Baby Marin: Week Thirty (7 Months!)

This week has been filled with early mornings and buckets of baby drool. There is a certain sense of change upon our lives in so many ways, big and small. I eagerly anticipate the time when Marin's first tooth surprises me one morning and I realize that all of her hard work and fussiness has paid off and created something. Pushed through. Defied the odds and finally presented itself into the world. I realize it is one little tooth, but she is fighting for it. I keep having to remind myself that we have to go through this for ALL of her teeth. Oh boy.

As of today, Marin is 7 months old. The newborn stage is very much behind us and every milestone reached brings us closer to her being a year old. It really isn't that far away, which is hard for me to grasp at this moment. The way that time moves and breathes in our lives completely changed when we had a child. I have to approach every day with so much selflessness, they are no longer my own. I have to be alright with that and it is definitely a learning experience. I applaud all of you parents with multiple children in tow. At this point in time, I just can't even fathom that. I know that time will probably come at some point down the road, but I wake everyday just trying to make sure I get dressed, get my work done, and raise a child in an environment that helps her grow and learn.

Within the week, we will be adding a nephew (a cousin for Marin) to this crazy mix and I can't wait. Having another baby around will help Marin grow even more and learn what sharing is all about. It truly takes a village to raise children and I am extremely thankful for the village that we have around us everyday. I just don't want to think about raising a family without them.

Also, baby pajamas are so great, especially ones with bears on the bum and feet. 

Week Thirty.

Baby Marin: Week Twenty Nine

This week has been a whirlwind of craziness. Change is on our horizon and we are just trying to hold onto the moments of every day that matter the most. It has been raining nearly all week, which is fine but all of us. I just want to curl up at home with Marin and read Winnie the Pooh books all day. Marin has begun to army crawl and is sitting up even better than last week for longer periods of time. She loves playing peek-a-boo. I blink and we reach another milestone. 

Also, her little hoodie just kills me. 

Week Twenty Nine. 

(All photos this week were taking by Ryan.) 

Baby Marin: Week 26 (6 months!)

As of monday, Marin is 6 months old. The fact that we are already half way through her first year is astounding and shocking to me. I truly cannot believe how quickly time is passing. Six months ago, I was wanting nothing more than to go into labor and meet our little girl. Now she is almost sitting up on her own, is trying out new foods and managing to get more on her than in her mouth, and blows raspberries with the best of them. We are back to sleeping mostly through the night but she does baby yoga stretches in her crib all night. Watching her on the baby monitor is pretty funny at times. 

Baby Marin at 6 Months:

• Has started trying solid foods. So far banana is the contender. We will move on to something else in a few days. 
• I recently bought her baby bandanas to wear instead of all of the (kind of) ugly bibs she's been wearing. People are always wondering why she always has a bib on. I have one answer: DROOL. Unless you want to come to my house every 2 hours or so and change her outfit, the bib is staying. But now, she can drool in adorable style. 
• She rolls half way across the room in the blink of an eye. Tummy time is her favorite time now. 
• She babbles with the best of the them. She is a pro at making fart noises. 
• We have her 6 month well check next week. I am curious as to how much she weighs now. 

Mama and Dad at 6 Months: 

• As of this week, I have embarked into the world of Beachbody, in an attempt to get my body back, or even better than ever. I am loving Shakeology and I ordered the Piyo workout. It's awesome. I seriously love it and actually look forward to working out. 
• I am also making sure I take better care of myself. This morning I am treating myself (finally) to a Package of Bliss at She She. 3 hours of glorious pampering. I can hardly contain my excitement!
• Ryan is back to having Marin all day on Wednesdays. They take trips to Best Buy. She convinces him to buy more Blu-Rays. I know their secret plan. 
• We are going to have a date dinner this Friday, which I am looking forward to. One of the wonderful grandmas is back teaching school now and needs some Marin time. We will gladly help her out. 
• We are half way through this photo series! I can't wait to put it all in a book that we can look at for years to come. Also, Ryan took the photos for this week! 

26 weeks. 6 months old. 

Baby Marin: Week Twenty Three

This week has presented many ups and downs. We go from having wonderful afternoons to nights where we can seem to get Marin to calm down to sleep. Sunday night was one of those nights. The day was perfect. Marin was a little angel and even napped long enough for me to make some good headway on a wedding I'm currently editing. As we were going through our normal bedtime routine she just decided that the routine wasn't what she needed that evening and the tears flowed. The only thing that finally got her to sleep, aside from probably pure exhaustion, was pacing the room in dad's arms. I think it's the beard. It calms all things.

Still no little teeth yet but I know we are in the midst of breaking through tiny gums. We tried some banana the other day and she wasn't too thrilled with that quite yet. It's all so new and unknown, for both her and us.

I pray for many good naps today and the next. She is growing faster than I think even she can keep up with.

Week Twenty Three.

(PS. Nobody freak out. Dad was holding her and keeping her safe while she was getting her picture taken by the mirror before and after bath time.)

Baby Marin: Week Fifteen

I live between two worlds most days. The first is the one where I go to work and time passes in the blink of an eye. It is in this world that I am buried by deadlines and discussions, meetings and brainstorming. Everything moves at such a fast pace and then I find myself already facing a weekend once more.

The second world I live in is the one of being mother and I long only to freeze time in its place and rest for a while. It is in this world that I am up to my elbows in dirty diapers and spit up, but also anxiously await the sound of a new coo or giggle, or the triumph of a babe that is discovering how to roll over and discover the world around her.

I am always between two worlds. A bend and a sway.

Marin is fifteen weeks old today. I was thinking yesterday afternoon as I was driving home with Marin in the seat behind me, how quickly life is passing. I have a friend that is currently awaiting the arrival of her first child and I can't help but think about how not so long ago, we were in the same boat they are in. The waiting. The anticipation. The build up to the most painful yet rewarding thing I have ever done. I was thinking about how I have already mostly forgotten the pains of childbirth or the way my feet were so swollen or the sleepless nights those first few weeks where I could hardly tell day from night. It has all faded away into memory and I find myself with a baby that changes and grows every day right before my very eyes.

We have our good days and our bad days. We have our fussy afternoons that give way into sometimes fussy evenings. But, all in all, I find myself continuously thinking about my kid as I am away at work. She is always somewhere in the back of my mind, always present, always growing. So much of me wishes she could stay this age forever yet the other half desires to know of the girl and then woman she will some day become.

Two worlds. A bend and a sway.

(This is my most favorite photo that I have ever taken of our daughter, at least so far.) 

Baby Marin: Week Fourteen

“I don't remember who said this, but there really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child.” 

― Anne Lamott, Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year

Geoff really does love her. 

Baby Marin: Week Four

Where to even begin.... our little girl is a month old already.  I kind of feel like I've just been in this alternate universe of maternity leave and time passes so differently than before. I keep having to tell myself that it won't be like this forever. I will have to return to work at some point. I will have to face reality. I try not to think about that too much and try to soak in these precious moments while I have them. 

Marin seems to be changing daily, right before our very eyes. Our little newborn baby isn't so much of a newborn any more. Her expressions are becoming filled with more personality. She is becoming more vocal everyday. Her newborn clothes are slowly beginning to become snug. She isn't napping nearly as much as before and our nights are slowly becoming more pleasant due to the fact that she is only waking to nurse once or twice. Hallelujah! 

She still hates baths. Cutting her fingernails is probably the worst task we have been given as parents. Her little fingers. So little. So difficult to trim those nails! She becomes fussy usually later in the afternoon into the evening but is a little angel most of the time otherwise. I am counting my blessings on that one. 

We are just soaking it all in. Our little one won't be so little far too soon.