Thnings are moving along at a steady clip as they tend to do in life.  So I'm not even going to try to catch you up on all the changes since my 6-7 month Xanga hiatus started up.  I'll just start with this week.  On the work front, I'm finishing up another month working for www.workitmom.com.  I love my job there, and am finding new and fun ways to interact with the community.  If you go there to find me, don't search for my name though...I use an alias.

In other work news, I'm still trying to catch a break at guru.com.  I'm looking for translation/editing projects that I'll be able to complete at home.  There are tons of jobs posted on the site, but the trick is finding one that pays enough to be worth it, and isn't so large that I would have to commit to not sleeping for a week or hire a nanny. I've applied for a few that meet my criteria, but haven't gotten any of the jobs yet.  So if you know of anyone looking for a Spanish/English translator or an inexperienced fresh editor, let me know :).

Gracie is really getting around these days.  On Monday, I was finishing a project in the bedroom, and she was playing on the floor.  I looked down at what I was doing, and then back up.  My baby had left the room.  It was a strange moment.  Today we were supposed to go to a playgroup at the library, but it seems that it has been cancelled.  I'm thinking of just going anyway to get out of the house...but I can think of a few other errands that I need to run before going to the library.  We'll see.

Tommy only had to work two days last week because of President's day on Mon. and two snow days at the end of the week.  That was especially nice because I got to have him home for my b-day.  According to a recent post that I read, this birthday makes me not a "young mom" anymore...hahahahaha. 
Anyway, here are our most recent pictures of Gracie.  They were taken three weeks ago when her Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gary came to visit.

So this post is LOOOOONG overdue!

1.5 months



Family vacation (almost 2 months old)
(these four really crack me up)



There are more to come, but I wanted to get these up while I had the chance.

When I was still pregnant, my prenatal yoga instructor, Shana, told me that when you become a Mom there will be a time that some other woman will help you in some way and she will probably never know that she pretty much saved your sanity.  The night that we brought Grace home from the hospital was probably one of the scariest that I've ever had in my life.  After three days in the NICU for low blood sugars, and supplementing with formula, I was terrified.  I was scared that if I continued supplementing with formula that Grace would become nipple confused, or that I would lose the tiny bit of energy that I had left and give up on pumping...and eventually give up on the idea of breastfeeding (which I had been looking forward to my whole life).  Or the other option was to discontinue formula use and try to exclusively breastfeed...the only problem was that Grace was so drowsy all the time that I couldn't get her to wake up long enough to latch on and really eat. 

I felt like I was completely stuck between crushing disappointment and mortal danger for my child.

My  mother got me in touch with a la leche league leader and somehow this woman was able to calm my fears in about half an hour.  She also have me great advice, and by the end of the phone call I had somehow been completely rejuvinated.  My confidence was back, and I was able to wake Grace up and feed her from my breast.  I never had to give Grace any more formula, and after a few days I didn't have to pump after each feeding.  I know that without that stranger's help I wouldn't have been able to fulfill my dream of breastfeeding my daughter.

Last night, I met the woman who helped me.  Tommy and I went to a La Leche League (LLL) meeting and she was there.  It was obvious to me that she had no idea the impact that she had had for me (even though I sent her an e-mail profusely thanking her and almost singing her praises).  I wanted to hug her and become fast friends, but things don't really happen that way.  We chatted and were friendly, but I guess all I can really hope for is to be able to help someone else that way at some point.

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On the Gracie front, she is getting much better at holding up her head.  It's so cute to see her huge globe of a head up on her little tiny neck.  Her eyes wide, and her mouth in that little O shape.  I wish I could get a picture of it, but I doubt I'd be able to do it justice.