Fall Fun Photos

It was a lovely weekend here and we spent a lot of time outside. We watched a marathon, played in leaves, went to enjoy one last meal of the season at Sea Salt (an eatery set within a city park), and we spent some time in our own back yard just hanging out, being together, enjoying the day.  It was lovely.

(Random) Picture Post

Eliza, my mom and I went to a little Easter egg hunt put on by the healthcare system my mom works for.  They had a waffle breakfast too.  Eliza loved it.

Eliza loves the poster in my midwife's office showing the growing fetus.  Here she's pointing to how big "her baby" was at a recent appointment.

Helping prime the basement walls.

Eliza and one of her BFFs Emma at the zoo.  These two are the cutest.

THE CUTEST! Right?

Dyeing Easter eggs.

The three of us on Easter (zomg I look tired...)

The girl loves her some Lush bath bombs.

Hugging the new carpet in our newly finished basement!

38.5 weeks!

31 vs. 21

This post over at Mama Nervosa had me chuckling.  So I thought I'd steal the idea and post 10 of the things I find myself caring about now that I am 31 that did not matter to me when I was 21.

   1) Having a clean shower (my college roommate will attest to this one)

   2) Eating hormone-free/cruelty-free meat

   3) Olive oil (good tasting, high quality!)

   4) Restaurant reviews

   5) Working on relationships with friends and family

   6) Good wine

   7) Preschools

   8) Kitchen knives

   9) How comfortable my pants are

   10) Current events


What would your list look like?

List Update

Remember this list I made?  It was exactly two weeks ago and, as of today, of the ten items on that list, I have completed five.

#1: My closet.  Officially cleaned out and organized.  Gave away two huge garbage bags full of clothing to the goodwill.  It feels great to be able to actually pull things off hangers and out of drawers that I know fit me and that are seasonally appropriate (of course, today it was barely 60 degrees so I had to dig for a sweatshirt - gah! What's with this weather?)

#2: Well, I bought a few new summer shirts and I did find a dress at the thrift store, but it's sort of too fancy for everyday casual dress-wearing.  Anyway, at least I have a few new items to choose from.

#5: The cats.  Those poor animals.  I have been giving them more attention lately and hubby and I managed to finally trim their nails, so we're making steps in the right direction.  Unfortunately, it seems that Eliza has made it her goal to negate all of this progress by grabbing them, pulling them down from wherever they were peacefully sleeping, yanking on their paws and generally just harassing them nonstop.  Poor things!

#7: The dust ruffle on E's crib!  Done!  And I decided not to actually hem it, but to use double-sided tape so that I could undo it in the future in case (hopefully, when) we need to use the crib again at the highest mattress setting.

#9: My tomato beds: weeded and mulched!  Eliza helped me do this today.  We had great fun - turns out she's an expert at grabbing handfuls of mulch and throwing them on the tomato bed.  And we found cocoa bean mulch, which is the best stuff in the world - have you ever smelled it?  It smells like chocolate!  And, it's pretty.  Highly recommended.

So, my progress is not all that bad I guess - 5 out of 10 isn't bad!

What I keep meaning to do...

I've noticed a few bloggers recently posting all the things they have been meaning to do lately, but have been putting off.  I knew I had to get in on this - I love lists.  Is it just me?  No no, I KNOW there are lots of you who get all excited by a potential list-making opportunities.  Admit it.  It's the first step, people.

Anyway, yes, list-making is a favorite past time of mine, and this exercise made me realize how many things I've been meaning to do*... and have been putting off.  So I thought maybe if I wrote them all down (or, at least the first 10 that came to my mind) in black and white, I might actually get the motivation to do them.  Well, a girl can hope anyway...

