2009 Wrap-Up

Wow, I can't believe what a crazy year it has been! Here are some of my highlights of 2009:

January: In January I was just getting comfortable in my new job with J&J. I was commuting to Rochester (1 hour 2 minutes) 2-3 days / week. I only had a few really bad whether days. In January I was just about to hit my third trimester of my pregnancy with Lacey! My nephew Drake was born (in a hurry I might add) on January 4!

Erin, Me, Brian, Melissa and Garrett at Niagara Falls

Sara, Stephanie, Me and Kristin goofing around on New Years

February: This was the month of my baby shower. I quickly learned how many baby things "we needed to have" and how quickly they would consume all of our storage space :) In February the baby's room was set up and ready to go!

Erin and I showing off Lacey's new "Made in Buffalo" outfit at my baby shower

March: My Dr. was anticipating Lacey coming this month... therefore, I started to cut back at work and no longer commuted after the 2nd week. We braced ourselves, I studied hypnobabies... we were ready and I was HUGE (gained 45 lbs!) ... ready to go.

No wonder she was a big baby, I'm HUGE!

April: March went by and we still had no baby. We got to meet Drake for the first time and was hoping that he would get to meet Lacey... but of course she wanted to stay put until April 4 - nearly 2 weeks after she was expected. My Dr. did offer an induction in late March, however I refused unless medically necessary. My labor was not fast and not fun but ultimately we had a beautiful and healthy baby girl born on 4/5/09 weighing 8 lbs 3 ounces.

Day #2

5 days old

May: Yay for maternity leave! Lacey and I spent the month of May taking lots of long walks (and I mean long!) We also took our first trip to Ohio to visit the rest of the family. At the end of May, Brian was let go of work and we decided that he would stay home with Lacey for the summer.

Getting ready for the annual golf tournament in Ohio!

June: In June, I went back to work after a few short (9) weeks. (Next baby I plan on staying home for 3-4 months.) It was a really tough month. Lacey was still waking up a few times a month, I was still breastfeeding/pumping and learning how to be a mommy.

3 month photo shoot at the beach

July: July was a great month because we started spending our weekends at the cottage and were able to get some help/sleep. I was busy working on a big project during the week while Brian and Lacey bonded. On the weekends we relaxed on the beach. Lacey loved her baby PeaPod!

Me, Lacey and Brian at the beach!

August: In August we made our second trip, a road-trip down to Atlanta with Lacey. She had a fabulous time getting to know her family down there and was amazing in the car. Lacey went in the pool for the first time in August. Brian also began looking and found a new job with JMD environmental. Lacey started daycare at the end of August with Pam.

Lacey with her Great Grandparents Blamire in Atlanta

September: Our cute little nephew Gavin turned 1 in September! It was a fun family day! Lacey grew accustomed to daycare this month and quickly began to make up for all the sleep she wasn't doing at home! We thought we might be taking a trip to France this month (for my work) but then the trip got cancelled.

Gavin in his birthday hat!

October: This month was Lacey's first Halloween and a visit from Grandpa Blamire. We took a trip to the pumpkin farm and had fun dressing up.

What a ham!

November: In November all of the babies were able to spend a few fun days together at Thanksgiving. We had a blast playing and especially visiting the aquarium! I'm looking forward to watching the cousins grow up and explorer as they get older. This was a very sleep deprived month - Lacey was waking up 3-4 times / night!

Drake and Lacey playing

The three babies - Lacey, Gavin and Drake

December: There is nothing like being home for the holidays! I was very thankful this year (again) to be back home and settled in Buffalo. Brian and I both have amazing families and we just could not have survived this year without them! This month was filled with Christmas traditions including cutting down our own tree, decorating the house and having Christmas brunch at our house.

My beautiful girl on Christmas!

Look who's talking?

OK - I'm pretty sure she doesn't really mean to say "mommaaa" but still, it's too cute! Visit my Facebook page here.

Happy 8 months (Saturday) Lacey!

As usual, a quick post! Lacey had a great November!

At 8 months...

• We are still exclusively breastfeeding!!!!! I know have over 1400 ounces in the deep freezer. It is literally JAMMED packed down there! I am not really trying to produce any extra anymore since we have no place to store. Since I have made it this far, my goal is to continue until the end of January and then stop pumping. I will let her self-wean on the actually BFing. Once we get to end of January at that point we can use frozen to get us to 12 months!
• We are still cloth diapering and loving it!
• Lacey is wearing 9 month clothes... but on the verge of moving to 12 month pants because of her fluffy booty.
• She weighs in around 18 lbs. (a tad over)
• Up until last week she had all homemade baby foods. We started using some jarred food for things that are too $ to buy or difficult to make. We haven't found a food that she doesn't like!
• Lacey is also starting some finger foods... finely chopped banana and other dissolvable solids.
• She is being introduced to a sippy cup... generally she just chews on it but sometimes she sucks.
• Still has NO TEETH! I love her gummy smile!
• She is scooting all over the place (the baby gates are up!) pushing to a sitting position and pulling up to a standing. I've seen her try to take a few steps here and there as well. She loves when we help her walk behind her push toy. We still have a ways to go before she is on her own.
• Lacey goes to bed at 7:30 and (a good night) means she is up 2x. Once for a hug and once for food.
• Lacey finally had her first sleepover this month! She stayed at Grandma's house when mommy and daddy were worn out after a rough week. Let me just say, it's really, really hard to be BFing and not have a baby for over 12 hours! Ouch!!!

We are super excited for Lacey's first holiday season! This weekend I made her the cutest red and white tutu and took some photos for xmas cards. We also cut down our own tree and decorated. The house looks fabulous!

Diaper Tips Tuesday!

What was your budget and how did you spread it out? If you didn't set an initial budget how much do you think you spent per child on your stash?

We did not start off with a budget... my initial purchase was a few XS BumGenius diapers. From there I started making some size XS fitteds (I probably made about 2 dozen). Each paycheck while I was pregnant I either bought a diaper or I bought some fabric.

I've spent alot of money on my stash & fabric! My recommendation to people is to just buy 3-4 different brands and only one diaper / brand until you know what you like. Right now I have quite a few diapers that we never use that I need to sell!

Happy 7 months Lacey!

Lacey is really testing my ability to function properly this month... she is still NOT SLEEPING! Too bad she is just so darn cute! At 7 months...

• Lacey loves her green peas... and veggies more so than fruits in general
• Will only wake up 2x on a good night
• Is still EXCLUSIVELY BREASTFED! Noooo formula here! I know have nearly 2 months frozen as well
• Is still cloth diapered!
• Has figured out how to scoot and favors her left arm and right leg while doing so
• Pushes up on hands/knees and hands/feet
• Can sit alone without us worrying about falling over
• Is ticklish on her belly and it's super cute when she laughs!
• Is a happy, happy, happy wonderful baby girl
• Weights in at 18 lbs.

It's been awhile...

So, it's been awhile since I've posted. I needed some time away form personal endeavors to focus on my family. Life has been crazy, work is busy and Lacey is waking up 3x a night on a normal night (aka severe lack of sleep!)

I've been reorganizing things a bit and shifting priorities. It's been great and helpful. Tomorrow I'm taking a day off of work... half the day I'm going to send Lacey to daycare for while I do some shopping (including a trip to the fabric store) then the rest of the day is Lacey and I. Tomorrow night we are doing family pumpkin carving. I can't wait!

6 months of Lacey!

This past Monday Lacey had her half birthday! Hooray! She is getting SO BIG!

At 6 months Lacey is...

• still EXCLUSIVELY breast fed, but has started solids... this is HUGE! I seriously never thought I'd make it to 6 months...
• still cloth diapered, of course!
• rolling, rolling, rolling... reaching and rolling some more
• able to sit on her own with no assistance (but does fall over sometimes when she tries to reach for things
• is doing ok at night - except for having a cold, she has generally only been waking up 1x on average
• smiles, laughs and does lots of high pitch screams!
• can push up on her hands and needs, but doesn't go anywhere... yet
• has eaten all the cereals, squash, carrots, yams, peaches, pears and apples