Yet another catch up post!

 I've really fallen off the blogging bandwagon. My main intent on blogging about our journey to becoming moms was so I wouldn't forget any little details. My pregnancy blog, and the book I made from it, is like the best pregnancy journal ever!! So I wanted to keep a blog of Makena when she was born, even though I fully intended to make photo albums and scrapbooks, but since I haven't done any of that I especially like having this blog. And then I go weeks, months, without updating it. And when I finally think about it, so much time has passed, and so many things are worth noting, that it seems overwhelming and like I'll never truly capture everything I wanted to. But I think I know what's going on. I've been cheating on blogger somewhat, with a daily email program called OhLife. I have my account set to email me each evening at 7pm. The subject of each email is the same- "It's Saturday, Dec 10 - How did your day go?‏" All I have to do is reply to the email and it keeps all my entries on the website. I started it in May, and I'm proud to say I've kept it up almost every single night since then! Sometimes I simply write a sentence of something awesome that happened that day. Sometimes I write a couple paragraphs of what we did all day. The format is so easy, and it's been easy to stick with it. Still, it isn't as pretty and full of photos like a blog. So I will just have to pop in here from time to time to do catch up posts... We are in full swing CHRISTMAS mode here!

First I need to go back to last month though, because some big things happened. Most importantly, one of my friends since 4th grade had her baby on November 23rd! She came early, wasn't expected until after Christmas, but she and mom are doing great! I just visited for the first time the other night, and at 16 days old and only 5 lbs 15 oz, I held the tiniest sweetest newest little baby girl. I cried, it was just so unbelievably wonderful to see this healthy pink bundle. I didn't even cry when I held MY baby for the first time! lol. I still remember the complete utter exhaustion I felt when Makena was born. Joy and gratitude were there too, of course! But they were somewhat overtaken by how surreal the moment was.

Anyway. So that was awesome and I'm so happy to have a local friend with a baby! It's tough to have so many friends with kids who are too far away to get together in real life. I came home and snuggled with Makena who seems so big and grown up. I miss my newborn so much! She talks in sentences now, it seemed to happen over night. All of a sudden it was "mo wah pees!" or "bee an ah too!" or "oh no, no bah!" (More water please, beans and olives too, and oh no no bats- at the zoo) and it's so amazing to hear her say new things every day!

She's in the new phase of repeating things, and she'll repeat the funniest stuff. I might tell Pam that the stroller is in the back of the car now, and Makena will say "bah cah now!" She's become very sensitive, and I think she picks up others emotions easily. Lately she will hang her head and shrug her shoulders and pout for the silliest reasons. If I remind her not to put stickers on the tv for example. She will get sad and end up crying and wanting a hug. And maybe even milk. Because nursing still has magical powers to make everything better. ;) She also is having a hard time with friends who won't share toys. She seems to be the kid who gets things snatched out of her hands then turns and cries and comes running for a hug while she tries to pull herself together and makes herself hold in her sadness. It breaks our hearts watching her struggle to keep in her emotions. You can tell she wants to be strong and her lip will stick out and she sort of just swallows and whimpers till it passes. :(

Luckily she gets over things very quickly, it's pretty easy to distract her and she genuinely loves to be happy! Yesterday she was kneed in her ear by a friend, and it was very sad because she mostly seemed hurt that she was treated that way by someone she idolizes. After the apology she was all smiles, but when talking about it at home later and telling Pam what happened she cried again at the memory. She also cried when putting her pjs over her head, saying her ear hurt. :( But she's okay now. We had a great day today!

Oops, more on that later. There is still more from November! On the 15th Pam came home from work and I went on an errand. I was coming home and was stopped at red light at an intersection leaving downtown San Jose when I was rear ended and my car was pushed forward through the intersection. The big pick up truck that hit me must have been going pretty fast, at least 35 the report says, and he admitted fault immediately and said he just looked away for a second and didn't notice my car was stopped. Luckily a cop was there when it happened, and I was shaken up and crying with a pounding headache, but otherwise fine. The car looked to have minimal damage. I drove home and it was no big deal. After the insurance people came to assess the damage though, we were told there was significant damage to the frame under the car, and since it would cost more money to fix it than the car was worth, it was declared a total loss. Crap!!!! Out of nowhere we were faced without our beloved car, and forced to quickly buy a new car. We were provided with a rental car, borrowed a car seat, ordered a new car seat which got lost by FedEx, ordered the same car seat from another retailer, got reimbursed, cleared out our old car and signed paper work and handed over the title that we had only just received a couple months ago after FINALLY paying it off, I went for a massage to help with my slight neck pain, we went car shopping a few times, and then found a car and bought it once we received our settlement check. It was a real whirlwind of events and a huge headache.

