6 month photos, long weekends, and things to come

A few things I want to share.

First, I just saw this on facebook, and it just makes me even more excited for the Celtic Classic... only a bit over 3 weeks away!

Second, 6 month pictures!
If you know our last name, then you can view the full gallery here: http://www.allthatglittersphoto.net/pickpic/gallery/splash.php?gallery_id=157 (password is our last name, all lowercase)

If you don't know our last name, then you can see a few more pictures here: http://allthatglittersphotography.com/blog/babes-miss-g-6-months/ or email me to ask for our last name (email ----> ). Be sure to tell me who you are though!!


Third:
I just got THIS new necklace from a cute shop on etsy called Tiny Tokens. It has our names around the outside (travis . megan . gwenivere . daisy), with a little paw print following Daisy's. Its adorable. :-)


Now, on to our weekend.
I was hoping I would have pictures to share from the Birth Center picnic on Saturday... but I don't since it was actually on Sunday! Opps. I read the date wrong a few times and we showed up to the park with another group's picnic going on. So we just headed to an unoccupied area and ate our picnic on our own, which wasn't so bad. We already had plans on Sunday for lunch with Ro & Pat (my belated birthday lunch, since GG got sick that weekend). It was a lot of fun.

Monday I had off because of Gwen's daycare being closed, so we took advantage and had lunch with Deb and her twin boys. They are such cuties and it is fun to see how much they've grown.
Since it was such a hot day, we set up the blanket in the shade of their back yard and let the babies dip their toes in the pool. 

Gwen wasn't thrilled with the chilly water, but she loved all the nature!

(I had my hands full keeping her from eating all of the grass in Deb's yard!)

Then it was time to play the "let's get three babies to look at the camera at the same time" game. (Stephen had that paci in his mouth about 2 seconds earlier, but Gwen decided to steal it... she looks a little too proud of herself!)

(So he decided to eat her shoulder. LOL!)

I roasted some carrots when I got home so Gwen could try them for the first time... it went pretty well.

I think they are definitely her favorite so far.

Well, this has taken me all day to put together, so now I'm going to run so I can get home to my boy and my baby! Trav is home with her for the rest of the week, and frankly I'm a little jealous. Its so much harder to be the one to drive off, then it is to have them head out in the morning. Wish Trav luck.

friday blurbs

Katrina: 
I can't believe its been 5 years already since Katrina happened. Its pretty crazy to me how quickly the years march by. HERE's a little slideshow of then and now pictures, very interesting. So much progress, but still work to be done.

Snickers: 
I'm eating one because I can! Lol. I'm finally allowed to eat peanuts and peanut products again! Oh how I've missed my peanut butter.  :-)  I'm trying to ease back in and not go too crazy right away, but its hard because I just want to eat everything I've been missing for the past 6 months. (Gwen's doc recommends breastfeeding moms avoid peanut products for the first 6 months of breastfeeding... since peanuts is one of the biggest allergens, and earlier exposure increases the likelihood of a reaction.)

Gwen obviously can't have peanut products for a while yet still, but I'm glad that I can. And in the meantime, Gwen got to try another new food last night: sweet potatoes. The verdict is still out, but we'll see. 

Three-Day Weekend: 
I have a 3-day weekend ahead, since next week is the week that Gwen's daycare is closed. I took off Monday, and Trav is doing the rest of the week! I'm looking forward to my day with my girl. And we are going to head to lunch with Deb & the twins. Should be fun. And the 4-day work week that follows will be nice too... especially since that is followed by another 3-day weekend and another 4-day work week (thanks to Labor day). Now that's my kind of work schedule.

Cleaning: 
Trav and I decided to make a plan to keep things cleaner around our house. The dust and dog hair had been getting ahead of us, since at the end of a long day the last thing we want to do it spend tons of time cleaning, and then when the weekend would roll around it would seem so insurmountable and we would want the chance to relax. So, we decided that we would each do 10 minutes of straightening/cleaning a night, whatever we wanted, and every weekend we would split up the vacuuming (someone does upstairs, the other person does downstairs). Its only been a week so far, but its working out nicely. Sometimes I only do the 10 minutes, but other times I start something and just want to finish it, so I just keep going. Since its my choice it doesn't feel like such an energy drainer, and I feel accomplished afterward.

