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!

Southern Summers

Let me just say that I LOVE summer! It is not my favorite season (the two weeks of fall we experience here in South Georgia is my favorite :)). Despite the gnats, mosquitoes, sweat and 100% humidity, I love getting out on the boat, going to Steinhatchee, FL, spending time at the beach, laying out by the pool and mowing my grass. My most favorite part about summer though is the fresh fruits and veggies!

These peaches came from South Carolina and were HUGE!

Bi Colored Corn, also from South Carolina

(My daddy went on a trip and his customers sent him home with fresh produce)

White acre peas from Little River Produce in Lake Park, GA

I have been a busy bee these past two weeks putting up vegetables in our freezer for the winter.  I have put up fresh cream corn, zipper peas, and white acres.  Needless to say, between the venison, breastmilk, baby food, and veggies... our freezer is pretty FULL!

Nannie teaching me to cream corn.  This is a messy job!  I had creamed corn in my hair, on my face and up to my elbows!  It will be yummy in the winter time though!

 

Normally, Matt plants a summer or fall crop of squash, but he didn't this year so I missed the chance to put up squash.  Hopefully he will plant some for fall.  I have begged Matt for several years now to plant me a garden and I would tend to it, but he hasn't.  Maybe next year!  Mama is supposed to teach me how to put up jams and perserves this summer too! I am so excited!  I love being raised in the South!!! 

All my hard work!

Old & Senile

I have a funny story for you guys and gals...

Today I went to Walmart, which is my most favorite place to go in the entire world. (Not!)  In fact, I despise it so much that it has been three weeks since I have been to the grocery store.  The only reason I went today was because we had nothing in the pantry... no cereal, bread, lunch meat, milk...   I choose Walmart over anything else because it is just easier to go ahead and finish all my shopping in one place.  I have learned that by stretching my shopping trips to every 2-3 weeks I save a ton of money.  When I was going weekly I would always come home with extra stuff that wasn't necessary every time; usually spending an extra $50-$75 on "stuff".

Anyhow, my child was an ANGEL throughout the entire trip.  She fell asleep midway through and didn't start fussing until we were checking out.

When I finished, I put her in the car and was loading my trunk with the groceries.  All of a sudden, my car rocked.  I thought to myself, "Surely she isn't kicking hard enough to rock the car?"  So I peek on her and she is fine.  In the meantime, an old lady (probably close to 80 or so) in the parking spot in front of me rolled down the window in her van.  "Sorry honey!  I bumped ya!"  Haha!  You think?  You knocked the stew out of my car.  Of course, I just smiled and waved my hand... "It's alright.  I just didn't know what happened."   She told me, "I just hate it when my back end is sticking out.  I wanted to pull up far enough."  Well, believe me ma'm, I think you did....

Her and her husband get on out, come and get my buggy from me, and stroll in Walmart like nothing ever happened.  I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head, because one day I am gonna be old and senile too.  Luckily my car wasn't damaged, and really no harm was done.

It's no wonder they have lived that long.  I guess they have learned not to sweat the small stuff.  I pray I get more wisdom and patience with age :)

I thought about my other Walmart incident that happened a few months back.  Haha, luckily it wasn't that woman in the Mustang whose car she "bumped."

Homemade Baby Food

Since my piglet is now eating solid foods twice a day, I decided to make my own purees for her.  It has been super easy, fun, and very inexpensive.  One sweet potato makes about 5 servings for her and she ate off of one banana for 3 days.

Fresh Fruits & Veggies

I found this website, Wholesome Baby Food, which is AMAZING!  It has recipes, step by step instructions, freezing/storing suggestions, and lists of foods that your baby can eat at the different stages.  It has been my baby food Bible!

We are eating stage one foods and so far she has had bananas (loves!), sweet potatoes (mmm.. not so much), avocado (loves!), acorn squash (loves!), apples (loves!), and peaches (we made some sour faces with these).


She loves bananas so much that she "mmmm.mmms" the whole time I am feeding them to her.  I can mix something she isn't crazy about, such as sweet potatoes with bananas or apples is she enjoys it a whole lot more.  After I defrost her food from the freezer, I usually put cereal in it to thicken it up and to give her extra iron.  Last week, I pureed zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, apples, and peaches and put them in the freezer. 



I bought the Baby Bullet Turbo Steamer and use that to steam my veggies. 

After steaming, I put them in my food processor and puree.  I add water as needed to thin it out.  Norah Kate likes her food more soupy. 

I have used both the food processor and the blender.  They both work pretty good.

 

Once you are satisfied with the consistency of your puree, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze.  Once they are frozen just pop them out into ziploc bags.  I put two cubes into a milk freezer bag, label and date.

 Voila!  Baby food made easy :)

I really like my steamer for multiple reasons 1.) By steaming foods they maintain more nutrients 2.) It cooks the food in minutes (the longest cycle is 13 minutes) 3.) The Baby Bullet Steamer also can sterilize bottle nipples, pacis, etc, and it will defrost frozen baby food.  I bought it for like $25 at Walmart. 


Norah Kate gets cereal at lunch and veggies at supper time.  We will eventually work up to cereal for breakfast, veggie/fruit for lunch, and veggie/fruit for supper.  We have followed the "four day" rule.  Each time I introduce a new food, she gets it for four days in a row to make sure she is not going to have an allergic reaction to it, then we try something new.  I don't stress to much about how much she eats either.  If I can only get her to take a few bites of something, then so be it... She is still breastfeeding so I know she is still getting all of her nutrients.


