Easter!

Easter!
 It is one of my absolute favorite holidays!  I have realized that Easter is a day of traditions.  Growing up, I loved going shopping every year for that perfect Easter dress, dying eggs with my grandmother, the hunts, the candy, a visit from Peter Cotton Tail himself, and all of the decorations Mom would put up around the house.  Now, the "holiday" has a whole new meaning.  I am grateful for the time with family, a Savior that died and rose for ME, and a daughter to start all of those traditions over again with.  What traditions does your family have for Easter? 
  For the past five years, Mom and I have attended the spectacular Goddess Tea thrown by our dear friend (and my old boss) Sharon.  It's an amazing event filled with yummy food, beautiful decor, lovely ladies in big bonnets, and little G.I.T's (goddesses in training of course:) skipping around with their empty baskets just waiting for the big hunt to begin!  Last year, I was pregnant at the tea but had NO IDEA that this year I would have my own little G.I.T to dress up and hunt for eggs with!  It was SO much fun!

 Hunting for Eggs

 Then there was church....
I was looking SO forward to taking Norah to church for Easter!  Not only was it her first Easter Sunday, but her first time in church period!  

 Asleep on Daddy!

All in all, it was such a great weekend!  Next year at this time, Norah will have her own opinion about which dress she wears, hunt for her own eggs, and just the thought of it all makes me giddy!:)

Happy Happy Easter, Love The Dixons

3 months young

3 Months Already!
Ok NOW this is getting SO fun!  Norah seems so happy these days, is so much more interactive, and is getting more and more beautiful by the minute (I know I'm her mother, but seriously!).  Here are the latest happenings:
-In 9 month clothes!  What a porker:)
-She just found her hands the other day! Hysterical to watch
-Napping is going MUCH better, thank you Jesus!

-Teething has started- nothing popping through, but gums hurting and slobbering up a storm!

-The biggest change of all...Norah now sleeps in her own room in her crib!  

Sleeping through our afternoon walk

 3 month bday outfit

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Finding her hands!

 Uh-oh! Tongue like daddy:)

We had our first official date night!

 

Lazy Sunday

Lazy Sunday

"Easy like a Sunday morning....."

-Lionel Richie               

 Blogging...finally!

 Bonding

 Catching Up

 Petting Weezie

Tummy Time

 Getting Sleepy

Hippie Chick

Reunited and it feels so good!

Road Trip!
It's been a while since my last post! Things have been super busy and we've been out of town. Josh had to go (torture I know!:) to Las Vegas for a week for work, so Norah and I hit the road to the big city of Mebane to stay with the fam. The last time we were home there was a turkey on the table and a bun in the oven! Let me just tell you that traveling with a newborn takes two days to pack and I began to understand why once hip adults turn in to minivan drivers quite often. There's the diaper pale, the 50 diapers, bathtub, floor gym, 20 outfits, pack-n-play, the car seat, bottles, etc. etc. Add to that the dog and a few things for yourself and you end up driving down the road looking like a hoarder. It was awesome though to bring my baby girl to my hometown to see where mommy grew up, where her grandparents live, and to show her off to "the locals." Norah went shopping, met friends and family, and spent some invaluable time with Mimi, Poppy, Nana, Papa, G.G. and Uncle Eric.

Morning with Mimi

Shopping spree @ Carters!

Morning Skype with Josh/Daddy

We had such a great time, but it was nice to get home and back together again. Picking up Josh at the airport, I had that same giddy feeling I used to get every time I'd get within 10 miles of Boone in college and had flashbacks of those amazing times together. Seeing Josh light up at the sight of finally seeing his little girl again, I then had visions of our future with many sweet times between the two of them. Past, present, and future..I am one blessed woman.

11 Weeks!

Where does the time go???  11WEEKS
SLEEP
Ok so this was monumental week for us...Norah slept through the night!!!  Until I had a baby, I could not even begin to imagine what a gift this really is!  It's amazing how much more patience you have, how much more creative you are during their wake times, and how much better you feel when you get, not only sleep, but consecutive sleep!  That's the key!  Last week she started sleeping 8 hours (7-3ish) then back to sleep and up again at 7.  Aghh, the beauty sleep was much needed for mommy!  BUT THEN...Wednesday night, she slept 11 hours without a peep...I woke up just to make sure she was alright.  OH HALLELUJAH!  Let's just hope this continues...all of the hard work with Babywise seems to be paying off.  

