11.28.2012

20 Weeks with our little Love Bug

Okay, so oddly enough I've written 3 posts and am only now publishing them - oops!  It's always a picture thing with me.  I'm horrible at taking the time to take the photos and go through the process of getting them from camera to here.  Okay, who am I kidding.  It seems like every time I think of taking a photo or Kevin is home to take one, I'm in yoga pants...or pajamas.  Ha.  And one of these days I'll swallow enough pride that I'll just post pictures of that!

But thankfully this post is not about me.  It's about our sweet second baby....the one we saw YESTERDAY!  (Tuesday)  Yay, so much fun.  I was so nervous and excited, and Selah just loved it!  She sat on her daddy's lap the whole time with her thumb in her mouth, just staring at the screen.  As I predicted, this little one is straight up and down, head down.  (Sounds like a great position to stay in!;)  I think it's so neat that what I thought I was feeling was correct.  And this one has felt low with the punches!  At first he or she was facing my back, but then flipped over.  So we got several face shots, which was amazing!  Selah was sleepy and curled towards my back when she was in my belly for that ultrasound, so we really didn't see her face that well.  Also, last time I had an anterior placenta, but this time it's in the back.  Which hopefully means I'll see those body parts more distinctively towards the end.

Our technician was very sweet, which I was thankful for because I always ask a million questions and am so excited.  She was a good sport with our gender revealing plan, which was having her check the box next to BOY or GIRL, inside a card that has "We're having a..." written on the outside.  I made it out of cardstock before we left the house, and we took an envelope that we couldn't see through that she sealed it in!  I am so excited to find out...but really excited that it will be a Christmas present.  The funny thing is our little one would not even uncross his or her legs for anything.  So we almost thought the tech wasn't going to even be able to see at all.  Which would have been hilarious.  Modest little one I guess. :)  Of course I tried to read into every little thing the lady said, even about her own kids, trying to listen for any clues.  So we'll see!  Yesterday I thought for sure it was a boy, but today I'm back to being undecided.  The two things different with this pregnancy are, 1) My regular craving for donuts or cinnamon rolls or frosted sugar cookies (sweet carbs) - so weird.  (But JUST like Daddy!)  And 2) The way the baby is laying.  Other than that, I feel like my belly shape is pretty similar, and my hips are once again seeming to make their way even further outward.  (Hello, carb problem maybe?? ;)  My sickness also eased up more around 18 weeks rather than 20+ like last time.


Either way, seeing that little one, while feeling him or her move in my belly never gets old.  I have been so tired and of course busy with Selah that I make myself stop and take time to truly savor this pregnancy.  Because it really does feel like it's flying by, and I really do love having a little one growing in my womb.  It's always incredible and the most humbling experience I've ever known.

So, other fun facts:

How far along: 20 weeks (Okay, actually 21 weeks now!)

Size of baby: Banana

Gender:  Finding out on Christmas!!!

Name:  We've had the same names chosen for quite awhile, we continue pray over them...

Sickness:  Pretty much gone - yay!  Though I still strongly dislike the lingering smell at night after cooking dinner.

Other symptoms:  Back pain, fatigue, emotional; also, sleeping wasn't great at all in the beginning, but I've had some very good nights...probably since I brought out the infamous and huge pregnancy pillow!

Fun things this week:  Ultrasound of course; also having the Christmas tree up and decorated, listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's Holiday channel on Pandora each day, and playing with the nativity with Selah, as well as seeing her fascinated by all the other Christmas things!  Though so far she's respecting our tree boundaries, and knows she can play with the little one that is her own. :)

I'm feeling so thankful and reflective.  I am also missing the beautiful weather though. In the last few years Winter has not been my favorite.  But I still love this time of year and I do hope it snows!

That's about all for now...it's taken me two days to write this, and Selah is fighting her nap...I'm guessing those two teeth she's waiting for on the bottom are trying to pop through.  As evidenced by her chewing on her fingers the last few days!

