And Almost a Year Later...

Surprise! I'm still around. Shocking I know :) In my (extremely weak) defense, it's been a busy year.

After Tegan's first birthday, we had our first 'Friends Cruise'. We started planning this vacation before I was even pregnant with Tegan so we were very much looking forward to it! A week long cruise in the Bahama's. It's hard for me to believe this happened this year, it seems so long ago. But it really was a blast! By far our favorite part was climbing Dunn River Falls! The cruise was so much fun that we decided to make it a tradition. Every five years we'll all get together again and take a cruise vacation. Only 4 years to go! Do you think it's to soon to start a countdown :)?

The First Friends Cruise Gang at Dinner

Conquering Dunn Falls- 960 ft Vertical Climb...So worth it!

Next in the years events was my best friends wedding! This took up a lot of my time this year, but I wouldn't change a thing. It was such an honor to be involved in her wedding. I miss having the excuses to get together several times a week!

Then it was time for wedding number two! My Mom and Dad renewed their vows/were remarried. There is a long explanation to this but lets keep it simple :). This year they are celebrating their 30-0 anniversary!

*Sadly I don't have pictures from this one yet

Oh yeah, and between everything else we have been getting ready for another addition to the family. Baby Boy R. Coming soon :)

Last week @ 37 weeks!

Summarizing everything in short little blurbs really makes it seem like not that much, but it really was a crazy year. And as I said in the beginning, my excuse was pretty weak. Perhaps my new year resolution should be to blog more. I wish I was better at keeping a record of what all is happening, because I really enjoy looking back and am definitely jealous of people who do manage to blog regularly. Guess we'll see how things go. Till next time...

A Birthday Party- The Details!

We had Tegan's 1st Birthday party last week, and if I do say so myself, it turned out really well! We even somehow managed to keep Tegan in a good mood despite the fact her schedule got screwed up! Since this was her first birthday I wanted to make it special, but lets be honest here- she's not going to remember it, the party is really for the adults at this stage. So while planning this whole thing I was trying my darnedest to not go overboard which is so easy to do especially with all the great ideas on Pinterest. Oh Pinterest, you will be the death of me! Anyways...I started out with a 'Mad Hatter' theme for the party because for whatever reason Tegan thinks it's hysterical when people are wearing hats, but the end result had nothing to do with the original inspiration. Instead I ended up focusing on colors and textures.

Okay, enough with the boring dribble, here are the highlights of the party...

The decorations:

The dinning room.

The living room...

More living room- These were Tegan's monthly pics all lined up!

And lastly- the Birthday Girls Seat all decked out!

The food, yum...

The buffet line...

We made Tegan's favorite food for the party, sloppy joes, and followed that with blueberries! We also had pretzel chips and gold fish, veggies and hummus, and green and red grapes. I jazzed up the buffet line with the professional pics we had taken a of her when she was first born, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months (we'll be taking her 12 month pictures this weekend!).

And of coarse...

CAKE!

I made Confetti cake with cream cheese frosting. Tegan had her very own cake, and cupcakes for everyone else.

At the last minute, I added some entertainment for the kiddies that were coming...

Azalea demonstrating the ball bit...

And a tunnel and tent! If you look closely you can see cousin Eva hanging out in the tent!

And...There you have it, the details from the party. This got long enough on it's own, so I'll follow up with the guests and birthday girl in the next post. I know you're all waiting on the edge of your seats, so stay tuned :)

12 Months- Happy Birthday!!!

It's official, my little girl is a whole year old! I always hate it when people ask on my birthday how it feels to be a year older, cause come on really?!- Nothings really changed other than the date, and the age on my license.  But as completely irrational as it is, now that Tegan is a full year old I keep expecting something to change in a huge way! And of coarse things will change in little ways, but I'm not really sure what major change I'm expecting to happen,  but I admitted already it was irrational. So moving on...here's what you've been up to these past few months...

At 10 months:
Weight: 16lbs 9oz. After the slight weight problem at your 9 month check up we were happy to find that you had gained 2lbs in two weeks putting you back on the charts! Unfourtunetly, at 11 months you caught Grandpa's stomach bug at the end of our vacation and I'm pretty sure we lost some progress on gaining weight. I suspect at 11 months you were still right around 16-17 lbs.

