6 weeks & 19 months

This pregnancy hits 6 weeks today. I'm expecting the nausea alarms to go off TO-DAY. ::::knocking hard on wood::: I have no symptoms. No sickness. Very occasionally bouts of queasiness. The only two aliments I've experienced thus far are round ligament pain (RLP) and ovarian pain.

I knew the RLP would be worse for me with this pregnancy, but I didn't know I'd start feeling it the.day.of.my.BFP. Geeeesh. It has improved though.

The ovarian pain was pretty painful 2 nights ago. I actually considered going in to the ER. I was freaking myself out that it was a possible ectopic. Don't google, "At what week does ectopic pain start?" Because, all of the answer will be 5.5 weeks, which I *was* 5.5 weeks. Ugh. This ovarian pain felt like I was having a strong ovulation. I chalked it up to be pain from the corpus luteum cyst. I was able to sleep that night, and the pain was gone in morning and hasn't returned! Whew.

NYE today. 2012 was very good to us. Looking forward to a very challenging 2013!

First OB appointment on Thursday! :)

Aiyana is 19 months today! Here is some recent pics of my beauty!

Ok, so I *did* give up...

I'm upset with myself that I gave up on blogging, but, honestly, I'm figuring out that I wasn't doing it for Aiyana. It has always been for myself. I'm content with the big lapse in time on my blog, because I have tons and tons of memories and photographs to remind me of what was going on in my life during that time.

It has certainly been absolutely busy! We are juggling SO many things right now. Things haven't changed much since my April update.

- We are still preparing ourselves for an out of state move in the summer. It's not 100%, but it's possible.
- I'm still dabbling in Photography. Not sewing so much at the moment.
- I'm giving more attention to my business, because I'm hoping it thrives in 2013. It used to allow me to work from home.
- I'm still working full time.
- John is still in school full time. He will graduate in May!!

Some new things:
- we've adopted a new lifestyle called Paleo
- and as a result I've lost more weight
- but all of those pounds don't matter, because I'm PREGNANT!

We found out on Saturday! I promised John I wouldn't test during the week, because it was his finals week. Luckily, Friday morning I got a BFN. Friday was his last exam day. I was worried if it came up positive I wouldn't be able to keep it from him. Saturday morning it was positive! Our completely natural Christmas BFP! 

I love how my blog was a sort of journal of my pregnancy with Aiyana, so I can't stay away now. I'm back, and hopefully it's for good! If you're my friend on FB, please don't say anything on my wall. We haven't announced on FB yet.

6 months

{You know what's really confusing and hard for me to grasp? In November 2011, Aiyana wasn't 6 months yet, so why is this post named 6 months and my last post was "5 months"? Technically, she didn't turn 6 months until the last day of November. Oh well. It's my blog. Just go with it... Aiyana was 6 months in November 2011... not really, but whatever.}

November was FULL of firsts!!

11/1 - officially rolling over
She hates being on her belly for tummy time! Hates. So I'm not one bit surprised she waited so long to master the roll.

11/1 - first solids - applesauce
I was in no hurry to shove a spoon in Aiyana's face. I read up on Baby Led Weaning and loved it, but didn't really feel the need to follow it to a T. I was going to listen to Aiyana and let her tell me when she was interested. I didn't really know how I would know... Like, I knew she wouldn't just come out and say "Hey! Mom! Give me some of that pizza!! Now!" Well... she kinda did... actually.

It was pizza delivery night at our household, and John and I were enjoying our pizza in the living room. (I know! Really bad habit.) Aiyana was in her exersaucer... moaning, whining, yelling... and jumping! This was unusual for her. She's always quite content unless she needs something... like MY PIZZA! She was clearly staring at my food and then, over at John's food. Wow. She's telling me she wants some... ok. (Blank stare at pizza.) There's nothing on my pizza she could have... The only thing in the house that I could offer her was applesauce! And she ATE it! She loved it. She moved it around in her mouth, opened her mouth when she wanted more, and swallowed it with no chocking! My "First Time Mommy" Gut felt good, and not because it was full of yummy horribly unhealthy pizza. But because I listened to her cues and followed, and I felt good about that!

11/27 - cut first tooth
Luckily, no major issues! Just a little fussy at times!

11/23 - sticks tougue out and blows.
I don't know who taught her that! :P

11/25 - started her fake laugh

So funny! 