1. Clean out my über-tiny closet, switch out winter clothes for summer clothes the three t-shirts and one pair of shorts that are in a box labeled "summer clothes" in the basement.
2. Buy some new summer clothes - oh, and buy a dress!  Yes, I want to wear dresses.  Summery, casual ones.  That go with casual sandals.
3. List items on eBay that I've been meaning to sell for... a while.
4. Go through Eliza's dresser and box up clothes that no longer fit her or are too warm to wear - it was 104 degrees here yesterday, people!  It's time for the warm clothes to move over (for at least a few months...) and make room for summer clothes.
5. Pay more attention to my cats.  This includes: brushing them, clipping their daggers nails regularly, and other good-cat-owner behaviors.  They have been seriously neglected since approximately 11-14-09.
6. Get my sewing machine fixed so that I can...
7. Hem the dust ruffle (what an ugly name for something so pretty) on Eliza's crib.  I made it so that it was the right length for the mattress at its highest/wee-baby setting, and now that it's on the lowest setting, it looks ridiculous.  
8. Find or develop a recipe for a healthy muffin for Eliza.  That girl is SUCH a carb fiend (hubby wants to find this shirt in her size), and I'd like to offer her a nutrient-packed, whole wheat, grainy (read: not as yummy) version of one of her favorite treats: the muffin.  Recommendations welcome!
9. Weed my tomato bed.  Buy cocoa bean mulch, add mulch to said tomato bed.
10. Buy thistle seed and fill the backyard bird feeders.

*this list (obviously) only pertains to inter-household/domestic-awesomeness duties.  My long list of grad school to-dos is tedious and boring, so I won't make you read it.  You're welcome.

Total Randomness

• Tomorrow morning Eliza has her 18 month check-up.  She is starting to understand about going to the doctor.  We've talked about it a bit and she has this book at Grandma and Grandpa's house, which talks about going to the doctor.  Also, she came to the doctor with me on Monday and saw my doctor look in my ears, my mouth, listen to my heart, etc.  We thought it would be a good idea for her to see that so she doesn't think that SHE is the only one who has to go to the doctor!  Oh, and I have a sinus infection.  Blah.  I guess after having a cold for 2 weeks straight, it's not that surprising...

• Need a new blog to read (I know, I know, you probably don't, but hear me out)?  I've been reading Amalah since Eliza was born, but not sure if I've talked about it here.  Amy Storch writes it and she is hilarious.  She's a mom of two boys and due with another baby boy in a couple of weeks.  I adore her humor and her writing style, and she is the perfect combination of tender and sarcastic.  And I love the way she uses exclamation points and caps lock, heheh.  I sorta-kinda want to be her - or, at least, be able to write like her.  So if you're looking for a laugh, check her out.

• I'm thinking about getting a peace pole for my front garden.  Anyone ever heard of or seen one?  It's a large pole that you put in the ground - many people put them in their gardens or in their front lawns, or at local community or religious centers - and on each side, the words "May Peace Prevail on Earth" is translated into different languages.  There are quite a few in the city I live in, but none in my neighborhood.  It's something I've been thinking of for a while and every time I see one I am reminded how much I want one.  I'd probably get the four-sided cedar pole.  You can choose the four languages you'd like on it, and I noticed today that one of the "languages" you can choose is animal paw prints!  Cute.  I think I would choose English, Spanish, Hmong... and I am honestly considering the paw prints :)

• Eliza is definitely saying "love you!" to us now.  She said it to Andy this morning as he was leaving for work.  It just melts my heart!

• Hubby and I found this great little play kitchen on sale at Tar.get the other day for only $30, so we snatched it up immediately.  It's small, wooden and just so sweet.  And hard to beat that price!  We haven't set it up for Eliza yet, and we're thinking we probably won't until she's closer to two.  Maybe it will be a birthday gift...?  Or, we'll at least wait until later this fall when the weather gets cold and we're forced back inside to play (nooo!!!!).

• And finally, this video cracks me up:

WTH BLOGGER?

So is it just me or did anyone else's blog get a little wonky after blogger was down yesterday and today?  Comments from a couple of my recent posts are missing (which is so sad to me - I love comments!!!) and now my post from Wednesday is at the top of the page and is incorrectly dated.  Weird.

Anywho, I finally got through all my old posts and labeled most of them.  I added a label "cloud" on the right column so you can click on a label and see all relevant posts.  I am also going to work on updating my  sidebar photos and info.  I'm finished with my semester (WOOHOOOO!!!), so I finally have a little extra time on my hands.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.  I'm working on Eliza's 18 month post, though it probably won't be up by tomorrow.  I'm kind of behind on photos and remembering all the wonderful things she's been up to lately.  Oh, the mommy guilt.

