Best Purchase of the Year

I've been waiting almost 4 years: I finally got a bike! It's blue, and it has pedals and gears. That's about all I know about it. But I love it! I had purchased a bike trailer for Macy at the consignment sale so I figured I needed a bike to pull her. We already went on a ride this afternoon and Macy liked it until the end when she was getting cold. I'm so excited we can become a biking family now!

Best Kept Secret in D.C.

Kenwood Neighborhood in Bethesda. The whole neighborhood is lined with pink cherry blossom trees. It's amazing and beautiful. It looked like it was snowing pink. The trees cover the streets and provide a pretty pink canopy. Now these pictures are terrible because I didn't get out of the car but I think it gives a good idea. Thanks Janae for sharing!

Macy's March

I realized I wasn't very good about posting anything during the month of March. Here are some photo updates for those people who want to read a post full my crazy little bundle of joy. 

Jonathan received a "music" card for his birthday. Macy enjoyed it so much we listened to it non-stop the next day.

Macy loves to accessorize. She picked these out herself if you can't tell. Its her one pink glove (we lost the other) and a belt from one of my jackets. She had it on like a scarf.

Apparently it was "Don't Brush Your Hair Day."

Lily came over and Macy insisted that she sit on Lily's lap.

Then Macy wanted Lily to sit on her lap. It looks like Lily didn't mind the attention. Aren't they cute?

Macy also loves bags and carrying things. Here she can do both and she's in heaven.

More accessorizing. She loves scarves.

Beets, Beets, Beets

I made beets for the first time and I really like them now. I'm not sure if I like all beets, but I like these that I made. Not only do they taste good but they have a beautiful color and they make everything turn that color. I visited a new market (GW Market for you locals) and their produce prices were so cheap I thought I'd try making something new and if I didn't like it oh well.

I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com. It's called Grandma's Harvard Beets. I liked them the night I made them but I think I like them even more the next day when they have chilled in the fridge.

The recipe says to use canned beets but I had fresh I had to roast them first. I removed the greens and wrapped each beet in foil. I then roasted them at 375 for 45 mins.

Mommy and Me trip to California

My dad had surgery on his shoulder so he is at home recuperating. My parents hadn't seen Macy in a few months so I thought it would be perfect timing so visit while my dad needed company. Jonathan stayed home because, well, someone has to make the money. Macy and I had a fun Mom and daughter trip.

My flight to California was delayed for an hour. Macy had no clue anything was wrong. She had fun climbing on the airport seats, playing hide and go seek with someone, and getting her dirty little fingerprints all over the large windows.

Once we boarded I was pleasantly surprised that no one else was sitting in our row. Having three seats to play on would seem like enough, but it's not for Macy. She is only happy when walking up and down the aisles and in the back with the flight attendants. Thank goodness I had the nicest flight attendant ever in the back with us. She became such good pals with Macy; at one point Macy wanted the lady to hold her bag of food. Then Macy wanted her to take the food out of the bag and put it into Macy's mouth. She was so nice and let us play in the back of the plane with her. This made the whole flight so much easier. Macy only cried while the "fasten your safety belt" sign was on.

(On a funny side note, here is a picture of my stroller tag. I even spelled out my last name for her.)

We were very tired once we landed since it was 12:30 a.m. for us. Of course, Macy did not sleep a wink on the plane. We went right to sleep (Macy was asleep within 3 seconds of being in the car).

We had a great time at my parents. I learned: 

Macy asleep after a walk. The street sweeper drove by and she didn't budge!

• Macy takes a little while to warm up to new people that come into my parents house. Especially men with beards. My Uncle Mike just looked at her and she cried. Uncle Mike wasn't too offended- he said I did the same thing when I was a baby. If we were at someone else's house she was totally fine with new people.  
• Macy loves playing with doggie water dishes and doesn't hesitate to lick her fingers after they've been in in the bowl. 
• Macy is still afraid of my parents super old dog Pepper. It took Macy almost a week to get enough courage to touch the dog who hardly even moves. It was so funny to watch Macy try to slowly side step to a toy that was by Pepper.



Macy playing with wood chips and flowers with Grandpa. Yes she's in pajamas, it was bedtime but I let her have one more play outside. 

• Macy LOVES to be outside. I sort of knew this before, but we were able to be outside everyday whereas in Virginia we can't because it's still a little cold. Now I'm glad we don't have direct access to outside. Macy was always begging to go outside by scratching the front door because she knew in just one step she could be playing with wood chips and tearing apart my moms flowers. 

  

  At Yorba Regional Park. Just after this picture she tired to walk with the ducks into the water.
  

• Macy loves to put little rocks into a bucket. My dad came up with this game while he was playing outside with Macy. She would grab rocks put a few in a bucket, take them out, put them back in again. 
• Macy loves to wear things around her neck. She found this red ribbon and loved to wear it like a scarf. She also liked to put it on other's heads and necks. She found a keychain lanyard she liked to wear around too. 

