Family Outing & Eating Healthy-ish

We had a lovely time as a family of 3 this past weekend.  On a hot, rainy, muggy Sunday afternoon, we loaded up and decided to finally go use a gift card (from our wedding last year!) to one of our local bookstores.  It also has a cute little restaurant inside, so we got lunch -- complete with cookies for dessert, of course -- and spent the afternoon together.

We picked out a bunch of little board books for Morgan that were half off, and Joe and I each got a book.

"AAGHHH!  Dad's stealing kisses AGAIN!"

Just doing a little reading for pleasure with my dad.  No biggy.  He's kinda a slow reader though.

When are we going to Costco?

She ALWAYS needs to be standing lately.  That's all she wants to do!!

After that, we hit up Costco for our bi-annual stock up. As much as I hate the "Hoarder Mentality", I could go insane spending money in that place!  I mean seriously, who needs a 6-month supply of ANYTHING?  I had heard good things about the Hanna Anderssen organic baby pj's they sell at Costco (what does that even mean anyway, organic clothes?) and they are ADORABLE if nothing else.  Morgan is outgrowing her other pajamas so fast these days.  I learned as long as her legs/arms/feet are covered at night, she won't get cold and doesn't necessarily need a blanket.  This = a baby who now stays asleep at night.  Winning.

I've been trying some trendy things lately....such as exercise.  Yah, apparently being fit & skinny is cool.  Who knew?  We'll see.  I should probaby give up my "ice cream every day" habit.  But why say "No" when it feels so good to say "Yes"?  No, seriously, it does feel awesome.  Try it.

So I'm trying to eat healthier and try out new recipes and foods because I have the attention span of a 2-year old and get bored megafast.  They say "Variety is the Spice of Life", but I recently read somewhere research that shows a diet that includes a larger variety of foods leads to greater likelihood of being overweight.  On the other hand, I can't eat the same thing over and over.  I just can't.

I baked some kale chips tonight for the first time because I keep hearing about them.  I way oversalted mine, but other than that, I have to say they were pretty good!  Joe wasn't falling for it though. 

Kale, Olive Oil + Sea Salt, bake @400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Crispy & light & mmgood.

I also made a Dr. Oz Green Juice smoothie thing.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't awesome either.  I'd say "Better Than Tolerable".  I'll probably make it again because it's really good for you.  Like Oprah said, it tastes like "A glass of fresh".

Ingredients

2 cups spinach
2 cups cucumber
1 head of celery
1/2 inch or teaspoon ginger root
1 bunch parsley
2 apples
Juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender. This makes approximately 28-30 ounces, or 3-4 servings. **I halved this recipe since I knew I'd be the only one eating it.  Also, I detest celery so I didn't use that or the parsley.  I did toss some kale in there and it worked just fine.**

So I've been trying to clean up my diet and am exercising most days of the week.  Wanna know my motivation?  I have a Gyno appointment in a week and a half and I'll be DARNED if I'm going to weigh what I did the last time I was there (6 weeks post-delivery).  How's that?  Boo-YAH.  Oh yeah, and I wanna be healthy and a good role model and all that jazz for my little girl. 

Because this face?  Deserves a healthy mama.

Guaranteed to Make You Smile

God I love her!!

I mean seriously....how could you not??

My Two Red Shoes: Cozy quilt to a good home! GIVEAWAY

I had to enter this blog giveaway....how Gorgeous is this quilt??

If you like, head on over to her blog and enter yourself! I don't really want the competition, though, so if you're too lazy, me & Morgan totally understand ; )


My Two Red Shoes: Cozy quilt to a good home! GIVEAWAY: "It is Friday! How about a giveaway? :-) My crafty mother is offering one of her beautiful quilts (hand made, peoples) for a lucky rea..."

5 Months Old

Well aren't I on the ball today...

Five months ago, we were blessed.  Surprised, but blessed...  Another photo overload alert!  If you'd rather not see variations of the same facial expression/outfit/pose/kid, better hit the back button on your browser and get out while you still can ; )

There is nothing better than waking up to this sweet innocent face every morning!

Mo has been SO giggly and smiley lately.  Sometimes she giggles so hard that when she's done, she starts crying.  It's like she doesn't know what to do with all these new emotions!  I told Joe to get used to it ; )

We've been staying inside a lot since it's 200 degrees outside.  I realized even when we DO go places, lately (and we do, I promise!) I never remember to take my camera.  So this week we had lunch at my friend Dahlia's place and I whipped out my Droid as proof that I actually leave the house with my baby.  I'll post those later.

