all worth while

nursing Abigail

Is it possible to get baby fever when your only child is four and a half months old? If so, then I must have it. The other night as I sat in the nursery in my creaky rocking chair, I broke down crying, feeling as though I didn't have enough milk for Abbie. Derrick had to gently remind me that I can't strictly breast-feed her forever and that pretty soon she'll be on solids (we have semi-started to feed cereal, as directed per the doctor, in hopes that it will help her keep more of her food down on account of the acid reflux) and even though I plan to continue breast-feeding (or pumping, once she has teeth because, I will admit, I'm not so sure I'll want to continue feeding her directly once she has teeth!) she will, obviously, need to start solids at some point. I asked him why can't she just stay little forever. And he told me that we can enjoy each stage of her growing up. That it's not like this is the only age that she is going to be fun and that it's not like I'm going to stop enjoying taking care of her. We will enjoy seeing her grow and learn and become a sweet little girl and then a rebellious teenager and a beautiful woman someday. So then I decided that we should definitely have another child in a couple of years. I don't want another one right now, but maybe once Abbie is two or three.... I'm not sure that Derrick was thinking along those lines as he comforted me, though.

Daddy and Abbie

I'm not sure Derrick is quote on board for having another child just yet, so it may take that long to convince him but I'm sure it won't take too much convincing if I just do it the right way. He's already quite attached to our beautiful little girl.

I love holding Abbie when she goes to sleep in my arms.

So for now, I will just enjoy it all and soak in every minute I have with my husband and our daughter. And I do enjoy it. So very much. I can't imagine not being right here, right now with these two amazing people in my life to love and take care of. I thought it was all overwhelming and emotional just having Derrick in my life, but to have both Derrick and Abbie is so incredible and I am so blessed! That's not to say that life is perfect, but I am learning to just make the most of it and try not to worry so much. Just enjoy life.

My amazing husband

and our beautiful daughter

chai tea latte

It's all over with. My daily cup of chai tea latte has come to an end and so I have had to resort to a previous love.... that of hot green tea, with a bit of honey flavor, though no actual honey in the tea. Yesterday I had such a craving for it, too. So instead, I ate more than my fair share of a freshly delivered  Tiramisu cake from Omaha Steaks (I had a coupon and got the thing for $4, including shipping. I do love a good deal!) and then looked at the caloric content. Yeah. Derrick teases me about not being able to eat whatever I want after Abbie is no longer breast-feeding, but I say I may as well enjoy it while I can.  And, being an emotional eater, I felt so much better after eating that much cake.

I've had it rather easy lately. And quite possibly even became spoiled when, once again, Derrick started making breakfast every morning for me. Either pancakes or waffles, with sausage and eggs or oatmeal or cereal. But now we are out of the whole grain mix for the waffles and pancakes so it's back to oatmeal or cereal. Today I did manage to make up the over-ripe bananas into my favorite whole grain muffins. I ate about 5 of the mini-muffins myself and they were so good.

The crying. Some days it gets to me and other days I am able to laugh it off, knowing full well nothing is actually wrong, especially when you go into her room when she is crying and she looks up at you to see if you're actually watching her or not and then she'll cry harder until you pick her up. Derrick says she's faking it. (of course he's joking.... or maybe not!) But I do love to hold her. Except, of course, when even holding her won't console her.

And then there are these moments where she is the sweetest little person on earth, as all babies are in their own right and in their own time. And she's so adorable and innocent. And those are the moments that I cherish. The moments where she smiles at you or laughs and coos, the moments where she falls asleep in your arms and all is peaceful. Yes, I do enjoy staying at home with our little girl... most days. :-)

movies and popcorn

I like watching movies! Especially when we can rent them for free from this great movie rental place (thanks, dad). It usually takes us a couple of nights to watch one, but we've been getting through several lately. One of my favorites, of the bunch that we've seen recently, was Law Abiding Citizen. I like the movies that make you think and have twists and turns that you don't see coming. We've also purchased a couple of new ones, which Derrick likes to tease me about, since all three of them are animated movies. Either by Disney or Pixar, but hey, why not get started on kid movies for Abbie to watch later, especially when we can enjoy them now. Because I am not afraid to admit that I enjoy watching kid's movies. 


Evidence of movie nights has been found under the couch... in the form of dropped popcorn kernels. It never fails that some popcorn inevitably winds up on the floor,although I guess I don't mind so much if it goes under the couch because at least then it isn't stepped on and crushed into tiny pieces, half of which then become ground and stuck into the carpet.

curtains

Ok, so I had this crazy idea that I wanted to hang curtains in the nursery. Yeah, who's brilliant idea was that, anyway?

Being cheap, I decided that I would see what I could find. So Target had all kinds of great deals, the 70% off kind. So I found this perfect curtain, a shower curtain, and there was only one. I thought, sure, that's wide enough to cover the window and I can get a curtain rod and just slide it back and forth to one side. Simple. And then I'd have these sheer white curtains underneath to pretty it up a bit and help filter the sun somewhat so it wasn't directly shining into the room. Perfect.

Well, Derrick hung the rod and put the curtains up. Yeah, doesn't work the way I'd imagined. And Abbie was screaming during this time when I realized, after Derrick had put it all up, that my cheap, simple plan had gone all awry. But great man that he is, he put it all up so I could see for myself that it wouldn't work. So..... we'll have to take it down and see about getting a different rod for the curtain. Oh well.

He did get the blanket rack/shelf hung above the crib the other night for me, and it just makes it a little bit homier. I like it. I still have plenty of other things to hang, but I guess it will just take some time, since I don't seem to get much done these days.

Yesterday was a good day, though. Derrick got done early with work and he drove us down to Watertown so we could go to the Redlin Art Center. Fun! Derrick had never been and I had only been once, a long time ago before I even lived in SD. Then we ate supper and did a bit of shopping and came home. It was Abbie's first Art Gallery!