Lucy's first Easter.

Jay had Friday off and is off work for the next 10 days (Easter and spring break) so we headed down to Bunny + Papa's for a long weekend. We had a fun day of visiting, thrifting, and dying Easter eggs. Lucy got her first Easter basket and some special gifts from Mimi and Bunny/Papa. Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Our little Easter Bunny!

Diaper time!
She loves daddy time.

Happiness.

I was watching Oprah the other day and her show was on happiness. I was surprised when she polled the audience and the majority of them either didn't know what happiness was, or felt like they rarely could reach it. The main question out of the show was, what is happiness? A feeling? A state of mind?

I believe happiness is a choice. I think it's a path you consistently and consciously choose for yourself. And I've learned {self guided} myself into that belief in the past few years of my life.

Most of the people on the show explained they didn't know how to find it, and some weren't even sure what true happiness was. They were so many people seeking out material things, using money for happiness, or just searching for more, more, more in their life-whether it be tangible or non-tangible. I find that there are so many people like that description in my life that I find it to be true. There is a constant search for something greater in their life, and no matter what they have or what they receive it's never good enough, and deep down they are never truly happy with themselves. They just don't allow themselves happiness {while they may say they are happy, you can always tell otherwise}. I feel so sorry for those people that just cannot get to a state of content with their life. I know for some people it can be a constant battle. Why is it so easy for some and so hard for others?

I feel so blessed that the Lord has instilled a sense of peace in my life, and I am very content. I cherish the ability to be happy, because I know it is a gift. I choose every day to wake up and try to have a positive attitude and bring happiness to my husband and baby girl, and while it's not always easy, it is always rewarding. I feel guilty when I let myself slip into unhappiness, because I've been given so much and I have so much to be grateful for. And when I catch myself becoming indifferent or I begin searching, I remind myself that thankfully, I am not in charge, and there is a much greater plan for our little life {and when I doubt that, I just look down at the precious baby girl sleeping in my husband's arms and all doubts vanish} and that is the most comforting thing of all.

3 months.

It's been far too long since I've posted, but man we've been busy! We are enjoying our little peanut so much and she makes every day so fun. She turned 3 months on Thursday and she is quickly growing. She smiles like crazy now and she's reaching out for her toys. We transitioned her to her crib last week and she's been doing awesome. Right now she is going to bed around 9 or 9:30 and sleeping until 6 am. Eventually once she can make it through longer periods we'll move her bedtime up earlier. It feels good to have somewhat of a routine established!Jay has been busy coaching and he is such a hard worker. I'm happy because I know he enjoys what he does and he is always so sweet and excited to come home and see his girls. He always tells us it's the highlight of his day. Can't get much better than that.

I'm enjoying every fleeting second with Lucy. She is an absolute joy and brings me so much happiness. Being a stay at home mommy is better than I ever thought it could be and I've already set a plan in place to not go back to work full time. I'm very lucky that I can do that and have the flexibilty with my job so I am thankful and feel very blessed. I've been able to work on some creative projects at home {which you all know I love} so I'll share those soon with pictures.

Just a quick update while I have a moment! xoxo

8 hours.

That's how much sleep I got last night. I pretty much feel like I could run the world. Lucy slept through the night! She slept from 11 pm to about 7:10 am. I couldn't believe it when I woke up to her babbling and looked at the clock. She didn't even wake up screaming. What a good little girl. Here is a pretty current picture of her sitting in her bumbo.

2 months.

Lucy's 2 month appointment was both great & heartbreaking. Great because she's excelled and reached all the necessary milestones, and heartbreaking because she had her first round of shots and she was a sad, miserable little girl. It was really hard to watch her that way. Our sweet little girl was so sad and cuddly all day and her little legs were really sore. Thank goodness Jay had the day off work and both he and my Mom went to the appointment with us. We had a little photo shoot that morning before her appointment because we knew she could potentially have a rough afternoon. I'm glad we did because I got some great shots of her and her precious little half smile!

We are so blessed that she is healthy and Praise God for that. We pray that she continues to thrive as she grows up.

Spring break.

The past two weeks have been crazy in this household. Week 1 was Aly's spring break and week 2 was my Mom's (she works at a school) so Lucy experienced a ton of new things and was such a good little girl as she was toted around town. She had her first & second road trip to Bunny's and also the mall! My Mom had the idea to take us shopping because there is a new 2 story forever 21 (my favorite) at one of our local malls, and she knew I hadn't had much time to shop for clothes since Lucy was born...and it had been 10 months since I could buy anything non-maternity. Holy moly we had so much fun! I think I tried on 100 things. I left the store with a whole new wardrobe which was really fun for me. They had so many cute styles for spring and I literally could have shopped all day in that one store. It was ginormous. Plus their clothes are super affordable which is really nice. Lucy just slept in her stroller and occasionally woke up to say hello and babble when she liked mama's outfit. She likes to have her opinion heard ;)

Shopping can be so refreshing when you actually find things you like, can't it? Especially as a new mama. It's so nice to feel like I look decent in something and it's not sweatpants or a t-shirt. I even found a new pair of jeans that I love, which is pretty much a miracle because I can never find the right length and %99.9 percent of all jeans are too short for me. I would say the day was a huge success.

Another miraculous thing happened this week: I was able to scrapbook! That has been pretty much impossible lately with taking care of my little bean, so I was really excited and I'm almost caught up on her scrapbook now. It was so nice to have people around to cuddle with her so I could get stuff done or go out with Jay here and there. I accidentally left my camera at Bunny's so I don't have pictures to share just yet, and we'll hopefully get that back soon.

This week should be super low key compared to the past two weeks and I am excited to just hang at home with Lucy. Here is a recent picture of her the morning of her 2 month appointment. She was such a happy and sweet little girl. I love this picture because you can tell she's still learning how to really smile, but she was so excited that mama was talking to her! Shortly after that we headed to the doctor. More on that later.

Lately.

This week Lucy is 2 months old! She is just a precious little blessing in our life and we love her more every day. I enjoy being home with her so much and she is getting more animated and her personality is shaping as the days quickly pass. She can now confidently hold her head up on her tummy and she is already starting to scoot with her legs. She loves to be in a seated position so she can look around at her little world and rarely does she like to lay down. Despite that fact, she is a huge cuddle bug. She loves to snuggle with mama and daddy and she is such a sweetheart. She rarely makes a peep and we are so lucky she is still an easy baby. She's only getting up once per night to feed around 4-5 am, so she's almost made it through the night. I'm so proud of my little girl! She just started smiling this past week and it is so rewarding to see her face light up when we talk to her. I can't wait for her to start giggling. She has started to babble a lot more and we love to hear her little voice! Jay and I have been lucky to get out for dates nights quite often. At the end of February he took me to see my favorite artist, David Gray in concert. It was so much fun and we really enjoyed a nice dinner together at Zelo's downtown and then a night of live music. He was phenomenal.

We also had our precious Lucy girl baptized on Sunday March 6th at our Church. It was the sweetest little private service for our family and the pastor did a great job. Lucy didn't make a peep and was a perfect little girl as daddy held her through the service. She even liked the water part! She wore the handmade gown that Bunny made for me when I was a baby, and Aly wore it too, so that was special for us. We had a nice luncheon afterwards and catered Famous Daves.

Her bible cake!

Last week was my sister's spring break so we planned Lucy's baptism that weekend because she is one of her Godmother's and we really wanted her there. Aly and Tyler stayed with us most of the week and we had so much fun with them.