What's Up

As always, we've been busy. I recently bought a Motivated Moms chart to try to keep me organized and on task in terms of keeping up with the house, meal planning, etc. Lily is a busy, active, very hungry handful. I've started feeding her solids twice a day, and am thinking about switching that to three times a day (already) because we're having serious nursing issues. I am *this* close to just giving it up. I am literally torn up. :( So I'm going to try pumping and bottle feeding for a while to give myself some time to heal. Pumping has never really gone well for me, and even after a million attempts Peanut still barely knows how to take a bottle, so we'll see how that goes... Lisa's current theory is that Lily is just a really hungry and aggressive baby. All I know is that a lot of people have advice and none of it helps. I am fed up, sore, and exhausted, and I want a break. :(

One thing we have accomplished lately is naps in the crib. Yay! I feel a bit ridiculous that it's taken nearly 7 months go get around to doing this, but yesterday I started putting Lily down for naps in her crib and it's working well so far. She also slept half the night in her room last night, so that's a step. :) Here she is waking up:
I've got my hands full trying to finish up Lily's summer wardrobe, which I'm pretty sure will be the cutest summer wardrobe any baby has ever worn. :) I custom ordered the wool diaper covers to match some fabrics that I will be making tops/dresses out of.
The fishes above are my favorite, I think. I finally got around to tracing the pattern pieces for the dress during nap time yesterday.

And we have puppies:
And this sad picture is just to show the pink chicks fabric I'll be making the top out of for this cover:
All this will have to come after I finish my most recent blankie order. Here are the pieces I cut out last night for a crib-size quilt for a baby in Vermont:
And I will have to make a purple pillowcase to match also. So I'm hoping to finish the quilt today, but we'll see how Peanut does.

The other night we went to Target and bought her a walker. I didn't think they were still making walkers, as they're one of those things that used to be a staple of babyhood until they got the "unsafe" reputation. Benjamin thought we should scour garage sales for the most old-school and unsafe one we could find, as clearly that would be the most fun for her. I looked on ebay, but found that I'd be paying just as much if we were to just buy new, the one and only walker offered by Target, a cheap little Elmo thing. We put it together and plopped her in it as soon as we got home. I'll try to get some pictures of this soon, as it's hilarious. Lisa didn't believe me when I first told her, but she really cruises in the thing. She walked right to Anna on Wednesday. She usually goes towards the cats. When I put her in it in the kitchen so I can cook she immediately finds whatever she shouldn't have. She pulls the dishtowel off of the oven handle. She goes for any power cords that might be accessible. She gets frustrated that she can't reach the drawer handles and cupboard doors. Oh my...

Memorial Day

We went to a Memorial Day picnic hosted by a guy that works with Benjamin. Lily made friends with a little boy who was 5 months old and about half her size. He was one of those babies that goes around wearing just a diaper and a tshirt, so I'm not sure how far we'd let this relationship go. :)
And as you all may have witnessed by now, Lily loves grass. She loves being outside in general, but she really loves grass. She spent most of the afternoon at the park relaxing in the grass:
And doing what I like to call "the baby Jesus pose":

Sitting Up

Today is the 21st

Lily had her 6 month well-baby visit today. She weighs 18 lbs 10 oz (75th percentile, down from 95th at her 4 month visit) and I think they said 28 1/2" long :O (97th percentile, which I think she has maintained since birth). She had her shots, and started screaming before the needle even touched her skin. Drama queen...

Anyway, Daddy took the day off, so here he is relaxing with Peanut:

Happy Birthday To Me

Mother of the Year

So I realized after taking this photo I should never do this again (due to the risk of brain tumors, etc), but here you go:
Let's face it: Benjamin's not around much. So we call him and he talks to her on the phone and she loves it. I guess I'll stop using my cell phone though and try to only use the home phone. :)

And your Lily of the day, sleeping with her best friend and twin, red giraffe.

Lily of Yesterday

I meant to post this yesterday but the day got away from me. So sorry. :(

Rocky Ridge

We went to Rocky Ridge for a little mini-hike today. It was a beautiful day, but very windy. Peanut loved it. She would get all blinky and spaz when the wind would pick up. :)

Happy Mother's Day

6 Months

As I mentioned before, not only have I not been able to post much because we've been busy, but the camera wasn't cooperating. Here are some bad pics of what we've been up to:
Today Lily is six months old. I would say time flies, but I'm pretty sure I feel like I've been awake for 6 months straight so maybe it all just runs together in my foggy, frazzled mind. Lily is sitting up with assistance now, as seen in the highchair photo above. Please forgive the messy kitchen. I try to do it all, but evenings have been especially difficult with trying to make dinner for Benjamin and myself, feed her, bathe her, get ready for bed, etc... it's a mess. Please note her smug expression in the above photo. And as an example of the poor quality pictures the camera was taking, see her eating peas below:
We just started the solids maybe two weeks ago as a result of my blistered and bleeding nipples indicating she might be hungry. (Yes, I just said that publicly.) A cute picture I tried to take with the camera that REALLY shows the problems we were having with it:
So please do not scold me not keeping people updated w/ pics of Lily. I have been trying to take pictures to put here and it hasn't been working out, as I tried to say in a previous post. Anyway, we ended up going out and getting a new camera Wednesday night. Here is a pic of our blooming dogwood that Benjamin took:
And here is a pic of our yard that is in dire need of attention. That "king dandelion", as Benjamin calls it, comes to halfway up my thigh if I stand next to it. Anyway these yard photos were taken with very little natural light, with no flash, so clearly a superior camera.
Now I will do my best to get some cute pictures of Lily for everyone. It's hard to take good photos of a baby sitting on my lap growling at me, so if I can get her to do something other than that today I'll try to snap some pics. :)