Our Second Son.... A Beautiful Gift

It's been almost a year sens my last post. I've been afraid. Afraid to speak. Afraid of what may come out. Afraid that writing about it may make it more real, more absolute, more definite, more heart breaking, more unreal, more devastating, more my story. Today I break the silence, but not about that. Not today... Not yet.

Today I'm not afraid. Not afraid to speak. Not afraid of what will come out. Not afraid to make this more real, more definite, more amazing, more beautiful, more incredible, more my life. Today I'm not afraid to tell you about the most beautiful gift God's given our family this year. Today I'm not afraid, rather I'm EXCITED! I'm excited to introduce our precious son... Our second son... Our sweet baby boy "Gage Anthony Nichols" the newest addition to our precious family.

Three weeks after my Dad passed away we were driving home from a family dinner for my 29th birthday. It was the first time we had been together as a "family" (a word that has a whole new meaning now that Dad is gone) and it had been very special, but also a very difficult night for me.  I was in my own world when we stopped at Walgreen's on our way home. I don't remember what we we're getting, but David noticed that pregnancy tests were on sale and decided we should grab a couple (always looking to save buck when we can). I wasn't planning to take it that night, but when Dave suggested it I didn't fight him on it. I sat it on the counter and went along with my nightly routine, still trying to wrap my mind around what had just been my first "family" birthday without my Dad, not thinking or hovering over the test. When I caught a glimpse of the test on the counter  a few minutes later I picked it up, took a peek, and FAINTED... Ummmm ok maybe I didn't fall flat on the floor, but I did on the inside. What a SURPRISE! What a GIFT! What a MIRACLE! We were having a baby!!!!  Suddenly I felt like my Dad had been with me on my birthday, just in a whole new way. It was October 23 -the day before my 29th Birthday.

We'll skip over the 10 months of throwing up, my being the classic "pregnant nightmare" and jump right to the good stuff. The stuff where our precious baby boy decided to make his entrance into the world and into our family.

On June 27th, 2012 at 11:50pm I was laying on the bed watching a movie with Dave when  suddenly my water broke (I was pretty sure that I was wetting the bed, only for my sweet husband to lovingly remind me that I was pregnant and due in less then 10 minutes so it was very likely my water breaking).  I called the Dr and my midwife answered the phone. She sweetly listened as I explained what was going on and then softly said these words....."Sounds great Taylor! What I would like you to do is go ahead and go to bed now and try to get a good nights rest. Plan on coming into the hospital around 9am tomorrow." I stare blankly at Dave and I'm pretty sure a minute went by before she said "Does that sound ok?" I say "Um... Uh huh..." followed by a LONG pause.  Liane, our midwife, says "It's likely you may end up starting contractions and needing to come in before then, but do your best to get a full nights sleep and we'll just plan on having a baby tomorrow!" I hung up the phone and kinda started to process what she said. Not the part where she said "Go to bed," but the part where she said "We'll plan on having a baby tomorrow!"

Our Precious Midwife "Liane"

I started walking around, thinking about everything I HAD to get done before I had a baby the next day. So much to do, so little time, such a big change.. It's like everything compiled into one moment. One BIG moment where the reality that we we're becoming a family of four was about to be REAL! I'll skip over ironing, packing, showering, calling family, re-packing and just go to the part where I actually did get a pretty good nights sleep! I slept from 2am -5:30am before I woke up with the start of contractions. I rested on the couch until around 7am so David could continue to sleep (a WELL rested husband is the biggest gift you can have in labor) and then we started getting ready to head to the hospital. Kerry and Kaiden (my precious sister-in-love and my niece) had come over around 1am so someone would be here with Zane in case we had to leave in the middle of the night, so I was completely relaxed about him having a normal (well a lot more fun then our "normal") morning routine and was ready to go meet our new baby boy. We stopped to pick up breakfast at  my favorite breakfast spot and then headed to St. David's North Austin Medical Center to meet baby Gage!

