Farewell 2008

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

What did we ever do without our little flower?

Happy New Year!

Christmas Cerclage

So last Tuesday I went in for a prenatal visit and ended up being admitted to the hospital. Because of some symptoms I'd been having my OB checked my cervix. I was 1cm dilated at 21 weeks. She made some phone calls and sent me to a perinatologist who thought it would be best to place a cerclage. I was hesitant at first because of the risk involved but then I realized a) she knows way more about this stuff than I do and b) either way, there's risk involved. I went to the OR Christmas Eve and had the cerclage placed "with only one stitch", which I'm guessing is a good thing. I came home Christmas day. Aside from feeling like my jaw was broken for a few days ( problems with intubation?, rough anesthesiologist?), I'd say things went well. I'm still pregnant and enjoying every little kick, which are growing stronger by the day. 

Wordless Wednesday- Winter in Wisconsin

Too lazy to form paragraphs.

-My mom is here visiting until after the baby is born...

-Which is good because I am now on modified bedrest

-I have come to realize that I am very set in my ways  

-We are having a girl (according to my latest ultrasound)

-I'm so happy that my baby girl will have a sister

-I took a long, late nap today

-Then I took a long bath

-We just finished the first season of The Wire

-I can't wait to get more red envelopes from Netflix

-Now I will have a piece of chocolate cake while I watch The Daily Show

Good Day...

Sunday Sharing

I thought I would start a regular Sunday post highlighting a blog entry I found to be especially inspiring or interesting from the previous week. It's a little late in the day but better late than never! 

This week I was touched by the sentiment in this post at The Zen of Motherhood. Every little girl deserves to hear these words. Don't you agree?

Happy Sunday... 

On my Mind

I can't stop thinking about this little boy. 

In a nutshell...

What we've been up to for the past three months:

- My hubby turned 32 in August

- We drove to visit family in Kentucky (twice) and Ohio. It is so nice to finally be within driving distance of relatives.

- We drove to Tennessee and stayed with family in a cabin in the mountains. We had a Halloween party, everyone dressed up. The little flower was a nurse, I was a doctor, and the hubby was a patient. Good times and beautiful fall foliage. 

- My sweet little "baby" turned two. 

- My sweet little baby is now talking. A lot. My husband and I find ourselves using her mispronounced version of certain words because it's just so darned cute. I've always read that parents should not do this so as not to encourage the improper pronunciation, but we just can't help it. I will probably always call milk milch. 

-  We voted for the next President of the United States. HUGE relief. I feel much better about my daughter's future. 

Asparagus Appetizer

My husband loves Asparagus. Me? Not so much. I make it for him and usually eat two or three spears. I typically oven roast it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I wanted to try something different for Thanksgiving so I used this recipe and it was a huge hit with all three of us. We made it two days in a row. Fattening but YUM, perfect for an occasional treat.  

And I'm back...

I apologize for any worry I caused by taking such a long and unexpected break from this blog. Thank you to everyone who left e-mails/comments expressing concern. We are all fine. It sounds really lame but I had morning sickness. That's all, nothing major, although at the time it seemed REALLY major. It was all I could do to take care of my little flower so blogging had to wait. Then, of course, I felt better but became busy doing other stuff and...well...here I am today. Our new addition is due in April, on our fifth wedding anniversary. Bear with me as I get back into the groove of this blogging thing... 

Cough cough, sniff sniff...

We're all sick. Just summer colds, but Chris and I are learning just how tough it is to care for a sick toddler when we are sick ourselves. The little flower was up through the night whimpering, and then wailing. She wouldn't drink, she felt clammy, nothing I did made her comfortable. Finally, I put her in bed with us (waking up Chris in the process) and turned on the television. She doesn't usually show much interest in television, but something about it worked for her last night. It put her into a trance and she finally calmed down, took a drink, and went back to sleep. I'm hoping tonight is a better night for all of us, we seem to have turned the corner. The ability to breathe through one's nose should never be taken for granted.

