Last Day at Home

For having nothing really planned, we had a fairly busy weekend! We saw a lot of people and did a lot of fun things! I think it was good because, I'm having a very hard time facing the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow. I have so loved the last 10 weeks here at home with my little girl, but tomorrow that all changes. I have to leave her at daycare and go back to work. She will be in very hands and fine, but I'm still incredibly sad about it!We've had a lot of "firsts" this last week. We had our first trip to the zoo last weekend and our first shots last Monday. Here's a picture from last Wednesday, when I took Delaney to her first baseball game with my friend Kaitlyn and her two babies Henry & Julia. We all had a great time watching the Saltdogs!
Here's Delaney all dressed and ready to go to her first barbecue at the neighbors. The food and conversation was great for us, and Delaney enjoyed the attention from her buddy Greyson! Izzy even got to come play too! Yesterday, we went to Delaney's boyfriend Parker's baptism party. It was fun to see the babies together. Delaney is starting to catch up to the boys size wise! We even got to see her other boyfriend, Reed, for a while yesterday evening! Her Mencke grandparents came to visit and have dinner with us Sunday night! She always like visits from them!
Here's a pictures from today. We decided since it was so nice this morning to take Delaney on her first picnic. We loaded up and took off to the closest park. She loved being outside and looking around. Izzy also had fun watching all the bikers and squirrels. She was a pretty happy girl chillin' in the shade! We spent the rest of the day with my parents and brother. As always, Delaney was doted on and loved all the attention. After they left for home, we were outside on the front porch and Delaney thought it was pretty funny to spit up all over me and started giggling for the first time. It was definitely the highlight of the day! I could listen to her laugh all day!

2 Month Appointment

We survived the dreaded 2 month doctor's appointment yesterday. Delaney weighs right at 10 pounds and is now 21.25 inches long. She's definitely growing! She's right where the doctor's expect her to be. In fact she's gaining weight faster than they thought she would based on where we started. She's in the 10th percentile on height and the mid 20s on weight. She's not too far out of proportion right now!

Unfortunately, Delaney had to get 3 shots yesterday. She cried, I cried...it was awful! She stopped crying pretty quickly, so that helped! She slept for a while, and then woke up in a lot of pain a few hours later. That was worse for us than the actual shots. She would scream so hard that she'd lose her breath and turn bright red, so there was no doubt she was hurting. It was one of the "worst" few hours we've had since she was born. She settled down after a while and a dose of acetaminophen. She also slept really well again last night stretching about 6 hours. We are all appreciating the longer stretches.

Today, we are one week away from me going back to work and Delaney going to daycare. I am definitely more "ready" than I was four weeks ago. The extra time off has been wonderful, and I'm beyond grateful for it. We actually decided to switch to a different daycare just this week. As I have spent more time with Delaney and seen her personality develop, I decided I think she will do better in a smaller daycare environment with fewer other kids. Our original daycare has about 8-12 kids. I think she needs as much one on one attention that she can get. I was really afraid she'd be pretty unhappy at the other daycare, and we'd have no way to know it. We were very fortunate to find a daycare that we love that had an infant opening for June 1st. Delaney will be the youngest by 2 1/2 years and one of only about 4 other kids for a majority of the time she's there. I think it will be a much better fit! My dad says everything happens for a reason, and this situation is a great example of that. I'm at peace with our decision and not nearly as nervous or upset about going back to work that I was a few weeks ago. Next week will be hard enough without stressing and worrying about daycare.

Biggest Loser-Okoboji Style

A summer's evening conversation on the front porch has led to a little friendly competition in our household. As of today, we are starting a Biggest Loser competition with our Okoboji vacation as the end goal/weigh-in. Craig and I are competing with Chip & Lauren. We have made a wager of $100 to the biggest loser (percent weight loss). We also have a guys vs. girls side bet going.

We were sitting there talking about how we want to lose this much and do this and that. We decided it would be fun and help motivate us to start a Biggest Loser competition. We'll hold each other accountable, and the side bet gives a teammate to cheer on. Motivation is always the hardest part for me, so I think this will help! My post-baby weight loss has plateaued over the last few weeks, so I'm hoping to jump start it again.

My strategy is to pay attention to what I eat and how much I eat. I'm also going to dust off my 30 Day Shred DVD and try to complete at least one 30 day rotation during this competition. We have about 8 weeks between now and Okoboji, so we have enough time to make a difference. I'm also going to try to work in more walks and some Pilate's on the days I don't do 30 Day Shred.

I think Delaney & Izzy will also benefit from this as they will get to go on more walks/runs. They will also get healthier parents! We are weighing-in today, and every Monday until we go to Okoboji! Wish us luck!

First Trip to the Zoo

Today we got up bright & early to take Delaney on her first outing with her boyfriends to the Omaha zoo. Unfortunately, Parker and his mommy were a little under the weather, so it was just Delaney & Reed on this little adventure. Hopefully, the Aerni's are feeling better and will be able to join us for our next play date!Of course, Delaney had to be properly outfitted! She sported her blue giraffe outfit with her hot pink sunglasses and white sun hat! She was one stylin' little girl! The glasses were a little big, hopefully they'll fit a little better by the time for our trip to Okoboji later this summer! Her boyfriend, Reed, was pretty cute too in his shades!Both the babies behaved incredibly well while we were at the zoo! Reed was awake and checking things out most of the time, and little miss Delaney slept through everything! I think Reed like the aquarium best. The only time Delaney had any interaction with the animals was when we got tired of the sunglasses and cried, this disturbed the sleeping Tiger we were checking out! They both also seemed to tolerate the heat fairly well too, but it was time for some AC by 12:30. I really wanted a picture of Delaney with the giraffes since she was wearing her giraffe outfit. This is the best we could do without interrupting her peaceful nap! If you look really closely you can see the giraffe on her shirt! Pretty cute, if I do say so myself!Here's our latest family photo! Please ignore the nastiness that is Craig's sweat! Delaney was also sleeping really well at this point, so we opted to leave her in the stroller! It was cool in the aquarium, so we thought a little break for a photo opportunity was a good idea! As you can tell, I think both of the kids were happy to be freed from their car seats/strollers when we got the restaurant! They had quite the time checking each other out after we had some lunch! I cannot wait to watch these two (and of course, little Parker) grow up together! I think all in all the first trip to the zoo was a huge success! Honestly, it was our first major family outing! We got to see everything we wanted to, and Delaney got a great nap in! I'm sure next trip will be more fun for her! I can't wait until she's the little toddler running around pointed and screaming at all the animals...well maybe I can wait just a little while longer!

