I'm behind, sooo behind. But with an excuse to top all excuses.

I knew April would be a special month. As it happens we didn't get too far into April before our little dumpling arrived, the 4th to be exact; 10 days early, 21 hours of labor and after 3 of those hours of actively trying to get this little guy to make his entrance into the world we moved on to.... one emergency c-section and finally our little sunny side up* baby, Jack, arrived. It's been a wild ride. From having major surgery (which I was not prepared for ... or ever even crossed my mind might be in my future) to caring for a little human being around the clock while recovering from said abdominal surgery to dealing with all the craziness that sleep deprivation and out of control hormones bring on. (I couldn't have made it this far without some truly amazing and supportive friends, fam and Chris, he's pretty much my hero/angel/rock). It's fleeting moments like in the photos above that make it all clear. In the haze it hits me, OMG I'm someone's mom, life will never be the same! Life as I know it is gone. And for a moment I panic. And then the haze clears in the moments when I get a glimpse of baby Jack's growing personality or I stop to take in a scene like the one above. I realize it's not about losing something, it's about watching a piece of my heart and soul sleep in my arms, cry, smile in his sleep and adding another layer to who I am as a human being and it's about the gift of gaining so much more in my life, more than I could ever imagine.

My favorite photos for this month were taken on my iPhone and posted on my Instagram.

*A little side note - I was sunny side up as well, however my mom delivered me au natural... my respect-o-meter exploded when she told me this. Oh and she went on to birth 5 more kids au natural.... seriously. She is lion, hear her roar!

Keeping up with my Photo a Month project, I chose this photo in part because I love it as a photo and in part because I love this pretty, little succulent. Succulents have always held a special place in my gardening heart. I admire friends who have lovely, overflowing displays of succulents growing in pots on their front porches, those who have them beautifully placed in their homes and nurseries with wonderfully crafted displays that I only dream of having in my own yard. I have found some success in ignoring my plants as too much attention usually makes mine unhappy. I have also found that too much neglect also makes them unhappy! Perhaps I have them in the wrong location or have yet to figure out the perfect balance of attention, but sadly most of my succulents don't last for more than a season. Usually they wither away, grow tall and fall apart or just disappear! What's that all about?? haha! There has been one exception to this though. I found this lovely succulent last year, it was a beautiful, plump, silvery grey-green with hints of pink. The perfect little specimen for my grey and soft color loving heart. It flourished in a spot in my living room for many months and then one day (clearly after a while of neglect on my part, whoops!) I looked over and it had transformed from one beautiful specimen to another. In it's withered state this little one became just as beautiful, just in a different way. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away and had no idea how to revive it. So I left it, walking by it daily thinking about how much I loved the colors it had turned and that I needed to photograph it. February rolled around and it remains the same. Inspired by the blue-grey dresser I painted for the baby's room, I finally got around to photographing it!

Do you have any secrets or tips on growing succulents successfully? I'd love to hear from you!