Just a few ramblings

Why, oh why, must babies grow so fast? I can't believe my sweet pea is already 6 months old! Ok, I may be slightly emotional right now because I just finished looking at Marlee's newborn pictures, so please forgive me. This is what happens when I'm home alone while my husband is off working in the ER and my baby is asleep in the other room. I look at pictures, and then I get happy/sad/emotional as I think about life and wonder where time has gone. Sometimes, when I'm holding my sweet little girl I just wish time would stop, or at least pause for a moment. My favorite thing of like, forever, is when she lies her head on my shoulder and breathes her hot breath on my neck. My heart melts each time it happens, although it usually never lasts for more than 2 seconds because she's a wiggly little baby. I know it's totally cliche to say, but I never knew how much I could love until I became a mother. After having Marlee I literally felt like the Grinch, and that my heart suddenly grew 3x larger. Being a mother has also deepened my love for my husband, my family, and my Savior. I just feel so completely blessed and humbled to be given such an awesome and sacred responsibility. I truly wish that every woman could experience the deep joy and reverence that having a child can bring, and my heart aches for those who so very badly want a child but for one reason or another are not able to have one. I feel that being a parent has given me a glimpse, as slight as it may be, as to how much we are loved by our Father in Heaven and His son, Jesus Christ. Speaking of love, I absolutely LOVED the talk given by President Uchtdorf at Women's Conference this weekend. (To see it go here: http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/10&vid=1180453706001&cid=7?lang=eng )There's no way you could have listened to his message and not felt more encouraged, more loved, and more important. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

“No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love…..Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time.”

Such powerful and true words!

Ok, I'll stop blubbering now. Today was a big day for Miss Marlee. She had her 6-month checkup (with vaccinations) and went to daycare for the first time. Both events went quite smoothly, and I managed to get through work with only calling the sitter once to check in. Here are Marlee's "stats" as it seems to be the popular thing to post them, and of course I want to be popular....
Weight: 17.1 lbs (72%)
Height: 27.5 inches (96%)
Head: 17 inches (72%)
So apparently Marlee's head is a little more proportional to the rest of her now and probably won't make the Guinness Book of World Records anytime soon. And of course, a post wouldn't be complete without a picture.

My sweet baby

Goodbye Summer

Seriously, where has September gone? It seems to be flying by! During Labor Day weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Jamie's family here in Norfolk. It was a short visit, but it was fun to watch football, play games, and eat too many treats together. Marlee also got to "play" with her older cousin Addy, so it was fun to watch those two cuties interact/poke eyeballs.

Jamie and I both spent most of the month sick. I got sick for a week, then he got sick for 2 weeks, then Marlee got sick, and then I got sick again. We're really good about sharing in this family. We all got loaded up on antibiotics, inhalers, syrups....you know, The Works, and now we're all doing much better. I also caught a horrendous fever in the beginning of the month: The crafting fever. This came as quite a surprise to me and those who know me well as crafting has always been as appealing to me as the Bubonic Plague. I read something on MSN one day about an easy, cheap DIY home decoration and figured "What the heck, eh?" So I hauled my little crafty self down to the dollar store to buy a hot glue gun, borrowed a staple gun from someone, and got my craft on like Donkey Kong. All of my creations required little to no skill and therefore are nothing spectacular, but I must say, (being the humble being I am), I was slightly impressed with myself. Here's a few pictures of my products:

Fabric "art" hanging in the dining area

Bow hanger for Marlee

Mirror for Marlee's room

Another fabric "wall art" and wooden letter

The lamp base used to be brown with ugly Asian-inspired paintings on it.
Just a little spray paint and ribbon made it more girly

Like a flash in the pan, as quickly as the crafting fever came on, it left. Who knows if it will ever come back in full force again. Now I will digress as I tell of other random news from the month. I finally found myself a little part-time nursing job that is perfect for me. I think it will keep me a little more sane as I'll get outta the house and around other adults at least 2 days a week. Speaking of being a mother, it's kinda hard work. But then again, anything that is worth something usually is. Just when I think I've got a good routine and everything figured out, things change. For example, Marlee used to be a great sleeper. There I was, relishing in my dream-filled nights, and just like that, Marlee starting waking at night again right around 5 months old. I guess the good thing is, when she'd wake all I'd have to do is re-swaddle her and/or stick her binky in and she'd go right back to sleep, but I'd still wake feeling like a zombie in the morning because of my interrupted sleep. So I got out my arsenal of parenting books (did I mention that I devour parenting books, The Baby Whisperer is a personal fav) and began trouble-shooting without much success. Well, a few nights ago Jamie and I decided to take a giant leap of faith and stopped swaddling her at night. Presto! She's slept through the night ever since. However, now we're paranoid she'll be a SIDS baby. This is how I often find her in her crib: lying on her belly face down almost FLAT on the mattress!

There's nothing quite like a good ol' mattress face plant!

Other than scaring us with her sleeping position preference, Marlee continues to be the loveable, chubby, happy little baby that she is.

Unfortunately, she's inherited her mother's thighs:)

I also started Marlee on solids this week as she'll be 6 months old in a couple days. It's a pretty messy process, especially when she decided to blow raspberries with a mouth full of sweet potato.

Finally, Jamie has had a busy busy month with his Urology rotation. It was just kinda happenstance that he ended up rotating in Urology but he really seems to enjoy it. Dinner time conversation is never dull as he has now collected a slew of stories involving DRE's (digital rectal exams), incontinence, ED (think Bob Dole), and the like. Next week he starts ER rotations, so I'm sure he'll gather more stories to add to his repertoire:)