My crazy life

So....I've been really bad about blogging lately, but I have a lot of excuses.  Here's what went on since the last time I wrote: sold a house, bought a house, moved into temporary housing, moved into new house, began nanny position watching a 2 year old girl and 5 year old boy in addition to Abigail on the day we moved in, unpacked boxes, got sick twice, shopped for new bed, dining room set, outdoor patio furniture, got the whole daycare pickup routine down, put both the 9 month old and the 2 year old down for naps, taught three kids to love the Pizza Song (with choreography), returned the bedding that Jake didn't like and got a new set, unpacked more boxes, tried to decorate a new house, bought a whole lot of frames for pictures of my princess, and now we are leaving for our first trip with the baby on Thursday.  Along the way we had a lot of fun and did a lot of growing, but life has been a bit overwhelming lately.  It's actually nice to take a few minutes to write this instead of trying to decorate, clean, pack....sleep.  I honestly cannot complain.  I still don't sleep much, but my little girl is amazing every moment.  I'm busy and obsessed with finishing the task of getting settled, but my new house is incredible.  I haven't been able to exercise consistently since April, but I'm going to spend two glorious weeks with my husband and baby in Kauai and hopefully do some lovely sunset runs (or sunrise runs! depending on how the baby handles the time change).  I'll send an update when we get back, but this is it for now!  Sending my love to my friends and family.  I miss you.

So sweet

This picture is out of focus, but she looks JUST like me as a baby here

Going in for the kiss with George

My happy baby

Loves the beach

Has a LOT to say

Emphatically

Still going

Trying on her new shades

Love this face

First time in a swimming pool

Before bed with daddy

Getting so, so big

She doesn't usually hold still long enough to cuddle, so the moments are cherished all the more

She uses Jake's neck as a seat

Loving her new yard

Watermelon face

Picture update

Some recent pictures of my world:

First time on the swing

She makes me smile

Sampling the grass

I was sitting on the couch saying, don't let her touch the camera...

Hanging out while I make the bed

Loves to dig through her toy bucket

Food!

I've been meaning to write this post for a LONG time.  I chose a weekend day a while back and took pictures of Abigail's three meals of the day, proudly displaying how she ate every single thing in the bowl, except for the last bite--she has an amazing knack for knowing when I have just scraped the very last bits of food off the bowl so that she can refuse them.  I actually find it quite funny.  But back to my story, I took all the pictures and they sat on the camera for a few days.  Suddenly my little super eater became more sporadic, eating nothing at breakfast and huge amounts at lunch or dinner (but not both).  I hate wasting food, but there's just no way to know how much she'll eat and if the gap between open mouth and insert food is too long, sometimes she will change her mind.  So I'm usually armed with what I believe is a large meal for her, of course she doesn't always eat it all.  I've taken to using a combination of homemade and store bought organic foods.  I'm really appreciating the convenience and cost effectiveness of making my own food.  When she was only eating half a jar of food at a time, I would try to make her a meal and waste most of it, but now she's ready for bigger portions and I know better how to make things that she will like.  Recently we are pretty much back on track, though I understand I will need to be flexible on this point.  Sometimes she will eat a lot and other times she just won't.

Carrots, zucchini, brown rice and breast milk

She loves anything with carrots in it!

Last bite #1

Yogurt, prunes, banana, oatmeal

Prunes are her favorite fruit and make any meal go down more easily.

Last bite #2

Broccoli, spinach, squash, multi-grain cereal, breast milk

Squash is the staple item in this combo--she loves squash.

Last bite #3

The cutest yogurt mustache ever (on a different day)

She's currently eating three meals and nursing four times (6 am, 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm) a day.  I guess that's where these cheeks are coming from!  The two things I've found so far that she WILL NOT eat are avocados (sigh) and egg yolks.  I've tried avocados many, many times.  I can't mix them with anything to fool her.  Both will make future appearances in her diet, if she allows, but for now we're doing pretty well with what we have, introducing 2 new things a week (when I'm on top of it), and mastering the art of eating cheerios.  She's great with her pincher fingers and loves to pick them up and pop them in.  I'll start giving her other finger foods at 8 months, I think.  I can't believe that's next week.  

Sending love to you all!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Thirty five years ago today my love was born--good thing!  It's funny to think that we started celebrating birthdays together 7 years ago (in our twenties) and how far we've come since then.  Jake and I met at a laboratory in Pasadena in the year 2000.  I was working as an intern for Dave MacMillan, his graduate school advisor.  We had a few short conversations that summer in groups, but I probably never spoke with him one-on-one.  He insists that they referred to me as the hot intern, though I'm sure that was just him.

Three years later I was working at Johnson & Johnson PRD in San Diego when Jake came through to interview.  He was offered a job, of course, as one of the top recruits of the year.  I remember running up to him in the parking lot as he left on his interview day to say hello and see if he remembered me, a friendly gesture.  Jake accepted the job and was placed in my chemistry group (of the 5 on site).  My first visit to his office revealed that he arrived right before his birthday, so I inquired about his favorite dessert, since I baked for every group birthday.

Another year would pass before our romance began, during which we got to know each other and he taught me how to play football.  We started dating in September of 2004.  My life was really transformed, as many of you may remember.  Happiness suited me (and still does).  Jake proposed in April of 2006, in Washington DC.  We called it our Engagementmoon, because we had such a wonderful time in our nation's capital enjoying the cherry blossoms, our love, and a lot of great friends.  We were married at the La Jolla cove just a mile and a half from where we live, and one of the places we first fell in love, on September 6, 2008.  Our wonderful, amazing baby girl was born on August 10, 2010.  

I've been so blessed to know this kind of love, to share it with our daughter, to truly be one with my partner.  Love is an incredible thing--Abigail is a testament to that.  Happy birthday, darling.  I love you more than words can express.

Family walk when Jake gets home is Abigail's favorite time of day

She LOVES the beach

With her daddy and her favorite toy

Both photogenic

Getting so, so big

Talk, talk, talking.  She loves to say "wa, wa, wa"

Resting her head

We call this toy her cookie, because she does this!

My sweet girl is growing up