Reason 67 Why I Love Being A Mom: Mommie's-in-Pain-So-I'll-Give-Her-Smiles Smiles :oP

I was the lucky recipient of a day of torture yesterday (okie so it wasnt too bad i guess) but i definitely was not up to par taking care of Zoey. And it killed me not being able to feed her for 24 hours. Luckily she was a good sport (for the most part) and understood momma was not herself, so after i woke up from my first nap she gave me lots of smiles! I know ive given this reason in a couple different formats but i do love how she can make something so stressful and painful seem insignificant in the long scheme of things. I guess thats the beauty of a child's innocence and i hope to learn more from her as she grows!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 89 Why I Love Being A Mom: First Real Laugh

This video was one of the most incredible moments of being a mother so far (i know, it can only get better watching her grow!). Coming off a day that was not good for my family, Zoey decided to debut her laugh and i have not heard it since! Please dont mind my corny, baiting laugh and blowing on her belly! I just love how she can just instantly put a smile on my face (even when shes the caused for a bad mood :oP)! So I hope you enjoy! Her little squeak at the end is so adorable! But i could just be biased <3

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 108 Why I Love Being A Mom: Middle Of The Night Smiles

So I don't have a picture for this but last night i was exhausted and looking forward to a good night's sleep since Zoey got all her naps in and i didn't feel she was overstimulated at all. Well 3.30 feeding comes around and im so happy she gave me a long shift again! But after feeding all she wanted to do was smile for two hours! How can i be mad at that smiling face?!? It was very tough to put her in her crib while she was smiling at me and just wanting to be with me. I love how happy she can make me feel when i just don't have the energy.

Coincidentally a certain aunt ;oP gave us a new book about going to sleep that i kept referencing in the back of my mind! Ha


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 176 Why I Love Being A Mom: Smiles On A Bad Day

Children are innocent and that is more apparent during times of sadness. That innocence is so consoling when they put their big goofy grin on their face and show you the world does go on even when it may feel like it doesn't. Sometimes immersing yourself in their world is such a wonderful way of escaping your reality, if only for a moment. I love her for everything she does for me, which is so much and i am trying to document it in this blog.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 58 Why I Love Being A Mom: Food Look

I don't know if she is associating smell with food or she just sees her mom always doing this activity when she seems to be hungry but her curiosity in food is definitely apparent. And the looks that follow are something I could watch all day. On the left is more her daddy's expression when it comes to nasty veggies and salads. On the right is her momma's expression to yummy, healthy veggies and salads! :o)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 181 Why I Love Being A Mom: Pinky

I love that she looks so pretty in pink and surrounded by pink :o)

Reason 130 Why I Love Being A Mom: Wedding Dance

My mom, daughter, and I recently attended my cousin's wedding. During the reception my mom sat Zoey on her lap and got her dancing to some oldies. The sound is a little low because halfway through it i covered the microphone and then adjusted the beginning to be quiet with the end :oP

But it is the most adorable video of Zoey and I cant stop watching it <3 And that cuteness is another reason I love being a mom!

Readon 256 Why I Love Being A Mom: Matching Belly Buttons

Okay so Ive always heard your belly button appearance is dependant on how the umbilical cord is cut by your doctor but to me the similarity betweens ours is a little too uncanny to be a coincidence. So im going to go with the fact that our belly buttons are a genetic reflection of similar healing traits. Hers looks idenrical to mine, pre-baby. Mine appears more innie now but it was like hers and i love that she got my not-quite-in,-not-quite-out button :o)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 280 Why I Love Being A Mom: First Carousel Ride

When i was a baby, well old enough to sit on my own, my mom took a similar picture of me. Its really one of my favorites of me as a kid. Im not near my computer right now to upload it but when I get home I will share that.

This is an old fashion carousel in St. Joseph, Michigan. I forget what year it was built. Obviously the animas are all new but i believe the music and structure are just repaired for use. We decided on the patriotic/ military horse for my husband :o) Every horse/animal is so uniquely decorated that its just a marvelous carousel for Zoey's first time.

