Half a YEAR old today!

(I wrote something similar to this when Tatum was 6 WEEKS old)

She is 6 MONTHS old today!

She has FOREVER changed my life.

She has helped me learn deeper and with greater understanding the LOVE that God has for His son!

She has taught me how to DIE to myself. (in the words of our pastor, "you think dying to yourself is hard when you get married, just wait till you have children." So true.

She, with her joy given to her only by the Lord, has helped heal my PHYSICAL body in ways that I thought were not possible.

She has FORCED me to be a morning person. ugh, haha.

She has SEALED a greater love between Jeremey and I. Binding us together even more as a growing family.

She has helped me see what a CREATIVE God we serve.

She has LOOSENED my grip on being a "planner" and ALLOWED doors to be open for the Lord to work and plan whatever it is that HE wills!

She has set higher goals and dreams for me. More than I could have ever set for myself. Goals to be a GODLY mother, and dreams that are unselfish.

She has changed the way I LAUGH, changed the way I cry, and changed the way I look at the world around me.

Besides being saved by grace, and marrying the man of my dreams, she is my GREATEST gift. No amount of money, no lofty career, no high social status, could compare to the Joy that my daughter has brought me.

(don't get me wrong, she's not perfect ;) she's a fireball who is ready to take on the world, and challenge her mom to an energetic and fast paced life. But I'm ready, with the Lord's strength)

Times are a changin - Milestones

Times are a changin, in 1 week Tatum will be 6 months old!!!! Does anybody else think that that went by WAY too fast??? I Thought I would post a few pictures of several of her "milestones" that have been happening this last month. The first being her first bite of real food. Mashed avocado. I think she was more confused to be sitting in the high chair than anything. But from the pictures you can tell that she was a little indifferent about the new taste in her mouth. In the end though she found it tasted good enough to flash us her gummy smile. No teeth yet for this girl. Praise the Lord. I'm not too excited to hit that milestone, though I know it has to be coming soon. Second milestone, she is crawling ... well nearly crawling ... scooting quickly, rocking, and occasionally moving arms and legs simultaneously . Whatever that is called, she is doing it, and it super cute. A year ago I was consistently throwing up 3 times a day from morning sickness, now a year later, my joy is overflowing as I see my gal advancing. Could it get more exciting than this? I am sure it does, but I am LOVING the age and stage she is at. Click on pictures to make them bigger.

Making "Room" for Tatum!

Since Tatum has graduated on to her own room, we decided to finally finish up with decorating it. I was so sick leading up to her birth and for the first 3 months after she was born, that working on her room was one of the last things on our list of "to do's." In fact Jeremey and I figured it would just never happen. But the last month has been so refreshing with my health getting a little better that we have been making the most of each day, and doing as much as we can! So here is her simple room, a little place to call her own, and a great reminder to us (If it's the Lord's will for me to go back to my normal sickness) that we had a great season where I was able to do a bit more than usual. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger!



The "Tatum" on her wall ... we just cut out cardstock and covered cardboard letters. The 2 pictures in the right top corner are of Tatum as a baby sleeping on her special "blankie" and of me sleeping on my special "blankie" as a baby. Hope you like it mom. The left hand corner light switch was made by Jeremey's mom. Looks great! And well, obviously the right lower corner is T's closet. This is just a little snippet of the crazy amounts of clothes this kid has. She's growing out of them so fast, I am just trying to make sure she goes in every outfit at least once.



The pictures on the wall were made by Jeremey. A rhino on a skateboard and an elephant with rollerblades on. Pretty simple. We were originally going for a grey and yellow theme, but green snuck its way in with her crib colors. We really like how it turned out. Hopefully as time goes on we will add more. But there ya go!

A little defining moment!

There are many defining moments in ones life ... most we know about and anticipate, (graduating highschool, college, getting married, and having children.) All huge moments that most people, at least most women, will shed at least one tear over. But sometimes there are defining times in our lifes that are small yet huge at that exact moment. Things that you would not have anticpated getting so emotional over, or at least you had never thought about it before. One of these happened to me last night. It was simple, but one of those instances where your mind stops for a second to think about the next 18 years. My tiny baby made the transition from swaddled in a bassinet next to our bed to sleeping in her own room in her crib. I know some parents put thier children in thier own room right from the start, but with my health we really wanted to keep her near us for the first bit of her life. This is such a mom/female thing to get emotinal about, but it hit me hard in a way that made me feel like she was packing up and leaving for college already. Though there is truly only a single wall seperating her from our room, it felt like miles away. Which got me thinking about the day she gets her own bed, or leaves for her first day of school, and so on ... my mind hit turbo speed, and it didn't help that Jeremey and I had the song "Best I ever had" by vertical horizon playing in the background randomly. One of those emotionally defining songs that plays during movie montages when a couple breaks up or a child leaves for college (look it up if you get a chance). It was almost laughable, the whole situation ... but still a little heart wrenching. My girl is getting TOO big, too fast. She is scooting/crawling all over the place, can nearly sit up on her own, plays with toys like a pro and is pretty much taking on the world right before my eyes. Yes I cried, and then realized that this is just one of those moments ... my baby is not going to STAY the same FOREVER. She is going to grow up, and she will never be that still little bundle that she was the day we brought her home. The Lord is so good at giving us moments in our lifes to reflect on His goodness. Last night was one of those. Tatum is thriving, so smart, and curious, and active, and so very joyful. Over a year ago when I got pregnant, I had more doubts than you will ever know as to whether or not my child was going to make it, let a alone thrive in life, because of the quality of health my body posessed. Now I can see how the Lord has seen us through, and blessed us beyond measure!. In the end though, we slipped Tatum into her jammies, kissed her goodnight, and laid her down in her own room, only to assume that she would wake up multiple times a night because she was not in her swaddle and would wake herself up with her newly FREE arms and legs. But again, the Lord saw us through ... the second we put her down, she turned onto her belly and she was out ... slept through the whole night. When I woke up in the morning, I saw this .....



An empty bassinet ...
Then I went down the hallway and found this, I LOVE HER SO MUCH! ... (sorry its so dark)