364 Days

          It has been 364 days since we met you and held you in our arms for the first time. What a wonderful 364 days it has been.  Tomorrow is the big birthday and I am up late, preparing for your birthday party and reminiscing about the past year. 

          I think back to a year ago today, as we patiently waited for contractions to pick up after they started to induce me.  Your dad and I were so excited, and both nervous as we came home from the hospital to wait it out at our house.  I don't think either of us got much sleep last night.

          I think to the first few minutes after you were born and we looked you over and held you tight.  It was so exciting to finally see your beautiful face and to share with everyone that you had finally arrived.

          I think to the first few weeks and months, and the hours we spent bouncing on the ball at night to get you to sleep.  I am amazed at how easily you go down now.  At times, when you cuddle in and lay your head my shoulder, I just want to hold you tight and not put you down at all.

          I think to your many firsts.  First time sitting, first foods, first time in the ocean, first Christmas, first time clapping... Each and everytime, your daddy and I feel so proud of you.  We love you so much. 

          When I think back to the past year - I can't help but smile and think about how fortunate we are to have a beautiful, happy, healthy baby girl.  Although you are growing bigger each day, you will always be our baby girl. 

           We love you Kennedy, and we wish you a Happy Birthday tomorrow.  Your daddy and I look forward to celebrating years and years of birthdays with you!  You are the best gift we could have ever asked for!
          Love you K :) 

 

A busy week

It's been a busy week at our house this week.  Mama is exhausted!

It started off with my first week back to work.  We all survived.  The little lady is still adjusting and is happy to see me at the end of the day when I pick her up.  She had 1 1/2 daddy-daughter days this week which was nice for the two of them.  A "back to work" blog post will be added soon, as it's a whole post in itself.

Our little lady has a new favourite game, and that is peek-a-boo.  She's always been interested in the "traditional" version of this game that we all know and love, but lately she has made her own modifications to the game.  It started with her pulling a shirt or blanket up over her head and then pulling it down as we would yell "peek-a-boo" like the crazy parents that we are.  But then our little lady found an even quicker way to play.  Instead of putting anything over her face, she just turns her head away from us, then whips her head back to look for our reaction and smiles.  Her head whips back and forth so quickly that I"m afraid she'll end up with whip lash.  But it's soooo darn cute. She hams it up as we laugh and tell her to do it again!

This morning we headed off to have a ONE year photoshoot (as she will be turning one in just seven days!!!).  It was a great shoot and we came home with some beautiful pictures (and yes, of course, I will post some of those too!)  After an afternoon nap, it was off to celebrate Kennedy's cousin's first birthday party.  After playing, presents, and a nice dinner, Kennedy decided to take her very first steps!  I was so happy that it didn't happen while we were at work and we were there to witness it :) 

Now only seven more days until we are celebrating 365 days with our baby girl!

baby-proof

Everyday I think that I have finally baby-proofed the house....

                                                                                ....she continues to amaze me. 

Down to 6 days

I'm down to six more days of my maternity leave before I go back to work.  Ugh.  Although I love my job, I am very sad to be leaving my little lady for a large chunk of the day, five days a week.  I know she's going to be in great hands and will have lots of fun with all of the other kids (and her dad on her daddy days), but I will miss her terribly.

I'm trying not to dwell on all of my sad thoughts and think about the positive things about the upcoming transition.  There are positives, I know.  But I'm still a little anxious about it all. 

She will be fine.  She will have fun.  She will be SO excited to see me when I pick her up (right?).  She will nap well.  She will eat well.  She will play.  She will explore.  She will grow.  She will be exposed to new things.  She will interact with others.  She will be okay. 

So will mommy. 

Can we go back?

We had an amazing week filled with sun, food, naps, swims, animals, and waving. 

Although we had an early flight (flying out at 6:15am), the babies flew amazingly.  We landed and were all shocked at how smoothly the whole thing went.  We arrived at our resort and it took us a day or two to figure the place out and get our bearings as it was fairly big in size with plenty of beautiful paths to walk on, which were surrounded by lush gardens and tress. 

What a great feeling to wake up each morning and our biggest concern was which bathing suit to put on K for the day!  Meals were prepared, beds were made for us, and all we had to do was spend time with our little family and good friends.  Life couldn't get better. 

Kennedy made us all lots of friends as she waving to absolutely everyone at the resort.  She was a happy, happy girl and always had a smile and a wave for the strangers that passed or stopped to smile and wave back at her.  We joke that someday soon we will have to teach her about stranger danger.

