I really hate apology posts and I'm not here to say sorry, as if you were just sitting there waiting to hear from me ;) But I'm alive and finally taking a breather after the most insane time of year at work. Our event went SO well and I'm happy it did but I'm more happy about the fact that it's over for now. We work on it all year and then the 2 months before are absolutely stupid busy and then I have to leave for 10 days for the actual event. I was beat when I got back but am slowing getting back to normal. Thank goodness it's Fall and I have THAT to boost my spirits.

Soooooo. What's been going on?

September: 

We got to ride in a giant Target cart car thingy - yes, that's one of my notable September moments. Y'all know I love me some Target. Violet turned 19 months (WHAT?!). I turned 31 (HUH?!). I celebrated my birthday with a date night with my honey and on the first cool morning of the season, I got my hair did by my wonderful sister-in-law as a birthday present. That was a good "me day". I'd only had a cut recently but hadn't colored my hair in over a year, at least. I need to get back into that, my hair just looks SO much better. Then a week after my birthday, I had a joint birthday lunch with my cousin and some close family. It was a nice end to my birthday week!

October:

VEGAS. That's about all that has consumed my life this month. The month basically was prepping for the trip, spending lots of time with the fam before I left and then spending 10 days in Vegas. Fun times were definitely had in the evenings (hello, it's Vegas) but I promise you, I actually worked, too. At least 12 hours every day and all on my feet. But it's ok because that's a requirement to balance out the kind of good eating and drinking we did at night!

When I got home, I basically squeezed the stuffing out of Violet and haven't let her go since. She hasn't let me go either and has been super clingy but I get it. I love being a mom and also having my career but doing both is tough, for sure. Days like these really make me wish I could give it all up and just stay home with her. I know that's not an option though right now so I try and just give both "jobs" my best. But I digress.

I'm just glad to be back to real life and a calm life, for a bit. I'm so pumped for hopefully the pumpkin patch this weekend and Halloween next week! And today we're throwing a surprise office bachelorette party for a co-worker who shocked everyone and married her boyfriend on the last day we were in Vegas! We all left to go home but they stayed behind a couple extra days to get married. SO awesome but I wish we'd known so we could've had a legit bachelorette party in Vegas!! But we're doing mimosas, food and games this afternoon for her at the office and I'm excited!

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of blogging soon but fair warning - I think for sure this time that I'm going to turn this blog into a 95% baby book for Violet. I've been awful at keeping record of things happening in her little life and that needs to change... So, definitely less of me-me-me and more of the mom stuff that might get sappy and annoying (yeah, I even annoy myself sometimes). Don't say I didn't warn ya ;)

The surprises of parenting...

This is a sponsored post with a giveaway provided by Dr. Smith's. I have been chosen to be one of their Premium Parents and I'll have some fun giveaways and posts for you, thanks to them. As always, opinions are my own.

 

I wonder how many posts I've started with "I can't believe how fast time is flying by...". Just yesterday, Violet turned 17 months. 17 months, y'all!! And being that it was a Sunday, which is also the day my due date fell on, I couldn't help but think about how different life is now from those early days of mom-hood. I will never claim to be a pro at this mom gig but compared to the new mom back in February of 2012, I can say I've definitely upped my game. Parenting is a never-ending learning process, that's for sure.

 

 

It's well known around here that Violet was our surprise baby and coming from that place, I'd have to say that I was probably just about the most unprepared mom ever. As in, EVERYTHING was a surprise to me. Being told you probably can't have kids, you let go of dreaming about life with your future babies, you don't really make any plans for that kind of life...And then a surprise pregnancy comes and changes your life in the best way possible.

I don't think anyone could have prepared me for the flood of emotions I would feel the moment I had her...or for the fact that those emotions will. never. go. away.  Mix in some serious sleep deprivation and the worry wart in me just about quadrupled. I was so. dead. tired but couldn't keep myself from always checking on her to make sure she was breathing. I couldn't help but wonder about all the possible things her cries could mean (surely, she's sick and we need to get her to the dr asap!!). Becoming a mom upped my crazy and it upped my anxiety. I can't say I handled it all very well, either. Poor Ronnie had to deal with my crying fits, my random stress outbursts and just my overall EXHAUSTION. But he was going through it too and no one fully knows your new life as a parent quite like your significant other. We have a better and stronger relationship than ever, thanks to her.
 