At 12 Months:
Weight: 18lbs. 15oz. (16%)

Height: 26.5in...Umm, no! We know this is wrong, but it's what they measured so it's what was recorded. If this were accurate then you would have shrunk, and since you're out growing your clothes I know that's not the case. We'll have another unofficial check in later this month, and they use more acurate ways to measure so we'll get a better idea later. Silly nurse, pshaw!
Head Circumference:  18in (69%). As the Hubs put it, you're getting my big head. 

Clothes: We finally have you in 9-12months/12 months clothes. While you can't fit into your 9 month clothes anymore, you also don't really fit your 12 month yet either. We're in that kinda awkward transition stage at the moment. We're making it work...except for the pants. You literally crawl right out of your pants Ha!

Diapers: Still in 3's. We're slowly starting to see signs of you growing out of them. The tabs aren't completely over lapping anymore!

Feeding: I mentioned in a previous post we were going to start weening you. Our plan was to get you used to a sippy cup and transition you that way. You had other plans! The sippy cup was just another toy for the longest time and bottles were an absolute no go. I was getting pretty frustrated that I was never going to be able to ween you. As it turns out, you were really just showing us how stubborn you can be. Around 10 months you had an overnight stay with Grandma G so the Hubs and I could go to a company party. The next morning as Grandma was putting together some oatmeal for you, you started reaching for the bottle of formula. As Grandma put it "I'm not going to argue with a hungry baby at 5am!" You sucked down two full bottles that morning as if having a bottle was something you did all the time! After Grandma tadled on you we started substitution one feeding a day for a bottle. Every two weeks we'd cut out another feeding. 

We're down to just one feeding in the morning because I'm to lazy to get a bottle made when we first get up. But now that you're 1, we'll make the final cut and switch to whole milk. The whole weening process thankfully went really smooth for both of us, we made it a whole year with breastfeeding and we we're both ready to stop.

As for solid foods- you have a pretty regular 3 meals a day. Around 11 months (right after Christmas) you started refusing anything that we would have to feed you with utensils. Instead everything has to be finger foods you can feed yourself! Now that you've taken charge of feeding yourself, the Hubs and I have been able to eat our own food again. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to eat the food in front of me when it was ready. Although now you want a piece of anything we're eating. It's been a long time since I've been able to finish my own banana around you. Ha!

Sleeping: Still no problems sleeping through the night. You consistently provide a wake up call between 6-7am, and take two naps a day at about 2hrs a piece. For all the above mentioned, I thank you ;)

Baths: You've graduated to the big girl bath-i.e.the tub, and our bathroom is starting to be taken over by bath toys. Doesn't matter though, you still hate baths. Sigh...

Milestones:
Crawling: Check. Been there, done that.

Walking: You're not walking yet, not even pulling yourself up yet. But you're showing interest in things above you and if we help you up you'll support yourself for the most part while you investigate. The Hubs and I always kinda suspected you might be slow to walking, since it's hard in our house to offer you the surfaces to learn to pull yourself up to.

Teething: You've finally added another tooth. You have a grad total of 5 now! Although there are some that you have been working on for months now!

Talking: The Hubs and are were recently talking about how to decide when a baby says a word instead of just sounds that sound like a word. The verdict was it needed to be said while pointing or some other obvious motion to make it completely clear that a baby meant to say that word. No sooner had we laid out the guidelines, you were putting them to use. You looked at the kitty, looked at me, pointed to the kitty, and then said your first word "kitty"! Since then we have decided that you are indeed saying "Mama", "Dada" and "dog" too.

Check Ups: Your 12 month check up was this week. All is very well. The Dr. was very happy with your size, impressed by your cognitive growth, and unconcerned about your delayed motor skills when it comes to walking and pulling yourself up.

Recap 3- Baby's First Christmas, Vacation, and New Year!

Christmas was at our place again this year and it was a full house. All the cousins made it which was the biggest change since last year. We went from two kids last Christmas to five this Christmas! I love that all the cousins are going to be so close in age though, I hope they're all friends as they grow up. With so many little ones running around it gave me a whole new appreciation for how my Grandma hosted so many holidays with me and all my cousins. It was also super chaotic, but in a good way. We decided this year not to do a gift exchange for everyone, but instead just buy for the kids. It worked out great, and I think we'll be doing it this way from now on.

As I mentioned before, I made all my gifts this year. I'd definitely do this again, but just start earlier than one month before Christmas. Oofta. But I pulled off most of it. After all was done I made a doll for all the girls, a button/crinkle/tag toy thing for the little ones, a diaper clutch for the mama's, and homemade finger paints for everyone. I meant to get a picture of everything, but because I went right up to the last minute getting things ready, I simply forgot to take one. Oh well.

