Five Months Young

 (don't you just LOVE her eclectic style... Mmm...)

At five months old I think Camille's going through a little growth spurt. She gained a pound over the last two weeks (8oz each week!) instead of her normal 4oz gain each week. I know this because I weigh her each Sunday. I'm not obsessive about it, I don't weigh her daily or before/ after feedings... but I do have a spiral that I've tracked her weight in for the past 4 months.  Since she's always been small. Which strangers often comment on. "How old is she?" "She's sooooo little." - Rude people. Rude.  Seriously. A new mom doesn't want to hear it!! I know, she was in the 2% in her weight at her 4mo. visit. (But that huge noggin was in the 79%!!)

I'm so happy to be able to stay home and raise this child. It's not always easy- for me, mentally- for us as a family financially. We are on a tight budget... but for me, it's well worth it. 

This morning I was slow to put her amber necklace on her (I just forgot.) We take it off of her each night... BUT,  as she seemed grouchy, clingy and fussy (gnawing on her fingers constantly) I quickly figured out the problem. I put the necklace on her, dissolved some teething tablets in gripe water (because she won't take them dissolved in tap water...) and put her down for a nap! 

Today the sun is shining, but it did get down pretty cool last night (30's). So we will put off our walk until the afternoon, then surprise Aunt Chrissy at work with some lunch and homemade cookies. (We usually spend our Friday's at my sister Chrissy's house, but she had to work today.) 

I'm grateful that our families are close and can be a part of Camille's life and growing up. They love this girl. In a couple of weeks my sister LB will be home from pharmacy school and we are going to visit the Arboretum in Dallas. Their Spring flower exhibit is always breathtaking. And this year I'll be one of those (MANY) people propping their baby up and trying to snap some photos. In the tulips. In the lillys. In the green green grass with the little waterfall in the background.

Time for a Little Creativity...

Whew... The last month has flown by and Dorothy Camille will be 5 MONTHS OLD in two days!!

She is changing every day and it has been so fun to watch. Her current new behaviors include wanting everything that mom has in her hands, especially my blue Nalgene water bottle. She has honed in on buttons and tags on everything and wants to put them in her mouth, obviously. She has started screeching now, which is rather unbecoming.  She was "talking" and now she talks in a higher register... But, when she's letting us know that she is dissatisfied with a situation (she's alone in a room, left to play alone, sitting in her bouncy seat too long,  doesn't feel it's necessary to put on pajamas after a bath... she screeches. In my opinion, it's her threat to start crying if we don't take action soon. She wants her way!!

She's learned to drop things. Fun. She rolls and rolls and somehow can turn 360 degrees rolling and scooting. While we are managing car seat time in the car a little better, naps have become hellish. After that four day hotel stay (where mom was always in the same room or she was napping ON mom) it has been a chore to get her back in her crib. How quickly a little break in the routine can snowball out of control. Some days are great, others ghastly. Sunday she took TWO, two hour naps. Monday we fought. Tuesday was really great and today I just won the battle of napping. Only after 45 minutes and reassuring her and loving on her in crib thrice!! That girl likes to fuss. And refuses to give up. Her behavior in her crib when she's kicking and pushing and screaming remind me of a toddler... We have so many more days of this I know...

She's still tiny, 12 lb. this morning. We are still in size 1 diapers (8-14lbs) and 3-6 mo. clothes.
I do love this girl though. She giggles more, loves bath time, always has a smile for her Papa and sings along when mom and dad sing- especially at church.
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Now about ME:

I continue to enjoy MOPS every other week and have joined a home Bible study on Tuesday mornings. It has been gorgeous here in East Texas and we've spend alot of time outside during the past week. Camille and I go walking with a neighbor or at the park. On day I sat her outside in her bouncy seat and I did some yard work. I'm ready for Spring!

Chris and I daydream about planting a garden.  We'd love to have something growing, even if just for ourselves. It's sort of late for the Spring season though, most farmers have things in the ground already. We did join a local CSA  and will start enjoying fresh veggies in early March. I've also found farms and co-ops and places to purchase organic meat which really excites me.

