It's been almost two months since I last wrote. Now that I'm not specifically doing monthly updates on Paige, it's harder to fit this blog into my life. I keep meaning to write, but it's one of those things that unless I make time for it, I'm not going to find time for it, and there are plenty of things in my life I want to make time for. Paige and Stephen have been my top priority, and right now, their needs are met, along with mine, so I might as well take this time to share what has been happening in our lives.
I wish I could capture every moment of Paige's life and share it with everyone. It would be great if I could remember every little detail at every phase of her life. Maybe in heaven, when I get to watch my life story, I'll be able to watch hers as well. She is the light of my life right now. Paige is a sweetheart and a happy child. I love watching her play and learn and interact with me. She talks a lot more now than she use to. Her vocabulary includes: Dada, Mama, Ball, Water, Bubbles, Nana "Nurse", Bye, Yes, and a very vague I Love You. She doesn't cry much, but she has lately started to squeal when she is upset. But with her better capacity to communicate, I'm able to meet her needs easier so she's not so cranky. She will also sign for food, and wave.
Paige is a full-blown runner. With my broken foot, she is faster than me. There are times I struggle to catch her before she runs too far off, but for the most part, her walking has been a blessing. She likes to climb the stairs (with my help) by stepping up each step. It basically requires her to raise her leg to a 90 degree angle to get her foot on the next ledge. I hold her hands so she can pull herself up. It's pretty fun. She also likes to walk to where she's suppose to go. Paige will walk to the car from our door and wait for me to open it and put her in, and she will walk to her room when it's nap time or she needs a diaper change. She's really obedient and compliant with that, and that can only be attributed to her peaceable nature.
She's also very social. I've been making a point of getting out of the house more and doing things. My broken foot has slowed me down some, but we manage. Many of our favorite stores have electric carts for me to use. I put Paige on my lap and drive around the store, more often than not just browsing. Paige will wave to people and leaves smiles wherever she goes. We've also attended a lot of mommy groups through La Leche Leage and other events, and she's done really well playing with other kids. She loves watching older children run around, and is very curious about younger babies (though not always as gentle as she should be). She has been going to our gym's daycare as Stephen and I work out twice a week for a half hour, and that's been good for her social development. It's a safe space for us to practice separation and independence (she's better about it than I am).
Paige is a voracious eater. She's getting a little chubbier, but overall, she's still petite. I did put away some of the 6 month size clothes last week, but I sure got my money's worth out of them. She loves to eat and wants to taste everything. Paige especially loves if the food comes off of my plate. She knows what dessert is and persistently asks for food. She will literally eat more in one sitting than I do sometimes. She also loves to eat frequently. It seems like every ten or fifteen minutes, she asks for a snack. She loves applesauce, wholegrain crackers, fruit snacks, cereal (chex and cheerios mostly).
We had some struggles with nursing after she turned one. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue or not, and she wasn't being very considerate of my needs. After talking with a lot of moms, I've been able to set boundaries with her and teach her nursing manners, and that has helped us a lot. We now really only nurse in the morning after she wakes and at night before she goes to bed. Every now and then we slip another nursing session or two in during the day, but it is now so much more manageable for me, and we'll continue until it no longer benefits us.
Paige is super playful. I'm having a hard time keeping up with entertaining her. We've gone to parks and she loves the slide but hates the swing. She enjoys shopping and likes to turn off the power on my electric cart while we're driving around (she enjoys it far more than I do). Paige loves her toys, especially the ball she got for Easter (have I written since Easter? I just checked--no I haven't). While she and I are buddies, she thinks daddy is hilarious. She loves her books too, and knows each book well.
Thinking about Easter has reminded me of all the large events I haven't recorded here. I've tried to keep my facebook updated, and I've taken a lot of pictures and videos. Briefly, we celebrated Easter. It was so fun to set up a basket for Paige. I loved picking out gifts for her, and sewing her a new dress. She caught on to the egg hunt idea, and it became a lot more fun for her when she realized there was often chocolate inside them. She also had a lot of fun at the family Easter party with Stephen's relatives--she even took second place in the egg roll. We enjoyed watching General Conference and hearing inspirational talks. Paige did pretty well during the sessions so that we were able to watch and glean information from them.
I've been doing a lot of wedding planning for Susan. There are only a few weeks until she gets married. I've also been socializing, as I mentioned above. I've enjoyed strengthening friendships. This past week, I was able to strengthen the relationship with some of the women in my life through Women's Conference. This was a two-day event of spiritual classes as well as service and socializing. One of my favorite parts was the concert with a lot of great LDS musicians. I had a lot of fun with my mom, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt-in-law (is that a term?), and grandma-in-law (again, probably not a real term. I just call them my aunt and grandma). Stephen took off work to stay home with Paige. That was the longest I'd ever been away from her. It was sad to miss putting her to bed for the first time, but she did great with daddy.
One of the biggest new things in my life is mturk. It's something I heard about on a blog about ways to make money at home. Most of my attempts at making money have been through apps that give me a little bit here and there. It has taken me months to earn even $20 on one app, and while I have a few going at once, it's nothing dependable or impactful. However, mturk is different. It's done through Amazon, so you know it can be trusted. It's basically people hiring out work that artificial intelligence can't do. It tends to be a lot of surveys, but there are other jobs such as evaluating photos or transcribing audio clips.
I've been doing it for three weeks now, and I've almost made $100. I know it's still not a huge amount, but for me, it's a lot. I'm basically rich now! It's all done on my computer in my free time, so I never have to compromise my roles as a wife and mother. I can do as little or as much as I want. There was a curve at the beginning, but now I can easily make $5-$10 a day without stressing out. Talk to me if you want more info. We're using this money to save up for new furniture, and that motivation keeps me going.
The new furniture will be going in our new house! Except, we don't have a new house yet. Sorry to get your hopes up. But we are getting close to starting the process of home ownership. We got pre-approved for a loan, and we are happy with the amount. We should be able to find a great home within our budget, though it will probably be farther away from the freeway than we are now (we are like, a quarter of a mile from the freeway now). We're looking at Daybreak or Herriman, though I prefer Daybreak by a long ways; Herriman just feels so rural and far away from everything where Daybreak has its own community and a lot of great shopping close by. We're hoping to find a good realtor in June and be more serious about the process. It will be sad to move from our basement apartment--it has been good to us--but we don't want to stay underground forever.
As you can tell, life has been exciting. Everything is on the up. My foot is getting better, and while I'm still using special equipment like my boot or new surgical shoe, the break is healing on its own. I get it checked again on Thursday, but as long as the trend continues, I'll be walking normal and even running in no time. This summer has a lot of exciting adventures in store, and it'll only be more fun to watch Paige experience the warm weather and family outings. We're happy with what we have now, and grateful for all the plans God has for us. We are blessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment