Lily's 40th Week (11/30/09 – 12/6/09)

I had to start work a half hour early on Monday so Paul had to drop Lily off at Kirsten’s house alone. That was probably a good thing because Lily doesn’t have any separation anxiety issues when he drops her off. Apparently she only misses mommy. Mondays are always the worst for separation anxiety and it probably would have been especially bad that day considering that we had four days together instead of two. While Lily was at Kirsten’s house, she continued to pull up on everything which meant that she fell down a number of times. She slipped while crawling on the wood floor and bit her lip but a Popsicle made her happy. She had a mark on her lip when I picked her up and still had the red line on her head from banging it on the chair on Sunday. Poor girl! I worry about her getting injured this week because we are scheduled to have her nine month pictures taken on Sunday. I don’t want her all bruised and battered for them! I threatened to wrap her in bubble wrap for the rest of the week but, luckily, she didn’t get any more injuries. Kirsten and I just tried our best to keep her off of our slippery wood floors as that is where both injuries occurred.

On Tuesday, Lily turned 9 months old! I can’t believe that my little girl is so big already. Looking back at old pictures, I am amazed at how much she has grown and changed. Every stage has been so exciting but the time seems to be passing by too quickly.

Most of the week was spent desperately trying to prepare for Christmas. I can’t believe that it’s already December. I only have about 1/10 of my Christmas presents purchased and nothing is wrapped. Usually I am done by now. It is hard shopping with a baby and I can’t find the time to go, anyway. I tried to do some shopping on Monday but couldn’t find anything I was looking for. Then I had to leave because Lily was getting hungry and fussy. I decided to give up and do the majority of my shopping this weekend but that didn’t work out as I will explain later. Instead, I focused this week on getting the house decorated for the holidays. I finally got Paul to bring down all of the Christmas totes from storage on Tuesday (I had been pestering him to do so since Sunday). Then I was up past midnight decorating the house as I can only get stuff done when everyone is asleep. I got everything done but the tree. To make room for the tree, we stashed the coffee table in the basement and put the ottoman where the coffee table was. It has been working out really well because we don’t have to worry about Lily pulling up on the coffee table and getting hurt anymore. Plus she always tried to crawl through the bottom of it. Even though our coffee table is round, it’s still hard and can still hurt her. On Wednesday, we got the tree up and put the lights on it only to discover that the middle strand of lights wasn’t working. Of course, we forgot to check the lights before putting them on the tree. I was up late again trying to change bulbs but couldn’t ever get it to work so I went to bed quite frustrated. Paul finally got the lights to work on Thursday by doing a high-tech method of shaking the strand really hard. Whatever works! So I finally got to put all of the decorations on the tree that evening. We are used to only putting breakable ornaments on the top half of the tree due to the cats’ inability not to attack shiny dangly objects but I was especially diligent because I didn’t know how Lily would be with the tree. I also made sure that the ornaments that were within her reach didn’t present choking hazards and put the hooks on the branches really tight. I thought that Lily would play with the ornaments or try to pull down the tree but she mostly just ignores it. It is right next to her play area but the most attention she pays it is to look at it every once in a while and bat at the branches occasionally. I am shocked because she usually wants to play with everything that is off limits (remotes, cell phones, keys) but I am so glad.

Auriel and Aneasha watched Lily on Friday because Kirsten had a full day of doctor appointments scheduled. Last week, Lily cried for ten minutes after we dropped her off but this week the transition went smoothly as she was asleep. She woke up happy for them and had a really good day. When we picked her up, we dropped Aneasha off at work then had to go straight to Pinckney High School to pick up the poinsettia plants from Rachel’s orchestra fundraiser. All of these stops meant that we didn’t get home until two hours after we got out of work. We always watch Monk together as a family on Friday nights as Rachel and I love the show so we sadly watched the very last episode of the series. Lily was in great spirits but was a little sniffly when she went to sleep. Unfortunately, her stuffiness intensified throughout the night and she barely slept due to her congestion. She was up crying for most of the night and could only really sleep sitting up lying on my chest. She only slept in short stints then would wake up crying, reposition herself, then fall back asleep for a little while so she never got any good quality sleep and I didn’t get any sleep at all. Paul took Lily and let me snooze a bit on Saturday morning but it was hard to sleep because Lily was crying a lot. We could tell that she didn’t feel well and she kept having giant goobery sneezes. She absolutely hates to have her nose wiped so she cried every time we tried to clean her up. She was tired but couldn’t comfortably sleep and was hungry but had trouble eating due to her congestion. The poor girl felt miserable. She finally took a nap later that morning sitting up on Paul then woke up in a much better mood. She was still ill but wanted to play which was a good sign. She took a fairly decent afternoon nap sitting up on me then woke up with a fever. I gave her some Tylenol and she seemed to stay in good spirits, despite her fever. I had to give her breastmilk in a bottle all day because it was quicker and easier for her to suck down than breastfeeding. She had to eat in quick gulps, gasping for air between them. Needless to say, I didn’t get any Christmas shopping done as I was busy tending to my sick baby all day. However, Paul did get the Christmas lights up on the house and the outdoor decorations in place so at least he got to accomplish something that day. He also went to our friends' house and picked up some baby gates that they generously gave us. Those things are expensive! Especially the big one that they used on their front porch that we are going to use to corral off the cactus and jade plant by the front window so that we don't have to get rid of them. We were very grateful.