She is A YEAR AND A HALF tomorrow!  How in the world did that happen?

(At Jamba Juice)

A Seriously Serious Topic

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post!  I loved hearing what you all think about your own child spacing and adding-to-the-family decisions.  This is why I love blogging so :)  As long as I'm on a roll with helpful advice and people leaving comments...

I have a really SERIOUS question for you.

I know that most of you, dear readers, are female.  So I'm going to throw out a question that only other females can answer.

You see, I have an issue with my underwear.  It's always... sagging.  There, I said it.  I have saggy underwear.  *shameface*  I guess that's the right word.  It just doesn't stay up!  It drives. me. crazy.  Now, in the interest of honesty, I have to say this: I have no butt.  I really don't.  I wasn't born with a booty and I'll never have one, so I am sure that is contributing to this issue.  But it's also the underwear.

Does anyone else share this problem?  What kind of underwear is good at staying up?  Maybe I am wearing the wrong size?

So let me hear your favorite brands/types/etc.  I'm in need of some serious help here!

I'm usually a bikini cut girl.  Oh, and I have a friend who swears by wearing thongs every day (you know who you are!!), but I can't do it.  Just can't do it.  Sorry, no way, no how!

Thanks ladies!

It's finally happened.

I never thought it would happen, but I've become a coffee drinker.  Yup.  I blame Eliza (sorry, honey - I love you!)  She MADE me.  Now that she's down to just the one nap a day, I don't get to take my morning nap (I know, I know, I was spoiled), and I am SO TIRED ALL DAY, OMG.  I see now why people drink the stuff.  I honestly never really understood it before - but that was when I was sleeping 9-10 hours straight each night.  Bahahahahahahaha.

I still don't actually like the taste of coffee, though, so I'm more of a faker - I fill my mug half way up with coffee, and then I fill it to the top with milk, and put at least two spoonfuls of sugar in it.  So, yeah, it ends up not actually tasting much like coffee when I'm done with it.  I'm considering buying some caramel syrup to go in it, too... might as well do it right!

Balancing Act

Our Wednesday

5:45 - Wake up call!  My dear girl is up and at 'em (did you know I used to think that saying was actually "up and adam"??), so it's time to drag myself out of bed.  Honestly, I am pretty zombie-like at this point.  Go to the bathroom, splash water on my face, try to wake up!  Thank goodness hubby is still home to play with Eliza for a few minutes.

6:00 - Okay, I'm more awake now... check email, throw a load of clothes in the wash, then relieve Daddy so he can get ready for work.  Play with mah baybee!

7:00 - Say goodbye to Daddy, then breakfast time!  Eggs and pancakes today.  My mom joins us (and brings aforementioned pancakes - hey, I made the eggs!).

8:30 - Naptime.  Eliza and I nap together - this is such a guilty pleasure.  I know I could be getting work done, but I just need the sleep so badly.  I will not apologize! :)

10:00 - Wake up.  Laze around for a while before getting out of bed, we play the tickle game and sing.

10:30 - Get ready to leave the house: both dressed, diaper changed (Eliza, lol) and we're off.  I drop Eliza off at Grandma and Grandpa daycare, and I could go study.  I have a presentation to work on that's due tomorrow.  I go off to the coffee shop (well, actually, to a restaurant inside a grocery store that also has a coffee shop).  Work work work from about 11:00-1:40, then I head home.

1:50 - Quickly use the bathroom (first time since this morning!!), go downstairs to throw the clothes in the dryer.

1:55 - My mom drops Eliza off.

2:00 - Put Eliza down for a nap.  She's asleep by 2:10 or so.  Go wash breakfast dishes, then start a load of dipes in the washer.  Start dinner (I love my crockpot!!!).  Answer annoying student emails.  Work on presentation.

3:00 - Eliza wakes up fussy (=still tired), nurse her back to sleep, put her back in crib.  She wakes up.  Repeat.  She wakes up again.  Still seems tired... try again.  Nope, we're awake now!  Change diaper.  Play.  Read books.  Play with toys.  Listen to music.  Sing.  Crawl around and harass cats.

