O Baby!

Six Month Letter

2011-07-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Clara,

And with that, you're officially 6 months old. I can't believe I'm writing that. It feels as though you've been a part of our family and our lives forever. It's hard to remember what it was like with 'just' 3 of us. I do remember that it was easier, A LOT easier, but the amount of love that you've added to our family, our little unit is immeasurable.

You never fail to make us smile. Your cries are infrequent, but when you do, you jet out your lower lip and make us all pout with you. It's adorable.
You're such a happy baby. Easy going. You only really fuss when something is seriously wrong. You're a pleasure to be around, and you're adaptable to each person as you meet them.
We baptized you this month, Clara. You did so well, no tears, no naps, but a lot of love.
Aunt Laura had deemed herself your Fairy Godmother and Uncle Andy is your Godfather. We know they'll watch out for you. We know Uncle Andy will be vital to ensuring Dad's 'No Dating Until You're 30' policy stays intact. He'll arrest anyone that asks you out on a date. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I love your little personality. You love to smile, to laugh, to make us laugh. Your favorite activity is to watch your sister. I know sooner rather than later, you'll be following her around. But for now, you watch.
With your big brown eyes. I wanted you to have brown eyes. It looks like they're headed in that direction. They make me smile almost as much as your hair.
:) You love to jump, jump, jump in your jumpy. You could play in that thing all day if we'd let you! You're so very strong, my dear. Daddy is already calling you his little soccer player.
There's that hair! I fully expected it to fall out, but it's held on. Often times, I think it looks like a little toupee. I can only imagine how it will look when it's long and curly!
Sigh, half a year old. What will I ever do with you? How can I keep you small, loving, non-mobile and non-verbal? Just like with your sister, I cherish these moments, because I know they'll soon be gone. I've been packing up your newborn and 3 month clothes slowly as it's the last time I'll ever pack up clothes that tiny. The last time I'll wash them. I'll continue to cheer your developmental milestones, but I'll also mourn the months as they go by. I'll do my best to document, for you, for me but I'm honestly struggling to keep up. You're growing so very fast!
I love you, Peanut. You'll always be my peanut. Thank you for being you.

Love,

Ma-Ma

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jenna.

2011-06-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Jenna,

First off, let me apologize for not getting a 'Happy 2nd Birthday' letter written for you. When you turned 2, I was in a difficult position. I had just been laid off, had no job and was newly pregnant. I didn't want to divulge that information on the internet and didn't end up getting the letter done. That being said, I thought you changed a lot from 1-2, the difference between 2-3 is amazing.

You didn't grow up so much in regard to your features, but your hair grew and grew. Your smile and eyes still have the same sense of wonder, the same sparkle. But your mannerisms, your flair for life, your bossy toddlerhood truly emerged.
You're a clear leader. You'd be a dictator if we'd let you. You have an opinion. One that we hear whether we want to or not. Sometimes, that's a good thing....
Other times, well, it's difficult for all involved. You went from using toddler words and sucking your thumb to well, still sucking your thumb but speaking in sentences.
And dress up. Oh, the dress up. If we let you dress up, we had to prepare ourselves for the end of the day when it was time to take the dress up clothes OFF. Tantrum city. But seeing you in your princess goods with your shoes on the wrong feet was worth it every time.
Because you're beautiful.
And you make us laugh. A lot.
We moved you into a big girl bed in the fall of 2010. You picked out the bedding all by yourself and were so very pleased with your pink princess bedding. The transition went a lot smoother than your Dad and I anticipated, and we got a little sniffly when we realized you really are growing up faster than we'd like.
Your speech blows us away. Speaking in full sentences. Repeating ANYTHING you hear, in context, up to a few weeks after you heard it. You're smart, big girl. Brilliant even. It keeps us on our toes and it forces us to try to stay one step ahead. We aren't always able to keep up.
Our family of 3. Not for much longer :)
This year you were so excited for the holidays. You remembered last year, but this year you really understood that if we went trick or treating, you would get CANDY. You also loved to dress up in your costume, which resulted in tears each and every day we asked you to take it off.
Which leads me to the day I bribed you for a nap. Because we're trying to stay one step ahead of you, I told you you could try on my wedding dress, but only if you took a nap. A GOOD nap. One that would let Mommy rest as I was pregnant and tired that day. And you did. You were SO VERY EXCITED to try on my wedding dress, even though you couldn't move in it. I have fond memories of dressing up in my Mom's wedding dress. It's the primary reason behind me holding on to my dress, for you, for your sister to play dress up.
Those blue eyes. You will forever have both your Dad and I wrapped around your finger with a glance in our direction. As for boys, you won't be permitted to date until you're 30, per your Dad's rules. Keep those eyes away from the boys.
More dresses. We can no longer go shopping for you while you tag along. Now you have an opinion. You have to pick out the outfit. If we pick something you don't like, well, we don't purchase it. You have to pick out your outfit. Gone are the days of dressing you up as I pleased. Now we must coordinate around YOU. One would think you were a teenager or something.
And then you became a big sister. You love your sister so very much. Sometimes too much, especially in the beginning. You wanted to hold her, love her, SQUEEZE her.
I was so proud of your transition into sisterhood. You are very protective of YOUR baby sister, Clara Jane. You let anyone that glances in her direction know her name and that she's yours. You never asked to send her back. You knew she was part of our family and you welcomed her with open arms, ready to squeeze her. And love her and squeeze her some more.
We still try to get one on one play time with you, however. You don't seem to need it, but I think your Dad and I like the one on one time with you for us. It's good to remember that you were here for all that time without Clara, and even though it's hard to remember those days since she fell into our lives so seamlessly, it's fun to spend time walking, talking and playing with you as a big girl.

You're such a ham. You LOVE the camera. It works out well as I'm a shutterbug.
I keep trying to step out of my comfort zone and allow you to help me bake. This was another thing I used to do with Grandma when I was little. I have fond memories of baking with her. As far as letting you bake with me, we do, on occasion, when I'm ready to clean up the big mess. But you LOVE licking the mixer almost as much as I do :) You get the mixer wand and I get the spatula. We make a great team.

Your relationship with Daddy makes me swoon. I love to see the two of you together, I love to see him teach you, I love to see you learn. It's really awesome.

Big girl, you really are awesome. So intelligent. So beautiful. You make each and everyday a challenge. I remind myself often to love you as you are today because as I already know, time flies by. I can't believe you're *3*!
Happy birthday, big girl. You'll start preschool this next year. I've realized how quickly the time has gone by, and how little time I have left before you're in 'real' school. You're growing up before our eyes and I cheer the developmental leaps you're making at the same time I mourn the toddlerhood you're trying to leave behind. Can I keep you like this forever?

I love you very much, Bean.

Love,

Mama

Five Month Letter

2011-06-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Clara,

Peanut, you're growing by leaps and bounds. Suddenly, you've decided staying petite is for the birds, and you're growing, growing, growing! We recently had your check up and you were just shy of 14 pounds. You're still on the small side, but catching up to the average very quickly.

You, my dear, are quite the chatterbox. You like to 'yell' at your sister in particular, to get her attention and to try to get her to talk to you. You absolutely adore her and that makes me so very happy. You're currently working on bringing in your bottom two teeth and you again have shown us that you are very different from your sister in that you'll fuss a bit, but if we give you something to chew on (even if only our wrist), you're a happy camper.
We recently brought your jumper home and you are a VERY happy girl. You love to jump and jump and jump the day away. Your legs are getting strong. Dr. Covin (your pediatrician) had you standing (supported) and was trying to encourage you to take a step. I scolded him and told him we're not ready for a mobile baby! You have, however, figured out how to maneuver around on your belly... you kind of scoot and kick and pull and suddenly you're 180 degrees from where we put you down and 2 feet away from the original location. I refuse to believe you're going to be crawling in a few short months. That doesn't stop you from trying.
You don't fuss often, but when you do, it's mighty cute. I still haven't gotten 'the' lip on film, but I had to snap this one before rescuing you because you are just too darn cute.
Pop Pop (Daddy's Grandpa) came out to visit along with your Great Aunt Reenie and Great Uncle Harold. They were so very excited to meet you! Aunt Reenie said you look a lot like her daughter (Daddy's cousin), Jeanine. Lots of curly hair and the O family skin tone. I'm so happy you had the opportunity to meet Pop Pop as I don't know that he'll be able to visit California again.
Clara, you're fun. You make coming home my favorite part of the day, just to see your big smile and watch you jump, jump, jump! But what I love even more than that is watching you make your sister giggle, who in turn makes you giggle and then the giggle fits spread to your Daddy & I, too. Life is good.
I love you so much. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being our happy easy baby. Thank you for only being 5 months old today. Now, you can stop growing, ok? Wait. I take that back. I am looking forward to seeing your personality continue to emerge, I know I've met you and I already know you, but I look forward to one day have the conversations I'm having with your older sister, with you. Just don't grow too fast, ok?

Love,

Mama

Four Month Letter

2011-05-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Clara,

And suddenly, you're 4 months old. You've absolutely moved beyond the infant/sleepy/fussy/QUIET phase. In previous letters, I mentioned you being the 'quiet observer'. Peanut, that's no longer the case. You have officially discovered your voice, my dear and you use it often! You sound like a baby dinosaur with your screeches. It's adorable and you can have your Dad and I laughing hysterically within minutes.

You are a happy baby. As long as you're fed, and changed, you're quite content. I had to spend a night in the hospital this month and it absolutely broke my heart. I was away from you for more hours than I care to count. I had to give you formula because I didn't have enough milk stored and I was on medications that prevented me from feeding you. The formula made you smell different. You were a trooper and good for Daddy and Grandma while I was away. You were good to me and allowed me to rest to get better. I am better now, but I hope to never forget the torment of being apart, even if only a short period of time.
You adore your sister. She loves you, too, and I really hope you and she are able to have the relationship that continues like in the photo below for the rest of your lives. If not, I've taken the liberty of having that photo mounted on canvas so I can forever remember your relationship together at this age. You adore her, she can't get enough of you and we have to remind her to be gentle. You've NEVER complained or whined when she talks to you, sticks her fingers in your mouth (or eye, or nose, or grabs your hand, or hugs you firmly).
I love your hair. Your super curly wild and crazy hair. And your lips. Grandma thinks you got them from her, but I really think they're Daddy's lips. I just can't get enough. When you get upset, you jet your lip out and it's SO very sad. We can't help but scoop you up and rescue you as we chuckle at your perfect pouty lip.
You're beautiful, a joy to be around. You make life so much fun.
We had Easter at our house this year, you enjoyed soaking up all the attention in the bunny hat that Aunt Heidi and Uncle Mike got for you :)
We had a tea party/dress up party to watch the Royal Wedding. We had a great time and although I know you won't remember it, hopefully you'll be able to look back on these pictures as your first dress up party.
Clara, I'm at a difficult crossroad... I LOVE seeing you grow up, seeing your personality emerge, your voice babble. I love watching you work on rolling (you can do it, but you have to WANT to do it, and there's lots of talking involved in the process) I love seeing you get your baby fat (finally!) I love interacting with you. At the same time, I morn the sleepy snuggly infant you once were. I pout as I pack up your newborn clothes, and my maternity clothes. I know that you'll never be THIS small again. Ever. So I try to take everything one day at a time. Soak up your infant smell, your infant squeaks & snores. I know one day, before I'm ready, you'll be a toddler but for now, I'm enjoying you as a 4 month old.

I love you, Peanut.

-Mama

This has been my life for the last few weeks

2011-04-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

I ended up being hospitalized for some awesomely fun issues. Since then, my diet has been restricted, I've been on a multitude of medications and I've managed to keep breastfeeding. I don't ever want to forget this episode and hopefully it will lead to a diagnosis shortly. Being separated from my family if for only 30 hours was one of the toughest things I've ever done.

Three Month Letter

2011-04-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Clara Jane,

Today you are 3 months old. Where the time has gone is beyond me. You, my dear, have absolutely filled our lives with so much joy and love, we hardly know what to do with ourselves. Your Daddy, Jenna, Irma and I will all bend over backwards and do whatever needs to be done to see your smile. And those dimples slay us. Often times, we just come out looking silly as you stare at us.

I went back to work this month. Before I did, we went to as many Mommy & Me groups as possible and I ate plenty of cupcakes for both of us. I can't help it, they're delicious and right across the street from Day One.
We had the opportunity to go up to Nanny & Poppie's house for a visit. You did absolutely wonderfully. I think you enjoyed the dry mountain air. Having Nanny there to spoil you helps tremendously as well.
Right before heading back to work, I wanted to get photos of you and Jenna among the beautiful daffodils in Livermore. I had great visions of you and her with smiles surrounded by flowers. You had other ideas:
Once I told Jenna it wasn't appropriate to try to hush you, you actually quieted down a bit.
Until you realized I had you in a basket, you had no pacifier and you weren't physically touching me.... We fixed all those problems:
You're so inquisitive. You don't hesitate to evaluate everything around you, size it up, and then decide whether you're going to smile or cry.... or just continue to stare with those ever active eyebrows.
You've been terrific at Irma's. For the first few weeks, she threatened to keep you. She said you were just the perfect baby, smiling all day long, only whimpering when you were hungry or needed to sleep. She adores you and we couldn't be happier to have you with your sister during the day. I love the faces that you give me. It makes me ache to come home and see what 'face' I'll be getting when I see you.
And then, when you're sleeping, I just want to smooch your sleepy baby lips. It's moments like this that I just want to hold on to. I know it's all fleeting and that makes me sad, however, the thought of you walking and talking and playing with Jenna makes me wish time moved faster. It's a strange dichotomy.
Your chubby baby toes... again, it's all fleeting. Soon you'll have stinky toddler feet. And painted toes. And as much as I try to deny the fact that now I'll have *two* teenage daughters, one day you'll be wearing heels and makeup and driving away.... It's those thoughts that make me grab my camera as much as possible and capture you now. New, fresh and squishy.

Your sister loves you so very much. Sometimes a little too much. She wants to hug and kiss and squeeze you. She tries to help you hold your rattle and gets excited when you look at her and smile at her. She's just as smitten as the rest of us.
You may be small (petite, really), but you've opened our lives to a love I didn't think was possible. You continue to enrich each of our lives with a sense of wonder. Thank you, CJ.

Love,

Mama

Two Month Letter

2011-03-03T10:03:00.001-08:00

Dear Clara,

Happy two month birthday! As expected, the time continues to fly by and I can't believe you're already 1/6th of a year old. At the beginning of the month, Grandma said every picture of you is either yawning or sleeping. I reminded her that that's just what you do at this age. Well, that, and be cute. You're an old pro at that.

Then, you started smiling. You're quite reserved with your smiles, you primarily share them with Daddy, but every now and then I get to peek at one as well. You have shallow dimples, and I'll do just about anything to get a glimpse at them. I'm not sure where you got them from, but I'm in love with them already. Adorable.

You've rolled over a few times, but the kind of rolling over that is completely and totally unintentional. You've come close to rolling off the couch (and gave your Daddy a near heart attack in the process) and you like to turn your head from side to side as I hold you. Your head control is good for short periods of time and then you flop. I think you look like a ventriloquist's puppet. Daddy will move your lower lip so it's as though you're singing and talking...
You've turned out to be a relatively good sleeper thus far. Yes, I'm still getting up in the middle of the night, but when you decide you want to sleep, you do just that. I know it's short lived and now that I've actually written the above words, I'm sure you'll change your sleeping habits drastically, but I want to write it down to remember you CAN sleep :)

Your fussy period tends to start either at dinner time, or, more commonly just as I'm finishing up Jenna's bedtime story. You are not happy, tend to be over tired and just cry. It breaks my heart knowing I really can't do anything to make it better, but try, try, try to soothe you. Bouncing on the exercise ball, shh'ing and playing the 'hairdryer' track on the computer works at times, but not always. I continue to remind myself that this is a phase, a short lived phase and I soak up all the other times of the day. However 8pm - 10pm seem to be the slowest 2 hours of the day...
We're starting to get a glimpse into your personality. I still think you'll be the serious one, but in the last few days, you've started to use your voice. You like to talk to the frog that hangs from your bouncy seat, you chatter and laugh at him and it makes my heart smile. Then, when I peek over to see your face, you look at me as though I'm intruding on your conversation. Sorry, Peanut, I'll make sure to give you some alone time with the frog.
The last month has been filled with play dates, lunches, Mommy & Me classes and friends. I also took you to a two day planning conference for work and you did quite well. I can assure you that's the last time you'll be taken to a work meeting. Mommy has become addicted to Kara's Cupcakes and we visit them as often as is possible (dangerous... and I wonder why the pregnancy weight isn't falling off).
You're a blast. I'm enjoying each moment I have with you before going back to work. You've already gained quite a bit of weight as you're likely at approximately 10 pounds (you can blame the Kara's cupcakes, too). Getting bigger every day. Newborn clothes are a thing of the past. You're smiling, laughing (which kind of sounds like you're choking... either way it gets our attention) and taking the rather forceful hugs, kisses and hand holding of your older sister amazingly well.
Thank you so much for choosing us as your family. Thank you for completing our family. We can't wait to love and embarrass you (as only family can do) simultaneously.

