I'm back! Gem is doing great. I really have a hard time believing she's over 7 months old already. Before we know it it'll be time to throw her a birthday party. It's going way too fast, if I'm being totally honest. It makes me sad sometimes. I love seeing this amazing kid that she's growing into and get so excited each time she hits a milestone... I just feel like I waited so long to have a baby, finally got one, and now she's gone! That said, I know there will be more and it is super cool watching Gemma become a Big Girl. (That's a title, you know.) There'll be no having me after the last one is born, though. I already know I'm always gonna have the fever a little.
So, the holidays. All in all, I'd say they were great. Horribly, I can barely remember half of Christmas, let alone earlier this week, but it was fun. We were supposed to get her Christmas pictures taken the weekend before (the 20th) but there was a ridiculous snowstorm here and we couldn't make it. So we had to rebook for Christmas Eve morning. At the mall. Yeahhh. That was fun. The session was okay. I wasn't all that impressed (ahem--happy) with the safety or cleanliness of the studio and we ended up with a baby breakdown or two, but the pictures actually came out great. I guess that's not so hard when you're working with such a flippin' cute kid, though! After that, we jetted around and got the last of our shopping done, came home for fish feast, and then it was off to Christmas Eve service at church.
I'm so glad we went. We hadn't (still haven't) been to church for a while and missed it a lot. When we first started going to Riva Trace, Gem was teeny. We just took her carrier into the service with us and she'd usually sleep right through. Then she got bigger. And louder. And crankier. Yes, they have a supposedly great nursery but between Gemma not taking bottles and the flu season being in full gear, I just wasn't comfortable leaving her. So we stopped going. Christmas Eve was just what we needed, though. We had been fighting (the stress of the holidays, I'm sure) and we knew Christmas was going to be pretty crappy due to our financial situation, but when we left I felt so uplifted and happy. That's what it's about, right?
We woke up super early Christmas morning so we could have some private family time before the hub bub started downstairs. Gemma got to open her first gifts, which was really fun to see. She tore at the paper a little, but I ended up helping her with most of it. In hindsight, I don't know why I chose to wrap all of her gifts and not just one or two. Once it was all out, she played with everything. She's really into toys now. Toys, things, whatever. I just mean it's not just holding something or banging something anymore. She examines whatever she has, turns it over in her hands, figures out what to do with it... It's so amazing to watch her process things in her mind. It blows me away every time.
Anyway, Christmas... Did the second Christmas morning downstairs, all got showered and dressed for the day, and then Billy and Sigrid came her for dinner. Had fun with them. Went to Geri's for a little time with my family. It was a nice day, all around.
New Year's! We got invited to a potluck at Mollie and Loy's for New Year's Eve. That was pretty fun. Of course there was the period of awkwardness in the beginning. In my absence the past few years, the faces have changed a little. I guess that's what happens, though. Some people move along with their lives (that's where I disappeared to, after all) and fall away, even if only temporarily, and new people come along. I did see some familiar faces I hadn't seen in a while and we met a few really cool new people as well.
There was a couple there, Neal and Camille, with their 19 month old son, Brendan, who were really nice. Apparently Neal is a pastor and we found out that he and Loyal are going to be heading up a church out of Mollie and Loy's house Sunday nights. John and I are SO excited about that. It starts this Sunday, the 31st, actually. (If we don't get snowed in again.)
So that about covers that. Since then, it's been the typical slow crawl towards spring. I'm extra excited for the warmer weather this year. Not only have I been more cooped up than ever before with not working and all, by the time spring and summer finally do get here Gemma is going to be big enough to do fun stuff! I can't wait to take the little monster to the park and push her on the swings and slide down the slide with her, going on long walks on the trail, introduce her to nature, take her to the beach for the first time! It's going to be such a blast. Like I said before, June will be here so fast and it'll be time to say goodbye to our baby and hello to our Big Girl.
Speaking of Big Girls... Gemma is developing like crazy right now. She's had sitting up mastered for quite some time now, but we're pretty sure she's going to start crawling any day now. Actually, this morning she got up on all fours and went forward one move, but that's it. Hasn't felt like trying anymore today yet. She's also showing a lot of interest in pulling up to stand, she just lacks either the coordination or the upper body strength to make it happen yet. She grabs on to things and tries, but she never quite gets up. She's chattering up a storm--mama's, dada's, nana's, baba's, you stick a consonant to an a and she can do it, heh. That's as far as she's gotten, though. She loves to squeal. She's started to watch what we do and mimic it. She and John were taking turns splashing in the tub a few nights ago. That was pretty adorable.
Oh, and how did I forget?! We have a tooth! Or, well... the start of a tooth, at least. The edge of the bottom left tooth has completely broken through. All that's left to do now is to wait for the rest of him and is buddy next door. Also, right after going to her 6 month check up (Oh, that's right. She was... I wanna say around 27", 15lbs 10oz, and health as a horse on January 4th.) and telling Jane how worried I was that she showed no interest whatsoever in eating solid food, she came home and took to it like champ that week. She still nurses a lot (thank God, I have no desire to give that up anytime soon) but she eats three meals a day now with no fighting. It's so cute to watch.
Last but not least, Gemma has finally graduated to her own room. About time, I know. I finally gave up on waiting for Billy and the armoire--which still has yet to be finished, almost a year after he said he'd do it--and just fixed things up the best that I could in there. And I wish I had done it sooner. Our terrible, rotten baby, the one who refused to nap and didn't sleep as well as she should've, immediately changed into a perfect sleeper, good napper, and all around much happier girl. In fact, she's napping right now.
In family news... Hmm. It's been a time of change lately. Or thoughts of change, at least. John has put applications in to two steamfitter unions. He already took the test for one of them (we're anxiously waiting on the results) and has a test date in February for the other. We're very hopeful and optimistic about this opportunity and if it works out it could finally change everything. Also, I've had quite the itch lately to go back to school. I'd love to finish my nursing degree. I sometimes struggle with the idea of it for a few reasons... First, John's out there breaking his back at a job he hates so that I can stay home with our daughter and if I go to school I feel like I would technically not be staying home, but not doing anything to help bring in any money. I know it's a good step towards helping and smart and all those things, but I can't help but feel slightly guilty. Second, I want to finish school. I want to have the ability to help if I need to. BUT I'm not necessarily sure I'd up and get a job right after. I do want to stay home with my kids and Gemma's not the last. She's the first of either three or four. By the time I finish the nursing program, I'd be ready to have the next one and I'm not just going to leave then. So, yeah. I'm still wrestling with all this stuff and trying to figure out the best course of action to take. I missed the deadline for spring semester anyway because of some scheduling stuff so I have a little time to think about it. If I did go back, I'd start this summer.
Well, I guess that about wraps it up for now. The girl will probably be waking up sometime soon anyway. Till next time.
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