 

Bread on the Brain

I've been looking forward to baking my own bread for a while now. I think store bought bread leaves a little to be desired in terms of taste, particularly whole grain bread. Also, it's cheaper homemade, especially since we never seem to make it through a whole loaf of bread before it gets funky, and we end up throwing a lot of it away. Plus, there's the coolness factor, I would feel so much more productive and wifely and motherly if I could bake a mean loaf of bread. In short, I would officially ROCK, at least in my opinion.  

I've been perusing books about baking bread and have placed a few on hold at the library. In the meantime, I thought I would try this recipe, and it was pretty much your garden variety disaster. I couldn't even bring myself to take pictures to share with you. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but the dough never seemed to rise (yes Mom, I did use yeast- I can hear you asking me that as I type), which resulted in two pretty heinous looking loaves of bread. The bread actually tasted good, so I've been using it for sandwiches and toast. I don't think I'll try that particular recipe again.

I recently discovered foodgawker (enter at your own risk) and I was up until 12:30 last night searching through pictures of bread for a recipe that I thought might be good to try next. None of the savory bread recipes jumped out at me but I found a banana-chocolate chip bread/cake that looks really good. If all goes well this afternoon with the little flower, I may give it a go. Not to wish away this time, but I look forward to being able to cook with the little flower (and daddy, of course) someday. So many good times ahead...let's just hope one of them involves banana bread!     

Welcome to Wisconsin

My father-in-law and his wife were in town from Kentucky this past weekend. They were the first visitors to our new home and we loved having them.

Our weekend in pictures:

Thanks for everything Paw-Paw and Mi-Mi. Come back anytime...we might even have a real bed for you to sleep in by then!

One year ago, today.

I was recently looking through some old photos and I came across these taken one year ago, to the day. We still have this onesie and boppy (my favorite, must have baby item), so I thought it would be neat to re-create the photos to see what a difference a year makes.

 One year ago:

And today:

 Look how happy and thriving I am Mommy...and these are my toes!

Last year, she was just learning to sit. This year, it was all I could do to get her to sit still:

And this year, she wanted to primp a little before the big shoot:

I love doing this. Heck, I may even try this again next year, although the onesie probably won't fit then. I think she'll enjoy looking at these in the future, too. I'm already looking forward to our next re-creation:

My pearls will never be the same...

Toddler Trim

This little flower needed some pruning (I have no idea if flowers are pruned but it works for the story so go with me):

So, we took her this week to a neat little salon that specializes in children's haircuts. They have special car-chairs and a television the kids can watch. It probably would have been somewhat fun for everyone had we not made the mistake of letting the little flower discover these prior to her appointment (pretend like the blurry photos are and sharpity sharp sharp):

It was not the warm and fuzzy family moment I'd planned on, but that didn't stop me from taking pictures (although having to use the flash almost did):

We sang to her, we read to her, we tried to point out the other little kids that were getting a haircut- she wasn't having any of it- she wanted to be reunited with the toys. This picture pretty much sums up the entire experience, teething and all:

They even gave us a little "first haircut" certificate with a lock of her hair. And here she is...bless her little heart:

She was still a little bitter about being separated from all of the cool toys, not to mention the teething pain, but she got over it quickly:

I've always thought little girls with short hair were adorable, don't ask me why. Now I have one of my very own! I didn't think it was possible, but she is now even more adorable:)

Another First

This past weekend we took the little flower to a local deli known for it's carousel. I learned two things during this family outing:

1) it's difficult to get a good picture of someone on a carousel at dusk

and

2) save the best for last (i.e. if the intention is to have dessert and ride the carousel, have dessert first)...

We made the mistake of riding the carousel as soon as we arrived. We took turns for three rides and then left because it was getting dark. I never know how the little flower is going to react, I was a little worried she might be frightened by the lights and sounds and not want to ride at all. This was not the case. She would have stayed on that carousel until she passed out from sheer exhaustion, if she'd had the chance. Instead, she fell asleep on the way home. And mommy and daddy had frozen custard in the car for dessert.

As I was typing this post, I remembered this picture of my mother and me that was taken at Disneyworld. I was a little older than my little flower is now, I think I was around three. As far as I know this was my first time on a carousel and I don't remember it, so I'm really glad I have the picture:

I'm also really glad my legs are as shapely and tan as my mother's were in this picture...NOT!