Shopaholic

So I am addicted to shopping for my baby. I mean, I do love to look at all the adorable clothes and I probably buy her way too many shoes. But I spend the majority of my online shopping time looking at "things".

I LOVE amazon. Anything I need I can usually find there. And I can easily spend the $25 for free shipping. So I created a "wishlist" for my daughter. Partly for people to be able to shop for her and partly for me to keep a running list of all the things I want or need to buy her. This list is full of every kind of child proofing gizmo you can find. My baby girl is just starting to crawl and I already have outlets plugged, door knobs disabled and baby gates ordered.

So this past weekend I was browsing the "One Step Ahead" catalog and added to the list of "must haves" a pair of walking wings. Yup, you heard me right... she JUST started crawling. I know, I'm a little insane. And they also have a wonderful invention, the teethifier. My daughter is currently teething her top front teeth. She's no where near starting to teeth for her back teeth. But, non the less, I must have it now.


I have been able to find everything from the "One Step Ahead" catalog on Amazon, which is fantastic. They really do have some great stuff in the catalog! If you don't get it already, make sure you get on their mailing list.

Signing Time?

When I first found out I was pregnant I subscribed to a newsletter from Baby Center. This newsletter came in my e-mail every week, and told me a little bit about what to expect at that point in my pregnancy and what was happening with the baby's development. Needless to say, I looked forward to that e-mail every week! Especially the part where they would compare the size of the baby to a fruit. "This week your baby is the size of a kumquat." So much fun!

So, after my baby was born I was able to update my newsletter to my baby's age. This week I got my "Your 7 month 4 week old." One of the things that it talked about for this stage in my daughters life was sign language. I myself know a lot of sign language since I used to work at a school for deaf and hard of hearing students. I'm also a pretty firm believe that signing is a great way to give your little one a way to communicate with you. I had imagined that I would have started signing with her long before now. But I never even think about it! My day is so jam packed that the idea of adding one more thing into our day is overwhelming!

But... I'm going to do it anyway. I'm not going to go overboard. I'm not going to sign all day every day. I will pick a few important words (Momma, Dadda, More, ect) and work on those a few times a day. I will also invest in "Baby Signing Time." I have seen these DVD's at a friends house and they seem to be great.

So between my signing and watching the videos once in awhile, perhaps we will have some success with the communication through sign language. I'll let you know how it goes!

Guilt Trippin'

So, as i mentioned, I went back to work part-time. It's kind of a weird feeling. I am so used to feeling like my job was my life. I really don't feel like that anymore. I appreciate having a job and being able to make some money while still being home 5 out of 7 days. But, I feel like I can leave my work at work. I don't spend too much time thinking about work issues when I'm home. Which is REALLY unusual for me. But anyway, that's not what this post is about. This is about GUILT!

My office is literally on the other side of a wall of the day care. Now, my little one isn't in the day care because my mother-in-law stays with her. So I'm not even straining to hear if the little cries are coming from my love bug. But I still sit there and obsess about the crying. It just makes me think about my baby so much more. I find myself spending almost my entire day out of the office because I get sad. I know my daughter is fine, and I love the giant smile I get when I walk in the house. But my arms literally ache to hold her during the day. Is that guilt or weakness? I'm still trying to figure it out.

Mommy's Most Wanted

Have you ever had your eye on something that you absolutely HAD TO HAVE for your baby? Well, I found this Baby Einstein Tunnel while making a wish list for my baby girl this past Christmas. I quickly added it to my Amazon Wish List after reading many, many, many positive reviews. Seriously, it seemed like everyone LOVED this tunnel. So, I anxiously awaited Christmas with the hope that we would receive this gift.



While we received MANY wonderful gifts, the tunnel was no where to be seen. So this good mommy set out to get the tunnel for my baby girl anyway. Walmart.....sold out. Amazon...sold out. Toy Town....sold out. And so on and so on and so on. I finally got so upset that my poor husband contacted the company to try and get this tunnel and shut me up. DISCONTINUED!

You would have thought the word was coming to an end. I was soooo upset that my little girl would never have this toy! And it's so popular that you couldn't even find it on E-Bay! I never not been able to find something on E-Bay!! Finally, after days of searching I found it on Craigs List. I have never shopped on Craigs List before... but I was desperate at this point and gave it a shot. The tunnel arrived this week in perfect condition with all the pieces. I thoroughly cleaned it and set it up for my little one... and.... she LOVES it!! It's a fabulous toy with so much for them to look at, play with, feel! It's great! I am soooo happy that I found this. I think she will play with it for a long time.

