Wordless Wednesday - Happy 3 Years!

6 Months

I'm just a little behind on this post - oops.



Our little girl is now half a year old. These past 6 months have been a crazy blur. But we've loved every second of it (ok, maybe not every second). Here are some of highlights of the past month:

• She weighs 15 lbs, 6 oz (30%)
• She's 27 inches long (90%)
• She sits up like a champ - but really prefers to be standing
• Refuses formula
  
• Hates rice cereal but has done much better with oatmeal
• Recognizes her name
• Loves to watch her hands move
• and is sleeping 10-11 hours a night

Ash Wednsday...

Emily is in bed, Brad's at dinner with his boss and I'm sitting at home watching the Olympics, thinking about what I should do for Lent.

I used to give up something during Lent- chocolate, cokes, sweets, etc. After thinking about it, giving up those things wasn't really a sacrifice. So instead of giving something up, I added something. I would journal more, volunteer on a regular basis or something else along those lines.

This year I have no idea what to do. Should I give something up? Should I add something? No matter what method I take (giving up or adding), I hope and pray that over the next 40 days I experience some sort of change. My life and heart are needing a change right now.

I pray that over the next 40 days...
*I'll be able to rely fully on God.
*I learn to rely on God's timing, not my own.
*I learn to be more patient.
*I learn to accept change with a more open heart.
*I learn to forgive with no strings
*I learn to become more intentional with my resources (time, money, etc)

For me, Lent is all about admitting that I'm broken and full of sin. But learning to accept God's love and grace, and work towards becoming the person God intended me to be.

I'm looking forward to the next 40 days and an Easter morning full of celebration.

What A Weekend!

The snow has come and gone, but not without a little bit of excitement. The snow started on Thursday and kept coming for 24 hours. By the time it was done the DFW area was covered in 12+ inches of snow. I know that's not a lot to some of you - but that's A LOT for this area.

Thursday night is when all of the "fun" began around our house. We all went to sleep, Emily around 8 and the rest of us around 9:30. About 11pm I woke up to complete silence. We had no power. I went back to sleep, thinking it would it would be back on by the time we woke up. Well, I was wrong. No power. And we didn't have power again until Sunday morning.

We were supposed to take Emily to the doctor Friday morning we but didn't want to get on the road so we just bundled up and stayed in bed. Brad spent the day playing in the snow with the neighborhood kids, making hot dogs and warming bottles on the grill, shoveling driveways and hanging out with Emily and me. I spent the day trying to keep Emily entertained and warm. Around 2pm we decided to find a place to stay if the power didn't return. Our friend Kyle was the lucky volunteer. Around 4pm we headed to his place and setup camp.

Saturday we woke up and thought our power would be back on - no such luck. So we went to lunch, spent time with a few other friends and killed the day. We returned to Hotel Kyle for a second night. Emily was not thrilled sleeping in her Pack 'N Play and ended up with us for the night (aka - we didn't get any sleep).

Sunday morning I woke up and called the house right away - if the voice mail would pick up right away if the power was still off. No voice mail this time - it was ringing! We finally had power! We packed up all of our junk, took Kyle to breakfast and returned home. I don't think I've ever been so happy to be home! Next up was a trip to the grocery store to replace all of the food that was in a garbage bag on the curb.

Once we were settled it was time to leave, again. We headed to Cowboys Stadium for the NBA All-Star game. It fun - but a long night. We were both very ready to get home and left at the start of the 4th quarter.

So that was our crazy, busy and strange weekend!

Snow Day!

We have snow. Lots of snow. Well, lots of snow for the DFW area. We've got at least 7 inches in our backyard. It snowed for 14 hours, non-stop today. It is so pretty outside and the roads weren't bad when I came home this afternoon. I love all of the powdery snow on the trees.

Brad and Banjo played in snow today while I was at work and Emily was at school. Apparently Banjo wasn't too sure what she was supposed to do in the white, cold stuff that was covering her yard.

Then Brad spent part of his afternoon shoveling driveways in our neighborhood and throwing snowballs at the neighborhood kids (all under the age of 6). Don't worry - they threw them right back.

We bundled Emily up and took her out in the snow.

She didn't hate it but she didn't love it either.


Tomorrow is her 6-month well baby exam. Hopefully the roads will be clear when we have to head out in the morning. But other than that - we are staying inside all day! Yay for Fridays and snow day Thursdays.

Wordless Wednesday - 6 Month Pics

Picture by Jennifer with HauteShot Photography.

Intimidated

We tried to start Emily on rice cereal about a month ago but she wasn't really interested - so we stopped. Well, I take that back - she ate it fine until was started mixing the rice with formula. My child wants NOTHING to do with formula. So when we started mixing formula with the rice - she would just cry, spit it out and look at us like we were trying to poison her.

It's really pathetic.

I really, really hope that it was just that brand of formula and not all formula. This week we are going to attempt the rice again and some oatmeal. I'm really, really hoping for better results. If she's not interested once again, I'm just skipping the rice and moving onto to veggies. Can someone please explain the point of the rice cereal to me?

The biggest reason we haven't been in a hurry to get Emily going on solids is because her doctor is big on waiting until 6 months to begin solids. But I'm also intimidated by the whole process. I have no freaking clue what I'm supposed to be doing. We'll start with veggies and then move onto fruit - that much I've figured out. Actually, that's what I was told to do by my doctor.

I've found various resources to help - but I just end up with more questions. I guess we are just going to have to jump in, feet first and figure out this whole eating thing. Then there is the daycare factor - something else I have to figure out, too. Joy.

And I'm going to attempt to make some of Emily's food. That's something else I'm going to have to figure out and still have a lot of questions. But it's something I'm excited about. I know it will save us money and is better for Emily.

So if anyone has any advice, tips, suggestions - pass 'em on.

I'm Not Cut Out For This..

I've decided I'm not cut out to be a full-time, working mom. It's not for me.

I work 4, 10 hour days. Monday-Thursday, 7:15am - 5:15pm. And those are some really, really long days. Emily and I leave the house about 6:20am. And I get home around 6pm, but I don't sit down (unless I have to pump) until about 8ish. My night involves walking in the door, saying HI to Brad and Emily, pumping, washing bottles, dinner, getting Emily ready for bed, pumping again and then going to bed.

What's really killing me is that I'm not happy. I'm not happy at work. I'm not happy that I come home and just feel rushed to get everything done . I don't have time to play with Emily or have a conversation with Brad. And I know that I'm a grumpy, moody person when I get home from work (sorry, Brad). I'm having so much trouble trying to make all of this work and I just feel like nothing is working. I feel like I'm letting people down, I feel like I don't have time to enjoy my life and I feel like I'm always apologizing for something. Wonderful, huh?

I'm very grateful for my Fridays off. That's my day to spend with Emily and just enjoy time with her. But it's not enough. I'm just trying to catch up for all of the time lost those other days. Mon-Thur I only spend about 2 hours a day of awake time with Emily. And that's not a mom. At least not the kind of mom I want to be.

There's got to be a better way! Maybe I need to change my attitude (I'm sure I do) but I need to change the situation...and soon. I can't stand being away from my two favorite people so much every day.

Wordless Wednesday - I Don't Like it When Mama and Daddy are Sick