11.20.2012

19 weeks with Baby #2

Okay, so technically I'll be 20 weeks (yay!) on Thursday, but oh well.  I'm finally writing!  Let's talk about this little one.  I am so happy to say I'm pretty sure I'm past the nauseousness and sickness.  I mean, something really gross might throw me over the edge, but I am thrilled nonetheless to eat (somewhat) normally.  It kind of happened gradually, where just in the last few days I've realized I'm not so sick.  So thankful.  Now, I'm exhausted.  Like, can't shake the fatigue no matter how much rest I get tired.  But it's all good.  I'm over the moon thankful to have this little one growing inside me, so much that at times I want to burst into tears.  I just love this little one like I've already held and snuggled him or her.  And it's so awesome that he or she is starting move more.  I love those wiggles!!!  This one feels a little more up and down than Selah did, so I'll be so curious to see this baby on the ultrasound - which is a week from today!!  Okay, here's the stats:

How far along: 19 (and 1/2) weeks

Size of the baby:  A mango!  I love mangos! ;)

Gender:  Our ultrasound is next week, BUT we are going to have the technician circle it on a piece of paper and put it in a box that I will wrap up and put under our tree for Christmas!  I know, we are super duper crazy - and I hope we will last.  But I kind of want to feel like a kid at Christmas time.  It's not always easy to create that feeling as an adult.  I am so seriously curious and anxious to know though.  I feel like I will be shocked either way, as weird as that may sound.  My pregnancies have been so similar so far that I'll be shocked if it's a boy.  That shock would mostly be because I don't have one of those yet! Ha!  I feel like I'll be equally shocked if it's a girl because I would be thrilled for Selah to have a sister - something I don't have.  I have had days of getting super excited for either though, and I just can't make a good guess.  I can imagine and desire both, so too bad I'm not having twins.  Ha - joking.  Though I obviously wouldn't oppose it, I am trusting God knows exactly what I can handle well at this time!! :)

Cravings/Aversions:  I still can eat anything sweet at anytime.  It's weird.  Last time I remember thinking how thankful I was to not feel like overeating or eating a lot of one thing.  I try to be pretty picky about being healthy, especially when I'm pregnant.  This time I'm a little weirded out that I am so into sweets and dessert type things...I'm not even like that much when I'm not pregnant!  As of the last appt. I hadn't gained much weight...we'll see how we're doing next week!  I am also a huge fan of any and all fruit at any time.  And lately I've loved a good salad (which is generally true, but usually I can't keep it down during the first half of pregnancy)....so maybe that evens things out.

Baby movement:  Happening right now, most often in the afternoon, (when I rest), and at night, (when I rest).

How I feel:  Well, even though I weigh less than I did now than at this point in my pregnancy with Selah, I feel somewhat huge and frumpy.  Not sure if it's a winter thing or what, but I can only imagine what I'll feel like when little love is full grown in there!!  Oh my.  Last time I lived in sundresses, skirts, and tanktops...and had a tan, so I don't know.  Maternity jeans and sweaters feel a whole lot different.  But seriously who cares.  I love my ever expanding belly and I am not one to stand in front of a mirror analyzing myself.  That's the beauty of being almost 32.  No thank you to self criticism and comparisons.  I'm thankful for this body and even for what these most precious little children add to it.  Wouldn't give it up for anything.  (and I'm sure my What to Expect emails will not delay in sending me workout tips after I have this one...that took me by surprise last time...especially after months of telling me to remember to feed my baby! ;)

