Five months already!?

Ahhhhh, a few blissful moments of silence as my baby snoozes peacefully in her swing.  I thought I’d take advantage of the quiet and write up a little blog post.  Where, oh where, does the time go...!?

Tummy time with a side of drool

First, Samantha.  Five months old on August 28th!  She’s doing fabulously!  Her favorite things include: her swing, her bouncer, her twisty rattle, her two sheep stuffed animals, and her toes.  She really enjoys the recent addition of “dinner” to her food plan, haha!  We’ve only tried yogurt, apple sauce, bananas, and green beans at this time.  She’s definitely not into the green beans yet, but we’re continuing to try them every couple of days.  She made it through a whole ice cube last night, so progress is being made.  Sam rolls around all of the time now.  She’s also sitting up a lot more.  Her balance is a little iffy and we have to help her into a sitting position first.  She keeps teasing us when it comes to crawling.  She’s thrust her little body into a sort of triangle and then push her little feet and sort of slide forward, but it still seems sort of accidental.  She’s much better at slowly working her way backwards.  This frustrates her and usually results in tears. 

Her sleep schedule is still really great.  I’m so thankful that she sleeps so well at night.  Nap time, however, is a different story.  They usually last for about twenty minutes, on average.  Some days, I might get a full hour out of her, but it’s rare.  Sam still hasn’t really laughed.  We get some chuckles every now and then and lots of delighted squeals or huge gummy grins.  We thought she might be ticklish, but so far that hasn’t really panned out.  She loves it when we pretend to eat her toes or blow raspberries on her belly. 

Comfort from Daddy

Every day with her is an adventure and it’s so much fun to watch her explore and play.  I am so full of pride and joy when she tries something new and gives me that “proud of myself” grin.  It’s almost like she’s saying “Did you see me, Mommy!?  Did you see what I can do now!?”  I love it and it just totally melts my heart. 

Even her “bad” days aren’t all that bad.  It amazes me how I can feel so frustrated when she whines and fusses or wakes up after 15 minutes of ‘nap’, but then all I do is pick her up and it all melts away.  I find that it’s never frustration with her, but at not feeling like I have the time to do whatever it is I’m trying to do.  It’s neat to feel the difference and reinforces the feelings of ‘motherhood’ in me.  It’s also pretty amazing to me to feel how much my love for her grows each day.  How can a full heart just expand and expand?  You think it’s full to capacity and then you look at her and know your heart just got bigger.  I can’t imagine a life without her in it and it almost feels like she has always been a part of our lives. 

Bliss!  Life is just total bliss!

The other part of our lives that’s taking up a lot of time is the house.  We are finally starting to make some of the changes and improvements that we’ve wanted to do.  Of course, it’s a slow-going process since money is tight.  Still, it’s pretty exciting to see the progress.  We’re starting with projects that were included in our home inspection (sealing hairline cracks in our foundation, repairing some little odds and ends, and taking out some bushes that are too close to the house).  Then we’re doing some fun projects, such as painting the living room and organizing the garage.  Richard’s in progress on that now and will be writing his own blog on the completed project.     

Then there are things we’re doing to prepare for our upcoming house-guest.  My mother-in-law is going to be moving in with us at the end of September.  She’s planning to move to Florida to be closer to her brother and sisters.  She wants to buy a house down there and needs a few months to save up her money.  In preparation for her stay, we’ve put new blinds in the windows downstairs and dark out curtains in our office/craft room, which will be her bedroom.  We’re going to lay some linoleum in the laundry room (a temporary fix until we have the funds/time to finish that room completely).  She’s got four cats that will also be staying with us and we’ll set up a spot for them in the laundry room.  We’re going to move Richard’s office space into the guest room upstairs instead and then there’s a lot of furniture rearranging to do so that everyone is comfortable.  All this should keep us pretty busy for the next month!

News on South George and our attempt at short selling it is limited.  We know that the bank ‘approved’ it and sent my file to the USDA for approval.  This put us on another 4 to 6 week wait until we hear if it’s been approved by the USDA.  Then, I think, we get to set a closing date on the contract we have on the house.  If not, we’re back to the drawing board.  Let’s hope we don’t have to go back to the drawing board, because any of the other options (including, but not limited to, renting it out to someone else) would cost us a whole lot of money we just don’t have.  I remain cautiously optimistic. 

Well, that’s the quick and dirty regarding the big things in our lives.  Samantha is stirring and I should get dinner (BBQ pork riblets in the crock pot, yumm!) started before she fully wakes.  

Hope all is well to those of you bored enough to make it through my blog!  ;o)   *LOVE* 

First Foods and her 4 month check-up!

