Cute Jammers

Elsa is just too cute in these pjs our friend, Alison, gave her back when she was still in the womb and her gender was still up in the air. She was irresistible this morning -- I had to take a picture.

Just for Fun

Elsa is Six Months

Elsa turned six months old today. It is amazing to think she is half a year old already -- this last month seemed to particularly fly by. She still has yet to master rolling over on a regular basis, but she did roll over earlier this week -- this time from tummy to back -- and I missed it once again. Now I think she is purposefully doing it when my back is turned -- that, or I am just simply too much of a distraction. She seems to enjoy sitting up with some support, though would rather one of us support her than the Bumbo seat or Boppy pillow. She does quite like lying on her tummy sort of propped up on the Boppy, though. Since it has been gradually getting warmer over the last week, we have enjoyed getting outside and going for walks, either with Elsa in the stroller or in the Ergo. She really seems to like getting outdoors, though will still fuss when she starts getting tired. Eventually, though, she will usually fall asleep regardless. Today she, Kate, and I walked from the house to Chick-fil-A and back, and she did really well until about a third of the way home. I eventually took her out of the stroller and put her into the Ergo, but she didn't conk out until about five minutes from the house... of course. Her sleep in general has been much better over the past few days, despite the fact that she woke up at 1:15 a.m. last night and I was up with her until 2:00 a.m. changing her and nursing her back down. She has napped like a champ the past two or three days, which has been fabulous after a pretty horrible start to the week. Sources say she might be teething, but she has been sucking/chewing on her hands and fingers and drooling for weeks and weeks now. It's possible she has been feeling them for this long and maybe they're just now really starting to try to make their way through. If that is the case, I think we are all ready for it to just happen already. She continues to eat oatmeal cereal twice a day, and I imagine Dr. Owen will have us introduce more solids after we see her for her six-month appointment in a little over a week. Oh -- and Elsa is just completely enamored with Merckx. She thinks it's hilarious when he sits or shakes for us, and she loves "talking" to him by making raspberries or "tsss..." sounds in his general direction. I really can't wait until the two of them start really playing together. Our little one just continues to grow, and we just continue to enjoy watching it happen.

Happy half-birthday, Elsa Marie!

My Bean

Our Date

Jarrett and I had a lovely time together last night, out and about in Downtown Decatur, trying out a couple of new establishments. We had dinner at the new steakhouse, Parker's on Ponce, which took over the old Mick's space, and then we finished the evening off with a nightcap at Leon's Full Service, the new restaurant/bar owned and operated by our favorite Brick Store guys.

The dinner was nice, though having to steer clear of dairy and soy proved to be difficult once again, especially because they use vegetable oil (which is most often soybean oil or at least a combination of oils, including soybean) to cook all of their fried goods. But I started with a spinach salad topped with pancetta, almonds, strawberries, and a balsamic vinaigrette (had to leave off the goat cheese), and had the NY strip and a baked potato topped with just some crumbled bacon. Jarrett started with their bibb lettuce salad, which was topped with bleu cheese crumbles, tomato, red onion, and bleu cheese dressing, and had the filet mignon and creamed spinach for his main course. I thought my salad and the steaks were very good. The potato was so-so, but to be expected since I couldn't put anything on it, and Jarrett was a bit disappointed with the creamed spinach because their recipe included nutmeg, which neither one of us are a huge fan of when added to savory dishes. If you receive the SavvyShopper mailing, you are probably aware that there is a coupon for Parker's included this month -- I think the place is worth trying out if you use the coupon, but I am not so sure it is worth paying full price. Maybe I would think differently had I not been working with a restricted diet.

Jarrett and I tried to go over to the Brick Store after dinner, but it was packed (as usual), so that is when we decided to walk around the corner and try Leon's. We bellied up to their (very cool) bar and each enjoyed a beer. We perused their menu as we enjoyed the atmosphere, and it looks pretty tasty, so I am looking forward to going back at some point. A girl sitting next to Jarrett ordered their frites with sauce pairing, and it looked delicious, which Kate and Tim had already claimed to be the case. She let Jarrett try a few and offered the chance to me as well, but I was too burnt out on questioning ingredient usage at that point to even bother. When the time comes that we go back, though, I definitely will -- don't worry.

Our babysitter was awesome. She just seemed perfect, and seemed genuine in saying that she would love to come back and babysit when she can actually play with Elsa. She did get to see her for about five minutes or so because apparently Elsa did wake up, so she went in there to soothe her back to sleep. She admitted that perhaps if she had waited a little longer, she might have gone back to sleep by herself like we had told her might happen, but I think maybe she really just did want to get a sneak peek, which is cute. Best of all? Her husband is a police officer. So -- bonus! -- if there ever was an emergency.

So Jarrett and I had a nice time together, and I'm really glad we took this needed step to start a date night routine. At least I hope it becomes more of a routine.

A Date with My Favorite Person

It's official. I have called upon a real, true, paid babysitter so that Jarrett and I can go out together on a date Thursday evening. We have gone out on a couple of dates before when my mom has been in town and has been kind and generous enough to watch the little one, but this is the first time we have searched out someone -- someone we don't even know yet -- to watch Elsa. It's a big step, in my opinion. And once we take this step, I hope it is something we continue on a regular basis so Jarrett and I can spend some quality time together once in awhile. We love our daughter more than anything, but we need our time too. Jarrett and I aren't even 100 percent sure what we have in store for ourselves on Thursday evening, but it will likely involve dinner out somewhere. I am much looking forward to it!

Snow!

When we went into church this morning it was raining; when we came out it was snowing like crazy! Though Kate reminded me that it snowed here last year while Jarrett and I were out of town and, thus, missed it, I have not seen snow in Atlanta in years, so this is a real treat. Elsa conked out in the car on the way home, so we let her sleep while we took Merckx out in the backyard to let him run around like the snow dog he is meant to be.

Elsa didn't get to experience much of her first snow except for the walk from the church to the car and from the car to the house, but that was enough time for a few magical snowflakes to make a landing on her beautiful eyelashes and cute button nose.