Featured On: Disney Baby

We've been featured!

Lacy, a wonderful writer over at Disney Baby featured my latest portrait of Chloe in her most recent article on The 52 Project hosted by Jodi from Che and Fidel. I feel so honored and thrilled that Lacy contacted me about being featured on Disney Baby and am so excited to be sharing that link with all of you now! You can also find Lacy over at her personal blog, Living on Love to learn more about her and her sweet family!

Thankful

Since I can remember I have always loved celebrating Thanksgiving. There is something so warm and comforting about surrounding yourself with the ones you love, laughing and reminiscing about all that you have to be grateful for. These past few years have been incredibly difficult for Mike and I and life has been far from easy but I am so grateful for where we are today. 

On this thanksgiving I am so very thankful for:

:: My sweet little family, Mike and Chloe are my soul and heart. There are not enough words in the world to describe how much I love them both and how grateful I am to have them in my life.

:: To finally be back in Chicago, for now I know that this is were I belong.

:: To be celebrating Chloe's second Thanksgiving at my Grandma's house with the rest of my family this year.

:: Friends and family both near and far. I am so grateful for all the wonderful friends and family that make up our life and even though some of them are far away I will always hold them close to my heart.

:: Mike's love and dedication to his family, everyday he works so hard to support Chloe and I and everyday he loves me for who I am and is such a loving, strong, wonderful Father to Chloe.

:: Simple pleasures, like enjoying a hot cup of coffee alone in the early morning light, kisses from my sweet Chloe, watching her blossom and grow, sleep, and cuddles, and laughter on a Saturday morning.

:: Blogging and this wonderful community of woman and Mom bloggers that I feel so honored to be a part of.

:: Creativity, inspiration and the freedom to do both.

:: God's unwavering, unconditional love for me.

:: Beauty, and art, and photography, and music, and words.

15 Things I'm Proud Of

A few weeks ago I wrote this post titled 15 things I'm not too proud of. It was a way for me to be open and honest about my past and current struggles. There are so many things in my life that I am truly proud of though and so in response to my last post I want to take the time to acknowledge those things now.

:: To be a Mother, it's an absolute honor.

:: To be a wife, friend, daughter, and sister.

:: My marriage, and for all that Mike and I have overcome together as a couple.

:: This month will mark 2 years since my last cigarette and I couldn't be more proud of myself for letting go of such a disgusting and awful habit for me and my family.

:: Moving away from home. Living in Seattle was the hardest 5 years of my life that's for sure, but moving out of state away from my family has taught me so much about life and myself.

:: This blog.

:: Breastfeeding my daughter, 15 months and still going strong.

:: My body, for growing and birthing such a sweet, healthy baby girl.

:: My faith in God.

:: My flaws, they are what makes me, me.

:: For overcoming some really strong and scary addictions.

:: I do lots of research before making an important decision, especially when it comes to my family's health.

:: I am proud of my love for art, whether it be painting, photography, music, or dancing I love and cherish it all.

:: To be a hard worker.

:: To be Jewish. There was once a time in my life I was ashamed to be Jewish due to lots of bullying when I was younger but now I am very proud to have that be a part of who I am and my heritage.

Thank You, Thank You

Thank you all so much for the sweet comments you left me on my last post.

Your love, support, and encouraging words mean so much to me! I am beyond grateful to be a part of this wonderful community of Mom bloggers! You are all truly beautiful and inspiring woman, and though I haven't met you in person I am so grateful I have gotten a chance to know you through blogging.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you.

Dear Chloe: The Day You Were Born

Dear Chloe,

I love these pictures from your birth, our doula Deana took them just minutes after you were born. I am so grateful she captured these precious new moments of us as a  family of three. The day you were born was the most beautiful day of my life. I cant believe that in 2 days you will be one year old! Thank you for bringing so much love and joy to your Daddy and I, you are our sunshine!

Love, Mama

What I Love About Where We Live

What I Love About Living In The Suburbs

I love how peaceful and quite it is in my neighborhood

I love waking up every morning to the sound of birds chirping

I love that there are always children outside laughing and playing

I love that in my neighborhood there are four different parks to play at

I love that Chloe and I can spend forever playing in the grass just soaking up the warm sun

I love that everyone waves hi to you as you pass by, and that everyone knows their neighbors name

 When I was growing up the suburbs always felt so small and lifeless to me, the city seemed magical and bright, and I would often daydream about one day living there amongst all the bright lights and busy people. Now that I'm older and have a family of my own living in the suburbs feels different then it used to.... it feels like home. Maybe one day we will experience city life but for right now living in the quite peaceful suburbs is just what my little family needs.

