Focus RELENTLESSLY on the positive.

If you follow me on twitter, I had a bit of moment today. I've been having a bit of a lot of moments lately. I was a jerk, I wanted to whine and complain and feel sorry for myself because my girl is NKA...

                        BUT MOMMY AND DADDY STILL AREN'T MARRIED

I started going to therapy, not just because we aren't married, but I've changed A LOT of things the past three years. Moved to a brand new city, had a baby, moved in with a man, bought a house, tried making friends (it's rough ya'll), one friend moved, another went off to finish school, and me?

Well... I started working for a great company thanks to girl who moved and then... see above photo. The girl who went to school and I do sincerely try to get together, I seriously don't know how she does it all, she's awesome! I'm a bum.

And I'm happy, I am, but something is missing. Next month will be D and I's 3 year anniversary. 3 years, 1 1/2 babies and... yeah.

Therapy has taught me I think negative, it's a process, one WAY over due for me. Like way overdue. There were so many different issues I thought I had under control, but I didn't. I was mean to D, I was feeling sorry for myself and I didn't want my daughter growing up with a sad, miserable, negative mother. Plus all the hormones that come with pregnancy, it's crazy. So I'm a mess, well, not a mess. It could be worse, but I'm working on it.

So I'm struggling and even though I want this really bad, the girl who moved reminded me others desperately want what I already have. So I'm a jerk and instead I need to focus on what I have, not what I think I want (damn hormones).

Someone who I admire told me, she felt a sigh of relief to know what looks perfect online, is not perfect IRL, (I had to vent and she is awesome at listening, sorry M, hope you don't get too many emails) and so this is not perfect. Yay.

Also, my spelling is probably not perfect and I don't know where the spell check is on here anymore.

Be positive!

The good, the bad, the ugly.

A quick Saturday night update for you all! Hi! It's been so long. This picture was taken by the wonderful Kelly, go visit her page and tell her she needs to post some more recipes (she makes some killer food yo). I've been busy, some good, some bad, some ugly.

The good is we bought a house, well D bought a house. Although I am far from a domestic goddess, it's nice making my own here in Indy, previously we rented a house. It wasn't ours, we didn't paint it or really make it ours. We haven't painted here either, but it's on the list. This house all beige, everything is beige...

Grace is doing great, I went back to work (lov-ing it) and now she's in daycare, THIS time we decided on going to an actual facility. I couldn't bring myself to do another home daycare, it's more than we would like to spend, but G has so much fun and learning a ton. Between working 40+ hours a week and trying to make our house a home, I feel like she's growing up right before my eyes. That movie with the remote control? That's what I feel like except I didn't push any buttons or even really want my life to go faster.

My work is great, very busy so the days fly by and a challenge I enjoy. PLUS, I get adult time and adult conversation. Don't get my wrong, I loved being home with my chick, but it was time to go back.

The bad, well... I don't really want to talk about the bad, now it doesn't seem so bad, but it's also Sunday afternoon. Beautiful day in Indy and as I type this I am sitting out on my mother's day gift (a conversation set) for our screened in PORCH!

I love that we have this porch. It's fabulous.

The ugly, well like I said before Grace is growing leaps and bounds, she's also becoming a bit opinionated and she knows what she wants when she wants it. This makes for the temper tantrums. Sometimes it's a scream (like a loud scream), sometimes it's a I'm just going to fling myself on the floor. She'll sit down first and stay limp when you try to get her to stand, but if it's a really big deal to her, after she sits she will arch her back and hopefully fling her head to the ground.

As a mother, you have to be 2 steps ahead always, if I know it will pry be the flinging her head to the ground temper tantrum, you have to make sure there is nothing there for her to hit her head on in the process (i.e. a table or toy or both).

She keeps me busy, this weekend though I think I found something to keep her entertained at least long enough to get dinner made: we bought a little tikes kitchen set and yesterday, I gave her a bucket of soapy water and told her it was time to wash all her dishes. She loved it, she was soaked, she drank some soapy water, but she had a blast.

And that my friends is what makes it good, all good, no matter what. My girl getting to play and experiment in her own little kitchen. I'm so happy she'll be 1 1/2 next month, this will be my best summer by far!

Follow up Way overdue and yes there is more...

So my last post was a buzz kill, I swear it was an out of body experience. I blogged, tweeted and .2 seconds after I facebooked about the incident, my dad called me to tell me alcoholism is a disease, like cancer, and I could get in trouble for putting her name and where she lives (if you live in the Indy and are concerned, please don't hesitate to contact me). It's not fair, comparing a cancer patient with an alcoholic, specifically one who cares for other people's children, but the way my luck has been going, I don't need a lawsuit.

I've spoken to the mom who reported the "nanny" and also spoke with the other mom of the other victim. I am thankful these ladies and I were able to talk, albeit, not the circumstance, but I cannot thank this mother enough for caring enough to get involved in this. It would have been easier to not get involved.

I still haven't written the police report, I still haven't had my "home visit." I was selfish on Tuesday, thinking about ME when I wrote that post. I realized early Wednesday I need to think about my girl, I need to watch her to make sure her happy go lucky spirit was not cracked by this experience.

Wednesday, I was angry, I was angry she lied to me, my mom and my girl, I was angry I have to have a complete stranger with possible pre-conceived notions of how I made this choice come to my home, I was angry that something far worse could have happened.

I still have questions: Did she have the cops have to chase the nanny around the house yelling and was she being belligerent while my daughter watched scared of what was going on? Was this a one-time incident where she was having a bad day and made a bad choice and got caught? Was this an everyday occurrence?

Besides G being really thirsty when we got home, I didn't notice anything else wrong with her. The "nanny" had a strict no sippys in the playroom rule which I don't blame her for, even with the spill proof cups G can still manage to squeeze the tip just right to have liquid come out. I didn't get close enough to this woman to smell booze on her breath or think that she was intoxicated. I was trusting, she looked like she had it together, the moms group I hooked up when I came to town found their sitters through Craigslist and LOVED them. My mom took me and my brother to a home daycare and it was a wonderful experience.

I have since gotten emails from my warning on Craigslist regarding other home care providers, they are not licensed either, after this experience I don't think I will ever go forward with an unlicensed daycare in the home or not. I know they are not all bad and I know a lot of them are sincere, honest people. I want to work, I want to know my girl is loved and taken care of, but I still hesitate. It's still new, I'm thinking after the home visit and using resources from DCS I will feel comfortable to go forward with this plan.

Failure...

I failed, I feel like I failed. I failed my daughter, my boyfriend and apparently I failed in the sytem. Within a one hour period today, I found my child in the arms of a Police Officer who told me she needed to talk to me. I also found out my "temp to hire" job has been taken off the assignment list. An hour after that? A black cat when I stepped away from my car after pulling in the driveway of what felt like a nightmare...

I found a daycare lady on craigslist, I was looking for a job I needed daycare. I didn't know she would be a drunk who refused to let police into her home so much so they had to kick the door in...


I was let go from my temp assignment, something about "superbowl and parking" and using current consultants... I was too busy trying to figure out why the police had my daughter and why DPS was getting involved.

Lastly, I get a visit, a "home visit" from DPS, because I wanted to work, because I needed to work and I thought that somehow, someway, there were still honest people in the world. People who really cared, who loved what they did, who gave 110% like I did...

SAHM to WM

Well friends, the time has come after 13 wonderful months home with my girl I returned to work this week. It's a temp job, but has the possibility to turn permanent. I worked with this temp agency when I first moved here (4 months pregnant I doubt I would have gotten hired by any company) and returned to them when seeking work, they came through again. It's funny, I never thought I would have luck with a temp agency, but lo and behold I have. The company I work for has hired people on previously so this is kinda like my pass/fail opportunity.

I found a great nanny for Grace, but was still anxious about leaving her on Tuesday for a "test run," I had to get some additional testing done for the job and since I had to pay the lady for the whole week anyway I thought that would be a good opportunity to make sure she would be okay with it. Originally I thought I would take her at 9, but was nearly in tears over the thought of it, instead I made her pancakes and dropped her off at 10. She did well, me not so much, but D drops her off in the morning since he gets to work much later than me.

It makes it so much easier on me that he's the one to drop her off, if I had to do it, I'm not sure I would last at my job. Wednesday morning she was good, Thursday morning she cried. We have some friends in town and they kept her on Friday so she could play with her "west coast boyfriend."

As far as the job goes, I really haven't had time to miss her, I've been really busy preparing for a meeting on Monday and want to make sure I cover all my bases (although I'm still not exactly sure what all those bases are). I finished the power point presentation to correspond with the meeting, but my supervisor did not give me reassurance I did the right thing or tell me it looks nice, that's important to me. Instead he said he'd review it this weekend, the meeting starts at 8am on Monday morning. I offered my cell phone or to come in and he said that it's not necessary. He didn't tell me to not come in on Monday, so I suppose I'll take that as a sign I did something right.