Thanksgiving was amazing! John and I have so much to be thankful for. 

Black Friday - The day that may have changed my life forever. My sister and I stood in line for hours at Best Buy in the FREEZING cold! It was so worth it! 

I've always wanted to buy a DSLR and learn how to shoot in Manual. I've become very frustrated with my point and shoot camera. It's a great camera when it's in the right mood, but any other time I get crap. 

Here are some shots from the first 48 hours with The Rebel:

And Aiyana's 6 month picture!

Post Birthday Party Day

There's a pile of pinwheels in the trash - pinwheels John and I spent many late nights creating by hand. :( It's so hard to throw them away, but it's silly to hold onto 50+ pinwheels as keepsakes. Such a sad feeling. I refused to throw away her flag banner, so we hung it in her room for her to enjoy!

NOW I completely understand the 1st Birthday Denial - when Moms choose to ignore the rapid growth of their newborn and adopt the strong denial of toddler-hood.

Yesterday was Aiyana's party, and it was an EXTREMELY stressful and exhausting day. I have little ability to delegate, and I attempt to take on too much. I have a perfect vision, and I don't stop short of making it a reality. By party time, I wasn't in the best of moods. :( I tried to avoid the bad mood by planning this party MONTHS ahead of time, but I waited till the last minute to start making decisions. :( Oh well. I won't dwell. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful party for Aiyana, and no one even noticed what was "missing" because I ran out of time! :P


Today, I'm experiencing something called relaxation and it's SO strange. I keep thinking "There's something I should/could be doing right now!" AND I'm off from work tomorrow.... my body might go into convulsions soon. :)

Her actual birthday is on Thursday. John and I plan to continue celebrating on Wednesday night when we'll take her to a Ranger game, and on Thursday when we'll have a family picnic at the park, depending on the heat. :) 

5 months

{Aiyana was 5 months in October 2011. Today is May 2012. Pitiful, I tell ya. This blog post was in "drafts" unfinished, never posted... till now.}

October was filled with lots and lots of firsts! Our fun bucket over flowed this month. Having this child in our life is such an absolute joy...

Some things I don't want to forget about Aiyana's 5th month...

- First pony tail (10/8/11): So of course her hair was super long when she was born, but, boy, has it grown! We were very fortunate never to hit that hair loss or bald spot period... Her hair has continued to stay strong and continued to grow and grow. Her hair doesn't relax well after air drying, so I got a little fed up and pulled it up... viola... and our first pony tail!

- First pig tails (10/22/11):  After a couple weeks of pony tails, we need a little variety, so we tried pig tails on a gameday and these came out perfectly!

- First visit to the pumpkin patch.

- First Halloween
Aiyana was a Bumble Bee, and Mommy had tons of fun piecing her costume together. I knew we wouldn't be trick or treating, so we needed something simple and comfortable. It was "made" out of a simple yellow onesie w/ a Mommy-made felt stinger velcroed to the bootie... black and yellow striped baby legs... and a crocheted hat w/ built in stingers! The entire costume cost me no more than $25!

We attended our first Halloween Party, and she won the costume contest! :P

- This month she also started making this "squish"/gargaling sound and shrieking at a high pitch! She also started reaching her arms out for me. <3

I will not quit.

::::pushes cobwebs out of the way::::

:::peeks head through:::

:::dust flies into air:::

It makes me sad to come here and see an October date as my last blog post. I feel like a quitter - like I let my daughter down. This blog has always been for myself, but it turned into a journal of my beginnings as a mom; her as my first child and daughter. It's sad.

I think about my blog at least once a week. I want to blog. I've needed to blog, but can't.ever.find.the.time. I'm writing this with 14 minutes left of my lunch break.

I'm not going to quit. I'm picking up where I left off and covering every month of her young life so far. I WILL do it.

So much has happened since October. Not just as a mother, but as a wife, as a business owner, as a friend, as a busy full time working outside of the home professional. I intend on covering everything.

Just a bunch of quick teases...
- We are planning Aiyana's One Year Birthday Party! (Theme: Pinwheels and Polka Dots)
- I have two new hobbies that take up more time than I currently have: Digital Photography and Sewing
- I am no longer in school and probably will not return in the Fall... or ever.
- I was promoted at work!
- We may be moving out of state in a year.

And, of course a [sort of] recent picture from her 10 month pics... (she'll be 11 months this weekend!)