Pears will be the next thing I make for her.  I have also started some combinations for her with foods we have already tried, such as apples and sweet potatos or bananas and apples.  Don't worry, I taste test everything before I feed it to her!


A few things I have learned, peaches and apples don't go very far at all! Four peaches made only 3 servings.  And 3 apples only made 6 or 8 servings.  I will probably buy adult all natural applesauce from the grocery store for apples, and may try a bag of frozen peaches next time.  With everything else though, a little went a long way!


I thought about doing the Baby Led Weaning which is when you introduce pieces of food rather than purees.  For instance, you would give the baby slices of a banana or sweet potato and let them feed themselves.  This makes me really nervous because of choking!  I gave Norah Kate a banana and let her chew on it the other day just to see what she would do and she LOVED it, but then hunks of the banana started falling off in her mouth and scared me to death.  For now we will stick with our pureed mush and might try Baby Led Weaning later.

Oh and she has two pretty pearly whites on her bottom jaw now!  They came through two weeks ago!

*5 Months Old*

My sweet, sweet Norah Kate... How is it even possible that you are five months old already!  I thought I just came home with you from the hospital?



These past five months have been the absolute best of my life!

I am impressed with how much you change daily and the new things you are learning.

Here is an update on my precious sugarbean...

What she likes:

Rice cereal... mmm. mmm. mmm.  She gets three tablespoons mixed with my breastmilk once a day.  She likes it thinner and soupy. When it is too thick she gags on it.  Sometimes she wants to feed herself and we end up with rice cereal all over me, her, Hoss, the floor, everywhere!
Talkin'.  She is her mama's child.  She talks and talks.  She has really found her voice and will squeal, talk, and hum.  It is truly the sweetest sound.
For her daddy to get her out of her pack and play in the mornings.  Usually, I let Matt get her out of her pack and play first thing.  That is "his" thing.  She is always so happy to see him and smiles so big.  We usually put her in bed with us and cuddle for a little while before I get up and nurse her.

Rolling on the floor.  We were somewhere last weekend and she was about to have a fit to get down!  She is so used to laying on her pallet at home.  (We just bought a rug today to the poor thing would have to roll on the wood floors!)  I guess I am going to have to start carrying a blanket with us to lay on the floor when we are visiting places too!  She can entertain herself for hours as long as I have her on the blanket with some of her toys!

Standing up.  She loves to be pulled up into a standing position... it gets her tickle box turned over every time. 

Her sippee cup.  I bought a training one with handles and a bottle nipple on it.  I will put some nursery water in it and maybe a little apple juice and she loves it!  She more or less chews on the nipple, but I think it makes her feel like a big girl.



Dislikes:

Up until two or three days ago she hated being on her tummy.  She could roll over from her back to her stomach, and she would get mad.  Now we now how to roll from back to stomach and back again... She is on the move!

Being sleepy.  You haven't seen ill until you have seen my sleepy baby.... Whew... She is a force to be reckoned with!  She has started this new thing of really fighting sleep.  She will shake her head from side to side to wake herself up when she starts to fall asleep.  I am hoping to really get her on a better nap schedule!

 

What else are we up to?

• She is rolling all over the place.
• She can almost sit up. 
• We have tried avacados (like), sweet potatoes (dislike) and bananas (like).  I am making all of her baby food right now. It is actually easier and prompts me to buy and cook healthy foods for me and Matt too!
• No teeth yet, but boy are we working on them.
• Size 3!!! diapers.
• Size 6 month clothes (we are actually fitting into some 9 months too!!)
• Talking, laughing, "mmmm," "ddddd," loud, ear piercing, squeals :)
• Pinching (This I am not so impressed with!)  She isn't doing it to be hateful, she is just exploring but man it hurts!!
• Sleeping on her tummy in her pack and play... I guess this is okay?  I put her on her back, but lately she has been rolling on her stomach to sleep.  It makes me kinda nervous.
• She is still sleeping in our room.  I am not quite ready to make the change.
• Trying to get Hoss... poor thing, he is just too tempting to her.  He is probably going to put himself into hiding when she starts toddling!
• Noticing everyone and everything.  She is into grabbing peoples faces.  She will grab your face and give you "sugar."  It is sweet.... until those little nails scrape your skin... eek!
• I am still nursing her on demand... but I am trying to stretch our feedings to every 4 hours during the day... sometimes we can, sometimes we can't.

Norah Kate's schedule (roughly; on most days)

• Wake up at 6:00-7:00am and nurse
• Go back to sleep in about 30 mins to an hour until 10:00 or 11:00am, wake up and nurse
• Another nap at 12:00pm
• Wake up at 1:00 or 2:00pm
• Nurse at about 3:00pm
• Play
• Cereal/Veggie at 7:00pm
• Bath, nursie, bed by 8:00-9:00pm
• The early she wakes up the earlier she goes to bed, the earlier she goes to bed, the earlier she wakes up.  Sometimes I don't mind her staying up until 10 or so, because then I might get to sleep in until 8am :)

I can't wait to see what this next month holds for us sweet girl!  You suprise me every day!!