I will have lost weight
I will have an organized house
I will have finished at least one project that I've started
I will have sent all the birthday cards that I always mean to.
Those aren't resolutions, they're decisions.
Daisypath Anniversary tickers
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Merry Christmas!
Like all of Lauren's other firsts, I had a picture in my head of what I wanted her first Christmas to be like. It didn't quite turn out that way, though. It took longer to get the contractor in to work on our living room, so I couldn't do any decorating and then I got a horrible cold two weeks before Christmas so I had to miss a party and since I'm nursing I was limited in what I could take, so I was just barely surviving for over a week and ended up doing most of my Christmas shopping on the Saturday before Christmas, something I did NOT want to do.
So there weren't any decorations besides the Christmas tree and I didn't finish the cute unwrap a Christmas book every night thing, but we managed to get all the gifts bought and wrapped and had a nice day. Lauren slept pretty well Christmas Eve, which helped! After she went to bed we picked up all of her toys so she wouldn't have any distractions from the new ones. She almost got the hang of opening up presents, but not quite. And she got bored before she was even halfway through!
After her morning nap my family came over to exchange presents and she got fairly overwhelmed with that, but once we were done opening presents she settled down and enjoyed playing with everyone. One of my brothers then came with his new puppy, a Pomeranian/Jack Russell mix, one of the most adorable dogs I've ever seen and Lauren couldn't get enough of him, it was so cute!
We were able to recover quickly from having a house full of people and I'm already making lists of how to make next Christmas better!
So there weren't any decorations besides the Christmas tree and I didn't finish the cute unwrap a Christmas book every night thing, but we managed to get all the gifts bought and wrapped and had a nice day. Lauren slept pretty well Christmas Eve, which helped! After she went to bed we picked up all of her toys so she wouldn't have any distractions from the new ones. She almost got the hang of opening up presents, but not quite. And she got bored before she was even halfway through!
After her morning nap my family came over to exchange presents and she got fairly overwhelmed with that, but once we were done opening presents she settled down and enjoyed playing with everyone. One of my brothers then came with his new puppy, a Pomeranian/Jack Russell mix, one of the most adorable dogs I've ever seen and Lauren couldn't get enough of him, it was so cute!
We were able to recover quickly from having a house full of people and I'm already making lists of how to make next Christmas better!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
A New Living Room!
When we went to Utah in July we asked my brother to house sit. He was more than happy to, until a couple days after we left when the shower started leaking into the living room below. There wasn't too much water, so he cleaned it up and the next day used a different shower. Same thing happened, only this time a lot worse. He sent us this picture of our living room ceiling:
We aplogized profusely that he had to deal with the problem and immediately got on the phone with our insurance agent to report the damage and find out the procedure for getting money to repair it. We ended up waiting until we got home to deal with all of that, instead of trying to do it all over the phone and making my brother deal with letting people into the house.
We had a couple of plumbers come give us estimates and chose one we liked. He found a small leak in the drain pipe, caused by the shower not being sealed properly when it was put in. At some point someone discovered this and just put a rag in to soak up the water. So he fixed it and we were excited to use our shower again. And then the next day after we showered water was leaking through the ceiling again. So the plumber came back and discovered that it wasn't that leak that had caused all the damage, but a nail that had penetrated intothe main drain pipe when the floor was put in. So the whole time we lived here, who knows how long before that, water had been pooling in the ceiling every time we showered! It was amazing that there wasn't any mold!
So here's what the ceiling looked like after looking for and fixing the two leaks:
It took us a lot longer to find a contractor who was reasonably priced and we felt comfortable with. Then it took awhile before we decided exactly what we were going to do. There was a TINY bit of damage to the floor and we couldn't decide what to do about that. We finally decided to do nothing. So then it took awhile for the contractor to have time to come do the work. Luckily that gave us plenty of time to pick a new wall color, because that was quite a process!
Here are the walls covered in samples:
We finally picked a color and got a start date scheduled. And of course it took longer than we anticipated. Lauren and I spent the first couple of day away from the house to avoid the dust and fumes, but that got old, so the last two days we spend holed up in the master bedroom.
