the many faces of mae

the other day, i was trying to take some pics of girlfriend's sweet hair do.  in the span of a minute (yes, i looked at the time on each of these pictures), this is what i was privileged to witness...

take 1

take 2

take 3

and take 4

 i am so glad i could capture these. i'm pretty sure the last one is my favorite, it cracks me up every single time

whip it

check out my new whip....

we finally got a car!  it's a Honda CRV, and i absolutely love it!  and more importantly, i look good in it.  and so does homegirl. 

in other news, little lady is finally sitting up on her own.  and it's like she's a whole new person.  she will actually sit and play by herself (well, not for very long, but hey i'll take it!)

i really do have other p.j.'s for her, she just always seems to be wearing these

 

 

if you can't tell from the pictures, this girl hams it up big time.

mama and i went to a huge consignment sale last week, and it was amazing.  i got so much great stuff, some of it had never been used.  and the best part was it was dirt cheap!  baby shaq is going to be lookin' fly with all the outfits we got her. and she'll make out like a bandit on her birthday and christmas with all the loot we got. 

 here's one of my favorite outfits we scored...

somethin' to munch on

mae has started to munch on anything she can get her chubby little hands on.  toes, fingers, arms, knees, toys, diapers.  seriously, you name it and i'm pretty sure it's been in her mouth.  case and point...

chewing on a bag of wipes

 she is trying all sorts of new foods.  some of her new favorites include avacado, spinach and yogurt.  it's been pretty neat to learn how to make baby food.  although it is definitely not the easy route, i'm glad that i decided to make my own baby food.

i love the mornings.  mae is up early, so she's awake before cody leaves for work.  cody has been so busy with work and school, that more often than not, she's asleep before he gets home.  i love having that little bit of time together. and seeing her face light up when she sees her daddy.

we're still in the market for a car.  this has proven to be quite stressful.  trying to find a car that can fit a convertible car seat that has to face backwards because mae is too long for her infant seat, and a 6'4" husband has been very difficult.  luckily, bryan and karen had an extra car that we have been able to borrow these past 2 weeks. (thank you!!)

i'm still trying to figure everything out with my calling.  one thing i am still in awe of is the love that i have instantly had for these sisters, some of whom i still don't know.  and the love that i have for the sisters that i am serving with.  they are wonderful, and i'm grateful for the chance i have to work with them.

the happenings

it's been a busy week or two at the baldwin home.
first, i was called to be the second counselor in the relief society presidency.
then, two days later, cody was in a pretty bad accident, resulting in a trip to the emergency room, crutches, and totaling the car.
third, we've been working on getting mae to sleep through the night.
and i've started personal training!

let's start from the top...
i'm very humbled and a little overwhelmed at my new calling.  i've jumped right in, and can only pray that the Lord will guide me.

cody's accident was scary, and happened on his way into work.  luckily he and the man in the other car were both okay.  he had this massive bump on his leg that only got bigger over the next hour, so i had to run him to the ER.  no broken bones, just a bruised bone, and a leg contusion that we like to call larry.
my car on the other hand...didn't fare so well.  it saved cody's life, and that's all that matters to me.

at three months mae was sleeping from 9-5...awesome.  but that slowly began to get shorter and shorter, until she was waking up consistently at 3:30am. i would let her cry a little bit, then go in there, try to put her paci in, if that didn't work i would pick her up and try to rock her back to sleep. which would usually take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.  i needed some help.   so, i talked to a few ladies at church and read a bunch for reviews and we decided to try the "sleep easy solution".  and it was great.  kind of rough for the first few nights.  but within 6 nights, she was sleeping from 7pm to 6am....amazzzingg!  she's a trooper.

i've been personal training cody's aunt for about 2 months now, and this week i just started training my mom and i absolutely love it.  it has been so much fun for me to create new workouts, and to changes in cody's aunt's stamina and health.  and i'm so glad to be doing what i studied at school.

so those are the happenings at our home.  oh...and mae's hair after bath time...

mr. t much?














i tote this girl everywhere.  especially around the house when i'm getting stuff done.

i said a hip hop

a hip hip hop ya don't stop.
for some reason this easter rapper's delight by sugarhill gang kept coming into my head...it only seemed appropriate to name my post after the song.

i've always loved holidays.  my parents always had awesome decorations, and wonderful traditions that made each holiday special.  i love them even more now that i have a kid.  it has been so much fun to figure out what traditions we want to carry on, and also, what traditions we want to start.

this easter, we started with a pancake breakfast.  with pancakes in the shape of bunnies of course.  they were supposed to be pink...but they look a little odd colored.

when i think of easter candy, i always think of peeps.  i think they are so gross, but they're like an easter staple.  so this year cody and i decided to start a new tradition...

easter s'mores!  we used some peeps, and a chocolate bunny (p.s. dad i swiped your chocolate bunny), and of course grahams!

they turned out delicious!  i think this will be a grand tradition in the baldwin home for years to come.  and now, you know what to do with all of those uneaten peeps!

the girl with the hollow leg

mae is following in her father's footsteps in more ways than one.  but, this makes her the most like her daddy...homegirl can eat! 
when cody and i were first married, i learned very quickly how much he could eat.  having grown up with three brothers, i knew they ate a lot, i just never had to be the one buying the food for them!  (props to my mom for always keeping the pantry well stocked.)  it took me quite a while to learn how to keep our pantry well stocked for my garbage disposal of a husband.  and on a budget it was even more difficult...but i have learned quite a bit over the past two and a half years.

so when i started feeding mae solids, i figured okay maybe a little thing of applesauce mixed with a little oatmeal for breakfast, and veggies for dinner.  babies don't need that much to fill their little tummies right?  boy was i wrong.  she would finish the little portions i had made ahead of time, and me being the dummy, figured she was done.  so i would clean her up and get her out.  trying to make the process of feeding time as quick and painless as possible.  and she would just cry.  so one day after i gave her her oatmeal mixed with a little apples, she started to cry, i got smart and tried feeding her some more...girlfriend pounded down the whole other serving.  i realized i was cutting her off too early.  i would probably cry too if someone tried to stop me when i was just getting into my meal!

she hasn't met a food yet that she hasn't enjoyed.  and sometimes she enjoys them so much, she eats her bib to make sure she has gotten every last drop!

i am still amazed at how much that sweet little girl throws back.  and now, i give her time to digest, and play a bit, and decide if she wants more or not.  and she is a much happier girl, which makes for a much happier mama.

Say What?

It's hard to believe that Mae has been here for 6 months...say what, how did that happen?  Has it only been 6 months?  I feel like she's always been here.  What did we do before we had her?

In honor of her 6 month birthday, I have put together a compilation of the pictures the Grandpa (Bryan) has taken over the past few months.

one week

one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

six months

we are so blessed to have such a sweet little girl in our lives.  and even though there have been some rough moments, we've enjoyed the last 6 months that we have had her in our lives.  i'm so grateful for eternal families!