I could write an entire post on the next 4 hours and I think I will, so I'll only give the cliff notes on what happened next. We arrived. Ate breakfast in the car. Went to our room. Got settled. Contractions start hurting BAD at 10:30 and I start the inner dialogue of "why on this earth do you want to have this baby naturally?" Contractions get WORSE and our sweet nurse keeps saying things like "That's awesome.. Just what we want... Great work" as she calmly walks around the room getting things ready for Gage to arrive. Noon rolls around and the nurse asks if I would like Dr. Campaigne to come back. I confidently respond "YES!" 12:15 Campagine arrives. I'm preparing myself to hear something like "Great work Taylor, your at a 4" when she says "Awesome job, your at a 8 and I'm not leaving this room till we have a baby!" 12:50 Gage Anthony Nichols arrives!

More to come soon ;)

Click here to see pictures of his arrival!!!

"Have You Ever Been In Love"

"Have You Ever Been In Love" is "our song." It's the song David and I shared our first dace, the one that played right after we said "I love you" for the first time, and the one that still describes the way I feel about him. I'm seriously tearing up just writing this and thinking about how much more my love has grown and matured sense this became "our song.

My husband has been on a hunting safari in South Africa for the past two weeks and I've had time to reflect on all the things that make him my hero, my best friend and my soul mate. How is it that we so easily loose track of the things we dreamed of and hoped for in our teens? For me, that was a hero. A man I could grow old with, someone I could share my heart with, who would understand and inspire me, a person I would refer to as my soul mate. I knew I wanted this, but I didn't really realize how much I needed it, or how lucky I would be to actually find it! I did find it and I it's taken me 7 years to realize how truly amazing it is that I did, how inspired and ordained by God our union is and how incredibly fortunate I am to have it! The dating story, our engagement and the first year of marriage will have to be saved for another post, today I want to talk about our love... The cold hard truth of how very much I LOVE my husband.

David..... I didn't even really like his name when I met him. I thought, "Dull, boring! I'm so not the girl married to a David, I'm much more of the Dexter, Declyn, or Dallas type of gal." Little did I know that David means "Beloved." Seem like God knew a little better then I did, eh? I'd prayed for a "beloved," wished for a "beloved" and even looked for a "beloved" but when it was staring me in the face I decided he didn't look or sound like I expected him to. This method of my "madness" has continued to be a theme throughout our relationship ie: My plan vs God's plan, my idea vs. His idea, my vision vs. His vision, my limited understanding vs. His incredible understanding, my little faith and His OVERWHELMING LOVE. When I look back and really think about this I'm humbled that He has given me so much. I am so undeserving of the depth, the connection and the abundant love I get to experience with my husband. I'm so unworthy of the partnership that we have and the friendship we share, yet God has bestowed it on me freely. The gift of His grace has exhibited itself in so many ways, far beyond the amazing gift He has given me in my salvation and I'll forever be grateful. God has used my marriage as a tool to strengthen and clarify my faith. Thank you.

My "Beloved" David is incredible. He's kind, caring, brave, determined, intelligent, and wise. He is confident, yet humble; he's opinionated, yet he honors the opinions of others; he is driven, yet unafraid to make changes or reevaluate the original plan. My husband is a man of character and moral value. He will do the right thing at all costs. The integrity in which he exhibits personally, professionally, as a husband and father astound me on a daily basis. My husband is more then just an incredible man, he is an incredible friend. He isn't afraid of change, and if confronted with something he can do better or an area to work on in himself the man will tackle it head on. This man is my best friend. He inspires me and encourages me everyday. He shares my joys and sorrows, listens to my fears, validates my crazy ideas, guides me to truth, loves me unconditionally and leads our family with passion and purpose.