  

  Macy and her red ribbon. See how happy she is?
  

• Macy loves to take records out of the cases and step on them. 

  

  Grandpa is nice enough to let her play with the records.
  

• My parents neighbor has an enormous dog that Macy could easily ride. Call it werid, but I had to take a picture of the thing. 

  

  The guy is tall and the dog's head is at his waist.
  

• Macy likes being a spectator at Jill's soccer game but she loved being a concession worker even more. 



She's not the type to sit around and do nothing.



She was selling water to the fans.

• Macy now likes to hold your finger when you walk with her. It's so sweet.



Macy and Aunt Jill out shopping

• She can sit still and smile for a picture.



Macy with Papa

• Macy loves to take food cans out of Granny Dot's pantry and would do it all night if you let her.



Unfortunately she discovered this as we were trying to leave.

• Macy likes to put the doll's binkie in its mouth.






• Jill has a great friend (Will) who dressed up as Mario for a school dance. He doesn't even go to Jill's school. They were Mario and Princess Peach. 






• Macy loves waterfalls and fountains and will try her hardest to climb into them. We went to Irvine Regional Park and inside there is a little zoo. The waterfall was the first thing you saw and we almost didn't get past it because Macy loved it so much. 
•  
• Macy loves feeding the goats. Well, she likes watching me feed the goats. I put my quarter into the machine, got the food, fed the goats. Macy runs over to the food machine and points to it with her little grunts. I did it one more time then luckily something else distracted her.



This goat was really hungry.

• Macy is afraid of Pepper, but she's not afraid of goats. We went inside the goat pen to pet them and she walked in like there weren't 20 goats roaming around her. I think she liked the fact there were little brushes for her to brush the goats. She knows everyone has to look their best. 
• Macy likes to dance in circles now. Every time she heard music she would spin once or twice then smile and clap for herself. I could watch it all day long. 
• Macy has a lot of family members who love her so much.



Tickle fight with Great-Grandpa Seymour

• She still likes Great-Grandpa Seymour's wooden blocks and now loves to sit in the block wagon while eating the blocks.



Wood must taste good.

• Macy now has her first molar! That took a while and lots of tylenol. 
• Jill gets squimish when she sees my dad's shoulder.



Rotator cuff surgery

• Macy does not like flights were we have to get up at 5:30 a.m. and have to sit in a middle seat. (More on this story in the next post)



Picture taken while on the longest airplane ride ever!

Eating lunch. She gets thirsty.

Eating at the park

Eating frozen yogurt with Aunt Jill. Notice a pattern?

Our Worst Flight Yet- Crying, Crying, and more Crying

And Macy wasn't the only one who cried.

Our day started off at 5:30 a.m., and a tired baby doesn't help any situation. We were on United which had little planes with very little leg room and very little aisle space. We also had a layover in San Francisco. Strike Three.

A few minutes before we were supposed to board an announcement comes on saying the pilots were on their way. They weren't even at the airport yet! Somehow we still took off on time, but still. There was turbulence soon after take-off in Orange County so Macy had to sit in her seat for longer than normal. She was not happy at all and screamed on the top of her lungs. Both her and I were excited when the seat belt light got turned off so I set her down in the aisle so she could walk around. She has does this on every flight since she could stand. I never let her wander too far without me close. Now I've never had this happen before:

The flight attendant came up to me and said, "She cannot walk around, she has to sit on a seat."

I then said, "But she'll scream the whole time."

"I don't care, she has to sit down."

After this little conversation I went to the bathroom and cried and it wasn't the only time I cried that day.

Luckily we made it to San Francisco and we made our connecting flight. When I originally booked this flight I didn't have to change planes. That was the reason I chose this flight over others. I was pretty upset when I had to change planes. So, Macy and I get onto another United plane with tiny seats and very little legroom only to find I have a window seat! I NEVER would have signed up for a window seat!

I asked the lady who was in the aisle seat if I could change seats with her. I was so happy when she obliged. It turns out she then changed seats with another man in another row so she could sit with her boyfriend. So far it's a man in the window seat and me in the aisle. Well, it turns out she didn't really speak English and she didn't have the aisle seat, she had the middle seat. So when the man comes who has the aisle seat I'm made to sit in the middle. It's a man, me, and another man. Great, this is going to be long flight.

I'll make the rest short. Macy screamed and wiggled and threw things and screamed pretty much the whole flight. I honestly didn't think I would ever make it home. I cried some more and prayed and prayed that Macy would sleep. I knew this was highly unlikely as she hasn't slept on a plane since she was 3 months old. Just as I was praying one final time I looked down at Macy and her eyes were closing. I was so excited! I gave a prayer of thanks. We only had an hour until we landed and I was hoping she would sleep the remainder of the time. However, it wasn't all sweet. I was sitting in an uncomfortable position and my back was really hurting while I was holding sleeping Macy. I was too afraid to move because I didn't want to wake Macy.

