TGIF!

Bethany sitting up with her mailbox from Aunt Anna.

Wow.  Thank You, God, that it is Friday.  It has been a busy week and I am so tired!  Bethany is sleeping which means I should be cleaning, but I don't know if I can muster up the energy for anything else besides a little blogging and relaxing with the hubby. 

My students are starting to become anxious for the end of the school year which means I have to work harder to reign them in and keep them engaged.  I am normally overly enthusiastic about language arts which helps them stay focused, but some days are still more challenging than others.  Thankfully, they are enthralled by The Outsiders, so I've been able to break up our writing lessons with reading to them.  (Yes, I read to my eighth graders.  They follow along in their own books and absolutely love it.  I don't care what anyone says, teenagers really do enjoy someone reading to them.)

Bethany starting sleeping in her own room this past Sunday.  Hard on Mommy, but she is doing great.  Since moving to her own room, she has been sleeping longer, and sometimes goes until 5am before waking.  I am getting used to sleeping with the monitor and am so thankful for that amazing little screen!

Bethany is getting so big.  She can sit up unassisted and Marcus and I just love to watch her.  She will sit on the floor  with us and pick up different toys.  She sometimes wobbles off balance, but there has been less and less of that lately.  It is crazy how much a baby grows in 4 1/2 months!  We can't get enough of her sweet smiles, squeals, and sweet laughs.  (Daddy gets more laughs than I do!)

She is still exclusively fed breast milk.  Somehow I've managed to keep up with pumping and increase my supply.  (I know.  Weird.  Most people say work will diminish milk supply, but that hasn't been my case.)  I am a very consistent with it and am pretty sure it's the only thing helping keep me thin right now.  Nursing makes you seriously hungry.  I let Bethany try a little avocado (a highly recommended natural first food for babies), but I don't think she is quite ready.  She still has the automatic tongue thrust reflex, so I am going to wait a little while longer.  She will be five months old on the 21st, so we have some time.

In preparation, I have been researching baby foods and baby food makers.  The negative reviews of the Beaba Baby Cook maker at Amazon.com have convinced me that I want absolutely nothing to do with it.  I have also looked into the Baby Bullet, but I don't know if it is worth it.  Is it really going to do anything differently than my blender's puree setting?  I think I will probably skip on both.  I am, however, on the look out for BPA free containers for homemade baby food.  I am also researching baby food brands, so we can have some easy foods on hand to take with us and to Bethany's school.  So far, Plum Organics and Happy Baby have had the best reviews and recommendations online.  We'll just have to wait and see what Bethany thinks.  :)

I have been limiting my Internet usage this week in an effort to create better habits when it comes to using computers and my iPhone.  It is just too easy to waste time on the Internet and I do not want to squander my time on things that are not life giving.  I have drastically cut back on Facebook, but am not planning on eliminating it completely from my life - just using it much less.  What is the one thing that I wish I had more time for on the Internet?  Keeping up with this blog!  Haha.  I never seem to have enough time for that!