Challenging

Wow, it's really hard to change eating habits that you've had for over a year. Bouncing back into the Weight Watchers groove is proving to be harder than anticipated. Today I did really well with eating healthy and not snacking. Then after dinner I dove into some incredibly fattening chocolate, erasing all my efforts. Boy, I hope I can get some better control over myself!!

Tired

Happy New Year! Gone are the days of partying and drinking till all hours of the morning. This year we had a low key New Years and I loved it! We spent the evening with a handful of couples at various stages of life. One couple was pregnant, one had grown children, one had two small ones. So it was a nice mix of people who understood that being a parent doesn't stop on New Years Eve. We ate, talked, and played games. It was looking like a fabulous night, except for the fact that when all the babies went upstairs to go to bed mine decided she still wanted to party! Yup, she stayed up the entire evening and watched the ball drop. We tried. We tried so hard. We rocked her and sat in the dark and did everything we could to keep her on her normal schedule. She must have known it was a special night and didn't want to miss a thing.

Well, I was glad to have her in my arms at midnight. I was able to kiss my two loves when the ball dropped. But it has left me very tired this morning. She did manage to sleep in a little... until about 9. Which was great! But I think I rely on the normalcy of her routine as much as she does. She is sound asleep right now and I'm seriously considering a nap, too!

New Year Resolution

Are people still doing that? I have never really made a serious resolution. This year I would like to. Of course will be so original and choose something that every woman will be attempting... to lose weight. As I had mentioned a few posts back, I did Weight Watchers a couple of years ago and was very successful. This was a big deal for me because I had tried everything prior to that.... Curves, Atkins, joining a gym. I really don't know why one thing worked and others didn't, but I was happy and motivated by the results.

Anyway, I managed to stop going to meetings and continue the program on my own. Which was great for my wallet! So I feel like I can jump into this program again, but I don't know if I can do it without going back to the meetings and weigh-in's at first.

So my plan is to try and change my eating habits and exercise more. Since we are in the dead of winter and I can't get to a gym with a 7 month old, exercising will be done using my Wii. Yay! I will do this until spring sets in and then I will evaluate my progress. At that point I will decide if I need to start going back to the meetings.

I'm also dragging my poor reluctant husband into it! He has never gone to meetings, but he eats what I eat. So he even lost some weight that last time! I have already informed him that he should eat as much as he wants today because tomorrow I will throwing out all the cookies and pie. He is not happy :)

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2010 is a happy, healthy year for you!!

Infintiy Scarves

LOVE THEM!! Easy, quick, stylish, warm. What more can I say? My sister found these scarves at Target, after attempting to knit one herself. So I picked one up and gave it a try. It dressed up my plain black sweater and made my neck so nice and warm. It's not bulky, some are. Be careful with the size you get and what you want it used for. I use mine as more of an accessory then a scarf, so I wanted a lighter weight one. Really, I can't imagine getting a thicker one because it was so warm! So, now I have two! One in blue and one in pink. They are on clearance at Target this week, so if you want to give them a try you can pick them up for $11. You can find them at a lot of stores, but I like these the best so far!

Where does the time go?

Are you ready for 2010? I'm not. Usually I feel indifferent to the New Year, but this year I'm actually sad to say good-bye to 2009. It was such an incredible year for me. And I already feel like my baby girl is growing up way too fast! The fact that it won't even be the same calendar year that she was born makes me so sad!! I know, I know... I have so much to look forward to in the upcoming year! She will learn to walk, talk, have her first birthday. Ok, maybe I'm a little bit excited.

I'm also feeling nervous about the changes coming in 2010. Most notably me returning to work part-time. As I mentioned in my previous post I will be working 2 days a week. I know, it's not much. But I am already getting so anxious about being away from my baby all day!! Deep breaths!

Well, enough about the future, lets talk about the past! I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday! We most certainly did! For the baby's First Christmas Santa got her a 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kid! Ok, so I was born the year Cabbage Patch Kids came out. They were HUGE when I was little and almost impossible to find. So my husband and I both still have our original Kids. I wanted to make sure that my little girl had one too! So last year they celebrated their 25th Anniversary and you could get the original dolls! Awesome! So I ordered directly from their website, as I couldn't find them anywhere else (at least not for a reasonable price). If you want one for your child... get it now!