Pictures from the last week

Typical meal time. I feed Braydon and Braydon feeds Molly. It is a very efficient system :)

Braydon and I have been doing discovery time in the afternoon where we go over colors, numbers, shapes, letters and a basic skill. Currently we are working on stacking and knocking over. He has mastered the knocking over part but the stacking still needs some work.

Teaching Braydon how to stack the blocks. I built this tower.

Braydon knocking over the block tower. He is better at knocking the tower over than building them up.

Braydon at the Nevada City Library after singing/story time last Tuesday. He will be going with his friend from church, Oliver, this week.

So a week has gone by....

Yesterday we started a music/story time for 0-3 at the Nevada City library. It was great! Braydon loved the ryhmes and of course the other kids. I found a great new story called Wild Thing that I think I will be doing some shopping at. 

Today I decided to stay home and try and get into a routine. No luck. Braydon is refusing to take naps and a very tired mommy is very fed up! Also he has stopped eating at meals. He just eats a few bites and does is "all done" sign. I'm hoping this is all part of the transition. We will try again tomorrow. The evening ended with a bang, literally. Braydon tried to stand up in the bath tub and bumped his head. He will have a goose egg and bit of a bruise tomorrow. After a brief struggle with a wet naked baby and an ice pack I decided a little bruise will make him look more manly- well not really- I realized I wasn't getting any where, he obviously showed signs of being OK and I was scared the little rascal would pee on me since he was only in a towel.

He is now sound asleep in bed, lets hope he sleeps through the night and the bump is not that bad. Going to check on him a couple more times before I turn in early. Tomorrow, God willing, my mom, Braydon and I will go see Eat Pray Love. I can't wait for a little help and chick flick, what could be better.

Day 5 and 6

I have been exploring Nevada City the last couple of days.  Yesterday my good friends Sarah and her boyfriend Dan came visit. We explored some great shops and I began to get acquainted with the the little town. We also had some amazing Thai food in Nevada City. It was fun to see a familiar face.

Aunt Sarah, Braydon and Dan exploring Nevada City.

Yesterday I also tried pudding painting with Braydon. He really liked it especially when he found out the paint was edible! It was a bit messy but so much fun!

Testing out the pudding paint (just sugar free jello pudding)

OH I can eat this. (This kid lives on organic fruits, veggies and meats, so this was a real treat)

Today Braydon and I explored the Farmers Market at my Mom's church. We bought plums, peaches, garlic, egg plant, tomatoes and clover honey. I sauteed the garlic, tomatoes, and eggplant and mixed it with olive oil and pasta, it was amazing. Braydon loved the eggplant- sound of angels- this is the first vegetable he has really liked since we started doing finger foods. He eat everything in puree but he is a picky texture eater. I am stocking up on eggplant from now one.

Some of our recent successes; Braydon has been taking a bath in the regular bath tub and only drinking from a sippy cup for over a week now. I'm so excited, my little boy is turning into a toddler.

Tomorrow we are checking out the reading time at the library. I can't wait!

Day 4

This was our first morning at my Mom's church, she is the pastor at Sierra Presbyterian. It is always difficult to coordinate Braydon's nap and lunch time around a a 10:30am service but we managed to do it today. The nursery was full of kids, mostly boys. I think Braydon is really gone to like it. I also met a mom of a boy Braydon's age at my baby shower up here. She seems really nice, I can't wait to set up a play date with her.

 After church we went to lunch at one of my favorite places up here. We got to lunch late and Braydon was almost falling asleep in his food. I made a note to try and feed him earlier. He went down for his afternoon nap and woke up after only an hour. The poor little guy was still so tired so I cuddled with him on my bed we napped for another hour and half. I am not really a fan of him sleeping in our bed but on occasion I just can't help myself. He was so cute cuddled up next to me until some dream startled him and he slapped my in the face with his. That snapped me back into reality.

After our nap we went exploring and went on our first grocery shopping trip up here, just the two of us. It was nice to have some time just with him. I need to get use to the supermarket up here but I'm sure I will get the hang of it soon enough. It is funny how you memorize the stores you go into regularly so when you switch you feel like you are learning to shop all over again. If you had placed me in the Target or Trader Joe's in Orange I could basically tell you where each item was from memory. Today I roamed up and down aisles 2 or 3 times before I found what I needed. I bought some pudding and paper to do pudding paintings this week. I hope Braydon enjoys it. If not, I have some chocolate pudding calling my name.

Christian is still at work and has a day of overtime tomorrow. The heat is picking up so maybe he will get even more overtime. Each day puts us that much closer to our goal of buying a house. Continuing to sit in faith.

Still feeling like a fish out of water but trying to enjoy every moment and keeping my self open to lessons to be learned.  Continuing to explore this place and myself.

Day 3

Today was a basic day. Braydon was not at all interested in his morning nap. I tried putting him down for an hour with no success.  This threw the rest of our schedule off for the day.  At lunch he started using his "all done" sign. Or at least his version of it.  I prefer this new discover over his previous way of letting me know he was finished, which was throwing his food on the ground.  He has also started waving to people, which looks suspiciously like his "all done" sign. We will see what this new movement actually means as the days go on.