Happy Birthday To My Husband

Instagram photos @ beforeverlovely

Dear Mike,

Happy Birthday hunny! I hope you have a very special 26th birthday and your first birthday as a Dad! Chloe and I are so blessed to have you in our lives! Thank you for all that you do for us, you are truly an incredible person!

Love, Jen and Chloe

Been Too Long

Instagram photo @ beforeverlovely

It feels like forever since I have written a real post - with words and thoughts. I have so looked forward to just sitting down in complete peace and write out what ever comes to mind. So here I am, Chloe is sleeping peacefully in our bedroom, the house is somewhat quite, Mike is at work, and I finally have a moment to myself.

Its been a little over a week since our move to Chicago, I'm honestly so amazed by how quickly this place feels like home again. Like any big change I had some major fears but things have gone so much smoother then I ever imagined them too and it feels so amazing to finally be here again. Mike had a interview last Thursday at a water and fire restoration company, on Monday he got a call from the boss hiring Mike on, what a blessing! He had his first day on Wednesday! Last week we also bought a car, it only took a few days of research and looking around before we found the one we wanted. Its not new but its looks great on the outside and inside and works perfectly! I have been slowly looking for a part time nanny job that I can bring Chloe along. To be honest the thought of going back to work again doesn't sound too appealing but I know we could really use the extra money. Hopefully I will be able to find something fairly quickly.

Its so nice to be living so close to my family again, moving to Seattle made me realize how much I missed them. Chloe is loving all the attention she is getting from everyone, and its been so cute to see her interacting with my parents and siblings! There have been a few challenges we have had to overcome since living with family again, its difficult going from living on your own for so long to living with a whole house-full of people, but like I said before everything is going so much smoother then I even thought it would and I am so forever grateful to my family for letting us live here with them, I know this is an adjustment for them too.

I also wanted to say thanks to everyone for all your support during our move, it means the world to us!

Last thing, I am finally on Instagram!, you can follow me at beforeverlovely.

Never Gets Old

 My sweet Chloe has six little teeth now! For so long she only had her two bottom ones and then just a month ago she got four brand new teeth all at once! I took this picture yesterday while we were at Starbucks with my Mother in-law, it has quickly become my favorite picture of her! I just love her sweet, beautiful face! I love the way she smiles at me with those beautiful little teeth!

It never gets old....

each new milestone reached, each new tooth grown, each time she smiles and giggles and snorts with pure excitement over even the most simplest things in life.

it never gets old....

watching her grow and learn and blossom into her own beautiful being.

Motherhood is the most natural, beautiful, life changing and humbling experience I have ever experienced in my life and I just cant thank God enough for blessing me with my sweet child, I just cant thank Him enough!

A Quick Hello and Random Thoughts

Just wanted to say a quick hello to all my new readers and followers! Thank you so much for following along my journey though Motherhood, your support and friendship has been such a huge blessing to me and I have had so much fun reading your comments and getting to know each of you!

Here are a few random thoughts and updates:

:: Can you believe it's already February? Time feels like its going by so fast nowadays.

:: Chloe is going to be 8 months old in 2 days!! Ahh I cant believe I have an 8 month old already.

:: I started planning Chloe's first birthday (since it's only 4 months away) on pinterest, I'm thinking a garden themed party. Have any fun ideas?
:: On the 27th of this month Mike and I will be celebrating 2 years of marriage!
:: On Friday I got my hair colored and cut, I wish I could say that I loved the way it turned out but unfortunately I'm not happy with it at all. I'm supposed to go back Wednesday to see what the stylist can do to fix it but I don't feel comfortable with her doing my hair again. Has anyone been in this situation before and have any advice for me? Each stylist at this salon works independently so I'm not sure I'm able to have someone else do my hair or if I can even get my money back.
:: Yesterday we went to visit our friends Erika and Eli and meet there beautiful baby boy Jonah for the first time! Jonah is doing great now and is already 2 weeks old, thank you to those that said a  little prayer for him!
:: If any one is interested in swapping buttons just let me know. I'm always interested in having more swap sponsors!

Hope you all have had a happy, fun, eventful, relaxing, lovely weekend, see ya tomorrow for music Monday!

Feeling Thankful

I cant believe Thanksgiving is already tomorrow! It's hard to believe that next month is December.....which means Christmas is right around the corner!! I don't normally freak out about the holidays but this is Chloe's first Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it's so important to me that I make the holidays special for our little family!

