Stand.

"You gave me breath so I could breath. Your great and matchless name all my days all my days. So let my whole life be a blazing offering. A life that shout and sings the greatness of our King!"

I took a day off today...to study. One day, my days off will be all about taking Hadley on fun mommy/daughter dates but until then, gotta do what I gotta do.

Anyways....

Our church has started this series called STAND, it's about standing out instead of blending in and being the light in this dark world. It's only been one week into the series and I love it. It's so relevant for today's world. Just going through work yesterday and reflecting on it during my [short] drive home made me realize that I had some opportunities to stand (and I did), other opportunities that I didn't recognize in the moment but in hindsight thought to myself "hmmm...I probably should have said something there..." and I'm sure there were moments that I still haven't recognize that maybe I should  but still cant think of them. Stand up for what? Well, stand up against negativity, stand up against talking about someone...you know, regular day to day stuff in this world.

Back in January we picked our one word for the year. My word was INTENTIONAL. I want to be more intentional with my mornings and spending my first few minutes with God, I want to be more intentional with our friends (even if it only means 10-15 minutes of saying "hi" because of our crazy schedules), more intentional about what I am eating, more intentional about what is heard around our house (we've been so WEIRD that we cut our cable and the TV is only on about a half hour a day..if that) and in addition to other items of my life that I am working on being more intentional with....I am adding "be more intentional about standing up and standing out".

I'm sure I'm not the only one that can find ways in my every day life where a simple "no" or a U-turn out of a conversation can do wonders to stand out. We're only given a limited amount of words, time, and breaths in this world. I don't know about you, but I want to use them to make a difference. To stand out in the crowd. I want to show my daughter that the world doesn't expect us to be lights and doesn't want us to be different and that showing them the unexpected is what makes life worth living. We spend our entire childhood/teen/young adult years trying to blend in...it's stupid! We weren't made to blend in, God didn't create us to conform to the ways of this world. That's EASY. We were made to overcome challenges. Only by being challenged is when we truly grow and discover what we are capable of. 

I hope you can think of some situations each day or week that you encounter in which you can now remember the beauty of NOT blending in but instead stand out and let God do His work through you in that situation. 

Well, that's my ramble for the morning. Time to get some studying done and enjoy this cup of coffee.

-M


Song of the morning: "Glory to God Forever" by Fee

HKS: 4 months!

Age: 4 months. (On July 9...)

Weight: 12.5 lbs

Length: 25 1/2 inches

Milestones: Hadley rolled over at 3 1/2 months! She's a rolling machine--loves to be on her tummy now. She also talks up a storm- i love it. She grabs onto things and knows what she wants..exactly when she wants it. 

Sleep: Pretty well..in bed by 7:30PM....maybe up once during the night but more often then not she sleeps through the night.  

Best moment: smiles. her laugh. her smiles. her laugh. ;)

Health: She's doing great. On 100% formula..tried some Rice Cereal the other day...she's not too sure about it. 

Things to remember:

-She loves her bouncer! 

-She did her first painting at day care!

-They call her the greeter at day care because every time someone walks in she smiles at them haha

-She started drooling like crazy..hello teething! She loves her teething toys. 

Little Miss Hadley, we love you so much!

Hadley Kaye: 3 Months

Age: 3 months. 

Weight: No clue....but if I had to guess...I would say close to 11 lbs

Length: Don't know...but she's more than 22 1/2 inches (since that was her length at 2 months) She's getting too long for her newborn insert in her bath tub though- she has some long legs like her mommy. she is perfect.

Milestones: this girl found her feet and her hands. she loves them. she's always trying to grab her feet and if there's not a bottle or pacifier in her mouth, her hands are there. she smiles all the time- i love it. her neck is doing a great job holding up her head. She's holding things more and more and it's so exciting! She's a laugher and a talker....she's perfect. 

Sleep: AMAZING! Off to bed by 830/9pm....wakes up at 5AM!! :) 

Best moment: smiles. all day, every day. 

