Lock down

Busy season drags on. Mary and I continue to hang out by ourselves a lot. I've never really minded snow before. I like shoveling it. I like playing it in. I like[d] skiing as I mentioned here.

One of the reasons I enjoy snow is that it has never really slowed me down much. I have a car with AWD a healthy [over]dose of confidence in driving in inclement weather, thanks to both of my parents. I don't mind the cold. I can go about my day normally, but with the beautiful blanket of white snow on the ground. I am independent.

Insert motherhood. 

I would love to pretend like it'd be totally fine to lug Mary to-and-fro, shopping, going to playdates, etc. However, it isn't really socially acceptable to lug a 3 month old around on my frolicking, unnecessary adventures when it is 8 degrees outside and cold and flu season.

(Please note: Necessary trips are necessary. Don't judge a mom for taking her baby to the grocery store in the cold, m'kay? Actually, just don't judge moms in general. They're doing their best.)

So I have been on house arrest, under quarantine, in lockdown, for the last few weeks. I was about to lose it. Hubs worked from home on a snow day and even though he was diligently working, I was able to put Mary down for her nap, leave him with the monitor, and walk to the store during the snow storm. Mostly just so I could leave the house. Do I sound psycho yet? Yup. It's ugly. 

And when the weather said it would be 40 degrees on Sunday and hubs would finally have 3 free hours in the middle of the day (yes, 3 free hours is a BIG win!) I was exctatic. I asked him to please watch her for just an hour or two so I could run some errands. You know what happened? Snow came out of nowhere. NOWHERE, people! And I cried. I wish I was kidding. But I'm not. I actually cried. Then I tried to make soup and I burned the bacon and cried more. Yes, this is real.

Goodbye, control! I no longer have control over my own schedule. 

However, here is something beautiful: One of the things that I loved during this season of lockdown is my beautiful community of friends and family. When you're at home alone with a baby or babies because your husband is traveling or working so many hours he might as well be traveling, you can go a little crazy. As if I weren't crazy enough to start with! 

When I want coffee, Alyson, whose girls are with a sitter, drops of a latte. 

When it is warm enough to get out and I haven't spoken with an adult in 36 hours, I go to Kristin's and watch her girls play. 

When it is nap time and I can't leave, Julie stops by with her [not so] little boy to say hi for 15 minutes. 

When grandmommy is getting a little twitchy cause she hasn't seen Mary in a week (spoiled grandmommy), she comes to make her laugh.

When I desperately need to workout, my sister stops by for an hour and a half and tries her darnedest to get Mary to nap. She stays and extra half hour to give me time to shower.

When I need an hour- just one solid hour- to run into 3 stores without lugging the carseat around, my neighbor watches Mary and takes adorable pictures of her. 

And my sweet husband works so diligently. Long hours. Yesterday he woke up Mary before he went to work. You know that rule about never waking a sleeping baby? Doesn't apply here. He said "she is so much bigger than when I held her last two days ago!" Probably so. She is growing. 

Here are my conclusions, particularly relevant to moms*:
* Preaching to myself here. Friends, help me to do these things well. 

1. Single moms are amazing. Let's rally together and help them. 

2. If your husband is around, don't take him for granted!

3. If he's not, don't rub it in his face. Encourage him. 

4. Spring is better than winter for babies. 

5. Community is wonderful. There are times to be the giver and times to be the receiver. But whatever you do, engage in community. Ask for help. Give help. If you're not doing both, you're missing out.

And finally and most importantly

If busy season lasted three more months

If I didn't leave the house for a week

If the sixty degree weather that is forecasted for next week turns into 6 more inches of snow

And if I didn't know another person in this beautiful city...

God is good. God is enough. I'm okay. 
Easy enough to say when circumstances are in my favor. But when the rubber meets the road, I want that to be true of me. So I pray for it.

Perfect timing. Nap is over. Off I go. 

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#daddysgirl

Early on a friend of mine (I don't even remember which one) said "isn't it fun to watch your husband learn to be a dad?" Yes. Oh my goodness. Yes.

Have you ever read Of Mice and Men? Well then you know Lennie. If you don't remember him, spoiler alert: Lennie is large and too strong for his own good. He loves his pets so much that he consistently squeezes them to death. There is lots more to that book, but I just remember Lennie.

Now let me warn you, this is a very limited analogy...
Often when Brett when is spending time with Mary he says "I just love her so much I could squeeze her to death!" Well dear, please don't. But around our house we call those Lennie moments. Brett is absolutely in love with Mary. And Mary adores her daddy. She gives him crazy smiles. Watches KU games with him. And I swear she hugs him. Here are a few of my favorite Brett & Mary pics so far.

After work, with Mack

KU basketball watching

He's trying to read and she keeps distracting him

Post-nap stretches are the absolute cutest

Hugs. *sigh*

#daddysgirl
#bejealous
#hestaken

Note: This post was not endorsed, or even previewed, by my dear husband. He will probably be like "you posted whaaaaat?" But I thought you should see these :-)

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Mary's Room. made with love.

When our beautiful friend Allison from Allison Marie Photography did Mary's newborn photos, she suggested we capture a few of Mary's room. When I posted pictures to Facebook, people were of course complementary of Mary and of Allison's incredible photography skill, but many also complemented on her room too. My cousin requested that I blog about it. So here we are.

This room is the only one in our house that I've really decorated and certainly the only one that I really love. First, it is a compilation of things made with love from family and friends. Second, it reflects my style so well. Not that I know what my style is, but I think it is in this room. And third, it is so functional.

I have to preface this by telling you that there are a lot of details behind a lot of aspects of this. So if there is a part that I'm skipping over too quickly you'll have to tell me. For example, you want the details of the mobile or footstool, or cornice boards or whatever, just let me know and I can do a post on that.

Okay on with the tour.

Note: All of the good pictures are courtesy of Allison. The others are my quick snapshots. 

The guidelines.
We waited to do anything until we found out gender, so a lot of the decor is based on the fact that we have a sweet little girl. However, we live in a 2 bedroom house so we knew that room would need to be gender neutral enough to be shared. So you'll notice that anything large is neutral. The girly-ness is found in fabrics and details that can easily change. I also know that I.love.color. Grey and white and yellow nurseries are beautiful, but not for me. Finally, I wanted it to be something that would work for a toddler or little one. So low storage for toys, room for a real bed later on, and nothing too delicate.

The inspiration. 
Probably two years ago I was in Nell Hills and saw this beautiful coral paint color. Immediately I asked my friend Julie- "can I paint my kitchen this color?!". Aside from the fact that she is addicted to neutrals, she is also wise and told me no, save it for when I have a little girl. So I bought that little sample of paint and held on to it! So when I found out we were having a girl I knew exactly the base color. But following the guidelines of having a share-able room I also knew I couldn't paint the walls that color. So this is Behr's Delicate Mist. The third accent color was going to be a pale yellow. Faint cooperated with me on that one.
Three fabrics from Sarah's Fabrics were my next bit of inspiration: the coral on the cornice boards, the floral on the window seat cushion, and the periwinkle on the footstool.
Side note: we also painted the trim Ultra Pure White. It had been ivory before and ever time I tried to paint the room a spa-like color, it just looked awful. So hubs agreed to have the trim throughout the main floor repainted white. We've never looked back!

The elephant in the room. 

How amazing is this built-in?! Our neighbors are so very generous. They also happen to be a very skilled carpenter and interior designer duo. They offered to design and build this built-in as a baby gift for us. SO wonderful! I worked with Lindsey to design it- lower shelving for baskets, upper bookshelf, and an attached window-seat/ toy box. Be jealous. Neighbor Jeff and Brett worked hard over labor day weekend to build this custom piece and I spent 3 or 4 days sanding, priming, painting, sanding, and more painting. Lots of work, but oh so worth it. And of course where did the Nell Hills paint come in? Yup. A perfect splash of color that makes it such a statement piece.


The bedding. 

My mom didn't know how to quilt. Keyword: didn't. Would you believe my mother set out to learn to quilt so she could make this fantastic quilt for Mary? I gave her three fabrics that I was using elsewhere in the room and gave her freedom to do whatever she wanted with the rest. I simply cannot imagine a more perfect design. From the colors to the pattern to the loop-de-loop quilting, it is just amazing. Mary will love this one- cuddle with it, stain it, and surely even tear it someday. It is a quilt worthy of display but made with such love that it has to be lived-with.
Of course she made the bumper (don't judge me), and skirt as well. She also made the cover for the window seat cushion.


The artwork.
Brett's sister is an artist and for my shower she made this beauty. It hangs above the changing table (not normally covered in a quilt) and I love looking at it every day.

My cousin is also an artist and did these water colors for us. How fun are these?

Psst- Both of them do custom work so if you are in the market for a piece or two let me know and I'll get you connected. 

