And 4 is Something Else Entirely!

It's been quite a while since my last post. The last several months of this pregnancy went by way too fast. I hadn't really felt up to writing. I didn't really know what to write without constantly complaining, was unmotivated to write, and was scraping the barrel when it came to energy in the evenings after work and then wrangling a toddler.

All but the complaining still hold true with some bonus reasons, but I had to share this.

Lucy Arden was born at home on 9/10 at 1:09pm.

6lbs 11oz

20.25"

Her labor was pretty quick as well. About 4hrs in total. Except for the back labor and posterior presentation, Lucy's birth was pretty similar to Em's. Similar length of time, bloody show shortly before birth, water broke right before pushing, and a similar sized baby born 2d before her due date.

Em is in love with her sister, maybe a bit too much. I'm tired, but recovery has been great; healing was much quicker than it was after Em, even through Lucy came sunny-side up. Lucy is growing well, but has some silent reflux issues and had an upper lip and tongue tie that we had taken care of this past Thursday.

I'm not going to lie and say things are happy and perfect. Far from it. Breastfeeding has been alright, but the crying has been really trying. I will admit that there have been moments where I've felt like breaking down and that having a 2nd might have been a mistake. In clearer moments, I'm head over heels in love with Lucy. I love the interaction between the girls.

12 months = 1 year. Whoa...

Holy cow... When did this happen? How do I no longer have an infant, but a toddler instead?

The Holidays were great, but super hectic and busy. I loved having the 10 days straight with my little one, and it made going back to work after New Year's Day that much harder. After that, it was getting things ready for her *First Birthday Party*.  So this post is a bit late and likely, a bit long and photo heavy.
 
We did Christmas morning at our house and then headed over to my parents for the rest of the day for Christmas dinner and more presents! Em made out like a bandit, getting lots of toys and clothes. Several days later, we drove down to visit with my in-laws, where Em got more presents and some Christmas cash. All in all, it was exhausting, but she loved it and got the hang of opening gifts. It was great practice for her birthday.

We had a shoot with the photographer that did our family photos (that were used in the holiday card I posted last). In prep for Em's 1st birthday party, we did a cake smash session. It was ridiculously messy, and crazy fun. Em knew just what to do with the cake and had no fear. She did have to stop for milk breaks a time or 2 and was in definite need of a bath directly after we finished. The photog did a great job. I'm glad she didn't make me choose just my 5 favorites as I don't think I would have been able to narrow it down to less than 8 or 10. Here are a few tidbits.

I went back to work; she went back to daycare. That Thursday, I went to feed her in the afternoon as usual. They told me she had thrown up a little bit ago. Thinking it may have been from post-nasal drip/phlegm she's been having, I nursed her. We got up from the chair, and vomit volcanoed all down me and in the chair. Then a 2nd time about 10 min later. She left daycare early and the Boy took care of her the rest of the afternoon until I could leave work. She just kept throwing up. Poor thing was just tired and not feeling well. After a slightly better Friday of me staying home with her and limiting food, but pushing liquids in little volumes, we made an appt that Saturday. We would have done so sooner if she had a fever or anything else, but she seemed her normal self when not puking. Turns out, it was a pretty good ear infection in both ears from the cold we all had a few weeks before. Antibiotics and rest were the prescription. And this is where I think I have one of the strangest kids. She LOVED taking the Amox.icillin. LOVED it! She also gulps down any of the Ty.lenol/Mot.rin we've given her previously. She was feeling more herself in a few days, no throw up, and by the following Wednesday/Thursday, I got to sleep in another position than sitting up, holding her.

Then she turned 1 on the 8th. It was a bittersweet day, to say the least. It honestly feels like we were trying just a bit ago, I was pregnant the other day, and she was born just yesterday (almost). Time has flown faster than I could have imagined. We spend that whole week prepping the house for her party on the 12th. When you don't really have time/energy to clean well over a span of, say, a year and a half, it is a beast to tackle in a week. Thankfully, we got it most of the way, and what we couldn't get went to hide in the office.

