Beach Cake!

Nora is 2 months old!

Time is flying! I only have 2-3 more weeks of maternity leave left (depending on what gets approved, I should know tomorrow!) This have been VERY different with this recovery, most notably how sore I have been.

After having a c-section with Lacey, I was much more sore initially, but I felt great after just a month. It didn't take me long to get back into working out and resuming normal activities. I was ready to go back to work at 9 weeks.

This time it is so much different. I am still having episodes about once a week where 1-3 days I will be really sore and even swollen. I am not working out, cleaning (much) or doing anything I am not suppose to be doing. It's been very frustrating.

Anyways, back to Nora!

At 2 months...

• She is exclusively breastfed, with a nice freezer stash going on. I am currently pumping anywhere from 5-10 ounces extra each day in the morning.
• We are cloth diapering part time. This has been a big struggle - a lot of this has to do with the fact that I can't carry laundry... which makes it hard to keep up with the clothing alone, much less diapers. It's likely we will stick to part time (just at home) with both the girls when I go back to work. It will be very difficult to wash diapers every day and keep up with the clothes while working.
• We are finally getting some smiles!!! It's funny how each of the girls are so different. Lacey was smiling and cooing like it was no big deal at 4 weeks. With Nora, we really have to work hard to get her to crack! It's super cute when she does, however. She has a similar dimple to Lacey and I love it! Hopefully one will be caught on camera soon!
• Nora's feedings are very scheduled. Three hours apart - 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm-9pm is cluster feeding then 1:30am, 4:30am. I don't remember Lacey being so scheduled no matter how hard I tried to be consistent.
• Nora is very laid back. She could care less about toys (Lacey loved, loved toys at this age already). She'd prefer to just hang out in her chair and nap or watch the room. It seems like whenever I put toys in front of her, she just turns her head the other way!
• I've moved out all the newborn clothes and moved in the 3-6 months!

We got to the Dr. later this week and I'll post her stats then :-)

Happy 21 Months, Lacey!

Here we go! (I really wish I kept up this blog with her monthly changes... oh well. I am beginning again and that is what is important!)

Lacey amazes me everyday. I can't believe what a wonderful, loving, little person she is turning into! Sometimes I just can't stop kissing and hugging her because she is so freaking cute!

So, in the last month...

I have been told that Lacey is "fearless." So in addition to being monkey-girl, she also likes to jump and fall from things. She now will stack pillows up and jump from the ottoman onto them. She also pushes furniture around and climbs/jumps from one thing to the next. OK - we probably shouldn't encourage this... but it's kinda funny.

We have finally mastered the world "help." FINALLY!!! As soon as she starts to whine, we say "what do you want" and she either tells us or says "elp."

Also in the last month - she is naming "pee pee" and "poop." I've also noticed that she holds herself when she pees and immediately wants to be changed. She is familiar with the potty and we regularly sit on it. We are just going to keep moving forward slowly until she is ready.

Her favorite book is Dr. Suess's ABCs. I think we are reading it about 3-4 times a day right now. First thing in the morning I hear "ABCS ook" (book). We usually read it more than once in a row!

The last two weeks she has been an AMAZING sleeper. We bumped her bedtime down 15 minutes and it seems to have helped. I'm actually considering bumping it down again and having her wake-up time closer to 6:30. It might be helpful to have an hour and 1/2 to get ready in the AM when I go back to work (and also nice to have more time in the evening to ourselves).

Her favorite current foods are "MEATBALLS" (she always yells it and is very excited about them) and of course, "COOKIES!"

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!!

Basement updates

The basement project is coming along!

Once the electrical and framing were completed...

We were able to get the drywall done!

We also had glass block windows put in... GASP, we hired a professional!!!

This weekend we will start painting and hopefully adding a ceiling!!!

This month is amazing...

It's not even my 12 month post yet and I am completely AMAZED at how quickly Lacey is growing this month! It seems that walking has opened up brand new doors for her and she is grabbing at the world to see what is next!

Lacey is just all over now... when I come home from work she sees me for a quick hug and kiss and is then back to her world. She's a busy little bee... back and forth, back and forth... she walks circles around our downstairs moving, pushing, carrying... it's a riot. I love watching her... this week has been tough because I am in training and commuting every day. I leave before she is up and I get home about 45 minutes before bed... I get my quick kiss and then just watch and watch as she entertains herself. It's the most amazing thing - I can't even explain it!

She is also totally into being a goofball. She will roll around the living room floor being silly. Or, better yet Daddy will get her giggling and giggling. I absolutely LOVE it!

I'm also sad that almost a year has passed. We only have 3 more bags of frozen milk in the freezer and then she will be on 100% whole milk. Before we know it she will be entering kindergarten (at least that's what I feel like!)

Where did my baby girl go???

1 day old!

One of the first giggles/smiles! (4 weeks)

BIG smiles! (5 months)

Happy girl! (7/8 months)

Christmas cheer! (9 months)

Cheese face on vacation! (10 months)

Big girl drinking! (11 months)

Playing outside last weekend! (11.5 months)

Weekend Fun

This weekend was so much fun and so very productive!

I took Friday off and sent Lacey to daycare because we were going to have glass block windows put in our basement. They came out great! Since they were installed Friday, the boys were able to start the drywall (and almost finish) this weekend! Our basement is going to be so amazing... we are so excited to be making such progress!

Since the boys were working in the basement, I got to spend lots of QT time with Lacey - all day Saturday and today. It was wonderful! Now that she is walking, we decided to expand her "area" to the entire downstairs (previously she was just allowed in the living room and dining room). The kitchen is now babyproof and we moved the gates to the two stairways. She loves going up the stairs but can't go down yet!

She also did fabulous with her sippy all day today! She is now at 50/50 whole milk to breastmilk. It's going pretty well with the exception of being slightly backed up and having a little spit up here and there. I expect by next week she will be 100% whole milk... I just can't believe I had that much frozen!!! It's so weird to see the deep freezer EMPTY!!!

Here's a cute photo we took while playing around with the camera! I'm so bummed it is grainy... If I had some good studio lighting this would be perfect!!

Fun things!

This weekend was so much fun! We finally had some good family QT...

Lacey helping Daddy fix the leaky sink...

Loving the balls at Toddle Town! Happy 2nd Birthday, Jake!

I made her this outfit (FINALLY did some sewing!!!)

Lacey's birthday present also came in the mail. Brian put it together while Lacey and I went to watch a gymnastics meet... she was thrilled! The weather was beautiful this weekend so we not only rode around our house, but we were able to go outside as well. It's a good thing Lacey doesn't know about birthdays yet because this was a BIG present and she won't be getting anything else (from us at least :) )

It's amazing how toddler-ish she is getting... She really is getting to where she can tell us what she wants and we can understand her. We do some signing with her, but she has been making up her own. For example, if she doesn't want something she pushes your hands away or shakes her head. When she is tired she nuzzles or puts her bear blanky on her head (sooooo cute!) Speaking of her bear blanky - it is truly becoming her best little friend. We have a white and a pink one that is getting DRAGGED EVERYWHERE! It is really grossing me out. I think I might order a third to make sure they are getting washed enough!

11 Months, Really?

OK - this week Lacey turns 11 months! In some ways, I can't believe that we are one month from a year... in others, I feel like she has been with us forever. I love this little girl and can't believe how she has stolen our hearts!

Birthday plans are in progress - we are having a bash at our house. Invites are going out this week, we've already purchased some of the food (Brian is making sauce and chicken cutlets = yummm) and I've ordered her birthday present!

Get ready for the drum roll...... At 11 months Lacey:

• Is WALKING!!! She's been taking steps for a few weeks now, but it has officially turned into a walk. She can go all the way across our living room!!! Funny - I never thought she would walk this early just because she never cared to roll or crawl until late!
• Does a "bear" crawl - this is her "I need to get there fast" move. A bear crawl is a crawl on her hands and feet with no knees.
• Is still getting EXCLUSIVE breastmilk! We have slowly started introducing whole milk because I don't think we have enough frozen to go the entire month. The transition is going great! I am totally off the pump (ahhhh freedom!) I am so proud of myself for making it this far!
• Drinking from a sippy - we have her using both a straw sippy and a classic sippy during the day. She gets her bottle in the evening/before bed.
• Still cloth diapered (of course!)
• IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! I can't believe it... it has been nearly consistent since the end of February. I thought the day would never happen, and when I finally accepted it, it happened!
• She's back in the pack and play... partially because she wasn't doing great in the crib again (she liked banging her head on the wood in the middle of the night and was waking up) and also partially because we tried to move it and it broke (good thing it was free from some friends!)
• She's in her new big girl room down the hall now... photos will come soon!
• Her favorite food is yogurt followed by any green veggies (something about the color - she always goes for green first)
• She is just around 20 lbs
• This week she got her first ear infection and is on antibiotics for the first time :(
• She offiicially has a "lovie" doll that gets carried around EVERYWHERE!

Even bigger news!

LACEY SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! Yayy!!!

...and she walked about 5 feet!!!!

Tonight is her first night in her new room (photos coming soon). She took two good naps today in it so I have good vibes about the move... might this be a breakthrough???

Big News!

Lacey is finally sleeping someone consistently! Yay!

No, that doesn't mean she's not sleeping through the night... but it does mean that we have completely night weaned and she usually wakes up once and just needs her binkie!

Everyone is feeling fabulous around the Blamire household!

I think this is due to the fact that Lacey is again eating from a spoon and therefore eating alot more solids. She has significantly decreased her milk intake and isn't hungry in the middle of the night! Hooray!

House projects!

Although this is going to be photo-less, I thought I'd do a quick post to let you know all about what we are doing around our house!

It's been a quite 10 months around the house, mostly because Lacey doesn't sleep and we are exhausted new parents! Prior to the baby we were always on the go on the weekends doing this and that and pulling apart rooms... now we run errands on Saturdays and Sundays are usually proclaimed "pj's and sleep as much as possible" days. Ahhhhh... parenthood :)

Good news is that we are starting back up! Our current project list includes:

Basement: ripping everything out (to the studs done), expanding the prior "finished" part and expanding it a tad to make me a new, permanent home office plus family room/bar. Yes, I said bar and it will be approximately 10 feet away from my desk, LOL.

Re-wiring: sine the basement ceiling and walls will be out, we are going to be re-wrining the entire downstairs and basement. Last year we did put in a new electric box and re-wired the upstairs. Now, it's the downstairs turn!

Kitchen: the kitchen has been mid-project for over a year now, because in order to do some of our other projects (such as re-wiring the upstairs, overhaul of the plumbing & venting, etc.) we've had to make some holes in the kitchen walls. The kitchen will probably remain mid-project for at least another year because it will be our last completed project. While it's ugly half-done, we really can't finish it until we finish everything else. Plus, it's still functional!

My office/Lacey's room: since sweet little Lacey is such a light sleeper and we have tried everything else, we are going to move her bedroom to my current office room (the back and farthest bedroom). The problem is that this isn't easy because my office is also my sewing room and I have more crap in it than you can possibly believe. My goal for Monday is to clear out the room/closet and get everything stored somewhere (no basement storage right now!) I'll then be moving Lacey into this room and moving my office into her Safari-themed bedroom until my new office is ready. The room has no theme right now (neutral walls) but I am thinking of doing a pink/green theme. She'll be moving into it without any cute decor/colors because the key is getting her into the quieter bedroom. The cuteness will just have to come later! I am loving this though because when we did our other nursery we made it neutral since we didn't know Lacey's gender... I am LOVING all the cute girly bedroom decor!

Misc. projects: Re-do Lacey's new bedroom walk-in closet, buy/hang all new closet doors throughout the house, hopefully get new living room furniture as well as furniture for the new basement, lots of repainting due to all the moving and dinged walls.

That's it... we have lots to keep us busy in 2010!!!

Happy 10 months Lacey!

Wow, only two more months till the big 1!!! It's amazing how much she has grown!

At 10 months Lacey...

• Is back to being on exclusive breastmilk, however I am done pumping/BFing!!! That's right folks, we are now living off of the 1400+ ounces that were stockpiled in the deep freezer! It is so nice to see be able to be done yet still reap the rewards!! Formula was ok for the trip, but it gave Lacey bad gas and extra stinky poops! (Also - formula does nothing to help her sleep better so we are done with that theory as well!)
• Speaking of sleep... we were consistently waking up only 1x per night until we went on the trip... she's a bit out of routine again and waking up more. It's been a rough week but I'm sure we'll get back in the swing of things!
• We've decided to move her back to her crib. After a month or so in the pack and play tonight is the first night we are putting her back in her crib to sleep... hopefully it will go well!
• Is eating all sorts of foods... there are only a few things she is not eating. Some of her favorites include banana, cheerios, goldfish, Go-gurt and french toast! It's really wonderful to have her be able to eat what we are eating and have her sit with us as a family and eat!
• Is just under 20lbs... she only gained about a 1/2 lb. this month. We have started to put her into some 18 month clothes because the girl has got a BOOTY (and the cloth diaper doesn't help!)
• Is walking, walking, walking... whether it be on furniture, with her walker or with us holding her hands, she loves to walk!
• Is standing for short periods without holding on (record is around 30 seconds).
• We've found a cup she likes! Just today she started drinking with a straw sippy cup!

Traveling with Baby Part III - Top 5 "I wish I hads"

OK - last part for this topic!

Top 5 things I wish I had...

1. More wipes - at home we use cloth wipes and I didn't realize HOW MANY disposal wipes it takes to clean a dirty bum that it does cloth wipes! We had to go to the Dominican version of Wal-Mart for more!!

2. More Cheerios/Puffs - crabby baby loves these... plus they are great if you can't get regular food right away. We should have brought a whole box!

3. Clothes for the ride home - yes, I forgot clothes for the way home. I had no long sleeves or warm things and we went from 85 degrees to 0! I ended up spending $30 on PJs in the airport!

4. A day/evening flight rather than early morning - for our trip down we had to wake up at 3:30 am... this majorly screwed up Lacey (she never went back to sleep till nearly 10am and was miserable all day). It was much easier to have her up later and fall asleep on the way home than it was to wake her up early.

5. Laundry detergent - luckily my mom brought a little bit... we were able to wash Lacey's diaper covers in the bathtub along with other small items rather than paying for laundry services.