cucks and cooks

Yesterday morning Dwight was getting ready and walked into Anya's room where we were playing. He said "hi, doodle" and she looked at him and said "hhhhhe". We both said , "Did she just say hi back?". Last night while giving Anya a bath I said 'duck' and she repeated back, "cuck". I heard her practicing, "cuck, cuck" this morning. Tonight I gave her a tote of books to pull them from and she said 'cook'.. I said 'yes, books!'.. and she said 'cook!"... She is putting the final sound in the front but she is beginning to repeat some words. I put "wow" as her first word in her baby book. She says it a lot now and will repeat us when we say it.

Today is the last day of the month. I successfully posted every day this month! I will not put that as a goal for March but I do expect to be posting almost every day :-)

Foody Friday...

Foody Friday on a Saturday. I forgot that I was supposed to post a recipe yesterday. Here it is one day late!

Amazing Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3/4 cup red wine
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with the contents of the soup packet. Pour water, wine, and soy sauce over the top, turning the pork to coat. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, cover, and cook on low setting for 5 hours. Serve with cooking liquid on the side as au jus.

I got this recipe off of allrecipes and it is amazing. I served it with mashed potato and broccoli. I will definitely make this one again!

Kaleidoscope Childrens Museum

Today we went to a the Kaleidoscope Childrens Museum. We met up with two mommies and their babies. The fabulous thing is that it is free for babies under 1 year and all adults. We didn't pay a penny. Anya isn't really mobile yet but she loved to look around and touch things. It was great to catch up with the two moms, Allison and Peggy. Peggy's son is Kameron and Allison's daughter is Haley. They are absolutely adorable and we really enjoyed their company.

I am really proud of myself for meeting so many awesome mommies after having Anya. I can be introverted at times and I have put myself out there to meet other moms in many ways. In turn, I have met some great people who share their similar experiences with me. Its so special that Anya has given me new friendships. :-) She has many cutie patootie friends to do fun things with so it's a win-win situation.

9 month appointment

Today was Anya's 9 month appointment. She weighs in at 18 lbs 10 oz and she is 28 1/2 inches long. Her weight is 48% and her height is 80%.

At 9 months I was 4 oz less and 1 inch more.. very close!

Anya did great and her doctor and I talked about how she is doing and what to expect in the next 3 months. Anya was all smiles and there were no shots today which was great. We both left on a happy note. Starting at her 12 month appointment I will be spreading her vaccinations out. Anya's doctor is very open to doing this and told me I can basically create my own schedule as long as they aren't too close together. At 12 months there are 3 vaccinations so I will most likely go every other week until we have gotten them all. I plan on doing this at 15 months as well. At 18 months there is only one vaccination scheduled so that will work out nicely. After 18 months we will most likely get back on the regular vaccination schedule. The 12-18 month vaccinations are the ones that make me a little unsure... just my opinion of course. It works out well that this will occur during the summer months and not cold and flu season (which would put us in the doctors office too much). She will have all of her vaccinations just like other children.. I will just be spreading them out for those two appointments.

Anya smiled away at the nurses and her doctor. She loved the white paper that covered the table and she spent about 10 minutes kicking it and making crinkle noises. :-)

I love her doctor and I am very happy with her. I always leave feeling relaxed about Anya's development and what to expect next.

Tonight I am meeting up with two of my girlfriends for dinner and drinks. I'm very excited for some girl time.. yummy food and a glass of vino.

let me boast just a little..

Look how long and grown up she is getting! ......
... and smart... beautiful..
... and funny...

Love this kid so much!

PS- She got mad when I took her out of the basket. She sat there for a long time playing with the toys I had left in it.. she loved it.

Book basket

Yesterday I was putting away laundry and Anya reached way over to grab a onesie out of my pile. I moved her closer so she could destroy more of my piles. Once I put everything away I moved her in front of her book basket so that she could pull her books out. She loved it!