Cousin Sophie's gifts

Cousin Ethan, Eva, and Everette's gifts

Opening presents!

Aftermath and BOWS!

Tegan opening her stocking on Christmas morning!

My Dad's side of the family spent Christmas up at our cabin/time share, Breezy Point, and had reserved the cabins through New Years. So the Monday after Christmas we made the drive up to Brainard for our first family vacation of sorts. The Hubs was only able to take a few days off work so he came up for the first part of the week and then had to go back to the cities. The plan from there was suppose to be me coming back with Tegan on Friday for MIL's birthday, but we did a little switching up at the last minute. My Dad got sick the day we left for the cabin, and did a roller coaster of feeling better than worse the rest of the week. My parents were ready to call an end to their trip and just get my Dad home, so I ended up staying at the cabin and having the Hubs and MIL come back up instead for MIL's Birthday. It worked out really well until Tegan and I got whatever my Dad had and spent the MIL's birthday, and New Year's Eve in bed. Oh well, it was still a great trip. We had a full week with family, spent some time out of the house, and even went swimming, it was a great break from the norm even if it did end in being sick.

Tegan & Great Grandpa G.

Tegan's closet/room at Breezy Point!

Making our self's at home, and playing with Grandma G.

Playing in the kiddy pool

Hanging with Grandpa G.

Reading with Grandma Jane

Recap 2- December told by Pictures

Baby's First  Christmas Ornaments

"That guy is around here somewhere..."

"I don't like this guy!!!"

Recap 1- Baby's First Thanksgiving and Christmas Tree

Tegan & Aunt Sara

Lets start the recap a week before Thanksgiving. This year Tegan's Aunt Sara (my sister) was able to come to MN for a visit. She stayed with us while she was here. I was really happy that Tegan was able to feel comfortable right away with Sara. They even coordinated nap times (just kidding Sara...sorta :)).

Tegan's first Thanksgiving!

For the actual day of Thanksgiving we went over to my parents place. The Hubs and I usually host the holiday dinners because we have the largest space for it, but with Tegan this year we asked the parents to share the hosting with us. It all turned out great. We had quite the crowd this year. From Tegan's perspective we had the Great Grandparents, the Grandparents, two aunts, two uncles, and an uncles girl friend, a cousin, and later in the day another aunt and two more cousins for a grand total of 16 people! It was surprising that with all those people that it didn't feel crowded at all.

As we always do the day after Thanksgiving, we went out to our favorite tree farm and picked out a Christmas tree. We also learned that Tegan LOVES Christmas sausage. If she saw you eating a Christmas sausage and not sharing she would throw a little fit!

The hunt is on!

Found it!

Grandma not sharing the last bite of Christmas sausage!

So...yeah...Happy New Year...

Well, you may have noticed I missed a few things like Tegan's first Thanksgiving, her 10 month post, all the Christmas festivities, and New Year's (which also coincided with our first family vacation of sorts), and am now late on her 11 month post...so here's the deal...I decided to make all my own Christmas presents this year and I got so wrapped up in that starting after Thanksgiving I had time for little else. Have no fear the recaps are coming you are warned. But first we have to recover from our first major bout of sickies.

As all good family vacations go, someone brought up a stomach bug with them, and it was a doozy!!! Knocked out my Dad, my Aunt, my cousin, and my Grandpa before attacking Tegan and me, and tried to take hold of the Hubs but he someone scrapped by with out to much harm. Unfortunately for one day the Hubs and I were both down for the count, and let me just say it's a whole different ball game to be sick with a little one!! It so far has taken one day of total misery, followed by a day of fasting, and two straight days of sleeping, and now 4 days later I'm venturing back into normal habits. Whew! Thankfully Tegan is starting to come around too. There is nothing sadder than knowing your little one isn't feeling good and having no real way to make it better. On the upside of catching this bug it has aided in loosing the last 5 pounds of baby weight, returning me to my pre-baby weight finally of coarse it was all water weight lost, so therefor will come back but indulge me :), and lots of additional baby snuggles.

So I threaten promise, recaps will come. But until then, Happy New Year to everyone! This year is going to be crazy I can feel it all ready, but it's a good kind of crazy. All ready on my agenda is planning Tegan's first birthday (GULP!!!), going on a much anticipated cruise (sans baby which is going to be really hard), and being part of my best friends wedding! Definitely a good kind of crazy, but crazy non the less. I can't wait :)