52:17 Meals this Week and Two Front Teeth!

Ok, so I have this goal to make great meals and be more creative right? But it's funny because Jeff is the one to cook most of the recipes. The reason is because Gwen goes to sleep around 7 while nursing, so I start feeding her at 6:30. While I'm feeding her, Jeff starts the meal. There's my secret- my husband.
I do sometimes do prep-work! Like this week I diced onion and cooked and chopped chicken!
Ok, so this week we had salmon with roasted green beans and mashed potatoes (instant). That was an easy one. On Tuesday we had garlic rosemary chicken burgers...sooo good. On Wednesday we tried chicken crescent roll casserole...amazing. Thursday was a frozen meal, and Friday was baked stuffed shrimp (my mom's recipe)! A successful week on easy, low ingredient, recipes. And they were all delicious!
In the Gwen world, she now has her two lower front teeth!! So cute, but she's been very fussy lately. Her napping is slowly getting better: she slept in her crib a few times the last couple days, but still prefers the car, where she takes 2-hour naps! (everywhere else it's 45 minutes) Trying to stay calm and not get stressed out about it!

52:16 Nonsense and such

I'm always late on my weekly blog posts, but I think it's ok because I always manage to write. Better late than never is my motto!

I don't always write because Gwen takes 45 minute naps while nursing or 2- hour naps in the car...not good for writing long, in-depth posts. But oh well...I'm not making excuses.

We just bought a beautiful Nikon d3100 SLR camera. I desperately want to teach myself how to be a great photographer! It's very difficult because there are so many factors: ISO, aperture, shutter speed, lighting, depth, movement, etc...I just bought an app to help me understand it, plus I'm dying to take a photography class, but don't see when I'll have the time.

This week for dinner we're trying chicken burgers, fish, and chicken crescent roll casserole! Stay tuned!

52:15 What is most personal, is most universal

"What is most personal, is most universal." I love this quote, because I always forget how true it really is. Everyone has similar worries, thoughts, and insecurities. We're all different, but most of us want the same things. This is comforting to me...

52:14- Gwen, you are 6 months old!!

On April 8, you turned 6 months old on Easter 2012! You are so much fun right now, because you are getting so much more responsive! Your laugh is the best sound on the planet, and we can't get enough of you!
You weigh about 20 lbs (wearing 12 month clothes!)

You can now roll over from belly to back and back to belly easily, though you prefer to keep rolling to the left.

You can sit up almost independently!

You have eaten these foods successfully: avocado, squash, sweet potato, pears, apples, and bananas.

You popped your first tooth today (4/10/12)!!!!

You reach for everything, and stick out your tongue when you want to drink it.

You are drinking sips of water.

You still sleep about 12 hours a night (except the last 2 nights you woke U in your pack-n-play in Denver, probably because your were teething).

You now prefer to sleep on your belly.
Happy Easter, beautiful girl!

Another note on creativity...

I read this online yesterday and thought how true it really is:
'There are some people in the world that are creative souls. They need -- I need -- an outlet of some sorts. Whether it's graphic design, painting or sewing -- they have the desire to pursue a creative life. Sometimes they get it in their day job-- sometimes they get it in hobbies.'
I agree with this statement. I believe there are many people in the world that need to be creative and strive for it as much as they can. I think it's important to try to create unique things, even if you have little time. Self-motivation is key.

PS: a first today; I used the potty at Olive Garden with baby in arms. Yes, I did. I had to share because I'm very proud of myself. :)
Talk about creativity, right?

52:13 Creativity-Cooking

I consider myself a creative person. I used to spend hours drawing, painting, and singing in my room when I was younger. I sometimes feel sad that I'm not as creative as I used to be. I want to be more passionate about something; I want to be driven.

I do this a lot and tend to go through phases; last year, I was trying sewing and crafty things...the year before it was baking (which I still love to do). I've also done horseback riding, reading, writing, home design, and who knows what else. I once thought I should pick one thing and do it passionately, and get exceptionally good at it. But now I've decided I'm not going to limit myself to just one creative passion. I'm going to be creative with whatever I choose. Be it arts, crafts, singing, sports, cooking, baby things (obviously that applies to everything as the backdrop). I'll just be a renaissance girl.

So I've decided I want to be more creative with my dinners. My mom is a great cook, and she enjoys doing it. She makes everything look easy. One day, I want to be able to cook something unique and delicious for my family. I want to do this for my Gwendolyn, too. To show her its important to be creative and passionate. This will be one of my passions: cooking. I'll be talking about my new hobbies on this blog, sine I'm sure we're all getting tired of hearing about Gwen's napping struggles...

So this past week, I made ham and cheese sliders (so good) one night. I made them special for Jeff, thinking he would take one bite and die right in front of me. He didn't. He took a bite, and kept chewing while watching Big Bang. Then took another bite, to which I exclaimed, "don't you love them??" Surprised and scared, the man thought up a great answer, "well, you haven't given me time to process it. I'm still tasting the food!" Hmmm...not impressed. But the sliders were amazing.
I also made rotisserie chicken, Parmesan roasted zucchini, and 'hot' potatoes. Well, with Jeff's help. And the rotisserie chicken was actually store-bought...but we made the side dishes, and they were fabulous!
Thank you, pinterest!
More to come!

52:12 Napping is a Battle

Gwendolyn, my sweet girl, why won't you nap in your crib anymore?
So she will only nap in the car or while nursing. I love to nurse her to sleep, but will she not learn to self soothe? The thing is, she self soothes at night, pretty easily, but during the day, she'll scream her little head off until I go pick her up. I don't want her to cry her life away, but I want her to sleep.

Now some might question, maybe she doesn't need to sleep. Why force it? Maybe she's not tired. I think not...I know babies need sleep, and especially this baby, who after 2 hours of being awake is visibly tired. I think my mother-in-law thinks if she's crying at nap time, maybe she's not tired. But Gwen has always cried at nap time. The difference is now she's older, and getting harder to soothe and she won't fall asleep as easy.

So what to do? Do I just keep soothing her in the car and while nursing, and Jean will come with her own routine, and when she gets older try putting her down (when we can reason with her)?That's what I'd like to do.

Or do I sleep train like the book says, and let her cry for hours in her crib? She's such a sweet girl, I don't think she deserves to cry. I guess we'll just keep up with this modified 'attachment' thing we have going. It seems to be working ok. :)

I have to remember that eventually all this will be different, and I'll never have this back.