A new love affair begins...

From first birthday

The Baugh sugar gene is alive and well.

The first year, a tour

It all started on January 22, 2007. I went to my daily blood pressure/pee check, and they said, "You need to walk over to the hospital and have your baby." Two days later, TA-DA!



The first few weeks were in the hospital, but, after 18 LONG days, TA-DA again!



We had some good times,



Checked a few books off our "must reads":



Did some exercises,



tried some new food,



and charmed the uncles.



We took some hikes,


checked out some beaches,



and learned how to swim.



We enjoyed some great sunny days,



And some snowy ones.



We chatted with friends.



We embraced the inner bear.



We shared with friends,


And they shared with us.


Happy Birthday!

A solitary life

In the world of "mom," especially in the Internet world, I hear a lot of talk about how isolating it can be to stay at home full-time with your kids. I imagine it's true. It would be really hard to go without adult conversation for the whole day, and I imagine it can sometimes get monotonous, especially with a baby. (Just so everyone knows, I wasn't angry in the above photo. I was just trying to match Anne Marie's mood. :))

But, sitting at lunch the other day with my co-workers, I realized how solitary it can be to be a working mother as well. I work in a profession that is definitely not family-friendly. The hours are long and unpredictable, and the pay is abismal. Few of my co-workers have children. The ones who do have never been real friends because, up until now, we had nothing in common.

So I was sitting there, enjoying my sandwich, when I realized I had very little left to say to these people who have been co-workers and friends forever. I haven't been out to the bars, listened to live music, or even to a movie for a very long time. We can still talk politics and work, but not much else. They don't really want to hear how Anne Marie can't get enough of the song, "Mr. Golden Sun," and I have nothing to say about how much fun I had the evening before.

For the stay-at-home types, there are mother's groups, play times, etc. For the full-time working mother, there simply isn't time to think about it. For those of us who work 25 hours a week, however, we can sometimes feel a bit out of place in both worlds.

On the other hand, I think I'm incredibly lucky that Matt and I are able to co-parent, even though sometimes it's tough to come home from a whole day of work and look after your baby by yourself while your spouse heads to the office. Behold, the toll it takes on Matt and Anne Marie:

Mustang Sally

I learned how to put music on my phone today. It turns out Anne Marie LOVES Mustang Sally. She also loves "Another One Bites the Dust." When they play on my phone, she grabs it, waves it and bops like a wild woman. I wish I had a photo, but I got some great pictures of her winking last week:





I swear the filthy toy is the background isn't one she plays with. It's Rosa's. :)

Anne Marie and I took the week after Christmas off to spend our days together, and I absolutely loved it. It made me wish I was at home full-time, although I did enjoy going back to work as well. I told my boss I would go up to 30 hours in February, but now I'm not sure that's exactly what I want to do. I work from home sometimes now, so I think I'll just work from home a bit more maybe.

In other news, I'm still worried about Anne Marie and her motor skills. She still isn't really crawling, and she's almost 1. She just recently started trying. Here's what she looks like. That one pesky leg won't go behind her. She is way flexible though! There is absolutely no way I could make my leg do that. We have her 12 month well check in two weeks, so perhaps I'll ask then.