Rainy day

Oh lordy! I seem to have all of these grandiose ideas about blogging on a regular basis. So this is where I say to myself "I have a TODDLER..... I will blog whenever I get the time!" We had a great week last week. Just very mellow. Kaelyn chilled out with her Papa Mike and Grandma Sandy and Nanny (my mom) while the hubby and I went to our class of 2001 10 year HS Reunion. It was a pretty sad showing. our of a class of OVER 600 we maybe at MOST had 70 people (that is including spouses) show up. The food was kinda skimpy but it was nice to see a few people and chat with them. The next day we took Kaelyn down to the river front to listen to some music, visit with family and watch the fireworks. Needless to say, she was OUT like a light before they started and only woke up for the finale. We went to the parade the next morning before heading home and spent some time with my brother in law, his wife, and their precious little girl. She's 2 months old and "dangerous". The kind of cuddly newborn that makes you want another one RIGHT NOW!!

We had a few days of quiet then my mom came up for a visit. We had loads of fun. We had our July birth-to-3 visit and it went well. more ideas of what to do to get Kaelyn walking, to get her to gain more strength in her legs and more balance. We went shopping, and got an Autograph from #30 of the green bay packers, John KUUUUUUHN!!! was a pretty fun day. I worked the weekend so Kaelyn got some quality time with her Nanny (my mom). We played it mellow at the beginning of the week but picked it up again when we went to the zoo on Wednesday. We had fun but by the end of the day she was POOPED! I can't say I blame her, it was a long day. First we couldn't get the prius started for swim class. we get there 1o minutes late and BLAM! No swimsuit for Kaelyn. At that point, we just left for the zoo. We figured it was not going to get any better if we went back for the blasted swim suit. SO after all that drama of getting to the pool and NO swimsuit, I just changed out of my suit there and we left. We got home and Mom and I grilled chicken breasts on the grill and then added some bbq sauce for good measure. I never grilled chicken before and it was NUMMY! I'll have to do it again!

We had a lazy day thursday. Just hung out, made some sweedish Meatballs. YUMMMM... Watched "Hall Pass" and went to bed.

Thursday was also our last day of swim class. I was kind of hoping one of the moms would have wanted to trade numbers and meet at a park every so often but no luck there. We came home and Kaelyn napped like a pro! napped through a thunderstorm and everything! Yay!

Since swim class is over we are going to go to a play group on Friday mornings through our local birth-to-3 program. they do gross/fine motor skills, sing a few songs, have a snack, group play, sensory activities. It was pretty fun. I just want to make sure I keep it so that she is well socialized and interacts with kids of her own age level on a regular basis.

WOah! this turned into quite the blog. I just want to give a shout out to my april 2010 WTE mommies. You ladies are great! Thanks for all of the chats and many more to come!

Time to go make some cookies and wash some diapers! (i think i forgot to post on that....i'll double check later. )

Have a great day! Lara and Kaelyn

holy smokes!

It's been SO LONG since my last post! Over a month!! Kaelyn is getting bigger, faster, and smarter every single day. It's almost frightening!!

Look at her new face. Lots of people call it the "duck face" but in our family, we call it the "Grandma Mildred Face" as that is how she would scrunch her face up, after licking her lips, to give you a big old smooch. Kaelyn DEFINITELY has a little bit of great grandma Mildred in her.

Anyways, Things are going great. She getting closer to walking every day. She is less timid, and lets go a lot more and started to take steps. Whether or not it is her partial T21 or her previously loose hip, She is not far off from walking. And that alone, terrifies me. If she is fast on all fours, how fast will this kid be upright and walking? YIKES!

This week we started swiming classes. YAY! It's more of a work out for me than it is for her, but she is getting more and more comfortable in the water and even lets us lay her on her back! She's not close to floating as she still DEMANDS to be held onto (but hey, she's 14 months old!) but if i lay her head on my shoulder and her legs away from me, she does very well! And she just loves the water and her new friend Otis. Otis seems to like her too. Watch out! We have a flirt on our hands.

