Fingernail Cutting

When I was pregnant with T, I got lots of advice and warnings about the lack of sleep, the crying, the labor pains, the breastfeeding pains, postpartum depression, etc. etc.
But no one ever warned me about what a serious pain it is to cut little baby fingernails.
It. is. a. pain.
I have made T bleed on more than one occasion when I tried to do it while she was awake and wiggling about so I settled on cutting them after she had fallen asleep at night.
This of course presented other issues, such as how to see what I am doing in the dark bedroom.
Luckily I have a mechanical engineer for a husband, who not only owns things like headlamps, but uses them on a frequent basis.

Problem solved.

Winsor Cousins

Contrary to what it may seem like on this blog, T actually does hang out with her Winsor cousins often. I just never take pictures or post about it like I do for her Toolson cousin.
Maybe because it's exponentially harder to get three babies happy and posing at the same time compared to just two? Never mind also including T's older two cousins who are usually running around somewhere.
But here is some photographic proof that we do like our Winsor side of the family too.

Um...well we like it most of the time. Except for when I am forcing her to take pictures with them, obviously.
You see what I mean about posing 3 babies.

He seemed very amused by her. T was oblivious to everything but the toys.

These two are only six days apart. BFF!

T and T. She LOVES her Aunt Tara, maybe even more than her Aunt Amanda. Which is saying something, considering Amanda is like her fake mom.
I'm pretty sure I will actually get more pictures with the Winsors once we've moved away and have to plan to drive up and visit.

Which, if you think about it, is kind of sad.

Oh wells.

Chore Time

This is why you have children.

I'll never have to do the dishes again!
When I was younger I actually thought one of the major reasons parents had kids was so they could get them to do the household chores.

For real.

Now I realize that putting my body through 9 months of misery, years and years of little to no sleep, almost zero personal time for myself, and thousands and thousands of dollars spent on their needs and wants, all so I don't have to do the dishes a couple of times a week is actually not that brilliant of a plan.

I'm gonna get as much dishwasher-emptying out of this girl as I can.

The weekend

We went up to my Dad's house for the weekend.

So did my sister Amanda's family so we got to see B too.
I had a lovely time.

T did not.
I guess she is exactly like her mother, which is to say that when she's around people and places she doesn't know (which unfortunately includes Granddad and all of her extended family) she does not talk, laugh or act social in any way.
This weekend was worse than usual in that she would also burst into tears if mom or dad wasn't near.

But when she's safe at home with people she knows (i.e. mom and dad) she is just the opposite. In fact, she is quite a jolly baby.

Sorry to inflict that particular personality trait on you T. Maybe you'll grow out of it...

Big News

So Seth got a job!

It's in Fayetteville.

Which means we have to move from Raleigh.

Which makes me sad.

Because all of Seth's family is here and we've really enjoyed being so close.

But Fayetteville is only an hour and a half away! It's still on the East Coast, still in North Carolina!

But I'm also sad because my sister Amanda is moving to Raleigh a month after I move. And that would have been really fun.

But we are so lucky that Seth was able to find a well-paying job right out of grad school!

And it's a company he loves and is actually a mechanical engineering job! (His current job is computer programming.)

I started doing some research on where to live and everything I've seen says "Fayetteville is the worst! Don't move here! It's the armpit of North Carolina!"

I am really scared now.

But I found an adorable house to rent in a decent part of town. And it has three bedrooms! No more one-bedroom apartment and no more wheeling T in her little travel crib out into the hallway to sleep every night!

But we have to move to Fayetteville.

But Seth has a job! A well-paying job right out of grad school in a field he loves with a company he likes that is still within easy driving distance of all our East Coast family! And I am very happy to start this next phase of our lives.

But I keep going back and forth between excitement and sadness.

Can you tell?

Nine Months

Here are some many highlights of being 9 months old.
I am dreading the day your chunky legs and cheeks thin out. I cannot go out to the store without one or two people commenting on how cute that or your big eyes are.

You did NOT appreciate me trying to take pictures of you. You need to be moving, constantly. You started crawling just a couple of weeks ago and already you are very fast. I have to watch you a lot more closely now - I quickly discovered you like electrical sockets.

Your favorite time of day is when Dad comes home and plays with you. You laugh a lot more now.

You also love to stand up. Especially the coffee table, because mom hasn't yet figured out where to put all the magazines/papers/food she leaves on top of it and you have lots of things to pull off and play with.

Your favorite thing is books. You like to pull them out and turn the pages, multiple times a day. I read to you before naps and bedtime. I can only get board books at the library now since you're a little too enthusiastic about turning the pages. Your absolute favorite book is Pat the Bunny.

Still no teeth.

You actually like to eat now - thank goodness - and your favorite thing to eat are pretzel sticks. I only let you eat them once in a great while because...

...you are not a neat eater in the least.

We taught you how to give kisses, and half the time you will open your mouth big and lick our cheeks (your version of a kiss). The other half you headbutt us, so asking for a kiss is always a dangerous proposition.

You are getting more and more fun and I am really enjoying this season of life with you right now.

Arizona: I miss you

It's days like today (read: loooooooong) that I look back fondly on our trip to Arizona and wish I could go back in time and do it again.

Going for a walk

So sad and so funny

Poor B often got pushed around by her slightly bigger and more stable cousin

T actually taking a nap

Reveling in the fact that T is taking a nap and that I can hold B

Favorite bath toy to steal from B

Grandpa and his great-granddaughters

B and mom

My little family!

Grandparents and grandbabies

Four generations

T getting tired of pictures.

T's Sunday Afternoon

Because I obviously didn't post enough videos yesterday.

She did this for about 15 minutes. It's like a built-in babysitter for me. Very amusing.

Crawling

I told my mom I would put up a video of T crawling a week or two ago and she just informed me today that she has checked everyday to see if I had done it yet.
Whoops.
So in a guilt-ridden panic I quickly took the following video.
Please ignore the crap all over my floor. It's easier to just leave it and pick it up once at the end of the day.

And here are a couple more videos just to make up for the procrastination.

Sometimes crawling is a traumatic experience for her.

Yeah, she's got something to say.

She's quite the opinionated baby.