I'm terrible

Well I definitely intended to write a lot more in here than I actually do. I keep a private diary where I write way more often, but still not as often as I'd like.

Anyway. We've moved! We got out of the druggy ghetto and found a sweet apartment a few miles away but the area is extremely different. Our neighbors our friendly, we're on the ground floor, we have a bigger bedroom, and there's a park and a nature trail in our "backyard." It's technically smaller but it feels way better. We sacrificed having our 1/2 bath but so far so good!

We've also been forced to de-clutter and it's been wonderful. Our goal is to get rid of all the stuff we're keeping for no good reason. Matt and I have both kept our participation trophies from t-ball and figure that since we're never going to want those on display, might as well toss them. We want to avoid accumulating crap and stuffing it in the corners and stop leaving it there for years, literally.

Madeleine is turning 11 months tomorrow. What an awesome ride! She is happy, bubbly and social. She sort of eats solids… but prefers the milkies and I'm totally cool with that. She's got four teeth and a massive tongue tie which is giving her a sweet little gap to match mine! Turns out I had tongue tie, too but it was never addressed. Not even when I had braces nearly 10 years ago. Thanks, stupid orthodontist. What a goddamn waste!

She's getting ready to walk very, very soon. Too soon. She pulls up on everything even if it can't hold her weight. She's on the slender side, but she's meeting all of her milestones so we, including her doctor, are not worried.

She hates her hearing aids and I do, too. She's constantly pulling them out most of the time, but some of the time she keeps them in! It will be a few years until we're able to see if a surgery can correct or at least improve her hearing. But whatever, it can always be something worse and it's better to be thankful for what we have. "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

6 months

I officially have a 6 month old as of Saturday the 18th! 

We've been practicing sitting up

In the next couple of weeks we're going to a portrait studio for her 6 month pictures and some family pictures, too. She's such a cool kid! 

She's still exclusively breast fed and the plan was to give her some avocado on her half birthday, but since she had a cold we ended up waiting. Maybe this weekend will be the big day!

Resolutions

I make resolutions every year and by the time the next year rolls around, I've forgotten those resolutions… 

Oh well. 

Here's the list anyway. Maybe if I document them better, they'll more likely be followed? 

Walk the dog more (stop being a shitty dog parent)

Wake up earlier ….and go to bed earlier

Write the due dates of bills on the calendar

Get in the habit of actually folding the laundry and put it away

Don't let the clean dishes just hang out in the washer all day

I've made some resolutions for Matt, too: 

Stop throwing dirty laundry behind doors

Quit leaving dirty dishes in the sink

Go to sleep at a reasonable hour (!)

I guess the theme is to develop better habits…but isn't that always the theme for the New Year?

credit to J.G. 2014

My sweet girl rolled over!

It actually happened! 

She's been able to roll over from her tummy to her back since she was about 3 months old and today she rolled over from her back to her tummy! 

Miss M. was playing on her quilt in the living room when she decided she needed to get to her teddy bear and she just freakin' rolled over without any warning! I happened to be sitting on the couch and saw her moving out of the corner of my eye. She rolled over a few more times after that and I tried recording them on my iPhone but I kept catching the aftermaths… ugh. 

My girl is growing up so fast!

30 Day Squat Challenge

I've hopped onto the bandwagon! 

Well, kind of. I decided to try a 30 day squat challenge again. I don't remember how far I got last time, but this round, I've written the days and number of squats on a sticky note by the TV. Hopefully, by crossing off each day and seeing my progress on paper, I'll end up seeing some progress with my sad mom butt. 

I like how it's kind of all over the place but it looks like there's a definite pattern of easing into it and backing off a little bit. 

What I really need to do next is get into better eating habits in general. I'm never going to give up Dicks Drive-In and thankfully that's kind of a drive for me, but I do need to really eat 3 meals a day and stop putting bags of tortilla chips and popcorn on the couch for convenient snacking…. asdgjk;

In other news: we're almost ready to start introducing solids! We got her high chair set up by the table and she seemed to like it (for about 10 minutes). It's the Graco 4-in-1 in Blossom. So far, we like it, too!

