First time at kidspace museum

Elise, the model

We took some family photos using a Groupon I found last year.  I nearly missed the deadline to use it!  Here's the link...I'll post select photos later: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/64ve9fv3rhks0tj/qruOXbGp7t

On Sunday, I sent some of the photos to one of LA's top modeling agencies and Elise was accepted the next day!  However, looking over all the paperwork, it seems like A LOT of work, mostly driving all around LA and waiting at auditions.  Her agency is really great and all the babies are featured in ads by Gap, H&M, Old Navy, The Children's Place, and other major companies.  It seems like a lot of these moms are stay at home and drive from San Diego and Orange County!  I'm kind of bummed because I would love to see Elise in an ad or a commercial but I just don't know if I have the time to do it.  They want you to have a full availability and to drive to a shoot on a moment's notice. 

Speaking of a lack of time, I just accepted my 3rd part time job today.  Am I crazy?  Yes.  I will be working with United Way and supervising a graduate student.  Now why in the world would I accept another low-paying part-time job when I already feel like I am going crazy with juggling all my responsibilities?  Well, it's connected to APU and I'm hoping it will improve my chances of getting a full-time job next year.  Even though APU pays like half of what R1 universities pay (what nearly all my classmates end up doing), we just can't bear to leave LA and the roots that we've made here, not to mention the nice work-family balance that APU provides.  I have a lot of dreams and goals for my future, but chief among them is being an active presence in my children's lives.

Photos from the last month

Videos from the last month

Date night!

Every Thursday, my mom comes over to babysit (and clean and cook!  We're spoiled!)  Today, we took the opportunity to eat at the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Bryant's birthday, which is on Monday.  We felt a little strange at first being without Elise but we quickly settled into things and talked about all things non-baby related.  Bry is enjoying a burger topped with fried mac and cheese and sweet potato fries!  I'm eating one of my favorite dishes-- Thai lettuce wraps...perfect on a warm day.

Pictures with mommy

I barely have any photos with Elise.  I'm not really a photo person but I'm the one usually taking all the photos and videos of her now.  I hear this is a common problem with mommies!  She is growing up so fast that I figure that taking photos with things like my computer is just necessary if I want to preserve some memories.  This is my first time ever using Photobooth! 

9 months

Elise had her 9 month appointment today.  She is nearly 19 pounds and about 27 inches, about 50th percentile for both.  We all got our flu shots today.  I wish I had her shot on video because she was staring intently at the nurse administering it and then she had the cutest pout and cry when she got the shot. 

Elise is still sick and coughing up a storm all night.  I actually took a 2 hour nap today when I should have been working because I was just so exhausted.  It is so sad when babies are sick.  :(

Hanging out with friends

Now that we have a 7 PM curfew imposed by little Elise, our social life has been really restricted.  We take turns going to small group, leave weddings and other social events early, and rarely go out as a couple during the evening.  It's actually helped to simplify our lives by quite a bit because we spend a lot more time at home.  And since we don't have a TV, we've been spending more time talking, working, and just enjoying a slower pace of life for once.

Tonight, some friends from our small group wanted to catch the Bronco's game (Heather, pictured first, is a huge fan).  We took advantage of Yardhouse's great happy hour deals and brought along Elise for the first hour and a half of the game.  When Elise was younger, we'd just lug her around in her infant stroller, but now she will no longer deeply sleep through a loud restaurant.  It is so nice living in the area that we do because we can take advantage of all of Pasadena's fun culinary and social events just a short stroller ride away and be back in time for her bedtime.  I don't think we would have gone to this tonight if we had to drive a good chunk.

Speaking of bedtime, she is going down to sleep more independently but is still waking very frequently throughout the night.  Last night, she woke up in the middle of the night and played and bonked around for about an hour before deciding to go back to sleep.  She definitely caught a bug and has been coughing all night.  I can't imagine what my first night of actually sleeping 8 hours will be like.  I would be happy with even 6 at this point.

Snuggling with mommy

Elise was really off and fussy on Friday and we think she caught some weird virus because I seemed to have caught it yesterday.  I've spent the last 2 days just lying on the couch with lots of aches and pains.  Because of this, I spent a lot of snuggle time with Elise on the couch and she spent 1 nap sleeping on top of me, just like the good ol' days.  Daddy is doing a great job doing double-time this weekend.  I don't know how single moms do it!

A camelbak pro

Climbing mommy

I'm going to try to post more, writing little snippets about my reflections on motherhood and Elise, and will try to include a photo or two from my phone.  It's a little difficult keeping up with posting all the photos and videos regularly and yet so much happens in between those posts.  She's growing up so fast.  She now waves hi and bye and is learning to sit down from a standing position.  Her sense of humor is emerging more and you can tell that she's learning that daddy is the playful one and mommy is the nurturing one.

As much as I love our home, the reality of living in a cramped apartment with a mobile baby is getting a little difficult.  Our dining area is basically in our living room and Elise has very little space to explore.  We have a hand me down baby-walker but there is nowhere for her to actually walk to.  Unfortunately, living in LA, our options are very limited.  The idea of buying a house seems impossible.  I just know that our living situation will have to change once we have a second child, which is not too far off! 

smiley elise. :)

Today was a special milestone because Elise smiled big for the first time when I took her to her babysitter, Angelica.  She was excited and happy to see her.  This makes me great relief because it means that I know she's happy to be there.  It's still really hard for me to drop her off and seeing her when I pick her up is always the highlight of my day.  I thank God everyday that I have a flexible enough schedule where she is with a babysitter for 24 hours a week and that my mom comes over on Thursdays.  I can't imagine what life would be like if I had a normal full-time job where I would only get to really see her on the weekends.  I'd probably just quit.  Having this flexible schedule now means that I have to work really hard in the evenings and weekends, but it's totally worth it.

Here's a pic of Elise doing her new "thing"-- sticking her tongue out when she smiles.  :P

crawling

elise is finally crawling!  i thought she was going to skip this stage because she was so content with scooting on the ground and she quickly moved onto pulling herself up and cruising along furniture (which is supposed to come after crawling).  she's always taken a few crawly steps but today we saw her crawling across the rug.  i don't know why, but i got SOOOO excited with this milestone.  i guess it was because i assumed she was going to skip it altogether.  oh man, time to baby proof everything!

Getting to know uncle Richard