I wanted to do something romantic for David while he was on his trip, so I decided to take pictures that represented things I would miss about him while he was gone. It was a therapeutic thing for me to do and has made me very conscious of everything I enjoy sharing with him. I've continued to think about these things while he's been gone and I'll list a few:
Watching TV - it's so much more fun when you can talk about, make fun of or learn things together.
Sleeping - the way he lets me tuck my foot under his leg just before I fall asleep and how safe that makes me feel.
Bathing Zane - Laughing at his quarks together is so much more fun then doing it alone.
Taking on the phone throughout the day - feeling like someone cares how your day is going makes it go by faster.
Hearing about his day - good, bad or ugly I miss knowing.
Praying together before we go to bed - such a special part of everyday.
Getting his tooth brush ready at night and having mine ready in the morning - isn't the same when you have to make your own tooth brush.
Grocery shopping with his likes/dislikes in mind - thought this would be liberating, but it's been sad.
The look I get when I change outfits three times before we go out - having someone who inspires you to look your best everyday is amazing, not having it is uncool.
These are the simple, mundane, everyday things I miss. However, there is so much more to this guy and SO much more I miss.

I didn't imagine that things could get better, would be more romantic, or could have more significance then they did when we were dating, but 7 years into this journey of marriage I'm happy to say they have and they do! I'm excited about the next 7 years, I'm anticipating whats in store for the next 14 and I'm plan giddy about the next 21. Sharing your life with your best friend gives you the opportunity to experience the ups and downs together, knowing your committed to whatever comes your way and no matter what you'll face it and fight it as a team. This is a great gift, a wonderful experience and an incredible source of strength in my life, not to mention making me super happy! My girlfriend Leigh Ann recently said: "It's easy to see your happy meter is full when your with David". I thought, "how true," my happy meter really is full when I'm with him. Doesn't matter when, where or how, I'm happier when we're together and I'm SO happy he's coming home tomorrow!

David,
I'm looking forward to talking to you and falling asleep in your arms. Your safe and you make me the happiest girl in the world. You provide me with love, laughter, truth, encouragement, and more joy then one girl should be able to experience. You tech me to love myself and inspire me to become my best. You love is a gift that I will cherish and hold dear my entire life. Thank you for your honesty, love and character. I'm forever yours and I promise I will ALWAYS have your back ;)

1 Year + 2 Fast = 12 Months

Where to begin? I'm not sure... I'm happy. Life is sweet. We are extremely blessed.
It is seriously mind boggling that it has already been over a year since the birth of our precious son. I still find myself thinking "less then two years ago today we weren't even expecting" and today we have a precious boy who is already over a year old! Where does time go? I am truly learning why people say "time is our most precious commodity" and I find myself being that person who says "I just want today to last forever" Ok... Sometimes I don't say that, it's more like "I can't WAIT for today to be OVER!" However, on most days I really do enjoy every second.

We celebrated Zane's birthday on his actual birthday. It was super fun and we we're blessed to have a ton of our family and friends with us to commemorate his special day, and the fact that David and I have survived this first year! We threw his party at a local park with an awesome splash pad where all the kids could play. I wanted to do a "theme" for his big day and we went back and forth between cars, fish, balls, monkeys, or an under the sea collaboration. We landed on fish and man did we catch some cute ones! I've been using a new online photo blog called Pinterest and I went a little nuts gathering fun ideas. I wanted to make his cake, decorate cookies and do fun gift bags for his little guests. I was able to come up with some cute party favors and at a good price point! Thanks to Gram and Grammie coming over to spend a couple afternoons with him I was able to have a full on "budget craft fix" (buying things for a good deal and creating are two of my favorite things, so I was in HEAVEN) My sweet friends Sarah Bell and Brisa Ramos came over to help decorate cookies. Thank goodness, because I got in over my head on that whole plan. I decided I wanted to make 100 cookies.. Um, maybe not the best idea?!? However, the cookies we're great for breakfast the following week when I was too exhausted to cook! Uncle Toby and Daddy decorated a few too, but they we're too ummmm "cute" to eat ;).. No, really they did a great job too. Our sweet friend (the best man in our wedding and the guy who is responsible for introducing David and I) came over and helped make the balloon streamer, paint my homemade cupcake stands (thanks Pinterest) and even bake a few cupcakes! He was a hero and I think David was thrilled to have some masculine energy amidst my feminine mecca. My sweet Mom and my brother Joe came over and helped us get things ready to take to the park that morning, Gram and Pappa provided tables and chairs, and our friends let us borrow a couple tents so we would have a little shade. Overall, we had a LOT of help and it was SO much fun spending time with everyone! While working on all the fun projects I had lots of time to reminisce on the past year with our sweet son, remembering all the special moments we've shared and how much he has grown and changed. It's been a beautiful year and I'm extremely thankful I was able to spend it at home with him.