In my previous job I called my boss "sir," not that he demanded I call him that, it was just a habit I developed. My current supervisor told me not to call him "sir," my response? "Yes, sir." I know, I'm cool like that.

For now, I am happy, glad that I have returned to work. I kinda forgot that there is a world out there that doesn't revolve around Grace, it feels good to get back out there, to make a difference and hear the "atta boy" I didn't get from being a SAHM. Grace has been adjusting well from what I have been told and she's happy when I pick her up and she wants to show me the toys and things she did during the day.

My supervisor doesn't care what hours I work as long as the work gets done so I have been going in early so I can still spend a few hours in the evening with my girl. If they decide to hire me on though that would change, but hopefully by then we'll be in our house which is much closer to the job and the commute would not be so bad.
Oh the house? Yes, D got me my house, well is working on getting it. Our offer was approved and he got the mortgage papers yesterday! This song has been playing over and over in my mind these days because, well, it's the truth. I'm going to miss this, I do miss this, but right now, these are some good times!

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBDN8yWyNYU&ob=av2e">

What happened in Vegas

We went there is September, you may be wondering, why all these crazy posts after all this time? Ha! Keep wondering. I kid, I got a "job" at an office again and have time! Lucky you, I'm starting with all my draft posts.

My beauty was 10 months on October 2nd, I breastfed her since the day she was born. I use past tense because those days are over and my heart is heavy. D, being the awesome guy he is, won a contest at his company which included a 5 day/4 night trip to Las Vegas. Grace was getting bigger and her attention span was getting smaller, our intimate feedings were becoming a pain as she was interested in everything else than the actual feeding.

I still miss it, I will always miss it. She is so big now, walking and trying to run all over the place. It feels like we just blinked and there she was all grown and walking. She's so silly.

2nd installment Year in Review

11) What was the best thing you bought?
Membership to the Y, I need to go more, but it's nice to get that "break" away from the girl, meet other people and get back in shape and be healthy.

12) Whose behavior merited celebration?
TD, he got a facebook!

13) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Someone who I haven't confronted yet.

14) Where did most of your money go?
Food, diapers and smokes, I probably should have listed that under things I failed at this year (I started smoking again after G was born). Now the internets know my dirty little secret.

15) What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Vegas Baby!

16) What song will always remind you of 2011?
"It Will Rain" - Bruno Mars

17) Compared to this time last year, are you:
- happier or sadder? Happier.
- thinner or fatter? Thinner, I was still losing the pregnancy weight.
- richer or poorer? No change.

18) What do you wish you'd done more of?
Organizing
Making plans
Being outside

19) What do you wish you'd done less of?
Arguing
Worrying

20) How will you be spending Christmas?
At my parents' house with family.

2011 Year in review

My bloggy friend posted this and I thought, that's a great idea, so I stole it and called her my friend. Christine does live in Indy and I've been meeting some pretty cool peeps through twitter and blogs, so adding one more to the list would be AWESOME! Anywho, on with the survey! I broke it up so it wasn't a novel. So for the first part-

1) What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Felt honest to goodness unconditional love, understood what it meant to really be a mother. Everyone can tell you, but until you experience it yourself you have NO idea. I watched the little grow and have personality!

2) Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Didn't really do resolutions, wanted to be a good mother and make good choices for our family, but didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Pretty much EVERYONE, there was an explosion of babies this year. I like to think I started this trend, babies are the new black.

4) Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, in January, it was early and a shock. My BFF's mom, God wanted his angel back.

5) What countries did you visit?
Mexico and Las Vegas (I count LV as a country because it's unlike anything I had ever seen before).

6) What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A life in Indy, not just being here, but actually living here. I'm physically here, but mentally in WI, I am working on that

7) What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 7, that was the day we got the phone call about Erin and stupid cancer and Labor Day for reasons I will not discuss on the blog. December 1 and 2 for my girl's first birthday.

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
BF'ing my girl for 10 months!

9) What was your biggest failure?
Not making Indy my home and being immature when it came to my relationship with D, threatening to go back to WI often when we would argue. And my blog, but I'm working on that.

10) Did you suffer illness or injury?
"The doctor said most of my injuries are emotional."