My sister Ellie came for a visit. She will be staying until Tuesday. I always appreciate extra hands for holding and playing and Braydon loves his aunt. His little faced lit up when he saw her.

Braydon and Aunt Ellie

Really? Kisses again.

I am still trying to figure to figure out ways to fill the time between his afternoon nap and dinner time. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to leave a comment.  Today we practiced taking his shape toys out of one container and putting them in another. He thinks it is funny to shove the toys in my mouth and then he mimics putting them in his own mouth. Kind of gross but kind of funny.

Dinner time was an event tonight. Braydon realized he had an audience and he definitely played to it. He was chattering not stop and demonstrated his "all done wave" over and over. He had the whole table giggling, until he started throwing his food. I then had to remind my family that encouraging bad behavior is only hard on me. My mom and sister got the hint but my dad couldn't stop laughing. I can't really blame him, Braydon is adorable and quite funny and he comes from a family of wanna be comedians so he comes by his antics honestly. 

Crossing my fingers for another night of sleep.Until tomorrow.

Day 2

Positives: We went to the Nevada County Fair with my mom and Grandma, he enjoyed is new toy work bench, he said and signed all done after finishing dinner (well what sounded like all done) and gave out multiple kisses and high fives.

Braydon and Mommy Marie checking out the sheep and visa versa

Braydon with Grandma and Great Grandma at the sheep barn. My mom's church sponsored the sheep barn this year.

Braydon checking out the pigs

Posing in front of a Fire Truck. Christian use to be in the US Forest Service before he started with CAL Fire.

Negatives: He didn't take his afternoon nap, he pooped in the bath tub while taking a bath and then preceded to try and play in his poop when I was cleaning it up. He had his first time out today and mommy needed a time out. We both kissed and made up before he went to bed.

I will never underestimate the power of a schedule or nap! We had a great time checking out the animals at the Nevada County Fair but he was so over stimulated and tired he refused to nap. It was a battle of the wills for an hour and I finally gave up.

On a side note I have the time now to fully examining my post baby body and I am NOT happy with what I see. Braydon did some real damage while he was in there. My stomach is totally flabby and stretched out accompanied by stretch marks. I'm not a girl who needs a perfect body. To be honest, it is a real effort to even do my hair in the morning but my worn out mommy bod needs some TLC. This is being added to my to do list. I am trying to walk 5x a week and I will try my best to add in some sit ups as well. So far I have painted my toe nail a very pretty hot pink which lifted my spirits another day.

My husband is officially and work and at the station with no cell phone reception. This of course is challenging. We tried to Skype but his signal for that isn't really that great and once Christian disappeared from the screen and Braydon freaked out thinking the computer ate his dad. Hopefully this seasonal work is truly just for a season and he will find full time work soon.

Well, I'm off to watch a movie and attempt sit ups. Until tomorrow :)

Day 1

Today was the first day I was on my own. Overall it went really well. Braydon slept through the night, which only happens when he chooses to do it, which is not often.  We had breakfast, played a little with his toys and he went down for his first nap and I went down for a nap as well. (You can't do that as a Working Mom!) We both were woken up by a dog fight right outside our window. Please dog owners, when you walk your dog and you see another dog being walked in your direction just step aside. Those of us trying to take a nap do not appreciate being woken up by you screaming "get your dog off my dog"! Just a thought.

After the morning nap I fixed us both some lunch, leftovers from dinner the night before and Braydon went down for his afternoon nap. (This is the life) While he was sleeping I read a book, called my husband, watched some T.V. and relaxed. After his afternoon nap he turned into a grouch!

Braydon does not get the concept of the playdough

 I tried playng with him- he was not amused. I made play dough, he ate it and looked at my pissed like I had just feed him poison. I tried to tell him it was to play with but apparently a 1 year old doesn't understand the concept of play dough. I took him for a walk not realizing it was 85 degrees outside and the neighborhood we live in is full of hills. It was a short walk.

Grandma and Braydon picking out flowers

Mommy Marie and Braydon at the Farmer's Market

We had a snack of fishy crackers and milk and got ready to go to the Farmer's Market. This was great! We picked up yummy blackberries for Braydon and got to spend time with Grandma, who of course bought him cute new shoes and new PJ's. Thanks Grandma! We finished up the day with lasagna and peaches for dinner, a bath and Braydon went right to sleep. Crossing my fingers that he sleeps through the night again.

The Adventure begins

My husband and I have recently decided to move from Orange County to Northern CA. I will be staying with my parents for a few months to save money while my Firefighter husband works during Fire Season. I spent the first year of my son's life as a working mom. I tried desperately to balance being a good employee, a good mom and a good wife. I found myself disappointed and frustrated.
Some women are amazing at this balance, I however was not one of them. So my husband and I decided to step out in faith. I quit my job and we decided to move in with my parents until my husband finds a full time job as a Firefighter. Currently he is a Seasonal Firefigthter and works 6-9 months out of the year.
These are my adventures of being a new Stay at Home Mom.