core self moment

there are moments in a mother's life that no one else can understand, except other mothers. i had one of those 'ohh, so this is what they were talking about days,' this past weekend.

there were SO many times before chloe was born that i heard, "you can't understand that until you've had a child;" "you have no clue until you're a mom...," or  "just wait... i promise you'll think differently." i realize its terribly annoying to hear that and honestly, it annoyed the crap out of me. but, i've realize that 'they' were right. there is absolutely no way to understand the feeling i felt this weekend until i had chloe.

i had such a peaceful, beautiful weekend with my little family. i worked my tail off all week and was feeling the effects of my parent's absence (they were cruising all week). the little moments of sanity in which my mom usually tends to chloe for a while when we're together, was gone. SO glad you're back, mom!

andrew, chloe and i ran around, went shopping, hung out with G.G. and did tons of yard work. by the time the sun went down on saturday, i needed a break. a 'me' break. i used to be amazing at self-care and recongnized the need for it almost immediately, but nowadays that's more on the backburner. even if i want it, it usually includes at least one little cute baby.

so when andrew went in to spend some daddy time with chloe for a while on saturday night, i gladly offered to go pick up some food for us. this is where the core self moment began.

i took andrew's car because i needed speed. sound stupid? not when you're used to driving high-performance vehicles youre entire life and now drive an explorer. i NEEDED to drive fast. so i took his car. first step: windows down. it was a perfect weekend night. the sun had just dipped below the horizon and the breeze was intoxicating. next step: music. not relaxing, calming music. i needed some 1990's U2 very badly. we started with some Mysterious Ways and ended with Zoo Station. i let my hair fall into my face, i held my hand out the window to catch the wind and i drove. i honestly drove like i was the only person on the road. so, if you saw something flying by and thought... that person may/may not be on some serious hallucinogens...that was me.

it was freedom. that's the part that a mom can understand. it doesn't matter if you're going to the grocery store, to pick up food or for a 30-minute pedicure. for that little amount of time, it just feels so unbelievably good. its freedom to be you. not mommy you, not partner you, not work you. core self you. those moments have become more precious to me as my time is shared with more and more people.

core self me listens to really loud music, regardless of what it is. core self me likes the windows down 100% of the day. core self me thinks i'm cooler than i really am most of the time (but honestly, that's a whole other issue, now isn't it?) the point is, getting to wear many different hats in life is a blessing. not everyone gets to wear as many hats as i do and i don't take that for granted for one second. but honestly, i LOVE my U2 hat. it might be dustier than some of my others these days, but as long as i dont forget to wear it occassionally....well, then i know i'm doing just fine.

peace, erin

Instagram your face.

So, here's the deal. I know I'm late to the Instagram party, but I'm in love. From Facebook to Pinterest to now, Instagram. It's not even like I have that much free time on my hands. And the truth is, my brothers got the photography gene and I as my mother would say, "There are other things you are better at." (Also, not good at: ballet, baking, and leaving sarcasm out of 98% of my conversations.) But... Instagram screams to me, "YOU ARE GREAT!" I look in the mirror and think.. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, I'm an INSTAGRAMER. It takes a normal human with average photography skills (to put it nicely) and it makes you a color editing. I love it.

So, here is (literally) what I have been doing the last few days. And when I'm not taking pictures, I'm thinking about taking pictures.

Behold the instagram.

peace, erin

4 months, 6 months... what's the difference, really?

So... Miss Chloe is now 4 months old! We survived without Facebook for the ENTIRE 6 weeks and we lived to tell about it. But so much has been going on in the Ross Family these days! Okay, mainly just for Chloe. But...whats wrong with living vicariously through your child? Not a darn thing. And, honestly, shes the one that wants to brag, not me.


So first was Easter. The problem with having a fabulous family who likes to take pictures of everything, is that they always get them up before I do. That's great, fine... except that their pictures are always better than mine. But I'm sharing them anyway because I feel like it.

Passover/Easter weekend was great. We started out celebrating Passover with our Ross Family. Chloe slept through the first night, but celebrated the second night (sort of). Even though we didn't get any great pictures of her either night (except with Great Aunt Lauren, of course), we wanted to document her picture placecard at her first Passover Seder. So proud and blessed to have her with us this year.

Then, the next day we traveled up to Austin to have lunch and decorate eggs with the Murphy Family. Chloe got to hang out in Alisha & Heather's apartment and didn't even poop on the carpet. Not that she's pooped on anyone else's carpet, but still-- we count each and every accomplish in this house. Aunt Alisha bought her a special bib for dying eggs. I would have hated for her to ruin her outfit with the egg dye/vinegar concoction she was drinking... ;)

 

Then came Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny did in fact visit our house  (we had to send a special first time visit memo) and he brought all kinds of great stuff for the C-Bomb. She was super excited and wanted to show everyone her loot! (below) Since it's going to be impossible to ever have a good and appropriate family picture unless we're around others, we took turns holding her and capturing the moment. Right after Chloe and I took our picture, we lost the shoes. I've decided I don't like them on babies. Dont worry, the Easter bunny brought her two new pairs. Silly Bunny. 

