Bath time is so.much.FUN! Lou Lou loves playing and splashing and getting her face wet. Sweet water baby! I can't wait to take her swimming this summer!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Jump up, jump up, and get DOWN!
Maybe its just because she's my kid, but this made me laugh and laugh and laugh!
Also, coming later this week, an in-depth book review of "Hungry Caterpillar" by Sophie Lou
Also, coming later this week, an in-depth book review of "Hungry Caterpillar" by Sophie Lou
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Princess Cupcake
Greeting royal subjects,I am Princess Cupcake, the princess of all that is Easter and all that is pink. I, along with my trust bunny friend, will rule with baby babbling and will provide cheerios for all. Until I'm tired and cranky and then I will let mommy take over ruling the kingdom. Being a princess is hard!
She almost gives me a cavity....how fluffy and girly and obnoxious is this dress? Eek!The Easter bunny came and gave Sophie her first picture Bible, and some chocolate bunnies (for mommy, no?) and a new toy to chew on. Its so hard to imagine next year she will be able to look for eggs and eat ham and say "He is risen indeed!"
7 months looks good on our little Lou, still no teeth despite a month of teething. She loves food food food food food, and kicks her little feet and waves her arms when she sees the baby spoon. She also had her first cheerios this weekend, which she really likes! She sits on her own all of the time now, and even tries to crawl a little when she's on her tummy. She's getting the idea, slowly but surely.
She LOVES her babysitter, and is happy as a clam almost everyday I pick her up. As great as Abby is (and she is AMAZING by the way) I'm counting the days until school is out and I can hang with Sophie every day! We've got lots of summer plans, including going to the park, going swimming, visiting Nana, and spending time in intense prayer that someone will buy our house.
Maybe this week I will have some job news? Stay tuned, I will keep you in the loop.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
And she sits upon her throne
Sorry for the little posting break from blogging, I blame state assessments and general stress. Not that there's anything stressful about moving in 3 months, nobody looking at our house, no place to live in Manhattan yet, no job for me, no financial aid secured for Tim, and I ran out of diet coke yesterday. Are those things stressful??
Oh, and this makes me smile today: the Pioneer Woman is getting her own cooking show on Food Network! I LOVE her! I may consider getting cable again just to watch it.......
Sophie is growing and changing and becoming more and more awesome every day!
She sits totally unsupported now, which is just cute; she's like a little person now instead of just a baby. My aunt bought her this ridiculously adorable chair with her name on it, and she loves loves loves sitting on it and watching the world. She also will sit in front of a mirror for about 30 minutes playing with her reflection. Cheapest babysitter I can find!
Her official 6 month pics are back and they are SOOOO beautiful. I honestly cried happy tears a little because they just captured her so perfectly. Hop on over to On the Wall Photography and look at the blog to see my little beautiful girl. More pics to come soon!
6 months came and went, we gave her some cake to celebrate. Just kidding, she got a tub of sweet potatoes instead. I'm pretty sure she thinks about them the same way I think about cake! Her hands shake, and she kicks her feet, she smiles and opens her mouth SUPER big. If you've ever eaten cake with me, you'd see the resemblance.
She is DESTROYING food now, and she loves (almost) everything we give her! Green beans, avocado, sweet potato, squash, oatmeal, apples, and pears! We crossed apple juice and peas off the list, those are NOT delicious according to her.
She's such a happy baby, and being a mommy is just.....divine. I was designed to do this. I'm FAR from perfect, and my patience needs some more work, but the joy and purpose this girlie girl gives me....its better than Standard of Excellence in BOTH reading and math (teacher friends, you know how life-changing THAT can be). I'm already looking forward to growing our family more.....ok not THIS MONTH, but sooner rather than later!
Oh, and this makes me smile today: the Pioneer Woman is getting her own cooking show on Food Network! I LOVE her! I may consider getting cable again just to watch it.......
Sophie is growing and changing and becoming more and more awesome every day!
She sits totally unsupported now, which is just cute; she's like a little person now instead of just a baby. My aunt bought her this ridiculously adorable chair with her name on it, and she loves loves loves sitting on it and watching the world. She also will sit in front of a mirror for about 30 minutes playing with her reflection. Cheapest babysitter I can find!
Her official 6 month pics are back and they are SOOOO beautiful. I honestly cried happy tears a little because they just captured her so perfectly. Hop on over to On the Wall Photography and look at the blog to see my little beautiful girl. More pics to come soon!6 months came and went, we gave her some cake to celebrate. Just kidding, she got a tub of sweet potatoes instead. I'm pretty sure she thinks about them the same way I think about cake! Her hands shake, and she kicks her feet, she smiles and opens her mouth SUPER big. If you've ever eaten cake with me, you'd see the resemblance.
She is DESTROYING food now, and she loves (almost) everything we give her! Green beans, avocado, sweet potato, squash, oatmeal, apples, and pears! We crossed apple juice and peas off the list, those are NOT delicious according to her.
