The Memmott House of Awesome: November 2014

This Thanksgiving, I have an awful lot to be thankful for. For one, I have my beautiful daughter who lights up my life and brings so much joy and happiness to my pretty boring life. Secondly, my husband. He pours up with crazy ol' me and somehow manages to make me laugh when I don't want to. He truly is the best husband I could have asked for. Lastly, I am gratefully for the Lord's tender mercies in disguise. We were supposed to be in Utah for Thanksgiving, but due to some unexpected things at John's work, we had to cancel last minute. And boy was I mad. We decided to go up next week, instead of just canceling, and it is a huge blessing. This is the first Thanksgiving I will have with my family in 5 years, we'll be able to spend time with some of John's family who would have been out of town this weekend (and they'll get to meet Eloise), I'll be able to go to a pretty awesome woman's wedding next weekend, and the list continues. I was pretty excited to be in Utah this week, but I'm glad that the Lord had a different plan.

Overall, this Thanksgiving I am grateful for my family. And because I couldn't pick just one family picture, here are a few, or all of them :)

6 months ago, I was holding my daughter, or staring at my husband holding her while in the hospital. I just became a mom a few hours prior, and I had no clue what I was in for. Over the past 6 months, so many changes have happened to my little family, and so many lessons were learned.

First and foremost, I didn't know our bodies were capable of running on such little sleep. Eloise has always slept in her crib and slept fairly well from the beginning. As a newborn, she would sleep for up to 4 hour stretches. Then we left the "4th trimester" as my sister calls it, and by the time she was around 3 1/2-4 months, she decided to wake up every 2-2.5 hours to eat. And boy that sucked. She eventually got back to a 4 hour stretch schedule, and the last week or so has only been waking up once to eat, sometimes not at all. But our bodies really are remarkable!

Second, and a very close second at that, it is beyond my comprehension how you can love something so much. When I was pregnant, I knew that I loved our daughter because you just..do. After watching her grow over the last 6 months, my loves grows exponentially each day. I can't put it in words how much I love her.

Next, what baby wants, baby gets. Plain and simple, no real explanation necessary.

Lastly, moms are bullies (not all moms are). I am not one to pick my child up a split second after she starts crying (unless she is obviously hurt). Nor do I rock her to sleep anymore. Sure, there are some nights where I have a hard time putting her in her crib because I just want to snuggle her all night long. But she goes to bed slightly awake, just like any other human being. And after voicing some of my parenting styles to other moms, a lot of shaming and bashing ensued. You can read more about it here.

Some fun facts about Eloise:

1. She loves her toes.

2. She definitely knows who her mom is, and will scream if a stranger holds her (or in the case of her doctor's appt this morning, if the stranger touches her face.)

3. She is really happy in the morning.

4. She has 2 teeth, and got the Allred genes, measuring in the 95th percentile for height (for the 6th consecutive month).

5. She loves when daddy tickles her with his beard.

6. She loves, and I mean LOVES our puppies, and will stare at them all the time.

7. She still hates being on her tummy.

8. She loves when you clap.

9. She will stick her hand and arm out toward you as if she is waving.

10. She is afraid of the dark, but only in the car.

Well enough about me babbling on about the last 6 months, enjoy some pictures of my Eloise :)