Busy

Sorry I've been MIA lately!  Seems like we are just now starting to get settled into our new life as a family with two working parents.  Each week seems to get a little easier - though we are still crazy busy with our new routine.

This past week brought a case of pink eye for me and Natalie.  I didn't appreciate it....but I certainly didn't mind a "sick day" at home with my sweet little girl.  I think we both needed it!  She's also getting her two bottom teeth at the same time, and had her six month shots on the same day that she came down with the eye infection -- a little TLC was in order, for sure.

Along with our busy life, we have a BUSY baby on our hands these days!
She is right on the verge of crawling -- scooting backwards on the floor and around in circles.  She is really trying to get her legs moving, just isn't quite there yet.  Babyproofing is in our near future, I'm afraid.  She reaches for everything.  Got her hands on the computer charge cord the other day while I was in the kitchen.  Yesterday I went to the bathroom and when I came out she had scooted herself backwards underneath the TV cabinet.

She loves the hardwood floors, because it's easy to push herself around on them.

And this Little Miss has ALL KINDS of personality lately. :)

So fun, so sweet, so BUSY!

Spinning

Do you ever feel like the world is spinning so fast, you can't keep up?  Like everything is swirling and churning and you can't make sense of any of it?  Welcome to my life, as of late.

I constantly feel "behind".  Like I'm trying to catch up with everyone else.  At school, I'm settling in with a class of 27 second graders.  Translation = I'm running my ass off all day to keep them controlled and learning at all times.  I pump while I scarf down a sandwich and leave the remainders of my lunch in my lunch box.  I'll save the rest for tomorrow's lunch, I always think.  Then, it's Friday and the granola bar that I packed on Monday has been hanging out in my lunchbox all week.  At the end of each day, I quickly prioritize what must be done so I can get out of there and get Natalie.  I leave the remainders of my to-do list on my desk....I'll save those for tomorrow.  The granola bar and my to-do list have the same fate, apparently.

Evenings are a wild whirlwind of feed the baby, play with baby, bathe the baby, put baby to bed, make lunch, lay out clothes, pack the diaper bag, pack the school bag, squeeze in a couple of chores (my house is falling apart all around me!), try to summon up an intelligible conversation with my hubby, then collapse into the bed.  Set the alarm for 5:25am so we can start it all over again.  I am literally more exhausted than I have ever been.  More exhausted than life with a newborn, people.  We're talkin' T.I.R.E.D.  The good news is that Natalie is tired, too, after her adventures at daycare all day.  We both sleep like rocks all night long.

I am already longing for the next day off school. Or, for this "adjustment period" to be over.  Because that's all this is, right?  RIGHT?!?

Our night looked like this:  I rushed home to feed Natalie and feed myself before heading back to work for Back-to-School Night.  Mark's phone was exploding because of an emergency on a job he's running.  He finds out he needs to take a shop-vac to the job site.  When he goes to the basement to get the shop-vac, he sees that our floor drain the basement is backed up and flooding the carpet in the finished part.  Which means I have to leave him with a fussy, tired baby and a soggy basement because I can't miss Back-to-School Night.  Roto-Rooter still isn't here (at 9:30pm).  We can't run any water until the drain in the basement is snaked out -- which means the sink is full of dishes, Natalie's bathtub is still full of her bath water, and the load of laundry that I had planned to wash is definitely on hold.  Can't even flush the toilet.  Not to mention, I don't even know how we are going to pay for the plumbing services.  Everytime we catch up a little and I think, okay, we can do this....we're gonna make it....we'll be fine...we are slammed with another big unexpected expense.  Mark is back at work, dealing with the mess there.  I am blogging - it's either that, or crawl in my bed and never come out! 

When will this all end??!?!  This year has been the hardest of my life.  I feel like I am living with a black cloud over my head....just waiting for the next storm to come raining down.

Yes, very negative post.  Sometimes a girl's gotta vent.  Sorry!
Obligatory cute baby pictures.  Yes, that makes everything better. :)

This too, shall pass.

(my mantra these days!)

'Night, friends.

Half a Year

Today is my baby girl's half birthday.  Half a year old....and our whole world.

Since today is such a big milestone, we decided to head to the park to take some pictures of our baby girl.  I will probably take some pictures of her in her chair tomorrow, for comparison sakes.

Big girl!  She smiles and laughs all day long.  We can't get enough of her!  We listen to her coo and sing and babble....and we just look at each other and beam.  We are proud of every move she makes....

At six months, our girl is rolling and scooting.  She pushes herself up on her arms and looks so proud when she can push herself backwards.  She really enjoys toys now, and looks at them and flings them around.  She likes to bang things on the floor and the highchair tray.  Everything goes in her mouth, and she grabs anything within reach.  Busy baby!  We are still waiting on teeth!

She still sleeps great at night (after a brief two week span of HORRIBLE nights.....we finally figured out that she was hot - put a fan in her room and she has been great ever since).  She goes to bed around 8, and gets up at 6 or 6:30 each morning.  Daycare is still an adjustment (for Mommy and baby), but she loves her daycare provider.  She isn't getting enough sleep there, and ends up taking a long nap when she gets home.  I hope we can get this worked out soon...

Natalie is eating some solids now.  She has dinner every evening after she nurses.  We've started with rice cereal and sweet potatoes and she tolerates both.  She has gotten much better with the spoon.  I just bought green beans, bananas, peaches, and butternut squash at the store today so I can make up some more food and let her start to try some new flavors.  (Click here to see the site I used to research how to make/store the baby food). 

Since my return to work, I can only pump once a day.  There just isn't another convenient time.  I am not ready to give up nursing, so instead I've started giving Natalie just one formula bottle a day.  We actually give it to her at night before bed.  She seems to sleep a little longer that way.  I pump before I go to bed, so she is still have breastmilk bottles both times at daycare.  It's working for now!!

Not sure her height and weight stats right now.  Her appointment is not until next week.  I am guessing around 17 pounds?  She definitely looks bigger to me lately.  I can just imagine her starting to crawl and move any day now!  We have started talking about baby proofing.  I can't believe we are here already!

Natalie's personality is laid back and happy.  She is calm and content most of the time.  Mark's grandma says this is exactly how he was as a baby.  It makes her so enjoyable!!  Sometimes I want to cry when I look at her.  And watching her with her daddy?  Indescribable.  This love for our girl is consuming and earth-changing and......defining.    

Our little girl is the most precious, most beautiful, most darling little angel in the whole wide world.  We couldn't be any luckier.  We love you, baby bug!