Health: She's doing great. We're making the transition to 100% formula (HAL-LEH-LUH-YUH for ME!). So far so good w/ 50/50...let's hope it keeps up. 

Things to remember:

-She loves her activity gym!

-Car rides=naps

-She loves getting out. No matter where we are...she just strolls in her BOB and takes in the scenary. 

-She's a cuddle bug. I love it.

-She's starting to sleep flat on her back during nights...still in a rock n play at night.

-Still in that darn swaddle. She loves it. I sleep. We love it & don't feel bad about it.

-She is getting better at this whole tummy time thing.

-She never used to like the bath..but now we get a confused look...which is better than a cry....progress! 

Hadley Kaye, you make my life so complete. I love you love bug! 

This girl has some long legs like her mommy.

It takes a village, a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus

{{Love our family. 05.10.14.}}

From years before we were pregnant we knew how important it was to root our children in the church right away. My husband and I both have amazing parents that lead us towards God in everything we did and we prayed for Hadley's relationship with God before we were even pregnant. I always talk about how this move to Oklahoma was 100% God ordained and I'm going to say it again--We are here for a reason & God knew exactly what He was doing when He moved us here. We LOVE our church. We love it's values. We love that we feel 100% comfortable allowing them to impart wisdom onto the most precious gift we have ever received, our daughter.  

I loved hearing my parents ask God to give them the wisdom to be the best grandparents in the world. I loved hearing our good friends praying over our family and reminding us that what they love about us is that we aren't afraid to share our relationship with God. I loved hearing our other good friends pray for guidance and blessings over our family of 3. I loved hearing one of the pastors at the church (and also our friend) pray for Travis and that he will lead like he's never lead before. I feel that these people, these prayers, this support system, is God ordained. God placed these people into Hadley's life for a reason. I am so excited that there is a team of God loving people surrounded around Hadley and I can't wait to see what God's plans are for her life. I know they will be amazing. 

It truly takes a village. I was in tears listening to my parents and our close friends pray for us raising Hadley and for her to constantly seek Him. That's why i'm here--I'm here to bring her closer to Christ. Not only her, but everyone I encounter--I am here to bring PEOPLE closer to Christ. Life changes when we look at it from that perspective. We're not here to travel the world for our own pleasure and we're not here to be the boss at work--we're here to lead others towards Him. Some of us get the great opportunity to travel the world to lead those in less fortunate countries towards God, but all of us have the opportunity (and I'm even going to go as far and call it an ORDER) to bring those that we encounter every day towards Him. Our ONE purpose in this life is to lead others towards Christ. While we are called to lead others towards Christ remember that there's a village surrounding you to keep you motivated, to keep you on track and to keep you focused on Him. 

Whatever you're facing, weather you're a new mom, a future mom, a wife, an employee, a manager, a daughter--know that you need God. We all need God. It takes a group of God fearing, faith filled, truth centered people to help each other thrive. Surround yourself with people that build you up. Trust God that He has put incredible plans in place for your life. Know that everything we do is a blessing from Him. 

We might get tired. Work may be exhausting. It won't always be easy, but He promised it would be worth it. So, grab your support group, pray for strength, sip on some coffee and know that God is on the scene and when He is present, NOTHING is impossible. 

So, that's my thought for today. Whether it's raising a child, being an outstanding spouse or friend, it takes a village. We might need a little bit of coffee along the way but we will always need a whole lot of Jesus. 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

{{On the way to her dedication.}}

{{Some of the decorations I put together.}}

{{A pasta salad my mom made. We also had grilled steak, salmon, and asparagus.}}

Over & Out,

M

Hadley is 2 months old!

Hadley is 2 months old today. I love this little girl so much. She has made our life so complete. 

Age: 2 months. 

Weight: 9 lb 10 oz

Length: 22 1/2 in

Milestones: she started recognizing colors and not just black and white, she talks A LOT (and by talk I mean coo's and making interesting noises), she smiles when her dad and I talk to her, she LOVES her activity gym (so much so that she "yells" at us to put her in it). Side note: it's pretty neat how we can tell different screams/cry's and what they mean).  She's lifting her head and moving it around and looks around with her big beautiful blue eyes a lot. 

Sleep: She's sleeping beauty. We go to bed by 10pm, wake up at 2:30AM, feed her, go back to bed at 3:30AM and are feeding her again before we leave for work at 6AM. It's a pretty neat system. She's had a couple of nights where she slept straight thru to 4:30AM (which is when Travis and I wake up for work) so that was pretty awesome. She's up more during the day which took us a little bit to get used to because we used to get stuff done while she was sleeping during the day..haha but it's so much fun to play with her more. 

Best moment: listening to her laugh and smile at us. perfect. 

Health: She's been doing very well. She's on mainly breastmilk now and I've been sick all last week and as difficult as it was, I had to stay away from her to make sure I didn't get her sick. 

Things to remember:

-Hadley LOVES to play. All day! It's so cute. 

-She loves her massages at night. 

-She's getting better in the car seat in the car. 

-That Pacifier..i tell ya..she loves it. I think it has to do with comfort from when she was in the NICU and they gave it to her. 

-Still not a fan of tummy time...at all. 

-She loves Row Row Row your boat and Baby Einstein

(before the dreaded shots...)

Things I've learned these past 7 weeks

Today is my last official day of maternity leave. I have zero desire to go back to work. All I want to do is stay at home and enjoy my baby girl. I can't believe how much she has grown in these 7 weeks that she's been with us. These past 7 weeks have been amazing. Starting with the first hour we were being admitted to the hospital on the evening of March 8th. I wish I could stay home with Hadley baby but hopefully when I go back to work I will remember why I do what I do and will be energized in that setting again...ugh I'm dreading tomorrow morning. OK but enough of my rants, here's what I've learned these past 7 weeks.

1. God's plan is always Greater just like He promised in Jeremiah 29:11 "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out- plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." I never thought I would have to go through the emotional and physical challenges of having a baby that had to go straight to the NICU after delivery. I never had that chance to instantly bond with her like most births allow. I lived my whole life hearing my mom & dad tell me about how I was in the NICU for a couple of weeks and it never crossed my mind that that could happen to my baby. Despite the crazy hormones the day of and the days after the birth, it was an emotional struggle to wake up without our baby in our room. Things didn't go as I planned them and that is perfect. Why? Because God taught us patience during this time. He taught us how to overcome. We were so nervous to take her home after the challenges we had in the hospital but we did it & we figured it out & we love our family of three and wouldn't have it any other way. Through that experience, Travis & I grew together. We have always been a team but now we are THE team. It's us. He and I and Hadley. forever. I'm not saying that we wouldn't have experienced this any other way but I wouldn't change a thing. I love how God puts us in situations when we least expect it in order to see how we overcome it and to show us that we CAN overcome anything and be made stronger in any circumstance.

{{Week 1}}

2. I'm protected. There have been times where Hadley is SO hungry in the matter of seconds...she will go from passed out and snoring to HOLY COW FEED ME RIGHT THIS SECOND OR ELSE.........BOOM! and the screaming begins.. my response is always "OK baby I need to go heat up the bottle..don't worry, mom will always have food for you". It's funny, when she knows i'm walking over towards the warmer she will stop crying...until the warmer light clicks off and then I have about 0.3 seconds until..HOLY COW FEED ME!!!! haha I'll sit down, give her the bottle, watch her engulf the thing and tell her "see I've got it covered just trust mom." I was thinking about this one day as I was feeding her...and how i'm sure that's how God looks down at us. We think we have to worry about a, b, and c when really we just prematurely FREAK OUT about something (no? that's just me...yea..right!) and God is sitting up in Heaven saying "C'mon my daughter, calm down, I've got it covered. Let me do what I do best." He's got our backs. We're protected from whatever we are scared of. He knows what we need, He planned what we're going to do, and He will protect us and deliver His promise....so we DO NOT need to have a panic attack when OH MY GOSH something comes up and we just don't know what to do. We're not supposed to know what to do all the time, or else we wouldn't need God.

