7 months old!

With Barry out of town, Michelle and I celebrated 7 months with a hike with Tammy and Paige. Just 5 miles round trip, Lake 22 offered superior views. We played it smart with an early start, seeing hardly anyone on the way up, the droves piled in as we were hiking out. Who wouldn't be out on such a gorgeous Sunday?

Getting started....

Momma's little hiker enjoyed the ride...

...the rays...

...The View...

...a gourmet lunch....

...and driving home!

Frankie says RELAX

Since we've been back from Salt Lake, I have been a little on edge the last couple of days trying to get back into our routine. Even though Michelle did a remarkable job sticking to a pretty good bedtime routine last week, after traveling, it always takes her a few days to re-adjust. This means Barry gets to come home to a cranky mommy sleep deprived, burned out, and overwhelmed with household tasks she feels obligated to complete while Barry is at work bringing home the bacon. I have always thought that when Barry gets irritated when returning home from work, it is because he is overwhelmed by the things HE now has to do because I couldn't get them done. So, in trying to take care of him, I stress myself out trying to do EVERYTHING meanwhile feeling under-appreciated and maxed out. During a revealing conversation last night (which was much better in terms of my mood thanks to the sunshine), it came clear that Barry's source of irritation comes NOT from what I didn't do, but from HOW I treat him when I stress myself out trying to do it all. Staring at the dirty dishes and pots and pans from dinner, I said to Barry "I'm sorry, but I am NOT doing dishes tonight. I have to go to bed." He said "Good! I don't care if they get done or not. All I care about is that you are rested, happy and not bitching at me when I come home." I was astonished. "YOU don't care if the dishes get done?" He said "No! Above all, you need to be rested and healthy. It doesn't ALL need to be done in one day." So there we have it from the horses mouth. My husband, who I always viewed as a neat-freak, doesn't give a shit if the dishes get done or not. Mark this down ladies and gentlemen because this SAHM intends to take advantage of this permissible state! But above all, this was a lesson to me on how much I put on myself when the people-pleasing perfectionist rears its ugly head in an imperfect world. Frankie says RELAX.

Our Funny Valentine

What a ham!

Grandpa fed me breakfast!

Grandma and I have SOOOO much fun!

The baby trade off: Barry skied in the morning, Kelly snowboarded in the afternoon.

I was dangerously close to eating her up during the morning photo-shoot.

Lining up the ducks...

We are in the midst of a wonderful visit to Salt Lake City. A lot less hectic than our Christmas visit. Auntie Cory even babysat Michelle ALL DAY so I could take a telemark class with my dad taught by Cory's husband. Everyone had a wonderful time. We wondered if Michelle just sort of thought Cory was mommy, but I think she knew the difference. We may be identical twins but there is NOTHING identical about the state of our boobs right now and Michelle is not fooled by imposter boobs. It was really a landmark event really. I have never left Michelle alone for more than a couple of hours and usually only with Barry. The fact that she was perfectly happy in the arms of another woman gives me mixed feelings of sadness and relief. My little girl is growing up. Even if I had not lugged six pounds of frozen breast milk with me, I could have left her for the day and she would have survived on avocado and jars of organic baby food. Because have I mentioned that she is a GREAT eater? She loves every food we've tried and likes to eat lots of it. No finicky eaters in the Martin house! Of course, my only method of survival for the day was my hand-held breast pump that I used both going up and coming down the canyon. I swear, since she started solids I have turned into a freaking cow! It seems like every 3 hours I am fully engorged. I guess if I could back off the pumping the supply and demand would back off to Michelle's pace but I am NOT a fan of engorgement and can't seem to lay off the pump until her next feeding. But I digress off the topic of this post.

Lining up the ducks. Plan. Move back to Salt Lake in April. Challenge. The job market. Even as a Registered Nurse, it is NOT like it was 5 years ago when I applied for 5 positions, got 5 offers and had my pick of where to work. Everyone is scaling back. On top of it all HR at the University hospital is going through some changes that made getting in touch with nurse recruitment seem virtually impossible. But it is all about connections. Yes, there is Cory, the Neuro ICU super-nurse who happens to be my twin sister but that only goes so far. I still had to get my foot in the door so I got in touch with my old manager who was wonderful enough to arrange a meeting and connect me directly with a nurse recruiter. She was optimistic about finding me a job and was very promising considering my diverse acute care experience. So the wheels are turning. Turning. Turning.

It's fun to play at the Y-M-C-A, Y-M-C-A-ay...

By signing Michelle up for swim lessons at the YMCA, we also get to partake in the drop-in family gym where toddlers and babies get to run around, climb around, roll around, whatever they do best. We walked into the gym and her eyes just bugged out with a huge smile like "Oh momma! Where do I even begin?" Of course, the opportunities would be enhanced if she could figure out how to crawl forward rather than backwards. She knows this and it is pissing her off. Nonetheless, a great time was had! Swim lessons don't start until Feb. 15, but we will be going to family gym as often as possible.

Swim lessons and the best doggie in the world.

Michelle is all signed up for swim lessons at the YMCA starting Feb 15. Twice a week for 4 weeks we get to splash around with a bunch of other babies. How cute is that?

Michelle becomes more enamored with Io every day. He seems to be warming up to the idea of being grabbed and poked by little hands. Warning, the following video contains an infectious amount of cuteness and may cause giggling.