I have Anya sitting up in the bath tub unless I have to shampoo her hair. I lean her back like this so the water doesn't pour into her eyes when I wash the shampoo out. She is still loving her bath time and we do it nightly. I don't use wash every night and I have been using shampoo only every few days so that she doesn't get cradle cap. She has been putting that thumb in her mouth a lot (see both photos). She isn't sucking on it but biting.. maybe more teeth on the way?

Day on the slopes

Yesterday we spent the day at Mt. Wachusett with my sister and brother in law. My parents watched Anya and my dad was eagerly waiting at the door for her when we arrived in the morning. Dwight has only skied a couple times in his life and I grew up going skiing every year. We have never gone skiing together. This day was either going to be a wonderful day or a complete disaster. Well, I had the best time I have had in a long time. Marty and I switched off skiing with Dwight while teaching him. Jill took turns going to the top of the mountain with Marty or myself. It was so great to see Jill snowboard. I haven't seen her racing down the mountain like that in a long time. Dwight did awesome! At first he was unsure but by the end he really got the hang of turning and we even took one extra run because he was doing so well. It was such a great feeling to be doing something together.. laughing.. and being us. We weren't talking about routines or who would do what with the baby. I wasn't mommy for the day and I really needed it. I had no clue how much I needed it until I was there. When I was flying down the trail with the wind in my hair I really felt like myself again. I know I have a new me and I love being a mommy.. but once in a while it really feels great to feel the old me. After we finished we went to the lodge bar to sit with some drinks and listen to a band. It felt amazing. We picked Anya up past her bedtime and she was fine... she only napped 20 minutes for my parents but she wasn't crying. She slept the whole way home and we are already talking about when we can go again. ;)

9 months

How can our little baby be 3/4 of a year old?! Happy 9 months to our little doll :-)

Dear Anya,

I never knew I would love anything as I love you. You stole our heart when you entered this world. You are such a special person with such a personality to match. You giggle with me and we have our own special silliness together. I hide on you and pop out and you laugh. You cover my face with a burp cloth and pull it down in a peek-a-boo game. I cheer you on with every accomplishment and you cheer me on with just being you. You look at me deeply with your eyes, studying me and learning from me. I had no idea that I would love you so.. that you would love me so.. that my life would change so much. You are now stronger, reaching for more and doing new things every day. You snuggle your soft head into my neck and touch my face. I wish that after your birth you came with a manual for every month of your life. Sometimes I feel like I am stumbling along and just guessing what you need, but we get there together. There are no rules to being a mommy and sometimes I wonder if I am doing it right. You are such a happy girl. Everyone comments on how easy going and happy you are. I hope that you always find joy in life as you are right now. Life is beautiful and amazing. You look at everything in wonder and learn from it. As adults we tend to forget to do that and I hope you never forget. Daddy and I love our little girl. I love you more than you will ever know.. until you have one of your own.. then you will know.

xoxo
Mommy

#2

Yesterday I was at the store picking up some formula, diapers and wipes. Anya's bum has been red off and on and I can't figure out what is causing it. First I thought it was the diapers, then the wipes, then the diapers again. Ugh! Yesterday it seemed even more red. I ended up buying expensive all natural hypoallergenic diapers and sensitive skin wipes. I keep getting more expensive with the brands but it's what I have to do when her little behind is irritated. It also seems that this happens right before a doctor appointment. I hope her pediatrician doesn't think I leave her in poop all day (sigh).
Anyways, when we walked in I knew she had a dirty diaper so we headed straight to the back to the changing table. I walked in to see a woman holding a newborn babe. Someone asked her how old and she responded with "8 days". I smiled and headed to the second changing table (thank you for having 2 bru!) I looked over and saw how little the peanut looked compared to Anya. Did I feel a tug at my heart, aches in my ovaries, thoughts of wishing for a second? Hell no! I felt anxiety and I wanted to give this lady a hug and tell her that it will get easier. She turned to the woman she was with (I assume her mother?) and said, "how am I going to go out alone?". I did speak up with a smile and say, "it does get easier". Her baby started crying again and she said, "you can't be hungry again, right?", as she fumbled with her little love. I finished up with Anya and ran the heck away.. I don't want to catch what she has ha. I am SO not ready for a second and this solidified my feelings that I already knew existed. Heck, I don't know if I will be ready next year. The thing is I think you just know when the time is right for a second in your family.. or you just know that you only want one. Then there are those who are surprised with another and just go with it .. and it ends up being a blessing. I am in no way saying that some people aren't ready after a few months, year, whatever. Every person is different. I, however, know that I do not want to be pregnant in the near future. I want to focus on this baby for the next year or two. We have time. :-) Look at this little love muffin this morning...