This town is very similar to a typical seaside town and I love it! So glad Zoey is with me this trip. It does make me want to go to Makinaw (so wrong on the spelling i know) Island where Somewhere In Time was fimed!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 175 Why I Love Being A Mom: Michelin Baby

I love how my baby has been given the nickname little baby fat cheeks from my sister. Zoey is huge! When her daddy sees her on webcam he asks if there are baby treadmills, haha! When she's better at holding her head up she is going into the Jenny Jump Up kinda like what I had as a child which I apparently loved! We recently discovered a video my mom or dad took of me bouncing around in that thing and I am so excited for Zoey to get in it!

But regardless of my planning on her workout regime I love her baby fat rolls! A family friend called her a Michelin baby! Haha so it's kinda stuck. And she has the Popeye arms! And her profile is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's jowly (sp?) cheeks :o) i love writing the process in which she grows and gets stronger and all the fat she's accumulating now is just helping her to get to her strongest. Baby development is just so amazing and I smile just knowing that I have a big role in that for her <3

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 79 Why I Love Being A Mom: Dreams of Milk

I love watching here sleep and it's even more fun when she suckles in her sleep. I can only assume she's dreaming of milk, haha. My kid dreams of food, which is apparent by her twenty rolls on her arms (jk) :o) i love my chubby monkey. She kinda looks like a bandit in the top video with the shadow across her eyes! :oP


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 65 Why I Love Being A Mom: Boop-able Nose and Cubby Cheeks

She is so precious and too adorable. I love mornings because she is so smiley and happy! Hence I get to do fun things like this to her to entertain the both of us, though maybe a little more entertaining to me :oP just getting her ready for when her daddy comes home! <3


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 124 Why I Love Being A Mom: Fits Into My Green World

124... That always makes me think of Beloved. Out of all the material from high school that's what i remember most? That every chapter started with 124 to symbolize the first, second, and fourth child that survived and the third was gone? Haha amazing the things that stick... Anyways :oP

My poor Zoey (or not in my opinion). She is showered in green, i mean, she really was doomed when she came into this world. But I think she fits perfectly into my green little world! Look at that, green onesie (kicky pants brand, highly suggest in spite of the price), green blanket her Great Aunt got to sleep on, momma's greeeeeen sheets, greeeeeen quilt her Oma made, green washcloth her Nana bought, and i think that about covers it in this picture, ha! Oh i just saw my pun: 'covers' the verb and 'covers' the noun. Feel free to shake your head in embarrassment for me, ill just chuckle to myself then :oP been on an extremely corny kick lately. And now I'm diverting from the show of this blog, Zoey... (side note, spell check thinks Zoey should be replaced with Zooey. Didn't think that one was more common).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 95 Why I Love Being A Mom: My Elphie Bug and Zoey

I love my car, and I loved the idea of Zoey growing up with a car that always turns kids' heads and occasionally brings on a punch to some poor unsuspecting fool (it's punch buggy isotope green for the record!) :oP But as much as I love this car I have to let it go. And so far this entry doesn't appear to be a 'reason why' but Zoey does make the bug more fun in my last few days with her and gives me the perfect reason to transition and let go of her. I love the changes this little angel (Zoey, not Elphie my car :oP) has brought into my life and happily give up anything for her. So in preparation for Elphie's departure my mom has helped take a couple pictures so we can show Zoey later in life that she was cool in an isotope green beetle for the first few months of her life <3

Hi!

Reason 123 Why I Love Being A Mom: The Age TV Watching Starts

Shes watching Tangled here during tummy time. She is just so darling! Shes been very observant since 24 hours old but really been liking the tv for about a month :o) and it starts!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 16 Why I Love Being A Mom: She Makes Me Smile

I know this is a sleeping photo and not some funny face you'd expect from the title reason but seeing her pretty face is so comforting to me, regardless of if it's smiling, doing her best Elvis impersonation, upside down, or screaming. I will admit something put me in a funk yesterday and made me doubt my abilities as an artist. Maybe it was intentional, probably not, but it just put me in a bit of a funk (not to mention the gloom that loomed outside didn't help either). But today, even with lack of sleep, i am ready to start fresh after seeing her beautiful face sleep so peacefully. And knowing that i am one of two people she depends on most in her life is such a rewarding feeling that, in spite of my personal insecurities, she and how she makes me feel are all that really matters. I love her and her daddy beyond what words can describe.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 91 Why I Love Being A Mom: Upside-Down Baby