Love,

Mommy

We're starting to see smiles...

2011-02-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

Clara's now 6 weeks old. That magical age that comes with a growth spurt (read: fussy, overtired, cluster feeding mess) and then magically rewards the parents with smiles. Clara seems to be a serious child and only smiles on rare occasions thus far... but when she does... it's magical. She's got dimples, y'all!

Thank goodness for the smiles because dealing with a baby that only eats, poops and cries is no fun. Good thing she's cute.

One Month Letter

2011-02-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Clara,

You've been in this world for a month now. I know time flies by, and I knew that when I was pregnant, and I planned, and hoped that I could somehow, some way slow time down and appreciate every minute I had with you while you're tiny. I have done my best to soak in every minute, every squeak, every grunt (and oh are you ever a grunter!) the bat of every eyelash and even the cries.

You arrived early. I wasn't ready for you to come out yet. I was still enjoying rubbing your back while you were in my belly. I enjoyed watching you kick vigorously and I especially enjoyed watching you try to escape through my belly button on New Years Eve. I hope to never forget that night. I think you were celebrating being a 2011 baby and escaping the ability to be claimed on 2010 taxes (speaking of, we could have used that deduction, apparently).

Your first two to three weeks, you were so sleepy. Quiet. Yes, when you cry, it's LOUD, but you were quite content. Happy. It seems as though you've started to wake up in the last week and a half or so. And by wake up I mean you've been getting fussy. And by fussy I mean that the minute we turn off the light in Jenna's room and say good night to her, you scream bloody murder. Because you apparently like to keep us up on our toes. And up at night, too. We know that's par for the course, and although you're giving us a run for our money, I really don't think it's as bad as it was with your sister.

I should warn you. As the second child, my only experience in parenting was your sister. I don't have any other reference point. So although I'll try not to compare and contrast, I know it's bound to happen and I apologize for that. I'll try not to make it a competition (although if it was, Jenna would be kicking your butt in the colic category, which I absolutely appreciate right now!) So I'm sorry about all the comparisons well in advance. Tell your therapist I said so in about 20 years, ok?
I think you're going to be quiet and reserved. Not necessarily shy, but your facial expressions say so much about your personality already. You make some awesome faces. Daddy and I can't help but laugh when you're stretching and you make the turtle face. It's so cute. Your forehead furrows when you're stretching, when you're tired and you're able to make a fierce 'raisin face' something Daddy has yet to master.
Your hair. You have so much hair. And it's all at least an inch long. I haven't tried to do pigtails just yet, but don't be surprised if I try in the near future before it thins out.
You absolutely complete our family. It's like we were waiting for you and now our family is whole. You warm each of our hearts and it's already difficult to remember what life was like before you made your appearance.
Your sister adores you. She's quick to come up and give you hugs and kisses, and asks to hold you all the time. You tolerate her excitement pretty well. I hope one day you'll grow to be very close with one another, as I'd imagine only sisters can be.
You're growing like a weed. As I mentioned earlier, you're up over two pounds, out of all of your newborn sleepers already. I keep grasping to slow time down, but it just doesn't happen. I know I can't keep you small, and although it's tempting, I really am excited to get to know YOU, your personality.
When I was pregnant, I had no clue what you would look like. People asked me all the time I and I replied 'I guess she'll just look like Jenna'. When you arrived, I was surprised at how very wrong I was. You started off looking like your cousin, Annika and now you've developed your own little 'look'. I can't tell who you look like though I see glimpses of my Grandma in your facial expressions. Your head is small and your features are small as well, but well developed. You look more like a little person than a baby. I'm sure I'll eat those words in a year or two (or ten!) but you look mature for the ripe old age of 1 month.

Thank you, Clara for choosing us as your family. For letting us love and embrace you and torture you as your parents (and sibling!) for the rest of your life. I'll do my very best for you, always.

Love,

Mommy

Clara Jane's Birth Story

2011-01-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

So, in my last post, I said I was having some contractions, and they were timeable, but I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be the day. Afterall, it was 10 days before my due date and I wasn't ready. There was so much I had planned to do the week of January 3rd once Jenna was back in day care. So much to do to prep for the baby, to have a little down time to myself. To enjoy being pregnant for the last time. The pregnancy was treating me well, I wasn't miserable. I needed a pedicure. :)

At 3am on January 3rd, I woke up with pregnancy insomnia. Pretty typical. I waited a half hour in bed and decided to get up to get some work done. Payroll was due the next day and I wanted to get the time sheets prepped. I went to log into my work computer (remotely) and I couldn't get in for some reason. Hence, the blogging. I was just awake.

About 4am, I noted some contractions. Not painful, but I did recognize there was a pattern to them. So I started writing down the start times. 4 minutes apart. Hmmm... My last labor progressed really quickly, so I definitely was paying attention. I was starving all the sudden, so I went to make a bowl of oatmeal (the frozen stuff from TJ's is awesome, btw) at about 5:00. The contractions were progressively becoming more painful and I had to start breathing through them a bit. In between each contraction, I was doing great. I went back to bed at 5:30 in hopes of slowing the contractions down. It did that, but it also made them stronger. They were 6 minutes apart but I had to really go to my happy, calm, labor place to get through them. I did visualization with my last delivery, and I had been reviewing the materials periodically through this pregnancy. I was much more calm this time around, and I think that helped in the long run.

I decided I would wake Nick at 6:30, 20 minutes before Jenna wakes up to tell him I was in labor and this was most likely it. I sat and thought about the January 3rd birthday that this baby girl would likely have. I thought about all I hoped and planned to do with this week, while Jenna was at day care, Nick was at work and I was going to put my feet up, read, shop and relax before the baby comes. Of course, that all went out the window. I continued to breath through the contractions.

I remembered last time I was rather violent with each contraction... Yelling, groaning, in pain, voicing that pain for all to hear. This time, I realized the less I 'fought' each contraction, the easier they passed. They were still painful but I was able to focus to get through them. I knew they would end soon, I could feel them ramp up, peak and fade out. It helped that they were 3-5 minutes apart, so I had time to collect my thoughts, talk to Nick or do whatever I needed to do in between.

So I woke Nick up, told him and no less than 10 seconds after I told him, Jenna got up early for the day. We sent her back to her bed, told her to wait for her alarm clock to turn green. Nick got in the shower, I laid back down for 10 minutes before Jenna got up for good for the day (6:55 am). I got her dressed, she didn't question my brief pauses as I worked through each contraction. Thoughts flew through my head of 'what if this isn't really it? We would have called all the grandparents to come down for nothing' but another contraction would hit, and I knew this baby was coming.

I got in the shower while Nick called his parents and my parents. At 7:30 I called Labor & Delivery and told them the contractions varied from 3-5 minutes apart, but that they were definitely painful and my first labor progressed quickly. They said it was time to come in and they would be expecting me. I let them know that we would be awhile as we had to drop my daughter off first.

I was still in denial. We took our time packing up the car and getting Jenna ready to get in the car. We finally arrived at Uncle Mike and Aunt Heidi's at around 8:30. It took Nick a bit of time to get the car seat out and Jenna's items in their house. I remember watching them walk up the stairs to the house thinking this was the last time our family would only have 3 members. Jenna looked so big and was so excited to hang out with Uncle Mike. She practically kicked us out.

On the way to the hospital, I was still starving. I asked Nick if we could stop to get something to eat, and he said we should probably just get to the hospital. I knew I was stalling. Still in denial. She was early. 10 days early. I wasn't really ready to deliver, I wasn't done being pregnant.

We arrived at the hospital, I was doing really well in between contractions. Nick actually wasn't sure if this was really it because I was doing so well with the contractions, joking with him in between them. When we went to admitting, there was already a couple sitting there. We stood in the hall and the couple kept offering me their chair but I told them it was worse if I sat. Another couple came in about 5 minutes after us, so there were 3 of us that needed to be admitted. The nurses went a little nuts and called for all backups. We were taken down to the surgery center to be admitted, and just in time, we ended up getting into triage fairly quickly. When we got there, there was a woman that was just being checked in the bed next to us, she was 7 cm and her water had broken without her knowledge. Yikes.

They finally checked me and I was 5 cm. Just like last time. I was being patient, apparently everyone had come in to deliver at the same time. During a contraction, I heard someone talk to Nick, and when I opened my eyes, it was the nurse that helped deliver my niece. She went to school with Nick and Mike and announced to the triage nurse that she would be taking us. We then walked to the Labor Suite and that fired the contractions up again once more.

Once in the room, I was debating getting an epidural or not. Last time I didn't have the opportunity, things just progressed too quickly. I emailed my work to let them know I was in labor, and wouldn't be able to submit payroll. That yielded a bunch of texts (and maybe phone calls, I don't remember) back and forth and finally I realized if I waited much longer, I likely wouldn't get the epidural. So I asked for it. Our nurse said she would go get an anesthesiologist as quickly as possible if I wanted one but offered to check my progress to see if things had progressed (to help firm up my decision if need be). I sat down and turned and my water broke. I knew things were about to progress very quickly and when she checked me, I was between 6&7 cm.

She got the IV started, and the anesthesiologist was in the room in a matter of minutes. She gave me the epidural, which wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (WAY better than a natural childbirth!!) and my nurse said the baby just had to turn and things would move along quickly. This was around 11:30. She had me lay on my side, told me to close my eyes for a bit, let the epidural settle in and call her when I felt pressure.

She said that women who rest tend to have a quicker birth than those that don't. I wasn't sure what to expect. I popped on twitter and/or facebook, then closed my eyes for about a half hour. Suddenly, I felt the urge. I called the nurse, someone else came in. Our nurse was just finishing up lunch and was told to be called when I did. She came in a few minutes later. She checked me and I was fully dilated. I said I feel like I have to push she said 'Go ahead'. I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out of my head. I gave a push, she watched the progress, called for the midwife and said 'We've got a good pusher'. That was a relief. Last time pushing took so long I was sore for days. I didn't want that again.

The midwife came in (also the same midwife that delivered my niece) and we had to wait for a contraction. So she's there, staring at me. I pushed at about 1pm and her head came out. We had to sit and wait for another contraction to deliver the shoulders and body. At 1:07 pm, Clara Jane was born. I can't believe it took only 2 pushes. She was perfect. And didn't look like Jenna to me at all. That's what I was expecting. But perfect. Beautiful, serene.

She hung out on my chest for awhile and we stared at her. They were cleaning up below. We got an anatomy lesson on the placenta which was more fascinating than gross (believe it or not) and we just watched her. I nursed her a bit, then they took her to be weighted. The nurse was shocked at her weight and actually had to weigh her again. She thought she must weigh more than 6 lbs. 9 oz. but both times, that's what the scale said. She was well proportioned, but small in weight. She immediately earned the name 'peanut'. She was 19.5 inches long. Her hair was curly at delivery (and continues to be curly if wet, but straight when it's dry).

Enough jabber... on to pictures...

Introducing her to her sister:

Nick saved this shirt for 'Labor Day'. It was inspiring :)

First photo as a family of 4

Jenna was so excited to come and meet baby 'Tula'.

And she promptly ate my whole lunch once Clara had moved on to Grandma

Here's her first little photo shoot:

I love her. She's absolutely perfect. Our family feels so complete now. I don't feel like we've taken anything away from Jenna, I feel like we've added more love to our little nest. Jenna adores her, looks after her, loves to give hugs and kisses. She helps with diapers, brings me water when I'm nursing and has done fabulous all around.

My heart is really complete with the addition of Clara Jane to our family.

Hello Sad, Neglected Blog!

2011-01-03T05:14:00.001-08:00

Today is 1.3.2011 I haven't posted in almost 2 months. Sorry about that. Thanks to a round of pregnancy insomnia followed by a few contractions (that are currently spacing out) I'm up and decided to take a quick moment to post a few photos.

Here's my absolute favorite family photo taken Thanksgiving weekend by Pop.

And one month later....
The pregnancy is treating me well. I don't mind being 38.5 weeks pregnant. I know it's my last. Baby girl is growing and growing and growing. As is Princess Jenna. She's so excited to meet her baby sister 'Tula' (her nickname for baby number two, likely named Tula because we kept saying 'baby number two).

A few quick photos....

2010-11-12T04:03:00.001-08:00

My current favorite picture.

Annual height photo

This pumpkin photo op won't work next year :)

She dragged Uncle Jon all over the pumpkin patch.

Little miss Cinderella. She LOVES her glass slippers.

'Carving' her pumpkin.

Ahem, the tea lights are fake. She's not grabbing fire while we sit by snapping photos.

our masterpieces.

Family Traditions

2010-11-12T03:47:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading The Happiness Project and I'm currently on the chapter discussing parenting and family life. One of the things the author mentions is the importance of traditions for children.

I look back on the holidays as a kid, and the anticipation, excitement and love that surrounded the holidays meant (and still means) a great deal to me. Watching Jenna recall specifics of Christmas from last year makes me ever so anxious to celebrate with her this year. We've purchased a Christmas dress for photos, for a visit to Santa and for Christmas day and she asks to see it nightly. She knows she can't wear it, but her excitement is palpable.

Her recall amazes me. We don't attend church all that frequently (or really at all). My niece, Annika was baptized this past weekend and when we told Jenna we were getting her dressed up to go to church she said "Oh! Church! Mommy, can I see the water? The water at church?" She was SO excited! And, mind you, the last time we went to church was when she was baptized at 11 months old. Where they poured water over her head. It's a little scary to know she is able to recall memories from what I feel like was so long ago.

But this brings me back to traditions... I love the holidays. Jenna does, too. It's the middle of November, and she's still talking about the witches, skeletons, ghosts and pumpkins from Halloween. I am currently talking up Thanksgiving, telling her the family gets together (we'll have the WHOLE family together this year! All grandparents, aunt & both uncles and her cousin together under one roof!) and we eat turkey. She knows turkeys gobble-gobble.

I'm also anxious to celebrate Christmas. She knows where the decorations are in the garage, knows that Santa wears a red suit. When you would ask her what she was going to ask Santa for when she sits on his lap she used to say 'A red present'. Now, when you ask her what she's going to say to Santa she says "Santa, I've been a good girl all year. May I please have a bicycle?" (we were going for tricycle, but she knows what a bicycle is because of Daddy's in the garage, I think a tricycle is foreign to her).

Anyway, the point of this rambling post at 4:00 am is that I'm excited. I'm so happy to be formulating predictable celebratory events for Jenna, for Nick and for our upcoming addition. I'm enjoying establishing 'O family traditions'. I think I enjoy them almost as much as Jenna. The addition of children to our lives has made the holidays so much more loving, caring and enthusiastic.

I've been holding out

2010-10-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

So, it's been months. MONTHS since I've updated the blog. The new job is great, and keeping me beyond busy. Which I love. I haven't written on the blog for another reason, however.

I tried to document it in photos, though.