Her party was a good bit of fun. We asked for books instead of cards, and boy, did she ever get books! There were 8 kids there under 5yrs, and my 11yr old niece. Most surprisingly, no one had a tantrum or breakdown. All the little ones had a good time in the living room, playing with toys, each other and the dogs. We did presents after all had arrived and had time to eat some of the snacks/food we set out. Presents were immediately followed by cake and cupcakes for the guest. Em really dug getting to eat a cake all to herself again. Another bath ensued directly after that. The day was a whirlwind for me, and I had forgotten to take photos of it all before the party started. Darn it.

As for what she's up to these days, she is quite the busy body. Her staggering walk is morphing into a run rather quickly.  Still keeping to the "d" "p" and "b" sounds. No "mama" yet, just lots of "doad" and "dada."

Dogs. One of her favorite things. Her dogs. Dogs on tv. In a book. A puzzle. A picture. A bark. All of them prompt a "Doad" from her. She loves a good puppy dog.

She's a genius. Well, maybe not genius, but she's figuring things out. How to stack and unstack things rather than just knock them down. Taking things in and out of containers, which she likes to open and close as well. The other day, she took the pitcher we use for giving the dogs water, and dragged it over to their bowl and turned it upside down onto it. Granted, there was nothing in it (thankfully!), but she got the picture.

Sitting in chairs. It's crazy to think about how fascinating chairs are, but they seem to be the other big thing she's wild about right now. She tries to climb into her highchair. She'll climb into her bumbo-like seat. And since my parents brought it over, the kid-sized lawn chair. which brings me to the next item...

Climbing. Oh Lord, the climbing. If it is her height or less, she'll climb on just about anything. The aforementioned chairs, the dogs, toys, laundry baskets, us, and unfortunately, even the fireplace. I'm guessing it some ingrained, left-over instinct from our monkey days as she hasn't seen us climb anything, but she just seems to know how to do it and what's the best way to get up to where she wants to be. I see some very tiring days in my future.

She's working on a few more teeth. The level of drool and gnawing are astounding to me compared to what she had/did with the last round. I'm hoping these come quicker as I don't think I have another month of practically sleepless nights in me.

There is probably more things I meant to talk about in this post, but by this point I've forgotten them. Besides, I think this has rambled on long enough. Hopefully, since all the hectic-ness of the holidays and her birthday have settled, maybe I'll be able to post more. We'll see. I really only have a bit of time free on evenings while she's sleeping, otherwise I'm chasing or otherwise entertaining my toddler. Sigh, I can't believe she's no longer the little tiny thing we brought home, but an honest-to-goodness toddler...

Do Clocks have Wings?

Because time just keeps flying by me! I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! I don't have any real excuse other than life has just been super busy and I've been trying to spend as much time with Em in the evenings after work as I can!

Here's what we've been up to lately:

I turned 29 back at the end of May. Strangely, I'm actually looking forward to the big 3-0. We were visiting the Boy's folks for the weekend. They were blown away by how happy and active Em is!  Unfortunately, I caught pink eye because of his grandmother. It was just and only me, thank goodness!

We went to re-PG SIL's parent's for Em's cousin's 1st bday "mermaid" party. Em was the only kid under 2 that didn't hate being in the pool. In fact, she loved it! It must have seemed just like a big tub for her.

Em turned 5m on Friday. She is quite the character and becoming more and more her own little person! She's getting too long in the torso for most of her 3-6m onesies. She's rolling around and spinning circles. She even pushes up on her arms and will push off of one of her legs, just not at the same time. Yet. She loves her feet and hands. My hands. Boy's hands. Oh and eating our faces! She's blowing spit bubbles and making "ba" sounds.

Cheeky Monkey!

We are sorta starting Baby led solids. Em has really taken an interest in our food and insists on "eating" when we have food. She's tried bananas (love), apples, carrots, rice, grapes (skinless, love), teriyaki noodles, green beans, and mash potatoes + gravy (love). No teeth yet, but she can work those gums!