I've already finished sorting out the clothes that don't fit Gwen anymore and packed them away (until we either have another baby or decide that we aren't having another baby), hung up all the clothes in my closet that had ended up laying over a basket on our bedroom floor (and in the process, pulled out a small stack of things to give away), and put away a bunch Gwen's clothes. Tonight I plan to clean the toilet and shower.

Girl on the Move: 
The above is especially important now that Gwen is a girl on the move (don't need her sweeping the floor with her belly!). She's still not hand over hand crawling, but she is so close and she can still definitely get across the room. She pulls herself up to hands and knees, slides a knee forward and uses it to push herself forward (back onto her tummy), then repeat. This morning she went from her playmat to Trav's dresser to his shoes (see below for diagram).

That's our little mover and shaker!  :-)

Sniffles and Scratchy Throats: 
Gwen has had the sniffles for a few days. Just a bit of a runny nose. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be bothering her, except when it makes it a little harder to breathe while breastfeeding. She's still in a great mood despite it, and other then putting saline drops up her nose twice a day (and using the boogie sucker as needed), life goes on as normal.
Now I woke up with a scratchy throat yesterday, and I'm hoping that I didn't get her sniffles, but that its just from going back and forth between A/C and fans. I did get her cold at the beginning of summer, and it was no fun at all.

Roots: 
Just for fun I signed up for a free 14-day trial of Ancestry.com, and used to it trace some of my family. I've already traced two lines back to Wales, one from Pembrokeshire, another from Aberdare (both are in the south):

And both look beautiful!

One of those lines I only had to go back to my mom's great grandfather to find where it came from... the other, I had to go about 10 generations! We've been here for a while...

I also traced another line back to Donegal, Ireland:

Fun!


And now, back to work!! Have a great weekend!

Some pictures to share, and Gwenie's stats. But just quicky quick, because then I have to get back to work (didn't get in until 1:30!).

6 month appointment went great, Gwen is now 13 lb 6 oz (10%), 25.5 inches (50%), and head 16.75in, something I've never noted before. Our doc was very pleased with all she's up to, saying that she's hitting milestones that she doesn't normally expect to see until 9 months. So that was great. She got two shots and an oral vaccine... and did fine, crying during and for 30 sec or so after. She's at daycare now, so we'll see if she was a crankpot for them.

Now some pictures to share... random ones from this week:

(Morning dew on the grass...)

(Puppy snuggles...)

(My swollen eye...)

(And to not leave you with that image, two cute outfits... the first made by Gigglepotamus, and the second a gift from Ro's grandparents, from Cabo San Lucas!)

Back to work for me. Ciao!!

10 things tuesday

1. I'm so freakin excited that Autumn is around the corner... it is my absolute favorite time of year.
   
   
2. Today is a nice preview of that with a high of 70*. (I'm wearing a lovely new soft long sleeved t-shirt, which apparently makes my boobies look lovely... according to Travis and a coworker. Lol.)
   
   
3. I think lack of sleep finally caught up to me yesterday. Not only did I forget to lock the dogs crate before I left in the morning, but I then forgot all my pumped milk at work in the evening. Its fine since I had extra fresh bottles from the weekend, plus that is what the freezer stash is for, but it was definitely frustrating.
   
   
4. But my first pump this morning, I pumped 5oz! So that was awesome!
   AND Daisy stayed in her crate anyway and was a good girl all day. :-)
   
   
5. I woke up this morning with my left top eyelid all swollen. It feels like a sty (maybe?), so no big deal, but I just love walking around looking like I got punched in the eye.
   
   
   
   
   
6. The trains were canceled this morning because of electrical problems, so I had to take a shuttle bus (standing room only) then the El (smelled like pee... yuck) instead. It made my ride in twice as long.
   
   
7. I really really hope things are running *smoothly* by this evening (things are running again according to the site, but we'll see how well).
   
   
8. Gwen's 6 month appointment is tomorrow and I'm excited to see how big she got. I'm also excited to spend the morning together.
   
9. I'm dying to clean out my closet (and jewelry box). I have too many clothes and don't wear enough of them. I really need to sort them out and get rid of the ones that don't fit anymore, plus the ones I just don't wear anymore, so that I can see what "staples" I need. I sense a big donation to Goodwill coming soon!
   
   
10. I'm also excited for my Monday off with Gwen (the 30th)... including lunch with Deb and the twins. Should be fun! 

so, i was wondering...

I was curious after my ranting of last week... what's your biggest frustration in life right now? What at this moment is not 100% where it should be? Share!



So... the weather has started to make its slow decent towards the loveliness of Autumn. I can't wait, but until we get there, these days in the 70s - low 80s are nice.

The mornings have been especially lovely, and I enjoy taking Daisy out and watching the sun sparkle off of dew covered grass and clover. Our yard looks extra beautiful under a rising sun:

The end of last week brought something new for Miss Gwen. Whole food! We started with some green beans.

We're going with the four tries policy, since that worked for the cereal.

So far, while she plays with them a lot and sticks them in her mouth, and nibbles... she is not a huge fan...

But she didn't like cereal the first few times, and now gobbles it down. So we'll try again tonight (try number four), and if that doesn't go over... then we'll try something new (probably lightly roasted baby carrots or sweet potatoes). Either way, she'll get to try something new in the next few days, but hopefully it will be in addition to green beans, and not instead of!

Saturday we headed to the Pop Shop, since I had a birthday coupon for a free meal. Mmm... this time I went with breakfast and Trav got the grilled cheese. And Gwen, she sat in her first restaurant high chair! 

We all enjoyed it.

Back home we did some cleaning (vacuumed the whole house... something we're going to be better about doing every week now, since girl is starting to move!), and put away the first of Gwen's things that's she's outgrown:

That was in our office upstairs, but is now in the basement. My baby girl, she's just growing like a weed.

Sunday we got some big thunderstorms. One came on pretty strong in the afternoon, and thanks to some clogged drains, we got this:

That canal is the alley behind our house... it was running fast and furious!

We were lucky to be up enough (there is a step down to the alley from our back yard) that we didn't get any flooding... but our neighbors two houses down were not so lucky:

That pond would be their backyard.

Another poor thing caught off guard by the little flash flood... this possum, who scrambled onto said neighbors fence to seek refuge. The poor thing was soaked, cold, and obviously scared.

Worse, its baby had been washed off of its back. Trav saw it being pulled towards the now cleared drain, and caught it before it was lost (and drowned). The neighbor get out a rake, which Trav gently lay the baby on, and they carefully held it out the the mom.

She have it a sniff, and then it was able to climb back onto her back.

It made this mama's heart feel a lot better... though I really hope that she had only one baby to begin with.


And that was the biggest stuff for the weekend.
Now its back to the work week, and while I'm sure it will still be busy, one of my coworkers is returned today. It's great to have her back and will certainly take a load off of my plate. Gwen's 6 month appointment is on Wednesday, so we'll get to see what she weighs now. Otherwise, same old week ahead!

New header, new background...

If you stopped by this morning you might have seen one of something like 20 different backgrounds, as I tried them out and switched them around. I've settled on this one (if you don't see brown ribbon along the sides, refresh!) and think I'll be leaving my blog be for a while now. I'm happy with how it turned out, but I'd still love your input. Anyone, anyone?


How's that for a lighter topic then others of late?

Its amazing the difference that 1) a decent night of sleep, and 2) wise words from some friends, can make.

Gwen was a dear last night. I'm sure she needed the sleep too, but I swear that girl can tell when I'm running on empty. She went down a little late last night (though not from going up any later!), around 8:30, but then slept straight through until 6:15!!! I headed up early, was in bed by 9:15, asleep by 9:30, and slept until my alarm went off at 6 (with just a brief waking at 5ish). It was wonderful, lovely, so needed. I felt like a new woman this morning, and I think Gwen did too... she was smiley and happy, and ate like a fiend. :-)

I also got some great advice from some very smart ladies. I'd like to share some highlights here:

• Most likely this is a phase for Gwen. At some point, she'll stop hating the car rides, she'll sleep better, eat less often, be less clingy, etc. And you (and Travis) will look back on these rough months and while you might be sad that she is growing up too quickly - you'll also probably be glad that phase is over.
  
  [Re: wanting Mama]
  
• When baby only wants the other parent, it can be very hard and disconnecting. Combined with the lack of sleep, i can totally see where it would lead to frustration and shut down.
• When A went through her "mommy" only phase it was really hard on C. It was harder for her to connect with A when she felt like A didn't want her. On the plus side the phase did swing to "mama" only for a while after that. At that point I knew what C had been feeling and it made it more relateable.
• I can imagine that its tough for him not to be able to instantly comfort Gwen...tough to feel like the babysitter until what she really wants is available. ... Sometimes a little empathy is all she needs - some recognition that our parenting experiences are not the same and that she has struggles I don't. A hug and a reminder that it won't always be this way and that I'm on her team.
  
  [Re: Sleep]
  
• I completely understand your frustrations (as in: what's he complaining about - he gets to go right back to sleep!), but dealing with exhaustion is a skill. some people are better at it than others.
• People handle stress/sleeplessness differently. G was up to eat/hang out multiple times a night for about a year. And while we would both wake, I was always up longer/more. I don't handle sleeplessness well and would become as you describe Travis - distant/resentful/vacant - not all of the time - but enough that it became an issue in our house. Part of me knew I was doing it, and part of me couldn't care b/c I was so tired and I had no clue how to be less tired/grumpy/etc. Meanwhile, even though L was exhausted, she kept it together better. Once he started sleeping better - and we relented to co-sleeping - I got more rest and reconnected with my life and my family. Sleep is a powerful thing.

Don't I have wonderful, insightful friends?!

Things aren't suddenly perfect, but it was really great getting both reassurances that others have gone through this exact thing, and also views from "the other perspective." Here's hoping that we can use this experience to learn to communicate better.

as a family, 6 months in

This is going to be a doozy.

At six month into this family of three thing, I thought I would follow Ms. Snowe's lead and be completely honest about how I am feeling and how things are going (we'll see if I end up editing it down later). 

Overall, its good. Just look at this past weekend! I love being a mom, I love watching Travis be cute with Gwen. But honestly, its been a bit challenging lately. I think Gwen is going through a growth spurt (typical at 6 months) because she's been eating like a fiend lately, including waking 2-3 times at night... something I'm very out of practice with, and which is leaving me exhausted (hopefully adding in food, which we'll be doing this week, with help with that). She's also been a bit fussier (I'm sure the multiple wakings doesn't help this), and is going through a mama phase. It doesn't bother me, you know I love having my baby attached to me most of the time... but it definitely makes it hard on Trav when he is caring for her while I'm getting ready in the morning or whenever. In turn, he's been getting super irritated/worked up/angry. Its a crappy cycle because the more annoyed he gets, the less interactive he is and the more crabby she is, and so he gets all the more irritated. I hate it.

This morning was the worst. She woke at 12 and 4 last night, then was up for the day at 5. So we were all a bit tired this morning. I took longer in the shower then normal, and Gwen was being grumpy... and I come out to find them sitting on our bed, Gwen fussing a bit and Trav shaking a rattle in front of her, but not even looking at her, talking to her, or anything. And he continued to just glare ahead until I picked her up to feed her, at which point he stomped out of the bedroom. (Just a note that this is very unusual... and normally even if he's annoyed with her fussiness, he's very interactive.)

I just find myself so annoyed. We've been going through these cycles since the beginning, fine fine fine... then all of a sudden, everything's a bother. I keep wanting to shake him and ask what he though having a baby would be like, but then he is fine again and I don't want to "ruin it" by bringing it up. However, lately I have been trying to talk about it with him, and we'd had some real good talks, made some good headway... then this morning.

Not that I am perfect. I'm not by a long shot, and I'm sure if asked Trav could come up with a list of things that I do/don't do that bothers him. But I feel like this is so much more important then dishes, or laundry. More lasting then who takes up more of the bed or when I leave a light on because I'm going back into a room in just a minute. This is our daughter. This is the foundation we're building for the rest of her life. For our relationships with her. 

All in all, its just making me feel a bit alone right now.

I'm sure work doesn't help, since I feel like I'm often going in circles there too. And being physically wore down doesn't help either. But that is where we stand at 6 months. I would love your input.

Sorry for the radio silence last week. With two coworkers out on vacation and a big event on Thursday, I've been very busy. But it made the week go by pretty quickly, and led me to a wonderful weekend.

Saturday Gwen took a bath sitting up!

Which she seemed to enjoy.
Her first one since she's just now sitting up stable enough, and for long enough.

We headed up to our photographer's studio and got her 6 months shots taken! Bah, I have a 6 month old!

I actually already have some teasers from that too:

Aren't they great?!! I'm dying to see them all.

Next it was on to my parent's for my birthday meal. My mom made some amazing chicken (with pesto and prosciutto... recipe at bottom), and they gave me a great birthday gift... some books from my brother, and from my parents I got a composter! Yay! It's made to get full batches of compost in just a few weeks... so we are keeping the other container set up, then transferring it over in big batches to the composter from my parents. So excited. Anyone want some compost for their garden?

Sunday, the first part of my birthday gift from Trav was to sleep in. I got the babe when she woke at 6, fed her, then passed her off and went back to sleep. I woke feeling so wonderfully rested at 8am (isn't it amusing how our definition of sleeping in changes?!). When I woke, it was to find that Trav & Gwen had already been pretty productive. They'd gone grocery shopping together, which Trav wore her for!! I wished I'd gotten a picture. We headed out to breakfast, then back home for a relaxing day.

Gwen took a good snooze... about an hour and a half. And she did it on me.  :-)

It was pretty lovely.

I got to open some presents from Trav & Gwen. Gwen got me a digital picture frame to show off all my pictures of her. And Trav got me a beautiful woven wrap... the one I was wishing for months ago. So psyched! I'll have to practice some, but I'm already loving it after using it for a walk that afternoon.  

We were supposed to go to Ro & Pat's for lunch too, but poor GG was sick. So instead we watched a movie, relaxed and had a nice dinner at home.

Then we took our own 6 months pictures!

It was a really wonderful day/weekend.

Now its back to the grind. Another week with both of my coworkers out, so I'll definitely be keeping busy. 



As an aside, and for my own records... my peanut is in size 2 diapers now!



And here is the promised recipe... try this, its wonderful!


Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup basil pesto, divided
• 4 thin slices prosciutto, or more if needed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a baking dish.
2. Spread about 2 tablespoons of pesto per chicken breast over the top of each breast, and wrap each breast in prosciutto slices to cover the entire breast. Place the wrapped chicken breasts into the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink, the juices run clear, and the prosciutto is lightly crisped, about 25 minutes.

6 months

Dear Gwenivere,

Half a year gone in the blink of an eye. It has gone just that fast and I still think of you as my tiny newborn. But you aren't a newborn anymore... instead you are my baby, growing quickly towards being a toddler. Growing up, and now sitting up, everyday.

Well we've reached 6 months of breastfeeding! I'm so proud of both of us. There are times it was hard... but it is such a wonderful thing we share. Our quiet moments together, nestled against one another, me feeding you. Its wonderful and I'm so glad we've stuck with it. While your newborn days have slipped away, this gives me a moment to slow down and observe you. To take in your tiny hands, your full soft cheeks, your fine downy hair. On days when we are cranky or rushed, breastfeeding gives us both some time to just enjoy being with each other.

And on how I love to be with you!
Sometimes, my love, you crack me up! You are starting to develop a bit of a sense of humor. You still don't give us your adorable laugh too much... but you have the best gummy grin. It is amazing walking into your room in the morning to get you from the crib, because the first time you see me your face just breaks into the best smile. You also give me that smile when I sing to you, or when I blow raspberries on your tummy, or when I eat your cheeks. And your daddy, well he just has to show up to get that smile.

You know who else gets that smile without having to work for it? Daisy. Oh my do you love that dog. You give her your fingers to lick when you are eating your oatmeal, and you love to grab at her, to feel her fur. She is one of your favorite things and we have to be careful how we are holding you when she walks up because you will dive at her, face first, just wanting to get your favorite furry thing. 

Heaven help us, you are getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth now... before we know it you're going to be crawling across the room, and then we are in real trouble! Forget we, daddy and I will definitely have our hands full, but poor Daisy... she'll be getting a run for her money!

You continue to grow and change all the time. You are constantly moving about now... constantly babbling... reaching for things. You love to practice sitting and standing, and are always reaching for new things. You are inquisitive and delighted by new toys or games. You continue to LOVE singing, especially A, You're Adorable and Oh, Mr. Sun.

You still aren't a great napper at home, but you are getting better. And at daycare you've just started napping for real nap lengths... like an hour to 2 hours! It's amazing. Right now you are also giving me a run for my money at night... waking 2 - 3 times sometimes, which you hadn't done for a while. Its definitely making mama a lot more tired, but I'm hoping this is a temporary, growth spurt induced regression. No matter what is causing it though, I'm trying to enjoy those middle of the night feeds as much as I can (while trying not to fall asleep!), because there is nothing like snuggling my growing-too-quickly girl.

I love you forever,
Mama