Blooming Bridget

So, I think I'm going to start documenting some of the things we're doing around these parts for Bridget's learning time.  I like to think of it as "Blooming Bridget" time.  It's when she shows me the amazing things that she can do and starts to blossom into an awesome little thinker (among other things).

Now, we're just starting to do a somewhat structured (in that I have a plan for what I'd like to expose her to that day) learning time.  I'd love to be able to look back in later years and see what Bridget was learning and doing at this time in her life.  So, welcome to the first of the Blooming Bridget posts!

This is Bridget with an absolutely fabulous sensory tub we won through a giveaway with Time for Tots etsy shop.  If you have young learners, please check out her shop.  I think I'm in love and would go broke buying up her entire inventory if I could.  I can't even tell you how much I (and Bridget) love this tub!  Check out all the fun things Bridget got to explore...

Beads, erasers, presents, foam snowflakes, bells, colored rice, shiny stuff, and a DUCK!  Bridget absolutely loved playing with everything and was fascinated with the using the tongs to pick things up.  After these pictures, we covered everything up and played treasure hunt looking for all of the letters.  We must have played and learned with this for at least a half hour before she was finished.  Seriously awesome.  Bridget will now ask to "play rice" and will get her yellow play blanket, bring it into the kitchen, and wait for me to set everything up for her.  After a month of playing with this set, I have decided that Bridget needs a new set each month. These sensory tubs work on so many developmental needs and are so much fun!

I'll show you what we have for February in another post. ;)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope you had a great day being green!

From our family to yours. 

A walk through time

Here's a very brief walk through the last few monthly birthday pictures of Bridget.

Before she learned to sit up on her own. We had to keep propping her up and catching her as she tipped to the side.


Her 7 month pictures which I didn't get around to taking until she was 7 and a half months. Oops. But she was sitting on her own!


Her current 8 month picture. It was so hard to get a good shot because she's so mobile now! She kept crawling around the couch and trying to get down.



So I just let her crawl/stand/walk and tried to get some good shots. She's such a happy baby. I'm so blessed to have her in my life.

Bridget and the Fish

So, at Thanksgiving time we visited Mike's family near Phoenix. About five minutes from their home is a wildlife zoo which recently added an aquarium section. We decided that it would be a great family outing and off we went with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Sabrina and Uncle Brandon.

We got to see all sorts of fun stuff. Bridget was much more interested in the aquarium section than the zoo section.



She liked watching the penguins dive and swim (really, who doesn't?) but her favorite thing of all was this little fish. She just stared at it and very contentedly watched it swim back and forth in its little home.



The sound on the video is horrible because there were so many people around, but you can hear Uncle Brandon in the background being so excited about Bridget enjoying herself. This video was taken after we had already been standing watching the fish for several minutes.

I think we need to get Bridget a fish tank, what do you think? :)

Not sure where to go from here

So, it's November and I'm going to try to make this my month of posting every day. Don't know if it will happen, but it's on my list so, I figure why not start now?
Here's my problem: I don't know where to go from here. This started out as a blog about me and my infertile bitterness and struggle to become a mommy. While I still consider myself to be in the infertile and pregnancy loss family, I have been able to go on to the successful side (where I hope to see so many others soon). I don't want to alienate my fellow IFers with non-stop talk of baby, but that's kinda my life now. I struggled to get her for so long (not as long or as hard as some others, but plenty for me) and I want to document her life. I don't want this to turn completely into a "mommy blog" either though. So where to go from here?
I have a feeling it will run mostly along the lines of baby mixed with some anecdotes about things happening at work and randomness that I note from day to day. Pretty boring but things I like to share, ya know?
So, to all of my IF friends, I apologize in advance and understand if you need to stop following (although I hope you won't). I will keep following along with your journeys and wishing you the best, as always.
For my non-IF friends, I hope you'll continue to hang out even when I'm not the most amazing person to read (as if I ever was huh?). In general, I hope to be keeping in touch more with the blogosphere and I hope to hear from you guys too! Oh, and here's a picture of Bridget because I can.