What's going on with us:  Selah is funny with as much personality and energy as ever.  Wow.  We keep quite busy at home, but take great naps! :)  We put up our Christmas tree and have been listening daily to the Steven Curtis Chapman holiday channel on Pandora since Sunday.  For some reason this year more than any other I have been aching to get this Christmas spirit started.  Maybe it's because Selah is old enough to notice and start some traditions.  I'm not a big Halloween fan, and I do love Thanksgiving, but I don't go by any set of holiday rules.  I say decorate when you want and enjoy as long as possible!  (and I'm a super duper procrastinator...last year during new baby times, I'm not sure the tree ever got fully decorated.  So I've been pretty determined not to miss out this year.)  At the end of the day...I'm sure it's nesting. :)

Can't wait for:  Our appointment Tuesday and seeing our sweet one's face!!  I think the reality of having two totally different kids will possibly start to hit me then.  And I think it's such a turning point/bonding experience to have that ultrasound.  Can't wait for details!  Though I also pray heavily through my nerves.

One more thing: Have I mentioned that I'm kind of a looney tune, crazy person when pregnant?  Well, it's officially true.  I try to tell my husband this when he thinks I'm acting weird, but it seriously sometimes feels like I'm so different.  Sometimes I think my emotions have a mind of their own.  (That might also be why I sound different if I do!)  I try to keep it together in public though, so don't get your hopes up for any good entertainment if you see me. ;)

What God is teaching me:  That in this big crazy world there are so many ideas, philosophies, and much advice to be had out there...but I must first and foremost pray for my parenting of the two uniquely created little ones he's given to us.  God has convicted me of this lately.  I am learning to have confidence that he can uniquely and individually inspire and teach me with just exactly what I'll need as a parent, which might look different than someone else and their family.  And of course I can always learn by others being inspired and taught by him as well!  At the end of the day, as a parent it's always time to talk to him!

11.13.2012

18 weeks with Baby #2

Well, I have to admit I feel kind of bad after writing that post title....because this is the first real pregnancy update I've written for our second little love!  Oh my...time to get writing and photographing this belly.  Speaking of belly, it slowly crept up on me and it was so funny at 16 weeks when I was changing my clothes and looked down and was like, whoa, there's my belly!  And the bigger it gets the tighter it gets too...ha ha.  Second baby bellies definitely aren't quite so taut and tight as those first baby bellies, but I'm definitely over that.  I just love being pregnant, partly because my stomach is supposed to stick out and I don't have to try and suck it in anymore.  Ha.


I will say I feel like so far I'm carrying much the same.  The whole pregnancy has been a lot the same, so I'm super eager to find out what we're having.  Speaking of which, our big ultrasound appointment is at the end of November, but we're going to have the technician put it on a piece of paper in a box, I'm going to wrap it up and we're going to open it on Christmas morning!  I love that we'll get to experience such anticipation this year.  I have been aching to decorate for Christmas, more than ever....which is so crazy because I really don't spend that much time or energy decorating on a normal basis at all.  (Not that I don't want to...I'm just not great at it.)  But I guess having Selah, being pregnant, and feeling very nostalgic about it all definitely increases my desire to get the season started. 

Okay, this post is going to be random and get off track if I don't do one of those list things...so here goes -

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: An orange!

Gender: Don't know yet, but we are finding out at Christmas.  Some days I have strong feelings about what we're having, other days I would be shocked with either.  All I know is, I'm just excited to have a tiny, squishy sweet baby in my near future!! (But I can't wait to find out)

Name:  We constantly pray about this during our pregnancies, wanting God to truly make the call.  We've always had our boy name since before our first pregnancy, and that's the same.  (There's a second boy name we love too, if we ever had two little guys.)  We had our second favorite girl name when we were pregnant with Selah, and that has stayed the same as well.  There really aren't any others I even like enough right now to consider.  I love them both, a lot because the meaning is so important to us.  We really are surrendering them and praying over them for affirmation though.  And I'm way more tempted to share this time around, though as of right now we plan on keeping them secret.

