I only shaved a leg

Remember those days when you had time for yourself?

Like, time to shower by yourself?

Or go to the bathroom by yourself?

For me, those days are over. 

I'm never alone - I always have a helper right next to my side. 

And while I REALLY like hanging with CK, 

I also really like to wipe and flush the toilet for myself, 

and shave both my own legs before having to get out of the shower - 

without any help.

I usually shower after she has gone to bed, but sometimes that plan doesn't work out.

I was forced to bathe while she was up and in full force exploring mode. 

Which is never good in the bathroom.

I drenched the floor twice trying to save something from the potty before she decided to "showder."

Problem is, she isn't a big fan of having water drip on her head and into her eyes. 

"NO wadder!!" 

"Mommy, seeet down!"

and finally

"Geeet out!"

So I did. 

One leg down, one to go.

instagr.am = @rachaelf

She's a pretty cute little helper, though.

Split Personality

Meet Dr. Jekyll. 

My sweet, angel baby.

(Her head is much better, by the way)

Whatever you do, when this darlin' baby princess asks, "Ready?" and then ever so politely demands, "SHOP!", don't tell her you need to clean up the house, or you will meet her friend, Mr. Hyde....

I'm extremely nervous about what the terrible two's may bring.

Baby Headaches

Hope your Wednesday is fab. If it isn't, you can let me know and I will make sure and pray for whatever is going on!!

In other news, Monday night we had our first CK super trauma. 

She likes to run.

She also likes to open the bottom metal cabinet drawer and empty it out.

Running and metal cabinets do not go together. 

As she was "JET"ting around the kitchen

  (she puts her arms back behind her when she runs, I guess for less wind resistance??),

 her foot caught on a rug and BAM!

Face to corner of drawer.

Screaming immediately ensued, followed by tears - mine and hers-

blood was gushing out of her face - I couldn't tell where from AND we couldn't find Jared.
By the time we ran out the front door and found him, I figured out it wasn't her eyeball,
thank the Lord,
but I was still thinking we should go to the ER.
So we went.
And walked in.
And there were 50 bazillion people in line.
And C wasn't crying or bleeding anymore, so we left.

Hopefully this thing heals up without scarring. It's pretty tiny, and looking back on the situation, we probably shouldn't have even walked in to the emergency room.
With a naked bleeding baby,
and an unshowered, covered in blood mom,
and a sweaty, outside working dad.
I think we could have more problems brought on by CPS than the slight forehead gash,
if they were judging us by the way we looked.

Disclaimer : We called the Dr., in case you were wondering, and he said she would be fine.

And she got an "icicle" out of the deal.

We got several "you shouldn't be a parent" looks at the grocery store with our butterfly stitch, 

and then to confirm their fears CK's diaper overflowed onto the basket. 

Gross.

We definitely should have stayed home, or ditched the bandage.

I hope you grow up "normal"

I'll be the first to admit, while I think she is wonderful, precious, beautiful, smart, etc., etc., my kid is weird.

Example 1:
Little Baby CK has been getting very little nutritional value in her diet these days. Her favorite (and almost only) food group is crackers, preferably goldfish. But the other night, she found a new love:

Pickles dipped in BBQ Sauce



While this tasty snack also has little to no nutritional value, I let her eat it because, well, it's just funny - and also disgusting. 


Numero dos:
She was unable to play in the water on water day at "school," however when she got home she desperately needed the water hose, and even attempted to drink from it. 

God forbid I get water in her eyes while I'm trying to wrangle her down in the bath and wash her hair.... but apparently if she does it, it's OK. This might drive me a little crazy. 

3:

She sleeps in our bed. I know, I know, I know....

Number 4:

Her favorite thing to do is parade around outside - naked. Or play the piano naked. 

Or mostly just be naked. Anytime, anywhere. Which results in a lot of clean up, but is also hilarious. 

 I worry sometimes that we aren't doing the right things for her all the time, that we let her get away with too much, that we let her eat too much dirt and pizza and cheetos, that we should put her in her own bed... 