GROW
Current weight 13.3 lbs , Length 25" (extra long according to MD) 

PLAY
Talking up a storm now!   



 

 I love you sweet girl...I get more and more excited every day for all the fun memories we're going to make together! 

-Mommy

Happy Valentines Day!

I LOVE LOVE! It's the most amazing feeling, emotion, powerful thing on this earth. Josh first told me he loved me 8 years ago on this day. It's the day I always get a love letter from my dad...I think I have every one he's ever given me. And it's a day when we can hopefully say that we didn't miss an opportunity to tell those close to use how special they really are! This year had an additional meaning...Today Norah was officially 2 months old! Josh took the day off to spend with Norah and I. This year, instead of riding around hand-in-hand, daddy drove us around in the back seat. Instead of getting a reservation at a nice restaurant, we made out favorite dinner in-home after Norah's bedtime. And instead me worrying about what cute outfit I'd wear out to that dinner, we couldn't wait to get our little lady dressed for the occasion. Somehow with all of those changes, it felt as though it was our most romantically intimate, positively amazing February 14th to date. Norah received her first love letter from her daddy, a tradition one day she will come to appreciate more than he can ever imagine. She also received 8 others! 8! She is definitely loved.

We Love You Sweet Girl...
You'll always have at least two Valentines


"Thank you Josh for still making me feel so special on this day! I'm so blessed to have you as my husband, and for our little girl to call you her daddy"
-Me

GILT!

G.I.L.T!
Ok, so throughout my pregnancy I had many guilty pleasures ...IKEA ice cream! Don't ask, just buy! and only $1...anyways, back to what I was saying...I had many guilty pleasures, now as a new mom, I just have guilt! I have realized that as a new mom, you are CONSTANTLY second guessing yourself or feeling guilty on a daily basis for having failed your child in some way. I have worn many hats in life- daughter, designer, wife, friend, etc- but "mom" is a whole new world! After talking with several N.M.O.T.B (New Moms on the Block as I refer to us:) I am at least comforted by the fact that I am not alone in this feeling. I know this may sound very dramatic if you are not a mom, but it comes from a combination of fresh hormones and a love for your child that is the deepest earthly love you've ever know.

Examples:

Got out of the shower today only to hear Norah crying as she had woken up VERY early from a nap. Instead of rationalizing the fact that I was doing her a favor by bathing myself, I felt terrible knowing that she had been laying there sobbing as I was letting Calgon take me away.
Vertic? GUILTY

We are following the BabyWise philosophy of "training" Norah. According to BabyWise and my pediatrician, Norah should be having only approximately 45 minutes to an hour of awake periods at a time before going down for a nap. They say it prevents overstimulation (I'm learning the lingo), aka fussiness, as their nervous systems go in to overload. Well I could not for the life of me figure out why Norah would get so moody towards the end of her awake times. THEN, a good friend of mine just happens to inform me that feeding time (which happens immediately prior to awake time) should be INCLUDED with the awake time. So here I am trying to figure out why she's cranky. Of course she is! She's exhausted
GUILTY AGAIN-Sorry Norah...I promise to be better:)

These are just two samplings of feelings of failure that I've experienced so far...and she's only 5 weeks old! BUT, I got really good advice from a dear friend of mine. Hopefully this will help any of you that may experience this as well. Two things:
1. The fact that you even feel guilt is proof that you ARE a good mom. It shows how passionate you are about this role and how much you care.
2. We don't have as much power as we think we do to mess it all up...they're still God's little people and He'll work it all out anyways.

This is what I'll choose to believe anyways:)

I think these feelings of inadequacy hold true for women in general! We're never pretty enough, in shape enough, too tan, too pasty. We're either too insecure or overly confident/vain. We desire to be the Ephesian 5 wife, but to have our voices heard as well. We want to be seen as a sweet "nice girl" but be sexy at the same time. etc.etc.etc. We are complex creatures to say the least, but isn't that what keeps us interesting after all? When will we give ourselves some GRACE, accept that we're exactly as we're meant to be, and start to seeing ourselves just as God sees us? This is my solemn vow to try to be this example for Norah....Pray for me:)