Dinner!

We got back down to my roots (said with a southern accent). Well, they are sort of my roots. I am Mexican, through and through, both sides of the family with little deviation. However, I speak Spanish zero percent and I have no idea what part of Mexico my family is from and yeah, the only way we celebrate our heritage is through the food. So, for tonight I made fajitas, beans, and guacamole. YUM!

I would show a picture, but it didn't look the prettiest. It did taste good though.

Right now, my dear husband and Baby Girl are getting what he needs for his sermon tomorrow. A good sermon always includes some type of illustration. Tomorrow, I believe, we're using something that is actually alive. Hopefully, it gets through the night! For a treat when they get back I made lemonade-raspberry smoothies. I'm pretending it's a margarita. It needs more sugar though because I don't think my face is supposed to contort with each sip.

It looks prettier than the fajitas so I did do a picture of the before it was massacred in the blender.

Add sugar!

Here's our half-bean :)

Month Seven

Wearing the dress Daddy picked out

Stats:
Age - 7 months
Weight - 13 pounds 8 ounces
Height - 24 inches
Favorite TV Show - Yo Gabba Gabba
Favorite Book - her children's Bible
Favorite Toy - Mono Head (it's a small blanket with a monkey head attached)
Favorite Hobby - EAT! She actually had her first foods today, meaning she actually ate some of the pears rather than push them right out with her tongue. 
Favorite Song - The Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Pink Panther song
Favorite Topic - anything having to do with death and destruction (no, really, this is true!)


**Favorite thing to do - not sleep at the moment...been up for about an hour now. It's 3:24 a.m.

Back to Life!

I have learned that a cold has the power of a freight train. Ugh...so sick! First, Baby Girl was sick. Coughing, sneezing, and snot all over the place. She finally started to feel better last Saturday and the every next day, Easter Sunday...WHAMO! It hit me. I hadn't even felt like I was getting sick and then overnight I was a mess. Of course, and if any of you mama's out there know different, please share, the pharmacist said I couldn't take anything because I'm nursing. The symptoms of a cold are the worse. 


After a week of what felt like literally blowing my brains out of my nose, I am finally feeling a bit normal. So, in celebration of somewhat normalcy, I'm making lunch! My husband and baby are at Daddy Bootcamp right now. We found it through Kaiser while I was pregnant and my husband went as a rookie. Then, once Baby Girl was born, he went as a veteran and she is basic training. This morning, she's still basic training, but my husband is teaching the class! I'm so proud of him!

While they are away I finally have some time to pick stuff up around the house, watch the newest episode of The Office, and cook. For lunch we are having pepperoni pizza rolls, brought to you by: Riches to Rags.


The only thing I did different was I used cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Well, I did that for my husband's, not mine. I don't eat cheese. I'm lactose intolerant, but I have never liked cheese. Even as a kid. And melted cheese is the worse possible kind of cheese for me. Yuck! I also added a small slice of mozzarella cheese to the top of  his so that we can tell the difference between the two. In mine I put only once slice of pepperoni and a slice of tomato.


Who can say no to carbs filled with meat and, for you sickos out there (just kidding!), cheese?

Before

After

"And he marveled because of their unbelief."

A few days ago, after reading a few reviews, I started watching the first season of Downton Abbey. O, am I so in love with this show! I think at times I wish I was British, but since I'm not even close to it I will have to settle with living vicariously through fictional shows about the British.


During the last episode of the season (yes, I'm already done with the first season. Now, what am I to do?) the family installed two telephones in their home. Some of the servants were mystified, even scared of the contraption and others were simply marveling over the invention. I realized with all the technology we have that makes minute changes day-to-day we rarely marvel over anything. We don't sit back in disbelief whether it's in awe or in disgust. New things, for the most part, have become commonplace. It's expected that Apple will turn out a new version of this and that with every passing year. Google will never stop thinking what they can do next. And we are, or at least I am, constantly thinking of what new gadget is needed to make life easier.


Change has become mundane...at least when it comes to the bright and shiny objects.


Marveling, miracles, astonishment is still there, but rather than coming from a telephone it comes from the more natural occurrences of life.


I get so excited when the tomatoes appear on their vine. When I see my first strawberry that my husband planted, I'll probably take a picture of it. Realizing that Baby Girl can sit up straight all on her own is a beautiful sight. When I walk into her room after she wakes up from a nap and she smiles - wonderful! The joy that she brings to others is inspiring. And her birth - any birth of any baby - is truly one of God's most amazing miracles.

Baby Girl's First Easter

WARNING!

I think it would be awesome to know what every product, which resides in my home, is made out of and be able to pronounce all the ingredients. I started off with laundry detergent, then moved on to dishwasher detergent, and (as you read a couple of nights ago) Vick's Vapor Rub. O are there woes to all of my creations.

First off, we loved the laundry soap...until we realized that they were clogging the cloth diapers. This made for diapers that were useless and lots of soaked through pants and sheets. After bathing them in Dawn dish soap a few times, we lost only three to the soap. I still use it for our clothes, but I think once I run out it'll be back to store-bought stuff.

Oh my, the soap for the dishwasher! Worked amazing the very first night. Never again after that. There is a cloudy film on most everything now. I gave up after a week or so. If I wanted to hand wash dishes I would have never asked for a working dishwasher! So, yes, store-bought stuff in that machine now as well.

I don't know...maybe I'm just not that great at this stuff. I like knowing what were using, it's ingredients, and try to save money at the same time. What do you do to save the precious dollar?

Train Ride!

We decided to catch the Metro to meet my sister, our mom, and some friends out in L.A. for lunch. Everyone was supposed to get there at 1230pm. Unfortunately, from our area, that was going to be impossible. The only train that left remotely close to that time left at 907am! Thankfully - oh yes, thank you God so very much! - Baby Girl slept last night like she hasn't slept in the last couple of nights. I'm chalking it up to the homemade Vick's Vapor Rub and lots of prayer. Prayers of healing, rest, and peace. We all got to sleep last night. She still has some major sneezes and some coughing, but she is feeling better.


Anyway, yes, we had to arrive in L.A. in the 10 o'clock hour. It was okay. It gave us some much needed family time during a very busy week at the church. We got off the train and then took the Red Line. All this means something to my husband because he absolutely loves public transportation. He sees it a challenge to comprehend schedules, stops, here's and there's. Once he has accomplished this then the next step is to use it to go everywhere possible. This morning we took it to the Financial District. 


We ate crepes for breakfast. Mine had sugar, sugar, and more sugar. His had apples. Crepes are my new favorite thing to eat. I love them! Then we walked a block or two to the public library. I wish I could live in a library and this one, I think, I could actually do just that. It has plenty of bathrooms, comfy places to rest, and a Panda Express. How much better can life get? We got there just in time to visit the children's literature section and participate in story time. The theme was noises, which was perfect for Baby Girl. She was fixated on the storyteller as she made the noises of rain, drums, and other instruments. 


It was a fun day.

Super serious waiting for the train.

The entrance!

Children's section...gorgeous!

Hippie Speak

I try to do my best to give the best for the Baby Girl. I also try to use whatever I have in the house for all of our needs. Right now, Baby Girl, has a bad cold. Troll bogies everywhere! I've already drugged her with Tylenol because she always runs a fever for about a day after her shots so I didn't want to medicate her even further - and, really, can you ever get rid of a cold with medication? Nope! It's a virus, people! However, relief is always wanted and the poor girl can't breathe out of her nose at the moment. My friend, Adrianna, gave me the idea to use Vick's Vapor Rub. I knew there had to be some kind of homemade something-or-other that would work. I searched for some home remedies and came across this gem:


Kiss Vicks Goodbye – DIY Chest Rub

We'll see how it works tonight when I put her to bed. Hopefully, she sleeps tonight! It's been a rough couple of nights with cat naps here and there. Adrianna also said to apply it to her feet. Anyone else do this little trick? I'm going to try it and if it doesn't work, at least, Baby Girl's feet will be smelling pretty.

"Scarlett, can it be possible that..."

SCARLETT: Can what be possible, Rhett?

RHETT: That you've grown a woman's heart? A real woman's heart.

Mommydom has completely changed my heart. It's almost scary the things my heart beats faster for because it didn't beat for much before this whole baby thing. Can I still blame hormones or is this an actual transformation? This seems like a good change so I'll go with transformation.


We were watching a documentary last night and it was about happiness. The first episode took us through relationships - parents, babies, friends, and lovers. It said that babies build their relationships through attachment. In most cases (I hope!) that attachment is provided and built upon by the parents and is such a crucial phase. It's a necessity. They studied kids in orphanages and the longer they stayed there, this phase basically didn't exist. Sure, their basic needs were met - food, diapers, shelter - but there was no love. Tears set in and I told my husband that I was game for adopting babies from any Eastern European orphanage! We have already agreed to adopt, but I wasn't for the baby-age. Now, I want to save them all.


Also, last night, I think Baby Girl is teething and it is breaking my heart. She just cried off and on for the night. No screaming, just a miserable cry. We held her, rocked her, fed her and she drifted off here and there. We, of course, did not sleep at all. She was just not happy at all. She's fairly miserable this morning and has her 6-month doctor's appointment - more shots! - poor thing. 


Being a baby is tough.

My Favorite Movie!