Tomorrow is Pregnancy and Infant Loss awareness day.
http://www.october15th.com/

Sleep, glorious sleep.

Guess what?
Guess how much I slept last night?





EIGHT solid hours.





Wow, I really needed that.




Guess how long Aliah slept?





C'mon, take a guess!




Did you guess yet?




She slept TEN hours! 9:30-7:30!




Dare I hope that it will happen again tonight?

Can't believe that it's October now. It's gonna take some getting used to, writing "10" on the dates for everything.

Finances are not getting any better. Mike & I had a very long discussion about money today. If you know me well, you probably know that I don't like money: don't like talking about it, handling it, planning for it, budgeting, any of that. But, it must be done. At least we have a plan, and we have goals, and we're trying to get rid of debts. By next summer we should see some dramatic improvements.

After all that talking, Mike, Hannah, Aliah and I all ended up falling asleep for an hour (not all in the same bed though)! That was a rare treat. I can't remember the last time Hannah voluntarily went to sleep in the middle of the day!

I also had a deep conversation with a friend today, about why bad things happen to good people. It can be so hard to watch someone suffer or die, or see terrible things happen for an unknown cause. I know that God is in control of all things, but every day I have to re-surrender (is that a real word?) certain parts of my life, and give them back up to Him. Sometimes I really struggle with that. Especially when it comes to my children.

What are you struggling with this week?

Nine months.

Aliah's nine-month-old check-up was yesterday. Here is what happened:

The nurse weighed and measured her, and... I was surprised to find out that she hadn't gained any weight since June! Well, maybe a few ounces, but not 2 or 3 pounds, as I had originally assumed. So, Mike was correct when he referred to Aliah as being 18 pounds - because she still is!

Her official stats are 18 lbs 13 oz, and 28 1/4 inches long.

So, all the nurses made a big deal about how she's dropped on the weight charts (went from 98% to 50%ish), and the doctor joked with me about it.... then quizzed me about Aliah's eating habits and "strongly suggested" that I add more protein to her diet. I had already started feeding her egg yolks last week, and had planned on giving her cheese/yogurt really soon. But seriously, if you have ever seen this child eat, you know that she is definitely not malnourished. Even if you've only seen her in pictures, it is obviously that her cheeks really couldn't get much bigger. But apparently her doctor thinks that she isn't taking in enough calories. How ironic is that?!





Because of this, Mike went out and bought 12 different kinds of jars of baby food. I am not exaggerating! ((Now please don't get me wrong, I have NO PROBLEM with jarred baby food... it is extremely convenient and fairly healthy. However, it is much more expensive than homemade baby food, which is what I've been doing lately, in the interest of saving time and money.)) However, knowing that we need to up the protein content in her foods, he bought all meat-flavored varieties of baby food. (Do you know how nasty they smell? I can't imagine that they taste much better than they smell.)





For those who might not know, I am a vegetarian. I have not eaten any meat since I was about 12 years old. Hannah does eat meat, but only because she chooses it (and no thanks to her mother, because I don't even cook it). Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with anyone who eats meat, I just don't do it myself. Suddenly though, the idea of feeding it to my infant is less-than-appealing. Seeing those jarred meat labels just totally grossed me out.

So, as it stands now, I AM adding dairy and protein to Aliah's diet, but only dairy products, not meat. Not yet. Maybe one of these days when she is home with Daddy, he'll resort to the jarred beef and vegetable dinner.... but I just can't stomach it.

Enough of that. I know my baby is healthy, regardless of what any doctors or nurses say.

In other news, Hannah's best friend and family are sick with the swine flu.
We are staying far, far away from them this week!

Almost Party Time

Aliah just fell asleep in her highchair during lunchtime. She had cereal and applesauce smeared all over her face, yet she slept on. Can you imagine it? I love those kids of baby pictures!

My youngest brother's birthday was yesterday. He just turned nineteen.... oh, that makes me feel so old! He was so little when Mike first met him. He was only 11 years old when we got married!

The big birthday party for my Dad/family reunion is tomorrow.
Relatives are flying into DC & Baltimore tonight. Almost party time!

Unfortuneately, Mike will miss the party. He had to drive home last night, so that he could make it to work today. He's had over 2 weeks off, and although I know he enjoys his time away from work, I think he was gettng restless and bored just sitting around. I think working hard for the next 3 weeks will be good for him. After this roration, we'll get to take another family trip to PA! I can't wait for this college reunion, I just know that camping with all our favorite Cal U friends will be so much fun!