11 months of Emily

Tomorrow is the big day, our little honey badger turns one! I was looking back through all of her pictures and I can't believe how much she has changed- this year has gone too fast!

the very beginning, 8 cells big

 

1 year ago today, 40 weeks 4 days pregnant

welcome to the world Emily Bonnie!

1 day old
 

1 month

 

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

flying home

This weekend we are flying back to Illinois for an early birthday celebration for Miss Emily ....yes, I said flying....with an almost one year old.

She has never flown before and I am a nervous flyer as it is.  Thankfully, Steve used to be a frequent flyer and has no problem with it.  The whole trip will take about 5-6 hours including a 2 hour layover- which is not bad at all compared to a 10+ hour drive.

I have a million types of snacks and a few new toys and books to keep her occupied.  Is there anything else I can do to make this as painless as possible?

Tell me all of your tricks to keep a baby (honey badger) happy on a plane, pleaseandthankyou.

Mornings are my favorite

On a good day, I hear Emily chatting away to herself in her crib over the monitor.  It's usually 6:15 or 6:30.  I roll over and nudge Steve and he says, "is she ready to get up?" 

He lets me stay in bed and I listen as he goes into our little girl's room to get her up for the day.  I can just hear the happiness in the noises she makes when she sees her daddy and it makes my heart swell. She flips herself over so fast (Steve calls this her ninja move) and stands up to greet him.

They go into the living room together, he feeds her a bottle and when I come out they are sitting on the overstuffed chair together talking.  She smiles and waves at me when I come into the room, always so happy to see me, I hope that never changes.

She helps daddy make his lunch, get dressed for work, eat (and share) breakfast, and put in his contacts.  He carries her all over the house doing these morning tasks and she sits up in his arms so proud that she's daddy's helper.

During this hour, I get to watch my husband be a father and it's the best thing to see.  I drink my one cup of coffee and revel in the happiness of the morning, feeling blessed that I have these two (almost three) people in my life. 

birth options

When I planned for Emily's birth, I wanted to do it naturally.  I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and it amazed me.  It wasn't that I wanted a medal or praise for getting through childbirth without drugs, it was that I wanted to give birth in a way that so many women before me had.  I wanted my body to do what I knew it could do and I wanted the experience of having my hormones bond me to my baby in the way that happens with natural birth. 

Things didn't work out that way thanks to scar tissue on my cervix that wouldn't allow me to dilate. An epidural was needed so my midwife could break up the scar tissue or I would have ended up with a c-section. 

I still bonded with my baby and even though my labor didn't go as I hoped it would, when I think back on it I have nothing but positive memories.  If it were possible I would go back to the same hospital, with the same midwife, and the same doula. My birth team was awesome and Steve was fantastic. There was a lot of laughing and happiness in that room.

Since becoming pregnant this time, I've been going to an OB group. I loved the first Dr. I saw, he was kind, took his time and I felt comfortable. I've seen three other Drs since that visit and I haven't been a huge fan of them.  My appointment last month was the one that made me re-think the practice. It was right after I had been feeling very down and I asked the Dr. about depression during pregnancy. She blew me off.   I left there feeling disappointed.  I came home and told Steve about the experience and we decided that we would look for a midwife and transfer. 

We found a group of midwives in the area that deliver at a free standing birth center or at a local hospital.  I have heard very good things about the birth center and one of our friends recently had her baby there.  They have very strict guidelines about who can deliver at the center and they are extremely cautious. But at this point, we are planning on a hospital birth with the midwives. And after meeting one of them today I am so happy that we transferred.  She spent an hour with me talking about my previous losses, Emily's pregnancy, this pregnancy, everything.  They have an "open chart policy" which means, every time I go in I am handed my chart and allowed to look through it and see what notes were made in previous visits- I thought this was wonderful.

We have also chosen our doula. She is a Bradley Method childbirth instructor and she has been to over 100 births. I'm learning more about this method and I'm reading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way.  If any of you have used it successfully let me know!

The pieces are coming together for *hopefully* another amazing birth experience- only 109 days to go!

Fall is in the air!

Last weekend we took Emily to a local apple orchard for a Fall festival and we had an amazing day!

We had the best apple cider and Amish donuts and of course we couldn't leave without honey crisp apples, a homemade apple pie (it was for baby boy, I swear), and apple butter.

It started out a little rough until we realized E needed a diaper change- and of course there were no bathrooms other than porta potties.  So, we had to find a spot in the grass without a million people around to change her, but after that she was all smiles. 

She was so curious and she thought everything was for her to eat.  Apples, pumpkins, corn...everything! 

It looks like Emily is a fan of Fall just like her mama!







 

 

 

 

how I found things to do as a SAHM

After my post the other day, a couple of you emailed me and asked how I found things to do with Emily.  It was hard, let me tell ya.  I never thought staying home would be hard, I thought it would be rainbows and unicorns....well, let's just say it's not.  But I'm learning to step out of my comfort zone a little and I'm finding my way and figuring it out (sort of).

Let me start by saying, we keep E on a nap schedule.  I know a lot of moms don't do this and that is awesome.  There are days I wish I didn't have to keep a schedule so we could just up and do whatever we want but Emily has proven she does much better with a schedule and I'm not about to mess that up.

When we moved here I was lucky enough to meet Emily's physical therapist (I'll just call her J) and I got along with her really well right away.  Her weekly visits to our house were my favorite day of the week.  I got someone to talk to and Emily got a work out and slept great afterwards- win, win.  J was my first friend here and we have hung out on multiple occasions with our kids.  She has introduced me to some other SAHM's in the area and that has been great.

Babycenter-  This is when I had to step out of my comfort zone. I'm a social person (or I used to be), but I'm not very good at meeting new people. I often feel insecure and I think this has gotten worse since having a baby and staying home with her. It's like I've forgotten how to socialize or something. So I had to put aside my worry and just put myself out there. It has paid off. I searched the site for mom's in my area and I found a message board for the larger city near me.  I posted a note there and asked if anyone was from my smaller town.  I heard back from two mom's right away.  One living in the same town as me and one from a town about 20 minutes away.  I set up a breakfast for the three of us to meet and it went really well.  We have had multiple play dates together since then. 

Meetup-  I looked on this website for mom's groups.  I found two groups in cities further away from me and I have yet to go to any of their outings, mainly because of the timing and distance from our house. Mom's Club International also has a website that I checked but there were no groups in my area.  They asked if I wanted to start one but I'm still up in the air on that.

MOPS-  This is a mom's group for kids of any age even though it stands for mothers of preschoolers.  They are usually found at churches, but they have a website and you can search for one in your area.  Again, I haven't been to one of their meetings yet because they are during Emily's morning nap, but I think I will try it in the future since there is one close to my town.  At the one here, the moms hang out together and the babies are watched in another room by volunteers.

Kindermusik-  My favorite.  I saw a link to Kindermusik on the MOPS website and I checked it out.  It's a music class for babies, toddlers, any age really.  There are different classes for different ages and Emily LOVES it.  I used to have to drive about 30 minutes to get to the closest class but the teacher has since opened one about 10 minutes from my house and I couldn't be happier.   I think this is Emily's favorite thing to do.  She has gotten so much out of interacting with the other babies and she loves her teacher so much.

Story time at the library-  I searched every library near me for story time over the summer because our towns library didn't have one.  I tried two different libraries and they just weren't worth the time it took to drive there.  I was excited when I saw that our local library was starting story time this fall, but it hasn't been a big hit for Emily.  She wants to crawl around and play and this story time is more sit and listen to the story....not gonna happen. Hopefully when she's a little bit older we can go back and enjoy it.

Gymboree-  there is a Gymboree about 40 minutes away from us but we haven't been yet.  It's kind of expensive and I was waiting until Emily was a little older.  I would like to try a class soon now that she is crawling around and active but I'm just not sure it's in our budget.  I've heard good things about the classes from other moms.

YMCA-  Most YMCA's have mommy and me swimming lessons or a babysitting room where you can drop your baby off while you work out.  We went to mommy and me swimming lessons over the summer and Emily loved them.  I need to check back for classes this Fall.

That's where I'm at now.  I'm always looking for things to do so if you know of any organizations or groups for moms and babies let me know!

11 months....what?!

Dear Emily,

How did this sneak up on me?  You're almost a year old!!

We have had so much fun this month.  You are learning a lot of new things and you are starting to communicate in your own way - your daddy and I love it!

You love the kitties SO much!

When I ask if you want breakfast, lunch or dinner you crawl right over to the baby gate that leads to the dining room where you eat.

If we ask where the baby is, you lift up my shirt and kiss my belly.

You crawl to the front door when I ask where Grandma and Grandpa are or if you want to go for a walk.

You know the sign for 'all done'.

You are cruising along all of the furniture but you aren't ready to walk on your own yet, which is ok with me and daddy!

What we've been doing this month:

Aunt Niki, Alec and Grandpa Mark came to visit and you absolutely loved all the extra attention!  Aunt Niki and Alec brought you toys and they are now some of your favorites!

Aunt Niki!

 

Grandpa Mark!

Alec & your new toy!

You are still going to music class once a week.  You love dancing to the music, playing with the instruments and of course playing with the other babies!  We also go to story time at the library and we try to have at least one play date a week.

We took you to Children's to have your eyes checked.  You had to have your eyes dilated and you didn't like that very much.  We found out you have blocked tear ducts and when you turn one we will go back to have them checked and if needed we will get them probed.

We have been busy planning your first birthday party in Illinois!  It will be your first time flying and we are hoping it goes well...at least you won't have to be strapped in the car seat for 10+ hours.  You will be having a joint birthday party with your cousin Erin and we can't wait to see everyone and celebrate!

And today, on your 11 moth birthday, you got your first haircut!  We wanted to wait as long as we could but you were getting pretty annoyed with your hair in your eyes all the time.  You did so great!  You sat in my lap and didn't cry at all.  Now you look even more grown up and it makes us miss our tiny baby even more!

before...

during...



and after!!

 

Happy 11 month birthday sweetie!  We love you to the moon and back!

 

Mommy & Daddy