6 month professional pics!

We had Katie come and take some more pics of our girl. Check them out here!!

Jane & Edrie

A few weeks ago Jenni watched Edrie while I did a few things for my new job. She took some pictures of our girl and I just love them! Isn't she soo good with the camera?!

I've mentioned before how much Jane and Edrie love each other - well really Edrie loves most all kids, but Jane she is all about Edrie. Its ADORABLE how lovey she gets when they are together. Jenni got these pictures of them. Hugs and Kisses!

This last one is my absolute favorite. I just die! Edrie looks like a 50 year old chubby, balding with a comb over business man and is oblivious to Jane on her lap! And Jane's little smirk and look back... its all just too much! SO cute! I hope these girls continue to enjoy each other and welcome little Will with open arms!

Helpin' Out in the Kitchen

This is another of our routines I wanted to document, because these babes grow and change so fast that the way you cope with them in our life is forced to change too.  This is what we do while I make dinner or eat lunch. She sits on the make-shift island in our kitchen nook while I chop and cook. I feel like I've been spending more time cooking lately because we are trying to change the way we eat. More organic, whole foods, and much less meat. I've got us down to meat just once a week or maybe twice. It really hasn't been difficult, but I've been trying lots of new recipes (loving this book). I'm interested to see how difficult the less meat thing will be once summer hits and we want to grill out every night!

Anyway, she likes to play with the measuring cups and spoons. We just laugh and talk and sing and its awesome! Most days she is in a good mood and this can work for a half hour or more! Other times, its 10 minutes and she's back in the Ergo. We take what we can get! 

Papa's Chair

As I mentioned, we've started giving Edrie some solid food, but we needed a proper place to feed her. We were lucky to have lots of options from friends and family. But, we were so excited to hear that Grant's parents had kept his and Burton's high chair! Its so fun to know that tiny Grant was in this same chair!

Edrie tried it out as soon as it arrived! Its awesome... the tray sits at the same height as our table and its pretty modestly sized so it doesn't take up too much room. I'd really like to make a pad with a sticky bottom because Edrie slips down on the wood seat.

 

 I'm such a sucker for old things with history so seeing her in this chair makes me endlessly happy! Free, beautiful, and Papa's? Yes, Please!

Six Months (and a bit of catch up...)

Half a year?! How the heck? Time flies when you are falling in love with an adorably chubby little human! This lady is all sorts of fun and it just keeps getting better. Her newest trick is to wave - you can see it in one of the outtakes below. We try to get it out of her constantly, but, of course, she only does it when it pleases her. Then she is obscenely proud of herself. What else? We've started giving her little bits of food here and there. I'm being my weird hippie self and just giving her what we are eating rather than pureeing stuff or doing rice cereal. I'm not really against any particular thing, this just seems so easy! If it doesn't progress well then I'll step back and start running stuff through the food processor. So far we've tried - banana, carrot, roasted cauliflower, apple, and mango. The mango was the biggest hit by far!

We had her 6 month check up and she is still on the bigger end of the scale... 16lbs 5oz and 65th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height (27.3 inches)! Funny thing is that her weight to height ratio puts her barely in 10th percentile! I'm so interested to see how her appearance will change as she starts moving more. I hear babes thin out at that point, but I can't imagine that with our girl!

We just love her so much it hurts! I just can't wait to see what the rest of our life with her brings!

you'll have to ignore some of the videos I post...I put them up here, even if they are only interesting to me, so we are sure they don't get lost in the ever growing archives of family pictures!

In other news... Edrie and Papa have been getting more and more used to taking care of each other as I've been back to work for 2 weeks now. Its been so hard for me to be away from Edrie, but I am so comforted by the fact that Grant is with her and that she is in her own environment. Last week I worked days for orientation and she still didn't take much milk from the sippy cup - just an ounce or two here and there. This had me quite concerned for this week, my first week of night shift. Our girl still gets up at night and I usually just lie next to her and nurse her as we both fall back to sleep...meaning she it still getting a fair bit of milk at night. Bad if the mama is away and you don't take milk from any other source! Well, that is no longer the case! She took over 5 ounces of milk in one sitting the first night and just as much, if not more, last night! Its a double edged sword... bummer that she is still waking up, but a good thing that she isn't screaming incessantly because mama isn't there. She is just waking up once after Grant goes to bed so its pretty manageable for now. Mama on the other hand has been TIRED...oh man! Night shift without any real time to sleep because you are caring for a babe is WAY harder than night shift before Edrie. In St. Louis I didn't love nights, but I would get into a good rhythm and it wasn't a problem. I have been trying to get some naps in when Edrie naps, but she doesn't nap for more than an hour lying down. She'll nap forever in the Ergo, but its impossible for me to get any sleep if she is on my chest! Oh man how this kid has changed my life! We're making due and happy that this is only for a short while as I get oriented to the unit and then I can just be there 1 day/week. 

That reminds me... I don't think I've ever posted what this job is all about. I will be working as a Resource RN on the Postpartum Unit at Providence St. Vincent. Resource just means that you work limited shifts and without benefits. Its perfect for what we need right now. I will work just 4 shifts a month unless I sign up for more and I can pick the shifts I work. There may even be opportunites for me to cross-train into their NICU or pediatric units! I am really sad to be working because I love staying home, but I'm thrilled with how perfect this position is. I am happy to be starting with a lower acuity patient load and also having an opportunity to keep my skills up while still mostly staying home with Edrie. And I get to contribute to our family financially, which is a good feeling. All around, its great. Just hard while we get through this initial period of full-time nights!

What else? We've just been in a constant tailspin since we moved into this house. Its been a shuffle of family dropping by, spending quality time with our girls, getting the house in a livable (but still hardly presentable) state, and fixing things as they happen... water in the basement, what?! a refrigerator that freezes everything and then when you turn it up completely thaws the freezer and the 50 ounces of breast milk in it, what?! a kitchen that drives us both insane, but will cost an arm and a leg to renovate, what?! oh, this life! its quite the juggle and roller coaster, but we are having so much fun!

New Favorite Outfit

We had a little photo shoot because I'm minorly obsessed with this outfit and I don't want to forget it. She wears it as often as it is clean because I know it will only be a few weeks before I can't squeeze her into that tunic any longer.

I looove her in handmade clothes! The tunic Jilian made us and the pants are quick change trousers made by Jenni! I LOVE them! They are denim on one side and that cute flannel on the other. I can usually get 3 wears out of them before I have to put them through the wash.

Isn't the picture on the right hilarious?! She looks like she is trying to be a gorilla or something!

Bath Time

For a few weeks we had a new bedtime routine that included a bath every night. This little lady was eating it up, but we've had to scale back because it was really drying out her skin. She loves to splash and play in the water - I really want to take her to the pool! 

 

 

Oh Man!

 

A baby after her crafty mama's heart! I didn't even set this picture up!

Afternoons & A Mullet

We have been trying out a bit of an afternoon routine of playing on the floor while mama gets some knitting in. If its a really good day, mama gets a coffee and already has dinner done!

Mama also gets the joy of seeing this baby mullet... so so good!

More February Randoms

Lots of Daddy Daughter time lately, especially since Mama went back to work. The picture on the right is of our new Saturday morning routine... a walk to the nearby coffee shop, which we ADORE!



She can only reach her feet when her cloth diapers are off... those toes goes into her mouth as soon as possible!

Olive is getting much less play on the blog these days, but she still loves to cuddle with her mama on the couch, especially after her sister goes to bed!

Valentine's Day 2012

This year we celebrated our 7th Valentine's Day together! 2006, 2007, 2008 are chronicled here, and then... 2009, 2011. Amazingly, I didn't document 2010! I'm a bit appalled! It was Edrie's first Valentine's, but we celebrated the same as always - pizza, cuddles, and a fire!

She is already not into her parents kissing!

Aren't they too cute together? Its true that there is not much that is better than seeing your husband with your baby!

Our pizza... it tasted better than it looks!