The 29th

Since Mara was born on the 29th of April, every month on the 29th I take her 'monthly' pictures.

As you can guess, I'm faced with a dilemna this month. Since it's not a leap year, there is no February 29th.

And since I'm kind of a nerd...I've been agonizing over this just a little too much!

When do I take her pictures? Today's the 28th, so it's technically a day too soon. Tomorrow is March, so it's a whole new month.

My solution? I couldn't decide. So I'm going to do pictures both days!

I can't believe she's 10 months old already!!!

A few changes in our lives

Things have been a little crazy around here lately, but I'm hoping they will start to settle down now. We've made some big decisions about changes in our daily lives, and we're pretty excited about them!

Jay's going to be staying home with Mara during the day for now. We've worked it out with his schedule, and we'll be able to save money by not paying for daycare (plus have more one on one time with Mara!). He's still going to work a few hours a week (evenings and weekends) and has class a couple nights a week for now too. I'll still be working full time during the day, so not too much will change for me, except not having to rush to get Mara ready in the morning when I get up!

We're hoping these changes will be positive for us in a lot of ways!

Nine Month Photos

Sorry for the bad scanning job...I haven't used that thing for awhile!

These were taken on Valentine's Day...I just scanned a few of my favorites!

Feel free to shower me with compliments about my cute kid!!! ;)

One of Those Days

It's been one of those days. You know, the kind where you feel like it might never end...or that it will, but you won't make it to the end in one piece?

I think I'll make it one piece. But I wasn't too sure for awhile there!

But, I think things are turning around a bit for us, and I'm excited about a few changes in our lives!

If I can figure out the scanner tonight while Jay's at class, I plan to scan a few pictures that we got back from Mara's 9 month photo shoot so I can share them. If I do say so myself, she is a beautiful little girl! I can't believe she's almost 10 months old already!

Pink Eye!

Add Pink Eye to the list of things we're dealing with around here lately!

Mara's eyes were a little 'goopy' this morning, but she gets like that with a cold, her eyes weren't red, and she was acting like her normal self, so I wasn't concerned. Fast forward to this afternoon --at the doctor's office, and then getting eye drops for Pink Eye!

Luckily she seems to be feeling just fine, so that's a plus. Eye drops are not fun, but hopefully we'll manage them and she'll be back to normal soon. She is also teething, but seemed to feel better tonight after some Tylenol and a bottle.

My sister Jenna came over to watch Mara this evening while we went to do our taxes, so that was a big help to us...thanks Jenna! They had fun playing and reading books. :)

Our fingers are crossed that things will start to quiet down here a little bit in the near future! We're all VERY ready for spring!

New Tricks

Mara is learning new tricks every day! She's getting up on all fours a lot, and we'd heard rumors that she was pulling herself up to stand at daycare. Usually at home she'd just pull herself up to her knees. Well...today we finally saw it for ourselves! Mara pulled herself up (and acted like it was no big deal, of course). Yay! She is such a big girl!

She's also figuring out how to get around our little 'road blocks' that we've put out for her! Smart girl! She keeps us on our toes, and definitely keeps things interesting.

I'm feeling a little stressed out today. Having to make 'adult decisions' always does that to me!

Tomorrow we have our tax appointment, and we're also picking up Mara's photos from her 9 month photo shoot a couple weeks ago. I'm excited to see them!

For now, I think I'm going to try to relax and read for a little while. And I definitely plan to go to sleep earlier than last night!

We're Alive!

We've just been busy...

Last week was a busy week, and I was away over the weekend. I went scrapbooking with some friends. Got a lot done, but I missed my baby! I'm not feeling the best, but hoping to get a good night of sleep and feel better tomorrow.

For now, I'm watching the Academy Awards. Even though I'm bitter that Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't nominated...

Visiting Great Grandma

This afternoon we headed over to visit my Grandma. My sister Michelle and brother in law Dave came too. Mara was SO SHY when we first got there. I've never seen her like that! She was hiding against Jay, and when she looked at anyone she got scared. It was so weird! She eventually got over it and played with her toys and kept us entertained. She was VERY interested in the cuckoo clock too, and kept checking that out.

We played Phase 10 for awhile and Mara helped Uncle Dave with his strategy (I don't think it helped too much though!). We weren't able to finish the game because we had to break for dinner and then head home to put Mara to bed, so Jay is claiming he won because he was ahead when we stopped. None of the rest of us count that as a win, but we'll let Jay believe it for now. We all know how he hates to lose! ;)

By the time we left, Mara was definitely not being shy anymore and let everyone give her hugs and kisses goodbye. Although she did look at them like they were crazy when they tried to get her to blow a kiss! :)

Such a Good Girl!

