8 is great!

These months are flying by! Here I am again on another birthday!

It's been a busy month since I hit 7. We visited my Grandma and Grandpa Schneider, and my Great-Grandma O, in Illinois. Then we went to a reunion with my Phillips side, where I met my 6 great-aunts and LOTS of second cousins and cousins-once-removed or something like that. Then Grandma and Grandpa S. and Aunt Katy came to MY house. Today I went to my "first" birthday part for my friend Daniel! Oh yeah, and I'm back at daycare, too. I missed my pal Thomas! Yikes. 7 months was pretty exhausting, but I'm sure ready for 8!

I love to:
EAT. Although I still need to gain much, much more weight. More to come from Mommy in her next post.
SPIT my food out, too. Usually when it's orange and Mommy is wearing white.
Take a bath! Mommy has dumped all my tubby toys in, finally! It's fun to try to catch them when they float away.
Play with the doggie! I LOVE to watch him run to catch his Frisbee. He even sometimes lets me "throw" something to him, too.
Try to move! I'm getting there! Today I scooted all along the bottom of the coffee table.

I'm not a fan of:
Getting my diaper changed or getting dressed. Please, I have WAY too much to do to bother with being pinned down.
Sleeping long stretches. Oh, Mommy--sucks to be you! ;)

I'm learning new tricks every day. I still "squish" on occasion. Today I found what a funny noise I make when I slap my arm against my mouth while I talk. I like to make the "babababa" sound now too. Oh, and now Mommy calls me a "Drama Queen" when I get upset--I make a sad face and go "eh eh eh." Yeah, I probably am hamming it up a bit ;)

8 is great! I'm sending a subliminal message to Mommy to get her silly self in bed because I will be waking up soon, to be sure.

Balancing...again.

I have been pretty delinquent lately about keeping up with this blog. 3 weeks ago I returned to work for another school year. It was a glorious summer--Elizabeth and I got to know each other so well! And just when I felt we were getting on a pretty good schedule, everything changed when I went back to work.

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I do enjoy my job--even now, when pretty much every day has been CRAZY. Our middle school absorbed many students from a recently closed school, we inherited two new high-needs classrooms, and referrals for special ed evaluations are already coming out of the woodwork...BUT, I thrive on the hectic pace and the days go quickly.

It's too much, though. I feel I hardly get enough time with Elizabeth. Things might improve once our weekends quiet down; every weekend since I went back to work has been packed with family events and/or traveling.

And on the homefront...oy. My boss has an analogy she likes to share with us about the crazy multi-tasking nature of our jobs: It's like we are juggling many balls, some are plastic, some are glass. We have to make sure we don't drop the glass balls. I'm definitely juggling over here, and fortunately haven't shattered any glass balls yet...I did double-book myself for 2 doctors' appointments tomorrow, so Oops there, but easily fixable :) My house constantly looks like a bomb went off, and it's taken me 4 days to get laundry put away.

I need to center myself and focus on what is truly important. I ache with guilt that I take so many fewer pictures of E. these days...and what I have taken, it takes me eons to get them loaded on the computer, much less Facebook, much less this blog! And my sleep is seriously being sacrificed. Every night I tell myself I WILL be in bed by 9...and here I am, well past 10, blogging away. Elizabeth wakes up at least twice a night (sigh, another post for another time), so I'm running on fumes. I'm fighting my second cold in 3 weeks. Sheesh.

So...we're all adjusting to the new routine, and it WILL be okay. I try to make the verse from Philippians my mantra: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication make your requests be made known to God." I can do this. We will do this. Elizabeth is happy, healthy, and well-cared for each day. Right now, that's all we need to get by.

The big 7

I'm in the second half of my first year! Mommy and Daddy can't believe it!

At 7 months, here are my favorite things to do:
*Eat! I love trying new foods. My favorites are apples, pears, carrots, squash, and just plain oatmeal. Peas? Eh.
*Take a bath! Remember back when I was very little, I wasn't so sure about it? Now, I think it's just great. I'm still in my baby tub, which sits on the bathroom counter, and Mommy wonders how long that will last before I get too wiggly. I can see myself in the mirror from my seat in the tub. I think that's the greatest thing--I love to smile at my cute self! Splashing is a ton of fun, too! Mommy needs to break out the bubble bath next.
*Take walks in the Baby Bjorn--still. Mommy dreads the day I get too big!
*See other babies! My friend Aaron came over (we are born 2 days apart, although he's gigantic compared to me); our mommies sat us on the floor and we couldn't stop staring at each other. I got tired of him, though, when he got in my space and stole my toys!
*Blow raspberries! Especially when I eat something very colorful, like carrots. Mommy needs to wear a bib, too, when she feeds me. Or maybe a poncho.
*Talk, talk, talk. My favorite sounds are "mamamama" and "dadadada." Mommy and Daddy are trying to get me to say them to the right person!

Not so much:
*Sleeping longer than 3 hours at a time. He he he.
*Getting my diaper changed or dressed. How I HATE lying still for Mommy! I scream, arch my back, and try to propel myself off the changing table. Fun times.
*Getting in my carseat. At least once I'm in the car, I'm pretty okay.

Go 7!!!