Holy cow!! I knew it had been a loooong time since I have posted on our family blog but I didn't realize it is going on 9 months!! What has happened since Alivia was 5 months old......now that she is 14 months old......I don't even know where to start!!
For starters, Miss Alivia continues to keep us on our toes and never ceases to amaze me how incredible she is! Walking, running, chatting, saying select words "Mommy, Daddy, Puppy, Thank you, Football, Touchdown, Hiiiiii" just to name a few of the popular ones. Of course she continues to be the center of our universe!! I knew there would be so many feelings after having a child but never would I have imagined the depth of those feelings! She has turned into quite the showboat and loves to show off for some but is still very shy with others. Daddy is already worried because she seems to "warm up" the fastest with males and flirty : )
Our spring and summer kept us very busy (obviously)! Daddy did lots of racing this year in which we made it to a few of. We went boating with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Brandon a few times. We made our first trip to the zoo and Adventureland with Nana and Papa and Ashleigh. We visited the Jaschens a couple of times, one being for Miss Mia's 2 1/2 birthday. We had Brylee's 3rd birthday party. We visited Great Grandma and Great Grandpa for dinner for Father's Day. We took a trip to Liv's first Circus with friends Nick and Sabrina and Brylee Cox. And that, in a very quick trimmed version of the busy summer, we started fall out with a trip to Howell's Pumpkin Patch with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Zach and Cousin Colten and several ISU football games with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Brandon, Cousin Brady and "Aunt" Allison. Alivia went trick or treating for the first time this year dressed as our little monkey (her favorite animal right now and likes to walk around making the monkey noise). And now here we are nearing the end of fall already and closer and closer to winter and the holidays!!
Jay and I are taking our first "real" trip for a whole week without our girl next weekend! We are finding this very bittersweet. We look forward to the time together to focus on our relationship that could use some personal attention but are sad to think of leaving our girl. We know that she will be taken care of by Nana and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa; we know that they all raised children, we know that she will be safe and just fine....but that doesn't stop the anxiety and nervousness and sadness that is felt in leaving her for so long! I struggle with less than 24 hours away, I am not sure how I will handle 7 days. But we will make the best of it and hope to enjoy ourselves to the fullest. We are taking this trip with friends Nick and Sabrina and their friends Kelly and Jess Williams, a combination anniversary trip. We leave on the 10th and return the 16th in which we will then be in Thanksgiving week! Holy smokes time flies!! Then there will be the holidays wizzing by and then a new year all over again!! Sheesh! Can we freeze things for just a bit?!?
I know I have been terrible about updating this with full time job (+ some trying to get caught up from being short handed and taking on a new management role as Senior Acccountant) then the full time job at home; there is just never enough time in the day. I always wish there were more hours in the day but then I would inevitably just find more things to fill those hours! There is always something that needs my attention but I always find a reason to give it to my daughter instead and other things get pushed aside : )
This was a very quick and jumbled overview of the last 9 months and I know that I missed something but hopefully we can update more often but in the event that we get through the holidays without another update, I hope that all of my friends and family have a safe and wonderful Holidays! And wish our friends, the Jermiers, so much luck and happiness in awaiting their new addition to their family!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
January 2012 ~ A Daughter is a Reflection of God's Love
January has come and gone. The weather has been extremely bizarre for an Iowa "winter" with 60 degree days and sunshine through most of the month. This is certainly not a complaint although with year-end at work we have not been able to enjoy it as much as we would like but have gotten to take a few walks in the month of December that we would not normally get to do! We are trying to enjoy it and not "fear" what the rest of the winter will bring us as we got dumped with about 8 inches of snow today. But we also enjoyed that as Alivia had her first snow experience as we bundled her up and sat her in it for a few minutes...she loved it! Makes us look forward to next year when we can take her sledding and makes us see the kid side and can learn to appreciate the white stuff a little bit!
So what happened in the month of January? Alivia continues to amaze us with her development and milestones and we marvel in watching her learn her own personality. She has become quite the independent player and actually gets upset with us if we "interrupt" that play time. There is no safe "haven" in our house anymore; Alivia rolls her way to about anywhere she wants to get. The dog toys are her current obsession and she will roll her way over to them to chew on those toys no matter what number of her toys we put in front of her. She gave her mommy her first heart break the other morning in giving herself an owie. While mommy is getting ready for work and daycare I hear a "thud" followed by a wail as she rolls into the corner of the entertainment center. With a ton of kisses and only a couple of cries from Liv, she was all better but made Mommy feel no worst about herself. But that won't be the last of the many owies she gets in years to come so I guess I can't beat myself up too bad about it.
