Transition Season is Looming Near

Every year in the Navy we have Transition Season. It's part of the year when we promote new people to E7. It's a six week period of legalized hazing -OK, mentoring and extended training. Long story short, my work hours for the next six weeks are going to change from 7am-3pm over to 5:30-5:30. Nice. I am going to try to alter these as much as possible, but sure as shit, this is going to be a lot tougher as a single mom.
So, today I attempted to pre-stage as much as possible so everything can be streamlined into the most efficient operation possible. I may move her bedtime back to 8pm so I can actually spend an hour or two with her a day.

Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

She has a spoon and I have a spoon -and she still managed
 to wrestle away the bowl.

With such an extremely hectic week, I seriously spent most of the day just catching up on things that I was behind on. I was finally able to put things back to where they were before we left for Janyl's party.  We were also able to go participate in a car wash for work and still get to Mommy and Me class. However, with such a busy week, we did not get to Skype with anyone today. Tomorrow we will work it in. I have to get to base to buy some new uniforms. In the Navy, we switch colors twice a year -and as of about a year ago, we added on some new uniforms. A year ago, I was pregnant and bought (and wore) the maternity ones. Now, I am coming up on having to have the non maternity ones. Good thing this uniform only cost about $125 -plus $75 for the boots and another $150 for the foul weather gear.  I already have the boots and I am not buying the foul weather gear yet. But, I still need to be fitted and order all the cool little patches that have to go on them. So, tomorrow we will go get fitted and order everything -and then hop over to the commissary (on a payday weekend) to get groceries. I can't believe how she has been going through baby food. Most of it ends up either on her or up her nose. I have it divided up into three meals now. She gets fruit for breakfast, a protein for lunch and veggies with cereal for dinner.  And of course 4-6 bottles a day. One of the girls at Mommy and Me said she gives her baby breast milk in the morning and at night and then formula during the day. I have been adding an ounce of formula here and there to the breast milk as I need it to keep up. But, it seems to me this other way may be the way to go. I won't have to carry her milk with me everyday to the nanny. She already has formula over there for emergencies. I am thinking about just giving her half a dozen empty bottles and telling her to make her own. I will have to get her some Nursery Water, but even that's not as bad as carrying bottles every single day -and it saves me time by not having to mix everything all the time.

Anyway, today we worked on the word "no". She really has no concept of what the word means. I learned in class that most babies know what the word means and say it on a regular basis. While I don't necessarily want her to tell me "no", I do want her to listen when I say, "no". She kept grabbing at the little end table next to the couch. She really likes that she can pull and move it. So, she would grab at it and I would take her hand off of it and tell her "no". And she would grab again and I would do the same. She got really frustrated with me. She didn't know if I was playing or not. She was trying to smile and cry at the same time. I was really calm and level with her the entire time, but after about 25 times, I decided to move her away from it all together and give her something else to do. And then, as soon as she thought I wasn't looking, she tried it again. And, I calmly told her, "no" again. I am learning that she does not like to give in easily. I really hope I can aim her dedication and ambition in the right direction.

Seven Months Already

Man how time flies. I can't believe the girl is seven months old. This was an extremely busy week which ended with driving to the airport again tonight. I would not take back going, but adding an extra trip to the airport after working all day was tough on us. It kind of threw off nap schedule too. Lori is off to Florida again. It was almost bath time by the time we got home. Now, its sleep time. I am so exhausted. Tomorrow is Mommy n Me and hopefully we will be able to Skype with family. I am so glad the girl isn't allergic to cats. The really blurry picture above is her going after Diego. Diego, by the way, just got back from the vet and weighed in 2 pounds heavier than Annmarie.

Fast Like Lightning

Ummm...yep that's the cat's tail in her hand! And, yes, she was so fast she was blurry. The look of surprise on Lori's face was priceless. I can't believe it's only Wednesday. However, the girl will be 7 months old tomorrow...I think I may take her out to dinner. It depends on work. I haven't been able to catch my breath at work. Man, Outback sounds good. Hmm. Just realized her birthday isn't until Friday.  So much for Outback, but maybe I will bake something for her. I found so cool recipes that I sent to Aunt Marci. I may have to try one of them out.

Mommy's Back!

Annmarie did pretty well today. Lori says she lit Tara up when Lori dropped her off this morning. She may just be mad at Tara for not seeing her for two weeks. I say this only because she was mad at me when I came to pick her up. She got over it pretty quickly and then was content to curl up in my arms and hang out. I left work at lunch so I could pick her up and make it home without falling asleep driving. We got back and had a nice nap -together. I was so tired. The rest of the night was pretty well uneventful. We are still widening her pallet and steadily working with the sippy cup.

The girl's hair is still turning red-ish! ...and I really think her eyes are going to be gray.



First Day Back

Yesterday couldn't have been a better day. We laughed and played and shopped. All was well with the world. Bath went smooth. Baby amazed herself when she went from laying down to sitting up -"sit up" style. The fact that I was holding her feet down has nothing to do with her super human performance! The look of amazement was priceless. Everything was perfect, up until I was dressing her after her bath and jerked a blanket up that had a flashlight on it. I keep a flashlight near so I don't have to turn on the lights in the middle of the night. The flashlight flew through the air in slow motion, flipping smoothly
with the grace of an Olympic gymnast. Mommy feverishly dove for it...with no success -as it bee-lined for baby girls face.
With no success. Yes, it smacked her right in the head above her right eye. Man, did she cry. Man, did I suck. I was afraid to look at it. I thought for sure I gave her a black eye.
Thankfully, she was OK. Black eye adverted.
Today was my first day back at work...and Annmarie's first day back to Tara's. Tara bought a new house. So, we had to take her to the new place. Baby girl did not handle it well. She didn't remember Tara and didn't care for the strange house.  And to top it off, I have another 24 hour shift (today). This duty day, Lori picked up Annmarie after work and took her back home. So far, she is doing well. I still miss her alot. (Alot alot.)

Ouuuuu....Time to Baby Proof!

We are soooo in trouble. All these are from under a one hour timeframe.  Soo quick.