the in between times

I think I can safely assume that most, if not all, will agree with me that the month of December is busy, and that just because the 25th is over and done with, things don't necessarily slow down.  The week between Christmas and New Years is pretty busy for Jesse and me, and I'm sure other people can agree.

Christmas was, of course, awesome: I love spending time with my family, and my aunt from Florida was able to brave the cold to spend the holiday with us in Findlay: without turning into a Popsicle.  We had a great time playing games, eating tons of food, playing "pass the baby," talking, and drinking some coffee (or in Jesse's case, an entire pot..).  Truly her mother's daughter, Lily slept through all the present-opening, leaving me the difficult task of opening her presents ::note: sarcasm::.  We got to stop in and see Mom and Dad H on the way home, but not long enough unfortunately.  We ran into some difficulties on the way out of town that delayed us..I dropped Jesse off at George House for our leaving-town-drinks, then ran to fill up the car.  Not only did Lily and her car seat tip over when I turned (a normal turn, I'm not a crazy driver!), but once I got to the pump, I couldn't find my wallet!  So we had to go back to pick up Jesse before we could get gas..just took too much time and it was late by the time we got to Zanesville.

Anyway, pictures!

 

4 generations

Well, at least half of us were looking at the camera.  But this picture reminds me: I never posted the one of Jesse's side!!  Oops.  Without further ado..

I love this picture.  Even though Mom H and Jesse are the only ones looking at the camera, Grandpa Brennan looks so cute with Lily (and wouldn't give her up!) and Grandma Brennan has the sweetest little smile.  

That's about it for now!  Except that I think I can say with 85% certainty that Lily is starting teething..she's been drooling all over the place for a few weeks, her sleep schedule is less than normal during the day, fussier than normal, and she always has a fist, fingers, or blanket in her mouth.  Maybe I'm wrong, but it's a guess.  Jesse and I are looking forward to our annual New Years bash with family: pictures and a blog about that after the fact, I'm sure.  I'm still trying to unpack and get laundry done from Christmas, and we're heading out on Thursday!

 

hands and feet

So I found a recipe online today to make your own "clay" for hand and feet impressions.  

Excellent.  Evening project :)

Jesse and I enjoyed making this, and have officially decided to do them every Christmas.  After it's dry, the idea is that we'll hang it in a shadow box next to a Christmas picture of Lily and put it in her room.  Assuming we keep this going and do it yearly, we'll have a cute progression, starting with her first Christmas. 

The recipe is super easy, and I'm adding it here for all my friends who might want to make some as well:

1 cup baking soda

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tablespoon salt

3/4 cup water

Bring to a boil over high heat.  Turn heat to low and continue stirring until the mixture is thick and creamy, and hard to stir.  Remove from heat; knead with your hands when cool, then flatten with a rolling pin.  

See?  Easy.  The recipe recommended using a chopstick to poke a hole in the top for hanging purposes, or adding jewels/decorations while the clay is still wet, and definitely dating the project!!

little feet..look at that runner's stance!

and now for the hand..

you can kind of see the red sparkles I added to my nails..

 tada!

It took us two tries to get it..the first one we decided I didn't press her hand and foot in deep enough to really get the impression.  The perfectionist in me didn't like that she curled up her hand once it was in the clay, making her index and pinky fingers deeper, but Jesse said to leave it.  I guess I agree: we'll never get it perfect, which is fine and very true.  We could mess with it all day until the clay dries and this just shows more character.

I guess that's it!  It was a lot of fun, super easy, and will look cute on her wall.  And I'm sure we'll get better with each year we do it!

talking

Lily has been kind of fussy and grumpy this week, which has been awesome, and I think part of it is because she is realizing when someone who is not me is holding her.  Swell.  I've been trying to put her down as much as I can- either doing Tummy Time, her swing or the activity mat- but since she's been on her napping strike, the few minutes that she actually is asleep makes it hard for me to put her down where I know she'll just wake up.  Oh, the joys of learning how to be a parent.  

Regardless, we have started using a Bumbo seat.  She loves it.  I love it.  Win.  Yesterday, she just sat in it and talked to us for half an hour.

Also in this video, you can see how she is trying to find her thumb..and failing miserably.  It's a valiant effort, but she obviously is just not finding it.  She also has this thing for the feel of cloth on her tongue, so blankets make her happy, too, and she is always grabbing whichever one we have her wrapped in to put in her mouth (sound familiar, Tracy Rath?).  If she's tired and wanting to sleep, she'll quite happily take a pacifier and keep it in her mouth (without duct tape!  haha, just kidding..), but otherwise she prefers her fist or a blanket to soothe herself. 

That's about it from here..looking forward to seeing family on Thursday!!

Lily and the dog let me sleep in until 845a this morning.  Whoa.  I don't remember the last time I got to sleep in so long!  It was glorious, and I woke up feeling good and ready to go, so that always is a great way to start the day. 

I feel that this past week has been really busy..which everyone can say, I'm sure.  Leading up to the holidays is obviously a busy time, but since this is the first time I've done it with our little pint-sized family member, it's more of an adventure than normal.  Plus, yesterday, she decided just not to sleep.  I think I got an hour's worth of catnaps throughout the whole day..so yes, it made for a long day, which was awesome since I had a list of things that needed to get done, and couldn't just sit at home with a fussy/grumpy baby.  So everyone got to see Lily in all her unhappy glory yesterday.  I was given what I consider a high compliment yesterday: at a Christmas cookie exchange, when Lily was screaming her head off, one of the mother's looked at me and said "you are so calm through all her crying.."  I consider this a win, because obviously, this was not the case when we first brought her home!!

The cookie exchange was a lot of fun though: I got out of the house and came home with some delicious baked treats!  Of course, I heard about it and decided to go on Wednesday, which gave me two days to bake 6 dozen sugar cookies, but we managed just fine.  Jesse even helped, and colored the icing for me (blue, purple and a pinkish-red [so hard to make red icing!!!]).

We have one more Christmas party today, and I will post pictures of that later..Lily will be busting out her precious Christmas dress, so we will definitely have documentation.  

BUT, to hold you over on pictures of Lily..from this morning: I've finally discovered how to get her to be ok/enjoy tummy time, so we got some good smiles this morning.  She has some of the greatest facial expressions.

Jesse asked me if we were biased about how cute we think Lily is..and I told him "of course not..we just seriously have THE cutest baby girl in the entire world..that's the truth, not biased" haha ok, maybe a little biased..or a lot.  We both feel really blessed with such a happy and good baby, who just happens to be adorable.  

Oh, and lastly..Jesse found me this really awesome blog with give-aways and recipes to follow.  And if I give them a shotout in my post, I'm eligible for an entry to one of their drawings!  So here ya go, Honeyville Farms!  Be sure to check 'em out, they have some pretty neat recipes!

gingerbread house

As promised, our gingerbread house!  We got a Wilton house kit from the YMCA Christmas party that we went to a weekend or two ago, and Jesse and I had so much fun making it, we decided to try and make it a tradition :) I think it's kind of premature to refer to something done once as "tradition" or "annual", but we're going to try and make it so.  Of course, doing a kit is fine for a year or two, but Jesse has already told me I need to figure out how to make good gingerbread so we can make the whole shebang from scratch.  Woohoo.  

getting things set up

filling the icing bag

entertaining ourselves while Jesse assembled walls

cut to bath time..this is what happens when Jesse brushes Lily's hair:: mohawk

letting the icing dry

day 2

tada!!

 

cheeeeeese!!!

Lily wasn't too participatory this year, but we figure in a few years, we'll have a kid's house and an adult's house: Jesse admitted to seeing himself being too particular to let the kids help with his, haha 

That's it for tonight!

swimming

Official decision: it's crazy how fast babies develop.

That being said..Lily has recently started to become more interactive.  She sees and recognizes toys, and has been starting to try and reach for them.  We have a light up butterfly on her car seat/carrier deal that plays "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" that she will just stare at with the biggest smile on her face (sidenote: Jesse jokingly said that if he heard "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" ONE more time, he was going to throw something.  So I made it play again and told him it was now the alphabet song..and after that, "Ba-Ba Black Sheep."  He had to agree, and therefore, I won).  The other morning, I walked into her room to get her out of her crib where she'd been babbling and just starting to get fussy and as soon as she saw me, she gave me the biggest gummy smile she could and it just made my heart melt.  When your baby recognizes you, and gives you the biggest smile, all the night feedings, diapers and maybe even some frustration all become worth it.  