The other day Zoey decided being close to momma was no fun so she kicked off me until she saw the tv, hence the position above. I think she realized how fun it was to be upside down because the next day she did this:




I love her!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 136 Why I Love Being A Mom: Tummy Time Observing Look

I love the initial look on her face when we put her on her tummy. She's just in awe of everything she sees around her and puts on a semi-smile or full on smile when she sees someone's smiling face :o) Then she gets fussy and starts screaming in frustration, haha :oP

But i finally figured out an easier way to put pictures together so here is a little collection of tummy time faces <3

Reason 127 Why I Love Being A Mom: Smiles At The Sight Of Me

I love making Zoey smile and sometimes it's just the sight of me that makes her smile! The picture on the left was me sneaking up on her before she realized it was her momma
<3

Reason 37 Why I Love Being A Mom: Rolled Front to Back!

So a couple days ago my mom and I were discussing when Zoey was supposed to start rolling over. We both kinda figured it was around four months. Not even an hour later we put her on her tummy for tummy time and lo' and behold she rolled over onto her back! Mom and i looked at one another in disbelief. I am constantly amazed at her development! I just love watching her grow!

The picture above is her proud smile after the first roll over. The video below is the second roll over. Note: she got herself into the beginning poisition in the video while i got my phone ready to record :o)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 64 Why I Love Being A Mom: Happy Photoshoots!

So on my other blog, my photography one, i post pictures of Zoey on the floor in scenes that i create with stuff around the house (and on occasion purchased for that specific scene). I took the idea from this one lady who does it while her baby is asleep. With cats and Zoeys nap time im often alone and dont have time to do a good set up so I have to wait when my sister is off work and thats usually evening time when Zoey gets fussy. Anyway the point of the story is this last time Zoey was all smiles so i got on the ground and smiled with her and took some pics with my phone to send her daddy. So above are the photos from that moment <3

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reason 87 Why I Love Being A Mom: Discovering Her Voice Moments

i asked Zoey if she knew how much i love her and she said 'yeah' and i asked if she was sure and she said 'uh huh'...

Another moment, she was a little fussy in the car so mom turned around and told her that we were "just going to starbucks and then home, alright?" and she responded with a sound that resembled 'alright!'. Mom and I just looked at one another stunned!

I know she has no idea what noises she's making but her timing was too perfect and, coupled with smiles, just totally makes my days! It's so amazing watching her learn her voice!

Reason 223 Why I Love Being A Mom: Similar Sleeping Habits!

Apparently I slept like this as a baby, with my butt proudly sticking up in the air! And it earned me my nickname (which I'll only share one variation with you!): Lumpkins, due to the lump I's create under the sheets if you didnt know I was there :oP

But now I sleep more along these lines, hands all curled up by my face like this. Shes so sweet! Ijust adore my sweet little angel

Reason 129 Why I Love Being A Mom: Consolation

After her shots she was an absolute sweetheart, and I like to think that I helped console my poor sweetie. There are moments when momma seems to just be the answer and I love that so much!

This next photo kinda shows how deep a sleep I got to put her into, just transferred her to the boppy so we could have dinner. And she slept very well that night!

Reason 146 Why I Love Being A Mom: Zoey Faces!

I just adore her little faces she makes. She really knows how to use the muscles in her faces to just change in the slightest and creates a whole new meaning behind her look :oP This first one is just too precious to me! hehe...

More after the jump!

Reason 46 Why I Love Being A Mom: Daddy's Feet

I love that she has her daddy's feet! I know he has heard me recount this on several occasions but the one thing he hoped for our baby (gender unknown at time) was that he/she didn't get his feet! Hehe... I love their uniqueness! <3

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Reason 77 Why I Love Being A Mom: Sleepy Lips

I love the smooshy lips!!!

Reason 2 Why I Love Being A Mom: An Image of Love

So I was singing the bride number from Funny Girl to Zoey and it got me thinking, she's so right! Of course i changed the words around when i sang it to Zoey "you are the beautiful reflection, of our love's affection, a walking illustration, of our adoration!" :oD

Zoey is the first visual portrayal of Matt and I's love and, I may be bias, she is the perfect depiction of it! From her big grins to pouts to bratty looks on her face. She is completely ours; looks, personality and all!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad