I should be in bed...

Really, I should be in bed cuddled up next to my baby girl. Instead I am on my computer doing work.  Thankfully I don't mind doing work, even if it means giving up a couple of my hours of sleep at night.  It turns out it is a lot easier to do these things while listening to the soft breathing of my almost one year old.

It has officially been a week since I gave up both Facebook and soda.  I have found that the giving up soda part has been much easier than the giving up Facebook part. It has helped that mom has also given up soda, though. Thankfully we are very good a supporting each other at the task of choosing water over sugary, caffeine filled, carbonated beverages. Facebook has been difficult this time around just because there is so much more on there than just daily updates by friends and family. Hopefully mom is keeping up with the people who have said they are attending my most recent event.

I've been filling the Facebook void with crafts, chores and errands. I have noticed that I am a much more focused and happier person being unplugged for the social media giant. I miss knowing what is going on in certain people's lives and every once in a while I'll think "Man, that would make a good status update" but so far it has been nice being unplugged.

As most of you know, my baby girl is growing up too fast! She will be one on Friday. We are going to be traveling (by plane) to spend her birthday and the weekend with John in Biloxi, Mississippi. We had hoped that John would be able to come home, but seeing as he is new to Keesler AFB he wasn't able to get leave. It should be interesting taking Isabella on a plane this time around.

Yesterday we went to the cardiologist because they had heard a murmur at Bella's 9 month appointment and again at her neurology appointment.  The doctor listened to her heart, checked her pulse and then did an ultrasound of her heart as well. She's perfect! He says he is not worried about the murmur at all and that she should grow out of it. I'm so glad there was a medical student with him, because I was able to hear him explain everything to the med student instead of anxiously waiting for him to tell me what was going on. Now we are officially cleared by both neurology and cardiology.  Yay!

Isabella is now eating solid foods (finally) and not choking on them. She really likes macaroni and cheese. I've tried a few other things with her but she definitely knows what she does and doesn't want. The only issue we are having with the food eating is if you let her feed herself, she feeds Koko instead. Hopefully she will start eating other things now and drinking out of a cup would be nice too.

Lately a lot of my time has been spent in preparation for her first birthday party. Being the slacker I can sometimes be, though I completely forgot about her first birthday outfit. Luckily I was able to purchase one on Etsy.com and have it rushed to the house. It got here just in time for Isabella's one year photos, which we did yesterday. As soon as we get to see those pictures, I will share them with you. You can also check out Claire's page at Claire Cross Photography and they'll be on her blog soon.

Also, in true giving up Facebook fashion, I've gotten a little crafty again. It really is nice to have a little extra time to play with Bella or create something. I do highly recommend giving up Facebook, if even for a week! You'll be amazed by what you can do in place of scrolling on your phone or computer monitor.

So far I've made two things, unfortunately I only have photos of one. I made one of those "Momento Chalkboards" filled with info about Isabella as a one year old. I forgot to take a true before picture, but the one I took will work. When I was looking at them online a lot of people who would do them for you just made them as printables. Mine is certainly not a printable and you very clearly tell it is homemade. I'm completely okay with that, though. I think it turned out pretty well.



I bought an 11"x14" clearance frame from Michael's to use, an 11"x14" piece of scratch board, white acrylic paint and paint markers.

It took about four coats of white paint to completely cover the red of the frame. I also ditched the glass because the scratch board and the glass did not fit in the frame together. This just means we have to be really careful that the scratch board doesn't actually get scratched. The next time I do this I will probably try to find something different to use as the "blank canvas."

 

I created a rough draft of what I wanted to put on the board. I started with how old she was turning (of course) and then added how much she weighs, how tall she is and how many teeth she has. I then moved on to the things she "loves to do," her favorite toy, and some of her other favorite things. The final project turned out almost completely different from the rough draft.

I don't have any "in progress" pictures either because I was chasing Bella around, with mom's help, and then trying to get her to take a nap. But the final draft is below!

I used pink, purple and yellow paint instead. Mainly because the paint markers didn't start working until close to the end of the project. The yellow and purple paint markers worked just enough at the end and I was able to write words instead of having to paint all of them.

And THAT ladies and gentlemen, has been my life for the last eight days. Plus work of course. Which is also what I was doing before writing this blog.

Now I must go to bed, fore my little one has woken up twice as I've written this and I've had to step away to help her fall back to sleep.

Kate

Oh, I've also set up a few things to automatically post to Facebook, so if you see "activity" from me it is the automatic posting - not me! Pleasant dreams!