Little Sprout | Ariana

I could not be more thrilled with how little Ariana's pictures turned out at 17 days new! She was such an angel while we moved her from pose to pose. I could have stayed there all day and waited for her to fall back asleep to get even more combinations of backgrounds, but I think the soft pink, the green/yellow combo, and the teal worked perfectly!  She is just gorgeous :-)

If you live in the DE, MD, VA, or DC areas and are expecting a little one, please be sure to contact me soon to set something up around your due date. They are only this little once :-)

Breather

This is my breather post.

This is a post specifically full of happiness and cheer because I needed it. I desperately needed the relaxation and waves of peace that this scrum-dili-umptious spring weather has brought into my life. I have no problem using made up adjectives like “scrum-dili-umptious” to describe my present state right now because I am currently kicked back in my favorite armchair, rockin’ a tee, jeans, and flip-flops while listening to the birds chirp outside my opened window and watching the sun stretch its warm orangey goodness to the tips of my toes. In my book this feeling deserves its own word.

This post will be short in length, but not short of blonde hair and blue eyed cuteness.

I have found my happy place this week. A lot of it was from all the super sweet posts, emails, and Facebook messages I got from many of you after last week’s post. You guys rocked my world and filled my heart with your support, kindness, and personal stories. I can officially add that as a benefit to why I blog; it’s my therapy.  Here is what I learned last week:

1.)   My job (and the money I do or do not bring in) does not define me; my relationships do. I am valued as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

2.)   Holding on even TIGHTER to my husband and daughter during rough times makes life seem a little less challenging.

3.)   Having alone time & girlfriend time can be just what I need to get out of a slump.

And this week, this is my happy place.

 

It’s watching my little girl love on her favorite people and knowing I am doing something right.

With Love,

Stacy

P.S. One More for Love Blog is now accepting sponsors. Eeek! I am so excited :-) Spread the word if you think someone might be interested. First sponsor is going to be shared with you at the end of the month.

Our Home

I woke up in a daze. My “alarm” (Addisyn screaming “Mom, Mom, Moooom!” at the top of her lungs) promptly woke me at 7:00am and today that felt exceptionally early. I tried holding a pillow over my head in an attempt to salvage a few more minutes of sleep; but, as if she could sense it, her screaming changed to a high pitched howl that could not be ignored. Reluctantly, I threw the covers off my body, slowly sat up, moved my feet to the floor, and took a few deep breaths while trying to recall which day it was.  Ah, it’s Monday. I may be the only person on the planet who thinks this, but I LOVE Mondays!  With a little more motivation, yet still lacking any pep in my step, I started my simple morning routine of changing and feeding Addisyn, debating on whether or not I can go out in public in my pajamas, opting for jeans and a t-shirt, and heading out the door.

 To me Monday means coffee shop blogging and the good Lord knows I love me some coffee shop alone time.  Do you know what I love about writing my blog? It forces me to reflect on my life even when I am having the most ordinary of days.  I gain new perspectives on the smallest experiences that make my life so great.  These past few days I have had several conversations with people about contentment, so the theme to my blog post today is clearly: Delaware. Wait, what? Yep, I am blogging about the great state of Delaware. Okay, not exactly, but this long overdue post is all about how much Steve, Addisyn, and I love our life in the fabulous first state.

 A while back Steve and I came at a crossroads about where we wanted to be for the rest of our lives. We knew we wanted to buy a house and settle down somewhere to start raising a family. I had big dreams of a nice ranch style home with a wrap-around porch and a cozy sunroom that stretched out into the backyard.  The dream was complete with barbecues on the deck, kids playing in the yard, and our two dogs running with tongues out blissfully chasing cars along our fence line.  The goal was set, but choosing a state was a big and difficult decision as Steve and I both come from different states (he from California and me from Virginia) and came to Delaware on military orders.  Probably because we were forced to come here, it didn’t feel like home to us and separately we wanted to move back to the comfort and familiarity of our home states.  But, at some point things started to change for both of us. Even though I bought a house in Delaware, we got married in Delaware, we adopted two puppies in Delaware, and we had Addisyn in Delaware;  it wasn’t until we found a church home in Delaware that we finally started to feel like (dare I say it?) Delawareans.

Why was finding a church home so important to us? Let me give you an example by describing my day today.

 Today, I was emotional about everything.  While at the DMV earlier, I could feel my blood boiling as the person sitting next to me paid no mind to my two-year-old daughter while dropping the “f-bomb” more than ten times (I counted) and articulating the rest of his phone conversation with a mom-cringing mix of 90% profanity and 10% everything else.  I wanted to tap him on the shoulder, point to Addisyn and say, “Um Hello?! My two year old daughter can form more intelligent sentences than you can,” but I thought better of it and did my best to distract Addisyn from hearing his verbal garbage.  Blood pressure up and tension high, I was finally called to the counter only to find out that they require a left arm, right leg, DNA sample, statement of ancestry dating back exactly 100 years, a moon rock, dinosaur egg, and the whisker of a Persian lama now-a-days to renew a driver’s license. At that point I couldn’t hold back any more. I let the DMV guy know my opinion on how difficult it should be to change the date on a person’s driver’s license and how ridiculous his rules were for making this simple change so gosh darn difficult! When I got back to my car and realized I wasted forty-five minutes of my day and lost my cool twice; I cried. I drove most of the way home wondering how I was going to make the time to go back to the DMV this week while hating both of the men I saw in the forty-five minutes I was there. Poor DMV guy was only following the rules L Finally, I got home and began preparing lunch with Addisyn. As I was doing this, I realized that the rest of my day (and week for that matter) was only going to get better.

 Tonight I will be seeing two really good friends from church when they come over to workout with Steve. Then we get to go to another good church friend’s house to do Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University while enjoying fellowship with two amazing couples. Tomorrow, I have set up a play date with two different friends from church so our children can exchange Valentine’s and we can catch up on Mommyhood stories. On Thursday, Steve and I are hosting a Community Group which is a gathering of at least 15 people from our church that come together once a week to build relationships and grow in the truth of His Word.  You see? My whole life here is so great because I am surrounded by another family: my church family.  Not only do they raise my spirits when I am down, but they also give wise advice, keep me accountable for my actions, and pray for me at a moment’s notice.  Living here gives us so much than just a group of good friends.  It is because of our loving, caring, and all together amazing church FAMILY that we are happy to call Delaware our home.

*Valentine's Day post coming this week

A 2011 Recap

“Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.” ~ Epicurus

Hhhhhhhhhhh {inhaling}{deep breath} {sigh of relief}

Did you feel that? That is my crazy, but perfectly designed year of 2011 being closed in the history books.

I am going to index the pages of this year under the keyword, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, but accurately entitle that chapter in my life, “Abundant”.  And, while I am sticking to the book themed descriptions, you should know that I wouldn’t have edited it any other way. While there were times when I was anxious to turn the page and get past the slow or overwhelming days, there were footnotes of love appropriately entered on each page that showed me plainly what life is all about.

On the business front, I reconnected with old friends, learned new things, and met and networked with amazing people. The end result? I fell in love with a job that I could do for the rest of my life. Thank you to everyone who made that possible. Without you, I am just a girl with a camera. You are my inspiration.

In my personal life, I gained everything: confidence, skill, a little organization (just a bit) and most importantly a stronger relationship with my husband after watching him sacrifice so much for me and Addisyn this year.  My cup runneth over…

“Life in abundance comes only through great love.”  ~ Elbert Hubbard

I am happy. Watch out 2012!

Please visit me on my new facebook page HERE ;-)

Stay tuned for a great year and a giveaway!