A few updates as to what Mo is up to these days:

• She's eating 5 ounces at a time, breast milk plus some formula mixed in.  We've stopped the NeoSure preemie formula (that we were mixing with the breast milk) now and she's doing great.  I tried a little rice cereal mixed with breast milk earlier this week on both the spoon and in the bottle.  I don't think she quite got the concept of eating off the spoon and didn't really care for it, so I didn't push it.  The nipple on the bottle got clogged (note to self: must poke bigger hole next time) so I didn't get too far with that either.  I'll try again next week.  I'm in no rush for this because her adjusted age is still only 3 months and I know it takes the digestive system a little longer to mature.
• She's always gnawing on her hands or my shoulder and is a drool machine.  I don't feel any teeth yet.  She also is always trying to snuggle in and bury her head in my armpit lately, especially when she's trying to fall asleep.  When I told Joe he said I should probably stop wearing deoderant (because of the chemicals).  I told him that might count as child abuse and would be very cruel, lol!  On second thought....maybe that would deter her from going there.
• I'd estimate she's just over 12 pounds now.  She WILL NOT go to bed before 10pm.  Every night it's an hours-long struggle where we lay her down, she is sleepy or already asleep, and within 10 minutes she wakes up crying.  Repeat 3 - 5 times.  I've lasted 10 whole minutes in letting her cry it out, but then I cave.  And believe me, she is no where NEAR giving up at that 10-minute mark.  The screaming intensifies, she cries so hard she starts gagging/choking, there are real tears all over her soaked little head.  It's quite dramatic.  I'm hoping it's just a phase...and if the worst thing we are facing right now is THAT, I can live with it.  I've been wondering if there is something wrong causing this -- Reflux?  Gas?  Teething?  But as soon as we pick her up, it's as if someone hit the MUTE button, so I don't know...I think it's a comfort/security thing.
• Once asleep, she sleeps through the night til 6 or 7am.  I feed & change her, then she sleeps another 2 hours.  Naps during the day are hit or miss.  And she's a VERY LIGHT SLEEPER.  OMG.  I joke that a fly could fart outside and Mo would hear it and startle awake.  I really can't complain, I just wish I had a little more time in the evenings to myself.  Selfish, I know, but by the time she is finally zonked out for the night, I'm worn out and ready for bed myself!

And this, just because my hydrangea bush makes me happy, as do pretty vases, as do reasons to use my wedding pretty vases:

Bittersweet

The other night I cleaned out Morgan's dresser and closet.  I pulled out all of her Preemie/Newborn/0-3 months clothes that no longer fit her and pulled out the 3-6 months clothing that I thought would never fit her.  I thought she'd be teeny tiny forever.

The Preemie size on the Right, the 3 months size on the Left.

In the NICU, wearing the Preemie size.  I remember it was still too big on her teeny little body!

Morgan, at 5 months old in the 3-6 months onesie.

I can't describe the emotions I felt when looking at each tiny little piece of clothing that my little baby once wore.  I just stared and held them up to look at them a while longer.  I even held them up next to her in disbelief.  It's so hard to comprehend she was once 3 pounds and that some of the preemie clothes were too big for her.  I got a little sad, I won't lie.  Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy and thankful that she's growing --  just like she should, but you other mamas out there can attest to this feeling I'm sure.  She'll never be that small again.

My baby is growing up.  I thank God every single day for that.

A little head and neck control

Finally!  My sweet girl can hold up her head and neck with enough control that I don't have to fear her giving herself whiplash.  She's almost 5 months old (almost 3 months adjusted age).



What - you impressed I can sit in my Bumbo?  It ain't no big thing...




Bored.  When are we going to do something fun?  I hope she doesn't put me back in that Bumbo.



Working Mamas vs. SAH Mamas

OK, this post isn't supposed to be a "battle" or an argument over which is supposedly better.  Because I've read/listened to/discussed both sides of that topic for some time now and it could go on, and on, and on....

This post is meant to mark where I am right now, in MY life.  I've even debated a long while on posting this at all.  I am struggling with a decision on whether or not to return to work right now.  SO many benefits to staying home with my sweet little angel, watching her grow and being there for her.  Knowing that she is being taken care of by me, her mama, and that nobody else could love her more.  Or do it better.  Just kidding.  No I'm not ; )

I was never going to be a Stay At Home Mom.  I'm still not sure that's what I am or that's what I can be.  I had no idea just how hard of a job it really is.  My husband jokes I clearly never attended "Finishing School".  (I had to look that up to see what it even meant!)  I can cook, clean (sometimes and sometimes I get help, don't judge), and find that I've gotten really good at taking care of our baby.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for single moms/dads and those who have no support.  I don't know how they do it.

But there are benefits to working as well.  (Namely, my sanity, oh and money -- although not in that order).  A valid reason to shower and look presentable.  What -- you think Mo notices if I wear the same yoga pants 3 days in a row and that my tank top has day-old spitup on it? Not to mention I have professional state licenses that require upkeep and continuing medical education that will always be required, lest you get left behind.  I guess professionally, that is what I'm afraid of:  Getting left behind.

I am fortunate enough right now that I am able to stay home and that I even have this choice to consider -- I know for many, it's not an option but a necessity.  I am very grateful for this.  We just eat out/go places/do fun things/buy stuff a LOT less now.  And it's honestly alright.  Even if we only have 1.5 reliable vehicles between my husband and me.

But I DO miss the adult interaction and making important daily decisions.  Like, decisions more important than "Should I empty the diaper genie now or live on the edge and wait til I can't close the lid?"  And then I get serious and I argue with myself  "What is more important than raising your daughter?"  Um...nothing. 

And work will always be there.  In addition, due to everything I've read and seen on the news lately, I trust NO ONE.  It's not good, my friends.  Seriously...people are crazy/psychotic/careless/reckless/on drugs/don'tgiveacrap.  I've seen stuff lately, locally, having to do with CHILDREN, that has made me throw up in my mouth a little bit and want to go Dexter on these criminals.  So I think that may just be the deciding factor for me.

Well, that, and this....

Oh HI!

Just another random Thursday, Mom & Mo hanging out together ; )

Projects

I've been wrangling with Morgan's birth announcments for WAY too long.  Thank you Shutterfly.  Well, my new computer that Joe & I put together may have something to do with it as well.  I won't go into the boring details, but FINALLY -- almost FIVE MONTHS after my baby was born, I have ordered her birth announcements.  We didn't even take the photos til she was 6 weeks old.  Then we couldn't decide on which images to purchase, so we drug our feet (we're good at that) and backburnered it for a while (good at that too.)  We eventually decided to just buy them all and do whatever we wanted to with the images.  Oh the possibilities! 

Oh the nightmare.  I don't do well when presented with too many choices.  I always get overwhelmed, can't decide, get sidetracked, and BOOM! It gets forgotten.  So back to the birth announcments. 

Using Shutterfly, here is what I created and I love both of them:

However, the first one is the one we ended up choosing and ordering (for a 2nd time...again, I said I won't go into detail, and despite the fact I continue to ramble about this, I still have spared you all the long drawn-out story.  You're welcome.)

I also plan to create a photobook for her first 6 months and am excited at all the possibilities!  So many options!  Yeah, I can look forward to having THAT finished sometime in 2013 I'm sure...

The 4th of July (came and went)

Last weekend, we were at home having a fashion photo shoot while daddy was on call/working all weekend - plus the holiday.  We had to entertain ourselves somehow!
My sweet friend Erin from Arizona sent Mo this adorable lil ruffled jean skirt and I was so excited she is finally fitting into it!  I didn't get any "4th of July" themed clothing this year, so I made up my own red/white/blue combo.  It will have to do!  I didn't even have a flag anywhere in the house (shameful, I know!) to use as a prop.

I also snapped these because her bedhead is getting out-of-control-RIDICULOUSLY cute!



Her little expressions kill me!



And since she's going to someday kill me for those photos, I might as well include this one from before her bath last night.  I love how she's finally filling out.  She weighed 11 pounds at last week's doctor appointment!!  You'll have to pardon the sucky photography, these were taken with my little point & shoot.  Why I don't break out the big fancypants camera (and learn to use it better? Hello?!) is something I just don't think of in these quick little moments.



Again, please excuse the crappy picture quality.  It was totally the photographer Plus that little kickin' chicken's leg is ALWAYS in motion!.

And one more, just for good measure.  I am not at all obsessed with photographing my baby...ha ha.