Our Life Is Not A Rehearsal

As woman, a mother and a member of society, I am constantly bombarded by images of what I should want, what I should feel. I feel as though I'm in a continuous whirlwind of trying to keep up .  I can easily get lost down the rabbit hole of beautiful blogger mommies that seem to have it all together. Their houses perfect, enormous. Their hair and make up, flawless. Their children, poised and beautifully dressed. Their clothes, trendy. Their crafts and DIY projects, genius. Their husbands, involved, successful. 
Then the comparison begins. Which leads me to needing wanting more things. I don't want to instill a false sense of value in my child to lead her to believe that this new dress will make her prettier. This expensive toy will improve her life tenfold. Turning at this angle will make for a better picture. In reality, that's simply not true.
My life is anything but perfect. My modest house is in a constant state of disarray, with clean laundry waiting ever so patiently to be put away, dishes that need to be washed, left over nibbles of cat food in the corner, unmade beds, toys in every crevice, projects to finish, pictures to be hung, crafts to start. 
I've created this space to document our journey together as a family. I don't want to document staged photos, or conveniently placed props. I want Anabelle to look back and see what her life was really like; scroll through authentic memories. Memories that weren't forced. Memories that weren't set up, because it would make for a great photographic moment. 
My drive as a mother does not involve object or things we have. It involves the experiences we share together, who we are as a family, who we are as individuals, who we are as children of God. He loves us in our magnificent, imperfect form. He leads our family in truth, light, love and positivity. That is what our life is about. 
Our life is chaotic, humbling, awe-inspiring and real in it's most raw form. Every moment captured of this life that we share as a family is a beautiful one. These are the memories that we intend to share with all of you, because our life is not a rehearsal. 

Life With A Toddler: No Filter

I love to sing. Mostly in the privacy of my car and shower, but occasionally, I'll let out my full-blown opera voice and belt out some tunes. Christian, nursery rhymes, old Tupac jams, you name it. Not everyone enjoys my singing. And by everyone, I mean my sweet little baby girl who hasn't developed a filter yet between her thoughts and mouth.

Let me set the scene for you. We've just taken a nice, relaxing bath full. Anabelle was practicing sticking half of her head underwater, while rolling onto her tummy. Scenes like this:

After we got her pjs on, she's standing on her step stool brushing her tiny white square-shaped teeth that are just so adorable and I encourage to her to brush correctly by singing the song from Grease that for some reason, I can't get out of my head. Whenever it's time to brush her teeth, I flashback to this scene.

Me: "Brusha, Brusha, Brusha! Get the new Ipana!"
Anabelle: (turns around and points at me) "Stop!"
Me: What? But I love that song!

Don't worry, I didn't stop singing. She just yelled at me over and over while I kept on keeping on.

New scene: we are sitting on the playroom floor singing more songs, and she runs her hands up and down my legs.

Anabelle: "Ow!"
Me: "What happened?"
Anabelle: (rubs my knee) "Ow!"
Me: "Okay, I get it. I need to shave."

You win, Anabelle. You win.

Rain, rain come again

Yesterday, I stayed at home with Anabelle, since it was pouring down and traffic was a mess. It's a good thing I can work from home. And by work from home, I mean sit on the couch with Bellies beside me while she turns off my computer because the button is too inciting not to touch. Work fail. 
So instead, we played in the rain. She kept trying to get me to take my sandals off and once I did, she wanted to take her shoes off too. So we splashed in the water on the sidewalk in our bare feet. This took some guts on my part to let her play barefoot. All I kept thinking was, "is there bacteria in this water?" "She's going to get sick, we should go inside." And then told my worry wart mom self to shut the fuck up and enjoy the moment. I remember playing in the rain when I was a child (and subsequently getting in trouble for the above reasons) but I survived. And it was a blast!

We also worked on a putting stickers on a recycled mint tin for a project I'm working on. Yay for stickers and saving the environment! See? I'm a good person.

Since it continued to rain all day, we made some muffins via Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook. This is one of the best presents my husband has ever given me. I highly suggest you buy it. Easy recipes that are good for your insides and they taste incredible. 

