Hello Again!

Yikes! Four months since my last post. Well, you know a lifetime has happened. During our nearly six year journey with infertility I used to think about all the things I could blog about once I had a baby. All the beautiful little dresses I could sew, the nursery, the funny and sweet things the baby did. Going back to teaching at 10 weeks pretty much kicked my crafty butt.

Just one day into our summer vacation we embarked on a three week tour of NY & NJ to see friends and family. Lots and lots of friends and family. It was an awesome trip. So yes, it's summer, but again, no time to craft or blog.

I guess the biggest news is that Marilee can crawl!

We left for NY on her 7 month birthday and the very next day she started crawling. She crawled for the first time to my grandfather and it was a miracle.

So back in 2005 my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. Wanting my future child to know him, we actually started "trying" earlier than planned. We even hoped to surprise him with pregnancy news at his 80th birthday party that year. Ha! Let's just say I have learned a lot about control and timing in the last six years.

My grandfather used to say, "If you are worried pray, and if you pray don't worry." Wise but very challenging words. I wish I could say I followed that advice. Oh sure, I pray, but I also worry plenty. Fortunately, many others prayed for us too- including some of you dear friends!  The cancer came and went, and came back again. Then I was told that he was starting to have memory problems. And, like the rest of us, he just wasn't getting any younger.

God truly does know the desires of our hearts and this summer Marilee crawled for the very first time to her great-grandfather! It was a moment I will always treasure. He was an excellent coach and spent a lot of time on his hands and knees demonstrating the proper form and offering encouragement. Encouragement indeed! The picture says it all, they are buddies!

On my husband's side of the family, Marilee met dozens of relatives at a huge family reunion. She poured on the charm and was a perfect baby Betsy Ross. We had a wonderful traditional small town 4th of July. Best of all we even got to see Great Aunt Kate who was born just 100 years and 11 days before Marilee.

We also had lots of time to get to know our two nieces who are each 16 months old. It was the first time we met either of them and watching our girls play together was an incredible sibling bonding experience for both Cliff and I.

Other updates:
I am still nursing. Surprised to say that I do love it. It has overall been a great experience. I am both ready and sad to start a slow and gradual weaning process. For many reasons it's time, but I just can not believe how fast this year is whizzing past me. Someone on TV mentioned that there are only 3 1/2 months left in the election campaign and I nearly started crying because that means I only have 3 1/2 months before Marilee turns 1. That simply can not be accurate?

I did love co-sleeping for the most part. There was nothing sweeter than watching my babe sleep and wake up together as a family. It also worked pretty well for me to both nurse and sleep at the same time while working, but gradually she began to drink less and less pumped milk from a bottle and rely on the night feedings more and more. By the end of the school year we had regressed to feedings every two hours all night long. The last week of school she went on a bottle strike. In addition, when I would nurse her down, I often fell asleep myself. I would wake at 11 or so having "wasted" my whole evening and all my free time. While traveling our accommodations, schedule, and the fact that she could crawl made co-sleeping mostly impossible and unsafe. So we strapped her into a swing, stroller or "rock and play sleeper." This worked pretty well and set the stage for transitioning to her crib.

So we crib trained her this past week upon our return home. It was absolutely horrible and just fine at the same time. The key was to finally move her out of our room and into her own room. She raged a bit and that nearly killed me, but after a few days in her own room she is doing great at self soothing. Guess what! I have rediscovered my husband! He was so afraid of rolling over on Marilee that he stayed strictly on his side of the bed. And, for my part, I was more often than not asleep at 7:30! We were both very committed to co-sleeping and tried to make time for each other so that it wouldn't adversely affect our relationship, but it wasn't ideal.  Now, we actually get to chat or watch TV together at night without fear of waking up the baby. 

This weekend I started pulling out a bunch of stuff that I had saved for a nursery. Soon I will have pictures. Nothing fancy, just a DIY, thrifted and gifted space.

I look forward to being here a bit more now that I have some free time in the evenings.
Thanks for reading!