Two Months!!!

I can't believe it...Delaney is two month's old today! Time is just flying by, it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home. She is changing so much! We have our official 2 month doctor's appointment on Monday, but I took some unofficial measurements at home today. Delaney is weighing 9.6 pounds and is about 21 inches long. We'll see how close we are next Monday. She is wearing Newborn size diapers right now, but I'm thinking that we'll be in Size 1s before too long. She is sort of between sizes with clothes. Some of her newborn stuff fits and she's starting to fit into some 0-3 month things too!She still has a full head of fairly dark hair that seems to be getting thicker and longer. It definitely has some wave in it, which you can see best right after a bath. She also has the brightest, dark blue eyes. They are getting more "marble-ey" like her daddy's. She is definitely more awake these days, and more vocal too! She cries loader and stronger than she did a few weeks ago. Her little eyes are far more alert and focused than they used to be too! She's getting to where she's "talk" to us a little bit once in a while, and we catch a few smiles now and than. Although, I'm still not convinced the smiles are on purpose. She enjoys her bath time and is getting to really like tummy time.
We are so lucky to have such a beautiful, happy baby! I can't even remember what it was like before she came into our lives!

Another sad day...

Just when we thought the news of last week couldn't get worse, we were shocked by the news we heard today. I will not go into the dark details on here, but if you know this family please keep them in your prayers and thoughts. I've had a knot in my stomach all day as my heartaches for them. You can find full details on any of the Omaha news outlets. This kind of stuff isn't supposed to happen. I can't imagine what this family is going through.

Now, to happier things as I think we could all use it today. Little Delaney is growing like a weed and changing so much. She's closing in on 9 pounds and really starting to fill out. She is also awake a lot more throughout the day, so that has been a lot of fun. She's developing quite a little personality, which shows a lot of Craig. She doesn't have much patience when she's hungry (neither does he) and she doesn't sit still for too long when she's awake (another quality of Craig's). I have had to alter my diet over the last week to see if that makes her feel any better. I have had to cut out milk and soy products. It's harder said than done, there's milk and soy in so many different things. So far, I think she might be feeling a little better, but we won't know the full effects for another week or so. She was being pretty fussy a couple weeks ago, so the doctor recommended this to see if it helps!

Yesterday marks 9 years since Craig and I started dating. It's so crazy to think back to that time. We were totally different people back then. We were only 17 and preparing to enter our senior year of high school. It's crazy how far we've come since our first date at Burger King! We shared many milestones. We graduated high school, went to UNL and got our degrees. We both started our first "real" jobs. We both bought our first cars. We watched close friends get married and said good-bye to those that moved away. We FINALLY got married! We bought our first home and moved into it. We've traveled to so many places, Okoboji, Colorado & Kansas City many times, Washington DC, Vegas, Mexico. We got our puppy, Izzy! We had our first baby, Delaney! Oh, what a wild ride these past 9 years have been. I can only imagine what the next 9 hold for us! I can't imagine anyone I'd rather share all of this with! Thanks for all the good times! Love you Craig!

Now, here's a few of the latest pictures of little miss Delaney! Enjoy!

A Sad Reminder

Even though Delaney's been a little bit fussy these past few days, I've definitely been holding her a little tighter this weekend. We got horrible news Saturday morning that one of Craig & my high school classmates, Kaylee Magill, lost her little girl in a house fire back home. The little girl was only 4 years old! Apparently, their kitchen stove caught on fire sometime during the night Friday. Kaylee woke up to the smell of smoke really early Saturday morning , and found the kitchen completely filled with smoke and the stove on fire. She called 911 and then found her daughter Sierra not breathing and blue. Kaylee's a nurse, so immediately started CPR while she waited for the ambulance. It was too late. Sierra had apparently fallen asleep on the couch, and they just left her peacefully sleeping. The couch was right next to the kitchen. There were no working smoke detectors in the house.

If any of you read this from the Tekamah area and know Kaylee and her family, there have been fundraisers set up at both of the Tekamah banks to help them out with all of the expenses they suddenly have. If you want to help, this would be a great way to do it! Our class is also working on helping them out as much as we can. Kaylee also has an a 6 year old daughter, Trista. Sierra and Trista have an older brother, Christian, who's in the 8th grade. Both Trista and Christian were unharmed in the fire.

As a new mother, this is definitely hitting a little too close to home. I cannot begin to imagine what Kaylee is going through. I think it's every mother's worst fear. Her life has been completely turned up-side down in a split second. I have been counting my blessings these past few days. As if I could, I've been holding Delaney a little tighter, watching her sleep more intently, and trying to focus on her even more. Suddenly, the laundry doesn't seem as important and the dirty bathrooms don't matter. My baby girl and our little family is all that matters at the end of the day. This is such a sad reminder of what really matters.