So much has happened in the life of the Sterlachinis. Unfortunately, one of those things is not the completion of a kitchen. Our house is still in shambles, but I did pay our first mortgage payment last night, and it was pretty awesome. We've also had some fun adventures!

E is growing and learning so much. When she gets tired, she puts her own binky in. We got her a new carseat since she was getting too tall for the infant one. I put a closed book on her lap and her binky next to her. 5 minutes later I found her like this. Book open, binky in, looking at me like "Mom! I'm trying to read here!". She's SUCH a big girl now.



We went to a petting zoo on Sunday. She's really too young, but she loves to watch animals, so rather than petting, we watched. Angry baby was angry.

But she cheered up when daddy put her on his shoulders so she could pull his hair. He's wincing, but he's used to it.  

Grandma came to visit. Ohhh boy is she in love. They live in Philly and haven't seen E for a while. She was in her element. E was soooo tired at night, though.

She was happy during the day! She looks like a little elf or hobbit or something, but it cracks me up. She's so freaking cute.

And we are getting better at swimming! She put her face in and didn't cry, and she's starting to pull herself along the wall.

The most interesting thing (that I don't have a photo of) is that she's trying to pull up! She pulls up on my shirt if I steady her. She's like a little gym rat - she's always trying to do sit ups, and rather than getting on her knees and then standing, she tries to just do baby pull-ups. Yesterday she pulled up on a toy and sat there with her butt off the ground. Once again - gymnastics, folks.

She's backed off of saying "Mama" but she still does it sometimes when I call during the day. Still no teeth (thak God). She's been sleeping strangely. For a long time, she slept through the night most of the time. Lately she's been getting up to the point that I have to get up once, which isn't too bad. Last night she got up and cried, though, which she doesn't normally do. Seems to be a growth spurt because she was fine once she ate, and has been napping like crazy. What's strange is if you watch her, she has extremely restless periods at night. Sometimes she wakes up and opens her eyes, and sometimes she just rolls around. She usually is back to peaceful sleeping in a few minutes, but it's so strange to me.

I'm currently shopping for her for Christmas. I can't wait to spend our first Christmas in our new house. We're going to decorate and put tons of gifts under the tree and wake up Christmas morning and open gifts with our little one. I'm feeling very blessed today. I just love my little girl so much. Words cannot express it. Everything is just different now. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I can be stressed, angry, frustrated... but it's hard to be sad with this sweet girl in my life.

Fall and GPOYD

Fall is coming. Fall is so amazing for so many reasons (cool weather, Halloween, long nights, excellent light quality for photography, Thanksgiving, pumpkin spice lattes for those who drink them [I don’t]). This year Fall is even better for me. Fall brings the beginning of the holiday season. Because I work for the government, I get every holiday off (Columbus Day, Veterans Day, etc.). So this year I get to spend all those three and 4 day weekends with my little girl.

One of the things I’ve been excited about with our little family is starting new traditions. Like going to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. Going to Linvilla Orchards with our friends for a hay ride. Thanksgiving with Family, waking up Christmas morning to open our presents as a family like I used to do with my parents. This year we’re having Christmas dinner at our house, so the house will be filled with the smells of turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the wonderful holiday food. We’ll go pick out a first Christmas ornament for Evie and attend a holiday Church service on Christmas Eve.

I’m so excited to share some of my very favorite things with my own little girl. Now that the weather is getting colder I get to put her in hoodies and dresses with tights, and soon? Shoes! I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have her to do all of these things with, and a husband that loves tradition, too!

A few years ago, Andy and I went on the hayride at Linvilla with his friends like we do every year. We smiled at each other, thinking about the fact that one day we’d be bringing our child with us… and this year is that year. And his friends love her SO much. They’ll get all sorts of joy from seeing her giggling at the hay and the silly witches.

I’m so incredibly blessed.

And gratuitous pictures of Evie

We were told to start giving her juice and water in a sippy. She usually likes to play with it more than drink from it. She puts it in her mouth, but is still figuring out that she needs to tilt it. She's not used to the spout since it's not a nipple, but she'll take water from it.

I stuck her in her crib standing just to see what would happen, and this is what happened. She stood. I'm not touching her here - I was so shocked I put my hand next to her in case she fell.

Pretty Eyes

Being all tough eating her apple peach oatmeal yogurt. Seriously, could you fit another ingredient in the jar?

As evidenced by her expression, she'd rather be playing with toys.

This picture is only here because I really adore this outfit. I'm still trying to figure out her eye color. I think her eyes are still trying, too. Usually they're grey, but sometimes I think they're going to turn hazel and then they don't. It's so strange. She'll be 7 months Saturday, so maybe they're just going to keep changing.

Love.

This sweet girl slept in her crib for the first time last night. I fed her and rocked her and daddy read her a story. Then I layed her down in her crib with her Polky the Caterpillar, her glow seahorse, and her blanky. It took about a half hour, and about 15 seconds of crying, but she got to sleep no worse for wear. She stayed asleep until 3am, so over 7 straight hours before she woke up. We moved her back to the rock n play for the last 2.5 hours, but she did an amazing job for being so in between houses right now. We're finally in the new house for good and she finally has her own room, but it took some time, and she's been an angel.

I'm still all melty and gooey over her smile when she sees me first thing in the morning. Love like this I never imagined. Not in a million years.