What's that, Jenna? What are you holding? Trying to take away? Ohhhh.... it looks like one from about 2.5 years ago.
She did eventually warm up to the idea. Well at least long enough to let me take a photo while she was eating in her new shirt.
AND I became an Aunt! To a beautiful baby girl, Annika.
And we got an opportunity to see our little one shortly thereafter.
And the belly shots began. Shortly after I was LAID OFF. Pregnant, unemployed and job hunting.
As the belly grew, so did my need for maternity wear (still unemployed here)
And still job hunting (hence the time available to shoot belly photos)
My last unemployed photo. I accepted a job shortly after this image was taken. Thank goodness. It's a fab position with a great company, too. I'm really, really excited and enjoying it.
And shortly after accepting, we celebrated with a trip down to Disneyland.
:)
And my most recent photo. I've been at the job about 3 months now, I'm happy as can be, the pregnancy is treating me really, really well. I continue to forget I'm pregnant. The fact that we're expecting another GIRL in January really blows my mind. I'm excited, anxious and nervous about the whole thing, but it feels good to be completing our family.

I hope to do another update shortly regarding life, Jenna, the household craziness... and I'll get there. Hopefully before this one is born :D

Jenna's 2nd Birthday Party!

2010-07-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

OK. It's obvious I'm behind on blogging. We had a great time throwing Jenna's 2nd birthday party and I actually spent the majority of the party enjoying our friends and family instead of shooting pictures (shocking, I know!) I did snap one or two shots of the details, and Pop shot the photos of family and friends. Thanks, Pop!

The entry way. When I originally planned this party, I was going to heavily focus on pinwheels. When I was laid off, the budget was drastically pulled back, but we were able to still keep that essence. This, along with large pinwheels on the lawn and citrus colored balloons were what greeted guests to the party. I still have it hanging on my door because it's just too pretty to take down!

Favors for the kids.
This balloon is HUGE! And still floating in our living room. Jenna loves it.
The cake/favor/gift table. There's a banner hanging along with pinwheels and garland.
Jenna wanted to dig into the gifts early... umm not yet.
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to (after being scolded to stay away from the gifts and cake until later).
The jumpy house was a huge hit! A big thanks to a friend that had this hanging out in her garage. Ummm the kids all LOVED it! I think we may have to invest in one sooner rather than later.
Fiona!
Kellen had a blast in the jumpy house, too.
Although it looks like Landon was begging to come out, I think he was actually trying to entice Pop to come in and jump, too!
Grandma's dip was a hit with the adults and kids... it was addicting!
The pink car was a big hit, too. Which is good because Jenna NEVER plays with it!
Singing happy birthday!!!
getting down on her cupcake. Delish!
We had a great time. The weather was perfect, the company was great and Jenna continued to talk about her birthday for no less than 2 weeks. Actually, she wished me a happy birthday this morning, and proceeded to wish 'Jenna' a happy birthday, too. She's a bit obsessed!

Photo a day project. Day 21

2010-06-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

June 21, 2010 7:44 am

Jenna's 2nd Birthday.

Photo a day project. Day 20

2010-06-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

June 20, 10:26 am

Photo a Day project. Day 19

2010-06-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2010 4:19 pm

Photo a day project. Day 18

2010-06-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

June 18, 2010, 8:57 am

Photo a day project. Day 17

2010-06-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

June 17, 2010 7:12 pm

photo a day project. Day 16

2010-06-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

June 16, 2010, 4:39 pm

Photo a day project. Day 15

2010-06-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

June 15, 2010, 6:27 pm

Photo a day project. Day 14

2010-06-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

June 14, 2010, 3:40pm

Photo a day project. Day 12

2010-06-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

June 12, 4:23 pm

Photo a day project. Day 11

2010-06-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

June 11, 2010 9:58 am

Photo a day project. Day 10

2010-06-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

June 10, 2010 4:29 pm

Photo a day project. Day 9.

2010-06-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

June 9, 7:11 am

Photo a day project. Day 8.

2010-06-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2010, 6:41 pm

Photo a day project. Day 7.

2010-06-07T20:07:00.001-07:00

After we 'cheers!' her sippy, she takes a long drink (as long as ours) puts the milk down and goes "Ahhhhh!" I love every minute of it.

Monday, June 7, 2010 6:12 pm

Photo a day project. Day 6.

2010-06-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

June 6, 2010, 5:25 pm.

Photo a day project. Day 5.

2010-06-06T21:00:00.001-07:00

Grandma teaches Jenna how to pour the water out of the watering can instead of DUMPING it out.

Saturday, June 5, 2010, 4:21 pm.

Photo a day project. Day 4.

2010-06-05T07:33:00.001-07:00

6/5/2010, 7:10 pm

Jenna reading Goodnight Moon to Daddy.

Photo a day project. Day 3.

2010-06-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

The only time she ever sits still.

6/4/2010 5:23 pm

Photo a day project. Day 2.

2010-06-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Not a technically perfect shot, but one that melts my heart for sure. It certainly makes up for the fact that it took her over an hour to settle down to sleep tonight.

June 2, 2010, 7:04 p.m.

Photo a day project. Day 1.

2010-06-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

So I stumbled on Kristin Cook's website about 6 months ago. I fell in love with not only her photos and her style, but her photo a day project for a month of her loved ones. I really liked the idea, the black and white photos and hoped to recreate it with my family. Instead of starting off the new year with a photo a day, I decided to do it for June. June is a special month in our household as both Jenna and I have birthday's in June, as does Nanny, and Dad gets his special day with Father's Day, too. Plus, the fact that the sun doesn't set until ~ 8:30pm or so allows for plenty of light for the photos :)

I planned on doing this a couple of months ago, and I was so excited but nervous as to the time constraints with work and life in general. Well, life had a different plan for me. I was laid off just over a week ago. It was a complete surprise, and I wasn't prepared at all (more on that later). Last week I spent a couple of days feeling sorry for myself, being angry, hurt, sad again and then I put a plan into action. 1) I vamped up my resume.... it's lean and mean and I think adequately shows my talents and skills along with where I want to go with my career. 2) I pulled out all my suits. A couple were recently given to me *yay!) and were in much better shape than my old suit. My other suit was out of date and didn't fit all that well. Luckily these other suits fit great, the pants only needed to be extended a bit. I took my shoes in to be re-soled and I applied, applied, applied to a number of different jobs.

I know in the end this will be a VERY good thing for me, for my family, for my life in general. It was difficult initially, and I know it will continue to be difficult until my first day at my new job but I'm actually at a point where I'm super happy for this 'down time' with my little family.

So, I obviously have less time constraints in terms of this photo a day project, and I'm so, so excited to take it on. And, of course, today, I couldn't help but post two photos.

The first is Nick and Jenna pointing out the windows and doors on the newly constructed sand castle. This was taken at 3:45 pm on Tuesday, June 1, 2010.

Jenna absolutely loves the sandbox we picked up for her at a garage sale. She loves it when WE construct a sand castle, and moments later she crushes it and before she's lifted her hands, she says "AGAIN!?" This photo was taken at 3:48pm today.

Man she is tough to get on film

2010-05-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

Jenna has always been active. From the time I was expecting and completing my kick counts in under a minute (to feel 10 kicks) to when she wasn't mobile yet, but would let you know of her displeasure in being stationary by being LOUD until now... my little half pint almost two year old.

Mind you, this is the ONLY photo I was able to catch with her face in it tonight. In order to get it, I had to stick her up in a window and take 3 steps back (yikes!)
The rest of the images look like this. My confident toddler leading the way on our walk around the block....

She was so excited when I let her lead the way, no hand holding required.

Until she realized I wasn't keeping up....

She's rather bossy.

And if you wait too long, she'll leave you in the dust.

Nothing will stop her.

Unless of course, you mention that Daddy and dinner are back at home.

March for Babies - 2010

2010-04-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT time walking for the March of Dimes this year. An awesome time. It was encouraging seeing the large numbers of strollers with birth weeks listed (26, 28, 30, etc.). It was emotional to hear the story of one woman discussing her loss in front of hundreds of people. It was inspiring to see the hundreds of people out and about for such a great cause. I was proud to be part of a group that was able to raise over $3400! Many thanks to Alison for getting the group together. We had a great time as a family walking together and I hope to make this an annual event.

Here's our family. I love this picture (thanks, Michelle for taking it!)
My stylin queen wearing the glasses Alison got for the kidlets...

Yeah, the glasses didn't last too long!

It was a beautiful day... Bright and sunny out!

This guy was too cute!

This line of people extended both directions as far as the eye could see. It was a beautiful sight.

It was so great to walk. It was so great to see some friends that inspired me to walk. Friends that have lost their babies far too soon, children that were born early but were celebrating their life, their birth. It was such a great event and I get goosebumps when I think of the impact of the March for Babies walks all across the country.

To those that donated, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, from the bottom of Nick's heart, from the bottom of Jenna's heart. We really appreciate it.

Now! Who's gonna join us next year for the March for Babies? ;-)

Potty Training

2010-04-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not a fan of diapers. Who is, right? I've talked about our open attempts to get rid of diapers super early on. Nick's co worker told us about the 3 day potty training method and how it worked for her son, who's about 3 months older than Jenna.

We checked it out, and decided to give it a go last weekend. We were mentally prepared to throw away diapers and never look back. (For the record, we had Jenna throw away some diapers, the rest we packed up to pass on to a friend. I know she would've used them had we not done the potty training, but I didn't see the need to waste them before they were used...)

I had plenty of 'big girl underwear'. Princesses, Dora and Minnie Mouse were the ones we chose. I had started feeding her higher fiber foods a couple of days before, and I was all set to try to get her to drink as much water as was possible to allow for more learning opportunities. I took a Monday off of work, knowing I would need to be home for 3 full days before sending her back to day care. Nick was fully on board, and although we both weren't 'excited' to do this, we were both prepared to spend a full weekend at home sans diapers.

Saturday morning, we started off in diapers, ate breakfast. I did some laundry and meal prep to ensure my full and undivided attention would be on Jenna that day once we made the switch. After breakfast, we went up stairs and I told her she was a big girl and she gets to wear big girl underwear. Diapers are for babies. I asked her to throw the diapers in the garbage as we didn't need them anymore (I had packed up the ones we're giving to a friend, leaving ~ 4 out for her to throw away). She threw them away. She was in a tshirt and her big girl underwear for the rest of the weekend. We cranked the heat up (it was a super rainy weekend, perfect for staying in!) so she wouldn't get cold.

We then took her to the bathroom and told her that pee pee and poo poo goes in the potty. She's a big girl now and needs to tell us when she needs to go pee pee or poo poo so we could put it in the potty. We told her to keep her big girl underwear dry.

Of course there were accidents, lots of accidents. The system basically says when you see them going to scoop them up (no negativity at all... the word no was never uttered) and tell them 'yucky, your underwear isn't dry' and try to get them to finish on the potty. If they get anything in the potty, praise, praise, praise! Cheer! Put dry underwear on them and give them a reward (not if you go potty, you get a sticker, but 'good job! Here's a sticker'). We chose stickers as rewards. I didn't want to do anything food related and she's been obsessed with stickers (she's been getting them from Trader Joe's) so I figured that would be an awesome reward. Stickers were similar brands to the underwear... princesses, cars and mickey mouse clubhouse. Yes, we're all Disney nerds in the O household.

There were lots of accidents. Of course. They started getting easier and easier to catch as we were learning her signs (deer in headlights look, then she looks down... by that time, most of the time, we had scooped her up and running to the potty. Sometimes she would stop the stream, sometimes she couldn't. Lots of clean up. But we stuck with it. We were given the warning 'don't get frustrated, stick with it' and that's what we did. We played, we read books. We watched sleeping beauty (quickly becoming her favorite). We read Sleeping Beauty, and I downloaded the song 'Once upon a dream' and we danced to the song. All the while, accidents.

I put her down for a nap in a pair of padded underwear (gerber training pants). She went right to sleep (apparently we wore her out in the morning!) and when she woke up, she was dry! We went right to the potty (you're not supposed to ask 'Do you need to go potty?' but instead remind them that they're a big girl and you need to tell me when you need to go pee pee, ok?') and she went. Again, lots of excitement, lots of praise, BIG smiles from my big girl. At the end of the first day, we had 13 wet pairs of underwear. She didn't go poop this day (I think, my memory is getting fuzzy).

Second day she woke up wet. I checked her at 10pm the night before, and she *seemed* dry, but when she got up the next morning, her padded underwear was completely soaked. I vowed to go to pull ups the next night because I just felt terrible. She didn't seem to mind too much. The rest of the morning went really well. There weren't nearly as many accidents, and I was getting a little cocky in that I figured she was almost there. Nap time came around, she woke up wet, and the rest of the afternoon we had accidents galore. Still not nearly as many as day one, but she regressed quite a bit. I was frustrated, but kept on going. If we had gone this far, might as well keep with it, right? No negativity showed with either Nick or I, we just kept praising when she got ANYTHING in the potty and cheering galore. I realized that she didn't go when I was sitting right there with her, so I would stand at the door with my back to her and she'd be able to release... this was a huge breakthrough! This method also doesn't let the kids sit on the toilet and wait to go, so if she didn't go within the first 30 seconds or so, we'd get off and wait until the next accident all while asking (at least once every 10 minutes) 'Tell Mommy when you need to go potty, OK?' I don't think we had nearly as many wet underwear the next day (I didn't count). I felt bad when I put a pull up on her that night and she said 'diapers are for babies'. I told her these were 'Big girl nigh nights'. She woke up once in the middle of the night, I took her to the potty, she didn't go, but I swapped out her pull ups for dry ones. No biggie.

Third day was similar to the second day.... morning went great, afternoon not as good, but apparently I decided to test this out because we went to Target that afternoon. We didn't have many accidents at all this day, she would lead me to the potty after I asked her 'tell me when you need to go pee pee, ok?'. At the end of the third day, I was really pleased with our progress. We caught all the poops in the potty (in that she never once went in her underwear). I understood her signs (the look she gets, where she goes prior to starting to go potty), I did a lot of laundry, and I'm sure our PG&E bill will be higher this month from keeping the heat cranked, but she did really well.

Tuesday, she went back to day care and I was worried. I just was worried that all the work we did at home wouldn't transition. I was worried that Irma would get frustrated (although she was really on board and gave us the encouragement that we needed to really take the leap and do this. She really felt that Jenna was ready, showed appropriate knowledge to give this a go and was excited for this week. She only requested that Jenna be sent in pants instead of shorts or dresses because they soak up more of the pee than the others.

Jenna had a few accidents at Irma's, but she was working on the phrase "Irma, I have to use the potty!!" (It's very cute!) Just like she progressed quickly at home, she's doing much better at day care, too. Tonight while taking a bath, Jenna yelled 'Irma, I have to use the potty!' (lol, we were at home) I pulled her out of the bath, sat her soaking wet on the toilet and she went potty. I was pretty proud as I remember saying to Nick every now and then (before) um, did she just pee? Gross.

So is she fully potty trained? Um, no. I don't know when that will happen. Is she in underwear full time during the day? Yes. On day 5, she's down to 1-2 accidents a day. And those accidents are often with her starting to go, stopping and looking up as to say... let's GO! So from 13 pairs of wet underwear down to 1 or 2 in a couple days, I'm more than pleased.

Also, looking back on our long weekend, it actually is really positive in my eyes. I really enjoyed spending the quality one on one time with her minimal distractions... no computer, phone, internet, just Jenna, Nick and I hanging out together. We were warm and cozy in the house, playing, dancing, reading, singing, watching movies... it was fun! Weird.

I always dreaded the 'real' potty training but this ended up being a super positive experience for me, for Jenna and I'm pretty sure for Nick. Yes. We became frustrated. YES. But it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We didn't get cabin fever, we didn't drive each other nuts. Yes, there was a lot of clean up, but going in with a system (clean dry underwear under the sink, throw wet ones directly in the wash, wash after she goes to bed, tag teaming when I needed to get dinner ready, making sure to have a house full of groceries ready for the weekend, 'rewards' in the upper cabinet, potties in both her bathrooms, burp cloths to clean up messes) it all worked out really well. I'll recommend this to anyone who's willing to give it a go. It was a good experience for us.