Yesterday, Jesse, Lily and I went to a swim meet at the Y because I told my friend, Julia, that I would take pictures for her.  Jesse quickly got roped into helping time the events, and while Lily was happy in an exer-saucer for awhile, I decided I didn't like leaving her in it and ended up carrying her around in a front pack for the rest of the meet.

I filled the bathtub with water tonight and sat with Lily in it to give her a bath.  She was a little confused, but I think she enjoyed splashing around.  Maybe she'll be a swimmer as well as a soccer player..

That's about it from here I guess..Jesse and I are in the process of making a ginerbread house: I will post pictures next time maybe!!

Pets

This week's I Heart Faces challenge was "Pets."  The picture I took was not even close to the one I had in mind, but Lily's expression just was too funny for me to use a different one..

I think they will be great friends in a few years.

Check out the other entries at I Heart Faces!

pictures, pictures, pictures

A few weeks ago, Jesse and I had family pictures taken at the park.  We thought it'd be fun, and found one last nice day before the weather turned ridiculously cold on us to have the talented Liz take our pictures.  You can go to my Picasa site to see all the pictures, but here are a few of my favorites!!

Lily stubbornly refused to look at the camera for the majority of the time, and even though she was smiling a whole ton before we started, she didn't crack another grin until we were almost done.  Stubborn, just like her mama..anyway, enjoy!

and December is here!

Half the time, I feel that too much is going on..and the other half of the time, nothing at all.  So sorry about the serious lack of updates..but either I feel I don't have time, or that I have nothing interesting to report.  I still feel I have nothing to report, but I'm going to anyway :)

We had a great Thanksgiving with Jesse's parents, Matt and Erin.  It's always a ton of fun when we can all be together, even if it's not for very long.  On Thursday, my dad's side of the family all got together in Columbus for a meal, and Jesse and I drove over for a little bit so everyone could meet Lily.  It's getting a little easier to travel with her, but still I'm still not overly comfortable with it.  Not sure why, it's not hard..and everyone will understand if/when I'm late, but still.  Anyway, on Saturday, Mom and Dad H, Jesse, Lily and I went to Springfield to meet some of Mom H's side of the family, which was fun too :) Lily got lots of lovin' this past week, and Jesse and I got to see a lot of family too.

I've really been noticing this past week or two how much Lily is developing, pretty much right before my eyes.  She's just going to town.  She's always been a mover, but now it's not just wiggling but more kicking and flailing her arms; additionally, she's started to get a lot more vocal and not just squeaking and whining but..well, I'm not sure what to call it.  But she's making a lot more noise, that's for sure, and seems to be trying to tell us something.  Or, just is entertained by the sounds she can make.  The smiles are coming much more often, and I keep thinking we're on the verge of a laugh (which I'm really looking forward to..).

This video isn't the best..as soon as I get the camera out, she stops moving or doing whatever it is I'm trying to capture.  Clearly, she is difficult like her mama..but anyway, you get the general idea.  I sent a video to my family earlier this week of her kicking the ball and we all have determined she's going to be a soccer player (shock of shocks, I know).

We got our first snow here yesterday..I found it appropriate that the area wait until we were officially into December to send some snow..and it's already sticking to the ground.  So I'm not really looking forward to what this winter is going to dump on us, but I've heard along the lines as last year.  Ugh.  At least we have a nice and warm house to be in this year, and lots of hot chocolate in the pantry!!

That's about it for now..today is my first day back at work!  Lily is going with me for a few hours, then Jesse is going to come work out after work and take her back home with him while I finish up.  We'll see how this all goes!!

Scenic B&W

This week's I Heart Faces challenge was "scenic b&w."  Because of the holiday and traveling, I didn't have time to go out and take a new picture, so I just pulled one from my archives: a picture of me when we went camping at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  Hands down, one of the most beautiful and breath-taking places I've ever been..and I've been blessed enough to travel to several amazing places!

I look pretty rough, but please note the fact we were tent camping! 

thankful

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I've been thinking a lot this week about the different things that I am thankful for.  Jesse and I were talking at the beginning of the week how I seem more "frustrated, stressed and grumpy" recently because I am still trying to adjust to a baby, dog and keeping a house clean and all of us fed.  Apparently I'm not handling it as well as I thought I was ;) Regardless, it got me thinking about how blessed I am, and how much I really have to be thankful for.