3:30 - Oops, forgot about clothes in the dryer - go downstairs and get them, hang them up (hmm, kind of wrinkled...may have to iron later - dangit!).  Start 2nd wash on dipes.

4:00 - Head over to my parents' house to visit new kittens.  Play with kittens!  Work in my parents' kitchen on my laptop while Eliza plays with Grandma, Grandpa, and the kittens.

5:15 - Go home and finish dinner while Eliza plays on the floor at my feet.  She hits this time of day and is NOT OKAY with playing by herself, so I carry her around the kitchen or she either plays in the cabinets or hangs onto my legs while I pivot around her going from the stove to the sink to the fridge. Good thing our kitchen is so tiny!  

5:35 - Daddy get home (early today!).  Eliza and Daddy play while I finish up dinner.  

5:55 - Eat dinner.  Yum!  

6:20 - Eliza tells us she's "all done".  Wash hands and face.  Run water for tub.  Daddy gets his guitar and we sing (Sloop John B was tonight's selection).  

6:25 - Daddy takes over for bathtime.  I go clear the table, was the dishes, clean the counters and stove.  Listen to Eliza and Daddy in the bathroom laughing, singing, reading books, playing "where is Eliza's nose/ear/eyes...".  Stop to appreciate this awesome life.  Start 2nd rinse on dipes.  Change my clothes, get Eliza's PJs and nighttime diaper ready.  Grab towel, go check on bathtime buddies.  

6:45 - Get Eliza out of the tub, diaper and PJs on (no small feat these days, she HATES this part of her day).  Bedtime!  

7:15 - Eliza asleep.  Put dipes in the dryer.  Share a little dessert with hubby.  Make tea.  Sit down with laptop to start working.  Procrastinate and blog instead.  

8:13 - Okay, it's really time to work now... 

I love this life.  I love it so much.  It's a balancing act, but it's such a good, fulfilling one - especially on days like today when the balance was fairly even between work and play.  I am a lucky woman!

(Also: I realize how very VERY lucky I am to have my parents - they watch Eliza for me when I am at school and when I need to get work done.  What would I do without them???)

What a Weekend

This has been a full-of-life, beautiful, family-fun-filled weekend!  Eliza had an extra fun weekend, I think, because her daddy was off work for THREE days instead of just two.  That girl loves her daddy, she smiles every time he walks into the room, and it is absolutely adorable to see.

This morning, we hung out just the three of us... laying around in bed, drinking our hot beverages of choice (coffee for him, tea for me), Eliza singing and cooing... 

Then we went to my parents' house to celebrate hubby's birthday.  When we got there, we got to go harvest some wild Morel mushrooms - there were TONS of them growing in the backyard!  A very rare treat.  My dad cooked them up and served them with omelets - they were soooooooooooooooooo tasty!

We also checked out my dad's bees.  Do you know how interesting honey bees are?  They are fascinating little insects.  My dad has been interested in bees for a long time, and he has a hive that he started this year.  I can't wait to watch what happens over the summer with the hive, and hopefully try some honey!!

(You can see the worker bees flying into the hive here - the opening is at the bottom of the yellow box)

Eliza's Uncle (my brother) and Aunt (my SIL) were there and got to love on our girl, which was really fun to watch. 

Then we came home, put the girl to bed and watched some Dr. Who.  :-)  

How was your weekend?

Where have I been?

Gosh, has it been more than a week since my last post?  That's insane.  I don't know where the time goes, but I imagine it goes here...

and here...

and maybe here, too...?

What have we been up to, you ask?  I suppose I could say 'nothing special', and yet, it is all special.  A thousand special little moments strung together to fill up our days, which turn into weeks... which have somehow, I realized today while looking at the calendar, turned into five beautiful months.

• Every day, we play outside in the beautiful spring weather.  We spread out an old tattered rug next to the daffodils and we bring toys and books outside, and we play.  'Airplane baby' is one of our favorite activities these days (see above photos!), as is peek-a-boo.  Eliza is also fascinated by the grass; she loves touching it and figuring out what on earth this green stuff is.  Then we look up at the sky and the trees and I tell her that I can't wait to teach her all about the beauty of nature and the great wide world.

• We've been taking baths every night now before bed, which is an absolute joy.  I love getting in that tub with her and all her rolls, and that little baby butt on which, yes it's true, I have been known to blow raspberries.  She is learning that when she kicks her feet, it makes QUITE the watery mess that gets all over Daddy... and so she does it again and laughs and we laugh right along with her.  OH, the laughing. It is the most beautiful sound!  

• Eliza and I have also had many play dates in the last few weeks.  It's been so refreshing to get out of the house now that the weather is nice and meet friends for walks, lunch dates, trips to the zoo and the conservatory.  Mall walking has been replaced by walking around the lake nearby our house, and Eliza is very pleased, she LOVES the outdoors (from what we can tell so far, at least).  A couple of our friends have recently welcomed new babies, so I have more mommy friends now than ever.  We get together and chat, nurse, and love on our babies.  Nothing better.  

• Bedtime has been going great.  First, we sing while hubby plays the guitar - tonight, it was 'Let it Be' - then we take a bath and then nurse.  She's usually asleep and in her co-sleeper by 8, giving us some couple time (or "alone" time, sometimes, which is when I can blog!) before we go to bed.  It provides a wonderful balance and brings a calm to the ending of our day, and it is good for us.  

• My parents have been soaking up this girl like she is going out of style, and I love watching them watch her and interact with her.  I don't know what is different about the love of a grandparent for a grandchild, but I think there is magic in it.  They take care of her at least once a week while the hubby and I go out for dinner, run errands - or go to a concert AND EVEN have a pre-concert drink (like we did on Saturday :)!

There is more to say, more stories to tell and more photos to share...  but tomorrow my baby girl will be five months old, and I need to go figure out HOW ON EARTH THAT HAPPENED.

Bye!

Scatterbrain

So many things I want to blog about, so little time! Bear with me while I get all these would-be-blog-topics down on "paper"...

• Our upcoming New Mexico trip with my parents (Eliza and I are *so* sad that daddy can't come with us!)
• Eliza's newfound love of screeching. It's so cute - and loud - I think she has just discovered the sound of her own voice!
• The horrible Superbowl ad airing today that I've been reading about all morning... can't get it off my mind. So wrong on so many levels... no time to really get into it here and now, though. Go here to read an synopsis/essay about the ad, and here to read a sad but well-written blog entry by a woman who was forced to make a heart-wrenching choice no one should ever have to make; her thoughts about the ad are honest and raw. **So it turns out the ad itself wasn't so bad... wondering if they edited it?  I was surprised when I saw it.  The message of the organization is not something that I agree with, but I'm glad they toned down (?) the ad**
• The fantastic meal we had last night with my family (parents, brother and SIL). A last minute invite turned into a beautiful gathering of family, food, wine and togetherness. Homemade spaghetti sauce (with meatballs!), homemade polenta, homemade bread, a bottle of 2004 Turley Zin... this is what life is all about! I went to bed feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. I'm so grateful that Eliza has such loving family around her - how wonderful it would be if *all* our family members lived closer to us.
• Eliza's guardianship - done! Feels good to have that wrapped up, decided upon, signed, notarized... and without any drama!
• My upcoming bday - blah! That's a whole separate post... but I'll be 29 on March 6th. Only one more year before my thirties. *sigh*
• This GREAT new tool I just set up that will allow me to see how many visitors I get to my blog every day, how they found my blog, and where their ISP address is located (well, within like a 10 mile radius at least!). I'm so not computer savvy, but hubby helped me set it up, I'm excited to use it!
• My wonderful husband... another blog post I keep writing in my head, but haven't had time to really sit and give it the attention and focus it deserves. He's such an amazing father to Eliza... so devoted, involved, caring, kind. I think having a daughter has changed him; softened him around the edges somehow...
• Eliza's first shot :( We went on Friday to get her first vaccine and it was so so sad to watch her cry in pain. Harder for mama than for her, I imagine. I just reminded myself how lucky I am that she is healthy and that we are vaccinating her against these horrible diseases to protect her from getting really really sick. Better seeing her get a shot in the thigh than laying in a hospital bed.
• The local mom's group I joined. I went to my first 'Baby Playdate' on Friday morning. It was interesting to meet the other moms... a mix of personalities and values/beliefs (of course!). A few were *definitely* not my type of people (as evidenced by the anti-co-sleeping, and then pro-formula-feeding soap boxes one woman went off on... it was so hard to keep my mouth shut!!!!), but I can see myself clicking with one or two of the women. It was a great opportunity to chat with other new moms about all things baby related. I think I'll go to a few of their other events - they are during the weekdays, so at least it gets us out of the house!
• Schoolwork. Stress. Unwritten papers. Procrastination. Septemberpleasedontevergethere. Let's just leave it at that.

