Snugs and The Man: Life

Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts

6 Months

Dear River,

I cannot believe that you are 6 MONTHS OLD already! Where the heck has the time gone!? In honor of this wonderful milestone, I thought we would take a quick look back over these last 6 months:

Where You Have Been:

Denver, CO

Red Rocks, CO

Las Vegas, NV

Los Angeles, CA

Holidays You Have Celebrated:

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas

New Years

Things You Like To Eat:

Butternut Squash

Winter Squash

Carrots

Peas (...sort of...)

Spinach

Apples

Pears

Mangos

Peaches

Turkey

Chicken

Your Tricks:

Rolling over...and over...and over

You smile and laugh A LOT

You babble and have plenty of conversations

You can sit up (with a little bit of help)

You love to make a motor boat sound with your mouth

You put EVERYTHING in your mouth

Your Favorite Things:

Mom and Dad (obvs)

Pulling Mom's hair

Roary the Lion

Scout the Dog

Your "Command Center"

Books

How You Have Grown:

You are such a beautiful soul River; so kind hearted and full of light. It is an absolute pleasure and gift to be your parents.

We love you buddy

Love,
Mom and Dad

Why Mommy Guilt is like a Drive By Shooting

My son is just a week shy of 6 months.

And guess what, The Switch has happened.

The Switch you ask?

YES! The glorious switch from simply Milk Supply to Mommy.

I don't know exactly when it happened, but it was right around the time I helped my baby through his very first ear infection, (which consisted of 4 trips to the pediatrician, two different medications, and a full blown body rash due to an allergic reaction.) Freaking wonderful. However, now on the other side of that damned childhood curse, I find that he lights up even brighter when I walk into a room, he reaches for me when I am close enough, he does that cute open mouthed "I'm going to eat your face off" type of kissing babies do, and pretty much loses his mind whenever we play together.

It. Is. Awesome.

I. LOVE. it.

Of course don't mistake me, Robert is still his best friend...by a long shot... it's so obvious... but I am MOMMY, which pretty much makes me a superhero.

And yet, I have come to discover that if there is one sure fire nemesis to Mommy Superherodom, it is the dreaded "Mommy Guilt." Our very own Kryptonite.

But I have also discovered something else...

"Mommy Guilt" exists because we, as mothers, hurl it on one another. We do the perpetuating.

Like a drive by shooting, we take to the blog world (Hello!), and social media, and do our own drive by guilting, perhaps, without even realizing it.

And you know what, we are killing ourselves; and killing one another's confidence in the process.

Let's be real, being a parent is HARD ENOUGH on it's own without feeling the pressure of so many opinions on top of it. And the clincher is that it starts before you are even a PARENT!!

"Why don't you have children yet?"

"Don't you feel like that is a little selfish?"

"When are you planning to get pregnant?"

"Natural or Medicated?"

"Vaccines, no vaccines?"

"Breast milk or formula?"

"Cry it out or coddle?"

"Public, Private, or Home School?"

Honestly, I could keep going.

I can remember vividly the first time I experienced that shameful Mommy Guilting. I was pregnant...newly pregnant...and I was asked what type of birth I wanted to have.

Me: "You know...I think I would really like to try giving birth naturally."

Friend: "...Why?"

Me: "Um.. I don't really have a set reason, it's just a preference."

Friend: "Is...it, like, something you need to prove to yourself?"

Me: "No, not at all."

Friend: "Hm."

Annnnnd Shame.

I am 100% sure that she never, in her wildest dreams, meant to hurt, shame, or offend me, but because it has become such common place to have the "right" to share our opinions, it happened regardless...

Perhaps it is because I am Doula, or work in the realm of pregnancy in general, but it seems like I am constantly questioned about my pregnancy and parenting preferences and choices, and why I do or don't do certain things, or why I feel or don't feel certain ways. And truthfully, I love giving MY opinions and MY advice, but that is just the thing, they are MINE...opinions and advice that are now ONLY given when asked, and come with the very serious preface that they are free of judgement and that they do not fit every child.

::gasp!::

See, in my arrogance, prior to becoming a parent, I had an opinion about everything. I swore up and down that I would (or would not) do X,Y, and Z...told women why you should or should not do this or that, and you know what I discovered: Some things sound great in theory, and are terrible in practice.

And I also discovered, that I lended to the guilting of many a mother in the process.

TRUTH.

Parenthood is about grace upon grace (for YOURSELF) and as much humility as you can muster. It is perfectly ok to have your opinions, and even admirable to have done your research on said opinions...but please remember they are YOURS, and it is ok if others do not agree with you.

