Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Mother's Day












On Sunday, I celebrated my very first Mother's Day, which made me think about what kind of mother I want to be. I wasn't the girl who knew that all she ever wanted to be was a mother by the time she was twelve. I mean, I knew I wanted to be a mother eventually, but there were a lot of things I wanted to experience before I became a full-time nurturer. I had also set a goal that I would finish college before Gabe, with his help, and then we would start a family.  When I became a Psychology major, things really changed.  I started to wonder if I even wanted to have kids. I became all too aware of how much a parents influence can affect a child and their development.  I was so worried about what kind of influence I would be on my child's life and scared that I might affect my child negatively.  After talking with Gabe and watching a few of my close friends with their children, I started to become more open to the idea again. I reminded myself that I will never be a perfect mother. Everyone has their own parenting style and there isn't just one way to successfully raise a child, which is actually a beautiful thing and helps give the people of the world such vastly different personalities and perspectives. I started to realize what's most important is loving your child and constantly trying to do what is best for them, even when it's difficult.  I've been a mother for 10 months to my wonderful little daughter and everyday I fear that I am not being the best mother I can be. I'm constantly trying to better myself to become the best nurturer and teacher that I can be.  I am so very thankful for the opportunity that Heavenly Father has given me to be Anniston's mother. She is such an intelligent, gentle, curious, and feisty little girl, who I love to spend everyday with.  Motherhood comes with a lot of responsibility, but I can honestly say this; motherhood really is all it's cracked up to be. 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Anniston's 10 Months








Anniston at 10 months old weighs 19 lb 7 oz
  • Anni is officially crawling! Hooray! She started crawling about 3 weeks ago, we were so excited!
  • Climbing on everything is her favorite pastime. 
  • Loves chicken. I don't know how I'm going to explain to her that her grandparents chickens, that she loves so much, are the same things that she also loves to eat. 
  • Pretty much refuses to let me feed her, because she wants to do it herself.  No more purees for this little grown up, only finger foods. 
  • Obsessed with music, she mostly likes Jack Johnson and island/reggae music, because she listens to it with her daddy every night, but likes anything with a beat that she can clap to.
  • Her vocabulary hasn't changed much since last month; however, she did say "tank you" twice and "pony" once.  Sadly, I only have witnesses for the latter. 
  • Cows are her new barn yard buddies.
  • Loves picking flowers and playing in the dirt.
  • Is a pretty well-traveled 10 month old.  She has been on a plane 4 times and traveled to Utah and Vegas twice and all over the Northern California coast. 
  • Attempts to mimic everything Gabe or I do.
  • Likes to look at books all by her big girl self. It's so precious and makes my bookworm heart smile. 
  • Is starting to become quite friendly toward people, as long as one of her parents is very close by.

Photography by Daddy

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Welcoming Baby Blaklee












This past weekend, we ventured to Utah to meet Anniston's new cousin.  We were all pretty excited to meet little baby Blaklee and she did not disappoint.  She is seriously so adorable and tiny!  I've been told Blaklee looks a lot like Anniston.  You can decide for yourself, but all I can say is those Lawrence genes are strong! It's so fun to see the Lawrence/Bare family growing so much.  Anniston has another little baby girl cousin joining the Lawrence family in August.  I just love that all our little girls are going to be so close in age.  10 months ago, Gabe's parents only had two granddaughter's and they will soon have 5 granddaughters and have yet to have a grandson.  Anniston still needs to meet her two beautiful cousins in Louisiana.  However, with it being the first time meeting/terorizing her little cousin, Blaklee, she seemed pretty content.  Hopefully all of the cousins can meet when we visit in August to welcome the next Lawrence addition. We are so incredibly happy for Blaklee's parents, Lindsey and Brandon!  They are wonderful with their beautiful baby girl and you can definitely feel the emense love they have for their daughter.  


One For the Cows





















While we were in Utah, we stumbled upon a quaint little public farm.  We decided to venture in, figuring Anniston would enjoy hanging out with some farm animals. Now, I was always a cliché little girl and ponies were my favorite farm animal.  Anniston, however, could pretty much have cared less about the ponies,  she was all about the cows.  She was in love from the moment she set her little eyes on those black and white beauties. Before we made our way over to where the cows lived, we stopped at the horses.  We tried to encourage Anniston to pet one of them, but she wasn't going for it.  But as soon as she saw the cows, she was reaching her little hands out as far as she could, trying to give one a pat.  It was so cute! We also got to milk a cow, which was pretty cool, and a little messy.   Anniston just assisted Gabe by petting Francis to keep her calm during the milking process. The farm was definitely a hit for Anniston!