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!

Big Changes

Image Via

Sometimes I cant believe how far this little blog of mine has come. When I first started this blog in November of 2010 I knew absolutely nothing about design or blogging, only that I wanted to create a blog to document my pregnancy and journey into Motherhood. It amazes me how over time this small seed that I planted has blossomed and flourished into something I hold so dear to my heart. Blogging has become an incredible passion for me, the writing, the photography, the wonderful community of woman and Mom bloggers I feel so honored to be a part of.

This is why I am so excited to share all the new changes that will be taking place on my blog over the next few months. The biggest change of all and the one I am most excited about is that my blog will be getting a huge makeover thanks to the lovely Tiffany from Tiffany Kuehl Designs. I cant tell you how long I've been dreaming about a new design, and I am so excited that it is finally happening!

Along with the new blog design I will be taking the time to refocus my goals and vision for this blog (this doesn't mean I'm taking a break). I cant wait to share all the exciting new changes and features that will be taking place.

Thank you all for your support and friendships, it means so much to me!

A Favor to Ask... Please Vote

My silly girl after breakfast this morning!

Exciting news, Top Baby Blogs has resent their counters!

If you have a moment could you please click on the topbabyblogs link in my sidebar and then click on the owl to the left to vote, that's it, super easy and simple. 

You can even vote once a day!

Top Baby Blogs has been an incredible blessing to me! I have met so many amazing Mom bloggers through their directory and feel so honored to have my blog listed on their site!

Thank you so much!

On Writing

Image Source

Each morning after I put Chloe down for her nap, and the dishes from breakfast are cleared and put away I sit down at my computer with every intention to write something for this blog of mine. As of lately though writing anything with substance has been a real struggle for me. This happens from time to time but eventually I always make it through, but this time it feels so much more harder to get out of this funk.

There have been so many post I've planned to write that just simply haven't happened. For example, I wanted to write a post about living with family, an update on breastfeeding, Chloe's birth story, life updates, and so many more. It's beyond frustrating to me to have all these ideas and words buzzing around in my head all day long but then not being able to form them into complete thoughts and paragraphs.

Can anyone relate?

If so here are a few questions I have.

-- When do you sit down to blog?

-- Do you schedule your post's?

-- What helps you write?

-- What sort of post's do you enjoy to write?

-- Do you ever get writers block? If so how do you move past it?

-- Do you ever jot down notes for a post in a notebook or piece of paper?

If you have any advice you'd like to share I would greatly appreciate it!

Liebster Blog Award

Thank you so much to Leah, who nominated me for the Liebster Award, which in German means favorite or beloved!

Here are the rules as follows:

:: Post 5 random facts about yourself

:: Choose 5 other deserving blogs with less then 200 subscribers to nominate and link their blogs in your post.

:: Tell your nominee's you have chosen them for this award by leaving a comment on their blogs.

:: Answer the 5 questions the tagger has asked you and ask your own 5 questions to the people you nominate.

:: No tag backs.

5 Facts About Me

:: It might not look like it but I love tattoos! As of now I have 5 but have many more planned for the future. My favorite tattoo so far in a singe red rose on the upper right hand corner of my back with the verse my lover is mine and I am his from the bible.

:: Blogging has become my "thing"! It is not only a creative outlet for me but blogging has allowed me to meet so many amazing woman that I otherwise would never have gotten the chance to meet!

:: I'm extremely passionate about natural birth, natural parenting, and alternative medicine. I wasn't always so passionate about it but having my daughter has really opened my eyes to what I'm putting in her body and also mine.

:: I love getting all dressed up and being girly but its not often that I get to do so.

:: I grew up in Illinois and then when I was 20 years old I moved to Washington State and lived there for almost 5 years. After having Chloe both Mike and I thought it would be best if we moved back home to Illinois and in March we finally made the big move and couldn't be happier about our decision!

5 questions from Leah

:: What do you do for a living? If you are a SAHM what did you do before having kids?

Before having Chloe I worked as a nanny. For the past several months I have been searching for a part or full time nanny job that I can bring Chloe with, I am ready to go back to work again and also it is much to difficult for us to live off of one income. Just recently I have had a few interviews and might be getting a job soon!

:: What is your least favorite household chore and why?

I hate putting away laundry! I don't mind washing our laundry but for some reason I always dread having to hang it up. I'm getting better at this though! Also, since moving in with my family I really don't like emptying the dishwasher, it takes way too long since there are so many dishes to put away. For some reason though I don't mind filling up the dishwasher though!

:: Why did you start your blog?

I started my blog shortly after finding out I was pregnant with Chloe. It became a way for me to document this incredible journey of Motherhood.

:: Where would you like to see your blog go in the next year?

This is a great question! and to be honest I haven't really thought that far ahead yet. I guess I would love for it to continue to grow and to connect with more Mothers through my blog. I would love to write more meaningful posts and also I hope that over time I can work on improving the way my blog looks.

:: If you could offer one piece of parenting advice to your readers what would it be?

