Equal.

By now you've probably seen those red and pink equal sign pictures on Facebook, and have figured out what they stand for. Marriage equality. If you're viewing this post through my Facebook, then you'll have noticed that I'm sporting it as well.

I don't use my Facebook for anything really deep or personal. Mainly cute baby pictures, stalking keeping up with people, and random posts. I feel like everyone has beliefs, and reasons for those beliefs. I didn't set up a Facebook account to try to change people's political or religious views.

But who knew a tiny picture could cause my newsfeed to blow up.

Well, I'm actually not that surprised.

I'm friends with some pretty passionate people.

That said, it did cause me to click the old "unfriend" button a couple of times for people who were being ugly. As entitled as you are to your opinion, you should also be respectful of others. No matter what side you stand for.

My opinion is that love is love. No matter how you look at it, it is what it is. You can't deny it. Any of you who have been in love can attest to that. And the beautiful thing about love is that it doesn't hurt anyone. You can argue with me that God intended for marriage to be between a man and a woman, and you may very well be right. But I don't feel (in my heart) that God would want us to deny people something that made them happy, if it didn't hurt anyone else. And on top of that, I don't feel like it's any of our places (nor the government's) to tell someone what they can and can't do in regards to love. Denying people marriage equality won't make them stop loving each other. What are we gaining by taking that away from them? 

Nothing.

But what are they losing?

What if it were you?

You can say "Well it's not me, I'm not gay."

What if you were?

Or your child?

Or someone you loved?

Would you want everyone to tell you no?

Would you wish that on your child?

Would you want the world rallying against your loved one?

I'm not trying to change people's opinions. I'm merely expressing my own. What I don't appreciate is rude people who use these situations to question other people's Christianity. My belief doesn't make me me any less of a Christian, and yours doesn't make you any more of one. Vice-versa. The amazing thing is that only you and God know what is in your heart. So who are we to judge?

And for those of you who like to argue and say,

"But it's a sin!"

The Bible tells us that no sin is greater than another.

I hope your glass house is shatter-proof.

"Love knows no limits"

Rodeo

Last weekend was the big "Holy crap I'm going to leave my baby for the first time" weekend.

Needless to say, we all survived.

Cody left for Florida about 7 am Thursday morning, a day ahead of me. I just couldn't bring myself to stay away from Cade for 3 nights. My flight left at 6am Friday, getting me to Orlando at 8:35. Hooray for short trips! I was paranoid that Cade would decide to be up all night, or at least at 3am when I was trying to get all my shit together, so my mom stayed the night. Of course he woke up at 1:15 and didn't go back to sleep until 2:45 so I got a grand total of 2 hours of sleep. Oh well. My plan was get a nap in on the plane, but I was sandwiched between a woman who kept talking loudly about how the two kids behind us were talking loudly, and a man who flung his hands in the air every time there was a bump.

No nap for me :(

He didn't wake up for pictures at 4am.

The rodeo was Saturday, and it went pretty well. Cody's team got 100 points in all 5 of their events, but unfortunately their times weren't good enough to win a trophy. We won't even get into how 3 of the top 5 teams did things to get deductions and the judges let them slide. Especially since the team who won first place was from the company hosting the whole event, and a judge totally looked the other way when he dropped his hard hat on the ground and had to put it back on when they finished. 

Soap-box over.

We did have a good time overall. It was nice to have a whole weekend of adult conversation =) but I missed my sweet baby! Cody kept saying, "Ok the rodeo is over, I'm ready to go see Cade now." I'm pretty sure we didn't put him down until bedtime Sunday night. We're definitely looking forward to the next rodeo. It's in June in Memphis, and hopefully little Cade will be in attendance.

We missed each other =)

In other news...

Cade is finally smiling!! It's so cute when his eyes light up and you know it's coming. He's definitely not smiling on demand, he likes to make you work for it!

I'm looking forward to putting together Cade's Easter basket this week (of course pictures will follow). He's finally going to meet Uncle Caleb Friday :) and then Sunday will be his first church service. Busy busy week ahead!

Storms

I freaking hate storms.

(I mean really)

And if you live in Middle Tennessee you know that Monday morning we were under tornado warnings. I found myself calling my husband in Nashville and saying "What do I do?"

"What do you mean?" he said.

"I have a baby now!"

Never before had I really found the need to shove myself in the back of our walk-in closet behind Cody's sweatshirt section...until then. 

Clearly I have no sense of self-preservation.

So I wrapped up Cade (who was napping) in his fluffy owl blanket, grabbed his pacifier (??), a towel, my phone, and iPad and we crammed ourselves in the corner. I could hear wind and the power was flickering. I couldn't get the radar to load on my iPad. I called Cody and said "Call me when it's over."

As I sat there surrounded by hoodies, sitting indian-style with Cade in my lap wrapped in a blanket, I thought, "So this is motherhood."

"So we're napping in the closet today? I can do that."

Because right at that moment I was a bundle of nerves. I said about 30 Hail Mary's (a habit in moments of crisis) and watched him. I knew I'd do whatever I had to to keep him safe. Don't get me wrong, the first time I saw him I couldn't imagine loving anything like I love Cade. But this was the first time I'd been scared for him. Not for myself. Just for him.

