the evolution of us

a little picture update for

my pregnancy/baby photo-shoot.

it all started with a positive pregnancy test

with brette (september 2012) and 

cycles all the way through. (july 2016)

it goes a little something like this:

positive pregnancy test,

massively pregnant, 

little baby,

one year old 

and repeat.

i might call this little photo journey complete
or

i might make the girls climb in bed with me once a

year for the rest of our lives.

it's just so darn cute.

my closing thoughts

i think this is probably like my forth or fifth

post about nursing,

but it will be my last.

reid and i are done breastfeeding and

my boobs are retired.

here's how it went down.

i decided a long time ago that i would nurse my kids.

i had it in my head from the very beginning that

there was no other option.

it. was. happening.

i think that helped me.

my mind was set and so it didn't matter about anything else:

the pain or how tired i was - - i was going to make this work.

luckily for me, both my kids were naturals.

i never dealt with nipple confusion or latch issues.

i did have a few rounds of mastitis and reid refused formula,

so we all have our issues, but

for the most part, it came very naturally.

reid was different from brette in that she didn't

cuddle up and relax.

she was there and done within 10-15 minutes.

from the very beginning, she was just fast.

i worried at first that she wasn't getting enough because

brette normally nursed for 30 minutes.

but i realized that as long as she was keeping up

with the growth curve, then i would let her do her thing.

and that's what we did for the last year.

but as of two nights ago,

we are done.

no more nursing - - ever again.

ho-ly cow.

i even took down the shower curtain hanging up 

in an office at the bank for pumping privacy.

i can tell you, it's so freaking nice not to have to pump anymore.

good riddance.

and my plan for slow and steady wins the race again.

i started weaning her when she was nine months old,

taking one feeding away every two weeks.

i replaced nursing with snacks or sippy cups.

i didn't want to transition her to bottles because

it seemed pointless to start her on those when a one year old

can totally rock a sippy cup.

a bottle would just end up being another thing to break her of and

i really believe in no bottles, no boob by one.

i did it with both girls and it worked well for us.

i was really nervous about taking away her last session.

it's right before bed and i thought we might have issues.

but as normal, i'm more freaked out by this than reid.

she just laid down and went to sleep.

it just goes to show that these things are harder on

the moms than the kid.

in fact, i was going to make ronnie start putting her down,

but he was gone tonight so i did it and

there was no fight to it.

so easy.

i think this means that reid was ready 

(which makes me feel better) and

i feel so proud that we made it to her birthday.

it's probably one of the best things i did with my babies.

and while i know there are no right or wrong decisions when

it comes to nursing/formula/pumping/bottles/boobs,

i'm really happy this worked for us.

reid: twelve months

oh my gosh.
i made it.
one year with two girls.
it's harder than it looks.
i had never really given much thought about
how having two kids instead of one would be
that big of adjustment, but really,
it is.
i feel like i have my bearings now.
i'm not freaked out to go to the grocery store.
i can get them both fed and dressed in less than half a day.
and i even managed to get them on the same nap schedule
so i get some time to myself each afternoon.
this year has been both hard and easy.
i wouldn't change a thing.
reid was the perfect addition to complete our family.
(and don't let ronnie fool you,
we are NOT having another)

 

growth:

we have her pediatrician appointment next week
so i'll do a little update when i have her stats.
just from pictures, i'd say reid is smaller than
brette was at this age, but i'm
dying to see by how much.
she in a size three diaper and 12 month clothes and
i think this will be true through the rest of the summer.

her hair has definitely grown out,
she rocks a pebbles ponytail everyday,
just so i can keep the hair out of her eyes.
i can't wait to see how long her hair is by her 2nd birthday.

both her bottom teeth are in, but
no more movement from her top two.
i really thought she'd have another one by now.
i can tell she's drooling more and has broken out
a little on her chin from all the moisture.
she is not walking yet, but i know its going to be soon.
she is always standing with and without support.
she can also walk with toys that roll.
yesterday, i even saw her take two steps on her own.
she immediately fell on her butt, but
at least she's trying.
she says: ah oh, louie, leia, and dada.
real freaking cool reid.
i know where i stand.
she actually says a lot more than that, but
nothing i can understand.
she is constantly talking though and has
whole conversations with me.

 she's developed some fear of strangers.
she definitely does not want to be held by anyone
she's not comfortable with.
she will freak out on them.
and if i've been gone all day and come home,
she will immediately start crying.
it's like she thinks i left her and is
just so relieved to see me that she has to cry.
poor thing.
 

 

sleeps:

reid is in the easy stage right now.
we've transitioned out of nursing her to sleep, so
it makes putting her down super fast and easy.
i basically wrap her in aden and anais blanket,
give her a pacifier, hold her for a minute and
then lay her down on her tummy.
she's awake, but just drifts off to sleep.
in the afternoon, she will sometimes give me more
resistance, but will stop crying within a few minutes.
last night was our last night for nursing her at bedtime.
i'm planning to have ronnie start putting her to bed this
week so i'm not involved and hopefully that's easier on her.
we leave for vacation in two weeks and i want
ronnie to take the brunt of her displeasure
(if there is any)
so by the time we leave she'll be completely used to it and
won't give my parents any grief. (fingers crossed)

 

 

 eats:

i've decided to do a whole other post on weaning and nursing
so for now i'll just say that we're officially done
with breastfeeding and she now gets a sippy cup of whole milk
throughout the day and eats anything we eat.
i actually packed up all my bottles and everything last week,
so i made my deadline of being bottle and boob-free by her birthday.
i know i could keep nursing her at night for awhile if i wanted but
i think it will be easier on me and her if we give ourselves two
weeks before i leave to adjust at bedtime.
i'm interested to see how it goes, but she did so
well with it at naps, i'm hoping for the same.
(i'll let you know)
her schedule is:
awake at 7:00
breakfast at 7:30 with sippy cup of milk
keep giving her the milk until nap at 9:30
lunch at noon
keep offering her milk throughout
playtime until nap at 1:30.
snack at 4:00 (with water)
dinner at 6:00 with milk.
offer her milk until she goes to bed at 7:45.
 

