Easter

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. You probably got either Friday or Monday off and are therefore refreshed. I did not (it is a state holiday but not a bank holiday apparently). But I still had a great weekend!

Saturday was my Dad's birthday. The fam-bam all got together for dinner at my parents' house. Three somewhat odd things about the day:

1) It's not only my Dad's birthday, but his younger sister's and their mother's (but she passed away several years ago).

2) After dinner as we were all hanging out in the living room, the picture over my parents' mantle just fell off the wall and went crashing to the floor out of nowhere (loud bang, glass shattering...). We think Grandma was upset that she was missing out on the festivities. :)

3) Lainey got her first tooth for her Grandpa's birthday!



(You can't see it but it's there!)

Then Sunday was obviously Easter. My Mom bought Lainey an Easter ensemble, complete with one of those headbands with the giant fake flower, white sweater and matching sandals. The sandals were the only thing she actually wore (besides the dress, of course).



She was surprisingly good in church. I did have puffs though...and timed it to give her a bottle during the sermon. Sneaky sneaky! But she also enjoyed just people watching and playing with the bulletin so that works too.

After the service, everyone got a flower to put in the big cross outside. Lainey really got a kick out of that!





I know you're probably thinking, "Aw, what a cute family!" but it takes work to get a shot like that. Most of them turned out something like this:



Yeah...

Brace yourselves...

You will no longer have to hear about my boobies! I can hear the blogosphere cheering.

Yup, that's right folks...we're officially done nursing. It really just kind of...happened. The day before Lainey turned 9 months, we just stopped nursing. I had figured for awhile that she wasn't actually eating when she would wake up around 5-ish. Then the other morning, she just didn't wake up until it was time to get ready for work. So we just left. And she was fine! And that was that...no more nursing.

It's been a little sad but kind of like when I quit pumping, I got over it quickly. I can get drunk and take Advil and drink lots of coffee now (which, incidentally, would need to be done in that order). Not that I have. But I can! I have my body back. Although, quite frankly, I'm not sure I want it. It's rather, um, soft. And things aren't where they used to be. I certainly don't remember needing to tuck my boobs in my pants before (I kid!).

So that's it folks! I know we're all happy not to have to worry about or discuss my chestal region any more. I think I see rainbows and bunnies and happiness. Oh, or maybe that's because it was just Easter...guess that leads to my next post...so stay posted (pun intended)! ;)

This cow barely has any milk

I am in such a happy place with the nursing now, let me just tell you. When Lainey turned 7 months, we started supplementing with formula (mainly just for her last bottle before bed but every now and then I'd have to send one to April's too). Apparently if you give my boobs an inch, they take a mile because by the time Lainey turned 8 months, she was getting formula for every bottle except I nurse her first thing in the morning (and I mean first, like, around 5:15). And you know what? I'm perfectly happy with this. I quit pumping at work about 3 weeks ago and that has been great. I no longer have to lug that big pump bag around with me or stress about when during the day I'm going to sneak away for 10 minutes at a time or any of that. So much better! But I also love that I'm still nursing her in the morning. For one thing, it makes getting up that early a little easier because I get to spend some uninterrupted time with my baby. Plus, it's also just a lot easier than getting up and going downstairs to fix a bottle. So if this arrangement could last until she's a year old, that would be awesome! Or, until she gets teeth and starts biting me. At this rate, who knows which will come first! Just teasing...actually, we're thinking Lainey might be teething (for real this time). There's a distinct bump in her lower gum line and she had a total meltdown out of nowhere last night but seemed to be explained when she was trying to get anything (even grabbing the front of her pjs) and trying to get it in her mouth. We gave her some Tylenol and she almost instantly calmed down. So we'll see! Maybe she'll have a tooth sooner rather than later.

Speaking of my fears of her slow development...she still isn't moving either. She still hates tummy time so we're thinking the chances of her crawling are getting pretty slim. She does get so mad about being on her stomach that she now can kind of wriggle herself in a circle and Troy reported some backwards movement this morning. Progress? Who knows. I know everyone says to not wish for her to be mobile (and I really don't mind...it's nice to just plop her on the floor with toys and know she's good!) but she's 8 1/2 months old now and I can't help starting to feel like we need to get something happening before she's 1. And I'm not really worried about her developing slowly. I know every baby is different. And she is perfectly healthy in every way! I just like to pick on her about not having any hair or teeth and not being able to move. That's normal, right? But I absolutely love my little nugget. She's a great baby and is so smart. She loves sitting and playing and talking and being read to. And her new favorite thing is the dancing. Oh man...that is funny! I gotta say, she's got a lot of rhythm for a white girl! (Coming from a white girl.) I'll be sure to post a video soon...it is too cute! In the meantime, here are some pictures:

Mainly me, with a side of baby

Hello blog world! So...unfortunately, I am unable to log into gmail (and therefore this blog) while at work. Which is a real shame because that was usually where I would have time to update this blog. But I will just have to be better about making time to update things in the evenings.

