…many faces…
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Tag Archives: Lainey Noelle
don’t got a belly button
So I miss writing. I really do. Right now I have a sticky note sitting next to me of things I want to share but I literally just looked over my shoulder and not only did Lainey roll from her back to her tummy but she also turned 180 degrees. How. Cool. Is. That! I don’t want to miss anything. All of these little things that this gal is doing freaking amaze me. Clearly I knew she would do all of these things. Educated as I am, I check for and ask parents about these things every day but watching her do these things blows my ever loving mind! I am so blessed to have the luxury of having her be at home with Adam. And, yes, it IS very much a luxury to have a spouse that can be a stay-at-home parent. I knew within minutes when she rolled from her back to her tummy the first time and had a video to watch within minutes after that!
I want so much for her and want to do so much for her. Adam says we can only spoil her if she doesn’t know that she is being spoiled. Oh man, we are so in trouble!
We started planting our garden last week…mostly all of the root veggies so far. Peas, parsnips, turnips, sweet potatoes, carrots and rutabagas (and no, Janna, rutabagas are not a type of purple car!). We plan on also doing egg plant, green beans, acorn and butternut squash and zucchini. Our goal is actually to try to do exclusive breast milk until about nine months and then introduce solids. Initially (like in last week!) we were thinking about pureeing the veggies from the garden and putting them up for the winter….but now we are thinking more about going the baby-led weaning approach. The whole theory behind this simply makes sense to me. I’m just not real sure what to do with foods like rutabaga (ha!), the squashes, etc. I’d love to still be able to use our bounty from this summer for Lainey next winter but if we don’t puree them I am afraid that blanching and freezing them will make their consistency too gooey? Hmmmm, not sure. If anyone has any ideas or other baby-led experiences you’d like to share, let me know, emmkay?!
In other news, we now know with 100% certainty that a blow-out is not a true blow-out unless it:
- includes all four of the child’s extremities
- requires the disposal of the outfit the child was in
- requires the use of every wipe you have left in your possession
- involves the child’s neck
- gets under the parent’s fingernails
Adam has created a song list that he has playing during the day for Lainey titled “Lainey play time”. In it includes a lot of classic children’s christian songs but it also has many of the veggie tale songs. This one in particular has really taken our home by storm. I would like to say I am embarrassed that we both know pretty much all of the words to this song (but I’m not!). The thing is this…the song is hilarious.
p.s. Lainey is FOUR months old tomorrow!!!
dreams come true
Exactly one year ago I received a Mother’s Day card. This exact card, actually:
I wept when Adam gave me this card. I wept for what I thought I would never have. The truth is that I’ve actually been a Mama for several years now, in my heart that is. I never dreamed I would get to be one in the flesh. Not even four months ago, a woman that was likely frightened and unsure came here….to our town and gave me the greatest gift I have and will ever receive.
I received another card today. It had Mama written on the outside. I wept when I read this one, too….for an entirely different reason. The beautiful woman that came here on January 21st helped make my dreams come true….just like the song says:
I know it is unlikely we will ever see this woman again…unlikely we will ever even speak, which we are at peace with. But I do know that there are birth mothers out there that may somehow have found my blog and I want these amazing, strong, selfless and beautiful women to know a few things.
My prayer for you today is that somehow, somewhere you are being loved on and cherished by someone the way that you should be. I pray that you know that we love you…in a way we never imagined we could. Everyone told us that the feelings we would have for a birth mother would feel different if we ever adopted. And, they were right. It isn’t the same kind of love that we have for Lainey or for our families. It is different. But, it is love and it will be there forever.
I pray that you know that we will only ever speak of you in a loving way. We will speak of your strength, your inner beauty, your courage and the tenderness you had when you explored every inch of Lainey before you gently placed her in our arms and gave her that one last kiss. You didn’t give Lainey up. You chose us! You did the right thing, and for that we thank you. I promise she is thriving and that we are loving on her every minute of every day. Our whole family cherishes her beyond what we could have ever imagined. I promise we will give her the world.
Please don’t hurt today from the decision you made on January 21st, for you made me a Mother! You made my dreams come true! Birth mother’s…all of you remember this….you made dreams come true!
And, so we can end with a smile…
rollin…rollin…rollin…
so, this happened (and alas, we are a’rollin’ both ways now!)
The next thing we’ll know, she’ll be out the door to kindergarten!
a nursery for Lainey Noelle
Ahhhh, finally! Lainey’s nursery is complete! Well, lets be honest. It was complete with just her in it…the rest are just details. My goal was to have it done by the time she was three months and we made it which I consider awesome considering Nebraska Furniture Mart initially told us her furniture wouldn’t be in until June 26th!
We initially had her furniture picked out from Target and they discontinued some of the matching pieces. In hindsight I am thrilled that happened. It was a pain initially (the crib was already here) but the set we ended up going with is solid wood….all of it, whereas the other had areas that had veneer. All of these fancy cribs today change to toddler beds and then full-size beds later on but the problem is a lot of them are not solid wood so unless they are really taken care of they likely won’t look the best by the time they are turned to a full-size bed. So, in the long run we are happy with how things worked!
Bedding, curtains: Carousel Designs. Chair: Brand is Best Home Furnishings from Nebraska Furniture Mart (out of stock). Lainey banner: Sharp Tooth Studio. Heart Pillow: Sukanart. Gold Ottoman: Overstock. Gold Table: Hobby Lobby (was neon green!). Gold wall polka-dots: Studio378decals. Rug: RugsUSA.
Custom Tassel Banner: Everylane Design.
Wallpaper lining back of closet: from Etsy. We love the way it looks but refuse to list where we got it because it was a miserable experience putting it on!
Poufs: Hobby Lobby. L is for Lainey print: FREE from here. Dolly: Blabla kids.
Furniture: Million Dollar Baby, Tillen. From here with extra pieces special ordered.
Ultimately, the moral of the story is that a nursery is more for the Mama than the baby. This Mama is happy!