October (Quick and Dirty Recap)

Before I get to the actual post, I just have to say that I'm so far behind in posts that it'll take me a few days to catch up.  Bare with me!


This fall we were really able to enjoy all the perks of having a second car!  I signed Y up for several of the free programs offered at our local library and many of them she was able to do with a friend from church.  We started with a story time one day a week and another program called Music & Movement.  She wasn't a big fan of just sitting during story time but she loved Music and Movement which incorporates singing and dancing in with story time.

They also offer several seasonal activities at the library, I signed her up to attend a Halloween/Trick or Treat activity at the library that she was able to do with her friend E.  They were able to dress up in costume and go around to different locations in the library and were given many non-candy treats.

We were also able to spend a day out with friends from church.  We went to Wolcott Farm where they were able to see all the different farm animals.  Y is not at all a fan of barns so any animals that were inside them she didn't really care to see.  After walking around the farm for a bit we sat down for a quick bag lunch before heading over to Blake's Cider Mill.  I've lived in Michigan for 7 years and had never been to one so it was a real treat for me as well.  We were able to see how the cider is made from start to finish as well as buy some of their yummy apple goodies (apple donuts, apple cider, and an apple cider slushy).  They also have a little carnival type activity there for the young kids but we didn't venture to that part of the property.  It was a great day and boy did it tire us out!

We had a rather large and unwelcomed guest come visit us on our balcony this month as well.  It was my first time seeing a Praying Mantis in person and it scared me quite a bit.  So much so that our beautiful pumpkins (posted above) never made it outside.  It wandered around our balcony for a couple days and then it just rested above the sliding door wall that leads in from our bedroom.  It stayed there through the freezing cold.  It stayed there through the wind and rain of Hurricane Sandy.  So naturally I assumed it was dead, though I still refused to go out on the balcony.  One day when the in-laws came to visit I sent my father-in-law out to remove it's dead body (B also refused to go near the thing).  Turns out, the sucker wasn't dead after all!  I was so very glad that I didn't go out there!  My FIL ended up sweeping it off the balcony into the grass and from there I don't know what happened to it - nor do I care!

I'm going to lose my Mother of the Year Award again this year.  Even with my best intentions I didn't get a really good photo of both girls in their Halloween costumes.  The only half-decent photos were 2 I quickly snapped at our church Halloween party when I went to get them dressed in their costumes.  Halloween night was a mad rush and to top it off it was rainy.  Y spent the majority of the night crying that she was cold and wet and wanted to go indoors.  Q was a pretty good sport about it though, she just road along in the stroller making no sounds at all.

Super Girl

Baby Lamb



New Job, Part II

B has been working at his current job fora month now and it's time for an update.

He was told that it could be a couple YEARS before he knows all that his job entails.  To say it's a huge job is an understatement, I am still amazed when he talks about his job and all that it covers and just how much there is to do and learn.  Even though he is a white collar employee he is working in one of the auto plants and it's truly amazing to think about what is going on inside there all the time.  Currently, approximately 1124 cars are completed in that one plant every single day - that is amazing to think about!  Oh yeah, and did I mention that the plant is MASSIVE?!?  I hope to one day get the opportunity to go inside and have a tour, but I won't hold my breath and wait for it to happen.

He is enjoying the job but there are parts that frustrate him, mostly the fact that he doesn't know what he's doing part of the time.  But he says it's getting better each week.

He had the opportunity to learn more about how he was chosen for the position, one of his coworkers (the manager's right hand man, so to speak) told him that he was lucky.  We know that luck had little, if anything, to do with it.  Heavenly Father had a huge role in B getting this job.  It turns our that the position B was hired for is mostly filled by contractors.  They are not Chrysler employees, they work for outside companies and thus they do not get all the perks and benefits of Chrysler employees.  Needless to say, when a position opens up such as the one B was applying for, they are the ones applying for that job and they are typically the ones who get it.  I mean they want the job so that they can have more job security and better benefits plus they've been doing the job for X amount of years and so they know what they're doing.  These are the 4 other guys that B was up against in the interview process, he was the only non-contractor to apply.  Logic says that one of those four guys should have gotten the job, they already know how to do the job.  But the manager chose B, knowing that it would be a two year investment to train him over choosing someone who already knew the job.  For B to get this job, was unheard of and completely unprecedented but it happened and we must give Heavenly Father all the credit.