Life is just so amazingly different now with a child. Who knew I would feel my child's pain when she was sick? Who knew I would be able to survive and actually function on just a couple hours of sleep? Who knew I wouldn't throw up the moment she had a massive poop explosion? Who knew I'd be that mom who takes 100 picture of her every day and not once actually care what anyone thinks? Who knew I'd think her gassy little farts were the cutest thing (and now as a toddler, pretty hilarious)? Who knew I would get so ballsy and not let anyone tell me how to parent my child? There's so many things that have surprised me about being a parent but the biggest thing for me has been that, you will learn as you go and you will actually know what you're doing! Like I said before, for someone as unprepared as me, I've actually been able to pull off being a mom ;) Who knew??!

The books, the websites and chatting with other moms is helpful but it only gets you so far. Your motherly instincts will take over and you just go with it. NO ONE can prepare you for the true magnitude of the love and the exhaustion you will feel or how completely your life will change. You basically don't know anything about being a parent until you are one and then there's no way to go back. ha! But I promise, you won't want to.

 

What surprised you most as a parent?

 

Now, I'm excited to share with y'all that Dr. Smith's is now available nationwide at Walgreens! You can find the retailer nearest you at doctorsmiths.com. I was only recently introduced to their products and perfect timing too because it has helped Violet's recent rashes SO well! It is definitely going to be a staple for us now.

 

To celebrate Dr. Smith's going nationwide, they're giving away a $50 gift card to Walgreen's and a supply of their diaper rash ointment! If you're a mom or preggo, you should definitely sign up and get some Dr. Smith's in your life!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway runs July 29th - August 4th.

If you need me...

I'm either playing (and sucking badly at) Candy Crush.

or

on Instagram, selling my kid's clothes like a mad woman.

or

extra busy at work because I've been given yet another job duty (#smallcompanyproblems)

or

loving on this girl who is growing way too freaking fast!

Yeah, shiz is busy.

So, super big sorry for sucking at blog reading, emailing and tweeting. I promise I'll be a better friend one day soon!

Life This Week

Two days later and still no Mother's Day post from me, I'm slacking! It was a great day though with our families and best of all, I got to spend it with my own daughter.

Seriously. My own daughter.

I still can't believe half the time that I'm. a. MOM. Pretty crazy to think coming from the girl who used to say she would never have kids (and then found out she probably couldn't.). But I'm so glad I was able to have a baby after all because she's seriously the best thing to ever happen to me. I'll be back later with pictures from Mother's Day but for now I'm just gonna dump some random recent pics here.

oh but first let me tell you, I'm SO excited for later this week...

Thursday after work Ronnie and Violet are going to meet me for "The Food Truck Event" that just so happens to be going on in my office's parking lot! The event is part of Culinaria, a local wine and culinary arts festival and there's gonna be food, drinks, shopping and even a movie on the big screen. This is TOTALLY our speed and I can't wait! I even took a vacation day on Friday so I'll get a 3 day weekend with my cute little family :D

Now, for ze pictures...

1)It's been raining a shit ton around here since last week and I normally hate the rain but lately I'm kinda digging it. It's actually kinda pretty to see the rain clouds rolling in on my drive to work.

2)Then this past Saturday the rain took a break, just in time for my sister's senior prom. Which got me all selfish and thinking about getting older - my high school prom was 12 years ago! (WTF).

3)Sunday of course was my first Mother's Day and I hope not the last time I ever get such a dang cute card. I'm looking forward to the home made ones one day.

4)Then Monday came along and got me all annoyed but Ronnie cured that by bringing by Violet to have lunch with me. She's recently started grabbing for things and is loving on her little friend Bobo (yes, we named him) lately.

5)Today was a good mail day because I got these super fun CD's for Violet!...Perks like this are my best reason for sticking around this job ;)

Have a Happy Tuesday, friends!

Life lately.

Wow. It's been forever and a day since I blogged. When I think about that fact it actually makes me really sad because I had high hopes for keeping track of all the little details about Violet's first few weeks. However, motherhood had something else in store for me. I was blessed with an easy pregnancy but a not-so-easy child. I was also "blessed" with some good old fashioned bad luck. But I'm not saying this to bitch and I hope I don't come off as ungrateful because this is my life and I am ecstatic about having our baby girl. Just wanted to fill y'all in on what's been going on!