The party was a great and Zane was fortunate to have all our loved ones, family and friends there to celebrate with us. He even had friends and family from as far as California, Fort Worth & Senora, Texas! I'd say this little guy is super lucky to have such a wonderful support system of people who love him and invest in his life. I'm not sure how we would have made it through this year without the love and support we've felt from everyone. I know it wouldn't have been nearly as special or fun without everyone to share it with.

As we close this first chapter and eagerly open the second one, I look back fondly on some very special moments we've shared as a family, some incredible milestones our sweet son has made, and growth beyond my wildest dreams (personally and in mine and David's marriage). Our God is a faithful God. He has given us much to praise Him for and I will forever be grateful for the gift He gave us in this sweet boy we call Zane.

Photos from Zane's 1st Birthday:

Click on photo box

Looking back these are some of my favorite moments:
Zane pooping on my foot when he was first born and I was changing his diaper in bed.
David taking such good care of him as I was unable to get around for the first couple of weeks after his birth and my having to ask him how to change his diaper or swaddle him.
Going to get him in the morning.
The fact that he's slept through the night sense less then 6 weeks old.
Going to the beach with Gram and Pappa last fall for our first "family vacation"
Nursing
The loving way David prays with him EVERY NIGHT before bed and the dreams he shares with him in those prayers.
Carrying him in a sling everywhere before he weighed 26lbs!
Napping together
Seeing our parents, our siblings and family with him - priceless
When he started laughing
The first time he said "Dada and Mama"
Taking him to the pumpkin patch at Halloween
Rocking him to sleep
Missing him when we go out for a night
Seeing him struggle and overcome, like learning to roll over, sit, crawl and walk.
Watching him on our video monitor for a couple minutes before we go to be at night and talking about how we can't believe he's ours
Taking pictures with him, of him, etc.
Writing blog posts every month
Falling in love with David for a second time, this time as a Father
Learning how to "teach" him things
Seeing him drink from a straw'
Spending everyday for the past year watching him grow

I'm not ready for ONE!

The moments that make us smile never seem to end... and I don't want them to!

We're cheesy about EVERYTHING!

Getting ready to help Daddy and Grampa work

This boy can't get enough of the musical instruments, I think Gram introduced him to the Piano.


Lots of people told me "just make it through the first year" and for some reason I thought this meant that I wouldn't really LOVE the first year. Maybe this is dumb, but it was my first "first year" and I didn't really have anything to gauge what it would be like, so I just assumed it would be hard and not that fun. WRONG!!! SOO SOO SOO WRONG! The first year of my sweet boys life has been incredible! Honestly, I can't really believe it's almost over . Where did the time go? I guess this is where the saying "time flys when your having fun" originated?!?

LOTS of things have changed in the past month. Well, I should say LOTS in the past two weeks. Zane is MOBILE.. meaning he's EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME! He's started clapping, waving, pointing, saying "Dog or Gog" and having melt downs when he doesn't get his way. "Gog" and the melt downs are mostly my favorite things. Every time he sees Lady, he says "Gog..GOG!" and points at her, it's adorable! Yesterday I was at a design appointment and my clients dog started to bark in the back yard, Zane stopped crawling looked around and said "gog... gog?" with this precious face like "where is it mamma?" so I think he knows what a dog is! I find this comforting because I find myself in a constant state of "am I teaching him enough.. I don't read to him enough.... do I talk to him about things enough?...... blah blah blah..." So knowing that he understands what a Dog is and how to wave "Buh bye" is comforting. Now.. the tantrums. I should say they are most like protests, but quite serious. It's not really funny, but it's comical to see this little person with a HUGE personality and such strong opinions - remind me I said this when he's 16! I'm starting to really try and focus on consistency, organization and routine so he knows what to expect, what we expect and has an understanding of what our days look like - I'm not great at this, because I'm a play it by ear style person, but I'm really working on it. Most of his protests come from me taking something away from him, not giving him something fast enough, making him sit in his high chair until we finish dinner as a family or moving something out of his reach (normally the computer or iPhone). Overall, we're all learning together! I'm sure we're going to make mistakes, but hopefully we won't ruin him for life!

This past month we celebrated Father's Day, Mom's Bday (including a surprise trip from Aunt Lorrie), Kendra's Bday & Play and Joe's birthdays. Kennedy also came and babysat for the first time BY HERSELF, so Dave could take me out on a date, it was awesome!! I feel so blessed to have all of the people I love close to me and to be able to see them on a regular basis :) Father's Day was quiet and calm, which I what David asked for. I had a lot of time to think about him and what a wonderful man he is. I feel blessed that I've been able to fall in love with him twice in my life, one as my husband and now as the father to our soon. Baby, you inspire and encourage me to be a better mom. I'm excited to see where God takes our family over the next 20 years. Your first responsibility is to be Zane's father, but I believe that he will want to be your friend too. Your integrity and your home brew just keeps people coming back for more ;) I love you!

Your the BEST Dad a boy could wish for,

Happy 19th Birthday Uncle Joe! You've got BIG things in store for your this year, get ready!!

Happy Birthday Grammie! We love you!!



We're in the process of planning Zane's 1st Birthday Party. I sure we're being ridiculous, but we're having a LOT of fun doing it. I have decided that the reason people throw 1 year birthday parties is to mask the pain of your baby tuning 1. The party will be at our neighborhood splash pad (which is Zane's new favorite activity) and we're doing a fish theme. I've already spent 3 hours cutting out individual fish to attach to each invitation as a 3D element.. whew! I'm sure Zane will greatly appreciate my efforts and making sure his party is super trend Oh.. ok.. I KNOW he won't care about about anything but the water, food and his nap and I'm sure he'll use this party to taunt his younger siblings about their non existent invitations and parties, due to the fact that I will only have time to make it by sonic for brown bag dinners and lemon aids, but I'm still doing it and having fun! !! Oh I also think he'll really enjoy having his family there too, as will his Daddy and I!! We'll post pictures next month!!

Thank you all for the love and support you are in our lives. We value your love, friendship and who you are in our lives.... you make our world a brighter and fuller place.

Check out Zane's 11th month in pictures https://picasaweb.google.com/Nichols.Taylor/ZaneS11thMonth?feat=directlink


Love,
Taylor

We're In Double Digits Now

It's hard to write this because I'm realizing that my "baby" is almost 1! You may think I'm kidding, but we're in the 2 digits now and I'm NOT ready for this yet. I think I may have mentioned that I measure milestones every Monday, but this month we've started a Monday and Friday tradition. It's just hard to keep track of all the little things this man is doing in just one day a week. I've got to be honest, I thought I'd be telling y'all he took his first steps this month, but I think he's focusing his energy on how FAST he can get places crawling. On that note, I think I've found my "mommy invention"... wait for it.. wait for it... A CRAWLING RADAR GUN! Genius eh? I'll let you know how it pans out for me ;)

