Happy Bunny Day!

Happy Easter! We celebrated at California Cafe in Los Gatos with Ben's family, Cindy, and Chris. Isabel's first Easter and she was such a cutie! She wore a new outfit we just got from Baby Gap and her diva shades. It was a gorgeous day.

Whatcha lookin' at? Here are the girls looking fabulous. Paparazzi everywhere! Aunt Cindy has become been fostering some major diva-ish behavior.

Like father, like daughter.

Little Miss Princess

Last weekend Cindy and I took Isabel to the Gilroy outlets. I hadn't been there in ages! While we were in Gymboree, Cindy thought it would be fun to try out sunglasses on Isabel. She loved them and ended up wearing them the whole time in the store. I don't think she can see really well with them but I think it's because the world looks totally different that it keeps her occupied.

Several milestones happened in the last few weeks. At 5.5 weeks, Izzy learned how to roll around and got really good at it. She always ended up in a different position when she naps or sleeps. She started stage 2 baby food recently. I did notice that she likes certain foods (if that's even possible). She loves turkey, chicken, and carrots. For some reason, she could care less for fruit or lentils.... I think my baby girl is a carnivore! Her motor skills are amazing! Toys that I got her a few weeks ago she wasn't interested in but now she totally grabs them and tries to stick them in her mouth. Buying toys for her at this age is really tough. We always look for something that will grab her attention for at least 20 minutes but than can be hard to find.

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!

The Straw That Broke The Camel's Back

So two weeks ago exactly I went back to work. Work itself isn't that hard to get back into the groove of but I believe it's dealing with the people part that's tougher. Ever since we have had Isabel, Ben and I have become insanely impatient, meaning: we have less time for people's bullsh*t. Whether it's from each other, family, friends, coworkers, or strangers, we have no time in our lives to deal with stupid things. There are way way more important things in our lives to deal with now. Time is precious! Just having the last 6 months with Isabel go by in a blink of an eye was a big wake up call.

This brings me to this past Friday, just before the weekend. Let me just say that you do not ever ever want to be on the receiving end of the conversation I had with my "fill in the blank" (whom I'm going to call "SC" for short = stupid cow, the nicest two words that I can use, trust me I have used worse. During my pregnancy & before I had left on maternity leave, I put up with a lot of "stuff" because frankly, I did not need the added stress. Being pregnant and stressed out was the last thing I needed. So being the good natured little buyer that I am, I did practically everything she asked meaning a lot of her job too. Yes, yes... Under normal conditions (not pregnant) I would not have been so kind and agreeable, hence the LAST 2 WEEKS I've been back. SC is hypocritical, moody, selfish, and (more negative adjectives) person I've ever met, well at least one of the top ones for sure. I finally had to tell her exactly what was on my mind. So yes, you can imagine how that an hour long conversation went. I wish I recorded it, I was so proud of myself. Anyhow, just to give an idea of what she's like, here is a SC quote from that conversation: "Didn't your mother ever teach you that whispering is rude?" SC is very intolerant of people whispering around her because she is VERY insecure about herself. So insecure that she went to HR to tell them that I (and our other associates) were whispering in the office. So you see how her priorities are a little "mixed up". Anyhow, I believe I handled it beautifully and went to HR myself to tell them how unprofessional she was having to bring my mother into the conversation and workplace. Lovely lovely situation that I have here. So okay... As much as I believe I can make her life miserable too, I would LOVE to leave the company now. I can't take the stress of acting like her friend when I can't stand being anywhere near her.

People: I need a new job. Any insight/ideas?????

DISCLAIMER: For those who had previously read a "different" version of this entry, thanks for doing so! I had to edit this entry because you never know who will be reading this even though this blog is meant for only family and friends. People spy a lot these days so beware! Now of all things, isn't THAT RUDE?!!!!

First Solid Food!

Another milestone for Miss Isabel! Today she tried her first solid vegetable - carrots! We actually tried to give her rice cereal last week but she didn't really think too much of it. So today when we tried carrots, she really really liked it! I'm sure that the carrots had more taste than the rice cereal which doesn't really taste like anything. I tried the carrots and they were pretty good for something that has absolutely nothing bad in it. We're eating Earth's Best brand and so far it seems to be ok. We're giving her a couple days of carrots and then we're going on to sweet potatoes...then peas!

It's extremely messy! The next few times during the day were better. She ate a whole jar! I think these experiences are more for us than it is for her. We get totally excited over first foods and even when I buy her new toys, I can't wait for her to try it. I just want to see the look she has! I know it sounds absolutely insane but I am going to be really sad when she passes these milestones and grows up. I am really going to miss her baby times and will want another one real soon!

We know that the tv is going to be a bit of a problem for Isabel since we both absolutely adore it. I am not going to be very good at not letting her watch it. So far, she's watched everything we have watched but we're trying to get her to like her own baby appropriate shows. Die Hard is not for babies! Comcast has a bunch of free shows On Demand which she likes. To Ben's delight, she enjoys hockey too.

On another note, she's growing! At her 4 month check up she was 25" long and 15.5 lbs. She is in the 75th percentile of babies her age. I've already had to pack A LOT of her newborn clothes and some she didn't even get a chance to wear. An outfit was lucky if she had it on even twice! Note to self next time around, newborns don't need a lot of clothes! Thank god her clothes are tiny and they don't even fill up one box.