eight years

 Today is our eighth anniversary, and for once, I can confidently say it: this was the best year yet.

I was reading back through my anniversary posts from years past, and I am so thankful to not be wandering in those confusing, painful seasons anymore. Maybe more days like that will come. Probably more days like that will come.

This time around, though, I know that we can get through it. We can make it through anything. Year eight was the Promised Land after all the years of wandering. Finally, the "for better."

Thank you Jesus for a taste of glory.

During year eight, I fell in love with Matt a thousand times over as I watched him fall in love with our daughter. I can't imagine an earthly joy that compares to watching him be a daddy.

On our walk yesterday, I commented that year eight was the best yet. He replied that the next one, year nine, would be even better.

How?, I asked. We already have Millie. How could it possibly be any better?

He actually couldn't think of anything concrete, because clearly I was right (not unusual). We did agree, however, that the next year might be a tiny bit better because we would have Millie for ALL of it- not just 10.75 months of it. And so I'll give him that. I guess the next year might be better. We will be a family of three for all of it. And I really don't imagine it can get any better than that. (But I'm open to being proven wrong, I suppose.)

Happy anniversary, Mattie. I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather share this life with.

Seven Years

Six Years

Five Years

Four Years

Three Years

Two Years

One Year

matching outfits, broken backs

It's been a good weekend.

I needed a good weekend.

Next week we're going on vacation.

I need a vacation.

Today I finally got to spend a few hours relaxing in the pool with just my little family. Millie has definitely come to be the pool-loving baby I'd anticipated she would be. She's happy and splashy and quite in her element as we hold her in the shallow end or let her bounce on floats. Today she was so happy with Matt that I even took a little nap on my own float. Bliss.

Millie loves the water, but she still isn't a huge fan of all the things that have to happen before the water part. Swim diapers. Bathing suits. Sunscreen. I tried to explain that sometimes you have to suffer a little before you can get to the good stuff. I hope the lesson sinks in. Preferably before we get to the beach next week, ha.

Because I like to focus my mental energy on things that really matter, this weekend I spent an awful lot of time thinking about, planning, and shopping for our Fourth of July outfits. Ha. You know I love a good coordinated family outfit!! And July 4 is basically my favorite holiday. And it's Millie's first one. And we're going to be with my sister and her family, which means the babies will have a patriotic photo shoot!! Anyway, that was my weekend project. I'm almost done...just need to find a good red shirt for myself.

But we went ahead and coordinated ourselves today, too. No reason to wait for a holiday. My favorite thing is when people see us in OBVIOUSLY MATCHING outfits (like above, and picture Matt wearing another version of yellow and navy and stripes) and are like "oh wow! You guys match!! Did you know that??!"....ummm...yes.

Anyway, yellow and blue are our team colors, and our anniversary is this week, so we'll probably be doing it all week. There's nothing that I love more than my husband that loves being matchy-matchy with me!!

Yesterday Millie had a few hours where she felt like the world might end if I wasn't holding her. As it turned out, I actually needed to get a few things done, so we decided to try out our old friend the Baby K'tan. We normally use our Ergo and Boba Air these days, but they were both in the car (and therefore probably 12 feet away...perish the thought), so I grabbed what I had nearby.

 Let's just say...a 23 pounder in a K'tan is really something. Supposedly the K'tan is good for up to 35 pounds, but I just can't imagine the back strength a person would need in order to keep wearing a baby that heavy. I basically want to walk to the nearest hospital and sign myself up for spinal surgery today. DANG. THAT WAS HEAVY.

I do like having her forward-facing, though. I can't do it in any of my other carriers. Now I really want an Ergo 360...but I'm also wondering how comfortable I will be even in that. I just feel like when she's forward-facing, her weight is more obviously pulling away from me...compared to when she's facing inward. Maybe that doesn't make sense. It just seems like gravity is more intense, ha. So maybe I wouldn't really be able to handle her facing outward in any kind of contraption. In conclusion, if you have personal experience with a really heavy baby and an outward-facing carrier that didn't break your back and shoulders, please share your recommendations (or non-recommendations)! We still use our Ergo regularly and I have no complaints with it- I imagine we'll keep wearing her for quite a bit longer, so I'd just like to have more options for how she faces.

I know this is the most random post ever, but that's pretty much all I've got these days. I've learned- and I guess you've noticed- that I just don't have the time and/or mental energy to write a whole lot these days...so when I have 15 minutes where I'm waiting for the chicken to cook as I make enchiladas, and Millie and Matt are happily occupied in the other room, and I have a few pictures that make me smile and haven't already been shared on Instagram...well, I better grab it and do what I can, or it may be another week before the chance comes again.

But now my enchiladas are calling, so it's time to go! Have a wonderful week...good luck choosing the most patriotic and matchy-matchy outfits EVER for the Fourth!! :)

freedom

I know I've said this about a million times before, but I just love watching Millie grow up and develop interests, and I never stop imagining what she might be like someday. What she'll be passionate about. What will fire her up. What she'll hate.

What a privilege it is to watch her grow. I'll never stop being thankful.

At any rate, over the weekend I caught a glimpse of some of her recent passions- the kind that translated easily (in my imagination) from baby passions to possible later grown-up interests. It was like a little glimpse into the future- and I must say, I liked what I saw.

Millie, it seems, is going to be a freedom fighter. (But hopefully not the kind that gets involved with scary paramilitary groups.) This girl does not stand for oppression. 

Set the captives free!!!!, she says. I'll help!

Of course, her world is a little bit limited right now. So oppression and captivity is all relative. Even still: she won't stand for it.

Especially not on her turf.

JAMMIES!!! Why are you guys all stuffed in a drawer?? JAMMIES ARE MEANT TO BE FREE!!

Jammies, I have rescued you from your turquoise prison. 

JAMMIES!!! I SAID YOU ARE FREE!! WHY DON'T YOU AT LEAST ACT GRATEFUL OR SOMETHING??!

 Shortly after Operation: Free the Jammies concluded, she was devastated to see them re-oppressed by the mean dictator (aka Mommy). But since her attention span is only about two seconds long, she didn't shed too many tears over it. She just moved on to her next cause.

Kleenexes!!!! Never again shall you all be smooshed into that tiny, oppressive package!!

I have freed you, and now I shall kiss each one of you. Then maybe you won't try to do something awful like wipe my boogies away later... 

I mean, on the one hand, it's silly to project intentions and causes onto a baby like this. But on the other hand, it's a lot more fun than just being irritated by a mess of pajamas and tissues...so, I choose projection. Besides, you never know. I would be proud for Millie to grow up into someone passionate about bringing freedom to captives. Someone who stands up for what is right. 

Did someone say 'stand up'??

I can't wait to see who she becomes...but also, no rush, Mills. This standing up nonsense can definitely wait a bit, if it's all the same to you. 

notes from school

Yeesh. It has been one heck of a few weeks over here. Not bad, just...busy. Work is insane right now, and I have approximately zero ounces of emotional energy left by the time I put Millie to bed (or some days, by 10:00 a.m.)...so consider that my excuse for a general lack of participation in the blogosphere. And world. Also, the word "blogosphere" is stupid.

Also, I've been spending my precious few 'free' minutes each day working my way through Gossip Girl. So...yeah. Judge away if you must. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Today Millie came home from school with a note in her bag, as she does a few times a week. I always get this ridiculous thrill when there's a "school note" in her bag because it makes me feel like a really really REALLY Real Mom. Like...just reading this note from the teacher, yo. LIKE MOMS DO. It's awesome. School will be closed on July 3rd! Please send your updated vaccination records! Don't forget to send canned goods next week! I have no idea why notes about these things makes me feel so happy, but they do.

Anyway, today's note was particularly thrilling. Tomorrow is CRAZY HAIR DAY.

Say whaaaaaa?? Like, it's spirit week in the baby room?! WOOOO!

Unfortunately, Millie doesn't have a whole lot of hair to speak of. I was checking out her classmates' hair today, and I'm sorry to report that most of them don't, either. I feel like the baby room is going to be less spirited than they would like, but what can you do? I was almost sad about the lack of craziness in Millie's hair tomorrow, but then I remembered the pictures her teacher texted me earlier this week.

Apparently Millie isn't going to lack Crazy Hair. Apparently Millie INSPIRED the Crazy Hair Day.

