Just jumping on to post a couple of my favorites from today. She just LOVES birds which is a very good thing when there are constantly seagulls around.

We grilled out with some friends for dinner and are hoping to catch some beach side fireworks in honor of Memorial Day.

We're all settled in at the beach. It already feels like home away from home and everything we could possibly need is here. I'm so thankful for the layout of the condo as well, Elyse's bedroom is tucked in the very back so she is far away from any noise and has been sleeping wonderfully. Yesterday some friends from the area spent the day on the sand with us and another couple came by for the evening. Elyse is napping before we head back down today so I wanted to just pop in and post a couple of pictures.

She sat in this chair for almost an hour and a half just playing with different toys and kicking the sand. She had more fun in that chair than she did in the pool, gulf, or sand.

These sunset pictures are from the same evening and I took them about half an hour apart. The way the colors change is absolutely incredible to me and amazes me every single time I see a sunset. The power, design, intricate detail, splendor and beauty are so captivating. It's almost as though creation pauses at the end of the day to put on a it's best show trying it's hardest to reflect God's glory back to Him. It's makes me think of Chris Tomlin's Indescribable, which it definitely is.

The new Florida palm tree

I spoke too soon. Apparently she is too young to consistently do only one nap because it completely back fired yesterday and she is on her second nap today. I'll tweak things here and there and see what we come up with. One nap doesn't seem to be enough and she gets overtired and cranky pretty easily but two naps seem impossible to achieve....ugh.

I'm trying to show two things in the picture below. One is that I'm trying her hair in what my friend informed me is called the "palm tree" look. I think it's adorable but Matt doesn't care for it much. The other thing is her "bet you couldn't guess I'm learning to walk" battle wounds. She has the healing bruise on her right cheek and the scratch near her right eye, both from meeting with the padded side of a book storage ottoman in her room. The little boo boo's just break Matt's heart but I haven't said much because I know it only gets worse from here on out.

I'm still trying to pack and get things ready for our trip. The ladies from small group are meeting out tonight for a girls night out so I'm looking forward to that as well even though it cuts into my packing/preparing the house time. I feel like I need to leave our house in a very presentable manner because we have a friend stopping by to feed our cat Mandy, who yes, is still alive at the ripe old age of 23. It never fails to amaze me why I let myself think things like that. Matt often chuckles at me when I feel the need to have the house clean for the babysitter and now it's for the cat sitter. However, I do not feel alone in this because as silly as it may be, I have found that most women tend to feel the same way. Time to get this place in order!

This one nap a day thing is something that I think will work very well for me. I have been able to get a lot or running around done in the mornings but have the afternoons free for errands as well. Then there is this oh so wonderful 3 hour extravaganza break in the middle of my day. I can do chores, catch up on things online, and even steal a few minutes for myself. Today I did a trial run of a healthier option for Elyse's first birthday cake. Don't worry, there will be a sweeter option for the adults.

It's called Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake and I must say it's pretty good. Wow, looking at this picture I sure did "sample" a pretty big slice. Okay, okay, truth be told I came back for seconds and since it was still warm it went great with ice cream....twice....but that's only because Elyse didn't eat hers....okay, that's not true either. I got seconds before she was even awake but she still didn't eat hers which isn't a good sign, but then again she doesn't eat a lot of things. I doubt she would have eaten any sort of cake when I offered it to her. Anyway, I think I took it out a little too soon and I would like to make it in a pan that's a little narrower but deeper, if they even make those. The one I used is the only round pan I own so I just went with it. I'm still not sure what to do about frosting because every first birthday cake needs frosting and I'm just not sure how to do that but I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll just put some apple yogurt on top, Elyse LOVES that and it would still be healthy without sacrificing any of the potential messiness. To be honest, I'm just thankful the practice cake didn't come out a complete burnt or tasteless mess.

I also started packing today and all I can say is oh dear. As I was sorting and jotting down things we need to bring I'm quickly realizing we need to bring everything. 7 days and nights with a baby is a long time. We'll need almost all of her toys and books, her high chair, everything that goes on the beach (tent, blankets, coolers, chairs, toys), pack in play, stroller, cameras, computers and the cords and chargers......I really don't know if all of this will fit in my SUV along with the 3 of us. Needless to say I'm thankful we're not flying, that fun will be saved for our trip to Tennessee at the end of the month.