Do I still expect accidents? Yes. Will I ever go back to diapers? Not until I have a newborn again. ;-)

I realized on day 3 I took no photos of this... She needed my full attention, 100% of the time. But because I'm a photo nut, I had to grab my camera during lunch. She looked like such a big girl, feeding herself SOUP with a SPOON. I didn't want to snap a photo of her in her underwear, but I decided to snap her profile shot. I *love* her profile. Not a perfect photo, but it sums the weekend up in my mind perfectly. I love my bed headed big girl. She makes me so proud.

Jenna is just shy of 22 months and she's wearing underwear.

Mama can't knit around J anymore

2010-04-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

So this started around a week ago. I sit down to knit (lots of babies due and being born this year!) and Jenna started by grabbing my second needles and clacking them together while I worked on a blanket (2 circular method for those few knitters that read my blog). With the blanket, and plenty of stitches between 'trading' the needles, it worked just fine.
But now that I'm working on baby hats, um, yeah, when I go to swap the needles, she gets SO MAD that I'm taking HER needles away from her. I am SO excited to teach her to knit, so we can sit there side by side, "kitting with yaarrn?!"

Video Dump!

2010-04-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

I've been taking snippets of video here and there. It still amazes me that I can have an actual conversation with my kidlet.

Dinner time conversation during baseball season. (Important stuff!)

She *was* dancing and singing along, until she saw me with the camera..... I've mentioned she LOVES the fresh beat band, right?

Jenna helping in the kitchen.... Lemons are Tasty!

Easter

2010-04-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

My how the time flies. This is Jenna's second Easter, and the first we had a blast, but she was too young for an egg hunt. This year, however, the Easter Bunny stopped by for a visit. We talked him up, and she was SO excited every time we mentioned his name. (I've decided it's a male bunny, don't ask me why). When we put her to sleep the night before, we told her the Easter Bunny was going to stop by the house, hide some eggs and bring her a basket of goodies.

And so he visited....
First Egg! Weeee!

There's MORE!?

Checkin out her loot...

Play with the breakable eggs, or the toys? Hmmm......

I didn't like either of those, I'll stick with this box. (sigh) Doesn't she look like she could be 8 here!? Except for the diaper box, I know... but STILL! How did she get to be so big!?

Holy cow, she's adorable.

So excited to be singing along in her Easter best.

Hmmmm.... Bread?

BREAD! When do we eat, Ma!?

I guess it's good based on her face.... or she's trying to say cheese while eating the 'bread'.

::sigh:: time really does fly by when you're not looking.

How is it possible that she'll be TWO in a few short months?

Sneaky sneaky

2010-03-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Pop came down for a quick visit. I happened to run to the Ferry Building for a quick trip to visit with a friend in the afternoon, and was able to make it back with some Recchuiti chocolates for my Mom, and I picked up a couple of hershey bars for my Pop (his preference). She was asking what he was eating.... and handed some over.

Jenna doesn't have a big sweet tooth, but this hit the spot.
nothing like chocolate brown lipstick!
;) not an everyday occurrence... but seeing my folks spoil Jenna does warm my heart up a bit. Well, until they leave shortly after feeding her chocolate!

New photos...

2010-03-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

This poor blog. So neglected. I have reasons, I promise. I have this little one to keep up with. That's no easy task.

Jenna is obsessed crackers and water. And not the delicious Ritz crackers, no. The 12 grain crackers from Trader Joe's. And water. If we'd let her, she'd live on crackers and water. She wakes up asking for 'Crackers!?!?'

She also loves broccoli, asparagus, the crusts of bread (leaving the rest of a grilled cheese behind), lettuce, pasta, oatmeal and cake. She's no longer interested in cheese and has never loved meat. My little vegetarian. But not a vegan... she loves cake when we give her the opportunity (we've had a couple parties in the last couple of months). In the grocery store, she points to a food, identifys it, then says MMMMmmm! So... "Lettuce! Mmmmm! Banana's! Mmmm! Oranges! Mmmm!" Cracks me up.

She's also taken to the game of "What's that!?" Sounds cute, right? Yes. The first time. Maybe the second and third, too. But when you take a 2.5 hour drive with a toddler obsessed with the phrase "What's That!?" It no longer is cute, or fun. She ended up with every response being "A cloud. Another cloud. Yep, that's a cloud, too" I'm a terrible parent ;)

Totally overexposed, but I love everything about this photo:

This is our next door neighbor. When Jenna sees her, she says "Cow". Cracks me up every time!

Ahhh a new baby.... (not mine!)

2010-03-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

So some dear friends of ours had a baby recently. Their oldest baby is only 3 weeks older than Jenna and when they told me they were expecting again, the first thing I said was "You're absolutely crazy!" Images of Jenna in the 'fourth trimester' were dancing through my head.

And then, I got a chance to meet Mr. Eli. and now I'm swooning. I'm so, so excited that I get to be an Aunt in a few short months, and I will have a newborn to photograph, snuggle, and hand back when it starts screaming like J used to. We're not ready for another one yet, but meeting Eli certainly did make me start to covet another. And tell Mo & Conn that I was wrong in telling them they're crazy. Eli's just beautiful, and perfect. And fits into the D house so beautifully. Thank you for 'sharing' him with us.

squeeee!
He likes me, he's teasing me already.

*swoon*

I love the forehead wrinkles... so deep in thought for a one day old.

Big brother.

Brotherly love. Adorable.

Jenna checking out what all the fuss is about. Then she went back to playing after giving him a kiss.

Can you SEE the inkling of a smile!? We'll pretend it's not gas.

He's ready for the cover of GQ

I love baby feet!

At this point, my camera's battery died. I put it down, picked up the baby and didn't set him down until we said good bye. Good times.

New Place, New Neighborhood.

2010-02-16T08:12:00.001-08:00

So we finally had the opportunity to check out our new neighborhood. We knew we were close to trails and parks and a school, but didn't know just how close we were. I took the munchkin out on the trails and let her run free. It felt so good to just let her GOOO! I realized how big she's getting. She never let me get all that far from her. She started stopping and challenging me to race... she'd stop, look back and under her breath say "ready,set,go!" then run for 10 feet. Then repeat. Over and over and over.

This was inside. She's figured out how to get up on the chair, but we're working on climbing back down. Before I helped her (belly on the chair, feet hang off, slide down!) I snapped a photo.

Daddy, can we puhleease go out and play!?
Only if you put on your rain boots... the grass is wet.

Please don't mind the terrible outfit. The outfit matched. The boots did not. And at that point, she needed a coat so I grabbed the closest one. Outfit disaster. Meh. She had fun, we had fun...

Bubbles. Bubbles are awesome. Thank you Landon for a terrific Valentine's Day gift!

More, more, more PLEASE!

The new place is awesome for us.

Just a few photos.

2010-02-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

We attended a birthday party this past weekend. I snuck a few shots in of my littlest valentine.

She LOVED this chair.... The little girl to her right made it a habit of stealing whatever toy Jenna had in her hand away from J. See the determination in her eyes!?

My Valentines...

Just a few videos..

2010-02-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

Jenna Counting... She's been doing it for awhile, but it still blows my mind!

She's learning to use a spoon. Normally we just load it up for her and she does pretty well with it. Here she tries to load it up herself. By the way, Red Robin has awesome kids meal choices, with steamed sides. She got mac and cheese and broccoli.. delish!

This is in our new backyard! It's the perfect size for her... and she discovered how to 'race' :)

I found my point and shoot!

2010-01-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

OK, I'll finally admit it. I lost my point and shoot camera. I kept trying to play it off to Nick saying "Oh, it's around here somewhere... it'll pop up sooner or later". It didn't. I frantically searched for, well, let's just say a long time and couldn't find it.

Go figure... while moving & packing, in the back of my closet, I found my silver purse (big, unstructured). It had fallen to the ground (gasp!) and in it were the contents from the NKOTB concert last summer. In that bag was my tiny pink sony point and shoot camera.

I was frantically searching for it because Jenna's vocabulary has taken off. It's been pretty good for awhile now.. but she's starting to speak in SENTENCES. I really wouldn't believe it if it weren't for the video. (um, no video attached now.. moving = EVERYTHING is packed. Everything.) So be prepared for an onslaught of videos...

Videos of her singing, counting!, dancing, eating (mac and cheese with a spoon!)

She's awesome. And making this move oh so worth it!

Please stay tuned...

2010-01-15T08:37:00.001-08:00

We're currently in the process of packing up our life and moving down the street. Jenna loves all the fun 'toys' we're bringing out of the woodworks (the tripod is her favorite right now closely followed by the old corded telephone and baby bath tub). However, she also points to where photos were on the wall and starts to fuss. I haven't been able to explain to her that we're moving. And when I use the word move, she repeats and starts spinning in circles as though she's dancing. I can't tell if she's confused or happy, but I feel the same way about the whole thing, too, kid.

I popped on to say sorry for the absence and I realized I have yet to do a 'Christmas' post. yikes! Sooo... photo dump of our last month.

Jenna, all ready to see the snow. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
Did I mention she loves Christmas decorations!?

We went to Zoo lights. I was teased for the amount of 'bundling' I did with her, but it was cold! As Jenna would say "Burrr!"

The O family band.

Nick and I went to see DMB in 3D. I snagged the glasses, popped the lenses out and gave them to J. She enjoyed.

But suddenly realized they weren't cool.

Christmas morning. In her princess pj's. When she opened the PJ's on Christmas Eve, she insisted we hang them on the tree so she could ooh and ahhh at them. Cracked me up.

Wearing Aunt Heidi's slippers.

Her favorite toy. Hands down! And, shouldn't everyone vacumme in a tutu?

My little beauty.

This is what happened when I told her there were no more presents to open. Don't feel too bad, she was more than spoiled.

Her eyelashes make me swoon!

Christmas day we went up to Nanny and Poppie's. She looves the rocking horse at their house. And... she throws her head back and says "Naaayy!"

The Russian nesting dolls that are also reserved for Nanny and Poppies. She really likes opening and closing them, spreading them around the floor and then walking away.

So I'll be MIA for a bit longer. I finally found my point and shoot so expect to see a bit of video up soon. Jenna's been quite a chatterbox and LOVES to sing. I love it. She often sings the last word of each line of song. It cracks us up, which in turn cracks her up and then we're all rolling on the ground in a fit of laughter. She makes me so happy, proud and boastful.

Where did my baby go?

2009-12-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Since I no longer write the monthly letters, I feel like time is slipping away. Maybe that's just the case. I've been told that the second year goes by a lot quicker than the first, and this morning, when I woke up, I was emotional. I was sad. I missed Jenna more than my normal Monday at work (each Monday morning is difficult realizing that I don't get to spend the day with Jenna like I did over the weekend).

I got to work, turned on my sappy mix on my iPhone and looked at the calendar. BAM. December 21, 2009. My baby girl is a year and a half old. How did she get from this...

newborn

6 months

12 months
16 months

to here!? (this photo is ~ 2 months old, I've been slow to upload). I love this age.

I love that if I even suggest the word book she grabs the one closest to her and runs over to my lap so we can read it.

I love that she sings 'Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" to herself.

I love that she'll 'read' to her snowman friends (I'll have a hard time putting them away now!) and when she does, she opens the page and says "what's DIS!? What's DIS? What's DIS!?" waiting for the snowmen to reply 'A red truck'.

I love that she's happier waving to the train as it goes by than she is to ride it.

She's now grabbing her shirt, pulling it up to suck her thumb with the shirt in the same hand and her other finger is in her belly button. Or in her ear. Or she's picking at the skin between the fingers of the hand she's sucking. I love that she's a bit odd. Just like her Mama.

I love that she's curious, and stubborn, and heartfelt. That she says "I lub ew"

I called her today, just to say hello. She's with Nanny this week. I spoke with Nanny for a bit then she put Jenna on the phone. Now, instead of just listening, she'll say "Hi, hi, hi!" I asked her to blow a kiss and she replied with kissing the phone. My heart strings have been a little bit tighter after that conversation.

So where did my baby go? Where do we go from here? I know it gets better, but I have a feeling it only goes faster from here. No longer a bean, no longer a baby... now I have a little girl and a swollen heart.

Today, I'm grateful

2009-12-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

I didn't do a Thanksgiving post, I've been quite short on time lately. However, yesterday and today, I've had one thing on my mind... I'm so grateful for everything I have.

I'm so in love with my little girl... the smile that she's brought to my heart is indescribable. She makes my day so much better even when she's in the worst of moods. I can still stare at her little curls, her eyelashes, her baby blue eyes for hours. I still can't believe she's *ours* and we don't have to give her back. It still feels like a sleep over, like we're just 'playing house'.

I'm grateful for Nick. He's the best Dad and an even better husband. He helps out more than I do and is still able to take the time to tell me he loves me, or to tell me to sit down when I'm just too stressed out. He made the time so I could read the twilight series in peace, even though he thinks it's silly. He supports me at home, at work and is my rock. We've never been closer than we are as parents and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm happy to be an optimist. I'm happy to be me.

I'm grateful for my job. For working in an environment that encourages me and supports my creative desires and future. In turn, I do the same for them.

I'm so thankful for my family and friends. To have such a supportive network is indescribable. I'm so happy to have loving, kind, selfless people in our lives. To love and be loved is one of the best things out there... and I feel like I am loved from so many angles (home, work, life) I only hope that I'm able to love and support as thoroughly as others love and support me.

Too long, it's been too long

2009-12-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

It's been way too long since I've posted. I've been enjoying my time with Jenna lately. This is a fun age in that she's running around, talking up a storm, can (and has) said "I lub you" with kisses and is just all around awesome. She's also throwing temper tantrums, but I'll ignore that for this gooey post.

We're in full swing this holiday season. We went to visit Santa and although she says his name and points out every stuffed Santa, Santa cartoon, etc. When we went to go visit him this year, she watched in amazement as the other kids were talking to him, telling him what they wanted for Christmas. When it was her turn, I picked her up and we headed his way.

Once we were standing next to him I asked her "Do you want to see Santa?" She replied with feverish head shaking and "No, no, NO!!" So I asked the next logical question... "Do you want to sit on his lap?" at this point, she's scrambling up my arm like a baby monkey trying to crawl on her Mom's back.

Santa suggested a photo with Mom and baby. I looked over at Nick and said "How about a FAMILY photo" (shooting daggers). Nick came and sat on Santa's right knee, I sat on his left knee (how long has it been since I've sat on Santa's lap!?) and I held Jenna to my left side... as far from the fat jolly man as possible.

We snapped a few photos and I didn't like them... I wanted to mimick last year's photo. So, I asked Santa if we could try again. He said OK and I put the munchkin on his lap. Her eyes were filled with terror and she was signing "All Done" over and over and over... also saying "No" and shaking her head back and forth. BUT Mama got her photo.... :)

Lately we've taken to driving around to look at Christmas lights. It doesn't matter if there is a single strand on the gutters or if there's a full display with reindeer and blow up snow globes... the same reaction comes from the back seat each time we pass by a lit house. "Wow, wow, WOW!!" the second that it's out of her sight this can be heard "More, please... more, PLEASE" I haven't been able to figure out how to tell her that we'll get to the next house ASAP.

She also loves the tree (when the lights are off, we tell her it's sleeping... she makes the shhhh face as to not disturb the tree). The red balled ornaments she would point out and say "Apple" and I kindly remind her that they're not apples, but they're ornaments. To which she replies with 'orddednts' (or something similar... it's hard to type out toddler speak). She also enjoys pointing out each person's stocking.

Possesion is really big to her right now. When we explain that she can't have Mommy's coffee... she points and says "Mommy's" then turns to Nicks and says "Daddy's"... same with pretty much all beverages and anything else she's not supposed to have (we tell her it's ours as to avoid her throwing fits to get it... ours = off limits... it's working, sort of).

Ahhh, she's fun. I love her. Can we keep her like this forever?

The P family annual tree trip!

2009-11-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

Last year, the P family was nice enough to bring us down a Christmas tree from their annual trip up to the mountains to cut down a tree. Last year, we traded them for a raspberry teething paci (tree for a paci, fair trade, right!?) This year, we decided to join in the fun.