 The loot and the Easter Lillies that her Daddy bought her. Even though she won't be wearing her yellow espadrilles or gold jellies for a while, they are pretty darn cute anyway. 

 So, just never mind the insane degree of inappropriateness with taking pictures during church service. I really wanted to document her visit time in church and well, decided that during a song would be the best time. Can we pause for a moment and check out the excitement of on my father's face? Riveting song, apparently. Either way, she was a rockstar in church as well. I'm sensing a theme here.

 Then, we headed to Coco and Pops' house to have an Easter Egg Hunt and eat dinner. Wouldn't you know... the Easter Bunny visited them as well! (Mainly b/c I have a deal with the Bunny and Santa to continue to deliver to me until I'm at least 40. We'll see how that goes...) So, Coco & Pops helped her go through her other basket. Good thing the child can already read because we received about 10 new books for Easter.

 

Okay, so no judging, right? This picture (below) doubled as an adorable Easter picture and a submission to be a Child Model for Gap. 

Ohhhhhh, yes i did! 

 shhhh. don't tell CPS, we really want the scholarship money and a trip to NYC. 

like i said before, ain't nothing wrong with living vicariously through your child. 

 

So Easter was a blast, but then we had the dreaded 4 month appointment. I was told that it was the worst of the worst due to the amount of vaccines they give, but honestly... it was a SUCCESS! She received all of her necessary vaccinations and handled it like a champ. In fact, the only thing she did was sleep for about 14 hours instead of her normal 10. Nobody in this house will complain about that, in fact..you are given Rockstar status. So, congrats to rockstar chloe, you are awesome and you won't get polio. Cheers.

 Rockstar Stats: 

Weight: 16 lbs 7 oz.  (95th percentile)

Length: 24.5 inches (85th percentile) 

Head circumference: I forgot.. but I recall its in the 80th percentile. Basically, its mostly big.

So, in summary.. she's huge. Our sweet doctor, said... "well, she's the size of a 6-month old!" Andrew and I beamed and took that as a compliment, but I'm not sure that's what it was meant to be. But, she's not overweight and she's growing strong and beautiful, so who cares. And the doctor has nothing but great things to report. In fact, I quite like it.

Here she is about an hour after her vaccinations. I cannot imagine why you wouldn't give them all at once, but then again, I received my epidural about 42 seconds after I got to the hospital in labor... we're kind of a fans of the fabulousness of modern medicine. She wanted me to apologize for not putting her bloomers back on.

 

 And lastly, here are some of her latest pictures taken on or around her 4mth mark:

                         P.S. - that was my old pink dress. it was backless b/c that's how i rolled.

in case you were wondering, she's a big girl now and refuses to take walks in the carseat attached to the other stroller. hmmm. 

can someone say defiant? she can't, geez... she's only 4 months.

 also, i'm quite liking the sideways cape/bib action. 

this is how it usually ends up these days, with a soaked outfit instead. aaahwell, i try.

 my happy, smiley angel.

 mommies new favorite toy.. aka... i can do something for a solid 10 minutes before she's bored. notice the magazines. i don't think she's supposed to enjoy this yet because her feet don't touch. so, we improvised.

here is an example of an outfit i bought a while ago that she never got to wear. 

"but, she's wearing it," you exclaim. well its not able to button in the back. 

off. it. came. 

but, what's the most important part of life? documentation. 

BAM. documented. 

 And this is how she likes to lay when i change her diaper late at night. 

it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, i'm not gonna lie.

 And here is a picture of us on a walk. i was absolutely insane. i learned you either take the dogs, or the baby. but not both, unless you have back-up. and they have all these 'child safety' rules that make it hard for you to leave the baby and take the dogs. pshhh. 

so,  two seconds after the picture was taken we all almost died. why, you ask? see the dogs? well, they saw a squirrel. and we all know those squirrels are tricky. the dogs tried very hard to take us all up the tree to catch it. i (sorta) won.

 her newest fav... holding her feet and trying to do many other things. mostly, this does not work.

 the bumbo is a hit. goooo bumbo. sorry for the lack of bow. embarrassing, i know.

 so this last weekend, we had a blast at the walk for Autism with the Shute family! thank you, Carter, for inviting us to your walk. Chloe loved being outside and we loved celebrating YOU!

And in late-breaking news, she still sleeps ALL. THE. TIME.

 Also, she's modest and adorable. This is her new favorite way to sit in the bathtub. 

No clue why, but its freaking adorable.

 And a parting shot! My Chloe is such a happy baby. Things are going great and Andrew and I are in LOVE with her.

Peace, Erin

And we're mobile!!!!

So this actually occurred last week, but for some reason i have no free time. i've also added some pictures from the past few days/weeks because i've been behind on my blogging.


but... no worries b/c Facebook returns to my life on Sunday 12:01 a.m. and you better believe i'll be on there at that exact moment. nothing has changed, except maybe now i love it more.  aaahwell.

here is the cuteness that now takes up every second of my free time. enjoy..

peace, erin