My Life So Far

So yeah, I decided to start writing again and mostly because Raffaella is doing a lot more sleeping at night and its been (keep fingers cross) a breeze putting her down. We have implemented a bedtime routine that we have stuck with for about 2 weeks now. During the day we try to give her 2 good naps, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon/early evening, then around 7:30pm, she gets a bath every.single.night with me. It's great bonding time for the both of us and it relaxes her. I hold her, while she floats around. Dad hangs out too, he makes sure she doesn't get cold by pouring water on her, it's quality family time. After the bath dad takes her and dries her off, while I come in after and put her diaper and pajamas on, she gets so excited to see me as she knows she's going to be fed and comforted to sleep.

And tonight is the first night we put her to bed in the crib. I'll update you guys on how she does. She went down at about 8:30pm and it's about midnight right now and so far so good. If I could have it my way, she would never leave my side, but she is out growing the Bugaboo bassinet way too fast. She loves to put her face right up against the sides of it, so it is a safety issue. I thought I would be very emotional about the bassinet to crib transition, but I am surprisingly feeling okay.

The Thanksgiving holiday was uneventful, but there was still much to be thankful for, too much to list here. It was my first time cooking a turkey dinner, I scaled everything down because it was just the two of us and my MIL. All the dishes I cooked were from Saveur Magazine's Thanksgiving issue. My sides were green beans with pancetta and mint, sweet potato casserole with cashews, and oyster stuffing. They tasted pretty good. For some reason or another, my pies, pumpkin and pecan were terrible. It was nice of Steve's mom to pretend that she liked my pecan pie. I really don't know why, but since becoming a mom, my cooking has been really off. Nothing seems to come out right or taste all that great. I hope my cooking mojo returns and I've not lost it for good. I don't want to cook another turkey dinner if I don't have too so hopefully next year we can resume our tradition of traveling during this holiday. If you remembered, last year we were in Belize and it also happened to be my birthday.


Speaking of birthdays, I did celebrate my 29th on the 22nd. I don't mind the age thing so much, as long as I still look young right? Age is only a number anyway. Most importantly is how I feel, and I feel whole and content. There's nothing more in life that I want then to be a mom and wife. I know I must make feminist everywhere cringe. I do a good job at it and I love it. Everyday is a joy to see my baby grow and experience new things. Anyway, we spent my birthday at Hollywood Park, again. Three years in a row I have gone to the tracks on my birthday. We had a few friends join us and of course we brought the baby. She did pretty good, until an hour or so in. She just went crazy, crying non-stop. I even tried to feed her, but that didn't even calm her. Usually the boob calms her instantly, but not that time. I got really stressed out, I mean, I was in public and could not calm my own baby down and let alone at a racetrack, where you don't see too many babies in general. I took to the bathroom (gross), fed her and she fell asleep. I think it was too much stimulation for her. The funny thing is, never in my life did I think I would be breastfeeding a baby in a restroom at a racetrack on my birthday. My sitch reminded me of a funny scene from the movie Sweet Home Alabama, when Reese's character sees an old friend at a bar with a baby.


So moving on...I love that everything so far has been Raffaella's firsts. I am stressing myself out, making sure that I jot everything down so I don't forget what she did or trying to capture every moment on film or video. I know I missed a few and I am especially kicking myself for not doing a monthly photo. I love how Nanette did her photos of little Em. Good one Nanette with the alphabet blocks. So I am trying to think something up that is just as cool and creative for Raffaella's 4 month photo. The hubs reminded it's still not too late to start a monthly photo, she still has 8 more months before is a year, true, but still the first 3 months I can never get back.


More blog posts to come...hopefully =)