How I feel:  Well, much like with Selah, it's been rough.  The fatigue has been way worse, I'm sure because my energy goes a lot more to taking care of a toddler now.  But I will say the nauseousness really took a break between weeks 16 and 17, then kind of came back in a bad way this past week.  It does seem that not getting enough sleep, (due to time changes, elections, and staying up too late), has a negative effect on this.  And during that week I felt good I was almost overly productive...I sewed a new bag, made all kinds of decorating and crafting plans, wanted to start a business, came up with all kinds of new dreams for my life, etc.  You can see why I might have crashed this week.  I think when nesting hits me, it hits me hard!  Mostly because I am just not quite that productive of a person on a regular basis.  All that to say, this whole pregnancy I've been keeping my eyes on weeks 20-25, because if it's much like with Selah, the sickness will be totally over by then.  So I'm almost there and that is great!  And I'm already throwing up and dry heaving much less...which let's be honest - that's the biggest relief of all.

Cravings:  Considering nothing usually sounds good, I have had sudden moments of really wanting something sweet.  Like, say, a pumpkin pie blizzard!  Or donuts, oreos, cinnamon rolls.  I know, sounds so healthy.  But that's the good part about being so nauseous...I haven't really gained more than a pound yet probably because it's been so hard for me to eat much...so I know I need the calories and I'll take them however I can keep them down!  I also once again love fruit this pregnancy, (peaches instead of pears this time) and do not have much use for meat.  (I finally officially banned the cooking of any more bacon indoors until the end of this pregnancy.  That smell is the absolute worst for me right now!)  Unfortunately mexican food doesn't usually sit well with me either, which is super abnormal for me on a regular basis.

Movement:  Actually, I felt some funny stuff way early on in this pregnancy, then haven't felt much more really.  But yesterday this little one made his or her presence known with a big movement one time, and today I started feeling some wiggling going on in there.  I'm definitely ready to be feeling this baby more full time.  I just love it when that starts.

Favorite family moments:  Kevin definitely likes when my belly starts getting bigger and he can "see" the baby growing.  And he starts talking to him/her more.  We like to ask Selah where the baby is, and yesterday she pointed to herself!  But she likes poking on my belly button and smiling real big.  I never know whether to teach her to say "belly" or "baby"....I mean, I don't want to confuse her anatomy knowledge or anything! ;)

I am truly in awe of how quickly this pregnancy is going...as evidenced by the fact that I keep missing my weekly pictures.  (I know, that sounds crazy...but if you're a procrastinator and it's your second pregnancy...this can be a problem!)  Everytime I turn over a new week I think, okay, I need to take a photo.  Then it will be Tuesday, then it's already Thursday and another new week has begun!  Oh my goodness.  I've got to get some routine with this whole thing.  I actually made this super cute banner at the very beginning and started taking weekly photos, even with a clever velcroed number changing system...then lost my gumption when it was kind of too hard to get it all in a photo...and the number making required a little more planning.  I'm so crazy.

I'm also definitely praying over this little one so much.  It's tough not to struggle with anxiety during a pregnancy...so much trust involved.  And in some ways I think my nerves have been a little bad this time around because life is so crazy that I don't have nearly the same kind of time to just sit and savor.  But I keep praying my heart out and doing my best to care for our much loved baby #2. It feels like it's wearing me out in a whole new way this time, but I do really love being pregnant.  I actually almost burst into tears the other day when I was out somewhere and suddenly realized I was practically half way through my pregnancy!  When it goes by so fast sometimes it feels like your missing it a little.  We've gotten to hear the heartbeat 3 times now, and I just love that sound.  At our 12 week appt. the little one was wiggling around and the dr. had to catch him/her.  I thought that was funny.

One more thing...cloth diapers.  We still do it full time except for the occasional eczema flare up (that requires using a certain lotion), and we still (mostly) love it.  Toddler cloth diapering during pregnancy = potentially challenging.  If Kevin wasn't such a trooper, I couldn't do the dirty ones during these nauseous days.  But for the most part, I've made it through and we're doing fine.  I have a whole new cloth diaper post in the works, so that's all I'll say for now.