Furthermore, Mothers, can we please refrain from flagrantly flouting our opinions in open forums like facebook, twitter, and other social media sites? It's just...poor practice. We, as mommies, need as much encouragement and confidence as we can get...especially from one another.

Caring for a HUMAN, nay, being solely responsible for a human, is hard hard work. It is beautiful and crippling all at the same time.

So please, have your opinions, give your perspectives, but please PLEASE do it respectfully.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Cor. 13:1

Snugs out.

Brie and the Grizzly Affair

Allow me to set the stage.

This morning The Man and I took River to the pediatrician to check out a problematic cold that has been sticking around for the last few days or so. Seeing as how tomorrow we are getting on a plane for Thanksgiving break, we wanted to try and knock this thing out beforehand if at all possible.

You know...

Perhaps it was the upcoming holiday rest bit...

Perhaps it was the buzzing waiting room...

Perhaps it was even the significant lack of sleep both The Man and I have been experiencing lately.

But whatever the culprit, Robert and I were quite happy sitting in that doctor's office. Slap Happy that is.

As we waited for River's name to be called, The Man and I began to joke about potential future baby names. The more outrageous the name, the louder we laughed.

The Man: "No babe, sorry but our next son is going to be named Grizzly. Case closed."

Me: "Uhhhh.... no. First of all, we cannot have a son named River...and then a son named Grizzly. Second of all, his nickname would be Griz. Third of all, there is NO WAY we are naming him Grizzly.. that's like naming the poor kid ROCK."

....LITERALLY two seconds later....

[The Nurse emerges]

"WOLFE?" she calls out.

I kid you not, the woman and little boy sitting DIRECTLY across from us get up!!

I could have DIED.

To make matters worse, I was so mortified that I nervously began to laugh as they passed by us...then I nervously began to laugh so hard that I started CRYING! Which only made Robert laugh even harder than he already was.

Moral of the story?

#BrieFail

A Pilgrim's....Progress...

Pilgrim:
-From the Latin peregrinus
-A traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place.

In a sense, we are all travelers... but we are not all Pilgrims. Every single one of us is on a journey, but the destination has the potential to be vastly different. As a professing Christian, I'd love to tell you that I am secure in my destination; no ifs, ands, or buts about it. But it's a struggle. Even today I found myself asking to which camp I belonged. Am I merely on a journey, or am I on a journey to a holy place?

When we aren't careful, many of us (myself included) have the capacity...and dare I say tendency...to trade in holy for habit; Truth for trinket. Christianity becomes nothing more than a masquerade. We dress up, raise a glass to life and to each another, and continuously put on one colorfully ornate mask after another. Some of us hide behind our wit. Some, behind our intellect and achievements, and some even behind Christianity itself. My mask, for example, is decorated with my abilities, my wisdom, and my moral compass. When wearing my mask, I have the capacity to pick myself up by my bootstraps, drum up some sage advice for many an occasion, and say and do all the right things in order to fool only myself into thinking I am at a place in life, that I am actually not. My mask is heavy... but despite that fact, I wear it often.

Consider the above picture. It's unsettling isn't it? But you see, no matter how ornate, no matter how beautiful the mask, this is what the real masquerade looks like.

We are so terrified to remove our masks, aren't we? So afraid to let our real selves be seen, to let our real selves breath. If people saw the REAL me, the me that was still in progress, how could they possibly love that mess? But therein lies the deception. Christ died for the REAL me. Christ died for the messy me. In fact, Christ became my mess in order that I would no longer be trapped in it. More so, Christ became my mess, my sin, in order that I might ultimately be freed from it. Even when typing that sentence I draw in a deep breath. So, when I wear my porcelain shell; the one I think people want, all I am really doing is preventing people from seeing Christ's work in me. Yes, the work that is STILL in progress.

So, even knowing that Truth, why am I so tempted to reach for my colorful habit? I think today I realized it is because I do not trust my true face; my true identity. I don't think it's enough. I don't trust that MY identity says that not only am I on a journey to a holy place, but MY identity says that once I reach my destination, I too will be made holy as He is holy. The work has already been done, now it's just a matter of becoming what I am already destined to be. But It doesn't seem right. Shouldn't I have to DO more?

Allow me to digress into nature for a second. Nature provides a beautiful example of the discrepancy between who we appear to be and who we truly are. Think about a caterpillar. By all appearances a caterpillar is slow....unattractive...lumpy...but not according to its DNA. According to its DNA, the true identity of that lumpy mess that we see before us by every scientific test possible, including the test of its DNA, is actually a gorgeous butterfly through and through. This creature, looking nothing like a butterfly is, in fact, 100% just that! It is on a journey to a destination that it hasn't yet reached. But one day it will. And every day in between, a maturing process is taking place. One day that caterpillar will display every characteristic and attribute of the butterfly identity it already possesses. How beautiful is that?

And the same is true of us. If Christ is our savior, then the same is true of us.

So...what mask do you wear? Which identity are you tempted to parade? What does your REAL face look like?

I'll show you mine if you show me your's? Actually, scratch that. I'm working to show you mine regardless. But it sure would be nice to get a glimpse of the You you already are.

"Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."

- Colossians 3:9-10

Halloween 2013

Some of the greatest memories I have from my childhood are wrapped around, and connected to, the different traditions my parent's instilled in our family. Some of those I hope to infuse into my own little family, and others I hope to create myself (along with Robert of course).

This year, Halloween marked the first calendar holiday we had as a family of 3 vs. just a family of 2. It dawned on me...perhaps later than it should have...that now the tradition making portion of life falls heavily on me (and again, Robert of course). Even though River is only 3 months old, I think it is important to start these sort of things even now. Sure, they will probably morph and change over the next few years until we figure out what works best with our tribe, but figuring those things out is part of the fun; part of the adventure.

Last night, we invited a few of our friends, as well as Grammy and Grandpa J, over to our place to enjoy the seminary's annual chili cook-off. It was too...CHILI... (BA DAP BA BAAAA...) for us to care much about casting our vote for "Best Chili," so we just grabbed our grub and ran. Inside the warmth of our apartment, we all enjoyed our feast, as well as some warm apple cider, before the kiddos headed out to Trick-or-Treat. Robert and I hung back to pass out candy because...well...let's face it, taking a 3 month old Trick-or-Treating is basically Robert and I saying "Hey Jack, GIVE. US. YO. CANDY!"

After the kids finished, they returned back to our place to divvy up their loot, enjoy some more cider and cookies, and veg out a bit to "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!"

All in all, super fun night. Will any part of last night turn into an annual tradition? Who knows... but right now it sure is fun figuring it all out.

PS: Yesterday also marked 3 months of life for little River. Here's a video for you son. We LOVE being your parents! Keep growing, keep learning, and keep being awesome.

(Obviously couldn't figure out how to turn the camera off at the end there...)
XO

Snugs

2. We Moved

We Moved

Originally, The Man and I first came to Colorado in January of this year.

Initially, we were living with my folks, but severely underestimated the amount of time The Man would be spending in Seminary's library.

(Did I mention we moved here for him to attend seminary?)

So with a new family member on the way, and countless talks about what was the best option for our expanding family, it became obvious that a move was going to need to be made.

We went on a wait list, and by the time I was 37 WEEKS PREGNANT (officially "full term") our apartment became available.

Just in the knick of time too! Little did we know that our little one would be make an appearance two weeks later to the day.

Home Sweet Home.

There really is nothing like it.

Snugs

The Aftermath

A Day at the Exhibit

Yesterday, The Man and I finally had a day off together!

PAAAARAISE!!!!!!!!!

That meant that him and I had an entire day free from work, school, studying, responsibility, and we could spend it however the heck we wanted.

So, what did we choose?

Thanks to my mom and two free tickets, we headed downtown to see the Leonardo DaVinci "Machines" exhibit.

It. Was. AWESOME.

I had NO idea what a contribution DaVinci made to so many facets of society! Forget the Mona Lisa (well, actually no don't do that, the Mona Lisa is incredible), but seriously I cannot believe he isn't MORE famous for his other contributions!

Kids, myself included, put down the smart phones and take a note out of DaVinci's book.

The man literally created till the day he died.

Well done.

Here are some snaps from our day at the exhibit.

Side Swiped

I know....

I know I've been posting a lot regarding the little babe lately.

It's simply because this little miracle came at the perfect time.

Robert and I probably wouldn't have planned it this way

...like ever...

but what do we know anyway right!?

However, taking a break from that subject matter for a minute, I have to confess, God is rocking me in many an area lately. Honestly, HONESTLY, I really didn't think there could be life after Los Angeles for us me. I know, DRAAAAMA QUEEN...

But seriously.

Even truer truth to be told, I have spent much of our first month here fairly....ummm... anti-social. I guess a more correct statement would be "professionally social"...ie: I'm social because I should be...

BUT every time I drag my [platformed] heels to an event or a gathering that I lament I do not want to attend, I walk away wishing we could have stayed longer.

~~Weird.~~

Jesus.

What happened to the Colorado I vowed I would never return to!?

You know, the one I hated and cursed and refused to ever speak kind words of...

Somehow it has been replaced with [legit] [Christian] community that actually wants to go out of their way to get to know Robert and I....that actually welcomes Robert and I into their home for dinner (after only having had a 10 minute conversation with us)...who actually takes a genuine interest in us and our lives....who actually lives out the Gospel.

