7 month snapshot

Unfortunately, I haven't been very good about taking pictures over the last 6 weeks. Time seemed to fly by but at the same time, I don't feel like we've been all that busy, just the normal stuff! Let see.... we brought Madelyn along to her first Cinco de Mayo party and she was great! She even fell asleep in her car seat so Mommy and Daddy could visit with friends. We spent a Sunday afternoon in New Canaan having brunch and catching up with a few of the Zimmer clan, which was last minute and really fun! I celebrated my first official Mother's Day, which was perfect, start to finish! We took Madelyn to the May Fair in New Canaan, which was really fun. For Memorial Day, we went up to Martha's Vineyard for Madelyn's first visit there. The weather was perfect and Madelyn had a great time visit with her Grandma and Grandpa Gerges! I, on the other hand, caught a stomach bug and was pretty much quarantined in the bedroom for 3 of our 4 days there. So, we didn't make it to the beach or go for our walks every day like I'd hoped (poor Quigs) but it was a nice visit nonetheless :)

Tomorrow, Madelyn is 7 months old and it really just keeps getting better and better! We added fruit to her cereal which was pretty funny at first, and now, she loves it! Peaches are her fav :) We wont start veggies for a few weeks but I can't wait to see what she thinks of those. She's loves to wave and she smiles so big when you praise her, it's pretty cute! She talks quite a bit - lots of "da-da-da's" She's starting to grab for anything in sight and I know where thats going, busy bee! We are starting to feel like she might walk, without even giving crawling a try. She loves to stand and be up on her feet and her legs are really strong.  So far she hasn't shown any interest in crawling or rolling over. We shall see I guess!

Here are some pictures from the last month!

Sunday Funday with a few of the Zimmers!

May Fair

On the ferry to MV -

Have fun on the Vineyard:

Chipmunk cheeks!

She looks pretty funny here -SO BIG

7 months old!!

a little cheese...

Warning - cheesy post :)

Brian, is like a lot of guys in that he's not overtly affectionate.  That means the times when he is, the action really does speak louder than words.

We met when Brian started at vineyard vines in the fall of 2004.  The company was pretty small then and there was a group of us that became good friends. We'd work hard at the office and then play hard outside of work, it was a blast. You could say that Brian and I had a flirty friendship for a while, probably the better part of two years. I spent a LOT of time playing the "he likes me, he likes me not" game in my head. I just couldn't figure him out and he never really said, or showed me if he was interested or not.  When we'd hang out, we'd have a great time, then we wouldn't talk or hang out for days or weeks, then repeat.  For a girl who is pretty impatient, I hung on, and on.... and just waited to see.

By the fall of 2007, we were hanging out more and more, making baby steps towards a relationship. I went to my first Springsteen concert with Brian in Hartford in October.  Just 2 weeks later, another extra ticket opened up and Brian invited me along again, this time to his show in NYC. I was excited because he would think to ask me to go along, and again I was meeting more friends of his! Yikes, we were making some progress... maybe he did like me a little afterall :)

During the concert that night, Springsteen played this-

She's the One

As the song started, Brian moved so that he was sort of behind me and wrapped his arm around me. Aww... I remember thinking, how cute. But I had no clue what the song was. Then just as it went to the chorus, Brian squeezed me really hard, "She's the One".... Eeeeek! I remember being like, no way, that's a coincidence, get over yourself Jess. Then again, another squeeze. Ok, he's trying to tell me something. I may have blacked out due to lack of oxygen that was getting to my brain. I had waited for SO long to understand if he liked me and right then, I realized that he did, and a lot. Yippy!

You are probably wondering why on earth I'm sharing this. I've been driving Brian's car to work and listening to a lot of E Street Radio on the commute. Since those first 2 Springsteen concerts, I've been hooked. Lately, I swear, every single time I'm in the car, She's the One comes on and every single time, I'm immediately transported back to that night at MSG when it all clicked. It's so neat how a song can do that to you and you can relive a moment over and over!

Thank you BTG for picking me, I couldn't be happier that I am your One!

apology

After I blogged about balance last week, I felt a little guilty.  I have so much to be grateful for that I shouldn't complain.  I think it was an honest moment where I sort of threw up all my current thoughts in one post and it came out pretty negative.

After looking back on the "boo-hoo" post from last week, I stumbled on something else... which is worth the read:

Your Childs Hidden Gift

Timing really is everything and I couldn't agree more! This gloomy day just got a whole lot brighter :)

happy Monday!

Fate

I grew up in a split level and colonial home and I can't recall spending very much time, if any, in a ranch home.  However, it was love at first sight when we first toured our home 2 1/2 years ago. I'd never really considered one level living and the idea of a ranch, but I was instantly hooked. Its surprising to me that they're knocked in the real estate world for not being as appealing as a cape or colonial. I mean, I get it, but its got some real perks too!

