Heading Towards 6 Months

Isabel is almost 6 months old! It seems like only yesterday she was a little bundle with a hospital cap on. She is so much more interactive now and can see everything that's going on around her. She's got pretty good mobility and she's getting really good at grasping. She can hold her little 4oz bottle pretty well when she's concentrating.

The weekends are the best because the whole family can have breakfast together. Here she is hanging out with us while we make breakfast. Then we all sit down and have breakfast together. Izzy's new favorite food is rice cereal mixed with formula and fruit of some kind.

So here is our update on the house situation: We saw more homes this past weekend, with our primary focus being in Pleasanton. I saw one that I absolutely loved, perfect house, perfect location, and perfect schools = BIG price tag. Then we went back to Dublin and San Ramon and was really really convinced that those two areas is where we want to be. Prices are falling everyday and that's a double edged sword. I am so excited that we can finally move one more time and hopefully not move for a VERY long time. We're planning a double garage sale with my sister and just get rid of a ton of crap. Starting fresh is soooo relieving!

Neighborhood Search

Today Ben, Isabel, and I went up to Dublin to check out neighborhoods in search for our potential home. It was a really nice day and even though we did get a late start we managed to check out some really great properties. We even met up with Catherine which was really nice. She finally got to meet Isabel. We checked out an open house on her street and the house was really pretty. It would be fun to be neighbors! We also checked out Dublin Ranch, Tassajara Meadows, and a bunch of other neighborhoods in Dublin. We really really liked the neighborhoods between the border of San Ramon and Dublin off of Dougherty. I think we are really considering that area but the only issue is that it's pretty far from the highway. As far as family friendly, it was a really nice area. We saw a beautiful house in San Ramon and I was really in love with it. It had 5 bedrooms! So yea, it would be a house to definitely start a family in. The tough part about house hunting is that you start to really like certain houses and you just keep thinking about what your life would be like if you lived there. The bad part is that if we do move, I am really really going to miss not being close Valley Fair. Stoneridge is ok but it's no Valley Fair. I'm also going to miss all the restaurants too. Anyhow, we're certainly in no rush but I'm hoping to move by the end of summer.

The Nanny Diaries

I have been very fortunate to have my sister move in with me and have her be my live in nanny. Cindy has been such an asset and also such a good care giver for Isabel. She's spoiling me and it's going to be incredibly hard when she finds a job and moves to the city. I'm in the middle of bribing her to stay as long as she can by buying her food and paying her.

One of the many perks of having Aunt Cindy as a nanny is all the wonderful pictures that she takes everyday. Isabel's motor skills have been improving day to day. Now when's she's in her jumper, she's beginning to play with her toys. Here she is in an outfit from her great grandmother who lives in Taiwan.

Isabel just started fruits this week and she seems to like her vegetables more. Her first fruit was bananas and it seemed to be too tart for her. Anyhow, it's hilarious to see her reaction to a new food.

My beautiful girl!

Ben and I have this incredibly huge dilemma: We want to buy a house right now because the market is great for buyers... the bad part is that my job is in south San Jose, I can't afford the homes I want in south San Jose so we have to look in Pleasanton and Dublin. But moving there would eliminate daycare for Isabel which was provided by my family. So what to do? I want to be a stay at home mom if we move to Pleasanton or Dublin BUT I don't want to push the envelope as far as finances goes... If I switch jobs then I need one that either has daycare and if not, I have to pay for outside daycare... So what to do??? I have no idea. It's a never ending circle. I wish I knew what to do!