We also recently dived into the world of CLOTH DIAPERS. Yes, I said it. CLOTH DIAPERS. BUt so far we are on Day 2 and it's going great. They don't stink up her diaper pail NEARLY as bad as the disposables (cuz the poop gets flushed and doesn't sit and bake, i'm guessing) and i LOVE diaper changes since I have all of these fun diapers in fun colors to put on her! My only regret is that I didn't buy more!! We went with Nubunz pocket diapers and they are awesome! The one drawback, in my opinion, is that it took FOREVER to get any order information from them. I bought them on the 10th and didn't hear anything from them until the 19th. Even if they weren't being shipped right away, I had hoped i would get an order number and a reasonable deadline as to when to expect them. Once I emailed them, however, I got a confirmation number and they were shipped the next day! I stalked the UPS site with my tracking number every few hours and wonderfully, they got here yesterday before I went to work. I got most of hte parts and Jeremy is going to build us a diaper sprayer. So far all of our #2 diapers have been pretty "solid" and THANKFULLY we haven't needed the sprayer. YAY! I need to look into some diaper soaps and hopefully I can get some samples to try out and, even though i'm sure NOBODY Else reads this, I can put my opinions up and people can have a little bit more information without doing all of the work. (Cuz, HEY! I did it first!) later taters! Gonna go look up that diaper soap stuff. Have a good day!!

Lara and Kaelyn

the month of may

Kinda sucks. Not gonna lie.This month started out with an emergency trip back home. We went home on a sunday night after a call that my grandpa, or Papa as we call him, was in the ICU. His COPD was stage 4 and they were keeping him comfortable but it was only a matter of time. He passed away 2 days later on monday. I was lucky enough to be able to be there for him, he got to hear Kaelyn say "papa" (a word she learned just earlier that week) SO between the funeral and the family drama (there was plenty) it was an exhausting week. I had to come home when Jeremy came home (he only got 1 day of bereavement and I got 3) so the two remaining days were spend playing out in the yard with Kaelyn and catching up on the sleep I lost the previous few days.

From there, the next week we had a great visit with our Birth-to-3 ladies, Mary and Natalie. They taught Kaelyn how to climb up the stairs!! She is now a pro! We did it twice yesterday and in the process of trying to get a video, we needed her to do it 2 more times! She slept through the night for the first time in weeks (teething is a stinker! The tooth fairy is being a brat to us, lets just say that much.)

Sorry for the lapse in between posts, but life is crazy, having a toddler getting into EVERYTHING. I'll try to be a little more faithful in posting. in the meantime, here is a link to her video of her crawling up the stairs.

Have a great day!

Lara, Jeremy, and Kaelyn!

HERES THE LINK

One Year Old!

I can't believe its been a year since my baby girl was brought into the world! A whole year of smiles, diapers, sleepless nights, and so much more! I can't believe that I've been a mommy for a whole year now! She's been such a blessing to Jeremy and I, to our whole family and just because of her diagnosis, it makes everything that much more special. It makes us appreciate every single day, every little thing. All of the milestones and the memories. I get teary eyed just thinking about the last year!

Her party was awesome and just perfect. My mom came up a few days early to help do some cleaning, and get some stuff cooked and decorated. She had so many guests and special presents and we have so many memories to pass on to her! She got lots of music toys, especially a music set (egg shakers, tambourine, shaker, drums) and she also got a way cool wagon! We've put it all to wonderful use taking trips over to the park across the street from our house! She also got so many special and adorable outfits! We are still trying to wear them all! OH! and she got a BOX! I am in the process of painting it mossy green and "sunrise pink" lol. Ugh. It's getting late and i have to get to bed. We have Kaelyn on an awesome sleep schedule (bed by 10 and up at 8 usually) and I have minimal time to get up and shower before she wakes up! Every day is awesome and she wakes up SMILING! (Our birth to 3 Occupation therapist says she's "amazingly easy going! If I knew all babies would be as easy going, I'd have a dozen more!..... well maybe not a DOZEN, but I'd sure jump on the bandwagon for another one. I kind of want to try again, but we'll see. ENOUGH of my rambling, i'm off to bed. Thanks for reading! i might try a video blog for my next entry. we'll see how that goes!

Weaning, and other things

Well, we are officially down to one feeding a day. I am happy that we have a little extra freedom to go and run errands and just bum around town and have fun. But I am having a little bit of an issue with missing the closeness and bonding time. Like scooping her up from the crib first thing in the morning, put on the news and snuggle up and nurse her. Knowing I can do something for her that nobody else can. I am the one who nourishes her with MY body. I feel like I'm losing something that I can't get back. I know that it's best for both of us, and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I am sure there have been COUNTLESS other mommies who have gotten a little teary eyed knowing that our babies are growing up and they don't need us like they used to.

On the upside, there has been a little bit of tenderness but no outright pain, no engorgement. My body seems to be transitioning very well. And for that I am most thankful.

She's picking up speed with her crawling, pulling up on the sofa now. In her defense, our couch is high and rounded cushions so its harder for her. But man is she getting good! I may be losing nursing and bonding, but I am gaining a new perspective on life EACH DAY. I see a new little girl growing up before my eyes!

On a different note, my sister and mom's DNA tests came back a few weeks ago, and contrary to what our geneticist thought, My mom was not the one to pass on the genetic balanced rearrangement. SO now its either passed on from my dad's side of the family, or I am the first and it happened at conception.

HOLY SMOKES! It's 1/4 to 2! i'm jumping in bed. I'll post more later!

All of our love

Lara and Kaelyn

Guess who is 11 months old?

We are 11 months old as of the 5th and celebrated with a fun little photo shoot of our own! Woo hoo! We are under a month away from her birthday and her party! My mom made the invites and they are starting to arrive in the mail. We received our first call today. My grandma on my dads side is unable to make it. But we are home the weekend before and after the party so we will make sure to stop over for some special grandma time!

This next month is going to be amazing!

On the 16th we have ANOTHER meeting with our birth-to-3 ladies, Mary and Natalie. Those women are simply amazing. These little exercises they have us work with Kaelyn on has made such huge strides! She army crawls and then she crawls! It's hard to get her to do them now that she is crawling because she is so inquisitive and wants to explore and get into mischief.

The weekend of the 25th we are heading back home for the weekend because my brother-in-law and his wife are having their baby shower that weekend! Yay! We'll get to visit with my mom and sisters hopefully and some of the great-grandparents too!

We get to come home and clean like crazy and wait for the weekend of the 1st for Kaelyn's birthday party! I can't believe my little girl is turning one in just 3 short weeks! It seems unreal that just one year ago she was in my tummy, breech and stubborn and all over my bladder! And then she was OUT! She's here and she's thriving in the real world!

The very next weekend is TRIVIA! We participate in the world's largest trivia contest in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It's a pretty big deal where we are from and the contest takes over the WHOLE town. It's going to be fun. Kaelyn gets to spend a whole day with her Auntie Kristin. Yay!! (what will this mommy do without a baby to keep an eye on?)

On a different note, sippy cup training is AWESOME! We are all but weaned from the bottles, doing awesome eating more and more table food. We have been weaned from pacifiers for months! She started rejecting them around thanksgiving, which is awesome!

Time sure is flying and its crazy to me. Next step is Kaelyn walking and having a fun spring/summer, her first easter (since she was born the day AFTER easter 2010) and all the rest of her milestones.

But if one more person says my headache is me being pregnant or asks me when we are going to have another baby, I am gonna scream! We are gonna wait just a smidge longer, due to the c-section and all.

Later taters! Gotta get ready to put Kaelyn to bed!

Take care and thanks for reading!

Lara and Kaelyn

March is here!

Does that mean springtime is on its way? I surely hope so. It's been a week or so since I have updated last and I think I'll just make it a weekly blog.

Last week, Kaelyn started crawling. I put a video link on my last blog entry. It's so adorable! But one thing nobody warned me about, the learning curve. Once they learn, you put them on the floor and they are off and racing! It's nuts!! Sometimes I lean over to put her on the floor and her legs and arms are already going!

