Back to reality

Wow...I cannot begin to tell you how awesome our cruise was! Even when the weather was bad (3 days!) we still relaxed, worked out, and had grown up time (wink, wink). Like I've said before, we dated for 6 years before we got married and then it took us 6 more years to get pregnant. That's a lot of alone time. Having a baby has been a huge adjustment and it has changed our relationship a lot. To tell the truth, we cried a lot on this trip...and talked about G all the time...but we were stuck on a ship and in foreign countries, so we were forced to focus on US.
G has changed sinec we've been gone. He makes new funny faces, has new eating habits, and stands up with help. He still won't crawl, but loves to pull up from a sitting position. Of course now he's also getting frustrated because he can't walk. And he's teething.
Now I have only 2 days until I start part of my job...and on the 18th I'll be back full time teaching. It'll definitely be back to reality.

Freaking out!

quick update about last post: The person I emailed actually emailed me back a few hours after I posted. I won't even flatter myself that maybe she reads this blog...she apologized for taking so long and I know she works, so I'm sure she's been really busy. Her blog is super successful. Anyways, I'm sad to say that she actually doesn't live in the same city as me. We both live in big cities, so all of the places she mentioned we have too. I'm bummed, but I'll get over. I still love reading her blog!

So what am I freaking out about? Well tomorrow my hubby and I are leaving to go on a cruise.
For 8 days.
Yikes!
Don't get me wrong...I am soooooo excited because we love to travel and we're going to places we've never been to before. The great thing about cruises is that you really don't have any choice but to relax. You don't have to be anywhere that you don't want to be. Too lazy to go to dinner? Order room service (24 hours a day!). Don't want to see a show? Stay in your room and watch a movie (hopefully not "Alvin and the Chipmunks" on repeat like our last cruise LOL). Swim when you want. Have sex when you want. And the thing I'm looking forward to: WORK OUT when you want! You have people cook for you and clean for you. I'm giddy.
But I'm also freaking out...because unlike our last cruise, this time we have a precious 7 (almost 8) month old who is going through so many changes. What if something happens? What if we miss his first word? Or first tooth? Or him standing alone? (He's already standing with very little help).
I've got to calm myself down. It's going to be okay. Everyone tells me this is the best thing for us.
And it's too late to turn back now.

Shot down

I am in desperate need of mommy friends. And G is in need of baby friends. So, after much sitting around feeling sorry for myself that I have neither of the 2, I took matters into my own hands.
First, I emailed a mommy blogger whose blog I really like. I've mentioned her on here before. I was pretty sure that she lives in the same general vicinity as me...and her son is only a month older than G. She seemed to have the same sense of humor as me. And in many of the pictures she posts, I see the exact same baby things that G has. So I emailed her. I asked her about her true opinion about Nutrisystem (which she has used to lose a good amount of weight) and I asked her if she knew of any good mommy groups in this area.
I don't know...maybe I sounded like a weirdo. Maybe she has too many mommy friends already. Whatever it was, it's been a week and I haven't gotten a response.
The other thing I did was joined a mommy webgroup for my area. I've posted replies to several people's "introductions"...I posted an introduction of myself...and I joined a few groups. I haven't made it to any meet ups (there's only been one for my area so far anyways), but so far this isn't looking too promising either.
So, how do you meet mommy friends?

Peekaboo!

I don't even know if anyone noticed that I hadn't blogged in almost a month...but I'm back. I took a semi-break from the internet...mostly because I just haven't had the time to get on here. I have a blog on another network that I've had for 5 years...but it's like a ghost town on there. Any guesses why? Yea...because of Facebook. I'm not going to lie...I have a FB...and I actually LOVE my FB. It's super easy to use, especially on a Blackberry. I post pix almost daily. I update my status whenever I think of something whitty or if I'm doing something exciting which you might be surprised to know is usually several times a day ;) But there is one thing I don't like about FB.
ALL OF MY FRIENDS (and "friends") and a lot of my family members have FB too!
I love how easy it is to keep up with everyone...and see pix of what they're up to...but the down side is that I can't blog on there. I don't want them knowing my every thought and secret. I don't want to hear their replies to everything I say.
So in case you're wondering what I've been up to...here's a quick summary:

