This should make up for the next 10 days or so…

I have so much to write about, I guess I’ll try and start from a beginning of sorts… my jam packed Labor Day weekend.

Friday afternoon Stephen got off work early and we packed up the van to head to Bakersfield. We barely made it in time for our hair cut appointments with our favorite hair guy.

Then we headed over to the Bakersfield Museum of Art for my best friend’s wedding rehearsal followed by dinner at the Bakersfield favorite, La Costa. We definitely got to sit at the cool table that night and met some really interesting people that were also in the wedding party. After that we went to Target for some random stuff like another sippy cup for Bean because I forgot to bring any with us. Then we finally got to Stephen’s parent’s house to crash for the night.

The next morning we hung out for a little while then went to the mall to get my friend a wedding gift. I am the queen of last minute things lately. Then back to the house so my sister could do my hair before I headed over to the museum. During this time Stephen’s mom was playing with Bean and threw out her back trying to be silly with her. Stephen dropped me off at the museum where I got ready with the bride and did the picture thing.

Oh and pretty crazy was the fact that my best friend had chosen the same dress I did for her wedding day that I had worn almost to the day six years ago (our anniversary was the next day). It was very surreal for me seeing her in the dress, especially on my anniversary.

Stephen came back dressed up with Jillian and the wedding started. The ceremony was beautiful and fun. We did more pictures then had some yummy food. Pretty much everyone in the room has some connection to the news industry and a couple of our newsie friends made an awesome “news story” video about the couple. Then they shared their first dance.

And just minutes after this photo was taken…

Bean went into total meltdown mode because it was about 2.5 hours past her bedtime. So we had to cut out of the wedding a little early.

The next day we got up bright and early to head to Sequoia National Forest to do a little “hiking” (the path was paved and very flat) on our anniversary.

The last time I visited Sequoia was about 15 years ago, but Stephen had never been. The place has completely changed since I was last there so it was very unfamiliar and a little disorienting to me because I can still visualize the old parking lot and visitor center which have all been ripped out to make things better for the environment. There were mobs of people in the park that day. We couldn’t even get a parking space over by the General Sherman Tree hike so we just headed out of the park.

We drove to Fresno to hang out with our good friends Paul and Brooke (both were in our wedding and it was Brooke’s birthday). They made us dinner and as usual our time with them flew by with great conversations about church, politics, life, careers, parenting and all kinds of other stuff. I so wish they lived closer again because that used to be a weekly to monthly occurance with them and I miss it so much! We drove back to Bakersfield late that night.

Monday we went out meet up with our renter and see our house before heading back home. We got everything unpacked, started laundry and then headed over to my sister-in-law’s house to work out details of what will be occupying the next 10 days…

Since my MIL threw her back out, she won’t be able to watch Bean’s cousins while their parents are in Norway. So we volunteered to take up that task. I’m actually kind of excited about it. Ruth is quite the extraordinary planner and as such watching her girls will be busy, but organized and full of fun. 🙂

Anyway, I doubt I’ll be posting much (or maybe I will, who knows) and wanted to explain my absence before dropping off the the radar.

Oh and a couple more things…

I am still slowly working on the boy blanket for my sister’s friend. I’ve got all the knitting done, just sewing the panels together now and then on to the backing and border…

I totally love it and might be tempted to keep it for our baby boy. 🙂

Also, Bean will be 50 weeks old tomorrow…

Her appetite is still ridiculous and as such she has decided that the snack trap is her new BFF. She is very posessive of the snack trap, so even when I take it away to refill it, this is what happens:

Dropping the morning feeding has made things so much better around here. I’m still dealing with biting, but not nearly as much. So I’m debating whether to drop another feeding this week or just keep working on the biting issue with the ones that remain.

She’s also getting a little braver with walking. Last night she took a few steps without even being coaxed to do so! She also seems to prefer it, at least while holding on to stuff for now, over crawling the last couple days. So I know she’s right on the cusp of being a full time walker.

Anyway, that about sums things up.

Week Forty Nine (a day early)

So two big things in the world of Bean this week.

First, and most exciting is that she’s walking! Well… sorta. She still has to be coaxed to do it and the most she’s gone is maybe five steps, but she’s getting there. She’s been walking around the house using us or furniture for stabilization for a few months now, but she had no interest in trying to take any steps without holding on. Well Friday night, my brother-in-law brought over Bean’s cousins and I think seeing them running around just inspired her because she randomly took two steps that night without any coaxing. Since then I’ve been trying to practice a little each day. Having a toy she wants really helps.

And this is definitely one moment that I wish I still had video capabilities because pictures don’t quite do it justice, but here they are in a pretty lame slideshow anyway:

The other thing that is going on is a bit controversial I guess, but that’s to be expected with me, right? For the past, I don’t know, two months or so Bean has been biting me like crazy during nursing. Well, actually we’ve always had a problem with this, but she’s got teeth now and so it REALLY is an issue. I have seriously tried everything from giving her teething medicine prior to nursing, giving her a teething ring to chew on when she bites, the pulling her in trick so she can’t breathe and has to open her mouth, flicking, breaking suction, breaking suction and saying, “no bite” and placing her on the floor to cry a bit, etc. Basically, if there is a tip on the Internet for what what to do about this, I’ve read about it and tried it. I guess the most effective thing has been the last one I mentioned, but even then it’s like I can’t get through a single nursing session anymore without some serious teeth marks! I know she’s definitely still interested in nursing, but I just really can’t deal with the biting anymore. It’s far too painful and frustrating.

So, I’ve decided to start the weaning process (well technically I know that the weaning process starts the day you give them any kind of nourishment other than breastmilk). I’m going to go slow. I’ve already had her down to 4-5 sessions a day for some time now (morning, before both naps, sometimes an extra snack in the afternoon, and bedtime). The worst one at this point is always first thing in the morning. I think she’s so hungry that she just doesn’t quite know how to control herself. And it definitely isn’t a particularly great way for us to start our day. Today that was the first feed to go and then I’m just going to eliminate one session a week over the next month. The next one will probably be bedtime because that is the second worse for the biting incidents. I really feel very emotional about the whole thing. This certainly isn’t how I pictured things ending or even when I pictured things ending, but it is what it is. Bean really didn’t seem to mind though that she had Joe’s Os and yogurt for breakfast instead of breastmilk, so I guess that’s a good thing. She hasn’t been extra clingy or anything like that, but it is only the first day. So we’ll see how it goes…