Bathtime revisited

If you compare these pictures to our first set of bathtime pictures, you will see a remarkable contrast in baby contentment. On the advice of a seasoned mother, we have always bathed Anna by first wrapping her in a receiving blanket and then lowering her down into the water, and just "unwrapping" a portion of her at a time to bathe her. That way, she always felt like she was nice and secure and wrapped up. She now enjoys bath time-- especially since Richard is the one who primarily bathes her and he is always able to make her laugh!








I have to say, I love her widow's peak. Neither Richard or I have this particular feature (though I hear it stands for wisdom), but it caps off her perfect heart-shaped face. Lets hope it doesn't also mean that she will also be that cute little girl with the curl right in the middle of her forehead, and when she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad....

The newest member of the Washington State Bar

Yesterday I was sworn in as the newest member of the Washington State Bar Association! But it was an honor that was ALMOST never to be. I took the bar exam over a year ago in the summer while Richard was completing an internship here in Seattle. I passed, but because I moved so soon after, I never received any licensing information from the bar association. In Utah, you have two years from the time you take the bar exam to be formally admitted, or else you have to retake the exam. NOBODY wants to EVER take a bar exam over again-- not if they can avoid it at all costs.

Thinking that I probably also had two years here in Washington, I took my time contacting the bar association to see what I needed to do to be admitted to practice here in Washington. It was only then that I found out that you have one year from the time the results are made public to be admitted or else be forced to take the exam over again. The results I know were published October 13, 2008....and I had waited until about October 20th to inquire of the bar association. AAAHHHHHHH. NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

But, in true legal fashion, they like to interpret the rule with some degree of flexibility! Thank goodness, and I found out that they would give me until the end of the month to finish getting licensed (so it is a year to the month in which the results are published). Luckily, getting licensed was pretty simple and streamlined. I had to watch four hours of educational videos online, fill out some paperwork, pay some money, and then make an appointment with a judge to administer the Oath of Attorney to me. Yesterday I went to downtown seattle to the King County courthouse (12 floors and scores of judges) and recited the oath before the honorable Suzanne Barnett! It was pretty cool. It took awhile though, the Washington oath is the longest in the country, but it has sorts of good stuff in it, like being honest with clients, not billing too much, and my favorite, not turning away from the destitute clients and just causes of the world! I even teared up a little at the end.



I felt like a prom queen at the end. I started curtsy-ing to the audience as if I had won Miss Congeniality! and it felt good to do something legal for the first time in four months! I don't know when the next time is that I may re-enter a courtroom on a legal matter, but I am going to keep my suit out, just in case!

Goodwill Hunting

On the advice of a friend up here in Seattle, we visited the Goodwill to look for a costume for Anna. For around $9 total we found the following three options.

"Baby's First Halloween" still had the tags on it. She will wear this on Halloween regardless of what else we put her in.

I couldn't resist the fairy wings! She has some onesies with Butterflies on them and I think I will just tape these to her back. After Halloween I think I am going to display the wings on one of the walls in Anna's nurseryAnd of course, the obligatory pumpkin costume. This will keep her warm any time we are outside this saturday.

I am finding that I have no problem buying used items. All it takes is a quick run through the washer and dryer and as far as we are concerned they are as good as new (and sometimes are new!)

Expect some good pictures from Halloween coming up!

Updates on Anna

Here are some pictures...finally! The first one is evidence that patience and determination and time do work to help little babies learn how to sleep on their own. It is still a battle sometimes (I have found that church can be one of the most frustrating blocks of time for new mothers. I used to just go to church on sundays...Now, it interrupts nap time, eating time, play time, etc. Its a good thing I have such a strong testimony), but Anna is consistently getting naps every day, and when she does nap...she falls asleep on her own. Anna is thriving (despite Dr. Sears pronouncement that I was ruining Anna forever). She is growing so fast and learning so much. And when she is awake, she is happy and active!

Making Anna laugh is one of my personal missions in life now! I don't want her teeth to come in, both to protect myself from bites, but also because there is something so endearing about a toothless grin!

This picture below is Richard holding Anna. On the weekends, Richard takes the bulk of the childcare responsibilities! He misses Anna during the week and relishes the time he gets with her on the weekends. This last SAturday I gave Richard a brief tutorial on how and when to get Anna down for a nap and what her night time routine was going to be. As Richard was winding her down from a little playtime (I told him "as soon as you see the first yawn, that is when you need to move into action getting her ready for nap time"), I prayed in the next room that Richard would have a good experience and that Anna would go down easily. Richard put Anna in her crib, and she did not make a peep and went almost immediately to sleep! I just wanted Richard to have confidence that should he need to, that he could take care of her completely.

Aha!

After reading another friends blog entry about finding some lost movies by praying with her daughter first before looking for them, I decided to try the same approach with my missing camera.

Two days ago I prayed to be able to find my camera so that people would not have to be limited solely to my blog editorials but also be able to see pictures of Anna as well, and this morning as Richard was getting dressed and rooting around in his sock drawer (which is a fairly humorous process because due to a lack of light in our bedroom, when Richard looks for things he uses a maglite!), he found our camera.....in his sockdrawer....hmmmm. Don't ask me how it got there.