I also ordered some prints from Pen and Paint. One says "Trust in the Lord with ..." and the other "Be Still and Know". Great reminders for us as parents. Very intentional quotes and conveniently beautiful.

Other details.

Rug is from Rugs USA. It sheds a lot, but is very thick and soft and was very affordable!

This chair is a Craigslist find. It is a rocker, not glider, but works well for us. And convenient that is came with a custom yellow slipcover. Exactly perfect. And I only looked on Craigslist for about a week or so. It was destined for us.

My dad helped me build these cornice boards. Just some random boards on the sides (1x2 maybe?) and plywood across the front. Stretch fabric over it, staple gun, and hang. It was actually much harder than it sounds, but it shouldn't have been. I'm just not the brightest crayon in the box.

I recovered an old footstool. And when I say old, I mean my parents got it at a garage sale about 15 years ago. So yeah. Just recovered with some batting, cotton, a staple gun, and hot glue. Nothing fancy, but I figure I'll be ready to get rid of the footstool in two years or less so it doesn't have to last forever.

The side table is also the Nell Hills coral. It is a fake wood little nightstand that we got from Target in about 1999. The drawer was broken, but a quick trip to Ace hardware and I'm proud to say it is back in order. Proud of myself for fixing it :-)


The "changing table" is a $20 garage sale dresser. I painted it "white" in the dark garage and brought it inside to find that I had actually painted it Delicate Blue to match the walls. Whatever, it works.

I made this mobile using fabrics from the quilt cut in circles and hung from fishing line. Mary is just starting to notice it, but I'm convinced she loves looking at it.

My mom found this marionette on Craigslist and gave it to Mary for Christmas. To us, it is the Lonely Goatherd. I'm addicted to the Sound of Music and sing that song to Mary all the time. This antique goat is a great top-shelf treasure!

So many more details to share, but I think that covers the majority. Thanks to all for contributing to this beautiful room! This sweet girl is so very loved by so many. Speaking of which, I think she is waking up from her nap. Good timing.

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Busy Season Round 5: Modified

This is my fifth busy season. I'm kind of a pro now.

Psych.

But I am getting better.

Before I yammer about that, can I just take a moment to acknowledge that I imagine it would be super exhausting for the one who is actually working the long hours in a conference room day after day? Kudus to my main man for not only working the long hours, but also keeping his team laughing.

Over the years I've learned it is important to keep busy during busy season. Last year I was sucked into Downton Abbey and Crossfit. I'm not quite back to Crossfit levels yet. Anyway, humor me as I demonstrate my type-A personality through the use of bullets with suggestions on how to handle the other side, the non-working side, of busy season.

• Surround yourself with people or you'll end up on the couch, eyes glued to a popular TV series. As previously confessed. This year I've gotten to go on walks and drop in on friends, have neighbors over for dinner, and invite others for mid-afternoon coffee and biscotti. Sitting is worthwhile if there are people to sit with, you know.
• Get to the gym or get a workout plan at home. As Elle Woods says: Exercise gives you endorphins; endorphins make you happy! Having a treadmill this year has been awesome. Don't get me wrong. I'm still lazy plenty of days. (Like last night when I was going to put Mary to bed and then get on the treadmill. But then she fell asleep in my arms and I couldn't put her down. Sorry I'm not sorry). On the whole, though, I'm way more likely to go for a run when it is so accessible. And having a set of dumbbells is handy it too. (Get my pun there? Bah!) Easy to grab and do arm raises and curls when you flip on the TV for a daily dose of The Ellen Show.
• Don't ask when he will be home. You probably won't like the answer and he won't like having to tell you. So just go ahead and figure your best guess then add an hour. And when he is way off and comes home late, don't be mad. And when he shows up an hour or two earlier than you expected and you were planning on PB&J for dinner since he wouldn't be there, be thankful and get creative with the fridge contents. 
• Plan time to be together. In the past it has been a Friday night happy hour or date night. Even if that date night was at the gym. This year we have instituted a weekly dinner next to his office. He gets to see Mary before she goes to sleep and I get to one hour of time with my bestie. 

And of course this this year there is a new twist: I'm at home all day. I don't have work to break up the long days, coworkers to talk to, or even a reason to do my hair. 

So in addition to the general suggestions above...

• Go to Target for field trips. 
• Have a cleaning plan. Just knowing that I'm committed to vacuuming on Friday and filing papers on Wednesday means that I don't have to feel like I have to do everything today. 
• Play with your baby. A lot. She'll only be 11 weeks old once. And she's darn cute. 

