I'm never going to....

I have put that phrase at the beginning of lots of sentences in my life. Here are a few of my own rules I've broken.

I'm never going to be the type of mom to constantly wear a pony tail, cut off shorts and generic t-shirts. I'm going to have PRIDE in my appearance even as a mom.
FAIL.
This summer, it's all I've lived in. I also don't believe in "proper" bras anymore. Sports bras are it for me at the moment.

I'm never going to be the type of mom to always put bows in my little girl's hair.
FAIL.
After having to correct one too many people of her gender when she wasn't totally draped in pink as a newborn, i don't generally let her leave the house without a headband.

I'm never going to be the type of wife to always cook a hot meal for my hubby. Some times I'm going to take a night off.
FAIL.
While during my pregnancy, this may have been the case as we ordered out when i wasn't up to it, since having moved i cook almost every night and nights i don't, Jason does.

I'm never going to talk "baby talk" to my kids. They should be taught proper speech from the beginning.
FAIL.
I melt every time Noella talks. So i mimic her and sometimes don't pronounce my R's when speaking to her.

I'm never going to forget to take "me" time as a mom.
FAIL.
"Me" time consists of escaping to the laundromat once a week or taking a late night shower. I haven't gotten out of the house to do anything in a while. I'm a homebody. Which is another thing I've become and swore never to do.

The point of this post is that in life, we may say "I'm NEVER going to..." but circumstances and people change. I guess what I'm saying is, never say never. Things rarely go as planned and staying open brings better things into your life. It can mean the difference between being stuck in a rut and moving on. And I'm glad to say, I'm moving on in life. I'm making new choices and taking time on building myself as a wife and mother. I'm trying to keep the word never out of my vocabulary at the moment and staying open to new opportunities. :)

Holy 5 Months Batman!

That's right! My own little peanut (or simply the "Nut" as we call her these days) is five whole months old today. And boy has it gone by fast. Well, maybe not the last month. But still. Faster than i ever remember 5 months going.

Now she can:
Roll over
sit tripod style
blow raspberries
do that thing that kids do when they go "ahhhhhhh" and tap their mouths repeatedly with their hands. (it's a favorite actually)
soothe herself to sleep sometimes
Laughs. Oh how we love to hear her laugh!
She's starting to take steps when we hold her hands up. She can "walk" across the living room.

Recently however, the little one who loved to eat peaches and pears, applesauce and oatmeal has refused solids. In fact, she gags whenever i try. I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that i may have started her a bit early and now she's rebelling against my excitement of starting solids. So I've thrown in the towel for the time being and will try again next week. Say la vie.

And i have to admit something. It's going to sound awful. But it's true. I love the fact that I am the center of this little one's world sometimes. No matter how focused she is on something, how determined she is to get something into her mouth or who is holding her, if she hears my voice, she immediately starts looking for me. She tracks me when i walk passed her. If she's fussing in her crib and hears my voice she chills out for a moment. And my all time favorite mommy moments are when I'm starting her sleepy time routine and she opens her mouth, gives me a "kiss" and starts humming with me. It's slimy, makes my skin feel weird after the drool dries and most of the time also comes with a little bit of au d'spit-up but it's sweet.

This is the first picture I have of just she and I since she was only 2 months old. Credit goes to my wonderful Mama. I'm so excited for next month. We just might have a half birthday for her. :)

Red in the face

Noella will grunt like this until she is red in the face and gets the hiccups. We have no idea why. Though sometimes we wonder if she's struggling to fill her pants....

Swimming, coupons and teeth

The Miss has become a water bug.

Gammy bought her this wonderful contraption and she's taken a liking to it. It's the only time she can move totally independent from someone else and boy is she a fan! She kicks up a storm and splashes around. I'm so glad she loves to swim because we do too.

I've started coupon clipping. It's fun. and time consuming. But it takes up the time i would otherwise use for tv watching or mindless eating or a combination of the two so i feel productive. So far, we've only couponed once and only saved $2.50 but ya gotta start somewhere! I have a pile of coupons on my desk waiting to be cut out and categorized for our stock up trip to Price Chopper. They double all coupons up to $.99 so i'm stoked.

Other news on the Miss. She's cutting teeth. and she's miserable. At least, this is our theory. She's putting everything into her mouth, drooling, cranky and eating less than usual. With her eating less than usual, she's barely getting 20oz a day most of the time when she should be close to 32oz. But it's hard to force her to eat when she won't take the bottle. We'll get through it though. Eventually, you always get through it.