Caitlin's Wedding Weekend

Last Weekend my baby sister got married!!! She got engaged in August and was going to elope but then decided to have a mini destination wedding with her family and closest friends. When she first told me this, I was a little shocked. I always pictured her having a huge wedding with all of the parties and all of the stress!:) But, in the end the wedding was absolutely perfect. She got married in a park that we grew up spending every weekend walking around exploring and having picnics. It was freezing but totally worth it because the scenery was beautiful! The ceremony was performed by her Father In Law and it was so personal and touching. After the wedding we had dinner at a little place called the Hard Shell. It ended up being the best wedding food I have ever had! Caitlin seriously looked absolutely beautiful!!!!!!! Her dress was to die for and exactly what I would pick if I could do my wedding over!! Her and Lance also looked so happy and in love! I was really glad to be apart of her big day but I am a little sad that its over!

How cute does my angel look? She pretty much wouldn't smile the entire weekend because she only napped for about 20 minutes each day. That paci poo was her best friend but she sure looked cute!

We decided that because we would be in Virginia for the wedding we would go a day earlier and fly in to D.C. Jared had never been so we spent Thanksgiving Day exploring the city. We didn't get to see and do much because we had a rental car fiasco but we did hit most of the highlights. 

Besides a few minor mishaps we had a pretty good trip! Emerson did ok on the plane. I wont say that traveling with a baby is one of my favorite things to do, but she didn't embarrass us too bad on the flights! Just kidding! Once she settled in she slept for most of the ride there and back! :)

 I still can't believe that the little one is a married woman! I'm ready for her to be home so I can hear all about Cabo and look at all of the wedding pictures!!!!! Congrats Caitlin and Lance!!!!!! Love Ya'll!!

My One Year Old Hurts My Feelings

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So I have a one year old and she hurts my feelings. It feels good to say it out loud. I never in my wildest dreams thought that one day MY child might hurt my feelings. Especially my little angel that has only graced this earth with her presence for a year and a week. I mean don't get me wrong I know for a fact that I have hurt my moms feelings before. In fact, I'm sure I hurt my moms feelings when I was only a year old, but it doesn't make it any easier.

There are so many things that people don't tell you when you are A. thinking of starting a family or
B. pregnant. There needs to be a pamphlet given to each prospective/newly pregnant mommy-to-be outlining the crap beautiful things that you and your body will be going through for the next 9 months and then the 18 years after that. I know I am not the first person that has said that very line before, but yet I am sitting here wondering why I wasn't told that everything isn't always flowers and roses when it comes to pregnancy and child rearing.

It all started about two weeks before Emerson made her debut. I was looking at my very round belly in the mirror when I noticed a dark purple line starting to make its way up from the side of my belly button towards my ribs. Jared assured me it was just a vein showing through my very see through pale skin and that as soon as she was here I wouldn't even be able to see it any more. Being a first time mom who had never been pregnant before, I believed him. Here I am a year later and I am still waiting for that one (and several others) vein to disappear.

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So moving on to the hospital, literally only an hour of becoming a mommy, I was handed a squeeze bottle to use when I went to the restroom for the first time. I was thinking it was just an easy way to "clean up" after a long labor and delivery. No instructions came from the nurse other than "go to the restroom and use this as you pee." Everything was fine and dandy that first time. A little bit later, I was moved over to my post partum room and headed straight for the rest room without my squeeze bottle. HUGE MISTAKE!! I think all hell broke loose in the 5 minutes between me innocently going into the restroom and the nurse running in there with a warm shower head and solarcaine medicated spray. It would have been nice if the nurse had just said "here is this squeeze bottle. It will be your best friend for the next week. Don't enter the restroom without it." But...she didn't!

Lets not even get started on what your body looks like post baby. I think the post "10 Unrecognizable Post Baby Parts on Scary Mommy says it all:

My Dry-Shriveled Carrots. AKA, my breasts. After three years of breastfeeding, I got so talented that I could swing one behind my head and pass it around the minivan for anyone that needed a snack. I just asked that it be passed back before anyone got out of the car. (I do have some standards.) Now that my breastfeeding days are over, my breasts have been replaced by dried out, shriveled up baby carrots.

I think that if someone had sent me in the direction of Scary Mommy a year ago, I would probably be a lot better off! She says how it is and isn't afraid! :)

Once you get through the lovely 9 months of pregnancy, you go from being YOU one day to being a MOM the next. That doesn't sound that difficult but it's actually a hard thing to wrap your sleep deprived brain around.

I was listening to Kelly Rasberry on the radio the other morning, and she started to get emotional because she just doesn't know what to do with her seven year old's bad behavior. As I was listening I started to become a little emotional too. I connected with her. She isn't alone.  I realized that becoming a mommy has made me so insecure. I am constantly worrying about whether or not Emerson is ok, if I am doing a good job at this mommy thing, and even if she loves me.

Being a mom is a tough job. It's hard when your baby reaches for the babysitter when you go to pick her up instead of reaching for you. It's hard not to worry about that bump on your baby's head that definitely, no way, could NOT have been there yesterday. It's hard not to be embarrassed when you take your child to the doctor for said bump and he tells you "that's just her head." It's hard when google tells you that your child probably has cancer or some other equally horrifying problem. It's hard when your one year old slaps you across the face and you get YOUR feelings hurt. There is no easy way to put it. Being a mom is HARD. It's not for the birds. BUT! It's worth every second of it! It is hands down the best feeling in the world.

I think the number one thing you can do for a Mommy-to-be or a Mommy whether that Mommy is your friend, wife, sister co-worker, or even your own mommy is to tell her that she is doing a Good Job. Sometimes she just needs to hear it.

The second thing you can do for her is to tell her all the crap no one told her before she decided to become a mommy! :)

Sweet Emerson Pictures

I have to give it to photographers. Especially photographers who take pictures of babies! Emerson is nine months old and crazy as can be! She is in to everything and really hard to get a picture of. I was sweating by the end of our "session" and she was crying. I am sure this wont be the first time we do something like this and I sweat while she cries! :) Needless to say, I didn't get very many good ones, but I did get a few! 

 "Hold on Mom, I need to get this."

How is little possible/normal for a nine month old to know how to use an iphone?

Emerson's Pad

I recently took some pictures of Emerson's nursery. I am kicking myself for not taking them earlier when her crib was raised and when her bumpers were in it.  I love her room. It is so girly and delicate!! I cant believe that soon she will need a big girl room. She's growing so fast, I feel like she will be 18 next week! Here are some pics of her little girly oasis! :)

3 & 4 Months Old!

It has been non stop in the Brittain house since Christmas! We have been getting used to being back at work, planning wedding showers for my sister, hosting wedding showers, furniture shopping for our house that we have lived in for almost 2 years, being sick, and just enjoying the little babe as much as we can. It is so hard to believe that she will be 5 months old in about a week. She is growing and changing everyday. I think about what she will be like as a toddler and when she can talk, but she is so precious right now it makes me sad to think about her growing up so fast. I am going to soak it up as much as I can right now! Here is Emerson at 3 months and at 4 months old!

This summer when I was pregnant, I insisted that we had to have a nice camera so that we could have good pictures of our babe. Six months later, I still cant figure that thing out!! It drives me nuts that these two pictures are totally different colors. 

And is this picture not adorable of my girly?! She is just too cute for words!

Year in Review 2012

2012 was by far one of the best years of my life (for obvious reasons) so I thought it would be fun to do a year in review to highlight some of the best parts of 2012. Some months were clearly more thrilling than others! :)

January

On January 27, 2012 we found out that there was going to be a little Brittain joining our family. We had been praying for this to happen and we were so excited when it did! 

February

I dont really have a picture for February. I had been hit BAD with the morning aka all day sickness and we honestly did not do much! But there was one memorable moment in February. I got my first speeding ticket! I had made it 10 years without a speeding ticket and I got one going 73 in a 60! Such a bummer!!! 

March

In March we finally got to see our little bean for the first time! There is nothing like seeing your little baby bouncing around healthy as can be! 

April

In April, we found out that Baby Brittain was a girl! I had a feeling that she was but it was awesome getting confirmation! 

May

In May I got a new job! I was hired as a Reading Specialist at a new school! This was a HUGE answer to prayer. I honestly did not think it was going to happen for me because I was pregnant and showing during prime interview season, but it did and I was so happy! This is a picture of me on the day I had to teach a lesson in front of the principal to a group of second graders. Talk about nerve racking!!! 

June

In June,  I ended up teaching summer school for two extra weeks. I was sooo happy that I was going to be starting a new job, but I did enjoy most of the people that I worked with so it was a tiny bit bittersweet! 

July

July was a busy month around here! Jerry turned the dirty 30! His birthday is only two days away from my sisters birthday who also turned 30. We had a combined party and I was the awesome wife that stayed out until 2 am so that the old foagies had a sober ride home! 

On Jerry's birthday we also got to see little Emerson in 3d! It was so fun seeing what her little face looked like while she was still in my belly!

We also got to take a little trip to Port Aransas with our friends Levi and Kelly!

There is nothing better than a self timer pic! Ha!

August

August was a fabulous month! I started my new job at my new school and almost immediately felt at home! I dont think I have ever felt more welcomed in my life! 

The best part about August was that my sister Sarah got engaged!! We were all soo excited for her and Clay! 

In August, we also had Emerson's baby shower! 

September

September was spent getting ready for little Emerson! Jared's sister took our maternity pictures which turned out to be some of my favorite pictures of all time. 

We also had a baby shower for my friend Kelly. It was so fun having a friend that was pregnant at the same time as me and I loved being able to celebrate little Mabry! 

Jared also started a new job in September. He was hired as a Construction Manager for a large home builder! This was seriously the job of his dreams so we were so excited! 

October

October was obviously hands down the best month of 2012. Little Emerson Ryan Brittain made her appearance on October 12, 2012 at 2:03 in the morning! 

November

Little Em had her first Thanksgiving. We were so Thankful for this sweet girl!

December 

Jerry and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary this year on 12.12.12! To celebrate we took a little trip to New York City with Sarah and Clay! 

Emerson also had her first Christmas and not only was it her first Christmas but it was her first WHITE Christmas! 

2012 was SUCH a good year for us that I am sad to see it go! I hope that 2013 will be just as good to us!