea horse.


4. BumGenius 4.0 One Size.  We have been cloth diapering since she was about 5 months old. I dabbled in it a little before that but took a break from it temporarily. Once we got back on the cloth diaper wagon we have never looked back. I love cloth diapering and BumGenius makes it so flipping easy.

5. California Baby Diaper Area Wash. This works so well with our cloth diapers. I love using this because I know that it keeps her clean with a product and ingredients that I trust on Lucy’s tender skin. It smells really good too. That usually is justification enough for me to purchase something.

6. The Honest Company Body Wash. I really enjoy The Honest Company’s products and this is one of the products that is always in our monthly bundle. It smells great (see I told you that was my go to reason) and it is great for her skin.

Lucy at 12 months

ONE.

We made it through the first year. And what a year it has been. I have plenty of first birthday and one year photos to share also. Here is the rundown on Lucy at one.

 

Lucy Loves:

 Books....Lucy LOVES books. She loves to flip through the pages of her board books and "read" them out loud. Her reading sounds a lot like grumbling and I have to wonder sometimes if that is what she thinks I sound like reading them to her. Ahem. She likes when I read her books also. Her favorite books are:

Brown Bear Brown Bear

Snuggle Puppy, Opposites, Moo Baa La La La, Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton

                                  

                                   

Kitty Cats... Lucy is in love with our cat Wednesday. She is small and furry and apparently that is very entertaining to Lucy. The feelings don't seem to be mutual but she is pretty tolerant of Lucy. One of Lucy's first words was actually "kitty cat", which sounds a lot more like "keeeh kah".  She also seems to really like Hello Kitty and her kitty straw cup.

                                   

Water .. this little girl is a total mermaid. She loves being in the water. She has always loved taking baths and we had a feeling that she would love swimming pools. She got to go to a water park for her birthday which she loved. I have a feeling that with a birthday in August there will be many birthday parties involving water.

Food:

Lucy is a pretty good eater, up until recently she was not a picky eater but lately she has been known to toss half of her meal on to the floor. I think this has a lot more to do with her being bored and just playing then actually being picky. But it does make meal time more difficult. Lucy likes to eat brown beans, green beans, peas, bananas, graham crackers, yogurt, cottage cheese, macaroni and cheese, squash and avocados. She was a good little black bean eater but I think that maybe she had a few too many and that black bean boat has now sailed. We are working on introducing milk but she isn't a huge fan so far. She does love drinking water out of her straw cup though.

Lucy isn't much of a t.v. watcher but she does love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Mickey Mouse specifically. I love how she books it right up to the t.v. when it comes on and does a little happy dance.  She loves going on swings, trashing her closet and being on the go.

Developments:
At 6 months Lucy seemed to have a ton of developmental milestones all at one time. 12 months (13 months) seems to be the same way. She is thisclose to standing and walking. Whenever she stands she tries to walk. She has started pointing, waving and talking more. She can say kitty cat, dada, mama, no, hello, hi, hey.

She has also gotten a lot more expressive lately. This poor girl has her momma's poker face which means she has no poker face at all. It is always obvious what she is feeling and she has no problem expressing it. She has a great smile and an even better "silly" smile.

 
Sleep: Such a dirty word in this house. She takes 2 naps a day. Naps have generally gotten better. Night sleep is another story. Has yet to sleep through the night. Bedtime is usually pretty early. Moving on....


Hates: Sleep. The car. Terrible car sleeper. She doesn't like being restrained. This includes car seats.  She doesn't like having her nails trimmed or her nose cleaned.

Stats: She is about 19lbs, 29 inches. She is mainly wearing 12 month clothes still and has totally leaned out.

Lucy is a silly, happy funny little girl. She is little Miss Independent. She is always on the go, curious and sweet.