That's my current update for Baby Love #2!  My head is in a complete fog, but my heart is full.

11.12.2012

Life with a One Yr. Old

Well, I struggled through timely monthly updates of our Selah girl, but have yet to round out her first year with a one-yr-old update. Today she is 14 months, (which is just crazy), but we have truly embraced life with our little toddler. I'm going to do my very best to recap how she's grown and changed over the last, um, 3 or so months;), before my pregnant memory loses it all completely!





Back in August, a couple weeks before her first birthday, Selah started amazing us with her new ability to stand on her own, which quickly grew into her taking 4 or 5 steps then falling down. It was so cute, as it seemed she wanted to run rather than walk, so could never quite keep her balance. And oh my goodness we just went crazy the first time she even walked with one of those little push toys. We were kind of hilarious and ridiculous with our excitement. As other moms know, it's just so crazy amazing to see these milestones reached and these little ones work their little hearts out to accomlish them. I have mentioned it before, but I've never been one to be overly eager for her to reach certain milestones by certain moments. If anything, I've tried to hold onto every little baby stage she's gone through, for as long as she wants to stay there! She army crawled for the longest time, I think maybe even until she was 10 months old or so. Now I wish I could see that little crawl just one more time. :) That said, I've grown in my ability to joyfully move forward with her, and now I just know each new phase and stage will bring with it something delightful of its own. By her first birthday she was still taking just a handful of steps on her own, unless somewhat assisted. Then, about 3 weeks ago, we stayed with some high schoolers while their parents were out of town, and they had wood floors. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it, but when we came home she just started walking. And that was it. The actual date was October 14th. Then we just started staring in amazement and laughing when she would just "toddle" to wherever she wanted to go, walking into a room like she knew just why she was there.


Since then we feel like she has gone from a baby to a little girl for sure. Such personality and spunk, our little one has. Especially in the last couple weeks it seems. She moves like she is on a mission, and she seems to view each toy and new discovery the same way. She is always babbling and "talking" while playing, and has quite the neat sounding foreign language. :) She can be very focused, and will study something and work at it very intently before moving on. Sometimes we think she can be quite serious, but she quickly reminds us of her silly side. She is so extremely ticklish and will absolutely laugh her head off. Now it's especially cute because October was apparently "get all the rest of my teeth" month. Seriously, she seems to have nearly an entire mouthful, with just a few missing. This might be embarrassing to admit, but I have never once picked up anything like "What to Expect the First Year," or any other books like that, probably mostly because I got a little burnt out during my pregnancy with the first What to Expect book....not because I didn't really love the information, but sometimes it would cause me unnecessary anxiety or cause me to get a bit to fixated on some things. I also probably enjoy getting a lot of info. and ideas from other mom blogs of women I really respect. And I have heard from enough people to know that babies are all so very different in their development, and it can be tough enough not to compare sometimes. So anyway, this teeth thing has thrown me for a loop, because I certainly wasn't expecting her to have so many by now! She had 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom) for the longest time, then we went to my mom's at the beginning of October and she didn't sleep great. The day we got home I was changing her and noticed some big back teeth coming in. The it was fast and furious from there. But I am definitey thankful to be able to worry a whole lot less about the choking thing. That kind of freaks me out sometimes. I will say, sticking with the teeth theme, we have been brushing her teeth for a long time and thankfully she loves this part of her routine! I feel like "teeth" is one of the first words we could tell she understood. Well, that and "bathtime!"
Speaking of bathtime, also around when she turned one or a little before we would say, "It's bathtime," and I would sing my little song, then she would start making her way into the bathroom in our bedroom and we would follow. She definitely always looks forward to this nightly routine, and I am thankful. It probably has something to do with Daddy's puppet shows, as he often takes care of this part of our day. We often read a bible story and a couple of our favorite books during this time, probably because when she was itty bitty it was really the only time I felt like she would be attentive to reading and I wanted to take advantage of it! We love "The Goodnight Bible," "Bedtime Blessings for Little Girls," "I Love You This Much," "Bedtime Bunny," and "Mama (or Daddy) Hugs" for reading during this time. Awhile back we got a $10 set of 4 animal puppets at Costco that Kevin has given hilarious voices and personalities to. Sometimes they do the Bible story, and as long as I'm not in there, Selah is super focused on his shows. So funny.