Stats & Shots

On Wednesday we took Q in for her Well Baby checkup and on Thursday we took her to have her shots.  We had it done on separate days because our health insurance, for whatever reason, does not cover vaccinations.  And since the Health Dept. is a cheaper alternative than doing it at the doctor's office we take that route.  I try not to complain too much about our insurance because I realize that it could be worse, I could be one of the millions with no health insurance.

At 2 months she is weighing in at exactly 11 pounds and she is 23 5/8 inches long with a head circumference of 15 inches.  If you're wondering how that stacks up to Y at 2 months, Y was exactly 12 pounds and 23¾ inches long with a head circumference of 15½.  So there is still a one pound difference in weight but even though Q started out 1½ inches shorter than Y was at birth there is now only 1/8 inch difference between Y at 2 months and Q at the same age.  I'm not comparing the two but I do find it interesting to see their similarities and differences as they grow.

Q was really happy on Thursday, well at least until they gave her shots.  I took "before" pictures with the intention of also taking some "after" pictures but that never happened.  She probably cried for about 15 minutes after the shots and on the drive home she fell asleep.  She continued to nap in her car seat for quite a while and when she woke up she was ready to eat.  After eating she was right back to her happy self...that was a HUGE relief!

Y and myself also got our flu shots while we were there (B gets his at work, the company doesn't really do it for any reason except in an attempt to keep the employees as healthy as possible so that they come in to work).  Y did great though!  She was given the option of having a shot of having the mist, which is inhaled through the nose, and she actually chose the shot.  They also asked if she preferred it in her arm or leg - she chose the leg.  She first watched me get my shot so she could see how brave mommy was and how little it actually hurt.  When it was her turn, she didn't cry or complain one bit.  You'd think she didn't feel anything actually!  We were so proud of her, but it shouldn't surprise us because she didn't cry at 2, 4, or 6 months old when she got her shots.

A Visit With My PCP

On Friday afternoon I had a visit with my primary care physician (PCP) regarding the results of my 75 gram glucose tolerance test.  Since the hospital where I had the tests done, my OB-GYN, and my PCP are all in the same health system it was as simple as pulling up my records on the computer, which makes it super convenient for me.

After quite a long wait Dr. S came in and we had a pretty long discussion about where things stand.  My blood glucose was 164mg/dL after two hours.  He says that while this does show a slight glucose intolerance it's not something that they would really treat with medication - that typically is for those with a blood glucose of 180mg/dL or higher with anything over 200mg/dL being considered diabetic.

So as of now, he wants me to check my blood sugars once per day - either before breakfast, before dinner or before bed - alternating the time each day when I check it.  I'll go back in six weeks and show him the results.  It's interesting that he wants me to check it BEFORE I eat as typically the test is done after eating.  But he really wants to know what they are before I have eaten to know what my blood sugars are like then.  He also had blood drawn in order to have a Hemoglobin A1c done and try to get a baseline number.  If you remember from this post, I had one preformed before I got pregnant with Q and the results weren't so great.  I'm interested to see what it will be this time around.

UPDATE:  Heard from the doctor's office.  My A1c came back as 6.1, before getting pregnant it was at 7.2.  6.1 is definitely an improvement but not yet target range (4.0-5.9) but at least it's not too far off.  He wants me to come in again in 3-4 weeks to have the test run again and see where we are at that point.

6 Weeks!

Never mind that I am a week late writing this post...only 1 day before she turns 7 weeks but it has been a crazy sort of week.  Though the post has been on my mind for most of the last week this is my first opportunity to sit down and actually write it.

