Secret

 

 

"here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)"

 

-ee cummings 

Happy 11 Months to Baby and 1 Year to Blog!

Looking back through some old posts, I realized that two big events happened today! My baby turns 11 months and this blog turns1 year old! I started the blog longer than a year ago but brought it back and have been dedicated to it for a whole year now. I mean, as dedicated as you can be with a baby and a full time job. This blog has been a wonderful outlet for me and I'm looking forward to many more posts to come. Happy birthday Becoming Mrs. (and Mommy) Branham!

Now, this little one of mine. Big girl is a MONTH away from being a year old. Holy cow. It's awesome how much she changes day to day these days.

• She's crawling (fast!) , pulling up and walking (with help!) I love to see her standing up in her crib when I come into her room in the morning. She squeals with delight and it's seriously the best possible way to start my day.
• She is still a great eater. She's also into feeding me now. She will hold out soggy Cherrio or smushed up baked bean until I lean over and she can place it in my mouth. Too cute to resist!
• We tried juice for the first time the other day and she sucked it all down in record time. Then she looked at me like "mom, why have you been holding out on me?"
• She absolutely LOVES music and we sing all the time. Her current favorites are The Wheels On The Bus, The Hokey Pokey and the ABC's. Despite my less than stellar singing abilities, she lights up when I start and claps her hands. Thanks for the encouragement, kiddo! 
• She plays great by herself but loves to play with us. She's getting the hang of puzzles and loves to share her toys with us. She is also a huge fan of Kleenex and is fascinated with tearing it into tiny, tiny little pieces.
• She's started waving bye-bye and blowing kisses. Oh my goodness. The cuteness is too much.

I'm so looking forward to celebrating her 1st birthday! We decided to keep it low key this year (no party) and I'm so glad. We'll just have family and cake and plan to make the 2nd birthday a big birthday bash. Can't wait!

*M

Summer To-Do List (The Fun Kind)

I am notorious for starting something and never finishing.

I still have a cross stitch project that I started in 5th grade that is short of completion by 2 letters. Why? I ran out of thread and couldn’t find an exact match to the color.

I have an overflowing Tupperware box of half-finished knitting projects under my bed. I bought fabric to make blankets for kids in a local hospital and kept it for a year in my dining room before I finally donated it to a group that would actually make the blankets.  I have countless books lying around my house collecting dust with bookmarks permanently stuck at Chapter 3.

Honestly, I’m amazed that this blog is still going. At least it is for now….

But I say, whatever. That makes me, me! And I’m awesome! AND at least I started all those projects. So that counts for something, right?

I recently saw a hometown Facebook friend (and mommy blogger Southern Belle Mama) posted a list of all the things her kids wanted to do that summer as a family. It was full of super cute things like “feed the ducks” and “water gun fight”.  Naturally, I got to thinking about making a list for the Branhams. Since I’m guessing Emily isn’t quite old enough to enjoy a water gun fight, Randy and I thought about things that would be fun to do as a family around Columbia. Because I’m just don’t know how long we’ll be in “Famously Hot” South Carolina. We’ve talked about moving to Wilmington. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been a decade (10 WHOLE YEARS) since I moved away. And with extended family there now, it just seems like a good move. I know things happen when they are supposed to happen and the way they are supposed to happen, so for now we will enjoy our time where we are.

Just like all the other projects and plans that have come before, I know we won’t get to some of these and the list will remain partially unfinished. But I also know that we will also have some fun times that aren’t on this list. Like on Saturday, when we decided to blow up a $5 Dollar General  baby pool and sip mango margaritas while Emily splashed around.  Did I mention we were in the front yard? And our new neighbors were in the process of moving in. Yep, we keep it classy over here.

So whether it’s a finished or unfinished list at the end of this summer, it’s sure to be one filled with great memories. Cheers!

*M