Daycare...ya right!

Even though Grace is only 3 months old (already!?!), I have already started snooping around locally for daycares. There are very few "official" daycares. They charge about $140/week and only take them when they are 18 months. Odd since the Govt only gives us 52 weeks!!!
But the kicker is that they close for July and August. So what does someone do at the point? Doesn't make any sense to me at all.
So my only other option is to put my child into someone's private home. The thought of this scares me to death. It would be better if I could work from home and have someone come to our house and take care of the baby here.
Of course the best solution would be for me to become a SAHM but it's not an option just yet. We are working on it though.
I really don't know what we are going to do...
I'll wait a little longer before I panic though lol

Pictures are incredible!!

I am so happy with the pictures we chose. They turned out great!!
I still have to scan them, but Denis knows how to use the printer/scanner, so he will hopefully help me out on the weekend. It would have been a heck of a lot easier if we had of just taken the CD with them, but $40 for a CD was a bit much for us to swallow. Just a little overpriced.
Now I just have to get my act together and send out pics by mail!!
I'm really bad for things like that...I still have some Thank yous to send out. They are ready to go and everything, just sitting by the door.
I will get cracking on sorting out and sending the pictures. It's going to be hard to decide which ones to give to who.

Yet another project I would like to tackle

I've decided that I want to sew. DH and I took a course in 2006 but the teacher wasn't very good and I walked away not knowing much at all. I have my Mom's sewing machine and we had it tuned up, so it is ready to go. But since the course, I haven't really found the time.
I really like the idea of making clothes for my DD, in the colour and style that I want. Not having to settle for what's out there on the rack.
It's time to blow the dust off the machine and get cracking!!
When I do make something somewhat presentable, I will definitely take a picture and post it.
It won't be anytime soon though LOL.

This, that and the other thing

There is so much going on in my head these days.
We are working on finalizing when we will have the baptism. And of course the party that goes along with it! Denis and I were brought up differently when it comes to things like this. His family keep everything to just immediate family and very quiet. I, on the other hand, come from a family that celebrates everything together!! And seeing how my relatives have already asked about it, we are having a big gathering. My family is so big that we may have to rent a hall!! Luckily there is one right behind the church. I also have to think about picking up baptism invitations and send those out.
Tomorrow is picture pick up day!! Can't wait!! I will definitely scan them so I can send them out. Then I have to buy some cards so that I can send around some originals. Hard to find out my way, there isn't too much in the way of stores.
I want to put together a brag book for both my Dad and MIL. So I have to have some pics printed off and of course I want to start working on her scrapbook...
And I've had a few sad moments as of late, which I know I shouldn't what with all the happiness in my life at the moment. But I just can't help but think of how much I miss my Mom. She would have loved being a part of this. And I also miss being able to talk to her about stuff. My MIL is very sweet and easy to talk to but it's not the same. I really do think about her and miss her a lot these days. And I guess it doesn't help that none of my extended family or friends, that live about an hour away, have even bothered to come out for a visit. Then I get the guilt trip from my Nan because I am not picking one of my Mom's sisters to be a godmother...they haven't even called to see how Grace is doing!!!
And to boot, Denis has found out that he is now working weekends...so he works this weekend - both days and then works again March 28th and 29th. So trying to plan the baptism has now become even more complicated because we haven't found out his schedule for April.
OK, I feel much better now that it is out of my head!
Sorry for going on and on...and of course for being all over the place! Like I said, there's a lot going on in my head lol

Did a little cooking today

I was so tired this morning when Grace and I got up, but after a little nap, I had the urge to cook.
It has been a while since I've really felt like it.
So, I made a salsa chip dip, broccoli salad and finally a rice dish. The broccoli salad is a recipe from Denis' family but the rice, I made it up. Although, I'm sure it's not an original recipe or anything but I had an idea in my head and ran with it! I substituted the water with the liquid from a can of diced tomatoes and the rest with chicken broth. Cooked the rice as I normally would. In the meantime, I chopped up some red, green and orange peppers along with some mushrooms. Sauteed them and added the remaining can of diced tomatoes. Cooked it on high to reduce the liquid, then added the cooked rice. It was very tasty! So much so, that I decided to change what was going to be for supper. Denis doesn't know it yet but he is BBQ'ing some pork chops!! The 2 paired together along with a nice salad will be great!

Growing like a weed

Lately, Grace has been fussy and not sleeping all that much during the day. She also has been eating a little here and there. Denis called me down yesterday morning and asked what I thought might be wrong. She was crying to eat, he would give her the bottle and then a few mins later, start turning her head from side to side. The nipple flow was not happening. And when I would unclog it, it barely came out. It was then that we decided to take out the fast flow nipples.
According to the manufacturer, the fast flow are for 6 months and older. Well, our little princess loves them. With the slow nipples, it would take anywhere from 30-45min to feed her a 5-6oz bottle. With the fast flow, it takes anywhere from 5-15min. What a difference. She's a little messy with the bottle because she is still getting used to the flow, but she is very happy. She's been sleeping a little better during the day today and I think it's because she's actually filling up her belly!! The night time feed last night was a challenge because she isn't awake enough to eat that fast but when I switched to the slow, she let me know she didn't like it :)
So we'll see how it goes. She is still waking up around 2-2:30am, but I think that it's a habit now instead of hunger. I'm hoping that she will grow out of this. I am also going to try and cluster feed at night - see if that does anything. It'll be tough because I am usually in bed about 30 min after she is, around 8:30pm.
I'm hoping that Grace will be one of those textbook babies that will sleep through the night by 3 months. I'm not holding my breath though!!

