Celebrate

Well, I'm not even sure how to write a post with a week's worth of updates, oh wait… my life is fairly simple. I can. The best highlight was a finished kitchen table. Man it's so nice to get that checked off. The lesson learned was that enamel paint is oil based & that does not mix well with water based poly, doi! I also found some linen fabric that I made into the table runner. It's good enough… The second best thing was Mr Smith saying (texting) he wanted to surprise me with a Christmas tree, but since I brought it up we went ahead and shopped for one. We originally planned on a real tree so that we didn't have to store one, but $$$ won out & we took home a display tree from Target for $45 so that worked out well. No fluffing! DG only had colored lights left, but since we only had 5 ornaments any way, the colors add some . . . variety. This tree will very well become the kid's tree & I'm sure more "colorful" ornaments will be added in the years to come. So yay! Aren't we festive? Mr Smith just thinks this every holiday has become way too commercialized, which I agree, but I still like to have the feeling of the holiday in my home. I don't care if the marketing is winning, we have a tree. I will wait until after Christmas for all the extras for next year. 

Since I was a little down the previous week from not feeling like we spend quality time together outside of the home, Mr Smith tried to help do a little more with me this week. He's such a stunner. This whole motherhood thing is still a work in progress. It's hard to explain. I love it, I wouldn't trade it, but it's hard at times (it builds up) because it's so simple.  I love the relative flexibility, the comfort, & independence, but you have to keep up with any mental stimulation because talking to a 7 month old has limitations. And I don't want to just throw up on Mr Smith when he comes home to relax and I'm just like some kid in a candy store telling him to hold me, listen to me, talk to me, skip with me, etc… Doing what mothers do is hard work, but it's work most people can do they just don't want to do every day. So insert me who is more than okay with giving up any career. Mr Smith is much better at that than me. But I still haven't made cooking & cleaning my most desired responsibilities either. However, motherhood comes in stages too. I'll never get back this stage of first-timer, one 7 month old baby ever again. They grow & evolve & you grow & evolve with them & then perhaps more kids comes & throw everything into chaos and then comes the words "work" & "hard" & "meltdown" Motherhood can definitely be emotionally trying. I guess that's how I can word it.  But it's the best thing you can ever do & I stand by that.

B A B Y U P D A T E: Although she has no idea she is even saying it, "Mama" came out first. She only says it when she is whining. It's great. And she whines often because she gets frustrated she can't crawl. But I still won out over "dada." Don't let Mr Smith play it down. Nothing else has really changed besides a later bedtime due to fussiness from teething/being sick. I guess I should note that too - she got her first cold this week. So her cough wakes her causing issues sometimes. But I'm not feeding her until 6-8am so I hope that we're finally committed.

I want to complete Part II of the What Happens Next. sorry for getting so behind. But posts like that take a little more brain power than I tend to muster right before bedtime or with a fussy baby in the background. But I want it to come next because it is what this season is all about. We always get too caught up in what we're getting or giving for Christmas. We forget why we even do it in the first place.

before & after . . .

this is the side project where we took our old desk, stripped it & painted it white on top for my crafts =)

they were stand-ins while I tested the light. Mr Smith "I don't want any pictures of me taken because you post them"

 and that is ice cream on her mouth ladies & gentlemen… ICE CREAM!?!

Mom also came up on Saturday. To end the week, Mr Smith took me to the Hickory Choir Concert. Apparently it's a fairly well known choir in the area & they sang at a nearby Corinth Reformed Church. I of course just enjoyed getting out, dressing up for an occasion & getting in the holiday Christmas spirit. On the way home, Mr Smith said I didn't want his opinion. But I'm ALWAYS curious what Mr Smith thinks after musical performances. It's funny to watch them with people who can actually tell when instruments are off-time & singers go off tune. My only complaint is sitting still for 2 hours.

And this is my nativity village Mr Smith helped me put up & take down for the Celebration of Christ that also went on this weekend. Lots of different nativities, which is cool to see.