Smock Dresses, bows and lace socks-- what kind of message are we sending?

When I found out I was having a daughter, my head spun as I dreamed about all of the adorable little outfits I was going to dress her in. Her closet was FULL before she was ever born! I could not help myself. There were just too many cute things out there. She has several smock dresses--- thanks to some very wonderful friends and family who bought her tons of dresses, little white socks with ruffles and lace and several bows (even though she does not have enough hair to wear them yet). I love all things pink and girly.

However, reality quickly sunk in when Ms. Julia actually arrived. She has worn A smock dress ONE time for MAYBE 4 hours. She does wear her socks...but as mentioned above, she has not worn a bow or a headband yet. Most days she wears little onsies or footies. It is just more practical.

So, in a few weeks, she will start daycare. I asked my mom what I should dress her in? She told me to dress her in something comfortable. makes sense! Today I could not help but look at all of the "first day of school" pictures posted on facebook. I have never seen so much smock, lace socks and bows! Yes, I agree that your daughter LOOKS SUPER CUTE! However, I wonder if sending your child to school in such things is practical considering they will be playing with paint, markers, mud and who knows what else. Can she really romp around on the playground in that dress? I cannot even believe I am writing these things, but it has really made me think. Where is the balance? Someone told me that my daughter will be running around the yard in her smock dresses.....seems really funny since we live in the country and our yard is basically woods, dirt, etc! Should we limit smock to special occasions or should our daughters wear these dresses all the time? Maybe overalls arent so bad after all? Shouldnt she be more well rounded? patent shoes and cowboy boots?

If we dress our daugthers in ruffles and bows all the time, what kind of message are we sending? I believe that little ladies should dress and act like little ladies. However, where is the adventure if you are forced to do this all of the time? Not to mention at some point, our daughters will realize that NOT everyone wears smock dresses. Will she wonder why? I am as guilty as everyone else-- Julia has more smock dresses than she will ever wear and I havent even washed all of her lace socks yet.
If you have ever met me, you know that I go to work in high heels, skirts and pearls EVERYDAY! So, naturally, I want her to be girly and I want her to dress her up. But, I also want her to know that it is ok to get her feet dirty.



Maybe smock dresses in the country is exactly what we need---- it just has to be ok if she gets dirty :)

So I am getting personal

Before Julia I did not really write much on my blog. But, since I have been staying home more because I am on maternity leave, I have been more motivated to write more on my blog.

Anyways, I was released from my doctor on Monday. This is great news! I am so excited that I am healing well and that I can resume normal activities. I was thrilled to hear that I can finally start working out again!~ soo ready to lose this last 20 (yikes) pounds. At the end of the of the appointment, my doctor handed me a prescription. Ugh....a prescription for b.c.

I only took birth control for about one year when Ben and I first got married. I was still in law school and Ben was a young attorney. We thought it was the right decision at the time. However, we soon decided that it was not right for us and we did it the natural way. IT worked great and when we were ready for little Julia, we got little Julia. WHAT a blessing!

Now, we are once again faced with the decision of whether or not to take b.c. Is it right for us right now? I actually did some research on this so called mini pill. It is the only b.c. I can take while breastfeeding. So, my research started because I wanted to know more about any affects it may have on my little angel. But, what I did not expect to learn was that this particular b.c. WILL ACTUALLY PREVENT a fertilized egg from attaching. :( NOT COOL. I believe that life starts at conception- when the egg is fertilized. I cannot even imagine having that happening to me. The sad thing is I would never know. My heart tells me that this is not right. I just dont think I could handle another baby right now. But, I guess it is not really my decision in the first place.

Marriage and babies....

Ben and I celebrated our five year anniversary this past Friday (July 29, 2011).

I am a planner. I like to set goals. I have short term goals and long term goals.

When I was little, I knew exactly what I wanted to be "when I grew up" and I knew exactly what I needed to do to get there. So, I did what I need to do to achieve my goals.

So, naturally, when I got married, I suggested to my husband that we set some goals...that we plan ahead. I KNOW that not everything can be PLANNED! However, I wanted to do the best that I could to plan things out and work towards some goals.

I always knew I wanted to have a baby. But, having a baby was a long term goal and I had several short term goals in the interim that I needed to focus on. The first thing I needed to do was graduate from law school...which I did in May, 2007. I also wanted to get settled in my career- I have been practicing 4 years this upcoming October. I also wanted to build/buy a house-- we finished building last March, 2010. The other thing I wanted to do was REALLY focus on my marriage. I wanted Ben and I to enjoy eachother and build our relationship before we added someone else to the mix. I am so thankful that we made the decision to wait before having our first child. Here is why.....

Having a baby changes everything. We are so blessed and thankful for little Julia. However, our marriage has really taken the back seat. She demands our attention 100% of the time and we give it to her. This just means we do not always give eachother the attention that we should. This is where building a marriage before having a baby becomes so crucial. With the lack of sleep and your attention focused solely on the little one, you can sometimes forget about your spouse. Not the mention the hormones! The focus is just more on your new baby and less about your marriage. I am so thankful that Ben was so supportive and understanding. I think the effort we put into building a strong marriage really paid off when we had our baby. I always knew we would be ok no matter how stressful things got. Also, I was comfortable and secure in our marriage--- things I think take time to build.

After starting this new adventure-- having a baby and all- I strongly believe that couples should spend some time building a strong marriage BEFORE they have a baby. Ofcourse, this is just my opinion based on my experience. I think we made the right decision.

Laughter

My favorite thing to do with my husband (other than the obvious, which we will not discuss on this blog) is to LAUGH.

I love it when we just crack up- don't say anything, just laugh. It makes me feel so close to him- funny how that is. Why does laughing with your husband make you feel closer to him? Laughter brings us together. It makes our time together special. It makes me feel loved. It makes me feel, well, happy.

I am so blessed that our Julia ALSO LOVES TO LAUGH----