She's such a happy baby, and being a mommy is just.....divine. I was designed to do this. I'm FAR from perfect, and my patience needs some more work, but the joy and purpose this girlie girl gives me....its better than Standard of Excellence in BOTH reading and math (teacher friends, you know how life-changing THAT can be). I'm already looking forward to growing our family more.....ok not THIS MONTH, but sooner rather than later!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sitting and bottles and baths, oh my!
I'm sure its not news to anyone that I'm disorganized, and I have AGAIN lost the battery charger for our camera battery. Luckily, I found one on Amazon for $4.00, so its on its way, but that explains the lack the cuteness quota for the month. I'll make up for it with some videos instead!
Sophie is 6 months old now, and she's SO.MUCH.FUN! This stage of learning and exploring and smiling is so funny. She sits unsupported now, and with the occasional flop over she does really well! Bath time is now a 20 minute playtime, and she loves watching water being dumped out of a cup. It makes her giggle so much; I doubt she will be so easily entertained in the years to come. She will also pass a toy from one hand to the other over....and over....and over...and over....and then look at me with a huge grin.....she's such a cute goober!
She likes to hold her own bottle, but isn't too efficient yet. We're using the sippy cup in the evenings for practice and she loves being Ms. Independent! She also LOVES food; we've moved on to cereal in the morning and food in the evening. So far she's destroyed avocado, green beans, sweet potatoes, and we're getting ready for butternut squash tonight. Again, she likes to help feed herself and hold the spoon, and again she's rather inefficient, but it makes for funny pictures (that I will take next week after my battery is charged!)
So here are a few videos of the bottle holding, and bathtime, and sitting in her new chair (thanks Aunt Cissy! She LOVES it!)
Sophie is 6 months old now, and she's SO.MUCH.FUN! This stage of learning and exploring and smiling is so funny. She sits unsupported now, and with the occasional flop over she does really well! Bath time is now a 20 minute playtime, and she loves watching water being dumped out of a cup. It makes her giggle so much; I doubt she will be so easily entertained in the years to come. She will also pass a toy from one hand to the other over....and over....and over...and over....and then look at me with a huge grin.....she's such a cute goober!
She likes to hold her own bottle, but isn't too efficient yet. We're using the sippy cup in the evenings for practice and she loves being Ms. Independent! She also LOVES food; we've moved on to cereal in the morning and food in the evening. So far she's destroyed avocado, green beans, sweet potatoes, and we're getting ready for butternut squash tonight. Again, she likes to help feed herself and hold the spoon, and again she's rather inefficient, but it makes for funny pictures (that I will take next week after my battery is charged!)
So here are a few videos of the bottle holding, and bathtime, and sitting in her new chair (thanks Aunt Cissy! She LOVES it!)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Steps of Faith....
Warning: this post is long. Like, longer than I ever planned to blog. But I've never written about this topic, and I feel like doing it now. And on the interwebz, you can say whatever you want. Its also about how I feed my sweet daughter. Nursing. Breast feeding. If you don't care to read about that, there's still time to bail. Head over the facebook and see how everyone's farms and mafias are doing instead. Or, jump over to foodgawker.com and look at the fantastic food. I visit daily and drool. Still reading? Ok then, here goes!
Ok, so this is less about nursing and more about how God has grown my faith over the past year. Last December (2009), I didn't even DO Christmas. My iPod has over 500 Christmas songs. I usually live for Christmas! We had no tree, no music, no cookies, and no decorations. I wasn't pregnant, AGAIN, and I wanted to just sit in my pit of despair, please. We had 13 negative tests at that point, and I was in a low place.
I know some people may read this and say "What is she complaining about? That's nothing!" and I agree; lots and lots of women have had a harder and more emotionally difficult time with pregnancy. But this was huge for me. And when you're in the low place, all you seem to think about is yourself.
In early January I went to KC with my jewelry girls, and the morning we were leaving I took negative test #14. I left grumpy, but tried to not stay that way. Rally was fabulous, the fellowship was needed, but I still felt abandoned. We came home on a Saturday night, and I felt weird and off, so I took another test. Then I took another one. The next morning I took another one. ALL 3 WERE POSITIVE. You would think I would jump up and down, right? I should have, but I didn't. Instead, I feel deeper into my dark place, haunted by the thought of "OK, so when will I miscarry? When will this be taken from me?"
Someone (or many someones) must have been praying for me, because I slowly began to feel like this was going to be a good thing. Worrying about losing her instead of celebrating the miracle was crazy. I was going to have this baby, she was going to be mine. I also felt she was a "she" from the beginning. Weird, no? I just kept thinking about Matthew 6:27 about how worrying cannot add one hour to your life. I'm not good at memorizing verses. I get the main idea, but the reference is usually lost on me. This one included. I had to google the reference. Just being honest here, folks!
So, jump forward a year. This January I had a 3 month old love bug baby girl. Sophie. I may have mentioned her once or twice in previous posts? She's pretty much perfect. And I love her more than I thought humanly possible. That first second I held her I felt like I KNEW her. We had to wait to get her, and she made those 14 negative tests seem so insignificant.