Lily slept a little better on Saturday night but was still congested and needed to sleep sitting up. I propped her up next to me on a pillow which seemed to work pretty well. She appeared to be feeling better on Sunday and didn’t have a fever but was still very congested with nasty sneezes. We decided to keep our portrait appointment since she was in a fairly good mood. Plus I wanted to order our Christmas photo cards and get them sent out ASAP so I didn’t want to have to reschedule for next weekend and be a week later in mailing everything out. We got some family shots as well as some nine month pictures of Lily. She wasn’t super smiley but we got some good pictures which I will post separately. They did less poses and backgrounds than usual and we felt a little rushed but I know that they were really busy. They print your order within a half hour so we did some Christmas shopping at JCPenneys then picked up our pictures. Afterward, we went to Olive Garden for dinner. While we were there, we got a call from Kirsten. She was quite ill and wouldn't be able to watch Lily on Monday so we called Auriel to see if she and Aneasha could watch Lily for us again. They said that they would gladly watch her. We are so thankful that they are willing to be our ‘on-call’ caregivers. Paul will have to drop Lily off on Monday since I will be working at the Brighton Health Care Center. I was up pretty late on Sunday night trying to get address labels on the Christmas cards and write on the backs of all of the pictures. I still need to write our holiday letter. I have no idea when I will have time to do that but I need to get it done ASAP so that I can send out our Christmas cards. I may have to take Paul’s suggestion of writing, “We’ve been really busy, Happy Holidays.”

Here are some pictures from this week.

Lily fell asleep on the way home from Kirsten’s on Monday so we kept her in her carseat on the living room floor until she woke up. Her good friend, Amber, sat at her side guarding her until she woke up. It was so sweet:

Peeking over the coffee table on Tuesday:

Lily pulling up on the ottoman to see Reiley immediately after I got her off the coffee table. The girl refuses to stay down now that she can stand:

Rachel was reading on the loveseat so Lily grabbed a book all on her own and crawled over to show her big sister that she could be just like her:

I can read, too:

Lily and Amber reunited after work on Friday:

Lily happily chewing on a toy that she ripped off of her Exersaucer:

In a rare moment, she decided that she wanted to get an ornament off of the Christmas tree:

She pulled up on the ottoman to see me. I much prefer having the ottoman in front of the couch as opposed to the coffee table. I have no idea what Paul is pointing at in the background:

My sick little girl eating some shredded cheese on Saturday:

By the end, I think that more cheese was stuck to her chin than in her stomach:

Lily and I all dressed up and ready to go get our portraits taken on Sunday:

My little girl and I in front of our Christmas tree:

Rachel and Lily by the tree:

Mountain Climbing (12/2/09)

I still receive Stepping Stones magazine which offers Christian support for couples facing infertility or pregnancy loss. I thought about canceling my subscription but I still identify with women struggling with infertility and probably always will. Even though I was lucky enough to have been blessed with a child does not make me forget my journey. It is probably a blessing as it makes me appreciate my miracle even more. Anyway, the first article in this month’s issue was so applicable to me. It was titled ‘Mountain Climbing’ and began

"Have you ever gone mountain climbing? If you have, you will know that it is never a straight climb to the top. Mountain climbing always involves a combination of peaks and valleys. You climb one peak, and you are excited because you think you are reaching the top of the mountain, only to discover there is another peak ahead of you. When you climb the next peak full of anticipation, you may discover that there is still another peak beyond that.
Many of you reading these lines may feel like you are climbing a mountain as you hope and pray for a baby. You have experienced peaks, and you have suffered through valleys, but the top may seem farther away than ever.
There are others who have climbed the mountain and are now at the top. Through God's grace, they have been blessed with their heart's desire. Now they want to encourage those who are still climbing..."