Her first food is going to be avocado and so far that's all I know… I found a really helpful website that gives great advice on foods to start with and then a great list about what to avoid altogether until certain ages in order to avoid allergic reactions and whatnot.

New Year

This past year has been amazing for so many reasons. I'm excited to keep up with this blog since I do love writing.

We spent New Years Eve at this sweet little indoor play place with another little boy and his mama. There was a kids' party with "champagne" (Italian soda with fruit) and bubbles. We counted down til noon! Too cute!

I don't have many resolutions besides the ol' eating healthier and exercising more routine. Hopefully that doesn't fizzle early on. I guess I have some resolutions for Matt such as: stop throwing your dirty laundry behind the bedroom door, and quit leaving dirty dishes in the sink!!!

Anyway, here's a survey: 

1)What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before? had a baby!

2)Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't remember my resolutions from last year! I'll save my resolution list for another entry.

3)Did anyone close to you give birth? Besides myself, I met several other new mamas with babies the same age as Madeleine! 

4)Did anyone close to you die? I lost my grandpa (Papa Tom) last January. I'm sad that he never got to meet his first great granddaughter, but I'm glad he's at peace.

5)What countries did you visit? We didn't do any traveling this year :[

6)What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013? Self-discipline! 

7)What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory and why? The whole month of July! I turned 24 on the 3rd, experienced labor and had a baby on the 18th, celebrated our first wedding anniversary on the 21st. Such a cool month!

8)What was your biggest achievement of the year? Starting a tiny family and graduating from the University of Washington!

9)What was your biggest failure? I think I had a bunch of smaller failures, like not letting things go when I should have or letting myself be lazy.

10)Did you suffer any illness or injury? Thankfully, no!

11)What was the best thing you bought? I didn't buy it, but Matt got me a violin for Christmas! I cried! I'm also very happy to be the proud owner of a Keurig that we got from my parents for Christmas. 

12)Where did most of your money go? Easy. Iced caramel sauce americanos.  

13)What do you wish you'd done more of? I wish I had spent more time outside doing outdoorsy stuff…that, and I wish I had been more organized. 

14)What do you wish you'd done less of? Complaining. I'm very skilled at complaining.

15)What was the best book you read? Mayim Bialik's Beyond the Sling. Certainly one of the most crunchiest pieces I've ever read, and although she does many things parenting-wise that I don't, I really admire her!

16)What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 24 and ate a ton of sushi with friends. This was just a couple of weeks before Madeleine was born.

17)How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013? Uhh….maternity/nouveau hippy? I'd like to tone back up so I can wear more of my pre pregnancy clothes so it looks like I at least tried to look decent when I leave the house!

18)Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013: Life seems shorter and shorter, so appreciate every moment, no matter how challenging.

All in the Family

Ok so it's been awhile.

Quite a few things have happened. I have a 4 month old! I have a 4 month old with personal hearing aids. I also found out that BOR syndrome runs in my family. BOR stands for, get ready, "branchiootalrenal" syndrome.

It can affect internal and external ear structures, kidneys, and then some people with BORS have branchial cleft cysts which are basically disconnected sinuses that look like tiny holes in a person's neck. Madeleine has mild-moderate hearing loss, an ear tag on one ear, an ear pit as well as what they call a cup ear.

I have moderate hearing loss in my left ear and an ear pit on my right ear. Several of my family members on my mom's side have a mix of these symptoms; however, Madeleine definitely got the worst of it. Thankfully none of us have anything abnormal happening with our kidneys.

This syndrome affects 1 in 40,000 people therefore it's pretty rare!

I'm going back and forth with being upset and figuring that our situation could be so much worse. She gets to visit with a teacher who does play therapy with us in our living room. There's a neat preschool in Seattle that's intended for kids who are hard of hearing so they learn how to effectively communicate before going to Kindergarten. Such a cool program!