• School ended on June 10. Basically our school bribed kids to come because our attendance was so bad in the fall. We literally gave out raffle tickets and had drawings for gift cards and ipods. I heard our attendance was still really low though.
• My grandmother's burial was June 19. We packed up a Dodge Journey and hubby, G, my mom, dad, and I all went to NY. (Well, we actually dropped my dad off in Vermont to see his family, but that's a blog in itself.) It was a great time, but very short. We were there from June 15-20.
• On the way home we stopped in Hoboken, NJ to visit Carlo's Bakery from TLC's "Cake Boss". One word: amazing! Such a fun little pit stop...but I will never take I-95 to or from NY again. It has been years...and it's so much worse than I remember!
• Ever since we got home from our trip I've been non-stop mommy. I'm having so much fun spending time with G, but it is DRAINING! Whoever thinks that being a SAHM is just an easy job for women who don't want to work needs to think again.
• We had a yard sale and tried to get rid of a lot of stuff G has outgrown. We made almost $200 but I ended up consigning and ebaying the rest of the stuff. If I have time tomorrow I will have a post about consigning...you must read this if you are a new mommy!
• I have joined a local mommies group and I'm hoping to meet some soon!

My summer is going to be over before I know it. We are busy the next few weeks and then I start work again. Yikes!

1/2 birthday

I absolutely cannot believe that G is 6 months old today! Where has the time gone? Before I know it he'll be blowing out his first candle and *hopefully* digging into his first cake. I say hopefully because I hate it when the parents have to show the child what to do. I want him to just dive in with both hands and get it all over his face trying to get it into his mouth. That would make me smile :)
So at 6 months, here is what G can do:

• sleep through the night (I said can...it doesn't mean he always does though)
• smile, laugh, and make random noises
• put everything he gets ahold of in his mouth
• eat stage 1 fruits and veggies
• roll from tummy to back
• give hugs
• sit from a laying position with help (he gets stronger every day!)
• pull plastic rings off the pole
• jump in johnny jump up and sit/stand in the exersaucer
• pay attention to several books before getting bored

His personality is coming out. He likes to act shy sometimes. He is quick to let you know when he's bored! It also seems that he knows to look to me rather than my husband if he wants to be held. I see a lot of myself in him.
Who has ideas of things to entertain kids at this age? I'm running out of things quickly!

Things I never thought I'd do (until I became a mommy)

I realized that I've been skimping on the confessions lately...and as I was catching up on blogs from Foxy Pink Cheetah (access her blog here) I saw that she mentioned me in her blog awards:
Diez: Confessions of a first time mom. Another refreshing blog. Blogs honestly about being a mom for the first time and everything that goes along with it.

 

It made me feel SO GOOD. In one of her other entries she says: "For some of you long-time readers, you know that I make fun of "mommy-blogs." Only the ones that suck, though. Here's the thing: if you're being true to yourself and your personality and you blog about your kid, awesome!"
 
So it made me feel even better that she'd mentioned me. I guess one of the reasons that I don't update this blog every day is that I don't want to brag about my son all the time. (Well, okay, I do...what mom doesn't...but I know people don't want to read about that ;) Lately life has been pretty uneventful. I get up at 6 (after pushing snooze for 30 minutes), work until 3 or 4, and come home to entertain G...which is becoming more difficult because he can't do a whole lot on his own...like sit. There's not much you can do if you can't sit on your own! We read a few books, play with some toys, bounce in the exersaucer, and watch Nick Jr. Yikes...yes, my son is 6 months old and watches TV! I always said that I didn't want him watching TV at a young age, but I can't help it...sometimes it's the only thing that will keep him entertained. In my defense, I usually watch it with him and I sing along or repeat the words (like on Dora or Diego).
 
Here are some other things I never thought I'd do:

• let my house get cluttered with all kinds of toys
• spend lots of time looking for a certain plush toy from a certain show on Nick Jr.
• say "Swiper, no swiping"
• talk to every parent that I see with a baby that looks remotely close to G in age
• ride in the backseat with G if hubby is driving
• give up buying clothes for myself so I can buy an outfit for G
• let G ride in the infant carrier without being strapped in (I really can't believe I've done this...and I've only done it twice...but when you've had a fussy fussy day and your baby finally goes to sleep, you avoid what might wake him/her up!)
• give up watching shows that used to be favorites

My son has stage fright

So far we haven't been able to capture any of G's tricks on video. It's like the minute that camera is on, he forgets what he's supposed to do. Today my mom called and left me a message telling me that G rolled over from tummy to back. (I missed it! So sad!) Hubby and I tried to get him to do it again, but after 6 minutes of just watching/videotaping him fussing on his tummy, we gave up. Hopefully we'll have better luck tomorrow.