Okay guys it’s been 3 months! My last post ironically was titled “Silence”. Well, I’m sorry to say that I have been silent since that post. In all honesty, I haven’t had much to say. I mean, I do have a lot to say (I always have a lot to say), I just don’t know how to say it and have yet to feel inspired to blog. I apologize. I so often get alerts that my stats are “booming”…which means ya’ll are probably checking in on us to see what’s new, the latest or if we’ve posted anything lately. I’m sorry we’ve been so delayed and quiet. I’m hoping that changes as I begin to post more frequently again.
I can’t even begin to explain all that has happened and all that has changed. We’ve made some pretty big changes within the past three months. All of which has led us to the path of which we belong. This is life and our journey is always changing. We embrace change and welcome it with open arms. That’s the key to a happy life. To be prepared for change, to accept the ups and downs as just a part of shaping your life, to welcome challenging experiences and allow them to be a part of the journey but not shape who you are.
I am more content compared to who I was three months ago. I was stressed, anxious, sad and broken. I’ve experienced two miscarriages with one being a big deal and the other with me only knowing because I obsessively test. And when I say obsessively test, I’m not kidding. I tested every single day. I buy tests off Amazon and The Dollar Tree so I’m not spending $10 bucks+ to test. My husband would kill me! He already thinks I test too much. But yet he just doesn’t understand the deep desire a woman feels when she’s TTC. More on this topic later.
Updates, updates, updates! You all probably want updates! And of course pictures. Even though we’ve taken a break from the blogging world, we definitely did not take a break from the amount of videos and photos we’ve taken. In fact, we’ve even purchased a GoPro. Okay…hands down the BEST purchase ever! Seriously guys, if you don’t have one, get one! If you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, look it up. Worth.every.cent! Oh, and make sure you get all the fun accessories that go with it. I need to find a good video sharing site. Once I do, I’ll be sure to (eventually) load the videos for everyone to see. Nothing captures life and memories quite like video. If you have any site suggestions, please share.
Okay so our little baby girl is not so little anymore. I mean, of course she’s little…she will always be little (to us). But to her, well, that’s an entirely different story. She thinks she’s a big girl now. She’s walking, she’s talking and she’s definitely keeping us on our toes! Her personality is forming and her brain is exploding with knowledge. She’s a smart one.
She went from scooting to crawling on all fours then to pulling up and standing all within two months. She waited until she was ready. And she’s careful.
She’s even eating! Well, sort of. She eats when she wants and what she wants. Which really isn’t much. Especially considering her food allergies. She was eating a sweet potato every evening (with brown sugar and dairy-free butter) until she started teething (I think). She eats gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free frozen waffles and French toasts sticks (of course with syrup). And also graham crackers. She loves her “cookies”. She also loves water with a special cup with a straw. Luckily that cup doesn’t leak.
Like I mentioned above, we recently bought a GoPro to capture Josie’s most memorable moments. With Bobby being gone for two weeks out of the month (16 days at a time), he misses out on special moments like new words, actions and attitudes. Josie started saying “hi”, “bye”, etc. We’ve heard her say words before but this time it’s more on point. You’ll walk in the room and she will see you, wave and say “hiiiiii” in a long cute little voice. She will see the kitty and say “keeee”. She will say “I love you” after you say it to her (sometimes). She talks when she wants to talk and says so many different words at different times. Although not saying certain words, she will know what they are (ball, bottle, fan, couch, phone, elmo, Mickey Mouse, etc). The strange thing is, that most people wouldn’t know she’s saying these things…but we do. Just because we’re with her every day and we know her lingo. So when we hear a change in syllable, we get excited and say “did you hear that? She said I love you!” These are moments never to be forgotten. She started to take steps after just a month of waking through the night. Once she started, it only took a few weeks before she mastered at it. And we’re so glad she waited for Daddy to be home to do it so he could see her first steps. It was perfect timing. She waited until she was completely ready before she took those first steps. She’s fearless and a brute. She is so very curious in what we do, eat and what we have. Yet, getting her to eat any of it is still a challenge. From doctor to doctor, I’m just plain tired of the consults and the blood, sweat and tears I’ve put into trying to get this poor child to eat foods. I quit pumping at the beginning of July as my poor, poor breasts have had just about enough of the rigorous every 4 hour pumping schedule since Josie was 8 weeks old. She’s moved on to Soy Milk/Rice Milk with a very expensive Toddler formula. That is her key nutrition right now. But will eat foods, like I mentioned, when she feels like it. We need to work with her more on eating more/different foods. This is all a work in progress.
This past two weeks that Bobby was home, Josie started saying “Daddy”. It just melts my heart to see him with her and her with him. She is daddy’s girl.
On my birthday (the middle of July) we moved back to Tampa, Florida. We love it. We love our home (more pictures later). We love our community. I started working at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), where I did clinicals in school and I love it. I love the sun, the rain, the thunderstorms and mostly the heat. Oh my goodness, I missed it here. It’s beautiful and peaceful and I honestly feel complete and content with being here. We hope that the stress that I was feeling in Michigan (working nights, still pumping every 4 hours and the weather) will be relieved by being here and so far I can tell you that I feel different. I feel better. I feel like I can breathe. I am happy. This feels like home. More updates on that later. But for now, here are quite a few photos from the last few months but most of them are more recent from a trip to The Tampa Riverwalk, Clearwater Beach, Siesta Key Beach, swimming in the pool outside our patio, and eating in her high chair.
A Pair of Socks 