baby – Page 2 – the Spiff

Half a Year of Jackson

January 22, 2016 No Comments

Those little cutie cheeks and everything attached to them are about to be 6 months old!

He is growing and changing so much these days. It’s a far departure from the sleep all day, suck down some food and then sleep some more. Now I feel like I’ve got to watch him every minute while he’s awake so I don’t miss something!

My favorite thing he’s been doing lately (for a little over a month now), is laughing.

I wanted to document the list of things that make him laugh so I can ~~make fun of him for it~~ reference it in the future…

Fart noises
Noises made into any spot on his neck
Our dog Zack when he’s trying to hack up something
Mommy jumping up and down

I can already tell, this kid’s got my perfect sense of humor ;)

He loves to grab his toes and oh, by the way, he’s sitting up on his own! He’ll wabble for a second, but it’s so neat to see how their little muscles develop and start to hold him up where before he’d just collapse to the side. Not that he doesn’t topple over every now and then, but you don’t have to harness him up like he’s about to mountain climb. Maybe just pad the area around him.

We’re swimming in a sea of slobber. I mean it. We come home, put on our wet suits and just swim around in it everywhere. Lord help Mommy let go of her unstained clothes as they fill up with baby dribble. (That was a legitimate prayer).

And snow happened this week so he got to sit in it. No sledding with Mommy yet, right now we’ll just sit.

Coming up on half a year with him renews my desire to just enjoy the here and now. I believe that has truly helped it not feel as if it’s flying by. I constantly check myself to make sure I’m not lamenting over time passed or wishing away the present to when he’ll be walking, talking, etc. I make it a point to have a moment each day where he’s the only thing on my agenda. Even if it’s just for 15 minutes, it’s me and him (and Zack cause he gets in there too) and we’re just there to play.

As cliche, overused and trite as it sounds…enjoying the moment really makes a difference.

Have a fun weekend everyone!

Beauty

This Post Includes a Cute Baby

December 4, 2015 No Comments

When you work from home with a dog and baby, you get a total of 50 minutes (per day) where no one is making noise.

I’m basking in a lull of silence as I type this.

Jackson is four months now. He’s laughing, holding his head up really well, saying words like “succotash” and “ironic” in the full sentences he’s screaming out. We’re so proud.

*He did roll over for the first time this week! :-D

We took him to his first tree lighting this past Friday. Events like those are a funny mix of emotions. On the one hand I’m so excited that he’s there to share in the joy of something I love so much. On the other hand, I’m wishing he could give me some kind of jubilant reaction (unless you count eating, sleeping, pooping as jubilant reactions…we got nothing). And on the third hand, I’m trying to stay thankful that he’s not at the stage where we’re having to chase him down, constantly keeping an eye on him.

It goes back to what I’ve been reminding myself of all along – enjoy every stage. I don’t want to rush through anything too quickly and look back on little moments wishing I had been present.

Especially now that we’re in the holidays, I want to enjoy every minute.

I’ve got Christmas decorations in boxes strewn about my living room. At first, it was really bothering me. We’ve got to walk around them when we get in the door…it’s a constant reminder of all I have to do. But then I thought of when we were first married and I was still in college. I had to stay up super late in the beginning of December to study for finals. After they were finished, I took a whole day to clean and decorate the house.

I look back on that now, thankful I don’t have to study for finals and it makes me look at those boxes in the living room and realize – it’s going to get done. Just enjoy it along the way.

Just wanted to remind you of that today and every day. Seriously, every day you should get on here and read this. Or other posts I’ve written, I’m not picky. Just do it every day.

PS: The silence I was enjoying was broken about half-way through writing this post. ;)

Beauty, Videos

Birthday Post

October 30, 2015 No Comments

This has to go down as one of my favorite years.

While I’m writing this, across the room a safari swing is rocking to sleep the very evidence that God is faithful. And not only is He faithful, but His timing is better than we could have ever planned for ourselves (the fact that Jackson is 3 1/2 months away from two cousins on either side of our family proves that).