So where were we...ah, yes. Me. Last weekend, I finally went for a much-needed hair appointment. I got highlights and had my cut shaped up. Everyone has been commenting about how good my hair looks. She didn't even do anything all that interesting to it but I think it just goes to show how drab it looked before! So I am very pleased to have brightened things up and it's amazing how much more I feel like myself with some highlights. :)

I also went shopping. I didn't strike gold or anything but I got a few new pieces that I needed (including a super cute pair of black peep-toe heels that murdered my feet today). So...probably more on that later as I will hopefully slowly acquire a work wardrobe.

I suppose you want to hear about Lainey, no? She turned 8 months old on Monday. Wow! She is growing and developing and is just so cute and so smart. :) She unfortunately had her first ear infection weekend before last. I think the most unfortunate part about all of that though was finding out that she, like my sister, is allergic to penicillin. Fun times. But we got that under control and she is all better now. See how happy?



We're thinking of getting her into karate. Or maybe women's tennis. She's already good at sporting the headbands.

I need a mommy makeover

Really...I keep waiting for Stacy & Clinton to jump out at me at work any day now. I can't recall a time when I have felt so blah and drab (and that includes during pregnancy!). Getting up each morning at about 5:15 doesn't really leave me motivated to spend much time getting ready. And I haven't purchased much in the way of (non maternity) clothing in a few years because before I was pregnant, I worked from home. So now I feel totally out of place in my corporate office where women wear smart suits and fashionable heels. I find myself trudging around in NY & Company pants, Target boots and JCPenney tops. I haven't gotten my hair cut in a salon since I was out on maternity leave and I haven't gotten a pedicure since I was pregnant. Who have I turned into??

I'll tell you who...those bedraggled Moms you see out at Wal-Mart in Target jeans and knock-off Ugg boots. I'm not quite there...but that is where I'm headed if something doesn't give.

I know a lot of it is because I don't have a leisurely pace anymore. I get up at 5:15 to leave my house at 7 and don't get home until 6:15 and go to bed about 10. I'm exhausted all the time and can barely get dinner on the table, much less plan out or shop for nice outfits. Also, I'm cheap. Troy picks on me about this all the time but it really is true. But when you pay a mortgage payment in childcare each month, you feel guilty about shopping for fancy clothes for yourself.

So, Stacy & Clinton, come & get me. Just please don't let Carmindy go crazy with the bronzer or Nick to insist I need a short bob.

Cuteness

I just needed to share some cute pictures of my girl. :) Enjoy!

Foods of all sorts

So you know how I said breastfeeding is another whole post on its own? Well, you knew it was coming...here it is. But I also plan on discussing baby food if that makes it any better. ;)

The roller coaster of nursing Lainey continues. There have been so many ups & downs...I'm not even sure at which point we currently find ourselves! As I've noted, I started a new job about 3 weeks ago. Well, this occurred at the same time that Lainey turned into a little piglet and has increased her dietary needs. That posed quite a problem as my boobs apparently got stressed from the task of pumping at a new place. My supply dropped a lot and my boobs felt empty (sorry but it's true!). I have since been having to dip into my freezer supply every day. I finally got myself back up to where I was pumping enough to provide the daycare bottles but I didn't have enough to feed her in the evenings (we found this out after a few nights of Lainey waking up hungry in the night). So I started giving her 5 oz bottles from the freezer and she started sleeping through the night again. Hey, I think it's worth it! That also allows me to pump in the evenings and give me that last 3 oz I usually need for bottles the next day.

Things have been fine but as my freezer supply has dwindled, I knew what needed to come next. So last night, I thawed 4 oz and added one oz of formula and held my breath. But Lainey didn't even seem to notice! So...on the eve of her turning 7 months, we have begun the supplementing stage. It really isn't a big deal and even my doctor assured me at her 6 month appointment that you really only need to nurse the first 6 months because that is when they get all the health benefits (after that, it's just free food she said). So I shouldn't feel guilty and should be patting myself on the back for all that I've done. But I can't help but feel a little bad about it. And just to make it super special, it's a two-fold guilt. Part of me feels bad that I couldn't get her all the way through without using formula and part of me feels bad that I kind of want to give up the pumping and just be done with all the hassle.

On a brighter note, Lainey is now also eating baby food and that is going really well! To update what I said in a previous post...she does not like avocado. We tried that yesterday for lunch and when she started dramatically gagging, I gave up and switched to bananas.



This is her excited face...waiting on the spoon.

I have been making most of what she eats. My parents got me a Cuisinart stick blender for Christmas and I love it! It has a whisk, blender and chopper/grinder attachment. The last of these makes fixing baby food a breeze and I end up with lovely concoctions like this: