Half of a Year

You guessed it... "I can't believe it has been 6 months already!" I really can't though.

Isn't it amazing how quickly "new babies" transform into "big babies?" Since I posted last month, Stella has started showing her fiesty side. She is still a pile of sweetness but she definitely knows what she wants! She is rolling with a purpose now and she is trying to army crawl. She can pull herself around on the carpet but she hasn't really gotten her knees/legs to get with the program yet. She is chewing on everything. I found her chewing on my sandal the other day! (YUCK) Time to pick up the living room! She grunts and groans and squeals and pulls until she gets her hands on whatever she wants.... except Lennox. He is always just out of her grasp!! Dang.

Stella is starting to give kisses. She leans into your face and slobs you really good! :) I love it! She usually wakes up happy, cooing and babbling. She is a snuggle bug. She likes to bury her head in your neck then look up at your face with those huge blue eyes and give you a shy little smile. Love that too. She likes to pull her head bands down so she can eat her bow. Don't love that. She is in that weird stage where she can't really sit up but she doesn't want to just lay around but she doesn't really want to be held all of the time. I will be glad when she can sit up a little better. She started reaching for me! Sort of. She lifts one arm and leans toward me... I know she wants me though. I really, really LOVE that.

I tried giving Stella oatmeal cereal about 2 weeks ago. She liked it but she didn't really swallow it. Since then, she's has gotten alot better. She screams and yells when it is all gone. I tried avocado but she kind of just held it in her mouth then spit it out. I tried again. She spit it out. I tried again. She kept her mouth closed. I will try again. I tried green peas. She kind of ate them but then she puked. I think the puking had nothing to do with the green peas but I will wait to try those again. I tried carrots. She HATES! She was literally gagging. I had to laugh! Maybe I will wait another few weeks before we try food. She didn't really like the avocado in the mesh thing either. She's just a baby!

She still doesn't and never has slept through the night. Not even one single night has she been exhausted and forgotten to wake up!? I am exhausted and I think I would forget to wake up if I wasn't reminded by her. I'm still hoping that those 8 hour stretches are right around the corner! When Stella is sleepy she starts rubbing her eyes vigorously. I get worried that she will scratch them but she does it every day. She rubs her eyes, Lennox twirls his hair, I start drooling... not really. I did drool on myself the other day. I think I was asleep for 3 minutes and I drooled on myself!? I told you I was tired!

Guess who she likes now?! JAY! Yay. He was off for Spring Break last week and he spent alot more time with her than usual. When he came home on Monday, she got happy when she saw him and leaned toward him!! I knew it would happen. She was giving me the eye pretty quickly but she definitely wasn't crying. We're making progress people! Before I know it, she will be a daddy's girl! I hope she's not like her brother who told his mother, "you can get out of my bed so daddy can lay by me. This is daddy's pillow. Come on daddy, lay by me. Move mommy." :( That poor mother.

• I went to the doctor at work yesterday because my eye was swollen and my throat hurt. I happened to mention that my back had been hurting since I had Stella. I also told him that I have an appointment with an orthopedic specialist in May. He had me lay on the table and he had me pick up my knee, didn't hurt... pick up the other knee, didn't hurt... lean like this, didn't hurt. Ok, he says, you obviously are in pain so I am going to give you a shot of toradol for your back, prednisone and decorel for your throat, and I will start you on a regime of 3 pills per day which included Soma, some pain pill, and something else. Can you believe that?! I couldn't believe it. No wonder so many people are addicted to prescription medication! Apparently it just gets doled out to whoever "might" need it. I declined everything except the throat medicine but all I can say is WOW. I don't normally even take ibuprofen much less would I start letting my work doctor shoot me up with all kinds of pain meds!! Maybe I am old school but haven't people ever heard of just sucking it up? On the plus side, I didn't have to pay for the doctor's visit AND my prescription, after insurance, was 16 cents!! Now that is cheap!!



• Giving up fast food + 30 Day Shred = ZERO pounds lost. Disappointing? Yes. I forgot part of that equation though. Laurin's Starting Weight - Fast Food + 30 Day Shred + 10 bags of Easter Candy = ZERO pounds lost. I guess I should be happy thats an = and not a >. Hey, whatever, for some reason Reese's Eggs and Snicker's Eggs are just better than the bars! Easter Candy won't be around forever.... Maybe then I can get a <. I am still impressed that I haven't had a biscuit in 6 weeks. :)



• I LOVE The Pioneer Woman. She is my go to for a good recipe! It might not be very healthy but I can guarantee it will taste good! She's a great blogger. She can do anything. And a big fat plus, she always makes me smile. If you don't know her, you need to check her out. The only negative I have to say about her is that she threw down with Bobby Flay, my famous pretend boyfriend (yes, I know that's a random pick and yes, I still have pretend boyfriends), and in my discussions about how excited I was to watch the throw down some information was revealed that led to a very ugly pretend break up with Bobby. I'm still not over it. The break up... not the pretend relationship.

Green Eggs & Ham

just a little more motor control and she'll have him!!

SMOOCH!

I am just loving how much Stella LOVES her brother. She is constantly watching him and now she tries her hardest to catch him. Unfortunately, he is alot faster than she is! You should see the delight on her face when she does get a handful of his shirt or hair... It is so precious I could cry! ha. Really though.

You Make Uncle Wes Proud

Last night we went to the high school baseball game. Lennox had his friend Wil's glove (and wouldn't give it back) and was trying to catch the ball. Wes, Wil's brother, didn't want Lennox to have the ball because he was afraid he wouldn't give it back... I have no idea why he thought that?! Anyway, their mom took the ball and was throwing it to each kid. Lennox didn't want to take turns. He threw the glove down (3 times) and then eventually threw himself down in the dirt. I took him around the corner to see if we could fix the problem. He explained through tears that he wasn't getting a turn (but he was). Soon we left because it was clear Lennox was exhausted. This morning I asked Lennox if he had fun at the baseball game. He relayed the story again of how he didn't get a turn with the ball. I asked him if he cried and he said, "Yes, because I can't win. I WANT TO WIIIINNNNN!!!" Ummm, hello?! Who taught this kid about winning and losing? I was shocked and Jay was ecstatic. I just don't know where he learned about winning and losing. Uncle Wes hasn't even been here for a visit lately. Uncle Wes's motto is, "if you aren't first, YOU'RE LAST!" ha ha ha. If you knew Wes, you would laugh. If you knew Wes's kids, you would see where they get it. If you don't know Wes, you probably think that sounds horrible!! My niece came home from a swim meet with red ribbons and Wes told her not to come around again without blue!! (he was totally kidding... sort of)

Crawfish Boil

You know I can't sit up!!

Shout out to my friend Devin who started a blog!! It's about time! http://sd4tsmithblog.blogspot.com/ Some of the funniest things that I have ever heard have happened at Devin's house. Her stories have literally made me pee in my pants laughing! (I probably shouldn't admit to that but we're all about honesty on the Beech blog :)) You would think the craziness comes from the four boys but half of the things that are so funny come from Devin & Seth!