oh sweet archer

oh my dear archer.

not only do i wish i could freeze time, i wish i could rewind.

most of your first year i feel like i've just been trying to survive and get through the day.

i wanted to be more for you.

and then, as quick as i speak so harshly to myself, critiquing myself in the worst way, i'm reminded...

God chose ME to be your momma.

He has orchestrated every tiny detail that has unfolded and still is yet to unfold in our story, a story we share.

and my dear archer, you're a beautiful gift, a ray of sunshine, in my life.

i avoided blogging most of your milestones, because in a way i thought if i didn't blog about them, time would slow down...i always thought i would catch up...and then the next month came.

you're almost 11 months now, but here in these photos, you're a sweet little 5 month old.

you were full of giggles and squeals.  i have some pretty good videos of your laughter.  

and it's the sweetest sound i have ever heard.

you ate around the clock, in fact, you ate more during the night than the day.

that's part of why this year has been so hard.

until you were 10.5 months old, you were still eating at least 3 times a night. 

i felt like most of those months i was walking around in a tired baby haze.

however, i know that God sent your shiny eyes, your big beautiful smile, and your vibrant personality to pick me up and help me to find laughter and joy in a dark season for me.  

you're beautiful, my son.

inside, and out. 

even at 5 months...i am so confident God has began a good work in you, and i'm beyond overwhelmed with excitement to watch, to mold, and to cheer you on as He will be faithful to complete it.

most of your days were spent watching your brother play, you nursed anytime i would let you, and you were attacked by my tickles all day errrrr day, because i couldn't get enough of your laughter.  

it was august when you were 5 months, and we spent most of our days watching your brother bask in the great outdoors.  you love your brother so SO much, and i know a flame was lit inside of you, even as a baby, that drives you to adore him unconditionally.  your connection with him is deeper than words can describe, and i am so grateful to be given the gift of motherhood, so i can watch in awe as your relationship with my sweet roman begins to bloom.

thank you, archer, for your joy.

on my current season of life.

hello?
hello??
is anybody out there???
is anyone reading this???
did you all run away and flag this blog as "boring blog"???
it's ok if you did!!! i've been a bit boring lately, i know :)

well. i'm here. i'm still here. and, i'd like to warn you: this post is long. (and it's sort of all over the place......)

let's see. where shall i begin?
ok, let's back up to my spring break, in the middle of march.

have you ever driven a 4 hour trip with a baby? by yourself?
well, it's actually about 5.5 hours. because you have to stop for him to eat. and poop. and play.

but don't worry. the drive time you waste while stopping is clearly made up for when you realize your foot is pushed, pedal to the medal, because of the intense cry coming from the backseat. yes, i used to 'drive fast' because i was listening to some fly beats. now? its when roman is using his 'baby talk' to tell me he is DONE being in his carseat, aka: screaming.

roman isn't typically a screamer, he's a rather happy baby. but no one likes to be in a carseat after 4 hours. so, 5.5 is pushin' it.
needless to say, we were greeted with a very excited grammy. and a new pair of shades.
romes, you're cool. so very cool.

roman got some great giggles in.
anytime you start nibbling on him......whether it's his belly, his ears, his neck, his toes? yep. he's a giggle monster.

and when he wasn't giggling with grams? he was chillin with gramps.
just catchin a little fox news. nbd. (nbd? oh, that's short for no big deal, k dad? hehehehe)

roman decided that he is, in fact, infatuated with the bath tub.
especially the one at grammy's house.

and what the heck, he now has two new bff's
blog friends: meet rubber ducky, and octopus.

we even had a fun visit from roman's other grammy, and his uncle cameron!
boy, that cam, he's sure entertaining, huh romes?!!
you could play with him for hours :)

one morning, we went into town. let me explain......my parents live in the country. and our town (of 1300 people) is about 5 miles away. so for 'civilization', aka bakery/grocerystore/gas/subway, we 'go into town'.
we met my cousin kate, and her little hudson (on the right) and our friend whitney, and her little brexton (on the left) at the bakery!!!

and the other guest?
the guest of honor?
great grammy rath.
the bakery is totally her hangout. so we got to spend a sweet little morning there with her!

then, on thursday?
dun..... dun...... dun.......
cute, loveable, happy, goofy, giggly baby?
not-so-much.
NOTSOMUCH.

romes got sick.
like, i won't sleep - sick.
like, i wanna scream - sick.
like, i will drool everywhere and slam things into my mouth it hurts so bad - sick.
like, now i have a rash on my face - sick.
like, i won't nurse - and mom couldn't pump enough - so must run into town and get some formula - sick.
like, i won't do anything but be pushed around in this stroller - sick.

yeah, so what's harder than trying to make a sick baby feel better at home?
trying to make a sick baby feel better when you are NOT home.
and you don't have your husband.
and you don't have any teething medicine.
and you only have a little tylenol. and you don't get sleep......... whoofta.

but as i look back, i realize, it wasn't just the 'roman is being really difficult right now'............
no, it was that he was fussy all day on thursday. and thursday night, all night. and then all day on friday.........and on friday night. AND i was supposed to be in lincoln on friday night.
i was supposed to be helping prepare for carrie's shower.
i was supposed to be making food
i was supposed to be hanging out with the girls.
it was friday night - i hadn't planned to be at my parents house, having not showered for 2 days, trying to maintain sanity with a sick baby. but i was.
and that's where i was supposed to be.

that's my season of life right now.

it's hard for me to hear about my friends, doing things that i can't do, because i'm a mom now.
i have a priority..... another life to take care of.
in the past, i was the social queen. there wasn't an event i would miss.
it's hard now. i've put events on my calendar, only to watch them drift by, unattended.

well............. saturday morning rolls around. and thank goodness God gave me a bit of grace - roman seemed to be feeling a bit better. even though we were up all night......we were off, on our way to lincoln, by mid-morning.

we met at the shower venue. i was so excited to hang up the bunting roman's babysitter and i made :)

and lay out the poms, and the extra fabric for our center pieces :)

finally, the room was ready to go. it looked great.
AND........we had about 3 hours until we needed to back in time for the shower.

so,
all the other girls went home. to shower. to freshen up. to WASH THEIR HAIR.....
what should i do. what should i do. that phrase rang through my mind........ i don't know, i don't know!!!.......i forgot shoes to wear with my dress - so i needed to go get some. my toenails hadn't been painted in who knows how long......my HAIR!?? i hadn't showered in now 3 days...... and YUCK i'm so white. i don't wanna wear a dress with this pasty skin!???.........oh WAHHHhh but i have ROMAN! he needs to take a nap, and YIKES! i need to pump so that he will have a bottle while i'm at the shower........and my HAIR!?!??! and breathe. breathe. breathe.........
one. thing. at. a. time.

so i went to have some lunch with sam.
and what'do'ya'know, God gave me a little more grace - roman fell asleep on the way.
hooooray.
next, it was off to von maur. get me some feet candy.
sam was going to bring me some polish.
mom and dad were on their way, and would meet me at von maur.
dad watched romes while mom helped me pick out some shoes.
then it was off to the hotel room. mom and dad were going to watch little romes, while i was at the shower.......so i QUICKly through on my dress.
touched up my makeup.
and still didn't shower........shhhhhh...........
let's not discuss my hair.
k?

arriving at a wedding shower with 3 day old hair. that wasn't fixed. and white pasty skin. and feeling fat? (just added the last one for kicks) well, that's just my season of life right now.


and, even though i felt SO self-conscious the whole evening.....
and, even though i despised my peek into the bathroom mirror, because i felt yucky about what i saw......
and, even though i felt surrounded by bronze beautiful, young, vibrant women who weren't wearing nursing bras, who had fresh bouncy hair, and who weren't secretly fretting about how their sick little baby was doing back at the hotel..............

even though i was feeling all of those awful things,
i had a blast.
it took a bit (yes ashley, i WAS a bit out of it for a while....) but i snapped out of my pitty party.
i had a blast.
i snuck away to the hotel for a bit to pump a bottle for romes.
and then i went back out with the girls.
i had a blast.
we stayed out til 1am....... 1 AM!!!!!
i had a blast.

needless to say, my 1:30am bedtime was greeted with a 5:00 am wake time by little rome.
yep, we were up and att'em. WAY.too.early.
we had some breakfast with my parents, and then we hit the road.
longest.drive.home. EVER.
mr. leif welcomed us home, with open arms.

moving on...........
why else haven't i been blogging very often??
well, i've been quite preoccupied.
with this little boobiebutt (i know, weird name, but it just rolls off my tongue)
we're raising a lil' hawk fan. rock chalk, jayhawk, go KU!!!
(mr. leif would say he's total husker. but i'm not opposed to ku)

and guess what else is cool?
this blanket.
from THIS GIRL.
she made it.
she sent it to romes.
she made my heart happy.

romedizzle is quite fond of it too.
look at the little 'R' on the tree :)
ahhhhhhhh.
and it says 'little leif'
ahhhhhhhh.

......for the past month, i've been in hiding.
i've lost touch with friends.
i've been rude to mr leif.
i've been stressed out to the max at work.
i've been overwhelmed with all of my final assignments before my may graduation.
i've been on overload trying to prepare for my comprehensive exams.
i've been a bad friend (did i say that one yet?)
i've felt guilty about the pathetic job i'm doing at work.
i've been missing roman each day i'm not home.
i've been slowly losing my milk supply, due to not having enough time to pump at work.
i've had mastitis (WORSE.PAIN.EVER).
i've had strep throat.

and that is all just a part of the season of life i am in right now.

i don't like the person i am right now.
but i know i will improve.

he makes me happy.

his sweaty, bead-head, nappy-hair-after-naptime makes me happy.

a visit from grammy abbi makes me happy.

an insta-smile baby makes me happy.

a little cheesehead makes me happy.

skyping with my sissy and niecey charlotte makes me happy.

a chill little dude, hangin on my couch makes me happy.

and a husband..........
who loves me,
who takes care of me,
who is proud of me,
who loves his baby,
who loves his babymomma,
makes me happy.


i've been absent from this blog and i apologize. it's just a busy season of life for me.

i feel the weight lifting though. i do i do.
the first weekend in may i GRADUATE!
the last week of may our elementary school lets out for SUMMER!

i've recently added a goal, to my 'lifegoals' list:
that would be to simplify my life.
what better time to set this goal, then when it's at it's busiest.

i'm really looking forward to the weekend.
we're off to omaha for a wedding.
a wedding that my WHOLE family (on my mom's side) will be at.
a wedding that will have us ALL staying in the same hotel at the same time.
a wedding that will allow romes to experience his first big swimming pool experience.
a wedding that will promote dancing. and laughter. and fancy dresses and high heels.
a wedding that i will wear red lipstick too. or maybe pink?
a wedding that will bring a smile to my face.

i'm in love with this season of life.
it's where God has me right now.
i'll live it to the fullest.

besties.

"mom!!! me and dad are hangin out, go away!!!"
"but romes, i wanna play too!"

"mom, sorry, but we're havin a guys only time"
"ok, fine, but at least let me get the camera a take a few snaps!"

"alright, i'll give you a few smiles then!"
"oh you so cute! you little squiggly thing!!!"
"ahhhhhh - get that flash outta here lindsey, it's blinding me!!!" (mr. leif)

"ok, dad, what are we gonna do with mom, and that darn camera!?!!!"

"i don't know romes. i guess we'll have to just put up with it. there's no stoppin'er"

"ha, HA! i caught you two again!"

"ok mom, for real, i just woke up. now get that camera outta here!!"

"dad's workin and i'm watchin the game, can't you go eat a rootbeer float or something??!"

"yes, romes, i'll leave you two alone now!!"

yogie yogie, frozen yogie.

we have a new frozen yogurt shop just BLOCKS from our house.
so, we aren't gonna just sit on our bums and dream about it.
no way. no way.
we're goin on a walk.
him. me. and the babe.
headin' out to get us some yogie.

hello romedizzle, snoop-romy-rizzle.

ummy yummy yumz.

no romes. you can't have any.
even if you make cute faces like that.
this is just for grown ups.
sorry.

ps.
i'm rather excited about our food joints around our house.
just a few blocks away, we now have this yogie place, a new da'bronx pizza, and a runza!!!!! and crap, they're all just across the street from hobby lobby.........so i guess when romes and i are walking to get our snacks this summer, we might just be browsin the hob lob as well. hello craft fund - thou wilt be wiped out. and soon.

rollin'

hello blog friends!
have i been absent for a week? oh my, i have!
well, time flies when you're havin fun........and when you spend a week back home in nebraska!
yep, it was my spring break - so i headed north.
yuck, north? who heads north for a spring break??
isn't spring break supposed to be a 'head south' sort of deal??? south padre?? florida?? cabo??
not anymore.
not for this momma.
i guess when you get old things change :)

i'll be back later this week to talk about my beautiful week at home.
but for now,
i'm rollin' out. it's the start of my workweek - and i'm attacking this week like rambo.
like a ninja.
a la jackie chan. "hiiiiiii-YAH!!!!!"
i'm gonna karate chop this week in half. i'm dominating it. day by day, by day, by day (meet the parents?? greg's prayer?? do ya read me, folks??).

...

wanna know who else is rollin'?
romediggity.
romedoubt.


...

9 weeks people.
9 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (you know, until SCHOOLS out for the SUMMA!!!!!)

deckin' it.

methinks we'll be hangin' on the deck all.summer.long.
(well.......before and after our daily trip to the pool, duh!!!)

hello guys.

silly head.

squiggle butt.

gooochy goooochy goooochy gooooooooooooooooo

happy monday sweet friends, happy monday.