Here's what our kitchen and dining area looked like for a week:
Lauren thought it was very weird.
We aplogized profusely that he had to deal with the problem and immediately got on the phone with our insurance agent to report the damage and find out the procedure for getting money to repair it. We ended up waiting until we got home to deal with all of that, instead of trying to do it all over the phone and making my brother deal with letting people into the house.
We had a couple of plumbers come give us estimates and chose one we liked. He found a small leak in the drain pipe, caused by the shower not being sealed properly when it was put in. At some point someone discovered this and just put a rag in to soak up the water. So he fixed it and we were excited to use our shower again. And then the next day after we showered water was leaking through the ceiling again. So the plumber came back and discovered that it wasn't that leak that had caused all the damage, but a nail that had penetrated intothe main drain pipe when the floor was put in. So the whole time we lived here, who knows how long before that, water had been pooling in the ceiling every time we showered! It was amazing that there wasn't any mold!
So here's what the ceiling looked like after looking for and fixing the two leaks:
It took us a lot longer to find a contractor who was reasonably priced and we felt comfortable with. Then it took awhile before we decided exactly what we were going to do. There was a TINY bit of damage to the floor and we couldn't decide what to do about that. We finally decided to do nothing. So then it took awhile for the contractor to have time to come do the work. Luckily that gave us plenty of time to pick a new wall color, because that was quite a process!
Here are the walls covered in samples:
We finally picked a color and got a start date scheduled. And of course it took longer than we anticipated. Lauren and I spent the first couple of day away from the house to avoid the dust and fumes, but that got old, so the last two days we spend holed up in the master bedroom.
Here's what our kitchen and dining area looked like for a week:
The new ceiling is up!
And the painting is finally done!
We're still working on moving the furniture back in, we left most of it out to leave room for the Christmas tree. It was such a relief to have it done and we're so happy with the new look!
Just a funny side note, about a week after the plumber came to fix the drain pipe, our garbage disposal broke and we called him again to come fix it, we joked about just putting him on retainer. Then about a month after that we ran into him on my family's farm in Joppa, turns out he and his wife board their horse there!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
9 months!
I think I've done a pretty good job enjoying each phase of Lauren's babyhood. There are definitely benefits and downfalls to each age and it's easy to hope to get to the next one quickly - "I can't wait til she can sit up", "I can't wait til she can feed herself", "I can't wait til she can sleep in her crib", "I can't wait til she can talk". But for every one of those I've said I've thought of something that I love about the phase she's in - "I love snuggling next to her at night", "I love when she reaches for me to hold her", "I love her sweet little baby babbles". So for the most part I don't feel like time is going too fast or too slow, I love watching her grow and learn and look forward to what she's going to learn next month. But it is pretty amazing that her first year is 2/3 of the way over! So much happens in the first year, they learn so much, and it's almost over. It's crazy! I'm happy that I've remembered to do all the "first" things and take all the "first" pictures that I've been dreaming about for years, even when it annoys Chris!
This month she:
- weighs 15lbs 8oz, which I thought was low, but I guess she's just a busy girl, burning a lot of calories!
- is 26.5 inches long
- FINALLY sleeps in her crib at night and for all of her naps
- still isn't sleeping through the night, but there are some nights she goes for longer stretches
- is pretty much out of all of her 6 month clothes and wearing mostly 9 month and some 6/9 month, which is amazing to me that she caught up in size with her age! I didn't think that would happen for years!
- wears 12 month size socks, she's going to be a tall girl!
- eats chicken with vegetables or apples or rice, although she's still not crazy about it
- crawls like crazy everywhere
- can pulls herself up on just about anything and sometimes tries to stand without holding on
- can crawl up the stairs
- went on her first road trip to upperstate New York and did great
- impressed the doctor at her 9 month checkup with all of her skills, she's right on track developmentally! Amazing for a girl who was born early and small and the OB's were so worried about!
We love her more and more every day, even the days she drives us crazy!
The downside to her being so mobile is it's almost impossible to get her to sit still for pictures! This is the only one where she's not screaming because I won't let her get up.
This month she:
- weighs 15lbs 8oz, which I thought was low, but I guess she's just a busy girl, burning a lot of calories!
- is 26.5 inches long
- FINALLY sleeps in her crib at night and for all of her naps
- still isn't sleeping through the night, but there are some nights she goes for longer stretches
- is pretty much out of all of her 6 month clothes and wearing mostly 9 month and some 6/9 month, which is amazing to me that she caught up in size with her age! I didn't think that would happen for years!
- wears 12 month size socks, she's going to be a tall girl!
- eats chicken with vegetables or apples or rice, although she's still not crazy about it
- crawls like crazy everywhere
- can pulls herself up on just about anything and sometimes tries to stand without holding on
- can crawl up the stairs
- went on her first road trip to upperstate New York and did great
- impressed the doctor at her 9 month checkup with all of her skills, she's right on track developmentally! Amazing for a girl who was born early and small and the OB's were so worried about!
We love her more and more every day, even the days she drives us crazy!
The downside to her being so mobile is it's almost impossible to get her to sit still for pictures! This is the only one where she's not screaming because I won't let her get up.
Monday, December 03, 2012
Lauren's First Thanksgiving!
My sister invited us to her house for Thanksgiving, if we were up to the six hour drive with an 8 month old. We decided to go for it and I'm so glad we did! I was a little worried my mom would be upset about not seeing Lauren on her first Thanksgiving, but she was okay.
We drove up Wednesday and Lauren did beautifully! We ran into major traffic and Lauren's naps got messed up, but she handled it well and slept the whole night once we finally got to bed!
My sister and her husband let us have their master bedroom suite so we'd be more comfortable with the baby and it worked well since it's closed off from the rest of the house and quieter.
On Thursday my sister's mom and her third husband drove up for the weekend. We ate at a normal dinner time, instead of earlier in the day like a lot of people do on Thanksgiving, but that was fine. My sister had told me ahead of time that if we came up we weren't allowed to help with anything, that it was a vacation for us, so I took advantage of that and let everyone else do the cooking! We mixed some mashed potatoes and gravy for Lauren to try. She wasn't sure about the texture, but liked the taste.
Friday we took a walk and then my sister, her mom and I went to run some errands. Everyone took turns playing with Lauren and she was great about letting other people hold her and play with her. She did end up sleeping in bed with us, but I'd been expecting that. Luckily my sister and her husband have a king size bed, so there was plenty of room!
It was a really nice visit and I hope we can do it again soon!
We drove up Wednesday and Lauren did beautifully! We ran into major traffic and Lauren's naps got messed up, but she handled it well and slept the whole night once we finally got to bed!
My sister and her husband let us have their master bedroom suite so we'd be more comfortable with the baby and it worked well since it's closed off from the rest of the house and quieter.
On Thursday my sister's mom and her third husband drove up for the weekend. We ate at a normal dinner time, instead of earlier in the day like a lot of people do on Thanksgiving, but that was fine. My sister had told me ahead of time that if we came up we weren't allowed to help with anything, that it was a vacation for us, so I took advantage of that and let everyone else do the cooking! We mixed some mashed potatoes and gravy for Lauren to try. She wasn't sure about the texture, but liked the taste.
Friday we took a walk and then my sister, her mom and I went to run some errands. Everyone took turns playing with Lauren and she was great about letting other people hold her and play with her. She did end up sleeping in bed with us, but I'd been expecting that. Luckily my sister and her husband have a king size bed, so there was plenty of room!
It was a really nice visit and I hope we can do it again soon!
My sisters' mom's husband brought up a bunch of
oysters this is my first bite ever. Not something I'd
be excited to eat again, but they weren't horrible.
The guys playing pool
My sister cooking
Eating Thankgiving dinner
Lauren's Thanksgiving shirt, handed down from
my friend whose baby is exactly a year older than her.
Us sister with our babies!
We tried to take a cute family picture, but Chris kept looking drunk
Lauren loves seeing horses!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Losing Weight!
For several years now I've struggled with my weight. Not so much the number, I try not to fixate on that, but how I feel and how my clothes fit. It's been a big adjustment because growing up I never had to worry about it. But gradually I was having to buy bigger sizes and I liked pictures of myself less and less. But it's hard to stay motivated and work out when I'm not used to having to. After the failed IVF attempt I got into a good groove and felt really good. I never weighed myself, but I was fitting comfortably into all my clothes and getting compliments, so that's all that matters! Then I got pregnant and had no energy. I was lucky, I only gained 29 pounds the whole pregnancy and all but two of them were gone by my 6 week post baby checkup. I felt really good for awhile after that. But then I settled back into old bad habits and it got colder and we couldn't walk outside as much. I never weighed myself, but I started feeling frumpy and uncomfortable in my clothes and in pictures.
A couple of days ago a friend at church suggested we do a holiday weight loss challenge - we all pitch in $20 and set a 6 week timeline to lose weight. I'm not sure how many people signed up, and it's not usually my kind of thing, but I did. It got really "official" when one of the women from church offered to do all of our weigh ins at her nutrition club. So today I went and got weighed and measured. I didn't know what to expect from my weight, but I was still at my pre-baby weight. I'm not sure realistically what I should aim to lose, so I'm just going to enjoy working out and hopefully feel better in my clothes and in pictures.
I've been pinning workout ideas on pinterest for awhile, so now I get to actually use them! Since the most I've done in 8 months is push a stroller around the neighborhood, I'm going to start off slow and gradually add things. So I'm starting with a slightly modified version of this:
A couple of days ago a friend at church suggested we do a holiday weight loss challenge - we all pitch in $20 and set a 6 week timeline to lose weight. I'm not sure how many people signed up, and it's not usually my kind of thing, but I did. It got really "official" when one of the women from church offered to do all of our weigh ins at her nutrition club. So today I went and got weighed and measured. I didn't know what to expect from my weight, but I was still at my pre-baby weight. I'm not sure realistically what I should aim to lose, so I'm just going to enjoy working out and hopefully feel better in my clothes and in pictures.
I've been pinning workout ideas on pinterest for awhile, so now I get to actually use them! Since the most I've done in 8 months is push a stroller around the neighborhood, I'm going to start off slow and gradually add things. So I'm starting with a slightly modified version of this:
Sunday, November 04, 2012
8 Months!
Lauren has now been out of my belly longer than she was in it! Because of the IVF, she was conceived and in a petrie dish for almost a week before she was implanted in me and she was born eight months to the day after she was conceived. She seems to be enjoying life and is getting the hang of lots of things! Except for sleeping on her own, we're still having lots of problems with that. She's been in her own crib for quite awhile and I've tried many different tactics to help her sleep, with nothing working so far. I try hard not to, but a lot of times I give in in the morning and bring in her bed with us, just so I can get a good hour or two of sleep. I'm not sure what the problem is or how to help her, I keep reading different books and getting different opinions, but I've tried pretty much everything at this point. I have a very spoiled and stubborn girl, who just wants to sleep with Mommy.
Other than her sleeping issues, this month she:
-has her two bottom teeth (and is pretty good about not biting me while I'm nursing her, most of the time)
-wears all 6 month clothes and 6/9 month sleepers
-has added oatmeal, yogurt , peaches and mixed veggies to her diet
-sits by herself
-has started trying to pull herself up and can sometimes get on her knees
-army crawls
-fed herself a Puff for the first time and liked it
-says "mama", but only when she's mad and calling me to come get her
-waves bye bye
-tries to clap when we do
-went to her first birthday party (and accidentally got into some icing!)
I don't know how much she weighs because when I took her to get weighed last Thursday she was way too squirmy on the scale and we couldn't get a good reading.
Other than her sleeping issues, this month she:
-has her two bottom teeth (and is pretty good about not biting me while I'm nursing her, most of the time)
-wears all 6 month clothes and 6/9 month sleepers
-has added oatmeal, yogurt , peaches and mixed veggies to her diet
-sits by herself
-has started trying to pull herself up and can sometimes get on her knees
-army crawls
-fed herself a Puff for the first time and liked it
-says "mama", but only when she's mad and calling me to come get her
-waves bye bye
-tries to clap when we do
-went to her first birthday party (and accidentally got into some icing!)
I don't know how much she weighs because when I took her to get weighed last Thursday she was way too squirmy on the scale and we couldn't get a good reading.
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