Top 10 favorite things about this holiday

OK one more holiday post - I want to remember some of my favorite things about this holiday (despite being sick). Drum roll....

1. Lacey in the spirt of giving - supplying Nora with offerings of chicken nuggets, binkys and misc. toys. Its. The. Cutest.


2. Nora in her little fleece outfit.

3. Lacey's obsession with Rudolph - the doll, the movie and all blow-up Rudolphs on people's lawns. I am going to feel back packing him up, but seriously, it is the most obnoxious singing voice of all our toys!

4. Lacey saying snowman aka "a ba ba" (no idea how this translates).

5. Brian's gifts to me - a purse, jewelry, two sweaters and boots! He really did a great job :-)

6. Gavin's love for his new little cousin. He will be a great big brother someday!

7. The day the tree came into our house. Lacey was horrified and hysterical. Eventually they became friends.

8. Christmas "ooookieesss"! Lacey loved them (understatement)!

9. Christmas PJs.

10. My loves!

Merry Christmas 2010!

I am a little bit late, but I just wanted to wish whoever reads this a Merry Christmas!

Our holiday was eventful, but not in the way we had wished. Christmas Eve was spent at both our parents houses (dinner at mine, dessert at Brian's). When we came home, I was not feeling well and went straight to bed. Well, Brian came to bed a few hours later and said he was not feeling well... shortly after he was in the bathroom... a few hours after him, I was in the bathroom. Needless to say he had the downstairs claimed for the night while I had the upstairs!

We are very lucky to have family so close to us! My mom was able to come pick up Lacey as soon as she woke up (we literally could barely move). Nora stayed home with me for a few hours then she was also taken to my parents. The good news is that I had some frozen milk already and she took her first bottle like a champ! It's nice to know that she isn't going to have a problem with them and that we can now enlist in babysitters for both girls!

Christmas Day was spent in bed (me) and on the couch (Brian). It's a good thing Lacey didn't know what day it was because she didn't actually get her presents until nearly 7pm!

We were suppose to be hosting a family brunch on Christmas, but we obviously couldn't. We instead cooked up the ham and eggs this morning and just had our immediate family over to do gifts in a very low-key fashion (you can't waste a good ham and eggs!) The rest of today was spent just the four of us hanging out. Brian and I are feeling much better but still pretty whipped out.

More great news - Lacey has slept through the night (8p-7a) for the last FOUR nights! Nora has also done 5 hours (10p-3a) two of the last four nights! Whooo hooo!

Happy 1 Month Nora!

Wow - it's been a month already!!! Happy one month to our little Nory Bear! At one month:

• We are starting to get some quick smiles and one sided grins... nothing on camera yet!
• Has one 4 hour first leg at night, all other times of the day eats every 2.5/3 hours
• Exclusively breastfed (still no bottles)
• Is in cloth & disposable diapers (it's been hard to keep up with laundry with the c-section)
• Is TOTALLY different in personality than Lacey at this age - she is way more laid back!

Nora has gained the nickname "Nory Bear" because of all the noises she is constantly making, especially at night. We actually moved her to her room (about 10 steps away from me getting out of bed) because she was so noisy and waking us up while she was sleeping! Her little noises sound like little bear growls.

Lacey @ 20 Months

I can't believe my baby is a little girl now! It is amazing seeing her grown up (and so fast!)

• Lacey is a monkey-girl. She climbs on EVERYTHING. If you think she can't climb it, she can! We start mom and me gymnastics in January!
• Her vocabulary amazes me. We can now tell her a word and ask her to repeat it and she does. It might not be totally understandable, but she gets the concept.
• We are still working on asking for "help" or "please" when she wants something. She tends to whine rather than ask. Some things she does ask for are milk, upstairs/downstairs, poop (diaper change!), food.
• Favorite word/phrase "it's ok!"
• We have started potty training - very slowly. We aren't pushing anything or enforcing anything but we are introducing it. She has shown us many signs of readiness including saying "all done" after pooping, saying poop, and holding herself while she pees. If we didn't have a newborn, we would seriously start training now!
• As for sleeping? What's that? Lacey still (and at this point I think "never will) does not consistently sleep through the night. It is very normal for her to wake up 1-2x per night. When this happens we go into her room, say "go back to bed" and she usually says "ok" and we are done. It is rare that it takes more than that.
• She is currently 24.5 pounds and approaching growing out of 18 months clothes.
• We have had to start using disposable diapers most of the time because she pees out of the cloth. When this girl pees, she pees ALOT now (another potty training sign!)

I'm back!

It's time to start blogging again!

While working on Lacey's baby book, I've really enjoyed having this electronic documentation of her first year. I am going to resume Lacey's milestones as well as add Nora's on this blog!

12 Months!

Wow, my baby is no longer a baby anymore and is an official toddler!

Look at her standing there all non-babyish!

So, at 12 months... drum roll please...

• Is 100% on whole milk from a sippy with the exception of a before bed bottle. I'm not sure when we will give up the before bed bottle as it is our snuggle time and I LOVE IT! Wow, my breastmilk lasted almost a whole year! I'm so proud of us!
• She is just about eating everything we eat with a few minor exceptions (like junk food). We rarely give any purees or baby food anymore. I feel like she eats all day long sometimes! She loves to eat, eat, eat!
• She is playing very well on her own. Usually in the AM she plays for about 30 minutes on her own while I start working and again after daycare she gets to watch a video while I wrap up. 
• In regards to sleeping, we only have to stick a binky in her mouth about once a week in the middle of the night. Otherwise she takes 1-2 naps per day and sleeps 10-12 hours each night.
• Lacey is saying "ma ma", "da da", "hiiiiiii" and "mmm mmm" (when eating). She also has signs she uses for done, up and no more or no.
• Her personality is starting to really show. Lacey is a quiet "observer" and likes to watch and imitate before diving into something. She is also turing out to be quite shy!
• We STILL only have TWO teeth!
• She had her first ear infection and stomach bug this month.

Hooray!

I finally found a layout that doesn't cut out half of my photos! Now they can be big and complete!

This week has been crazy!!! I had to commute to Rochester (usually and hour and 15 minute drive) EVERY day for training. Training was tough - ALOT of statistics and math. I am currently working on a Greenbelt certification (Six Sigma, Lean, Process Excellence... if you are familiar). Training is 1 day (last month), 1 week (this month) and another week (next month). Then I have about 8 months to do a project, present it and have a final certification exam. Yikes!

I've been trying to work real hard at meal planning. This week was perfect! I made 4 meals last Sunday and we weren't allowed to get take out until they were gone! We ate almost everything and got some pizza tonight.

Even though I didn't see her much more than 30 minutes a day, word is that Lacey has been a crabby pants this week. Is it possible she might be getting some more teeth? She still only has two!!