We had a simple cozy Thanksgiving at our place, my parents came over and we ate enchiladas. Pam left after eating and got us a new TV during a midnight Black Friday sale at Target. Sunday the 27th was the Festival of Lights Parade, and we had some friends stay with us from out of town. That was fun, Makena loved having a friend over!

Then we went to visit those same friends and Makena was so great during the over 2 hour car ride. She slept almost the whole time. Can't ask for better than that!! At our community Tree Lighting Ceremony Makena got her first face painting (she picked a Christmas tree) and she sat so still the whole time.

 Then we saw Santa and it was rushed and Makena cried and it wasn't good. :(

Today we waited on a long line at Stanford Shopping Center to get a real photo with Santa, and thankfully it paid off. Makena was excited, then restless, then slightly nervous as we got to our turn. We talked to him for a bit then I put her on his lap and Santa threw her Minnie Mouse doll to me and we played catch like that for a bit while Makena smiled and the photos were snapped. Lol. Afterwards she told him we were going to Disneyland, and asked for a present. He gave her a little stuffed bear, and Pam and I got chocolates. We bought her some cute clothes and had lunch. She napped on the drive home. Tonight in the bath she lost her balance when she tried to move from where she was sitting, and as she went to steady herself on the side of the tub she slipped and fell sideways into the (only up to her belly) water a bit. She was okay, just scared. I was sitting there by the tub in arms reach. So fast, something bad can really happen in the blink of an eye. :(

Every night as I nurse her to sleep I really cherish the fact that she's here, in my arms, falling asleep next to my heart beating. I can't imagine a safer place. It makes me think of the mothers who don't have their children, and I feel so grateful for how wonderful Makena is and how lucky I feel that she's mine.

Catching up- early October and our Trip to New York!

I can't believe it's already November. October flew by incredibly fast!! Perhaps because we spent a week in our favorite city ever. But more on that in a bit.

In early October we went to the Palo Alto Children's Museum and Zoo. I used to go there when I was about 5 years old. It's so fun to bring Makena to places that I went as a kid. It's just so fun to bring her anywhere. We could go spend 2 hours at DMV and I'd enjoy it. True story. That actually happened last month after we returned from our trip and I couldn't find my drivers license. I made an appointment to get a replacement at the DMV, and their computer system was down and Makena and I waited in line for almost 2 hours. She had fun entertaining everyone. I tried to not be annoyed that it was taking forever and worrying we'd be late and instead delighted in the fact that Makena can make the most of any situation. She had no idea we were in a grumpy place with angry people and everything was taking much longer than normal. She was eating snacks and reading books and smiling at people and excitedly pointing out the Halloween decorations.

Anyway, only one photo from the museum. Makena on a "tur tur tur tur" statue.

 

She had this purple and yellow plaid dress hanging up and I kept thinking it was too big for her. I'm glad I spotted it because it was actually too small by the time I tried it on her, so she only wore it this once. We went to the civic center and played like we were in the Mickey Mousekercise episode where Pluto's ball gets stuck in a tree and Mickey tells you to "Hop, hop, hop! Hop hop hop! Now stomp, stomp, stomp! Get down low and pretend you're a cat that's small, and crawl crawl crawl. Now jump up high and touch the sky!" (which is when you jump up and grab the ball, lol.) We hid the ball in a tree and acted it out a bunch of times.

 

Now, for a huge amount of photos from our TRIP TO NEW YORK!!! My dear friend Bev was getting married, and we were determined to be there. New York is a very special city for both of us. It's where we fell in love, first of all. Some of our greatest moments are from our years spent living there. When we moved away in hopes of settling down and starting our family we assumed we'd go back to visit yearly. To see the latest Broadway shows, eat at our favorite restaurants, catch up with friends. Unfortunately we never settled as well off as we assumed we would. The job/apartment shuffle and never-ending financial stress left no room for cross country getaways. After I donated my eggs and we got married we considered making the trip, but then I decided I wanted to use that money solely on trying for a baby. I'd say it was a smart trade-off. ;)

So when Bev moved to NY to peruse her acting career, I was so excited. We'd finally get back to New York as soon as she landed her Broadway role! Who knew she'd happen to meet her husband on the night she arrived! The wedding invitation came and I just had to be there for her special day. But the cost of plane tickets and hotel and food... it all seemed so far out of our reach. Luckily for us we have some amazing people who swooped in to make this dream trip a reality! We are eternally grateful!!!!

Okay there's the back story. Now about the trip.

