Positive Words

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During dinner last night Hannah was chewing a grape and bopping around. I looked up at her and without much thought I said, "Hannah you are such a good girl." She stopped chewing, her eyes lit up, and she was practically beaming. "Goo goal?!" she asked me. Yes. Yes you are.

It was such a little moment, and nothing out of the ordinary. But it made me think about what those words could mean. When was the last time I said them to her? We spend a lot of time being busy, but I can't let myself forgot to give her positive words. Let this be my reminder to stop everyday and tell her that she is good, and smart, and wonderful. I believe that there's tremendous power in speaking positive words to our children. Many times people grow to fit the mold that we put them in, like a plant growing to the size of the pot that contains it. Let me plant my daughter in a wild open field where she will know no limits.

XOXO

Just wanted to share that Out of Print tees are onsale on The Mini Social right now. I know there are a few book lovers who read this blog that would love these toddler sized shirts as much as me. Check it out here.

XOXO

Two.

Today my baby turned two. And oh my heart, it is filled up with that bittersweet, breaking joy that only mothers know. I remember when she was first placed in my arms so well. I can still feel the seven pound weight of her and in my mind I can see those long eye lashes fluttering open for the first time. My Hannah. It has been two years already.

And once again the speed of love has caught me off guard.

XOXO

Read Hannah's birth story here.

Marriage After a Baby

Us. December 2008.

Two and a half years ago Wytmer and I stared at the first ultrasound pictures of our child and asked ourselves what this meant for us. Fresh out of college, with the whole world still to claim, I was scared. And I know he was too. But we were in love and wanted a family, so we took each other's hand and we've been holding on since. We've built a home together and watched love grow. We asked ourselves then if we should get married first. Do the "right thing." But in our hearts we knew it wasn't right for us. I've always wanted to marry this man. Always. But I didn't want anyone, him included, to think that our marriage was only because of Hannah. Eventually. One day, we said. When the time was right.

And then she was placed in our arms and our world exploded. We had to relearn how to be us. Wedding bells were again put on the back burner, as we let our daughter steal our hearts. For so long I thought that I didn't care to get married. What would a ring and a piece of paper change? We were already bound together because of the life we created. What more could we need? Life moved forward and the days flew by.

And here I am now, watching the light flicker through my engagement ring as I type out these words. Why now? Why does this matter? Why do we deserve this? I've loved this man for close to five years. We are well out of the honeymoon phase, and right in the thick of life together. We argue about the laundry and bills, and we never have time for dates. We've seen each other at our worst and have both been disappointed. We know that this relationship isn't perfect. But he asked me to marry him anyway. And knowing all of this, I said yes. I've seen what our life will be like, what it already is, and I don't want anything else. We still want each other. And that deserves a celebration. Sure we could just stop by the courthouse and make things official, but our relationship deserves to be honored. We may be parents, but we are still a couple. And by wearing his ring now I get the joy of falling in love all over again. I get to scribble my first name and his last all over my notebooks, and dream together with him again. I get to finally take our relationship off the back burner and say out loud, "You are important to me. Our relationship is important to me."

Now, the time is right. And I am so glad that we waited.

XOXO

I'm about to have a TWO year old.

Wanna hear something crazy? Hannah's birthday is next week. Yeah, I'm surprised, too.

I remember feeling like her birthday snuck up on me last year, but I still had things together well in advance. This year I am just looking at the calendar and saying, "No, that can't be right." But it is. Two. Years. Old. My itty bitty baby is almost two. I'm equal parts psyched and terrified. But that basically sums up my entire journey in parenting.

I told myself that I wouldn't get too emotional until after her party. I currently have too much party planning on my plate to really freak out too much. So I'm going to end this post by sharing some of the gifts I got for Hannah this year. We are still planning on doing our annual birthday donation, but I wanted to get a few presents for her big day.

one. two. three.