One thing I want to remember forever and ever is Selah's super sweet thumb sucking and hair holding comfort technique. She used to take the wubbanub pacifier in the car or in her crib until about 9 months. She's never been one to really want it at times other than that. Then all the sudden she started sucking her thumb full time (which she occasionally did since she was born), and with the other hand she would hold her earlobe. So ridiculously precious. I think in the month before her first birthday she started holding my ponytail with the hand that wasn't in mouth, whenever I would hold her. She continues this, whenever I'm rocking her, taking her to go to sleep, or just in general when she gets tired or upset. I will treasure it forever, no matter when she stops. When she's going to sleep she now sucks her thumb and holds her own rapidly growing hair, instead of her ear. I just love Selah's details and feel like each day I'm desperate to memorize a new one!
Now onto the subject of eating. Talk about something else that has quite the interesting progression! As I've been so sick and fatigued from pregnancy, my baby food making took quite the nosedive. Making it more difficult to get those veggies in her. She seems to do fine with them from a spoon, but still isn't readily accepting them in chunks. She's such a texture girl. Now she will eat any and all fruit at any time, so I'm thankful for that. But I really need to up my creativity with those veggies and her meals in general. (Ideas anyone?) I know she can essentially eat whatever we eat, but at times that's easier said than done. Her mainstays are Ezekial bread, (cheese - oh my does this girl love cheese!), yogurt, turkey, fruit, scrambled eggs, cereal, veggies, (when offered the right way;), pasta, milk, pumpkin pancakes, (a new one), and of course, the oh so loved graham cracker. Oh my goodness does that girl love those graham crackers. She will walk over to the pantry, sit on the floor, and point up to them, desperately doing the please sign and hoping it will be one of those times when mommy or daddy says yes. So hilarious. Oh, that's another wonderful thing she started doing, almost the same day she started walking...she finally started signing the word please - yay!! I am a manner loving mama, (passed down from my own mom), so this makes my heart happy. I think she also tries to say thank you rather than sign it, but it comes out more like "tank." The funny thing is, she now says please with all desperation for everything...quite often. So hard to resist. :)



Other words she is saying often are "Mama," "Dada," "Hi," "Okay," and my favorite, "Whoa!" Not until she started saying it so often did I realize that I say a sort of 2 syllable, "Whoa-o," whenever she falls or something like that. So now it's her reaction to basically anything that surprises or amazes her. She also says something that means, "Chai," though I don't know if I could technically call it a word. When prompted she says "uh" for Up, and "muh" for more. And she loves to say "ball," and point to anything that remotely resembles one. She loves, loves any and all balls, and Kevin has already taught her to have quite the throw. She will carry them around everywhere. She's also started carrying a basket or a bucket on her arm and collecting things in them. Oh my goodness so cute. She looks like a little farm girl collecting eggs or flowers or something. And she loves to carry around little purses or wallets. Or she'll work forever at picking up my camera bag, even though it's really too big for her to handle. Though she has gotten it up and over that arm a time or two. She certainly delights in taking everything out of the diaper bag, or when I let her take the cards out of my wallet. She really seems to play with all kinds of things right now, willing to try everything at least once, and excited when something comes out that she hasn't seen in awhile.






