1 Year...(a month and a bit late)

I'm so behind, but at least I am getting this done, better late than never!

As of 12 months, Brianna:

• weighed in at a whopping 23lbs and is just over 32 inches tall!
• runs around like crazy, my child never stops moving
• can say mama, dada, baba (bottle), buh (bunny), ki-y (kitty), buh-bye, nigh nigh (night night), up, yeah... she mumbles some other things but these are her solid words
• she can undress herself when we get her ready for her night time bath, and in the morning out of her pj's
• takes 3-8oz bottles a day, sometimes she takes a 4th if she's extra cranky
• no longer takes a soother
• her best friend is her $7 Wal-Mart Easter bunny, she doesn't eat or go anywhere without it
• can go and pick up different toys if we ask her to. If we ask her to go get Bunny, she can go and get it, same with her bottle, blankie, all sorts of things.
• sometimes refuses her nap and will go without a nap all day long! On those days, she sleeps from around 7pm to 8am
• sleep is still a tough one, she likes to stay up late and sleep in late. I've been working with her the last week and trying to keep a consistent bed time and wake up time
• her hair has grown like crazy, she's got so much of it now
• wears anywhere from the 6-12, 12 and 12-18 clothing depending on what it is, and many of her summer dresses from last year (3-6m) is fitting her as loose, flowy tops this year

I believe that is all her updates. I probably left a ton out but you get the idea. She's doing great, if only we could get her sleep to improve, but if that's my only complaint, I think we're doing good. Here are a couple of her 12 month shoot and her birthday.

Long overdue...

And I'm back!

I've been away for so long and it feels so strange actually typing up a post today. Truth is, things have been crazy busy at my place, and for a bunch of different reasons.

First off, my brother in law moved in with us at the very end of February, and that's been a whole story of its own. He was laid off from his job back east, so he called us up the day before and asked if we would be OK with him coming out our way for a little while. We said sure thinking that it would be a little while until he did come, but the very next morning he called me and said he was at the bus station and needed picking up. Needless to say I wasn't terribly impressed by this, but I went to pick him up. It took him around 2 months to find a job, and start paying us some rent and money for the groceries he was eating. You might think we're mean for charging him rent, but he eats like a starving teenage boy and would leave the house a total and complete mess after a long day of just staying at home and watching tv. We had so many issues with him and actually getting him to go out and try and find a job, he seemed to think that every job opening around us was 'below' him. Oh, and did I mention, he's Clint's older brother. He's 28.

Secondly, I went back to work at the begining of March and it has taken me up until just about now to get a proper schedule going. I felt so guilty the first couple of days because I didn't miss her to the point of tears, and that was hard for me to let go. People can function away from their children, and it really did take me a while to feel OK with that. Bri has a wonderful nanny who takes great care of her and keeps her happy and playing all day long. We're very lucky to have found someone to come out to our house and watch her, and I love love love that she gets the 1 on 1 attention.

And third, I have become a crazy cleaning woman. I will spend whatever free time I have when Bri is asleep cleaning our house. I feel like I might have become a germaphobe, I just can't get enough cleaning done. I go to sleep thinking about what still needs a good scrub and wake up with an entire list of what I want to clean that day in my head. It's become a real sickness.

So other than that, we celebrated Bri's one year birthday with Clint's parents. They came down for a week-long visit and it was really nice to have some family around. Bri was able to spend some time with her grandma and grandpa, and we were able to take a couple nights off and go out.

I'll be posting her 12 month stats in a little bit (hopefully today, if not tomorrow at the latest) and I've also got a bazillion pictures I'd like to share. So if you are still following me, thank you, I promise to never take such a long break like that again :)

11 Months!

Holy Moly! How did we make it to this point so quickly? I am in total denial that my little baby will be 1 in less than a month. How is that even possible? It just boggles my mind we are so close to the 1 year mark. This month you are:

• running around with much less falls
• having 3 solid meals a day, but still having some issues with some foods and chewing
  
• wearing 6-9 month, 6-12 month, and 12 month clothing for the most part. Some pants are 18 months just because I figured I'd get more use out of them for you since they are a little longer than the 12's.
• starting to climb up onto our furniture. The couch and your blue chair are favourites for this.
• still don't hold your own bottle when drinking, but can use a sippy cup on your own for the most part.
• climbing up the stairs. I put you at the bottom of the entranceway's stairs the other day to see what you would do and you climbed all the way up all on your own, twice!
• dragging/carrying around your favourite toys/blankets with you when you go from one room to the next. Such a cute thing to see.
• still loving your baths. You love to splash at us with your facecloth.
• obsessed with your kitty. Molly will just lay there and take whatever you throw at her, and you laugh and laugh. You also give her plenty of hugs and kisses.