Yes, this would be my Millsie during lunch on Tuesday. Not really lacking in spirit, this one. Or crazy hair.

In case you were wondering how one would obtain this amazing Einstein-inspired look, I can tell you. First you eat ravioli with your hands. When you get tired of eating, you should rub the sauce all over your hands like lotion. After you're thoroughly ravioli-lotioned up, rub your hands enthusiastically through your hair. Repeat until you achieve the desired look.

Bam.

If you do it right, you will not only have amazing Crazy Hair, you will also be the happiest person ever on earth. It's a win-win.

So anyway. I guess we probably will be participating in Crazy Hair Day tomorrow. I'll just not wash her hands after breakfast, and the rest should take care of itself.

I hope you have a wonderful Friday and weekend! If you need me, I'll probably be scrubbing ravioli out of Happy Baby's hair while she applauds enthusiastically. It's really not such a bad gig, this mom thing. :)

weekend: a-z

Instead of a (riveting, I'm sure) weekend play-by-play, how about I mix it up and...literally mix it all up? We'll go letter by letter and I'll use my imagination to try and make something from this weekend fit each letter. Sound exciting? GREAT!

A is for Atlanta Botanical Garden. We went to the Light in the Garden event (exhibit? What do you call it?) with Matt's parents- it was really beautiful!

I'm just going to make this mean face, okay, Mom?

B is for brave. Apparently the initial scariness of the big pool (from last weekend) has worn off- this weekend, Millie fully embraced all aspects of swimming!

Hey, this is fun!

C is for clapping. Millie has become really passionate about clapping for any and everything this week. She spends most of her time applauding life.

Bravo, grass! Way to grow!

D is for Domino's. I really missed pizza during Whole 30. I spent part of the weekend making up for lost time.

E is for emoji. Matt recently sold out and got an iPhone ("sold out" as in he was probably the last person on earth to still be rocking a flip phone...I seriously thought Millie would get a smartphone before he would). As suspected, my favorite part of him having an iPhone is texting emoji to him. He thinks they are stupid. I'm sure I can convince him otherwise. Or else I'll die trying...

F is for flying.

G is for Gossip Girl. I started watching this show for the first time last week. It's very entertaining, but I spend most of my time trying to convince myself that no kids actually live like that, right? There is NO WAY that even the super rich kids of the upper East Side actually LIVE LIKE THAT...right?? (I'm mostly referring to how much the drink/party. I can even understand rampant drinking, but like- they just go into bars and get served like they are...ya know, NOT FOURTEEN. Is that a thing?? Am I really so sheltered that I can't even fathom that happening?)

H is for horseback riding. Millie tried her hand at it at an antique store Saturday.

Mommy, I think I will stick to crawling, thanks.

I is for ice cream. I meant to have some this weekend, but then I forgot. Fail.

J is for July. I'm not trying to rush June or anything, but I'm really looking forward to going on vacation in July...also: baby Fourth of July outfits.

L is for lamb. Millie makes a really cute one.

M is for monograms. I don't have a lot of monogrammed or 'Southern'-style clothing for Millie, but I do have this...and she wore it Sunday. And she was off-the-charts fabulous in it. (Don't worry, another picture to come...)

N is for no. This is a word Millie has started to hear lately (like when she's trying to scale bookcases and pull electronics/heavy items off shelves...). Apparently it's a really hilarious word, based on how she laughs her head off every time she hears it. It's awesome. I'm so funny.

O is for one hundred. That is how many squats I did each day last week (well, except Sunday. Day of rest and all). I plan to keep it up this week, because...why not?

P is for party. People keep asking what I'm planning for Millie's first birthday. This is quickly becoming my least favorite thing to talk and think about. I reeaaaallllly do not like planning parties/events. Or hosting them. Or paying for them. Or cleaning up after them. I had hoped my daughter's first birthday might prove to be the exception, but so far...nope. Ugh.

Q is for quinoa. We had my favorite zesty quinoa salad for dinner, and it seems that Millie actually didn't like it! Or maybe she was just in a mood or something, but this would appear to be the first food that she's rejected outright. It was devastating, except not really. More for me!

R is for ruffles. Because what monogrammed bubble outfit would be complete without butt ruffles?

S is for selfies. I'm pretty sure Millie gets tired of posing for them with me.

Really, mom? Again? Ugh. I can barely even bring myself to applaud this.

T is for The Age of Miracles. I read that on Saturday and really enjoyed it. It was a quick, easy read, but the story was pretty deep- I'm still thinking about it. I liked the author's writing style, too...I just thought it was a really good book. Recommend!

V is for very large woman. This plant-covered sculpture at the Botanical Gardens was really cool!

Yaaaay sculpture! Way to go!! *clap clap clap*

W is for walking. We finished off the weekend with a hike in the woods. Some of us were too tired to stay awake for the whole thing...not naming any names, though.

X is for uhhhh...xray. And luckily our weekend didn't involve any of those. Ha.

Z is for zzzzzz...as in, it's past my bedtime. Coming up with this list took approximately five hundred times longer than I'd thought it would. If you noticed that I skipped K, U, and Y...it's because at some point I got so tired that I couldn't even think of anything stupid (like xray), so like...delete. And now I'm done! Peace out, yo!

medical mysteries and the pool

We had a wonderful, hot, mostly-relaxing summer weekend.

But it didn't start out that way. So I'm going to kick things off by sharing a TERRIFYING STORY, but I'll go ahead and tell you that everything turned out fine so that you don't worry excessively while I tell the tale.

On Friday afternoon, the director of Millie's school called me in a panic.

Um...we-she-I--- there's been a situation, do you have a minute?

A "situation??" JUST START TALKING, DISPENSE WITH THE PLEASANTRIES ALREADY!!!

So apparently Millie was eating her sweet potatoes in her high chair when all of a sudden she started screaming, and the teacher feeding her saw blood pouring out of her mouth. Both teachers rushed to her and tipped her head forward so that the blood didn't go down her throat, and they frantically went to get the food/blood out of her mouth, while having no idea what on earth was causing the bleeding. The director was in the classroom at that moment, too, and said "it was just so much blood. We had no idea where it was coming from."

Let's pause and consider how much you never want to hear other people describing your daughter's mouth as being filled with so much blood. Ever.

So anyway, they got the so much blood (and the chewed up sweet potatoes) out and quickly realized they couldn't figure out any reason for the bleeding. There were no cuts, no scrapes, no open wounds. Her teething-teeth (all four up top, yo...no wonder she's in so much pain!!) still hadn't cut through the gums. There was just nothing. Her mouth looked totally normal and there was no new blood currently bleeding (weird sentence, sorry). After they got her cleaned up, they said that Millie was acting totally normal and happy- not at all upset or like she was in pain. So at this point, they called me.

I, of course, am not able to shed any light on this incredibly disgusting and scary scenario, but I thank her for calling and say I'll be right there to get her and take her to the doctor. As I pack up to leave work, I call the pediatrician, praying they can squeeze me in before they close (it was already after 4:00). Sadly, I learn that the doctors have already gone home, but after I told the nurses the situation, they were able to shed some light on the situation (as well as offer to call the on-call doc to meet me right away at an urgent care clinic if I wanted to, ha).

Apparently it's unusual (but not abnormal) for babies to develop blood blisters underneath their gums while teething- just like the blood blisters you may have developed at some point on your finger or toe if you pinch it somehow. And when something (like a toy...or a bite of sweet potato!) ruptures the blister...well, it ruptures. The blood dumps out. And then it's over and the baby probably feels a whole lot better with all of that swelling and pressure released.

They asked if she'd been having a lot of pain and swelling from teething. Um, yes. Did she seem fine once the blood was gone? Haven't seen her myself, but they tell me yes. Then they were pretty confident that that's what it was. Weird, but not bad. They suggested we give her popsicles and ice cream to help with the swelling (why do I never get prescribed things like this?) and to call back (or go to prompt care/ER) if it happened again or it seemed like something else may be going on.

Annnnd...that was pretty much it. It hasn't happened again and she's been a much happier camper, so I think their diagnosis was spot-on. Freakiest thing ever, but apparently not abnormal. I only share the story here because I had NEVER heard of anything like that before, and neither has anyone else I've told the story to, so I thought I'd throw it out in case anyone else ever witnesses something like that. Maybe it will save you a heart attack!

Proof that she's doing a-ok:

I'm a happy baby! I just ate more BBQ than my daddy!

