Sigh.

Yet again, I find myself saying “how can she already be {insert current age} old?!?”

So let’s move on past my struggles with that and talk about something happy…..like, oh, I don’t know….Elise.

She’s happy.

Sometimes she’s so ridiculously happy that she’ll be staring at decorations on her nursery wall, and just start giggling.

{our lil’ chunkamunka}

Quick Seven Month stats:

Weight…she’s at least an 18 lb. barbell. Who needs a gym membership when you hoist that lady around all day?

Height….her pants tend to look more like capris.

Head…..I feel like maybe she’s finally growing into her head size. Maybe. Her thighs are definitely giving her head a run for the money as ‘largest body part’.

Sleep….super duper and I’ll probably be eating my words after typing this. We stopped the dream feed a couple nights ago and she has basically slept from 7:30pm to 8am both nights. {she did wake up last night around 11:30pm, and Todd said she was up for 45 minutes staring at her lullaby seahorse. I was sleeping. }

Naps….down to 2 naps a day, anywhere between 1hr 15 min & 2hr for each, although some days she’ll throw me for a loop and try to sneak a 40 minute snooze in. That’s when I say “silly girl, let’s lay down together and go back to sleep“.

Eating….favorite foods are mangos, peaches & applesauce. Definitely her momma’s daughter in that she loves fruit. She’s also had plenty of sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, and whole grain cereal—with a bit of applesauce sneaked in. Otherwise, strictly breastfed. We’ve skipped the sippy cup altogether, and she drinks water out of a cup {but in no way is it mess-free.}.

Mobility…well, she’s almost mastered sitting up and doesn’t topple over very much anymore once stable. She rolled over front-to-back once without assistance—and hasn’t done it since. I don’t think she’s close to crawling at all and definitely has the ‘I’ll do it whenever I feel like doing it so don’t rush me!‘ attitude. Um…that might come from me.

That’s all I got for now. I shared what a typical day is like for us, so I don’t feel like there’s much else for me to elaborate on at this time.

Six months has been a blast—probably my fave so far.

And if seven months is anything like six months, it’s just gonna be a good ol’ fashioned gigglepalooza over at this house, with never a dull moment.

This little girl’s personality is growing bigger by the second {she gets that from her dad, and i love it.}.

{when i grow up, i wanna be just like my dad.}

……….

4:00 pm Elise is still napping. I throw a load of laundry in the wash and take care of some emails I’ve been meaning to respond to.

4:18 Elise is awake. I hear her half crying, half talking to herself so I get her up and we go to one of her favorite places in the house…in front of the full length mirror in our bedroom. She loves loves loves mirrors. Pair that with being on mommy’s shoulders and you get some monstrous giggles and smiles.

She’s usually still fussy when she wakes up from her naps, so I find it beneficial to get her in a happy mood as soon as possible, because fussiness can escalate very quickly if it’s not treated (just realized I say that like it’s a disease).

4:33 Mirror time is over for now and we go breastfeed. Then she decides she’s full and wants to check out what’s going on in the neighborhood {answer: pretty much nothing}.

Then I lay her on the floor with some of her favorite toys while I snarf down a snack, move the laundry to the dryer, and change my clothes so we can go for our walk before it gets too dark outside. She gets excited when I pick her up and scratches me while flailing her arms all about. I make a mental note to clip her daggers finger nails.

5:15 Diaper change, then I bundle her up and put her in the stroller. In the process, I accidentally {duh} bump her head on the metal frame, and 3…2…1…cue the crying.

I feel really bad and contemplate skipping our walk, but she forgets about it quickly, so I very carefully put her in the stroller without causing further injury. As soon as I can get a smile out of her, we leave. I run for 10 minutes and then we walk for 30 minutes.

6:00 Elise eats sweet potatoes and applesauce while I have some yogurt and start chopping vegetables for dinner. Grandma S calls and says they are free to Skype, so we spend about 15 minutes chatting with them. Thank goodness for Skype & Facetime—even being far away from her grandparents and uncle/aunt/cousin, she can ‘talk’ to them and get to know their faces and voices.

6:30 Daddy arrives home from work to spend some quality time with Elise before she goes to bed. Work has been pretty crazy for him recently, so he comes home to hang out with her, then finishes doing work after she is asleep. I go work on dinner while they run off and play.

I hear him say “Wanna go drive the car?”.

7:00 Bath time for Elise. I usually give her a bath 3 times a week since she’s not exactly crawling around in dirt yet and mostly just needs her hair to be washed once it gets too greasy looking. Lately, she’s had an obsession with putting anything and everything in her mouth, so I give her a clean washcloth to keep her from grabbing the one I’m using out of my hands.