Other than Liv fighting yet another cold (her 6th one to be exact...Spring can't come soon enough!) that has lasted the longest yet going on 2 weeks now, she is a relatively happy baby. Amongst her visit to the doctor for another cold we also weighed our chunky monkey...18 lbs, 5 oz at just a few days over 5 months old! We also believe that she is starting to cut teeth. You say that to a lot of people and they will insist that it is too soon but the amounts of drool and chewing that she does, I am not convinced that it is too early for our girl.
She has also learned to get up on all fours for a short period of time but does not know what to do with it yet so immediately goes back to her belly and does the "superman" waving her arms around. Her mobility comes primarily from rolling and this Mommy is okay with that for the time being. There is no rush in her growing up any faster than she already is.
On January 7th, Alivia was baptized at the Granger Assumption Church during Satu
rday night mass, where her Daddy was baptized. She was joined in her special day by family and her Godparents, Brandon & Jenny, helped welcome her into the Family of Christ. She was an absolute Angel the whole time and looked as much of one in her white dress!
On January 15th, she got her 5 month photo session done with Becky Henry Nissen. I know 5 month pictures aren't the traditional 3, 6 & 9 but we got off a month so we are doing 2, 5 & 8 months. We did do some fun naked baby pictures and outside of my typical girl doing every bodily function on Becky's back drop...and I do mean every function....they turned out very cute! We ended that weekend with the Jermier/Kern Christmas when we could finally get together in everyone's busy schedules.
On January 28th, we learned that our girl is a total waterbaby!! The Lint family got together at the Ramada Inn waterpark resort where the kids got to go swimming, including Alivia, and to say that she LOVED it would be an understatement. Much to Mommy & Daddy's pleasure she was happier in the water than she was out of it; even being splashed by the bigger kids. This shouldn't have come to much surprise as much as she loves her baths but she loved to swim and we can't wait for summer even more!!
And that brings us to FEBRUARY! As mentioned, we got our first real snow storm today; atypical for an Iowa winter. This Mommy is struggling with the balance of work and home as I delve through my busy time at work and getting through year end. My good friend assures me that the first year is the hardest trying to have that balance and not feel like a "bad mom" because I have to work more right now. But we have something to look forward (and dread at the same time!) Jay and I planned our 5 year anniversary trip a year early. We are joining our friends in Mexico in November to celebrate their 5 year anniversary. I say "dread" only because it will be our first extended stay away from Alivia but I have allowed myself a few months to prepare for it and it will do Jay and I a lot of good to go away together and refocus on us for a short time as well. So with that, I close out January and bring on another month. There are lots of birthdays in our family this month as well as "LOVE" day; my first Valentine's day that I have to share my Valentine with another girl! ; ) And in 6 short months I will be planning that girls first birthday!!
Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good role models more than they need critics. It’s one of a parent’s greatest responsibilities and opportunities.
~John Wooden
So what happened in the month of January? Alivia continues to amaze us with her development and milestones and we marvel in watching her learn her own personality. She has become quite the independent player and actually gets upset with us if we "interrupt" that play time. There is no safe "haven" in our house anymore; Alivia rolls her way to about anywhere she wants to get. The dog toys are her current obsession and she will roll her way over to them to chew on those toys no matter what number of her toys we put in front of her. She gave her mommy her first heart break the other morning in giving herself an owie. While mommy is getting ready for work and daycare I hear a "thud" followed by a wail as she rolls into the corner of the entertainment center. With a ton of kisses and only a couple of cries from Liv, she was all better but made Mommy feel no worst about herself. But that won't be the last of the many owies she gets in years to come so I guess I can't beat myself up too bad about it.
Other than Liv fighting yet another cold (her 6th one to be exact...Spring can't come soon enough!) that has lasted the longest yet going on 2 weeks now, she is a relatively happy baby. Amongst her visit to the doctor for another cold we also weighed our chunky monkey...18 lbs, 5 oz at just a few days over 5 months old! We also believe that she is starting to cut teeth. You say that to a lot of people and they will insist that it is too soon but the amounts of drool and chewing that she does, I am not convinced that it is too early for our girl.
She has also learned to get up on all fours for a short period of time but does not know what to do with it yet so immediately goes back to her belly and does the "superman" waving her arms around. Her mobility comes primarily from rolling and this Mommy is okay with that for the time being. There is no rush in her growing up any faster than she already is.
On January 7th, Alivia was baptized at the Granger Assumption Church during Satu
rday night mass, where her Daddy was baptized. She was joined in her special day by family and her Godparents, Brandon & Jenny, helped welcome her into the Family of Christ. She was an absolute Angel the whole time and looked as much of one in her white dress!On January 15th, she got her 5 month photo session done with Becky Henry Nissen. I know 5 month pictures aren't the traditional 3, 6 & 9 but we got off a month so we are doing 2, 5 & 8 months. We did do some fun naked baby pictures and outside of my typical girl doing every bodily function on Becky's back drop...and I do mean every function....they turned out very cute! We ended that weekend with the Jermier/Kern Christmas when we could finally get together in everyone's busy schedules.