Last Thanksgiving Mike and I were in Chicago visiting my family. I was 3 months pregnant and so excited to tell the rest of my family and friends the exciting news. We went to my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner and as everyone was eating we went around the table saying what we were thankful for. That's when I was going to tell everyone that we were pregnant! Finally it was my turn to share what I was thankful for, I remember feeling so nervous, and just as I was about to speak everyone started clapping and saying Congratulations!! I couldn't believe it.... my whole family already knew!

I thought it would be a nice idea to write a post about what I am thankful for, even though at times it feels like nothing is going right, I know I still have so much to be thankful for and that God has blessed me greatly!

I am thankful for....

:: God, and His undying love for me, for His forgiveness, and for all that He provides.

:: My husband, who has always been an incredible gift.

:: My beautifully sweet and perfectly made daughter, she has enriched my life in more ways then I can even say.

:: My family, who I love and miss.

:: My friends here in Seattle who have always been there for me and who have become my family.

:: The roof over my head and the food in my belly.

:: Being able to breastfeed Chloe.

:: Spending all day, everyday with my sweet daughter.

::: The way God made me.

:: All the simple things in life.

:: This wonderful community of Mom blogger's.

::Creativity.

:: My Family's health.

What are you thankful for? I'd love to know!

My 100th Post

This post right here will mark the 100th post I have written on this blog! It all started with my first post written over a year ago, How it All Began. I never imagined what a blessing this blog would be to me or how much it would grow and evolve over time. I never imagined how proud I would be of it and the joy I would feel while reading through each previous post, reminiscing over all the sweet memories made. This blog tells the story of how I became a Mother, the most rewarding yet challenging new chapter of my life. This is the story I am most proud of, and the story that I love to share with others. A big Thank You to everyone who has followed along on our journey, here's to 100 more post's!

A Big Thank You

THANK YOU!

I just wanted to take a minute to say hi to all the new followers of my blog. Thank you so much for all your support and for taking the time to read my blog!! I would love to get to know each one of you, so please leave me a comment telling me a little bit about yourself! I'm so very excited to get to know all of you!! Oh, and if you have a blog as well I would love to check it out so please leave me a comment with the link to your blog!

A New Appreciation

Through this journey of pregnancy, childbirth, and now motherhood I have a new found respect and appreciation for my body. Now when I look in the mirror I see a body that is strong, healthy, and nurturing, I see a body that grew the greatest most beautifulest gift I have ever received, I see a body that produces sweet milk for my daughter to drink. I am just in awe with God's creation of life and all its complexity. I can not thank God enough for blessing me with a body that is so perfectly made to have children. I feel so very blessed to have gotten the chance to experience pregnancy and the birth of my daughter.

In all honesty my body looks like its been through war. I have deep, pink stretchmarks that cover my stomach, loose skin from my belly stretching to accommodate my ever growing baby, and a long deep scar that runs across my lower abdomen from my c-section. To me my new body is beautiful because it tells a story that I am most proud of, the birth of my daughter!

Our Baby Shower

On April 9th a lovely couple from the church we go to threw Mike and I a baby shower. We had such a great time, Mike's dad was there and a lot of people from the church were able to make it as well. It was truly such a beautiful experience and gift. Then on April 16th my good friend Erika and her husband Eli threw Mike and I a shower as well. My Mom came all the way from Chicago to be there, and a lot of Mike's family was there as well as some of our friends. We had such a great time, we played games and opened gifts, and Erika and Eli made a really great lunch and desert for everyone to enjoy! Mike and I feel so blessed to have so many people in our lives that love and support us! It's really so touching to me how many people already love Chloe and how everyone is so excited to meet her in June!

Baby Buys: Part 2

Chloe received a few absolutely adorable clothes from her Great Grandma Janice in the mail the other day! I cant wait to dress her up in all these cute little outfits!

Baby Buys: Part 1

Our friends Pat and Rose are so sweet and bought Chloe a couple sleeper outfits, they are adorable!

Yesterday my friend Erika and I went to Target to check out there baby section, and also I wanted to get a couple outfits for Chloe. It was so much to look at all the baby clothes, everything is so cute and tiny. The whole time we were at target both Erika and I kept saying awww to everything we picked up! Another customer walked by us, smiled and said "it's so hard to just pick one outfit, isn't it?" haha it really is so hard to pick only one outfit when they all are so cute! Anyways here are a couple pictures of what I got at target yesterday, I cant wait to see Chloe in them!