On Sunday she had her first experience in the Big Pool. But prior to experiencing the pool, she got to experience her cousin's hand-me-down ladybug bathing suit. This particular suit is special to me because just about exactly a year ago I was putting Carley in it to swim, thinking how cute the suit was, and wondering if I'd ever have a daughter of my own to dress up in cute bathing suits.

And now here we are, exactly a year later. 

Hey mom, I'm not so sure about all that blue stuff behind me...

Maybe if I look away, it won't be there anymore!

She was a little hesitant to embrace the pool. Her initial reaction said that she just may enjoy it...

But attempts to actually leave the stairs were not really applauded.

We tried to take things slowly, though, and back up to where she was comfortable: the steps. And also: sitting in a rocker three feet away from the water.

Much better...

But after a good hour of taking it slow and giving her breaks when she needed it, she really warmed up to the idea! She eventually gave us her trademark smiles and giggles even as she was out in the water (while clinging firmly to mommy or daddy like a little spider monkey, of course)! It ended up being a lot of fun and I think that eventually, maybe by October, she might even want to try sitting in her little baby float! Ha. 

It's back to another busy week for me, but Matt (and therefore Millie) took today off (because he just has vacation time to burn...grrrr...), so they're all set for a fun daddy-daughter day. The whole family celebrated by wearing our team colors: yellow and blue.

Have a wonderful week!

ten months!

Ohhhhh, my dear sweet Millsie, you have gone and turned TEN MONTHS OLD!

I would not stand for this nonsense, except that you are an exceptionally fabulous little ten-month-old and can't even bring myself to resent you growing older this time.

I wouldn't change anything about you, except maybe your desire to act like a maniac in this rocker during your photo session. You are fearless, child. Your life was in danger no less than 20 times in the three minutes it took me to try to snap a few pictures with a real smile...so thanks for taking years off MY life!

RAWR!!!!! I'M GONNA GET YOU, BABY!!!

Aliases: Millie, Mills, Millsie, Nuggie, Nugs, Little Bit

Stats: Probably about 22 pounds. She actually hasn't been to the doctor since May 15, which is (sadly) probably a record for her (since January, anyway). She was a few ounces short of 22 pounds that day, so I feel like my guess is pretty safe.

She wears 12 month clothes (but can still dabble in some 9-12 and also some 12-18 month stuff) and a size 3 or 4 in disposable diapers- we have some of each, and they both fit fine.

Listen, Petunia. You stay right here and keep me company while I tolerate this breathing treatment. We can do a puzzle, okay?

Habits:

• Eating- She's still a great eater! She's cut back to 20-22 ounces of formula per day, usually four 5-ounce bottles and maybe a 'baby bottle' (2ish ounces) right before bed if it's been awhile since dinner. She is still an EXCELLENT solids eater- she eats everything we eat (including curry, we've discovered!!) (but not including junk food. We eat that after she goes to bed, ha.) and doesn't seem to dislike anything. Right now her hands-down favorite is baked sweet potato, followed by cantaloupe. Basically...orange food. She has started eating the food that they cook for the big kids at school! I take the week's menu and highlight the things she can have and her teachers bring her a plate to her room! They are all so tickled by what a good independent (if messy) eater she is- I have turned them all into BLW believers!! I'm super excited about her eating the school meals because this really cuts down on what I have to prepare (and pack, and pay for, haha) each day!!
• Sleeping- Wellllll...you can't win 'em all. She transitioned to her own room (and crib, and sleep sack instead of a swaddle) this month, and the end result is less sleep. :) Not significantly less- maybe an hour total between taking longer to fall asleep at night and then waking up earlier in the morning. But less. And I won't even take into account the havoc that teething has wreaked this week. And although I thought that once she started sleeping in her crib at night she might magically start sleeping better in her crib at school...that has not proven to be the case. We're lucky if she naps for an hour TOTAL all day at school. It's kinda impressive, really...(I mean, it is actually impressive that she's still a happy baby 95% of the time. Her teachers all seem amazed that she isn't cranky all the time...teething weeks excepted, of course.) The most interesting thing about her sleep this month is that all of the sudden she's a tummy-only sleeper (with occasional bouts of sleeping on her left side- just like mommy)! After nine months of violent hatred towards anything that remotely resembled being on her stomach...two nights in the crib converted her to a belly-sleeper!! It's the funniest thing!

I can only settle down if I'm surrounded by soft things from Aden + Anais. And my Petunia.

Likes: This month she's started developing definite preferences for things (toys, mainly)- and her preferences remain the same across time and situations. This seems really huge to me!! For instance, every single time she gets down her farm puzzle, she grabs the horse and the cow first. Always those two. And then she bangs them together. And then eventually she may play with the other pieces, too, but she always starts with the cow and horse. If we remove those two, she will look around for them. 

I can't help it, I just like what I like!

She feels the same way about the peacock and the food trough from her Noah's Ark Little People toy. Those two are the best, the other 20 animals are optional. She will hunt through her toy bin to find her favorite things, and she seems to remember what they are and notice if they are missing. I love this!!! She definitely prefers her bamboo Aden + Anais blankets to all other quilts/blankets/linens. If I try to hand her something else, she throws it away until I give her one of her soft blankies (luckily, we have 5 of them...plus the identical sleep sack). Her favorite book is her Farm book, and she likes the page with the sheepdog the most. She is just extremely reliable about her preferences these days, which is nice, because when she's upset, I know exactly which things will make her happy (a soft blanket and the farm book turned to the correct page) and exactly which things will infuriate her further (a stuffed animal that is not Petunia and a book that is not the farm book). (P.S. now that I write all this, I notice that most of her favorite things have to do with farms. Is she trying to tell us something?)

HEY!

She is also a reliable fan of swimming. It always hits the spot.

Dislikes: TEETHING. It is her arch nemesis. And mine, too. A related (and MAJOR) dislike is when we try to pry her mouth open to assess the progress in there. This (or maybe just the pain/swelling in general) has led to her developing a new default smile and expression...

They call this one Duck Face. I learned it from my farm book. I make this face when I don't want to smile.

They call this one Fake Smile. I do it when I'm happy but I don't want people to look at my teeth or poke their fingers around my mouth. Safety first!

Undecided About: Not much. Millie pretty much has All the Opinions now, so she lets you know if she likes or doesn't like something.

Special Skills: Crawling!! A month ago I wasn't sure she'd ever want to learn- and now she's a pro (and speedy, too!)! She also wasted no time learning to pull up on anything and everything.

Oh hey, you thought you would walk away for two seconds? Yeah, nope.

She also learned to wave about a week ago!!! It is absolutely precious. She loves to wave when she sees herself in the mirror, or when Matt or I come into a room.

Hi Mommy!! I'm just going to crawl off this chair, okay?

She is just absolutely so precious I can't stand it. And so happy (when she's not teething). And I love being her mom and getting to be the one to introduce her to this amazing world- like the other day, I was thinking about how incredibly happy and excited she gets when she's in a kiddie pool. A kiddie pool. And ours is like...a small kiddie pool, as these things go. Not more than two babies could even FIT in it. And yet she thinks it's the greatest thing ever. And I just want to tell her- but I know she can't understand- that there is so much more to swimming than just this $8 kiddie pool! There are BIGGER kiddie pools! And there are above ground pools! And inground pools! And Olympic-sized pools! And forget all that- there are oceans, Millie- something she can't even imagine and I couldn't possibly explain right now, because her mind couldn't even comprehend it...and I just get so excited as I think about all of these things that we'll get to show her one day. How right now she's splashing in three inches of water on her driveway and thinking that she's living large, but how next month she will be swimming in the ocean...

And there's nothing wrong with being content in three inches of water- in fact, it's good. It's good to love where you are. I hope she always loves splashing in a tiny pool, because it would be hard to relocate an ocean to northeast Georgia. But I love watching as she discovers that there is more to life. I feel so privileged to be the one (well, one half of the pair) tasked with showing her all of life. The little things, and the things that are so much bigger. 

 

Nine Months
Eight Months

Seven Months

Six Months

Five Months

Four Months

Three Months

Two Months

One Month

egg in the cabinet

Tonight I'm coming at you live from the midst of the Great Teething Epidemic of 2015. It's the saddest little epidemic on earth, I tell ya. Nonstop crying and misery and writhing and drooling (oh the drooling) and crying and not-eating and crying and diaper rashing and fevering and crying and not-sleeping and crying...saddest baby and tiredest mommy on earth, I'm pretty sure. And the best part is that there's nary a pearly white (besides the two she already had) to show for her trouble!!! That's just inhumane.