What's YOUR number?

Currently, we have 56 shows set to record on our dvr. Ok, ok, if we're being honest I have 56 shows set to record on our dvr. I think it's a sickness. I have started to despise commercials, when something is on we want to watch, I'll wait 15 minutes to avoid commercials.

The show I'm most ashamed of having recorded is Dr. Phil, I just can't deal with all those lawyer commercials and online college commercials. Dr. Phil's "hour" show takes me 15 minutes to watch since I miss all the sensationalizations (is that a word?), before, during and after the "meat" of the show.

How do YOU do it?

Excuse me, but I need to get personal, very private... After Grace took her first limo ride (to pick you the babysitter nonetheless, in a "Desperate Housewives" kind of move).

We enjoyed the rest of the weekend, with one exception... The screaming, whiney, kid at the restaurant.

I felt my blood boiling over. You know that thought that crosses your mind "if that were MY kid..." I was a little hungover, as we FINALLY had a babysitter and yours truly enjoyed my new found (not bfing anymore) freedom enjoying a couple two, three, seven, eight, nine dirty martinis the previous night (we did have a limo to drive us home).

The majority of "mom blogs" I read still have sweet angel babies from the heavens, the few others with older children, well, apparently their kids don't ever misbehave in public, or they never blog about that.

Hypothetically we can say "I will never yada yada yada" or "I would just yada yada yada," but I'm looking for real true life experiences. Do you just leave every.single.event anytime your child is in the throws of a temper tantrum? Do you spank them? Do you find a place for timeout? Do you do none of the above and have another tried and true method when dealing with a screaming, whiney child?

Please discuss.

I want my readers back, readers back, readers back

Hi there, been so long! So much has been happening and still so little has been happening. Most exciting news we have is we got an offer accepted on house here in Indy! I've joined the Y in hopes of losing that extra weight I gained from not nursing. I got a job that didn't turn out so awesome, but then got a new job that will allow me to blog again! For 13 uninterrupted hours a week, I get to be me again, well, a working me again, but it's a slow time of the year so I get to blog! It's a pretty cool gig. My girl turned one and is a monster! It's funny, I thought I had so much to say and so much to write, but then I got my chance and it's a whole lot of nothing. So, for now, I just want to welcome you back and hopefully I'll have what it takes to be a blog of substance once again!

Almost 11 months later..

Oh my girl, my baby, the one that was my belly (I just wrote is and corrected it), the one that we just finished getting your shower gifts organized. Yeah, that one.

This is her now, well, actually it was her yesterday and tomorrow she'll be a teenager stomping her feet and rolling her eyes at me as I jam out to "Imma Be."

Treasure your first year everyone tells you and I did, I really soaked it up. I had my moments and since she became mobile and walking - I have them more often, but I enjoyed it. I miss her dinasour noises those first few weeks we brought her home. I miss her screaming her head off for no apparent reason months 2-3. I miss her learning to sit and wobbling around during tummy time, trying so hard to hold up her big noggin. Then she became a person, my girl, with so much personality. So silly.

She cuddled up next to me this afternoon before our nap, sat next to me while we watched Judge Mathis (stay classy) and I stroked her hair and kissed her head (which still has it's own version of cradle cap on it) all the while knowing this moment could be cut short on her terms now. She has no idea how much I ache for her to be my snuggly girl, how after she's asleep I'll hold her for a half hour or more just because that's what we did for so many months as we learned eachothers features. One day, sooner than I hope, I won't be able to hold her in my arms anymore.

I love her so much it's unbelieveable, but as much as I soaked it, I'm still wishing I could have had one more day...

I feel, therefore I am

Feelings, nothing more than feelings... Ahem, pardon my singing, but when those feelings turn into a reality what do you do? My OMGinIndy has been far from perfect, although I never expected perfect, I had an expectancy for certain things. That we would be a family, that I would be enough for D, that we would find friends who would become family in this city away from "our city."

I'm missing home something fierce. I'm missing Grace playing with her cousins and watching my crazy family take care of my girl. She doesn't know what she's missing out on, but I do.

It's much more than what is here, it's picnics and cookouts and lazy afternoons on the lake, it's gatherings and get togethers and celebrations of milestones, it's goofy pollacks laughing and snorting reminising about the days of old.

It's friends, who now have children, watching our kids playing together and thinking of how different this "hanging out" is.

It's overwhelming, it's challenging... It's starting to feel less and less of a home.

Not a girl, not yet a woman

My girl is growing. Yes, she is still a "baby," however, she is no longer the stationary, cuddly, fragile girl I brought home 8 1/2 months ago. Last week, I reorganized my house. Some call it "baby proofing," I'm simply trying to make it more "baby friendly" and a little more organized.

She is my only child, the one who made me a mother. I love her, I spoil her, I want to see her happy, not cry, it hurts my heart, but I'm slowly getting over that. I need to get things done during the day and she needs to be independent. There's still a bunch of kinks to work out. It will take more than a week to outsmart a baby, even with a college degree!

Our front room was just that, a room in the front of our house. It was becoming storage for diaper bags, car seat, and large, "containment devices" for the child (i.e. jumper/swing) that were just in the way in our living room. I didn't take any before pictures as I wasn't intending on creating a "how to" post and since I used things we had already purchased to create a play room for Grace. It turned out nice though and since I am far from crafty, I thought sharing would help out other non-crafty moms (it's amazing what a little TLC will do to a room).

These shelves were literally sitting around collecting dust, I dust them off and organized her toys, I will switch them out as she cannot reach the ones on the top shelf...yet.


The end of the shelf begins the "walking wall" it is just as it sounds, things we use on a regular enough basis which she can use to pull herself up and walk around in. Sorry about the blurriness, this girl is on a mission!


She could stop for a quick pose though.


Lastly, a little play area by the window so she can people and animal watch and enjoy the sunshine while getting some learning in.


Our home is still filled with baby stuff, but our living room is not. Gone is the cluttered mess and in place is a functional space for all of us to enjoy.

How I'm the idiot

Mothering is tough, any mother knows and it's not something that you can comprehend until you have children of your own.

Grace is 8 1/2 months old and some days it gets so darn overwhelming. She's walking up on EVERYTHING she can pull herself up on and leaves everything in disarray. No matter how clean I try to keep my house, she'll find a crumb or a fuzz or a piece of grass and pop it in her mouth. She's learned that when she does that to keep her jaw clenched because the big mean mama is coming to dig out whatever she put in there.

I thought I had outsmarted her yesterday, I finally moved the books she kept pulling off the shelf from the 2nd cubby to the 5th (top) cubby and today after throwing in another load of laundry I find this:

Baby 87, Mom O

Family

I was chatting with my fellow Canadian mother, who, like me is also in a relationship with her "baby daddy." We don't want a big wedding, our wedding day will not be the most important day of our life, the day we met our daughters was. A wedding will never ever come thisclose to the moment in my life when I first held and locked eyes with the beautiful child we had created. With that said, I still want to be married dammit.

I went to my boyfriend's office today(dropping off gym clothes for him and bringing him lunch), when I arrived he was finishing up a conversation on the phone and he told the person on the other end, "yeah I gotta go my wife and kid just showed up with lunch." I replied how I always do "I am not you wife." It bothers me, yes I am "like" his wife, but not really. It's not about the ring or the piece of paper(although that's nice to have), it's the vows, the promise to forever and always love...

Silly, I know.

Bringing sexyback & baby crack

Hi all,

First and foremost, thank you for sticking by me while I remain on a self proclaimed hiatus from blogging. Life hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine in the recent months, having a baby changes everything, having a baby with a man you knew for 3 months rocks your entire world. I'm happy to report we are on the right path, we've had to try a few different things some worked, some did not, some needed clarification... BUT we are still in love even though we have our days. Who doesn't right?

It has been one year since I've been in Indy! At times it feels like it's been a long year, I spent a week in Milwaukee this month surrounded by my great friends and wonderful family and it was much needed. I knew when we moved that it would be tough, having a baby makes it that much more difficult. I've gained a few great friends which I am so happy about, I still need to learn to spend time away from the baby, to have D watch her and go enjoy my friends. I'm working on that.

Onto the important stuff, next week, my babe will be 7 months old!!! She's army crawling all over the place and is so proud of herself. According to my mom, I was walking at 9 months and I have no doubt my baby will be around that time too. She is so determined, it's hard to try and sit her down as she locks her legs and wants to stand, she'll even take some steps while holding on to our fingers, she's on a mission.

It's awesome watching her learn, amazing when she "crawls" to me, and funny when she wants attention (mostly when we are eating). Her thing is to crawl around the table, put her head in her arms and cry... we don't respond, she moves a little more and repeats. Maybe D is right, she does have me wrapped around her finger and knows how to play me like a fiddle. She's such a goof! But, just this week I found a solution, aka "baby crack."