Dadadada

I haven't a clue if this work, but if so, yay!

This is the face I make when I say "DADADA". Hopefully a video will follow, but probably not haha.

Update: WHAT? I didn't tell you she says "DADA" now? I'm terrible. She does. Cosntantly. And makes that face. OK now I HAVE to post a video.

Updates

A lot of things have happened since I last posted. I suppose I took an accidental leave of absence. I started posting every little thought on my tumblr and had so little left for here. But today I've been going through and thinking about the last month and everything that's happened. I can't get over how much my little girl has grown... how much she can do... how much LOVE I have for her. I've been missing her a lot lately because I've been so busy (more later) but sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed with feelings.

We finally closed on our house on Monday, so I've been working on that and I feel like I haven't seen Evie as much. I know it has to be done, and that soon she'll have a beautiful new house to call her own, but I still wish I could just spend every moment of every day with her. She's absolutely my sunshine. She's been babbling incessantly lately, and saying all sorts of new sounds and words, though she's not yet putting together "da" with her daddy.

She got a kiss from an older man! My SIL's twin has a little boy and he decided he needed to come snuggle my girl. Who wouldn't, right? It was a sneak attack since she was trying to eat her toes.

She's been fighting naps, so we've been spending a lot of time here, in her carseat. Every so often she'll take a great nap, but more often than not she's screaming before she actually drifts off. This is just for naps. She's been amazing at bed time.

She had her first play date with her friend Ben, my bff's little boy who's 3 weeks younger. They didn't know what to think of each other, and they fought over a toy, but it was hysterical and we were cracking up laughing about it.

This is Evie wondering who this kid is and why she's here. We told them they'd better get used to each other. The first thing she did when I put her down was grab for his hands. She's such a little love bug. But she's never been around anyone her age, so I think she was confused! Actually she and Ben have been around each other a lot, but they were in their car seats. Now that they're old enough to play, there's a whole new level of fun to be had!

She rode in a shopping cart for the first time. She always gets lazy and leans, so we usually put something next to her, but she can sit up like a big girl. I think she's a little spoiled and thinks she shouldn't have to expend the effort.

Foot eating is still in full force.

We're actually moving into the new house this weekend, but for right now I'm splitting my time between work and the two houses. I just want to be with my love, but such is the plight of a working mom. Thankfully this weekend is a 3 day weekend, and we're getting into holiday season, so I'll have 4 day weekends coming up as well. That we can spend in our own house! Where we have tons of room to play and to put up a Christmas tree! I'm so excited.

Taking Care of Me

I have had a bit of a problem that I didn't know I had with self esteem. For years I've got up, rolled out of bed, thrown clothes on, and headed to work. I almost never do my hair or put on makeup. I buy clothes I like but never feel comfortable with the way I look. I don't want to be that way anymore, and I think I'm finally feeling ready to step back into the spotlight.

When I was in college, and a year or so after.. basically from 18-22 I was thinner. I lost a ton of weight I'd picked up in high school and I looked good. People noticed me. People told me I was hot and paid attention to me. It was nice to feel good for a while. But I started picking weight back up and eventually I weighed 289 pounds, my pre-pregnancy weight. I've been over 270 for the better part of 7 years, save my wedding when I spent about 2 weeks at 267. I've worn size 20-24 clothes all this time. Mostly 22 and 24. And I didn't care about my appearance. For a long time I thought it was just because I was married and tired a lot. I'm realizing now that it's because somewhere inside I didn't think I could look good no matter what I did. But I'm starting to not feel that way anymore.

Right now I weigh about 255. Yes, I'm very overweight, but 34 pounds lighter than I was before I got pregnant. My lowest adult weight since 2004-2005. And I'm starting to feel like me again, and I feel like a dumbass for wasting so much of my young life overweight. I used to think 30 was REALLY old, but now I'm 31 and I think I still have a few good years left wher I can be hot again, and I'm going to do it. Sure, I still have 90 pounds to lose to get to my goal (or 70 to lose to get to my lowest adult weight) but I'm starting to feel good already.

It's been difficult to find time to get things done with E, but I think I'm finally ready to start putting some effort back in to me. Effort I haven't put in since long before I got pregnant or had a baby. I want to start a better skin care routine and put makeup on in the mornings. I want to get my hair cut on a regular basis and actually style it. I want to wear NICE clothes. I want to exercise and eat well. And I want to start this now. I don't have to waste the rest of my life feeling bad. I can look good again. And I don't have to wait until I get to 165. Hell I was pretty happy with myself at 225 and I've only got 30 pounds to go to get there! I can do this, and I deserve to do this. I desere to do something for me. My husband is COMPLETELY supportive of my doing anything I want or need to feel good about myself. He offers to watch E all the time so I can go out and hang out with friends or just get a haircut. When he's not working this horrible job I'll be able to get pedicures and all that fun stuff I've never done regularly because I didn't feel good about me. I'm ready to feel good about me again. And to show my daughter that she should value herself enough to take care of her health. I don't want her to be vain. I don't want her to think looks are everything. But she doesn't need to see a mom who simply doesn't care about herself either. I'm trying to be the best example I can be for her. And I'm trying to feel good about myself. I'm pretty excited.

Now I just wish I had somewhere to go with my new attitude and look...