The story of a little girl who doesn't want to sleep

It's incredible. My DD doesn't want to sleep during the day. She takes these catnaps for about 30-40 mins here and there during the day, but that's it. And she's not a cranky baby. She does sleep about 6-7 hours straight at night. And then goes back down for another 3 hours. Maybe she doesn't need more than that!
Well, I purchased another book by the Baby Whisperer. I tried the original book, but maybe I still have baby brain but none of the information wants to sink in. I don't know if it's how the book is laid out that just doesn't work for me or what. But I'm trying a different one. More like a question and answer layout. So far so good.
I really can't complain, she is sitting beside me chatting up a storm. Like I said, she's not really a cranky baby...she does have her moments though! I won't lie.
I guess we'll see what happens once I have a moment to read the darn book lol!

Picture day was a success

Forgot to mention how picture day went. I didn't know what to expect or how they were going to pose her. I was really impressed with the woman who did the pictures. She was able to get Grace to smile in every pose. And the pictures turned out SO NICE! We ended up taking a package so that we could get all the pictures. She is just so darned cute! They really did a nice job. We get the pictures on the 25th of Feb. Can't wait!!!

Simple but very good cake

If you are ever looking for a very quick and simple cake, here's one that I picked up from my hubby's aunt.
Simple chocolate cake mix that you can buy in the store. Make it as 2 round cakes.
Make some chocolate pudding. Chop up some Skor chocolate bars so that they are in little bits.
Mix a few of the bits in with the chocolate pudding once it has set. Place one of the cakes on a platter. Spread chocolate pudding on cake. Place the other cake on top.
For icing, mix some dream whip/cool whip with a brick of softened cream cheese. You can add a little icing sugar to sweeten it up. Spread it all over the cake and sprinkle the remaining pieces of Skor bar on top. You could easily change things around to your taste. Very simple but tastes amazing. Of course - not for those watching what they eat :)
I'm going to try using whip cream only as "icing" this time. We'll see how it goes!
Enjoy!

Going to be honest

I still haven't done anything to help lose this baby weight. I thought I would be right back on track but 2 months later and I still haven't got the OOMPH to get back on the right track. I know that I have to get moving and exercising. I still can't sleep on my stomach or back because when I do, I can't move. My back kills, so much so that I really can't move. That pretty much means that I have no abs!! And as for the healthy recipes, not interested. Right now, I just have to make sure that I eat. It's easy to miss a meal.
I'm not going to beat myself up about it though, I just have to make sure to keep the healthy thoughts going. I hope to be going healthy soon though!
I really don't have any clothes that fit at this time. So that is really frustrating. The clothes are either too big or too small. And I refuse to buy any because it would be a waste of money. I have 15lbs to lose to be at my pre-pregnancy weight. I know I can do it...I just need the right push! I have the treadmill and all the equipment to work out at home, so there's really no excuse, except I'm still tired.
Maybe writing this post will be enough to push me to start!!! We'll see.

Picture day!!

We are taking Grace to have her picture taken today. It's 5.99 at Wallymart (or Walmerde - whichever works for you!) for 30 poses. So I figured why not! I would have liked to have her picture taken with a professional but DH doesn't want to spend $100 for 1 picture. I agree, it is a little crazy. But I did want to have someone else take her picture. So we are going today. I'm hoping that it goes OK because our little princess has been very fussy for the last few days. I'm not sure if it is a growth spurt, gas or if she's sick. She doesn't want to nap at all during the day. We're lucky if we get her to nap for 45 min. We'll see how today goes.
Gotta find the perfect little outfit...which one will it be!!
We don't really have anything that's frilly and fru-fru for her, so I'm not sure what to put her in. There is this nice brown dress with different pinks on it. That may be one of 2 choices. We actually don't have that many dresses for her either LOL. I guess we're waiting for summer to buy dresses. And this sizing thing is just all over the place!! I have no idea what sizes she is going to wear in the coming months. So if I find some nice summer stuff, I will have to buy it in 2 different sizes, just to be sure.

2 months already!

It's hard to believe, but our little girl is 2 months old already. She had her shots yesterday and a weigh in. Grace now weighs about 12lbs and measures 23 inches. The doctor said that her weight gain is excellent and her growth is good. The doctor checked her over and Grace was not happy at all. Don't think I have ever seen her this upset when food was not involved. Once we were able to calm her down, the shots were administered. There were 2 shots total. The first one was fine - she didn't even flinch. The DR warned us that the 2nd one burns when it is given. And of course, Grace cried for a few seconds and then was fine. We gave her a bottle during the shots to try and keep her comforted - seems to have worked. Once we left the office, she fell asleep and slept for about 4 1/2 hours. I woke her up to feed her. She seemed fine, only her leg was a little red. I did give her some tempra and she followed her normal routine.
The only thing I'm not happy about these days is that Grace doesn't get enough naps in. So, I am going to go back and read my Baby Whisperer to see if I can improve on her sleep. Apparantly, napping during the day can actually help a baby sleep better at night. Who knows, maybe Grace would be sleeping her nights if we had better naps during the day!!!