My Very First Mother's Day Weekend

I am pretty sure that our Mother's Day celebration lasted the entire weekend, and for that I am one lucky Mama!

To honor my very first Mother' Day, J started the celebration early. Anyone that knows Jason probably knows that he has trouble keeping happy secrets. As soon as I walked in the door on Friday afternoon, J took E's carrier out of my arms. I thought he was just going to release her from 'favorite' five-point seating restraint, but they reappeared with a little white box tucked into the carrier with her. J and E were so thoughtful to get me an iPad 2! We have been waiting for the right time to buy one, but I am so glad that we were able to get it before a couple of the long drives we are planning to do in the near future.

After feeding our girl her first breakfast in her highchair, I spent the early part of Saturday taking care of some errands with my little sweetie while her Daddy did some house projects. After all of the running around, J gave me a break so that I could spend the evening with a lovely group of girls celebrating the bridal shower of a great friend. Some of us Mamas may have stayed later that the rest of the guests to avoid interrupting Daddy's bedtime routine (or hearing the line, 'You do such a better job').

Watching the penguins swim and jump!

We woke up to a beautiful day on Sunday, so we headed up to Santa Barbara. After eating a quick breakfast at home to avoid the crazy crowds that were surely infiltrating all of the local breakfast joints, we hopped in the car to start one of my all-time favorite drives: Thousand Oaks to Santa Barbara. For anyone that hasn't experienced this pleasurable ride, it is 90 percent oceanfront and absolutely gorgeous. We enjoyed a great day at the zoo. It was fascinating to watch E check out all of the animals, sounds and smells at the zoo. I know that trips to the zoo will be more and more fun as she grows and her level of comprehension expands.

As the daughter of a fierce and resilient mother, I have had every reason to celebrate Mother's Day. But this year different. I have a beautiful daughter that allows me be part of this celebrated day. I love being a mom more than I could have imagined, and not just because I have the cutest girl in the world, but because I get to nurture that little life and have an amazing partner in J. We try not to take ourselves too seriously, laugh at the mistakes and remember that we can only try to do our best by E every day. Plus at this age she won't remember if we screw up anyway.

Happy Half-Birthday Little E!

Today, April 11th, my sweet baby girl is six months old! I can hardly believe how quickly this time has gone by and all of the things she has accomplished during this phase! I can't wait to see what the next six months will hold. I would be lying if I said I haven't already started brainstorming birthday party themes!

Baby E at six months you:

You weigh in at 12 lbs. 11 oz. - 24th percentile for your age.
You are 26 inches long - 60th percentile for 6 months old.

Continue to be a chatterbox, your sweet voice can be heard throughout the house and you are becoming more vocal with people besides your Mama and Daddy.

You sleep 10-12 hours each night when teething doesn't get in the way.

You STILL fit into 3 month-size clothes, except for pajamas.
You are purposefully blowing bubbles, sometimes even with food in your mouth.
You started sitting up frog-style, and can now sit for a short time unsupported normally.
You had your first non-family babysitter so Mama and Daddy could go on a dinner date.
You have finally graduated to Size 2 diapers
You love playing in your jumperoo and have recently figured out the effects of stomping your feet on the ground.
You ate your first meal in your highchair at the table with Mama and Daddy, you were very pleased with yourself.

Fun with Avocado

We love watching E grow. She is constantly interested in the world around her. I love the sweet moments when she gently lays her hand on my face. And her Daddy longs for a moment of calm in her very alert state, when she snuggles him or is content laying on his chest.

We have a very busy month ahead and are looking forward to exploring with our sweet six-month old beauty.

Very Sleepy After a Long Day

Underwood Family Farms

In an effort to keep Family Fun Day going, we took E to Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark after running some errands last Saturday.

If you are in the area and have kids, it is a great place to take them. UFF operates a pumpkin patch in the fall, but have great activities year-round. There are lots of farm animals for the kids to see and feed. They have a small petting zoo where kids can help groom the animals and an animal show a few times a day during the weekends. They offer wagon rides around the agricultural fields, where you can actually pick your own produce. Admission is $5 per adult, $3 for kids over 2, and free for kids under 2.

I think E enjoyed seeing all of the animals. I especially like the little baby goats that were smaller than our dogs.

One sheep in particular made loud noises when we approached her pen. E wasn't sure at first, but seemed very interested once she realized the sheep was not going to harm her.

Each pen has PVC pipe attached that is a vehicle for feeding the animals carrots or feed. Some of the animals understand the system so well that as soon as you approach, they begin banging their hooves on the pipe. It's funny and sad at the same time.

I am glad that the sun came out for a couple so we could enjoy this experience with Little E. We will definitely  be heading back to Underwood Family Farms as E gets older, if for nothing else than the delicious strawberries we picked up at the produce stand.

