5 months old!

I can't believe our baby girl is five months old already! Her actual five-month milestone was Friday, November 6. She's growing up so fast. The most fun new developments in the last month have all been about her personality. She has the greatest laugh ever, giggles at everything. I can't wait to learn more about who she's going to be. Whatever it is, I have a feeling she'll think its funny. She's starting to use her hands more and more, grabbing at things you put in front of her, or just at whatever's closest ... which is often my hair or neck. She's also starting to really put on some weight, which is so fun. Its the one time in life its not only OK, but even super cute, to have several chins and wrinkles in your thighs. She wasn't in the best mood for this month's photo shoot, but we caught a few good moments anyway. Enjoy!

I love her eyes! She gets those, and her long eyelashes, from her dad.

She loves her fingers.

I think she might be trying to fit all ten fingers in there at once...

And .... we're done with the photo shoot.

This month's wardrobe provided by:

Polka-dot Sweater: Grandma Hammer

Pants: Friend Melanie

Cowgirl socks: Reno cousins

White T-shirt, pink bow and Stuffed Lion: Mama

the baby weight

So, how old does your baby have to be before people stop thinking of your slightly rounder body as a side effect instead of poor life habits? My body and I have been fighting over weight loss since the day I came home from the hospital, and so far she's been winning the battle. I have never lost weight easily. But a couple years ago Caleb and I really started pursuing better health, and I lost 25 pounds. Go me! And then I got pregnant. Which was exciting, and as a result we now have the most beautiful daughter born since the beginning of time. But its been five months now (can you believe it?) and I'm ready to have my body back. Its just that I'm starting to realize that weight loss after pregnancy isn't as easy as everyone says it should be. Myth #1: Breastfeeding helps weight loss. Myth #2: Just give it a couple months and it practically starts to shed by itself. Myth #3: Gaining 25 - 30 pounds during pregnancy is normal and should come off pretty easily (only about half has come off so far).

Don't get me wrong, I'm at peace with myself, for the most part. I just don't FEEL like myself. I don't fit in to my old clothes and everything about me feels soft and a bit sluggish. There was a time I climbed 14,000-foot mountains in a day! I went to the gym several times a week. I got up early to take long walks (yes, I hated it, but I did it). Where did that girl go? I guess instead of an early morning gym run I have an early morning feeding. Tall mountains have been replaced by the one flight of stairs in my condo ... which I gladly climb so I can take a nap. Long walks have been replaced by too much TV, because its all I have the energy and the motivation to do. (Though you should see the amount of knitting I'm getting done.)

And yet, I do have 30 pounds to lose (23 pounds of baby weight, plus seven to reach my goal). That's a lot of work!! Especially when you're me, and just watching Pillsbury commercials causes weight gain. I know its been five months since Josie was born, and I feel like I should be back in full swing of my old life ... but its just not that simple. I still don't get a full night's sleep, meaning I'm usually less than fully awake. Finding time to exercise around the baby's schedule is its own juggling act. And then I've added a part-time job to the mix, which ups my stress level. Add to that trying to eat well on limited time and a tight budget ... and its just a lot to manage. And I'm still getting used to this whole motherhood thing! Its a ball, but its a huge transition. And so I ask once again ... how old can Josie be before I can't get away with "baby weight" any more?

a few pics from the pumpkin patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today with my brother and sister-in-law, their daughter Maddie, my sister Amy, my parents, and our friend Jaime. It was a great day for photo ops!

what happened?

I have made Nestle's chocolate chip cookies a thousand times ... but today, they turned out like this. Flat, and crusty around the edges. Does anyone know why?? I can't think of a thing that was different. I didn't leave any ingredients out, the oven was at the right temperature. So what's the deal man? And so sorry to Caleb and Andrew ... my surprise treat wasn't quite what I'd had planned ... I hope it doesn't affect the outcome of the game!

first time for everything

Well, Josephine has come down with her first cold. Its so sad to hear the congestion in her breathing, and with her eyes watery all the time, she looks like she's in a constant state of sadness. Fortunately, she's dealing with it pretty well. She was smiling and laughing at me as I was getting her ready for bed tonight ... even while she sneezed and coughed. Poor girl. What's worse, it seems I've come down with it myself. Caleb is just getting over it, so he's somewhat well enough to care for both of us ... the poor man. He's not gonna get any work done this week. Hopefully this will be a short-lived illness for us all.