My next question to him was.....what is in your underwear drawer?

Why Big Decisions are never made in the middle of the night

Anna's middle name should have bee Houdini instead of Rachael (David Copperfield is just too long and not as appropriate). No matter how well I swaddle her, she just lunges out of those tucks and folds and her arm raises above the blanket, triumphant! She would rather swallow her whole fist (which may be seen as an equal show of mysticism and magic... and she is getting close) than be swaddled at times. If she decides she wants to be swaddled, she will, if she doesn't, there is no stopping her arms from popping out.

Regression....faltering confidence.....too many baby books either cheering me on or condemning my approach.

We took a step back yesterday. Only a couple of hour long naps and I rescued her a few times when the voice in my head (aka Dr. Sears from "the Baby Book") told me that I was desensitized to my daughters needs and that I was inhumane in my methods. Now, could I really be that desensitized when 95% of my thoughts throughout the day are centered on her welfare? When I pray night and day that she will be healthy and strong and know that her parents love her? When I read to her and hug her and sing to her and talk to her about our day and give her tummy time (well, from Anna's perspective, there is no love in Tummy time...but it is good for her, like eating her vegetables)?

Well, anyway...she has never had a problem going right back to sleep after her middle of the night feeding. I usually kiss her, roll her back up, and set her down and that is the last of it. Not so last night. In an unusual turn for both of us, I found myself laying in bed listening to her cry. Now here is where the irrationality set in. I found myself being bothered by Richard's breathing because it made it harder for me to hear Anna. Richard doesn't snore, but sometimes his breathing is a little loud (or at least it seemed like it last night). I thought of covering his mouth and nose for a little while (probably not good) or asking him not to breathe for a few seconds (also an unattractive option for him). So instead I just sat there. Its funny, I never felt resentful during labor and childbirth. I never accused him of being t he reason why I was in pain (sorry..."discomfort" for you hypnobirthers). But last night I looked over and I remember thinking "you did this to me....it is because of you that I am now in the position of listening to my daughter cry." One way I thought to get rid of my aggression was throwing my keyboard piano across the room in a somewhat "Hulk-like" gesture. Wouldn't that surprise the neighbors. But instead I just laid there and eventually she fell back asleep after about a half hour.

Today, we start again with greater resolution. And I hope for change and change for hope! My new tactic is to have her bedtime and waketime absolutely consistent everyday! We'll see how that goes.

By the way, one of the effects of moving, is that I don't know where our camera is....I apologize. I know it was me who moved it. It can't have gone far. Anna looks almost the same-- like a long beautiful noodle with dark hair!

Hallelujah!

Woohoo! It works, it really works

And I am sure she will regress, and I know there will be further battles with eliminating some night time feedings and I predict there will be days when I feel again as if I am a horrible mother...but for now, she is napping, and she fell asleep completely on her own after crying for only about 10 minutes!

Yesterday was a breakthrough day for me and the little missy. She kept falling asleep in her car seat as I tried to go to the library to rent "babywise" and "the baby whisperer." I went to the library in the morning after she had only been awake a little over an hour. I didn't even go into the library because she started fussing. I thought, "oh no...wait until I get home...we need to do the techniques...you need to fall asleep on your own!!" THe library was less than two miles away. But she fell asleep nonetheless and slept for two and a half hours! So I thought I would try again in the afternoon. This time we made it to the libary (only to find that there was an extensive waiting list for both books-- apparently there are other mothers like me that need a book to confirm that you are doing the right thing). but again, on the way home she started fussing and I thought "not again, not again..." I have a nephew that needs a car ride every time he takes a nap, and I didn't want her to form that habit.
Well, she fell asleep AGAIN in the car seat. Only this time, being the determined and rather obstinate and sometimes dimwitted person that I am...I woke her up when we got home so I could put her in the crib awake so she could learn to fall asleep on her own.

Well, you know exactly what happened. If there is any rule of thumb for a parent it is to let sleeping babies lie! she cried through her nap time until it was time to eat again. Well, at this point I spent the entire nursing time apologizing profusely to her for my stupidity. But after eating, I put her down in her crib where she proceeded to sleep for 3 1/2 hours!!! When she woke up at 8:45 pm, I fed her, sang to her, and then put her down for the night. She didn't even make a peep!

So there are still some battles. Sometimes her naps only last 45 mintues, but she is successfully learning to self soothe and fall asleep on her own.

We will tackle eliminating the night time feeding later. One mountain at a time (enter Hannah Montana music "the climb")

And So It Begins...

Okay, I know everyone will have an opinion on this, but today Anna and I start a new chapter of our lives entitled "Anna learns how to fall asleep on her own."

Until now, it has taken literally about a half hour to an hour to soothe her to sleep using rocking, cooing, shushing, singing, and a very subtle hand at transferring a sleeping baby to a crib.