She was so tired! I tried to entertain her my taking pictures.

My happiness was short lived because she only slept for 30 minutes. She screamed and wiggled the rest of the flight.

The only funny part of this whole day was when I let Macy play with the diaper wipes. I had gone through all the food and toys I had and she wanted nothing to do with them. She likes taking wipes out of the container so I let her. All, 90 of them. The people siting across the aisle from us thought it was pretty funny to watch and I did too. I may have even laughed. This happiness was also short lived because then she screamed again when they were all out.

We finally landed then had to taxi for a few minutes because another plane was at our gate. Come on! I just wanted out of this terrible plane! It felt like I was in that plane for 3 days.

As we were getting off the plane people were telling me that Macy was a good baby. The man sitting next to me said he had twin boys and after one flight with them as babies people gave him and his wife a standing ovation when they left the plane. He said Macy wasn't that bad. Where were all the encouraging words during the longest flight of my life?!

I was able to capture her one happy moment.

Then (no, the story isn't over yet), I get on the wrong train at the airport so I have to turn around and get back on to go towards baggage claim. I finally make it there and wait for my suitcase. And wait, and wait. It doesn't come. I couldn't believe it! I just had the worst flight and now my suitcase, and more importantly, Macy's carseat, wasn't there! I was moving from frustrated to angry!

Turns out carseats come out at a special place so that was at the airport. Hallelujah! I was worried that Jonathan would have to turn back around and to borrow someone's carseat while Macy and I waited yet again for another hour.

I talked to the baggage lady and my suitcase was put on a different flight. Fortunately that flight was also going to Dulles. United would deliver my suitcase to me the next morning. The didn't offer to compensate or do anything for me. They are the ones who put my bag on the wrong plane! Can you believe these people?!

I totally broke down and cried as I was retelling the story for Jonathan. I don't think I had ever been happier to see him.

We finally made it home and slept very well that night. Before I went to bed I vowed I would NEVER fly United again. There were tiny planes, no leg room, incredibly rude flight attendants, no free food on a 5 hour flight, and losing my suitcase. Needless to say, I hate United.

Our Sweet Teeth

I have had a real sweet tooth lately. After every meal I eat I want something sweet. Luckily chewing gum sort of fills my craving. I was very excited tonight when Jonathan said, "I've had a sweet tooth lately. I want something sweet." I knew just the thing to make that always satisfies my sweet tooth. Or satisfies anything really. If you make these you should eat some of the dough. I won't be surprised if it never turns into cookies. The only bad thing about these cookies is they never last long enough.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (from the Food Nanny)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat until light and fluffy:

1 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Add and beat for about 1 minute:

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Slowly add to the butter mixture:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Stir in:

1 cup chocolate chips

Drop tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack. Makes 5 dozen.

Another Breakfast Option

We love english muffins for breakfast but I hate buying them because they are expensive and they don't have coupons. So I usually don't buy them because they aren't a necessity like milk. Luckily for us, and you, there is a great recipe to make your own english muffins. They are so good! I could eat the whole batch in one day. Try them!

1 3/4 cups milk, warm
2 TBS sugar
2 tsp instant yeast
3 TBS butter, softened
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 to 4 1/4 cup flour, all-purpose or whole wheat
1 tsp baking powder

Combine the warm milk, sugar, and yeast. Cover with a towel and let proof for 5 minutes. In a electric mixer with the dough attachment add remaining ingredients and mix throughly for about 5 minutes. Do not add more flour, the dough will be sticky. When mixed scrape dough from the bowl one a lightly floured counter top. Fold dough over a few times until it forms a smooth ball. Place in a greased bowl and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.

Punch down dough and lay out on a surface sprinkled with corn meal. Roll out to desired thickness. (The muffins rise a little so roll them about 1/4" thinner than what you would like the finished product to be.) Cut out circles with a 3" cutter. Re-roll and cut out the leftover dough. Cover the muffins with a damp cloth and let rest for 20 minutes.

Heat frying pan to low-med heat. Sprinkle pan with cornmeal. Cover pan and cook muffins for 6-7 minutes on each side.

Cool on a cooling rack. Store muffins in fridge or freezer.

My New Lifestyle

Wake up earlier?! What?! Now way!

For the first year of Macy's life I did not get up for the day before 8 a.m. Call me lazy, but why would I? My baby was asleep so I took advantage and slept too. I don't even mind revealing that sometimes I wouldn't get up until 9, 10, 10:30. All you moms know that getting up with your baby a few times a night is exhausting so I took advantage of my sleeping baby and slept as long as I wanted. It's not like I couldn't wake up earlier. I've done it plenty of times during high school (I never missed a day of seminary, yes all four years), college (this was much harder but I mostly woke up on time :)), and work. Things are so much harder when they aren't a necessity.