During our days on the farm I loved Farmers Market day. Chris, not so much. Heck, I enjoyed Farmers Market in NYC. It was one of my favorite things about the city- the Union Square Market... So, I've been brainstorming what I could sell at our local market. It starts May 3rd and I've been trying to come up with how I can make a little money. Personally, I think I'm pretty good at lots of things and not excellent at anything... So far on my list of what I could sell at Farmers Market:

Handmade Note cards (featuring my photography)
Handmade Baby clothes (my mom just gave me her sewing machine and I'm wanting to learn... but haven't yet... so, maybe not the best idea!!)
Loose Leaf Lettuce (this is our favorite idea, selling various mixed greens by the pound... But, it's Texas. And it's uber HOT in the summer. And we've not grown anything in this soil yet... But, I've always wanted to take advantage of this niche. I know it would be successful if we could just produce enough of the product.)
Homemade Granola and Muesli 
Homemade Raw Macaroon (4 flavors...)

I think that a consumable good would sell much better on a weekly basis/ overall.  What is someone going to buy once they've spend $10 on a set of note cards??

This is what I'm trying to think through/ work out currently. The best way to make a little money and get involved in the community. The market is moving to a new location in May and I think that it will be a real success. I also have to remember that it's an hour drive. And I have to leave home EARLY and I have an infant. And it'll be 100+ degrees some of those days.

That is why it has to be a GOOD freaking idea.

If you have one LET ME KNOW!
What would you like to buy at Farmer's Market? What's missing at yours? Do you buy baked goods when out on a Saturday morning buying eggs and cheese and tomatoes?

Midweek Update

Today we head to Dallas for Camille's FIRST overnight hotel stay. Three nights away from home... I'm trying not to overpack, OR forget anything. (Like our sound machine, man I LOVE that thing!) Chris is speaking at a teacher conference and Camille and I are tagging along. Mostly, I'm looking forward to cable TV and eating lunch each day at the Whole Foods two blocks away from the hotel. Exciting, I know...

Monday of this week we had our baby/ mama chiropractor appointment. Camille sleeps SO freaking well after these visits. It's really insane how that works. And just so you know, baby adjustments are more like a mini massage, not as abrupt or invasive as adult adjustments. Afterward, we had lunch with Alaina at the same quaint cafe we met at last time (big bowls of hot soup... delish). There is something on the menu called Adult Grilled Cheese that has avocado in it, and I'm going to have to try it some day.

Tuesday was Bible Study and today MOPS.  I know I don't have to go to all of these things, and since we are going to be busy the next four days, I considered staying home. Especially since it's bitter cold and windy out. But I'm on top of my laundry, and meals, and I long for fellowship and adult conversation these days, so we went.

Our craft at MOPS today was super easy and actually pretty cute. A scripture mounted on a frame with burlap and pretty scrapbook paper and one of those ribbon bows with a button center. Cute. AND, last time I came home from MOPS sounding like a six-year-old after VBS. "Look what I made for arts-and-crafts AND I won the drawing too!!!" The drawing was for some home organizer bins that were uber cute and from IKEA. I put them in Camille's closet.

Another funny MOPS story: today a mom approached me and asked if the green blanket in the nursery was Camille's. I said, yes it was. She asked where I got it and I told her how a friend just gave me alot of stuff after having three children of her own, and this was just one of the many blankets she gave me. This mother just stood there looking at me... "So, you didn't just buy it at Walmart or anything?"

I had seen her earlier in the morning carrying around what appeared to be a much older, dirtier, worn and well-loved blanket just like the one I had covered Camille with...

"I've stopped at every Walmart between here and Dallas looking for another blanket like that..." It's her four-year-old daughter Kate's special blanket. Evidently, Walmart doesn't sell them anymore. And they are on their second one already. I told her she could have it.  Really. Odd how that worked out, right?!
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Let's see in other news, Camille has gotten really good at taking a 2-3 hour nap sometime around noon and I find myself not knowing what to do with this time.  Chris says I act like a drug addict coming down off of a high. I pace. I sit. I stand. I check on her every fifteen minutes... Crazy I know, but I sort of miss her.

Sunday I vowed to quit sugar. For now. For a little while. So, obviously on Sunday I only had ONE chocolate chip cookie. The next day I also had ONE chocolate chip cookie. Tuesday, two Thin Mints, a handful of M&M's and ONE chocolate chip cookie... Today at MOPS I dove head first into something called Praline French Toast Casserole. So, that NO sugar thing... it hasn't gone over very well. No yet anyway.
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Chris had a second interview last week for a High School Assistant Principal position. We've been waiting patiently this week in hopes to hear something. No news yet.

I want him, so badly, to enjoy his work- his time away from us. He is so capable and intelligent and, well, it's be rough to say the least.  I know God has a perfect position for him (we thought it was this one...) His ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts. He has something. I know He does. Waiting is hard though. And interviewing can be exhausting, I've been there.