This weekend was H A R D . On Friday afternoon, Brighten decided she was ready to use the big girl potty. We’d been prepping for a few weeks — we had the Sophia the First and Frozen panties ready to go. She’s been talking about going potty for a while now, but with Grady’s arrival at Christmas, we’ve been delaying until Grady was a little more content. So, on Friday at 4:00 p.m., we jumped all in and decided to run with it.
Meet Grady-man Morales
Meet Grady Shores Morales. My son. How in the world is this real life?! Grady was born on December 21, 2018 at 6:17 p.m. at 7 lbs. 14.5 oz. via c-section after approximately 44 hours of labor. Yes, you read that right.
Oh Boy, It's a Boy!
I’m not sure how many people can put their finger on the calendar and say that this, precisely, is the day we began working toward starting a family. But for us, we can. We turned in our application to Lifeline Children’s Services in pursuit of adopting a male, ages 0-2 from Ethiopia on December 1, 2013.
Living In & Overcoming Fear
Crippling fear. It's something that I became uncomfortably used to. I tried to push the tragedies of this world away, but it didn't help. That only led to living in ignorance and oblivion. Let me tell you, ignorance is not bliss. It's like building a glass bubble around yourself temporarily, only to have the whole thing shatter around you when you hear a bit of news that is one of your millions of worst nightmares. So, for the most part I lived in fear, letting the sin, hatred, tragedy, and grief of this broken world grip my heart and my mind daily. I lived with the constant emotion and belief of looming danger, impending pain, and the threat of suffering.
Groove Silicone Rings
When Jason and I were on our honeymoon in the Caymen Islands almost 6 years ago (how?!) there was a man snorkeling near where we were laying on the beach. All of a sudden, he came up on a panic. Me, having the healthy fear of the water and marine life that I strongly adhere to, thought maybe he saw a shark or a giant sting ray. As it turns out, he had not come across something threatening, but instead lost something of mass importance: his wedding ring.
I cut my hair styling routine time in half!
I've been searching for a way to cut my hair routine time down for years. I love my hair long, but it takes F O R E V E R to style. My hair is fine, but I have a lot of it. It typically takes about 30 minutes to dry and style my hair if I straighten it and longer if I curl it. This mama don't got time for that!
A Place to Gather :: Our Dining Room
Sometimes people see formal dining rooms as wasted space. But not me. I love a specific place to gather the people I love around the table. Friends and family, old and new, there's few things that bring me as much joy than putting together some plates of yummy food and sitting down together to share a meal.
The New House Baby Gate
So, Brighten is 17 months old. How did this happen you ask? I assure you that I have no idea. But here we are with a super active toddler! When we moved back in November, I knew we'd need to be really strategic with where Brighten is allowed to roam free. The best (maybe the only good) thing about moving with a 14 month old is that we were able to arrange our new house in a way that gave Brighten plenty of space but sectioned off areas where we don't want her roaming free.
Change of Address
Y'all - we moved! This post is definitely delayed because we closed on the new house on November 9th, but when you move two weeks before Thanksgiving with a 14 month old, a blog post in February about the move is what happens!
How I Stopped Dieting & Started Losing Weight
Last month in my post for Birmingham Moms Blog, I declared to the world that I was breaking up with dieting and starting a new relationship with becoming strong. It's been one month since I started going to Steel Strength Training (SST) three times per week. SST is strictly strength training - it's not boot camp or CrossFit (these things aren't bad or anything, but they're just not for me). It's only been a month, but I am absolutely loving it. Nate (the owner and head trainer) is super encouraging, super realistic, and super knowledgable. I've been going three mornings a week (his recommended number of days to train), and I'm already seeing results. It's pretty amazing.