First off, our poor girl has had acid reflux issues since about week 3 and we had finally gotten it under control with meds (I hate that she even needs to be on them!) but last week the reflux came back in full force and she hasn't slept for more than an hour at a time. The rest of the time she's squirming in discomfort and/or screaming. The pediatrician has upped her med dosage a little due to Violet's normal weight gain so we're hoping and praying that this comforts her problems again SOON! It's the worst, most helpless feeling to see your baby screaming in such pain knowing there's no immediate solution.

Secondly, wouldn't you know I began to have my own acid reflux issues. For the first time ever in my life! The pain in my chest and back got so unbearable I even had to go to the ER a couple of weeks ago. They told me gallbladder issues are very common after pregnancy and while I don't have gall stones, I'm very susceptible to acid reflux now. I now have to be on meds myself and have to stay away from all kinds of good food :/ But you know, that's probably a good thing.

And lastly, our dog Niles (our first baby) injured his back while I was in the hospital after delivery and the day we brought Violet home from the NICU we noticed his back legs were going limp. He would kind of fall down and had a hard time walking around for long -  we immediately knew something was wrong. Since we didn't have the funds for treatment, Ronnie's aunt who is part owner of a veterinary office in Houston offered to take him in. So Ronnie took him up there and they kept him for 3 weeks and tried all kinds of therapy but his condition only worsened and he has since lost all function of his back legs. Turns out he has a degenerative disc issue so his back is now very sensitive to even more injury. We picked him up last week and poor boy needs to use a wheel cart now and while it was cute at first to see him wheeling around, it's just plain sad and breaks out heart. We miss our rambunctious boy and hope to see him recover one day (which is still a possibility with lots of rehab!).

So to say these last few weeks have been stressful is the understatement of the year. There's been lots of crying (on my end), lots of petty arguing but lots of making up and having good long talks about the future. We're a strong couple and we've made it through all kinds of tough times so I know we can easily get through this. My maternity leave wasn't full of lollipops and glitter like I thought it would be - dressing up our daughter and having photo shoots all day, taking her to lunches with friends, taking her on shopping trips with me, etc. But I was lucky enough to be there with her in her time of need, take her to doctor's appointments and comfort her and bond with her. And that's all I could have asked for. I know one day we'll get more than a couple hours of sleep a night and our daughter will eventually be a happy little girl who's not in pain.

Today, I'm back at work and dying a little inside because I'm not with my girl. But to be honest, I could use the breather. I know it will make me a better (less stressed out) mom and Violet deserves that. Life is still good no matter the stress and I know our daughter will now be in great hands with her Maw Maw (Ronnie's mom) and when she's occasionally with my mom.

I just hope you can understand and forgive my lack of commenting but I'll be back soon..and will overload you with some Violet cuteness!! Here's a few for now ;)

The wedding that was postponed

I'm gonna get sappy up in here today. Sorry. I'm pregnant. You've been warned.

Many of you may not know this but I started this blog two years ago under a different name, with the intention of it being a wedding planning blog. Things obviously changed and while I have a ton to be grateful for now, I can't help but think that today we would be coming back from our honeymoon. I would be Mrs. C. I would still be on a wedding high over our super fun outdoor wedding last Saturday, 11-5-11. It was the perfect date to me and I often prayed the weather would allow for us to be outdoors and as it turns out, the weather was perfect.

It's silly to dwell on this type of thing but being in blog world has introduced me to so many of you wonderful ladies, some of who have had gorgeous weddings recently or are getting married soon and it's a reminder that I would've been part of that Fall wedding club too. But I know the reasons why our wedding was postponed and I'm actually grateful we postponed it or else we'd be in a stressful situation right now. AND I'd be getting married 6 months pregnant. Not drinking at my own wedding? Um no. That was my entire reason for having a huge blow out. ha!

So now that the wedding date and honeymoon dates are behind us, it gives me the opportunity to have a new focus on what life is like NOW. And my life right now makes me ridiculously happy. We're still happily in love, we're buying a house and we get a baby girl soon. I do believe everything happens for a reason. (Maybe that reason was to give me a built in little flower girl since I could never decide on one? ;) I can also say I'm grateful that I got my perfect proposal back in 2009 and at least got to go through the craziness of wedding planning for a bit. But things are perfect as is and I know our wedding will come at a much better time!

P.S. If you're signed up for me and Ashlee's Fall swap, the package deadline has been pushed to Monday since the Post Office is closed for Veteran's Day. So don't stress, you still have time! :)