Sweet Summertime! (Almost)

It was 90 degrees here yesterday. We were lovin' the warm weather and thought it was time to introduce E to one of our favorite summertime treats. Watermelon! It was slippery, but I have a feeling she will be asking for more in no time.

A Handful of Months

Today is March 29. My daughter's five-month birthday was on the 11th. Yup, things are a little busy around here!

Getting back to work has been a little hectic, but we are getting it down. It's hard to balance a busy work day, and then all of the events that happen in our house between 5 and 8 p.m. I want E to feel like we are spending quality time with her, not just getting stuff done. I have been using some of the time after she goes to bed to do household chores so that I have more free time to spend with the family during the weekends. Since going back to work, we have tried to have one 'work' day during the weekend to run errands and tackle projects around the house and one family fun day. Most of my great family fun day ideas are outside, so the recent rainy weather has stunted some of these outings, but there will be plenty of sunshine in the months to come!

Baby E, at five months you:

Are eating a lot of fun things. You love Sweet Potatoes, Banana and Avocado. You are not a big fan of Peas.

You still fit into most 3 month-size clothes.

You are still wearing size one diapers.

You are doing wonderful at daycare, you love interacting with the other kids.

You have developed a special relationship with Sadie, your youngest furry sister. She always knows where you are and checks on you if your're crying. You have started to give her lots of smiles when she licks your toes!

You are chatting away, and are starting to add some happy squeals to your conversational chatter. I could listen to you all day!

You have found your feet and think they are more delicious than any milk or food you're come in contact with.

You are all smiles. You spend more time smiling than not. I love that you are so happy and that I find you with a smile when I come to get you in the morning.
You are sitting like a froggy, with your hands on the floor.

Camping Adventures

About a month ago, J and I decided to take advantage of my last few weeks of maternity leave and plan a camping trip to the beach. The beach campgrounds are usually booked months in advance for the weekends, but we knew that we could show up on a Tuesday without fighting other campers for a spot.

We headed up to Rincon Parkway, an RV campground that less than an hour from our house. It was our first trip with E and our new trailer, so I didn't want to be too far from home or help in case we ran into any issues.

I love our new trailer! It is such a contrast to the one we used to have. It is much more comfortable and homey. It is perfect for camping with the baby and the dogs. Hopefully E will grow up with many fond memories of our camping adventures.

We were blessed with nice, sunny weather while we were camping. It was a little chilly, but nothing that a sweatshirt couldn't fix. E got to put her toes in the sand for the first time and enjoyed some great walks on the beach. Luckily, E stuck to her normal routine while we were camping.

The best thing about this trip was getting to spend time with J away from the house. Anyone with a young child knows that when you are not meeting his or her every need, you are taking care of some other need around the house. When the baby sleeps when you are camping, you get to read, nap or sit out under the stars. It was a great way for us to relax and spend some quality time together as a family before I headed back to work.

This was a great dry-run, but Easter camping is on the horizon. I hope E is ready for the desert! Sorry kiddo, no dirt biking for you this year.

Back to the Grind

Here it is, the eve of my return to work. People keep asking me how I feel about going back to work, but to be honest, I feel a lot of different ways.

I am blessed to work for a company that offers amazing maternity benefits. For those of you who are keeping track, E is going to be four and a half months old tomorrow. She was born the first day of my maternity leave, exactly two weeks before her due date. But I would love it even more if the company offered flexible return to work options. I would love to work part-time for my company, but I don't think that idea would be well-received at this point in time. Maybe someday.

It has been amazing being home with her for all this time. I know there are plenty of moms out there that have to go back to work after a month or two, and I don't know how they do it. When E was that old, we were just figuring out our routine, explaining it to a caretaker would have been nearly impossible. But she is at such a fun stage in her life. She is developing so many new skills and rounding out her personality in a new way each day. I hate to think that something monumental will happen with someone besides me.

J and I are blessed to have found an amazing in-home daycare for her. I am completely comfortable leaving E there; she actually started going last Wednesday so we could all get into the routine. This was J's idea, and it worked out perfectly. We were able to drop her off without feeling rushed to get to the next stop and we got to spend some time alone before this transition begins. I know that the daycare provider will 'raise' E just the way we are, and that she will get wonderful care and attention there. It is still hard to think that she will be looking in someone else's eyes as she falls asleep during the day.  I still want her to think that her Daddy and I are the most fun people she knows.

But heading back to work means that I get to refine the skills that I haven't used in so many months. I want to make E proud that her Mama can do all this; be a successful professional woman, a supportive wife and a great Mama. I know that there will be some bumps as we go through this transition, but I think we have a pretty good game plan. J and I are also committing to fill one of the weekend days with a fun activity; going to the beach, zoo, hiking, or going to the park. E deserves our undivided attention, and I never want her to feel like she is getting anything less.