When Macy was about five months old I started working from home. I worked 2, 3 or sometimes 4 hours a day. It was great because I worked while Macy took her naps which at that point she was taking two 2-hour naps a day. This let me live my lifestyle of waking up when Macy woke up in the morning. We would hang out at home then a couple hours later she was down for a nap. That is when I would shower and then I would start working. It was great- I was able to get a lot of work done without getting up early. A win, win if you ask me.

However, once Macy hit one year I was starting to feel a little burned out. Luckily in my favor work was slowing down so I didn't have to rush in the shower and immediately start working. I finally started exercising regularly during Macy's first nap, then showered, and she even let me get a little work in before waking up. The days I didn't exercise I allowed myself to do things I wanted to do like, blog, crafts, and watch TV (gasp!). This allowed me to still get my two hours of work in during her afternoon nap. Like all my exercise attempts this one lasted for about two weeks. Except this time it wasn't my fault- Macy decided she only wanted one nap. This meant I had to change my lifestyle. If I wanted to get out of the house before 3 p.m. things were going to have to change.

I knew the solution was getting up before Macy in the morning. But this meant I had to wake up with an alarm- something I hadn't done on a regular basis for over a year. I really don't like alarms. I feel so much better when I can naturally wake up when I'm ready. However, I knew things really needed to change. As fate would have it one article on a blog I subscribe to was about having an organized home. The number one thing the author said has helped her have an organized home is to wake up before her kids. I already knew this is what I needed but it was helpful to have someone else say the same thing and that it's helped her immensely.

I would like to say the very next day I woke up with an alarm at 8 a.m. (Macy was sleeping in until 8:30 so I figured it would allow me to at least get in the shower.) Unfortunately it took me a few days to consistently get up early. Now I've been doing it for a few weeks and I don't need an alarm anymore. I can wake up on my own (or I don't go back to sleep when Jonathan wakes me up in the morning) and get up and get things accomplished. Because Macy is the best baby ever she has been waking up around 9 or 9:30 lately. This means I can slowly get up at 8, check emails, or watch a little of the Today Show before taking a shower. Today I was able to shower, take my time getting ready, watch the Today Show and write this whole post. It's now 9:33 and Macy is happily talking to herself in her crib. I have the cutest baby in the whole world. She knows it was hard for me to wake up early so she decided to sleep in a little for me to I can gradually get accustomed to waking up early and getting things done before 10 a.m.

Even though it was hard, I'm really glad I started waking up before Macy. It has allowed me to get things done in the morning without little hands grabbing at my legs. It also means that we can do things in the morning because I have already showered. Macy is only down for one nap but I feel I get more accomplished during the day and I feel happier too. I'm not burned out from work anymore because I can work during her nap then have time to do something for me. (More proof Macy is the best baby: her naps have been going on 2 1/2- 3 hours lately, knock on wood.) So, if anyone is still reading this (it's long I know) I want you to know that waking up before your kids is a great way to feel more organized and put together during the day. It's been a wonderful thing for me and I'm so glad I've been doing it.

New Macy Movie!

I made two new movies:

1. Macy in the Fast Lane

2. Macy's 1st Birthday

Check them out!

Quick Update

Macy loves to go to the Tyson's Galleria Mall (the nice one with Neiman Marcus, Saks, JCrew, etc. She has expensive taste). She loves to walk around, which I let her do because it's so empty. I've learned to only let her walk on the first floor because she goes straight to the railing that she could fall through.

She's learned to unroll the toilet paper. I made it go "under" and it tricked her for a minute. She batted at it and made it roll and roll. When no paper came out she grabbed the end and walked away with it (which made for an even bigger mess). Now we have to remove the roll when she's in the bathroom.

Jonathan's mom came into town for a few days so we had family dinners. Here is Macy with her cousin.

On Valentine's day Jonathan woke up early and decorated the house. He even went to the store to pick up balloons. I didn't hear him get up or decorate so I was greatly surprised. Isn't it sweet? That night he also made me a wonderful dinner. Macy loved the balloons.

Granny Dot took us to Gymboree. Macy made some friends there watching cartoons. She also loved these sunglasses. She also almost ran away. She was sitting so well watching the TV I started looking around at clothes. I go back to check on her and don't see her. A store employee yells out, "There is a toddler leaving the store!" Macy was just outside of the doors looking to her left and right as if she was deciding which way to go.

That same day we went to lunch and while I was putting the stroller away I turn around and Macy was gone. She had walked out of the restaurant because the door was left open. I look around and see my brother-in-law picking up Macy. She is a wanderer.

Sorry no pictures of Jonathan and I. You'll just have to picture our beautiful faces in you minds.