It's hard to believe little Fiona bug is already 8 months old. She is going to be crawling any day now, but in the mean time she will just keep sliding around backwards. I caught her here getting herself into a pickle! She is still working on her top four teeth. I guess she wanted to get them all over with at the same time...efficient.

I'm really not one for New Year's resolutions. I think if you want to make a change, you will do it when you're ready. But this year I did resolve to draw more, or at least doodle more. I started doodling little houses and decided to add some to my Etsy shop. It's been a while since I've had anything in there and it feels good. Baby steps for me too!

Fiona's First Christmas

We had such a family filled week with my mom and sister visiting us for Christmas day and a quick trip to Bay City to see Pat's family. We had all had a great time with lots of new memories. I was a little concerned about Fiona's mood since she is currently trying to learn to eat from a spoon, trying to crawl, cutting new teeth and still fighting her never ending cold. Girlfriend is busy. Her current crawling status is rotating around a full 360 degrees and scooting backward until she gets stuck in a corner or her legs get stuck under the couch! She was so sweet and cuddly and thank goodness she loves sucking her thumb because that appendage gets her through a lot. Patrick was able to have some time off work and we even went to see the new Star Wars movie. The holiday went so fast but we are excited to play with Fiona's new toys and sweet books. She got a lot of cute clothes, some rubber blocks, which she loves knocking down towers we build so she can chew on their edges. She also got a rocking horse and a stuffed bear that repeats everything you say back to you in a chipmunk voice! Michigan didn't have a white Christmas this year, but there is still plenty of winter left for Fiona to wear her snowsuit. We are so blessed to have this happy baby with us to make the holiday season so bright, and blessed to have a wonderful family who love her so much.

Mobility Squirm

I wouldn't say we're that close to crawling, but we have some backwards wiggle movement going on. Fiona can slide backwards until she gets stuck in the corner and makes her struggle face. This makes CeCe pretty uncomfortable so I was amazed when I saw her laying so close on the floor this morning. Fiona officially passed the 7 month mark this week. She holds her hand out and babbles gagaga, bababa and dadada almost constantly (unless she has her thumb in her mouth or is busy holding her bottle herself!). We tried bananas this week with pretty much the same outcome. Just holding it in the front of her mouth, I'm not sure if she actually swallowed any! She still fits into 6 month tops, but has started wearing 9 month bottoms, she has long legs like her mama....cute, but harder to shop for.

The first week at the new daycare went great for Fiona and made my morning commute a little easier (win!) Besides really short naps, the teachers said she did fabulously and was pretty happy most of the day. We've been able to get some longer naps at home lately once we had a stroke of genius and decided to move her upstairs with the sound machine instead of downstairs in the play yard. And aHa, we should actually close her door all the way so CeCe can't get in there to wake her up. Why does it take so long to figure out these little obvious things?!

Holiday Photos

So happy I took advantage of our two snow days last month!

Motherhood

So far motherhood to me is:

Literally not being able to stop kissing those squishy cheeks.

Obsessing over the temperature in the house.

Dancing around the kitchen to keep her from crying while waiting for the bottle to warm up.

Laying in bed at night wondering if I should go in there.

Tip Toe-ing everywhere.

Breaking down and buying something called the Snot Sucker.

Being satisfied with a solid 5 hours of sleep.

Taping the dog's tags together so they don't jingle when she jumps off the bed in the middle of the night (genius, Pat!).

Carrying a lot of extra bags.

Going to Target twice in one day because I got the wrong kind of bottle.

Feeling proud when she lasts all day in the same outfit.

Getting my hair pulled by those tiny fists and getting scratched by those razor blade fingernails.

Being so proud that she can prop up on her arms by herself and at the same time being instantly terrified that she will start crawling soon.

Roasting sweet potatoes for the first time ever. I don't even like sweet potatoes.

Feeling so heartfull when I pick her up from day care and she smiles at me right away.

Being thankful everyday for a healthy, babbling baby girl.

Snow Day

The weatherman was right, it actually snowed the entire day. Patrick finally had a Saturday off and we spent the whole day at home. I made pumpkin pancakes, brought out all the Christmas decorations and ran around in the snow with CeCe. In just one day, all the holiday cheer came out!

Fiona's First Meal

Fiona is over six months now and we finally tried giving her some rice cereal. I really thought she would be all over the cereal because she is very interested in what we are eating now and even groans sometimes when she can't have any, but girl was not having it! We've tried both rice and oatmeal in the soupiest form, but she just contorts herself in every way possible to get away from the spoon. I thought this was going to be so exciting for her, but we will have to keep working at it. I've heard some people putting apple juice in the cereal to make it more appealing? If only she knew I am trying to prepare her for some mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving! She is however starting to hold her own bottle which is very exciting. The last couple weeks I have only been nursing in the morning and at night and have been slowly decreasing the amount I pump. I'm ready to have some aspect of my life back! It's hard deciding to stop breastfeeding because I always want her to have the best I can give her, but I reached my goal of six months and it has just become too stressful which isn't good for either of us.

In other news, Patrick finished the attic and I could not be happier that it is done! I'm going to ignore the fact that he is referring to it as his dressing room...

My mom came up for her birthday and we all went out to lunch with my sister and the boys she is a nanny for. The boys helped her eat that sundae, I think she had a great time with all the kiddos being there :)

CeCe has been attached at the hip the last couple weeks as the weather gets cooler and it's harder to play outside the way we normally do with her. I know she gets jealous of the attention the baby gets, but cooler weather also means longer bedtime snuggles! She has been very good with the baby as she is starting to reach out and touch her fur more and more. I can't wait until she reaches out for a hug!