From her 4 month "photo shoot" which was almost a month ago already. HOLY COW where does the time go?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween all! I love this holiday and was so excited to share it with Bridget for the first time. Here's some pictures from the past few days of fun with our little family.

We visited the pumpkin patch and got some great pictures. Bridget's able to sit on her own against things so we propped her up and went to town. :)

She was a ladybug for Halloween. This was at our Trunk-or-Treat. See her little barrette? Yeah, Mommy is a sucker for cute hair things. Who wouldn't be with a baby with hair as awesome as Bridget's? Haha.

Hanging around the house today I had her dressed as a ballerina. Aren't those the cutest little shoes?!I think she's practicing. She looks so perfect and girly in this picture.

And then the fun begins! We (and by we I mean Mike) hollowed out the pumpkin and we gave Bridget the "guts" to play with. She wasn't quite sure what to do except try to eat them. It was pretty funny.

Out tonight passing out candy. We didn't actually take her out Trick-or-Treating because, well, she doesn't eat candy and lord knows Mike and I don't need any. ;) So we just dressed her up and sat in front of the house talking with our neighbors and passing out candy. It was a great night.

And finally, here's our pumpkin. Mike was VERY proud of it. I think it's pretty good too. All in all, a great first Halloween. Here's to many more to come.

One year ago today

I woke up, peed on a stick, and my whole life changed. I went from being an infertile woman, trying and trying and trying for a baby, only to have my heart broken each month, to a pregnant woman. The fears and joys that came along with the journey changed me forever. I still think about the baby we lost every night. I whisper to Bridget as I put her down "Goodnight sweet baby. You're safe and happy. The angels will watch over you and I'll see you in the morning when the sun wakes up." I picture all the sweet lost babies of friends in the PL/IF world looking in on her and making sure she's ok. Especially her little lost sibling. It brings some peace to my heart. And it makes me so thankful to have this sweet little baby in my life. I couldn't ask for anything more.

We're good to go

**I apologize in advance for the TMI nature of this post. Feel free to skip to the next set of stars if you don't want to read about my girly stuff**

So, I am officially using birth control again. This is extremely weird as I haven't taken any birth control since before I got married. I stopped taking my pills about 3 month before we got married and never started them again. We used condoms for the first year and then started trying for a baby. So there has been no form of birth control used in this family for more than two years! And yet there's only one Bridget. That's what IF will do to ya folks.

Anywho, on to the BC. I react VERY badly to the pill. The adjustment to the hormones is truly frightening. I turn into an absolute monster and cannot control my emotions. I yell and scream at Mike for the tiniest things (ex: squeezing the toothpaste from the middle) and I cannot stop myself. For this reason, neither one of us was too keen on me going on the pill again. Everyone says that breastfeeding is a natural form of BC. Well, that may be true but I just can't trust it. Especially since I'm not exclusively breastfeeding. I definitely don't want an "oops" baby.

With all of this in mind, I talked to the doctor and we decided on Mir.ena. I really like the fact that it will last for 5 years and I don't have to remember anything (except to get it removed in five years!) There's no hormone adjustment period and the side effects are pretty mild (some cramping and bleeding for a bit.) It took about 2 minutes to "install" (although I waited for an hour and half past my appointment time to be seen but that's another story). And now, I'm all set. No more babies here!

Which again, is a strange thing. For so long, all that consumed every thought was getting pregnant. The timing, the CBEFM, the peeing on sticks, the disappointment, etc... And now I'm back to being a "normal" person who actually worries about sex leading to a baby. ::eye roll::

**It's safe now**

Look at the cute Bridget in her swing!


:)

What a difference a year makes

I was thinking this morning that last year on this day I was peeing on another stupid CBEFM stick and started jumping for joy when it FINALLY gave me a peak. Yes ladies and gent (I believe there's only one of you reading this), last year little eggy Bridget was released to make the trek down to her squishy little 9 month home inside of me.

And now look at her. Playing outside in this big wide world!

La la la la laaaaaaaaa!

We went to a Music Together baby class this morning and had so much fun! We danced and sang and played with instruments. Bridget loved the maracas and kept using it like a little microphone. It was too cute. And now we'll be going to baby music class every Saturday and I'm so excited.

Then we got to go have sushi for the first time since, well, about this time last year. Yaaaaaay! Yummy, yummy, yummy!

Screaming orgasm. Just what everyone needs on their birthday. Hahah!

Enjoying my spicy crab hand roll. Mmmmmmmm. Seriously, so happy to have sushi again!

It was a great birthday. I can't remember one I have enjoyed so much. Here's to hoping for a great upcoming year!

She's growing so fast!

Well, today my baby is 3 months old. It's gone by so quickly. I'm sad to see it fly by, but I'm so happy to watch her grow. It's such a strange feeling. Bridget is meeting all of her milestones at the right times. Her newest tricks are blowing spit bubbles, rolling onto her side (and occasionally rolling all the way from her tummy to her back), and gripping things. The last one being her favorite at the moment.

We went out today and got her some new toys. She can have the 3+ month toys now. Hahhaa! So we picked up a few different rattles and such so try to get her interest. Her favorite is the O Ball (I think that's what it's called). Anyways, it's light and easy to grip and she had a blast with it on the floor today. Witness the gripping!

Yes, she has wrist rattles on too. :) I told you we rattled it up today.

And of course we had to take her 3 month photos. We chose a new location this month and I think we'll take all our pictures here from now on. I like the background better and Bridget can sit up on her own against the cushions. Oh my gosh, she's sitting!



Happy 3 months baby! I'm so happy you're mine. I can't picture my life without you in it.

I'm a party girl!

Ok, I'm ready. Mom bought a new bow for my hair and everything (happy Rach? lol) Where's the party girl?

Today was one of my best friend's 30th birthday. One of her other really good friends and her husband planned a surprise party for her. So, we all got dressed up and headed down to dinner to surprise her. And it was a success! She was so surprised she was crying. Hooray! We had a great time and some pretty good pizza. Yum!

Happy birthday Jamie!

I'm back to being a teacher

I'm hoping that I won't be too bad this year. I can't say I'm starting out too well. Here it is, Sunday night at almost 10:00 p.m. and I don't have my plans ready for tomorrow. I'm sitting here blogging, watching Iron Chef, and eating chocolate chip cookies. Bridget has had her bath and her bottle and is now sleeping next to me on the boppy. Life is good. Just not productive (which it really needs to be right now.) Oh well.

Last week went pretty well. I like my class. They seem to be a really good group. My class is only 16 kids as of right now so that's nice too. One year I had a class of 23 and it just about killed me. My goal for the year is to be consistent in my classroom management. I always start out really good but tend to fall back on the same two techniques and I really need to use other things to keep the kids on their toes.

In Bridget news, she giggled for the first time last Wednesday night! Mike was playing with her after her bath and three giggles came dancing out. It was one of the cutest things I've ever heard. Alas, we have not been able to recreate it.

Bridget also finally met her great-grandma. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. My Grandma has never been what you would call a cuddly or loving person. She's just not one of those that really gives hugs or kisses. However, she saw Bridget and melted. She just couldn't let her go. It brought tears to my eyes to see her melting over my sweet little baby. (Please excuse the paint test on the wall.)



I will cherish this always.

I think I'll be alright

I made it through the first few days back at work.  Three days of meetings.  The kids all come back on Monday.  I think it was easier though because she wasn't very far from me.  Mike stayed home on Wednesday and I came home to see her at lunch.  Then Thursday and Friday, my mom took off and took care of her.  So I knew she was just down the street.  Monday will be her first day at daycare.  I absolutely love the lady that will be taking care of her.  She is so nice and was a teacher for several years before this so she knows about child development and all that good stuff.  

Speaking of teaching, so far I have a small class this year.  I've only got 15 kids enrolled at this point so that's nice.  Open house was last night and I actually had 10 families show up.  WooHoo!!  Maybe this year I'll actually have some parent involvement.

Bridget is doing really well.  She's still sleeping through the night (!!!) and she's smiling all the time. I LOVE it!  Check her out...

I'm so happy everytime I wake up and see this face. (And I swear we don't constantly keep her in her bouncer, that's just the easiest place to take pictures of her.)

A new toy

Because she did so well at her doctor's appointment today (up another 6oz! Total weight now 8lb, 9oz), Bridget and I went shopping today.  We found a tummy time mat that I just had to get. 

I think she likes it!

"Thanks mommy!  This was a good buy."  :D

Bridget is 7w 3d

I cooked!

I don't think you guys realize how happy this made me!  I actually planned a meal and got to cook it!  Up to this point, it's been a lot of frozen, pre-packaged meals or quick fixes like pasta or hot dogs.  It gets old really fast.  So, in an attempt at feeling more like a good wife and mother, I went to The Pioneer Woman's new site, Tasty Kitchen, and found some meals to make for the week.  I looked through the grocery ads and found most of what I needed on sale (go me!).  Then, I hoped and prayed that I would actually have the energy to cook.  And lo and behold, I did!  (thanks to a certain little girl who slept through the night :))

So, without further ado, I give you...My first real meal since the c-section!

A made up recipe for panko crusted salmon, sauteed zucchini, and mashed potatoes.  OMG, so good (if I do say so myself)!  I had planned on using a recipe for the salmon, but when I got into the kitchen, it just didn't sound appetizing.  So I threw panko crumbs, parmesan, thyme, and olive oil together and packed it onto the salmon that I had sprinkled with lemon pepper.  It came out pretty dang tasty.  And can I state for the record that I am so jealous of all of the people that have tons of zucchini in their gardens right now?  I LOVE zucchini and actually had to go by it at the store.  Bah!

I'm hoping this can continue.  I really do like cooking and planning meals.  

How about you guys?  What have you been eating lately?

Oh glorious sleep

Bridget slept through the night! She fell asleep at 10:30 and she didn't wake up until 5:30 this morning. Woohoo!! I'm feeling great today and I'm really hoping this sleeping thing continues. This is how things are shaping up today though.

Oh look, it's an adorable sleeping baby!  Get the camera.

"Did I hear a camera click? I need to wake up and get in on the action."

"Hey there Mom.  Is it time to eat?"

These were taken within a minute of each other.  ::sigh::  As long as she sleeps at night, I'll be happy.  

Happy one month!

Holy cow!!  One month went by so fast!  I don't know that Bridget had gotten much bigger really, but she sure is much more aware and awake.  She just started  really looking at things a few days ago.  And I captured it on camera today!  I was so excited.  She was in a good mood this morning so I decided to try out her bouncer again.  Usually, she starts crying about a minute after we put her in it.  Today she seemed to enjoy  her time.  Check it out - 

"Hey there lamby! One day I will eat you and it will look like this!  RAAAWR"

"Oh hello there Pug.  I see you too.  You are my best friend!"  

(By the way, we have taken to calling Chiisai "the third parent" as anytime she makes even the slightest noise, he runs over to check on her and then stares at us  like "WTH is wrong with you?  Can't you see she needs you?"  It's hilarious actually.)

Then, tonight we gave her her first real bath (her cord stump FINALLY fell off a few days ago). After bath time, it was time to take our official ONE MONTH pictures.  Of course, Bridget was not happy to be unswaddled.  Please notice Mike's arm in the photo and the orange paci on her chest.  A few seconds before this, he had been holding the paci in her mouth and trying to get her to be calm for the picture.  Fat lot of good it did as you can see.  Haha!

"Wrap me  up!  I refuse to cooperate unless you swaddle me NOW!"

So, we swaddled her up and put her Picky Sticky sticker onto her blanket (a good idea from Sarah who also sent us the wonderful Picky Stickies!)  (And I had to link to the blankets because seriously, I am in love with these things.  They're big and light and swaddle REALLY well and they're the only thing that keeps Bridget happy and contained.)

"Alright, now I will lay here for your photo.  Thanks Mom!"

You're welcome my little Bridgey.  Mommy loves you.  Happy one month birthday baby!