Do you have any cookbook recommendations? I'm kind of a cookbook hoarder...
Daddy came home and took over since I wasn't feeling so good. After her bath, she ran to the top of the stairs and called out to me:
A: Ma! Me: Yes? Are you done? A: Yeah! Me: You ready for night-night time? A: Neh... Yeah!
Yeah! Happy Friday. Have a great weekend :)

Today Was An Epic Day

Today, Anabelle reached a few milestones I just have to share. Like right now. At 8:30pm while I scarf down dinner after a tough workout. (For those of you that don't have an hour or two to spend at the gym, I highly recommend you check out Zuzka Light. Twelve minutes, done. I have her to thank for getting me back down to my pre-baby weight.)
Anyway, like I was saying about my child. We just had her 18-month check up yesterday (post to come) and she decided to pee for the millionth time that morning before we had to leave. I laid her on the floor to change her diaper, since she is currently vetoing the changing table, and she said, "ew, pee." YOU GUYS! This is her first two-sentence. Ever. I was like, "what did you say?!" And she just looked at me, tilted her head and smiled. This kid is a genius. I swear, I'm not biased. Just a little. Maybe.
Epic moment number two. When I picked her up from school this afternoon (you can read my struggle with that here), her teacher told me she went potty twice on the big girl potty. After a little happy dance with the entire class, I smothered her with kisses and we both squealed in delight. Kinda like baby pigs. She was fairly impressed with herself, let me tell you. With the squealing and the aforementioned potty success moment. The first time she went potty was September 5. Eleven days later, she decided to give it another shot. At school.  
At home, it's a totally different story. She protests the potty and tells me, "neh" every time I ask her if she wants to go. And then fights me getting on it. I even did some parenting research on it, three days to potty training success to be exact. Yeah, that didn't work for us. Neither did the new potty equipment, stool and bathroom decorations I put up. So, while we are at home, we are casually trying it. Emphasis on the casual until she ceases this protest. 
Last epic moment of the day, I swear. I feel like I'm rambling. Post workout endorphins. Am I annoying you yet?
We finished the eighth bedtime story for the night, and while I was picking her books off the floor, she climbed on top of her rocking chair. All by her lonesome. Like this.

Genius, I tell you. Or a little bit of a dare devil. Either way, I can stare at this cheesy face all day.

My Dearest Anabelle

You are a little over eighteen months now and your personality is soaring. While I watch you grow everyday, I see both daddy and myself in you. You are a shy and cautious little girl when you enter new surroundings. Adults flock to you and comment on how gorgeous you are! Even children of all ages are drawn to you. I witness children stare at you everyday and try with all their might to get you to smile at them. When we hang out on the playground, the other kids come running up to you asking to play. You shy away, and bury your face in my legs for security. I've come to understand that you need a solid fifteen minutes to warm up to a new place. This is no different when we visit family and friends that you have seen on numerous occasions.  You have a golden, soft heart baby girl and you shower me with so much love everyday. I'm in awe in how much you adore affection. We can be strolling through the store and you will lean in and give me a kiss on the lips and embrace me in a sincere hug. If I sit or lay on the ground, you'll run up to me and embrace me with one arm, cheek to cheek.  You're at a stage in life where you cling to me. When we are together, you want to be held and cuddled in public. You don't want to let anyone else hold you, even daddy! You morph into a spider monkey in crowds and hold on to me for dear life. And that's okay. I know this stage isn't permanent, and there will be day where you won't need me as much, so I'm enjoying this all I can.  I've noticed that when I'm not around, you are so independent. You take risks, play and interact with those around you. I watch you when you think I'm not looking and stare in utter amazement. You're so incredibly bright that even your teachers comment how advanced you are. You can pick up things so quickly and you just love learning, reading, listening, soaking it all in. You were like this as a newborn, and I'm thrilled this trait remained true. I never imagined a bond with another human being could be so deep within my soul. I'm so blessed to call you my daughter. Please don't grow up. I want to soak up your smallness forever. And ever.

When No Words Are Necessary

Because I hope that joy and wonderment in her eyes never leaves her heart. 