Our whole family has been particularly zombie-like since this affliction started Saturday night. While I confess that I don't mind the hours (and hours, and all night long) of extra snuggles this malady buys me...I hate that she is in so much pain. I feel like we've tried every remedy (home and otherwise) in the book...one of my coworkers mentioned the other day that when her kids were babies, there was some old wives tale about putting an egg in an upper cabinet and that was supposed to help with teething somehow. And one day she was desperate, so she did it. And I'm about to tell you that I'm almost there. Egg in the cabinet. Seems worth a try. (Hahaha, I Googled it, and I'm not the only one nearly desperate enough to try!!)

Anyway. Before the Growing of the Fangs (well, top two teeth, most likely...but I fully expect them to be vampire fangs, the way they're hurting her...) took over our lives, there was a pretty great Saturday that I don't want to forget. 

Awww...she used to smile!!! And not cry!! I miss that Millie!!

  

Playing with my sunglasses is her jam.

On Saturday afternoon we hung out with Millie's birth mom, J! We visited a local park/zoo, ate lunch at our favorite Cuban restaurant, and then hit up another playground before she had to go home. I was nervous about the date leading up to it, but thankfully, it was such a wonderful afternoon. J is just one of the happiest, most likeable people I've ever met- there's no doubt that much of Millie's joyful disposition is thanks to her biology. Although Millie typically takes a few minutes (orrrr a few hours) to warm up to people she's not familiar with, she was perfectly content to let Mama J hold her and play with her- it made my heart really, really happy. I am incredibly grateful for our open adoption and the relationships we have (and will continue to build) with J and her family. 

Most of all, given the Extreme Teething that started only a few short hours after our visit...I am super thankful that we hung out early on Saturday and not on Sunday or something. Because that would have been a disaster. Yikes.

I hosted book club at my house on Saturday night and we discussed The Invention of Wings, a book I really enjoyed. Our discussion covered a lot of heavy topics- slavery, segregation, abolition, religion, women's rights, and modern feminism and equality issues- and I was, as always, thankful for a group of women that challenge me to think more critically about things I'd generally prefer to not think about. It's not often that I'm in a group where I feel comfortable discussing such thorny and personal ideas...except that actually, I'm around them once a month now, and that's pretty awesome. Although we've read our share of fluffier books, I must confess that I really enjoy the deeper discussions that some of our recent picks have led to. I like that I keep thinking about our conversations for days afterwards. Plus, it gives me an outlet to share all the amazing things I learn from the hours of NPR I listen to every day. So in conclusion, between book club and NPR, I am basically earning a Ph.D in life. We're going to keep the deep discussions going this month (we haven't really hit medical/science ethics just yet!) by reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks- and BONUS!!!!! I heard a story (and interview with her children) on NPR about Lacks just a few months ago!! So I'm already ready.

Sunday was a mostly rough day, due to being up all night the previous night with our terribly confused, terribly sad baby. Poor thing. But the day wasn't totally a loss- it was the day we got to break our Whole 30!!!!!

Millie celebrated by eating her feet, which are as sugar-sweet as the rest of her and therefore definitely NOT allowed on Whole 30.

 Although we briefly toyed with the idea of doing a proper reintroduction, we basically threw that plan in the trash and went with the eat all the things plan for our first day off. It was awesome. I was kinda hoping I would feel awful and therefore repent from my processed, sugar-laden ways...but so far that hasn't been the case. I feel exhausted, but I'm pretty sure that has more to do with rocking Millie all night than with my toast.

Even in the midst of her misery, Millie enjoys spending time outside. We had some big storms on Sunday, so we spent the afternoon rocking on the front porch, watching the rain fall.

Sleep or no sleep, we are so thankful for this sweet little thing. A rainy Sunday on the porch may not sound like the most exciting afternoon, but to me, it was perfect. A few hours in paradise with my family. 

And now I'm going to go try to catch a few winks of sleep before midnight, the appointed hour of Maximum Teeth Agony. And maybe put an egg in the cabinet, just in case.