Fun With Food

She's going to be so embarrassed when she sees all these "food on my face" pictures later on in her life. But for the moment, they're absolutely adorable.

Happy One and a Half Birthday!

As we promised her when she was born, we celebrated her half birthday today with cupcakes and a present. She got a little baking set (that you can really use to cook, but it's all toddler-size pieces) and a yellow cupcake with chocolate icing. She LOVES chocolate, as you can see.



At her 18-month appointment last week she was a little over 22 lbs and 33 inches tall. She has a vocabulary of 50+ words at this point, and is on to two-word sentences, like "Mommy help," "Feed Kitty," "Cracker Please," and so on. She's doing pretend play, which is very interesting and early.... she'll "feed" her stuffed animals and give them drinks, and then put them to bed. It's adorable.

She is the light at the end of every day, and my joy in the morning. Happy 18-month Birthday PeeWee.

For those readers of this blog, an update on our TTC journey. We did get a positive pregnancy test back in early May, and initially the bloodwork looked good. But subsequent ultrasounds revealed no heartbeat and no growth, and multiple attempts at initiating a natural miscarriage with medication failed. So today I had a D&C. This is my 6th pregnancy, my 5th miscarriage. We wait a cycle, and then possibly do a HSG to check for scar tissue since this is my 4th D&C. If all is clear, then we move back into TTC again. I don't know what we do if I miscarry again. I won't think about it unless we get there.

Rattleworm's Day at the Zoo

Rattleworm and Emma had a very nice time. He got to see all sorts of animals, and spent some face-to-face time with a long-lost cousin in the reptile house! It was a gorgeous day to go to the zoo.

We started at the Flamingos....

Then went to the Reptile House. She loves the interactive exhibit.


Turtles!!


Snake!

Rattleworm's long-lost cousin? What do you think?


One more turtle...

Off to see the Kangaroos!


Stopped for a snack by the Gibbons.... they weren't high up today.


Oh my... that's right. It's the World's Largest Stinkiest Flower!


Look Mom, I'm sitting on an Ape!

Bye-bye everyone!

Easter Pictures (Finally)

Thank You Uncle Dean!

She loves, loves, loves her new drawing table. :) Thank you so very, very much. I cannot tell you how wonderful this is going to be for her!

17 Month Videos

Emma has been such a joy.... she's growing so fast and doing so many cute things on her own! The first video is of her putting her teddy bear to bed. She did it before, and we just cued her to do certain things. Bedtime is much easier now, btw.... we read our story, say our prayers, sing a song, and she goes into the crib. No crying, no whining. She's asleep within 10-15 minutes. She still wakes up about 2 times a night on average though. (we're nursing once before bed and once when she wakes up for good in the morning).



This is a really sweet video of her "walking" in Daddy's shoes. She actually put her feet in them all by herself and walked all this way on her own. She's done it several times since and just gets a kick out of how big Daddy's shes are!

17 Month Videos

Emma has been such a joy.... she's growing so fast and doing so many cute things on her own! The first video is of her putting her teddy bear to bed. She did it before, and we just cued her to do certain things. Bedtime is much easier now, btw.... we read our story, say our prayers, sing a song, and she goes into the crib. No crying, no whining. She's asleep within 10-15 minutes. She still wakes up about 2 times a night on average though. (we're nursing once before bed and once when she wakes up for good in the morning).



This is a really sweet video of her "walking" in Daddy's shoes. She actually put her feet in them all by herself and walked all this way on her own. She's done it several times since and just gets a kick out of how big Daddy's shes are!

I Have Mint

Or rather, Emma does. We have an over-abundance of it (if any of our Columbus friends would like some, please just let me know).



Someone tell my baby it's NOT ok that she'll be 17 months old tomorrow. :(

Precious Moments

Is It May Already?

Not really sure where the time is going, but in 15 days, Emma will be 17 months old. What?! No way. Not my baby. Not that old already!

These were our hands in January of 2010, when she was just a month old.



Here are our hands again on April 30th, when she was 16 months and 6 days old.



Such a difference. Such a fast-growing little girl. I love her so much!

Thank you to Cousin Debbie, Momma Maurine, Grandma & Grandpa Lewis, and Ms. Steph for the wonderful, special gifts all of you sent. You are all so sweet!!

Busting Myths, One At a Time

April 24-30 is National Infertility Awareness Week

From RESOLVE.org's website -- Myth: If you already have one child, you know you are fertile and will have no problems conceiving again.

Yeah - I'm living proof that's a load of crap. I'm one of the "lucky" ones -- with primary infertility and then secondary infertility. It took us 3 years and 3 miscarriages to get our first living child (angel that she is), and we've been "officially" trying for a year to have our second child, with only one chemical pregnancy to show for it.