Phew! Okay, I feel better. At least I got some of what has been rolling around my brain OUT of my brain. Thanks for listening to that scattered randomness.

I'll leave you with a picture of my beauty (and my dear hubby in the background!)! Happy Superbowl Sunday!

Lost

Just in case anyone was wondering... less than one month left until the Lost premiere!!!!!!!!

Speaking of lost... I haven't been able to put together a coherent blog post yet since the new year, so this post might have a big of a lost feeling to it... bullets seemed appropriate, so here we go.

• Eliza is smiling now! Real, beautiful, heart-melting smiles. They aren't predictable yet, they seem somewhat random, so you can usually find us staring down at her doing crazy things just to try to get another one out of her. So far, funny mouth noises and happy faces seem to work... admittedly, we HAVE tried a little Sir-Mix-A-Lot, á la Friends... just for fun ;)

• Hubby and I went to a great NYE party - we left E with my parents for the evening (and 4 ozs of EBM) and she did great. We stayed aaaaall the way 'til 10pm! Yeah, I know, we're out of control. It really must stop.

• We went to see Sherlock Holmes today. There's a theater nearby that does "Movies for Moms and Dads" on Tuesdays. It's AWESOME. Every Tuesday, the first showing of the day for each movie is a special screening that is baby-friendly. They leave the lights dim (instead of turning them off), the sound is turned down (just a bit), and babies are free to cry and coo and nurse to their hearts content without parents worrying about disrupting the movie. It's SO great! Eliza slept through most of the movie. She squawked a few times and I just nursed her or let her suck on my pinkie and she fell back asleep. I think I might go to a movie every Tuesday from now on!!

• My growing girl is growing... right out of her clothes! She's into all 0-3 months clothes now instead of newborn, and she's grown out of nearly all her size x-small cloth diapers, and into size small. The AIOs are still a little big on her so we'll wait to start using those until she's a little bigger. In disposables (which we use overnight and when we go out), she's wearing size 1.

• We picked up this awesome little product yesterday, on the recommendation of a friend. They really work! And, they are pretty cute, too. No more lost socks!

• Date night tonight - we're going to a new favorite restaurant - it's a tiny Thai place near our house. It's housed in an old Ember's or something, and so the ambience is pretty much non-existent, but the spring rolls are fantastic! Grandma and Grandpa are watching E.

• Oh, and it's apparently blog de-lurking week or some such thing... I heard this from a few other bloggers, so I'm joining in on the world-wide-blog de-lurking requests. Step up and introduce yourself. I promise, I don't bite (exception: my daughter's teeny tiny scrumptious toes!).

Gah, that post was all over the board!

Realities

• Showering. I think I'm finally up to showering at least three times a week - hooray! Let's not talk about how often I showered when we first brought her home. Thanks. Oh, and this may also apply to brushing my teeth... eeeggghhhh... yeah. All I can say is I'm glad we're back to normal in that department.

• Running to the store. Having a baby in the wintertime (and especially right before a blizzard), you just don't want to leave the cozy warm house very often and brave the freeeeezing cold temps. And so, your Tar.get runs become less frequent. But no problem, you have a husband! And so, you put a shopping list together. You put "shampoo" on it. HOWEVER, if you think that means he'll know which shampoo brand to buy, you might be incorrect in that assumption, and you might end up shampooing your hair with Sua.ve Green Apple shampoo. It could happen.

