Here's Olive enjoying her bath last night with her dad and doggies. We're unpacked and unloaded, and are back into our routine, just in time for things to change again! I've really been enjoying these days with her: staying inside and playing on our bed, running errands together, hearing her tiny voice babble away at the ceiling fan - i feel like i could listen to her forever.

More and more I feel like I'm getting a better hang of all of this - again, i don't want to jinx myself, or seem too self confident (i'm anything but!), but I'm no longer terrified of night time, or feel quite so "in the trenches" to borrow a very apt phrase from a friend. it IS interesting to learn how to do things with a baby, and Im sure it will only get more so as she grows into toddler-hood and older, but for now we take it day by day and it works for us. I've got no problem being a lazy bones sometimes, and feel blessed that i get the luxury of being at home with her and not having too fixed of a schedule to maintain.

Speaking of staying home, I've decided to try an experiment my friend did awhile ago, where she went an entire year without buying any clothes or extraneous items for herself. i think it was a challenge not just out of respect for her family's' budget, but also to simplify and try not to add a bunch of "stuff" that she didn't need. I'm inspired by her, and am making this my goal as well - September 2010 - September 2011 I'll be making due with the wealth of clothes and things that I have already. I'm looking forward to this - I think it will help make me more aware of what I have, what I use, and how I can make do with less! My one caveat will be supplies like fabric or yarn for sewing/knitting projects, but my promise to myself is to finish them, or die trying...

Visiting Washington and Oregon was so nice - seeing family, passing babies back and forth, smelling smelling smelling the northwest, and loving cold ocean breezes. I can't think of a better way to spend July. I'm tempted to say that it will have to become a tradition, if we can manage it :) Hanging out with Toledo family and my "cousins-in law" for a week every year is something i could get used to! Won't it be fun to watch our daughters grow up and have summer adventures together?!

Settling Back In

Back from a long and wonderful trip to the West Coast - got to visit wonderful family and kindred spirits in both Oregon and Washington. At the moment, I'm finishing getting unpacked, catching up on emails and getting used to the heat again after being in cool for a while. So glad and thankful that I got a chance to see everyone and hold babies, and walk Greenlake multiple times.

Sewing, Round 78647836423876423

I am a would-be sewer, knitter, crocheter. i have HUGE eyes when it comes to projects and little ability to follow through. I would love to be able to sew my own clothes, make homemade christmas presents that dont look like a 4 year old made them (nothing against 4 year olds who DO make xmas presents, just not as cute when a 30 year old does it), and generally be more crafty and talented than I am. I have a sewing machine that i'm a little scared of, and I'm always starting something new and fantastic and abandoning it as soon as i get confused, stumped, discouraged, or make mistakes.

Enter my post baby self - clothes don't quite fit as they used to. Old jeans are unforgivably tight and im so tired of wearing maternity jeans when I'm no longer expecting. Add to this our new budget, which has one less income, so spending lots of money on non-necessities seems silly. I've decided to try and make myself some bellbottoms out of old cords and jeans from thrift stores. I think hippy clothes are the most flattering on me these days, and i've always loved an excuse to wear bell bottoms :) So, I've ripped out the seams successfully and today I'll be attempting to sew in a fabric panel. Can't wait to see how it goes!

Catching Up

(Olive enjoying the outdoors at the Art Museum)

Where has the time gone? And I missed 10 on 10 - drat! June was a busy month - full of a month long visit from my mother to help with Miss Olive (something I don't think i could have done without!), and lots of baby related fun. Olive continues to grow - past 10 pounds at her 2 month checkup and going strong. I have to say - I'm elated that we've passed the waking up every 2 hours mark, though I mentally cross my fingers every time i say we've "passed" something.

Tonight is so far, so good: planning a short run with Bry, O, and Delilah, then dinner (chicken and cous cous with salsa!), then movie night. Runs are still very hard - my goal is to run for 30 mins straight by the first week of August, so I can be on track for my "novice to mini marathon" training I'm starting for a run in october. We'll see - right now that goal, and my little goal of 30 mins, seem around a corner that i can't see.... but progress works like that i guess..

I've also started putting things together and making lists for my first plane trip with O this Friday - I'm nervous, though I know moms with multiple kids do this all the time. I'm sure it will be great - I like being a little team with my girl, doing things for the first time together that seem scary - grocery shopping, walking, running, all those tasks you take for granted until you have a little one that comes along with you.. and it will be even better when we have Bryan to fly with us home - the three of us is the best :)

Ten on Ten: June (or I have a new baby edition)

Olive, enjoying some down time while getting changed

all the equipment in our front hall way

grapefruits

Bryan, planning out his bike ride for the evening..

another fascinating meeting with her giraffes

wide awake on mama's bed

laundry in various states

Milo and Delilah, biding their time until their walk

Naptime with Grandma

Breakfast with Grandma, and trying to smile!

I promise that next months will be more interesting than just shots of various baby poses around my house :) @ the moment, that seems to be the most frequent occurrences!

In Our Room...

Bought at Trader Joe's this past week, an indulgence in honor of a friends anniversary, but also because they were so pretty I couldn't resist. Indiana's state flower is the peony, and for about 3 weeks every year, you see them blooming EVERYWHERE - and I love it. One of my favorite flowers, these are sitting on the bookcase next to our bed, and look so nice, it's hard not to consider buying them once a week or so, just because they make me feel so nice when I walk into our room..

Can I See A Difference?

I'm up early after feeding O - have just put her back in her crib and am waiting to see if I hear anything from her room.... her eyes were open when I left, but so far, no sound is coming from the back of the house..

I was curious to see if I could see the difference in her after a month +. Sometimes if you're looking at something everyday, it's hard to see the changes. I think she's finally beginning to fill out and pick up some of that baby chubbiness and her newborn onsies aren't quite as baggy anymore :) I had to laugh when I saw her little graph at the Dr.'s office - they always show you the percentile that your child is in, and O was in the 12th % for her weight - way down at the bottom of the curve, and the 48th % for her height. These didn't bother me at all, since she started out so tiny, and has been gaining weight steadily, but it was just kind of amusing to see this little creature as a tiny dot in the bottom corner of the computer screen..

So enjoying our visits with my mom - she's here until the 22nd and we are getting thoroughly spoiled - all of us! Our days are slow and filled with naps, homemade meals, daily fresh water for the doggies, and evening walks through the neighborhood. Since I don't live within driving distance of home, I get to stockpile all the grandma goodness until next time..

Ten on ten tomorrow - think I'll try it out for the first time! check out the link on the side to see other very cool ladies doing very fun things with cameras.