Seats Taken...

Why is it so hard to make friends once you are out of school? I thought that when I had kids, I would be drawn to the other moms and vice versa. It doesn't happen like that. 

Of course I have a few girlfriends with kids, but most of my friends are from high school and don't have any kids yet, not to mention that they don't live very close to me.

Is it because I tend to get extremely shy when I run into other girls at the gym and mumble a "hi" as I walk to my car? 

Hopefully I am not the only one who feels like this. 

There is this one girl that I see all over town and at the YMCA every time I'm there, but for some reason I can't get the courage up to go introduce myself. Now, she meets with another girl to work out and I am doubly intimidated.

 Gosh, I sound like such a dork!

You would think that since I do hair, I see women all the time. Most of them are my age, we have a lot in common, but for some reason instead of saying "Hey, Let's get together one weekend with the kids and have a BBQ, or something" I think "Oh, why would they want to hang out with me, I'm sure they have plenty of their own friends..." Then the moment passes and they go on their way until I do their hair again.

One word: Confidence. and I seem to be lacking in that department.

When did that happen to me?

I will say that since our house is for sale, and not really knowing exactly where we will be moving, makes me hesitant to even try very hard to meet new people. I am worried that I will find some people I really like and then move away. But really, that shouldn't stop me.

It seems like with most of the people i know, we talk about doing something, but it rarely actually happens. That is another major problem. I genuinely want to get together, but something always comes up, then we never plan for anything else.

I need to follow that mantra of "A lot less talk and a little more action"  :)

Thanks for listening to my pathetic ramblings.

One question: 

How do you step out of your comfort zone and make new friends?

Naked on the beach

We had another wonderful session with Jenny Denson a few weeks ago. This is probably the last one until we take Christmas pictures. As fun as it is to get them taken and have them to look at, I don't think I will be needing pictures every 3 months! I'm sure when we have another kid, that one will be lucky to get any done at all!

Here are a few of my favorites:

Party Time!

The pictures speak for themselves, we had a great time!

I can tell you one thing though, throwing a first birthday party will wear you out.

everything turned out exactly as I wanted it to though, so I didn't mind too much ;)

My friend Kristen made the cake, with only 3 days notice! I am in love with it. It turned out better than I could have even imagined!

Birthday Cake

sorry this is so belated.

this is jocie's actual birthday, and eating the cupcake for the first time.

her party was the next day, and i didn't take a single picture.

so, i am still waiting on all those lovely family members to send me theirs (hint, hint!)

please ignore the strange singing voice, it's not mine. i swear!

looks like she is enjoying herself

i love icing!

She resembles a chucky doll here :)

paging dr. ferber

after our trip to kansas (which i just realized i never posted about...) jocelyn's sleep was absolutely horrible.

i was at my wits end. 

we tried reading "the no cry sleep solution" and followed it for about a month.

she would fall asleep in my arms only to wake either when i laid her in the bed or an hour later.

 being the sweet loving parents that we are, we just brought her into bed with us, because it was so much easier.

well, the last night we did this, i lost count of how many times she woke me up to nurse. 

it was over 10, i can tell you that. 

i had enough. the next night we made sure she was full of milk, had a clean diaper, and even gave her a little tylenol in case she had teething pain. all our bases were covered, so it was inevitable.

we put her in her crib and she cried bloody murder for 40 minutes.

it took all i had not to go in there and get her.

we watched her on the monitor, and every so often she would lay down.

and finally, it was quiet!

she fell asleep on her own.

i think that night she wore herself out, so she slept for a good 6 hours until she woke up again.

i didn't want to be too cruel and cut out the night time feeding at the same time,

so brian woke up and gave her a bottle (she wouldn't take it from me)

i definitely wouldn't say that it got easier each night. in fact, i think it may have gotten harder some nights.

but, she has not cried for over that original 40 minutes.

we do this for naps too now, and they are so easy! 

she might cry for 5 minutes tops.

fast forward to last weekend. 

the girl BIT me.

three times.

and laughed about it.

i was scared to death of her.

i am almost glad, because i needed a push to stop nursing and let me tell you, that was it!

of course i didn't stop gradually and i am still paying for that one

10 days later.

So basically, in the last 3 weeks we are no longer nursing and everyone here in the lee household is sleeping through the night. one year later!

Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3

Jocelyn got this toy for her birthday. Every time I tried to hold the microphone up to her mouth, she pushed it away. Low and Behold, one day I was doing the dishes and I heard a funny sound coming from the living room. She figured it out!

Flashback Friday!

today, my sweet little baby is ONE year old!

ahhh, where did the time go?

believe it or not, i have really savored her being a baby...and haven't tried to imagine {too much} what she will be like as she grows up. but as i should have expected, today that's ALL i can think about. 

i thought it would be fitting to post pictures of our sweet pea over the past year...

this post has taken me forever. i got lost looking back at all the pictures.

i am amazed at how much she seems to be doing just in the past few weeks/days:

she drinks out of a straw.

says "more" in sign language.

says "dada" when she sees him or in a picture.

WALKING! actually yesterday she was almost running around the living room.

smiles when i say "cheese".

holds her own bottle {full of whole milk!} and lays on the ground drinking while watching TV.

finally can put herself to sleep in her crib{with a little crying but who cares?}.

still taking 2 naps most days.

loves water...drinking it, swimming in it, and bath time!

favorite foods are green beans, chicken nuggets, pancakes, and fruit.

dislikes scrambled eggs.

she is so much more awesome than i ever imagined she could be :) she makes me smile everyday, and he things i never thought i'd be able to do are done in a heartbeat for her. i love this kid so much, it's crazy.

i am looking forward to the coming years to see exactly what she will be like.

happy birthday jocelyn!