Anyway, I took this quiz... and guess what? Sure enough, I'm a ranch house gal :)

http://www.frontdoor.com/buy/architecture-quiz-results/1135?radAnswer=D&x=29&y=19

Take the quiz yourself here to see what type of house you are!

Happy Friday!

balance

As my last post sort of touched on, one of the things on my mind recently has been moving to be closer to work. It's the suggestion-of-the-month, if you will, for a way in which to make it feel like there was more time in the day.  Don't get me wrong, I love my life - I love our house, I really love Fairfield and what an adorable town it is, I am enjoying being back at work and figuring out the whole working-mom thing, and of course, my hubby, baby girl and fam, are the best! I am lucky to work with my hubby, so we see each other all day long :) Some might think that's crazy, but for us, it's great. It's all we know, and we love it! My baby on the other hand, I miss her, every second of every day that I'm not with her.


After being back at work for 3 months, and having a few discussions with my boss, my request for a different work schedule was finally approved 2 weeks ago. I was elated. Now, I work from 8am - 4pm and the change has been good. I'm able to see Madelyn awake after work and we get special time together when I put her to bed. So Brian gets her in the morning and I get her a night. It's like we're ships passing in the night the way we come and go separately now, each with our own time with Madelyn. I can't complain, it's what I asked for and we're making it work. But I can't help but ask myself, what if we lived near work... ?

Last night, the commute home, on such a beautiful evening took 2 annoying hours. I felt like I watched the clock while we're crawling on the highway knowing that the time we were spending commuting was eating away at the time I could be having with Madelyn at home. 

I guess no matter how hard you try, creating a balance in life can be challenging. So, so hard. 

I will say I felt a little better after reading this article.  There are some things in the article that I don't agree with. However, I do agree that I don't really care how you parent or raise your child, but I think we should feel comfortable talking about the struggles, and pushing the envelope. After all, we can agree that what matters most in our lives, is our children!

 http://www.momsinmaine.com/2012/05/wake-up-moms-youre-fighting-the-wrong-fight/

addendum to "my little obsession"

Phew, I'm not alone -

http://hookedonhouses.net/are-you-hooked/


There are 13 questions on this quiz - I said yes to 11!

My little obsession...

For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed looking at houses. When I was little and went grocery shopping with my mom, I never left empty handed, making sure to always grab a real estate booklet on our way out the door. I liked looking at the different styles, the colors, the yards and comparing them.  Flash forward to working at vineyard vines and after helping a few co-workers find a place to live, I became the go-to for help with housing. 

I think it is safe to say, what started as an interest or a hobby has become a bit of an obsession. Like some peoples obsession to facebook, I am obsessed with listingbook.com. I check it at least once a day to see what new houses have come on the market, compare houses, and of course look at all the pictures. 1/3 of me realizes we're pretty close to outgrowing our house so I'm dreamy about a bigger home. Another part of me wants to be closer to work because the hour and half commute, as a parent, just eats away time we could be spending with Madelyn.  But what drives these, is the last part of me that just loves looking at houses!

The downside to this, is I'm starting to drive Brian crazy! I send him houses daily - "what about this one?" "look at all the space" "what a yard" It's not that I'm not happy with our house, I love our house and what we've done to it. Unfortunately though, we've done just about everything we could possibly do, in the 2 short years we've lived here and I have the itch to work on something. This is how Brian and I are very different, he'd be perfectly happy in our house for the next 10 years and the lack of space wouldn't bother him at all. Not I... Its like the two of us with our cars. I love the world of leasing because I can get a new car every three years but Brian drives a 2001 Jeep Cherokee that he this is the best car on the road :)

I think sometimes that it would be so fun to be a flipper, buy a house, renovate it and resell it. Realistically though, maybe its time to bite the bullet and sign up for a class so I can get my real estate license. It's the one thing that I've always enjoyed and by now, yes, it's become a bit of an obsession :) Do you have something like that you've always wanted to do but the timing is never right or something distracts you? Maybe, now is the time....

ahhh 6 months already?!

I know every month during her first year, and then every year after that, I will say this over and over - time is just flying! We celebrated Madelyn's 1/2 birthday with a lot of firsts! She's started to "talk" to us, sit up on her own w/o falling over, she's mastering the fake cough and the fake cry, had her first solid meal, first drink from a sippy cup and last but not least, rolled over! All in a week's work :) It was almost like she'd grown up before our eyes over just a few days! Just when you think your time with your little one can't get any better, they suprise you with something new that just melts your heart. Every day is better than the last as she grows a little more before our eyes! As my first Mother's Day approaches, I get teary eyed just thinking about how blissfully happy being a Mom makes me. Madelyn is the light of our lives and we feel so blessed to be her parents :)

6 month stats:

Head: 75%

Height: 26.5 (75%)

Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz (75%)

Ready for our visit with Dr. Flynn!

Our little lady is 6 months old!! We love you MJ

Getting ready for her first "meal" breaking-in the high chair!

YmMmm this cereal thing isn't so bad!

First documented roll over in action :)