Well, I tried...

Alright...so I figured out that, at least for now, I can't link to the page with the pics that are automatically uploaded from my phone. I suppose that makes sense and they're just trying to prevent someone from accidentally sharing something they didn't want other people to see. Still think I should be able to decide that for myself, but whatever. I've transferred all the pics on the phone into a new folder. There are some bad pics but at least this gets it out quickly! Thanks for your patience!

Get pictures as I take them!

OK so I admit it. I'm pretty bad at getting pics up here. I'm also not so great at posting on here. I have no excuse except that I'm going through some crazy life stuff at the moment and...well, I'm just a procrastinator and staying on top of things is not my forte. I'm working on it! But it is, and will probably always be to some extent, a work in progress.

Which is why I LOVE it when I find something that makes life just a little bit easier (aka less work for me). I joined Google+ the new social media site from Google. Long story short, it has a function that allows my phone to automatically upload pics (and video) I take on my phone so you see them almost as fast as I take them. It stores them in a private folder that works just like any of my other folders on Picasa. Thus, if I give you the link to the slideshow (just as I have been all along), you will be able to access that folder which will keep adding pictures and video I take on my phone! Neato! I will still organize and whatnot and of course this doesn't include pics from Stephen's phone or my mom's phone or our cameras or anything except my phone, but at least this will get some of the pictures to everyone faster! Hooray!

FYI - It uploads EVERY picture I take, even those that aren't of Zoe so just be aware of that. Don't worry, I'm also aware of that so I'll use good judgement in taking pictures:-) It also uploads EVERY picture, even the ones that look bad and I eventually will delete.

Without further ado, here's the link:

Enjoy!

At the Garden

We weren't too thrilled with the stroller anymore...having great fun with Daddy, though!

Videos are Up

Some of the videos are up. Stephen got his to upload from his phone, but for some reason, my phone doesn't want to upload mine so I'll have connect it up when I have a moment. But there are a few videos up now!

6 Month Pics!

I do have some videos, but they're on my phone and I have to actually connect the cable and such to get them on the Picasa site. I will let you know when I get them on there. I think Stephen has some, too so we'll try to get all of those on there soon. Zoe is getting ready to wake up, I think so I will have to do that later, but here some of the little bug!

By the way, you can order prints of pictures if you would like by going to the picasa page through the slideshow and selecting 'prints' at the top. I know you can order through Walgreens, Snapfish, or Shutterfly, among others. Just fyi. Videos to come!

Half Birthdays

So, Miss Zoe celebrated her half birthday last week! Well, by celebrated, I really mean we went to the doctor for our 6 month visit. Hooray.

So, here's the update as far as that goes. She was 16.5 pounds, 25.75 inches. 60th percentile for weight and head circumference, 50th percentile for length. There's still hope this little one won't be a shortly like me! Time will tell and of course if she is, that's just fine:-) She can start playing with a sippy cup to get her 'cup ready' for when she turns 1. She's been eating solids but now we can start making that a more regular thing. We've tried rice cereal, oatmeal cereal and whole grain (oats, barley, and spelt) cereal. She prefers the oatmeal and whole grain the most. We've also had bananas, avocado, pears, and sweet potatoes. She LOVES avocado (of course, the most expensive of all). Bananas were weird at first, but that was the first 'non-rice cereal' solid so we're good now. Pears are cool (although a pain in the butt to make, let me tell you). Sweet potatoes, while they are MY personal favorite are a no-go. She eats about 2 bites and then starts crying. Then promptly chows down when I give her some oatmeal cereal. Ah well. Guess it's mashed sweet potatoes for lunch for me then!

She's right on target for developmental milestones. She can grab things, bear all her weight on her legs, bounce (we got a bouncer...I think I have some videos that I'll include when I put the pictures up). If she's standing and you hold her at the waist, she can bend over and pick things up. She can put her feet in the mouth (and insists on doing so and attempting to roll over at every diaper change). She can fully turn over from back to stomach both ways (although one way is DEFINITELY the preferred way). She can also go from stomach to back, but sometimes forgets how to do it and starts flailing and crying until someone gives in and picks her up. Her newest exciting trick is she can finally sit independently. She still topples a lot so you can't really get up while she's doing it, but she can sit for several minutes on her own. It helps to put a toy in front of her so she's leaning forward to get her going.

We think she's getting frustrated that she can't get anywhere...Stephen's like, 'I'll be so happy when she can crawl' while I'm thinking...oh, honey you're going to eat your words! But she is much more interactive now.