On January 28th, we learned that our girl is a total waterbaby!! The Lint family got together at the Ramada Inn waterpark resort where the kids got to go swimming, including Alivia, and to say that she LOVED it would be an understatement. Much to Mommy & Daddy's pleasure she was happier in the water than she was out of it; even being splashed by the bigger kids. This shouldn't have come to much surprise as much as she loves her baths but she loved to swim and we can't wait for summer even more!!
And that brings us to FEBRUARY! As mentioned, we got our first real snow storm today; atypical for an Iowa winter. This Mommy is struggling with the balance of work and home as I delve through my busy time at work and getting through year end. My good friend assures me that the first year is the hardest trying to have that balance and not feel like a "bad mom" because I have to work more right now. But we have something to look forward (and dread at the same time!) Jay and I planned our 5 year anniversary trip a year early. We are joining our friends in Mexico in November to celebrate their 5 year anniversary. I say "dread" only because it will be our first extended stay away from Alivia but I have allowed myself a few months to prepare for it and it will do Jay and I a lot of good to go away together and refocus on us for a short time as well. So with that, I close out January and bring on another month. There are lots of birthdays in our family this month as well as "LOVE" day; my first Valentine's day that I have to share my Valentine with another girl! ; ) And in 6 short months I will be planning that girls first birthday!!
Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good role models more than they need critics. It’s one of a parent’s greatest responsibilities and opportunities.
~John Wooden
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
2012!!?
It's 2012 already!?? Holy cow how time flies! Where does it all go! I am finally going to make myself sit down and catch up on the last month since the last post; at least through the New Year! It is unbelieveable how much our little girl has changed in one month...let alone 5 of them!! It is a bittersweet feeling to think that our baby is already 5 months old and so many times we ask each other how did that much time pass already! So what has happened in a month??Alivia had her 4 month check up on December 19th where she got rave reviews from her pediatrician, Dr. Cooperrider. She weighed in at 16 lbs, 5 oz (94%) and measured at 26 1/2 inches (99%) with a head circumference of 17 inches (94%). She continues to grow like a weed and Mommy has had to pack up all clothes that are less than 6 months and even some that are 6 months proceeding into 6-9 month and 9 month outfits!! She got the okay to start on cereal at her 4 month check up which she has thrived at as well as a few experiments with a fruit and veggie here and there! Her vaccinations did not go as well as the first time but she still did okay with them with only a low grade fever and little bit of fussiness. Nothing a little TLC didn't take care of!
We finished up the holidays and enjoyed celebrating Liv's first Christmas! Christmas Eve was at Aunt Jenny & Uncle Brandon's where we celebrated with all of the Kern Family. We then returned home and awaited Santa's visit, woke up at home to open our presents as a family and continued our travels down to Nana and Papa's house to celebrate with the Lint Family. So many people helped make the Holiday incredibly special for her! She was certainly treated very well in the overabundance of gifts in which I just finally put the last box away!! We will wrap up the final of the "Christmas" celebrations with an overnight 
at the waterpark in Des Moines with the Lint Family for a combination of Christmas and Cousin Ashleigh's 8th birthday this coming weekend. This will be Alivia's first experience in "big" water and we hope that she likes it as much as her baths!! This will allow us to do lots of boating with her Cousin Brady as he is hoping this summer! : )
Milestones since our last post...I believe I mentioned Miss Alivia was rolling from her back to her stomach (which I have been told a number of times is "backwards" from most babies) and after many tantrums and getting upset, she finally figured out the tummy to back rolling in the last week or so and has become quite the pro at rolling. We have also noticed that she has managed to learn to spin herself in complete circles as we will put her on part of the floor and she will end up in a completely different direction and opposite side of the floor by the time we turn around. So this goes without saying that it is now time to start child proofing the house and keeping a close eye on what she is doing!! As mentioned, we have experimented on some foods. Cereal was the first with a couple of fruits and veggies here and there. She is touch and go on whether she wants it from one day to the next but obviously there is no hurry but more practice than anything at this point. What else? She is very engrossed in her "piggies" in the last couple of weeks as she tries to figure out how to get th
em to her mouth. She is laughing more and more and we have found a number of ticklish spots including her back, her tummy, under her arm pits and under her butt cheeks (just like her Cousin Ashleigh!) : ) She is developing more and more of a personality and brightens our day, no matter how terrible it has been, when we walk in the room, say "peanut" and she stops in her tracks, looks our way and gives us the brightest grin ever! There is no day bad enough for that smile not to wash it all away!
Then came 2012!! We rang in Alivia's first New Year together, as a family, at Aunt Jenny and Uncle Brandon's. Although she slept right through it all, we are anxious to start a new and exciting year with our precious little girl! We love you peanut and can't wait to start another year with you as we watch you grow and develop!
Happy New Year!!
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