Infertility is isolating. Infertility is depressing. Infertility is stigmatizing. And Infertility can be life-consuming. Every day I have to remind myself to focus on the fact that I have beaten infertility once -- I can carry my child through the grocery store or the library, kiss her goodnight, and get to watch her grow up. But in my heart, I still am the bitter infertile, happy for others who get pregnant but sad for me.

Please use this week to bust myths and support the 1 in 8 couples who are struggling with infertility. Visit the RESOLVE.org website to learn more about myths of infertility and the truth about those myths.


From RESOLVE.org's website -- Busted!: Infertility does not discriminate and can strike anyone at anytime throughout the childbearing years. Secondary infertility — the inability to get pregnant naturally or carry a pregnancy to term after successfully conceiving one or more children — is very common.

Approximately 12 percent of women in the United States have secondary infertility, and it accounts for more than half of all infertility cases. Unlike those experiencing difficulty having their first child, people who are affected by secondary infertility are much less likely to seek infertility treatments. Many in this situation are told that they have nothing to worry about, to just keep trying. This can lead to much frustration and loss of precious time.

A number of things can cause secondary infertility including age, damage or blockage to the fallopian tubes, ovulation problems, endometriosis, and problems with sperm production. The testing and diagnosis process is the same as for primary infertility.

Don’t wait to see a fertility doctor (reproductive endocrinologist). If you are having difficulty getting pregnant, the rule of thumb on when to see a fertility specialist is if: You are under 35 and aren’t pregnant within a year of actively trying, or You are over 35 and haven’t conceived within six months of trying.

If you have experienced two or more miscarriages, have a history of sexually transmitted infections, have irregular periods or have especially painful periods, you should make that appointment even sooner.

Infertility 101

National Infertility Awareness Week

Family Weekend

Happy and Blessed Easter Everyone!

We had a wonderful weekend. Friday was my "work from home" day so I actually got all my work stuff done before noon, and then Joe and I put together our two new composters (yay for compost!). I finished some things for the garden, and got Emma early for the start of our weekend.

Saturday was the first day of Toddler Yoga, which she absolutely loves AND we went to one of my nursing homes for their Easter Egg hunt. She was a huge hit! She wore a lovely Easter dress and bonnet, and waved at all of the residents. I think she grabbed 20 eggs or more. And for the first time, she tasted chocolate. It started as an accident, but I let her have it. So far her bottom doesn't look too horrible, although tonight it was starting to get very raw looking. She did enjoy it very, very much though.



Today we started our day with our own egg hunt, and she kept signing for "more" eggs to find! Then we hopped in the car and went to the zoo. There were only 88 people there, according to the worker we talked to around 10am (they open at 9) and so it was a nice, peaceful morning. Emma had the petting zoo with the goats ALL to herself (and she loved it!). We also got to see Beco, the 2-year-old elephant calf nursing from Momma! Emma saw it and she turned around and started to sign "milk, milk". It was adorable.

She had a huge eating weekend, lots of fruits and veggies, and she decided she loves hard-boiled eggs. I'll do an Easter picture post later, but for the moment, here are a few to enjoy.

Big Helper Girl

Emma helped me make Raisin Bread last weekend, and this evening she "helped" with laundry. She absolutely LOVES helping! (for the moment, how long will it last?)

16 Months Already?

It doesn't seem possible. But here it is, 16 months old tomorrow. I don't have much to update because it just seems like we did a 15 month update! She's talking more, we're still catching the morning pee in the toilet, and she loves to read books with Mommy and Daddy.

Bedtime is easier, and last night she slept from 8-11pm with no rousing, then we nursed for the last time and went to bed together at 11, and she slept from 11:15 until 3am without a peep. 3am she screamed and cried for about 20 minutes (nightmare, perhaps?) and then went back to sleep, and at 5am we did our morning nursing, then back to sleep until I woke her up at 6:30am so we could get to daycare. She would have slept longer. If we can get that 3am waking out of the picture, I'll be a happy camper.

Easter pictures this weekend!

Fun Videos

A few recent ones, can't believe how big she's getting!

Emma fell and split her lip a week or so ago. She wouldn't let us put ice on it, so we gave her an ice cream bar instead -- worked great! :)



Emma loves dancing, and she also likes getting spun around and around until she gets dizzy. She's figured out how to do it herself AND she signs "more"!



And last, but not least, Emma has figured out how to make her Scout doll play (thank you Aunt Ann, again for the Scout dog!). She loves dancing to his music.