• Sleeping. We bought a co-sleeper before she was born, put it next to our bed and planned for her to sleep in it from day 1. And then day 1 got here, and it was 2 am on day 1, and she wouldn't sleep, and we hadn't slept in like 20 hours... and so I brought her into our bed, and - gasp! - let her sleep on her side because the girl LOATHES sleeping on her back - and WE ALL SLEPT! So, it turns out that the reality is YOU DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO SLEEP. And so, for now, we share sleep. And we're cool with it (thank you, Dr. Sears!).

• Being a Mom is awesome. This is my favorite reality. It's so true. Eliza fits into our family like a missing puzzle piece. It's beautiful. It's surreal. I love being her mom. She is my little sugar bear, my Eliza bean, my precious miracle. I couldn't be more grateful for my life and my little family. We are complete.

(Excuse me while I go try to get the green apple scent out of my hair...)

Baby Bullets

• BFing is going better than I expected, and for this I am incredibly grateful. I love it. It's such a special time between Eliza and me. We are lucky that she is such a GREAT nurser.

• We visited Grandma (my mom) today at work and while we were there we put her on the baby scale - she's up to 8 lbs 10 ozs! Way to go, bo.obies!

• Eliza loves to move! I suppose most babies at this age do, but wow, movement is like an instant baby-crying-stopper. She especially likes the 'elevator' that daddy does with her - he holds her in both hands and lifts her up and down. Daddy's biceps love it, too ;-)

• On this note...I officially hate stoplights! She is content when the car is moving, but as soon as we stop moving, she gets a little mad at the world.

• Oh - quick plug for an awesome baby product that we love: the Cooshee Changer. It doesn't need a cover, it's made of some type of futuristic foam or something and you can just wipe it down with a baby wipe if (when) it gets various baby fluids on it! Heheh.

• I have been wearing Eliza a lot, and it is lovely. I have looked forward to doing that for so long, and the time is finally here. I have the K'Tan and the Moby, and I really like both of them. I'm starting to prefer the Moby as it provides a bit better back support for mama, but the K'Tan is great for a quicker in-and-out. Hoping to get an Ergo for when she is a bit older. I think that one will be great for hiking up North next summer.

• I know it is too early to say what 'kind' of baby Eliza is (content/quiet/fussy/good sleeper/not-so-good sleeper/etc...), after all, she is constantly changing right now - and frankly, I'm not one to label my child in that sort of way... but I will say that, so far, she's been a joy to take care of. Sure, she has her fussy time of day (often in the evening before bed), but generally she is easily soothed (see above re: Daddy's biceps) - as long as we keep on soothing her! She has some wonderful periods of quiet alert time, which are so much fun. That's when we do tummy time, or we talk to her, or we tour the house, or talk to her about all the fun things we're going to do when she gets a little bigger. Sometimes, we just stare at her as she takes in her world. We call it 'Baby TV' because we could just stare at her all day long.

• Sleeping at night: THIS I know will be an ever-changing animal, so just because it's been going well so far doesn't mean this pattern will necessarily continue... I will just count my blessings NOW... but really, we've been lucky in this department, I think (*knocks on wood*). She nurses before we go to sleep, and then she falls asleep and sleeps anywhere between 3 and 5 hours (last night we got 5 straight!), then nurses again, then falls asleep again for about 2-3 hours, wakes up and then nurses again (at this point it's usually the early morning and hubby is getting ready for work), and then will fall asleep for 1-2 hours again. We stay in bed until about 9 or 10, just nursing and dozing... and by the time we get out of bed, mom feels pretty rested! I also try to get a nap in during the day. This has worked really well for us, and I have felt surprisingly well rested (this coming from a former 10-hour-per-night sleeper). This was one of my greatest fears, as I NEED my sleep... so I am thankful that it has been going well. EVEN if it starts to not go so well, at least I've gotten some good sleep early on in her life (while I was/am still recovering and getting used to being a mom!). She still isn't loving her co-sleeper, so she's co-sleeping with us for the time being, but it's fine with us. In fact, we prefer it right now.

That's what's going on in our little world... I just had so many things running around my head that I wanted to say, I thought bullets were the way to go today. I'll leave you with a few pics from Thanksgiving.