Zane is moving and grooving, he's crawling and jabbering about everything and he's into EVERYTHING! People, this isn't a joke. The kid is busy ALL THE TIME! He's started mimicking us when we talk or make faces at him and he thinks it hilarious to play hide n seek. He has really started interacting with other kids and seems to enjoy spending time around other babies his age (I'll be referring to him as a baby for a while yet, just FYI) which is quite fun. I have been taking him a music class on Friday mornings and we've discovered he's IN LOVE with the guitar. It's quite a hoot to be honest because he chases the teacher around trying to pull up on her leg and whenever she moves away he cries. Luckily she's nice and lets him get an extra stroke or two in before she puts the guitar away. We're still enjoying our playgroup on Mondays (here in our neighborhood) which is giving us lots of opportunities to learn how to share and "be gentle" which is nice. Zane is learning ALL about gravity right now. Everything that is in his hands MUST be thrown at some point! It's funny to watch him remove his blankets, monkey and glow worm from his bed during nap time. He'll methodically drop each item over the railing and then stand there and stare at them as if he's hoping they will magically hop back in bed. I try not to cave all the time, but sometimes I just can't help but go return them to his bed only for the process to begin again. Lady is enjoying this when he's in his highchair as she's finally getting fed! I swear if my sweet Dog didn't bark when she was hungry it's possible she would starve. Please don't turn us into "doggy protective services" we do love her dearly!!


David and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary this past weekend. It's just strange that it's already been 7 years. Seems like that was yesterday too! Dave keep promising me that we can have another wedding at 10 years and I'm going to hold him to his word ;) We spent the weekend in downtown Austin and lovely 'Gram Nichols' kept little man from Friday - Sunday. I'm not sure which one of them was more tired when we picked him up! Zane is so lucky and we are so blessed to have grandparents, family and friends who love on him and help us raise him. Thank you all SO much for everything you do to help encourage and support us being good parents. We greatly appreciate you and Zane is just plain spoiled to have such fun people in his life! All weekend Dave and I kept asking each other "is this where we thought we'd be in 7 years?" and honestly neither of us said "yes" to that question. We both kept saying how much richer, happier, stronger and more incredible our lives are than anything we could have dreamed or imagined. What a reminder of God's love in our life and the reality that "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8. God has been gracious to us. He's given us much more then we deserve and He's shown mercy in our lives continuously. I'm thankful that God picked Dave for me. He's my hero, my rock, my supporter, my encourager, my confidant, my partner and my best friend. My prayer is that we can mirror a strong marriage to our son, that he will see how much we love each other and love the Lord together and that he will be encouraged to see that marriage really is one of God's greatest gifts to us. I'm looking forward to the next 7 years!!

Oh.. We also had a wonderful Easter with our family and friends. We had company in from Michigan, Colorado and Houston. Papa Ed turned 70 and it was my first Mother's day! We've had a lot of fun times with friends and it has been great to spend time with the people we love so much. We're looking forward to taking Zane on trips to see more family and friends soon!!

Well, that's about all! I lowered Zane's crib to the bottom notch today, packed up his 6-12mo clothes and put away his baby jumper. I'm looking forward to the next stages and steps, but I'm a tad bit sad that this portion of our journey is coming to a close. Our pastor recently made the comment "Good parenting is when you work your self out of a job" and I have to say I'm starting to see that. It's hard to help your children be independent and self sufficient when you enjoy taking care of them so much. I'm sure by the time Zane is a teenager I'll have a different feeling about this, but today, when he's pushing my hand away and pulling the spoon into his own hand I'm realizing that you have to enjoy EVERY second!

I hope your all well, enjoying the beautiful weather Spring brings and getting ready to live in the pool over the next 3 months!

It's a Circus around here!

I think it's about time for me to hire a personal assistant. I'm not sure how people do this! I'm talking about CHASING A BABY! Oh my goodness!! This is the most "full time" job I've ever had, seriously!! He started out slow and has quickly moved into the "Zoom Zoom ZOOM" phase of crawling. He is everywhere, all the time and if I'm not pulling him away from the dog food or out of the kitchen cabinet, I'm trying to reach him before he sticks his tongue into the ONLY outlet that I failed to cover. It's a circus around here, but we're having a BLAST!

