Long time, no see!

Ali asked me to please please update the blog, so here I am. I really just don't have time for it anymore, I'm back at work 4 days a week now, and Ada is crawling and standing and just won't stay where I put her anymore, so it's constant busyness.
She'll be 8 months old in a few days and that's getting really close to a year old and I kind of can't believe it. She's amazing us every day with new tricks and sounds and we love it all so much. Our only complaint about her at this point is that it is still so difficult to get her to go to sleep. She does not like to take naps, she just can't seem to stand missing out on anything that is going on. Night time sleep is going pretty well though, she sleeps half the night in her crib, and half with us in the bed, which prompted us to buy a king size bed yesterday, because there just isn't enough room for all 4 (richard!) of us.
She is so great about meeting new people and hanging out at the bakery while I work. Her temperament is so easy going. She's only very mildly clingy to me, more so when she is tired. She can handle getting passed around to everyone, although she would prefer to be on the floor, crawling or standing up.
We had a fun, quiet, small christmas and she loves her new toys. Josh and I are both so happy the holidays are over and life can get back to normal.
Here she is, doing some standing. She is really proud of herself when she does it! Josh is hilarious in the background of this video.

My Brother Died

Yup, that's right, my sewing machine, that Josh got for me last Christmas. Kind of regretting giving away my old Kenmore now. I was really happy with a lot of things about the Brother machine, but I was also spending more time fighting with it than actually sewing. Turns out that I'm not the only one, and those machines just aren't that awesome. I took it in to the sewing machine repair place and the technician said it wasn't worth fixing (it would cost more than the machine), and that I shouldn't buy another Brother.

So I started researching sewing machines, and I told Josh that I really wanted a Bernina, but that they are just too expensive and I've never let myself even consider one. I've never been very good about buying expensive things for myself, and I really can't think of anything that I own (besides my car, and well, my bakery) that costs more than a couple hundred dollars.                    nn     ,                                 j m mdsf       r r u5555555 7n 7n  x  x c   z wz  l,
Ada just typed that last part, she's really good at the space bar.
Anyway. We went to this great little local shop today called Modern Domestic that sells Berninas and gives sewing classes. The owner was working and spent half an hour talking me through all the machines. I told her I'd like to spend under $1000 on a machine, and she of course immediately upsold me to the $2000 machine based on my sewing skills and what I'd like to sew. The bottom of the line Bernina (which is still an excellent machine) is $879, and it is kind of below my skill level. It actually does less things than my Brother, but it is a much higher quality machine. So THIS is the machine we decided would be best for me, to allow me to do what I'm doing now, plus some room to grow my skills. And of course it is $2100. Eek! It does come with a 20 year mechanical parts warranty, and I'm pretty sure that I will have it for 20 years.
The cheaper machine is also very nice, but I'm guessing that if I keep sewing like I have been, I'll want to upgrade in the next year or two. Everyone always says that you should spend the money on good quality, right? I need help deciding! I think we can afford it if we pay it off over the next couple of months. Josh is all gung-ho for me to buy it, but I'm having commitment issues. I definitely don't want to end up in a situation again where my sewing machine doesn't even last a year.
What do you guys think?

$2100!

$879!

vaccine reaction

Ada seems to be having a mild reaction to the vaccine this time, which seems weird to me since she didn't have a reaction to the first one. She has a low grade fever and some redness and swelling at the injection spot. She's also tired and grumpy, which is making me sad. Hopefully today will be the last day of it. Last night we gave her some infant tylenol to help her out, and she conked out about 30 minutes after the dosage.

I can't believe that today is October 1st. I had to stare at my phone for a minute today when I saw the calendar said "1". Ada will be 5 month old in a few days, and I really can't figure out where the time has gone. The next couple of months will be a whirlwind of work and holidays and suddenly it will be 2012. And then she'll be turning one. I guess that's just the way it goes - time passes and children grow up.

Next week I start going back to work without her. Josh will have her on Sundays, and we'll have a nanny take care of her on Thursday and Saturday. I've found someone who can take her on Thursday for right now, but I have to work on a permanent situation, because this person can't take her on Saturdays. I'd like to have one person who can do both days. Apparently it is harder to find a part time nanny than a full time one.

I'm going to miss her so much, but I'm also excited to get back to work without her. I've never felt so torn about anything. I'm sure I'll get used to it quickly enough.

4 months, almost five.

