Emerald’s First Birthday

Posted on June 10, 2015 by vanessawyler

The day is here – can’t believe our baby is one years old. Does that mean we can’t call her a baby anymore?! I was so sad the few days prior, basically in denial that she was going to be one. But the actual day of her birthday it was so fun to celebrate her little life (and that we survived our first year of parenthood)!

The past year we didn’t know what to expect (what new parent does?). She definitely turned our world upside, but in the best way possible, she is one of the best things to have happened to us and we love her more than she could possibly imagine.

The day of her birthday we both took off of work to celebrate. We got her up and let her play with balloons in her crib. Next, up donuts for breakfast (on her birthday plate), then time for opening presents! She got two baby dolls, two books, a beach ball and a teepee! She made out pretty good!

Then it was nap time followed by a quick lunch at home and we headed to the zoo. I think she noticed the animals a bit more this time, but it’s hard to tell! We also rode the train which she loved. Then we headed to Olive Garden for dinner since she loves breadsticks, then we let her smash some cake, but she was so tired, she could have couldn’t have cared less. Oh well, Happy Birthday baby girl, we love you soo much! We are so thankful we get to be your parents!

We hope to keep up some of these birthday traditions, like making them a special birthday plate, taking off work and doing something fun!

And since we love capturing every.waking.moment in either photos or videos, here is Emerald’s first year, it went so fast!

Project 365 // Week 22

Posted on June 6, 2015 by vanessawyler

5th Anniversary!

Posted on June 5, 2015 by vanessawyler

FIVE YEARS. Five of the best years of our lives!

To celebrate we spent a low-key day with each other, sans Emerald. We first headed to Barnes and Noble and just browsed books and sipped Starbucks. A quick lunch at Qdoba, then binged watched some TV shows, tried on my wedding dress (it still fits!) then went to see the movie SPY and ended it with pizza from Dock’s Dry Dock that we brought to the beach for a picnic.

Though we didn’t do anything extravagant, i have the best time no matter what we are doing as long as we are spending quality time with each other.

Our plan is to get away for a weekend once Emerald is fully weaned this summer!

Project 365 // Week 21

Posted on May 30, 2015 by vanessawyler

Project 365 // Week 20

Posted on May 23, 2015 by vanessawyler

Project 365 // Week 19

Posted on May 19, 2015 by vanessawyler

Day 131 – 11 Months

Day 132 – Nap time is over!
Day 133 – Capture the Moment
Day 134 – Bath timeDay 135 – Daddy Love
Day 136 – Learning to Walk
Day 137 – Charleigh & Reese’s Birthdays

Project 365 // Week 18

Posted on May 12, 2015 by vanessawyler

Day 124 – Outside Feast

Day 125 – Where’s my beach friends at?

Day 126 – Eddy Monster

Day 127 – Never.Sits.Still

Day 128 – Bubbles

Day 129 – Em’s First Sleepover

Day 130 – Upside Down

First Mother’s Day #momlife

Posted on May 11, 2015 by vanessawyler

We celebrated my first mother’s day yesterday. Drew knows my love language is acts of service so he accomplished some of the yard work I’ve been wanting done for awhile (yay) and Emerald napped great (another yay). Drew also got me the book Capturing the Moment since I’ve gotten pretty passionate about capturing Emerald’s every waking moment with my camera

Emerald and I also celebrated Mother’s day with my mom and sisters by going out to eat and getting some Culvers. Overall it was a great day and am thankful to be this little girls mama.

Oh, and how is motherhood? Oh the mom life…

This first (almost) year of motherhood has been a roller coaster! To say it hasn’t been the hardest thing I have done would be a lie. Emerald was/is a great baby, so it’s not like she’s a terrible child, it’s more that it was a huge adjustment for me.

I documented my first thoughts about motherhood after one month in a blog post. And so grateful I did that – it was raw and honest. I’m glad I can look back now and remind myself of how far we’ve come 10 months later. Ten months later I’m so thankful for her. She’s taught me a lot, how to be more patient, selfless, be fun and silly and what unconditional love is. Seeing her get so excited to see me after I’ve been away for the day or in the morning when waking is one of the best feelings ever. To be needed feels amazing, though I know as time goes on she will need me less and less.

Motherhood today has become second nature, you learn to roll with whatever comes, even if it means no naps in a day. Being flexible is key. Sometimes I think when we finally feel like we’ve figured it out, God reminds us that we don’t have it all together and teaches us that we still need him by throwing another curveball our way, but for that I’m grateful for his grace and love. It’s so crazy to think about his unconditional love for us – just like how I love Emerald despite her throwing ALL of her food on the floor – so crazy.

It’s a crazy journey to be on, this motherhood thing, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Emerald – 11 Months

Posted on May 10, 2015 by vanessawyler

It can’t be, this little girl is 11 months, meaning she is almost one year old!

This girl is all.over.the.place! She’s pulling up on everything especially when she is trying to find the remote, a cell phone, watch bubble guppies or wants to sit on our laps.

She is a pretty good eater, especially her favorites like cheerios, yogurt, carrots, and anything with fruit in it – uh oh, she’s got a sweet tooth already! Speaking of she has 5 teeth already and it’s looking like lots more are about to come in – thankfully she is a great teether – and sleeper, I’m not sure how we got so lucky!

She says a few more words this month: mama, yaya, baba, adah, and a few other things we can’t quite make out yet.

She loves that the weather is warming up and we can venture outside, even if it’s just for a few minutes to swing or play in the grass. She loves taking walks to the beach especially when we get ice cream and share a few bites with her.

This little girl is constantly making us laugh with her personality coming through more everyday, but with that comes a little bit of a temper when she doesn’t get her way or we don’t let her do things she’s not supposed to. She listens well when we say “no” but also says no to herself when she does something she’s not supposed to be doing, little stinker. But oh how we love her so!

It’s getting much harder to take monthly photos of her – we usually have to bribe her with food now!