I was really anxious about the plane ride, I was so worried about 6 hours of having her on my lap. Airplane seats are small and uncomfortable enough as it is. But add a wiggly toddler on top of you?? I was DREADING IT. I read a million different tips and tricks, and we booked the bulkhead row to give us extra leg room. I made surprise packs for each hour of the flight. A big baggie stuffed with a toy/book/activity/snack. Most things were borrowed, some were items of hers that I'd stashed away a long time ago, and there were a couple little brand new things. And throughout the flight we never once needed any of it. LOL! The toys and books in the diaper bag were enough to keep her happy. And we did break out the DVD player for about an hour of Toy Story. Oh and she napped for about 30 minutes!

The plane landed and we got our luggage then took the air train to the Newark train station then took the New Jersey Transit train to Penn Station in NYC. Then we lugged all our luggage through the station and got on the subway. During rush hour. It was intense. I wasn't going to take a taxi for 2 reasons. The expense, but also because we didn't travel with a car seat and I wasn't willing to take that risk. So the two hours of travel time with a tired toddler were not easy, but Makena was such a trooper. And the Ergo is by far the best thing we brought with us. (And my boobs. The Ergo and my boobs are the most magical things.) Despite all the shuffling around and the raised tension of extremely crowded traveling, it was an exciting day for her with all those modes of transportation and new sights and sounds. We stayed in a hotel in Brooklyn, and there was a great real NY pizza place across the street!

Makena loved the hotel, especially the ice maker in the hallway. And she had so many new toys to play with once I opened up that suitcase of all her airplane distractions. We all loved the huge king sized bed, and continental breakfast!! After we checked in I basically had to change and head back out to attend Bev's bachelorette party in the city. Off I went, and let me tell you, walking around Union Square, past all the stores I used to shop in and sidewalks I traveled over many times... well it was an indescribable feeling. I felt instantly at home, like I never left at all, and the tears welled up in my eyes. Cheesy, yes. But there is definitely a piece of my heart in that magical city!!

I got back to the hotel and we all went to sleep.

We woke up on Friday the 7th and met up with Julie and M at their apartment and then we all went to the Aquarium! Makena was so excited. We'd been talking about the aquarium for weeks!

She saw a pigeon and immediately grabbed her Bert doll and wanted to show him. Since, you know, Bert loves pigeons!! So funny. She did it the whole trip every time she saw them, which was all the time.

Time for PIZZA!! Yum. I miss delicious NY pizza.

The next day was Saturday, and we had the whole day free to spend in NY. We started with crossing off something we meant to do while we lived there and never got around to doing... Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge!

Then we hopped on the subway and went to the Lower East Side, our old neighborhood. We put our name on the list at Clinton Street Baking Co. our favorite brunch place with insanely long yet well deserved wait times, and then sat at a park nearby trying to get Makena to nap. She wouldn't sleep, so we let her play at the playground. All that magic I felt from my evening alone in the city? Gone as I watched Makena play in an urban playground. No grass, heavy traffic, suspicious people wandering around... and we were in a pretty nice large park! I reconfirmed how happy I was with our decision to not raise our family in NYC. I think it would be great for older kids though. I was born in New York and I think my family moving to California was one of the best parenting decisions my parents made. My childhood here was awesome, and that's what I wanted for my kids.

As we waited for our table to be ready Makena was about to have a meltdown. She was overdue a nap and hungry and tired and we had to squeeze into the tiny table. I sat her next to me on the booth and she promptly fell out of her booster. She was okay, and hey, we got an AMAZING brownie out of it!! lol. Our meal was fantastic. I wish we could've eaten there every day! We went to look at our old apartment on Allen Street, and wow things have changed so much. There is a Starbucks on the corner! Makena fell asleep as I wore her in the Ergo, but my hip started to hurt so badly that I could barely walk. We got to the subway and headed up to Times Square.

As we exited at Bryant Park we spotted Elmo and Cookie Monster, and Makena woke up just in time! You can't tell in the photo, but she really was happy to see them!

Costumed characters must be a fairly new addition. They were never around 6 years ago when we lived there! We walked down the street and saw Mickey and Minnie up ahead. Makena couldn't believe her eyes, though she was a bit apprehensive when Mickey practically grabbed her out of my arms for the photo. 

We went to the Toys R Us and rode the Ferris Wheel. Makena got a huge kick out of the Toy Story car, but we were in the fire truck car. She had fun browsing all the toys but the crowds were too much to handle so we went to the next busiest place... The Disney Store, where there was a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse filled with all of Makena's favorites!