It's getting harder almost each morning to leave her at daycare and head to work. Sometimes, I even contemplate finding a different job that is strictly 40hrs or allows me to work from home some. Sigh... I love how my priorities have shifted

Birthday Blitz

It's been a great couple of days here. I can honestly say that this has been the best birthday! Happy 28th to me! Here's a quick recap:

Wednesday- a coworker brought in some homemade chocolate cheesecake for me and the lab to enjoy before I left on vacation leave. It was super tasty! I also received the official notice letter of my promotion and raise. A pretty awesome present if you ask me!

Thursday - While I didn't get to really sleep in, I got a sweet, early morning "happy birthday" from the Boy. Then, at 9:45a, we were off to my 1st ever pre-natal appt. My Ob office has an online portal that you can go to and fill out paperwork preemptively to your appt. I had done this, but not all my forms went through apparently After finishing those, I got to pee in a cup for a culture and whatever else they'll be doing with it. Then onto vital checks. My heart rate was normal, blood pressure was lower than usual at 90/54 (normally ~95-100/65-75). I lost a few pounds, but the nurse didn't seem concerned. Then, the nurse got through the history, etc and scheduling and payment/fees stuff. it was fun going over my symptoms with the nurse and the "what to/not to eats" and what I should and shouldn't do at this point.

I could have had another u/s for dating purposes, but I let it slip that I had the one on the 17th at the RE's. Guess I'm just going to have to wait for next weeks! Following all these formalities, I was dropped off at the lab for some blood draw. I LOVE the lab tech at the Ob's!! Every time I've been there, she has been nothing but attentive, kind, caring, and very personable and invested in the patients! This time was no different! She wished me a happy birthday and talked with me about her difficult and long road to her now 15mo son (while taking the required 8 vials of blood). She even gave me a hug before I left the draw room and wished me luck with this pregnancy.

I pretty much spend the rest of the day cleaning house a bit and napping. A great, low key birthday in my book.

Friday - Still didn't get to sleep in and a bit rougher morning, but ended up having lunch with a friend/former coworker who is visiting from out of town for the weekend. It was so nice out so we ate out on the patio of the restaurant. She asked how things have been going in the baby-making dept, and I couldn't lie when she straight out asked if I was pregnant. She was ecstatic for us! We caught up on her life, school, and her love-life. It was nice and again low-key.

After another nap, we started to get things ready for the cookout birthday get-together dinner. Not as many people as we thought were able to make it. It was primarily our friends that watched Cricket the other weekend, B/SIL, her son, and the new baby, and my friend E who I'm fertility mentoring. SIL was a baby-hog, according to the Boy, and didn't let anyone else hold the baby the whole time for one reason or another. We found out that our other friends are also expecting; she's a few weeks behind me. They knew when we picked up Cricket and that explains their odd, surprised reaction- she wanted to say "Me too!" but they weren't quite there yet. Of course, they weren't actually trying, but they weren't preventing either. It's great to have a friend close by to go through pregnancy with these next 7-8m.

E came a bit later and an awkward situation came up. BIL was taking with his step-son about his "new cousin" that will be coming soon. This is exactly what I was worried would happen when telling people. Not them telling other people; them accidentally letting things slip out. I did my best to try to non-nonchalantly get E to join me outside so we could talk. The last thing I wanted was for my news to be blurted out and possibly make her uncomfortable or hurt her. As soon as we were outside, she asked "Who is pregnant? Is it you?" Again, I can't lie when asked directly by people that know what we've been going through and actually care. She was very happy and excited. I'm hoping it was all genuine. I would hate for her to have to put on the fake happy for me. We chatted after everyone else left about how things were going with them. Her Dr gave her a Rx for clomid, and her husband agreed to do a SA if nothing happens this last "natural" cycle. I'm really hopeful that things happen for them super soon. I unfortunately had to send her home with the delicious smelling wine she brought us.

Also, my fantastic husband made, all on his own, his 1st ever cake just for my birthday. It was absolutely delicious!! Great job, babe!