Babies Don't Keep.

I have orders to finish, a house to clean, kuts to make (22 to be exact), a shower to decorate for.... But today the Princess wants to sleep in my arms. I should be frustrated and stressed by the hiccup in my plans for today- but I'm not. I love these little moments. As my girl changes and grows each day I know these moments will become fewer and fewer, before becoming non-existent. If only I could keep her little but then what would I miss? 

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. 

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep. 

14 days of LoooooOOOOOOVE!

When Craig and I began dating a coworker told me about her daughter doing the 14 Days of Valentines for her hubby. And because I may (just a little bit) go overboard for ALL holidays I decided I was going to do the same for Craig. I try my best to come up with new things each year (thank you, God, for Pinterest) and I try to keep the cost low because 14 niceties can get $$$$. 

The bad news is- if you really like nice, fancy, material gifts--- this is NOT the thing for you. Craig doesn't really get a "big" gift on Valentine's, although I DO try to sprinkle a few actual store-bought gifts in with all the homemade ones. The good news is--- for 14 days Craig knows that I have intentionally done something JUST for him, which is really what it's all about. I'm big on thoughtfulness. I want to be thought of... And I try to think of others. 

This year was a little tougher than others between polar vortex, winter storm Pax, and a baby.... But I made it through! And ended up with some of my very favorite "gifts"- It'll be a tough year to top! 

1- beer bouquet for Craig's golf trip with his college buddies 

2- 31 days of prayer (2nd all time favorite gift). I got this idea from a lifestyle blog (I will link up when I get to a computer) and knew immediately I wanted to do it. Of course I pray for Craig every day but the idea of praying specifically for different aspects of his character,  aspects of our marriage, career success, etc. was highly appealing. I especially loved that each prayer has scripture attached to it so I know these are biblical characteristics of a husband that I am encouraging. I wrote each prayer on an index card so I can just flip through. I let Craig read through each of them, but the tangible part of this gift stays on my nightstand. 

3-chicken, spinach lasagna with egg & tomato salad. I know it seems like nothing special... But a meal Craig loves- on a day I would have preferred to grab takeout or heat up leftovers. And sometimes that's just what it's about. That whole Dying to self thing. 

4- Butterfinger dessert- again it wasn't much out of the ordinary but I rarely make things with chocolate because I don't like chocolate. Craig saw this on facebook a while back and requested it so I stuck it on the list. 

5- Homemade pizza. There is little in life my husband loves more than homemade pizza. I don't make it often but Craig sure does love it when I do. 

6- "open when" cards. True to most bloggers (I would assume)- I'm a big words person. My husband is not. But I love words. And affirmation. And I'll say it to your face, but would much prefer to immortalize those thoughts on paper so you can read them... And read them again... And one more Time... Whenever you need to hear them. So I wrote Craig a selection of cards to open "when you feel lonely", "when you're happy", "when I'm mad at you", "when you don't feel valued", etc. And these are actually a work in progress. I keep thinking of new "when's" to add to the list. 

7- warm up! These are a necessity when your hubby spends his whole life as a coach. It helps that he looks pretty cute in them, too. And I love how he can't wait to don his new duds (usually the next day). 

8- GLOVES!!!! During Snowpocalypse I heard all about how he "used to have warerproof gloves" but couldn't find them . And of course. This affected our ability to play in the snow. But I found some great ones that he loves so much I had to go buy him another pair:) 

-PS- I found the old ones in our suitcase today. 

9- Journal- this is my all time favorite gift I've ever given Craig!!!!! Because it's a gift for me, too! Remember- I'm a words girl.... Craig is not a words boy. And oftentimes I would have to remind him that I really wanted a card, letter, email, text.... So I bought this gorgeous, leather journal and wrote him a letter and left it on his pillow... To write me back a letter. I have high hopes for this journal. A memoir of us:) 

10- organic suckers (he loves them. Gets SO excited about them. I did good that day). 

***please note PAX came to visit here so the remainder of gifts had to be made

Out of things I happened to have at the house... Which all involved food***

11- was supposed to be a sled! I went a week earlier to buy one just to have since we tried to sled with an exersaucer  box during Snowpocalypse. But Whit was sleeping and I thought I would go back next time I was in town... Which happened to be the day before PAX. Not once did it dawn on me that people would be out buying sleds with an ensuing snowstorm. Probably because I thought there was no way in a million years it would snow twice in a year! So maybe he will get a sled next year. But for day 11 I improvised with haystacks. Again- Craig loves them and I was his hero for making them! 

12- No sooner had I woken up than Craig said, "why don't you make thumbprint cookies today?". HAPPY 12th DAY OF VALENTINE'S! He even shared a few with our sweet, neighbor and went and had a long visit with her. She is a widow, with no children, and aging... So she hadn't left the house or seen another human in 48 hours. She loved their visit. Yeah- my husband's a special man. 

13- hooked on you!!! Craig loves fishing... So this was a hit. 

14- we are on the road to Tifton so Valentine's Day is taking a backseat. I wanted to incorporate that into his main gift so he got a bag of travel goodies (gum, trail mix, great harvest cookies) and a massage gift card because sitting in a car all weekend can really make you tense!!! 

This turned into a book! Thanks for keeping me company on our loooo--oooo--ng drive:) 

Happy Love Day! 

Intentional Marriage

Intentional Parenting is a bit of a catch-phrase these days.  And it's a great thing.  I make an effort to be intentional with Whit because I don't want these days to pass us by.  It would be easy for it to happen with the constant barrage of laundry, diapers, baths, supper to cook, den to pick up, bottles to wash, repeat... not to mention running errands, *trying* to make it to Crossfit, painting, sleeping (what's that???).

I'm not complaining- it's just easy to let those moments consume my life especially since my Whittle-bit is such an EASY baby.  She just smiles and chatters wherever you put her. But I don't want to just watch her from afar while I work... and I'm not the greatest at following a strict schedule (seriously, Baby Center mom's that have their WHOLE day scheduled in 30-minute increments down to when they hold their baby???), but I want to be intentional. So I plan projects- we go to Atlanta to make pottery with Whit's hands and feet, or use her thumbs to make Valentine cards. We name every body part during bath time and we get down in the floor together with her toys at least twice a day even for just 5 minutes, read books, "chatter" while I cook supper.... but guess what's getting lost now???? Oh that's right- my marriage.

Craig was off work 3 1/2 days last week thanks to the Snowpocalypse and I LOVED it!!!! I love having Craig home.... my house is a little messier but it's worth it to have my little family all here.  And on Friday, as we were looking at a VERY BUSY but separate weekend, I was so sad. I realized that while we had all been home together we had spent very little time as a family. Tuesday we watched the news and went outside to take pictures of our sweet angel in the snow. Wednesday I played with Whit while Craig sketched, he watched Whit while I cooked... we got together for a quick minute to have a mini photo session of Whitlee. I built a snowman. Craig tried to sled. We were passing parenting duty off while the other worked/showered/crafted/relaxed. We brushed shoulders as we worked around the house on our respective tasks. But we weren't together.  And I realized we are working so hard to love our little girl, provide for our family, pray, go to church, clean our house, care for our dogs, teach tennis and teach art that we are letting these days of our marriage pass by.

What we forget is we have only been married 16 months... That's it. We are still newly weds- a lot has changed, our family dynamics have done a 180- but we should still be starry-eyed lovers.  And we are. But those starry-eyes are directed at our adorable, chubby-cheeked, dimpled smile, baby girl.  So during my quick 7:00 pm Publix trip to prep for the 14 Days of Valentine's (more on that later), I decided we would make Friday night date night. So I grabbed stuff for home-made Chinese and came barreling in the door hollering about putting the leftovers back in the fridge, WE were cooking.  It was nothing fancy--- just egg fried rice, baked veggie egg rolls, and sesame chicken--- but we did it all side by side. Most of our interaction was simply me explaining the next step in stuffing and rolling egg rolls, or how to cook the chicken... but we were talking to each other and it WAS NOT "Have you...?", "Has Whitlee...", "Should I..."

An intentional marriage is a lot like intentional parenting. It's not much different than what we were already doing, we are just doing it now with the mindset of "Is this quality?". I simply made the decision to look at the person in front of me and say "I want to experience life WITH him, not experience MY life parallel to HIS life."