Life Lately

I had to say goodbye to my husband after him only being home for 18 hours. He finished his 3 week shift but had to go back to his vessel because sadly, the other captain died suddenly. It was such a shock. B had just spoken to him the day before during crew change and they had been laughing and cutting up. I know it is very hard on all of them. My only solace is knowing he was a Christian and that he had a heart for God. I am praying for his wife and family.

So, B is back to his vessel for 4 weeks.

He is on the big one in the back.

I am very sad he is
gone. I had been anxiously waiting for him to be home with us for 3 weeks and 1 day. I wanted him to get time with Avy and see all of the big-girl things she does now. We have a family beach trip (with his family) coming up in a week as well. I know he wanted to be here even more than I want him here though so I have to be strong. He did what he had to do to provide for us and I am so proud of him. 

The day he left, he told me how much it meant to him that I am so supportive of his job. I had no idea that my little text messages of "Go get em babe" meant so much. My love language is not words of affirmation but it is definitely his. I am trying to be more vocal with my praise and appreciation. I've also been praying for him daily. I was reading a blog post yesterday about praying for your husband and she wrote "If I am not praying for him than who is?" It's so true! I spend so much time ironing his shirts, cooking, cleaning, taking care of our finances. When I need to be spending much more of that time praying for him. I felt really convicted by this post. http://ephesianswife.blogspot.com/2013/06/10-things-we-should-pray-for-our.html

The day he came home we looked at the house we are trying to buy. I am so glad he got to see it! As soon as we left the house is when we got the news about the other captain. So we submitted our offer and got a power of attorney so that I can proceed with the house while he is gone. 

My camera died while I was taking these pictures so there aren't very many. 

 I love the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen and living room! The bank bought all new stainless steel appliances and granite countertops in the kitchen. They even installed a new sink and faucet.

 The carpet is new as well but I hate carpet so that will probably go.

We love this tree in the backyard. It is a giant Oak tree and will be perfect for hanging a swing. :)

I really feel like this is "the one' so I hope we get it! It's a foreclosure but the bank did some work to make it nice. It def still needs some love and care but B and I are up for it!

So what's new with this little lady?

So much!

She is growing so fast now! I finally understand when mom's say time just needs to S.L.O.W. down! She rolls from back to belly and back again all the time. She actually likes to be on her stomach now as long as it was her idea.

Sleeping has gotten so much better! She now only wakes up at midnight and 4 am. Her wake up for the day is 6:45am and she goes to sleep around 8:30pm. It's getting easier to put her to bed. She only lays in there yelling for 30 mins now instead of 2 hours. Yay!

Driving around with her is so much better now too! She will fall asleep if it's anywhere close to naptime though and wake up as soon as the car stops. Then, she won't go back to sleep once we get inside. I have to be careful about when I leave the house and how long I am gone.

My friend Steph let me borrow her Baby Whisperer books and they have helped so much. I realized that Avelyn needed to transition from her 3 hr schedule to a 4 hr schedule. We've been working on it for the past few days and we are almost there!

We are still making purees but yesterday I thought I might try some Baby Led Weaning. When I feed her the purees she wants to do it by herself. She always grabs the spoon from me and puts it in her mouth herself. Then she doesn't want to give it back. I was eating some raspberries and noticed how they just melted in my mouth. I decided to give her some too!

She loved it. Most of them ended up on the floor or on her shirt but she loved picking them up and eating them by herself. It has made eating so much less of a battle. I hate trying to grab the spoon away from her. So I did a little bit of research on it and we ate breakfast together this morning.

I made these hearty blueberry muffins yesterday after finding the recipe on Heidi Powell's website. (http://heidipowell.net/477/heart-y-blueberry-oatmeal-muffins/)

She tried eating as best she could but after she successfully got it in her mouth she would gag on it. The gagging didn't scare me like I thought it would. She would just move it forward and then either spit it out or try again. I like that she can do it herself and that she is learning to chew. 

I am not fully committed to either the purees or baby led weaning. I want to do both. Later, I will give her some yogurt and we will use a spoon. I might also give her something to eat herself. 

I read a lot of parenting methods and pick and choose what I like from each. I think what works for me is to gather information and then decided based on Avelyn's development and my instincts. So far so good!