And don't let your husband accidentally take your car with your wallet inside and no gas in the other car. You'll be trapped at home for the day might feel like you're running out of oxygen. In which case, you know you're officially off you're rocker. 

Who says "off your rocker" anymore? Whatever. Not the point. 

Speaking of cute babies (well, we were talking about her earlier, okay?)... these are a few snapshots from hanging out. 

Yup. It's pretty great. 

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What I don't want to write about

Not many people read this. Which is fine because I'm kind of a slacker about writing. But one of the reasons I haven't written much lately is that I don't want this to turn into a mom blog. A baby blog. A baby-book blog.

Now when I say that I hope none of you feel defiant toward me. There are many, many people who want to be be mom bloggers. Who want to capture their family life story on their blog. And I love reading those blogs. That's just not my cup of joe. 

(I'm a coffee drinker, not much for tea.)

Remember the blog name, around here: "Abundance of the heart". That is not a "my heart overflows with great love and happiness and cushy sparkly things" title. It is about me telling you the things that are going on in my mind and heart. We- people in general, not you and me specifically- talk about the things we love. So I guess it is about me telling you about the things I love. Sometimes the things I love are pretty, but sometimes they are ugly. 

Here's where it gets tricky. 

Sometimes what I love, what is overflowing out of the abundance of my heart, is being a mom. Sometimes what I feel so compelled to talk about is my pretty little baby girl. 

Speaking of which...

She is two months old today, you know? Where did the time go? 

Well three weeks of it has gone to a nasty cold. Have you ever heard of a newborn getting a cold? Well it's rotten. And to add insult to injury she has a throat condition that makes her cough sound like bronchitis in a full grown man. It started off as some head congestion, became the aforementioned horrible cough, migrated to some nasty vomiting of mucous, back to mild congestion and a mild cough, and in the past 24-48 hours has manifested itself through more vomiting of the aforementioned mucous. You know what the difference between spit up and vomit is for a newborn? Practically nothin! Vomit can get some air to it and make a little girl mad, but generally speaking it is like trying to tell the difference between sleet and freezing rain. No one really knows. More on frigid temperatures later. 

In between squirt (saline) and suck (bulb syringe) sessions, our little Mary is developing a personality. She seems to be very independent. I have no idea where she gets that. 

Where is the sarcasm font when you need it?

If she isn't eating or being rocked to sleep, she usually wants to be lying on her back playing. Generally this involves people hovering over her adoringly, myself included, but she is often content to just look at the ceiling, walls, or whatever is in her periphery. She is also an exercise fanatic and loves to do bicycles nonstop. I've never seen a baby kick so hard and so fast! And about three weeks ago she started showing off her smile. Oh that smile will melt my heart. We are so excited for giggles to come next. Enjoy a few random, unedited* pictures.  

One month old here. 

Tummy time turned nap time. 

 Exploring. 

Trying to distract dad while he's working. Clearly Mary is successful. 

* We got a mac (hooray!) but I haven't messed with the picture storage/ editing software yet. Expect better pictures in the future. 

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Thanksgiving and Beds

Last week was Thanksgiving.

Well obviously. You knew that. 

We made the trip to see hub's fam on Tuesday and the little lady slept almost the whole way. Stopping to feed at a truck stop was fun and classy, but it kept our little one full so that's good. It was a short trip, but we had a great time visiting the inlaws and the two little rascal cousins.

We made the trip back on Thursday to have Thanksgiving with my family and as always enjoyed great food and a mostly lazy day.

My favorite part of thanksgiving: Christmas music. I just luuuuuve Christmas music! I could sing along (or a capella) for hours! Hubs has never been very good at song lyrics, but over the past few years he has picked up on just enough to be dangerous. He was singing to little miss on Friday and messing up a few of the words, but Mary won't have them memorized until she is at least 18 months old so I let him go with it :-) We love sing-a-longs.

What is it about coming home from a trip- even a short one to visit family- that makes your bed that much sweeter? You may not have changed the sheets in a while,
that's not us of course, we change our sheets every 2 days like Oprah, but let's just imagine for a second that we're talking about someone else and it's been a few weeks
The sheets aren't clean, there are piles of things on the dresser that need to be put away, and the dust bunnies on the floor have multiplied like rabbits (ha! get my joke?) but you are still glad to be home in your own bed.