4 month photo shoot

On Monday, Samantha had her four month check up with her pediatrician.  We were really excited to see how she was developing and talk to him about some feeding issues we’d been experiencing.  The last week and a half, Sam’s been drinking me dry.  By the last meal of the day, I was running on empty.  She’d gone from eating every three hours or so, to eating every two hours or so.  It was such a sudden shift that my body just didn’t seem able to catch up with her!  I was pretty upset when Richard suggested supplementing with the leftover formula we had from when I was super sick.  I even pumped one night, just before her last feeding, to see how much I had left – 2 ounces.  No wonder she was still hungry! 

First Food, vanilla yogurt

So we talked it over with Dr. S. and he said that it sounded to him as though she was ready to start on some “solid” foods!!  We suspected as much, based on conversations that I’d had with my mother and the little bit of reading we’d done.  Dr. S. suggested that we start with a few simple things – bananas, apple sauce, and yogurt – wait three days between trying new things and see what she likes.  He said that they no longer suggest waiting to introduce certain foods, like eggs, until after their first birthday.  He advised that we try a variety of foods (over time).  For the next two months, we can start introducing her to fruits, veggies, cereals (rice, cream of wheat type things), and dairy products (cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.).  At her six month checkup, he said he’d go over the next step – adding small amounts of water from a sippy cup and things like that.  In the meantime, we’ve got a WIDE variety of exciting tastes ahead of us!




Daddy's Lil Honey Bee

He also said she was developing beautifully, falling in the 80^th percentiles for height (26”), weight (16lbs, 13oz), and head size (42cm).  Sam received her second/third round of shots, which she handled like a trooper!  Then, we headed off to Costco and Target!

We knew we were likely to get permission to start Sam on some “big people” foods and I really want to make my own baby foods, so we planned a trip to Target for a high chair and a food processor after our doctor's visit.  I'm not sure how I've managed to go this long without a food processor, but there ya have it.  Since we’ve got a good stash for the yogurt, apple sauce, and bananas, it will be a week or two before I start making my own stuff though.  I’m super excited about baby food recipes – so if anyone has a favorite they’d like to share, I’d love to give it a whirl.  Yay!

I’ve added two videos to the blog today.  They are both from Monday's first meal.  I admit, they’re kind of long.  The first one is two minutes and the second video is just over a minute, I think.  It’s probably pretty boring, unless you’re really into babies or especially attached to mine.  ;o)  But I wanted to be able to share it with family and friends.    

Mother = Master of the Universe?

When I became a mother, I expected to feel instantly “maternal”.  I thought I’d feel a little older.  Maybe, a little wiser.  As a child, and even a teen, I thought my mother knew the secrets of the universe!  There was no question she couldn’t answer.  Sage wisdom seemed to pour from her whenever I was stuck in a problem situation.  Even when I realized my mom was fallible, she remained one of my first resources for questions/problems.  She may not have known everything, but she sure knew a lot!   I guess part of me thought that after the birth, they handed you a darling little baby and a book with all the answers. 

Now, logically, I know that’s not true.  However, I really did think I’d feel like a slightly different person.  I have always entertained the hope that I would someday become a cross between Paula Deen and Martha Stewart.  Hahaha, yeah… That’s never gonna happen!  But I thought, as a mother, maybe I’d be more organized.  I thought I might instinctively know the secrets to raising children.  Maybe I would magically be a better-than-average housekeeper.  Perhaps I’d actually start making my way through my stack of “must try” recipes while balancing a baby on my hip.  Or really pursue my backyard garden next spring.  Be that mom that can do anything and still have perfect hair and a sparkling kitchen and well-adjusted children. 

Some of those things are true.  I really do want to get a garden going next spring and I do keep my house MUCH cleaner since I’m no longer working.  That’s about where the similarities stop.  My hair is NEVER perfect and my kitchen can sometimes be a little less than sparkling (*disaster!*).  I definitely don’t know the secrets of the universe (though, Richard and I have been working our way through a Discovery Channel series on the Universe… yeah, we’re that dorky).  And when Sam has a problem or question, I think the odds are 50/50 as to whether or not I’ll know the answer.  Here’s hoping my mom’s around to answer her phone when that time comes…!

Maybe I’m jumping the gun even thinking about such things now.  Maybe they send you that book after your child’s first birthday…?

In the meantime, I find that I still feel like my same old self.  There are days I don’t feel like cooking and it becomes a hot dog night.  There are days when my daughter doesn’t get her bath or my husband has to make his own tea.  I’m not perfect.  I don’t know everything.  I wasn’t before I had Sam and I won’t be now.  I still want to hang out with my friends and go to movies and get crafty and paint.  Some of those things I still get to do, some of them I don’t.  I still want to date my husband and really miss our quiet Scrabble games. 

It’s weird to think that my mom probably had similar thoughts or fears.  It’s weirder still to think that my mom was once going through the same things.  But then I think… If she could do it, so can I.  And if I turned out all right, then maybe Samantha isn’t doomed.  I try to cut myself a little slack.  After all, it’s only been 4 months.