It then proceeded as a narrative of a woman's journey through infertility and concluded with

"…Although I do not think of infertility every day, I will never forget those of you who are still climbing- especially on Christmas and Mother's Day. I remember you who are in the valley of pain, and I pray for you. I don't know where each journey will end, but I want to encourage every climber to hold on to the One who will faithfully lead you- the One who has promised never to leave us or forsake us."

I totally identified with this article. This woman’s journey was different than mine but I was amazed by her strength. She could have easily complained about her journey as a nightmare but chose instead to use her setbacks to strengthen her faith and increase her appreciation of the blessing of children. I, too, feel truly blessed that I have reached the summit and I continue to offer my support and prayers for strength for those out there who are still climbing.

Lily Is 9 Months Old! (12/1/09)

Lily is 9 months old today! Here are some things I hope I always remember about her at this stage in her life:

- How she loves to flick things with the hands and has done so since birth. She loves spinning toys that she can swat at. When she is tired, she flicks her blanket back and forth with her hand.
- How she rubs her eyes with the back of her hands and rubs her blanket on her face when she is sleepy.
- How she always has to pull a soft blanket over her face to fall asleep.
- Her belly laugh. I can’t keep from laughing when I hear it.
- Her adorable crooked smile that now shows her cute little teeth.
- How she likes to pull up on the coffee table and peek over it at me when I am sitting on the couch.
- Her determination to stand, no matter how much she gets hurt falling down.
- How she reaches her arm out at everything, wanting to grab onto the world around her.
- Her face when she finds me during our ‘Where is Mommy’ game every weekday morning.
- How she isn’t scared of loud noises and instead sings along to them.
- How she also sings along to loud music.
- Her excited reaction to ‘Mail Time’ on Blue’s Clues.
- How she smiles and dances, bouncing her chubby little body when she hears songs that she likes.
- Her love of fans.
- How she claps along to applause that she hears on television.
- How she laughs whenever she sneezes.
- Her super stretches on the changing table in the morning.
- How her mouth looks like a lamprey when she sucks on her pacifier.
- Her expressive eyebrows when she nurses.
- How she is such a snuggly sleeper.
- How she prefers Mommy to everyone else in the world!

Lily's 39th Week (11/23/09 – 11/29/09)

My parents came over while we were at work on Monday. My mom cleaned the house and my dad installed the baby gate at the top of the stairs and all of our cabinet locks in the kitchen. My mom made a nice dinner for all of us when we got home from work. We were very appreciative of their help and will miss it in the coming month as my mom will be busy helping my grandmother after her surgery.

Kirsten took Wednesday off so that she could start preparing her family’s Thanksgiving meal at their lake house so Auriel and Aneasha watched Lily. It was also the day of my grandmother’s knee replacement surgery. I wanted to take the entire day off to watch Lily and be at the hospital with my grandma but I could only get part of the afternoon off of work. Then I found out that the visitor policy at McLaren is similar to that at U of M Hospital, banning children and only allowing two adults per patient to prevent the spread of flu. My mom, dad, Lee, and Robin, were already alternating staying with my grandma so I was unable to go visit her anyway. The surgery went well but she was extremely nauseated during recovery. I was still glad to get out of work early because I had to drive to the south side of Ann Arbor to pick up Lily, run a few errands on my way home, and finish packing before we took off for Lovells. We didn’t get there until around midnight so we rolled in and went straight to bed. Lily had some trouble sleeping our first night there, possibly due to her new surroundings. When I first took her into the bedroom and laid down with her, she started crying. I turned on the light for a few minutes and once she got a chance to look around at where she was, she was fine with me turning the light off again and settled right down to sleep. I forget sometimes how aware and curious she is about the world around her.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with Paul’s parents. Usually we do holidays with my family as we have more set traditions for what we do on every holiday. We then spend the weekend after the holiday with Paul’s family as their plans are more laid back and they live three hours away so a day visit is impossible. This year was different since my family celebrated Thanksgiving early due to my grandma’s surgery. It was nice to be able to spend Thanksgiving with Paul’s parents. It was a good thing that we could come because we were the only ones there. Otherwise, it would have been a lonely holiday for them. I felt bad, though, that my parents had a lonely Thanksgiving meal with just the two of them after spending the day up at the hospital with my grandma. I called everyone to wish them a happy holiday and checked on my grandmother’s progress. We had a nice dinner then a good lazy weekend. Paul did some hunting and Lily enjoyed playing with all of the toys by herself. I took most of Lily’s naps with her which was wonderful. She got on an odd schedule of sleeping in until 8:30am, taking one long afternoon nap, and then crashing early around 7:30pm. Lily barely ate any jarred baby food while we were there as she much preferred to eat whatever we were eating. She enjoyed scrambled eggs, pancakes, mashed potatoes with gravy, venison roast, peas, and bread.