7:15 I pass her off to Todd while I put dinner in the oven. We have a system going where I give Elise her bath, then he reads her bedtime stories and puts on her pajamas. I don’t even offer to do the storytime/pajama part anymore because I know he loves that time with her.

7:25 Time for bed. I breastfeed her for 20 minutes til she’s calm & relaxed, then I give her about 500 kisses and lay her down. We say our bedtime prayers and I sneak out of the room.

7:45 I take a quick shower while dinner finishes cooking and Todd works in the office. Then we eat dinner while watching The Biggest Loser. We’re fun like that. This part of the evening is when I finally get to relax and decompress, so I hardly ever do much more than sit on the couch and enjoy some mindless entertainment {except on Thursdays–that’s when I go to our church SHARE group for a couple hours}.

{stuffed chicken + zucchini gratin + small glass of white wine}

10:00 Todd goes back to the office to do work and I watch reruns of FRIENDS while I blog.

11:00 Time for a ‘dreamfeed’ with Elise. Todd helps change her diaper, then I feed her.

Tonight is our last time doing this, so I’ve gradually been decreasing the duration I feed her, and we’re down to 8 minutes.

{Anything less than that is not worth waking her up from sleep, but I needed to make sure my body also gradually adjusts to this weaning. We’ve been doing the dreamfeed almost every night for the past 6 months, and it has worked great for all 3 of us.  But, she doesn’t need it anymore and hardly stays awake long enough to eat anything, plus I would really like to be able to go to bed earlier.}

I get a manly burp out of her, breathe in a big whiff of her baby scent, and lay her down in her crib. She cries for a few seconds, so I put my hand on her tummy and she’s back asleep for the rest of the night.

11:30 Bedtime for me. Todd comes to bed shortly thereafter. I probably don’t actually fall asleep until midnight though.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning (i think), she cried. I had no idea what time it was, but before I could even think to check the clock, she must’ve fallen back asleep. Bad dream, I guess.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. I wake up to my alarm. We have Pre-Toddler Play Group every Wednesday, so I have to slightly adjust our day to make sure she still gets a good nap in before we go sing and dance.

And so begins another day……………

.    .    .   .   .   .   .

I feel I should make it known that not every day runs this smoothly. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by her excellent naps and minor fussiness.

{For instance: this morning before Play Group, she woke up from her nap after 45 minutes, so we laid on the daybed together while she calmed back down and slept another 30 minutes. We ended up being a bit late, because I didn’t think ahead enough to brush my teeth/get dressed/pack our lunches/change her out of her pjs beforehand, so I did all of that once she woke from her extended nap.}

And while I do try to have a nice dinner every night, some nights it ends up being take-n-bake pizza or leftovers.

She’s a relatively happy and easy-going baby, but yes, she cries. She has fussy times and won’t let me sit her down or put her in her jumper. Somedays I just have to tell myself that it’s okay if the house is a disaster, I only have time to eat a Clif Bar for lunch, or don’t change out of my pajamas until Todd calls to say he’s heading home from work.

So I hold her and hug her as much as she wants, because soon enough, these days will be gone.

This is our day today (part 1 of 2):

8:19 I wake up just before my alarm goes off, listen to the baby monitor, and hear Elise talking to herself. I slowly drag myself out of bed; I was tossing and turning a lot last night and didn’t get very good quality sleep. (Funny that I used to consider anything past 7:00 as ‘sleeping in’ and now I struggle to get out of bed after 8:00.)

8:25 Walk into the nursery and say “Good Morning, sweetie pie!” She starts kicking her feet—as if to say, “yaaay, mommy’s here, time to eat!”

I pick her up out of the crib, we go relax on the daybed (which is also in her room), and breastfeed. This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE time of the day. Usually when I feed her during the day, I tend to also be doing something on my phone or watching tv—but in the mornings it is just me and her, so I really savor this time together. I watch her, and she occasionally looks up at me and smiles, then goes back to doing her business of eating.

9:00 Full belly. We lay beside each other and relax. I massage her legs and arms for awhile, then Guster the cat jumps up to see what we’re doing and she grabs his tail. “Gentle”, I say. He decides he’s seen enough and leaves.

We get up, change her diaper, head to the family room where Elise spends some time playing on her piano mat while I catch up on important world news (i.e.: watching the Today Show).

9:15 I move Elise into her jumper/exersaucer toy for some exercise. Gotta build strong legs. She keeps herself entertained in that for awhile and I eat some cereal and check email/facebook/read blogs, etc.

{I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all the grandparents for giving Elise her piano mat & jumper toys exercise items. They have gotten more use than you’ll ever know.}

9:20 Todd is up and comes out to play with Elise for a bit before getting ready for work. I make us coffee and start unloading the dishwasher.

