Photo Dump

After a yummy breakfast. Notice the food stains on the legs of her jammies. This would be why we go through so much stain spray!

Easter morning with Mommy and her presents.

Apparently Daddy is pretty darned funny!

She is a little scooter bug. This is where she winds up in the morning about 75% of the time. We place her at the bottom of the crib at night.

Silly baby in her (borrowed) Exersaucer.

"Hey, I can get this one in my mouth!"

Playing with Daddy.

As good of a family portrait as we managed to get at Ed's niece's birthday party yesterday.

Not Doing What I Should Be Doing

So I finally started the fun task of switching out Abby's 3-6 month stuff for the 6-9/12 month stuff. While going through the baby clothes is fun (for me anyway), it's definitely a little challenging of a task to complete. I got everything washed over the weekend, but I finally had time alone in the house today to try to get the old stuff out and the new stuff in. I got a good chunk done, but I still have a lot to hang up and I have to deal with the jammies. I also got all the old stuff washed so I can get it all put away. I fit half of it into the two bins I have, but the rest is going in a trash bag.

We dressed her in the 6-9 stuff for the first time today. Uhhhh...she probably should have been in it a couple of weeks ago. I was afraid it was going to be a little long on her, but it fit perfectly. Oh well, maybe nobody else noticed that her pants have been waaaaaaaaaaaaay too short for awhile now. Yup, she's going to be tall like her mama.

Today was "Daddy Day," so Ed stayed home with her. He did wind up taking her to his mom's for a little while because he had a meeting he had to go to. But it worked out perfectly because his office is less than ten minutes from his mom's and she was home from work in time to take the baby. She even gave her a bath and fed her dinner, so score for me! ;)

When they got home, I jumped in the car and we made a BJ's run. We were still in need of a second car seat (she's just about outgrown the infant seat and Becky gave me a fancy-schmancy Britax car seat for Abby's christening). Since we can't afford a second fancy-schmancy Britax carseat, we were looking for a less costly alternative. Then my SIL told us that the Alpha Omega Elite car seat was $80 at BJ's...apparently it's very highly rated by Consumer Reports for safety. Plus, it converts to a booster...up to 80 pounds. So...we decided to go for it. Then I told my mom about it and she had us get one for her too...so now she'll be able to take Abby (and Claire) places when she's babysitting. :) Once the weather gets just a tad warmer, we'll take the plunge and loose the infant seat and install the regular car seats. The weather is relevant because I'm still toting Abby around in the carrier with the Bundle Me in it, thereby avoiding dealing with a coat. I'm just about ready to switch though.

I finally gave in to temptation and went to the evil Gymboree during my break today. I wound up getting some really good deals, so I'm happy. :) Go me! Okay, so that last one wasn't too fabulous a deal, but I loved it, so there! And at least I got $25 in Gymboree bucks for next time. Yup, that's how they get ya!

Just Another Day

At least my mom came to visit me and then wound up taking me to lunch. Score! We even stopped at Old Navy and she bought Abby a white cardigan sweater that I wanted for her (at 40% off...score! again). Abby has inherited many, many adorable sundresses that I can't wait to start dressing her in. I figure that with the sweater, I can get her in them even earlier. Having a baby girl is fun. :) The only bummer was that I didn't get to go over to the mall during lunch. Maybe tomorrow...I want to check out the clearance rack at Gymboree and at the Children's Place. The one thing I seem to be lacking in the 6-9 month stuff is long-sleeved onesies. Perhaps I'll see something worth picking up.

So we tried our Wednesday new food...Barley Cereal. It seemed to be a hit...I couldn't shovel it into her mouth fast enough. Of course, she woke up from her nap ravenous, so that could have had something to do with it. But there definitely weren't any of the kind of protests I sometimes get when feeding her rice cereal. So, the barley is a keeper. Woohoo.

Why I Hate Gymboree

Because their clothes are absolutely adorable, but are outrageously expensive. Seriously...as much as I love this collection, there is no way I can justify spending $30 on a sundress or $29.50 on a two-piece set. Especially when I already have an obscene amount of clothes from Becky and others. I went over her house last week and we went through all of Claire's old stuff and I came home with a trash bag full of 6-9/6-12 stuff and one full of 9-12. Plus, I remembered that I had another trash bag full of 6-9 stuff already. My project for this week is to go through everything and separate out the cooler weather stuff that she can wear now from the warmer weather stuff that she can wear in a month or two.

Good luck to my sister to try to resist this collection from the same evil chain. She loves turtles...Claire has owned just about every piece of turtle clothing ever made (which means Abby has also owned just about every piece of turtle clothing ever made). Thank goodness for Old Navy and their much-more-reasonable line of baby clothes. It may not be in the same league as Gymboree, but their stuff can still be pretty darned cute. And it's much easier to justify splurging on a dress for Abby when it's $14.50 as opposed to $30.

Is it Teething?

She's drooling like a mad dog, chewing (hard) on everything in sight, is slightly fussier than normal and has a runny nose. Plus, Ed swears he can see "white" under her bottom gums...whatever that means. Is she teething, or are we reading too much into everyday baby things? I guess time will tell.

One thing's for sure though...it hasn't diminished her appetite at all. She's all about the solids. Right now we're up to 2 tablespoons of oatmeal in the morning and a container of a level 1 fruit and then at night she's getting 3 tablespoons of rice cereal and a container of a level 1 veggie. I think she's starting to decide that the rice cereal isn't her favorite...she sometimes whines while she's eating that one. Although I usually mix the fruit/veggie in with her cereals too. Maybe she's just been in a bad mood at dinner time. She definitely cheers up when she gets the straight baby food from the jar though.

Our current fruits/veggies are peaches, bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash and green beans. She loves everything but the green beans...although I haven't been brave enough to try them again since the first time. Maybe this week. We've been doing a new food every Wednesday and Saturday. I'm thinking that I'll try her on the barley cereal on Wednesday to see if she likes that any better than the rice cereal. We still have to try level 1 pears, peas and prunes. Then we'll have completed the collection. How long until we move to level 2's?

Hoppy Easter!

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday. I have to go to work tomorrow to recover from mine! ;) Oh wait...schools are out...work's going to suck this week. Blah!

Couple of Video Clips

The first one's a little old, but it's a cute one of her giggling. The second is Abby rolling. Sorry for the poor quality, but they were just taken with my digital camera. :)

Sleepy Week

I know, I know...it's only Tuesday...but I'm tired! :P Seriously, I don't know what the deal is...I've just been dead to the world yesterday and today. It doesn't help that I have to have the baby at daycare by 6:45 on Monday, so I have to be up way earlier than I like. I'm just not a morning person at all. At least Ed has Abby all day tomorrow, so I don't have to get up early to get her up and ready. She can wake up when she wants and Daddy gets to do it all. :)

Can you believe it's almost Easter? Craziness, I tell you! I got Abby her present on Sunday. Toys R Us is having a great sale, for anyone who's not circular/sale/coupon obsessed like me. Buy (almost) any Fisher Price toy priced over $20 and get one priced under $20 for free. Woohoo! So, I got her this:

for about $21 and got her this:

for free! Score! :) Plus, I got her two cans of Puffs (Sweet Potato and Banana) for her Easter basket. She'll be chowing down on those things before I know it!

Now I just have to figure out what to dress her in on Sunday. I'm leaning towards an extremely girly-girl dress that someone from work gave me as a shower gift. At least I'll get one use out of it before she outgrows it. She's definitely getting ready to make the move into 6-9 month stuff. I just went through the 6-9 month bins that we picked up from my mom's house...and they were mostly filled with 3-6 month stuff. I forgot that my mom was confused when we were sorting and thought that the single numbered size meant that was the low number. So a "6" to her meant 6-9 when a "6" actually means 3-6. So, Becky...we'll definitely have to go through your stuff soon! On the bright side, I have some new 3-6 month stuff to dress her in. I was getting bored with the old things. ;)

Positive Things About Not Breastfeeding

1. Caesar Salad
2. The yummy Quesadilla Explosion Salad from Chili's
3. Ed can feed her in the morning on occasion, allowing me to sleep
4. Alcohol
5. My boobs are mine again
6. Nobody whining about me pumping at work
7. Not having to pump, period
8. My Chipperilli salad (I need to make me some of that)
9. Did I mention alcohol?
10. No more leaking

I still miss it though! Especially the saving money part. I finally made the switch to Target brand formula. It's cheaper than Enfamil, even with a coupon AND a check combined. Blah.

Hi From Grandma's

I just got to my mom's about 30 minutes ago and my mom had put Abby down for a nap not too long before I got here. I don't want to wake her yet, so I'm stuck here for a little while. My mom's not even here anymore because she had to run to Becky's house to watch Claire until Scott gets home. Apparently Becky is going to visit a friend in one of the Carolinas and had to catch her flight. So, I had to switch my hours to 7:30 to 4 to get here in time to let my mom leave in time to get to Becky's in time for her to get to the airport in time for her flight. Got that? Good.

Everything else is same old, same old. Lost was awesome last night, but it's been pretty darned good all season. Some of my other shows finally start back up again on Monday, so that's something to look forward to. Hi, my name is Mandy and I'm a television junkie. Good thing Abby is pretty consistent with her bedtime, it gives us plenty of time to catch up on our shows. Thank goodness for our DVR...one of the greatest inventions ever!