Because I'm thankful for so much and have so many blessings in my life, I'm going to skip the everyday ones and share some of the more recent ones I've realized.
I'm thankful for:
- Lily being such a good baby..even when yesterday she spit up on both of us and had a massively explosive diaper before 9am, and then peed on me later in the day..
- the fact Lily is now sleeping about 8 hours at a stretch in the night..and then letting me sleep for another two hours before actually getting up for the day.
- a warm, comfortable house that is almost completely unpacked
- the ability to spend holidays with family and to drive to see them and not have to fly
- being able to work out and run again!
- oh, and for working at/being a member of the Y where there is babysitting so I can work out and know someone is taking care of Lily.  And then take a shower that lasts longer than 5 minutes!!
- coffee.  Seriously.  Thank you, God, for coffee.  
- Jesse still having a job!
- being able to get things done during the day..even when my to-do list takes all week because Lily doesn't nap during the day, I feel so accomplished when I get it done.
- when Zeke cooperates..and isn't being a pain.  I am so thankful and grateful for these moments..

- the kennel that takes care of Dog so we don't have to worry about him while we're gone (and get a break!)

The list could seriously go on.  And on and on.  But you get the idea.

I'm really looking forward to heading to Zanesville tomorrow for Thanksgiving with Jesse's side of the family.  I'm sure I'll have pictures from that to post at some point.  I guess I should think about packing..oh, and we got family pictures taken over the weekend, so if you're not on Facebook, I'll post some of them at some point so you can see :)

Paper

This week, the I Heart Faces challenge was Paper.  I had some absolutely brilliant ideas (one of which involved building a huge paper boat out of cardboard and newsprint and sitting Lily in it..), but they would have taken much more time and creative ability than I had available this week!  So instead, I captured Jesse and Zeke bonding one evening.  Simple, but I like it..and I think my favorite part is Zeke resting his head on Jesse's lap.

still learning..

I have recently learned a few things about Lily.  Not necessarily babies in general, but mine specifically.  I know all babies are different, so I tried to keep an open mind about what kinds of things Lily would and would not like, and what will pacify her and not rely on my previous experiences with children.  Just because it worked for one baby and one family doesn't mean I will be so fortunate!  So, through lots of trial and error, I think we're getting there.

Ok, first thing I've learned: she hates getting the hiccups.  And she gets them often.  Very.  Often.  I thought that I got the hiccups a lot (and had them during my entire labor..that was neat), but she gets them far more frequently.  And sometimes they seem kind of violent and definitely upset her then.  I hate it when they wake her up from a nap.

Speaking of naps, thing two I've learned: she doesn't like to nap but for short catnaps.  Not a problem since she's pretty happy..it's not like she's fighting sleep, and she still sleeps like a champ at night.  She's just not interested in them, which means I have a hard time getting things done.  And because of this, I realized this week I need to change my plan of attack.  I need some activity mats and an exer-saucer so I can keep her busy while I try and be productive.  She will sleep if I carry her around in a front pack- which works for a good chunk of the time, but there is only so much you can do with a little baby strapped to your chest.  I'm getting pretty creative with this though, so maybe I'll be able to do more as time goes on.  Jesse and I may need to just break down this weekend and go get her an exer-saucer..or something that I can sit her in to keep her happy while I make dinner and fold laundry.

Third thing: she loves her daddy.  Whenever I pass her to Jesse in the evenings so I can go clean something up, she falls asleep.  I don't know how he does it..he just has a magic and soothing touch.

I guess that's all I've learned about her recently.  Now for the things that she has learned!

1) she has discovered her tongue.  She keeps licking her lips and just flicking her tongue in and out of her mouth like a snake.  I told her she wasn't one, of course, but she keeps doing it.  And she also now enjoys licking her fist when she's not trying to stuff her whole fist in her mouth.  

2) she rolled over!  Some might argue that it doesn't count because she rolled from her stomach to her back (probably the easier of the two ways), but she did it 5 times one morning, so I'm counting it.  Once would have been written off as a fluke, but I'm keeping it.  

Jesse's letting me count it too, even though he said it looked more like a flop.  I don't care, she rolled or "flopped" 5 times, I say she did it on purpose.  

That's it I guess!