I cannot believe that on Saturday, Kaelyn will be 11 months old! Party invites are in the mail and my mom did such an amazing job on them. Kaelyn will have such pretty invites for her very first birthday ever! I can't wait!

I've got quite the day of laundry ahead of me. Not only did i get 5 pair of pants (garanimals) on sale at walmart yesterday, but a co-worker of mine is through having children and gave me a HUGE TCP bag full of hand me downs! Gonna rewash them so we don't have any detergent issues, but OMG. Some of the outfits are so cute! I think tomorrow Kaelyn and I will have a mini photo shoot tomorrow for her 11 month pictures. I have heard as much yet, but I'm sure the grandmas would love something more than the Valentine's Day pictures I posted 2 or 3 weeks ago.

We've been feeding her more finger foods lately and we've been pretty successful! We LOVE macaroni and cheese, potatoes, fruity pancakes (bisquick gluten free pancakes with left over baby food puree in them) Graham crackers, cheerios, chicken, ham, turkey, spaghetti (not quite there on her own yet.) and others. I am going to steam some carrot coins and those can be her next new finger food. She also FINALLY found a sippy cup that she will drink out of and is starting to learn that she needs to tip it back to get to the bottom of the cup. We've done apple juice (50/50 mix with water) and whole milk. She REFUSES to drink formula with whole milk or breast milk with whole milk, and it doesn't seem to bother her tummy in the least. Thank the lord. Jeremy had a hard time getting her to drink her bottle on Tuesday when I was at work. She wanted either a.) the boob, b.) formula, or c.) whole milk. not a combination. luckily for this mommy, she was hungry when I got home so I could avoid the breast pump.

Odin is struggling with Kaelyn being more mobile as she loves to crawl over to him and yank his tail or pull his ears. He just kinda growls and walks away but that is by no means a deterrent for her wanting to "play" with her puppy. I was very impressed today by his behavior. He laid next to us on the couch and let her stroke his ears while she nursed. He was patient and seems to be learning that she's not going anywhere so he better get used to her. Our only REAL issue is that she thinks its okay to feed Odin. So when she gets finger food, he's put away in our bedroom. Today Kaelyn had bananas and got it on her feet. (don't ask me how, i'm still scratching my head at that) I run potty and come back to Kaelyn laughing so hard she's hiccuping. Odin is by her feet, head sideways, licking BETWEEN her toes. Too funny. Thank goodness my bladder was empty because it was HILLARIOUS!

We are battling a little diaper rash right now on her girly parts. Poor dolly hates when I lay her on the changing table because she KNOWS I'm going to have to wipe her down and put more A&D back on it. Desitin at night seems to help a little, but I believe because she is a tummy sleeper and the pee goes to the front of the diaper, a healthy glob of A&D before bed will go a long way towards being a skin protecting barrier than the desitin for this particular incident. I just hate knowing that she is so miserable for diaper changes. But oh well.

I forgot to mention that I emailed our Birth-to-3 (also known as "early intervention") lady after Kaelyn started crawling and they mailed out a few other ideas to work on for the next 2 weeks. We'll see if we can get her to sit in one place long enough to do them! Now that she is crawling, she is off like a lit firecracker!

I'm off to bed. I wanna get up early to read a little before kaelyn gets up. I baked oreo cupcakes again and need to frost them as well. But after making dinner, feeding Kaelyn, and baking the cupcakes, I decided that I could frost them later. I plopped on the floor and played with my girl and read a book on my Nook and before I knew it, she nursed, fell asleep (while nursing) and I laid her down. BONUS! Now, all I have to do is wrestle the remote away from Jeremy so I can put some news on to fall asleep to. OH! and kick Odin out of my spot on the bed. Jeremy have him a few treats when he came home after I gave such a GLOWING review of his behavior. I don't want my pillow smelling like dog breath and dog biscuits. ICK!

Later gaters!

All of our love,

Lara and Kaelyn