{{Getting used to her home. Week 2.}}

3. I love my husband. Enough said. Watching him with our daughter...priceless.

{{Week 6. Resurrection Sunday.}}

4. Officer training school was the best pre-newborn preparation ever. Become superwoman on less than 3 or 4 hours of sleep every night? no problem. Eat an entire meal in under 5 minutes? nailed it. Multitask as much as possible? got that one in the bag. Plan out an entire evening while taking the shortest bathroom break humanly possible? Thank you officer training school.

{{Week 3. Family dinner at our house.}}

5. Breastfeeding is God's way to give a new mom a few minutes of peace and serenity. If it's pumping or nursing, as much as a hassle pumping is, they both give 15 minutes of peace and quiet. A time to unwind, to catch up on reading the Bible, or blogs. I didn't think I would make it 7 weeks...but here I am, 7 weeks later....pretty much dreading having to figure out pumping out work..but that's an entirely different subject that I don't need to write about haha unless it gets comical tomorrow...then i'll have to. Anyways, I wasn't really a fan of the idea of breastfeeding when I was pregnant...but now, I love it. Even the little things, God's got mommas on His mind and He makes sure we're covered.

{{Week 5. Moby Wrap is AMAZING.}}

Well....theres a quick 5 things I've learned. I've learned a lot more but I think 5 is a good place to stop. For that reason...and the fact that it's time to take that quick shower, plan my to-do list for the rest of the evening and spend this last night with my beautiful family before a crazy 5 days back to work.

{{Week 6. Smiling Hadley.}}

Adios peeps!

-M

{{Week 7 on her activity gym.}}

HKS: 1 Month

{{Ok..so...I had about 0.5 seconds to snap these photos between a 'i just woke up' phase and a 'time to go to the bathroom' and 'oh crud we have to go in the car seat?!' phase

My baby girl is already 1 month old! It's so true when they say time flies! I love this blessing so much and she is just perfect. I thank The Lord every day for her!

Age: Hadley is 1 month old!

Weight: last week she was 7lb 10oz...I would say she's up around 8 lbs now!

Length: 21 1/2 inches

Milestones: she's already holding her head up, she loves playing on her activity gym & looking at infant visual stimulation videos. 

Sleep: *knock on wood* she's been sleeping like a champ *knock on wood* we had a few nights in a row where we got maybe a good 15 minutes of sleep or so but typically she's up at 2am and 5am for about an hour...which works perfect for us! We have 2 cribs in this house, a bassinet sleeper, a mamaroo and (now) a rock n play. She sleeps great in the rock n play so we're rolling with that! She just started sleeping less during the day and is up to play more..which I also love :) 

Best moment: the entire month! But I will say, her laying on me holding onto my t-shirt and stairing at me is the best feeling in the world. I love being her mom.

Health: she's a champ! After a week in the NICU she's been a growing, weight gaining machine! She has a purple mouth right now though (go Lakers?) due to thrush but it should go away in 48 hours. 

Things to remember:

-Hadley loves piano music. We will play it on pandora and she instantly goes into musician mode. I love that she loves it.

-I give her a massage every night before bedtime with calming lotion and it's one of our favorite parts of the day. 

-At night, when she's on her changing table, she loves to stair at our shadows. Last week my husband and mom put on a shadow puppet show for Hadley while I was changing her diaper. Safe to say she didn't make a peep! Haha

-Everything about her is perfect. She makes the cutest faces and even when she's fussing and I'm exhausted and just want to sleep there is nothing that I would trade it for. Every second I get to hold her I thank God for.

-She's getting the hang of tummy time...not really sure if she's a fan or not. 

{{newborn photo}}

{{her headband didn't want to stay on...}}

{{She LOVES to eat}}

{{Hanging out on her activity gym.}}