Life with a Tutu on!

Life is more fun with a Tutu on!

Recently we have realized that Summer is a bigtime talker! From the second we get her in the morning its-talk talk talk talk. Chad says she is going to get voted Most Personality when she graduates from Kindergarten. However, at this stage she doesn't have control of her volume...and her knob is stuck on FULL BLAST! She IS loud!

One of her new discoveries is the trash can. She realizes that she can put things in the trash can and even take things out! Wonderful...and I thought the dogs were my only nemesis. I find DVDs, sippy cups, farm animals, pot lids, you name it and it can be put in the trash when you're not looking.

You know how when most all of us talk about our weight we say "I could stand to lose 20 lbs." Well guess what, I am on my way to making that reality. Since April 1st I have lost 18 lbs. I want to thank God for giving me the physical strength and mental discipline as well as my bootcamp teacher who help me get rid of the first 9. And Chad for being supportive of my goal.

I hope to be more consistant with my postings this week.

Talk to you soon-Jana

Oh no!

Just when I gave thanks for Miss Dede at the gym yesterday I find out that this is her last week. As I could obviously see, she is a kind heart and she is leaving to work with the children at the Salvation Army for the summer.
I asked her if I could drop Summer off at the Salvation Army a couple days a week...yes I did and she said yes!

Give Thanks

You know how when the holidays come around we feel that special warmth in our hearts (well maybe not everyone) and we say we should "give thanks" or "honor our mothers and fathers" on everyday of the year.

Well it just hit me...here is what I am thankful for:

• The health of my family and friends (by the way, why do people always say friends and family when your family should come first?)
• Peace that comes from unconditional love from God
• Sweet loving puppy dogs
• When Lucy licks my feet and it feels somewhat similar to a massage
• Living on the same side of the country as my family
• Having a church were we can grow spiritually
• A JCREW clearance center nearby
• My beach plans with family in a few weeks
• Any babysitting time, praise God!
• Summer sleeping 11-12 hours a night
• My new healthy lifestyle
• Healthy knees (ran 4 miles today)
• Our gym membership
• Miss Dede, the gym daycare worker (the only one who doesn't page me!)
• Green grass and bright colored flowers
• Being a stay at home mom (funny how you might think because I don't work outside the home I could sleep in and do whatever I want all day...contrair mufrair Miss Summer rules this ship-to a degree as you can imagine I am a tough love mama)
• My neighbor across the street who has an imaculate yard hasn't mowed his grass this week and his blooming clover looks as bad as mine (holiday weekend got in the way)!
• And finally, that you actually care to check in on our life.

Take a moment to be thankful for some of the many blessings in your life.
Love ya!

Memorial Day at the river

This Memorial weekend we went to Chad's parents' home on the river. They were leaving town and we thought it would be a fun getaway. We pretended like we were going on a weekend vacation...well we DID go on a weekend vacation but we didn't have to pay for accommodations or food so it was even better.

We started our days getting some exercise. I ran the dam while Chad strolled with Summer. By the time we got back home it was Summer's first nap and the PARTY BEGAN! I am getting excited just writing that! I put on my bathing suit, river shoes and literally put 2 chairs in this river and did NOTHING!

Everytime Chad would walk inside and return to tell me he didn't hear anything I would raise my hands in the sky and say "Praise God from whom all naps flow!" Yeah, we really needed this weekend.

After Summer's nap we dressed her in a bathing suit and she sat in her own chair in the river!

Chad enjoyed fishing for some trout. Amazingly, even with these 2 dogs in the water with him he caught 3 fish.

Our last night there we decided to go out for dinner but Summer seemed to have had enough of our company. She escaped her seatbelt and turned completely around with her back to us so that she could fully soak in the other patrons! Of course, she received the attention she was seeking.

No No No No

Uh Oh, Summer has mastered the word "NO!"
Me: Summer come here and let me put your pants on.
Summer: No!
Me: Do you want a bottle?
Summer: No!

And for the record whenever I have said no to her I always say "No Ma'am."

She started saying it this week and at first it was no no no no but now she has shortened it to just one NO. And yes she knows what she is saying. She will even say no then shake her head no!

Here is a short video catching her saying NO.

Summer's 1st Birthday Party

Summer had the best birthday party ever thanks to our sweet family and friends who came to celebrate with her!
Let's just skip right to the cake...which we ate first like all good parties do.

Cutest cake and cupcakes made by http://www.artbytheslicecakes.com/ (Mom's friend). She is in Birmingham, AL if anyone needs ANY type of cake.

This was Summer's first taste of sugar and after a little beating around the bush she got the hang of it. She did however want to eat without the use of her hands...like bobbing for cake!

PS-no sugar for my child until her 2nd birthday

I think this is the look of Sugar Overload

Note to Summer - you just got lots of Birthday toys...you don't have to play with the dog bowls and chuck-it anymore!Wonderful, supportive, loving, spoiling Grandparents!Fun Aunts and UncleJen and I almost got bucked off these Wild Turkeys in downtown Asheville!And of course, my best friends!Ok-now for my sidenotes: you know how I spent all of my nap times last week making my craft project for the birthday party. Well, not to make anyone who attended feel bad, BUT hardly anyone even noticed them (queue fiddler)! So even though I am sure I didn't learn my lesson I will put more thought into how I spend my prep time next year. Seriously, all you need are pink balloons EVERYWHERE.

I painted these clay pots white (2 coats inside and out), traced and cut out Summer's handprints in fabric as well as the number 1,mod podge'd the fabric to the pot, handpainted the flowers and vine on the rim, polyurethan'd (yes I know that is not proper grammer) inside and out, then used as decoration to hold the cute napkins tied with pink ribbon that noone noticed and therefore used paper towels! Nahh, I wasn't bothered:)

Following the party on Saturday we participated in a Family Dedication at church on Sunday. It was a time where we could have the entire church pray for Chad and I to have a strong marriage and to be Christian parents to Summer so that we can raise her to know and love God. When we were getting in our car a older couple rolled their window down and said they liked Summer and thanked us for dedicating her. I was so moved by them saying that. That they were thanking us for choosing to raise our daughter in a Christian home. That was sweet of them.

1 year old

Oh my, it just dawned on me that I didn't take Summer's 1 year photo today in her diaper with the date...must do that tomorrow.

Back to 2009...

I slept great all night but I wasn't progressing so my doctor broke my water. Up until this point I really wasn't in much discomfort. I was watching the contractions on the monitor but it only felt like tightness. Once my water broke the pain went from a 2 to a 10 instantly! I asked for an epidural but the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and would be an hour. They gave me some pain medicine through my IV that would last 1 hr. At exactly 8am, one hour later, I woke up in screaming pain...the pain medicine they gave me put me to sleep. Chad and my mom said I was actually snoring while my contractions were going on. For the next 29 minutes I was the exercist! I always said I would keep my cool and not be one of those women that screamed during labor BUT in the moment being polite was the last thing on my mind.

Summer Marie Martin was born at 8:29am on May 20, 2009.

Afterwards, I ate crepes and we lived happily ever after...for a day.

Parenting is the biggest challenge I have ever endured. It requires your full attention and lots of sacrifices for all the selfish things you used to do when you just looked out for yourself. But at the end of the day there is nothing better than the light in her eyes when she sees me look at her. The way she smiles and waves at me as she catches me walking by. The weight of her little body on my chest when she falls asleep. I love being a mom to Summer and I look forward to being there when she discovers all life has to offer.

We will be celebrating on Saturday, like all birthdays should, and pictures will come then.