First Day of Freedom

Today Roxanne and I have the day off. Tomorrow we start our new job!

Leaving my old job is a really big relief, but I will also miss all of my friends there. Some of us went out for dinner on Friday night, and then I actually went to a BAR (gasp) with some of them while Justin took Roxanne home. I had a strict curfew of 11:00, but I still had a good time. I had been hoping to leave work by 4:30 on Friday, but didn't end up making it out until almost 6:00, and I still didn't finish everything I needed to. Oh well. I gave it my best shot!

Saturday we went to a gallery called White Space with my grandparents who had read about the exhibit in the AJC. It was really cool. The gallery is basically in a converted barn behind a house in Inman Park. There were 3 artists with pieces there, and they were all unique. One artist did these super cool mixed media pieces that revolve around fifties style advertising of food products. The other was a photographer who photographs mostly "country" images, like silos and pie-eating contests. The third artist had quilts. They were old "trash quilts" that she has salvaged from yard sales, thrift stores, etc. and embroidered writing onto them. They were really not like anything I've seen before. After that, we went to Parrish in Inman Park for an early dinner. The food was good, and it was wonderful to be with my grandparents, but the layout is confusing and the staff was not very nice. Maybe it's better for people without kids... But we still had a good time once we finally figured out where to order our food from.

On Sunday we ran errands, and Roxanne did some fun new firsts. She ate her first jarred baby food, out of necessity. We were at Whole Foods and decided to head to Lenox afterwards, so I got some organic baby food to feed her in the car. She loved it! I also got her some Teddy Puffs, which are sort of an organic version of the Gerber Graduates puffy things. I was petrified to give them to her, since they are basically the same consistency as Cheerios, but she did really well! I gave her half of one and then tried to show her how to chew, and she actually mimicked me until she got it down with no problems. I only gave her two more because I was still paranoid, but we'll see... We weren't at Lenox very long, I just wanted to get a few basic casual things for my new job, since I only own one pair of jeans and then a pair of maternity cargo shorts... And I found the perfect stuff at Old Navy. I feel very prepared. At least as far as my clothes go...

We went to the park on Sunday afternoon, and Roxanne got to swing, seesaw, and sit on the slide. I tried to hold her as I stood next to her and let her slide down, but her fat little feet were planted so firmly that I couldn't get her to move. She did like the swing and the seesaw. Then we walked around, and I was clapping and singing to Roxanne, when she started clapping! She's been cultivating the skill since then, and now she actually makes a little sound when she does it. She seems to be very proud of herself.

In running errands today, I think I might see if I can find The No Cry Sleep Solution book at Borders. I've been hearing a lot of good things about it, and it has over 600 positive reviews on Amazon. It's supposed to be a gentler way to help your baby sleep on their own and for longer periods. Just in the last few days Roxanne has been refusing to sleep and I can tell that she's overtired. It's time to get serious about her sleeping patterns. I know she's teething, since she's been drooling up a storm, and that doesn't help anything, but still, I think this book looks good.

We hope everyone is doing great! We are very happy in our house, and I'm just so relieved to be with Roxanne now. Full time! We are going to go to Andrea's today to drop off a little gift and take some photos. I think it will tough to say goodbye, but I can't explain how happy I am about everything.