Dinner and a date

Tonight hubby and I are going out on a date. We haven't been out on a date in months. We went out when she was 3 weeks old and also in Hawaii when we had my mother in law to baby sit, but a real date with no baby.....it has been several months. We used to do a date night once a week. We would switch weeks, taking turns planning the date.

Now days it is hard to leave the baby, we are tired, getting a sitter can be difficult....the list goes on and on. Thankfully last summer I bought season tickets to the Performing Arts Center, picking 4 plays to watch during the year. I knew these would force us to get out, and I am a firm believer that parents with a healthy adult life away from their children make better parents....life is after all about balance. So we try.

Tonight we head to the play, A Raisin in the Sun, and dinner. We have two excellent sitters that we use on a regular basis and luckily one was free for tonight.

I am thankful because I need a break. This week has been an emotional roller coaster for a variety of reasons and I will be happy to just enjoy my husbands company and a night out.

All on Friday the 13th! In Honor of the dreaded day of bad luck, check out these food superstition here. I always think superstitions are interesting. I grew up around a lot of cowboys and laying a hat flat on the bed is bad luck to them. My dear friend Sarah, would always go around taking my shoes of tables because this is bad luck to her Danish culture. I personally think it is bad luck to try to pet bears...but that is just me.

So happy Friday people! Enjoy.

Cheers

Janelle

out growing things!

Check out an exciting shopping opportunity below! April 21-23, 2012 at the Palmer Train Depot in Palmer. A seasonal consignment sale for parents!

Ocoee seems to be outgrowing things every day. Some outfits she has have lasted for a long time, she wears them big and is now growing out of them, but many things she only wore once.

We were lucky to be able to get many hand me ups and I am a life-long thrifter so I have taken advantage of some of our children's consignment stores, such as Kid to Kid....just scored a pair of pink Carhart overall there a week ago! These will be great for fishing season coming up.

I am super excited though because a huge event will be taking place April 21-23, 2012 at the Palmer Train Depot in Palmer.

The event is being held by Bella Kids. It is a huge consignment sale for parents. People will be coming from all areas of Alaska. You can consign your own outgrown, gently used toys and kids gear or you can go and shop for things your little one will be needing soon.

I love that the event is local moms, which means local gear. In Alaska we have unique needs and why not get it for a good price since kids outgrow things so quickly. Plus I love getting a chance to socialize with other moms. They have the best tips on what gear you can't live with out and what gear you can skip.

Check out the website or like Bella Kids 49 on Facebook to get more info. I will be going on Friday night to preview the event and will report back how it all works. I am hoping to sell some of my own gear at the next one. Look forward to pictures and a complete scoop of the process.

You can also contact them at info@bellakids49.com or call 907.841.0916 10am-7pm. Shop local and reuse....very green and eco-friendly!

Cheers

J

10,000 hits!

As of yesterday I officially am over the 10k mark with visits to this little ol' blog here. Thanks mom-in-law :)

I am a documenter. I believe it goes back to my journalism roots. I take photos, collect facts and write about what happens along the way. I love looking back at the past and preserving the memories for the future. That way if I go senile I can always reread this blog!

I am not sure if I share too much here on the blog, but if you know me I am an open person. I actually do have a journal for my little passion flower that I write the truly private stuff in, but the other stuff (an all encompassing word for the woes, joys and utterly chaos of being a new mom) I love to hash out here...with you all.

One last thing...I watched a movie last night via Netflix...it is the Angelina Jolie movie, In the land of blood and honey. I do not recommend this movie...avoid it! It was well written, directed and acted, but it left me haunted and shaken emotionally.....I am still bugged by it today, a small knot in my throat that I can't shake. There were scenes that ripped me apart. I wish I could have just not seen it!

Cheers

J

Easter!

Ocoee sporting her Easter dress with a real bunny in the basket!

Easter morning we did the basket in bed since we were all sick!

Ocoee's basket had some books, a new big girl cup, a juppy walker, new fuzzinbunz diaper, an cool egg Sarah brought from Germany, and some confetti filled eggs called Cascarones, click here to learn how to make them...or you can buy them on Amazon like I did.

We were sick on Easter. All three of us. Thank goodness we did an Easter egg hunt before on Saturday. Also we had a fun Photo Shoot you can see here involving a real bunny!