On a deeper note, I was driving through a construction zone a couple of days ago. I was in the middle of 3 lanes and there were cars on both sides of me. Suddenly there were no lines in the road defining whose lane was whose. It was 3 cars going about 45 miles an hour on one big long sheet of solid black pavement. I felt myself tense up and had a brief sense of panic, unsure if I would be able to stay in my "lane". I glanced to my right and left, held the wheel straight and steady until there were once again 3 defined lanes. I let out a mental sigh, relaxed and continued driving. Immediately a thought of God's word came to mind. His instruction and boundaries for my life have nothing but the best intentions for me. He desires His best for me. His word, His truths, His promises, and His commands are much better and far safer than if I were to attempt navigating through this on my own. I find so much comfort in that and it was so encouraging to me. I need a defined lane and I'm thankful it's provided for me.

Quick updates

The best shots I've been able to get of her 6 teeth!

We saw Oma Saturday and they were playing on a table at the restaurant so I snapped this shot of their hands. I just love it.

Our week and weekend was pretty uneventful. Group Friday (We had a pizza party to celebrate the end of our current study. We each made our own personal pan pizza's which was a lot of fun), laid back Saturday, church and more lounging on Sunday.....I welcome weekends like that.

We have officially been pacifier free for 4 days so I took the initiative today to throw them out. It felt like such an accomplishment and it honestly wasn't difficult at all so I'm thankful we decided to go ahead and wean her now. She is also trying to go down to one nap and this goes against everything I've read/heard. I keep telling myself she's too young to need just one nap but all of the signs are there so we're giving it a shot and so far it's going very well. Once again, the only thing constant is change. A welcomed change has been her appetite, it is back in full force so I look forward to her next weight check, I think it will be a good one.

This week we will be preparing for our 7 nights at the beach next week and Matt and I are so very excited. We started making the menu and planning things to do which excited us even more. There is much to do before then though so I need to stay focused on the tasks at hand but the sand between my toes everyday for a week will be wonderful!

Irony

Canned goods were buy one get one free at the grocery store and most of them were rather dented around the rims. I don't like dented cans because we have an old, hand can opener and it doesn't open round cans all that well, much less dented ones. Knowing this I scooted, moved, and dug around on the shelf until I found some that were completely intact and placed several in the cart.


I try to make as few trips as possible to bring the groceries in and Matt often chuckles at this because I'll have 12 bags on my wrists and arms, hobbling in the door like the humpback of Notre Dame. That day was no exception so hobble in I did and flung all of my groceries onto the counter and as soon as I sighed and turned to walk away.......BAM! My bag of canned goods fell on the floor. I picked them up and inspected them, each was dented around the rim. I just had to laugh.

Some of you probably think I have too much time or too little going on in my life to blog about something like that but it was such a subtle reminder to me not to take life so seriously. I'm someone who needs reminders like that.

Weekend Away

Matt and I left Elyse overnight, actually 2 nights, for the first time this weekend and it was wonderful! We were both excited but a little nervous about leaving her. My mom came and stayed at our house with her so we knew she would be more than okay, but this was still a first for us.

We left Friday afternoon for a wedding in Sarasota that evening. The wedding was amazing! Intimate, touching ceremony, gorgeous reception venue, great food, music, friends and fun. We had such a wonderful time. This is one of the first weddings we've gone to as parents and imagining Elyse as a grown woman one day, leaving and cleaving, was emotional for both of us. The father of the bride toast drew tears. We can only strive for and hope that we do enough things right in raising her up the way that she should go that when it's her turn we are proud and excited over the man she chooses to share her life with and over the woman she has become. I missed Elyse a lot right then.
Matt with some of his coworkers and friends.


One of the outdoor centerpieces at the wedding.


We stayed through to the end of the wedding and went to bed pretty late. Thick shades drawn in our hotel room we slept in until almost 10am! I couldn't believe I was able to sleep so late but I enjoyed every moment of it. We strolled through downtown Sarasota and lingered through a sit down breakfast. There was lunch and beach time with the new couple on Saturday afternoon and as I lounged under a little cabana I had to laugh at myself for being nervous to leave Elyse. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we toyed with the idea of having flowers sent to my mom that day! It's the small things. It was the uninterrupted breakfast with no concern to nap times of finger foods being flung on the floor. It was resting on the beach with the soothing ocean breeze and calming sounds of the waves meeting the sand not wondering if I applied baby sunscreen thick enough, packed enough snacks, or remembered snuggie. We walked onto the beach with one simple bag and two towels in tow versus the normal entourage of "stuff" that fills up our entire car and takes multiple trips to load, unload, load, and unload again. I forgot how simple and fast things used to be, but yes, we missed her like crazy.

This little shell was so pretty, colorful and completely intact. I wanted to keep it and take it home but I had no idea what I would do with it so I decided to capture it in photos instead. I like that little shell even more now.


After the beach we drove to Madeira to visit with our friends Kristin and Rone'. They unexpectedly got an overnight baby sitter as well so Rone' treated us to a sunset cruise. After watching the sun dip beneath the gulf's horizon we parked the boat and ate a late, waterside dinner. I had never been on a boat at night and cruising down the channel seeing all the homes glowing from within was beautiful. We went back to their house for a game of darts before bed and I actually got one bulls eye!

As we arrived home on Sunday we were so excited to see Elyse's reaction when we first walked in. She crawled very quickly over to me and I picked her up. She touched my face as if making sure I was really there and then wanted back down. That was it. Sunday evening wound down with a movie and ice cream and now life resumes again. The dryer is humming, piles of folded laundry need to be put away, the grocery list needs to be made, dry cleaning is packed and ready to be dropped off, Elyse wouldn't eat lunch and hardly ate breakfast, she discovered the toilet paper today and I've kissed several boo boo's.......back to life, back to reality. I'm thankful for reality though, it really made me appreciate our weekend away.

Chicken Tetrazzini: I vote no repeat, Matt votes repeat. Seeing how I'm usually the cook we'll just have to wait and see what happens with that ;). It was a "healthy" recipe, can be made ahead of time, and a complete dinner in one dish which I always like but the flavor left much to be desired to me.

I can hardly believe I've posted so much food lately. I've been trying new things so I'm sure that has something to do with it, but perhaps I just don't have much else to say. Life is life right now and no news is often good news. Elyse has 6 teeth which about sums up anything new around here over the last couple of days. I must admit that her teething is not nearly as bad as I anticipated according to how people often describe it. It hasn't seemed to affect her sleep and for that I'm grateful because mine remains unaffected as well and I love sleeping. Hopefully I didn't speak too soon.

By 9:30am this morning much had been accomplished. Laundry was started, dishes were done, and I had gone to and come home from my first Pilate's class which turned out to be quite the workout considering you don't even need to wear shoes. Although I'm happy with my productivity this morning there is still much left to do. I often use Mondays as my catch up from the weekend time to get things back in some sort of order. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes I am not.

Friday was small group and my mom and Tim came over early to watch Elyse so I could redeem a facial gift certificate I had from Christmas. I loved it. Given the means, I could become the biggest spa junkie ever. I sometimes have a difficult time allowing myself to be pampered. I enjoy, appreciate, and savor every moment of it but I often feel guilty about the luxurious and unnecessary expense that it is. Needless to say I get over that guilt rather easily though. Matt came home a little early from work so we went to a new Irish restaurant for dinner before group. The restaurant seemed more bar than it did restaurant but we heard the food was good, we were looking for something inexpensive and we achieved both with pleasure.

Yesterday Elyse was dedicated at church and even though it's something that is often viewed more as tradition, it was emotional for me and meant a lot. It was also my very first Mother's Day so Matt made me breakfast and lunch and later we took Oma out for dinner. Normally we avoid restaurants like the plague on holidays like Mother's, Father's, or Valentine's Day but we wanted to do it for Oma. We picked the restaurant with the shortest wait over most desirable food since it was the company we were there for.

I think I can say with certainty that Elyse has taken her first steps! I don't think Elyse realized she did it but she definitely did. I still don't think she is anywhere near walking but you never know. Matt and I were just so excited that we were there to see it together.

Random

Our Magnolia tree is starting to bloom. Most are still bulbs but there are a few warming up with the humid heat. The blooms are often short lived each year so I always enjoy watching the tree that's usually plain green become decorated with the fragrant blossoms.

Chicken and summer squash. Repeat. But next time I need to make some sort of carbohydrate to go with it because although the recipe was healthy it was not very filling and we found ourselves eating leftover pizza an hour later.

Fried onion ranch meatloaf. No repeat if you ask me but Matt liked it. The fun thing about meatloaf though is that there are so many ways to make it so there are a few things I did with this one that I would repeat, just not the entire recipe.

Elyse was crawling around on the floor and decided to pull up on the inside of a bar stool. This was funny to her at first until she couldn't figure out how to get out. Her exciting new discovery quickly turned into jailhouse panic. It was rather comical.

That about catches us up on random pictures for now.

So, I'm a good 80 pages into The Power of Positive Parenting and several chapters into Shepherding a Child's Heart. I'm amazed. I'm so glad I decided to seek recommendations from friends and dive right in. At first it was very overwhelming and frankly it still is but it definitely feels a lot less "fly by the seat of my pants" because I already feel a bit more prepared (if there is such a thing). I can attempt to parent with purpose.

I was stirred. I needed guidance. As I noticed potential situations with Elyse or I witnessed them with other parents and their children I would often ask myself how I would handle this or that. I didn't like my gut responses but I didn't know any other way. I felt like I knew more about how I didn't want to parent than how I did. I knew there had to be a better way for my specific family and our children but I didn't know what that was, what it looked like, or how to get there. I'm feeling better now. I'm gaining understanding and confidence. I have a very long way to go on a road with no end in sight but at least I'm on the road instead of wandering in the middle of the woods with my thumb stuck out like a hitchhiker. That gives me such a visual and it's exactly what I was doing. Thankfully I was prompted and directed.

I'm awaiting Boundaries with Kids , The New Dare to Discipline , 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 (I'm already skeptical of this one because I don't think "magic" will have anything to do with discipline but it was highly recommended so I'll give it a try), and Bringing Up Girls: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women.

I'm sure these books will contradict each other so I anticipate my next struggle will be filtering through it all, which I enjoy doing as long as I don't get too confused. I like reading different things from different perspectives with different rationales and then figuring out what I think and what I believe will work for us. I did the same thing with child birthing, breastfeeding, and sleep training books. However, the difference with this is that it's more of a lifestyle than it is anything else. Child birthing starts and ends as does breastfeeding and certain aspects of sleep training. I'll be parenting as long as I'm alive which intimidates me more than I know how to describe. It won't be perfect, it won't be pretty, but I'm trying and that has to be worth something, right?

I don't trust myself

I have ordered 4 different books on child rearing and I'm in the middle of reading one I already had. Upon seeing an earlier post a friend let me borrow 3 of her parenting books. That makes 8 books total and I anticipate reading every single one of them from cover to cover if I can, hoping to gain some sort of insight as to how to raise my child. Why? Why do I think I'll be able to find it there? Why do I feel like I need someone else to tell me how to do it? It came to me last night as I was turning my light off and putting my book on my night stand. I don't trust myself. I don't trust my gut or my own personal resources to tap into as guidance and I need to overcome this.



I know I'll never parent perfectly. I know I'll be apologizing to Elyse for times I was wrong or acted in ways I shouldn't have. I know I'll never have all the answers. I know I'll never know a lot of things and I know that I need more confidence. I really think these books will help me with that.



We're trying to teach Elyse not to touch/play with or on the entertainment center. She will crawl over to it and go to pull on the drawers. I look at her with a straight face, shake my head and make our decided upon "no" noise. She watches me intently, whimpers and puts her hand down briefly. Then the entire thing is repeated with her second attempt but this time she crumbles at being disciplined, and I mean crumbles. She starts hysterically crying and for the first time today she even had a bit of a tantrum. I didn't know what to do. She has never had a tantrum and in all honesty I thought she was too young. Did I just break my sensitive child's spirit? I've seen all the "strong-willed child" parenting books but where are the "parenting your dramatic child" books? I could feel the doubts rising and my confidence falling and I knew I needed to stop there. I picked her up and explained in an unemotional voice that I loved her and that I'm so happy God made her but that as her mommy there will be times I set boundaries and make rules for her that she won't always like but it doesn't make them any less necessary or important. I told her she was okay and there was no need to be so upset, tantrum still going on I set her back on the floor and walked away. She carried on for a few more moments but then quickly found the interest of a toy and I could hear her babbling and giggling so I returned to the room and played with her. The talk was obviously more for me than it was for her and when it was all said and done I feel like I handled it okay but I still can't believe I'm actually parenting. Parenting a 10 month old none the less and apparently a dramatic, sensitive one at that. I have no idea what I'm doing and if this one incident is any indication of what I'm up against I am in for quite the ride.

It's been 3 days since then and I can honestly say she hasn't attempted to touch or go near the entertainment center once and I can hardly believe it. I'm not counting my chickens yet but it has encouraged me none the less.

New things: She went for a weight check today and was 16# 8oz which is in the 6th percentile. She gained 4 oz and dropped 3% points in 4 weeks so in theory if she keeps with this trend she will fall off the charts by one year, possibly sooner. No alarm bells sounded, no interventions recommended, we will just follow up in another month. She has some top teeth now and has started grinding them on her bottom ones which makes me cringe but it's something new to her so of course she does it over and over. She is a waving champ and one of my favorite things that she does now is when I lay her down to sleep she pops right up, grinning ear to ear and waves at me as I close the door. I just love it. She has also started "dancing" when her toys play music which I find very amusing. I think she said "shoes" today which would make that her first word. While we were sitting in the pediatricians office she grabbed her foot with her shoe on it and said "choo". The mom sitting next to me asked, "Did she just say shoe?" I said, "It sure sounded like it, but that would be a first." Because her weight is that of the average 6 month old people are often surprised at the things Elyse does or says but once they hear her age they aren't nearly as impressed ;).

The weekend: Friday night we ordered pizza and just relaxed a bit. Saturday morning I drove around a little at our semi-annual community garage sale and bought a few new toys for Elyse. After her morning nap we went to the beach and despite the stagnant heat at our house the breeze coming off the water made for perfect beach weather. We took a little walk along the beach and as we were coming back to our tent and chairs I noticed someone rummaging through our stuff. I told Matt what I thought I was seeing and he quickly ran ahead. Sure enough there was a woman going through our belongings and once Matt approached and questioned her she claimed her children dropped something although no children were around. Thankfully we left our wallets, cell phones, etc. in the car but it wasn't until a little bit later that we realized she was one bag away from our camera and camcorder. Both of those things could be replaced but we hadn't downloaded our video camera since we bought it the week Elyse was born. Every single video of her would have been gone. That is not replaceable.

We were thinking about it later that evening and we both realized how perfectly the scenario played out. Had we not seen her we wouldn't have learned a lesson or appreciated the hedge of protection that was around us that day. If she had taken our cameras without us seeing her at all I probably would have blamed myself for being irresponsible and misplacing them which surely wouldn't help my case for getting a digital SLR and I would have a very hard time forgiving myself for losing those memories. We caught her at the perfect moment to gain knowledge, understanding and gratitude without anything being sacrificed on our part. The timing was perfect and we're so thankful for that.

Parenting having been on my mind I asked Matt, "What would you say to Elyse if she was older and was asking questions about why that woman was doing that and why we handled it the way we did?" I pondered my own answer or actually my lack there of. Yes, parenting will be harder than I imagined.

Time to go read some books.

I truly enjoy taking pictures and would love to develop that passion into a more serious hobby. I have toyed with the idea of taking a photography class or even just reading some books on it. I have a couple of friends with digital SLR camera's and my mouth has been watering over them for some time. I would love to upgrade from my point and shoot camera but then again I would love to buy a lot of things and right now is not the time. I met one of my friends for lunch at the park one day and she had her camera with her so she let me toy with it a bit. It was instant love! Here are a few shots I took that day.

Matt says he can't really tell a difference and thinks our camera takes pretty good photos. I agree with the latter but I personally can tell a difference in the quality of pictures the more expensive cameras take. For something to override the frugal in him (and I use that term with honest endearment because I really do love that we are both frugal) it would truly have to blow him away and I definitely respect that. However, I would still like one of those cameras.