Zane is already a little helper and he loves to be involved in whatever project I'm working on. If it's the dishwasher, he's unloading every dish I put in. If it's the laundry, he is pulling out the dirty laundry while I'm putting it in. If it's the bathroom, he's unloading magazines into a display ALL over the floor. I'm seriously not sure how I accomplished anything before I had his help. I'm trying to make everything a learning opportunity, but I've got to be honest, there are days that I just sit him in the empty bathtub long enough for me to make the bed! He's busy, busy busy like his Mom and very inquisitive like his daddy.

He's started talking this month and of course his first words were "Dada," but he's started saying "Mama and Bye bye" on occasion now too. This boy loves his Daddy and I have to be honest that the highlight of my day is seeing his face when David walks through the door at the end of the day. David is great Daddy, a loving husband and the best friend a mom could ever ask for. I'm so thankful he's able to be home with us everyday. I'm humbled when I think about military wives and I'm seriously not sure how they do it. What a gift their sacrifice is. I pray their loved ones are able to come home soon.

This month I've learned a few things about myself or maybe I should say "I've acknowledged" a few things about myself.
I'm an over committer.
I try to fit round begs into square holes and vise versa.
I'm not as organized as I'd like to think.
It's easy for me to stay in pajamas all day.
I thrive on a plan.
I desperately want to do more then I'm mentally or physically able to do.
I'm learning more on the journey then I expected.
I'm able to see when I make a mistake.
I'm sometimes unwilling to admit mistakes, most often to myself.
I'm striving for perfection.
I desire the result, but often fail to experience the process.
I'm a work in progress.
I've got a long way to go!
I love my life.
I'm grateful for everything I've been given.
I'm excited to see where I'm going.

Speeidng through Spring!

Date nights are AMAZING!

Some of my favorite smiles are when Zane is in his car seat!

He LOVES cups! Any type, any place, any time!

It's been a busy month around the Nichols house! Mom got the pantry cleaned out, Dad brewed a batch of beer and built garden beds in the back yard and little started crawling and pulling up on EVERYTHING! We've had fun!

Zane is full speed ahead. He's been "toying" with crawling for a few weeks now, but this Monday he just put the pedal to the metal and hasn't slowed down. I found him standing up in his crib after his morning nap on Monday as well and he's been pulling up on EVERYTHING. We're trying to "child proof" our house, what a JOKE! Are you kidding me? Seriously, people really think this is possible? This little guy can find things I can't find! Speaking of. I've been on a "loosing streak" this month. I've lost my wallet, my wedding ring, earrings, and my mind all in a matter of 48 hours! Luckily, I'm married to a hero who's been able to locate everything but my brain so far! I'm just worried... How do you loose two major items in 48 hours? When I find my brain, I'll see if I can figure it out!

We hosted a play group this month with a group of mom's from our neighborhood. About 9 Mamma's with babies came over and played for a morning. It's really fun to watch all the kids (did I seriously just call my baby a kid? ;( (That's uncool) play with each other. They are already becoming such little people. Taking things, deciding what they want, when they want it, who they want it from.. It's so amazing!

Ok. So you might notice a business card with my name on it... I've started an Interior Decorating business with one of my dearest friends and my old co-worker, Montana Lee. We had a client approach us in December and we've been chasing a snow ball down hill ever sense. We're learning a LOT and we're really enjoying working together. God's been really faithful to help us and has given us lots of direction and vision along the way. Montana is a wonderful partner and she's lovingly pushing me outside my "comfort zone" and into my potential. She's encouraging and has been so supportive as I'm fumbling through the journey to find a healthy balance between work and mom.. what a hard balance to find! Overall, I'm really enjoying being able to be back in "design" again! I love making houses become home and it's a dream come true to be able to do work I love, with someone I love and respect all while being a Mom! God's so very good to me!

Zane is going to spend his first "overnight" with Gram and Papa this weekend and Dave and I are going to slip out for an evening and enjoy a little of the SXSW music scene! Thank you Gram and Papa! What a blessing Zane has two sets of AMAZING grandparents to love and help us raise him up to be a Godly young man.

Love to you all! We hope your family is enjoying the Spring Break holiday!

Love,
The Nichols Family