25 Lessons For Chloe

This past week, Marqaux at Young Nesters has been featuring a series on her blog called 25 lessons for my little one and on Thursday Margaux shared my list! Coming up with 25 lessons for Chloe was a little more difficult then I thought it would be but it was an incredibly meaningful exercise and I am so grateful I was able to be a part of Margaux's series.

Today Margaux wraps up the series by sharing her own list she wrote for her adorable son Darwin, go check out her beautiful list!

Here are the 25 lessons I want Chloe to know

1. God made no mistake when he created you my dear, always know that you are beautifully and perfectly made by the hands of our creator.

2. Seek a relationship with God, pray to Him and share your heart with Him because no one will fulfill your heart like He does.

3. Your Father and I love you more then we could ever say, you have enriched our lives with so much love, and joy and beauty. Please never forget that.

4. Your family will always be here for you.

5. Enjoy each and every moment of your childhood, one only have one.

6. Friends should be those who are encouraging, loyal, and love and accept you for exactly who you are. Don't settle for anything less.

7. You can come to your Father and I for anything, please always know that.

8. There is so much beauty in this world, take your time and explore all that's around you.

9. Do not be afraid to stick up for what you believe in and for people that may not be able to stick up for themselves.

10. Kindness is beautiful.

11. Take your time with matters of the heart. To love and be loved is an incredible thing but relationships should not be something you rush into, they should be taken slowly and handled with care.

12. Your opinion matters, don't let anyone tell you it doesn't.

13. Don't compare yourself to others. God created each one of us with special and unique gifts to share with the world.

14. Do not judge others, you never know what their story might be.

15. You are never to old for a hug from me.

16. No one is perfect, each and every one of us will make mistakes throughout our life and that is ok.

17. Immerse yourself with music, art, books, photography, and dance, they will bring beauty and culture to your life.

18. Go on an adventure.

19. Your body is a gift from God, treat it with love and respect.

20. Spend time giving to others, whether it be taking the time to listen to someone's story, giving donations to a charity you support, picking up trash along side a road, or going on a mission trip.

21. It's ok to cry.

22. Live in the sunshine, Swim the sea

Drink the wild air

23. Go on a road trip or two at some point in your life.

24. Smile and laugh often, it's so good for you.

25. Always remember, you are so very loved my your Father and I, and there is nothing you could do that would ever take our love away.

Our Nap Time Solution

Lately it feels like all I write about is nursing and sleeping so I apologize in advance for another one of those posts, but we have made a lot of progress in the nap time department so I'm excited to share how that's been going!

A few weeks ago I started really focusing on the difficult task of getting Chloe to sleep on her own in the bed. Chloe has always been an amazing napper but only if she is sleeping on my lap, and as much as I love holding my sleeping baby and watching her peacefully dreaming it was starting to really drain on me. I felt like I had no time at all to myself, which is something I desperately needed.

It was important to me to take this process slow with Chloe, to ease her into taking naps alone, to go about this change in a gentle manner. Letting her cry it out just wasn't something we felt comfortable doing with her and so that was never an option for us. One afternoon during Chloe's nap time I decided to bring her into the bedroom to snuggle and hopefully get her to fall asleep. I noticed she wanted to nurse so I decided to try nursing her while the both of us were laying down on our sides. I have tried side-laying nursing quite a few times in the past and could never get the hang of it so I just gave up trying to do it. For some reason though that afternoon Chloe and I finally got it and after a few minutes of nursing my sweet Chloe was fast asleep. As soon as she unlatched I quietly got up from the bed and snuck out of the bedroom. Chloe slept for a couple hours that afternoon and woke up full of smiles and snuggles for me!

Since that afternoon a few weeks ago Chloe now takes two naps everyday in the bed all by herself. As soon as I notice her getting sleepy we head to the bedroom to cuddle and nurse, and every time Chloe falls asleep without any fuss. There are no tears shed, Chloe doesn't feel scared and alone, no  feelings of guilt on my part, and both her and I are getting exactly what we need, a nap for Chloe and time alone for Mama!

This is the first big obstical we have overcome with Chloe, and to be perfectly honest I'm really proud of myself. I'm proud that I followed Chloe's cues, that I made this process as gentle as possible, and that I didn't give up even though there were more times then I can even count that I wanted to.

It's incredibly reassuring to see the reward in the end - a happy baby!

On Family Traditions and Life Lately

I grew up in a home that wasn't to big on family traditions which is why I think it's so important to me that my own little family has special traditions that we do during the holidays and all year round. I want to make Chloe's childhood special and for each day to be filled with love. I want Chloe to be able to have wonderful memories to share with her own children one day, and to be able to pass down these traditions that we started together as a family!

Last Sunday we got our very first Christmas tree. We spent the evening decorating it, listening to Christmas music, eating warm cookies and drinking delicious hot chocolate but this is real life not a movie so there was also a crabby baby, blurry pictures, and overly tired parents who were so sick of listening to Christmas music. At the end of the day we plopped ourselves on the couch and admired our beautiful Christmas tree that we worked so hard on. Even though things didn't go as I envisioned it I still loved every minute of it because its real and my family and we were together making memories that will forever be embedded in our hearts. 

Isn't that what family traditions are all about? Spending time with the ones you love, writing the story of our lives no matter how imperfect or messy it might be! I'm learning that you cant force this.... making memories.... family traditions. I apologize if  this post is scattered all over the place, it feels like its been so long since I have actually written anything real.

::sigh::

It feels so wonderful to be writing, to share whats on my heart, to have some time to myself! I plan on writing a post very soon about life lately, my last one was about the struggles that my husband and I are facing right now in our marriage and I haven't really shared whats been going on since that post. I don't really want to come across like I'm ignoring this topic in any way or that everything is perfect and wonderful again.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, it means so much to me!

10 New Mom Lessons

As a new Mom I am learning a lot about life, love, myself, and of course about Motherhood. Here is a random list of what I have learned so far, I know as time goes on I will be able to add so much more to this list.

:: I cant live without stain remover, between explosive diapers and spit up, Chloe's clothes really take a beating. The kind we use is baby oxi clean spray. It works amazing , and all of my daughters clothes still look brand new.

:: That I love wearing my daughter in the moby wrap , I love having her so close to me and being able to have my hands free. The other day I was able to vacuum, sweep, mop, and clean up the kitchen while Chloe slept peacefully against my chest.

:: Having some "me time" every morning while Chloe is still sleeping is way more important to me then a few extra hours of sleep.

::I can now do so many more things one handed!

::That snuggle time and sweet baby smiles can completely erase those really difficult days were everything seems to be going wrong!

:: I love my boppy pillow, it has made breastfeeding so much more comfortable , plus its come in handy in so many more ways.

:: I am even so much more grateful of Mike, I love knowing that we are doing this together! and I appreciate all that he does for Chloe and I, he is surely irreplaceable to us!

:: That I absolutely love breastfeeding! When I was pregnant with Chloe I knew how important it was for me to breastfeed my daughter but I never knew I would love it so much!

:: That getting boogers out of a baby's nose is very, very difficult. Chloe hates it.  It makes me so sad to see her so upset.

:: Most importantly what I have learned as a new Mom is that I absolutely LOVE being a Mother and I wouldn't trade this for anything in the whole world. I feel that this is what I was made for.