We stayed in Lovells until Saturday afternoon then headed back home. On our way home, we stopped in to visit my parents. We wanted to see my grandmother as well but she was still in the hospital due to issues with her incision site. We had leftovers from my parents’ Thanksgiving feast for two then tried to get some pictures of Lily in front of their Christmas tree for their holiday card. Lily was not happy in front of the tree and kept looking at it skeptically as she had never seen a Christmas tree before. She wouldn’t really smile and kept trying to crawl off so we didn’t get any good pictures. They gave up but then I decided to try again, setting Lily in a chair with their stuffed reindeer, Rodney. This time, she sat still and gave us some smiles. I hope they got at least one good picture to use.

On Sunday, I sent Paul solo to the airport to pick up Rachel because I knew that it would be a madhouse there. Plus, they technically only allow one person to take an unaccompanied minor to and from the gate. They have always let both of us go back but did make a big deal out of it last Christmas due to increased security during the holidays so I wanted to avoid any issues this year. Lily and I worked on unpacking while he was gone. Lily is really into pulling up now but is unsteady on her feet. This combination tends to lead to injury. My poor baby hurt herself three times on Sunday evening. First, she tried to pull up on a kitchen chair and fell forward into the leg of it, putting a big red swollen line down her forehead and causing a lot of tears. Luckily, Paul pulled in the driveway right then with Rachel and the sight of her big sister instantly turned Lily’s cries to smiles. Later, she pulled up on the coffee table. I was holding her so she wouldn’t fall but she suddenly lunged forward and banged her chin on the table causing her to cry. While I was holding her to calm her down, she was almost all better when she abruptly smashed her head into mine, hurting herself yet again and intensifying the tears. After that, I took my poor little girl to bed. I felt so bad for her but I know that injuries are par for the course now that she is more mobile. Despite the teary end to the weekend, it was really nice getting to spend four wonderful days with Lily. Now that she is crawling everywhere, it is so cute to watch her explore the world. She is also really into toys and is always trying to figure out what makes them work. We missed having Rachel with us for Thanksgiving but she had a nice visit with her mom.

Here are some pictures from this week.

Paul and Lily playing ball on the floor at Grandma Maureen's house on Thanksgiving morning. Lily is really good at the game. Paul rolled the ball to Lily:

Lily threw it back to Paul:

Who then rolled it back to Lily and so on:

Lily loved this toy because she can pull up on it:

Standing up on dad:

Little Bunny Foo-Foo, I don't want to see you, scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head:

Looking out the window:

Eating the window:

Napping:

I loved how she had her hands clasped and her face buried in the blanket:

Paul inflated the ducky tub which Lily wanted to play with before her bath:

I wanted to take her picture but she wanted to look out the window instead of at the camera:

All cleaned up and ready for Baby's 1st Thanksgiving dinner:

All full now and ready to play again:

Getting out more stuffed animals on her own:

Trying to stand up again:

My happy clapping girl:

She kept trying to stand up this way but it didn't work:

Napping with daddy after an exciting first Thanksgiving:

My happy girl showing off her teeth on Friday morning:

Trying to get the camera from me:

Lily finally backed away far enough that I could take her picture properly:

Mmm, tastes like leftovers:

Lily playing with Grandma Maureen on Saturday:

We tried to get Lily's picture under my parents' tree for their Christmas card but she was less than enthusiastic:

She did, however, love this new toy of theirs:

Lily finally smiled for the camera when she had Rodney to play with:

Still playing with Rodney in her pajamas:

She loved his silly eyes:

Lily with Grandma Chris:

Standing up and playing with her Rainforest music player on Sunday morning: