The holiday recap

Whew, it's been a busy couple of weeks but we successfully survived the holidays...and had a very nice time too!

We ended up staying in Ohio for a couple days longer than originally anticipated because we decided to buy a car (we sold both of our cars when we moved to NYC). We'd been thinking about it since Will was born, but were going to wait until the Spring or Summer, however a possible new job situation for me (more on that in a minute) prompted us to get one sooner rather than later. So, last Thursday I turned 35 years old and got a new car. Quite the birthday present! I'm not sure how next year's birthday is going to compare because in 2010, I got a positive pregnancy test on my birthday and this year a car. 2012 has some big shoes to fill.

So, Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's was a success. Will was passed around so much and rarely had any "independent play time", but I think he enjoyed it. Hubby and I joked that he was going to be bored as soon as we got back home and he didn't have 15 people passing him around. Thankfully he's very adaptable and transitioned well. We tried not to spoil him too much but he did get a jumperoo from Santa. He's not too sure what to do with it, but I think he'll grow to love it over the next couple of weeks.

We're back to swaddling him for naps. We continued the no-swaddle naps while in Ohio, but discovered Will was having a hard time transitioning from one sleep cycle to another. He goes down for his naps fine whether he's swaddled or not, but has a hard time getting back to sleep if he wakes up after one sleep cycle. Hubby and I did a lot of research and found that a lot of babies have sleep issues (both naps and night time) between 3-5 months as their bodies adjust to different REM sleep times. It seemed that swaddling helped the babies easily transition from one sleep cycle to another, so we reverted back to it. We'll keep this up for another couple weeks until he outgrows these sleep issues. Hopefully he won't decide to roll from back to tummy in that time (that would be the only reason we would stop swaddling). I'm happy to report that his night time hasn't been disrupted (que wood knocking). He still sleeps from 8:15pm - 7:45am without disruption.

It's amazing how much he's changed and advanced in two weeks. He loves tummy time now and is soooo close to rolling onto his back. He's always reaching for his toys to put straight into his mouth and he LOVES to blow razberries. This creates so much drool I try to keep a bib on him all the time now. If he's tired in the evenings all he wants is to be held with a teether in his mouth. I think his gums are really starting to bother him, poor little guy. We start a weekly music class this Friday which I think he's really going to like. I've taken him to a couple drop-in classes and he's fascinated with the sounds. I can't wait to see how he does.

Yesterday was supposed to be my first day back at work, but since I quit I'm still home. I was hoping my company would need me for freelance work but they don't this week. I've been talking with another agency in NJ about a job share situation. I would work 3 days/week and have a counterpart that would cover the other two. I would be the primary client contact so would likely have to take some calls or possible meetings on the 2 days I'm going to be home. It will (hopefully) also allow me to do some additional freelance work. I'm meeting with the creative director for lunch on Friday to try and iron out the details.

2011 was an amazing year for the Fairytale family, and I can't wait to see what 2012 holds!

My favorite present under the tree this year!

Enjoy his present from Santa

All bundled up and ready for the cold weather

Happy birthday

On January 6, 1948 the most amazing woman I've ever known was born - my mom! Today would have been her 63rd birthday. She was taken from me much too soon.

I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm an only child and lost my dad when I was 17, so for almost 13 years it was just my mom and I. Even before that my mom and I were very close. My dad traveled a lot for work, so I didn't see him much during the week. When he would be home on the weekends I spent all my time with him (I was a tomboy!), but during the week I was my mom's little shadow.

Just like most mother-daughter relationships we had our rocky years when I was in high school, but once I got to college I really learned to appreciate my mom for the generous, caring person she was. I remember one time during my senior year in college my mom drove two and half hours to my apartment with a trunk full of Christmas decorations so my roommates and I could decorate. She dropped the stuff off, said hi to my roomies, kissed me good-bye and drove two and half hours back home. That's the type of mother she was - completely selfless.

I can only hope I'll be half the mother she was in the near future. She wanted grandchildren so badly but was content to wait until Hubby and I were ready. When I found out her cancer was back I never imagined she would be gone as quickly as she was (10 days from the time we found out it was back). I actually asked Hubby if we should start trying right then so we could give her a grandchild before she died!

She was (and always will be) a true inspiration to me. Hubby and I finally being pregnant makes me miss her even more, but I know she's been with me every step of the way.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you and miss you.

A birthday surprise

Today, I turned 34 years old.

I'm an only child so my mom always made a very big deal about my birthday, especially because it's between Christmas and New Year's. She never wanted me to feel shortchanged or neglected because of other holidays. Today was always my day and I got whatever I wanted. I've tried to continue that tradition with Hubby (because really, who doesn't want that?!?!), but his family didn't make as big a deal about birthdays as mine did so it's been a hard sell.

In addition to today being my birthday I'm also 11dpiui. I have a slight obsession with POAS around this time in the 2ww, but told myself I would hold out until New Year's Day (14dpiui) just like the Doc said. I'm not sure why I thought I could do that this cycle. Maybe because we were at my in-laws? Or maybe because I was on vacation and would be so engrossed in a good book I wouldn't think about it?

Regardless, I asked Hubby yesterday if I could buy a test and take it this morning. He told me no, that I had to wait until Saturday, just like I thought he would say. So I pulled out my trump card and reminded him it was my birthday and I'm allowed to get whatever I want on my birthday (there may have been a little whiny voice included in this interaction as well). I told him I just wanted to see if the trigger shot was out of my system but didn't have my hopes up. I think the whiny voice worked, because he reluctantly agreed.

So I woke up at 7:30am this morning and proceeded to POAS at my in-laws. I sat there half awake and saw the single line appear like it always does. Then I saw the faint pink of a second line. I figured it was my imagination willing it to appear (again). I waited another minute and really did see a faint second line! I took the stick into Hubby, woke him up and showed him. He didn't exactly jump with joy, but cautiously said he saw a faint line. I'm still not 100% convinced this isn't a false positive left over from my trigger shot on Dec 17, but for a few minutes this morning I let myself enjoy the best birthday surprise I've ever gotten!

I'm going to try and be a good girl and wait to test again until Saturday morning, but if I'm really honest with myself there will likely be another test tomorrow morning and/or Friday morning. In the meantime, I'm considering my 34th my best year yet!!!

***********

UPDATE: I'm a sucker for POAS. I did it again this morning and still saw two lines...one slightly darker than yesterday. I climbed back into bed and Hubby asked me what the result was. I played dumb and asked what he was talking about. He said, I know you and you took another test, didn't you? I am horrible liar so I told him it's still looking good!!!