Well, that only works part of the time. There are days when Anna doesn't take any naps at all during the day, which makes for an exhausted baby and an exhausted parent.

After consulting the books (which only confused me), praying, and talking to a trusted friend about taking the plunge into the world of self-soothing, I began today.

My friend Shauna was right. Hearing your baby cry makes you feel sick to your stomach. You think "she is going to hate me" or "she must feel so betrayed" or "I had better start saving now for therapy because someday she is going to go postal and go shoot a chicken out of all her repressed anger and distrust"

but I know she needs sleep, and I also know she has not yet developed the much needed habit of falling asleep unassisted-- something that as adults we take so much for granted. I mean, I don't ask Richard to rock me to sleep or give me a headrub before I can go to sleep....well, I do ask for headrub, but I have been able to sleep unassisted for quite some time now. And I guarantee you that with 5 older brothers and sisters, that my mom did not hold me for 45 mintues trying to get me to sleep each night or to take a nap.

So here I sit, listening for the crying. Session one never resulted in sleep. She cried solidly between feedings. But at least she cried in her crib (while I sat morosely in the living room choking down my lunch). Session two is now in full swing. She played by herslf quietly for awhile, but now I hear her stirring....

This sucks!

Tales from an uprooted mistress

I have realized some things lately. Being a stay at home mom is a lot of work. Babies are, if anything, inconsistent, and sometimes hard to read. It doesn't matter how well I communicate with her, it only matters (at least at this point) how well I understand her. I find myself consulting the book "What to expect the first year" as if it is a language translation guide and I am a wanderer in a foreign country. After all, the answer has to be found in a book--- isn't that what we are taught our whole lives? Don't know the answer-- just look it up.

Also, I am trying to do this whole coupon thing so that i too can come home with a whole shopping list i got for free. Only, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and i am realizing that couponing takes both skill and a lot of effort. There are even classes on couponing. So, do you fail the class if you don't save enough? Are there tests? All joking aside, I do want to learn how to be a better shopper, but I kind of feel like an old dog that doesn't want to learn any new tricks if they are too complicated.

I have been doing some serious craig listing of late. We found a crib, two dressers, and a dining table. I have been sending Richard all over to pick them up and cart them back so that we can have a home-- especially Anna who needs her space. It feels good to have an apartment of our own again. However, the trade off is that I am now away from all my support systems-- friends, family, and work. It is one thing to adjust to a new baby, it is entirely another thing to do it thousands of miles away from anything familiar. Thinking about this makes me very glad I decided to serve a mission. This is not the first time I have been forced outside of my comfort zone in this way. Its not so different really, when you think about it. I just have a different mission now-- oh, and I get to come home for the holidays, not just phone home!

My confidence in my cooking is weakened. I have been known in times past to improvise recipes when I have been lacking ingredients, much to my family's dismay. When I do improvise, the offerings are usually dismal. When I follow recipes, I get much better results. the trouble with starting off with nothing in your kitchen, is that you have to build up your store of supplies gradually, forcing you to get creative with your cooking in the beginning. I tried to make Richard burrito burgers after watching a Rachael Ray episode. I don't know what happened, but the burgers were falling apart, so I scrambled it all up and served it inside a tortilla. Luckily...mexican food is forgiving....all except for that enchilada sauce I tried to make....there was no love in that!

On the upside...I took muffins to my new upstairs neighbors who moved in the same time we did, and I found that the occupants include a new stay at home mom like myself, named Stephanie, with a 7 month old little boy. How long should I wait before I ask her to be my new best Seattle friend! Probably a few more weeks before I spring that on her. Also, I found a running trail today that is a loop around Lake Washington, so maybe my training days are not over!

Overall, I feel pretty good for being uprooted. I have a great husband, a daughter that I love and who makes me laugh, and I have the gospel! What more do I need, really?

Californianna II

This is the second session of California pictures. My sister in law Julia took these. One of the highlights of our trip was going to the Coronado del mar hotel. This was the hotel at which the movie "some like it hot" was filmed (although the movie is supposed to take place in Florida). So I practically met Marylin Monroe (or at least walked where she walked and played on the same beach that she did). That night after we got back, we watched the movie and basked in our new found fame!

We'll start out with some pictures of Anna laughing!



Then we'll add a picture that perfectly depicts the look she gives us 90% of the time. It is a look which says, "are you guys sure you know what you are doing?" to which I honestly respond, "I don't have a clue!"
Hotel Coronado del mar


This is my niece Natasha inspecting the interior of the hotel. We found out that the rooms overlooking the ocean cost $1000 a night. However, sleeping where Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon once strutted their stuff posing as female band players both trying to get a piece of Marilyn Monroe (who, by the way, wore some pretty risque gowns even by todays standards)....priceless
We played my favorite game "Times Up" every night while we were there.
My sister in law, Julia brought to her family both her Russian and her Jewish cultural heritage. We ahh helped welcome in Shabbat on Friday night with a prayer, some candles, and some excellent Challah bread
Again, her look of concern which seems to say "I didn't choose this, but I will go along with it." Face it kid, you are stuck with us the rest of your life!