Weekend Lens: Pippa's Room 8 months

This weekend I made a few changes/updates to Piper's room. 
I love how bright and cheery her room is. I love that she has started to notice her animals and the patterns. She takes her little fingers and runs them across the outlines on her wall. I love her dollhouse library and that she can now pull books down from the shelves. She has quite the stuffed animal collection, thanks to so many of our sweet friends!, and needed a toy bin. Piper actually fits in her toy bin and thinks that it's for many use is carrying her around. Our babysitter gifted Pip with the flower laundry basket and it's the perfect size for housing two/three days worth of clothes. Her lamp is a Target find. I have been holding onto that lamp shade for two years, it was part of the Liberty of London collection from 2010. I found the base for it today and it fits perfectly on her changing table. Her crib is still on the highest setting, but we discovered that Miss Pip is starting to pull up on the edges and try to stand. Mr. R. will be lowering her mattress ASAP. This little girl definitely keeps us on our toes!

Nothing good happens after 2AM?

There is a show I love, It's called how I met your mother. Mr. R. and I discovered it in 2006, we were newly married, learning to love and live with each other, and the two characters Marshall and Lily seemed to be living our lives, but on a TV screen. We watched our TV twins have similar fights over money, food, jobs, dreams, goals, and kids. 

One of the episodes from season 1, clearly states that NOTHING good ever happens after 2AM. In fact, it goes on to say that if it's after 2AM, you better just head to bed because if you don't you are only asking for trouble. And until this May, I would have agreed to that very sentiment. 

But this morning it is currently 2:45 and up until 10 minutes ago I was feeding a sweet little baby. She smelled of lavender baby lotion. She curled into me, so happy to cuddle and share my warmth. Her milky breath and little sighs melt my heart. Sure, I am tired. And yes, part of me would LOVE if she would sleep through the night. Heck I would be high five-ing the whole neighborhood if she gave me a solid 8 hours. But at the same time those little moments of cuddling, rocking, and bonding are my favorite. They are the good stuff and I know these little moments will not be around forever.

...so maybe, just maybe, a few good things do happen after 2AM.

Who's my pretty little baby?

Pip has become obsessed with her reflection lately.

 She loves to stare at her mirror image and make faces, wave, and babble. We ask her, who's that baby? And she just giggles than laughs and waves some more. She also loves to see her reflection in the photobooth app for my phone. She grabs the phone and holds it as close to her face as possible. 

I think she is trying to figure out how we fit a whole baby into that tiny little rectangle. 

Miss Pip is 8 months old today and I have to say this has been my most favorite month yet.

This face:

• loves bath time, her newest trick is using that watering can to pour water all over her head
• likes to feed herself, this results in food EVERYWHERE!
• has the craziest hair when she wakes up in the morning, she gets it from her dad. 
• loves to cuddle late at night
• has learned to give kisses, they are big and sloppy and sometimes open-mouthed, but I love them nonetheless.

• is the proud owner of two little white teeth, they look just like tic-tacs
• wants to see and know everything, she is so nibby! Her little head is always turning and twisting to take in the sights around her.
• is giving Miss Rita, our babysitter, a run for her money, she didn't nap AT ALL today

• has learned to wave, she only uses her left hand and usually the wave ends with clapping
• like to bite on our fingers 
• is obsessed with keys
• is refusing to sleep right now and Mr. R. is having to be the strong one. 

 I love this face. 

In the midst of chaos we find comfort in sameness.

 This week is crazy. I am giving midterms, entering many many graded assignments, and preparing to close my gradebook for the semester. I am also convinced Pip is going through a growth spurt this week. She is completely off schedule, she is refusing to nap, and she wants to eat ALL THE TIME. If I were Gwen Stefani, or Kelly Kapoor, I would be singing about how today was bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S! (FYI: My 2002 self LOVED that song!) I am grateful that even in times of change Mr. R. and I can take solace in our nightly routine. 

4:00 Walk dogs, visit neighbors, catch up on our days
4:45 Pip gets a bottle, dogs get dinner, I run on the treadmill 
(2 miles tonight)
5:30 Start dinner for Mr. R. and me, take Pip's dinner out of the freezer to thaw
(Salmon for us, broccoli carrot & butternut squash apple puree for her)
6:15 - 6:30: Dinner
(We have been really good at eating at the table with no distractions. Tonight's topic of conversation was the UNF debate on the 26th. Check out Mr. R.'s post below if you want to know his pick for the RNC nomination).
7:00: Piper in the tub. We read, we sing, we splash.
7:20: Formula for Pip, hot chocolate for me, tea for Mr. R.
7:40: Goodnight Pip (or so we hope!)
 I blog, catch up on facebook, grab and shower, and head to bed praying Pip sleep until at least 2AM.

Do or do not, there is no try.

Mr. R. was seemingly impressed when I busted out a Yoda quote this morning.

I have been using the word TRY so much lately.

Hilary are you working out?
I'm trying.

Hilary, are you still doing weight watchers?
I'm trying.

Hilary, how are the house projects going?
I'm trying to find time to do them. 

The word try has become my personal cop-out this year. And I am not OK with that. I have been praying that I would find some motivation to get off my duff and accomplish some of the goals I have set for myself this year (and the ones leftover from last year).

Who knew my motivation would come in the form of a little green guy with fuzzy hair and a light saber?
I need to pull on my big girl pants and decide to walk with intention and reach my goals or to sit back accept that I am unwilling to change my current state. This trying business is not working for me. A blog I stumbled across last week talked about intention. If we intend to do something, we schedule time for it, we make a plan, and most likely we accomplish the task. The blogger decided that in 2012 she would walk with intention. She would plan, stick to her schedule, and only make commitments that she intended to complete.

The Jedi inside me is saying it's time to walk with intention. It's time to better manage my time, my diet, and my commitments. That means less time on pinterest, no more facebook stalking, less time to lounge in my sweats, but the payoff... finally being able to say, WHY YES I AM DOING THAT, it was my intention all along.

CRASH!

Piper's new love is blocks. She loves for me to stack them and then she takes those little hands and knocks the block tower down as FAST as she can. She is also a fan of kicking down block towers and trying to chew on the edges of each individual cube. She also uses those monkey toes of hers to pick up a block or two.