6 Months.....

The last few months have gone by so quickly in some ways and in other ways it seems like the cold weather and winter has drug on for way to long. I realize days go by much faster now and at the end of the day I often find myself asking "what did I do today?" To which I know the answer....feed Norah, changed diapers, maybe some laundry, played, read stories, put Norah down for a nap....and then repeat it all again!! What on earth did I do with my spare time before having Norah???? I love it though! I love being able to be mostly home with our little girl. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I do value being able to work a little bit too though. It's nice to get out and have some adult interaction and get paid to do something I enjoy. Right now I'm keeping up with a handful of personal training clients and teaching usually about 3 yoga classes a week. It keeps me busy but it's not overwhelming....good balance.
Randy is keeping busy these days too. His work has gotten busy again and he's working long hours (which we are thankful for in this economy!) and is in school. So this keeps him busy and always ready for the weekends!
In Feb. I turned 31....so crazy...it looks weird to write that but really I didn't miss a beat. Age is about perspective. I feel young and healthy (or at least most days!) In March we celebrated our 4 year anniversary. Randy surprised me by taking the day off of work and had a whole day of things planned, including a babysitter that night so we could go to dinner and a play. It was a fabulous day and great to have a night out to ourselves. We are trying to be intentional about date nights but it just doesn't seem to happen as often as we'd like. We need to be better about lining up a sitter and just getting out. We've been slacking a little bit in this area the last couple months and it's something we really desire to be doing on a consistent basis. So if there are any open and willing babysitters out there..... :)

So what's happening with Norah you ask......( I mean really isn't this why most of you read the blog :) ) This weekend she will be 7 months!!!! I cannot believe it. Around the 6 month mark she began to change so much and so quickly. It seemed every week there were big new things happening. About a week and a half before her 6 month b-day she started sitting up by herself. Then she started to do this cute little wave. Then she quickly got 2 teeth. She was rolling from her back to her belly and then getting real mad because she realizes that she doesn't really like being on her belly so lucky for her she just rolls back the way she came! She laughs and laughs and sometimes at not much at all....these are some of the most precious moments! She loves peek-a-boo and will be entertained for a really long time with this game (note for any babysitters out there!) She has become quite a distracted nursing baby....any noise in the room and she needs to see what is happening....doesn't want to miss out on anything. She has also developed into a "clingy" phase. I think they refer to it as object permanence, which is not developed yet. Basically she loses it any time I leave the room or get out of her sight. I must admit this is exhausting at times. As soon as I get back into her visual range life is good and out come the smiles. Crazy! Oh and she absolutley loves her exersaucer. She goes crazy in this thing. I think she would love to be able to move around on her own but she gets fussy during tummy time so not sure if crawling will be in the near future or not.

Another new and fun thing is she started to eat solid foods about a week ago. This was funny. I've decided to make her baby foods. It will be much cheaper and so much healthier....I will know what is in her food and there won't be any "natural flavors" or preservatives...just au natural food! Norah's food and eating habits is something we've had lots of conversations about and are going to be very intentional about. We want to raise a very healthy little girl and feel so strongly about the foods she (and we) eat. So we started with a homemade rice cereal. Basically just grinding rice (which I already had) into a fine powder and then cooking it on the stove into a porridge like consistency and mixing with breast milk. And there is homemade rice cereal! Cheap, easy, and organic! All that said and she totally wasn't a fan. But we then moved on to avocado and sweet potato, both of which she loves! This week we'll probably venture onto a new fruit.

So after a very long blog posting that's the scoop with for now with the Byrnes. I always like to show pics so below are some pics from the last couple months.

These are some of the pictures our friend Jason took....he's such a gifted photographer!

Who would have thought eating sweet potatoes would be so funny?!?!

Just being simply adorable.

Trying out a swing for the first time. We took some time to play in the park.

At my brother's wedding......

Not a fan of the 'au natural' rice cereal.....she needed a drink from her sassy new sippy cup that she prefers to hold by herself.

Avocado and sweet potato were more messy and enjoyed more by the Norah Bear

best days of our lives......

This past weekend we were in Evansville Indiana for my lil' brother's wedding. Such a treat to get away for a few days from the daily things of home and the weather was beautiful.....70's and sunny....I got to bust out the flip-flops for 4 days straight.....I knew then that I was going to survive Michigan weather... I keep saying "spring is coming....spring is coming!"

While we were there we took several long walks and just enjoyed being outside and the fresh air. On Saturday we stopped to feed Norah and began talking to an elderly woman who was sitting alone just looking out over the river and seemed off in another time. She loved talking to Norah and waving at her and Norah was just all smiles and waves for her. It seemed like this made her day. She asked lots of questions about Norah and us and told us about her family and some her highs (new great grand-baby) and lows (sick friends and the death of her husband). She has experienced so much in her life, you could see it in her eyes. As we were leaving she gave us some of the most touching, simple, best advice. She wished us well and encouraged us to love and enjoy every moment of this part of our lives with our little girl and that we truly are living out the best days of our lives right now. All of this because as she reflects back those were the best days of her life.....young, married, close healthy friends, beginning a family, those exciting baby moments....these are the times she remembers and cherishes and looks back at so fondly now. This really touched both of our hearts as we had just heard a few small segments of her life.....some of the joy and some of the pain. And I realize how easy it is to get overwhelmed at times now with all of the little things and get so busy in the daily tasks of living and being parents but I want to really take time to step back and breathe and enjoy the moment and to breathe in the reality that these times will forever be engraved in our hearts and minds and that like she said are probably the best days of our lives! I want to embrace this now so I look back with so much joy and gratitude when I am her age.
What a short simple conversation but such profound wisdom from someone reflecting back on her own life and who we never even got her name!