Easter, Birthday and a Little Bit of Flag Football

March 2013.  It was a great month.  Too great to forget, so let me tell you about it!  Well, first off, it was my birthday.  David made it such a great day.  He took me to brunch at a great place on State Street called Joe's Cafe.  The picture below is of me and Joe himself.  Then he took me shopping and got me some awesome fluorescent Saucony runners (translation: running shoes for any non-Canadians reading), and some bright pink skinny jeans.  We relaxed in the afternoon, and then went to get an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  When we got back to the house, there was a group of our friends waiting and we had a nice little birthday party.  It was perfect.  

 So once upon a time, I played on an intramural flag football team.  I was invited by our awesome friend Sam to be on her ward team, and I decided for it in hopes that I could finally understand this football thing.  Like, how does it work and why do millions of men across the world spend hours on end watching it?  Well, it turns out flag football is a lot different from real football.  And it's a lot more fun playing than watching.  But in spite of never winning a game, we all had a blast and I can honestly say that I enjoy watching football just the tiniest bit more.

 Wanna know a secret?  I LOVE Easter egg hunts.  I know they really have nothing to do with the real meaning of Easter, but I love them nonetheless.  And this year, I LOVED having a daughter old enough to enjoy it.  We took Paisley and Afton to a park and hid eggs all around the playground.  She was ecstatic, and seeing the excitement in her face was more fn than any egg hunt ever.

Afton is 5 months old!  As the picture shows, we gave her her first taste of solid food this month.  Pureed green beans.  I would normally wait until 6 months, but I've been at my wit's end about the no sleeping situation, and I thought maybe some solid foods would help her sleep better.  She liked them!  But she's still working on the spoon-feeding thing.  Mostly she just tries to suck on the spoon.  

Speaking of the sleep situation, this is by far the biggest challenge for all of us.  We're often up for hours at a time at night with Afton.  She's gassy and uncomfortable, so she cries and cries, and just when I start to think she's going to sleep, she starts to cry again.  We've tried just about everything, but nothing seems to help.  Well, I mentioned this to a friend from church, and that night she was on my doorstep with a C-pillow. (Like a Boppy pillow, but different, and apparently often used in the NICU to help babies feel like they're being snuggled).  I've started putting Afton in the pillow at night and we've all been sleeping MUCH better.  Also, after changing my diet a hundred times and constantly watching what I eat, I'm pretty certain that a lot of Afton's tummy troubles can be attributed to me eating/drinking dairy.  I am totally o.k. with this.  When forced to choose between milk and sleep, I choose sleep every time.  

Afton is almost sitting up on her own, she's squawking and making lots of cute noises, and she loves playing peek-a-boo.  She loves to stick out her tongue and spit.  She and Paisley adore each other and we adore them both.