Major Updates!

OK, so I realize I probably win the award for longest go at not updating a blog, but life is crazy and that's the beautiful part of it!

So here's my bulleted updates!

Late July 2011 - The Bean fought an ear infection for about six weeks. We went through three strands of antibiotics and "tube talk". Luckily the last strand of meds (powerful enough to burn nose hairs) cleared it up.

August 2011 - I went back to school and enrolled the Bean back into the same daycare we were in last Spring. So far it's proven to be a good choice and I really like all the new teachers! Stella still loves the older lady who cared for her in the infant room and it warms my heart when Michael calls to say she went right to her and snuggled. Stella got moved to the Orange Room (mobile infants) early September.

Late August 2011 - Michael and I went on our first overnight-out of town trip away from Stella. My mom (MaaMaw) came up to stay with her. I called when we arrived in Chicago and MaaMaw informed me they were at McDonald's eating apples and chicken nuggets... Mike was a little upset by this, but I thought, hey what are grandmas for? Though I did have one deep crying spell the first night, we survived.

September 10, 2011 - Stella is a beautiful flower girl in our very wonderful friend's wedding, Justin and Jaime! She was a perfect little lady in the wagon pulled down the aisle. Jaime got her the cutest little head band.

Mid September 2011 - Stella finally starts crawling... I showed up to daycare one day and she turned and just crawled right over to me like it was no thing.... Been on the move ever since! --Orange room teacher moves Stella to one nap in the afternoon only, Stella's not really ready, which leads to early nights, 5pm bed times (daddy doesn't like this!)

Nine Month Check up - 97% in everything! Still proportionate, still big! (This is when we received the last strand of antibiotics and the ear infection finally got cleared up.)

October 2011 - MaaMaw came down and met us at a pumpkin patch! Dressed Stella in her finest orange and black and went on a hayride! Didn't make it to Halloween Trick or Treating, didn't even get a costume on her, was going to bed about 5:00-5:30.

November 2011- Had Thanksgiving with MaaMaw and then with Papa Martin.

December 2011- Christmas with Daddy's side of the family on 12/17. Then with MaaMaw -- Stella got a table and chairs, and fun knick-knacks. Papa got Stella legos, and a talking teddy bear. Daddy got Stella a princess couch!

One Year Check Up - Made it to over 100%, in everything! Again still proportionate, still big! Dr. called her cautious, smart, very loving. =)

January 2012 - New Years Eve Michael and I went out while MaaMaw stayed in with Stella. She is starting to get the hang of an afternoon nap... She is teething really badly, currently. I think I counted at least four different teeth trying to break through, this causes her to wake up from naps screaming and crying, she seems inconsolable. A little Advil will do the trick and if you can get the Ora-gel in there she calms down. She does great with eating. She loves fresh veggies and fruit, which is great!! I don't enjoy giving her over processed crap food, so I will honor her requests gladly, and probably learn from them as well. She started walking (not too confidently) but she goes sideways, because her right foot turns out slightly... I'm not going to worry too much about it, and mention something at her next Dr. appointment if it's still that way. She stays up until 6:00 now, Daddy loves the longer times in the evening he can play with her. She loves to drink water! Officially got rid of formula this month. Still takes a bottle to go to bed at night, Michael thinks that might end soon.

My Better-Half (The Window Cleaner)

With father’s day in June and another blogger I follow paying homage to their spouse I got on a Michael kick, and figure I should honor it.

Michael and I have known each other for eight years now, married almost four of those years and together nearly seven of them so I figure an acknowledgement is the least I can do. After all I’m reminded daily of the things that would be impossible without him, i.e. Stella. But it’s another take to look at what is actually possible with him.

For instance we were cleaning our house last night and he suggested washing the windows. “The windows?” I thought, are they really that dirty we need to clean them? So I skipped over the suggestion light-heartedly and did something else. However, today the cleaning bug got a hold of me and I started cleaning the upstairs and turned to the windows. I could tell immediately they were dirty when I sprayed the Windex across them. I stood there rather astonished and then noticed how dirty all the windows actually were. So after I cleaned them all I realized with Michael’s help I was able to make a good thing (what I thought was a good thing) better. Though a long stretch for a metaphor, I felt it was a perfect at describing what Michael does best.

He’s able to take a good thing, say me, and make it even better. Just with a little suggestion, and a hard headed lady to actually follow through, it got better.

I lost a lot of my self confidence in college, the one repeated characteristic Michael said made him initially fall in love with me. Somewhere between the mixture of books, heartache, Freshman 15, bad roommates/good roommates, and my parent’s divorce, I lost it. Michael has always been trying ways to help me find it, but I somehow just refuse. Sometimes it’s like the windows acting like I will, but with really no intention of doing so, or I flat out yell and scream a refusal.

My window cleaner, that’s what he is. Truthful, helpful, madly in love with his daughter. Turning to me for the smallest little kiss or cuddle, when I shrug it off. “I’m too tired” the lustlessness is strong with a seven month old in the house. But with each jester, cute texts, sweet touches I grow a little more confident and realize Michael will eventually win me over. I will catch some bug and actually decide to clean those windows and realize how much Michael can do for me.

Maybe I really need to consider my window cleaner’s ability a little more and just try it… After all a little Windex never hurt anyone.

Is that her?!?

Well we’ve gotten to the point in this pregnancy where when she kicks she moves my entire stomach from the inside out.

The other day she was going strong and I told Michael to put his hand over my ever growing belly.

–Up to this point he feels me breathe and thinks it’s her, I have to explain “no I just took a breath”. It’s been a little discouraging that he can’t feel her, but he understands with the anterior placenta (closer to my belly button than my back) he won’t be able to feel her for a while.

So with his hand waiting ever so patiently on my belly and me still thinking I have the power to “will” her to kick, she kicked.
“Is that her?!” Michael’s eyes lit up and he smiled at me. “Did I really just feel her?”

Totally an awesome moment.

Bulleted Update

Well it’s been more than a while; all do to good things, like starting new jobs and getting back on the success band-wagon! Just to keep it clear I figure the best way to do this is a list, bare with me…
1. I started my new job in early august and have been going nonstop. I had to keep the pregnancy on the down-low for a while, but then broke the news to my principal and the rest of the staff about two weeks into the school year, all of which are very happy for me.

2. Michael and I painted the nursery “peacock”. I was going for an enchanted forest look, all Michael saw was that his baby girls rooms was being painted blue, no need to explain he’s color blind.

3. We hung a 6 foot tree decal (thanks Papa) and butterfly decals in the room one weekend.

4. Bought a crib, yes a crib, off Craigslist. It was brand new, still in the bubble wrap; all for only $70!

5. Found a rocker glider and ottoman on Craigslist as well for $40, purchased for us by MeMaw.

6. Last purchase, again on Craigslist, a changing table/dresser for $50!

7. MeMaw (my mom) sewed together curtains, cover for said glider and ottoman, bed skirt, bed bumper, and table cloth for night stand fabric cost of $65

8. Total coast of nursery $265, including paint and decals –you can’t get a crib at Babies R Us for that cheap! Kudos to the Bildner’s and their thriftiness!!

9. Moved all the furniture into the room. Then moved the guest bed into the upstairs loft. Papa (my dad) is painting a frame for a mirror to hang over the changing table.

10. I’m a cheat and watch our registration all the time and get excited when I see something has been bought for us. I call or email Michael at work to let him know!

11. We started kick counts last week. I have to record how long it takes her to get to 10 counts. We can usually get there in 3 minutes after chocolate milk!

12. She got hiccups for the first time I could feel on Monday, loved. Still love feeling her move.

13. She’s a night owl like her daddy. Sleeps in during the morning hours and gets up about 9:00, goes crazy about 3:00 and again in the evening!

14. Giggled to myself the other day about meeting her soon, I can’t wait.

15. Started birthing classes last week. Every Tuesday for four weeks. Michael got disgusted last night with the episiotomy slides . . . um, we have a lot to work on between now and then.

16. Attempting with all my power to go natural –wish me luck!

Well that’s about three months of stuff in a nutshell!

Becoming a Daddy

Well Michael did it. Traded in his truck for a 2004 Ford Explorer.

We are saving money and now have room for a car seat.

Oh how I love that man.

The Aviator

When Michael and I first moved in with each other we were paying $500 a month in rent and the only expense we were paying on were student loans and a credit card I’d taken out in college. Life was good.

In June of 2006 we had a bad storm go though town and all the car dealers were advertising “hale damaged deals”. So Michael who was driving around his grandpa’s purple Ford Probe got the idea it was time for him to get a new truck, rightly so. Long story short, we didn’t get the $14000 hale damaged one, but the truck that was twice that much. Looking at our life style at the time it doesn’t surprise me. We could afford the payments and he needed the hauling power.

Well then life happened. We decided to buy a house in the blink of an eye; one of those “it’s a good deal, how could we pass this up” thing. I quit my job and went back to school. And my poor dear husband got laid off twice in less than two years. You do what you can when things don’t go as planned which means taking our more credit cards, borrowing money from family, that you still haven’t been able to pay off, home equity loans, and defer student loans.

I had begged him to try to sell the truck for sometime now, with no luck. I saw it as the quickest way to save money and a pretty big chunk of it monthly. Well for whatever reason, manliness, pride, etc. he held on to and we worked around it.

Early February we “pulled the goalie” on the contraceptives and went for it, so it was late March when I first took a pregnancy test that showed us that awesome little plus sign. Since then, Michael has been doing all in his power to trade in the truck, sell the truck, and/or somehow drop the payments, and get a more family friendly vehicle. I’m impressed. He was going to purchase a Lincoln Aviator, with monthly payments half of what we were paying the other day, and all I said was that I trust him. So far we still have the big hunk of fuel sucking metal in our driveway, but I feel we’re heading in the right direction. He’s doing what he can to become a dad and that is something I feel honored to witness.