Monday, September 12th actually began Q's 6th week with us.  Things are beginning to get back to normal, or the new normal that is.  We've had issues with gas, reflux, colic and sleeping but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The gas kind of went away on it's own so I'm thinking it wasn't the real culprit of all her crying,  it was likely just an added bonus for a few days here and there.  We're still battling the reflux and no matter what I seem to eat, or rather avoid eating, she still has to suffer through it.  During Y's well child visit on Wednesday I had the opportunity to ask him some questions about reflux and he instructed me that if it gets any worse to call in and he will prescribe something for her - calling in is definitely on my todo list after this weekend.  I felt so bad for her, you could really tell that it was bothering her by the cry which she let out after each time she spit up.  I think I have deduced that anytime I have any tomato based product that it is substantially worse but it's always present, just at varying degrees.  As for colic, it's nothing like I thought it would be.  By definition colic is 3 or more hours of crying a day on 3 or more days per week for 3 or more weeks.  That is one of the broadest definitions I've ever heard for anything and so it leads me to believe that colic is more a symptom of a problem than the problem itself.  Also by that definition, yes Q was definitely colicky, but the likely culprit was the reflux and being overtired.  That brings me to the other major issue we battled/are battling - sleep.  Q was a great sleeper until the reflux really kicked into high gear and then she'd wake up every half hour screaming because she had spit up.  We lifted one end of the mattress, put her in the car seat to sleep, none of it seemed to help. And when she'd wake it'd be super difficult to get her back to sleep and by the time we did get her to sleep again she'd wake up because it was time for her to eat.  It was a never ending cycle and caused much frustration on our part and even more crying on her part.  As a result her sleep got all off whack and I would often misread her signals and well, it was an uphill battle.  I started keeping a sleep log and paid more attention to her sleep/wake cycles to get a better grasp on knowing when she was ready to go down to sleep.  I still haven't perfected it but she's napping much better now than she was just over a week ago.  I am hoping that as she sets more of a schedule for herself that it will get easier for me.

Now that she's spending less time crying we've begun to see the smiles and hear the cooing that I love so much.  We've also been able to take more pictures of her which I will share some of below.  While we took Y to her well child visit on Wednesday I put Q on the scale to see approximately how much she weighs currently and she was at 10lbs 4oz.  Granted that was with clothes on (they normally weigh babies with only a diaper on) but being as her clothes don't weigh a heck of a lot I figure it's probably somewhat close to accurate, give or take a few ounces!

 

I LOVE this picture!!

 

The First Week

Where has the week gone?!?!  It's been a whirlwind sort of week.  We were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday and it seems we've been rolling ever since.  It's been nice having B at home with me but that all ends tomorrow when he returns to work.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dreading it.  In fact, in all honesty I get emotional every time I think about it.  I generally don't deal well with approaching and dramatic change, it always overwhelms me, but once thrown into the "fire" I always end up working my way through it and it's never quite as bad as I anticipate it to be.  But it still makes me extremely nervous and on edge.

Y has seemed to adapt fairly well to having a little sister around - well except for when it comes to B holding said little sister. She isn't too keen on sharing daddy yet, hopefully that will become a bit easier for her though.  As for Q, she has been pretty easy going.  She sleeps a lot and we've had a few "disagreements" already when it comes to nursing, but she seems to have relented and is going along with mommy.  She has the most beautiful eyes and I really hope they remain that way though I haven't been able to take a picture yet that captures them.  Anyway, here are a couple pictures which I snapped today since she is now a full week old.  Enjoy!

Q's First Appointment

Today we had Q's first well baby visit and when the pediatrician walked in the first thing he said to me was that he had heard about Q's delivery and knew it was sans epidural. Although he was under the impression it was by choice, so of course I had to correct that impression. But apparently the story of my labor has made it's way around among the doctors and nurses.

As for Q, she's doing great! She has lost another 2 oz since birth which puts her at 7lbs 8oz currently. Before leaving the hospital they told us she was slightly jaundiced and today she was still so but Dr. B didn't think either the low level of jaundice or the weight lose were anything to be concerned about. He thinks that both will correct themselves once my milk comes in - which as of today has happened.

Just as an added update: things at home are going well. Wednesday night and yesterday (Thursday) were pretty tough for all of us I think. But then again I tend to think that the first night home from the hospital is always the toughest. Now that my milk has come in things seem to be going so much more smoothly with Q, Y is an entirely different story. She's struggling but she will adjust as well.

Baby Q Update

All is still well, there is nothing of any significance to report, thankfully.  At this stage I like to believe that no news really is good news.  I now have doctor appointments twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, and it will stay that way until she is born.  As I mentioned before I have to go in to have NSTs done twice a week and even though I gave it my best shot at attempting to convince Dr. L that I only really needed to have one done a week, he didn't buy it.  And so I wake up twice a week at 5am in order to drive B to work.  Fortunately I have awesome friends who have been awesome enough to watch Y for me during these appointments because it would be impossible for me to keep her occupied for an hour while I am hooked up to fetal heart monitors and unable to tend to her.  I am not a morning person at all so getting up so early is leaving me even more tired than I was before.  That also explains why it's been a while between my posts, but it doesn't explain why it's almost 1am and I am still awake - at least I get to sleep in today!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I can't believe we're over half way through December and this is my first post.  I really do frustrate myself lately when it comes to blogging.  I was always so great at keeping it up to date and then life started getting in the way.  I always have ideas for news posts that I want to share with you guys and then I'll get preoccupied with something else and before I know it I have a whole slew of ideas to write about but I realize that to write them all I have to set aside a large chunk of time. *sigh*

So here I am, still with lots of presents to wrap but I decided that for tonight updating my blog was absolutely mandatory.  What's been going on the past several weeks will definitely be covered in the posts that follow but just as a quick run down it'll talk about B's birthday, my visit with the nurse, this year's Christmas Card, and at least one post about Y (since I'm sure that's what keeps you guys coming back anyway)!