Foody Friday

I have LOVED cooking lately. I like trying out new recipes and sharing them. I also enjoy taking recipes from friends to try. I have decided to dedicate my Friday posts to sharing a recipe that I think is yummy. Last night I made this casserole. It came out delish and I will definitely be making it with a variety of fresh veggies this summer.

Zucchini Lasagna

2-3 small zucchini or 1 large
2 medium tomatoes

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 green pepper

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

2 tbsp. butter

16oz shredded mozzarella cheese

1 can tomato soup

Parmesan cheese

Brown turkey in a medium skillet.

Meanwhile melt butter in a large skillet, saute zucchini, onion and garlic.

Spread turkey in a 9x13 inch pan.

Spread 1/2 of the cheese on top of the meat.

Layer zucchini, onion and garlic evenly across cheese.

Top with remaining cheese.

Slice tomatoes and green pepper and arrange evenly on top.

Spread tomato soup (just the soup, no water) over top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake covered for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes

mamamamamama

Yesterday Anya started saying 'mamamamamamama'. It made my day! Up until that point she hardly ever used the 'm' sound.. now it's her favorite. :-)

Her taste buds have changed. Now she hates a lot of veggies. Where did my veggie lover go? Last night I tried to give her mixed veggie puree and she gagged and squinted multiple times. She used to loooove carrots and green beans. Now she hates them. She wasn't a big fan of banana and tart fruits like peaches and apricots but now she likes them. I am going to get more of the veggie and meat purees that she will eat. I have also been told to buy the baby yogurt that has fruit and veggies mixed in. I am hoping this works. She loves the baby yogurts with just fruit.

Haley comes to play

This little cutie pie Haley lives right across the street from us! She is 11 months old and her mom, Dawn, had the day off yesterday because of the snow. They came over to play for a little bit and Anya was in her glories. She was babbling away in excitement of our guests. How convenient that in the snow they only had to walk across the street.

Miss Independent

I love that Anya wants the spoon. Giving her the spoon makes a huge mess.. but I guess babies learn while making big messes. :) She loves to put her hands in the food (yogurt today) and chew on the spoon. I was trying to show her how to fill the spoon up with food but she gave me a bright red face and a stubborn grunt at me trying to help. Every time I tried to guide her she would get mad at me. I think we have a long road ahead of Gemini vs. Gemini. I was the same exact way as a child. I wouldn't let anyone show me how to tie my own shoelaces in first grade. I finally went into the living room all alone and tried over and over until I got it right all by myself. My mom says that I tie them 'backwards' because that is how my dad taught me. I remember being stubborn and angry that they wanted to teach me. I need to remember that she is my child.. she will act this way because I am this way. I need to learn to step back and let her learn all by herself once in a while.. making messes along the way. I did step back today and I witnessed her putting that spoon right into her mouth all by herself. Go Anya!

Even on rough days..

She just melts my heart with her smile.

Anya's first Valentines Day

We spent our first Valentines day as a family of three today. We went out to lunch and had some very yummy food. Anya enjoyed the crackers and bread. I also brought her puffs and cheerios to keep her occupied. Since it is Valentines day and we were eating at 11am I decided to hold off on feeding her lunch until we returned home. The restaurant was only 10 minutes down the road. Anya kept looking at a lady at the next table and she was smiling and talking to Anya. Right before the woman left she came over to tell us how cute Anya is and then said to Anya in a baby voice, "Ohhh mommy and daddy ate in front of you and didn't feed you"... ummm what? I know I am over sensitive with comments from people but even Dwight picked up on this one. Lady, she had her snacks.. and formula right before we left.. and anyways what is it your business what our child eats? Ugh!! Other than that we had a fantastic time and food was wonderful.