New Food of the Day

Today we tried green beans. Apparently, she's not a big fan. It started out okay...she kept it in her mouth a long time, testing the waters. Then about five spoonfulls later, she made up her mind that she did NOT like it. She started crying and making the funniest faces. Maybe it's just the Gerber beans she doesn't like. Ed's niece didn't like the Gerber beans, but she liked the Beechnut ones. We'll try again next week. That is all. ;)

That's How She Rolls

Perhaps I spoke too soon about the lack of rollage around here. Yesterday morning, I put Abby under her gym so I could finish getting ready for work. When I walked back into the room, she was playing happily on her tummy. Alrighty then. It definitely wasn't a fluke either...she did it twice more last night. Now, if we could just master rolling from the tummy to the back, she would be all set. ;) Guess we should start to think about baby-proofing soon, huh?

Got a bookfair at work tonight. Blah. But, on the funny side, that means that Ed has to spoon feed her for the first time. I think he's afraid...he's been happy to let me do it up till now. Hehehehe...should be fun. ;)

Photo Dump

Might as well give you some more cuteness while I'm downloading. :)

She loves, loves, loves her Rainforest Gym. She plays happily under there for long periods of time. She likes to try to pull the toys down into her mouth.

She also loves playing with Daddy's scruffy face. I don't get it...I'm very anti-scruff.

Mmmmmmmmmmm....Sweet Potatoes!

Tummy time on the floor. We were trying to convince her to roll over with no success.

Official 5-Month Picture

Not the best shot, but at least she's smiling!

Holy Crap...I Have a 5-Month Old!

When did that happen? Weird. Picture to come once she wakes up from her nap. :)

This month's big adventure is food, glorious food! She's all about the food. We tried oatmeal for the first time this morning and she loved it! She's also all about the sweet potatoes, which we had for the first time Wednesday. Rice cereal, apple sauce and bananas are the other foods in her diet at the moment. I think we'll try a green veggie this week...that should be fun. ;)

Other than that, she's babbling away, loves to sit and "stand," is way into her toys and is just a joy all the time. Not much going on in the rolling department, but we have time to work on that more. She was trying last night, but couldn't quite pull it out. It was fun to watch though.

Busy Week

Sorry for the slacking this week...it's been busy. Thanks to everyone who offered their advice on my boob problems. Unfortunately, I have come to the sad conclusion that I just have to accept the fact that I am done breastfeeding. I gave her a good five months, but I'm just not producing like I used to. It seems silly to keep trying when we just have to give her a bottle 30 minutes after I finish feeding her because she's still starving. As much as the thought of breastfeeding used to freak me out, I have to admit that I'll miss it. I wouldn't trade the time I spent doing it for all the world.

But at least that means I'll be able to indulge in a cocktail every once in awhile now. And I can have salad again! I didn't think I would miss salad so much, but I do. I guess it's just that fact that I can't have it that makes me want it so much. But, it's a non-issue now. Woohoo.

Right now I'm posting from my mom's house. Abby spent the day here and now we're waiting to go to the funeral parlor to see my BIL's grandmother. She passed a couple days ago and the viewings are today. We're not going to the funeral tomorrow, so we'll stop by for a little while tonight. At least it's right by my house, so I can get the baby home and fed pretty quickly once I leave. At least tomorrow's Saturday, so we don't have to wake her up in the morning...she gets to wake us up instead. ;)

The Drying of the Well

Abby's appetite just keeps increasing and, much to my dismay, my milk supply seems to be dwindling at the same rate. That makes me very sad because I enjoy the whole nursing thing, besides the fact that it saves us money. And I was hoping to be able to go until she was at least six months old. Anybody have any advice on how to keep the flow going...besides pumping more, which (unfortunately) just isn't an option when I work all day. :(

Good Times

All but one of my movies has been guessed. I can't believe that one hasn't been guessed yet. It's a line that always makes me laugh, but perhaps I'm just weird. If nobody guesses it by tonight, I'm just going to fill it in.

It's the weekend! Yay! Hopefully the couple days off will give my family a little time to recover. Ed's moved past the fluish stage and has settled into the coughing/sneezing/icky nose portion of the fun with me and Abby. We're going through a lot of tissues in our house, that's for sure.

I just had my Saturday morning fun of going through circulars and clipping coupons. I've become obsessed with sales and coupons. Saving money is fun. If anyone out there likes Kellogg's Raisin Bran (which I don't, but Ed does), if you go to the Smart Source website, there's a coupon there that makes you answer two questions. If you say that Post is your favorite raisin bran and that you buy it 12 or more times a year, you'll get a coupon for $3 off two boxes...and then they're on sale at Superfresh this week 2/$4...so you can get them for 50 cents a box. There are some other good coupons there as well ($1 off Huggies, $1.50 off three bags Hershey's Easter candy, etc.), so it's worth checking out. It's the little things in life, I tell ya! ;)

Now that I've bored everyone with my coupon talk, I'm signing off. :)