So we gathered all the cold weather gear we could find (including Jenna's awesome snowsuit sent out from New Jersey courtesy of Nana) and picked up some super cute rain boots for Jenna. We bought the next size up to hopefully last her the season. That proved to be a bit of a mistake. As we hiked through the snow (while I carried her) I would hear 'uh oh, uh oh, uh oh!' I looked down... Jenna was wearing one boot... turn around and 3 feet behind us was the other hello kitty boot on the ground... pick it up, put it on start walking again... repeat. Over and over and over. Meh, at least they're cute!

We found our tree pretty quickly, and returned to replace her boot once again ;)
Here we are with the Christmas tree of 2009. Isn't it purdy!? Yeah, I love it. Too bad it was WAY too tall for our little ceilings. Maybe next year we'll be in a house with vaulted ceilings!? Maybe?

Landon wasn't digging the sled. I think he was playing along, but just wasn't excited about it. He liked being there, but preferred to be held.

Jenna, on the other hand... once she discovered the sled... it was all over. If we picked her up, she was ANGRY! Put me down people! Don't you know there's a sled and snow to play in!?

Can you say 'love'!?

We picked her up yet again for a quick photo op. See the displeasure on her face!? WHY AM I NOT DOWN ON THE GROUND!?

Stomping around in the snow...

The P family dogs came along for some fun, too!

Someone pull this!

Yep, Landon wasn't into it... They really are opposite in their mannerisms.

Sally brought along the best chili ever! Perfect on such a cold day!

More sled action. I know you're shocked.

She figured if she just laid down then she wouldn't have to maneuver in that 'can't put my arms down' snowsuit and she could just enjoy the ride.

LOTS of trees!

Ours is loaded up and ready go 4 wheelin once again! This is the first time the 4Runner's been on fresh snow. We had a blast 4 wheeling :)

The P family with their tree! (They have vaulted ceilings, can you tell!?)

The night before the trip I went to get gas at 9:30 pm. When I got in the car to go, the driver's side headlight was out. With no auto parts stores open at that time of night, I just filled up and we were on our way the next day. We let the caravan know our issue and they kept an eye out for our one eye on the drive up. On the drive back down to the bay, we stopped in Auburn for gas. As we were leaving the gas station, we noticed the other light was out. It was 6pm, in November, pitch black out with NO headlights! We pulled over with the group, looked up the nearest Target and headed that direction with our high beams on blinding only one party of our caravan. On our way, we saw an open Kragen Auto Parts, on a Sunday evening, at 6:30 pm in Auburn. A quick u-turn and stop and we were on the road again.

The trip was beyond fun. It was a suuuper long day, Jenna barely napped at all (30 minutes there, 30 minutes after loading up and 30 minutes before getting home. We left our house at 7am and didn't get home until 9 at night.

I think it's pretty safe to say that we'll be adding this tradition to our agenda next year for sure!

Just a glimpse...

2009-11-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

Each day, my heart skips a beat at the mere thought of just a glimpse. I know, hope and dream that the day will go well. In the morning I consider sneaking a peek before work but realize that would be foolish and cruel. I wish the paparazzi would stalk her like they do the celebrities.

When I do get a moment, when I get that first glimpse of her, my heart is pounding, my smile is wide and I look forward to the minute that I get to hug her. Of course, the second she's handed over, she leans way off to the side pointing, yelling either a) banannaaaa!!!! or b) shooooeeeessss!!!!!

Who needs your Mama at the end of the day when there are banana's and shoes to reach for? In the end, it's still worth it for the unsolicited hug or kiss.

She just makes me smile...

2009-11-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year! Halloween was yesterday and I didn't think I shot *that* many photos, but in the end.... I did.

There are photos of me when I was about Jenna's age (or maybe younger, I don't really remember) when My parents were carving up the pumpkins and let me play with the innerds... I was not brave enough to let Jenna play with the guts of the pumpkin, but we put her in her high chair while we carved the little pumpkin and I shot some photos. I love the look of concentration on her face. She had a good time!

She loved putting the crayons in the eyes of the pumpkin... over and over and over.

Yucky! she wipes her hands when there's goo on them... I think she had just reached in the pumpkin...
This goes HERE!?
Jenna was Minnie Mouse this year... and a cute one she was! This is at Day Care, I stayed behind to shoot just one image..... I never get to drop her off so I went in late to work to see all the kiddos dressed up... I love this image.
My pretty girl having her ears straightened out by Irma.

Getting used to the ears

We've taught her to 'sniff' the flowers.

bloomers...
practicing trick or treating. When it came time for the real thing... the girl RAN between the houses... she loved, loved, loved going from door to door. Wasn't interested in the candy, but was interested in getting the show on the road. When we came back to the house she was UPSET! She wanted to keep on keepin on...
My beautiful girl likes to sit at the dining room table.
A bad case of diaper rash yielded the 'naked chef'.

Blogger Challenge #5

2009-10-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

What is your favorite Halloween candy of all time?

Yes. I love Halloween candy. I love that they're bite sized (think small plates!) so I can have 5 different types instead of a whole candy bar. I'm not a big fan of tootsie rolls... they just aren't my cup of tea, but I love the sour, the cheap chocolate, the fruity, pretty much all Halloween candy.

We'll be taking Jenna trick or treating this year, only to a few houses before putting her to bed (hopefully late to prepare for the time change!) but once she's asleep, I can't wait to dig through her goods! Weeee!!!

Blogger Challenge #4

2009-10-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

What was your (or your child's) "best" Halloween costume ever? (Bonus points for photos!)

I pink puffy heart Jenna as a little squirt from last year. The costume was essentially a hoodie and a pair of pants. It was WAY too big for her, but she was just adorable in it, working on her head control during tummy time was awesome to watch. She was also a flower last year and that was a bit hit, too. However, it was warm last October and I had to take her out of the costume after only a short amount of time because she was roasty toasty.

My favorite costume? In the 6th grade, I was a headless person. My Mom came up with the costume idea. I wore a pair of my dads pants, pulled up to my shoulders (I don't remember what I did with my arms all day long!) a shirt hung on a frame of coat hangers and stuffed with newspaper that sat on my shoulders. The arms of the shirt came together just under my chin... sooo I looked like I was walking around carrying my own head. During the parade at lunch, the coat hangers came undone and collapsed on me, but it was a pretty cool idea, none-the-less.

Blogger Challenge #3

2009-10-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

What is a specific moment/event that made you realize you were truly "a grown-up"?

I have a couple.
1) Shortly after our first wedding shower, I started packing up all of my college dishes to give away to a college student. I realized that I was putting 'grown up' items away. Years from that day I would tell the story of who gave us what items for our wedding years ago. I would look back fondly of that time and be able to tell my children the same stories my Mom told me.

2) We hired a high school student to do some filing at my work. It didn't take long for me to realize I related more to her Mom than to her :-/

3) When becoming a Mom. With a daily routine for cleaning, work and home.

Jenna's First Haircut

2009-10-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

WHY do I need my hair cut!?

She did really, really well. Didn't freak out at all, and in the end it's pretty cute. We were scared it would end up looking mullet-ish, but in the end... not at all!

She does look more like a big girl now, but the wispy ends allow for her to still have some baby hair :)

Jenna is just shy of 16 months old.

My head is spinning

2009-10-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

So, over the last 3 weeks or so, I've realized such a change in Jenna. She's really a little person, displaying her wants, her needs, her desires. She's throwing less tantrums because she's really able to express herself now.

I can *talk* to my child now. She can converse back with us. She says so many words every time I try to write them down, I miss A LOT. She sings 'take me out to the ball game' with us. I'm going to try to list a number of the words she's saying but I know this list will not be all the words. I.just.can't.keep.up!

Tree, apple, light, more, please, up, down, Pop, Poppy, Mama, Daddy, Mom, Dad, Daddy, bath, potty, broccoli, cheese, sock, shoes, zapatos, boca, eye, nose, head, cabesa, mesa, Noble, bye, hi, go, Ohhhh Doctor!!! (phrase used when the Yanks hit a home run), kisses... the list goes on and on. She repeats new words daily and frankly, I don't know what to do with such a verbal child! Oh, I left out the word 'crap' which she's repeated but not used in context... much better than some of the other words that came out of our mouths during the 49ers game the other day.
We went to the pumpkin farm a few weekends ago. We had a blast. Jenna loved pushing the pumpkins over then trying to pick them up...

She's so big, so independent, such a toddler. I *love* this age. I love that she's striking out on her own every chance she's got.

Although I can't say I'm surprised. The girl has always been opinionated. Need I remind you that she likes to make a statement?

Seriously... look at this kid. So different than 6 months ago. When they say 'this too, shall pass' they're not kidding. The blink of an eye yields a different child entirely. And yet, she's not all that different. She still makes us aware of her wants, her needs, her desires... rather forcefully. But now I'm able to encourage her to phrase things instead of just balling or screaming. Crazy cool is what it is. Crazy cool.

Jenna is just shy of 16 months and blowing my mind.

Blogger Challenge #2

2009-10-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

Do you enjoy reading? What do you read and when? What's your favorite book ever?

I do enjoy reading quite a bit. I read: blogs (um, duh), business nerd books (self improvement, business management, personal growth), Mommy books. I tend to like Non-Fiction. That cracks me up, by the way. I remember when I was in elementary school and non-fiction was totally lame. I didn't understand why people would read non-fiction when there were stories of Ramona out there to immerse yourself in! Now a days, fiction just doesn't grab me the way it used to. I have a book sitting on my nightstand that I've been reading over the course of the last year. It's fiction, about knitting (Friday Night Knitting Club for anyone interested). Oh, I guess I don't read entirely NF. I will pick up some chick-lit every now and then if I don't want something too thought provoking.

I read blogs on my phone in the evenings, and when I'm in the middle of a book I read it whenever my butt hits the couch and Jenna's not around.

Favorite book ever? Ugh. So tough for me. I'll list books that I rec to others frequently
Business Nerd Books: 4 hour work week, Am-bitch-ous, How to win friends and influence people and Think and grow rich I think those are my 4 biggest reference point books. And I fully admit the titles are a bit lame on some of them, but the content is friggin awesome.

Mommy Books: Sippy cups are not for Chardonnay; Love & logic, early childhood years and It sucked and then I cried.

I love my family.

2009-10-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

This was taken at Disneyland (duh) by my brother. Jenna was ALL ABOUT touching Minnie... Luckily Minnie didn't mind, too much. She decided to take a step closer to Nick, though.

I love this picture.

Blogger challenge

2009-10-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

I belong to an awesome community, a community of Mom's that support each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly of parenting. Many of these Mom's have now become my near and dear friends, which I will forever be grateful for.

There's been a 'blog challenge' and I hope to be able to keep up with it weekly. Sadly, I've had virtually no time to blog with changes at work (trying to decide how much I want to discuss that here) and when I'm at home, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer in the evenings or on the weekends.

Why do you blog? What do you hope to get out of this challenge?

I blog for me. Initially, the blog was to remind me of the little changes, to get the neverending thoughts of being pregnant, having a baby and now having a toddler out in a form that I could look back on. I'm happy I started blogging when I did. It's exciting to look back on when I found out we were expecting, on telling Nick, on finding out the gender, sharing news with our families and friends. Looking back on the colicky times (although I didn't blog a lot about those, not enough time and they were difficult.

The trials of breastfeeding, working, being a working mother. Reminders to be true to who I am, not lose myself in the process of wake up, work, Jenna, bed, crash. I blog to remember. Mommy-amnesia is real, people!

I've also been able to use the blog to open up about my real feelings, share my photos, share my life. I used it to write Jenna a monthly letter and I hope to print those letters up and give them to her for her birthday one year.

I hope these challenges really 'force' me to not forget to make time to make memories. To get me writing. I really don't want to forget anything. I want to be able to look back on the blog and remember that today Jenna signed please and SAID it, too for the first time. I want to remember how hard it is to throw myself into work and leave it behind to throw myself into my family when I get home. The conflict of having a working dinner meeting and stepping away from my loving and supportive husband and my little girl as she blows me kisses goodbye.

I just want to be able to remember how life is RIGHT NOW.

Mini photo shoot

2009-09-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I picked up my camera. Work's been crazy, lots of changes, and that leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. But that's really no excuse not to catch the munchkin on camera. This past weekend was a great one filled with friends and some time with our little family. We headed out to run around and play on Saturday morning.

Little Miss Independent. This is the view I get lately... of her running away. I can't keep up!

Under Daddy's watchful eye...

She really liked watching the water slap against the rocks.

She's never shy about what she wants...
They're my favorite.

Angel Face Designs.... Giveaway!

2009-09-25T15:26:00.001-07:00

Remember when these arrived in my mailbox? Since, I've ordered countless things and both my jewelry box and Jenna's is overflowing with goods from AFD. OH! And Nick carries around the cutest keychain, too. I adore Heather's goods and boast and brag her business whenever possible. Soooo how exciting is it that she's having a giveaway!? boogie on over there and win!

14 months in pictures

2009-09-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is such a fun age. She's running around, we're chasing her, she's chasing us, there's a lot of giggling in the O household.

Bath time!

OK, I didn't ask her to pose, I sware. It looks like it, though. She likes playing with her diaper pail. I know, gross. But it keeps her still long enough for photos.
We went to the zoo on Daddy's birthday. She was showing him the Monkeys.
I love her. She's not quiet often, but when she is....
:) Daddy & his little girl. Can you tell how smitten he is?
I love those eyes.... (and I knit this sweater. This is before I blocked it)

Disneyland!

2009-09-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we were at Disneyland about a month ago. But it's been that long. Be prepared for a post with lots of photos and very few words. We had a blast. It was great. Jenna did great considering we paid no attention to her schedule, put her to bed late pretty much every night and she didn't sleep in the stroller. Thank goodness we stayed in the hotel across from Disneyland. We got over our fear of leaving our stroller unattended with the diaper bag hanging on it. Jenna was a champ, slept relatively well considering we weren't at home and we were all in a single room suite. That's Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Pop and Uncle Jon... all sleeping in the same room as Jenna. Nick and I were able to escape and ride a few rides together while Grandma & Uncle Jon watched Jenna. It was great to go with Nick, a little mini date night just days after our 4 year wedding anniversary, celebrating in Disneyland. It reminded me of part of our honeymoon (we went to Disneyworld for 3 days of our 10 day honeymoon). All in all, we had a great time, but were EXHAUSTED when we arrived back home. Disneyland with a toddler is not for the faint of heart!

On this trip, Jenna really was taking to walking on her own. Here she is on Main street showing us the way....

These photos are out of order. I know you're totally shocked, too. Here we are at the entrance with Pop ... (actually, this is us leaving, but the trip was a whirlwind, and the order doesn't really matter, right!?)
Meeting Cinderella! This one's for you, Irma!
And Belle!
And Ariel. Jenna just wanted to point out things in the background. I'm looking forward to taking her when she actually knows who these characters are. Oh, and for the record, just so she won't be able to live it down... just before entering the 'Meet the Disney Princesses" part of the whole shin dig... she pooped. It was totally stinky, and she met the princesses with a turd in her diaper. NO TIME to change it. We waited in line an hour and she pooped as the cute little girl in front of us walked in to meet Jasmine. Oy....

Speaking of Jasmine.... Jenna loved, loved her chest. Whatever sparkly material was on her bosom Jenna was enthralled with. Poor Jasmine must be used to this kind of thing because she kept pointing out the pretty jewel on her bracelet, but Jenna kept smacking her hand away. So, a diaper load of crap and trying to grab the poor girls boobs. ::sigh::
Jenna also got to meet Snow White :)
On the Ferris Wheel. See that green shirt? yup, that's our monkey....
Jenna wanted to push the stroller.
Did I mention she's been making her desires more obvious with the pointing? Here she is demonstrating that skill.
We were all dancing. She decided to book it while Mom was looking like a loon. Gee, thanks, babe.
Again with the pointing
Mickey! She loves Mickey at home... when we met him... all she wanted to do was pull the bow out of her hair. Maybe she wanted to give him a gift. Maybe?
Fireworks. I'm proud of this shot. (all the others were by my Dad, thanks Pop!) I was told that in order to shoot fireworks, you had to had a tripod with a remote shutter release thingy... Not I said the fly! This was with my hand. I'm proud... I think it's purdy.
This was taken the first day with my camera. I quickly decided to ditch my camera in the hotel as baby + stroller + family to tend to + camera = doesn't work. But I got like 3 shots...

