Lately Blair has been obsessed (in a totally normal way) with water coming out of the faucet. It's so cute how she reaches for it while she gets a bath. It's fun to see her so focused on something and trying to figure out how it works. I can't wait to teach her more about the world around her as she grows up!

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There are lots of fun baby apps out there for the iPad. M looked into some free ones for us to try with B. Here are the ones that we have and enjoy.

Baby Sign: shows babies signing simple words. I have been practicing signing with B. So far the ones I sign the most is "milk" and "poop." And every time I sign poop she smiles...

Flash Cards: shows pictures of simple objects while stating what they are.

Peekaboo HD: Animals hide on the farm and say peekaboo with their respective animal sound

Toy Story: an animated story featuring the toy story characters

Baby Farm: shows pictures of animals with their name and sound that they make.

I did actually buy the rest of the baby signs app. I don't mind purchasing other ones but would want someone to recommend some to me before I bite the bullet and spend $1.99. :) any suggestions?

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Last week I went out to old navy in search of A tank top. As in one. I came home with many things but the tank wasn't one of them. Good thing old navy has such reasonable prices! I nabbed some items for B as well but haven't dressed her in any of them yet.

Clearly, I'm still loving my pink shorts from the loft. I'm also liking the denim button down trend and was pleased to find a cute one at ON!

Top: old navy

Shorts: loft

Necklace: j crew outlet

Loafers: target

Blair's 'fit was gifted to her. It's from Nordstrom. Not sure if the pants are supposed to be capris but I told her to own it either way. She did. :)

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Milk Does a Body Good

Last week my prayer was that I would be given the opportunity to share the gospel and witness to others. Sometimes as a stay at home mom I feel like I don't have a lot of opportunities to share God with people. Well that changed when a friend of mine asked if I could help a mom in need.

Here's the background... Since Matt and I have moved to town we have started walking every night in our neighborhood. It's part of Blair's bed time routine and it's a nice time for Matt and I to talk about our days. Bella enjoys sniffing around the 'hood too.

We met a Dad one night on our walk and after talking with him a few times found out his wife has thyroid cancer. She is probably in her late twenties. They have a two year old and nine month old.

After hearing this I have been praying for her daily although I have never met her.

Then on Saturday my friend Nicolle asked me if I could spare any breastmilk for a friend of hers who has cancer. She told me her friend is about to have radiation and can't nurse her nine month old but she doesn't want to give her formula till she's a year old. To make matters worse, she had enough milk saved up but her freezer broke and it all spoiled. All that hard work wasted...

Long story short, it's the girl who lives down the street from me whom I've been praying for for the past few months. I've never met her...till Saturday night. I gathered some of my extra milk up and walked over with Blair. When she opened the door she started crying. And then of course so did I. It was so emotional! I put myself in her shoes and my heart just breaks for her.

God planted the opportunity for me to share about Him to her. Turns out she is a strong believer and I was able to tell her I've been praying for her for months. She was so grateful for the prayers and milk and I was so glad I was able to help a little. I hope that I can continue to donate milk for her sweet little girl (her name is Tulip... How cute!) Maybe B and her will be friends one day?

Crazy how God works sometimes. Now every morning when I pump I have a much bigger purpose than keeping a deep stash for B "just in case." I'm able to help someone in need. And if it were me I would hope others would do the same.

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Another productive weekend at home for us! Let's see, we did lots of yard work, hung some curtains in the dining room, ran eight miles, and made another weeks worth of baby food (avocado and squash!). Not to mention laundry, dishes, and taking care of baby!

Here's Blair's update:

Weight

Probably still 18 pounds.

Health

Never been sick yet! Counting my blessings on this one for sure...

Sleep

She's really sleeping like a baby! I put her down awake for her naps and she talks and rolls around in her crib for about thirty minutes and then zones out, no crying! She has also started waking up happy and will play in her crib at least fifteen minutes before she squawks at me.

As for night time we are still forcing encouraging her to sleep through the night by letting her cry self soothe. She sometimes wakes once and cries for about fifteen minutes. However last night she woke at four and cried an hour. That was brutal. I'm determined to follow doctor's orders on this one and get this girl consistently sleeping through the night!

Clothes

9 months or 6-12 months. Although Matt wrestled her in a nine month dress yesterday and swears she won't fit into it anymore. I'll be the judge of that. Sometimes he tends to miss the buttons in the back...

Social

Doing much better with Sunday school and Bible study. I dropped her off yesterday and there was no crying! She seemed to have a great time and only cried when M was picking her up! Yay for progress! I thought I would never see the day... Oh and isn't Blair's BF cute? It's our friends' son. :)

Diet

Breastmilk and this week we are trying avocado and squash! Baby loves sweet potatoes and we have started feeding her twice a day now. I give her a fruit or veggie in the morning and oatmeal at dinner. Poor girl's bum isn't too happy with all the new food passing through though. :( we will be ordering more cloth friendly diaper cream soon! TMI?

Oh and she sucks her thumb between bites...so cute! I heard it's because she wants to feel like she's still nursing. She desires the closeness. So sweet!

Crying

Only when overtired or middle of the night drama.