My mom had sent us with some money for Makena to spend, and she picked out an adorable Mickey stuffed doll with an "I <3 NY" shirt and a Minnie Mouse t-shirt for herself that she changed in to. We stopped in the Times Square Visitors Center, and they had a re-enactment of the New Years Eve countdown ball dropping.

Time for dinner! Back to Union Square for a meal at Chat 'N Chew, another favorite of ours. Man, that macaroni and cheese and those mashed potatoes were just as I remembered!

The next say was Sunday, wedding day! I woke up not feeling very well so Pam took Makena on a walk while I took a bath and then we all got ready. The ceremony was in a church, and we sat at the very back. We had a slew of toys and books and snacks to keep Makena occupied and quiet. All was going well, and the wedding had just started when Makena made a lion noise while looking at a book. Pam tried to hush her, and Makena flipped out and started to cry, so she whisked her away and they spent the rest of the time in the little vestibule behind closed glass paned doors.

Then it was time for the walk to the reception site! My shoes were killllllllling my feet. I had blisters starting so we stopped at Duane Reade and got some blister heel treatments, but that walk was so painful! Luckily it was an absolutely gorgeous day and we had beautiful views of Central Park.

During the party Makena had a complete blast dancing the night away! She couldn't get enough, and it was so cute watching her have so much fun!

After having such a great time, it got late so we had to leave and made the most unbelievably difficult trek back to the hotel. We walked forever to get to the subway, only to have it out of service and walked forever to the next one where our train wasn't running at that time. Oy. What a nightmare!! Pre-baby Pam and I would've hailed a cab ASAP. But darn me and my safety mindedness. ;-) We eventually made it, and promptly passed out in bed.

The next morning we all felt like this:

But while Makena got to lounge around and nurse her post-wedding hangover, Pam and I were busy packing. We checked out of the hotel and headed to Bev's apartment, which she graciously offered us to use during the rest of our trip while she was away in newlywed bliss! In exchange we took care of their pets, but we definitely got the better end of the deal!

We had brunch with a bunch of other wedding guests, then walked around our new temporary neighborhood. The next day, on the 11th, we went to the Central Park Zoo with my aunt and cousins.

And we saw Tango!! The famous penguin who was raised by two daddy penguins!

Afterwards we spent a little time in the playground at Central Park, but Makena hated this slide and cried. :( She was tired and hungry, so we went to lunch then found a Geocache.

We said goodbye to family and went back to Times Square to meet up with Jessie! She gave Makena 2 books and we ate cupcakes and wandered around. Then we headed back uptown and got pizza for dinner. Makena fell asleep on Jessie on the subway. Poor baby was beyond exhausted!!

On Wednesday went to Times Square again to see our friends and play in the M&M store. Look at our adorably scrumptious little M&M's!!

Later that day we had reservations to visit the World Trade Center Memorial. That was an overwhelming experience. Watching Makena run and play with the leaves while laughing on the ground where that tragic day took place. We left some leaves for the youngest WTC victim, who was only 2 years old.

That was our last night in New York. We saw Jessie again, ate more cupcakes, and said goodbye.

Dinner that night was at a friends house near by where we were staying. We walked over and it was sprinkling rain. It was great to catch up with the family of a little girl I babysat when I lived in NY! She's all grown up now, and Makena was just enamored with her! It was so sweet. They gave Makena the cutest book all about New York. We love it!

The next morning it was time to leave New York. Makena helped to walk Max one last time. She was in love with him, and now calls all dogs "Max!" It rained as we left the city. :(

Our long awaited trip was over so quickly. We had such a great time and can't wait to go back. Hopefully Bev lands her Broadway role soon. ;)

September photos and updates!

I need to catch up on all the fun we've been having!! I have been a blog slacker, we got pretty busy and I kept meaning to update, but I'm finally feeling motivated now so let's do this!


 At the beginning of September we went to Christina and Patrick's wedding and Makena got to wear this adorable dress! She loved it, she kept twirling and dancing and had a great time.

 

At the park, just being cute! She was about to go down the slide and I said "I love you!" and she turned around and pointed at me. Which is her "sign" for I love you. <3

 

Makena picked out this hilarious outfit. The shirt, skirt, and leg warmers all have hearts, the skirt was too small and kept riding up on her waist (but at the same time her cute cloth diaper was showing) and the mix-matched Cookie Monster and Abby socks just added to the awesomeness. Not to mention my inability to get her hair even.