planning ahead

I finally finished the double breasted jacket I've been making for Josephine. Its actually been done for a while ... I just had to sew on the buttons. It came out a little bigger than I'd intended, but that's not too big a deal, since she'll grow into it ... eventually. [Used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn (50% cotton, 50% acrylic)]

the postseason

Since 1986 the Angels have been unable to beat the Red Sox in the post season. And so, this year when they won their division, and so did the Red Sox, we approached the division series without much hope. Would history repeat itself once again? Would we get this far only to be thwarted by the likes of Big Poppy and Papelbon and our long-time nemesis AJ Pierzinski?

But we couldn't NOT watch, right? And so we did ... Thursday night, and Friday night ... and we won. We WON! We beat the Red Sox more in two nights than we have in the last several years of postseason match ups with Boston. And then this morning, a few innings into the first game in Boston, we found ourselves behind 5-1. It looked like the Sox were finally getting their old groove back, and we worried the Angels were letting them get into their heads. But we were wrong, and slowly but surely the Angels fought their way back, and our faith in Mike Scioscia and the Halos was not only restored, but began to soar as it hadn't in years. We came back, we hit Papelbon, we tied them, we passed them, and then Fuentes shut them down in the bottom of the ninth. The series is ours!!! A three-game sweep of our long-time rivals ... in their own park! Ah, the victory is sweet.

Even Josephine seemed to know it was a special day.



My dad is equally as thrilled for the Dodgers. Ah, what we wouldn't give for a Dodgers-Angels world series ... if we could just keep it from tearing the family apart.

latest knitting projects

Somehow between working and cleaning my home and cooking for my family and caring for my baby, I've actually been finding time to knit. The cooler weather kind of demands it. I know it might not seem like it, but I've chosen simpler projects because I have to be able to start and stop at a moment's notice ... there's no telling when Josie will need me. Anyway ... thought I'd share some of the latest.

Lush and Lacy

I'd been wanting to make this sweater for a couple years. I've had the yarn for about that long, and so I finally decided it was time to make it. There are a few things I would change about the finished product: I would make it longer and I would definitely do it in a different color (this pink is too close to my own pale skin color). I would also change the construction on the front (I'm a bit bigger right now, post-baby, than I 'm used to, and so I didn't account for how that would change the fit). However, I learned a lot in the knitting of this sweater. Because my gauge was so far off, I had to rework the entire pattern ... and I did it right! It fits me perfectly, which impresses even me. And even though there are things I would change, I've learned from those mistakes and now I know to make those changes BEFORE I knit something new (Of course, I already have a plan for the next sweater ... after all my Christmas knitting is done of course).

Ribbons and Bows
I designed this pattern as a gift for a friend's baby. Josie is my model (which she LOVES, as you can see). I think it turned out pretty cute!

Snow Baby
I also designed this hat. I made it before Josie was born and it just now fits her ... which is perfect actually, since nobody needs a warm hat in the summer anyway.

caleb's photo blog

I've been meaning to highlight Caleb's new website for a while, and just haven't had the chance. He's posting a new photo every day on his daily photo blog, and from there you can click on links that take you to albums of previous work of all kinds. So you've gotta check it out every day to see the new photo ... and tell your friends!

Also ... Caleb has set up a shop on etsy to sell his photos. There's a link here on my blog on the right for future reference. Check it out ... and tell your friends!

she's four months old!

Josie officially turned four months old on Tuesday. My, how time has flown! She had her four-month well-baby check up on Wednesday and all is well. She's 24 inches long, 11.5 pounds and her head circumference has come down to the 70th percentile. In the past week she has learned that her thumb works almost as well as a pacifier and she's started putting herself back to sleep when she wakes up too early from a nap (yay!). My absolute favorite development, though, has to be the laughter. Get her at the right moment and tell just the right joke, and she will look you in the eye and give you a heartfelt baby belly laugh. I should record it and put it on iTunes ... it would quickly become a #1 download, I'm sure of it. Here's a few pics in honor of the four-month benchmark.

The "I know I'm cute" look ...

The "But I'm really modest about my cuteness" look ....

"Pleeeeeeeease???"

The supermodel pose

After the photo shoot and letting it ALL hang out