She's still spitting up a lot although now we have 'spitty days' where she's like she used to be and then some days it's just a little bit. Hopefully that will be tapering off soon. We had our first excursion to the gym nursery. Yes, I know, we'll probably have more sickies because of it, but it gets her out and allows me to try to make a dent in this weight loss (I've only lost 5 pounds, but I'm on the way down...and I cinched in my belt a notch so it's slow but there). Plus, the people in the nursery are awesome. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Sleep. Holy cow, that is our current battle. She's sleeping about 3 hours total throughout the day (pretty normal for her age). She's consistent about it (45min-1 1/2 hours per nap...usually the long one in the morning with 2 45 minutes throughout the rest of the day) and our schedule during the day is fairly predictable. I'm still figuring out when to feed her and whatnot, especially with the solids becoming more prevalent. However, it's ever-changing so I don't stress too much. We have a pretty good system right now.

Nighttime. OK, so still not bad in terms of going to bed. She was going to sleep around 7, but we're trying to push it back a little bit to more like 7:30 or maybe even 8 eventually. I know 7 is fairly normal for this age, but here's the problem: she wakes up (and I mean, WAKES UP...like babbling and, 'hello, I'm awake now, time to get up' kind of awake) somewhere between 4 and 5. YES. 4...and 5... Ugh. She sleeps great through the night...we mostly don't hear a peep until that wakeup, but then about 4:30 or so, we start to hear the babbling. Which is bad, because crying means I'm still pretty much asleep and I might go back to sleep. Babbling means I'm awake and it's time to get up. The doctor suggested we let her babble and she might eventually drift back to sleep. Sometimes she does, but she'll only sleep another half hour at most. Meanwhile, the whole time she's babbling we're awake! Now, I know I shouldn't be complaining. 4:30 is not horrible, just go to bed earlier! Well, currently I'm dealing with a little thing called 'finals' which means pretty much Monday through Thursday I'm at the center until 8:30ish every night. Meaning we don't eat dinner until 9:30. Meaning we don't get to bed until 10:30 at the earliest...usually more like 11 or 11:30. And then up at 4 or so. Every day. And since I have to do this every day, Stephen can't get up with her ever because HE has to get up and go to work in order to make enough hours to be home in time for me to go to work. So if you're wondering why I haven't been keeping up with people and sharing pictures and writing emails and whatnot, it's because I LITERALLY have no time. I wake up at 4:30, take care of Zoe, take a nap with her when she does during the first one (so I can actually DO advanced trigonometry in the evening), get back up with her, shower and eat lunch during the second nap, play with her, go to work, come home, eat, go to bed. And begin again.

Thankfully, the summer is near! And my schedule will be much better. Private tutoring one night a week, work at the center one night and Saturday morning and that. Is. It. I think Stephen's counting the days to when he doesn't have to be home at 3:00 every day:-) Anyway, that babbling I was talking about? Well, I'm hearing it over the monitor so off I go! I'll try to post pictures during nap #2 (I sacrificed today's nap to do this...but it's all good because no work today!).

Wimp

I'm a wimp. Officially. I've also decided I'm one of the luckiest moms out there.

Zoe and I have found a little mom's group! Yay! We do various things, but right now the most consistent thing is we have a standing playdate once a week which helps her to have some interaction with other little kiddos (and gets me out of the house...equally important, I think). There are 4 of us who are consistent...hopefully there will be a few more. 2 girls have 3-4 month olds and one has a 9 month old so it's perfect for Zoe since she's right in the middle. It's nice to be able to chat about babies and not feel guilty that you're monopolizing the conversation with talk of spit up, breastfeeding, and sleep schedules.

Anyway, so I was at our weekly playdate this week, and 2 of the moms were talking about how their husbands were not being exactly...um, aware, of how necessary having 'me time' is for new moms (or any moms, for that matter). Now, all 3 are breastfeeding so admittedly, that makes it a bit more difficult since you kinda HAVE to be the one doing the feedings. But still.

Going golfing for hours on end EVERY weekend is a little absurd...especially when you have a 3 month old.

I know that the 'traditional' settings for 'mom' and 'dad' are still alive and well (hello, I'm mostly staying home, Stephen's working...we're not immune to that either). However, I think all new dads should have to spend a day alone with the baby. If you're breastfeeding, fine. Stay home, but don't lift a FINGER to do anything but feed the baby. Let them see what it takes to get through the day.

Stephen has always been supportive and involved...I think it's helped that I go to work in the afternoon/evening and he has to take care of her on his own. Also, for better or for worse, I had to stop breastfeeding after my dad passed so there was no, 'well, I can't feed her' excuses anymore. I will say, though, even HE didn't understand why I thought he was crazy when he wanted to work 5 10-hour days straight (including over the weekend) so he could take more time off around Christmas break. That is, until I took the car in to get serviced one Saturday and what was SUPPOSED to be 2 hours of work turned into most of the day...plus there was a snowstorm so it took me an hour and a half to get home. When I arrived, I recognized the crazed look in his eye as the same one I could see on myself every day of the week. I distinctly remember him saying, 'ok, I get it now'.

Anyway, I just thought it was remarkable that here are these 2, college educated women, choosing to stay home...yes. But not getting much support from their husbands. At least not from my perspective. I certainly don't have it all figured out, but I will say that would not fly in my household.