She's sleeping

So I will try to update while she is quiet.  Seriously, last night was the toughest yet.  This child would not sleep.  She was wide awake from 7pm-4am.  Luckily, it was a quiet awake and not a screaming/crying awake.  Then, she went to sleep from 4-6 and was up again.  She's slept a little bit this morning but not for any stretches longer than 30 minutes.  I feel terrible for Mike.  He's been absolutely amazing at making sure I get sleep at night by taking her until she falls asleep.  Last night he would not let me take her from him though.  And he was soooo tired.  He's worried that if I walk with her and don't rest, I won't heal from the c-section.    Poor thing held her ALL NIGHT and then went to work this morning.  I LOVE that he cares so much for me and her, but I'm worried that he's going to make himself sick if he doesn't get some rest.  I really hope this little girl figures out the difference between night and day soon.

Anyway, I didn't start this post to complain.  I started it to show you more pictures of this little girl.

First day home.  Isn't that the cutest dress.  Oh, and that pacifier... Drives me crazy but keeps her happy so it has become a permanent fixture.  

Bridget and Mike with his brother and sister (and Chiisai).  His little brother is so cute with her.  He thinks having the "uncle" title is the absolute greatest thing in the world.

Meeting great-grandma for the first time. Grandma was amazed with all the hair. (as is everyone it seems)

First bath. (well, sponge bath b/c her cord stump is still there) She was NOT happy with the getting wet part but she LOVED the baby towel. This kid loves to be swaddled.

Finally, Happy First Father's Day to Mike. We took this last night so it's the most up to date picture of her. I can't believe she is already more than two weeks old.

Well, she's waking up.  I got lucky with 45 minutes.  I have other things to post about (my awesome mom, the adorable gift from Rotten, the animals' reaction to the little one) so, hopefully I'll get to them in a few days.  

I miss you all.  I'm still keeping up with you.  I'll comment when I can.  

No news and some rambling

Nothing new to report.  She's still head down.  Her fluid levels are good.  I got in a bonus ultrasound.  Hooray!  And that's about it on the baby front.

Mike really thinks she's going to come this weekend.  I asked if he wanted to go to a movie and he said, "Well, I'm kinda scared.  I don't want you to start having contractions during the movie." Haha.  So are we staying home until she comes then?  I'm not planning on it.

Today was also my last day of work.  I was originally planning to work until she came.  But, my office manager got a long term sub for me weeks ago and I decided today to take advantage of that. There is so much to get done before the end of the year (report cards, comments, awards, assessment scores, etc...) that I decided that it would be much less stress on me to have time to get these things done at home.  Then, I can go in after the school day is over and get everything put in.  It will be so nice not to have to worry about how to fit it all in AND teach during the day. I told my kids today that they would have a new teacher starting next week.  They were actually really excited because they know the baby could be here any time.  I said I would probably come in to visit and that I would tell their sub when the baby came.  So hooray - no more work (well, no more going in to work) until AUGUST!  ::happy dance (as much as my pregnant, swolleness (sp?) will allow)::

I will leave you tonight with a few pictures from my baby shower.  One of my best friends made me an amazing baby scrapbook with shower pictures and lots of open pages created for me to put in pictures and info for all the holidays and important events for her first year.  So great!  And now I have pictures to share. :)

Family picture. My mom, my grandma, and me. My grandma was so excited. She's almost blind now but she was so happy to be there. I'm so glad she made it.

My MIL, me, and my mom. Can you see the excitement on my mom's face?

I love this picture. My mom kisses and talks to the belly every time I see her. I'm glad I have a picture of this so I can remember it forever.

This shot requires some explanation. It's my reaction to the next picture.

This is the baby sampler that my mom is making for the baby. A bit of background on this: I saw this baby sampler in one of my mom's cross-stitch magazines when I was 8. I told my mom I wanted it when I had a baby. I remember her saying "Kate, do you know how BIG that sucker is?" Well, no, I didn't - I was 8. Anyways, apparently, my mom bought the pattern then and has saved it for 20 years. She started it when I was pregnant with the baby we lost.  She started working on it again when we got pregnant this time. She kept it all a big secret.  And now it's almost done. And let me tell you - it's HUGE! Seriously, it's at least the size of a receiving blanket. And the pattern was 12 PAGES long. Isn't it great though?! I love all the little animals and the little angels watching over everything.  I can't wait to see it completely finished and hung in her room.

ONE WEEK until the due date!