I need to get moving on your birthday, with work and some other things, we've gotten a little behind to say the very least. Mommy needs to get on that, and fast, it's not like I have all the time in the world to be putting it off.

And the pictures:

10 Months

And now we are into the double digits!

As a 10 month old, you are

• taking one nap a day somewhere between 12 and 2pm everyday depending on how tired you are.
  
• have cut back on your solid meals for the last little while, preferring to breastfeed with all the teething you have going on. Last check of your mouth showed about 7 teeth all coming in at once, making you a not so happy camper :(
  
• wearing 6-9 month, and 12 month clothing for the most part. Some pants are 18 months just because I figured I'd get more use out of them for you since they are a little longer than the 12's.
  
• wave at your daddy all the time.
• know how to get down off or bed or the couch feet first without falling. You turn around, put one leg over at a time, such a smarty pants!
  
• can finally hold and drink from your sippy cup properly.
  
• walking more and more each day. You still crawl when you want to get somewhere fast, but you take on average 10-12 steps at a time before you drop down and need to get back up.
  
• squatting is your favorite way to sit and play with your toys. You squat and then stand and squat and stand over and over.
  
• have become quite the temper tantrum queen. If we take something away from you that you shouldn't be playing with, you don't waste any time letting us know how mad that makes you.

We've got most of the birthday planning done, just a few small details and we should be all set. Can't believe the planning has begun, less then 2 months and you'll be a whole year old!

In other news, my official start date back at work is March 7th, so 2 more weeks :( I'm going to miss being home with Bri so much it's seriously giving me some anxiety. Hopefully it's a smooth transition for both you and I.

And onto the fun pictures :)

Wordless Wednesday - B&W Edition

Adventures in Finding Daycare

& other things that go along with it.

So we have started the search for a daycare for Bri. I contacted the child care referral service in our city, got a list of day cares that matched the days and hours I needed, and then I threw a huge ol' fit. The list they sent me was for daycares in the worst area of the city, like gang neighbourhoods where your next door neighbour is most probably a drug dealer, and there have been a couple drive-by shootings. Seriously? You think these centres are suitable for my 9 month old daughter? Not the best way to start my search, that's for sure.

After my major freak out and meltdown, my friend who just recently found out she herself is pregnant, offered to watch Bri at her house until I could find something else, or until she got so pregnant she'd have to stop. This sounded like the best idea, so we made a date for a try-out to see how Bri would react to spending an entire day there. Let's just say, it was probably the worst day ever in Bri's short 9 and a half month life. The girl didn't have a single maternal bone in her body. I was crushed, I really thought this would be it.

After that, I made a couple phone calls to some in home daycares after speaking to a couple moms in my area and was told all of them were currently full and not accepting any more children at this time. So basically back to square one, once again.

I remembered this one lady who would visit my work all the time, and the kids she would watch always seemed pretty happy and to like her alot so I decided to find out her name, look her up, and give her a call to see where that would get me. Seems she is watching another little 13-month old girl right now, and she's looking for a second baby to watch. Ding Ding Ding! I immediately told her I'd love to meet with her to sit down and talk about this whole thing. Clint and I are meeting with her this Friday, and I could not be happier! I have the best feeling about this whole thing, and the thought of having her watch Bri doesn't leave me nervous at all.

Fingers crossed all works out on Friday and I can cross this off my list.

Way Late

I signed up for a Christmas gift exchange back in November, and it has taken me this long to post about it. Talk about being a little behind. *cough cough*

I was matched with the wonderful Susan over at 'Susan Heim on Parenting' and she was kind enough to send me a cute little basket which included a shimmery lip gloss, and sweet pea scented body lotion, shower gel and body spray. I love spritzing myself with the spray every morning, and the lotion is perfect for my dry hands and lugging in the baby bag.

So thank you very much, Susan, I love them all!