Ada had her 4 month pediatrician visit today. She passed with flying colors, and when the Dr. walked in the door she said "She's sitting?! That's two more months from now!" Then we all watched and laughed as she tore and chewed and otherwise destroyed the sterile paper on the exam table. She's apparently as much of a genius as we hoped and she is well ahead with her strength and gross motor skills, her eyesight and focus is great, her flat spot is slowly rounding out, and she had her 2nd DTaP (diphtheria tetanus and pertussis) vaccine today. (Um also, she's in bed and I'm drinking a mimosa as I write this, so sorry for any slurred speech.) Her weight gain, head size and height are all in the 75th percentile, but I'm guessing that is based on 4 month statistics, and she is actually closer to 5 months, so she is probably closer to mid-range.

She is so much fun, and so happy all the time, I just look at her and listen to her babbling and I start crying. I just adore watching her learn and grow. Today I took her to work with me so I could help out when someone called in sick. I have been avoiding taking her there, because she doesn't nap as much and demands more of my attention, so I can't get anything done. Today I tossed her in the Ergo carrier on my back and she was so amazing!

She ended up falling asleep back there and I was able to work for a good couple of hours. Loving that carrier so much! I dragged the co-sleeper (which I have at work for her to sleep in) out into the kitchen for awhile and she sat in there and played with toys for a solid hour as well. She also sat in the bumbo seat for a bit, but she isn't loving it as much now that she can sit up on her own. I was wrapping cookies and had some sitting too close to her and when I looked over I saw this:

Then Josh came and picked us up and we went to the pediatrician. (the pediatrician said: cut back on the cookies porky!) After that we grabbed lunch/dinner, and she chewed on and tore up some newspaper while we ate. All those toys that she has, and all she wants is paper!

We had a great time in Austin seeing everyone, and Julie is doing so great. We loved her nursery (especially the glider, jealous!) and had so much fun eating mexican food, having sno-cones and going to the Baby Earth store. Not to mention the baby shower! Ada loved everyone, and got a bath from Gram, took a serious nap on Aunt Ali, held out her arms to be picked up by her cousin Grace, played with her 2nd cousin Tripp, and had lots of laughs with Grandpa. And she loves Julie so much, (We wonder if it's because we look and sound so much alike?) she spent lots of time sitting on her pregnant belly. Julie's babe even kicked her a few times.

Sorry jules, I know you won't love this picture, but I like that Ada is going for the cake. Or the bib? I'm not sure. You really look more adorable than this in real life. 

It was a long day, and my mimosa has made me sleepy, so goodnight! Talk to you guys soon!

Where have the days gone?

Videos! Ada is amazing us every day. She's sitting and playing with toys, she's making all sorts of noises and raspberries, and she is just so generally happy; we love it! Sometimes it's hard to get over what a perfect baby she is. She's taking the bottle with no problems now, and she's even back to the pacifier. She sleeps all night, she wakes up smiling, and she eats like a champ. She had her first vaccine a few days ago and barely cried. I cried more than she did!
Here are a couple videos from the last two weeks - watching the playing with toys one now, I can't believe how much better she is at sitting just a week later. And the babbling one, she of course was babbling up a storm until I pulled out the camera.

Video Bonanza

We had a fun weekend with Krystal and Brian here, and they brought the heat with them, so it was nice and summery. I took a few videos of Ada, and I was going to put them up one at a time, you know, to build excitement, but do I really have time for that? No. So here they all are, at once! Oh, and I didn't get a video of it yet, but she's finally starting to work on rolling over! She can make it from her back to her side, but I don't think that she's realized she can go further than that.

This one is short. We tried putting her in the Johnny Jump Up my mom sent. She's still too small for it, but she loved it. She immediately started gnawing on the side, and didn't stop until we pulled her out.

This one is kind of loud (Josh was vacuuming in the background) so you might want to turn your volume down. You can see how much more dextrous she's getting with her hands - I can see progress every day. She's very serious about chewing on that block.

This one is the best! It's a bummer it's so blurry, but we caught her laughing on camera! We hope to get more and more of this, we love it so much when she laughs. It's adorable! She's turning into more and more of a little person and it's just so amazing to see her personality develop.

3 months and 1 week

Today is Gram and Grandpa Higgins' Birthday! Yup, both of them. Just for them, a video. It's not super exciting, but she makes a bunch of noise, and there is a bit of drool as well.

She's slowly starting to move her head and respond to noises, you can see it in the video when I say her name. She follows us around with her eyes and her whole head now. I feel like she always knows where I'm at in a room. She's also getting much more dextrous with her hands (and feet actually); she's starting to grab everything, like my hair, and toys and the burp cloth. Still no sign of rolling over, but she's getting really good at tummy time.