Steinhatchee, FL

For the past several years my family has been vacationing in the BIG town of Steinhatchee, FL (pronounced : STEEN-Hatch-EE).  Actually, Steinhatchee barely makes the map.  This town consists of a Hungry Howie's, a Dollar General, gas station/grocery store, two seafood restaurants, a couple of marinas and a few hotels and condos.  It is a very small scale vacationing spot that mostly consists of locals.  We love the place though.  It has this sort of peace and quiet about it that you can't get anywhere else.  There are really only two reasons to go to Steinhatchee: fishing and scalloping.  My family usually does both.  Scallops are small, clam/oyster like things that you snorkle and dive for and get out the grass.  There is a small ball of meat inside the shell that is good fried or with pasta.

I absolutely, love, love, love to fish.  Scalloping is fun but I freak myself out a little bit while snorkeling in the water.  I am a scaredy cat when it comes to sharks, stingrays and jellyfish.  This year I didn't do either, though.  Both Mom and Matt offered to watch Norah Kate while I went, but I felt pretty guilty about leaving her. 

Almost every day a thunderstorm would roll in.  One day it rained all day long!

Needless to say, I got stir crazy.  Norah Kate was not her normal self either.  She was incredibly fussy, did not sleep through the night any during the whole week we were there and pretty much refused to sleep in her pack and play.  She slept with me every night, which meant this mama didn't sleep.  I would try to put her in her pack and play but she would wake up and cry everytime I laid her down. I could hardly put her down during the day without her falling to pieces.  To top it all off, I think we went through a growth spurt because she was nursing throughout the night too.  Bless her heart, she was all out of sorts.

Matt came down later in the week and gave me some relief.  On Saturday, he watched her for me so I could get some much needed R&R.  I laid out by the pool and read The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.  Matt would put her in her stroller and roll her around outside.  She would go to sleep every time!  I wish I could have found out that trick earlier in the week!

We cooked and ate a lot while we were there. I got addicted to the TV show Criminal Minds and watched The Vow. I fell in love with pluots (a cross between a plum and an apricot), and relearned to play the card game Speed. I went running one afternoon in the misting rain (which was much cooler than running in the blazing sun!) and almost got bit by a dog.

Saturday afternoon, me, Matt, and Norah Kate went for a ride to check out the local scenery.  Norah Kate got the best nap while riding in the truck; she slept the whole ride.  We stopped for ice cream, which has seemed to start up our new ice cream habit because I have had ice cream every day since then.  Saturday night, Mama and Daddy watched Norah Kate so that Matt, my brother, his girlfriend and myself could go to dinner.

Overall, it was nice to have some good quality time with my family and just to be somewhere with different scenery.  I am looking foward to vacation in August with Matt's family!

Amelia Island

Last summer, Mama and I discovered Amelia Island, FL.  It is one of those little beaches where I would LOVE to retire.  They have the cutest downtown, good food, and pretty beaches.  It is more of a quiet beach than PCB or Daytona.  We went for the day last year but we went Monday and stayed for the night.

Monday the weather was perfect.  It was hot, but breezy, so it was tolerable.

Napping on the beach Monday afternoon

Norah Kate loved the beach and the tide pools.  The tide pools were perfect for her because I could sit in them and hold her up.  She could stand in the water and not have to worry about waves knocking into us.

We looked like we were going for a week the way we packed, but I learned that's how all trips are with a baby.  Umbrellas, beach chairs, pack and play, stroller, cooler, over night bags, towels, snacks....

She smiled like this to almost everyone that walked by her while we were downtown.  She already loves being the center of attention!

Tuesday was a different story.  It was crazy hot!  The beach was starting to get crowded too, and there was NO breeze!  I don't think I have ever been to the beach and there be no breeze.  Even under the umbrella was miserable hot.  The only way to be comfortable was to be submerged in the water.  It was way too hot for Norah Kate. She was pretty ill and we were constantly taking her down to the water to cool off.  We stayed out for about an hour and then packed up and headed home.  She was so wore out she slept the whole way home (over a 3 hour drive!).

Next year I will be chasing her down the beach! :)

 

 

*6 Months Old*

Goodness! Happy 1/2 Birthday Norah Kate!!  I know I say this eeeevery time, but wow, I just blinked and she is already 6 months old. It is really depressing for this mama.  I love, love, love to watch her grow and learn... but it is happening so fast!

What are we likin'?

• She loves Hoss.  Yes, our little yorkie-maltese mix doggie.  He has been around from Day 1, but she has just  now noticed him.  She will just belly laugh when he is around her.  He has learned that she can entertain her too, so sometimes we have to set boundaries.  I have caught him shaking his toy in her face trying to get her to play tug of war.  She loves it!  He will run and circles around her and bark and she will have a giggle fit.  I have a feeling once she is successful in getting a handful of fur (she has been trying desperately hard) he will learn not to get so close.

