laughter is the best medicine

That's right, folks, my baby has officially laughed for the first time! It has not happened often, but it sure is cute. She laughed for the first time on Saturday {at her daddy of course}, and I got my first laugh on Tuesday. I absolutely love it! She's been discovering her voice for a while now, and we enjoy "talking." But, that laugh was so sweet! We've heard it a few times since then, and we want to get her talking and laughing on video soon.

In other news, she got a baby doll from Grandmommy, Pops, and Jojo {Chris's family} for Valentine's Day, and she had fun playing with it the other day. I took some pictures of the action.

posing with the baby

smiling at the baby

pulling the baby's hair

trying to eat the baby

Nice progession there, huh?!? Such a cutie!

i {heart] mondays!

I know that sounds crazy, and it wasn't too long ago that I was a proud member of the "I dread Monday" group. I can remember feeling that knot in my stomach on Sunday afternoons when I realized that tomorrow was Monday. Monday meant the start of 5 very early mornings and the end of freedom that comes with the weekend. Don't get me wrong, I loved my job {most days}, but Mondays and I had a very bittersweet relationship.

However, I have now become very fond of Mondays because I get to see a lot of this...

And, a little bit of this...

Monday is Chris's day off which means the three of us get to lounge around, run errands, watch movies together! Micah gets lots of Daddy time, and I get some nice and much needed Mommy time.

Monday, you have definitely redeemed yourself in my book. I actually look forward to you now! I am going to go enjoy the rest of this Sabbath with my sweet loves.

ash wednesday

Today marks the beginning of Lent. Now, I come from {as Chris likes to say} a tribe that does not participate in the holy calendar apart from Easter and, sometimes, Christmas. However, for the past several years, Chris and I have chosen to participate in Lent. The purpose of this season is to give something up, or do something extra, for the 40 days leading up to Easter to symbolize the 40 days that Jesus was in the desert before his formal ministry began. This "fast" of sorts was designed to help Christians prepare their minds and hearts, through prayer and fasting, for Good Friday and Easter.

In the past, I have given up things like meat, chocolate, and even my beloved Diet Dr. Pepper. While going without these things can be somewhat challenging and does make Easter more anticipated, it does so for the wrong reasons. I am ready for Easter to hurry up and get here so I can partake in whatever I have denied for the past 40 or so days, but I am not focused on Easter because I have spent more time in the past 40 days focusing on the life of Jesus. I had not dedicated more time in lieu of my meat, chocolate, or Diet Dr. Pepper to thinking about and contemplating his sacrifice.

So, for Lent this year, I knew that I wanted to give up something that involved the way in which I spend my time. For this new momma, time has taken on a whole new meaning. I rarely have "me" time {which I am TOTALLY okay with because I spend my time with my precious daughter...I love saying that!}. Today until Easter, I will not read blogs. I will still post on my blog because there are some grandparents and aunts that would be very unhappy with me if I didn't :), but I will not spend time reading others' blogs. Instead, I will use this time to really consider the life of Jesus. I will spend time contemplating the fact that Jesus left the perfection of Heaven to live in this imperfect, broken, hurting world {my world} so that he could truly understand me and my struggles, my pain, and my temptations. I will focus my time on the fact that not only did he live, fully live, as a human but suffered a horrible death. Then, he defeated death so that I will be able to one day experience the fullness and perfection of heaven {his world}. I want to understand how the example of his life on earth can make mine much more abundant and meaningful too. I want to spend the extra {at least} 30 minutes a day that used to be dedicated to reading blogs to engage in sweet, quiet times with the Lord. I am certain that if I stick with this that it will make Easter much more anticipated and meaningful this year, just as this season was intended to do.

I will have lots of catching up to do in 40 days, but I have a feeling it will be worth it! I hope you all are blessed in this season of Lent.

happy valentine's day

Here are a few pictures from our first valentine's day with our newest (and cutest) little valentine...

snow day

Micah is just a little snow baby! It has snowed 4 times since she was born!!! How crazy is that?!?! We woke up to snow this morning, and it has not stopped since. It is so beautiful! We are enjoying being inside and watching the big, fat snow flakes fall and coat everything outside. I realize that if we dealt with this every day that it would be less fun, but it is just incredible! It has already snowed 5 inches in Dallas, and we could get 2-3 more by the time it stops this evening.

We decided that we should take this opportunity to get pictures of Micah in the snow. She looked precious all bundled up!

**Thank you Thompson family for the too cute {and warm} hat!!! It was perfect!**

I couldn't leave Wrigley out of the snow fun! He definitely took advantage of his time in the snow and posed so perfectly for his pictures too :)


Hope you are all having a wonderful day! God is good.

lately

Lately, Micah has been...

...hanging out with Daddy in the evenings...

...starting to enjoy her bath time more {aka, not screaming the entire time!}...

...hanging out with Mommy...

...looking super cute at church in her little dresses...

...stylin' in her {boots with the fur}...

...taking lots of naps in her swing...

...smiling like crazy...

And, we are loving every minute of it!!!

chunky monkey

To celebrate Micah's two month birthday, we went to the doctor for her two month well check. She weighs a whopping 12 lb. 3 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches long. That puts her in the 90% on both!!! At least she is proportional. I honestly adore every single little roll and those chubby cheeks are too kissable!

All was well until it was time for her first shots. She got 6 immunizations {3 shots and 1 oral}! Poor baby did great. She only cried for a couple of minutes, but daddy was the hero and got her all calm and settled. This is how we all felt after the shots...
Chunky little leg with 2 band-aids :(

She was worn out from the shots and slept in her carseat for a good 30 minutes after we got home, which she NEVER does!

Micah really did well with it. She was only a little fussy and never ran any fever. She's a tough little girl! We are so thankful to know that she is healthy and developing exactly as expected. We feel blessed and praise God for her everyday.

two months

My precious Micah,

Oh sweet girl, your second month has been so much fun! It is amazing to think of the ways we have watched you grow and develop in such a short time. These two months have flown by, but I honestly cannot imagine life without you. There is such a deeper richness to life now that you are in it.

This month has been full of excitement for you, sweet girl. You smile more and more, and your daddy and I have figured out what makes you smile every time! I like to call it our "magic." As long as you are happy, you will always give us a great big grin, and it melts me! You also started cooing a lot this month. I love watching you concentrate on talking to me, and we have lots of conversations during the day. You are still super strong and can hold that head up with no problem. You also love to stand up on our laps and will push those little legs up often when you are sitting on our laps. You love to look around and almost always want to be facing out unless you are sleeping. Everyone loves seeing your bright eyes {which are still blue}!

You are a routine baby! I always knew children thrived on a schedule, and you are further proof to that. You are on a great schedule these days {now that Mommy is getting you figured out!}. You eat every 3 hours during the day, and after you eat, we play for about 30 minutes to an hour before you go to sleep. You have 2 really good naps each day--one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Mommy loves these times to get things done, but sometimes, I just like to sleep with you :) You have always slept well at night, and this month has followed that trend. You have your last feeding between 8:00 and 8:45, and then you don't wake up to eat until 3:30am-5:00am! It is wonderful for your Mommy and Daddy. You still sleep in your bouncy seat, and you love it!

You have developed a new love for your swing. We can put you in it at any time, and you will look around while your eyes get really heavy. Then, you will fall asleep! This month, you have started to learn to put yourself to sleep, and I love it. Although, I still like to rock you a lot :) You also started to really enjoy your baths. You love your little bathtub, and you rarely cry while you are in the water. You still hate to be cold when you get out, though.

I am certain that you know your Daddy and me, and you will always look for our voices when we talk. You also don't like for me to put you down if you are wide awake and will let me know by your cries that you want to be held again. I love that you know us and that we will comfort and love you. You also smiled at Wrigley for the first time this month, which was just too precious. I know that you two will be best buds before we know it.

Some other things you did this month were stay in a hotel for the first time, watch your Daddy run a marathon, go to your first wedding, and go out with friends for dinner. I am amazed at how much you have changed in the last month, and I have loved every minute of it! Your daddy and I are so proud to be your parents, and I thank God every single day for you. I can't wait to see what the next month brings, but don't grow up too fast!!! Happy two months, baby girl.

I love you to the moon and back,

Mommy

Obviously, Micah was totally done with this photo shoot, but Wrigley still managed to fall asleep, even with a screaming baby on his back!