Bitsy's Birthday Party!

Over-the-top and smothered in details.

That's my style when it comes to party planning.

I love it. 

Whether a baby shower, wedding, retirement party, bridal shower, couples shower, etc-If I'm running the show, it's going to be all about the little things. 

Why not?  You can put extra into the details without spending a lot of money.  And, it makes it personal...and so much more memorable.  That's important to me...especially when I'm doing it for someone else.  It shows that you took the extra effort to make it super special. 

And, really, who am I kidding?  It's all about details with most anything I'm involved with.  It's who I am.  If I'm going to do something, no matter what it is, I'm going to do it 110%.

I have spent half of my life "watering things down" or apologizing for who I am so other people aren't annoyed.  Chuck gets upset with me for doing this as I do my very best to not judge others for NOT being that way.  If I don't talk about how you aren't "about the details", why should you care that I am?  But, a lot of people do....they just do.  There are various underlying reasons for why they ARE that way (so I've learned).  And you know what?  I've come to the realization that those are THEIR issues to deal with.  Not mine.  So, this past Saturday, I listened to Chuck, didn't water down a thing, and made zero apologies. 

It was Raegan's First Birthday party.   I'm not saying that it was the best party ever. But, I am saying that I stayed true to myself.  

So many pictures...so much to cover...yet, so little time.

I'll be working on a post to do it justice. 

But, to sum up, it was perfect. Raegan is such a great baby. 

She was perfect. 

The company was perfect. 

The weather was perfect. 

The food was perfect. 

The day, itself, was 100% perfect. 

I wouldn't have changed a thing. 

Here is a little preview. 

More to come...

Weaning Woes

My goal was to stop nursing after a full year. 

Let's just say that Raegan's goal wasn't necessarily the same as mine.

Can you say,"Challenge"? 

Yeah.

My first attempt was the sippy cup, rather than a bottle.  I mean, if she is going to need to transition soon from a bottle to a cup anyway-why not skip the middleman altogether?  I will admit that I did revert back to a bottle (in between sippys) in my desperate attempt for her to A) get nurishment and B) to not waste milk that I spent hours upon hours pumping in a tiny room at my office.  Seriously.

Back to the sippy...

So, we tried this:

Spout too hard...she couldn't even chew on it. No interest in this one. At all. 

Ok, no biggie.  We had a few other brands stashed in the cabinet, washed and ready for use. 

Next up: NUBY

More interest than Dr Brown's.  But, only because of the soft spout that she liked to chew on.  After 4-5 attemps, decided to reach back up into the cabinet.  Why not?

Batting #3?  Playtex. 

I had high hopes for this one.  I'd heard great things.

Another hard spout.  Cried every time she saw it.  On the floor in a matter of minutes.

I, at this point, become stressed. 

It had been 2 weeks. 

I really needed to start weaning. 

And, between me, Chuck, and her teachers-we are having no luck whatsoever.

Time to get serious. 

One trip to Babies R Us, one Ped visit, and two calls to my favorite Lactation Consultant later----I attempt the straw cup. 

Come on, Nuby, work with me.

Fingers crossed.

Suffice it to say, no luck.

At this point, Raegan began missing meals.  Ped and LC assured me that she would be fine and that she would soon learn that if she wanted milk, she had to take a cup. 

Wow.  Cruel, right?  But, at the end of the day, it was one nursing session that I was dropping.  One.  Not all four.

And, I was doing everything all of the books said.  It just wasn't working. 

Meanwhile... 

Attempts were still made based on suggestions from any and everyone. 

Let her drink directly from the cup?  2 sips and done. 

Let her drink from a cup with a bendy straw?  Only chews the straw. 

Take the straw and dribble milk into her mouth with it.  Ok, this works.  But, come on. 

Really?!?

As we are packing to head home for a wedding, my mom tells me that she and my dad will work with Rae and that "maybe Pop Pop will be able to get her to drink from a cup". 

PPUUUULLLLLLEEEEEAASSE 

I give her the "mm hmm.  Maybe." 

Thinking-"There is no way that 'Pop Pop' or 'De De' will be able to do this. 

No. Way."

Fast forward to my parents' house.  Friday, 3pm. 

Ater continued unsuccess at getting Rae to take her sippy (we have moved onto Munchkin brand at this point), she is in her chair eating her solids. 

My dad gets home from work and wants to finish feeding Raegan.

Have at it.

I take the opportunity to take a breather...only to hear the following within about 10 seconds, "Hey Kami.  Come here for just a sec." 

I walk into the kitchen to find Raegan gulping down the milk in her sippy. 

Gulping. 

Loving every minute.

Not fighting it at all.

Dad: "Is there more milk?  I think she's thirsty."

There really are no words....except these:

Mom was right.

Dad is good.

Munchkin was and continues to be the winner.

The latest?

While the sippy is still "hit or miss", we are definitely moving in the right direction. 

I'm unsure how much credit to really give to the Munchkin cup itself.  (Pop Pop, of course, likes to believe that it has zero to do with the cup.)  Either way, being that I'm slowly moving back into a normal bra size, we're sticking with the sippy that worked!

If anyone is interested in a cabinet full of gently "used" sippy cups, you know where to find me.

Favorite Friday - Topic: Favorite Parenting Invention

Lots to consider for this one. 

Honestly, my favorite on this topic changes on a regular basis. 

At this stage with Raegan, I have to say that these little jewels top my list. 

Labels that dissolve in water!

Are you kidding?

Novel.

Just novel.

Whether used as a reminder for
-Daycare on meal times
-Chuck on making sure to mix veggies with the yogurt (yum)
or 
-myself on tossing by a specific date,

These definitely make my days much easier and much more efficient. 

And, let's be honest, who doesn't love ease and efficiency?

I do...a lot.

Happy 11 Months, Raegan!

Raegan is 11 months old!

Not the best monthly pic, right?  With a double ear infection, she wasn't too cooperative during the photo shoots (yes, that was plural...I really tried...I really did)  Unless I let her hold onto something she wanted, I couldn't get her to play along with the picture taking. And even then, I couldn't get anything better than this.

Coming back to update this after the second photo shoot...

Here's the best from the batch...still not great, but a vast improvement from above.  New object to let her hold, that was much less invasive in the pic, a white feather. :)  She apparently wanted to give it to me.  

52!

Here we go!  11 months!

No major changes from last month to this one.  
We have just had lots of fun!

My favorite new thing is this little face that she makes. It’s like a rabbit. She scrunches up her nose, purses her lips, and sniffs really fast. She does it all the time! The funniest part is that my parents have tons of pics of me doing the very same thing when I was little.  They say that I also did it all the time. Finally! Proof that she IS my baby! 

Rae's gaining more and more balance. I don't think she'll be walking by the time she is 1. (Which, is totally fine with me!) But, she is definitely on track with her development-She can cruise from one piece of furniture to the next, bend down and pick things up while leaving one hand on whatever she is holding onto, and stand on her own for a few seconds. But, she’d definitely rather hang onto something while walking as opposed to stand up on her own. I think it’s probably b/c she typically “wants” whatever she is holding on and walking around (stuff on a table, etc) 

On the same note, she's not overly interested in holding our hands and walking around. Will do it for a few minutes and then would rather get on those hands and knees to get there faster. Um, and speaking of crawling-the number of face plants when crawling (and pulling up) have substantially decreased.

Eating more and more solids. She has been “over” purees for a few months now. I was totally not prepared for this to happen; I have a month’s supply of frozen purees stored away to prove this. Looks like Chuck and I will be enjoying our own fruit smoothies for some time to come.  Here's some footage of her denying purees but wanting finger foods. 

Has become extremely possessive. In the past, if we were to take something from her, we could easily distract her with something else while taking away what we didn’t want her to have. Suffice it to say, we need a new method. Suggestions welcome.



Still super cuddly. Love it!

Welcoming Daddy home from Mexico

Hugging Elaine

Shows more of her teeth when she smiles. It’s so fun to see the cute little gap between her front, top feet. When she grins at her Uncle Ryan, he says, “TOUCHDOWN!!" Uncle Ryan is so funny!

Is totally testing boundaries. Understands what “no” means but instead of obeying when we say it or doing what a lot of babies probably do (get upset), she stops for a second, looks us straight in the face, does her rabbit face, and then proceeds to do what we have asked her not to. I’m struggling with how to discipline at this point. I guess I was naïve to think that the “terribles” really start at 2.

Loves looking outside!  Will stand for 30 minutes and watch the birds, chipmunks, and even Daddy when he’s working in the yard. We are ready for spring weather!!

Still wants everything she shouldn’t have. Should I just go ahead and assume that this might never subside?

Thank goodness for babyproofing

       

Other highpoints:

• Certain sounds scare her now…sounds that never phased her before-the coffee bean grinder, Gabby barking, etc. She crawls straight to Chuck or me, climbs up our legs and holds on super tight.

• Continues to mimic lots of things we do (yikes!)…it’s funny how babies pick and choose what to mimic…One thing that Rae has caught onto more than others is copying Daddy when he teases her and opens his mouth and says “ahhhhhhhh”. Now, even when eating and mouth full of food, she often opens up and says "ahhhhhhhhhh". Great....

• Has gone from being a wiggle worm during diaper changes to completely rolling over to her belly, reaching for things, to borderline doing a full fledge sit-up to end the process.

• Has had 3 Ear infections. Common for babies but still rough on everyone. This is an entire post within itself. The good news is, pretty quickly after she starts her antibiotics, she slowly begins getting back to her normal self.

• Almost breaks her neck to see her Daddy...She knows where she usually sees him.  So, when the back door opens, when I carry her down the stairs, or when she turns the corner to mine and Chuck's bedroom...a wide smile sweeps over her chubby face.  It's just too cute.

• Points and even holds up 1 finger when you ask her how old she is going to be. Her De De taught her this.

• Weighs a whopping 17.11 pounds.

• Still in Size 2 diapers.

• Wearing 6-12 month clothing. Has just about grown out of “9 mo” outfits.

Broken record time:

I can not believe she is going to be ONE in a month! It makes me a little sad but at the same time, I can honestly say that we heeded the advice of those who constantly told us to enjoy the time with her as a baby, because it flies. They were so right.  We soaked it all in. For that and the inevitable fact that everyone must grow up, I’m happy. At the same time, I will still miss her being a “baby”. I would be lying if I said I wouldn"t. 

In saying all that, expect a weepy post next month.

Happy 11 months BABY girl!

We love you so much!

Favorite Friday Substitute

Last Friday, instead of posting my Favorite, I was a bit preoccupied.... 

Busy morning, friends coming into town, things to do before they get here. 

As I finished up errands, I had a few spare minutes and thought, "What should I do with this extra time?  Oh!  There's a Sprint store!  My phone has really not been working well" as my friends can attest to "I should swing in and get them to fix it." 

Brilliant idea.

That is until they started troubleshooting and....

THEY LOST ALL OF MY DATA.  My contacts, my calendar info, EVERYTHING!

Do I even need to begin to explain what this does to someone extremely "Type A" who has 10 years of accumulated phone numbers and months full of appointments saved on her phone? 

Deep breaths. 

Me, calmly: "Is there anywhere the information is backed up?" 

Scared Sprint PCS Rep: "No.  There's not." 

Me, still surprisingly calm: "Are you sure?  No, backup recovery database?"

Very sorry and scared PCS Rep: "Yes.  I am sure.  The data is gone.  Forever.  I can't imagine how mad you are." 

Me, clearly more mature than I ever thought I could be: "You know what?  It's ok.  Things could be a lot worse, right?  What's our next best option?  Can you at the very least print off my most recent 3 call logs from my bill and give me some discounts?"

Relieved and proud Sprint PCS Rep: "Absolutely.  I'm going to hook you up!!  Just wait!"

Me, a little perturbed that he's acting like he's going to save my world and do me a huge favor, "Well, Jeremy, let's not go too far.  I've been a loyal Sprint customer for over 10 years.  You just lost everything I've ever saved on my phone."

Humble Sprint PCS Rep, "You are so right.  Thank you for not screaming and throwing a fit.  You have no idea that most customers would be doing that right now."

Me, secretly more shocked by my behavior than anyone else: "It's ok.  Everyone makes mistakes.  I do need to get out of here, though, so can we expedite this? "

Happy Sprint PCS Rep: "You will be out of here in no time.  Give me 10 minutes."

Me, proud of myself for actually acting my age: "Okee dokee"

1 hour later, and still surprisingly calm, I left with a new fancy phone (free), new bluetooth (free), and something from the manager for "my little baby who I needed to get home to"-----a real cell for her to play with. 


Whew!

So, 3 things:

#1-While I do not want to sound all self -righteous, I am just proud of myself for not losing it...especially in a situation when someone is on her way to my house, I'm running late, and I have no way to reach her or anyone who knows her number to let her know that I will be really late.

 

#2-A lot of you will soon be receiving an email soon asking for your phone numbers. :)

#3-Consider this a substitute for my Favorite Friday post:

I would be remiss for not acknowledging such a big event as the Oscars last night.


So, here we go!

FAVORITE OSCAR GOWNS 2010:

Disclaimer: I didn't catch the red carpet or any of the post shows discussing the evening's best or worst dressed, so the below may not be inline with Joan Rivers.  Even still, these are my own humble opinions:

Faves:

I can't believe this one topped my list...only because I regret admitting that anything "Miley" is my favorite.  However, this dress is uh-mazing.  The satin sweetheart neckline & shimmering waist combo is gorgeous.  While I usually don't dig chiffon, I love it on this dress. Miley, I honestly wish you would dress more age appropriate...maybe opt for more minis...but, this dress is still awesome.  You owe your stylist for this one for sure.

Diane, Diane, Diane....only you could pull off ruffles on your middle.  This dress, color scheme, multi-texture, and short train=exquisite. 

All a perfect compliment to her body and skin tone.  Love it.

Overall look-wise, I think that Sandra Bullock and Charlize Theron rocked it with their old hollywood glam.  Their dresses weren't my favorites, but I'm a sucker for their slicked styled hair and red lipstick.

YOUR TURN!