I worry that our parenting skills aren't quite as polished as others.

I do hope she grows up normal, whatever that may be, in spite of us and anything we may be lacking.

But more than that, I hope she grows up to know and love Jesus. 

Happy {late} Easter!

A Very Scary Resemblance

OK, so not just the hair is alike. Sometimes the little tot on the right can be VERY SCARY.

Lately, she only takes one nap. And it's a short one, maybe an hour. And it's while I'm working, which means the whole time I'm home, she is up and playing (or being fussy because she is very tired.)  Don't get me wrong, I love that she is awake when her momma gets home from work, but I like the non-monster CK best. Sweet baby CK, will you please take a nap like a normal 13 month old?

Why does it happen so fast????

Just two weeks ago my little CK turned one.

Just two weeks ago she could only say 11 words.

Just two weeks ago she was crawling, still!

Just two weeks ago she didn't mind having me hold her at a restaurant. 

Now that she is big she says, "cool," and "e-i-e-i-o," and "uh-oh," and "thank you." (Thank goodness we know a nice word now!)

And now she is walking.

And she MUST get down wherever we are, just to prove to me how big she is. 

I know the day is coming when she will be riding a bike, and driving, and going off to school, and getting married....

and I know it will only feel like a short time until those days are actually here.

Why does it have to happen so fast?

I'm working on some vintage custom party "baskets" for jalopy and gray on Etsy. Contact me if you're interested in seeing what I have so far, or if you have a  custom order for me! You can check out my work here.

CK and the Potty. Sadly, this is not a "she's already potty training" post.

Oh dear sweet little crazy baby,

Why do you LOVE the bathroom so much?

showing me her work

Normally, she isn't allowed to go in the bathroom, at least not when she is home with me! But this morning while I was getting ready for church she followed me in there. And then proceeded to get into the toilet while I was in the shower. Before I could stop her she put her "Dae"'s keys in there - guess she didn't want him leaving anytime soon either.

After church today we went to the deer lease and CK got to drive - and see COWS! She wasn't as impressed as I had hoped, especially since earlier in the day I was trying to talk the hubby into taking us to the zoo. He said she wouldn't like it. He might have been right. Maybe. 

This was an impromptu trip - no bloomers, no diaper bag, no wipes, no food.... you get the picture. Good job, Mom. 

Just a few more days left to take advantage of this super awesome deal from {starfish jewelry}

Check out the link here!

My baby can say lots of words!!

My sweet baby Charlee Kai said her 10th word today! I'm not even sure that is developmentally "on track" for her 385 days of life, but I am so proud. She actually knows what the words she says means!!

Like today, for example... word #10:

"MINE!"

She said this as she was pulling the remote control out of my hand. The actual, direct quote was, "NO!! MINE!!!" 

GREEEEAAATTTT...

Who taught my kid to act like this? (maybe it was her dad pulling it away from her and saying mine, then laughing when she made this face-

sorry for the picture quality

and pulled it back from him.)

It's honestly kind of funny, when you are home alone. Not so funny when she stands up at her birthday party and yells at the baby friend helping her open presents, "NO!! DON'T! DON'T!"

How the heck do you stop this? How can you teach a one year old manners? Tell them "don't?" Or "no?"

Yeah, I have no ideas...

In case you were dying to know, her other words are hi, bye, dada, mama, wow, dog (she hates dogs and is so scared of them, don't ask me why she like to talk about them), and ball. She said "HO HO" at Christmastime, but I can't get her to do it anymore so I don't think it counts. Some people (my mom) like to think she says "baby," but I haven't heard it yet.

In case you forgot the cute baby after seeing the monster in the tub here are a few refresher pictures.