Milestones

Sitting much better! Eating more new food and eating dinner! Here she is not sitting with her Sunday school teacher. :)

Post partum

Ran 8 miles with M. Left B with my mom (Lala) and she was great! They went for a walk and then she fed her sweet potatoes. I was beat. I decided there is no way I'm running less than a ten minute mile for 13 miles. I'll be happy to finish without walking. Sigh.

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...or Dada. We had/have bottle drama with B and it is no fun. I booked a flight to visit my BFF's in November so now I'm determined to get B back to taking a bottle since I'll be leaving her with M for the weekend. She used to be a champ but lately has been fighting us on it (aka throwing her head back in a rage). Me, being type A, has decided that I need to figure this out two months before it matters.

Some sweet mama friends of mine gave me some good advice last night at 9pm when I was in crisis mode. Lord knows I wasn't going to sleep till I had a plan of attack. The most frustrating part is that she used to take a bottle no problem! Perhaps some of the best advice was, "You're not going to solve all the problems of the world tonight...relax!" :) True...very true. We've got time! I'll keep you updated on this hurdle...

Anyway, here she is at six months! Of course my pal Carrie did another amazing job with B and her photos. I just DIE when I look at her in these shots!!!

please note that thunder thigh!

And one from the lame iphone...

While I was devouring browsing Pinterest I came across this website that a fellow blogger pinned called lucieslist.com. I seriously agreed with 99% of her product recommendations. Wish I had read that before I had a baby... So if you're prego get on this website!

While reading her posts about bath time accessories I decided to share my own favorites along with some of hers...

Puj tub- a wonderful tub but were growing out of it quickly!

Great for no tears!

"what are you lookin at?" every babe needs a hooded animal towel!

This will be the tub we upgrade to. Great for travel too!

This cleared up the bit of baby acne Blair had when she was born.

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Last week M and I went on a double date without baby. We had a great time at sushi with our fun friends Nicolle and Josh. Here's what this mama wore...

Blouse: Nordstrom

Jeans: Ann taylor loft

And baby's outfit...

Yesterday at Bible study she did much better! When I dropped hear off she was all smiles and her teacher said, "Blair you are so happy! You have the joy of the Lord in you today!" It was so sweet and made my heart smile!

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Last weekend M helped me make our own baby food. I like that it saves money, has no ascorbic acid to preserve it, and is mixed with my milk. We used our baby bullet. First we made pears...

1 pear steamed until soft (peeled and cored)

1/4 cup breast milk

Then puréed till smooth

One pear gave us four meals for baby!

Next was sweet potatoes...

 

 

Clearly Matt's chopping skills, not mine.

 

1 peeled sweet potato steamed till soft

1/2-3/4 cup breast milk

Puréed until smooth

One sweet potato gave us 10 meals for Blair!

We ran out of storage cups so we used breast milk bags. But my friend Andie scored some more containers for me half off at Bed Bath and Beyond.

The first time took some effort but I imagine we will get better at it. I mean, who knows how to steam a pear off hand? Not this girl. But I made enough food in an hour to last me two weeks! Unless Blair starts wanting more than one serving at a time... Either way she was happy about it... See?

 

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Blair is about six and a half months now and boy do we have a lot going on! She's sitting up, eating different solids, and working on her separation anxiety (spoiler: she's improving!).

Weight

Still 18 pounds skinny :)

Health

So far B has never been sick. Praying that it stays this way even though I've enrolled her in a Bible class and she has started going to Sunday school.

Sleep

Really can't complain here anymore (finally!). She takes a two hour nap daily and rarely cries when I put her down. She used to wake up several times during her naps and fuss but for the most part now she sleeps the whole time. Bed time is a breeze. Every night we give her a bath, take her for a walk around the neighborhood, nurse her, and ay her down. She talks to herself in bed and looks at her bumper till she falls asleep. No more going in every five and ten minutes to soothe her! Wahoo!

Clothes

Currently wearing size 9 months or 6-12 months. Dresses are a cinch since they fit over her thighs. I'm even squeezing her into old three month dresses as tunics and putting leggings underneath. Cute!

Social

Today I'm trying out a group called musical munchkins. It's an introduction into music in which I attend with her and we practice beat keeping, singing, bouncing, kicking, and musical sounds. B had her first Sunday school class and did MUCH better than she did last Tuesday at Bible Study. Thanks to my friend Maxie! Phew! I am determined to rid her of separation anxiety. This week I am also going to lunch with my friend Brittany and her new baby Norah and am thinking about a playdate with my church friends on Friday. Oh, and she has her six month pics too! Gotta stay busy!

Diet

So far she has enjoyed all the solid food she has tried: rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and pears. Wednesday we introduce sweet potatoes!

Crying

We found out the hard way while Matt's parents were babysitting Blair that she is over taking milk from a bottle. She screamed and screamed and went to bed hungry (no worries she has plenty of fat reserves!) luckily we discovered that she tolerates milk out of a sippy cup. So, sippy cup it is!

Milestones

Sitting! I put a Boppy around her waist just in case but she is getting really good at it on her own. When she gets tired of sitting and leans forward and face plants then rolls onto her back. It's pretty funny. :)

Post partum

Ran seven miles yesterday! My hips were talking to me but we made it!

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