When we bought this house, we thought, wow, pretty much move-in ready, just a few things we would want to do....and then our list grew and grew. Until we realized that we need to chill, take it easy, hang out with new friends, and be okay with the "undone."
So I quickly found myself saying...
It is okay that our dining room has half wallpaper still up and half stenciled grapevines.
It is okay that our half bathroom has cheetah print wallpaper and a border of little Africans hunting tigers.
It's also okay that our garage is completely unorganized.
And that hardly any pictures are hung because I'm afraid to do it and then not like it and want to change it and for some reason, holes in the wall feel like serious commitment.
It's even okay that there is half carpet/half linoleum in our master bathroom (carpet that is also semi pulled up from when we wanted to see what kind of sub flooring was there.
And that we have barely touched the backyard (although it is super low maintenance HOORAY!).
And that there are toys in every room (because it will probably be like this for the rest of our lives that we have kids under the age of 15...)
I find it funny that I am the one that usually forces us to sit back and relax. I have always considered myself somewhat of a type A personality, but let me tell you, I have never met a harder more motivated worker than my husband. If something needs done, he gets it done. Then on a random evening after installing a new toilet, sealing tile floor, cleaning up the kitchen, you find him opening up the patio solar lights he ordered and putting them together at 9pm. On a weeknight! Ah hem, husband, that's 30 minutes away from when I would like to be in bed falling asleep.
On rainy Portland days, doing house work is fine. But we have been finding a balance. When it's time to work, we work hard. When it's time to relax, we know how to get our Netflix on, order pizza, or get out of the house.
Dad came to visit for the first time for a quick 3 days in the middle of April. When we weren't working and he wasn't painting for us (ceiling in hall bath, guest room, and master!!), we drove to the beach for the day. We went southwest to Lincoln City through small towns, some wine country, and passed through the coastal mountain range. It was so fun seeing more of the area, hearing about his adventures in Oregon with my mom and steelhead fishing, and then even more fun hanging out on the sand with Madison for the first time!
About to start screaming...not sure about the whole sit-on-a-driftwood-photo-op
Time is flying. Somehow, she doesn't seem like a baby anymore. Maybe it's because she has really started forming an opinion and personality of her own.
Sleep
She goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up around 6am. She takes 2 naps a day usually between 1-2 hours long (yay!!). I don't ever count on naps being consistent or long. I've learned that expectations can really hurt you in this parenting journey. When I expect a long nap, it's usually extra short, then randomly, it will be 2 hours long. I just try to make sure she gets enough sleep. If she wakes up after we go to sleep, I don't go in and get her. But last night, for example, she started crying for a little while just 30 minutes after we put her down, so I went in. She's pretty good about night time sleep. Although I heard her talking to herself at 3am, too. No crying, just talking. I guess she went back to sleep eventually.
When I take monthly pictures now, I try to keep her in place with my feet and tickle her to make her smile. But the moment I move my feet, she takes off!
Eat
Whenever I am eating something, no matter how many fun toys I put in front of her to give me a second to snack, she comes crawling over, pulling on my jeans, reaching for whatever I am eating. She sits and stares at the bowl and intently watches the spoon until it comes her way. If it doesn't, she adamantly pulls, tugs, and makes every effort to climb into my lap and reach for what I am eating. We are pretty laid back about letting her taste just about anything unless we are really questioning it. On Bryce's birthday, we gave her a taste of icing and chocolate cake, she chews on cucumbers when we eat salads, she gnaws on bread often, she sucks on pineapple and other fruits, she drinks water from our cups, she's pretty curious. We haven't given her juice, meats, eggs or really any dairy except tastes of yogurt. Fortunately, eating has been an easy ride with her. She loves almost anything and can eat quite a bit. I breastfeed 2-3 times a day (usually morning, noon, and evening) and then before naps and before bed (3 times/day) I give her a bottle of formula. We have a good system going that has been working well for us.
Month 7= climbing, pulling up, crawling at fast speeds.
Isn't it weird that babies live with absolutely no knowledge of consequence? She climbs up the stairs fearlessly, crawls fast to the edge of the bed until I grab her, pulls up on anything even when she has a loose grip and falls all the time. We are getting used to falls, then crying, then consoling, then back at it again.
Climbing and pulling up. All.the.time. She'd rather be climbing than playing with toys.
She likes reading, especially the touch and feel books and pop up books. She rubs her hand over each page. She loves bath time, but more than the water, she loves pulling up on the side of the baby bath tub so she can stand and rock back and forth. She had one special little "first" this month-she went on the swing at the park for the first time! She absolutely loved it. She was laughing and full of joy the entire time. It was so cute.
When she gets excited, she does one or all of the following things: moves her fingers/hands/wrists, squeals, scrunches her nose and fake coughs, scrunches her nose and pants like a dog.
