home again, home again...

we're back! so much fun and quality family time was squished into those few days away, and now i'm needing a vacation to recover from my vacation! we're working on getting back into the swing of things round these parts. for nearly a week i had about 10 other people around ready to help out with penny all day every day, and now we're back to it being just her and i all day while evan is at work. i'll admit, it's taking a bit of adjusting. i'm so happy to be back home though, and penny is happy to be with her papa again. there is definitely something to be said for being in your own bed, and your baby sleeping through the night when she's in hers!

a full vacation update is to come... but tonight this mama is relaxing!

recently... according to my iphone

days at home with this sweet girl just keep getting better and better. i'm one lucky mama for sure!

*currently penny is sitting on the floor next to me "watching" her very first disney movie. we opted for lady & the tramp to start her off. she's pretty into it!

6 months

a six month baby, yup we gots one!

these pictures were taken on penny's half birthday, and now, nearly 3 weeks later i'm finally getting around to posting them!

  this girl right here is growing in leaps and bounds lately. she's all over the place. not quite legit crawling, but definitely just a few short days away from it. she's more in army mode as of late. staying low, and dragging lower half wherever it needs to go. she's got the strength, the determination, and certainly the curiosity, yeah, she'll be full on crawling soon! she's eating lots of new foods, and so far we've yet to find something that she doesn't like. thank you little baby for making that easy on us! she's also got lots of new tricks, such as this little gem RIGHT HERE. her funny new faces and sounds just melt my insides every day. silly baby, yup, we got that too! 

  big news here though is that we now also have a through the night sleeper on our hands! i know these things change all the time, but for now, and for the past week and a half, our gal has been sleeping like a champ! i can not even tell you what a difference this is making in our days... or really, my day. up until now i had still been nursing her every 3 hours ALL. NIGHT. LONG! i was basically a zombie mama during the day, and i didn't even realize it until i got a full night sleep again. it's like the sun was shining brighter, the bird songs were sweeter, and i woke up missing my babe after not seeing her all night. to sum it up, it was glorious! and every morning she does it, it still is! 

so happy 6 months my sweet sweet lil' nugget. 7 months is just around the corner!

for my girl...

these days i've been thinking a lot. a lot about what it is to raise a girl today. about how everywhere you look there are images of what a girl should look like, and how they should act. it's a discussion that's been had many times before, but to be a mother of a little girl suddenly makes it all very relevant.

with summer upon us i can't help but be aware of my own self conscious body issues. they've been there for as long as i can remember, and i couldn't for the life of me tell you where they come from. the feeling has it's peaks and valleys, but by all accounts i couldn't say i've always been 100% comfortable with my body. this feeling, the one that shows it ugly head when i just can't seem to find something to wear that feels right, is not a feeling i ever want to pass on to penny. she's going to get bombarded by it when she's older, and i want to protect her from that for as long as i possibly can. i can't help but see myself through her eyes now, so i'm making a promise now to you penny...

i promise you will never here me belittle myself because of my appearance...

i promise i will never ever talk about dieting, or weight, in any way in front of you...

i promise to never not take you swimming simply because i don't feel like wearing a bathing suit...

i promise to always compliment you for your qualities that have nothing to do with your looks...

and above all else,

i promise to be a woman you can look up to. to never seem weak, to always be what you need me to be, and teach you to never, even for a second, doubt yourself. 

this is a lot to promise, but for you my little girl, i promise to try!

summer weekend!

oh don't mind that, that's just our little redneck baby swimming in a bucket!

with it being 90+ degrees here in NC the past few days, and us not having a swimming pool, i decided that our little lady needed a fun spot to splash around. not only did i opt for this sweet tub over a kiddie pool because of the insanely cute photo ops, but also because it's doggy proof! our pups have been known to chew a hole in a kiddie pool or two, and i wanted penn to have something that i knew would stand the test of time. also, once she's grown out of it, it will make a super cute planter. so yup, we're the parents who put our kid in a bucket...

my folks came up from atlanta this weekend to stay with penn and i while evan was out of town. my mama needed a baby squeeze, and i was more then happy to have their company. we had so much fun going to the park, out to lunch, and my dad clued me in to why our garden wasn't doing too hot, not enough water, who knew! penny was stoked to have her gaga & pop pop here, and after they left yesterday she was absolutely wiped out. she took a nap right away, and then even went to bed an hour early. thank you mom & dad for that sweet sweet extra hour!

today it's back to our regular routine though. the babe is currently napping and i've got some orders to stitch up... so off i go. happy monday friends!