Are you really still reading this? Dang, you are either a dedicated reader or nosy. Both are acceptable :)
Anywho, my faith is still being stretched and tested every day. I make EXACTLY enough milk to feed my baby at the babysitter the next day. It seems like so little, but she eats 2 4 or 5 ounce bottles during the day. And that is EXACTLY what I can pump. And she's still such a chunky monkey! On the days I've gotten ahead, it seems she has a growth spurt and eats is all. One day I left work with only 2 ounces pumped, freaking out. Then, she had an extra long nap after school, so I decided to pump and what did I get? 8 ounces. That's a lot for me in one session! Like manna from heaven, my God is good.
Formula is great; I'm just cheap and want to keep nursing. In all honesty, there are lots of days I just want to throw in the towel. It would be 100 times easier not to nurse. I want to eat a full 30 minute lunch. I want all of my plan time back. I never want to hear the wa-woosh, wa-woosh of my pump again. But then I think about how much I love our bonding time nursing. And about how it costs nothing. And about how good it is for my love bug.
I no longer have any milk stored in the freezer, and we have a can of formula in the cupboard for when we will need it. But so far, I can provide exactly what my baby needs. It is ONLY exactly what she needs, no more, but its working for now. I even freaked out and met with a lactation specialist, who did give me great ideas and suggestions, but I still can't get a stockpile in the freezer. And that makes me WORRY. Which I'm not SUPPOSED to do. When will I learn?
Sorry if I overshared. Its a problem of mine. Thanks for reading. Blogging is like therapy sometimes!
Ok, so this is less about nursing and more about how God has grown my faith over the past year. Last December (2009), I didn't even DO Christmas. My iPod has over 500 Christmas songs. I usually live for Christmas! We had no tree, no music, no cookies, and no decorations. I wasn't pregnant, AGAIN, and I wanted to just sit in my pit of despair, please. We had 13 negative tests at that point, and I was in a low place.
I know some people may read this and say "What is she complaining about? That's nothing!" and I agree; lots and lots of women have had a harder and more emotionally difficult time with pregnancy. But this was huge for me. And when you're in the low place, all you seem to think about is yourself.
In early January I went to KC with my jewelry girls, and the morning we were leaving I took negative test #14. I left grumpy, but tried to not stay that way. Rally was fabulous, the fellowship was needed, but I still felt abandoned. We came home on a Saturday night, and I felt weird and off, so I took another test. Then I took another one. The next morning I took another one. ALL 3 WERE POSITIVE. You would think I would jump up and down, right? I should have, but I didn't. Instead, I feel deeper into my dark place, haunted by the thought of "OK, so when will I miscarry? When will this be taken from me?"
Someone (or many someones) must have been praying for me, because I slowly began to feel like this was going to be a good thing. Worrying about losing her instead of celebrating the miracle was crazy. I was going to have this baby, she was going to be mine. I also felt she was a "she" from the beginning. Weird, no? I just kept thinking about Matthew 6:27 about how worrying cannot add one hour to your life. I'm not good at memorizing verses. I get the main idea, but the reference is usually lost on me. This one included. I had to google the reference. Just being honest here, folks!
So, jump forward a year. This January I had a 3 month old love bug baby girl. Sophie. I may have mentioned her once or twice in previous posts? She's pretty much perfect. And I love her more than I thought humanly possible. That first second I held her I felt like I KNEW her. We had to wait to get her, and she made those 14 negative tests seem so insignificant.
Are you really still reading this? Dang, you are either a dedicated reader or nosy. Both are acceptable :)
Anywho, my faith is still being stretched and tested every day. I make EXACTLY enough milk to feed my baby at the babysitter the next day. It seems like so little, but she eats 2 4 or 5 ounce bottles during the day. And that is EXACTLY what I can pump. And she's still such a chunky monkey! On the days I've gotten ahead, it seems she has a growth spurt and eats is all. One day I left work with only 2 ounces pumped, freaking out. Then, she had an extra long nap after school, so I decided to pump and what did I get? 8 ounces. That's a lot for me in one session! Like manna from heaven, my God is good.
Formula is great; I'm just cheap and want to keep nursing. In all honesty, there are lots of days I just want to throw in the towel. It would be 100 times easier not to nurse. I want to eat a full 30 minute lunch. I want all of my plan time back. I never want to hear the wa-woosh, wa-woosh of my pump again. But then I think about how much I love our bonding time nursing. And about how it costs nothing. And about how good it is for my love bug.
I no longer have any milk stored in the freezer, and we have a can of formula in the cupboard for when we will need it. But so far, I can provide exactly what my baby needs. It is ONLY exactly what she needs, no more, but its working for now. I even freaked out and met with a lactation specialist, who did give me great ideas and suggestions, but I still can't get a stockpile in the freezer. And that makes me WORRY. Which I'm not SUPPOSED to do. When will I learn?
Sorry if I overshared. Its a problem of mine. Thanks for reading. Blogging is like therapy sometimes!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)