Another really great question but a tough one! I would have to say my number one advice would be to enjoy your children. Make memories, get messy, play together, say yes, cuddle and kiss and be silly because we're only given one childhood.

The 5 blogs I would like to nominate for this award are (in no particular order)

:: A Wednesday Child.

:: Adventures of an Artist, Wife, and Mom

:: Ot and Et

:: someday ...sunday

:: DIAPERS AND SKINNY JEANS

and here are 5 questions for my lovely nominees

:: What do you enjoy most about being a Mom?

:: What do you miss the most about your life before you had children?

:: Why did you start blogging and how long have you been blogging for?

:: What do you love the most about blogging?

:: What would your perfect day look like?

Answers To Your Questions

Thanks for the great questions ladies, here are my answers! If you have any questions for me after reading this post please feel free to ask them in a comment below and I will make another post answering them!

I'm just curious how Chloe handled the move, and how everyone is transitioning. I hope you all are doing well, although it certainly sounds like you guys are having a great time in your new home. Hope you have an awesome weekend!

- Stephanie

Thanks Stephanie! It feels really incredible to be back in Chicago. I am so grateful for my experience in Seattle but it honestly didn't feel like home to me. Chicago feels like home and I am so glad Mike and I made the decision to move back and raise Chloe here! For the most part the transition has been fairly easy, as most of you know we are living with my family for the time being until we get on our feet. I think this is a great opportunity to get to know my parents and brother and sister again but of course we are excited to move out and get a place of our own hopefully sometime soon.

Chloe feeding my parents dog Ozzy!

Chloe has handled the move amazingly, I think its helps that she is so young and adapts to new surroundings very quickly at this age. She seems happy and healthy and is loving all the attention she is getting from my family. I will say that the first few nights here Chloe did wake up often throughout the night in tears, you could tell she was unaware of where she was and I think that scared her a bit. Chloe is sleeping much better these days!

Ok because I have a boy and because most of my close friends had boys, I want to know what you look forward to most and possibly fear the most as your sweet baby girl grows up?

- Margaux

Great question Margaux! What I look forward to the most as Chloe grows is discovering more of who she is. I'm so excited to see her character unravel as she matures and blossoms into a woman, to find out what she loves and cares about and what she's passionate about. I pray and hope that Chloe and I will always have a strong relationship and that one day when she is an adult she will see me as someone that she can come to for anything. I have a close relationship with my Mother and I can only hope and pray for the same as Chloe grows up.

Unfortunately I do have a lot of fears about raising a girl. I'm terrified that I wont be a good enough role model for Chloe. I'm terrified that Chloe's teenage years will be really difficult and that she will make some of the same mistakes as me and that I wont know how to handle things properly. One thing not a lot of people may know about me except for family and close friends is that I struggled with an eating disorder from the ages of 14-21, bouncing back and forth between anorexia and bulimia. I am terrified that Chloe will follow in my foot steps and struggle with an eating disorder as well. It is my mission to raise Chloe to love herself and to teach her that God, the creator of life made her absolutely perfectly. I don't ever want Chloe to feel the way I felt about myself and to go through the pure hell that is an eating disorder.

I want Chloe to love herself, to feel proud and confident in who she is. I want her to know how beautiful she is and how loved she is. I want her to spend her time learning and having fun and discovering more about herself. I want her to be a kid and to take her time growing up. I will do whatever it takes to make that happen!

Thank you both for the great questions, I hope I was able to answer them for you. If any of you have more questions for me please feel free to ask me and I will try my best to answer them!

Ask Me Anything

Well maybe not anything, nothing too personal of course! If you have any questions about me, Chloe, Mike, this blog or anything else you are interested in finding out about leave me a comment with your question and I will try my best to answer them in a post sometime early next week!

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

A New Name

As you can see I have made a few changes to my blog! While Chloe was napping I was busy designing a whole new title and header, and I am so happy and in love with it! I have wanted to change the title of my blog for the longest time but nothing really stuck out till now. When I started this blog I came up with the title My Family of Three simply because my little family of two was now becoming a family of three and at the time I just couldn't think of anything else I really liked. Fast forward to today, I was putting Chloe down for a nap and as she was drifting off to sleep I started thinking about different titles for my blog, that's when the words Forever Lovely popped into my head and I knew instantly that it was perfect for me! Forever lovely means to me that even through the thick of Motherhood, through the tears, and joy, and struggles, and stains, and love, and milestones I will always still be me, forever lovely.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my blog, it has been such a blessing to me to have made so many wonderful friends and I have loved getting to know each one of you!

I Am Because...

I have seen this on lot's of other Mommy blogs lately and thought it would be fun to do it too!

I'm weird because...

:: I hate wearing socks and shoes

:: I love having clean clothes and doing laundry but I hate folding it and putting it away

:: I cant remember names for the life of me but I can always remember what someone is wearing

:: Pretty much anything can make me cry

:: Whenever I used to go to the grocery store and it was time to checkout I would have to pay for everything in a certain order. Ex: all dairy had to go together, boxed and can food, frozen etc..

I'm a bad friend because...

:: I'm not good about calling 

:: It might take me days to get back to an email

:: It takes me awhile to let someone into my life

:: Sometimes I cancel at the last minute

:: Sometimes it's hard for me to forgive

I'm a good friend because...

:: I'm a good listener

:: I would drop everything to be there for one of my friends

:: I am pretty good about remembering birthdays and important dates

:: I never take for granted the friendships I have

I'm sad because...

:: My family all lives so far away

:: My daughter is growing up to fast

:: Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to give

:: For all the children out there who are neglected and abused and who deserve to be loved and taken care of

I'm happy because...

:: God always, always takes care of me and my family

:: My sweet daughter Chloe

:: For my husband who has been my best friend since the day I met him over 6 years ago

:: This is the  first Christmas we get to spend as a family of three

:: Of this amazing community of Mom bloggers

:: I have such wonderful friends and family

:: I have a roof over my head and food in my belly

:: It's so fun to watch Chloe grow and learn and reach new milestones

I'm excited for...

:: Chloe's first Christmas

:: To get a Christmas tree and decorate it together as a family

:: To find a church we love and can get involved in

:: For my really good friend Erika and her husband Eli to welcome their first baby in January

:: To be celebrating 2 years of marriage in February

:: Chloe's first word

:: Moving back to Chicago

On My Heart: Blogging

I don't want to write about baby food, or babywearing, or products that I love and cant live without or really anything along those lines, I don't want to write about all the research that I've done. That's not me or something that I want my blog to turn into. I honestly don't even know what came over me to think that, that's something that I had to do.

Last night after dinner Mike and I were talking, and I shared with him that lately I have been feeling really frustrated with this blog. I want to write so badly but the words just wont come out and I have no motivation to even try. I said "take yesterday for example, I was trying to right a post about homemade baby food and baby led weaning literally all day long but I couldn't do it. I got maybe a paragraph down before I finally threw my hands up in defeat".  Mike 's answer was profound and yet so incredibly simple...

"well maybe you just don't want to write about baby food"

I said "no I do" 

but then I started to really think about what my husband said and this morning it finally hit me that he's right, I don't really want to write about things like baby food.

I want to write honestly and openly, to share a piece of myself .

To speak freely about:

my imperfect life 

my feelings

challenges of a new Mom and wife

my past

my faith and relationship with Jesus

my intense and deep love for my daughter

my hopes and dreams, and fears

and my passion for love and all things beautiful!

This blog has been such an incredible blessing to me. A home for all my memories, love letters to my daughter, a way to be creative, and a connection to other Mom's. This is why I want to do so much more with this blog because it means so much to me. I know that not every post I write is going to perfect and filled with beautifully written words, and that's ok with me. I simply just want this blog to reflect who I am and the things I love most in life.

*note: I will still be writing informational posts from time to time I just don't want that to be the main focus of my blog. Also I will be finishing the babywearing series that I started, there should be a new post up for that by Friday!

Me From A-Z

I'm up bright and early today, it took me for what felt like forever to get Chloe back to sleep. So since I'm up I thought I would join in on the fun and answer these questions about myself from a-z!

Age: 25 (July 20 1986)

Bed size: Queen, but it would be so awesome if we had a king since we co-sleep!

Chore that you hate: Folding laundry, it drives me crazy

Dogs: Growing up my family always had dogs. I got my very own dog at 22, He was an older sweet black lab named Blue.

Essential start to your day: Nursing and cuddling with my daughter and seeing her big beautiful smile oh and coffee of course!

Favorite color: Purple and green

Gold or silver: Gold

Height: 5'3

Instruments you play: I played the flute for 2 weeks when I was in 6th grade. I have decided I am definitely not a musician!

Kids: We would like 2 kids, hoping for a boy next, but if we have another girl I would be willing to try one more time for a boy. If we ended up with 3 girls we would be done, 3 is plenty!

Live: Renton, Washington State

Mothers name: Marla

Nicknames: Jen, but my husband calls me cupcake or kid haha!

Overnight hospital stays: twice. First one was when I was 7 months pregnant, I fell really hard, landing on my belly. Second time was when I had my daughter, I was at the hospital from Monday to Thursday, I couldn't wait to get home!

Pet peeves: I feel like I have to many to name haha. Most of them my husband does like leave his dirty clothes laying on the bedroom floor, not closing the shower curtain after he takes a shower, and the list goes on.

Quote from a movie: "When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines." "Happiness is only real when shared." - Into the Wild, best movie ever!

Right or left handed: Right

Siblings: I'm the oldest of three, my brother and sister are both 20 years old and yep they are twins.

Underwear: Yep, I wear them everyday.

Vegetable you hate: I really love all vegetables but I guess one that I don't care for so much is snap peas.

What makes you run late: Having a baby, but I'm still pretty good about being on time!

X-rays you've had: When I broke my wrist and nose. Chiropractor and dentist.

Yummy food that you make: I'm good at making eggs and creative salads!

Zoo animals: I really think Elephants are pretty cool!