Mommy Sanity Project

After an extremely busy December and January, I am really working to find balance in our life. We have so much on our plate right now that it's easy to feel overwhelmed and anxious. For a time, I was even experiencing insomnia at night after waking up in the wee hours to feed Susannah.

Things are going much better now. I got an herbal pillow with calming chamomile and lavender to put under my pillow to help with insomnia. I am working on saying no at work and containing my work to 30 hours a week (I am on an 80% schedule but recently have been working 40 hours some weeks because of crazy deadlines). I started meditating and doing a little bit of yoga every day, even if it means waking up earlier in the morning and losing out on sleep.

I'm also trying to get more exercise. It's hard to find time for it because I don't want to be away from Susannah much on the days I'm not working, but it's important. We started going to a parent/kid fitness class on Fridays, and it is so hard! I literally couldn't walk after the first class. I've also been sneaking out occasionally to go cross-country skiing. And this weekend, Hilary and I took the babies and dog to the Green Mountain Club snowshoe festival. Lots of gear required, but what a great day!



Most of all, even when life feels so full and overwhelming, I am so grateful for this amazing gift:

Championship Eater

Susannah is still doing great with solids. She is now eating sweet potato, squash, bananas, avocados, apples, pears, carrots, and green peas. We're starting her on vegetables and fruits first and will probably wait until she is closer to 9 months before expanding into other types of foods. Kid's got a lot of green vegetables in her immediate future, though.

Oh, and have I mentioned that she has two teeth now? Two sharp little bottom teeth that emerged when she was about 5.5 months old.

Yummy, squash!




I am so pleased with her little attachable high chair. It is such a smart use of space and I can rotate the seat around so that she can watch me cook and do dishes.

Watch Out, World!

It would figure that the people living in the 480 square foot house would have an extremely active baby. At 6.5 months old, Susannah can now sit up, crawl, and pull herself up to stand. Over the past few weeks, she has crawled over to Charles' favorite plant, plunged in her hand, and pulled out a handful of dirt. She has pulled a pile of magazines off the bookshelf. She has knocked over her car seat. She is into everything and she moves so fast!

She is also in a big sticking-out-her-tongue phase. She's actually quite like a puppy right now. She pants, sticks out her tongue, and plays fetch with balls. It's so fun to watch her. She gets so excited and fixated on an object, and she's so curious.



Here's some video evidence of her antics.
Jumping energetically


Laughing hysterically

Catching Up & A Big Thank You

I'm so far behind at updating this blog that I missed a number of big events.

Christmas:


Family wedding in New Jersey:


And that's just the beginning... December and January were so hectic. I was extremely busy at work, plus the holidays, plus we all got bad colds. Plus it seemed like everything around the house kept breaking. Since December, Charles has installed an extra heater upstairs, reorganized the house, fixed our refrigerator, fixed our hot water heater (repeatedly), fixed his truck so that it could pass inspection, and pulled his heavy equipment out of a ditch.

Luckily my wonderful cousins Rachel and Judith came to the rescue. They flew up from New Jersey for three different weeks to watch Susannah and help out around the house. It was so fun to have them here, and I was spoiled coming home from work to a happy kiddo and a home-cooked meal. They are wonderful with Susannah and she just loves them. Thank you Rachel and Judith!!


With Susannah at Sara's wedding celebration in New Jersey.