We had a fun day at the Civic Center, playing by the fountain and rolling around in the grass. She spent a long time walking around and around that tree. Then we were chasing each other, and I started to video tape how cute she was being. Of course she decided she didn't want to play that anymore, but I continued recording as I followed her around. And then she fell down some concrete stairs and I got it all on tape. :( She started to go down too quickly, (it was a very short 4 maybe 5 steps) and slowly fell forward and her upper lip took the most damage. Blood and everything. But she was mostly crying because she had dropped her stick. I dribbled some of our water on her face and she was good to go! You can't even really see any scrapes...well, until the scab.

We went apple picking on September 10th. As we drove through the Santa Cruz mountains we were trying to keep Makena awake. She fell asleep when we were just 3 miles away. Figures! So we figured we'd just park and let her sleep, and as we drove we noticed some toys along the side of the road, and because we were feeling spontaneous (stupid?) we pulled over and I hopped out of the car to go rummage. And when I say road, I mean we had just come out of the mountains and it was a winding road with only one small lane for each side of traffic. And Pam pulled over onto a scary cliff (slight exaggeration) and when I opened the door field mice went scurrying. But still, toys! For free! I'm one of those people who loves free stuff and I've found some really awesome stuff. This stuff was not awesome. I suppose that's why nobody else picked it up. Or maybe that's because crossing the road and inching sideways along the side of the rocky hill/mountain as cars flew around the blind curve is an idiotic idea. But I forged on!! What a waste of time. The toys were broken and dirty and lame. And Pam was in the car laughing at me and what the heck was I doing?! I got back to the car (somehow still alive) and we went to the apple farm.

It was our first time there, and we weren't sure what to expect.The trees were very low, so Makena could reach right up and grab the apples.

We also picked some strawberries while we were there. They were plump and juicy and delicious! 

She spilled my cup of water then immediately bent over and started to lick it off the carpet. ?!?! She's such a silly kid, I love her!! The other day I was sitting on the couch and she ran over to me and sniffed my crotch. I said "What the heck are you doing?!" and she said "Mell!" and pointed to the flower pattern all over my pajama pants. Not sure why she didn't smell my knee or thigh. lol.

As we were getting ready to go to the park one day Makena ran over to say bye to Donte, and then tried to kiss him. He jumped down the second after I snapped this photo.

At the park Makena amazed me with her skills. This was the first time I let her try to climb up this part, and she only needed help at the top. When did she get so big??

She also kept wanting to hang from this bar, and I kept trying to get a photo. I think we did it about 15 times before I finally got it! Each time she fell down after a couple seconds she cried to get back up. I think she could've done it all day, but I was getting tired of repeatedly picking her up.

 

On the way home from the park Makena was not happy to be buckled into her seat without me nursing her first. A lot of the time when we leave somewhere and get in the car I'll nurse her in hopes that she falls asleep, so sometimes she expects milk and flips out when I say no. But we live about a 2 minute drive away from the park, and I always nurse her when we get home and she takes a nap. That day I happened to have the car so we drove, and she hated the change!

 One day at work the kids went into the little baby pool, and Makena borrowed Colin's bathing suit. Afterwards she did a little painting for the first time. I was impressed by her nice blues and greens color scheme until I realized those were the only colors I had opened for her, lol.

Jumping into the pool at Grandmo's apartment! Pam would say "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great FALL!" and Makena would lunge forward into the water.

I love this action shot of her, playing the Elefun game where you have to catch the butterflies that fly out of his trunk. We gave it to Ian for his birthday, and she always wants to play it. She also loves picking up all the butterflies and putting them back in to play again.

Laundry time! Some days when we are home all day long we'll do the laundry instead of walking to the park or the fountain. Makena is a super helper.

We went to the Santa Clara Art & Wine Festival with my mom, and she spoiled Makena (like always!) and bought her tickets to do all the fun rides. She and I went on the huge carnival slide, the kind where you go down on a burlap sack. As we started to walk up the narrow staircase Makena got a little nervous, and at the top she got scared and didn't want to go down. Actually she wanted to go down the stairs, she kept pointing at them and started to cry. But I really thought she'd enjoy the slide, so I handed her over to the teenage guy and sat down, and he put her in my lap. We went down and at the bottom she asked for more. lol. The little baby swings were cheaper, so she rode them a few times.

More park photos! We spent a LOT of time at our neighborhood park this summer. Makena worked so hard to build this sandcastle...

But when she pulled up the bucket there was no sand castle. lol. She seemed confused, so I showed her (again) that you have to fill it with (somewhat wet) sand first. So funny.

Ok that has caught me up for all of September, I can't believe it's November already, I still need to post about October and our TRIP TO NYC!!!! But right now Makena wants me to play on the blanket and pillows we put on the floor to jump on. Actually she's happily content playing by herself, but I want to play with her. :)