Big Day

I'm so excited that this day is almost over, I can hardly stand it. I really loathe this time of year, every 4th year. I get tired of the airing of "dirty laundry", hearing "S/He doesn't have the experience necessary to do a good job", and watching SNL skits (although they are really funny). This election was a tough one in my book, I felt like I was faced with a double-edged sword. Nonetheless, I still exercised my constitutional right to vote for our country's leader (for the 2nd time in my life). I even took both kids with me this afternoon.

If I can revisit the "sword" thing for a minute....earlier today, I expressed my fears to a friend regarding the change that will happen with our new President, and she responded by saying "God is not worried about this election. He is not wringing His hands. He knows where our country is headed and He knows where it needs to go in order to fulfill His plan. Nothing is a surprise to Him." And it's true! We do our part by being educated and voting according to what pleases Him most, then we sit back and trust Him to work all things together for our good, even if it doesn't look "good" to us at the time. Thanks, JK, for the new perspective to think about. This is going to be extremely important to remember when our health care system undergoes a makeover and our physicians can't earn a living (much less pay back their $200K in student loans).

And since today was "E" Day, I thought it was only appropriate to dress Josiah accordingly....ready for the 2044 Election.

Today was also a milestone date for Alayna. Today was her half-birthday. I just can't believe it-she's 6 months old already! She's grown so much in just the last week. Last Tuesday, she rolled over (back to front) for the first time. Now while she hasn't rolled over since, at least I know it's not because she can't....it's just that she doesn't want to. She could care less, really. Laney is also able to sit unassisted for 15+ minutes at a time. And lastly, our princess now has TWO bottom teeth, a whole 2 months sooner than Josiah. Now if I could only find a way to keep her from using my breast as a teether. Sorry, how's that for TMI? I just never had to worry about this with Josiah since we stopped nursing at the same time he cut his first teeth.

And just so that the grandparents can be informed about what she's been up to, I'm going to take a minute to list the stuff she's doing now. So if you're not one of the grandparents reading this, consider yourself warned.

• Laney LOVES it when Josiah plays peek-a-boo, dances, sings, or plays catch where it involves hitting me in the head.
• She is as content as an alley cat in a dumpster (not sure why I chose that analogy) with the Target Ad from the Sunday paper, especially if there is a baby anywhere on the page.
• She has discovered herself in the mirror on her exersaucer and just laughs (it's so funny to watch and listen to).
• Laney loves to stand, and she tries to pull herself up while holding our hands.
• She loves to be outside: walks in the stroller, sitting on a blanket in the yard, etc.
• She giggles every time I'm about to put her clothes and/or pjs on her. Just like most girls, she loves clothes.
• Laney is ticklish on her breastbone, under her shoulder blades, and on her biscuits (nalgitas).
• She can hold her own bottle (when she wants to).
• She's now wearing 12-18 month onesies thanks to her long torso (we will be graduating her to a convertible car seat in a couple of weeks when we can no longer smash her in her infant carrier). Her 6 month well-baby visit is on Thursday...I'll post about her weight, height, percentages later (just sitting her on our bathroom scale says that she weighs 19 pounds naked).
• She can take her pacifier out of her mouth, chew on it, and put it back.
• She enjoys watching cartoons with her brother first thing in the morning.
• She is starting to reach and lean when she's ready to be picked up and/or tranferred.
• And she just lights up and puts on the biggest smile when she sees her daddy walk in the door (now if that doesn't melt Randy's heart, then I don't know what does).

I was able to take some okay pictures today on her actual half-birthday, but I hope to take some better ones tomorrow.




Today also marked Laney's first day of eating solid food. She ate like a champ (applesauce and rice cereal) and wanted to grab the spoon and feed herself. For me, today was my first day of making homemade baby food. Tonight, Josiah and I made pear puree. This is going to be great Mommy-Mijo time. Josiah loves to help me in the kitchen: stirring, pressing the button on the food processor, washing dishes playing in the sink.

Well, hopefully I made the pears right. I thought the pears were a little hard after peeling, so I put them in my Pampered Chef steamer with a tiny bit of water, and popped them in the microwave until they were soft enough to puree. The taste and texture were just as I expected/wanted, so then I transferred the puree to ice cube trays. Tomorrow, I'll work on putting a cube in its own marked baggie. Laney's very own MRE. :-)

Now that I've tackled a fruit, I'll be working on a veggie: sweet potato.

Very Merry Half-Birthday, Alayna!

And technically, Randy started a new rotation yesterday, but today is close enough to yesterday, so I thought I would mention that we are now on a new schedule. Randy is required to complete 20 12-hour shifts in the ER this month. And the good thing about these shifts is that they can be completed at any time. If he wakes up late, he can go in late...just as long as he completes a 12-hour shift. I'm not sure if I'm going to like this better since most days he, more than likely, won't be arriving home before 7PM. Another good thing is is that he is NOT required to take call for the clinic. So unless Randy feels like working on a weekend, he doesn't have to work....and it makes me very happy that I don't have to share my weekends with the calling service.

Whew, and that's what happened during our "big day" today.