The first dress is going to be what she wears for her party on Sunday (her actual birthday is Monday). I have a soft spot for yellow clothes for Hannah since it was the color she wore on our way home from the birth center. I also got a couple other dresses and Tangled on DVD. No toys this year because she really doesn't need anymore, and I'm sure she will get a few things at her party.

XOXO

She's a Girly Girl

Lately Hannah has been obsessed with wearing dresses and calling herself a princess. She refuses to wear anything else besides the most twirl-worthy dresses. We've been through some of the worst tantrums of her life because we tried to put her in a pair of shorts. Hannah is all girl. She has an opinion about everything she wears. She's also pretty much in love with her yellow rain boots. I guess I have a little fashionista on my hands.

I snapped the above photo of Hannah one morning after putting her in a dress she wore last Mother's Day. It's shorter now, but still fits just fine. As soon as she was done inspecting her reflection, Hannah demanded that I put on some music so she could dance.She giggled and exclaimed "I princess!" while spinning round and round.

Needless to say, Hannah will be getting a few new dresses for her birthday next week.

XOXO

We're Getting Married!

Thank you all so much for all the love and congratulations on my big announcement earlier this week. I am beyond excited to be sharing our joy with all of you here. But before we go any further, can I just stop and say, HOLY CRAP, I'M GETTING MARRIED! *insert girly squealing here*

Okay so here's some details:

We are shooting to have the wedding sometime next spring/summer. Either spring break or during summer vacation of 2013. I want to give us enough time to save/plan/get in shape (me) before the big day. I also want to take advantage of my teacher vacation so I don't have to miss any days at school.

And yes, I knew that Wytmer was going to propose. We went to look at rings a few weeks ago and I fell in love with my ring while Wytmer was entertaining Hannah in the kids' playroom in the store. We switched places so Wytmer could talk to the salesman and I hung out with Hannah for awhile. I knew something was up when Wytmer came to get his wallet from the diaper bag. Then of course he left with a bag in his hand. We were both pretty darn excited at that point, but Wytmer held off on the proposal because he wanted to talk to my dad first.

I think that is really one of my favorite parts of this whole story. Wytmer decided that he wanted to take my dad golfing because "that's what men do." So one Sunday a week or so ago they met up at the driving range and Wytmer asked for permission to marry me. I guess it might be silly because we are already parents together, but it meant a lot to me. And I know my dad appreciated it.

There's been lots of teasing back and forth, and a little bit of pressure building up for the last few weeks. Knowing that he had it and not knowing when he would ask was so hard. I wanted so much to gush about the news here, but I did my best to keep it to myself. I had a feeling that he was going to ask on Easter because he was the one who thought of going to the park for a picnic, which is a little out of character. I always envisioned being proposed to at a park, so in a lot of ways it was a dream come true, and perfect in every way.

And now here we are. I feel like there is still so much to say, but I'm going to stop here for now before this post turns into a novel. Here's a few more photos from Sunday, all taken on instagram...

XOXO

Easter in the Park AND A SURPRISE!

Wytmer suggested that we spend Easter morning at our favorite park. The weather was warm and breezy and the sky was filled with big fluffy clouds. We walked out a little ways and spread out a blanket under our favorite tree for an early picnic lunch. Hannah gobbled an egg roll while running around us in circles, and Wytmer and I relaxed in the shade. After lunch Wytmer took Hannah on a little walk and I scattered dozens of candy filled Easter eggs all under the tree. Hannah shrieked with laughter as she filled her basket high with colorful eggs.

Once Hannah collected most of the eggs she came and sat down to have mama help her open them up.  Wytmer sat down on the blanket behind us and when I turned around...

He was on one knee!!! I can't really remember exactly what was said because I was pretty surprised and I couldn't stop looking at the ring. But I do know that he slipped it on my finger and here we are...ENGAGED!

I am going to save the rest of the details for an upcoming post, but I just wanted to stop in and share the news. And I know my blog has been quiet for a little while, but you can be expecting more posts in the near future as I have so much joy and excitement to share!

XOXO