Birds and Chandeliers Birthday Party

Here are the pics from CK's 1st Birthday Party!! I probably spent way too much time on it, and I probably ran out of favors from my mom and mother-in-law for awhile since they were here at least two whole days before the party helping me get my house ready. The party was at our house, and thank goodness my hubby built a fab deck and the weather was nice... we had so many people come to see the precious little one year old the party moved outside! This was awesome, until someone told me how cute the decorations were and pointed to the "extra food" table in the laundry room, at which point I insisted we do cake and presents crowded inside the house so everyone could see her cute bird theme! 

For dinner I mad a friend's "Crock-Pot Pulled Pork" OH WOW!! It was so simple and so delicious. All you do is put a pork tenderloin in a crock-pot with a can of root beer for 6 hours, drain, and pour on your fave BBQ Sauce. 

We had such a good time with our family and friends and are so thankful for everyone in our lives. Thank you for coming to celebrate Charlee with us!!

tomorrow you're "gonna be one"

Tomorrow you're gonna be one. We've talked about it for so long now but I never thought the day would actually get here. Right now you're snuggling with me on the couch watching veggie tales because you woke up early and don't feel good. You have no idea how much I love these moments. You have no idea how great it feels to have your little body cuddled up with me because you need me.

When I first found out about you I was completely freaked out- I didn't know how to be a momma, but I already was one. I didn't know what to expect with the whole being pregnant thing. I didn't know how to deal with all the emotions that came with it, or the bed rest, or the actual having a baby thing.

I didn't know how much hearing your heartbeat for the first time would change my life so much. I didn't know that seeing a little black and gray alien on a computer screen could be so beautiful. I didn't know that I could ever get over my fear of needles enough to go in once a week and get my blood taken, I'm not that brave. I didn't know how scared I would be when they took me to the back room for an extra sonogram, just in case. I didn't know how to rely on Jesus fully. I didn't know what seeing your chubby cheeks on a sonogram picture would do to my heart. I didn't know how much I would hate pitocin. I didn't know how long it would take until you finally decided to meet us!!

I didn't know how seeing you for the first time would change all my didn't knows into all of a sudden knowing, just because of you....

I know you are perfect, and beautiful, and smart, and funny. And the list of adjectives could literally go on and on.

I know how much my own momma loves me. I know how much God loves me. I know he is teaching me what love is through you. I know that every second I get to spend with you makes my life so much better. I know that the entire first two weeks of your life I cried every night because you were getting too big. I know that when you smile I can't help but smile, even if it is 5 am and neither of us have slept. I know that time is going by way too fast. I know that having you somehow made me love daddy even more. I know that I can be pooped on without throwing up. I know that I could sit and play with you all day and not ever be bored. I know that I'm an overprotective mom. I know that I sing veggie tales in my head all day. I know that I can function (although I'm not so nice) with 3 hours of sleep. I know that I would gladly be sick for you, hurt for you, or cry for you times a thousand if it meant you wouldn't have to. I know that when you pat me, kiss me, or hug me you are learning about how to love, and that one day, you'll teach your babies the same thing. I know that one day you'll be big and won't let me hold you anymore. I know that one day you will rather hang out with your friends than with me. I know that when you get even older I'll get to be the friend that you want to hang out with. I know that thinking about you grow up scares me, but that it is going to be an exciting adventure.

I know, without a doubt, that you are one of the best things that has happened to me. This has been the best year of my life because of you.


I'm so glad I get to be your Momma. Love you bootiful. 

drugs make you look scary, like this...

this is what happens...

this is what happens when you feel bad for being a working momma

and missing your little babe's VERY FIRST Valentine's Party

(which couldn't be much of a party because they are one year olds)

and you try to be domestic

but you have very little flour/milk/no baking powder in the house

and you let the cupcakes burn

because you are playing with your sweet angel

and then the middle of the heart shaped cake doesn't get done

because you don't want it to burn too

and you start to cry because the other mothers may judge you for not being there 

(and not sending anything in your place - i.e. cupcakes/<3 shaped cake)

and because you want to be there so badly 

then your sweet hubby says he will be there, and that is the best valentine you could hope for