FYI:

All Systems Are Go...

I'm pretty sure most of you know what I mean!  If not, then I think it's time you did some catching up on reading our blog!

The October Rundown...

I can't believe October is ending already!!!  It has been a whirlwind of a month but somehow not so much has happened in the month.  I started a parenting class at the beginning of the month and I have really come to enjoy it.  I have gotten tons of ideas from other moms which will help me find better ways to redirect Y.  I think Y is an amazingly mild-mannered and well behaved angel most times but she does have her moments which can cause me to feel a bit overwhelmed.  Mostly I am taking the course to help me in the future to learn better parenting skills in the case that she does one day become a more "active" and "trying" child or for those as-of-yet unborn children which we hope to have...they can't all be angels, can they?  But overall I think it's really helping me but it's an on-going process.

B has been working a lot though he did manage to get our anniversary off work.  We took the opportunity to go up to Birch Run and do some shopping at the outlet center there.  We didn't have the opportunity to go up to Frankenmuth but hope to do that on another trip.  This past week our home was turned into an infirmary.  Y began vomiting on Tuesday night and we bounced back and forth between it being a stomach flu and food poisoning.  We eventually decided on food poisoning because she never had a fever during the whole time.  She vomited a total of 6 times that night: on the kitchen floor; just after her bath as I was getting her dressed in her bedroom, it was all over her changing pad, changing table, carpet, me, and the clean laundry I had just washed but neglected to put away; the next victim was our new couch; followed by the sink in her bathroom, the kitchen sink, and the sink in our bathroom respectively (we smartened up after the carpet and then the couch)!  By Wednesday at noon all was well again and she was literally running around the house as if nothing had happened at all.  Friday afternoon B informs me that he started vomiting at work after lunch and was convinced it was food poisoning, I was beginning to have my doubts as to the whole food poisoning thing but just went along with it.  He kept trying to eat something and as a result he kept vomiting and having chills but there was no fever, finally around 9 or 9:30pm he finally went to bed.  All the while I had been feeling a little sick myself but never really had the urge to puke, well that is until about 10:30pm and it was all downhill from there!  No matter what I did I could not get warm and to top it all off Y woke up at 11:30pm with diarrhea!!!  It was a horrible night!  I tried to think of another that would have been just as bad but all I could come up with was the night after Y was born and I was still relatively unable to move because of all the medications they were giving me (not because of the C-section but because of the unexplained fever that wouldn't break) and those boots that they made me wear to prevent blood clots.  But as I thought about it I realized that at least during that night all I had to do was hit a button and I had a nurse by my bedside.  Friday night I had no magic button and no nurse to help!  Fortunately it was a fast moving bug because by late Saturday morning we were all better!

Quick Updates

It has been almost a month since my last post but I figured you would all understand!  We moved into our new home and slightly less than 2 weeks later we left for vacation, having just returned yesterday I thought it appropriate to post a little something here to keep you all updated.

I had set a goal to have everything setup here in the new place before we left for NC to visit my family; I didn't quite meet that goal.  I still have a few things to put away (more like figure out where I want to put them, mostly things like Christmas decorations, etc.) and to hang all the pictures on the wall.  Y's room is the only room that is completely done, in all the other rooms I still have pictures to hang.  In fact there is nothing on any other walls except the mirror I purchased to hang above the fireplace.  I still get excited thinking of the deal I got on that mirror - 50% off at Garden Ridge because they are moving from one location to another.  It looks great hanging there and I really can't wait to get everything else finished so that I can post pictures for all of you guys to see.

Y is now sleeping in a toddler bed.  A few nights after moving into her new room she quickly figured out how to escape from her crib.  We have had a really difficult time getting her to adjust even though her room is almost exactly the same as before (just almost twice as big).  One morning I woke up to find her laying in my arms and when I asked B what time he had brought her into our bed he replied, "I didn't, I thought you did it."  That is how we figured out she could climb out of the crib.  Honestly the struggle we've had with getting her to sleep in her room has been the only downside of moving.  The past month has been hard on her, I mean we move to a new place then 2 weeks later we go on vacation to a place she probably doesn't remember and then we come back here...I feel for her.  But anyway, as for the toddler bed we really lucked out.  Her crib is a convertible crib so we had to order the special guard rail in order to convert it to a toddler bed (yes they sell rails at Walmart for $20 but I didn't wanna take a chance and buy that one and ruin my beautiful crib).  The only place to order it is at Babies R Us and I had inquired about one earlier in the summer and was told that it would take 10-12 weeks to deliver because it was a special order.  So I called in a panic right before we left for vacation, thinking that would knock 2 weeks off since we'd be away anyway, and they informed me that they now stock them in their warehouse so it would take 7-10 business days for it to arrive.  So it was waiting for us on Saturday after we returned from vacation.  I put it together that same night and it was pure hassle trying to get her to sleep in it because she was beyond tired and hadn't really had a good night sleep since before we moved.  I finally got her to bed only to discover that sometime during the night she had crawled into bed with us.  Tonight it took between 35 and 40 times of her getting out of bed only to have me put her back in bed before she actually fell asleep.  We'll see if she sleeps there through the night...

As for our vacation, it was great!  I loved spending time with my family and seeing how much my nieces and nephews have grown.  We went to Virginia to go to the beach and I gained a huge appreciation for the Outer Banks of NC!  I had been there before but never really had much to compare it to so when we went to the beach in Virginia we really learned the difference between them.  So on Friday we took a 1 day trip to the Outer Banks and really enjoyed it, it was B's first time going there and he kept commenting on how beautiful it was.  We definitely want to go back and stay longer next time.

Well that's a quick run down but I will be back soon with pictures of vacation and the condo once everything is set up.

Condo Update

Instead of writing a whole new post about our latest hurdle I am just going to copy and paste an email which I sent our to our family members seeing as it sums up everything perfectly!

We just wanted to send out an email to everyone and keep you informed on our home-buying process.

Yesterday we received a call from our agent who received a call this past weekend informing him that the couple had run out of time on their short sale process and that the bank is now forcing them into foreclosure. For whatever reason the bank would rather foreclose (and potentially get no money) than accept guaranteed money from a short sale which makes absolutely ZERO sense to me. But obviously banks don't think like normal, rational people! We are extremely disappointed, and initially very angry, because we LOVED that place but we also firmly believe that everything happens for a reason.

So that's a no-go for us and it also only leaves us 10 days to find a new place, make an offer, and have that offer accepted thus creating a legally binding purchase agreement. The deadline for the federal tax credit, which would put up to an additional $8000 in our pocket, is April 30, 2010. Tonight we are going with our agent to view 4 properties (that number is subject to increase as the day goes on) and hopefully we will see something that we like.

Yesterday on the phone he mentioned one possibility which he hasn't yet listed because he'd like us to see it and first decide if we'd be interested in it before anyone else shows any interest. The seller is asking $89,000, it has 2 bedrooms, a basement, it's fairly new and the seller is including all appliances and all furniture. Needless to say it has peaked my interest but the only problem is that we would really prefer to remain closer to where we live now and that that condo is at least 15-20 minutes from here. But we're trying to keep our minds and options open at this point.

Keep us in your thoughts and in your prayers because we're gonna need all the help we can get to pull this one off! I'll let you all know how it goes tonight after all the viewings are done.

Love,
U, B & Y

Pure Joy

So we've been leading a pretty boring life these days which probably explains the lack of posts. However, I feel like I should at least give little updates on the princess who keeps you all coming back and reading.

So here goes...

This is still my favorite age with her, she is so fun, getting more independent and yet she still loves to snuggle up with mommy. She loves to be chased and constantly wants to be outside. Pretty much all day every day she says, "wanna go bye-bye" and "outside" it makes me really sad when the weather outside is crappy and I can't take her out. Last week we had several rainy days and she would literally just stand at the window and look out. She loves to climb up and down stairs and while at B's parent's place last week she got pretty good at it; she was able to climb up and down slowly all alone as long as she held on to the rail - we did of course stay close by in case something went wrong. Not all is happy-go-lucky about this stage though. Her favorite word is "no" even if it's something she actually wants. She can throw some pretty intense tantrums (though fortunately for us they are few and far between) and she hates shoes (makes me question if she's really mine, haha). And that's it...that's all the bad! I feel pretty lucky about that, there are days when she tests my patience more than others, but all-in-all I LOVE being her mommy. She is constantly adding words to her vocabulary and now songs to her knowledge base. She still sings "EIEIO" from Old McDonald, she can sing parts of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, she has "ABCDFG" (skipping the E, probably because it sounds like D and E run together) from the alphabet song, she's been signing the Barney Song for quite some time now. She still runs to me and gives me a hug whenever I have my arms stretched out. She has finally started showing some interest in playing with baby dolls, although she typically tosses them to the side when she's done. She has her daddy wrapped around her finger...and she knows it. She realizes that when mommy says no, daddy might say yes (but not if he knows what's good for him, haha).

To sum it all up...she is pure joy!!!

Updates

Just taking a moment to give you guys an update on our daily life. I think that the most exciting thing is that Y is walking full time now. She rarely ever crawls anymore and it really just happened one day, it's literally like she just up and decided she wanted to walk instead of crawl and that's what she did. I think it's so cute that even though she can do it on her own, she still likes to hold our hand when we are walking with her. A few days ago I was sitting on the couch and she was sitting on the floor playing not too far from me and I said to her, "Mommy has to go potty." She promptly got up from her spot took my hand and walked me to the bathroom. I thought it was the most adorable and funny thing and probably ironic that in 50 years or so she may have to do that all over again, hahaha. She will also walk us to her bedroom when we tell her it's time for a diaper change. She loves to climb on things and under things. It's not her favorite show but she walks around the apartment quite often saying, "Barney!" and she also sings "EIEIO" quite a bit, especially when she here's her Nana's (B's mom) voice on the phone. She is really turning into quite the little tape recorder because she tries to say pretty much everything that she hears someone else saying...even on TV. There's this one pizza commercial that comes on which walks about a tutu and after the commercial goes off you can just hear her saying "tutu, tutu." She is soooo much fun to be around, I enjoy every minute with her and I sometimes find myself sad because I don't want my little girl to grow up. She's walking now, and I'm content with her staying at this point forever. Although I also find that I am getting that itch and I found myself saying to B a few nights ago, half jokingly, "let's have another baby" but I think we're still planning on sticking to our time line.

As for an update on the condo...we ran into a small setback. We were looking to get an FHA loan which would allow us to put less than 20% down, an FHA loan requires only 3.5%. The problem that we have run into is that in order to get an FHA loan the property has to be FHA approved, the condo is not. Prior to February 1, 2010 this would have been slightly easier to work around. Prior to Feb. 1 they allowed spot approvals which basically meant that you could get a single condo approved. However, since they no longer do those it means we have to get the entire complex FHA approved. We've recently found out that this isn't an impossible task and we're slightly more encouraged than we were when we first found out. We've had our agent and mortgage broker working on it and they've given us some fairly positive news on the issue. At first they were estimating that it could potentially cost us $1500 which is really a price we're not willing to pay considering: 1)FHA approval could be denied 2) the short sale could be denied. So for those 2 reasons we were not willing to throw $1500 out the window. Fortunately we have found out now that it won't cost nearly that much and we'll likely only end up paying the fee for any documents that the home owner's association my charge for - potentially $150. Now in the instance that none of this FHA approval stuff works...we'll likely be taking the conventional loan route. So for now, this is only a small setback!

What's New

As for what's new with us, we've just been enjoying life. As you've seen Y is now taking steps and though she's not walking full time yet she is getting bolder by the day. She is officially 17 months old and I swear she just gets cuter and more fun by the day. We have been so blessed when it comes to her. She is THE happiest baby I've ever encountered and apparently the happiest and most mild mannered baby that many people have ever come across. I am constantly getting comments on how well behaved she is or how she just goes with the flow. And it is SO true. She has adapted to going to sleep on her own really well, in fact whenever I lay her in her crib, whether it be nap time or bedtime, as I leave the room I'll blow her a kiss and as I'm closing the door she always says "BYE!" I want to laugh every time she does it...it makes my heart melt. She loves hugs and kisses and I'm pretty sure we have a cheerleader in training as her newest phrase is "LET'S Go!!!" And the exclamation points are no exaggeration, i assure you. Every time she says it, she says it with such umph and gusto that you'd think she was cheering on a football or basketball team. Did I tell you how much I LOVE my little girl?!?! She is quite the character and she loves to have mommy and daddy's attention. She likes to pretend that remotes are telephones and she'll place it to her ear (or anyone else's for that matter) and say "hewo." She also knows when it's time to say prayer and if you tell her to fold her arms she always does it, though they typically don't stay folded throughout the entire prayer (no matter how short the prayer is). She recently dropped her water cup on the floor and broke it and we went out and bought her new cups. One was for water and one was for milk. Now the cups are very similar, the design on each is very slightly different, to the point that B doesn't even know the difference yet. So I will hand her the water cup and she will vigorously shake her head no. I will then take out the milk cup and give it to her and she will take it, sit down on the floor and drink to her hearts content. I have no idea how she was able to tell the difference so fast, she must have an amazing sense of detail. Did I mention how much I LOVE her?!?! haha. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm bragging but honestly I never tire of talking about her to anyone that will listen (or read).

As for other things...we've been house hunting and it's coming along. We're hoping to find a place by June which is when our lease ends. At times it's frustrating because we are looking for houses in a very specific area which narrows our choices down a little and at the same time we're "ballin' on a budget" so we want to find something that will stay around the price we pay for rent because we don't wanna cut into the amount we put into savings every month. We've found things that we like, most of which are priced really cheap because they're short sales or foreclosures but the problem we run into is that we like them...and so do a lot of others so the bidding wars begin. Fortunately, time is on our side...for now.

B plays basketball pretty much every Thursday night with the guys at church, so far their team is 2-0. I'm glad he's finally able to do it this year, every year previously he wasn't able to because of my school or for whatever reason it just didn't work with our schedule. He really loves basketball and it's been so long since he's been able to play it, he works so hard that I'm just glad it works out for him to play. I think that pretty much covers everything that's going on with us these days...I'll try to be a better blogger and not be too neglectful. 143

We're Still Here

I guess I should start this post with an apology, it has been a very long time since my last post. I didn't post much, if anything, while my mom was visiting and by the time she left I guess I had just gotten out of the habit. Luckily though, there hasn't been a whole lot going on with us so this probably won't take too long.

Last month we received what is quite possibly the best gift we've ever been given (it's definitely in the top 2)! Someone very close to us, paid off our car loan! We were both surprised as well as being very excited and it could not have come at a better time. It was an answer to a prayer and definitely a message from Heavenly Father letting me know that we're on the right track. The extra money each month has allowed us to save more money each month which will hopefully enable us to buy a house sooner, assuming we find something affordable in the location that we want.

We had a pregnancy scare this month. Or at least I had a scare, B didn't seem to be worried either way. I guess scare may be a little too severe a word but let me just say I'm not quite ready for #2 yet. Had it turned out that we were pregnant I would have come to accept it and even be excited about it, but I am really relieved that we're not. I have a tendency to plan things out, and sometimes, when things don't go as I plan I can get pretty emotional and even a little upset. Right now I just wanna take some time and enjoy being with Y. That combined with the fact that I'm really not ready for the multiple night feedings, being sleep deprived, and just becoming anyone's personal milking machine quite yet. When the time comes that we're ready for #2 (or even if we're not ready but it's on its way anyway) rest assure I will let all of you know, but as for right now...I'm just relieved!

Y is now 14 months old! She is still not walking and that's probably due to the fact that I want her to walk so badly. I have heard from some moms who have said that their son or daughter didn't walk until 18 months and some even a little bit later. I REALLY don't wanna wait that long. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will walk by Christmas. I should not, however, be surprised that she is taking her time learning to walk. She is such a laid back little girl and doesn't really seem to be in a rush to do things, take crawling for example. She has 4 teeth all coming in at once and she has been surprisingly tolerable through it all. We recently bought her a toothbrush to brush her teeth, previously we had been using one of those rubber fingertip brushes that you slide onto your finger. I was certain that she would just take the toothbrush out of my hand and start chewing on it but she doesn't. She LOVES getting her teeth brushed so she makes no effort to take the brush from me. When she sees me grab the toothbrush and her toothbrush she gets all excited and happy; maybe we have a future dentist on our hands. She still refuses to touch her own food although I did get her to pick up some french fries on one occasion, but other than that she moves her hand away whenever I try to make her take food. She has started trying to help me feed her when using a spoon, she will grab the spoon and pull it to her mouth. She still brings us so much joy and I love to do anything that will make her laugh because it is the cutest, most heartwarming sound I've ever heard. I really do love being a mom, but then again, she makes it easy!

No Clever Title Here!

It's been a really long time since my last post and I'm not really sure why. I haven't been doing anything exciting at all, in fact it's definitely been the least occupied I've been in a very long time. I suppose after the excitement of April and the first several days of May - having family visiting - my life has seemed pretty dull and I really haven't had much to post. But I have had a lot on my mind these days but I'll save that all for another post. We're all doing fairly well. I say fairly because at least one of us in the house is semi-sleep deprived. I should have known it was too good to be true when Y started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. She's making up for it now, though most times it's just a matter of going in and giving her a pacifier. But there are a few nights when she wants mommy to pick her up and snuggle her for a little while before putting her back down. The constant sleep interruptions are very draining! Don't even get me started on nap time because that has become a battle as well! Other than those 2 issues, she's still as happy and loving as always.

B gets a 3-day weekend this week so we're heading for Canada after church on Sunday and will be there through Tuesday night. As for me, I need to find a hobby! Some days I get bored out of my mind and I find myself missing interacting with the outside world. We have been taking the opportunity to go out and enjoy this beautiful weather we've been having here. We will go to the park after dinner or just walk around the lake here together. Y loves being in her stroller and just looking at everything as it goes by. With any luck all of the outside air will help her sleep better! Speaking of which...I'd better go get some sleep before she wakes up for the first time of the night! ttyl

Update

So I wanted to type up a quick update because I know a lot of you check the blog on Sunday. Y has been responding really well to both creams that were prescribed by the dermatologist. The rash that covered her face and body seems to be clearing up slowly and as for the place on her head it seems to be healing nicely as well. We're still not totally there yet and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't reoccur as it has in the past. We're being optimistic!

As for the whole thing about the Mongolian Spots, I called her pediatrician to ask more questions and he simply laughed and said that he had never heard of such thing and assured me that many of his patients have Mongolian Spots but are all fine. I was satisfied with that answer. Not that I don't think the dermatologist knows his stuff but I was definitely comforted to know that in all his years and in all his patients he's never dealt with such a case.

Well it's late and I'm tired so I'm going to bed but I wanted to post an update for everyone. 143.

Overdue

I haven't posted anything in about 10 or 11 days so I figure this is way overdue! January is always such a busy month or at least it always seems that way. So that coupled with the fact that our lives have been pretty boring and thus I had nothing to post explains why I haven't posted anything. Y is getting so much personality now and she is such a good baby that I definitely have nothing to complain about. She consistently sleeps until either 8:30 or 9:30 in the morning and when she wakes she is content playing with her feet in her crib for another 10 to 15 minutes. After that I put her in bed with me, she eats and allows me to go back into a light sleep while she feeds. When she's done eating she goes back to playing with her feet and talking, allowing me to get another hour or so of sleep. She will lay there and entertain herself for 45 minutes to an hour and then she'll put herself to sleep. She'll nap for another 45 minutes to an hour and then we get up and go about our day! She really spoils mommy, it's like she knows how much I like to sleep and so she allows me to do it. She is generally happy as long as mommy is around. I don't necessarily have to be the one that's holding her, but she needs to be able to see me or hear me, especially at night. On Wednesday night I came home from school and since we've had so much snow there are spaces in our parking lot that I don't like to park in because they either haven't been plowed that great or because the plower (i doubt that's a word) put all the snow there. So I parked a little farther than I normally would have. Well as I'm walking up the sidewalk I hear a baby crying and I realize it's Y (a mother knows her baby's cry). So I start walking really fast up the stairs to the apartment and unlock the door, as soon as I get inside I say, "hey baby, mommy's home," all crying ceased immediately. I rush in, remove my coat, scarf and gloves, take her in my arms and she begins to smile and play like there was never anything wrong. She did this again tonight when I came home, cried until she heard my voice and then smiled and played as soon as she saw me. I think we can classify her as a momma's girl (for now at least). But as you will see in one of the videos below, she loves her daddy too! She loves eating her rice cereal, her feet (with or without socks), her fingers and the fingers of whoever happens to be holding her at the time. She loves to talk, squeal and just make her presence known in general. Anyway, here are some pictures and some video of her but be sure to pause the music at the bottom so you can hear her. If you can't find the pause button it's at the on the left side of the player under the little thumbnail picture. 143. Enjoy!

Pictures:

Videos:

Here she is attempting to eat her feet and then squealing.

This is her welcoming Daddy home from work.