It brings me back to the fall when I was at Schnitzel fest with my sister. An older woman came up to us multiple times to baby talk to Anya about how "mommy was having a beer". Finally my sister looked her straight in the face and said, "she isn't breastfeeding if that's what you're getting at". Ha, thank you Jill! My sister rules.

This morning Dwight and I exchanged chocolates and cards and we each had something special for Anya. Dwight got her a Lamaze shape match block and a DVD and I got her a Minnie and Mickey mouse. She loves her special new things. I love having a little one to buy special holiday surprises for.

** I wanted to add that I brought Minnie Mouse to lunch too. I was showing Anya how I was feeding Minnie some bread. Anya took her piece and put it to Minnie's mouth to feed her too and laughed. She is changing and learning every day .. it is so amazing.

Here is her new toy from her daddy. She has learned how to put the shapes in if you show her the correct side. :)

Happy Birthday Darlene :-)

Our family friend Darlene turned 40 today. We went to her surprise party to celebrate. When we arrived I changed Anya's diaper only to find that it was a blow out.. ughhh.. thank God that Grammy Cindy is always prepared with an outfit at hand lol! She pulled out a valentine outfit for Anya and we were all set.. thanks Grammy Cindy! Anya was also gifted toys and another outfit from Grammy and a huge Tinkerbell card and pink bear from her uncle Eddie. Great Grammy Terry gave her college moola.. Wait, wasn't this Darlene's party.. not Anya's?.. She is one lucky girl. We had a great time and Anya loved the decorations and balloons. She even got to take a balloon home. Now Anya has her own laptop toy. She can blog with me! When we got home she gave her pink bear from Eddie lots of snuggles.. she loves it... :)

This last picture is her Grammy Cindy and also her Great Grammy Terry. :)

Language

Anya has started to babble a lot more. Dwight and I swear that she says "wow". It definitely is the word, 'wow'.. but we aren't really sure if she knows what she is saying. If I give her sounds she will (sometimes) try and repeat them. The first time she repeated something back was a few weeks ago during her bath. I showed her the duck and said 'duck'. She said the two sounds, 'd'.... 'k'. If we say 'cat' to her she will say the sounds 'c'... 't'. Yesterday I was doing the sound of 's' and she was trying so hard and began copying me. Now if we can only get her to say 'mama'. ;)

Bow in her hair

I put a bow in Anya's hair today and it finally stayed in.. hooray! Also, she slept through the night last night.. double hooray.

She has learned how to scoot her highchair across the floor by jerking herself forward and back in it. It is funny because this morning while eating a snack she moved it so that she could see the tv. I had the news on so I turned on cartoons for her for a bit. :0) What a pushover mom she has.

Valentines

Anya has already recieved two valentines in the mail! The picture to the left is her card from Nana and Grampy and the picture to the right is her card from Grammy Cindy. What a lucky girl. She loves cards!

Eggs and Tails

Anya tried scrambled egg yolk yesterday morning. She loved it and ate it all up except for a few small pieces.

Herman joined us on the couch later on and Anya was reaching to pet him. She got a few fingertip strokes in. He layed down near us and was swaying his tail back and forth. I said, "Herman watch out for your tail". Before we knew it Anya had it in her fist. He jumped up as I pulled her fingers away. We got the death glare from him. Oops!

Last night Anya woke up around 4am again but fell back to sleep after 5-10 minutes.. she woke at 6am (a half hour earlier than usual).. getting better.. fingers crossed.

