5 years

Last Friday marked 5 years of marriage for me and husband. 5 years of utter love, craziness, bliss, wonder and adventure. He is my person. I love him with every fiber I have.

We spent our anniversary celebrating at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. It was so nice to reconnect since these past 5 months have been bananas. 

I pray our marriage continues to grow stronger and that we raise our son and future children just the way our parents raised us. 

If you are reading this Jess, (he randomly reads my blog) I love you. Thank you for loving me too ;)

Love,

E

Christmas Time!

Growing up, Christmas was always a huge deal for our family. My grandma Emma loved the holidays, especially Christmas. She sang in her Church choir's "Living Christmas Tree" for years. I remember every year she would come and get me from my parents, dress me up really nice in some type of Christmas dress and then take me to deliver tamales to all of her friends. It was her way of kicking off the holidays and she passed that love and excitement on to us!

She has been with the Lord for 12 years now, I was only 15 when she passed away. I miss her everyday. My parents and sister miss her everyday. My uncle and I am sure my grandpa also but it has brought me great comfort during this time every year where I can feel her presence more than normal and know she is next to me.

I know she is having a ball watching Titan and how much of a personality he has. She would have loved him sooooo much. I am sure she is thrilled that Jess has finally converted from the Grinch to Clark Griswold this year. (when we met and up until Titan was born he could have cared less about the holidays.) I can still hear her voice and laugh and even though it pains my heart that she is gone, what an amazing opportunity it was to be her granddaughter and learn so much from her in such a short amount of time we had together.

So with that said, Christmas time is the best time in our home. Not because of presents or anything like that. Because of her and how magical she made everything seem even if it was walking down the street to her friends house just to deliver a homemade package.

I am usually the overly-excited Christmas decorator at my house but this year I can't seem to talk Mr. Griswold (my husband Jess) out of decorating early. He has insisted that we start putting up our train and some other small stuff. I have managed to put a hold on it this week but he said next week we are starting "no matter what!". ThanksMas anyone? Can't say it doesn't make my Christmas-lovin soul happy!

Little Man:
Night time at the Todd house is a little short of Zzz's lately if you catch my drift?! About 8 weeks ago Titan stopped sleeping through the night. I look like I've been ran over 17 times and then beat with a bat under my eyes! I feel like it too! Lol.

I pray that he can relax and get some rest when it's time for bed and I hope we are on the down hill part of this. Oh please, oh please be on the down hill part! Until it is over I will rely on Jesus and coffee(s). Lots and lots of Jesus and coffee(s).

Who is this little boy and what happened to my BABY??

Both of my babes in awe of the first fire of the year :)

I hope y'all are keeping warm! That polar vortex proved to be no joke!

Love,
E

Re-Vamp!

Helloooo blog world! It's me, Erica! I am sure you are thinking, "where in the world has this chick been?" Well I have been changing diapers, feeding, playing and loving on my sweet little baby. He isn't so little anymore, by the way. This past Monday he turned 22 weeks old, holy smokes! I can't even deal with the fact that I only have 5 1/2 more months to plan his first birthday. Dear Lord, please help me brace the thought of him actually moving out one day.

Anyways, I have been lost in the pits of motherhood. To me it's utter bliss. I could spend all day loving him and stroking his hair or playing pick a boo. Granted, in the beginning....woo wee! I thought I had seriously gotten myself into some trouble. The anxiety had set in and I honestly did not think I could take care of something so precious. I was in SHOCK. Serious, serious shock. Some days I still think I can't do it but then those moments set in where he lays his head on my shoulder or holds my finger tight and I am reassured that I CAN and I WILL do my best.

Hence the name change.

I am sure you have noticed that it doesn't say Tales of the Todd's anymore. While if you still google that name I will pop up. I kept it that way so if I still have readers, it will make it easy for them to still find me even though I decided to change the name.

Back to the name change.

Now that my life includes taking care of 2 human beings I will share all that the "diamond" still has to offer along with the late night diaper changes. You can expect the same quirky posts, but a whole lot more of my life as a mommy. I will eventually give the layout a makeover as well but right now playing on the floor with my babe is just a whole lot more fun ;)

Here are some pics to update you on what little man looks like!

Love,
E

And then there were 3....

Like I said in my previous post, Jess was only given 3 days maternity leave before he had to return to his team. The morning he left he kissed me goodbye, then the baby and walked out the door. Talk about gut wrenching. It could have been played out in a movie! Neither one of us could say a word because we both knew that if we did we would burst into tears. Since Titan's due date was in June, we knew before hand that we wouldn't be reunited as a family for at least 6 weeks. It still didn't make that morning any easier.

 Luckily, Jess had a series coming up that would be played in Memphis. And since Memphis is an 8 hour drive from my parents house my sister, mom, me and the baby decided to surprise Jess there. It just so happened to be Father's Day weekend so it was even more special since it was Jess' first!

3 more weeks passed until we saw Jess again. During that time I learned what the term "It takes a village to raise a child" meant. Without our parents I am not sure I would have made it through. They stayed up with Titan, took turns with me during the nightly feedings and watched him while I ate or took a shower. Shout out to all the single mom's and dad's out there that have raised or are raising children. I want you to know that YOU ROCK and your children are so blessed to have someone like you taking care of them. Now, I am in no way trying to say I am/was/is a single mother. But with Jess on the West Coast working to provide for us, I was in charge of Titan on my own (not complaining). Without our family's help I seriously couldn't have done it without them. And I am so lucky to have family that care so much about our little nugget. 

Now, 8 weeks later Titan has been in 5 different states and we hope to keep adding to that number! We are so thankful to be a family of 3!

Love,

E

He is HERE!

As many of you know it has been crickets around here. I've been on what I would like to call a "new mom hiatus". Motherhood is amazing! It is the scariest, funnest, busiest, hardest, most beautiful thing I have ever experienced. I am literally brought to tears when I reflect on the fact that I am a mother. That in no way means that it has been super easy these last 8 weeks, but I assure you being this little boy's mom makes me a better person everyday....even if I don't make it out of my yoga pants and t-shirt some days.

Titan Alexander Todd

May 26, 2014

6pds, 10oz, 22in long

When I used to listen to people that were already parents say "there is nothing like it", "my child is my world" and blah, blah, blah. I would be like "surrreeee". As soon as this little angel took his first breath in this world, I was changed. I knew I would love him, we prayed so long for him that I knew I would be over the moon for him once he was here, I just didn't expect for my heart to want to explode every time I look at him. 

Titan is 2 months old today! He was a midseason baby (baseball) so Jess was allowed 3 days maternity leave for his birth. After that he had to return back to his team. Talk about torn up, woo wee was that a hard 6 weeks for us. I praise God that we are together now and are enjoying being a family of 3 ;)

I am finally getting back into the swing of things so I will be back to regular programming on here. Besides I have 8 weeks worth of Titan to share with you! 

It's good to be back!

Love,

E

37 Weeks and Baby T's Nursery

37 weeks or full term, whatever you want to call it....I am it!

I can't believe that I am a short time away from meeting my son. For me it's such a bittersweet situation. I am so ready and anxious to meet him but the thought of his heart not beating inside of my body makes me so sad. We plan on having more children, God willing, and I know I will love them just as much as I love this one but there is just something weighing in my heart telling me that I am going to miss carrying him, this child, with me everywhere I go.

I know I haven't shared much about our struggle to get pregnant. As it was quite the struggle, we tried for 2 years and I was just about at my wits end with trying when I got pregnant. Everyone says it happens that way. You try, try and try, AND try and it doesn't happen. So many things go through your head, you go to different doctors, have tests ran, then more tests. I like to think we were pretty lucky considering some couples' struggles to get pregnant. Regardless, anyone who has experienced a struggle to have a child knows how gut wrenching it is. I am just thankful that I have a sovereign Lord who is so good and has perfect timing. I am so thankful that he is in control of my life because if I had control I would be so unfulfilled. He knows what he is doing just like he did when he waited 2 years before blessing us with a baby. And I think that is why Baby T's arrival is such a (like I said before) bittersweet one.

How far along: 37 weeks

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: I'm sure it is more than the last week.

Maternity clothes: Yes!

Stretch marks: None so far.

Belly button in or out: OUT

Sleep: I need more of it.  

Best moment this week: Finishing Baby T's nursery!

Worst moment this week: Can't complain ;)

Miss anything: Lifting and moving things.

Movement: Yes!

Cravings: Sweets!

Queasy or Sick: Feeling good!

Looking forward to: My Dr.'s appointment on Tuesday!

My parents came to Kilgore this weekend to help me finish the nursery! OMG! I am in LOVE with it! 

The shade above the window came from a farmhouse on my grandparents land. It is just sheet metal that was on the outside of the house.

This wall is my fave! My dad put these boards up to add a little more character. (They too are from the farmhouse). 

 This shelf has momentos in it. Including his first "T" initial that was given to him by my best friend. 

We went with a rustic theme. I didn't want any safari animals, specific type of cartoon or sport. I wanted the room to be something he could grow into over time and we could use some of the same stuff as he gets older. Jess really wants him to be a rodeo star so the rustic theme was just fine with him.

I hope everyone enjoys their Monday tomorrow!

Love,

E 

Showered with MORE love!

I mentioned before that I was having two Baby Showers due to my hometown and Jess' hometown being 2 hours apart. If you follow the blog weekly you can see that last weekend was the shower in Ennis and yesterday was part two of the showering in Kilgore.

I was completely blown away by the outpouring of love that Jess' family gave us! The shower was perfect and I was so in love with every detail!

The three tiered basket contained peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken strips and pizza! All of my cravings! 

My Hostesses!

Every detail was perfect and I cannot say enough how thankful I am to them for making me feel so special! I owe them 1,000 times over!

Last week marked 36 weeks!

(Sorry for the bad quality of the photo. I took this in the evening so I had no natural light to shine on my face.)

How far along: 36 weeks

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: A little more than last week ;)

Maternity clothes: Yes!

Stretch marks: None so far.

Belly button in or out: OUT

Sleep: Hit or miss. Some nights are great and others are not. 

Best moment this week: My Birthday and another Baby Shower!

Worst moment this week: Can't complain ;)

Miss anything: Working out.

Movement: Yes!

Cravings: The same, I am a creature of habitat so a daily peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a must!

Queasy or Sick: Feeling good!

Looking forward to: Getting to meet this little peanut soon!

Baby T's nursery is almost done and I am so excited to reveal it to y'all! We plan to finish it later this week so I will post all the details!

I hope Monday treated y'all well! 

Love,

E

Ennis Baby Shower!

Today Baby T and I were showered with love at our first baby shower!

They did a wonderful job and we are so blessed by the people that are taking the time to make us feel so special! We have another shower next weekend in Kilgore and I cannot imagine what they have put together for us! This is such a special time in our life and I am so thankful for every little thing that is being done for us.

35 weeks....

How far along: 35 weeks

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: Still growing....

Maternity clothes: Yes!

Stretch marks: None so far.

Belly button in or out: OUT

Sleep: It has gotten better, thank goodness!

Best moment this week: My first baby shower!

Worst moment this week: Legs and feet are swelling. Not. Cool. 

Miss anything: Hardcore workouts!

Movement: Yes!

Cravings: Snowcones! 

Queasy or Sick: Feeling good!

Looking forward to: So many things! ;)

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend! 

Love,

E