Someone Thinks She's A BIG Girl!!!

Yes, yes she does.

1) She's pee-peed in the potty every morning this week. It takes a little time for her to relax (usually I wash her hands with a warm washcloth, and read her a story) but then she does a BIG pee! Her night-time diapers have been mostly dry too, so I'd guess we're getting 90, 95% of the pee in the potty. It's really hit-or-miss whether we go pee pee at night. OH-- but last Tuesday after her bath, she was doing her naked time and she went into the bathroom, lifted the lid on her potty and said to me "Up!" So I put her on the potty and she pee-peed!! We've not had a repeat performance, but I was very excited and happy about that.

2) She went down the slide All By Herself today while we were at the park. And then did it again and again. She doesn't even need help climbing the stairs! She also made a friend while she was at the park, a little 18-month old girl. Too sweet. She's a very social kid right now, and as long as I'm within visual distance of her, she does great.

3) Sleeping is MUCH better. We did a modified night-time sleep thing, and I went ahead and bit the bullet, putting her down in the crib after only a few minutes of rocking and then I just sat by the crib and only reassured her by pats or verbally. The first night it took 75 minutes before she fell asleep. The second night 35. Then it went up and down.... last night she talked to herself for the better part of 45 minutes and then fell asleep. Tonight she was in a funny mood and screamed even while I was in there, I think it took over 45 minutes before she settled down and that took me laying my hand on her and leaving it there. But it's getting better.

4) The night-weaning process is almost complete. It's helped her sleep better at night too. I'll feed her in between 10 and 11, whenever she rouses and I bring her to bed. Then there's no more nursies until morning. I'll usually let her eat between 5-6 am when she asks for it (and she'll sign for it), but this morning it was 6am! In fact, last night we slept from 11pm to 4am without a peep, and at 4am the only reason she stirred was because I got up to use the bathroom, and she fell right back asleep.

5) I stopped pumping this week. She's refusing to take breastmilk in a cup at daycare, no matter how they prepare it, and on Wednesday I had so many clients back-to-back that I never got to pump. On Thursday I just decided not to even take my pump and Friday I made a conscious choice not to do it. I've pumped for 14 months now, which I take pride in, but I'm done!

6) Her vocabulary, both in language and signs, has skyrocketed in the last week. Her current signs are: milk, more, all done, book, sleep, moon, stars, lights, bath, love, kiss, and drink. Her current words are: Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Bobbie, Uncle, Grandpa, Grandma, HaHa (We call Cousin Heather "Cousin Ha Ha" now), banana, apple, blueberry, up, water, milk, juice, more, no, potty, bath, bubbles, sheep, dog, duck, cat, Samson, go, out, book, stepstool, and I'm sure a few more I don't remember at the moment. Oh... and our first sentence is: "I Know!" (or it could be "Oh NO!" but they sound alike).

I'm amazed at how quickly she's growing up! I'll get a video or two up tomorrow to share. :)

Memory Shawl

I've never crocheted a shawl before, but I wanted to do this in memory of my Mom, who taught me how to crochet. I picked the colors to represent how I'm feeling right now (black and grey with shades of purple), and also picked out some yarn for Cousin Heather, so she could crochet along with me if she'd like. I picked a shawl project so I could wrap this around me when I was missing my Mom and feel like I was getting one of her warm hugs. The yarn was purchased on 3/5/11 and I finished the shawl on 4/3/11. I wore it today at work, and it brought me a lot of joy.

15 Month Pictures

Wearing the hat that Grandma Miller made her for Christmas... we miss you Grandma. :(



Aren't I cute? :)



Just hanging out in the basement last night.

Up Down Up Down

Yay -- Tax refund came today!

Boo -- Daycare payment for the next 3 months is due tomorrow (bye-bye tax refund!).

Yay -- My work hours finally picked up!

Boo -- Life insurance payment is due this month.

Yay -- Emma started saying her own name and pointing to herself!

Boo -- She's up 4-5 times a night again and refusing to go to bed at night sometimes.

Yay -- I ate dairy-free oreo cookies for lunch! (there is no Boo to this, I just wanted to end on a good note, LOL). :)

15 Month Stats

Emma is exactly 21 pounds naked at the pediatrician's office, and was 31 1/2 inches tall (exactly what I predicted!). She is in the 80th %ile for height, and in the 25th %ile for weight, which is consistent for her. Tall, skinny baby!

She got the last Hep B shot today, and her first MMR. And she had a double ear infection, which explains the horrible week we've had sleeping. We'll go back in three more months for her 18-month appointment. The pediatrician is happy with her development, and so is Mommy. :)


My messy baby girl is growing up way too fast!