Valentine's Day and other cuteness

For Valentine's day, Sydney and I devised a brilliant plan for Daddy.  We planned a special photo shoot and didn't tell him about it.  I had seen the ideas of what I wanted to do on pinterest and bought the reddest cheapest lipstick I could find, smothered it on my lips and went to work.  Sydney was not amused, but I did manage to get a few great pictures  Immediately afterwards, she of course needed a bath.  The problem was, the lipstick didn't come off!!!  I used makeup remover pads, and lots of baby soap!  YIKES!  I had to hide the evidence from Ryan until he could see the pictured on Valentine's Day.  All in all, it was a LOT of work, but I think it payed off. 


Other than that, Sydney is just cute as can be.  She is 8 months now, She loves Mum Mums (rice crackers for babies), and has been known to have LONG conversations with them and anything else she sees.  She isn't crawling yet, but she can roll and pivot to get herself anywhere she wants to go.  She love love loves her Daddy.  (and I really see the appeal there, I'm rather fond of him myself.  Her little personality shines through more and more each day.  Sometimes that means having a bit more of an opinion when it comes to things like not letting her play with things that she shouldn't be playing with like plastic bags, and mommy's phone.  She is happy all the time. I can't imagine life without her and feel so blessed to get to spend each day with her.

 Today, the weather was 40 degrees and sunny.  Normally I wouldn't consider that "outside" weather, but as we are expecting another snowstorm tomorrow, Sydney and I took advantage of this beautiful day and went for a long walk.  It was a bit chilly, but the vitamin D did us both a world of good.  We both can't wait for spring!!!

Sydney's Valentine's Day Picture!

All dressed up and ready for Church.  (She tore the flower off seconds later)

Happy momma, happy baby

We are considering bringing back the legwarmers trend. 

Funny Face

With her Mum Mum

Breakfast time!!!

My Snow Angel

Sydney got to experience playing in the snow for the first time last night. In pure Sydney style, there were no complaints. Maybe she won't be as grouchy about the cold weather as her daddy.......we can only hope.

Beauty

This morning, I set Sydney down on the floor in front of her mirror with some other toys. She was so fascinated by the cute baby in the mirror. She was smiling, clapping, waving her arms, and posing.

For the first time since becoming a mother, I worried about how my sweet girl will view herself in the future. Will she be confused by what the world considers, " beautiful"? Will she be made fun of for being "fat" or " ugly"? Will she be judged by the clothes she wears? will she come home from school one day begging for a miniskirt so she will fit in at school? Will she look in the mirror one day and think, "I wish I looked more like _______"? For the first time I got a small glimpse of what my sweet girl will probably face someday. I began to wonder how I should go about teaching her what true beauty is, that is comes from her loving Heavenly Father, and that she is full of it. Will telling her be enough? Probably not, but it's a great start.

I absolutely love my Sydney, and I learn from her each and every day. Today, I learned that if I tear myself apart every time I look in the mirror, then I run the risk of teaching her to do the same.


So I guess my first item of business is to remind myself that I am beautiful each and every day. Then, I will tell her that SHE is beautiful!