Today we had Meg and Camden over for a playdate. It was lots of fun. Look how happy Anya was to have them over!

sleep crusade

Last night Anya woke again around 4am. I had turned the monitor down really low so that I would only hear her if she was being quite loud. I woke to a cry and then it stopped. I turned the monitor louder to listen. I thought she had gone back to sleep but I heard another cry. She did a few whines.. stopped.. a cry... stop. This continued for about a half hour, maybe a little more? I was a bit delirious with sleep so it isn't played out in my mind perfectly. She did fall back asleep and slept until 7am (half hour later than usual). This morning I didn't feel as great about it. I think it was because when this happened a few nights ago I had already gotten up and given her 2 oz of formula. I knew that she wasn't starving. This morning she was smiling and happy but I felt guilt. What if she was up because she was hungry? What if she was scared? What if she was wondering, 'where is mommy?". I know she is fine and this is probably breaking her pattern of waking up at that time... but still.. It sucks. I can probably do one more night of it.. possibly two. If the pattern isn't broken I think mommy will be.. and I will go in and scoop up my little love and tell her everything is alright. I give those moms credit that go nights of hearing their little one scream for an hour a couple times a night... whoa I can hardly do a half hour.

During her naps this week she has been off as well. She will go down but it takes time. I used to put her in her crib and she would be asleep within 5-10 minutes. Now it has been taking a half hour for her to fall asleep. She doesn't cry.. maybe a whine or two in the beginning. She just talks and babbles and plays with her blankie and giraffe. I am thinking that life is just so exciting for her right now. She doesn't want to waste her time sleeping. There are more important things to do like look at, feel and taste everything. Every day is like Christmas to her.. such surprises. ;)

5 favorite times of the day

My 5 favorite times of the day

1. Before Anya's morning nap I always give her a bottle. After she drinks it I turn her towards me and hold her against my shoulder to get out any air bubbles. I take an extra moment just holding her there and feeling her soft head and looking at her beautiful face. Sometimes she puts her head down on my shoulder but most of the time she just looks around the room.

2. When I go and get Anya after her nap and she is excited to see me. She kicks her feet up and down and has a huge grin.

3. Watching Anya when she hears music on the radio or television. She rocks back and forth every time and smiles. She loves it!

4. When Dwight walks in the door after work. It is great to see him and I love seeing how happy Anya is to see him as well.

5. Bath time and our bed time routine. I love watching Anya play in the bath. I also love our time after bed time when we can relax and watch our shows, go on the computer, have dinner and sometimes a glass of wine.

** Sleep update: Last night she slept through the night.. go figure when I think extra about what the plan should be if she wakes up.. she sleeps all night.

Sleep stuff

Yesterday my parents came for a visit and I cooked Polish gwumpkis, yum. The cooking and peeling away of the cabbage was quite the task... but they came out pretty yummy. My dad was ecstatic to see Anya because he hadn't seen her in a while. She loved pulling his glasses off and even trying to put them back on his head, just so she could pull them off again.. little stinker. ;)After Anya was sick she has started waking up at night again. We have tried to let her cry but I end up going in and giving her the 2 oz and she will go back down to sleep right away. After this happens I end up laying there awake for quite a while unable to go back to sleep myself . Last night this happened and I got up to give her the 2 oz a little after 4am. I went back to bed and I heard Anya start crying again. I asked Dwight what he thought we should do. He said to wait it out and let her cry and she would eventually fall asleep again. This is against a mothers intuition and it really breaks my heart to hear her cry. I watched the monitor and listened for 15 minutes. I just wanted to go in and scoop her up and give her love. Dwight reminded me that she is okay and just wants to get up and play and it isn't time. I told myself that he is right and she is just excited for her day.. but too early. I told myself, 'she needs to learn good sleep habits for herself'. After a torturous 15 more minutes of crying (30 min total) she fell asleep. I am curious to see how tonight will go. I know some people are against crying it out and others are all for it.... I am just going to go with what I think will work... one night at a time. She was sleeping through the night for a month so I know she can do it well and that she doesn't need to get up and eat. This morning she was all smiles and slept an hour later than normal waking up at 7:30am instead of 6:30am.