She danced, danced, danced in line on this ride. Inside the ride (her first, how fitting, right?!) she was confused... but still danced.
This is in the finding nemo submarine ride. This girl loves her fishies... which is what's she's pointing to. She also liked the bubbles and the divers. I wish we took her on this ride twice, but there just wasn't time.
My little bean. She's tired, but she's got her custom ears on.
Like I said, a great trip, but an exhausting trip. We're looking forward to taking her again, though I think we'll wait until she's closer to 3. Very, very exciting.

It's been too long

2009-08-27T09:27:00.001-07:00

I may have to go back to the monthly letters as life just gets in the way of documenting life sometimes!

Jenna's now 14 months, full of energy, full of life. I have a TON of photos to post... some of me modeling for a photography workshop with Augie Chang, some of Disneyland, a few from camping and snapshots in between.

Jenna's awesome. She's walking, talking, borderline running and makes my heart skip a beat every time I see her. I love asking her "How old are you, Jenna?" She forcefully says "DIS" and holds her finger up. She sings along with the ABC's, counts along with you and when you ask in a sing-song fashion "What's gonna work...." She replies back with "GEEMuurk!" (10 points to the first to respond with the origin of that phrase). Mama is used very infrequently, but I've decided that's ok. I'll hear enough of "Mama" in my lifetime ;)

Eating, walking, talking, running she's now fast enough that I don't often get to sit down and document it all. Many posts ahead... one of these days. I promise ;)

August Rocks!

2009-08-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

So, this month has a lot in store for us.... I'm feeling really giddy and excited for all that's going on and all we have planned.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time with my girlfriends. I've never had such a close group of girls I can gush to, be a lush amongst, support and be supported by. It's really fantastic and I don't know what I'd do without my near, dear friends. Or wine. ;)

Something else fun happened this weekend. I'll share when I have a link for you!

This upcoming weekend we're going to meet up with the fam in Disneyland. I'm oh so excited to share the happiest place on earth with Jenna. The girl gets excited as we're passing the disney store in the mall... can you imagine when we roll up to D-land!? When I say she gets excited... I mean her entire body convulses at the sight of the giant Mickey head at the entrance... the girl loves her disney at the ripe old age of 13 months. I am SO excited! We're also meeting up with my Aunt and her fam... I haven't seen them since 2007... it's been far too long!

We'll be seeing the Yanks take on the A's... YAY for going to a Yankee game and seeing my favorite guys IRL!

The weekend after that we're going to be dropping Jenna off at Nanny & Poppies for a night while we camp with friends. We plan to be up late, irresponsible and drink all in the name of having Jenna in capable hands. It will be our first night away from her, but I know she'll do well.

The last weekend we're going to the OutsideLands Festival in SF. I get to see my beloved Dave Matthews....

So busy, but so worth it... work hard to play hard, right!?

Breastfeeding

2009-07-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

I never did a post on this. I have all these ideas swirling around in my head about it, but haven't written it down.

I was fortunate enough to breastfeed Jenna for just over a year. I stopped, because *I* wanted to, not because she wanted to... well, I say that, but I'm not entirely sure about it.

Breastfeeding has been something I was committed to from the very beginning. It was never easy. Never. Within 3 days of her birth we went to single sided feedings. I was feeding her too much and she'd spit up after every meal, a lot. She had reflux so we had to feed her less more frequently, we got thrush at 6 weeks. I'm convinced either I had the longest standing case of thrush or I had psoriasis on my nipples. I'm pretty sure it's psoriasis... it's finally getting better with psoriasis meds now that I've weaned I can use them. Jenna would feed quickly, ferociously but often thrash about trying to see what else is going on in the room, in the house, in China. She bit when teething. She was always teething. I would try to feed her at lunch at day care and she'd bite me because she wasn't hungry. I had many bouts of oversupply. I'd have my pump with me at all times to avoid quarter boobs (boobs so full and heavy you could bounce a quarter off of them).

Then, it came time to wean. For me. I want my body back. I want to be able to wear a shirt without worrying about leaking, being able to expose myself (the hooter hider only worked for about 4 months, after that Jenna wouldn't nurse if I was wearing it). Jenna never took the bottle really well, she'd only eat ~ 2 ounces from it at 9 am with Irma. This made things difficult. So, we became more consistent with the bottle at 10 months. I would pump, Nick would give a bottle. Slowly, she started to take it.

We started to add WCM in with the breast milk. She was doing great, actually, eating more. We dropped it down to the morning feeding and the night time nursing session. Then dropped the morning one and I would pump. We reduced feedings until I was only feeding her during the middle of the night. Then I quit. I stopped pumping and feeding her in hopes of drying up. 3 days later my poor boobs were literally square from being in a sports bra and felt like a bag of rocks. You could feel each duct swollen with milk. It hurt. I called the advice line and she told me to do warm heat and drain them. I did. my bra size changed drastically that day. I was back in pre pregnancy bras the following day. I still have to drain every now and then, but it's been over a month. Jenna's doing fab, I think she's even putting on more weight now than before (she can be distracted with a bottle as the bottle will travel with her mouth. Her sleeping's gotten a bit better since it's more difficult to prep a bottle than it is to just go nurse her.

I'm happy with the decision to wean. I think it's been good for Jenna, good for me and good for Nick. I do look back and wonder how things would've been different if I had stopped sooner. Would I have been happier? I look at my relationship with Jenna now, it's different. I appreciate her more now than I did when I was nursing. I know that sounds lame, but it's the honest truth. How would things have been different if I only nursed while on maternity leave? or until she was 6 months old? or 9 months? How would her sleeping patterns differ? Would they? I'm proud that we made it to a year, as that's what's recommended and all, but was it really worth it? I don't know. It doesn't really matter, I've got my beautiful girl, she's got me (but not my boobs) and we're all good.

Life is good. I'm happy the cows are getting the relief from pumping instead of me.

Looking forward, looking back.

2009-07-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

Thinking about the profound changes that have happened in my life from 2007 until now makes my head spin. There are days I go to write the date and I have to hesitate before actually writing 2009. And it's July. Almost August. Nick and I's 4 year anniversary is coming up next month. To think of how much we've grown as individuals and as a couple since we got married or in the 11 years we've been together is mind boggling. We have the most beautiful, adorable daughter, one that is such a great combination of the two of us we really don't see each other in her face. I've never appreciated Nick more, and I likely don't tell him that enough. Having Jenna has so rocked our world in ways I can never explain. There just aren't enough words.

Jenna is amazing. She's either squealing with delight or crying out of frustration. There isn't much in between. She's a ball full of energy and rarely slows down enough to give us a hug or let us hold her. But I think that makes me that much more appreciative of the times I do get a hug, or when she goes to give me a kiss (which still resembles CPR). I love laying on the floor with her at the end of my work day and having her crawl all over me. Stand on me, sit on me, plop on my belly, try to bite my toes... I don't really like it when she sits on my head and tries to jump up and down, but at the same time, if it makes her happy, I can get a good laugh out of it. I love time right now, I'd love to stop it.

Then again, I see family portraits of little girls, 3 or 4 years old (sometimes older) and I swoon. I'm looking forward to seeing Jenna as a little girl. Knowing her personality now, she's going to be so much fun. I know she's strong willed, she's intense with her feelings, emotions, desires and I can't wait to see that in an older form. I'm looking forward to baking cookies with her, running through a grassy field, trying to catch crawdads at the local park... there's so much.

Motherhood is great right now. We're getting a bit more sleep (um, but the second I say anything it all goes to the pot so I won't say too much more about that), she's interacting, walking, 'talking' and becoming her own little person. It's amazing to watch, I can't wait to see more.

13 months

2009-07-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, Jenna's 13 months old. I'm no longer going to write the monthly letters because I want to keep them to the first year. I think now I'll write them every 6 months, but I do still plan to do a monthly pictures and note what's been new in her world.

My primary reason behind this is to ensure I can keep up with "What you do for the first, you won't do for the second". I hope to be able to write monthly letters to Jenna's sibling (not coming anytime soon for those that are thinking of asking) for their first year, just as I have for Jenna. That being said, I still want to keep track of her growth and development... so essentially I'll still be writing about her monthly, if for no other reason, to keep the blog up and refresh my memory (because Mommy amnesia is REAL people!)

13 months. Crazy town! As I write this, I think I can officially call her a walker. She chooses to walk more than crawl now, albeit if she's SUPER excited, she'll crawl, much faster, after all. AND! She's said the word Mama. She's still selective in it's use, but it has been muttered on more than one occasion. Her obsession with the word Doggie has now turned to an obsession with the word Daddy. So now every thing's Daddy.
Practicing walking with Poppie.

I can't get enough of those blue eyes. Have I mentioned I can't keep track of the number of teeth she has? Seriously, she's got all the incisors (you'll see visual evidence in the photos below) and is working on all 4 of her premolars, and I think a canine tooth or two will be making it's appearance soon. I think. Maybe.

Playing at Nanny & Poppie's over the 4th of July weekend. I never thought I'd see Nanny's fancy coffee tables be so beautifully decorated ;)

Nanny bought Jenna some Russian nesting dolls to play with while up at their house. She loved them :)

Jenna doesn't have access to stairs at home, or at day care... but at Nanny and Poppie's, she climbed them without skipping a beat... going down the stairs was more difficult and we'd have to help her otherwise she'd roll right down.

Waving to the participants at the parade.

Reading "Brown Bear"

Our little patriot. So cute.

Her most recent 'thing'. She tucks her lower lip over her lower teeth and gives this overly excited laugh. CRACKS.ME.UP. Her little nose wrinkles just a bit and she goes to town. Just looking at this picture makes my day better instantly. I love it.

We went to Berkeley with Grandma. "Little Farm" is in Berkeley and you can bring celery or lettuce to feed the Cows, Goats, Pigs and Chickens (I'm sure there's more, but I forget, it's that mommy amnesia thing again)

Walking with Grandma
Checking out the chickens. She would 'talk' to them, too. Have I mentioned she 'talks' in sentences? Something like this "Gebaba GO beba daddy ducky Gee go de DAW" Sort of. ;)

She's signing 'light' here. We've been playing with sign language and *this* is the one sign she's picked up and uses often. She uses it all the time. You know, it'd be more helpful if she signed hungry, milk, all done or more... but she likes the 'light' sign best. Eh, we'll keep practicing. At least we know she comprehends.

Swine flu!? What swine flu ;) She got along with the piggy just fine.

A little out of order but there's also a steam train in Berkeley. We went and Jenna loved it :)

Our little family, waiting to get started on the train...

A rare photo where I'm not behind the camera... on the train.

OK, back to the farm... did I mention there were COWS? And the cows have crazy tongues? Jenna was curious enough to get this close, but wise enough to pull her hand back off Daddy's when that tongue came out to grab the food.

The same day we went to little farm and the steam train, we got a little splash pool. Jenna played and played and played until her lips turned blue (oops!)

My little cutie.

ruffle butts are the cutest!

That's all I've got for now. She's doing well, growing like a weed. Next month is going to be crazy. We're going to Disneyland for the first time, going camping (kind of, details later) I think we might be skipping hot august nights this year but there's lots on the agenda.

I heard the magic word...

2009-07-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

I'm behind on blogging, but had to stop tonight to note the following. Tonight Jenna said Mama (YAY!!)

She's also saying:
Doggie (duh)
Dada
Ducky
Kitty
Vinnie (our chinchilla)
Hi
Bye

All of these words popped up, out of no where. It's really cool and frightening to watch. Also, my unrational fear of not being able to understand toddler-speak is not coming to fruition. I've never been able to understand kids. But even though Ducky, doggie, kitty sound similar, I really can tell the difference between them.

Aquarium & Phil&Teds Event :)

2009-07-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Jenna and I were invited out to visit the Aquarium at San Francisco's Pier 39. I took the day off work and we made a day of it. It's too bad that the nap resulted in us leaving SF shortly after the event was over. I wish there was time to go and bark at the sea lions, but time ran short.

Here's a few pictures..... in no particular order:

Checking this whole thing out, cautiously.

They were beautiful to watch maneuver.
This fish had a magenta square. it was quite striking.
Jelly fish!
BIG Jelly fish!
Jenna, checking out the Phil & Teds goods. They sponsored the event. We got to go and check out their latest products, drool over strollers and play with a fun thing called the wriggle wrapper and have lunch. Jenna did great!
Sting rays will always remind me of our honeymoon on Grand Cayman.... sigh...
Jenna in the tunnel. The aquarium was more interesting to her than the zoo. Maybe because she can get up close and personal?

Smaller Jelly fish! These guys were cool!
All in all, a great day away from the office with just the bean.

Jenna's 1st Birthday Party

2009-07-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, finally, I'm able to put together a post about her party. All in all the day turned out great. Everything worked out just great and there was only a couple hiccups, and even those were minor.

Here's the bottom of her 'high chair sign'. I made it, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I think I'm going to hang this part on her nursery door.

The birthday girl! "Are you here for my party!?"
The table decor: photos of her throughout the year, sweet peas in matching vases, green table plastic (I'm not going to call it a table cloth!) and a white paper runner. It was windy, so we had to staple and tape everything down.
Here's her high chair sign. It says "Happy 1st Jenna"
Jenna's showing off her big number 1. you can see the pink floral chinese paper lanterns in the background, too (this is the only picture with them in it! There were five, they turned out super cute!)
This one's a bit out of order (wouldn't be a proper blog post if the photos were all in order, right?) We're trying to get her to blow out the candle and not grab for it.
Here's her beautiful cake! We got it from La Gateau Elegant... yummy! butter cream frosting, custard filling white cake (pretty much "as boring as you can make a cake for a girl that hasn't had sugar before").
Everyone singing happy birthday to the birthday girl!
Mom and Dad singing to our baby girl.
Trying to show Jenna the cake... "See that!? It's sugar. You haven't had it before. Whatever you don't eat, I will."
She decided to dive in.
And then proceeded to 'share' the cake with me (more frosting hit my face on this day than Nick was able to get me with on the wedding day!)
She followed suit so I wouldn't feel like the only one. Notice the finger marks? She put her hands up to her head and dragged them down. If you look in subsequent pictures, you'll see 8 tiny frosting finger trails down her forehead (and in her hair).
There are SO MANY CAKE pictures! And yet, I couldn't resist sharing them all with you :) I think that was my primary reason behind having a party! There's not much cuter than a baby covered in frosting and goo!

Time out! What happened to the rest of the cake?
Ppppttthhh!!!!
Pop, is THIS how I eat cake!?
Ah, enough of this.... I'm outta here!
The day turned out great! We had plenty of friends and family able to make it and it was so good to be able to celebrate all that we've accomplished in the last year. Now, we tackle toddlerhood!

Jenna's 1 year montage

2009-06-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is the short version. I haven't figured out how to upload the 16 minute version one.

Enjoy! *sniff*

12 month letter

2009-06-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Jenna,

Holy cow. We've made it. Well, we've made it to a year, that is. A year that has so changed me I hardly remember who I was before you. I remember thinking, dreaming, wondering who you would be. What you would look like, how your personality would emerge. I thought back on whether I was up to the task of being a Mother, YOUR Mother. Thinking back on that time, I can't believe how naive I was. How I thought I could plan it all out. I thought I was prepared.

Little did I know what I would get. I had no clue I would have a teeny, tiny ball of energy. A baby so full of life she couldn't handle this outside world without screaming often, and LOUDLY. But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. Because if it were any different, I wouldn't have you. You wouldn't have me.
This year has so changed me. I look back on those early days, and at the time, I kept trying to wish them away. The endless nights I would beg and plead and stare at you and ask you just to let me sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. You never listened. But you made me stronger. I'm so proud of you. You continue to blossom before our very eyes, and I know this is only the beginning. With this next year you'll learn so much, become more than we could have ever imagined. Talking, walking, temper tantruming and loving.... I'm so looking forward to it all (well...... no, just like I don't want to look back on those early difficult days with distain, I don't want to wish away any of this time because it's fleeting.... I now know and understand that more than ever before).
As for this month... you've changed. You've changed in ways I didn't see coming at all. You've learned to 'cheesy' smile. I'm shocked I don't have a picture of it. I told your Dad that I think your smile changed... at first he didn't see it, then I pointed it out. You smile really, really big, show off all your teeth (currently working on 9&10, maybe more, we can't get in there right now!) and your gums and wrinkle your nose. That's by far, my favorite part. If I were to put words to it, the only thing I can come up with is "CHEEEEEESSSEEE!!!" I love it. Melts my heart.
Speaking of melting my heart, you've also learned to hug this month. At the end of the day when I go to pick you up from Irma's, you wrap your right arm around my neck, put your head on my shoulder and give me a big squeeze. It's the best 10 seconds of my day, every day. You also have started hugging others, but that leads me to...
Separation anxiety. You've started to shy away from 'strangers' or those you haven't seen in awhile. Based on your personality, I never thought this day would come. You always would go to willing arms to hold you, which I very much appreciated. That being said, it's nice to know that you favor Mama & Daddy. Especially since we're currently weaning, the special hugs and lovin does show me that you can still be lovey without nursing. I didn't think it would happen since prior to this the only time you would sit still would be to nurse.
One. I still can't believe it. You're a string bean my bean... 18 lbs. 15 oz. and 29 inches long. I'm pretty sure you've inherited my long torso as you outgrow things in body length prior to filling out pants. An example? You can still fit into plenty of 3-6 month pants.... only as capris as opposed to pants. But that helps with crawling (so you don't scrape up your knees).
You still love to dance. You stand up and wiggle your little butt to almost any beat. You seem to enjoy beer commercial tunes to anything else (much to our displeasure, but we gave up trying to stop you... a dancing bean is far too cute regardless of what you're dancing to!) You stand, you push every moveable piece of furniture around the house you can, you will walk assisted but when there's nothing to hold on to, you drop down and crawl really, really fast. I know walking will come, you've got all the components, just not the actual skill down yet.
Have I mentioned that you enjoy anything that is NOT a toy? Anything. Boxes, kitchen utensils, anything that isn't intended to be for children you're all over. Your current favorite is water bottles. We've given up trying to take them away from you.
Baby girl, I'm so proud of you. Proud to call you my daughter, proud to be your Mama. It's been quite a year and I can't believe you are mine. I still can't believe this isn't just 'a sleep over' and that you're going to go back to your rightful owners. Thank you for making me who I am today. Thank you for changing my life in such a profound way I'm stumbling and bumbling and having difficulties writing this without a box of tissue near by. You are my one, my only Jenna-bean. My baby, despite now being labeled as a toddler. I love you, munchkin.

Love,

Mama

(which you're still not saying, by the way)

Weaning and birthday emotions... oh my!

2009-06-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

So I've started the process to wean. And although I didn't have a huge issue with giving her WCM (whole cows milk) for whatever reason, reducing feedings, knowing I'm letting my supply drop intentionally is quite weird.

That and Jenna turns one on Sunday. Birthday party on Saturday.

It's been an emotional week. Who knows if it's due to hormones, or the big milestone, or stress from work and trying to prep for this weekend or likely a combo of all of it.

But, I'm excited. Stay tuned for a *way too long* montage of her first year. Seriously, set aside about 20 minutes ;) We'll see if I can do a shorter version, too. The long version took many hours to prep and lots of tears... *sniff!*

Honest Scrap Award

2009-06-10T08:20:00.001-07:00

AN AWARD! A MAJOR AWARD! (Sorry, I'm just a big fan of the movie 'A Christmas Story' and had to go there with this...)

Echloe tagged me with the honest scrap award. I love me some awards :)

The Rules for this award are to write 10 Honest Things about myself. So here it is:

1. I'm a type A kinda girl. I'm meticulous and a little obnoxious about it. You can ask those that work for me. That being said, those that do work for me would bend over backward to help. So I guess it's not that annoying.

2. I'm in love with photography blogs. IN LOVE.

3. I need to pick up my camera. While I was putting together the photos for J's montage, I realize I haven't been snapping as many. But, over the course of the year, my photos have gotten better so I don't *need* to snap as many to get a couple good ones... hmmm

4. I've had to re check the rules of this award already. I'm good at going off on tangents.

5. I'm into reading... which if you asked me that when I was teenager I'd say no... I hated reading at that time. But I think it's because I didn't find anything I liked to read back then. Now, I love reading. While I was pregnant and a 'new parent' I was into pregnancy and parenting books. Prior to that, business nerd books (I've got a whole slew of them!), now I'm back into the business nerd books along with the massive blog roll I've accumulated. Fun stuff.

6. I miss Jenna today, while at work. I miss her most days, but today I just want to go home and get a hug from her. Did I mention that yet? She HUGGED me when I picked her up from day care yesterday. TWICE! Then again at home one or two more times. There's nothing sweeter than her little arm wrapped around my neck giving it a squeeze while her head is on my other shoulder. Who knows, maybe she was trying to choke me... I don't care. It was filled with love in my eyes.

7. I'm not the mother I thought I'd be. Or maybe I am. Let me rephrase: Jenna has taught me that I don't get to decide the kind of mother I want to be. Instead, I'm *her* mother, responding to *her* needs. I think it makes it that much sweeter.

8. Back to me. I love a good pedicure. Bonus points if there's wine or champagne involved.

9. I love my husband. He really is the best. I don't remember who's blog (wait, I think it was J*)I was reading and they said I am the sail of a sail boat, and he is my anchor. (she actually said it better than I did... but digging up that post would be far too difficult). But the phrase so accurately describes my DH and I. I'm such a social butterfly, flitting around a group, saying hi, talking to everybody, happy to be out and about. He's the one that reminds me how nice it is to sit at home, snuggled on the couch, just me and him. Among other things, of course. I'm forever grateful and don't know how to thank him enough for just being him.

10. I do my best to live life without regrets. And, anything that *could* be a regret turn it into a lesson for the future. Mistakes are ok, but only if you learn from them.

I'm supposed to award this to other bloggers, too. But if you're reading this, I say you've officially been awarded this one... or, better yet, leave 10 honest things about yourself as a comment on this blog and re-post on your blog... I'd love to read them :)

OK, it used to be cute...

2009-06-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

Jenna... you're a doll, you really are. But there's one thing I'd like to have a talk with you about. The word "doggie" has come out of your mouth literally hundreds of times a day.

When a dog barks "doggie!"
when you see a dog "doggie!"
When you see a cat "doggie!"
When you see Vinnie our chinchilla "doggie!"
When you see a bird "doggie!"
When you see me "doggie!"
When you see Daddy "doggie!"
When you say good bye to friends or family "doggie!"
When you're in the bath, when you're in the car, when you're at day care, when you're at home... you get the point.

As much as your single word is cute, honey, let's learn to use it in context. As much as I was sad that you were saying "Dada" and "Daddy" and not "Mama" being called "Dada" is preferred to being called "Doggie." And now that Doggie has replaced all other words... well, I'm at a loss.

Jenna's a couple weeks shy of her 1st birthday.

Jenna's Baptism

2009-05-31T22:47:00.000-07:00

We baptized Jenna last weekend (Memorial Day weekend) at Christ the King Church. Nick was confirmed and was an alter boy here many moons ago. I can say that getting to the point of the baptism was a bit of a struggle in having the baptism class cancelled and getting it arranged and apparently we ended up with the last date to have the baptism in the church as they're remodelling it as of this weekend. Had we decided to have her baptised while it was being remodelled, it would have ended up out on the lawn under a large tent.

OK, enough of the logistics, lemme get to the good stuff, the pictures.

The day went swimmingly, likely due to the fact that we wanted it to be a mellow, low key kind of event. We only had the Grandparents, Aunt Heidi and the Godparents in attendance.

Nanny brought down the bib they used to baptize Nick, but as I'm showing here, it's way too small for Jenna's head. Apparently that's the difference between baptizing a preemie and baptizing an 11 month old.

Nanny & Jenna pre-ceremony. Jenna had a beautiful bracelet made by her Great-Aunt Reenie and a cross of her own (tucked inside the onesie) that was blessed after the ceremony. Both pieces are stunning.

Please ignore my 'I'm stressed, when are we getting out of here' face. My Mom and I, pre-Mass.

Awwww.... He's so wrapped around her finger, it's crazy.

She didn't cry. But that doesn't mean she wasn't questioning what kinds of shenanigans we were up to.

Taking a good look up above.

There was one other baby being baptized that day, too. He was 6 months old.

Our little family :)

Us, the priest, and Jenna's Godparents, Uncle Mike and Karin.

:) Jenna and her Godparents

Us and her Grandparents.

Back to the house for food... and CAKE!

Karin & Jenna

Struttin her stuff...

Winning over her Godfather with that smile...

Uncle Mike got to feed Jenna. She's getting better with the bottle.

Jenna with her absolute favorite toy... a water bottle. Dunno why we purchase toys. They're useless!

I love this smile. Can't get enough of it.

All in all, everything came together beautifully.

Jenna and family

2009-05-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

We got together at Aunt Heidi and Uncle Mike's for Mother's Day brunch. It was good to get Jenna aquainted with her 4 legged (wait... her only) cousins.

Left to right: Reuss, Poppie, Jenna and Aunt Heidi. LOVE this picture.

Madison checking Jenna out towards the end of the day. Jenna is inspecting something that got stuck to her hand while crawling around. This is so normal, but I don't catch it on film because I just don't like it. I hate that no matter how much I clean, or sweep, or keep her in a bubble, she still finds stuff on her hands. Hey, maybe I should embrace it. She's entertained, right? Oh, and at least Madison got to check her out without actually confronting this little person.
Reuss, on the other hand, was all about playing with Jenna. He loooovvvees her.
I realized I haven't taken a good picture of my Mom and Jenna in a longer time than I care to admit. So... mini photo shoot proved successful. They were both having a blast. My Mom knows how to get her giggles going. I love it.
Ah, quick one with Pop and Jenna... she loves to watch people talk on the phone.
Back to Grandma...
This one's my favorite.

11 Month Letter

2009-05-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Jenna,

You're now 11 months old. I'll admit to not seeing this as a very important milestone due to it being the bridesmaid to next months very large milestone, but looking at you in your 11 month glory, I'll admit to loving this age.

You've been quite the active little one this month. You're cruising furniture like crazy, and starting to 'leap' between pieces. I'll admit to thinking you were going to be walking by now, but, just like with crawling, you keep teasing us with all the little pieces of the behavior, but not putting them together. That's OK, there will be plenty of time for walking in the future.

You still put everything in your mouth. EVERYTHING. Our house has been redecorated to have low surfaces completely cleared of items (we call it the minimalist look) whereas higher surfaces (that you can't reach) now houses the items of every day life. This includes the 4 bags I drag in and out every day (my purse, my pump bag, the small bag that the pumped milk and parts go into and your diaper bag) along with the bottles of wine we open to celebrate the end of another day, all parties intact.

You're keeping us on our toes. You're stubborn. When you want something, you either a) get it and then ignore it because we haven't tried to take it away from you and therefore it must not be interesting or b) when we take it away from you, you throw a very large fit, crocodile tears included.
You're mighty quick. You can go from one end of the house to the other in the time it takes me to drop those 4 bags at the end of the day. I think we've all lost our 'baby rolls' trying to keep up with you.
You've officially said your first word. And you keep saying it over and over and over. "Doggie". At first we thought it was a fluke, but then we realized you were using it in context. You would see a dog across the park and get so excited, flapping your arms all over the place and saying "doggiedoggiedoggiedoggiedoggieDOGGIE!" You've since applied the word doggie to any furry creature. Anything with feathers is now labeled Duckie. (or, duckieduckieduckieduckie). You're 'speaking' your own language and mimicking our conversations and tone, which is pretty darn cute. You're still very much a dancer... and now instead of just bobbing your head like the guys from SNL, you're now swaying your hips. Particularly if you're wearing a skirt.
We've loosely started 'potty training' or elimination communication... or as I like to call it "Making Mommy happy by not needing to change a dirty diaper" Just like with solids, we haven't been super consistent, but we have gotten the ball rolling. You do go on the potty on occasion and lemme tell ya, I love it. I'm not expecting miracles, but I like that we're getting started early. If it works, great, if you're still in diapers at age 4, so be it.

You've been a fabulous addition to our lives. I can't believe how quickly time has gone, and, at the same time, it's so, so hard to remember life without you. You're a joy to everyone that comes in contact with you (except for maybe Noble at day care, but you dish it back out, too... I think one day you'll have an understanding, the two of you). I look back on the days when you were so tiny, when all you would do is cry, eat and sleep and I just can't believe how far we've come. You're such a little person. It really does boggle my mind. As much as I'm sad you're growing so fast, I'm looking forward to what the future brings. For you, for us.

Thank you, Jenna. Thank you for enriching our lives in ways that I can't explain to those that don't have children. Thank you for every exhausted minute, every sloppy kiss (aka rescue breathing), every giggle, every tear. You've made me who I am today, and I only hope to return the favor. I'm doing all I can for you. I love you dearly.

Love,

Mommy

(which you still aren't saying, but I'm ok with that...)

Memories

2009-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

I want to remember the following:

- Jenna's hands are so soft. She likes to grab and play with my hands when nursing and her hands are so soft and baby-like, I don't want to forget that. I would, however like to forget when she digs her talons into my collar bone or cuts my lip from grabbing at it.

- Nursing is the only cuddle time we really get. So as we approach the year mark and we start to transition towards WCM (whole cows milk) I want to soak up all the snuggly time I can get. I know it's going to get fewer and farther between snuggle sessions. That being said, she's getting better about just sitting in our lap for story time, as opposed to thrashing out trying to get away, or to eat the book, so maybe our quiet time together won't be forever lost...

- I've had to stop looking forward. Meaning, I've been so freaked out with Jenna coming closer to her first birthday, I wasn't taking the opportunity to enjoy my 10 month old. As a 10 month old. She's getting big, but she's still my baby. Always will be my baby, but before she turns to a toddler, I'm going to treat her like a baby while I still can.

- I keep reminding myself to slow down. Stop running through the motions and stop and make a goofy face at Jenna. I love stopping everything and doing whatever is necessary to elicit a full on belly giggle from Jenna. Nothing makes me happier. I really do live for her, it's crazy.

- We went to Bo's BBQ for Mother's Day dinner (yum!) Jenna was fantastic. She was eating away and a gentleman walked by and stopped. He said "Oh! She's just all kinds of Precious. Just all kinds of precious. I mean, you two are an attractive couple, but she. Wow. Precious. All kinds." Nick and I keep giggling over our "all kinds of precious" and I think we've got a new nick name for her ;)

- Jenna started climbing this week. She's been cruising like a champ all over the house and her crawling is unbelievably fast (Where'd she go!? I thought she was with you!). I was trying to prepare myself for walking, as she's really good standing, pushing stuff around the house (her walker, the laundry basket, the box from the diapers, her musical play table) but this week she started climbing. First on her rocking chair (climbed on it, was standing, holding the back of it and rocking.. nearly gave Nick a heart attack!) then on the box of diapers, on the nursing stool in her room, she now pushes stuff over to the couch to climb up. I.was.not.prepared.for.this!

Ahhhh... fun times. Really, really fun times. I love my munchkin.

In Honor of Mother's Day

2009-05-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend is Mother's Day. It's my first mother's day. I'm kind of in awe. So, in honor of this momentous occasion (to me) I'd like to list a few things I've learned thus far...

- I'm a good Mom. It's hard to admit that, but I've come to realize that I need to commend myself for making it through the last 10.5 months and doing the best I can. I have more respect than ever for all Mom's out there whether they're working or a SAHM.

-Never say never. I remember when I was pregnant I had all these ideas of the type of parent I was going to be. The fact that my child would STTN (sleep through the night for those that aren't in the know) by 4 months, that I would breastfeed until Jenna decided to stop, that I would be able to get out of the house perfectly coiffed each day. I imagined that I would be going on monthly date nights and having another night just for the girls. I had wild, crazy dreams. Then I became a Mom. Reality set in. Ask me where I am now? Gee, Jenna has only STTN a handful of times (and when she does, I've learned not to celebrate too loudly as it often jinxs the following night!) Jenna's still being nursed but won't take the bottle (well, she will, when Irma gives her a bottle, but no one else... we're working on Nick being able to feed her now) which cuts out date nights and GNO's.

