52:33 & 34 The move to Dallas

So we moved to Dallas on August 15, 2012. I haven't been able to blog lately because of obvious reasons...moving, unpacking, painting, trying to find a job, nanny, and mommy groups. It's been a busy busy time. Plus I have a baby, too. So that makes it much less stressful...yes.

My lovely mom is here visiting now, and I'm so happy she came. Her positive outlook on our new area is starting to rub off on me. I've had a bit of anxiety since we've moved, and went to a doctor to figure things out. After talking it out with my mom, I've decided to try some exercise and "mind over matter" tricks. I pray that I'll be strong enough to pull myself out of this...I know I'll be ok.

I went exercising today, and I already feel mentally stronger. I do believe I'm having some remnant post pardom hormone-y stuff going on, and that must be the reason for this anxiety. Obviously I have a lot of stressors in my life right now, but if I got over pdd before, I can do it again, I plan on joining Stroller Strides and going a few times a week- a good way to meet new mommies, too.

So I've already found a night babysitter for when Jeff and I want a night out. She's young, calm, sweet and smart! Perfect. "Check!" (You know why that's in quotes, right?)

I'm interviewing a daytime nanny tomorrow for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hopefully it goes well.

I love making decisions when my mom is with me. Having her reassurance makes me so much more confident in my choices. :) Love you mom!

Oh, and we brought Gwen to the Dallas World Aquarium! So fun! She loved watching all the colorful fish! I also made sweet potato fries, rosemary chicken burgers, catfish with quinoa salad, and tonight we're having cheesy broccoli baked potatoes! I might have had some help making these...

52:32 Gwen is 10 months old!

Learn more about my project 52 here and check out styleberry BLOG for links to more Project 52s.

Gwen, you are now in the double digits!  On 8/8/12, you turned 10 months old!

Baby, at 10 months:
You weigh about 22 lbs and are tall for your age.

You LOVE yogurt, Cheerios, pcookies, puffs, green smoothies, and chicken...pretty much everything besides peas, actually.

You just learned how to feed yourself with your fingers two days ago, and I think it's the cutest thing ever!  You prefer Cheerios over anything on a spoon, and you've had a couples cookies, and nothing can take your attention away from those! It's the best watching you lick your whole hand and wrist trying so hard to put that Cheerio in your mouth!

You look at mommy and laugh when I laugh, like you "get the joke".

You're still breastfeeding about 5x per day, and it's the best way to calm you down if you're upset. 

You have about 5 1/2 teeth (2 on bottom, 3 1/2 on top) and this is starting to conflict with breastfeeding (yes, ouch).

You got your first haircut because the hair on your birthmark was growing faster than the rest, and someone said your "baby mullet" was cute.  It was cut that same day.

You want to eat whatever we're eating; you think you're a big girl.

You wave "bye bye", "hi", and sign "more" constantly while eating.

You have started variegated babbling: poowee, baawaa, beewee, etc.  Today you said in the car "diapo bwait".  Its adorable to hear you talk. 

You are standing a little on your own- about 3 seconds before you lunge forward onto whatever is closest- usually me.

You are taking two naps per day that range anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours- it's never consistent.

You laugh very easily now, and love it when we swat at bugs, chew on things, crawl around with you, pull things out of your hands, and play peekaboo.  Those things crack you up.

You are scared of big dogs, and I showed you a cat recently, and you freaked out screaming.  This makes mommy sad, since I love cats, and I was hoping you'd be on my side.

You are obsessed with dolls (with hard plastic limbs, not the soft ones), and you carry them all around the house with you!

You are happy and so so so sweet. 

52:31 Smoothies and Giblets

So, if you have been living under a rock and havent heard of 'green smoothies' yet, you might look at the picture here and think, "ew, gross. Is that one of those wheat germ protein shakes?" You would think that if you were living in the 2000's, actually. Well, welcome to the 2010's, friend! The era of the new and improved wheat-germ protein shake- THE GREEN SMOOTHIE. Much much much improved, in fact. If you google green smoothie, a million recipes pop up. But it's funny to me that there are recipes because it's basically fruit and veggies in a blender. Whatever sounds good to you, just dump it in and, boomtastic: you are now on the green smoothie train (just make sure to add something green, of course). ;)

All kidding aside, there's just something about feeding a food so simple and nutritious to your baby that makes me feel like a superhero. And I made it! Like in 20 years, she'll be a genius because she drank spinach as a 9 month old...I know, I'm delusional. Accept it.

So I know you're just dying to know what I put in my smoothie, right? Ok, so I'll tell you- a bag of frozen strawberries, peaches, and bananas (not organic. Whaaaaat?), Greek yogurt, water, a tiny bit of cranberry juice, and half a bag of spinach. It was soooo good. I'm hooked, and I've already daydreamed of making green smoothies everyday for breakfast from now on.

On the hot side, my new soulmate: the crockpot. It's my (other) secret to making dinner...me, who stays home with the baby and manages to get nothing done. Using a crockpot allows me to say to Jeff when he gets home, "I've been cooking all day!" We, wait no, I made ribs last week in the crockpot (who knew?) and they were so good, they fell off the bone trying to take them out. Another thing I've done is cook a whole chicken in it about once a week the past couple weeks. It's so easy, and it comes out awesome. The only problem with the whole chicken idea is the giblets. I just can't get those things...it's too gross, thank you. Jeff can take those out afterwards. Love you, babe!

And Gwen is back to 45 minute naps. So irritating.

52:29 & 30 Oh, late on my blog again.

Learn more about my project 52 here and check out styleberry BLOG for links to more Project 52s.

I'm bad. I sometimes lose motivation about this blog. Uh oh...I said it. These last 2 weeks have been stressful. I'm trying to find a part time job in Dallas, and I'm getting worried I won't find something that fits my needs perfectly. I want what I have here: a 2 day per week job that pays well. I don't want any more days, or any less. I know if I even try 3 days per week, I'll be so panicked about leaving Gwen. I know this because it already happened when she was a few months old.

I know I'll find something. I have a few good leads. I just have to keep looking.

On another note, Gwen is waking up at 6:30 instead of 7 now. Not a big deal? Is that what you're thinking? Well it is, because now her naps are back to 45 minutes long. The interval between wake up and her first nap is too long, resulting in a too short nap (sometimes 30 minutes)! Going to try putting her down for her first nap earlier today. I'll let you know how it goes....

Later this morning....
So I put her down at 8:45, and she cried a little. But then she fell asleep. She woke up after 30 minutes crying, but didn't stand and....went back to sleep!! Praise the lord! My baby is a total Weissbluth baby. It's like he wrote an instruction manual for her! Everything he says, works like magic!

Here are some silly pics. Gwen has so many toys, and instead lives to play with bathroom goodies. Not very 'sanitary'! ...Get it? I'm hilarious. Second is Gwen's first ponytail, courtesy of my friend Mehren.

52:28 Another Dallas Trip

Ok, so I'm late I this post! We came up to Dallas yesterday, and I was too busy on Friday getting ready to leave. No time to write.
Update: so our house sold! It was on the market a week before we got a offer...then another...then another! It was an emotional ride. Getting the first offer was fun. We were going back and forth, negotiating price and it was going ok. Then another off came in that was slightly better, but contingent. I started to feel bad for them, knowing they really wanted the house and were willing to risk a lot for it. Then the third offer came in; our neighbors told us they had met the on the street after they viewed our home, and they were so excited; they wanted to add in a pool, and they loved the house. It was a family with two boys. Their offer came in OVER asking price, but they wanted help with closing costs, and they had their own house to sell, too. Because Jeff's company was covering some of the loss, but no buyer closing costs, AND since the first offer was not contingent, we chose the first offer (our realtor was great at staying objective and advised us very wisely- thank god for realtors!!).
So now we're in Dallas looking at homes. We fell in love with Lantana right away. It's a community on a golf course, with 5 pools, it's own schools, daycare, tennis courts, etc. It felt like we were at a resort. Beautiful, but a little pricey. We also liked Flower Mound...
Today we look at Frisco, which is a little cheaper, with lower taxes. The houses are newer, but it's not a master planned community like Lantana. I'm hoping we can fall in love with a house in Fridco, as it's got a fantastic reputation. We'll see today! So far, it's been so fun!
Gwen has been ok, too. We flew up and she slept the whole 45 minute flight. Jean cane up with us to watch her while we go home shoppingShe's not taking naps easily, but that's ok. This morning she woke at 5:30, so now her schedule is off for the day. I'm a little more easy going this trip because I know she can sleep just fine in the pack n play, since she did so well in RI.
So I'm really enjoying Dallas this time. I'm amazed at what we might be able to afford, and the neighborhoods are gorgeous. I can picture my family up here. I think we can do it.

Gwen is 9 months old

Already 3/4 of a year old! The time flies.

At 9 months, you weigh 22 lbs, 11 oz, and ate 28 inches long.

You can sit, crawl, and pull up on everything!

You like all food except peas, and you're warming up to finger foods!

You have cut three more teeth on top for a total of 5 teeth.

You love to drink from an open cup and have not mastered sippy cups yet.

You are starting to play and hold up your tiny fist in a ball and grunt and smile.

You're learning to say 'more' in sign language!

You want mommy to hold you at all times.

You go to sleep pretty easily for naps and bedtime now. Although you will only go down for mommy or Nana.

Love you, my little pooks!

52:27 "Everything's a Phase"

Learn more about my project 52 here and check out styleberry BLOG for links to more Project 52s.

I put the title in quotes because my friend Mehren has said this, and I didn't want her to think I was stealing her thought. ;) Credit given.

It's a pretty strong idea, this "phase" theory. I wholeheartedly agree with it. It's a common thing, people saying, "oh, it's just a phase", but it's a loaded statement and means a lot to a mom with an infant. The "phase" can be anything, and last for any amount of time, even so, the phase idea brings me a lot of comfort.

Maybe it's because it makes be feel like I'm not doing something wrong, and whatever is happening with my baby, I can't fix it, because it's a phase; something she has decided to do.

So for example, when Gwen was screaming in the evenings from 4-6:30 pm and then again from 11-2:30, and so on, as a newborn, it was a phase, and we got through it. Although it was a phase that drove mommy to every baby book known to man, we did get through it. I would have done anything to solve what was bothering her. But it was a phase.

She once decided she'd rather roll around on the bed and laugh at mommy when we were having our nighttime nursing session, it was a phase. She said, this is fun, let's do this now. It was a phase, and now she lays calmly.

That's the thing- this is a little person I'm growing here. She has her own free will and her own thoughts and baby ideas on what should be happening in her life. Now, she doesn't want me to put her down and she only wants mommy. I call this her mommy phase and I'm loving it... Although it'll be nice when she gets past this because it's physically exhausting! that reminds me, I need to start working out.

So when she's screaming in her carseat for no apparent reason, I have to remind myself, this is a phase. There's nothing I can do anyway- she has to stay in her carseat in the car.
It's horrible to hear your baby cry though.

Peace out!