On a happy note: 6 years ago on this date I (age 22) was at a dive bar with my sister and I saw a man I recognized meeting once before. He was with his friends and his cousin and came over to the bar to order drinks and I said "hello". We got to talking and ended up spending hours laughing and dancing and having a great time. I went to the ladies room with my sister and I said, "there is something about that guy that I really like". Well here we are 6 years later.. 2 and a half years of marriage.. and a cute little angel named Anya. ;) I wonder if I would have met him at another time in my life if we weren't out that night.. I hope so.

She plays peek-a-boo!

This is how it all started about an hour before when she was eating in her highchair:

Eating puffs

A new first

A story from last weekend:
Sunday night I was feeling pretty miserable with illness so Dwight offered to give Anya a bath. This was a blessing in many ways. I helped him get things ready for bath and bed and then headed on downstairs. I literally sat down for a second when he yelled "holly I need your help!". I walked up to the bathroom where he was holding our little girl up over the tub. I glanced down to see brown water. Yup, she pooped in the tub for the first time. We stood there with wide eyes trying to decide our plan of attack. He handed her to me and I walked her to the bedroom and placed her on the changing table. I cleaned her up while he cleaned the bath tub thoroughly. Thank goodness that: A. He was home for this because we definitely needed two people and B. He was home to clean that bath up because I was feeling really ill and I just would have started crying if I was alone. Ohhhh what an end to a rough week.
Anya is ticklish and laughs and makes this face when you tickle her sides.

The photo to the right is of Anya trying to pet the cat yesterday. :-)
The next two photos are of her new balloon and frog from her nana and of her standing on the couch. She has no desire to crawl or even roll around the carpet. She just wants to sit up and play. If you stand her up she stands there and seems to enjoy it. She is looking at a blanket that her great great grandmother made.. pretty special.

fish offering

Today I was filling the crock pot up with ingredients for chicken taco soup and Anya was in her jumper. She was getting hungry and I could tell by her little random whines. I only had one more ingredient to add so I said 'hang on munchkin I will be there in a second'. Herman comes into the kitchen with his favorite fish toy and drops it at her feet! He was saving the day with his offering. It was the sweetest thing and I gave Herman lots of strokes and love for his generosity. He loooooves this toy and it is his favorite. It was given to him by Dwight's brother Ed in a stocking two years ago. It is a little stuffed fish head with a felt skeleton fish body and it fits perfectly in Herman's mouth. He brings it to his bed and leaves it next to his food bowl and I have even found it in his food bowl. He thinks it's real. Well, I scooped up Anya and fed her apples and squash instead and Herman picked up his fish and brought it to his bed. He then carried it to the stairs and played a little bit finishing with dropping it at my feet in front of the high chair. He definitely redeemed himself from last weeks bite on my arm. Here is a picture from today. I can't wait for nice weather and outdoor photos.

Standing

Here is a picture of Anya standing while holding on to the couch. I really have to be right behind her because she is wobbly but she can do it :)
Today I did my 2 weeks of grocery shopping and also took a trip to BJs with my mom helping out. She was a great help and we learned a thing or two on how to make it more efficient. Next time she will have Anya in her cart because she can pay more attention to her and watch her eat her biscuit or cookie (making sure she isn't choking). This gives me more time to focus on what I need to buy without worrying on what Anya is doing. This gives Anya time to con my mom into buying her balloons and big frog stuffed animals lol... she loves them mom. While I was in line at BJs there was a huge line behind us. Anya took it upon herself to smile away and ham it up for her audience. They gave her smiles and praise back. ;)
When I got home I gave Anya her lunch and a bottle. Here is a photo of her holding the bottle herself. She held it until the last few sips which I helped her with.

Toast yum!

Anya now eats toast! Today I put soft cheese on it and she loved it. She has become a pro at eating her puffs now and after putting a few on her tray they are gone in minutes. I used to find all of them on the floor or stuck to the inside of her hand but now I only find a half of one hanging around. :)

Saturday night I came down with Anya's bug and it hasn't been fun. I am still feeling pretty blah and icky. Dwight took today off to be an extra help with Anya.

I am SO happy that we are in February.. Spring starts next month.. hooray!

I will try and post once a day this month.. It's a short month.. hope I can live up to my goal ;)