- Motherhood is demanding. Duh, right? Well you just can't explain it to someone until they've been there. They've been in the trenches and understand it if you happen to take a shortcut or veer from the norm. An example: I don't have Jenna's convertible car seat in the center because it's too hard on my back to get her in and out of the center position. It hurts! I'm not following the 'safety guidelines' to put your child in the center position, but you know what? Jenna's safe. She's buckled safely in her car seat using the latch system (thank goodness! so much easier than using the shoulder belt! No more shifting!) But we had to make that decision. Follow the guidelines or do what works for our family? We're doing what works for our family.

- I still don't believe I'm a parent. I'm still coming around to the idea that I'm a Mom. But there are days that I look at Jenna, well up with tears and can't believe she's ours. We get to keep her. And when the 'P' word (parent) is used, I freak out a bit. I have parents. I grew up with parents being authority figures, adults, grown ups. They go to work and take care of their children. It's weird, I fit the role to a T and yet can't comprehend that I, in fact, am a parent.

- Time flies. I keep saying it over and over. This time has gone by so quickly. It's hard to try to grasp onto the memories as they fly by. I feel like I'm in one of those clear boxes with cash flying all around me and I can't grab any of it. Thankfully, I'm starting to figure out the balance of having the camera in my hand just enough to capture memories, but not so much that I lose out on the experience.

So, I started this post, before Mother's Day. Now I'll finish it from a different perspective.

I love being a Mother. I really, really do. It's a lot of work. I'm running from sun up (or before that) to sun down and then some. The best thing about my first mother's day was the note inside the card Nick got for me. It said something to the effect of "Thank you for all you do, it means a lot". I actually think it was more insightful and sweet than that, but it meant a lot to me. I think that's exactaly what I wanted out of Mother's Day. To be recognized for all that I do for the family. For Nick, for Jenna and for me. It's amazing what the last 11 months have done to me as a person. I'm so proud to be a mother. I'm so proud to be Jenna's mother and Nick's wife.

I also wanted to take a minute to thank all of those I've turned to since becoming a Mother. To all the Mom's out there (you know who you are!) Thank you. Thank you for supporting me, listening to me, helping me when I'm clueless and letting me help you when I've been through something you haven't. We're in this together, raising awesome children and I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for being one of my very sturdy rocks.

Yeah, I'm that Mom...

2009-04-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

OK.... let me preface this with saying I hate diapers. Yeah, yeah, who likes them, right? Well, I've heard of this thing called elimination communication. I've done a bit (like a spec) of research on it enough to understand that the point is to try to get your little one to tell you when they need to use the restroom. Well, I've figured it out with poop (she's a grunter...) but not with pee.

I need to preface this story with a couple other tales... last week, Nick had a few late days at the office. He wasn't able to be home for the bath, so I said I'd do it. Can't be that hard, right? So, normally after her dinner, he goes and draws the bath while I go into her room with her and strip her down. Well, wasn't going to leave the water running so I went and stripped her down, took her into the bathroom and started the water. As I did... I was talking to her and... what's that? Ah!!! She's peeing, all over me, all over the bathroom floor. OK. I'm now soaked in pee. I grabbed a towel, threw it on the floor and went to our bedroom to change. I stripped down and put on a bath robe. When we got back to the bathroom, I realized I needed to pee... ugh, so, I'm holding Jenna, while in my bathrobe and I peed. Nick rounds the corner as I'm holding J, trying to wipe and the water's still running on her bath. Needless to say, we all laughed.... I'm sure it was quite a sight.

So, fast forward to Friday. Nick is up with his Dad and brother fishing and I'm left to fend for myself for bath time once again (dude, Nancy, I know you're going to laugh at all this, I'm clearly not cut out for running the bed time alone). This time I stripped her down, let her play in her room while I went to start the bath. She had a pretty bad diaper rash so this was round 2 of naked tushy time to help clear it. I started the bath and went back to get her and.... a big wet spot. My darling child peed on the carpet. I grabbed one of the 48 burp rags in my possession (thanks to reflux!) and got it up, then took her into her bath. Oy...

Next up? Sunday night. Nick's still fishing... OK, I can do this. The water starting is clearly what's triggering her to pee. So, I went and got her little infant seat out, put it on the floor of the bathroom and stripped her down, sat her on the potty and started the water. No pee. She was more interested in the clacking of the seat on the tiles. I put the potty on one of our kneeling pads (for bath time... kneeling on tile = ouch!) to stop the clacking and was making the psssssss sound that I want her to be able to associate with peeing. Nope, still nothing... So, this is where my college education came in handy. I looked over at the bath, being filled with warm water, grabbed one of her toys that happens to be a cup, filled it with water and stuck her hand in and started saying pssssssss ... this is what I found.....

Yes, I cheated my baby girl into peeing on the potty. I'm sure I've ruined her for life. And, yes, I took a picture of the potty with pee in it. I really am that Mom (hey! in my defense, Nick missed it! I wanted to share with him and show him I'm not nuts!)

As for elimination communication, I'm currently reading a book on it. We'll see what I get out of it (if anything). I figure it can't hurt, right?

I'm at a loss for words...

2009-04-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine lost her sweet baby Lydia Rose yesterday. I'm so angry. Sad. My heart aches. Echloe, you're in my heart.

10 month letter

2009-04-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Jenna,

I've struggled with starting this month's letter to you. Each month, I am more and more proud to be your Mama, to watch you grow, to see you smile, to comfort you when you cry and to love you. However, with each passing month, I feel like I'm trying to put my hands under that hour glass, and stop the sand from falling. I wish I could stop time. However, with each month, I fall more and more in love with you. With your personality, your spirit, your heart and your presence so I really look forward to the next month. Quite the conundrum.

This month has been fantastic. I'll apologize to you now, because I've been shoving that camera in your face more frequently now than ever before. I got a new lens, and finally am understanding how to use the camera, and you're my favorite subject. I suspect it will be this way the rest of your life, after all, growing up with a shutterbug Dad (Pop!) I've been on the receiving end, and although you'll get sick of me snapping away, you'll look back at the images and, hopefully, be thankful.

You're so beautiful. I don't know how else to add to that sentence. I get stopped by strangers on the street to comment on your eyes. Most look at me and assume they came from me, but they didn't. You've got your Nanny's eyes. The light crystal blue that captivates me and makes my heart melt. I can only imagine what those eyes, coupled with a pouty lip and a toddler voice will do to me when I have to leave for work in the morning. I shudder to think of that day. For now, at least you wave bye-bye.

In terms of developmental milestones, you're crawling all over the place, you wave, you can now stand, and squat, and stand independently, you're moving around the house enough to get into trouble, but we don't have the heart to keep you from exploring. You've 'met' Vinnie, our chinchilla... and you've both starred each other down. We haven't let you touch him yet, because we're just not sure how he'll respond yet (well, to be honest, we're not sure how you'll respond, either). You also have 8 teeth (2 more popped out this month).

Your playing has kept us on our toes. You're starting to get into more of a groove with the sleep, the feedings, the naps, day care, weekend activities. You're a real trooper, and I must admit, we have been doing much better truckin along with you.

I can't believe you're 10 months old. I've started to plan for your 1st birthday bash, and it just amazes me. I keep flipping back through old letters to you, old photos and I can't believe how far we've come in such a short period of time. I can't believe you used to sleep all day, and wouldn't smile in the beginning... It just doesn't seem real. Time slips away so quickly, and yet, I can't wait for more...

You are the highlight of my day, each and every day. Whether I'm trying to wrangle you into a high chair at a restaurant and feed you, trying to get you to sleep, wishing you would want to snuggle with me, comforting you after you've toppled or just playing with you... you make me smile.

Smile and laugh out loud. I can only imagine how things will be in the future. I can see bits of attitude in you already. Irma says you're going to be like Lauren, one of your day care buddies, with just enough attitude to test the waters, frequently. I'm not saying I'm planning on that, but I will say that you do like to test the limits and boundaries often.

This month, I became a baseball widow. See, that means that baseball season is in full effect in our house. Daddy was so happy to dress you up for opening day (and for the Yankee's opener, and for the new Yankee's stadium premier, etc.) you've never spent so much time in Yankee blue. Last year, you were born during the season, and you used to snuggle with Daddy on the couch. You'd both watch the game (OK, Dad watched the game, you snoozed), and I'd catch myself just watching the two of you. So much has changed in so little time. And yet, now you and Dad still will sit on the couch and watch the game. Funny how that works, huh?

I have to admit, I snicker when I put you in dresses... it hinders you, just a bit, from crawling. But, on Easter, it backfired. I think it was that weekend you realized that you couldn't crawl in a dress... but standing was easier, MUCH easier... since then, you've been testing those little legs.

Also sometime this month, you started that whole cruising thing. I don't know when, but it started happening. You also learned to say the word 'cookie' thanks to the cookie monster Grandma & Pop got for you for Christmas. Words that come out of your mouth include: cookie, dada, gagaga, uh oh!, gu gu, gogogo along with many other phrases that I have no clue how to type. You sing yourself a little diddy, made up by you, in the car to entertain yourself.

You LOVE music. Your musical table, the xylophone, the maracas and shakers we have all over the house, music in the car, in the house, if there's a beat to it, you're dancing. You also love it when Daddy sings "There was a Dad who had a bean and Jenna was her name-O... J-E-N-N-A" (you get the picture.... Daddy's gonna kill me for putting that in here, but too bad)

You've also started to increase the amount of time in between the night wakings. You're only up about once a night, unless you're teething. This is one crazy ride, my dear. Thank you for picking us. Thank you for allowing us to experience this with you. I can't quite remember what it was like to not be a parent, but I'm certainly enjoying being one now.

Love,

Mama

Jenna's first Easter

2009-04-13T08:05:00.001-07:00

It's Jenna's first Easter! She was so excited to be in her Easter 'duds' she was a little impatient with every one's arrival! Here she is, all dolled up, wondering where everyone else is.... (I took this opportunity for a little photo session... be warned LOTS of pictures ahead!)

Where is everyone?!

"Is Daddy ready yet?" She's looking down the hall...
"Nanny, Poppie, Aunt Heidi, Uncle Mike, Grandma AND Pop?!?! They're all coming! When will they get here!?!"

"Mom, you missed a spot on this window... lemme get it for you. WITH MY EASTER DRESS"

Still waiting...

Grandma broke out the bubbles that were in her Easter basket... She wasn't sure what to do with them, and was a bit irritated they went away just as she got her hands on them!

Greeting guests. (She waves now, have I mentioned that yet?)

Poppie reading her her Easter bunny book

She's dancin away! Super excited every one's there to watch.

Playing with Aunt Heidi.

This is after our dinner, she's super tired, a whole lotta guests and a whole lotta play can wear a girl out! Nanny was happy to hold her. Jenna was happy to play with her necklace.

One last bubble session with Aunt Heidi before everyone heads home!

There it is! Jenna's first Easter. We had a great time, the meal came out surprisingly quick and easy. Grandma and Pop were there, too but I didn't manage to snag them in any pictures (mental note for the next time we're all together!!!)

Jenna's really fun right now.

2009-04-07T11:27:00.001-07:00

There's not much else I have to say beyond that... She's sleeping better (though I fear writing that out for fear of jinxing it!) She's also been super adaptable when naps are off. She's happy, healthy, has 8 teeth (2 popped out in the last week!) and just loves to play, play, play.

She's started waving, randomly. And also give 2-3 claps and then raises her hands over her head (think touchdown!). Adorable. Oh, and when I say Mama to her? She responds with "Dada"

Here she is... um, playing with tofu...

*sniff* I love this picture.

Jenna with her Ace Ventura psycho ward hair... Daddy snapped the pic. It's right before bath time, just after her pigtails came out ;)

My beautiful babe... on opening day!

Giving raspberries! Always out of the side of her mouth... and always with the serious face!

Stories, before they're lost... and a few pics

2009-04-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

So, I've been meaning to blog about this for over 2 months now (yipes!) and I keep forgetting, or maybe I'm just hesitant to get it written down for fear that someone will try to tell me Jenna's first word was something other than Dada.

A couple of months ago, just when Jenna was getting mobile enough to get into trouble, we started setting limits on what she can and can't touch in the living room (or is it family room? I always get those confused... it's the one with the TV). One thing she's not allowed to touch is Nick's guitar (um, for obvious reasons, right?) So, she crawled over to it. We sharply said "Jenna, No." and take her hand and remove it from the guitar. This was repeated over and over and over (we tried removing her and distracting her, but the allure of the guitar was apparently too much for her). At one point, after removing her hand and saying "NO" again, she looked at me, angry, turned back to the guitar and yelled "NO!" I dropped my jaw, looked over at Nick and we both started laughing. We did hear what we think we heard, but I maintain that she has yet to repeat the word 'no' again, thus, it isn't really her first word.

The other story happened about a month ago (maybe less?) I'm in the kitchen making coffee (decaf for me, leaded for Nick). Nick's in the above mentioned room (family room!?) laying on the floor, Jenna's crawling all over him. All the sudden I hear "Ow, hehe, ow... OWWW!!!" I go over to see what all the commotion was about and see Nick holding his nose. I asked him what's wrong and he proceeded to say "She gave me a bloody nose!" She was examining his face and stuck her finger up her nose. He claims he thought she'd stop, only to discover she wanted to see what was up there. She found blood, apparently.

OK, so normally I save all my favorite pictures for the month end letter, but I can't wait on these. They turned out great. I'm super excited I picked up a new lens, and the results, thus far, have been amazing. YAY!

I just pulled her hair out of pigtails and she was rockin her mop-top

I really can't get enough of her little round booty or her thigh rolls!

Jenna and Kellen, hanging out, admiring all the leaves outside they would love to get their hands on.

Again with the booty and thigh rolls... the smiley flower bloomers were too cute to ignore!

Mama and her baby.

This is, by far, my favorite picture lately. I love her eyes, I love that she's not all the way in the frame, I love that her pigtails are in the distance. This picture never fails to make me smile, and I think it ranks up there with my other favorite shots: Daddy's girl and the Tutu shots

Pay it Forward :)

2009-03-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

I just happened to stumble across knitsational's blog this morning, and on what a great morning it was! I was considering doing something like this on Facebook, but I like this version a bit better.

Here's how it works; the first three people to leave me a comment on this post, will recieve an item, handmade by me, in the mail within the next three months. One day, out of the blue. What could be better than that? Only catch is, you must post this on your own blog (which means you do need to have a blog to participate)and give three items yourself. And don't forget to email me your mailing address!

Ready, set... GO!!!

Additional 9 month fun...

2009-03-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

I never remember to update her stats and all the 'mundane' stuff. Well, it's not mundane, it's just stuff I take for granted and will eventually forget.

So, she had her 9 month appointment on Monday (the 23rd) and she weighed in at 17 lbs. 12.5 oz., with 17.5 cm head and 27 inches in length. The nurse said we should take her to Vegas with the triple 7's and all. We told her she's already been kicked out of a casino, and she'll have to wait until she's 21. She's running between the 25th and the 50th percentile for all her stats. Works for me.

Dr. Hokie says she's cleared to eat "pretty much everything" as long as it's cut into teeny tiny pieces as choking hazards are the biggest issue right now. So, now all I have to do is get over the fact that she's grown up enough to eat from my plate.

Currently, here's a list of what she chows down on:
avocados (still not a big fan)
mangoes
rice (brown)
oatmeal (both baby oatmeal cereal and bites of Mommy's oatmeal)
pears (the ultimate "you need to poop so we're feeding you this" food)
bananas (which I learned from Dr. Hokie... green = makes babies poop, yellow, or ripe = stops babies up)
sweet potato
tofu
cheerios
bread (courtesy of Mom at CPK)
tortilla (courtesy of Dad at The Stonehouse)
Peas
Green Beans (originally she HATED it... now, she tolerates it)
apple sauce
yogurt (plain, mixed with a puree)
shredded cheese

I'm sure there's more... I'll try to remember to come back and add to the list.