We are all slowly feeling better. Since returning to work, I have been the sickest and most run down I have ever felt in my life! I can't wait to be away from daycare germs, school germs and having summer to get healthy and revitalized again!

Cheers

J

Easter weekend

Today was the most fabulous event hosted by my friend Shelly and her neighbors. About 60 kids all got together to hunt 3000 eggs in the deepest snow in anchorage history. The snow is falling thick and heavy as I type. Growing up in the south I find it amazing to have snow on Easter. The event was a fundraiser for kids kitchen here in anchorage.

Ocoee and I watched. Maggie, our friends daughter, would hunt eggs for Ocoee and then bring them to her. Such a sweet child! Kids and parents kept falling through the huge snow piles that have gotten soft due to our warmer temps. There was a mimosa bar for adults and good friends to warm up inside with after the hunt.

Before the event Ocoee and a friends daughter poses for an adorable photo shoot with their real pet bunny. Photos coming soon! Easter is more run this year than it has been in years.

As Ocoee was being passed around and loved on by my friends I felt overwhelming joy that she loves people and even though we don't have family here we are lucky to have such good friends. Alaskans in my mind are just the best kind of people. The kindness and openness we have experienced with people here has truly made this home for us.

Happy Easter weekend!

Cheers
J

6 months stats!

I love the series of shots above. It is pretty indicative of how Ocoee is on a normal day. She loves making faces, blowing raspberries and her variety of sounds is astonishing.

She eats 3 meals a day in solid foods. Her favorite is homemade peas with a little oatmeal cereal and yogurt mixed in. She is attempting to use a sippy cup, not much success there yet.

She has been rolling over for 3 months, has begun to inch worm around, and loves to bend and contort when she is in her bumbo chair, high chair or your lap. She just moved into her big girl car seat and is wearing a jacket instead of a snow suit for the first time.

Ocoee weighs 17.2 pounds....this is a little light due to her recent cold and her waning appetite, which has improved. Her weight is in the 50 percentile. Her head is still abundant in the 90% group along with her height of 27 inches, 90%.

She is growing well and strong. She had a complete meltdown when she received her shot yesterday. We tried to give her a bottle, I had a ice pack and none of that distracted her enough. She was so mad. Of course I had to yank her from her daddy to give her my love....I can't stand to have her cry and not be in my arms. I think in her mind that daddy is the fun one and I am the soothing one. So she did quiet down when I hugged her to me, but then she remembered the injustice that had happened to her and stomped her feet and really went at it. It was heartbreaking.

By the time 10 minutes had passed we had fed her and she was smiling and laughing again. This short term memory does my heart good.

We love our little girl with all of our hearts. She is this perfect little thing that has blown our world apart. Her smile is the highlight of my day.

Cheers

J

Moving on up...

Ocoee has been pretty run down lately. She is fighting of her 3rd cold of this year. None have really gotten her down but this one seems to have her pretty tired. She is still eating well, no temp and sleeping well.....so lets hope this goes away quickly.

We did have some big changes this weekend as well. We are officially moving from her infant carrier to the Britax car seat. The Britax we choose because it has amazing safety ratings. We also have a Cosco (also received great safety ratings) for travel and my car....which is small, so it fits a little better. It is nice and lightweight at only 11 pounds.

I definitely had a love/hate relationship with her infant carrier. It was heavy, she was 10 pounds 1o ounces at birth after all, and our garage is small so the maneuvering was a challenge. On the other side, she could sleep anywhere...which was amazing.

With the new car seat she also has to wear a jacket now. For those of yo outside of Alaska, yes it is spring but that means temps from 20-40 and still a TON of snow to melt.

I think she looks awfully cute in her jacket....first jacket of her life. I have a bit of a jacket fetish so this thrilled me. I am not so much into shoes or jewelry but a good jacket makes my day.

Our little girl is growing up. But this morning as I plopped her in bed with her daddy for some snuggles I was reminded how little and delicate she really is. Her skin is so perfect and her hair puffs up like little baby duck fluff.

Tomorrow we go to her 6 month appointment to get all her stats. It will be interesting to see how much she has grown from last time.

Cheers

J