Well it's definitely been awhile since I last blogged, a little over 8 months and needless to say a lot has happened during that time.

Last time I blogged, Ivy was 10 months old, crawling, toothless and very much a baby still and fast forward to now and she is a toddler, running around everywhere and talking up a storm. Her little personality is coming out more and more each day and she is such a joy in our lives.

Ours lives have become so busy and with myself working, I find little time to blog, let alone any time to sit down and relax in general. I look at my blog, which I had hoped would be a documentation of Ivy's growth and her life and I get a little sad. There are times where I think back and I can't remember when she hit certain milestones and it's only been a couple of months. It all seems like one big blur. In 10 years from now, how I am going to remember anything from this stage?!

So, I'm not making any huge goals in regards to blogging more often. Better to start off small right? I think maybe once a month is good.

And photos are always enjoyed by everyone....

16 months old

18 months old

A Dress and an Idea

Ivy's 1st birthday is quickly approaching and I have been having way too much fun planning her party. So many ideas and possibilities have been swirling around in my head the past couple of weeks thanks to Pinterest and the blog Hostess with the Mostess!

I was really having a hard time nailing down what I wanted to do for Ivy, until I found the most adorable dress the other day. You know how some people design a room around a pillow or a pattern, well her party is being planned around... this dress!

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I am excited. Now off to research invites! :D

I love this face!

Semi Update & Big Girl Car Seat

This post was written... oh almost 2 months ago and I never finished it. In fact, I haven't blogged in almost 3 months. Where have I been you ask? Well, I have been sick: two colds, strep throat and an ear infection. I have been working, cleaning, sleeping and being a mommy to an ever on the go, crawling, little girl who is almost 10 months. Yikes! Just trying to juggle this thing called parenthood, while still trying to stay social with family and friends.

I have had several people comment on the lack of posts on here so here you go, this was written 03/26/11:

Today we went to BRU and got Ivy a convertible car seat. She has always hated the infant seat with a passion and is always trying to sit forward in it. Since, she weighs so much now, we have been leaving the car seat in the base when we go anywhere. We figured that she might enjoy the convertible seat more.

Turns out she does. She is slightly more sitting up and not reclining as much and this equals a much happier baby!



And in case any of you mommies out there didn't see, this week the AAP announced that they now advise babies and toddlers should be rear facing until 2 years of age or until they exceed the weight or height limit for the car seat.

Babywearing Adventures: Part 2

We have come a long ways, since my last Babywearing post. I am now pretty good at putting Ivy up on my back. I do still mess up occasionally, either it's too loose or she is too low. I have also still not tried wrapping in public. I am a long ways from doing that! But, I am getting faster and Ivy doesn't get frustrated as much.

Here are a couple of recent Babywearing photos:




Cooking:




and we fell asleep!

At 4:00 AM

I pinky promise a real update is in the works.

Until then, I leave you with a sneak peak of Ivy's 6 month photos. She is growing so fast and becoming such a little girl. Her personality is really emerging.

Just this morning, I was woken at 4 am, by her patting my face (we have been bed sharing lately) and talking to me. Makes being woken up, in the wee hours, a tiny bit better.

I Found Love

Ivy loves this video! Her eyes get real big and she smiles.



I have the words memorized, that's how much she loves it. :)

My New Obsession

After working all day and not seeing my baby, when I get home I just want to kiss her all over, squeeze her and never let go of her. When I wear her, I get to go about doing things and all the while having her close to me!

Until recently, I have just been using a sling. Unfortunately after awhile, the sling starts to hurt my back and shoulders. We also have a Baby Bjorn, which we got when I went to Ellen's Mothers Day show. David loves it, but I find too bulky and hard to move around in.

I started doing research on other ways to wear your baby and came across wraps. I specifically wanted something that I could wear Ivy in and do housework at the same time. I considered getting a Moby Wrap but noticed that they were not recommended to be used to carry your baby on your back, due to them being stretchy.

So, a woven wrap it was! Thanks to the lovely girls on the AP board on the Bump.com, I became familiar with the baby wrapping world, which I never knew existed!

There are so many different types of woven wraps, different sizes and they are just beautiful. They are pricey, but I was able to find a used one that I loved on a FSOT board, that was a great price.

Woven wraps are definitely not easy to use. They take lots of practice. I think this one reason why they aren't very popular. It has been a fun learning process.

Here are some pics of a finished project. I believe this was my 3rd try at it and the first time that didn't leave Ivy crying. I was super excited after this and really proud of myself. What I didn't realize at the time though, was that I totally messed up the last couple of steps and Ivy is not supported well, at all! I was doing dishes and she started to slip down. I was a little horrified, once I had realized what I had done.

Didymos Indio Lilac, 4.6 m, supposed to be a double hammock carry

I made sure to re-read the directions several times before trying again! It's still a work in progress, but today's try was pretty good and Ivy and I ventured out of the house to get the mail!

Day 21: Deal on Robeez Shoes

Check out this deal on Slick Deals for Robeez shoes! Up to 50% off!

I can't decide which ones I like for Ivy. These are a few that I like.

Day 20: A Very Special Person

Today, Ivy and I visited Mandi who was our Bradley Instructor/Doula. We checked out her new classroom and Mandi was awesome enough to allow me to share Ivy's birth story with her students. Afterwards, we talked a bit about me potentially becoming an instructor. There is definitely lot's to think about!