It's kind of like Thanksgiving. Objectively, the stuffing your mom makes is not as good as it would be at a restaurant on the plaza. The cranberry sauce- the kind with no berries that actually comes out like jello- would be scoffed at if you'd never seen it before and your aunt served it to you. Here's the deal- your thanksgiving is the best. Even if it smells a little funny, the glasses have watermarks, and blah blah blah. We are comforted by what we know well.

I don't really have a point. Just an observation.

I'll leave you with a few photos of a baby because that's what blogs are good at when your story has no point.

And for the record, my mom makes good stuffing. And I love cranberry sauce from the can.

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The art of sitting

Every new mom has a post about things I wish I had known. Today hubs said "no one told me how much fun it would be to have a kid." I reminded him that we heard often that parenting would be the hardest job we'd ever love- I think that covers it.

For me though there aren't any things that I didn't know that I wish I had known... yet. (I'm leaving that caveat for later.) What I knew would be hard for me is the sitting. Before Mary came I would go to the store and they would offer to carry my groceries out for me. "No thank you. As long as I have two free arms, I'm carrying them myself." Similarly, I went on lots of walks and just generally kept moving. I knew there would be time for sitting later. Sitting. The dreaded pastime.

And then it came.

For the first few days after delivery there was lots of sitting so my body could heal. Contrary to the well-intentioned suggestion of friends, it wasn't time to start doing the stair-master quite yet. There was a lot that had to get its act together first, if you ladies know what I mean. I thought I could go on a short walk three days after she was born though. It was a nice fall day! Take advantage! Aaaannd pay for that one with pain through the night that night. So to avoid more pain, I sit.

And then the visits from friends and family. When people come to see you and visit the baby you sit on the couch and talk. Or they offer to do chores for you "so you can sit for a minute." So gratefully, I sit.

And then the sleeping baby. You can only walk around with a sleeping baby with a wobbly head for so long before you just stop and sit down with her in your arms. I have to stop doing and sit.

And then the sleeping at night is hard to come by and by dinner time each night you think "yeaaahh... I should have taken that nap that I refused to take a few hours ago." So a few days of that go by and I learn to force myself to plan to sit for a few hours. (Or lay down. Depending on the day.)

Here is the thing. Sitting is an art has to be learned. 

Think about a toddler. When they finally learn to crawl, you can't get them to sit! Don't we all love those blurry pictures of 1 year olds in motion?

Or a 7 year old. There is a reason there is a kids table at Thanksgiving. They squirm at the table, jump up as soon as possible, and dance around the room until something breaks or they find their way outside or in time-out. I've never done that, for the record.

Or a 17 year old. They "sit" but really it looks like a sling: sitting and laying down combined. And their eyes are so fixated on the TV or their phone that they don't interact with people. And don't do their spines any favors. I've never been there and done that...

And then there are 27 year olds that are so busy with... well I think you might know someone like this and be able to fill in the description for yourself. Not me of course...

And then there are the older, wiser people that love to sit around the house and enjoy their company. That are okay letting the dishes sit in the sink, not knowing who it was that just called their cell phone that rang across the room, watching a sleeping baby.

That's what I didn't expect. I knew sitting would challenge my sense of accomplishment, my independence, in short- my humility. But what I didn't expect was how much I would love sitting holding a sleeping baby.

Day

after day

after day 

 

after day

after day 

after day 

after day 

This Thanksgiving I'm practicing the art of sitting. I'd encourage you to do the same.

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Meet Mary

Oh hey there, blog. I haven't seen you in a while. I like your new style. 

What have I been up to? Oh, ya know. 

I wasn't really one for doing consistent, posed photos, 

but we still managed to capture the whole process pretty well I think. 

On November 5th Mary Elizabeth arrived

8lbs 1oz - 21 inches long

On her due date. 

All on her own, mind you. I didn't even schedule it! 

Once the process started, it took a long time.

(Long is all relative when it comes to labor, but I'm calling 20 hours long.) 

Mary's head got the brunt of it, with plenty of bruising and a few blisters, 

but she was healthy, albeit shocked, when she was finally born. 

The doctor said she looked like a deer in the headlights. 

Well, she was under a spotlight or two. Duh. 

After she realized Brett and I are mostly normal and will

love her 

and cuddle her 

and feed her

and put adorable clothes on her

she calmed down. 

We are all still adjusting to this new normal, 

but Brett and I think she's pretty cute 

and cuddly

and fun

and everything a little girl should be. 

We are thankful. 

Thank you, Lord. 

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