Crawling, baby food, and teething.

Time has gotten away from me and Alice is now 7 MONTHS OLD! She's getting so big. She has recently started (somewhat) crawling and just last week, she called me "Mama" and my husband "Dada"!  I can't believe how fast time is going.

Alice is LOVING getting to try new foods. She loves just about everything except peas and bananas. She's got two bottom teeth in and is working on those pesky top ones now. We recently got her a amber teething necklace, which seems to be helping a bit. She still occasionally needs some meds, but not as often.

I'm so happy that the warm weather is just around the corner, cause we definitely need to get out and enjoy some sunshine. I can't wait to take her swimming and all that fun stuff. We are going to try to sign her up for swim lessons this summer. They have one type of class in which they teach the babies how to float and swim to safety if they fall in a pool or whatever, and I thought that was really cool. It's called Infant Swim Self Rescue.

On another topic, my job recently cut hours....like, drastically. I work as a housekeeper at a local hospital, and since I had Alice, I went to an on-call status. This was ok because I was still getting about 26-30 hours a week and got the hours I needed. Now, they have chopped all on call (per diem) hours to ZERO. Yep. So I have no income coming in. I knew this was coming, but didn't know it would be completely nothing. I went in and tried to hand in my resignation so I could work somewhere else. My boss asked me to stay. I caved and figured, "Well, if hours do come up, I can get them." So far, I've gotten nothing.

Now, 2 months ago, when I first heard that hours were going to be cut, I started planning on opening my own cleaning business. Then the rumors became more definite. Then I started working on getting it opened. Two weeks ago I got my papers in the mail saying my business was officially registered as an LLC in the state of NH. The next day, all hours were cut.

I feel like this is a sign. I don't usually base things upon "signs", but this seems to be working out more and more each day. I have hit bumps along the way, and then things just...work out. At one point, I was like, "I've used every bit of money that I saved for this, and I still need things." Then randomly, on my last paycheck, I got a bonus from when I worked full-time last year. Today I am in the process of getting my small business insurance and getting bonded. After that, I'm all set to work.

Anyway, wanted to update on everything going on. Go here to see a great video of Alice that I took the other day (she says, "Hi, Mama" in it!). And here are some pics from the past couple months...

Alice doing her best Wilford Brimley impression.

Yeah, so I had 3 months of pics to share. At least I didn't post them all. :)

~Mrs. C.

4 Months Old...

Whew...time has been going by FAST! Alice will be 4 months old next Thursday! We are getting prepared to start feeding her cereal and oatmeal... She is getting so big!

She totally cracks me up. She's got such a great personality and smiles so much. She's been sleeping through the night for just about 2 weeks now. She goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up around 6:30-7 a.m. It's great, but sucks for me...I don't get home from work until midnight or later and getting to bed right off is sometimes difficult. Tonight, I worked late and here it is, 1:30 a.m., and I'm writing a blog entry.

I'm very excited for the holidays this year. Having Alice has made me enjoy the season like I did when I was younger. I'm looking forward to creating new family traditions and involving her in the old ones. Her face completely lit up when she saw the Christmas tree the first time. She didn't know what to think!

Anyway, since it is so late, I'm going to keep this short, but I wanted to update since I haven't done so in quite a while.

Here are some recent pictures.

 

 Happy Holidays!!

~Mrs. C.

So here's the deal...

It's been super hectic lately, so I haven't had much of a chance to update much here. But here's a quick rundown of the happenings...

I'm now 23 weeks along....holy crap, right?! Alice is a freakin' acrobat and is constantly beating her mama up.

Mike is so excited that he can now feel her moving and kicking. The look on his face was priceless when he first felt her.

We are getting ready to move to a 3 bedroom apartment next week.....I also have my finals for school that same day. Ugh. I switched my schedule at work so I'm working nights. It's so much better now.

So we have been packing like crazy and trying to get everything done with one of us always working...

Here's the pics that I never posted of my bump progress.....

Mrs. C.  :)

12 Week Check Up....

This Tuesday will be our 12 week check up, in which we will be able to hear the baby's heartbeat. I'm so excited for this.

This week I really realized how big I've gotten. I had to buy more maternity clothes and I actually didn't fit in my work uniform anymore. I had to wear doctor scrubs all weekend since my boss wasn't in. Tomorrow I will be able to get ones that fit me and won't have everyone ask, "Did you have an accident?"

Here is a comparison of how much bigger I've gotten. And, no, it's not twins.

8 Weeks 3 Days

11 Weeks 1 Day

This is going to be a BIG baby......

Mrs. C.

6 Weeks 6 Days.

Tomorrow I will start into my 7th week and all I want to do is sleep. I mean it. I want to sleep ALL day. Which is hard when I am a housekeeper at a hospital and all I do is move constantly ALL day. I get home and as soon as I sit down, I want to sleep. I cook and eat dinner and then immediately fall asleep on the couch. I'm just exhausted.

Today was my day off and I drove to my Dad's house to visit him before he left for Florida for the winter. He leaves next Wednesday. Next time he will see me I will be just about 5 1/2 months along. It will probably be quite a difference. He hadn't said much about the baby since I told him, but today I mentioned it and he said "It's still so weird to hear you say that." Tell me about it! LOL!

Two weeks from today we go for our second appointment at the doctor for the baby. I can't wait. The appointment after that we will be able to hear the heartbeat.

So here's the latest pic....not much different from the last. Still pretty bloated.

6 Weeks 6 Days

Not much else going on. Besides the fact I need a nap.

Mrs. C.

I'm NOT Stressed Out!!!

Ok, so according to some people, I seem to be stressing too much lately. I'm NOT stressed. I'm frustrated with my job and people who tick me off. Ok, maybe a little stressed cause I have school finals this week, but seriously people...I'm NOT stressed out!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way. I've had a few symptoms today but I think it is just stuff that normally happens in my cycle. Had some cramps which was weird but perhaps implantation??  :)  Trying to not be too hopeful.

Ever feel like there are some people you should have just not opened your mouth and said something to? That's me all the time! I tell myself that I need to be more private and not tell people stuff (so I start writing an online blog about trying to make a baby), but I always tell people stuff. It's like I can't help myself. I'm really good at keeping other people's secrets, but mine? Noooo. They must be advertised...loudly.

Anyway, I get to start testing in two days...can't say I will actually wait til then to take a test. Ah, who knows? I might actually make it til then......I doubt it. :)


Mrs. C.

Down In the Dumps.

Not sure why, but I'm in a crappy mood today. It started last night. I started to feel kind of depressed. Just really down and out of sorts. Then I thought maybe it had been because I was sick all week. So today I go to work and my boss gives me a hard time about my attendance. Just what I want to hear when I've had the worst cold I've had in 6 years. I was feeling so down I didn't even argue about it. Just said okay and went on with my work. In this economy I'm so thankful to have a job, but I'm going to be honest, this job blows. The hospital I work at is a very good place to work at and they have great pay and benefits, but man, housekeeping is just terrible. I come home and feel like I can barely move cause my back hurts so much, I'm absolutely exhausted, and it's not like I'm getting any fulfillment out of this work. I just wish I had an actual career. I wish I could do something creative for a living. Problem is, I have no skills in those types of things. I would love to do some type of design or photography or even crafts. But those don't really pay the bills. I just feel like I'm meant to do more. Maybe it's just all in my head and all I'm qualified to do is clean toilets and hospital beds til I retire. Maybe this is my career. God, I hope not. I'm just sick of going from meaningless job to meaningless job, never having satisfaction in them, never making enough, and dreading getting up in the morning to go to them. I am allowed to start applying for other jobs in the hospital in August of next year, but what I'm I going to do? Work another data entry job? Sit behind a desk all day shuffling papers? I hate that. I wish I could just create the job I want. The problem is, I don't even know what exactly that is.

The only good thing out of this is, maybe, just maybe, my mood swings are because I'm pregnant. I'm holding on to that at least. I've had super sensitivity to smells for the past couple days and I've had some cramping. Today I noticed my boobs were kinda tender and I heard that's a sign too. So keeping my fingers crossed.

Mrs. C.