Has it truly been almost 6 weeks since I have last posted? This is a new record for me of course one I would not like to reach again. Since I have decided that this will be used as Autumn's virtual baby book, I want to keep things as current as I can for her sake to have something to look back on and for Chris and I as parents to reflect on how one week can go by and she can change so much! And I thought the belly changes week to week were drastic, it's amazing how week-to-week our Nutmeg begins to transform from Newborn, to Baby, to having characteristics of a little person!
These past few weeks have been a whirlwind and I feel as if I have been stuck in the new mommy timewarp! It's amazing how each day can seemingly slip by and move onto the next and before I know it another week has passed and Autumn is one week older! And speaking of the little gem, here she is in all her glory. She's more gorgeous each and every day it seems and the little smiles are just getting more and more plentiful! She looks so much like her daddy I am wondering if the day will come when she will start to have some of my similar features!
Just a month ago Meg and Jenna were in town and already it seems like an eternity! It was a weekend of celebrating Meg's bachelorette party (low-key style!) and Autumn's arrival and it couldn't have come at a better time. We had the luxury of staying out on Navarre Beach in a condo overlooking the Gulf and it brought back a flood of memories for Chris and I. The last time we stayed overlooking the Emerald waters was for our honeymoon 6 years ago!
What is even harder to fathom is that 1 year ago Chris and I were here in our lives celebrating our five year anniversary...
~Wichita Wildlife Refuge Mountains, Oklahoma~
And then along came our little angel..
Incredible how time flies. Fast forward and now Chris and I have moved onto our next chapter of our lives, James and Jenna just began theirs almost 1 year ago and Meg and Micah are about to embark on their next phase as husband and wife in May of this year. It was a weekend of reflecting back to our roots. A weekend where we identified every single rendezvous that we had over the past years and there have been quite a few!
~ From Aggieville Manhattan, KS December 2006~
~To Dupont Circle, Washington D.C. March 2008~
~To Melbourne, FL July 2008~
~To Navarre Beach October 2011, Autumn cooking!~
It's amazing all the changes that we have been through in each others lives over the years and affirming to know how special Autumn is to them already after just one visit! Not that I ever expected any different, but the entire weekend that we spent together embracing all of the happy times (and crying times! ) of little Autumn made me realize that our friendships are strengthened now more than ever as Chris and I embark on this journey through parenthood. One thing is for certain, this little girl has plenty of love floating around her and I couldn't be more happy as a new mama. To know that your daughter is loved so much, so deeply already has to be one of the best feelings in the world. To love and to be loved....it's essential to the very essence of life and is something that Chris and I deeply hope to be able to pass onto Autumn over the years.
~To Pensacola March 2012 + Autumn!~
In the midst of all the catching up we have had to do since October when we last saw one another, Autumn also managed to squeeze in her first 5k! She was a champ as expected and slept the entire way through, loud Irish music, drunken debauchery and all! We have continued on with our life just as Chris and I planned including her in it every step of the way. And we wouldn't have it any other way.
Here's some other pictures from our weekend getaway...
They call her 'Mrs. Personality'
I received a suggestion this weekend while sitting and having a mojito at the Fishouse with several of my mom's friends and I truly thought it was an ingenious idea~track Autumn's personality traits over the months! Yes, Autumn was present for her first ever 'bar' experience with 'Grandma-ma' but I boast that the Fishouse is an incredibly classy place and completely appropriate for a baby! Autumn and I danced the night away to Dave Matthew Band, Coldplay, Jack Johnson and a little bit of everything in between. She had the biggest grin on her face the entire time and garnered the attention of many sitting and watching in awe at how good of a baby she genuinely is. The girl loves to dance and I brag that she gets it from her daddy! So without further adieu, things that we notice about the little sprite already as she embraces her 3rd month of life....
- she's a noise maker!--she snores when she sleeps, grunts when she wants to be fed or given her paci (pacifier!), and is just in general and all around talker on a daily basis. She's going to be a social butterfly!
- Her smile is contagious!--Ok, perhaps every new mom brags that their child has the best smile but she truly does have one that even on my most tired of mornings gives me an extra pep in my step and makes everything worthwhile! We can't wait for the laugh to begin accompanying those smiles!
- She is a DOER!--She loves to play with things in her hands, she loves to be busy, busy going from one 'station' to the next after 15 minutes of play or so and loves nothing more to be bounced on her exercise ball while she takes in all the sights and sounds around her.
- She's a gazer--SO observant, of everything around her. What can I say, the girl has good situation awareness already and that is something they don't teach you in school! She is going to make a fantastic adventure race partner someday. I have a feeling she'll be reading the terrain like a pro!
- She LOVES the outdoors- On a day when I am home with her there are many moments when Pandora will be blaring some Matisyahu or Coldplay in the background and if she gets a little fussy I instantly take her outside and just start dancing with her on the pergula. I'm sure the neighbors get a kick out of it if they could see me but Autumn can't get enough of the fresh air on her little rosy cheeks, the blue sky and the smell of Jasmine as it tickles her nose. A girl after mom and dad's own hearts. We can't wait to load her up in the Jerry pack and hit the trails for some Spring time hikes!
It is incredible how Autumn has made Chris and I reflect on so much in our lives. Does having children really do this to most parents? It's amazing how over the months we forget what our lives were like without her. We now define things as 'pre-baby' and 'post-baby' and even looking at pictures in our house when it was just the two of us seems so unbelievable because the new photos that I have been putting up are of Autumn or the three of us~our new family.
One thing that has really been on my mind lately is finally telling Autumn's 'Birth Story'. It's so important to me to document how she came into this big world and something that Chris and I want to take time on in the next few weeks to truly reminese back into the hospital and tell her story of life and love. I hope to start the first of what will be a series of posts because while my pregnancy went without a hitch, delivery was not as glorious, nor as smooth as I desired it to be. I learned so many valuable life lessons from it though that have forever changed me as a mom and a woman. Lessons that I hope to be able to pass onto others that embark on the beautiful path that is bringing life into this world. I am a person that is drawn to the light, to the optimism and to the brighter side of everything (hence the name of my blog, Mt. Brightside) that never did I believe things would go anything but as perfect as possible when we walked inside those hospital doors to welcome our new little bundle of joy. Life doesn't throw anything at you that you can't handle I believe and through all the imperfections that comprised Autumn's entrance into the world, we have a beautiful, healthy and completely thriving little girl that Chris and I can't get enough of.
Next Up, Autumn's Birth Story Part 1.....Contractions begin!