 

plays:

she's into e v e r y t h i n g.
cabinets. drawers. closets. toilets.
sometimes i look down and i have no idea
where's she's gotten something from.
last night she was in our spice cabinet just
throwing things over her shoulder like it ain't no thing.
she constantly moving and can get from one end
of our house to the other.
she actually took the little toy dog walker and
walked it from the playroom to brette's room.
she's still putting everything in her mouth
so i have to be careful about what she can get her hands on
and most days our trashcans are sitting on the counters
because she has no problem digging through the trash and eating it.
i know.

 her new thing is blowing bubbles in her drink and
playing peek-a-boo.
it's so dang cute.

 

firsts:

she is walking with support.
she went on her first camping trip.
she started going to a sitter once a week.
she had her FIRST BIRTHDAY.

my little love.

(one month)


(two months)


(three months)


(four months)


(five months)


(six months)


(seven months)


(eight months)


(nine months)


(ten months)


(eleven months)


(one year)

 

 

happy birthday, baby girl!

 

miss reid

 

i couldn't let this day pass without

a few words for my girl.

my littlest chicken had her very first birthday.

i didn't get to spend the day with her

because apparently when you only work two days

a week it will always fall on the days you wish you could stay home.

so instead of snuggling my girl all day,

i dropped her off bright and early for her first

full day at the sitters.

i hated life.

but ronnie brought her by the bank when

he picked the girls up and

we all had dinner together, followed by

birthday cupcakes, so its all good.

her party is not until next weekend, so

the real celebration is still a week away.

 

it seem so crazy that a whole

year has gone by since we met reid,

with her wild red hair and beautiful blue eyes.

she is as sweet as they come.

no really. soooo so so sweet.

her scrunchy little smile takes up her whole face and

you literally cannot help but laugh.

we're so lucky to have two perfect little girls

and i cannot wait to see what the next year brings.

i have a feeling they will just keep getting better and better.

(at least until we hit the teenage years and then i'm giving them away)

 

happy birthday sweet reid,

we love you very very much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(i swear she wasn't awake the first month of her life.)

 

 

 

socializing

i did this thing last week

where i tried to kill myself

being way too social.

plans all week long?

oh lord.

it started saturday with a party.

did you know that there comes a time

in your life where you should not make plans on saturday's?

it's true.

my new rule is: friday night or nothing.

at least if you go out on friday you have 48 hours to recover.

saturday nights out leave you wondering

how you are ever going to function in a mere 24 hours.

monday is sitting there looming over your head all day

while you try not to die and maybe also try to be a parent.

it sucks... or so i've heard.

 

sunday night i managed to get myself dressed and

met my family for dinner at jack stack for some delicious bbq

in celebration of my dad and Ronnie's birthday.

brette was being grouchy and wouldn't get off my lap,

but the huge brownie we ordered helped everything.

 

 

monday and tuesday were actually pretty normal.

i worked. we had a big family dinner.

i stayed home with the girls.

 

 

wednesday i met up with some girls i used to

work with and had dinner and drinks.

(i had one glass of wine because, for real,

it was too soon after saturday night.)

and i was home in time to help put the girls to bed.

 

thursday i had tickets to see beauty and the beast

at starlight theatre with a couple girls from the bank.

beauty and the beast is seriously in my top three favorite

disney movies of all time and it was hard for me to

sit there and not belt out all the songs.

ps- gaston was freaking hilarious.

i recommend it.

but i didn't get home until almost 11:30 and

didn't get to bed till after midnight.

when reid woke up at 6:30 i wanted to die.

 

 

friday i worked and then met ronnie, cale and the girls for dinner.

after the girls were asleep i hit the road for warrensburg

because my favorite two people were waiting for me.

shannon and marge... my college roomies.

we only get to see each other 3-4 times a year

so i have to take advantage when i can.

i didn't get down there until 9:00 and didn't

leave until after midnight.

i was freaking tired the next morning,

but i miss my friends so its  completely worth it.

 

 

since margie was in town, i invited my best friends

over for a little playdate.

by little, i mean huge.

and by playdate, i mean madhouse.

there were seven moms, two dads and cale.

seven kids one year old or younger.

eight kids between seven years old and three.

it. was. crazy.

but totally manageable and the kids freaking loved it.

we had a little pizza, blew up a pool, offered cookies and

chips when things got rough and even managed to put

the babies down for rotating naps in reid's crib.

i call that success.

 

 

THAT was my week.

this week, its back to normal.

groceries, laundry, cleaning.

nothing cool at all.

(until friday and then it's reid's FIRST BIRTHDAY! ahhhh!)