Cody called after about 10 minutes of our closet hideout and said it had passed our town. I asked him 3 times if he was sure before abandoning our post and checking out the news myself. Of course the storm was over for us. I'm quite sure this post sounds way more dramatic than it really was, and all we experienced was some bad wind. But in the moment, I was in panic-mode.

Of course, right before we came out of the closet, I heard a howling. Not wind howling. Cat howling.

Shit.

I forgot to snatch Chloe off the end of our bed and bring her into the closet with us.

She had decided 10 minutes of being locked out (because that's how she sees it) was enough and she was pissed. 

Next time I'll grab both my children.

Smile Baby!

This is not a post about how Cade has finally smiled, because he hasn't. Not on purpose anyway. He has many gas smiles, dream smiles, and smiles that turn into grimaces or grunts. 

So I'm patiently waiting...

He's very serious, and probably thinks I am insane while I sing to him, make faces, blow on his belly, and basically act a fool. But I appreciate the fact that he watches me with extreme interest while I do all these things, as well as dance around the living room to Luke Bryan's "Cold Beer Drinker" while I clean the house. He's such a good baby :)

Other things making me smile right now (since Cade refuses to do so):

Sunshine in Tennessee (finally) and the fact that next weekend I will be in 80 degree weather for 2.5 days. I will miss my sweet boy though :(

Finding things that prove I'm not alone in my thoughts...

Finally meeting Caitlin's sweet Lexi Brooke! Cade and Lexi had their first date (supervised, of course) and she is a doll! Can't wait until these two get a little older start babbling to each other.

My sweet friends who get their phones blown up because I'm sometimes stir crazy but just can't leave the house. You know who you are!

DVR.

Do you know how hard it is to keep up with all your shows when they come on at baby's bedtime?!

Being back in the gym. Ok, that's another love-hate relationship... but I do feel better!

Finding new places to shop online :)
Through blogging and Instagram I've found some really cute online stores. I have a shopping...fetish. But I do like to support small businesses!

P.S. I Adore You is an online shop that features deals every day from different vendors. Super cute stuff at discount prices, and part of their proceeds go to support childhood cancer.

Hello Apparel has cute clothes! I found them through P.S. I Adore You, and this shirt will probably be mine soon. Hello Apparel is part of a website called HelloMerch which features lots of little shops all in one place!

LittleHipSqueaks has truly adorable blankets, leggings, hats, and headbands for your little one :) Love their modern prints!

BrickYard Buffalo is similar to P.S. I Adore You, offering daily deals on goods from multiple vendors.

ShopReminiscence on ETSY is where I ordered Cade's First Year Memory Book from. It's not like regular baby books with pre-made pages where you fill in the blanks. These are actual notebooks she makes, divided by months. Perfect for the writer like me who just wants to jot notes down. I've loved his baby journal, and it's really cute too :) These make good gifts people!

Easter is almost here! I broke down and bought Cade's Easter basket last weekend and it came in the mail yesterday. All his goodies are ready to be packed inside :) My husband said "What are you going to do, make up his basket and then open it yourself?"

Yes. That's exactly what I'm going to do.

My husband.

I'm not going to get all mushy, don't worry.

But he is awesome. And last weekend he took Cade for the day so I could go shopping for some new clothes (since all I've worn for the last 9 months are maternity clothes). He just loves spending time with Cade, which makes me happy. I'm soaking up time with Cade while I can because I know those two will soon be inseparable.

Pictures of the Easter basket coming as soon as I get it put together!

Hello Spring.

Not that Tennessee has had a brutal winter or anything, but this weekend warm weather made it's appearance and it was more than welcome. Allergies, not welcome. But the weather definitely was! I'm a cold-weather person for sure, but after being pregnant through the winter I'm ready for a change in climate. Plus Cade has lots of cute spring clothes to wear :)

It was that first warm weekend that makes you open your windows and makes you say "Ah! I need to spring clean my house go shopping for new clothes!"

Seriously, I do need to spring clean. But since I cleaned out my closet last week and got rid of 3 trash bags of clothes, I did go shopping first.

I'm loving all the neon colors, and pretty much everything Gap/J.Crew is selling right now (for me and Cade). 

It's starting to get more fun shopping for him because he's finally outgrowing his newborn clothes. Lots of boys clothes are covered with sayings and/or animals, but I have found some really cute things that look like little men's clothing. I'm a sucker. Shopping for myself is a different story. Since I'm still trying to lose baby weight, I'm not buying a ton of new stuff. I'm also trying not to get stuck in a color rut, but everything I bought was navy, white, mint green, lavender, and hot pink. Including (but not limited to):

Spring for Mom and Baby

Shorts
Boys' Shoes

I also bought new running shoes...because what is better motivation to work out (other than losing weight) than cute new shoes??

They look gray, but they're lavender and neon yellow :)

I've been back in the gym trying to lose these last 10 pounds...and thankfully three of them have already disappeared. (Insert iPhone fist-bump emoji here)

I really am going to spring clean my house this week sometime soon. 

Promise.