In the past couple of birthdays when we were praying for his existence, I still considered myself hugely blessed. And now….sheesh it’s overflowing ;)

Check out this cute little surprise Dayton planned out for me on live TV yesterday…

Beauty, fall

What do You Expect?

October 23, 2015 No Comments

I just read a blog post from one of my favorite bloggers about their first family photo shoot at a pumpkin patch that went completely awry.

That’s the thing with baby’s/weather/life things don’t always play out in the sunny Stars Hollow-esque way you would like…wait, I can’t…um can we talk about Gilmore Girls for a second!?

Not only do we get FOUR more episodes, but we might actually get to hear the four words Amy Sherman-Palladino wanted to end the series with! (My money’s on “Oy with the poodles”). I was so tired when I heard the news or else I would have jumped up and did an actual dance. I can’t decide if I want to binge watch all four when they come out, or savor them slowly. GAH IT’S SO EXCITING. Ok, ok…

Our first family photo shoot went great, Jackson did so well he even power napped when we had a break. It was before the shoot that the chaos ensued. And it wasn’t even Jackson, it was his mother who ran was running around like a mad woman.

And I don’t use “mad woman” loosely either. There was one point in my day where I was pushing him around the mall bumping into every corner, wearing jeans with the tags still on, shoes without socks and an undershirt that I had thrown a sweater over and buttoned randomly in the middle since my bra was brighter than the shirt.

I looked ridiculous. But I was desperately trying to find a top to wear for the pictures. Why? Because my clothing expectations are sky-high.

The other day after holding Jackson out in public, I looked down to find spit/drool marks all over the top of my tunic. Inside, I was cringing so hard, just writing about it makes me sigh. But it made me realize I’m going to have to alter my expectations ~~a little~~ a lot. That person inside of me that expects to have every part of my outfit perfect, they’re going to have to take a smoke break…for like the next 18 years.

Your expectations may not be outfit related, they may be relationship based or maybe…I don’t know…PINTEREST based. The problem with having high expectations is they’re never going to be met.

My advice to myself (feel free to listen in) just show up to life wearing clothes. Your care-free attitude is what people will remember more so than {insert your expectation here}.

It’s valuing the time you have that matters, not the shirt you have on UNDER the gray sweater (geese, Elizabeth).

Dial your expectations down to zero and just be you. The bible says in John 10:10…Jesus came so that we can have and enjoy life. Not have and expect life to be perfect. Just enjoy. One of my favorite sayings is from my pastor, he says, “Expect nothing, be thankful for everything.”

These fabulous photos were taken by Brittany from Southern Roots Photos!

Beauty

Two Months Later

October 16, 2015 No Comments

The one thing I’ve heard repeatedly since having Jackson was, “Enjoy it because before you know it, he’ll be cashing in his 401k and hitting the golf course.”

Ok no one’s gone that far into his life, but people have constantly reminded me about how fast it goes.

And I’m sure it does, but I don’t want to hear that. So instead of getting annoyed at the advice, I’ve decided to use it as a reminder to slow down and enjoy mundane things like changing his diaper or getting up in the middle of the night to look for his paci…for the love of all things holy, where is his PACIFIER? I NEED TO ENJOY THIS.

One thing that has helped is keeping a journal of all that he’s done. While on maternity leave I wrote in it every night. At first the goal was to record when he hit certain milestones, but I found that it quickly turned into a way to take a minute and enjoy what happened that day. I’m certain it’s not something he’ll ever ask me for, “Mummy (he will acquire a British accent just to make himself cuter) where is the journal you kept when I was a lad, I want to regale my classmates of the first 8 weeks of my life.”

Nope.

It’s something that forces me to stop and will help me to remember the tiny details of his life at the very beginning.

While you may not be a big writing nerd and aren’t the least bit interested in keeping a hand written journal, you do have a notepad on your phone. At the end of the day, see what it’s like to record little things that you’ll want to remember someday, or even just what life was like for you that day.

I promise it will, for a moment, hit the slow-mo button on time and give you a chance to be thankful.

Speaking of slowing down, slow down, click here and read more blogs!

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