Selah also loves, loves herself some music, especially praise and worship, probably because we play that a lot at home. Daddy taught her a long time ago to raise her hands to worship, and now she'll do it if we either start to sing about God, or say, "Praise Jesus!" (Or if she hears country music in the craft store. Ha ha. Not quite fool proof.) Of course we definitely get a kick out of this little habit of hers. And are always reminded to pray she truly grows into a young lady with a heart for worship!
As far as other things Selah really loves and pours her little playtime energy into are books and babies. She loves to take all the books out of the baskets and study them, and recently really started talking to them. So sweet. She doesn't always sit for the reading of a whole story, but I've started trying to read a book while she plays every once in while. I do think it will be fun when she snuggles in and asks us to read stories to her. And she loves her baby doll. I will say, "Love your baby," and she snuggles her close. She also has started putting her and other little stuffed toys into a basket with a blanket. She does also like her shape sorter toys, things that make noise, and her little game where the balls pop out. Oh, and the Elmo airplane car my sister in law passed down to us. It's basically fun to see her enjoy playing with so many things.


A couple other things she has started doing, even in the last couple days...throwing minor fits, (especially when she's in need of sleep and has to be told no about something - not my favorite), and running to greet her daddy when he gets home, (definitely his favorite!!) We are definitely in that place of working on first time obedience, and praying for wisdom while exploring some resources on the best way to do that while she is at the stage she is in. It can definitely be tough to know the just right thing to do that will be effective. I just realized how often I'm reminding myself to be calm and consistent. And to be graceful with ourselves as we imperfectly work at raising a respectful, God honoring little lady. We are definitely enjoying her and soaking in our life as a family. We realize how undeserving yet so blessed that we are.


A few other things she does...when she wakes up and I go to get her from her crib, she immediately gets excited and starts pointing at whatever wonderful thing on her dresser she's been looking at and wants to hold. When I put her down for naps or bedtimes, she'll often play peek-a-boo with me, by pulling the blanket up and waiting until I say, "Where's Selah?" It was so awesome a month or two ago when she did this for the first time. Totally cracked me up. She also likes to "help" let Chai out, and she's started wanting to see her picture on the camera after I take one of her. She started being able to turn herself around and get down off the couch or chair, and she scrunches up her face/furrows her brow in the funniest way when she doesn't like what you're saying or doing. And she all the sudden completely dislikes having to stop her playing when she needs her diaper changed. She also gets more afraid of loud noises outside than she used to, and will throw herself at me and wrap her arms around my neck. Oh, and when she started walking she also started blowing kisses. It's kind of like she all of a sudden started copying us and doing specific things we would teach her. It feels like so much changed when she began to really communicate with us more.
Well, that feels like a good summary of our little one and how she's growing. I did just write a whole paragraph and sleeping and nursing, but then erased it because I just don't feel like getting into it right now. Might deserve its own blog post after our experiences this year. :) I realized I could easily sum it up by saying she's sleeping through the night, taking 2 naps, and I'm still nursing 2 or 3 times a day. I kind of keep waiting for an automatic drying up, like the Dr. has said would happen during my pregnancy, so that's part of why I haven't decided to work any harder at weaning. Selah really isn't dependent or desperate about it, but likes the comfort and closeness particularly in the morning and before bedtime. (or if she's stalling at naptime I think - ha) But she can and has gone without as well. I just prefer slow transitions so it seems like that's what I'm trying to do. I think we're getting close though. I still totally relish that sweet and still time with her, while she looks at me and holds onto my hair. Especially now that she's more busy than ever.


I'm so thankful to be Selah's mom. And just like everyone says, it truly flies by. We were in Target today and I saw a new mom with her tiny little baby...and the past year just flashed before my eyes. Wow are there some trials and tough days...but oh how the sweet moments overshadow it all. Thankfully those first days and weeks stay so vivid in our memories, because though they pass quickly, they are just too special and amazing to forget. As are all the other weeks, months, and new beginnings I'm realizing. And talk about flying by...life has gone almost faster than I can photograph little baby #2! He or she definitely deserves some serious blog time. I guess that's what will be coming up next! :)