Before you go calling CPS, let me explain, it's a mesh feeder thingy. It's not crack, it's frozen peas or, if she already had baby food, a banana! Banana's are her crack, she LOVES them almost as much as she loves me. She chomps and sucks until there is nothing left, then whines cause it's gone. Don't mess with the mesh!

My mom is coming this weekend and staying through part of the week. D and I are planning a real honest to gosh date since we have grandma here to watch the babe. Hopefully, I'll be back on track soon with this blog thing. Have a great weekend!

Alone, together.

Grandma and Grandpa took the baby this afternoon. Finally, we have an afternoon all to ourselves.


Source


Relax, this isn't that kind of blog. Instead, D is playing "Angry Birds" on his iPhone and I am catching up on my reader as well as adding new blogs.

Folks, listen - Having a baby DOES change everything! Enjoy your weekend.

P.S. Have you found any great new blogs people need to know about lately?

Not the mama

Source

Hey all, so now the baton is passed on to me. I have read in my "mom blogs" that babies prefer the mama and Grace is becoming no different. Last night during dinner at the neighbor's (M's) house I wanted to imbibe a few Miller Lite's. I brought my bottle of pumped milk over to the neighbor's house and she offered to feed it to the baby while I prepared, more like, attempted to prepare some dinner. Grace would have none of it, my sweet darling of a girl turned into a pretty p'd off baby. Why? Because M does not stand for mama.

I felt two ways about this - 1) that I am THE MAMA, but b) sometimes mama needs a break and it's okay for her to know that others can and will love and care for her. The toughest thing in the world is hearing your baby cry/scream and knowing that all they want is you. I know I am helping her not be so dependent, but dang it's tough. M has watched her before and we spend a good amount of time with her, but I think my presence prohibited her from getting over the fact that someone else was feeding her and it was not OK. M told me she was not like this when she watched her before (THANK GOD).

I recently started a part time job on the weekends and daddy is looking forward to spending time with Grace one on one, I was nervous, but they both seem to be doing well adjusting to this new schedule - at least that's what D tells me.

It's tough being in a new city and having few friends or family to help my daughter learn that others are capable and willing to love and care for her. We are getting out of the house, but most of our interactions with "outsiders" are limited to me holding her while they smile and look at the baby, the minute I hand her off, she is unhappy, I leave her sight and Bam, all h-e-double hockey sticks breaks loose. Grace has established a comfort zone and I am the mother ship of which it revolves around.

A friend told me babies think like they are thrown onto a foreign planet. It makes sense, they spend 10 months in the womb and come out into this world lost and scared. I love being a mom and just want what is best for her. I am hoping in writing this post someone can come and prove me wrong, that she is just fine when someone else is holding her and really I'm making this up to make me sound more necessary than I really am.

I wholeheartedly believe it takes a village to raise a child and although I do try very hard to keep an open mind with everything, others can influence and instill values in her that I may not be able to. I learned too that being away makes me love and appreciate her more which makes me a better mother and woman. I cannot forget about the woman that I am.

Hola

Hi all, long time no talk. I spent a WONDERFUL 8 days and 7 nights with my family at a resort in Huatulco, Mexico. My dad rented a villa for his family and, well, MY family too. Geez, it's still weird seeing the words "my family." For so long I felt as if I would never have that and BAM, it snuck up on me and here they are. Grace was covering her eyes in this picture because, like her momma I think her blue eyes are sensitive to the sun.


Don't worry, Grace was slathered in SPF100 and we quickly went back in the shade after this photo. I think the heat would get to her so we would crawl up to our bedroom and enjoy the cool air.

I was nervous about traveling with her, but she went with it and did pretty well. I got some great tips for traveling with a baby from ThisCasita The trip back was tough with delays and problems on both of our flights, I would have been crying too if it were acceptable for a 28 year old woman to cry due to the long delays. We were worried about getting our connecting flight home to Indy, but that was delayed too!

We visited La Crucicita to see the markets and church. Nearly every woman there was so enamoured with our beautiful baby girl, my mom said it was her blue eyes, I think it's cause she's just so darn cute. :) Grace loved all the attention, but would only tolerate being held by the locals for a short amount of time, then it was back to "the momma."

It was a fun week and much needed vacation for all of us!