10:00 Hugs & kisses for daddy, then he leaves for work. Elise & I hang out on the couch—singing, laughing, and talking—whatever it takes to keep her entertained until naptime. Oooh, let’s practice sitting up!

{no, she’s not naked, her pajamas are just the same color as her skin}

10:33 Rubs her eyes. First sign of her getting tired. I pick her up and we walk around the house, looking at photos on the walls, discussing the sunny weather, and ‘what do you want to do today?’.

10:35 Yawns. Time to take a nap. I change her diaper, read a couple stories, and then turn off the light. I cuddle her in my arms and sing Jesus Loves Me, and 3 different versions of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. She seems to be pretty relaxed by now, so I lay her down in her crib and turn her lullaby seahorse on and leave the room.

10:45 Free time! I go relax on the couch for a bit, then remember I should finish emptying the dishwasher and washing the dishes in the sink while the water is still somewhat warm and I have my hands free. So much for ‘free’ time.

11:20 Done with that, I decide to call my longtime friend Crystal, who is a stay-at-home mom in Texas. It’s been a couple months since we’ve talked and we’ve been playing phone tag, so it’s great to catch up with her.

11:40 I figure I should get something else productive done, and I never know how long Elise will nap for, so we say goodbye and I finish stuffing cloth diapers and picking up the house.

12:21 pm Elise is awake and crying. I let her cry for a couple minutes, in case she decides to fall back asleep. Nope. That’s fine, because she’s due to eat shortly and got a 90 minute nap in. Yaaay! She is doing consistently much better on her naps than she was even just a couple weeks ago.

Todd calls just as I’m getting her out of the crib so I put him on speakerphone for a bit so she can hear his voice.

12:30 She breastfeeds while I plan our meals for the week. Just remembered that I volunteered to bring salad for the SHARE group meal on Thursday, so we’ll go to the store after lunch.

12:45 Elise and I sit down to enjoy lunch together. She eats some peaches while I have a tuna melt and leftover salad, which she seems to be pretty interested in. It’s SO much easier for me to actually eat lunch now that she’s on solids and sits in her high chair.

1:00 We are both still in our pajamas. And I haven’t brushed my teeth yet. Do not be surprised, as this is the case pretty much every weekday.

I sit her in the middle of our bed while I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, put on jeans and a sweater, and some face lotion & mascara. Nothing fancy for this momma.

I do a lot of singing and clapping while I’m running around. She likes this and giggles along with me. Stiggy the cat is weirded out and is running back & forth between the bedrooms.

We go change her diaper and finally get her out of her pajamas.

1:30 Drive the mile to Trader Joe’s for groceries. I put Elise in the Ergo carrier so I can have my hands free to shop. She loves looking around and feeling snuggly wuggly.

I have an interesting conversation with the sample lady about hiccups {fyi: peanut butter is my favorite way to cure them}. Some days, going to the store is my only face-to-face adult interaction (aside from with Todd), so to me this is good entertainment. I’ve never been a very extroverted person who starts random conversation with strangers, but I find myself doing it a lot more now that I have a baby and don’t get out as much.

2:10 Back home. I always try to make sure we’re back home before she’s due for a nap, as I hate having her fall asleep in the car.

Unload the groceries while holding Elise on one hip and keeping her hands preoccupied with something safe to gnaw on so she doesn’t grab the grocery bag and pull it off the counter.

Then we play together on the floor and get a couple minutes of tummy time in.

2:30 Yawns. Same routine as before….change diaper, read books, sing songs, seahorse….she softly cries herself to sleep.

2:45 I work on this blogpost.

stay tuned for part 2…….

2. I try to take her on a walk every day so that we both get fresh air and I get some exercise, but mostly so that I can have an easy way to keep her entertained without actually entertaining her—if you know what I mean. It’s mindless for me, but she stays quiet and happy.

3. Same with an evening Skype with family. It’s just one more easy way for me to keep her happily entertained until bedtime.

4. And sometimes if I don’t think she’ll make it to bedtime without getting cranky, I take her on a walk—even in the rain or snow—so that she’ll get a short nap in. Even if she only sleeps for 15 minutes, it gives her an extra boost of happiness.

5. I really didn’t want to start her on solid foods because I was afraid of what her poop would turn into. Come to find out, it’s still not too bad….yet.

6. I know eventually she will wean from breastfeeding {it probably wouldn’t be good for her social life once she gets to high school if she’s still doing it}, but right now, I don’t ever want that day to come. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. The 5 times a day when I breastfeed her are the most relaxing and enjoyable parts of my day. It’s a very intimate time that only her and I get to enjoy together.

7. She stopped taking a bottle when she was about 2 months, I think. And I secretly enjoy that. Yes, I can’t be away from her for more than 4 hours during the day and that limits my ‘freedom’.  More importantly, I know that she needs ME to be nourished; which makes me feel extremely useful for something important.

8. Speaking of feeling useful…I’m sure all stay-at-home moms fight these feelings at some point, but there are days when I feel inadequate or like I’m not doing anything important in society. Other adults talk about what’s going on with their jobs and important projects they’re working on, and the only thing I can bring to the conversation is an in-depth discussion about naps and poopy diapers. Which ends up not being so in-depth because the other party quickly loses interest.

This is ridiculous to feel this way, and I know that. Still, those feelings sneak up on me occasionally. I’m raising a human being, for goodness sake {and one who will hopefully not be a total disaster}! Not to downplay anyone else’s job, but on a scale of 1 to 10—10 being the most important job on Earth—mine’s an 11 and yours is about a 5.

9. I need to work on my humility.

10. Sometimes when she’s fussy, I dress her in something that has I love mommy on it as a reminder to myself that even when she seems to want nothing to do with me in that moment, she does love me.

11. I love her SOOOOOOOO much, but man am I looking forward to taking a vacation without her! Obviously, that won’t be anytime real soon (see #7).

12. I often find myself in disbelief that she is actually my child—that she has half of my genes and came from Todd and I. That God knew us to be the perfect parents for her. Still blows my mind.

13. I always knew I would love my child, but I had no idea that the love would be so overwhelming and intense. Being a mom is a bazillion times more awesome than I ever thought it would be.

{WARNING : extreme cuteness}

So flights were cancelled and I cried myself to sleep. {No, not really. But I was super bummed out.}

Anyways, we were able to find a January weekend that all of us could get together for a belated Christmas—which I ended up preferring, since I still had it to look forward to after December 25th was over. {plus, it gave me extra time to get more gifts for our nephew!}

Since we were only back in Kansas City for 3 full days, Grandpa & Grandma came to my brother’s house and we had our celebration there, squeezing in lots of cuddle and play time with Elise & little B.

{Somebody developed a fascination for her cousin’s ears. Poor guy.}

{‘Christmas Eve’ story time with Grandpa.}

Then we all woke up bright & early (uh, 8 a.m.) to have our family Christmas. The babies got pretty spoiled with clothes and toys and more clothes and more toys. Repeat repeat.

{happy cousins!}

And then we decided we needed a cute picture of the kids wearing Santa hats.

And……cue the tears.

E: “B! Help me!”

B: “I don’t know what your problem is, I’m completely fine. I like this hat.”

We also played lots and lots of Bananagrams.

We squeezed in a visit with this tiny little guy and his family…

…and a dinner date with some of my bestest friends, who spoiled Miss Elise with hugs.

Ah, I miss them so much. Seriously, spending an hour together twice (maybe thrice, if I’m lucky) a year just isn’t enough, but at least it rejuvenates my heart enough to sustain me while we’re apart.

Also, traveling with a baby—which is stressful enough in itself—is much better when you are not doing it alone. I’m so glad Todd was along to be the one to change her poopy diapers in the airplane lavatory. Thanks, honey.

the end.

{i absolutely adore babies in overalls}

I say, “Yaay! Look at the wintery wonderland! I loooooove snow!”

He says, “Grumble grumble. I’m moving somewhere warm.”

I was pretty intent on getting Elise out to enjoy her first snowfall, so I called up Ryan & Aubrey—who are always up for snow fun—and they walked up to our neighborhood for some sledding.

We went  to the same hill/street we conquered last year, only this time we had real sleds! Gone are the days of riding on cookie sheets and in Rubbermaid tote boxes. Sadly, other kids were onto our secret and the two neighborhood hills were busy. Anybody else absolutely hate waiting their turn on the sledding hill? “C’mon kids, move it along! Need a push?” No? Just me?

Naturally, I had to take Elise on her first sled ride. Safety first, I wrapped my arms tightly around her and we did a shortened version of the hill (like maybe 15 feet worth). Wheeee!

I remember my sled rides as a youngster…..sitting on a rusty old car hood with my brother and cousin Ryan, being pulled behind our dads’ motorcycles over the snow covered soybean field.

It really amazes me sometimes how we survived childhood.

I think she liked loved it. Next year we’ll go further up the hill!

We’re supposed to get even more snow the next couple of days, which is great except that it melts during the day and freezes at night, making the hilly roads better for ice skating than driving.

Oh well.

Thankfully, my boss lets me work from home.

{Seriously monster cheeks. What’s she storing in there?}

{even crying is cute.}