I am always amazed at how well-behaved Mara can be. We are so lucky!

We went to get her pictures taken this afternoon. My expectations were pretty low, but I was hoping for at least one good smile. I was pleasantly surprised...she was so good, and seemed to really like the photographer, so she keep smiling and making funny faces for him (usually sticking her tongue out). She also sat still which is pretty much unheard of lately! We were very happy, and I'm looking forward to getting the pictures. I mean, we know she's the cutest kid ever (of course!), but it's nice to have pictures that prove it! ;)

Since we were at the mall, we decided to wander around a bit, so we put Mara in the stroller...and she loved it! She loves watching people, so she was perfectly content to just sit in the stroller and look around. And I got to go to the bookstore, so I was happy!

Instead of going out to eat, we just picked up some quick food and come home. It was close to Mara's bedtime, and we didn't want to have to wait to get in anywhere since we were both hungry.

Now, it's still early, but I'm probably going to go read for awhile and then go to bed! You know, a crazy Saturday night ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mara has gotten a few Valentine's Day cards in the last couple days - as you can tell from the picture, she loves mail! That card is from Grandpa and Grandma. Thanks for the cards!

So far it's a pretty quiet day, although it is only 8:45! I didn't get to sleep in as late as I'd hoped, since Mara thought 7am was late enough! So we ate breakfast, and now we're playing while Daddy sleeps a little longer.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Long Week

It has been a long week. On Monday I attempted to go back to work, but was miserable and ended up going home in the late morning (so did one of my coworkers) and staying home on Tuesday too. I think the two days of just being able to rest and not chase after Mara helped (along with about a half gallon of orange juice, dayquil, cough drops, and lots of kleenex). I am finally feeling better, although still coughing and still a little sniffly.

Had a couple other issues to work out this week, and hopefully that has all been taken care of now.

Jay started training at his new job today! We are glad that he's going to be working now, and found out he'll get a discount there too, which is great!

After work today we had to take Mara to get a blood test done. What a nightmare! The woman couldn't find a vein and was digging around in Mara's arm for awhile while Jay and I were both helping to hold her down and keep her calm (ha!). She then looked around on the other arm, and then went back to the first one. Poor Mara was practically hysterical. She finally got a little blood, and after a little more digging got enough for one sample (then told us she was supposed to get enough for two tests --- no way lady!! I don't even know why the second test needed to be done, so no thank you!) Jay and I were both practically in tears, and Mara was almost hyperventilating by that point. So that was lots of fun! It took her a little while to settle down after we got out of there, but was fine once we got home.

I am very happy it's the weekend now. Tomorrow we're going to get Mara's 9 month pictures taken (a little late, I was waiting for the bruise on her forehead to go away!), maybe wander around the mall and possibly stop somewhere for dinner if it's not too busy. It will be nice to get out of the house for a little while to do something fun. Hopefully they'll be able to get a few good pictures - it's getting pretty hard to keep Mara sitting still!

I'm definitely planning to go to bed early tonight and to sleep as late as possible tomorrow!

Girly Cat

I think Oliver enjoyed the tutu more than Mara did...

Little Lady

This is about as 'frilly' as Mara has ever been. We got this as a baby gift, and I almost forgot about it! I pulled it out today and decided we needed to put it on, since I was afraid she had already outgrown it. Mara wasn't thrilled when I interrupted her play time by changing her outfit, but once it was on, I don't think she even noticed it, she just continued to play and crawl around.

She didn't want to pose like a little princess, and she didn't want to smile. She just wanted to keep playing!

The only time she seemed to notice that anything was different was when one of her toys would get stuck in one of the many layers of tulle...

So, to those that think she never looks like a girl (ahem...my mom)....here's the proof: she's a little lady! And a pretty cute one at that! But don't even think about taking her toys away when you try to put her in a dress. She'll let you have it ;)

(PS - note the cat in the last picture? Oliver loved it and followed her around licking it. What the heck??)

Here Mama, I know just what you need...

Harry Potter

Since I'm not moving from my spot on the couch much this weekend, I've been watching some movies. Yesterday I watched the first Harry Potter movie, and today I'm watching the third one (I skipped #2 because it's my least favorite, and I saw it on TV not too long ago). I love these movies! The third one is my favorite I think. The new movie - The Half Blood Prince (#6) was supposed to be in theaters last November, but they delayed it until July. I'm anxiously waiting!

In case you haven't seen the trailer for it, check it out here: Half Blood Prince Trailer

I just started a new book yesterday, but watching these movies makes me want to re-read the Harry Potter books! I was planning to do it before seeing the new movie, so I may have to start soon! I can't remember a lot of the details in the last two books, so I'm anxious to re-read them!

Lazy Day

I was really hoping I'd wake up and magically feel better today...but, things like that just don't happen! Mara slept until 8:30, so at least I got a little extra sleep in the morning. Since we got up, we've just been lounging around. Well, if lounging around can be defined as sitting on the couch but getting up every 2 minutes to move Mara away from something she shouldn't be in! She can always find SOMETHING.

Mara is in a pretty good mood today. She's still not eating much formula though. I don't know if her ears are still bugging her when she has a bottle, or what. She's eating her babyfood with no issues, but will only take a couple ounces of formula. Hopefully that will change soon.

I'm trying to get some household things done this afternoon, but not having a lot of luck. It looks really nice out, I wish I felt a little better and had some energy to get out and do something! For now, I'm just going to watch Harry Potter while Mara takes a nap (or plays in her crib, which is what it sounds like she's doing right now!).

Ouch

Mara just can't catch a break lately! She's crawling a lot and getting into everything, and her favorite thing is to pull herself up (just up to her knees), hold on to the tv stand, and play with things on it. Usually we try to get her away from it right away and distract her with something else. Well, this morning I didn't get there in time, and she slipped and hit her head. Ouch!

I couldn't get a great picture of it, but she has a big bruise on the middle of her forehead. I'm just glad it's not worse! It kind of looks like faded ashes on her forehead for Ash Wednesday (that's the first thing I thought of when I saw it!).

I promise, she doesn't always look this sad! She's actually been pretty smiley the past couple days now that she's feeling a little better! She was even happy and playing later on today, once she forgot that her head hurt!

I'm so happy it's Friday! This has been a very long week!

Hooray for Antibiotics!

Well, after just two doses of antibiotics, Mara is definitely feeling better! She was so different today, it was amazing! Talking, playing, laughing and smiling. She's not sleeping as much, and you can just tell by her eyes how much better she feels. Thank goodness!

We're very glad to have our happy little girl back!

As the day goes on, I'm feeling a little better. At least I have a little more energy today. Hopefully I'll be going to work tomorrow, and then can use the weekend to get more rest!

Ear Infection

We took Mara to the doctor this afternoon. She was still miserable, and still had a fever. We were a little surprised to find out that she had an ear infection. She wasn't really showing any signs that her ears hurt. So, we were able to get some antibiotics that we're starting Mara on today. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon! She won't be able to go back to daycare until she's been on the antibiotics for 48 hours, so no daycare for us this week! It's kind of a bummer to pay for a full week and not even go once! But, such is life I guess.

I started to feel like I was getting sick yesterday afternoon. Today I felt pretty miserable. Besides being congested and having a sore throat, I have a headache and my whole body aches. I'm hoping to be able to go back to work tomorrow...but we'll see how I'm feeling in the morning. It's definitely hard keeping an eye on a sick baby when I'm sick myself!

Have I mentioned lately that I'm looking forward to spring?? At least it's supposed to warm up a little bit over the next few days!

Snot, Snot, and More Snot

The title says it all.

Mara is still sick, and now daycare is sick too! Yuck.

Mara was pretty miserable this afternoon, but she was doing a little better this evening and seemed more like herself. Hopefully that's a good sign. I'm ready to get our happy little girl back!

And once she feels better, I can stop talking about snot! ;)

That's pretty much all that's going on around here. Jay's at class tonight, so I'm trying to clean up a bit and get a few things done around here. If Mara cooperates and stays sleeping I might try to go to bed early too. Such an exciting life I have!

Poor baby...

I was hoping Mara would be feeling better today. She woke up a couple times last night, which is very rare for her. Since she hadn't eaten before bed, she was pretty hungry at 2:30am, and then went back to sleep for the rest of the night. She did pretty well this morning, but after her morning nap she had that same 'look' to her, and her fever was back up. She just looks like she feels totally miserable! And the dang nose won't stop running! Poor baby :( Hopefully we'll see some improvement as the day goes on.