Helpful Tips: Baking or Cooking with a Toddler

I wanted to share one of my favorite activities I love to do with Anabelle. I started cooking with her when she was around four months old, as soon as she could hold her head up in the Bumbo. We've been having a blast in the kitchen ever since! I cook dinner for our little family about five times a week and Anabelle helps out often. Baking is somewhat scarce around here, just because I don't have the patience to measure out every single ingredient. I like to wing it a lot. Apparently, the chemistry behind baking doesn't agree with that mentality. That's probably why my cookies turned into brownie-like pieces. At least Anabelle doesn't judge me on my baking skills, right? I just hope she's not telling her toddler friends about it. 
Here are a few helpful tips for you mommies (and daddies) out there on how to make baking or cooking with a toddler fun and easy.

ONE \\ Gather all of your ingredients before you begin. This step is crucial, since you can't leave your toddler unattended while you walk across the kitchen to grab something you forgot. Clearly, Anabelle was debating whether or not we had enough vanilla extra for this recipe. No worries though, we made it work. 
TWO \\ Remove dangerous items from your toddler's reach. Raw meat, knives, and sharp kitchen tools should all be out of the vicinity of toddler's grabby hands. We know how quickly they can move, so be mindful on where you put these.

THREE \\ Keep a toy handy. We know that toddlers have a short attention span. In the event your toddler is no longer interested in watching you chop your vegetables in teeny tiny pieces for meatloaf, have a toy readily available until their attention returns on cooking. Anabelle will bring her pots on the counter, use a few ingredients here and there and pretend to cook her own meal. This keeps her occupied and it's amazing to see her mimic a lot of what she's seen me do in the past, even when I didn't think she was really paying attention. 

FOUR \\ Engage your toddler. Your little one can help you measure out the ingredients, throw the vegetables in the pot, assemble the casserole layers, or whatever you're doing. Don't be afraid to let them experiment, touch, explore and play with the ingredients. 

FIVE \\ Explain each step. Toddler minds absorb so much more information than we give them credit for, and even if they look like they aren't listening, they are still learning.  
SIX \\ Have a snack available. If your toddler is anything like mine, whenever there is food around, it's for the taking. I've noticed that when Anabelle helps me cook, she immediately gets hungry regardless when her last meal was. Fruit is a good option; it's temporarily filling without ruining mealtime. 

SEVEN \\ Let your toddler be your taste tester. Taste your dish together! When we were baking cookies, Anabelle tasted a lot of butter and sugar. Let me tell you, she assured me that it was delicious. Don't worry, her sugar high didn't last very long. 

EIGHT \\ Move used ingredients off to the side. I find this tip incredibly helpful, since I'm the messiest of the messy when I cook or bake. When you no longer need an ingredient, move it out of the way, so you aren't overwhelmed with supplies. By this point, we used up all of our ingredients, and we only had a snack out.

NINE \\ Accept the messes that will happen. This is inevitable. Don't get upset when they do, because life with a toddler is messy. My house is evidence of that. When we made dinner the other night, I let Anabelle pour chicken stock in the pot and she started pouring it before we reached our destination, which meant she poured about a cup on the floor. I cleaned it up with a kitchen towel and we moved right along. 
TEN \\ Have fun! Of course, this is the most important step. Duh. You're making memories here.
Tell me, do you bake or cook with your little one? I'd love to know! If you have any other tips, share with me. Your knowledge needs to become my knowledge.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have cookies to consume while I sweep up sugar for days. And days.

The Little Things | Tiny Acts of Love

Anabelle's personality is developing and blossoming into one sassy and loving little girl. She's quick to voice her opinion, and will not back down until you really hear what she's saying. Of course, now that she knows she has an opinion, she has an opinion about everything! She knows what she wants for breakfast, what she wants to do for the day, what clothes she wears, what books she wants to read, and on and on and on. For the record, mommy's opinion doesn't count.

She is so affectionate, it overwhelms my heart every day. Every time we get in the car seat she puckers her lips and gives me a kiss. Literally every time. It's almost too much to handle. Almost.

"Mom! I told you we ate all the cookies last night. Pick something else!" 

My adoring husband bought me flowers after a rough day I had. And a piece of candy. Then he gave me a bear hug and kiss to let me know that he's here for me. Those tiny acts of love remind me why I married this man. 

Before we go to bed each night, Anabelle embraces me with the sweetest hug and buries her face in my neck. After our prayers are said, she'll look up at me and shower my face in kisses. The feeling I get afterwards is indescribable. I can't believe this little girl was created just for me!

A big thanks to Ashley and Jess for this awesome link up, "It's the Little Things."