What is going on here!?

Blessing after Blessing, that's what.

Nobody will ever be able to replace my heart friends, those friends that still reside back in LA, those friends that really are more like family

...But...

Jesus sure is showing me that He is far more in tuned and involved than I ever seem to give Him credit for.

Thank you for the reminder Jesus.

Credit: all You.

Snuglet/Snuglette....GUESS WHAT!?

OK.

So, there is a V E R Y good explanation as to why I haven't blogged in a few weeks.

Simply put, I was afraid I would spill my guts all over the blogsphere.

Therefore, I played it safe and took a quick sabbatical before I could say anything about being....

P R E G N A N T ! ! !

That is right ladies and gents, Snugs and The Man are expecting their very own little snuglet[te] later this year, and we are absolutely over the moon with excitement.

See, here's the thing... The Man and I have known for what seems like forever, but because we were moving to Colorado (where my parents live) and taking a trip to the south (where his parents live) we wanted to wait until we were able to tell both of our families in person.

And boy (or girl) was it worth the wait!

First of all, before I go into that, here are some snaps from the day we found out.

Ok next.

Here is how we told MY parents...

Anyone remember this lil' guy from a post or two ago?

Well, my mom fell in L.O.V.E with this when she saw it on my blog (little did she know we already bought it). She hounded me for weeks about just buying it and putting it in storage

...yadda yadda yadda...

...heh heh heh...

WELL, The Man and I decided to wrap this up, as well as a framed picture of our first ultrasound, and give it to them when we all celebrated Christmas together in Colorado. It was the last gift we had them open, and Robert and I had a ball as we watched my parents dig into the wrapping, and let the information slowly wash over them until...

Soon after, The Man and I made a much needed trip to the south the see (and tell) HIS parents, and the reaction was equally amazing.

Shock, tears of joy, shouts, hugs.

What more could you ask for?

Pretty sure this picture sums it up perfectly...

I wish we had more photos, but TRUST ME the celebration was very much the same! :)

So, there you have it, I am growing a baby.

And here he or she is, all 11 weeks

SUCCESS.

XO.

Snugs and The Man (and baby Snuglet)

Remember when...

...I confessed I wasn't that domestic?

Last night gave me proof.

Oh but I do try so so hard!

And I do think that one day all my trying will pay off and Martha Stuwart will show up on my doorstep, and I will get to teach her a thing or two!

heh heh heh...

(At least that's how it all goes down in my head)

See...I, along with the rest of the known world, have just discovered how amazing, and wonderful, and delightful spaghetti squash is. It's an awesome replacement for the carby goodness, aka the real stuff, but with barely any calories! AND healthy! Bonus!

My tastebuds first sang of its praises at my friend Rebecca's 30th birthday dinner, and I have vowed to try my hand at it ever since.

So, last night was the night. I could feel it.

I was even stoked that my cute little squash came with its own cute little label of..

...wait for it...

DIRECTIONS!

(I know!!)

I followed the directions to the "T"

1. Microwave squash for 2-3 minutes to soften the skin...CHECK!

2. Carefully cut the squash in 1/2 and scoop out the seeds....annnnd this is where it got a little tricky

It took me 20 minutes just to cut the dang thing open.

Not to mention my poor squash lost 1/2 of its 1/2 of his body in the process.

But I didn't let this deter me! I was on a roll!

3. Season and place face down in a microwavable dish with 1/2 inch of water...CHECK!

4. Microwave for 10 minutes...CHECK!

5. Let cool and then begin to scrape the body length wise to make your "spaghetti"....Uhhh Check...?

See, this is where I should have listened to my instincts.

Instincts: "Hmmm...the texture doesn't really feel too...spaghetti like...? Well, it is healthy...maybe that's how it is suppose to be? Was Becca's like this...?"

I ignored my instincts.

Added a bit of smart butter, some spaghetti sauce, a little parmesan cheese and...

Voila! Dinner was served.

The Man sits down.. "Mmmm Babe, it looks so good!"

Takes a bite...

"CRUNCH....CRUNCH, CRUNCH..."

(pauses mid crunch)

Husband: "How long did you cook this for?"

Me: I followed the directions! Why...is it wrong?"

Husband (trying to be polite): "Umm.. no.. I think it might just be a little... undercooked.."

"CRUNCH....CRUNCH, CRUNCH..."

And then nothing but shear giggles from both of us.

My spaghetti squash was still totally raw...yet slightly warm. Husband, being the manly man that he is still finished off the whole plate, and even asked me for seconds. That guy...

Dang... and it all started off so promising too!