And of course, we couldn't leave without a photo. We didn't get a photo of Ivy with Mandi when she born, so we had to take one today for Ivy's baby book.

Day 19: Confessions

Not everything is perfect in our household.

 

 

~ This morning for breakfast, I ate half a slice of Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I opened the fridge and I saw it sitting there and then it said: Eat Me. How could I resist?

 

~ I haven't done one load of Ivy's laundry, since before she was born. Many thanks to my wonderful mother in law for doing it for me.

 

~ Hmmm... that last confession just made me realize that I haven't done a single load of laundry at all. ::bows my head in shame:: Thank you David.

 

~ I really need to buy my parents Christmas gift and send it to them before Christmas this year. I am already a terrible daughter, because they got last years gift when they came out to visit Ivy in August.

 

~ For a slight moment yesterday, while pumping at work, I wished that Ivy was on formula. Pumping is a pain. I give props to all the moms who exclusively pump. I don't think I could do it. I soon remembered though all the positives to continuing to breastfeed and I would miss it if I weaned her now.

 

~ Sometimes after a long week of work I don't want to share Ivy. So when out and about visiting with family and friends, I will put her in the sling. People are less likely to ask her to hold her when I do this. 

Day 18: Reaching

At almost 4 months, Ivy has started taking a genuine interest in her toys. In just the last day or two she has been reaching for them. For awhile now, she might accidentally hit a toy with her hand, while laying on her play gym. She normally just stares at the toys for a couple of minutes. For her to really like them, it had to make sounds or light.

Well when I came home today, she was making very intentional movements with her hands. Grabbing at the hanging toys or batting at them! I thought it was maybe just her doing it accidentally again but this was definite reaching.

Since, she likes to stand more now and is playing with her toys, I think she finally may be ready for a jumperoo!

Day 17: Wordless Wednesday

Day 15: Baby's 1st Christmas Ornament

In David's family, him and his brothers were given a Hallmark ornament each Christmas. When we got married, all of the ornaments came to live at our house. We have since carried on the tradition for ourselves and we typically by each other an ornament each year. I think this is a great tradition and plan on doing this for our children as well.

So, I have been searching for Ivy's 1st ornament and here are a couple of ones that I have seen and liked.

Lenox

Lenox

Hallmark

The problem is that I can't decide which one I like the best!

Day 14: Weekend in Review

Overall it was a pretty good weekend! Busy, relaxing and productive.

Friday night, Ivy and I got all bundled up and went with Jenni and Dave to one of the local high schools football game. It was Ivy's first game and she did great. She slept through most of it, including sleeping through the screaming done by the young boys behind us. When she was awake, she was really intrigued by all the sights and sounds.

Saturday, Ivy and I went to a friends baby shower and then made a trip to Trader Joe's. I also made this flan for our friends wine tasting/dinner party. I'm not normally a big fan of flan, but this recipe was really good! I want to make it again. The wine tasting was fun and like always the food and company were great.

I also noticed that Ivy has figured out how move her pacifier in and out of her mouth. It has to be in her mouth first for her to be able to do it. She can't pick it up and put it in her mouth. Well she can pick it up, but she ends up trying to put it in backwards or sideways.

Then today, we went to church, then lunch with David's parents and then came home and cleaned. This evening the family came by for pizza and hanging out.

Whew! I need another weekend to relax from how busy we were!

Day 10: Recent Photos of Ivy

I realized that it's been awhile since I posted some photos of Ivy, so here you go!

Day 9: First Real Laugh

Last Friday, Ivy gave me her first real laugh at 3 1/2 months old! For awhile now she would give us kind of a half laugh. Kind of like a "ha ha". But this time it was definitely a laugh. It sounded like giggles almost. Supper cute!

And of course when I grabbed my phone and tried to record her, she stopped. That little rascal!

Day 5: Excitement

Here is a little video that I took the other day of Ivy talking. Sorry for the not so great quality as it was taken on my cell phone. She normally talks and coos in this sweet quiet voice, but this time she very excited.

Day 4: Chunky Legs

I put Ivy in the Bumbo today and her not so little legs barely fit! She can't be getting too big for the Bumbo already. She is only 3 months old! She will probably be able to use for a little while longer, but not as long as I expected. Boy am I glad, we are just borrowing it and didn't buy one ourselves.

My little girl is growing up too quickly!

Day 3: Randomness

It's day 3 of NaBloPoMo and I'm already racking my brain for topics. Blogging in general when having a baby becomes much harder due to trying to find the time. Right now, I am typing with one hand and Ivy is asleep in the crook of my left arm. It's past her bedtime and I really should have put her asleep before attempting to blog, but I missed her all day at work and just want to spend more time with her.

So in an effort to at least make this post substantial, here is some randomness:


* I have made it my goal to complete all my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving.

* Did you know there is only 7 weekends before Christmas?!

* Do we even need to buy Ivy Christmas presents? I am leaning towards just buying her a stocking and her first ornament and leaving it at that.

* Our apartment is a disaster, because I have been enjoying spending time cuddling and playing Ivy rather than cleaning.

* Confession: I have only had one Pumpkin Spiced Latte this fall season. For some reason I am just not feeling the pumpkin this year.

* The high 90 degree weather in November is just wrong.

Well, Ivy just woke up and is fussing, so it looks like my time is up. It's time for bed. Hopefully tomorrows post will be more interesting.