For only being away for a week, I did pretty good to limit myself to 537 pictures taken on my camera.  Although I'd love to share them all, I won't overwhelm you with them all at once.  Here's a couple cute ones from our week or relaxation.

Down by the ocean



                                                                         Playing with daddy

                                                                      Walks with mommy

Back from vacay

We just got back from our first, out-of-the-country family vacation.  The little lady had a blast (as did mommy and daddy) but now it's back to reality. 

the next generation of 172

I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by loving, caring friends.  Some of these amazing friends of mine have little ones of their own.  It's so special to be going through the stages of parenthood with some of my besties, and hopefully our kids will grow up to be besties as well. 

When I was in my first year of university, I ended up sharing a dorm with the most amazing person ever - and now we both have little girls who are 7 weeks apart!  The two of them came up for the weekend (along with two of our other roomies) and all the girls (young and old), had a blast!

All caught up

During my pregnancy, I was diligent to record all of the new things happening during my pregnancy in a special "pregnancy calendar".  I wrote down everything from the first kick to doctors appointments - even my weight gain.  I have enjoyed going back and reflecting on all the amazing things that happened during those nine months.

Before Kennedy was born, I purchased a really cute baby book, and started it off by inputting information about how Evan and I met, who our family members were, how we prepared for her birth etc.  I leave her baby book out in the dining room so that I remember to add all of the important milestones in it.  So far, I think that I've done a fantastic job.  However, I was missing one crucial part to the book - and that was photos.  So the other day I took the time to go through all the pictures I've taken of K so far, and had a slew of them printed off.  Today, during morning nap, I cut and pasted them all into the book.  So we now have pictures of her first tooth, her first time eating food, her first bath, her first Christmas... and the list goes on.

I know that this will be something that I will treasure for years to come, so I am so happy that I have invested the time in it now :)  A great accomplishment for the morning!

Has she learned her third word?

Has she learnt her third word?

For a little while now Kennedy has been saying "Mum" and "da".  It took us awhile to actually admit that she was able to connect the word she was saying to the actual person, but I think we can finally confirm that she has said these two words. 

The past week or so, another word has been introduced into her vocabulary and that word is "ya".  I truly believe that she has no idea what she is saying, but she obviously knows we think it's hilarious as we praise her every time she says it with smiles, laughs, and clapping hands.   We (the bad parents that we are), ask her all kinds of ridiculous questions that elicit the desired response of "ya".  We ask her things like "do you love mommy the most in the whole entire world" and she says YA.  We ask her if she wants to live with mommy and daddy forever and never ever move away and she says YA.  We ask her if she is the cutest person on earth and she answers YA. 

We love it.  And we dread the day when she learns the word "no"

Everyone is asking...

It seems like everyday, everyone is asking me the same question:  "Are you ready to go back to work".  It's almost like the more they ask me, the sooner it will come.  To each person my answer is plain and simple; no, I'm not.  
Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I enjoy being around passionate teachers and spending hours a day with children (who at times can be challenging) who are sponges - soaking in the knowledge that we share with them, creating their own path in life. I enjoy all of the fun school activities that help children create memories of their school years and I absolutely love the learning atmosphere within the school.

I have enjoyed the past ten and a half months more than I ever thought possible.  Each and everyday home with my little girl is a gift and I am trying to cherish the precious moments.  I'm amazed at how everyday gets better and better as Kennedy develops more of a personality and is able to interact more with Evan and I.  I feel so fortunate to have spent the beginning part of her life being with her on a daily basis, watching her change and grow.  I think back to those first few, exhausting weeks of sleepless nights and can hardly believe that we are now watching our daughter stand on her own (without holding onto anything) for a few seconds at time.  The changes that have happened amazes me. 

With only a month left of maternity leave, I feel fortunate to have found childcare so close to home, and with a care provider who I not only trust, but have been friends with since childhood.  It takes a load off my shoulders (and the hubby's) to know that she is in good hands and will be cared for by such a wonderful woman.  It's also comforting knowing that I'm only going back to work 80% so I will have that little bit of extra time.  Some of this time will be picking up the little lady early for daycare, while other days I may stay at work to get things done so I don't have to do all that teacher stuff in the evenings and on weekends. Also, the fact that my hubby works shift work is also a blessing in disguise.  Although the twelve hour shifts can be long and draining - especially switching back and forth from nights to days - it allows us to have Kennedy at home for at least one or two daddy-daughter days a week.  I think that this will be a wonderful time for the two of them to hang out and continue to strengthen their bond together. 

So am I looking forward to going back to work?  Not really.  But I think that we will adjust, and it will all be okay.