• Our Jumperoo and walker.  Aunt Dee bought Norah Kate a jumper while I was pregnant and she LOVES that thing.  I have to put a pillow under it because she isn't quite long enough for her feet to touch the floor.  She will jump and jump and jump.  Even when you are holding her, she thinks that she is supposed to jump!  She is so rough in everything though!  I am praying everything will still  be in one piece so I can re-use it all for the next one!  She has a walker at Nana's and an activity center thingy that spins and toys at Granna's house.  She loves them both too!  She is one busy body baby.



• Food.  I should have known this baby would love to eat.  She "numms nummms" the whole time I am feeding her.  Lots of times she looks at me real pitiful when the bowl is empty.  I think she would eat until she gets sick if I let her.  There really hasn't been anything she has tried and didn't like, especially if it is mixed with bananas!  She has started to get really excited when we are out to eat and the waiter/ress places my plate in front of me.  She will kick and move her arms like "Please, Mama, give me some of that!!"



• She loves the water.  Bath, pool, ocean.... You name it.  She is already fearless of the water.  She tries to nose dive in everything.

Yummy toes!

• Her seahorse.  It plays lullabies and the belly glows.  She talks to it and hums along with it while she is trying to go to sleep.  The other night she had an arm and leg thrown over it sound asleep.  I am still paranoid about SIDS, so I take it out once she is good and asleep.

• Sophie the Giraffe is probably another favorite toy.  It is rubbery and squeaky.  She can teeth on it and make lots of racket!  What better toy for a baby?! ;)

• Giving/getting kisses.  She has will usually start kissing really sweet, then next thing you know she has a handful of cheek and hair or your nose and ear and is biting your face.  She is one rough child!

Dislikes?

• Sleepytime.  Somewhere along the way my baby who could put herself to sleep disappeared.  She has gotten where she will scream when I put her down in her pack and play.  Even sometimes I will put her down just to play in it while I am getting ready and she will cry (she thinks I am trying to get her to go to sleep).  She is so active, I think she is afraid of missing something.  Now we are going through a stage of fighting sleep.  Just another phase I think (I hope!)

• Teething.  Okay, well maybe that is more me than her.  It's the pits for everyone!!  Teething rings, wet washrags, Tylenol and Hyland's Teething Tablets are our best friends!  We have two pretty pearly whites on the bottom though and are working hard on a top one as we speak.  Those two bottom teeth are the cutest things I have ever seen!

• Gnats.  She gets pretty ill when we are outside and the gnats get in her eyes.  Poor baby, because they are HORRIBLE here this year!

What else are we up to?

• Size 6 month and 6-9 month clothes.  Size 3 diapers.
• Pushing up on hands and knees and rocking back and forth.  She's not technically "crawling" but she can scoot, slide, and roll to where she wants to go. 
• We have lowered her pack and play all the way down because she is starting to reach and try to pull up.  I was terrified that her first time pulling up would be in her pack and play.
• We have tried to go to sleep in our crib but she just screamed and cried and cried some more.  Maybe next week...
• She will hum when she gets sleepy.
• She is still shaking her head from side to side when she gets sleepy.  Now she will do it to entertain too.
• When she smiles she will scrunch her nose up.  Cutest thing ever!
• Sitting up!  She got really good over the weekend.  She only falls when she gets really excited or is reaching for something.  She hardly cries though when she falls.
• Stage 2 baby foods.  We went out of town this week so I had to feed her baby food from the jar.  She loved it! (Umm yeah, I know the pediatrician said to wait, but this baby was ready!!)
• Biting and pinching.  She is starting to get in trouble for this.  She knows what "no, no" means.  There are some places she bites that makes mama jump up out of the chair!  I keep telling her, "if she isn't nice to nursie, nursie won't be nice to her."

Our schedule:

Haha! Yeah, right.  Well most days it goes a little something like this.

• Wake up at 7:30-8am
• Nurse
• Playtime
• Nap at 9:00am
• Wake up between 11:00-12:00
• Nurse
• Lunch (cereal with fruit)
• Playtime
• Sometimes we take a short little nap around 2:00pm
• Nurse
• Sometimes we wait and nap at 4:00pm, depending on her mood and what we are doing.
• Supper at around 6:00 or 7:00pm
• Bath, nurse, and bedtime around 9:00pm (Hopefully! With it getting dark at about 9:30pm here, sometimes it is later.)

She is mostly sleeping through the night.  She make wake up occasionally looking for me or her paci.  For the past week or so, she has been waking up at 6 or so and I bring her in bed and nurse her for a little bit while I catch some extra zzz's.  It is nice snuggling with her in the mornings. 


We are having a blast and learning something new every day.  I love my baby girl so much!  She is my world!  Lots of exciting and new things for the summer :)



I am going to dayshift at work soon and am excited/anxious.  I think it will actually be better for my little family, and give me some what more normalcy back in my life.  I have also found an awesome babysitter which was a HUGE relief for this mama!!  Finding someone you trust with your youngun is one stressful job!